Harry Potter and the Return of Voldemort
The Wedding
The Godrics Hollow seemed to be a palace of lights especially the Potter house, and it had to shine hadn't it? There was a wedding going on in there. From the outskirts of the house it looked like a peaceful enjoyable wedding but only the people inside had had any idea of the tension. Quit alot of work was to be done for the wedding. Ginny could be seen running around pointing her wand at the faling chandaliar, at the wet floor, at the here and there spread wrappers of candies, ginny seemed more like her mothere when it came to the geting-the-work-done-quickly-thing. Harry and Ron were upstairs with Tedd the Handsome groom and Hermione was getting Victoire ready.
Once all the guests had settled down and Harry, Ron, Hermione and ginny had gotten ready they also joined the guests after explaing Lily, James, Albus, Roses, and hugo what they had to do. But as Harry,Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked into the guest filled courtyard they got more applause than the Bridegroome had gotten. It had been 20 years since they had defeated Voldemort. Harry was 37 he had 3 kids James was in his third year, Albus was in his second year and , Lily's year was gonna start tommorow. But it still seemed like yesterday when half the Hogwarts had been blown up. Such a frightening night it was full of sorrow but joy had awaited them for the morning. The morning after that night was ablaze with light and warm as it had never been.
The moment Ted and Victoire came out in the courtyard the crowd stood up and the piano started playing a beautiful tune. In front of them lily, hugo and roses were walking carrying bookays of flowers and James and albus were beside them showering them with flowers. What a beautiful sight it was! After the ceremony was done with the chairs assembled in lines in the courtyard vanished and round tables appeared. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Jinny congradulated ted and victoir and their children gave them presents on behalf of thier parents. It was all very cute but Ted seemed rather teary. Usually the females have a crying thing but seeing ted teary Harry took him aside so he could wipe his face off tears while everyone engoyed with the drinks and the food. When Harry and Ted were alone Harry asked him if there was a problem but Ted's reply mde him a little teary too." Harry, I know you've never made me feel alone and all, and you've always been here for me, but , you know today I just thought what if my parents had been alive, how would they have felt, what would they have said to me? How could they they........................." Ted broke off and Harry knew how he was feeling it was exactly as he had felt for the most part of his life. " There are somethings in life that are hard to tackle but good things are also present in life ted. I f today you are a son missing your father tommorow you'll be a father teaching a son how to be a man" said harry trying to make tedd understand lif's beautiful too. Tedd's reply was satisfying" I don't know what would have I done without you. Dad chose a very good Godfather for me and a famous one too. Thanks Harry!" " Don't mention it! Your father did the same for me." As tedd left to join everyone else Harry's scar burnt wildly.
Harry stood there quite alone shaken by what had happened and it wasn't the first time it had happened before. Excluding the years when voldemort was at large, 16 years after voldemort's defeat and three years back Harry's scaar had burnt. Harry remembered it clearly as if it was yesterday It was the night before James was gonna start his 1st year at Hogwarts. He was quite nervous despite the fact that he had known all about hogwarts all along. He had badgered harry for the most of the day asking about the teachers and the classes and subjects about Quiddittch and anything related to hogwarts he could find interesting. Once he felt contented with his answers Ginny had taken him to put to bed, he wouldn't sleep without hearing a Beedle and Bard story, translated by hermione who had kept dumbledore's oild ruins one, so Ginny was busy putting him to bed while harry sat alone in the sitting room and it had happened his scar had burnt as wildly as it had done on that very moment.
Shaking himself back to the present harry went back into the crowd looking around for Ginny, he hadn' told her anything the last time but a second time it couldn't be a coincidence, he had to tell someone. Moving through the crowd harry met mr. and mrs. weasley, they had changed very much, gone old but energetic as before, met kingsley, he had gained quite alot of weight after becoming the minister, met neville and luna, they had gotten married and had a small son round lily's age and was starting at hodwarts from tommorow, hagrid and grawp were also there hagrid's tangled beared was now white as dumbledore's and grawp was also ging you could see his skin getting waxy, saw seamus and parvati on the dance floor with dean and lavender and ron and hermione as well. After not being able to find ginny in the crowd harry went to ron and hermione thinking if they could help him out.
" Harry, I can't believe you didn't even tell that to me" said ginny,handing harry his coffee. The wedding was over and it was well after midnight and harry, ron, hermione and ginny were sitting at harry's place discussing what had happened, ron and hermione had apparated 10 minutes ago nd ginny had made them all strong coffe while harry told them all about his scar hurting in detail during the wedding he had told them shortly what had happened and then he was taken away by the crowd as apart from tedd's wedding there was an announcement to be made that harry was the new headmaster of hogwarts starting his year tommorow. harry was quite happy with his job at the ministry but as professor mcgonaglle had to retire he was the first person who had been offered this post and seeing the encouraging faces and comments of the wizarding community he had to except it. After the announcement there were cocktails and old school stories and people were coming to him to congradulate him even draco had come round with his son scorpio so there hadn't been time then for harry to mention anything to ron and hermione so he had asked them to came round his place after midnight so they wouldn't be interrupted by the children.
"but harry this is impossible! voldemort's dead, he can't just come out of the dead" said hermione alot more relaxed than harry was. " but hermione this is unusual, it shouldn't be happening at all i'm worried sick about it" said harry envying the relaxation that hermione was experiencing. " why exatly are you worried about it mate? voldemort's been dead for years, your scar bothered you after 20 years of his death and he can't come from the dead now can he? you don't have his powers anymore either, you don't speak parsletounge, what the hell is left for you to be worried about? just relax ok". said ron setting himself more comfortably on the sofa. At this harry stood up, he didn't know if Ron had taken it all for granted or what but at this moment he was right. There was nothing for him to worry about. It could well have been his own imagination.
THE BEGINING OF THE DEATH TOLL
For the next half an hour ron, hermione and ginny had shouted at harry and he had sat quietly taking in everything that they had said to him thinking he deserved it. Once they had quietened down harry asked them for help and he had plea and shame i his voice that he hadn't told them all that for 3 years" look i'm really very sorry i didn't mean to hide anything from you guys it's just i didn't think it was a big deal to tell u all and even today nothing happened that bad it was just my scar hurting and that was all." " Are you hurt daddy?" out of the shadows came lily's voise, evidently she had not slept for the fear of what was awaiting her the next morning at hogwarts. " Lily! darling how long have u been up?" asked ginny picking her up in her arms and sitting beside harry. The moment ginny sat down lily got off her and climed into harry's lap" daddy are u hurt?" she asked again and her eyes flashed across harry's scar, she touched it and harry felt as if nothing could ever hurt him" No sweety, daddy's not hurt, and this is just a scratch its gonna get off in a day or two" said harry smiling at her. " why are u up so late darling?" " Iam scared daddy, i don't wanna leave u and mommy" she replied innocently" Hogwarts is a very nice place lily, do you know it was the first place that I ever felt like home" she shook her head " well it was, and so is it gonna be for u, c'mon tonight daddy will put u to bed and you'll hear a brand new story from dddy tonight, c'mon" harry picked her up stood up kissed her on the cheek, gave a don't-go-away-just-yet-look and went into lily's room.
Lily had just dozed off into sleep when ginny came in and motioned vigorously to harry to come out of the room. Seeing a worried look on her face harry got up immediately, went outside and closed the door behind him quietly. The moment he had shut the door ginny started speaking. “Harry hagrid--------“ she broke off as a howling sound reached their ears. Hagrid was sitting on the sofa crying out wildly like a wounded dog and in his lap was alice , neville’s and luna’s son. “Hagrid what happened, what -----how come---- hagrid what ‘s alice doing here? Where are Neville and luna? Hagrid what’s happened?” “ harry” ginny looked at him, tears in her eyes” Neville and luna are no longer with us, come with me “ “ginny where r we---- what r u saying?” but ginny took him by the arm and they apparated right inside neville’s house, ron and hermiona were already there, ron was standing opposite a wall with Hermione crying all over him. “ harry Neville and luna have been murdered” said ginny and she fell into harry’s arms and started sobbing. When Hermione heard them she came and hugged ginny, both of them were sobbing now, harry moved across the room towards ron, he had just opened his mouth to ask him what exactly has happened but ron shook his head in manner that sid quite clearly not now and pointed a shaking finger to the wall opposite which he was standing, there on the wall was written in dark red blood, LORD VOLDEMOERT IS BACK
Ron took harry by the arm and dragged him into alice’s room, as harry had gone rigid. In his room harry saw the life less bodies of Neville and ginny as had been dumbledore’s……………. as has been of his parents’………………. Harry dropped down on his knees, he couldn’t take it any longer, tears were leaking out of his eyes, no matter how hard ron tried to pick him up again, harry couldn’t move away from there, he wouldn’t move away from there. And then someone, with a hand more soft came in and pulled him up. It was ginny, she took him outside and the moment harry went outside he saw a vast change in the living room, more than half of it had been blown apart “ HA-harry it w-was nece-cessary to do, if someone else, f-found out a-about voldemort being b-back , its n-not gonna be g-good” harmione was sobbing so hard she could hardly speak. Harry nodded to her silently and sent a patronus, a white and warm stag to kingsley. Within 15 min the whole of the auror department was there, everyone wanted to know what had happened, harry and ron told them everything while cutting of the part about voldemort. hermione and ginny had already been sent home.
After arranging the burial ceremony for the next day harry and ron went back to the godrics hollow at harry's place. The moment they went in ginny and hermione started asking them more of what had happened. " we've decided to arrange their funeral for tommorw." said harry. " but harry what about alice, when he's gonna wake up, he should know his parents are no more." said ginny wiping her face. " tommorow alice is not going to board the hogwarts express, he's going to apparate with me in hogsmeade after the funeral." harry replied and went into his room. " we should go too hermione, if hugo and roses wake up they r gonna iss us." said ron. "i brought them here they are with james, albus and lily" replied hermione " ron can u please share the room with harry, i want to be with ginny for some time" ron nodded silently then asked about hagrid and alice." alice's been put to bed with the other kids and hagrid's out in the yard having a firewhisky, he's broke" cried ginny. ron turned aroung and walked into harry's room. As he closed the door behind him he saw harry standing by the window. When harry heard ron he turned around looked at him full in the face and sat down on the bed his eyes still red, he looked at ron and saw a tear streaking down his long nose. Both of them sat like this then after what seemed like an hour, harry stood up and went back to the window. " Its you all over again isn't it" said ron quietly. " it may be ron but neville and luna........... i just can't believe it...i can't get over it....we met them in the wedding this morning and all of a sudden......how could something like that actually happen.....I ---" harry broke off, he didn't think he could continue. He was thinking about all the time they had spent with neville and luna. when ginny and luna were pregnant and lily and alice had born on the same dau luna had suggested a completely lunatic name for her and she wanted to name alice as sunshine but on neville's request she agreed with alice. On their wedding day, unlike other brides luna had worn a dark yellow dress with red linings and brown frill. and in combimation neville had to wear a completely red suit combine with red buckled boots. Harry remebered the time when they were at school how neville and luna had shown their courage in supporting harry, gone to the ministry with him to save his godfather that was a known mass murderer, knowing that if they were caught they would be expelled. And now harry again felt ashamed that he had once thought that instead of him it could be neville with a scar on his forhead and now neville's son was an orphan, the life that harry had once wished for neville had been written for his only son even without a scar it was a cursed life that that poor soul will have to live as an orphan.
THE HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
The next morning ginny and hermione got all the kids ready for school except alice, they had let him sleep, for the reason that they couldn't talk to him. Ginny and hermione were both very upset, and didn't reply to any of the kids when they asked as to why there mothers were bursting into silent tears every other second. Hermione took them all to the kings cross while ginny stayed home for the guests who were gonna arrive for the funeral at there place.
As the hogwarts express reached the school by nightfall, nobody needed to hurry. They had arranged the funeral for 12:00 o'clock that day. The funeral was to be held right outside the church of st. ottery catchpole near the burrow. ron had left early as he was going to put protective charms on the church and around it. after emptying the church of confused peaple who had gone there for prayers a minute ago and came out of it as the moment they sat foot in the church they felt a sudden urge to go to the bathroom.
Apart from that ron arranged the seats accordingly for everyone attending the funeral. He put up two chairs in the front a little ahead of the crowd and two big chairs a little behind the crowd for hagrid and grawp.He returned at harry's place half an hour before the funeral. Ginny and ron accepted people's condolences as the clock turned to 11.45 almost everyone had come to pay their respects and then head to the church where the funeral was held only the closest of them had stayed to see harry first and then leave for the funeral. Among them were george and angelina, mr. and mrs. weasley, percy, bill and fluer, charlie, hagrid, grawp(though he had to stand outside, he had stayed), everyone of them wanted to have words of condolence with harry who still wasn't out of his room. ginny had awoken alice and gotten him ready in his hogwarts robes but hadn't told him why wasn't he at his home or where were his parents not that he had asked. he did everything he was told quietly and kept staring blankly at nothing. Finally when harry wasn't seen out of his room with 5 to 12 everyone left except for ron, hermione and ginny(hermione had come back from the station and in the stress and sadness about neville and luna had forgotten to apparate and had walked all the way to godrics hollow apparently crying), and ron went into harry's room to see where actually had he gone after sending ted and victoire to the church who had come last and had not known most of what had happened not that they had an idea that everyone else also didn't know enough.
