Ginny
October 5th 1996

"Ginny," Hermione said, suddenly appearing in front of Ginny and disturbing her from the book she was reading. "Why does Adam disappear most Saturday nights?"

Ginny just stared at Hermione, desperately trying to think of what to say in response.

"Well?" Hermione questioned, sitting down next to her on the sofa.

"Oh," Ginny said. "Erm... he..." Ginny wracked her brain looking for an answer. "Did you know he's a year older?" she blurted.

"What?" Hermione replied, looking puzzled.

"He was a year late coming to Hogwarts. So Professor Dumbledore is giving him some extra lessons."

"Oh. Why is he getting extra lessons?" Hermione replied, then a knowing look appeared on her face and she continued. "Are they planning on moving him up a year?"

"I don't know!" Ginny replied, getting exasperated with the repeated questioning. "I hope not though."

"Ginny..." Hermione said in a gentle tone of voice. "I think you need to prepare yourself for Dumbledore trying to move Adam."

"Hermione..." Ginny began. She knew Dumbledore wouldn't move Adam, but she couldn't tell Hermione that. She really had come up with a rubbish cover story!

Ginny was saved a few seconds later by Adam coming in through the Portrait and her attention immediately shifted to him. She beamed as he walked over towards them and sat down next to her.

"Hi," he said as she clasped his hand. "Oh, hi, Hermione."

"Hi, Adam," she said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Ginny watched as Hermione's eyes flickered between the two of them. "I'll leave you two to it," she said suddenly, and rapidly made her way over to the other side of the common room.

"I think she almost looked a little bit jealous," Ginny said, once Hermione had gone.

"You think she fancies me?" Adam blurted.

"No, silly!" Ginny exclaimed. "She likes Ron, but he won't ask her out. Anyway, you're mine," Ginny finished with a smirk.

"Well, yeah," Adam finished lamely, putting his arm around her. "What were you talking about?"

"She wanted to know where you go on a Saturday night," said Ginny. "I told her you're getting special lessons because you're a year older."

Adam nodded.

"So what did you do tonight?" Ginny asked, as she cuddled up against him.

She felt Adam turn his head, making sure there was nobody nearby to overhear. "He took me into his Pensieve."

"What's a Pensieve?" Ginny asked.

"It's like a big bowl, you can go into it to view memories," Adam replied. "He took me into it and showed memories of Voldemort's family."

"He has a family!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well, no, this was his mum's family when she was younger. A guy named Ogden visited them," Adam gulped. "It wasn't pleasant. They seemed to abuse his mum a fair bit."

"Oh no," Ginny replied, she was surprised that she felt sympathy for Voldemort's mother. "What happened to his mum?"

"She fed a local Muggle a love potion, they got married and she got pregnant. Then for some reason she stopped giving him the potion so he... left."

"Oh," Ginny replied, unsure if she still felt sorry for the woman or not. She had tricked the man into being with her, but then she had been left all alone with a baby. "What happened then?" Ginny continued.

"That was as far as we got," Adam replied.

"Why is he telling you all this?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Adam shrugged. "But he seems to think it's important."

They sat there comfortably for a few minutes.

"Did he mention anything about Sirius?" Ginny questioned. "Dumbledore said he would be in the paper, but we've seen nothing."

Adam sighed. "He didn't know."

"Oh."

"But, he doesn't want to meet with me next weekend," Adam said with a grin. "So I'll have you all to myself in Hogsmeade."

"I can't wait!" Ginny exclaimed, and then she paused. "Oh, by the way, I told Hermione we'd come to this meeting she's trying to sort out."

"Meeting?" Adam asked.

"You know, the one about Umbridge."

Ginny noticed that Adam didn't look terribly keen.

"Please!" she pleaded. "You hate her lessons as much as everyone else! We're not learning anything and we have our OWLs this year!"

"Okay!" Adam conceded. "I'll go."

October 12th 1996

"Where are we going anyway?" Adam asked as they walked towards Hogsmeade. "The Three Broomsticks?"

"No," Ginny replied. "Hermione wants to meet in the Hog's Head so we won't be overheard."

"Isn't that place a bit, you know, dodgy?" Adam questioned.

"Yeah," Ginny replied with a wink. "That's exactly the point, we won't be overheard there."

Ginny and Adam walked, hand in hand, through Hogsmeade towards the Hog's Head. When they entered the pub, Ginny immediately crinkled her nose up in disgust. The place was dirty and wet!

