Chapter Twenty Two
Harry felt himself panic. It made no sense of course, there was nothing that could hurt him here, not hurt him physically at least and yet his heart felt like it was beating loudly enough to deafen him.
Old Dumbledore, with his blackened hand, glanced back at Harry and gave him a supportive smile as they followed the two younger adult through the hallways. All of the orphans they saw looked clean, and healthy enough although they certainly couldn't be considered over fed; all dressed in matching uniforms.
They reached the second landing and the first door off the long corridor.
"Here we are." Mrs Cole said, knocking twice on the door and opening it, without waiting for a reply.
Harry tried to look through the door but Mrs Cole and the younger Dumbledore were filling the space.
"Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr Dumberton, sorry, Dunderbore. He's come to tell you… well, I'll let him do it."
Harry and both of the Dumbledores entered the room and Mrs Cole gracefully left them alone, closing the door behind her.
It was a bleak, bare room which made Harry shiver. There was nothing personal, nothing of joy or normal childhood things; just an old wardrobe, a wooden chair and an old iron bedstead. A young boy, clearly Tom Riddle, was sitting on the grey sheeted bed, his legs stretched out and reading a book.
He looked so normal.
More than that, he looked so familiar. Harry had known for years now that he and Voldemort had shared a level of similarity. The same dark hair, pale skin and general look; it could be Harry sitting on that bed.
How often had he spent his spare time, sprawled on his bed exactly like that, reading his latest book?
Dumbledore seemed not to notice the turmoil these thoughts had created in Harry's mind, either that or he was ignoring it.
Harry tired to focus on the differences. Riddle had dark brown eyes compared to Harry's green ones. Riddle was also slightly taller than Harry had been at that age and was certainly more handsome. Merope had had her dying wish, there was no trace of the Gaunts in Tom's fine face.
Tom eyed Dumbledore suspiciously, glancing up and down at the rich suit he was wearing and also coming to the conclusion that Dumbledore was very out of place in such a poor place.
"How do you do, Tom?" Dumbledore smiled, walking forward and extending his hand for Tom to shake.
The boy stared at Dumbledore's hand for a moment before shaking it strongly, sitting up on his bed. Dumbledore sat in the wooden seat, sitting very close to the bed so they could talk quietly. Harry rather thought they looked like a scene from a hospital.
"I am Professor Dumbledore." Dumbledore said after a moment.
"Professor?" Tom said slowly, he looked rather unsure of Dumbledore, "Is that like 'doctor'? What are you here for? Did… she get you in to have a look at me?" Tom pointed to the door where Mrs Cole had left.
"No, no." Dumbledore smiled.
"I don't believe you." Tom said, "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!"
Harry noticed how scared Tom sounded. He was currently just a child, a child who had no love and was scared of his own shadow, let alone the outside world.
There was power though, the last few words rang through the room so forcefully Harry was surprised the walls didn't shake.
Dumbledore didn't move, making sure to keep a calm face that didn't flinch at the boy's command.
Tom broke his glare after a few minutes of silence, looking even more unsure of the man before him.
"Who are you?" Tom demanded, in a slightly more subdued tone.
"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school, your new school, if you would like to come."
Tom leapt from the bed, backing himself into the corner of the room, looking terrified at Dumbledore. He looked like he was about to cry.
"You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? 'Professor', yes, of course! Well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!" Tom snarled.
Harry felt so sorry for him, he looked so scared, so small and young and… scared.
"I am not from the asylum." said Dumbledore calmly, "I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you…"
"I'd like to see them try." Tom sneered, Dumbledore seemed to just ignore him, maybe he thought Tom was being nasty or difficult but to Harry he still just looked afraid. Like a kitten that hissed at everyone, even though they were really defenceless.
Harry forced himself not to laugh, he had really just compared Voldemort to a kitten! Older Dumbledore didn't seem to notice that Harry's mind was racing and continued watching the scene thoughtfully.
"Hogwarts," the young Dumbledore continued, "is a school for people with special abilities-"
"I'm not mad!" Tom said quickly.
"I know that you are not mad." Dumbledore assured him, "Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic."
The room froze, Tom looking at Dumbledore is complete confusion for a minute of more.
"Magic?" Tom repeated in little more than a whisper.
"That's right." said Dumbledore.
"It's… it's magic, what I can do?" Tom asked, excitement building inside him, pushing away his earlier fear.
Dumbledore shuffled on the chair for a moment, "What is it that you can do?"
"All sorts." breathed Tom, "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt, if I want to."