Ron went ionto harry's room and closed the door behind him, looked around and was surprised to see he wasn't there. Ron stood there for a whole min and then it came to him. He took out dumbledore's put otter that was ofcourse his after dumbledore's will. He said "harry" into it holding it like a mike and a ball of light emerged out of it and stood at some distance, ron took a deep breath and walked into it. When his feet was just about to touch the solid hard ground he flew 50 feet in the air and after covering a distance of what seemed like a distance of hundred yards fell on the grassy field of hogsmeade near the mountains. He was completey knocked out of breath, for a moment he laid there and then stood up, understanding dawing on him. Harry must be inside hogwarts and no one can apparate in or out of hogwarts. As ron had searched for harry the put outter had taken him to hogwarts straight and the protective charms had probably worked on him but they were a little too severe than usual, why did harry have to put them so strong? Thinking so ron apparated right outside the hogwarts' ground's gates, walked through the length of the ground and stood outside the actual gates of the castle. From there he sent a patronus inside, glistening white otter, to harry. Within seconds of that the door opened, ron went in to a welcoming entrance all as always and saw harry walking towards him but he wasn't the same harry as he had known, not in his blue black jeans and messy hair, he was wearing a long black cloak, his hair was plastered to his head and he was wearing a wizard's hat and now ron could see lines and a sudden tiredness on his face, only the glasses and his scar were the things that had not changed at all, a frown that till yesterday had been a smile and seriousness that never existed. But seeing him like that ron felt as if it were another dumbledore standing in front him, he felt a sudden respect ablaze in him. Before he could say anything harry said it" I know i can never take his place, replacing him would mean asking the fat lady to stop singing" he smiled weakly, it seemed as if he had not slept at night at all, how could he ron hadn't been able to do so himself. "Mcgonaglle took proper charge of the school after dumbledore, I don't know what i'm gonna do, I--" ron interupped him" harry you're the best they could have found after mcgonaglle, why r u thinking like that? It's all gonna be ok ok?" " yeah, I guess so" smiled harry. Ron smiled too. This time when he again started to say something harry cut across him" Ron you must be wondering what was i actually doing coming here today. I came here to see what cn be done about neville's place at this school and when i did come here i found out that not only is it neville but the transfiguration teacher has gone missing herself. I don't know whats going on but now is not the time to ponder over that but i need a favour from you and hermione." harry turned around not looking at ron" I would like you to take neville's place at hogwarts as a herbology teacher and hermione to take the place of proffessor andrea mayweather as a transfiguration teacher. would u do that for me ron? Look I know u've done alot to get that post at the ministry but I need u" harry turned around looked at ron his eyes into ron's. They stared each for a full second then ron nodded silently" But harry that's a second priority, right now we should be at neville's and luna's funeral".They arrived at the funeral at 12.30. Alex was sitting at the front chair alone, beside him a chair stood empty for harry. As harry and ron walked to the front everyone stood up, their hands folded in a manner of obedience. The man who had conducted ted's and victoire's wedding last night was standing beside two plane white tombs. Apperently the burial was done alex was sobbing, he had seen the faces of his parents for the last time and had realized they were never gonna come back. Hagrid's howling was prominent even if he was sitting at the very back. Harry approached alex and sat beside him. He patted him on the back. Alex turned around to look at him and hurriedly wiped his face, apperently he didn't want anyone to see that he was in tears. harry knew it too well to last him a lifetime. He had been like this when he had been his age. Harry looked at him intently but he looked away and at that moment the conductee of the funeral asked harry to come forward and say some nice words.Harry stepped forward unable to say anything. Seeing alex in tears had made him speechless. He stood there staring at everyone who had come to attend the funeral, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't control it. tears were running down his face and he was shaking a bit. He had a lump in his throat but he would have to keep a hand on himself as now he stood there not only as the famous harry potter the one who defeated the dark lord, not the one who had his face stuck to the chocolate frog cards, not only a very close friend of neville and luna but also as the person who now held the responsibility of thousands of young witches and wizards. He opened his mouth to speak and words came out. He had not prepared anything it was all coming directly from the heart but still they felt meaning less like it didn't matter at all what he was saying like it wasn't gonna make no difference. But he said it as it was a tradition and then the funeral came to an end. Everyone started approaching where harry and alex sat. Some people he knew some he didnlt but he kept knodding at the because as per that moment harry didn't know what else could he do.Not until he felt a hot current shot through his scar. It was burning again. Harry stood up so suddenly that people around him all started backing off. He motioned to alex to stand with him and follow him. they both walked a little way away from the crowd. harry made sure by the muffliato spell that no one could hear them then began speaking " Alex i know it's a very hard time for you and you have been very brave all this time. How could you not be? your parents were brave as i knew them." At the mention of his parents alex's eyes started leaking no matter how vigorously he wiped them the tears wouldn't stop. To let the moment pass harry conjured up two chais and motioned to alex to have a seat, he settled himself in front of him." you have been a very brave boy alex. I just want a favour from you. If can, can you recall what happened last night?" alex wasn't looking up at him, he was looking at his shoes but he started speaking " I was sitting in my room with mum and dad................and all of a sudden a man burst into my room........... mum and dad were sitting there talking to me and a second later they were..........they were dead" his eyes were watering again and he quietened and even harry didn't want to push him but he had to, there was no other option but to do so" and hagrid alex how did he come across you" asked harry " hagrid had been there but he was outside with grawp, he walked into my room looking for mum and dad. He walked in and saw the man who had killed mum and dad, he took out his wand but before that that man did something and hagrid was thrown backward then that man looked at me and vanished" " did u see his face alex" " no, he was wearing a hood" Alex quietend once more but this time harry had nothing to ask him but he did have something to say" Alex I know its been hard on you but you must move on, today is your first day at school and i want you to join all the students like were going to do when luna and nevlle were with us. I don't want you to think about the past, about anything that happened last night, i want you to know alex that whereever may luna and neville be thry are always going be around you" At this a tear ran down alex's cheek but this time he did not make any effort to wipe it."As your uncle harry and as your headmaster i advise you to find happiness even in the darkest of the times. Love and friendship are the virtues that help you find the light in such times, do you agree?" alex looked at him full in the face and harry saw a look on his face he knew too well. It was the same way he felt when dumbledore would tell him something like that. Nevertheless, he nodded and harry got up and so did alex. " Uncle ron is going to take you to hogsmeade station with side along apparition from there you will oin other first years and hagrid is going to show you the first glimpse of hogwarts" "Proffessor, do you know who killed my parents?" it was the first time alex had asked anything and the only reply harry could give him was " no". Alex walked away to wards ron, hermione and ginny leaving harry alone to ponder over what he had done. He could have told him about voldemort but he didn't. but how muchh did he know himself? And it didn't seem the right to tell him afterall 11 is too young an age to take in the bitter facts of life. Now harry realized how dumbledore had decided to keep harry awy from all that until he was old enough to understand it. Was he being dumbledore? keeping secrets. BACK TO HOGWARTS
Harry walked over to ron and told him to take alex and apparate inside the hogwarts express. At first he had thought it convenient that alex joined the other students from the station but it would be better if he could spend some time with the other kids. They'll be able to cheer him up and ron will explain to them what happened calmly and he was better with kids anyways they listened to him more than they did to harry. And at first harry had thought to take alex with himself but then thoughtthat it would look weird if a first year student apparated with the headteacher and then the questions of partiallity would rise. Harry told ron to go back to the godrics hollow at his place once he's dropped alex.
Then he went to hagrid who was still crying so loudly that he had now started scaring the guests. He patted him on the elbow as that was the highest point of his body he could reach." Hagrid please keep a grip on your self" said harry heavily." I ca-an'-n, i-i-its jus so sad. Its like seein' an-another you. Yeh know 'arry how good a coup--ple the-y the-y were an all an' I saw 'em Harry in fron' o' me they were lyin' there on the floor-----" he couldn't go on any further" Hagrid i understand but think about alex if adults like us will break down like this then how would he be able to take it all in. Hagrid wipe your eyes and put on the smile that you had when you came to take me to hogwarts and i want you to go to school and wait for the hogwarts express, alex will be there with the other kids and i don't want him to feel that there's anything out of ordinary. ok?" Hargrid sniffed and that harry took as a "yes" and moved on. He asked ginny to go to neville's house and grab alex's stuff from there, his books, robes and other stuff of use and send it to hogwarts directly then go home and wait for him. He told hermione to go to his home and wait for him there with ron and ginny. It was 4 in the afternoon and harry had to be at hogwarts by 7. He still had 3 hours and that would be enough to have a meeting with the board of trustees of hogwarts as he wanted to keep ron and hermione as teachers at hogwarts. It was necessary to have their word for it. He disapparated on that very spot and apparated right outside hogwarts' grounds. The moment he stepped into hogwarts' grounds his scar started burning. It had happened this morning as well and had kept burning till the moment he had stayed within the limit of the grounds and the castle but it was very weird. He hadn't told anyone about the morning incident because the funeral was the foremost priority but this was important too though not now. He went into the castle through the double doors, into the shining entrance hall. Harry went to the stone gargoyle outside his office rubbing his scar as it was burning constantly.
The moment the gargoyle saw him approaching he bowed his head and spoke" Welcome! Harry Potter the new headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry." Harry bowed too"Thank you". "What password would you prefer?""Do I have any choices?" "Not that I know of!" Harry roamed around a bit thinking. There was one password coming to him every now and then but he thought it was someone else's and keeping that would mean he was copying or something. Without thinking further he put the password "Lily" and said it out loud the gargoyle bowed again and started moving in spirals harry stepped on to the spiralling staircase that slowly emerged out of the ground. He moved in spirals for 30 seconds and then the gargoyle halted. Harry was standing in front of the office door he had so many times knocked to enter but now was the time to take charge and enter as the one incharge. Harry entered the office and looked around. It was more or less the same. The portraits of all the old headmasters surrounded the walls of the office including dumbledore's, snape's, and mcgonaglle's. The desk for the headmaster was there with one chair for the headmaster and other in front of it with the table in between for others, the very same on which harry had sat on to so many times but now was the time to move behind the desk and sit where dumbledore used to. Mcgonaglle's portrait now hung on the wall behind the desk. Fawkes' perch was still there(dumbledore's phoenix) but now held nothing. It lookrd weird without a bird. Harry swaped the prtraits of mcgonaglle and dumbledore.
"Welcome harry. Its good to have you back. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did" said dumbledore the moment he found himself looking down upon harry." Don't mind me asking but is there any particular reason that i find myself looking down upon the new headmaster from the wall behind the desk?"
" There is a reason but I have an important meeting now, I'll have a word with u abt that but later".
It was nearly 5 and harry still hadn't called the board members. He sent a patronus to all the members and within 5 minutes of that a white and hairy wolf appeared in front of harry and malfoy's smug voice sounded
" I'll be there in 20 minutes."
by 5.30 malfoy knocked on the door
" Enter"
Malfoy, pale pointed faced in a complete black suit came in.
" very sad.......... neville and luna......... unbelievable" malfoy started saying but harry didn't find his voice sorrowful at all"Well, you said you wanted to talk".
" Yes, have a seat. As you very well know that after neville the post of herbology remains to be alloted. Do you have any prefrences?"
"I'll need time for that, check with the other members........"
"We don't have time, the term starts in 2 hours and there will be no need for you to do anything. Why isn't anyone else here?"
"Not for you to worry about."
"I don't think it was a very smart answer draco"
"So, have you found anyone?" said malfoy looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Ronald weasley shall be perfect for the job"
"Huh! Starting the old school potter? Always taking sides"
"Watch your mouth! As headmaster i have full authority to asign anyone I prefer for the job. I called for the board members because it was necessary to inform them. If you have anything else to say say it now because I have no time to sit round and have chit chats with you"
Malfoy didn't say anything, but looked like he was preparing a retort somewhere as if being spontaneous was much too big for his thick head.
Harry went on
"Iam asigning ronald weasley as a permenant herbology teacher and hermione granger as temporary transfiguration teacher and I believe you know about proffessor mayweather, I want someone to look into this matter, search for her everywhere and anywhere and that includes the muggle world too. I want regular reports about tht. Any questions?"
"Don't you think you're rushing into matters a little too early? "
"What do you mean?"
"Wait till bolt hears that you're taking his best officers off job when a hogwarts teacher disappeared and one died----"
Harry cut across him
"that is not of your concern. I needed to inform the board and so I have done. rest assured I won't bother you for anything. Iam in a kind of a hurry if you don't mind I'll escort you to the grounds now. Thankyou."said harry standing up. Malfoy looked like he wanted to punch harry in the face but had controlled. He stood up and before harry had even reached to the office door he had strode out of it.
Harry could do nothing but sigh deeply. He looked at his watch it was round 6 and he still had somwhere else to go before hollow. Ignoring his scar he walked through the grounds for 15 min. The moment he stteped out of hogwarts his scar stopped hurting. Harry apparated from there into the ministry. Apparition was not allowed for anyone except the minister and the people very close to the mnister and inthose were included harry ron hermione and ginny and whoever did they bring with side along apparition.
Harry went towards the clinking and clanging lifts with. As he went people bowed to him some called him some waved at him. Harry stepped into one of those and the lift went up.
“Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff.”
Harry got off the lift and walked through the corridor. He went into the minister's office turned the lock and went in and found it empty. He looked at his watch it was 6.30. He couldn't waste anymore time. It would look weird if the headmaster won't be present at the start-of-term feast. Harry didn't know what to do but to wait and as he was doing so he looked around and saw a few files scattered on the minister's table. His eyes fell on a few of those and he thought he saw something like "murder" and "killed". He picked up a file and saw some documents stating the crime scene of a muggle house. The family of some petersons had been killed by the killing curse avada kedavra. Harry picked up another file it stated something about the behaviour of the giants. They hadn't been too friendly for the last 3 years. He took one more file and saw that someone had reported that they had seen an inferi. Harry put those files back on the table. It felt very strange, all this had happened and no one had known about it, Kingsley didn't even tell anything to hermione, after all she was the head of the law enforcement department and harry and ron were his best officers. Why weren't they told sbout all this?
Harry was just thinking about that when kingsley came in.
"Harry what are you doing here? You haven't even changed. Shouldn't you be at the fast at hogwarts. Its nearly 7."
"I-I needed a word with........................Kingsley what are those?"Harry was still thinking about not being told abut all those things when kingsley had addresssed him and had strated about ron and hermione then suddenly changed the track and said what he wanted to.
"what r u talkin' about?"
"These files. Why wasn't anyone told about that?" "Oh you saw those. well its good then that you did so. I wanted to tell but not to the whole department. I wanted you ron and hermione to look into this matter. I get this information from an inside source. i didn't want anybody else to know because I didn't want anyone to panic. Harry 20 years its been but i don't know the things that are going around make me feel like he has come back, not that there's any chance, we all saw him die, but these things something isn't right."
"If you wanted to then why didn't you tell us?"
"Things changed harry. You got selected for the hogwarts' headmaster and before I could mention anything to ron and hermione neville and luna..................................... I didn't know what to do. Breaking the news to you that stuff like this has been going on for three years now meant worrying you even more so and that I didn't want. Harry you have to concentrate on hogwarts now. After the attack on a hogwarts teacher that resulted in his death would mean hogwarts is in danger too and your the only protection hogwarts has. As per this stuff, don't worry about it, ron and hermione will take care of this. I'll tell them everything by tommorow"
"Bolt, ur-- I-- wanted to talk about that. I have hired ron and hermione at hogwarts as teachers. I--" Harry was about to say he needed someone to sort out the voldemort thing then realized that bolt didn't know about voldemort so stopped and changed the track as fast as possible"-- needed someone to fill into neville's and mayweather's places. And with the term starting so early I didn't have any choices nd ron and hermione agreed-------"Bolt cut across him" Without asking me? harry i need them"
"So do I bolt,please try and understand its a very hard time on all of us and I needed ro--------------"
"But the board did they allow you?"
" I called the board malfoy turned up and he has no problems about that. Bolt look you have a whole department here full of people ready to do anything you ask them to, please I need them"
" Harry I can't---"
This time harry cut across him" Enough! i don't have time for this bolt. I wanted to inform you and so I have done. Ron and hermione are joing hogwarts tonight and you cannot stop them without their assent. They are ready to leave the department and you hold no right----"
"Hold no right! damn it! Who the hell are you to tell me what I have the right to and what i don't have the right to do!"
"It is because of me, harry potter, who deafeted the dark lord, that you stand here kingsley or voldemort would have killed you with the rest of the order!"
"That's it potter! You have said enough! You want to take your cronies off the department go ahead! but remember the way you turned your back on the ministry, the ministry does't need you. From this day on we go to separate ways."
Harry just looked at him, his insides boiling. Bolt was strongly reminding him of fudge and that wasn't a good sign.
"I beleive you're not thinking straight right now. When you have calmed down we'll talk."
" Forget it potter. You can leave. From this day on you and your cronies are on your on. There's the door"Kingsley was actually pointing him out of the door.
Harry didn't need telling twice. He strode out of the door literary boiling. It was sharp 7 and he wasn't at the feast and he still needed to go to godrics hollow. He entered the atrium and disapparated. After 2 seconds of total darkness he found himself standing in his kitchen. He strode into the living room and found ron, hermione, and ginny sitting there. When they saw him they all stood up looking at him astonished.
"Harry what r u doing here? Shouldn't you be at the feast?" Ginny was the first one to ask.
"Ron did you------" Ron shook his head before harry had even finished.
"Fine. Ok. All of you the feast must have started by now, so just hurry up and pack""but harry-----"'Not now! I'll tell you afterwards""harry atleast change. You can't wear black"
Harry swished his wand and he was wearing a light blue cloak with a drak blue wizard's hat while the rest of them packed. They travellled by floo network and fell out of the deputy's chimney right into the deputy's office that held the name Tom Riddle. The moment hermione saw it she opened her mouth to ask but harry who hadn't seen anything held up a hand to queiten her and they all entered the already filled great hall from the back door to fill the teacher's table.
THE MYSTERIOUS RIDDLE
Harry filed in the headmaster's seat and ginny sat beside him while beside ginny sat ron and hermione. As they looked at the house tables they were already filled and the first years looking scared and out of place stood facing the teachers' table. Out of them lily and roses waved at ron and hermione and harry and ginny while alex stood silent by their side looking extremely sad.
As they waited with their breaths held hermione also looked curious. Usually the deputy performed the sorting ceremony. The stool was already placed there and so was sorting hat but there was no deputy to announce the names. As everyone looked for him, there he came tall, fair with jet black shoulder length hair, broad chested with light brown heavily lided eyes carrying a roll of parchment. Walking towards the three legged stool he looked so handsome in his dark black fit jeenz and white shirt. He had kept the first three buttons of his shirt open and he looked so attractive like that. A number of seventh year witches started hooting as he walked in. Tom Riddle was the only person in the hall looking so extremely good and also the only person who was dressed up like a muggle. Harry wore muggle dresses usually but as he wanted to represent himself as a headmaster he needed to dress like a proper wizard. Tom Riddle though didn't seem to think about the impression he was putting on the students. he stood beside the stool and started calling out the names.
"WELCOME! Welcome to hogwarts. those who r the permanent residents and those who r the new breed i welcome you all to hogwarts! Now let me welcome Proffessor Ronald Weasley as your new herbology teacher and Proffesor Hermione Granger as your Transfiguration teacher."
Everyone cheered loudly and hermione and ginny looked thunderstruk. Thankfully nobody noticed. As harry turned around to go back to the table riddle stood up and walked towards harry. He spoke to him loud enough for the whole hall to listen. He extended his hand to shake harry's"Welcome proffessor, Riddle Tom Riddle."
Harry stared at him blankly he was blank he didn't know what was going on but apparently riddle did. He was a mere teenager extremely handsome. He gave a wide smile to the students looking quite admirable.
" C'mon guys! Lets hear it for our new headmaster".
He summond a bottle of chaimpaign from the kitchen. As he flipped it open the whole hall burst into clapping and cheering for harry.
"Let's hear it for THE HARRY POTTER!" Everyone cheered even more so.
All through the feast riddle didn't sit on the table on the contrary kept moving among the students and greeting the new ones, meeting the old ones. He was especially famous among girls. The moment he was near enough they would grab the first oppertunity to kiss him but atleast he was mature enough for that he didn't let any student advance more than on his cheeks. He was always smiling and cheerful. The intensity with which he looked at others he looked just so sensual and irresistible.