She spotted Hermione and a fairly large group of others congregated around a table far from the bar. They approached the group.

"Hi, guys," Ginny said.

"Hi," Adam added. "I'll just go and get a drink."

"I wouldn't," Hermione advised. "Unless you've got your own glass."

Scrapping the idea of getting a drink, Ginny and Adam sat down near the back of the group. Ginny looked around, she could recognise most of those present. Most of the Gryffindors from Ron and Hermione's year were here. However, the only ones present from her year were herself, Adam and Colin Creevey. There were also a few Hufflepuffs and some Ravenclaws including, amongst several others she didn't recognise, Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang.

Ginny suddenly felt a surge of guilt. She had known Luna from before she had come to school and had not really kept in touch with her.

"Well - er - hi," Hermione began, once everyone had sat down. "I guess everyone knows why we are here. I had the idea, erm," she hesitated. "That it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts got together - and I mean we'd really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is teaching us."

Several calls of, "Hear, hear," came from the audience.

Ginny saw Hermione smile brightly at the encouragement.

"We need to take matters into our own hands. We really need to learn how to defend ourselves, and not just the theory!"

"Is what Dumbledore is saying definitely true?" Cho asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "It's Professor Dumbledore, when is he wrong?"

"Anyway," Ron interrupted hotly. "I saw some of what happened over the summer, and I even met Harry Potter! It's definitely true!"

"Yes, we want to pass our OWLs and NEWTs, but we also need to learn how to protect ourselves. If You-Know-Who is back..." Hermione continued, "well, that's the plan anyway."

There were several quiet murmurs at this.

"Even if you don't believe it," Neville added. "You can't deny that we need better a better teacher."

To Ginny's annoyance, this seemed to get a more enthusiastic reply.

"But how are we going to do this?" one of the Hufflepuffs asked. "Who is going to teach us?"

"Well," Hermione hesitated. "If we all worked together... "

"You don't have anyone!" a red haired Hufflepuff girl exclaimed.

Hermione froze for second, as if she was unsure what to do.

Suddenly Ron stood up. "Well, we were going to ask Harry Potter. Dumbledore must have taught him some neat stuff! I met him in the summer and I bet he'd help us out!"

Ginny felt Adam suddenly tense by her side and he groaned quietly. She tightened the grip she had on his hand. From the expression on Hermione's face she guessed that Ron hadn't discussed his idea with anyone before putting it to the group.

The announcement of Harry Potter being involved had caused quite a stir in the small group and seemed to have managed to quieten the naysayers.

"Okay," Hermione said, raising her voice slightly attempting to get some order back to the group. "We still don't know that he will do it yet! But we need to arrange when we can do this. I think personally we need to meet at least once a week."

"Hang on," said Katie Bell. "We can't let this clash with our Quidditch Practice."

"Nor ours," added Cho.

"We have ours, too," added a Hufflepuff that Ginny didn't recognise.

"We can schedule around the practices, then," said Hermione, now looking slightly exasperated. "But this is rather important! What with You-Know-Who. Plus, people have OWLs and NEWTs to pass!"

"Okay, so once a week," Katie agreed. "As long as it doesn't affect Quidditch..."

"Yes, yes," Hermione said tensely. "The next question is where we're going to meet..."

The group sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Library?" suggested Cho.

"Or maybe an unused classroom?" said Dean Thomas.

"I don't think we can meet anywhere so public," Hermione said. "What if Umbridge catches us? Anyway, we don't have to decide that now, we can let you know once we have the first meeting set," Hermione rummaged in her bag and withdrew a pen and quill. "I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath. "That we all ought to agree not to talk about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge, or anybody else, what we're up to."

Ginny looked around and noticed that several people looked very apprehensive at the prospect of signing the list. To show her support Ginny stood and, dragging Adam with her, went forward and signed. She was pleased to note that Adam signed immediately after her.

"Er …" said one of the Hufflepuffs slowly, not taking the parchment that Adam was trying to pass him. "Well … I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is."

But Ernie, another Hufflepuff, was looking rather hesitant about signing, too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.

"I — well, we are prefects," Ernie burst out. "And if this list was found … well, I mean to say … you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out …"

"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" said Hermione testily.

"No. No, of course not," said Ernie, looking slightly less anxious. "I — yes, of course I'll sign."

