Voldemort's Past and Cursed Opals

Saturday night came quickly and I found myself outside Professor Dumbledore's office. I knocked on the door. "Come in."

I went inside and my eyes widened with horror. "Sir, what happened to your hand?" His left hand was black, as if it'd been burned.

"Nothing you need to worry about Helena," he said. "It's been like this for over a month now."

Over a month? Why hadn't I noticed? Then I remembered he'd been wearing gloves for weeks, so I couldn't have notice.

"Well, Helena, how was your first week back?"

"Good, sir."

"Excellent. Now, Helena, what you're going to learn, is what years of work have discovered," said Professor Dumbledore. "You're going to learn about Voldemort's past and how it concerns the prophecy and yourself."

"Voldemort's an orphaned half-blood, isn't he?"

"Correct. You see, Voldemort's mother was a woman named Merope Gaunt. She lived with her father and brother. She was not a very talented witch and she suffered greatly for eighteen years," said Professor Dumbledore. "Her mother perished when she was born, her father and brother were cruel, and since they were Salazar Slytherin's last descendants, believed they were better than everyone else. Merope did not share such beliefs. Tom Riddle, Voldemort's father, was the son of the squire, and Merope was secretly in love with him, even though he'd never spoken to her because of their social standing."

"So, why did he marry her?" I asked.

"One afternoon, Merope's brother, Morfin, discovered his sister's secret and attacked Tom Riddle. When the Ministry official arrived, he put up quite a bit of a fight as did Marvolo. Morfin told Marvolo of Merope's secret love and in a fit of rage, Morfin nearly strangled his daughter. Morfin and Marvolo were tried and sent to Azkaban and then Merope was free to live her life. She then gave Tom Riddle a love potion one day and before long, they were married. You can imagine the gossip it caused when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter."

"Wait," I said, frowning. "Voldemort was brought up in an orphanage. He said his father left him and his mother. Didn't she die?"

"Yes, she did. Less than a year after they were married, Tom Riddle Senior left Merope while she was still expecting their son. No one knows for sure, but Merope chose to stop giving her husband the love potions. Either she was so deeply in love with him she couldn't bear to harm him any further or perhaps she thought he would've fallen in love with her in return or perhaps she thought he'd stay for their baby's sake, but whatever the reason, she was wrong. She was left quite heartbroken and penniless and she never saw her husband again."

"Poor Merope," I murmured. I felt no pity for Voldemort, but plenty for Merope. She had a choice to live or die for her son, but after so many years of pain, she chose what she felt was the easy way out of it. Voldemort had every right to be angry with his father, but it didn't give him the right to murder Muggles and Muggle-borns because of his grudge.

"Come, Helena," said Professor Dumbledore. "I'm going to show you of my first meeting with the young boy, Tom Riddle."

He took me to his Pensieve and we entered his memory.

I bit back a laugh when I saw the past version of Professor Dumbledore wearing a plum-colored suit that clashed with his auburn hair.

He entered an orphanage which was spotlessly clean and all the children looked healthy, but it seemed like a grim place to grow up.

An older woman in a dark dress arrived. "Ah, Professor Dumbledore, is it? It's lovely to see you. You're here to see Tom, I assume?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cole," said Professor Dumbledore. "If he chooses to accept the invitation, he'll be accepted at my school."

"Alright. Follow me, he's down this way."

She began talking as they walked down the halls. "I know it seems cruel, but I don't think any of us would miss him terribly if he chose to go and stay at this school of yours, Professor. He frightens the other children."

"You mean, he's a bully?"

"Not exactly. He's quite strange. Even when he was a baby, he rarely cried. He's so quiet. It's not like the others didn't try to be friends at first, but he's like a lone wolf and then there are the incidents."

"What incidents?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Well, Billy Stubbs's rabbit, well, Tom said he didn't do it, but even so, it didn't hang itself on the rafters on its own. All I know is that he and Tom had argued the day before and the next thing I know, there's trouble. On our little yearly trip out to the seashore, Amy Dennis and Benjamin Bishop went into some cave with Tom and came out completely different. Tom swore they just went exploring, but those two were never quite right afterward. Here we are." She knocked on the door and then went inside.

Sitting on a bed reading a book, and quite handsome for eleven years was Tom Riddle. Even when he was little, he was a vicious little coward. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. He didn't look harmful now, but appearances could be deceiving.

"Tom?" said Mrs. Cole, as he put down his book. "This is Professor Dumbledore. He's here to talk to you. I'll leave you two and call you for dinner."