Tom moved forward with trembling legs and sat down on the bed again, staring down at his hands. Dumbledore said nothing, he just looked blankly at Tom. Harry wondered if he knew how bad Tom would become, or had he just hoped that with some stability, a lack of fear, Tom would grow up and be OK?
"I knew I was different," Tom whispered, "I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something…"
"Well, you were quite right." said Dumbledore, he wasn't smiling any more but he wasn't looking overly concerned either, "You are a wizard."
Harry watched as Tom's good looks melted away, an alien joy filled his features and they twisted themselves into an animal smile. Harry still felt sorry for Tom, he always would, having seen all of this but he knew, in that moment, Harry knew that Tom Riddle was too far gone, he was already well on the path to being Lord Voldemort.
"Are you a wizard too?" Tom asked.
"Yes, I am." Dumbledore replied.
"Prove it." Tom commanded.
Dumbledore simply raised an eyebrow, "If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts…"
"Of course I am!" Tom snapped.
"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'Sir'." Dumbledore commanded.
Tom glared at him for a moment before he shuffled and turned almost painfully polite, "I'm sorry, sir. I meant… please, Professor, could you show me…"
Harry thought that surely Dumbledore was going to refuse, it made no sense to perform magic in the middle of a muggle orphanage.
Dumbledore took his wand from his pocket and flicked it at the wardrobe which burst into flames. Tom jumped up from the bed and howled in rage. Harry could hardly blame him, everything he owned must have been sitting in that wardrobe.
The flames vanished as quickly as they had started, leaving the wardrobe in as good a condition as it had been before.
Tom looked quickly between the wardrobe, Dumbledore and the wand for a few moments before looking greedily at the wand.
"Where can I get one of them?" Tom asked, pointing at the wand.
"All in good time." Dumbledore said, "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."
Harry strained his ears to try and work out what the faint rattling was. For the first time Tom looked like a true child, a naughty fear taking over his face.
"Open the door." Dumbledore ordered.
Tom hesitated, looking around for a way out, before slowly walking across the room and opening the doors. On the top shelf, above a rail with a few sets of worn and patched clothes there was a small cardboard box that seemed like it was filled with several frantic mice.
"Take it out." Dumbledore told him.
Tom nodded and slowly took down the quaking box, looking very much like he wished the floor would swallow him whole.
"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Tom glared at Dumbledore for a moment before his face grew blank, "Yes, I suppose so, Sir." his tone as blank as his face.
"Open it." Dumbledore instructed.
Tom took off the battered old lid and tipped the contents onto his bed, not looking at them once.
Harry didn't know what to expect but he'd thought it would be something rather more exciting than the small mess of everyday objects that now lay scattered on the grey blanket.
It was nothing interesting really, a yo-yo, a silver thimble and a tarnished mouth-organ, as well as a shabby doll hat and small cat ornament with a missing ear. Free from the box they now lay perfectly still.
"You will return them to their owners with your apologies." Said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand away, he may have sounded calm but it was a clear order, there would be no argument, "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned; thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."
Tom looked coldly at Dumbledore, "Yes sir." he hissed, clearly not feeling even a hint of guilt.
"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued, "we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have, inadvertently I am sure, been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic, yes, there is a Ministry, will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."
"Yes, sir." Tom said again, although Harry had a strong feeling that he wasn't really listening.
Dumbledore allowed Tom so time to process what had been said, silently watching the boy.
"I haven't got any money." Tom said quietly after a moment.
"That is easily remedied." Dumbledore said, taking out a small leather pouch and handing it over to the boy, "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on second hand, but…"
"Where do you buy spellbooks?" Tom interrupted, looking over the strange money.
"In Diagon Alley." Dumbledore told him, "I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything…"
"You're coming with me?" Tom said, interrupting again.
"Certainly, if you-"
"I don't need you." Tom said quickly, "I'm used to doing things for myself. I go round London on my own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley? Sir?"
Harry crossed his fingers, hoping with everything he could that Dumbledore would insist on going with him, to show Tom that he didn't have to do things alone any more… but he didn't, Dumbledore nodded his agreement and told Tom exactly how to find the Leaky Cauldron and that he would be able to see it while muggles couldn't, seemingly without a second thought to the matter.
"Ask for Tom, the barman. Easy enough to remember as he shares your name…" Dumbledore said with a smile.
Tom flinched, looking quickly down to the ground.
"You dislike the name 'Tom'?" Dumbledore asked.
"There are a lot of Toms." Tom mumbled.
It was clear that Tom wanted to say something else but was trying to resist asking. Dumbledore waited patiently for him to ask whatever it was.
"Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me."
Dumbledore's voice was kind and gentle, "I'm afraid I don't know."