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were observing him from the teachers' table. As the feast neared its end he came back and sat beside harry. Harry too curious about this guy had bent forward a bit to start a conversation when ginny tapped him on the shoulder and all ginny had to say was that it was midnight and they should end the feast. Harry said a few sweet farewells to the students and in a min there was the rushing of students. Tom stood up immediately and rushed towards the studentd guiding them to their houses helping prefects control peeves who still lived to create as much chaos as it was possible but peeves didn't seem to be a problem to riddle. He was one person whom peeves actually listened to. He talked peeves out of torturing the first years and sent him to teach a lesson to few out-of-control seventh years. Harry too tired to greet anyone else or any otther teacher went back to his office with ron, hermione and ginny behind him then realized that the deputy didn't know his password so he sent a patronus to him. While riddly arrived hermione and ron fetched all their luggage. Riddle's closeness to harry was unbearable. Whenever he was close to harry, his scar would burn so much he could hardly take it.
When Riddle arrived harry told him the pasword then told the password to the gargoyle out loud"Lily"
They all went up to his office. When they reached there harry addressed riddle
"I need to spend some time with you, now and alone."
"sure."
"one thing before that , where is my bedroom?"
"Oh, there's a trap door beside the cabinate. From their u'll go to your underground room"
"Thank you. Ron please wait for me downstairs. Hermione Ginny I want both of you to pay a visit to the gryffindor and ravenclaw tower." Understanding what he meant they went to check up on alex and lily. As they went out of the room harry offered riddle to sit down. and sat in front of him.
"so, who else is a teacher here. I know hagrid teaches care of magical creatures, trelawney though can't see properly but still sees the future of many students, hermione's joining tommorow to teach transfiguration, ron's joining tommorow for herbology, but who teaches charms, astronomy, history, muggle studdies,ancient runes, potions and defense against the dark arts and what do you teach riddle?"
"Well charms teacher just ranaway--""What do you mean by ran away? and when?" harry cut across him sitting up straight as a moment ago he was lying in his chair comfortably.
"Just now after the feast. You didn't stay and he finding the first opportunity he could, left."
"If you saw him why didn't you stop him?" sked harry actually astonished.
"I requested but he didn't stay."
"I don't know what's gonna happen now, I have substitude for the job, ginny, but the board may have issues, anyways next?" "Firenze teaches stronomy, binns still loves history, Miss louisana Patrick teaches muggle studdies, Proffessor may weather taught ancient ruins but as she is not here................, ""Hermione will do that.""Miss Padma teaches potions and I teach defense against the dark arts."
At that harry actually looked thunderstruck. Riddle snapped his fingers to bring harry back to reality."I'm not saying I'm a good one but trust me I ain't gonna blow up no classrooms! huh!" He laughed at his own joke and harry who didn't know what to do smiled weakly. When he stopped laughing he looked at harry in the face and harry thought his scar was gonna kill him. His hand automatically shot at his scar. Riddle noticed it and he knew exactly what had happened. His innocent looking eyes shot at harry'sscar and perhaps that was the reason that he looked down immediately. He didn't look up again but kept looking down till the end of their meeting. That was a relief for harry as the burning in his scar had lightened a bit. After a while riddle asked him for a very strange favour.
"Harry, I know its the first time we've met and all but I don't want to be rude or anything but I just want you to stop calling me riddle."
Harry looked up at him he wasn't sure what he had heard. It seemed absurd. Riddle didn't have his usual smile at that moment nor the light that twinkled his heavily lided attractive eyes.
"Just call me Tom." As he said he smiled widely that didn't quite reach his eyes. " Suits me better then riddle does. Well you know me, you know the castle, you know now about the teachers and its pretty late. I think I should leave." He said it standing up.
"I don't think I quite know you that well or not yet." replied Harry.
"What do you mean?" asked Tom.
"I mean, you haven't told me anything about yourself. Say for example which house you were in when you studied here?" Harry had asked the question on purpose.
"I was in Gryffindor." replied Tom relief swooping over him. "Oh, I thought you were in Slytherin." Harry's words drained the color from Tom's face.
"Why would you think that?" He asked looking anywhere but into his eyes.
"Marvolo."
"What?" Tom finally looked into Harry's eyes who's scar felt like it was on fire.
"He's in your name, the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin. If he's in your name you're probably Slytherin's great great grandson, you should have been in Slytherin."
"No, I don't think I would ever belong there. I always belonged with the Gryffindors. And yes, perhaps I am related to Maravolo Gaunt but I'd rather if you kept it quiet." He looked at Harry pleadingly.
Harry stared at him, he was asking Harry to keep his secret, who wanted to know all his secrets. "Why?"
"I was in Gryffindor, it'll be weird if anyone found out I was related to Slytherin. And anyways I would rather if you kept both Marvolo and Riddle out of my name." The seriousness he had said it with had somehow settled in Harry's office and perhaps Tom felt it too because he suddenly smiled widely exposing all 32 of his teeth. "Neither of them go with my image, I prefer Tom alone."
Harry nodded. He knew why he wouldn't want to be called Marcolo but he didn't know why he didn't want to be called Riddle and he knew he wouldn't simply tell him although Harry had other questions. "May I ask you one more thing?"
"You may ask me anything you wish to, your the headmaster aren't you. What is it?"
"Shouldn't you wear wizard robes? The students might not get a very good impression by your way of dressing."
"What's the difference harry? We are the same aren't we? we and the muggles".
Harry didn't reply anything but couldn't help smiling. Harry though noticed one thing riddle still didn't look at him. He kept looking here and there then wishiing him a good night walked out of the office. A NEW START AND NEW SURPRISES
As Tom left hermione and ginny entered the office. Harry who hadn't seen them walking in was still smiling to himself.
"wow! you're actually smiling honey!" Ginny walked across the room and hugged him tightly. Meanwhile ron came out of their bedroom.
"How's alex? and lily is she ok?"Harry asked.
"Lily was missing you and was still thinking about your scar. according to her your scar exists as long as she has seen your face" replied ginny smiling harry smiled too.
"Alex is ok. He is ofcourse trying to settle in. He was crying when I went in to see him."a flare of lightness in the air just vanished.
"Harry did you find out about riddle?" Hermione asked him breaking the ice.
"I didn't ask him any thing that might suggest that we know that he is related to or either is voldemort. But hermione he's different. You know what he asked me, he said call me tom and whem I told him to wear wizard's robes he said that it didn't matter as according to him muggles and wizards were of same dignity. Had he been voldemort he would never have said that even if he wanted to impress me."
They all sat down on the chairs conjured by harry around the headmaster's table with dumbledore looking down at them. After neville's and luna's death it was the first time that they had gotten time to sit down and talk about what had happened. But the moment they sat down harry looked at his watch and saw that it was 3 in the morning. They had to have some sleep before begining their work tommorow. Harry just told ginny that she would be teaching charms from tommorow and without further ado they all went to bed. Next morning dawned with alot of activity. Ron, Heermione and Ginny went down to breakfast to see Tom distributing timetables. They didn't know when would he get out of those jeenz as he was wearing a dark blue jeenz and a black body fit T-shirt with a collar and again had kept open the first three buttons. As they wondered that they got a pretty big jolt as harry walked in the hall wearing the same dress . The same kind of cream coloured body fit T-Shirt and dark black jeenz. Usually when riddle walked into the hall there were whispers but this time when harry walked in you couldn't call them whispers, there were gales of laughter, giggles and sudden out bursts of shock. Ron who had just put a whole boiled egg in his mouth spluttered it out on the table in shock.
Harry looked 20 years younger in jeenz and T-shirt as he had worn those for the first time in a long time in public. Harry had worn muggle clothing in front of ron, hermione and ginny but exposing to the whole wizarding world how he really liked to dress meant exposing his views about the muggle-wizard relationship. But last night what Tom had said had made an impact. He had only then taken the dicision to wear the clothes he actually preferred to.
“Good morning, It’s nice to see all the smiling faces. I believe professor Tom has already distributed your timetables, I just want to add an announcement. Proffessor Ginny Potter will be teaching you charms.” And with that harry wa;ked to the teachers table and sat down at his headmaster’s chair.
Hermione who was sitting right beside him started on him the moment he sat down.” Harry! What r u mad! You know how the students r going to take it? And the board members? And the rest of the wizarding world? And your repute? You r the harry potter. You can’t do stuff like this! Harry! Harry! “Harry who had turned around to see her when she had started speaking was still staring at her and had given no reaction at all to what she had said as he had not heard anything properly, lost in his own thoughts. When harmione shouted out his name he just nodded and standing up left the hall and went up to his office.
Harry had just sat on his chair when the bell rang for lessons. He turned around his chair to look at Dumbledore .
Dumbledore though was nowhere to be seen. Harry called out for him and he sidled back in view.
“Good morning harry. How may I be of help to the new headmaster?”
“Where have you been Albus?”
“I’m sure you’ve met that boy tom. I’ve been keeping an eye on him. His behaviour no doubt shows his good nature but his name does not.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’m confused Albus. I don’t see ny way of voldemort being back and yet…………….”
“What do you mean voldemort’s back?
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. You of course know what happened to Neville and luna. Me, ron Hermione and ginny were the first one’s to reach there after hagrid took alex outta there. There on the wall with drk red blood was written that lord voldemort is back and hagrid says he has seen him. Hagrid of course hasn’t seen the face but he says that it was a hooded figure and it used the killing curse.”
“But that is absurd. If that’s the question I don’t think tom can be suspected.”
“Neither do I. His behaviour is too different than that of voldemort’s”
“It’s not only that. It’s about the evidence. Tom went to Tedd’s wedding and he came back pretty early. Before anything had happened. He was in the castle all the time in his room. I went to the fat lady’s portrait. She’s in his room now. He kept her, says he likes the way she sings. Makes her blush so hard she looks like a tomato. He was in his room though. He couldn’t have done anything.”
“Well, that is absurd. But that does explain one thing, why my scar hurt at the wedding.”
“Your scar hurt?” “Well, that is absurd. But that does explain one thing, why my scar hurt at the wedding.”
“Your scar hurt?”
“ Yes, and it hurts whenever me and tom, we’re close."
"But how can the connection open up all over again? Harry how long has your scar been hurting?"
"It hurt the first time on the night before lily was joinng hogwarts"
"Hmm. I need sometime to think about that. In the mean time i think u should talk to tom. Learn more about him. See where he comes from. His name's not a coincidence."
"Have u tried that?"
Dumbledore smiled"would i not have harry? I have. He is too clever to escape, turn over or ignore your questions."
"By the way was he at neville's and luna's funeral"
"Of course. He was a close friend of neville's. I saw him when he heard the news. Miss padma told him. To her he only nodded. I saw him in his room though. The quietness and tears flooding out of his eyes expressed his love for neville. That was the time when i personally decided he might not be vlodemort. But my personal thoughts may not coincide with the reality."
"Tom's personality does not allow us to think that he's voldemort but voldemort was like that. In everyone's eye. Top of every class. How come he became the deputy head at such a young age? Last night he told me he graduated 4 years back. That means he is 21. "
"Mcgonaglle trusted the boy and I daresay no one else was competent enough for the job."
"And the board, didn't they have a problem with such a young deputy?"
"I don't know about the rest but malfoy, he is the representive of the board was exceptionally happy when mcgonagalle told him she wanted to hire tom at school.
"Malfoy's acting weird. I didn't like the way he talked to me when I told him I was hiring ron and hermione here. He sounded rude, indecent. I believe he has forgotten we saved his life""And its not just Malfoy. Malfoy was pretty happy because of it but Tom himself wasn't. He refused for the job in the first place but mcgonaglle convinced him. Tom was very reluctant to take the place."
"Why?"
"Maybe he had the same reason as I had to refuse to become the minister of magic."
"Maybe........."
"Hmm. Do you have anymore leads on this voldemort matter harry?"
"I don't know much but kingsley told me round the time my scar hurt the first time strange stuff started happeneing. There were some muggles killed. And you must know about Andrea Mayweather, she disappeared. Neville and luna died."
"It seems like we're facing trouble bigger than we expect."
"But Albus you know he can't be back. He died that very night."
"He can't be back but all this is very mysterious. Atleast we've one lead and that is Tom. You know what harry just try to find out more about him its better we know as much as possible about him."
"Hmm....... I think--_" Harry broke off. Somebody had just burst open the door. Harry turned around his chair to see who it was. It was Malfoy again.
"What the hell is going on potter! If you r the headmaster doesn't mean you're gonne do whatever you like! What do you think it is a family fair where you can have a gettogether according to your prefrences. This is school potter and what the hell r u wearing? Your're the headmaster of this school. You've been handed the resposibility of hundreds of witches and wizards. You can't behave like this!" "Malfoy, how nice to see you. Have a seat." Malfoy looked at him like he was going to eat him alive. Then settled himself in front of harry."Now as per your questions eveything is going fine. I'm not doing anything according to my prefrences. I'm doing everything in favour of the students. That very day when the school's supposed to start I'm told that the transfiguration teacher's gone missing. The charms teacher runs away after the start-of-term feast. The herbology teacher is no longer with us. How is it that you expect me Malfoy to find teachers at such a short notice? Nevertheless I've arranged the best teachers and Malfoy" Harry bent forward looked into Malfoy's eyes with his dark green ones " If you have any doubts my teachers are ready for it. You don't trust me, call the rest of the board and we hold a test and we see who's good at what. Do you buy that Malfoy?"
"I don't have time for this tosh potter. The rest of the board may not want to argue the harry potter but i'll say what's true!" Malfoy stood up and seemed to have forgotten that the door was supposed to have been opened by the handle kicked it open and not realizing anyone could be outside ran straight into Tom.
"Hey, watch where you goin' mr. malfoy. What's gotten into him?"Tom addressed harry, whose hand had again shot to his scar and tom noticed it. He didn't look at his face just sat on the chair speaking to the walls and the table.
"Dunno. You tell me. What brings you here. It's lunch time. Shouldn't you be in the great hall?"
"I should be but i wanted to see u. The thing is that whenever a headmaster is made at hogwarts we and by that I mean the staff award him a phoenix and officially he gets to own the school property."
"What do you mean by officially owning the school stuff?"
"You simply get command over each and every nook and corner of the school and you also get a party. It should have happened yesterday but neville's and luna's tragedy didn't allow us that so we're gonna arrange that on halloween." "So, how can I be of any help?"
"You don't have to be. I just came here to ask you if you have seen the caretaker, duds, I didn't see him anywhere in the castle after the feast. I need him to begin cleaning the castle so the decorations begin."
"The caretaker? Well I don't even know him. I'll call the castle ghosts they'll be able to find him." Harry stood up. They walked out of his office and went to the entrance hall. There harry summoned all the ghosts of the castle and told them to find the caretaker then"who is it anyway?"
"He's a sqiub. You know he sometimes talk about you too."
"Well I see nothing surprising about that. Who doesn't talk about me?"
"Yeah but still he seems very grateful to you."
"What's his name?"Harry asked pure out of curiosity.
"Dursley, Dudley Dursley. I call him duds though. Suits him better."
Harry stood there thunderstruck. It was a very big blow that had hit him. "Tom what else do you know about this guy dudley?"
"He says he lived in private drive. I think I 've heard you used to live there too. You never saw him there?"
Harry who was thinking about dudley said completely absentmindedly " Oh you don't know how better do I know him. He's my cousin."
THE ERA OF DOUBTS AND SUSPICIONS
Tom stared at harry apparently unable to say anything. After a moment though "He's your cousin?"
Harry nodded.
"That's why he keeps praising you."
"He praises me?"
"What else do you expect him to do?"
"Nevermind."
Harry stood there in silence with tom staring at him disbelievingly. Within 5 minutes sir nicholas propington de mimsy and the fat friar both came back with a thick guy half a foot taller than harry looking almost like a body guard in a large brown cloak looking scared as he had done years back when the dementors had attacked him. As the fat friar and sir nicholas returned dudley came forward and stopped right in front of harry.
Harry who couldn't believe his eyes took complete circle round dudley to observe him properly. Finally he stood in front of him looked into his eyes then hugged him. Tears were running down his eyes. Why, he didn't know. It wasn't like that he had loved dudley or anything but seeing him after such a long period of time was a little emotional. He had though so many questions to ask him. He took him to his office with tom behind them though at reaching the gargoyle tom himself turned around and left harry and dudley alone. Harry sat on his headmaster's chair while dudley sat on the chair in front of him looking down at his shoes. Finally harry broke the ice.
"Where were you? I didn't see you at the feast and tom said he couldn't find you since yesterday."
"I was down in the kitchens with the house elves, the--they needed some help with feast." Said dudley with what looked like alot of effort. Harry knew it was a lie. For one the elves don't need help with what they do and for another harry knew dudley was no good at all at making things at that very time.
"The feast got over last night why were u there afterwards?" "I....I.....uh..um oh I didn't go there for the feast I went there because I.........."He looked up at harry full in the face"because I didn't wanna see you" saying that he stood up and turned to leave. Harry stood up too.