Nobody raised any objections once Ernie had signed and once the last person had signed, Hermione took the parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. There was an odd feeling in the group now. Almost as if they were now firmly committed to this.

The group began to slowly drift away. As the students began to thin out Ginny heard Adam sigh. She turned to look at him and was surprised to see he was looking slightly stressed.

"Well," he said with a sigh. "Shall we go and enjoy the rest of our day?"

"Certainly," Ginny replied primly and then whispered. "Mr Teacher."

"Stop it," Adam whispered back, swatting her lightly on the arm.

"Seriously," Ginny whispered to him. "I think you'd be really good."

October 14th 1996

On Monday morning, Ginny dashed down the stairs to the common room. Somehow she had managed to take ten minutes longer getting ready today and now she was going to be late. When she reached the common room, she was surprised to find that Adam wasn't waiting for her, as he normally did.

Glancing around the common room she saw that everyone was gathered around a notice affixed to the notice board. Ginny trotted over to group and peering past the crowd read the notice.

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.

An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.

Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).

No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with
Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.
Signed:
Dolores Jane Umbridge
HIGH INQUISITOR

"This is because of the meeting over the weekend, isn't it?" Adam said in a soft voice from behind her.

Ginny could only nod numbly and she realised with shock that this would also mean that the Quidditch team had been disbanded.

Having finished reading the notice, she and Adam wandered over to where Ron, Neville and Hermione where standing huddled together in a secluded part of the common room.

"You've seen it, then?" Hermione asked as they approached, looking around to make sure no-one else could overhear.

"Is it because of us?" Adam asked.

"If it is," Hermione replied, "I don't know how they found out."

"Someone must have told!" Ginny interrupted.

"They can't have!" Hermione explained. "I, erm, put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed. If anyone has told we'd know who it is."

"So what do we do, then?" Ron questioned. "We can't just give up!"

"We don't give up!" Ginny exploded. "If what Hermione says is true, then Umbridge can't know exactly what we're up to, she can only suspect!"

"Exactly," Hermione replied brightly. "We just need to find somewhere to meet. Can you two keep your eyes out for anything for us?"

"Sure," Ginny replied. "We'll both see if we can come up with anything."

"Thanks, guys," Hermione replied, and then she lowered her voice. "Keep an eye out though. Believe me, you'll know if someone from the meeting has told."

Ginny smirked slightly, wondering exactly what jinx Hermione had placed on that parchment.

Adam
October 18th 1996

With a groan Adam dragged himself out his bed when the first beams of sunlight began streaming in through his window. He felt absolutely terrible. He'd had a headache all night. It had started with a prickling sensation in his forehead, which had, before long, developed into a full fledged headache that simply wouldn't go away, despite the fact that the prickling sensation had gone away several hours ago.

With his scar and the headache, Adam was sure he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night.

Once he had dressed, Adam dragged himself down the stairs and flopped down on a chair in the common room to wait for Ginny as he usually did. While he waited he put his head in his hands and massaged his temples, trying to get the headache to go away, but it simply wouldn't go.

"Good morning," he heard Ginny's voice from behind him.

"Morning," Adam grumbled in reply.

"What's up with you?" Ginny replied.

"Feel crap," Adam grumbled.

"Oh," Ginny said, coming to sit down next to him. "What's up?"

"I've got a terrible headache."

Adam felt Ginny move her hands up and rub his head. Amazingly, it did make him feel slightly better. She gave him a hug and said, "We need to get to breakfast, are you sure you're up to classes?"

"Yeah," Adam replied grumpily. He didn't want to miss classes unless he had to.

Adam moved slowly down to the Great Hall, and began to pick, ineffectually, at his breakfast. Before long Ginny took over and forced him to at least eat some.

"Guys?" Katie Bell's voice disturbed Adam from his breakfast.

"Hi," Adam said tiredly.

"Great news!" she exclaimed. "I got permission to restart the Quidditch team! So practice again this week. Alright?"

"Sure," Adam mumbled. "I'll be there."

"Me, too," Ginny added.

"Great!" Katie exclaimed. "Well, I'll see you guys, then!"

Once Katie had gone Adam turned to stare at his breakfast.

"Come on, Adam!" Ginny ordered. "You need to at least finish your sausages!"

Adam, at length, eventually finished his breakfast to Ginny's satisfaction. Once he was done the two of then walked down to the dungeons for their first lesson, which was Potions.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Ginny asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes," Adam replied sharply. "I'm not ill."