"My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died." Tom said to himself more than to Dumbledore, "It must've been him. So… when I've got all my stuff, when do I come to this Hogwarts?"
"All the details are on the second piece of parchment in your envelope." Dumbledore explained, "You will leave from King's Cross Station on the first of September. There is a train ticket in there, too."
Tom nodded as Dumbledore got to his feet and they shook hands once more.
"I can speak to snakes." Tom blurted out before letting go of Dumbledore's hand, "I found out when we've been to the country on trips… they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?"
Harry wasn't sure if it had been fear of being considered weird again, or the need to impress that had made Tom wait until this moment to tell Dumbledore about his most strange gift.
"It is unusual." Dumbledore said after a moment, "But not unheard of." his tone was casual but his eyes moved curiously over Tom's face.
"Goodbye, Tom. I shall see you at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, breaking the contact with Tom and making his way to the door.
"I think that's enough." the current Dumbledore said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.
Seconds later Harry found himself back in the present, standing by Dumbledore's desk.
"Sit down." Dumbledore told him, gesturing to the seat.
Harry sat, trying to process everything he had seen. It was so much easier to simply hate Voldemort, he didn't want to feel sorry for him, or his mother and he was seriously wondering why on earth Dumbledore was showing him all this.
"Did you know?" Harry asked after a few moments, unsure of what else to ask.
"Did I know that I had just met the boy who would become the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?" Dumbledore clarified, "No… I had little idea of what he could become. I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned to Hogwarts, sure to keep an eye on him, something that I should of done anyway, a child so alone, but I felt the need to do so for others safety, rather than just for him."
"He was so… scared." Harry said quietly.
"His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly strong for someone so young and, as I'm sure you deduced, had enough control to be using his powers to hurt people. To frighten, to punish and control." Dumbledore said, shaking his head.
"The story about the rabbit getting strangled and those two kids in the cave?" Harry agreed, "And he was already talking to snakes."
"Talking to snakes is not evil in and of itself, Harry, you yourself can talk to snakes after all." Dumbledore pointed out.
Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes, "I didn't mean it as a point of his 'badness' just an observation. A kid has to be pretty lonely to talk to snakes on his one and only holiday a year at such a young age."
Dumbledore conceded the point, "True. There could be no doubt that Tom was an unusually lonely child. Ah, time is making a fool of us again, but before we part I want to draw your attention to certain points of what we have just seen."
Harry nodded, shuffling in his chair slightly.
"Firstly, I hope you noticed Riddle's reaction when I mentioned that another shared his name 'Tom'?"
Harry nodded, "He said it was because there were a lot of Toms… but I think it had more to do with his father."
"An interesting observation Harry." Dumbledore said, "But Riddle did hate anything that tied him to another, anything that made him less than unique. As you know, it was not many years after this that he shed his name and became something wholly unique."
Dumbledore allowed Harry a few moments to think that over before continuing, "As you also deduced, Tom Riddle was already apparently friendless. He was self-sufficient to the point of not wanting my help to collect his school things. The adult Voldemort is the same. You will hear, and possibly have already heard, many of his Death Eaters claiming that they are in his true confidence, that they alone are close to him, his friend… they are truly mistaken. It is my belief that Voldemort has never had a friend, nor has he ever wanted one."
"Why didn't you go with him?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore looked confused for a moment before shrugging, "I don't know to be truthful with you Harry. I was impressed, in a way, that such a young child was so capable."
"Every child wants a friend." Harry said, "Every child need to be looked after."
Dumbledore remained a mask of calm, "Perhaps. But Voldemort isn't a child any more."
Harry frowned in confusion, "I… I never said he was, Professor…"
Dumbledore smiled and changed the subject, "I fear we are both getting tired and therefore will be more and more misunderstood. I hope you are not too tired for my last point?"
Harry shook his head.
"The young Tom Riddle, he liked to collect trophies. You saw the box of things, silly things, he had stolen from his victims of his bullying. You must remember this magpie like tendency, it will be of great importance later." Dumbledore said seriously.
Harry opened his mouth to ask further questions, for more information and why Dumbledore thought Harry needed to remember this.
"And now it really is time for bed." Dumbledore said, before Harry could speak.
Dumbledore stood up, ending any chance Harry had to push the issue.
"Good night Professor." Harry said, walking towards the door.
He glanced at the little table where Marvolo Gaunt's ring had been during Harry's last lesson. He thought about saying something but changed his mind. If Dumbledore didn't want to talk to him any further, he wasn't going to beg.
He left Dumbledore's office and headed sleepily towards the Slytherin common room.