She left and then Tom rounded on Professor Dumbledore. "What did she mean 'Professor'? She meant 'doctor,' didn't she? She sent you here to have a look at me, didn't she? Well, I won't do it. I never harmed anyone and I'm not mad."

"Tom, if you would let me speak, I'd be glad to explain everything," said Professor Dumbledore, calmly. "I am a Professor. I'm here to offer you a place at my school where I teach people like you. You and I have something in common."

"And what might that be?" he demanded, practically growling. "Tell the truth!"

"You and I are wizards. I teach magic at my school known as Hogwarts."

Tom's eyes widened. "Magic?" he said.

"Yes."

Tom gazed at his quivering fingers. "I knew it. I knew I was different. I knew I was special. Is it magic, what I'm able to do?"

"What is it you do?"

"All sorts of things. I can make things move without touching them, I can make animals do as I wish without training them, I can make people hurt if I want them to, and I can also talk to snakes. Is talking to snakes normal for a wizard?"

Professor Dumbledore hesitated and then said, "It's rare, but not unheard of."

"Would you show me some magic? I want proof. Show me!"

My eyes narrowed. Surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to think Professor Dumbledore would grant such a request in a place full of Muggles? But Professor Dumbledore did. The wardrobe lit on fire and then flames extinguished with no damaged done to the wardrobe but there was some rattling noise.

"I believe there's something in there that doesn't belong to you. Get it," said Professor Dumbledore.

Tom Riddle took out a box filled with tiny ordinary things.

"Souvenirs from the other children?" he said. "You'll return them to their rightful owners and soon. Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

"Yes, sir." Tom hesitated and then said, "How can I afford to buy my school supplies? I have no money."

"That is easily remedied," said Professor Dumbledore, handing him a pouch of money and his letter. "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those in need of it. You may need to buy some of your things second hand, but you should be able to get what you need. In Diagon Alley, which is in London, is quite easy to find. I'll be able to assist—"

"You're coming with me?" he interrupted. "That won't be necessary. I'm used to doing stuff on my own. I go down to London all the time. How do you get to this, uh, Diagon Alley, sir?"

Professor Dumbledore was quiet, but then gave instructions. "And if you need help, ask for the barman. His name's Tom."

Tom flinched.

"You dislike the name, 'Tom'?"

"There're a lot of Toms," he muttered. "Sir, if I may ask, do you know anything about my parents? Was my father a wizard? His name was Tom Riddle too, they told me."

"I'm afraid I really don't know."

"My mother can't have been magic or she wouldn't have died," he murmured.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Tom," said Professor Dumbledore. "I hope to see you when term begins. Should you need me, I'm only a message away."

"Yes sir."

Professor Dumbledore took my hand and then I found myself back in his office.

"I trust you learned much, Helena?" he said.

"Quite a bit, sir. Voldemort believed it quicker than I did—I mean, when you told him he was a wizard. I didn't believe Hagrid at first when he told me I was a witch."

"I was hoping you'd notice. Voldemort was more than ready to believe he was special. I hope you also noticed how he disliked his name?"

"It was hard not to. So, even when he was a child, Voldemort was self-centered and frightening?"

"Yes, he was. I didn't know what kind of man he'd be at the time, but I took care to watch him. Had I known, things might've turned out differently. Now, Voldemort was self-reliant and friendless and preferred to operate alone. He didn't confide in anyone, despite their efforts. The same can still be said of him today. Did you also notice how he liked to collect things from those he harmed?"

"I did. I assume he still does that today?"

"In more ways than you know," said Professor Dumbledore. "In spite of his being and orphan and poor, Tom Riddle was very charismatic and talented. He easily won the approval and favor of the staff and before long, he was a kind of leader to his followers."

"But you didn't fall for his tricks, did you sir?"

"No, I did not. I did not fully trust him, but I had hoped he might turn out differently. I was wrong. Now, it's late and I expect you're tired. I'll send word when it's time for our next lesson. Think upon what you've learned today, Helena."

"I will, sir. Good night."

For the next several weeks, the Half-Blood Prince proved to be a huge help in Potions. I had offered, but Ron and Hermione didn't accept the Prince's help as Ron kept asking me to read it aloud or if I thought it looked funny and Hermione wanted to follow the "official" instructions, but their potions proved to be poor compared than the Prince's. I felt guilty for showing them up, but they chose to refuse the Prince's help. I wasn't doing anything wrong, was I?

When I wasn't busy with Potions, I was busy with everything else. The free periods turned out to be perfect for getting my schoolwork done as the workload for sixth years proved to be quite a lot. Also, Professor Slughorn had been having parties lately and kept inviting me. I didn't want to go, but as it was needed for my lessons to be favored by him, I went through with it.