"Still hate me don't you?"
Harry's words incredibly made an impact. Dudley turned around to see him and all of a sudden burst into horrible tears. Harry walked to him and patted him on the back not knowing what to do. Dudley hiccupd and harry looking at his state conjured a glass out of thin air and filled it with water from his wand tip. He had expected dudley to shout or either run away from him but he did none and surprisingly didn't react at all and the glass from harry calmly when harry offered him so. Then after a minute or so he spoke.
"I don't hate you. I didn't wanna see you because I felt guilty. The way I used to behave with you. I treated you like scum and I'm sorry for that. My behavior with you was not fair and I now realize how it must have been for you feeling singled out being an orphan. I can tell that now how it feels having no parents......." a tear slipped down dudleys cheek.
"Dudley............." Harry hugged him. "Sit down. When did it happen? Why didn't you inform me?"
"I couldn't find you. Dad passed away 5 years back and mum after 6 months of that. She couldn't live without dad. But they lived their life well and died in peace."
Harry for whom it was a bit of a blow just nodded then"Dudley tom told me you r a squib. Are you?"
"Well yeah. Mum told me."
"Aunt petunia? She knew that you r a squib?" "Yeah. She told me that very day when we left private drive. I couldn't do anything then so I lived my life like a muggle not that it changed anything. I'm a muggle anyways with the difference that I can see dementors and am allowed in magical territories like wizards are but one day after dad's death mum told me to find you and give you this." He put his hand in his pocket and took out an envelope sealed neatly by a tape. He handed both of those to harry. Then" I went to kings cross to see if I could enter the magical world from there. I did it, went through the barrier and found platform 9 and 3/4. I boarded the hogwarts express and came here. Hagrid recognized me at once and took me to professor mcgonaglle. I intended to tell her that I wanted to see u but couldn't do it as I thought u might not want to see me. Afterall u never returned and then the guilt of my misbehavior covered me so I didn't tell her that instead I told her that I am a squib and am looking for a job. She made me caretaker here and I took her and hagrid's word that they wouldn't tell u I was here." Dudley stopped for a second while harry watched him bewildered. Then"I must return to the castle. I will be required."
"Yeah, tom was looking for you. He needed some help with the decorations of my welcome party at halloween"
Dudley stood up and turned around to leave. He had reached to the office door when harry stopped him."Dudley"
He turned around"Yeah?"
They both looked at each other and harry didn't know how to explain it but somehow he felt connected to dudley for the first time in his life and he knew that dudley had felt the same.
"Thank you." After dudley had left harry tore open the envelope. Inside was a letter from Aunt petunia.
Dear Harry,
I know I haven't been much of an aunt. But today I write u becoz I may not get a chance to see you again. Time has flown all these years but I never forgot about you. How could I? You reminded me of my sister every time I looked at you. Your eyes are exactly like that of your mother's.
I want to tell you that I always loved you. I just never expressed it as vernon did not appreciate your relation with the wizarding community and also because of dudley. I never mentioned it but I'd have loved to have a life like that of your mother's. That's the reason I was ever so jealous of her. I always envied her and I didn't want my son to experience the same thing all his life like I did. So I kept him away from you. Always told him your were not at all better than him so he'd never envy you.
That night when both of you got attacked by dementors dudley told me what he had seen. I realized it that very moment that he was a squib. Lily had told me about squibs that they were allowed in the wizarding community but they did not have any powers. I told him so when we left private drive because for the first time I had seen concern in his eyes for you, as a brother.
I send you this locket as it belongs to you.
With Love,
Aunt Petunia. Harry folded the letter and put it into his jeenz's pocket his face wet with tears then he opened up the locket. It had a picture of his mother and father with a baby in between them. Harry was shaking uncontrollably. He sat on his chair with his face in his hands. Somebody knocked. Harry straightened up in his chair, wiped tears off his face. And said: "Enter"
Ron, Hermione and Giny entered looking extremely exhausted. harry who had sat up straight a moment ago sank back ino his chair at their sight.
They asked him what had happened and he told them about dudley, showed them the letter and the locket and told them everything that dudley had told him. After harry had finished about dudley hermione brought something else to light.
"Harry what's going on? First of all you tell us we're going to be teaching us without any proper preparation then we come here and find a tom riddle waiting to greet us. What is going on?!"
Seeing hermione slightly alarmed harry spent the whole of the lunch break explaining them what had happened and also told them about dumbledore's assumptions. Now they also knew everything.
Harry had though explained them everything so plainly and clearly that he had expected to see pretty much convinced faces that tom was afterall a nice person but instead he found ron and ginny a bit confused a bit assertive and in hermione's case fully confident that tom was the new voldemort. When harry tried to explain to her that tom was a nice person she turned on him.
"Harry you still don't understand do you? Don't you remember that voldemort had been able to fool the biggest of the wizards even the daughter of Ravenclaw and he's doing the same now." "Hermione you don't understand I have a feeling he's not bad he can't be, I don't know why but I feel like that"
Hermione who had been sitting suddenly stood up and aproached harry. She was looking closely at him.
"Hermione what!"
"Just one second harrry"
Hermione took out her wand. Harry stood up. She pointed it at him and said "revelion incantetum" A wave of hot air washed over him like that from a blow drier and he turned a light shade of blue for a moment or two then turned to his normal colour.
Hermione went back to her seat a little disappointed. Harry now turning red not because of any spell but because of anger. He sat back on his chair staring at hermione angrily then
"What the hell do you think hermione? I'm the hogwarts' headmaster. You think I wouldn't have known if I was under a spell or not! For heaven's sake hermione! All I'm saying is that I have a feeling that tom has nothing to do with voldemort."
"And his name? What would you consider that as?"
"What do you think hermione?"
"A coincedence I suppose!"
It was a heated argument which niether of them wanted to give up.
"Iam trying to sort that out hermione. Iam not sitting with my hands folded but tom's personality doesn't allow me to think he could be as cruel as voldemort."
"Fine. If you think that you can stick to it. I'll keep a tail on him. Who else is with me?"
"Hermione its not about who's with who but I think keeping an eye on him is not a bad option." Ron said
"Yeah. I think hermione's got a point harry. Voldemort had fooled best of the wizards. It would be too easy for him changing your view." Ginny said.
Harry was a bit taken a back by Ron's and Ginny's reply but somewhere he thought as Ron said it wasn't a bad option keeping an eye on him all he wanted was them to look at the other side of the coin too but he thought to let them know tom themselves. He agreed with them though
"Just be careful. Don't let him know he's being followed."
HALLOWEEN PARTY
A month at hogwarts and harry was feeling good already. Things were as it seemed like under his control. Apart from controlling students to stop them from entering the forbidden forest ( hagrid did that but due to his old age harry had asked dudley to help him out who naturally had problems with a lot of things), helping out ron with his classes, convincing the board of directors that ron, hermione and ginny were very good teachers, everything was fine.
Alex had settled down well enogh and so had lily. Harrry was monitering alex's behaviour. He knew how one felt when they feel like being singled out. James was one student in the whole school who like harry his father, like james his grandfather had a drawer full of files filled with punishments. And Albus was the best student in the class. Each day at lunch half the teachers would twll harry how good was albus and half of them would tell him he should keep a hand on james. But to harry and as sirius would have said both were living up to harry's name.
A few things were still at edge. Though he had asked malfoy to look into the matter of Miss Andrea mayweather he hadn't gotten any reports from him. Niether had hermione had gotten any leads with tom. In the hustle and bustle of the castle hermione would follow him at any instant she would get time and had also asked ron to do the same. Ron had found a more bossy way of doing so. he would send students after him. Still hermione hadn't been able to find anything weird about tom. Ginny had finally agreed with harry as she had communicated with rom more often. Ron, harry knew also liked the guuy but he didn't want to leave hermione alone so, though relictantly, was putting up with hermione's detective tricks.
Surprisingly for harry his scar had stopped hurting even when tom was standing nose to nose with him looking him eye to eye. It was weird and very absurd. hermione was taking fulll advantage of the library. She would spend the night hours in there searching about harry's scar but she still wouldn't agree with harry. Dudley had almost become a friend to harry and his friends. Everything seemed to be going well.
Harry though was still trying to figure out tom's name. Hermione was afterall right it couldn't be a coincidence. But instead of following tom round the place he thought he should talk it out of him. He had spent many hours with tom each day just to find out about him. But as Dumbledore had said tom was intelligent enough to skip, ignore or turn over his questions. Harry had found out almost everything about him. He was born in London and as much as he remembered he was an orphan. He lived in the orphanage by the age of nine and then his orphanage got closed out so all the orphans had to leave. For 2 years he worked as a labourer and lived on streets and then he received the letter for Hogwarts. He had since than enjoyed a comfortable life. Harry had not been able to find more than that but within these two months he had known how pleasant was tom.
Tom though was involved in other things. The halloween party was 2 days away. Tom along with the other teachers was working on that. Ginny, Hermione and Ron ofcourse being teachers knew everything but had kept the surprise for harry.
On the day of halloween harry woke up to find the castle decorated for halloween. The great hall had its large orange pumpkins hovering over the four house tables.
Harry wished everyone a very great halloween, met all the teachers and sat down on his chair, expecting to see tom who nowhere to be seen. Harry waited for a few minutes then stood up. He had gotten used to his company and couldn't wait without seeing his smiling face. He went to his room and saw him standing by the window lost in deep thought with a frown on his face that he had not known. He knocked. Tom turned around and the moment he saw harry his face split into a wide smile and before harry had said anything hugged him, wished him a great halloween and walked out of the room saying loudly something about a few preparations left. Harry was not able to judge tom's behaviour so he also walked out of the room and went back into the great hall. As he sat on his chair he saw tom roaming around the great hall in his usual cheerful manner.
After deciding it might have been a coincidence he finally gave up thinking.
Harry's welcome ceremony was to be done before the feast. Tom wearing a completely white shirt with a dark blue jeenz walked up to the teachers' table. He was carrying a large red and gold bird in his hand, a phoenix. Along with large orange pumpkins, big black bats and ghosts all over the great hall the great hall was also decorated with the hogwarts banner with a large letter H in the middle and a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle surrounding it. Harry stood up and the great hall clapped in his honour. Tom stepped forward and put the phoenix on harry's hand then waved his wand and a crown appeared on harry's head. Harry bowed to everyone in the hall.
"Its a great honour to be the headmaster of the school founded to educate the witches and wizards of the age. I thank all of you here to have worked so much for this event especially our deputy tom, thank you." Harry sat back down on his chair.
All the teachers said words about him. In the end tom stepped forward with a champaign
"This" he shook the bottle vigorously, "is for the man who deafeted the dark lord" and shot the cork open. Champign flew everywhere. He conjured up two glasses out of nowhere and poured champaign in them then walked upto harry who stood up, handed him a glass and "Hogwarts has had great headmasters, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva Mcgonagalle and to date Harry Potter." He raised his glass and so did harry,"To Harry Potter!"
CHANGE OF TONES
The feast began and harry along with all the teachers settled down. Again he turned to tom to talk to him but he wasn't there.
"Harry have you seen hermione?" Ron asked him.
"No". Harry replied.
Ron sat down beside him. They talked for a while then they saw hermione looking worried alking briskly towards the teachers' table. Harry was strongly reminded of professor mcgonaglle. She fell in a chair beside ron and said something in his ear then stood up and went out of the great hall from the back door. Ron told harry
"She's weird. She just asked us to leave the great hall from the back door she also said we shouldn't leave together, we should leave one by one."
"Did she give you any reason?"
"No."
Harry stood up"I'll go first, you and ginny follow us by and by."
He left the hall from the back door and found hermione right behind it"Hermine what's---"
"Not now harry."
About 5 minutes later both Ron and Ginny came out. It was only then that hermione spoke"Follow me."
They all followed her she took them into the hogwarts grounds right outside the castle doors.
She took out a piece of paper from her cloak and read of it out loud " 'Meet me in the forbidden forest at 9.' I found this in tom's room. I followed him from the great hall. It's 9, tom should be here any moment.
They all took out their wands and put a disillusionment charm on themselves and stood by the castle doors.
After a minute Tom came out of the castle doors looking so as servere as they had never seen him. His usually shining eyes had lost the colour. Tom walked towards the forbidden forest heavily. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione followed him as quietly as possible. Tom walked into the forest, he went deeper and deeper into it then reached into a clearing and took out his wand. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione took out theirs in case Tom knew he was being followed. Harry who was looking straight into Tom's face could see by his expression that what he was doing was half heartedly. Pain and sorrow could be seen on his handsome face. He swished his wand and suddenly everything went very very quiet. Tom must have cast the muffliato charm so nobody could hear what was going on but it didn't make any difference. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione would watch everything it wouldn't matter much if they couldn't hear anything. Tom, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stood there in silence not even daring to breath.
After a couple of minutes from behind a nearby bush came out a hooded figure, in a long black cloak. The hooded figure had said something in whose reply Tom was saying something. What they didn't know. They couldn't hear it. It was lik watching a silent movie. But whatever was being said wasn't probably nice because Tom looked extremely angry. He pulled out his wand again and pointed it straight at the hooded figure but after a second lowered it.
"Lower your wand, Tom. " The hooded figure hissed at him. "You know we have company."
Tom lowered his wand. If only Harry hadn't followed him. "I came here alone."
"True...I cannot see them, but I can feel their presence, Tom."
"What do you want from me?" Tom asked the hooded figure almost desparate to leave now.
"Sancturay..."
"After what you did to Neville and Luna, just forget about it."
"Oh, them, they aren't of the worth you're giving them, Tom. Weak, blemishes on the name of our community...."
"Shut up!" Tom had raised his wand again.
"Lower your wand...or Harry Potter and his friends will suffer the consequences of your actions."
"If you dare touch them......."
The hooded figure laughed a cruel cold laugh. "Meet me later, Tom. At 5 in the morning, when you're alone."
It seemed like that a heated argument was going on between the two. Then all of a sudden Tom turned around and marched out of the clearing and the hooded figure disappeared behind the very bush it had come from behind. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione went back into the castle. Hermione said it was better if two of them went back in the great hall at once and then the other two would follow after sometime and perhaps the other two would keep an eye on Tom. So it was decided that Harry and Ron would go to the great hall to join the feast while Hermione and Ginny would follow Tom.
Harry enetered the great hall completely absent mindedly and didn't realize where he was until he saw Tom enter the hall with his twinkling eyes and million dollar smile.
The moment he entered the hall he got surrounded by students and again reached the teachers' table at the end of the feast. He sat down beside Harry. Harry turned towards him and asked him
"Where have you been Tom? I missed your company all through the feast."
"Ah! You know the studensts. They held----"
Harry cut across" No before that. You weren't in the hall. Where were you?"
"Well, uh, ahem, I, you know, thought could sort it out myself and you wouldn't need knowing anything but now that you've asked I can't lie to you now, can I? I heard a couple of 7 year girls were making love potion down in the dungeans. I went downstairs to tell them off and they tricked me into taking some. It took me so much time to take it off. I'm never going chasing girls on my own again."
Harry was sitting in his room with Ginny by his side. He couldn't believe Tom had lied in his face. Hermione was right Voldemort had fooled the best of the wizards and perhaps he was doing the same now.
Harry woke up at 5 in the morning. Last night he was so lost in thought that he hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep.
He felt like an idiot, believing Tom. But now things were gonna change. He wouldn't believe a word Tom would say to him. Harry wore his frehly laundered jeenz after taking the shower and went up to his office. The phoenix that had been given to him last night was standing on the very same perch Fawkes used to sit at. He was looking weary and a lot of its feathers were falling. Harry knew what was going to happen but before that he wanted to give it a name. He turned around his chair to face Dumbledore who was again not there.
Harry called out to him and Dumbledore sidled back in his frame saying he was busy keeping an eye on Tom. Harry who had called Dumbledore for another reason launched in the explanation of what had happend last night. Dumbledore was shocked to know that. He told Harry that he was feeling something wasn't right because Tom had left the room at around 5 and usually the fat lady needs shouting to wake him up. He came back in his room again and he had even changed his clothes. He was wearing a dark green cloak. When Dumbledore had asked him he hadn't replied and left the room. It was the first time he had seen him wearing a cloak since he's become a teacher. Harry though asked him what he needed to.
"Can I call this phoenix Fawkes. I really liked Fawkes."
"As you wish, headmaster."
Harry didn't know what was going on but he intended to know. He went down to breakfast with Giny, Ron and Hermione. The moment he saw Tom Harry was a bit taken aback. Tom was sitting at the teachers' table wearing a dark green cloak as Dumbledore had mentioned quite alone. Harry went to the table and sat beside Tom at the headteacher's chair. He looked at Tom and felt something changed. Tom wasn't his self, he wasn't smiling, he wasn't talking unnecessarily and his eyes were plain without its usual shine. It was Harry who finally broke the ice
"Good Morning Tom."