Adam struggled through the Potions lesson. Today's task was to brew a Strengthening Solution. With the pounding in his head Adam found it difficult to concentrate, so Ginny secretly helped him with his potion.

"Grrr," Adam growled, as he peered into the potion at the end of the class. It wasn't the right colour, he was sure of it. "I'm sure I messed it up somehow."

"Don't worry..." Ginny smiled encouragingly.

"Quiet!" Snape yelled over the chatter in the class. "I will now check each of your potions to ensure it is satisfactory and then all potions will need to simmer over the weekend before we complete them next week."

Adam and Ginny waited apprehensively for Snape to mark their potions. On the way around the class he took points off various Gryffindors for incorrect potions, and, as usual, consoled the Slytherins that had failed.

"Well, well, Mr. Winters," he gloated, as he examined Adam's potion. "I see you have once again failed at even the simplest tasks in potion making," he then leaned in close and whispered. "Obviously you did not inherit your mother's talent."

Adam stared straight ahead and tried to ignore him, but felt his temper beginning to build.

"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed, sticking up for him. "That's not fair!"

"Quiet, Weasley. Winters, this is probably the most pathetic attempt I have seen at a Strengthening Solution in years. It's almost as if you didn't try."

Adam mumbled something rude under his breath.

"What was that Winters?"

"Sorry, Professor," Adam said spitting out the word Professor. "I messed it up."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for a failed potion and ten more for cheek."

"What!" Adam exclaimed. "Cheek? I just messed up my potion!"

"Yes you did, Winters, and you will return tonight to complete it."

What!

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, suddenly getting to her feet. "That's not fair! None of the others have had to!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Weasley."

Ginny sulkily sat back down in her seat.

"That's not fair!" Adam exclaimed, glaring at Snape. Ginny hadn't done anything!

"Ten more points, Winters!" Snape snapped back.

Adam slammed his book closed, stuffed it in his bag and sat still, staring straight ahead. He was fuming, first he felt like crap, and now he had to come back to his least favourite lesson and re-make a stupid potion tonight. He struggled to keep his anger in check or he would only end up getting more detentions, or, even worse, end up getting Ginny in trouble.

Luckily, the lesson soon ended and Adam charged out of the room.

"Adam!" he heard Ginny calling after him. "Are you okay?"

"No!" Adam snapped back. He instantly regretted it when he saw the hurt look flutter across Ginny's face. He sighed. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she comforted him, pulling him into a hug. "Snape is a right git. He just won't leave you alone."

"I know," Adam said. "I can deal it normally... just not when I'm feeling like crap. Now I have to go tonight as well!"

"That was out of order!" Ginny exclaimed. "You were the only one!"

Adam grumbled in reply.

"Shall we head to Charms?" Ginny asked.

Adam sighed. "Let me just go to the loo."

They walked together to the nearest boys' loos and Adam went inside. Walking over to the sink, Adam turned on the tap and bathed his still thumping head in the cooling water.

"Harry Potter!"

Adam jumped violently, bumping his head on the tiling above the sink.

"Dobby has been waiting for Harry Potter to be on his own!"

Adam spun around, rubbing his head. Standing in front of him was the house-elf that had visited him in the summer.

"What?" Adam questioned loudly.

"Dobby knows that Harry Potter is hiding, so he waited until he was on his own! The red-haired girl follows him everywhere!"

"Ginny knows, Dobby," Adam replied uncertainly. "What do you want?"

"Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter!"

"You said that last time!" Adam exclaimed.

"Dobby heard talk... You-Know-Who has ordered the ..." Dobby suddenly broke off with a squeal as the door burst open.

Ginny quickly stepped in through the door and closed it behind her.

"Ginny!" Adam shouted. "You can't come in here!"

"I heard raised voices!" Ginny exclaimed. "What's going on in here?"

Adam looked around the toilets. While his attention had been distracted by Ginny he hadn't seen where Dobby had gotten too.

"Dobby!" Adam called out. "Come out, Ginny's alright."

"Harry Potter?" A faint voice came from one of the cubicles and Dobby stepped out.

"Dobby, this is Ginny Weasley," Adam said. "Ginny, erm, this is Dobby."

"Pleased to meet you," Ginny said hesitantly and she reached out her hand towards the elf.

Dobby immediately shrank back and cried. "Oh! Harry Potter's Wheezy honours Dobby! Treats Dobby like an equal!"

