Chapter Thirty-six: Explanation

When Tom popped back down into the hole and floated to the bottom, the last thing he expected to find was a fuming Hermione captured by a glaring Albus Dumbledore as he held her arms behind her back to keep her from hitting him. Resigned to the fact the older man must have heard every word, Tom simply alighted on his feet with a heavy sigh.

"You know, Tom, you should have left well enough alone," Dumbledore told him.

"Why are you and Myrtle friends, Tom Riddle?" Hermione demanded hotly. "I thought you killed her."

"No, there you are mistaken," said Dumbledore with some amusement. "You see, it really wasn't Tom at all who set the basilisk on Myrtle. I did it, and the reason I did it was the same reason as the one that makes me have to deal with you two now. I can't have anybody around who knows about my experiments. It would be far too risky."

"What are you going to do, then, old man," Tom smirked. "Shall it be turned to stone, or have you a much more diabolical plan?"

"I'll not waste the last favor the basilisk owes me on the likes of you two," he scoffed. "Oh no, I know exactly what I'm going to do with you. But for now, you must come along. I've a date with destiny I've got to keep. Very soon, the Elder wand will belong to me."

"Yes, of course it will," Tom snarled. "You're just as deserving of it as any other thief."

"Careful, Tom," he said, glancing briefly at the struggling girl in his arms. "You don't want to make me do anything rash, do you?"

"If you hurt her, you won't live to see the Elder wand at all," Tom informed him.

"Well then, we seem to be at an impasse," said Dumbledore with an evil smirk of his own. "Come along, then. We've still got more work to do, and time is running out."

Dumbledore pointed an elbow toward Tom as he continued to hold Hermione firmly in his grasp. Tom took it begrudgingly, and the three of them Apparated away.

When they landed on a grassy field out in the middle of nowhere, Dumbledore let Hermione go, and she started to run. "Don't both running away, Miss Granger," he called after her. "You've nowhere to go, and you won't be able to Apparate either. I've seen to that already."

"Hermione, stay here," Tom told her in a calm, calculating voice. "I believe if he intended to harm us, he never would have brought us here. We would be dead already."

"As cunning as ever, Tom," Dumbledore smirked. "You are right, I do have a different—punishment—in mind. Gellert, do come out, I can hear you racketing around those bushes from a mile away."

"Sorry, Albus," came a man's accented voice. Out of the tress came Gellert Grindelwald, smirking every bit as much as Dumbledore had been all along. "I see you brought them, just as we planned."

"It took a bit of doing, my old friend," he told him. "The pair of them decided to go to England this evening. They've found out a great deal more than I would like, but I'm sure we can tame them nicely, don't you think?"

"I don't understand," said Tom, still remaining deathly calm as he watched the two men. "You've decided to hand us over to Grindelwald? What could that possibly accomplish?"

"You have it all wrong, Tom," Dumbledore explained. "I've no intention of giving you to Grindelwald. On the contrary, in a way I'll be giving Grindelwald to you."

"Tom, run!" Hermione pleaded. "Run, now!"

Dumbledore waved his wand at Hermione, and she turned into a large snake ensnared in some vines. The more she struggled, the tighter they became, so she quickly chose to lay still, at least for the time being.

"Haven't you wondered, Tom, how such a sweet tempered young man becomes such a heinous monster?" the old man continued. "It's simple, really. You were no longer you. You were just another horcrux—another pawn in our little game. Where's the sacrificial lamb, Gellert?"

"I've got him tied to a tree just out of sight," said the man gleefully. "He will be a worthy opponent, I think. Can we kill him now?"

"Yes, I've got the spell prepared now," said Albus. "You may fire at will."

"Good," he chuckled. "I love a good roasting."

"Just exactly what do you think you're going to do, sir?" Tom asked, his manner still seemingly calm, though his eyes flicked over to the sight of the snake entwined in vines and had a flash of anger, gone almost as quickly as it came.

"I am going to pull most of Gellert's soul out of his body, and put it into yours."

Tom swallowed hard, but his gaze remained steadily fixed on Dumbledore.

"And you're going to let me," he gloated.

"What makes you think that, sir?"

"Because if you do not do as I say, then your little girlfriend and the child the two of you have whelped will both die."

Tom shook his head violently, his eyes widening.

"Oh, yes, I believe it's all my fault, Tom," he chuckled. "You see, I knew you would not know the difference between a fertility spell and a contraceptive spell, so I switched them up a bit. Thought you'd be squirming on my hook even more if I had even more collateral. Brilliant idea, was it not?"

"You're a sick bastard."

"Avada Kedavra!" Gellert shouted gleefully in the distance. Soon, he returned to Dumbledore, and he was glowing a bright shade of blue.

"Is this going to hurt?" asked Tom, trying not to look as frightened as he felt.

"Excruciatingly, I'm afraid," Dumbledore told him. Then he waved his wand with a great flourish. A blob of light broke free of Gellert's writhing body, and hung like a man-sized droplet on the tip of his wand. "Open wide, Tom."

Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He bit the inside of his cheek as he looked over at Hermione's still form lying helpless in the grass. Hermione, and their unborn child. He opened his mouth. Suddenly, his jaw stretched down about three feet, and he felt Gellert's blob slide down his throat and then disperse into every part of his body. The only reason he didn't scream was that he had no air to do it with.

Once Gellert was down all the way, Tom pitched forward and fell onto the ground, writhing furiously and pushing his face back where it belonged. He'd never looked so furious in his life. With a smirk of satisfaction, Dumbledore waved his wand to release Hermione from the vines.

"You're going to need to disappear for a time," said Dumbledore. "You and your new bunkmate will have to learn to get along, and if you don't do everything I say, it will be the end of the girl and your son."

"He's a boy?" Tom whispered, the tears still blurring his eyes.

"Yes, he is," Albus answered with a grin. "And I'm going to teach him everything I know."