Tom who seemed to have been lost in deep thought looked up and smiled. It wasn't his usual display of teeth but a pair of lips tht curled up to show a smile "Good Morning."
"What's up? Changed your views?" Harry interrogated pointing at his clothes.
Tom stared at him for a whole minute before answering "Uh-hen just changed my clothes."
"Any particular reason?"
"What's it to you anyways?"
"I'm your headmaster and furthermore a good friend and perhaps a curios person."
"Everything else was in the wash and I couldn't find a decent muggle to borrow clothes."
"Ha ha that was funny. You could've come to me. I would've lent you my clothes happily."
"They wouldn't fit would they?"
"ok."
Harry was surprised to talk to Tom his uaual cheerfulness was missing. He bent forward to talk to him again when the bell rang and Tom stood up to leave for the classes. Harry went back to his office. He couldn't see what was going wrong but something was wrong. By lunch time he found out what was wrong. Draco came in to see him.
"You asked me to report about Professor Mayweather. She was found dead in her own apartment. The ministry officials found her body last night."
Harry was thunderstruck to hear that. Now he knew exactly what was going on. He called Ginny, Hermione and Ron in his office during lunch and told them everything.
"Its him Hermione. You were right. Tom is Voldemort. He killed mayweather and last night that man we saw him with, he must be one of his deatheaters informing him that the dead body of his latest victim was found. Thats why he was so angry. Thats why he's been acting more wizard than he has in past two months. Celebrating his reign over power, changed his clothes, his view apparently those he had prentended of having to impress me."
"Harry r u sure this is it?" Hermione asked, looking a bit taken aback by Harry's sudden conclusions. "I mean, it could be something else--"
"What else Hermione? You were right since the begining, I was the fool one. Very idiotically I believed whatever he told me. Not anymore though."
"What do you mean?"Ron intervened.
"I'm going to confront him and make him confess"
"With what?"Hermione stepped forward.
"What do you mean?"
"Harry you have no proof and he's not going to confess just like that"
"He's nothing compared to me. I'll duel with him."
"Harry this is a school not a battlefield."Ginny interuppted.
"So what is it that I should do? This is the only way that I can see and if you can see anything any better than this then tell me because he's not spilling anything out and that I have seen in the past two months I spent with him."
There was a long silence after this. After a while it was Ginny who broke the ice.
"Fine. But we'll be with you. He won't see us. Agreed?"
Harry who didn't have anything to say to this nodded. They planned the duel in Harry's office. The students wouldn't be in danger that way. Harry would call Tom in his office at midnight and confront him. Ron, Hermione and Ginny would be standing nearby Harry under the disillusionment charm.
At midnight sharp Harry sent a patronus to Tom who knocked at Harry's door a minute later.
"Enter."
Tom entered wearing a black cloak and looking immensly frustrated. The moment he entered his eyes flickered where Ron, Ginny and Hermione all stood uder the disillusionment charm, all with raised wands. He turned to Harry who motioned to him to sit down.
"Have a seat Tom."
He sat down than
"Any particular reason that u called me in your office at this hour?" Tom asked the moment he sat down.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Where were you last night?"
"Where do you think I would be?"
"It would be better if you answered my question and not ask me another one in reply."
"In the castle."
"During the feast?"
Tom looked at Harry so stangely it was like someone else was sitting there and not Tom.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Why r u hiding it?"
"Why should I not?"
"Because as headmaster it is my right know evrything."
"What if I don't tell you?" Tom took out his wand.
Harry stood up and took out his wand. Tom stood up too.
All Ron Hermione and Ginny appeared in the room at once.
"Expelliarmus" Harry shouted and Tom's wand flew out of his hand.
"Tell me Tom, it was you wasn't it? You killed Neville and Luna, you killed Mayweather. You wrote Lord Voldemort's return on their wall."
Tom who was a second ago looking angry suddenly relaxed and started laughing. It was exactly like the merciless laugh voldemort used to laugh and it was the first time Harry saw something strange. He saw a glint of red in Tom's eyes. They were no longer innocent as they seemed.
"Took you too long to find out did it?"
All Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stared at him. He had just confessed everything he had done. He again started laughing in that merciless laugh of his. Hermione who couldn't apparently take it anymore shouted
"Stupefy!"
He blocked it. He bloacked Hermione's spell without a wand. He swished his hand and his wand flew back to him. Harry shot another stunning spell at him and again it was deflected. Incidently it hit Ron. Both Ginny and Hermione ran to revive him while Harry used the reducto curse to break his protection. It was no use. Harry couldn't take it anymore.
"Fight me! If you're so good than fight me!"
"As you say Avada Kedav--"
Hermione disarmed him. He swished his hand and Hermione was thrown into the wall. Harry shouted
"Levicorpus!"
The curse again was deflected and missed Harry by inches. His eyes were now comletely red. He swished his hand and his wand flew at him. He stunned Ginny.
Harry revived her then threw another disarming spell at Voldemort which was deflected and this time hit Harry. His wand flew out of his hand. Ginny tried to grab hers which had fallen when the stunning spell had hit her but Voldemort threw it away from her. He swished his hand and all their wands flew in his hand. Ron and Hermione were reviving. They stood up. All four of them were wandless. Not that had they not been would have mattered. All their curses had been deflected.
He stood there laughing, then
"It took years for my father to kill you Potter. Its not going to take me a second."
He pointed his wand at Harry's scar "Avada Kedav---"
"Expelliarmus!"
Someone shouted from the office door which had burst open. All the wands in in his hand flew into the air. He turned to face the intruder who was standing there totally out of breath in a blue jeenz and white shirt. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione all stood there thunderstruck. A Tom was standing in a long black cloak facing another Tom standing at the door with his wand pointed at the son of Voldemort. The son of Voldemort smiled, he swished his hand to retrieve his wand which flew back at him and spoke in less than a whisper,
"Get out of my way Tom."
Tom looked at him then lowered his wand and moved away from the door leaving the way clear for the son of Voldemort to leave.
"What the hell r u doing?" Harry shouted.
He grabbed his wand and ran forward to stop him but Tom disarmed him.
"Harry, please, stop!"
The son of Voldemort left the office. Harry tried to follow him but Tom stood like a wall in front of him. Hermione threw a stunning spell at him but he blocked it. Harry again stepped forward and this time Tom locked the office door. Ron used the reduto curse and the door broke open. Tom grabbed Harry and held him back as he was trying to get out of there.
"Harry its no use stop it!"
Both Ron and Harry pulled Tom off Harry and threw him in a chair. Then as Harry ran to the office door Ginny stopped him.
"Its no use Harry. He just left the Hogwarts grounds. I saw him through the window."
Harry turned to Tom and pulled him off the chair by his collar.
"Why did u let him go?! You lowered your wand! You could've stopped him! You could've stunned him! You could've killed him!"
Tom pushed Harry off him.
"What did you expect me to do?! Kill my own brother?!"
"Your brother?"
They all stared at him unblievingly.
Tom and the son of Voldemort were twin brothers. THE TALE OF THE TWO BROTHERS
Harry's office that had been a big mess after the duel was being brought to its normal state by Ginny annd Hermione while Tom sat in a chair in front of the headmster and Ron stood behind him, his wand pointed at his back if tried to do anything.
Harry bent forward and looked straight into Tom's eyes. Even after what had happened he couldn't find evil in his eyes. Tom sat staring back or perhaps thinking.
"Only truth Tom. This time I only want the truth." Harry said still staring at him. "Who are you? How are you related to Voldemort? How come you have a twin brother who says he's son of Voldemort? Do you know your name Tom Marvolo Riddle is the real name of Voldemort? I want to know everything Tom. Everything."
"Iam Tom Marvolo Riddle the second son of Lord Voldemort. Iam aware of our names. My twin brother also shares my name. The orphanage called me Tom and him Riddle. I told you that by the age of 9 our orphanage got closed out, it isn't true. We were thrown out of the orphanage. From an early age our powers were extraordinary. Better than that of a full grown wizard. Even before I had stepped into Hogwarts.My brother Voldemort always used his powers to threaten other children. You've seen his powers. Nothing works on him and the children and teachers there were muggles. I was the only one who could stop him, being twins our powers are same but our usage differs. We would always get into trouble because of the riot he used to create. Finally the orphnage abandoned us. He left me on that very day. I lived on streets for 2 years and then I got the letter to Hogwarts. I came here with the hope to see him again but he hadn't come here and I found a life full of comforts. On my 17th birthday he came here. I thought he had come to see me to wish me a happy birthday afterall we were meeting after so many years but he didn't."
A tear was running down Tom's cheek. All four of them Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were staring at him in awe. He gulped down and continued
"He had come here to tell me something. He told me about Lord Voldemort and that he was our father and about you Harry. He told me you and your friends had injustly killed our father. He said Lord Voldemort's intentions were to bring the wizrding community out of hiding and provide them rule over the world and it was only for good of our community. He had known nothing and I realized it that very moment. I had lived at Hogwarts for 7 years and I had known the real story about you and Lord Voldemort but he didn't believe me when I told him so. He called me a traitor and left. He had told me that a faithful servant of Lord Voldemort had told him evrything but I couldn't trust him and I searched our name in the library and found that we are great great great great grandsons of Salazar Slytherin and as Lord Voldemort was one I realized that Tom was right that Lord Voldemort is our father. But that didn't defy him on what he had done. Riddle chose his own path to avenge our father and I made my own identity. I may be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin but I'm not evil."
Tears were leaking down Tom's eys and he was shaking incontollably. He suddenly stood up and turned away from Harry. Ron who thought Tom was gonna make a run for the door tried to stun him and the spell backfired on him even though Tom hadn't done anything. Tom turned around to see what had happened as Harry, Ginny and Hermione rushed to revive Ron.
As Ron came round a little dizzy, Harry grabbed Tom and pushed him into the wall pulling his wand out at the same time.
"What did u do?"
"Nothing. Its my powers. I didn't know he was going to stun me or I would have removed the protection around me."
"Protection? What do you mean?"
"Its part of our powers. Our powers are too strong to penetrate but only we can control it. That's why you couldn't get over Riddle during the duel."
Harry lowerd his wand and stepped back a bit.
"You haven't told me everything. You and your twin brother, you are Voldemort's sons. But that's imposible Voldemort never loved anyone. He didn't get married then how come......"
"Harry love is something that Voldemort never understood and that I know and so does my brother because he himself never understood love. Had he done so he would never have left me. For my father it was a night of pleasure. For my mother it was way of finding closeness to the Dark Lord."
Tom looked away from them, facing the wall, tears running down his cheeks making him look more vulnerable than ever. He was ashamed of his own past, his own ancestory.
"But something went wrong that night. She bacame pregnant. Had she told that to Voldemort he would have killed her. She didn't tell him anything and gave birth to us in an orphanage. She named us after the name of our father so it would be possible for us to find out our ancestory and join him in what he was doing. When we were a year old she and Voldemort both died leaving us to do what Voldemort couldn't do. It was mere fortune of mine that I came here and found out the truth. My brother also found the truth but from the wrong person. He always used his powers for the wrong purpose and he won't even listen to me."
"Your mother? What was her name?" Hermione asked evenly in tears.
"Bellatrix Lestrange"
"What! but that's impossible. She served Voldemort as a deatheater. How could........" Harry asked totally disbelieving.
"I told you Harry she wanted closeness to Voldemort to share his powers."
"Tom, if your relations are not very good with Voldemort how come he was here?"Ginny asked lloking at him in awe.
Tom turned to look at them his eyes full of guilt. "Whenever he finds himself in the danger of being caught he comes here to hide."
Harry who was a little in shock of what he was hearing suddenly got his rage back. "And you take him in, knowing he's murdered someone?!"
"Harry, it isn't like this. You don't understand. He's my brother. I can't hurt him, I can't kill him."
"He's a murderer! He killed your own friends! He killed Neville and Luna. Even then you hid him."
"He didn't come here at that time. He knew my anger would have crossed the barrier of our relationship. But yesterday he sent me a note meet him in the forbidden forest. I went their with the sole intention to tell him not to come back again because he had killed the two most noble people I knew because, he takes you and your friends as his enemies. I knew if he would stay here he would try to hurt you. I told him to leave. If you all hadn't followed me I could have duelled him out of here but I wasn't alone. He said he wanted me to meet him again at 5 in the morning. I went down to the forbidden forest. He is very cunning. He put me under the imperius curse and left me in the forest. And after hours when I finally broke through the curse. I came up to the castle and went to my room. I called out to Dumbledore to see if you were Ok. Dumbledore told me what was going on. I ran up here to find him standing over you all about to kill you."
For about 5 min there was a long silence then,
"I think you should take some rest Tom." Harry addressed him.
He nodded in reply and left the room leaving an inevitable fear and worry behind him.
THE FAITHFUL SERVANT
The next day dawned with much more quietness than the last one. Harry went down to breakfast to find everything normal. Incredibly Tom was again sitting at one of the house tables, talking to students, laughing. It was very weird and at the same time lightening to see Tom cheerful as he was right now after last night. After breakfast all the teachers went to their classes and so did Harry return to what he usually did. He went to his office and took out the marauder's map. Through it he could keep an eye on everyone in the school. He saw everyone was in class still he thought he should take a tour of the school and see how everything was going on.
Harry wore a disillusionment charm and got out of his office. He changed the password to "chudley cannons". He walked through corridors. The first class that he reached was charms. Ginny was teaching a few of the first years how to fly things. He could see small 11 year old witches and wizards moving their wands feverishly to make that feather fly that had been given to them. He saw Alex and Lily working together. Alex was really smart. He was the first one in the class who had swished and flicked his wand and the feather had soared in the air. As everyone clapped for Alex Harry saw Lily looking at him in deep awe and admiration. He smiled to himself thinking of the time when Albus had come to school, he had outshined many of his year, and moved on. He saw Miss patrick teaching mugglestudies. He stood outside her classroom just to see what she was teaching . He saw a big drawing on the board. It was moving. A wizard was standing in front of the quidditch stadium where quidditch tournaments are held and a muggle was standing beside him who was also looking at the stadium but to him it wasn't a stadium, it was a building under construction. Now Harry felt that this subject was a bit interesting but like his time there weren't many students in this class.
Harry moved on to find Professor Binns reading out of his notes as usual and the students fast asleep. As Harry moved on he heard a sharp shrieking from the grounds. He went by the window to see what was going on and saw to his bewilderment that a Mandrake had just broken out of the green house 3. Ron came rushing through the door wearing fluffy pink coloured earmuffs trying to stun it. The Mandrake though ran straight for the forbidden forest still crying out madly. Harry who had his hands on his ears took out his wand and from up there silenced and stunned the Mandrake. Ron who didn't know that Harry had done it froze for a second and looked around. Harry took off the disillusionment charm to make himself visible to Ron. As Ron saw Harry he relaxed took the Mandrake and went back into his class.
Harry wore the disillusionment charm again and making a mental note to give another ad in the daily prophet for a herbology teacher moved on. He went down to the dungeons to see Miss Padma watching over students as they made a swelling solution. Albus was ofcourse the first one to finish the potion. Harry really felt proud of him. He had taken Harry's advice very well and understood his words. Before coming to hogwarts he was fearing that he might be placed in Slytherin and he did get placed in Slytherin but he had not lost his confidence and skill. As Harry saw appreciation in everyone's eyes he saw scorpio looking a bit jealous. He remebered his and Draco's rivalry but that happens at school. Afterall Draco had come around too though his behaviour hadn't been very good but atleast he was far from evil.
As Harry walked forwards he saw Dudley running hurriedly downstairs. He suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Dudley halted at the sight of him
"Where r u going duds?" Hanging around with Tom had its effects on him.
"Well, its Hagrid. He needs me in the grounds. He has trouble with some crumpled hornes snacks or something."
Harry couldn't help laughing out, "Its crumpled horned snorkacks. Anyways go on."
As Dudley ran off Harry proceeded to the transfiguration class where Hermione was teaching 6th year students how to perform human transfiguration. As Harry saw some of them had yellow eyebrows, some had purple hair and someone's nose had replaced a snout, someone's teeth had turned dark red and looked insanely bloodied. Harry who thought he would laugh out loudly if stood there for more than a second walked ahead as Hermione turned a girl back to her normal colour as her friend had turned her green accidentally.
Harry proceeded to the defence against the dark arts class room. All the students were standing in line facing the table in front over which a wooden box was placed which was rattling a bit and behind which Tom was standing with his wand out. Tom was teaching third year students how to tackle a boggart. Amidst the line Harry saw James and Peter whispering about something. As Tom told the class to swish thier wands and say 'Riddiculus' James pulled out two fat toffees from his pocket covered in violently bright colours. Peter and James had met on the Hogwarts express and had been friends since then. Their union was like Harry’s and Ron’s and both had a knack of getting themselves in trouble. And right now as Harry could see both were planning to bunk the class.