Ginny looked over at Adam quizzically, blushing slightly. Adam could only shrug in reply.

"Dobby, what were you saying?" Adam asked. "What did you hear?"

"Dobby heard!" He exclaimed. "You-Know-Who's servant at Hogwarts..."

"At Hogwarts?" Adam exclaimed. "Who?"

"Umbridge!" Ginny exclaimed.

"No!" Dobby exclaimed. "You-Know-Who's Potion Master! You-Know-Who has ordered him to capture Harry Potter and kill the Headmaster!"

"Snape? Kill Professor Dumbledore?" Ginny exclaimed in astonishment. "How?"

"Harry Potter's Wheezy must understand! Dobby could only hear some. Not all the plan!"

"Thank you for telling us, Dobby," Adam replied. "We can warn Professor Dumbledore now and keep a close eye on Snape."

"Harry Potter has thanked Dobby. He is truly a great Wizard!"

"Err..." Adam hesitated, unsure why the elf was gushing with praise for him.

"Dobby?" Ginny asked, suddenly sounding curious. "How did you get in here?"

"House-elfs can move in ways wizards can not," Dobby responded gravely.

Adam looked over at Ginny, unsure where she was going with this line of questioning. Surely they needed to warn Professor Dumbledore!

"Would you be able to explore and find a hidden place for us to practice Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

Adam watched as Dobby stared at Ginny. He seemed to be thinking.

"Dobby can, Miss! Dobby will look for one!" Then suddenly the house-elf vanished.

"Wow," Ginny said.

"Great idea, Ginny!" Adam exclaimed, a broad grin on his face. His face fell however when he thought about Dobby's warning. "We need to warn Professor Dumbledore!"

"What about Charms?" Ginny asked as Adam led her out of the door. "We're already late!"

"Forget it," Adam said. "We need to see Dumbledore!"

Adam and Ginny dashed through the school until they came to the gargoyle that guarded Headmasters Office.

"Liquorice Wands," Adam said, giving the password that had been in use at the last meeting.

Nothing happened.

"Ice Mice," Adam tried again.

Still nothing happened.

"Sugar Quills."

The gargoyle did not move.

"Mr. Winters, Miss Weasley!" Professor McGonagall's voice echoed down the corridor. "What are the two of you doing out of class?"

"Erm," Ginny hesitated.

"Professor!" Adam exclaimed. "We need to see the Headmaster!"

"The Headmaster is not in the school today," Professor McGonagall informed them. "So I am in charge, what appears to be the problem?"

Adam hesitated. He couldn't tell Professor McGonagall. Could he?

"Adam," Professor McGonagall said in a softer voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Adam answered, shuffling his feet. "We'll get back to class."

"Adam, if something is wrong you need to tell me," Professor McGonagall said. "Has something happened?"

"No, no," Adam said, wishing more than anything that he could just tell her everything. "We'll just be going."

Adam grabbed Ginny's hand and, before he had chance to have second thoughts, they dashed back down the corridor. As they ran, Adam felt another surge of guilt that he hadn't told her the truth but, so far at least, no-one else had figured out that he and Harry were one and the same. Did he want to jeopardise that?

"We couldn't tell her, right?" Adam said hesitantly as they walked rapidly towards the Charms classroom. He really didn't like lying to Professor McGonagall.

"I don't think so. She doesn't know about you," Ginny replied. "But..." Ginny hesitated. "Oh... Adam! You've got detention with him tonight!"

"I'm not going!" Adam said strongly. "If he's plotting to capture me, I'm not going anywhere near him! Not until I can tell Dumbledore, then he can get rid of him for good!"

October 19th 1996

The next day, Adam climbed the stairs to the Headmasters office. He had spent last night in the Gryffindor common room. He didn't know if Snape could get into other houses' common rooms, so he had kept his invisibility cloak handy. If Snape turned up looking for him he would hide.

Adam had gone to the Headmaster's office several times during the day. However, Professor Dumbledore still hadn't returned, so Adam had returned at the scheduled time for their meeting and, to Adam's surprise, the Headmaster was there.

"Come in, Adam," Professor Dumbledore greeted him as he entered the office.

Adam sat down in his usual chair.

"I had a report from Professor Snape," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Oh?"

"Why didn't you go to your detention last night?"

"He's plotting to take me to Voldemort!" Adam exclaimed. "I'm not going anywhere near him!"