Cedric and I spent a lot of our free time together. Sometimes we just held hands and talked, but every single moment was precious. Whatever I'd done to deserve such a guy like Cedric, I didn't know.

After a while, I finally managed to schedule the Quidditch tryouts for the following Saturday and we four decided to visit Hagrid.

Tryouts certainly proved eventful. While I enjoyed being back on my broom, thirty people showed up, and most of them weren't even from Gryffindor. To make things worse, that arrogant buffoon, Cormac McLaggen showed up to try for Keeper and kept trying to get me and Hermione to go out with him, but after Ron and Cedric spoke to him, he backed off.

Katie Bell, the only teammate left from my first year, re-won her place on the team at her request. Demelza Robbins was a fantastic Chaser, as was Ginny and I was glad she'd do so well. Neither of our new Beaters had the brilliance of Fred and George, but Ritchie Cootes and Jimmy Peakes were fairly good. Then came the Keeper tryouts.

Ron's edginess didn't help my nerves as he and McLaggen tried out for Keeper. I was really, really hoping McLaggen wouldn't outdo Ron. I sighed in relief when I saw how strange McLaggen was acting and smiled when he only saved three of the five shots and Ron saved five. Ron looked pleased and so did everyone else.

Everyone, except for McLaggen who was far from pleased when I told him Ron had won the post of Gryffindor's Keeper.

"This wasn't fair! His sister gave him an easy save!"

"Rubbish. That was the one he nearly missed."

He glared at me and was two inches away from my face. "Let me go again."

"No. You saved three, Ron saved five. He's won it fair and square."

"Potter, I don't want to be rude, but so help me, if you don't—"

"McLaggen, are you aware of Sirius Black?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, so?"

"Are you also aware that's he my godfather and he's also very protective of me?" I said, menacingly.

McLaggen instantly paled and then ran off as Hermione arrived.

"What'd you say to him?" she asked.

"Nothing of consequence. That reminds me, Hermione what did you do to him?" I asked. She opened her mouth and then I cut her off. "And don't say, 'nothing.' McLaggen was acting strange and his seat was right in front of yours."

"Alright, I might've Confunded him," she admitted. "But you should've heard what he was saying about Ron and Ginny! Besides, you wouldn't have wanted him on the team, anyway."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Come on, Hagrid's waiting for us."

We were expecting Hagrid to be in a cheerful mood and eagerly awaiting us as we were eager to see him, but when we arrived, he looked anything but happy. His eyes were red as if he'd been crying and he looked upset.

"Hi," he said, softly. "Sorry, but I'm in a really good mood right now."

"Hagrid, what's the matter?" asked Hermione.

"It's Aragog," he said, sniffling. "He got sick during the summer and he's not getting any better. We've been together for so long and he might…"

I patted Hagrid's back, not knowing what to say as Cedric and Ron began making tea and Hermione got out some sweets she had in her bag. We cheered up Hagrid slightly by talking about Grawp and such.

"Grawpy's doing much better. He's learning a lot more English and I reckon in a while he'll be a gentleman," said Hagrid.

"That's nice," said Ron, with a skeptical look in his eyes. "Oh, guess what, Charlie wrote to me yesterday. He checked in on that Norwegian Ridgeback and says that it has a mate now and eggs. And it turns out Norbert's a Norberta."

"He's a she?" I said, stunned as Cedric laughed.

"You're kidding!" said Hermione.

"Nope," said Ron. "And he sent pictures. She's huge now."

Hagrid laughed as he gazed at the photo. "Who would've thought? Oh, she's a real beauty now, with hatchlings of her own. Wonderful."

Hagrid seemed a great deal better when the time came for us to return to the castle. Although I hated Aragog, particularly after he'd tried to kill us, I knew he meant a lot to Hagrid and silently hoped for Hagrid's sake that he'd recover.

Weeks passed and soon it was cold and snowing, but the weather didn't hamper our plans to go to Hogsmeade. It was Cedric's day off, so we got to spend the whole day together, which made me happy.

It was freezing and the wind was blowing fiercely, so the warmth of Honeydukes was sheer bliss as we purchased sweets and such. Cedric and I bought some Ice Mice to split. We considered it our tradition since we'd first split Ice Mice on my first trip to Hogsmeade three years ago.

We stopped at Three Broomsticks for some drinks and lunch. Cedric and I sat one side of the table, holding hands and chuckling as we talked with Ron and Hermione. It was fun until a certain teacher came in.

"Helena, Slughorn!" Ron hissed.