Harry stood there invisible yet he when he looked at Tom he found him staring at him. Harry waved at Tom to continue just when there was a belching sound and both James and Peter were vomiting furiously. Tom rushed to them and tried every spell on them with no effect whatsoever. He looked up at Harry who motioned him to let them go. The moment James and Peter stepped out of the classroom they gulped down the other half of the sweet and their vomiting ceased. They were just celebrating their success when found themselves standing face to face with Harry who had just removed the disillusionment charm. In less than a second their smiles vanished.
"Hi Dad!"James said out of desparation. Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Go-o-d moring Professor!" Peter broke the silence.
"Good morning. Where were you going?" asked Harry.
"We - er- were going --"James started, thinkng furiously.
"--to the class I suppose?" Harry intervened.
Both James and Peter looked at each other than silently nodded and turned to go back into the class and yet again foung themselves face to face with someone. Tom was standing there with his eyebrows raised then with the million dollar smile of his he broke the ice.
"Well now that you don't seem to be throwing out all over the place I don't think Madam Brown would require a visit from you. Let's resume shall we?"
Both Peter and James looked helpless yet nodded.
"Thank you Professor." Tom nodded at Harry and he, James and Peter turned around to leave. Just then they heard a shriek from downstairs. All four of them ran towards the window and looked down. Dudley was running flat out with his robes on fire while a crumpled horned snorkack chased him all around the school grounds. James and Peter both ran downstairs to have a clear view of everything just as the bell rang for break. Harry and Tom both ran downstairs. They reached near the scene and saw it getting worse. Hagrid was chasing both the crumpled horned snorkack and dudley. Thankfully he stopped when he saw Harry and Tom running towards them. Harry took out his wand and extinguished the fire on dudley's clothes. Dudley, comletely out of breath knelt down while Harry turned his wand towards the snorkack but realized he didn't need to, it was already stunned by Tom. Harry looked at Tom quite unbelievingly with his eyebrow raised as it was no piece of cake to stun a snorkack single handedly and in one go. It was a moment's silence then they both laughed out. Harry helped dudley to his feet and sent him to madam Brown the school matron while Tom helped Hagrid put those snorkacks back in their boxes.
"Atta boy! Thanx fer helpin'." Hagrid said to Tom who shrugged off the thanx with his purehearted smile then walked upto the school alongside Harry.
"How did you stun that thing in one go?" Harry asked Tom when they were out of earshot of Hagrid.
"I don't know. I always get things done in one go." replied Tom still smiling.
"Part of your powers?"
"I guess so."
"Tom, I know that you know this still I want to say it. Me, Ron, Ginny and Hermione are four people that you can trust completely. You've told us everything about your brother----"
"Not my brother, Harry." Tom interrupted him. For the first time in the entire day Harry had seen the smile fade off his face. "Call him Riddle."
Harry nodded silently. "We know almost everything about Riddle. But more is yet to be found. But before that Tom you must know somethings too. You don't know anything about your past, neither do you know about mine. But you must know. The best prophet of the future is the past. I want to spend some time with you. I would prefer it if you could make it to my office each night from tonight after midnight. Can you do it Tom?"
"I can." Tom said it very quietly. His twinkling lght brown eyes were blank. It was quite plain that he didn't like being related to Voldemort and Harry understood that.
"I know it's gonna be hard for you Tom but this is important and I want you to remember one thing Tom that no matter what happens you'll always have me by your side, like a friend, like a father."
********************************************
The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of :"Harry!" "HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other.
"I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, and in the total silence his voice carried like a trumpet call.
"It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."
Voldemort hissed.
"Potter doesn't mean that," he said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"
"Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good. . . ."
"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his wholy body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"
"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for Harry no face existed but Voldemort's. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"
"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but they two. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"
"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people - "
"But you did not!"
" - I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"
"You dare -"
"Yes, I dare," said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"
Voldemort did not speak, but powled in a circle, and Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that Harry might indeed know a final secret. . . .
"Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore favorite solution, love, which he claimed conqered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like and old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Modblood mother like a cockroack, Potter - and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?"
"Just one thing," said Harry, and still they circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret.
"If it is not love that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that i do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"
"I believe both," said Harry, and he saw shock flit across the snakelike face, though it was instantly dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humorles and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall.
"You think you know more magic than I do?" he said. "Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"
"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."
"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"
"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."
"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"
"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."
For the frist time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one.
"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"
"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."
"What chldish dream is this?" said Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's.
"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"
Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart.
"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized," he said as he saw Voldemort's nostrils flare, "he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"
"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worhier of him - "
"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"
"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!
"Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy - I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"
"Yeah, it did." said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you think what you've done . . . . Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle. . . ."
"What is this?"
Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had socked Voldemort like this. Harry saw is pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.
"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left. . . . I've seen what you'll be otherwise. . . . Be a man. . . try. . . Try for some remorse. . . ."
“You dare --- ?” said Voldemort again.
“Yes, I dare,” said Harry, “because Dumbledore’s last plan hasn’t backfired on me at all. It’s backfired on you, Riddle.”
Voldemort’s hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco’s very tightly. The moment, he knew, was seconds away.
“That wand still isn’t working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore.”
“He killed --- ”
“Aren’t you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore’s death was planned between them!
Dumbledore instended to die, undefeated, the wand’s last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand’s power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!”
“But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!” Voldemort’s voice shook with malicious pleasure. “I stole the wand from its last master’s tomb! I removed it against the last master’s wishes! Its power is mine!”
“You still don’t get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn’t enough! Holding it, using it, doesn’t make it really yours. Didn’t you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard . . . The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world’s most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance . . .”
Voldemort’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face.
“The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy.” Blank shock showed in Voldemort’s face for a moment, but then it was gone.
“But what does it matter?” he said softly. “Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone . . . and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy . . .”
“But you’re too late,” said Harry. “You’ve missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him.”
Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it.
“So it all comes down to this, doesn’t it?” whispered Harry. “Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does . . . I am the true master of the Elder Wand.”
A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort’s was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand:
“Avada Kedavra!”
“Expelliarmus!”
The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell*
Harry spent the whole time till christmas with Tom and showed him everything in Dumbledore's pensive with his own memories as well. He wanted Tom to know everything before they start searching about Ridde. He told him everything except about the Hallows. He still felt the information of the Hallows should only remain between him, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
Christmas holidays came up and they still didn't have permanent teachers. Harry with his family ofcourse remained at Hogwarts. He, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Tom, Trelawney, Madam Brown, Hagrid, Miss Patrick, James, Albus, Lily, Alex, Roses and Dudley all sat at the dinner table and enjoyed a cracking christmas dinner in a blossoming Great Hall. After a filling feast all the children went up to their dormitories and the teachers went back to their class rooms except for Tom. He, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione went upto Harry's office. Harry conjured up chairs and they all sat down. As they did so Fawkes flew to Harry and sat on his shoulder. Harry whispered a merry christmas in its ear just when Hermione started speaking and Fawkes flew off his shoulder and out of the window.
"Tom, now that you know everything, its time that we proceed with our ideas."
"Yeah, but I don't know where exactly should we begin." Tom replied.
"I think I do." It was Dumbledore.
"So, where should we begin?" Harry asked.
"His faithful servant. We have to get to him to track down Riddle." Dumbledore replied.
"But how?" asked Tom.
"You." Ron said it. "You are the way Tom. You're the only one who can get close enough to Riddle to know who's supporting him. He's never going to tell you what he's planning or what he's done but you'll atleast be able to find out about his servant."
Tom looked thoughtful for a moment then agreed but he looked very worried. "I'm not saying its not possible but he's lost faith in me. He's not going to trust me that easily. He takes me as a complete traitor and neither do I like him." "And there's danger in it for Tom. If Riddle could put Tom under imperius curse he can also hurt him or either kill him." said Hermione.
"But the risk has to be taken. The question is, is Tom ready to take it?" Harry asked.
Tom stood up at this. " Iam ready to take it."
They all stood up. Tom went back to his room and so did they. But as Harry pulled on his pajamas he saw Ginny a little more quiet than usual.
"What happened?" Harry asked sitting close beside her.
"I was thinking about Hugo. He would have missed us."
"I sent Fawkes to him. He would have felt good about that and he also got all our presents too." As Harry said he saw a smile flare across Ginny's face.
Next morning dawned with a lot of peace. Christmas holidays were their best opportunity for knowing more about Riddle. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Tom gathered in Harry's office to plan how exactly is it that they're going to send Tom to Riddle and how is he going to extract information about his servant.
"I know." Tom said.
"How?" Harry asked.
"Well as I see it, it can be very simple. I go outside Hogwarts, outside Hogsmeade and send him a patronus to meet me somewhere."
"But where?" Ron asked.
"Private Drive." Harry suggested.
"Why?" Tom asked.
"Because its safe. It's a muggle street. Riddle's not going to perform any kind of magic there. Right?" Ginny replied looking at Harry who nodded silently.
"Well then Private Drive it is." Tom continued. "So, I meet him at privte Drive and I tell him that Iam back on his side."
"And why do you think he's going to believe you?" asked Hermione who was till now only listening.
"Well, shouldn't he? I mean me telling him that I'm with him. Shouldn't it make a difference for him?"
"You don't understand, do you? You need to give him a reason. A reason to believe you."
"Well I know just the thing." It was Dumbledore from his portrait. All eyes turned towarrds him. " The reason will be Harry. All Tom will have to say to Riddle would be that he found out he was right and that Harry had killed their father injustly and he, in his anger killed Harry and ran away from Hogwarts as everyone was looking for him. And when he couldn't find anywhere else to go he called for his only hope his brother."
All five of them stood up looked at Dumbledore, exchanged looks with each other then
"That's so cool!" Tom was the first one.
"wow!" Ron could only muster that.
"Great work Albus!" said Harry while Hermione and Ginny stood beaming. "Now, there's one more thing. Proof. If Riddle requires proof of that then?"
"That's no big deal. We create a scene here like Tom's killing Harry and when Harry goes to him he can see it for himself." Ginny replied positively smiling.
They decided Tom would leave tonight. Dumbledore suggested that Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione should accompany him under the disillusionment charm.
"That is no use." Tom turned him down. " I can see through disillusionment charm and if I can, so can Riddle." Tom was going to leave at midnight sharp and they had all gathered in Harry's office but Harry was no where to be seen. When Tom asked Ginny about his whereabouts:
"I'm standing right in front of you." Harry replied. He was wearing his invisibility cloak. Definitely the power of a hallow had stopped Tom's powers to penetrate it's own. He took it off to see Tom's astonished look.
"How--?"Tom broke off looking at the shining silver material.
"It's an invisibility cloak. It was my father's. Tom, you can't see me while I have this on me so Riddle might not be able to see me as well. I can accompany you there. It would be better if you didn't go there alone."
"No Harry. I am gonna tell him you're dead and if this slips off ....................and I don't want to put anyone of you in any danger." Tom said looking at Ron who had opened his mouth to say he could replace Harry. " Harry no matter what Riddle wouldn't atleast kill me, may be for the sake of our blood, but I have a feeling."
Harry smiled at him. "Fine. But if you need help do ask for it because its gonna come. Remember Tom, help is always given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
Tom hugged him then walked out of the office to put into practical what they had planned. Even though Harry felt uneasy seeing Tom walking through the grounds of Hogwarts he had no other options. He went to Fawkes patted him on the back and went back to his room as Ron and Hermione went back to theirs.
******************* ************************ *****************************
Tom in his classic white shirt and dark blue jeenz with his wand in his back pocket apparated at the far corner of a muggle street. He looked around a sign around the corner said Private Drive. He took out his wand and the Deluminator that Ron had given him to turn off the lights of the street. He clicked it 12 times and the 12 balls of light in the street got sucked into it. He put it back in his pocket and waited for Riddle to arrive. He had already sent a patronus to him. Tom, tired of standing sat on the garden wall of one of the houses. He sat there with his face in his hands.
"Tom." It was a high pitched cold voice with no warmth in it.
Tom looked up. Riddle was standing over him. He stood up and hugged him.
"Brother! You don't know how glad Iam to see you."
Riddle dettached Tom from himself.
Tom looked at him. He was wearing a black cloak like always. But there was something missing. His eyes were not brown like that of Tom's, they were a light red colour, his face wasn't as handsome as Tom had remembered it to be. It was cruel and it seemed like it was wearing off. His hair was less and his voice had changed.
"I'm in trouble, save me Riddle. I was wrong, all along. You were always right. He had murdered our father, injustly. I saw him talking to that brat. He said he would do the same to me and I killed him. They're looking for me. I have no where to go." Riddle was boring into his eyes while he said all this and Tom ready for it showed him what he wanted to see. When Riddle spoke it sounded like he trusted him.
"You've done what should've been done way before, but no matter, you've served your purpose. You need me and I'm here for you my brother. Let's go."
Riddle took Tom's hand and they both disapparated. The two men appeared out of nowhere, together in the narrow, moonlit lane. The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. Tom and Riddle started walking. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved into them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of imposing wrought-iron gates barring the men’s way. Riddle did not stop. He took Tom's hand in his own long nailed fingers and they walked straight through those wrought-iron gates as though the dark metal was smoke.
A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. It was Malfoy's manner.
************** ********************** *********************** *********************************
"Enter." Harry called sitting at the headmaster's chair in his pajamas. He had recieved a patronus from Malfoy five minutes ago that he wanted to meet him.
"Sorry, if I disturbed you but I didn't get time throughout the day and this needs to be done." He started sitting down.
"What do I owe you a visit for?"
He put a file on his desk and pushed it towards him. " These are the few people who have applied for the posts vacant at Hogwarts. They'll be seeing you tommorow. Its their photographs and biodata in there."
"Very well. I'll see to it."
"Well then. I'll take my leave. Goodnight." He stood up and left.
*************** ******************** ****************** **************** ************ *********
Tom and Riddle walked upto the front door which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it. The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the wall followed them as they strode past. They entered the empty drawing room. Tom was looking around in astonishment. All those years Malfoy had been so close and he hadn't found out about him.
"Riddle, I never asked you, but where were you? All those years that we spent apart. Where have you been all that time?" Tom asked looking at the lifeless manor.
"My servant served me all those years. Taught me things I didn't know not that it took much to do."
"You were here? Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"You, at that time, were not worthy of my trust. But now you are." Riddle said looking directly into his eyes.
Tom nodded silently standing straight in front of Voldemort, not daring to blink.
"So, Malfoy took you in?" asked Tom.
"Yes, he had known us all along and took me in when that muggle orphanage abandoned us."
"How did he know about us?"
"He is our mother's nephew. He took occlumency lessons from her when she was carrying us, he kept a tail on her and on us after the demise of our parents. He had known how great the two of them had been and how great could the two of us be."
"Yet, he didn't take me in." Tom was in no way resentful for it but he had to portray he was.
"Perhaps, he had not considered you trustworthy as well, but now, he shall have no reason to do so."
A long silence followed his words. Then,
"You've changed." said Tom looking at Riddle's face.
"To gain, you have to lose and I've much, much more than this to gain. "
"What are you looking for Riddle? Our powers are so extreme, what else do we need?"
"Our powers may be extreme but we will be out numbered. And we can die, yet."
"Ah, he's here. He'll be glad to see you." Riddle said suddenly referring to Malfoy. DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY
Malfoy entered into the room and greeted Riddle bending so low he reminded Tom of house elves.
"My Lord."
"Malfoy, look who's here." Riddlet pointed at Tom who was standing a little back in the dark part of the room. He saw Malfoy's face full of shock as he appeared out of the shadows.
"What is he doing here, my Lord?" Malfoy asked quite intimidately.
"My dear brother has avenged our father. He has killed Harry Potter."
"What?! My Lord that's not posible-----" Malfoy began but Riddle cut him short.
"Seems imposible but he has done it. He has proven to be of blood purer than any other wizard."
"My Lord, I do not wish to prove you false but he has betrayed you and so is he doing now. He hasn't killed Harry Potter. He is alive. I've seen him just now "
Riddle looked at Tom who stood his ground.
"He is trying to misguide you." Tom said trying to convince Voldemort that Malfoy was lying. "You have no proof of what you say. I've killed Harry Potter myself."
"Or maybe he has." It was Riddle. He was boring into Malfoy's eyes trying to see what Malfoy had seen.
It seemed like Riddle knew every vein of Malfoy's. He realized it in a second he was telling the truth. As Tom looked thinking what should he do Malfoy grabbed him and pinned his hands to his back. He saw Riddle's eyes turn bright red.
"You've thwarted my trust again. But now you've proven you will always be a traitor."
Tom who didn't know what was he supposed to do spilled out everything or maybe he was looking for one last chance to get his brother back.