"What did you say?" Professor Dumbledore said sharply.

"I found out Snape is planning on capturing me and he's going to try to kill you, too, sir!" Adam said in a rush, he felt partly relieved that he would finally be rid of Snape and partly afraid that someone working for Voldemort had gotten so close to him.

"Professor Snape, Adam," Dumbledore corrected Adam as he stroked his beard. "Can you tell me where you heard this information?"

"You remember that house-elf?" Adam asked.

"Dobby," Professor Dumbledore supplied.

Adam nodded. "He said he overheard Voldemort plotting with Snape."

Professor Dumbledore sighed and sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Adam, I completely trust Professor Snape; he is no threat to me or you. I think you have unfortunately been fed false information..."

"Dobby wouldn't lie to me!" Adam exclaimed.

"As I was saying," Professor Dumbledore continued. "Dobby may well have been fed false information to try to sow discourse between us. Our allies are few enough, Adam, and we cannot afford to alienate any of them."

Adam gawked at Professor Dumbledore, he wasn't taking him seriously.

"But, sir!" Adam exclaimed.

"Adam!" Professor Dumbledore replied harshly, making Adam flinch slightly. Then his voice softened. "It is common for two colleagues to differ in opinion, but in this case I need you to trust my judgement. Now, I do not want to hear any more of this," Professor Dumbledore said with finality.

"Yes, sir," Adam said sullenly.

"Now," Professor Dumbledore said, his expression brightening. "I had a very interesting request from Miss Granger."

Adam groaned slightly.

Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "I think it would be a very good idea for you to help your fellow students with this."

"I-I-I can't teach!" Adam exclaimed. "They won't listen to me."

"Adam," Professor Dumbledore said. "I think you would be surprised at how many friends you have that would follow you, even without knowing your identity. The others that you don't know, well, they may not follow you, but they will follow Harry Potter."

Adam snorted. "What can I teach them?"

"Adam, I think you underestimate how advanced you and Miss Weasley are. The spell work I have seen both of you perform is superb. You both have worked outside of class and know many spells that many others, especially with current tuition, do not know."

Adam sighed.

"Adam, I think teaching will help you improve your skills, and would certainly aid you in learning some of more advanced techniques that I hope to be able to teach you. Plus it will really help your fellow students."

"I..." Adam began hesitantly.

"Even though I have encouraged you to confide your secret in the Weasleys, I do not expect you to reveal yourself to do this," Professor Dumbledore re-assured him. "I think that revealing yourself to the school at large at this time would not be a good idea."

Adam stared at Professor Dumbledore; it didn't feel like he'd left him much choice. He had brushed aside all of his objections. Plus, if it would help him learn new spells... well. He needed to learn everything he could... he would need it all with Voldemort after him.

"I..." Adam tried to speak again.

"Adam," Professor Dumbledore said gravely. "If you will not do it for yourself, would you consider doing it for your friends? I can not do anything about Professor Umbridge, or arrange alternative tuition myself, but you, you could help them. Your input could mean the difference between some of the passing or failing their OWLs or NEWTS."

Adam sighed, after all, Ginny had thought it was a good idea. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Professor Dumbledore said. "I am sure between you and Miss Weasley you can come up with a curriculum. I would suggest you first ensure they are all capable of simple shield spells, disarming one's opponent and that they all have the ability to effectively Stun."

Adam nodded, taking a mental note. He would need Ginny's help with this.

"Now," Professor Dumbledore continued, before he'd even had time to collect his thoughts on this class he had apparently just volunteered to teach. "We need to continue our foray into the past of Tom Riddle. As I am sure you remember we left it at the point where the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."

"London?"

"I spoke to one Caractacus Burke," said Dumbledore. "In her desperation Merope sold the last of the Gaunt family treasures, a locket that was rumoured to belong to Salazar Slytherin. From him we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession."

"But she could do magic!" said Adam. "She could have got food and everything for herself by magic, couldn't she?"

"Ah," said Professor Dumbledore. "Perhaps she could. But it is my belief that when her husband abandoned her, Merope stopped using magic. I do not think that she wanted to be a witch any longer. Of course, it is also possible that her unrequited love and the attendant despair sapped her of her powers; that can happen. In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her own life."

"So she died?" Adam said softly.

"Yes, and young Tom Riddle Junior was left in an orphanage and that, Adam, is where we are going next."