I bit back a groan as Professor Slughorn came by our table. Although I was friends with him and he was a nice man, one of his little quirks was driving me bonkers.

"Helena, Hermione, Cedric, it's delightful to see you all again," said Professor Slughorn.

"Likewise, sir," said Cedric.

"What's in the sack?" asked Hermione.

"More crystallized pineapple?" I guessed. I liked crystallized pineapple, but not as much as Professor Slughorn did. He seemed to inhale that stuff.

"Indeed it is. Helena, thank you for sending me that parcel of it last week, it's delicious. I just bought some more to go with it. I can't get enough of it, it's my favorite," he said. "Well, I just thought I'd let you know that I'm having a little party in a few weeks the night before the holidays start. I would be delighted if you could attend and you're allowed to bring guests if you wish."

"Uh, sure, why not? We're free then," I said.

"Wonderful!" he said. "Well, I'll see you all later."

He left Three Broomsticks and then Hermione said, "You sent him candy?"

"Not one word, Hermione," I said, as I took another bite of my lunch.

"Suck up," said Ron, looking both amused and annoyed.

"I'm only doing it because of Professor Dumbledore's orders and I need to stay in his favors for whatever it is that's so important for our lessons. Honestly, I do not want to go to another one of his parties so soon! He's driving me mad," I said, as I buried my face in my hands.

"Are they really that bad?" asked Ron. "They sound like fun."

"Well, they are fun occasionally. But try being the center of attention while he's raving about how talented you are and how you've inherited your parents' genes in front of countless distinguished guests and you'll go mad within half a second."

"Well, maybe the next one won't be so bad," said Cedric.

"Maybe."

After paying for our meals, we headed back to the castle. However, we hadn't gone far when there was a loud scream.

"HELP!" shouted Leanne, Katie Bell's best friend. "Something's happening to Katie!"

"Holy crap!" I gasped, as we ran. I saw Katie flying the air screaming. Ron and Cedric managed to get her down and then she collapsed into the snow, unconscious. Hermione checked her pulse and then we noticed she'd dropped a parcel.

Ron bent down to touch it.

"Don't touch that!" I yelled, stopping him. I knelt down and through the tear, spotted an ornate opal necklace. "I saw this in Borgan and Burkes years ago! The tag said it was cursed and claimed nineteen Muggle owners' lives!"

"So, how'd Katie get hold of it?" asked Ron. "She's never even gone to Knockturn Alley; she said so yesterday when we were talking!"

"Someone must've given it to her," said Hermione, looking pale. "Oh, gall. This is awful. This is really, really awful."

"Come on, we need to take Katie up the castle." He flicked his wand and Katie rested on a gurney that floated in the air and so did the package containing the necklace. Leanne came with us as we went to Professor McGonagall, who had Katie taken to the hospital wing and the necklace sent to Professor Snape.

"Miss Bell's lucky to be alive. It's also lucky she wasn't alone when this thing was found," said Professor McGonagall. "But how on earth did she did get her hands on this? Where did she get it?"

"I know," said Leanne. She'd been crying the whole time, despite our efforts to comfort her. "We went down to Three Broomsticks and she went to the bathroom. She came out acting funny carrying that parcel. She wouldn't tell me who it was for, just that it was a surprise for someone at Hogwarts and had to deliver it, and we argued. I grabbed it and then the wrapping tore and the next thing I know, she's in the air and then I yelled for help and…" she burst into tears again. "It was my fault! She must've been under the Imperius Curse! If I hadn't been so stupid, I could've…"

"Hush," said Professor McGonagall. But her tone was gentle. "You did the right thing. If it hadn't been for your argument, the necklace could've seriously harmed someone. Miss Bell will be alright. I want you to go to Madame Pomfrey for something for the shock and get some rest, understood?"

"Yes, Professor," said Leanne.

When she was gone, Professor McGonagall turned to us. "I don't suppose you four have any idea who did this?"

We four exchanged looks before any of us spoke.

"There's one theory," I said, slowly. "We saw Draco Malfoy in Borgan and Burkes before school started and he was saying something about an item Mr. Borgan had in the shop, something he was planning to use."

"Did you see what it was or did Malfoy say what it was?"

"No, Professor. He wouldn't say, but Borgan seemed to know what he was talking about," said Hermione.

"And Malfoy left our sights, so we couldn't see much," said Ron.

"Was Malfoy in Hogsmeade today, Professor?" asked Cedric.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But until we're sure of who's done this, I would advise you not to say anything except to myself, Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore, and watch yourselves."

"Yes, Professor."