"I'm not a traitor. Iam a human being who cannot live seeing others die. Riddle please, think of it. You're not going to gain anything out of it." Tom said struggling to break Malfoy's hold on his hands. "You are only going to regret. Please forget about all this. I will forgive you from the depth of my heart. We'll start fresh. We'll go away from here. Please--"
Riddle looked like he was going to blow up with furry. "What did you say? You, you will forgive me? I have no remorse of what I've done or of what I'm going to do. I do not require forgiveness. On the contrary you may ask me for forgiveness because the Dark Lord is not merciful, he is ruthless and revengeful."
Tom looked at him then decided he didn't have a choice, he would have to duel his way out of here. He threw Malfoy off him, who hit the opposite wall then reached into his back pocket to take out his wand but it wasn't there. Riddle who was standing in front of him started laughing his cruel laugh.
"Looking for this?" He said taking out from his robes Tom's wand.
"Stupefy!" Malfoy shouted, his wand pointed at Tom to whom nothing whatsoever happened though Malfoy was thrown back into his wall.
Tom bent down to grab Malfoy's wand which had fallen nearby him but got stunned by Riddle. Tom fell to the floor. Riddle motioned to Malfoy to grab his hands then reverted him. Tom came around listening to Riddle that for now was a blur to him.
"You made a mistake Tom, you should have never come here."
"My Lord kill him!" Malfoy shouted. "A killing curse would do it!"
"Now, now Malfoy I don't want him dead. He will have to live. But he will face pain so he would never attempt what he did tonight. Crucio." Riddle whispered and Tom felt pain as he had never felt. Like a hundred knives were cutting into his skin. Revolting agony. Malfoy who had let go of him when Riddle had cursed him grabbed him again. Riddle went to a table in the drawing room and took out a sharp knife long and thin, ready to kill. He approached Malfoy who was holding a struggling Tom.
"Hold him straight Malfoy." Riddle ordered. Malfoy did so and Tom saw quite clearly this time, Riddle standing face to face with him with a knife in his hand. He struggled ferociously but there was no use. Riddle thrust the knife in his gut. Blood flooded out of him with unenduring pain. Malfoy let go him. Riddle pulled out the knife as Tom fell to the floor with agonizing pain.
"Muggles, unique ways they use to kill people." said Riddle staring at the knife in his hand. "You love them, don't you? See, it's their weapon that's done this to you, no magic. I thought you'd like this better." Riddle bent down on him and took his face in his hands as Tom opened his watering eyes. "You trust in that Potter, don't you? Let's see now. Let's see if he can save you or not." Riddle stood up as Tom thrived in pain at his feet. He handed Malfoy Tom's wand. " Take him to Private Drive and leave him there. But Malfoy I don't want him dead. You know very well your wand will tell me if you've used the killing curse and I can always detect a lie." Malfoy nodded. He pulled Tom off the floor and took him outside the manor.
Malfoy appeared in the darkened street of Private Drive with Tom who went straight back to the stony road the moment they apparated. Malfoy threw Tom's wand beside him then took out his own,
"The Dark Lord doesn't want you dead, so I'm not going to kill you." Tom through immense difficulty opened up his eyes to look at him. "Though I'll make sure you don't survive either." He pointed his wand at Tom and shouted "Sectumsempra!" Blood gashed out of his chest and the wound in his gut deepened. He shouted in pain as Malfoy disapparated leaving him in the deserted street. Tom took his wand off the floor and tried to produce a patronus but a wisp of smoke appeared instead of a lion. He put his wand in his back pocket and tried to stand up. He took support of a street lamp and stood up, his white shirt currently dark red and torn. Blood was drippling off him on to the floor. He took out the Deluminator from his pocket and clicked it once.
The Private Drive glowed suddenly orange but his agony had crossed its limit. He sank to the floor with his back to the lamp post with not only blood but tears running down his face too.
He sat there unable to move a muscle with nothing but agony to dwell on. He was stranded in a muggle street in a condition when he couldn't perform any magic, helpless and vulnerable. He had never thought of this. His own brother, how could he be so heartless, cruel.......Malfoy was right, a killing curse would have done it, atleast he wouldn't have to suffer so much before he died.
He wished his brother hadn't been like this, wished he had a brother, a father that protected him and not harmed him. He closed his eyes and loomed out to him the one face to him that had been kindest to him. Harry. He remembered all the time he had been with him and he suddenly longed for him to be there for him to help him.
A light suddenly emerged out of the Deluminator that Tom was holding. It moved a little ahead and stood at some distance from him. With the little energy that he had had he got up and moved towards it. He stepped into it for a second darkness surrounded him but then he bounced off something and fell on an uneven piece of earth. That was it for him, he passed out. ********* *********** ************ ******** ********** ******* ********
"Thank you Mr. Eric bouganwill. I'm glad you applied for the post. You may begin taking classes when the christmas holidays are over."
"Thank you Professor." Saying so Bouganwill left Harry's office to send in the next applicant.
It was nearly afternoon and Harry was sitting in his office taking interviews of applicants for teaching posts at Hogwarts. He had cancelled all other applications except for those of Herbology and Ancient Runes. Ginny could take charms and Hermione was too good at Transfiguration. But then if Ron would leave he would be alone, it would be better if Hermione would accompny him so he decided whoever would apply for Ancient Runes would also teach Transfiguration.
Harry had just finalized the Herbology teacher and was waiting for the applicant of Ancient Runes. He was a quite tensed though. Tom had not returned till now even though they had scheduled his return at the break of the dawn. He had sent ron to search the whole castle. Hermione and Ginny had been to London to see Hugo early in the morning promising their return by afternoon.
There was a knock on Harry's office door.
"Enter."
Ron came in. "He's not in the castle. I thought of sending him a patronus but if he's near Voldemort that would put him in danger." He sat beside Harry who had conjured up a chair beside him the moment Ron had entered as the one in front of them was for applicants. Harry gave Fawkes a meaningful look who was sitting on his perch and flew out of the window at Harry's look. There was a knock on the office door again.
"Enter."
A girl, fair, blonde with light green eyes, wearing a pink skirt over a white top, entered. Both Harry nd Ron looked at her. She was so beautiful and mesmerizing. The moment she sat down she started speaking. She had a thin sweet voice.
"Iam Estella Zavatti. I graduated a couple of years ago from Beauxbatons. Iam extremely good at Ancient Runes. I can traslate from Runes to English, English to Runes, I can speak English and I can understand Runes. I saw your ad in the Daily Prophet and applied for the post. I hope you haven't hired anyone else yet. I know it might sound insane applying for a job just a couple of years after graduation and not keeping on with studies but teaching has a always been a passion for me. I always wanted to teach you see and this is the best school in the world to teach. You must be thinking why didn't I apply at Beau----" Ron and Harry had been staring at her the whole time she had spoken, they didn't know why but it felt that she was extremely mesmerizing, Ron curious about her beauty couldn't keep himself from asking.
"Are you Veela?"
"Yes, part Veela. My great great grandmother was one. So I believe it runs in the family. As I was saying you must be wondering---" Harry cut her short. He didn't know how much could she talk.
"Miss Zavatti, may I ask you a question?"
"Oh, sure."
"How old are you?"
"Iam 20 years, 5 months, 3 days, 11 hours, 54 minutes and 42 seconds old."
Both Harry and Ron looked at each other than at her. "What was that?"
"Oh, I like to be precise."
Tom opened his eyes. With conciousness agonizing pain came along. He was lying flat on the ground in a pool of blood with his back to the sun with not an ounce of energy left in him. He could not even move a muscle yet he pulled himself up and sat up with his back to an uneven wall. He felt like he would pass out again but he needed to go back, go bak to Hogwarts and tell Harry about Malfoy. He took out his wand and tried a few healing spell on his wounds with no effect whatsoever. His wounds were still fresh and bleeding. He looked at his hands they were pale. He looked around. He realized he was in Hogsmeade among the bushes near the caves. He wanted to call out for help but could not even shout. He closed his eyes as two tears slipped down them in mere despair and longed for help.
A ball of fire appeared right in front of him. He opened his eyes and Fawkes was flying in front of him. Fawkes turned around as if telling him to grab his tail. Tom reached forward grabbed his tail and in a second lost in darkness.
************** ******************** *********************** ***************************"Look, Miss Zavatti I appreciate your talents but you are too young. You are applying for Ancient Runes but you'll also have to take Transfiguration and we need someone with experience and expertise in both these fields."
"Young but talented. If you don't trust me I can show you. Give me a chance. What do you want me to do? Turn a chair itno a hen or a rat into a teacup or--" Harry tired of her cut her short and gave her a task.
"Human transfiguration. Turn my colour, turn me green."
Without a word she took out her wand. She pointed her wand at Harry and muttered the spell under her breath. As Harry and Ron looked Harry turned an acid green colour. Estella put her wand back in her pocket. smiling to herself. Harry turned himself back to normal. He had just opened his mouth to say something when she held up her hand.
"There's no need. I know what you want to say. I've proved myself so I get the job. I knew it would come to this. Anyways go on say it, say it."
"Well actually I wasn't going to say that. I must say you're good but you have no experience. How am I to trust you with the students?"
"Oh come on. You defeated Lord Voldemort when you were 17 Professor. The deputy hed here is my age so why can't I get to teach here. And I've also proved myself. I even performed a non-verbal spell. Why aren't you taking that into account? All I need is an opportunity to prove myself, please, please, plea----"
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
Ginny and Hermione came in. They approached Harry's table. Before they had so much as greeted them Estella stood up and started.
"Hi Iam Estella Zavatti. Iam here to apply for the post of Ancient Runes. Its lovely to meet you. Iam very talented. I can---" Harry cut her short before she could speak anymore.
"You're hired Miss Zavatti. Congratulations! and thank you very much." Harry stood up.
"Oh, that's really great. Thank you very much Professor. My luggage is downstairs. I'll stay at Hogwarts from today." She shook evryone's hand before turning to leave than turned around just as Harry approached Hermione and Ginny to tell them that Tom hadn't returned yet when there was a loud crack and Tom appeared in front of Estella holding Fawkes. Fawkes flew to his perch as Tom fell to the office floor and Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron ran towards him while Estella stood in shock.
"Tom! What--, How--?" Harry began but Tom held his hand.
"Harry, its--its Mal----Malfoy. He's the ser--- servant." Tom said it then closed his eyes like his purpose was served and passed out again.
Harry conjured up a stretcher. He put Tom over it then took him to the hospital wing with Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Estella all following.
Madam Brown was aghast to see him. She took off his shirt and put him onto the bed. She wiped all the blood off him but there was no end to the bleeding though the wounds could be seen properly now. Madam Brown took out her wand and tried every healing spell she knew of but none worked. Harry looked at the wounds closely and realized that the sectumsempra curse had been used on him. On his order Madam Brown moved aside and Harry stepped forwards. He muttered counter curses for that curse for about 15 minutes and then the wound on his chest started to heal and the bleeding from the chest ceased. He tried the same on the wound on his gut but there wasn't any effect there. That one
Madam Brown, Harry and Hermione tried everything on that wound while Ginny and Ron escorted Estella back to her room after convincing her that Tom would be OK. Ron and Ginny entered the hospital wing. Ginny put a curtain around Tom's bed and entered the curtains.
"Harry, I think he's been stabbed."
Harry looked at the wound and realized that he was indeed stabbed. "But it doesn't seem to be a normal weapon or it would have healed with healing spells."
"It may have been poisonous." Madam Brown suggested. " We have one way to find out." She went into her office and from there brought a red coloured potion. " We'll drop a drop of his blood into this and if it turns green then poison it is." She did so and the potion turned green. Madam Brown couldn't believe it. She dropped the potion in surprise and sank in a nearby chair. " Iam afraid, we cannot save him. The poison is found in his blood."
"What do you mean we can't save him?" asked Harry his mouth getting dry.
"Harry, we don't know how long has it been since he's been poisned-_"
"12 hours." Harry replied Lavender's unfinished question.
He had expected some sort of assurance from her that she could save him when he had told her that but she looked even more worried at that.
"It's a long period-_"
"There has to be some way!" Harry couldn't believe there was nothing they could do to save him. "Get Bouganville, he'll have some herbs to cure him." Ron left the moment Harry said it. Harry looked ghostly white when it had occured to him that Tom could die because Harry had counted on Riddle.
Bouganville arrived in 10 minutes, he looked at the potion Madam brown had brought, which had now turned a slightly mild yellow color from green and shook his head in dismay. "I'm sorry, I can't help him. Although this poison takes about 48 hours to finally kill its victim, it is impossible to cure."
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione all stood rooted to the spot. Harry stepped forward to the bed and bent over Tom. He looked at his young, innocent face. He remembered the million dollar smile that was always on his face no matter what, remembered the long hours they had spent in Harry's office. Harry reached out and ran his fingers through his hair as he remembered the words he had said to him " I want you to remember one thing Tom that no matter what happens you'll always have me by your side, like a friend, like a father." and two tears ran down his face and fell on his forehead. Harry suddenly remembered something. He stood up straight.
"Fawkes!" Fawkes appeared in front of Harry in a ball of fire. Harry looked at him and then at Tom. Fawkes flew to Tom's bed and sat down with his head over the wound. Thick, warm tears fell from Fawkes' eyes on his wound and as they saw the wound started healing and within seconds there wasn't a sign of a wound there. Fawkes, his work done flew off to Harry's office while Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione relaxed. Harry escorted Bouganville back.
Madam Brown swished her wand once and Tom who was lying quite muddy was neat and clean and the bedsheets that were drenched in blood turned white and warm. As Madam Brown took the curtains off and went to her office while Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat down on chairs conjured around his bed, Tom woke up.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked around and his eyes fell on Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sitting around his bed and a smile flickered on his face. Suddnely, he remembered the events of the last night, Riddle's red eyes full of anger and hatred towards him and his cruel intention of hurting his own brother........................... a tear ran down his eyes. But when he looked around his happiness came back to him. He tried to sit up but Harry pushed him back to the lying position saying he needed rest.
"But Harry---"
"No buts. You're resting for sure. We'll talk about whatever happened later."
"But Harry I can't rest."
"Why?"
"I'm hungry." Tom said it with embarassment in his eyes as all four of them laughed out.
He was indeed young and innocent yet. As Tom gulped down his rice pudding Harry realized that he had made a mistake. He should never have counted upon Riddle that he would not harm his brother, still he hadn't killed him. Had anything happened to him Harry would never have forgiven himself. When Tom fell asleep Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione went back to Harry's office.
"So, it's Malfoy." Harry said it as he sat down.
"Yeah, the biggest git of the world." said Ron.
"I can't believe it! We saved his life. How could he just turn on us?" exclaimed Hermione.
"He's evil and shall always be. It was all our fault. We should've let him die." Ginny said angrily.
"But, now what's done is done. We can't change that but we can take him out now. To begin with I want you two at the Ministry, Ron, Hermione. I've got teachers to replace you. All that is required now is to bring back Kingsley on our side. We'll have to take the Ministry in our confidence to prevent it from falling right into Malfoy's hands all over again. We'll go to London and we'll tell Kingsley as much as he needs to know. You two will take your posts at the ministry as before. you'll keep an eye on Malfoy, make sure he's not cursing anyone around the place."
He stopped so Ron and Hermione would express their will, they nodded in silent approval so he moved on.
"We need people to know about this but not the whole wizarding community. We need the auror office on Riddle's tail. We grab him and we put him in Azkaban so he cannot proceed with more of his evil plans. But the Ministry is not the only thing that we require. We need the Dumbledore's Army."
He smiled at Ron, Hermione and Ginny who smiled back understanding what he meant. It was time for action.
THE MINISTRIAL STAND
Harry spent the next few hours of the day writing to his old friends. He sent them letters asking them to meet him on the last day of the Christmas holidays. He, Ginny, Ron and Hermione decided to go to London the next day to have a meeting with the minister of magic.
Harry went to the hospital wing to see Tom before dinner that night. When Harry entered the hospital wing he saw Tom sitting on his bed having a row with Madame brown to let him go to have dinner in the great hall.
" I am absolutely fine, Madam brown."
" No, you are not ."
" Come on, Iam sitting here talking to you what else do you want to see?"
" I want to see some blood in your veins. Look at you! You're extremely pale."
" Well, I will be if you would not let me go to the feast to have some food."
" Don't play with me boy! You are not going anywhere. You can have dinner in the hospital wing you do not need to go down to the great hall only to have dinner."
Harry entered the hospital wing.
"Madam Brown, I'd like it if Tom comes down to the dinner."
"But Professor he still needs rest."
"Madam Brown, he's the school deputy and I require his services."
"Oh well, who listens to me anyways." saying so Madam Brown went back to her office.
"Tom, you get dressed. You'll be joining the rest of the teachers in the great hall for dinner. I'll accompany you."
Harry walked out of the hospital wing with Tom by his side in his black jeenz and dark blue T-shirt. As they reached the entrance hall Tom swayed a little and grabbed the side of the staircase preventing his fall. Harry put a hand on his shoulder to support him.
"Are you alright? I think Madam Brown was right."
"C'mon Harry, it's nothing. It's just a little bit of weakness. I lost some blood and that's only because of that."
"It might be that, but you definitely need rest." said Harry turning around to take Tom back to the hospital wing.
"Please Harry, no hospital wing or Madam Brown would try to give me that thick brown gurgling potion again."
"Just so you get back to your health. No arguments. I'll take you----"
"Please Harry, trust me I'll be back to my health withoout that potion, please, please plea---"
"OK,OK as you wish."
"Thanks! Let's go."
Harry and Tom entered the great hall to see the teahers table crowded with all the teachers and the students who had stayed, mostly Harry's family. As Harry and Tom sat down to the dinner table Tom noticed an extra chair. He had just turned to Harry to ask him about that when she entered.
"Oh, I'm so sorry I'm so late. That ghost thing held me up. It didn't look like a ghost though. You know what he was doing. He tried to pull the carpet from right under my feet. Though I was quicker than he thought I would be. I've locked him in the dungeons downstairs with charms on it so he can't get out. Who is he anyways?"
"Peeves." Ron answered her.
"Peeves, his name suggests his ridiculous behaviour. Anyways, I don't think the next time he would try to get near me................................................"
Tom was staring at her in utter bewilderment. He lost the trail of what she was saying. She was so beautiful with her flowing blonde hair, bright green eyes and the mesmerizing personality.
While she was speaking her eyes fell on Tom who was still staring at her. "Hey you're Tom, right? Are you alright?" She snapped her fingers in front of him and he came back to his senses.
"What?/ yeah I---"
"I saw you today. you were hurt so bad. What had happened? I couldn't believe it you know. You suddenly appeared out of nowhere and you were drenched in blood. It was awful. What had you got yourself into?"
"Drenched in blood? Hurt?" It was Miss Padma. "What's going on Tom?"
"What do you mean by what's going on?" Estella couldn't hold it. "Didn't you know what happened?"
"No. What happened?" Padma replied Estella looking at Tom, who was boring his eyes deep into his baked potatoes, expecting to get an answer from him.
"Well," Estella being a gossip queen began."I was in the headmaster's office when a phoenix appeared out of thin air right in front of me and hanging by its tail was Tom, completely drenched in blood. I was so shocked to see him like that, I couldn't do anything, I stood rooted to the spot. Professors Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny rushed towards him then he said something about some some Malfoy and servant and passed out. Professor Harry put him on a stretcher and took him to the hospital wing along Professors Ron, Ginny and Hermione. Then the matron in the hospital wing---"
"Madam Brown?" asked Padma.
"Yes, thank you, Madam Brown took off his shirt............." Tom suddenly turned bright red. He was looking at Estella in amazement. She was explaining everything in a blow by blow detail.
"All this happened and we are being told about it now?" Miss Padma asked looking at Tom in disappointment.
"It wasn't anything big----"
Tom started but was interrupted by Estella. He was speaking quite slowly due to weakness.
"Not a big thing? You can hardly speak."
"I can if you would let me." Tom looked at her and their eyes met. It was a moment when something like an electric current went through them. Tom looked down blushing furiously.
"Miss Padma, it wasn't much. It really wasn't. I had a row with someone in Hogsmeade. It stretched long enough for a duel and I got hurt. I couldn't apparate inside Hogwarts ofcourse and niether could I send a patronus. I called for help and Fawkes appeared--"
"Fawkes?" Estella had to ask.
"Professor Harry's phoenix. Fawkes appeared to take me back to the castle and it took me straight into the headmaster's office."
"But why weren't we told about that?" Miss Patrick asked. "Aren't we family to you Tom?"
"Miss Patrick its not like that. You know you all are the only family I have. I did not want anyone to worry about something so unimportant."
"Whom did you have a row with?" Estella asked.
"Some drunken guy in Hogshead."
"Why?"
Tom looked at Harry asking silently for help because Estella didn't seem to be satisfied with any answer.
"He was threatening the bar tender to curse him if he was asked to pay money for his drink one more time."
"It was the matter of the bar tender then, why did you intrude?"
Tom looked at her in total disbelief. "The bar tender was a squib. He couldn't duel that guy."
"That is a lie."
"How can you say that?" Tom looked aghast at this.
"I stayed at Hogshead a couple of days ago because its cheaper than the three broomsticks and the bar tender there is a wizard. He used to wipe the bar with the swish of his wand and not a piece of cloth."
"I don't know the bar tender personally. It might have been his assistant." "It might? What do you-----" Estella began ready to ask more when Harry stepped in.
"Yes there is an assistant to the bar tender there. I helped him get that job." Harry added as Estella opened her mouth to say something else.
"Tom, what did you say about Malfoy and his servant?" Madam Padma asked still out of concern.
"I.....I was having a duel in the Hogshead when Mr. Malfoy entered the Hogshead and I.....I ....... th--that guy used some dark magic on me and I couldn't duel anymore. Malfoy saved me but he too got knocked out. When I appeared in Harry's office, the first thing I told him was that Malfoy saved me and he passed out in the Hogshead."
"Yeah, I went there afterwards and helped Malfoy, brought him to the castle, we had a drink together and when he felt fine he went back." Harry interjected trying to make their illusion true.
"What about that servant then?" Estella asked.
"Servant? I didn't say servant, I said Malfoy saved me. You might hve misunderstood in all the confusion." Tom replied her. Finally she nodded expressing her approval of what had been said.
"Anyways Tom, I know even if it wasn't that big, you should have told us about that. Had anything happened to you we would have felt miserable about it."
"I understand, I'll never hide anything, promise." Tom said it with a wide smile on his face that brought life back to the table.
At 5 to midnight Tom got off the table. He wanted to go to the dungeons to rescue Peeves.
"Can I accompany you?" Estella asked.
"I thought you didn't like him?"
"I just wanted to warn him to not to try to do what he tried today."
Tom and Estella walked out of the great hall and started climbing down the switching staircases. Their pace was quite slow because of Tom. Both of them were walking side by side silently. Even though Estella couldn't stop speaking she felt awkward starting a conversation now when they were alone for the first time. Tom who would rather keep quiet broke the ice.
"So, where are you from?"
"Oh, Iam from Beauxbatons. I graduated a year ago. Teaching has always been a passion for me and when I applied at Beauxbatons they didn't hire me, said I lacked experience. Can you believe that?"
She looked up at Tom expecting his approval.
"Of course not! If you can take on peeves all alone than you can do anything."
"Why's he so rude though?"
"Well, he just doesn't like it quiet. He wants as much chaos as possible. He wants people to know about his presence. But with you I think he should watch his ste-e-p." Tom was talking to her when he wavered a bit and slipped on a step. Estella grabbed him to break his fall. The moment she touched him he felt goosebumps rising all over him. Surely she must have felt the same because she let go a second later.
They reached down to the dungeons and found Peeves writing rude things about people on the wall of his cell. Tom unlocked the dungeon door then walked to peeves.
"Hey, wait." It was Estella. Tom turned to her.
"What?"
"How did you do that?"
"How did I do what?"
"You just walked through the protection I set up so he couldn't get out."
"Really? There's no protection here. Wait I'll come back and you'll see there's nothing here."
"No, send Peeves. I can bet on it, he won't be able to come out."
Tom looked at Peeves who showed him his tounge explaining quite clearly that he was in no mood to do any favours to anyone.
"Please man." Tom requested.
"No, no, peevesy won't do no good
to Miss Zzzzz who's no cool"
"C'mon, cheerup. She's here to let you out, isn't she?"
Peeves only for Tom walked a step forward in great grace and found himself slammed against an invisible wall.
"Look! There is the protection here that I left. How did you just walk through that?"
"I guess, it doesn't work on humans." It was Harry.
Harry walked up to Estella, waved his wand and the protection got off as Peeves fell on to the floor. Peeves levitated a few inches off the floor, took out his toungue in front of Estella with a large "boooooooooooozzzz" then whizzed off into the castle.
"Well, I believe we have no business hanging around." Harry said looking at Estella. "Have a Goodnight Miss Zavatti." Harry turned to Tom, "Would like to accompany me?"
"Sure." Tom walked off with Harry. He looked back at Estella from a little distance, smiled and muttered 'goodnight' under his breath so she could understand and saw her do the same.
Harry and Tom walked upto Harry's office. As they entered they saw Ginny, Ron and Hermione already sitting there waitng for them. They sat down and Harry asked what they all wanted to know since Tom had returned.
"Tell us everything. What actually happened there?"
"Voldemort came to the Private drive." Tom started as everything that had happened to him flashed by. "He's changed, you know. We're twins but I hardly recognized him. He believed me when I told him that I had killed you. He took me to Malfoy's manor."
"How come he's with Malfoy?" asked harry.
"Malfoy is related to.........." Tom began but fell silent. He just couldn't say 'our mother' as one part of him never wanted to and another just couldn't help it.
Harry realized it. " Your mother."
Tom stared at him. "You know that?"
Harry nodded. "Malfoy's Bellatrix's nephew and Nymphadora Tonks was her niece, Teddy's mother."
"Yes, I remember Ted." said Tom. "I attended his wedding, Victoire had invited all teachers personally so I had to go." Tom stopped a little to think. "So, in that relation Malfoy's my cousin and Ted's my nephew." Tom smirked. "I never new I had so many realtives." Something about his smile was very painful. "A brother who tried to kill me, a cousin who did want me to live, a nephew who hardly knows me. I never knew relationships could be so complicated."
None of Harry, Ron, hermione and Ginny replied because they couldn't. They had no words.
"Did he tell you what he's plannng?" Ron asked.
"No. Not exactly. When I asked him what he was looking for all he said was that he and his followers can be out numbered and he can die. I don't know what exactly is he thinking about but it looks like he's done something, something bad, like, maybe, he's made a horcrux or somthing because when I said to him that he's changed he said that to gain you have to lose. Maybe he's losing his features because his soul's broken." replied Tom. "I can't believe that! He's doing the same as Voldemort did. When in the world would anyone understand the power of a whole soul!" Hermione exclaimed sounding shocked.
"Forget the whole soul Hermione, Riddle hasn't got anything even for his brother." Tom sighed. He covered his face with his hands as he closed his eyes and Riddle standing over him with a knife flashed by him. He opened his eyes. "When he stabbed me, not for a second did he think how much would it hurt me. He knew the physical pain I would feel but he had no idea how shattered I would be from inside at what he had done." As Tom said it tears leaked down his eyes. "Each second that I spent in that agonizing pain I kept thinking of only one thing, that how could a brother not feel his brother's pain and the only person I sought in such state was you Harry. You've been closer to me than anyone after Neville and Luna." More tears ran down his face as Ginny patted him on the shoulder. He smiled at her and wiped his face. "Really Harry you and you all," he looked at Ginny, Hermione and Ron, "have been very close to me after I lost the two most wonderful people in the world. I wish Riddle would never have done anything like that."
"We can never change our past Tom but we can make an effort to make our future better." Hary said.
"But why did he stab you? How did he find out?" Ron asked.
"Malfoy." Tom and Harry both replied at the same time.
"Malfoy came here to hand me the profiles of the applicants for the vacant posts after Tom had left. He must have told Riddle about me being alive." Harry proceeded.
"Yeah, he came and bowed like a house elf in front of him then told him you were alive and the worst part was that Riddle believed him."
"Then?"
"Well Malfoy grabbed me so I thought I should try to persuade Riddle to stop doing all this. It backfired. I made him even more angry. So I thought I should duel with him but I couldn't find my wand because he had stolen it, I don't know when or how but he had. He used the cruciatus curse on me then I don't know why but he didn't kill me. Malfoy told him to use the killing curse on me but he didn't. He said I would have to live but I would face pain as I've never known. He brought that knife and stabbed me then instructed malfoy to leave me at the Private drive but refused him to kill me. Malfoy though didn't want me to live so over all that he cursed me with Sectumsempra. That was the time when I felt I would rather be dead."
"But Riddle didn't want you dead. Why?" Harry wondered.
"I don't know but he said he didn't want me dead. He wanted to see if you could save me or not."
"And what did he say when you asked him about what he wanted again?"Ginny asked.
"He said he can be out numbered and he can die." Tom repeated.
"That means he's gathering followers and he's still mortal." Hermione said with everyone's agreement.
"Well what are we doing now?" Tom asked.
"We're going to London tommorow to the Ministry of Magic to see the Minister of Magic. And by 'we' Tom I mean all five of us. Then on the last day of christmas holidays we've arranged a meeting with the Dumbledore's Army. We'll tell the Minister and the Army as much as they need to know."
"But Harry if you would tell them about Riddle you'll have to tell them about me."
"Not necessarily. You said Riddlet's changed by looks and by that I think that by now he wouldn't look like you, right?"
"Yeah, he-- his features were not at all recognisable, like there was a time when you couldn't tell the difference between the two of us and now he hardly resembles me."
"Well then the Minister or the Army doesn't need knowing anything about your relationship with Riddle. We're going to tell them that by help of some useful sources we found out that Voldemort has returned and is being supported by Malfoy and that he's intent on gathering followers. Ron and Hermione would join back the Ministry and would keep an eye on what Malfoy's upto."
"But Harry that's not true. If anyone finds out the truth, it'd make everything just too confusing and to an extent helpful to Riddle. If Voldemort's name will be used for his capture he'll be committing every murder in his name."
"That's a risk we'll have to take, Tom." At Harry's reply Tom stayed quiet because he had complete confidence in Harry's plans although he feared the adverse consequences of they were doing.
The Next morning Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all went to the Great Hall for breakfast to see Tom sitting at the table cracking jokes and Estella sitting in front of him laughing at those.
"Tell her the one with the caterpillar." Padma said to Tom.
"Oh yeah, Know what Estella this one is far more funnier than anything."
"What?"
"Well a young wizard blew off his daddy."
"Really? How?"
"He said,'Daddy, are caterpillars good to eat?' The Wizard scolded his son for naming pathetic stuff at the dinner table.' Have I not told you never to mention such things during meals!' His mother asked him more politely,' Why did you say that, Junior? Why did you ask the question?' Know what he said?"
"What?"
" 'It's because I saw one on daddy's lettuce, but now it's gone' ".
Estella let go of her spoon the moment she heard that as Tom, Padma and Miss Patrick laughed solemnly.
"Don't worry it ain't in your food." Tom said laughing his heart out.
Estella, Padma and Miss Patrick all bursted out laughhing as Tom looked down into his plate and saw one crawling over his bacon. He took out his wand swished it and it got washed off the bacon. "Where did that come from?" Tom said laughing with the rest.
"I transfigured the little bread crumb on your bacon into a caterpillar." said Estella brightly.
They both laughed out. Tom looked at her and he didn't know why but she really made him happy. He was just about to compliment her on her beauty when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny joined the table.
"Good morning." Harry said at large to the table. Everyone nodded in reply exept ofcourse for Estella.
"Goond morning, Professor. How are you feeling today?"
"Oh, I'm very good. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm feeling hillarious! Its such a lovely moring, isn't it?" she said looking at Tom who could do nothing but to look at her.
"Yeah." Harry said shortly not wanting to stretch their conversation just as Tom sighed
"God, how can she be so beautiful?"
Thankfully for him only Ron was near enough to hear that.
"She's a veela."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah, her great great grandmother was one."
As Tom blinked unbelievably he was pulled out of his thoughts by Harry.
"Tom, you remember we've to go to Londonn today?"
"Yeah." Tom said as everyone stood up from the table.
"Well, as you're coming along I've left Miss Padma responsible for the school. Everything is taken care of. It's 9.30 we'll leave sharp at 10.00. ok?"
"Yeah." Tom said shortly giving Estella a backward glance. He knew what did she mean by 'a lovely morning' and so did he want to spend time with her but this was way more important.
He went into his room to tidy himself as Harry, Ron, Hermione and ginny went back to Harry's office.
"Ron its all settled?"
"Yeah, Percy's cancelled Kingsley's meetings for today so he'll have to see us."
"But harry wouldn't it be better if we would inform him of our arrival there beforehand?" said Harmione.
"He would allow me to be there then, would he? We've had some pretty bad words. But its time to make things right. I'll apologize to him if that's the cost but I need his support. Hermione, we need the ministry by our side." Harry finished and Hermione nodded in approval.
Half an hour later they all stood covered in soot in the office of the undersecretary to the minister, percy's office. All of them shook hands with him. So did Tom,
"Tom Riddle."
"Percy Weasley."
Percy looked at Harry with a unique look. Harry motioned the four of them to go ahead while he stayed back for sometime to know what percy wanted to say.
"You brought along a student?"
"Student? What student?"
"Tom, he's a student right?"
"Oh, no. He's the deputy of the school and from now on a part of Dumbledore's Army too."
"But he's too young."
"Yeah but that doesn't deny his skill. Anyways, Kingsley's in his office?" "Yeah, he calls me in every 15 minutes to know if there's a meeting because usually he's quite busy and today he doesn't have a single appointment. It's quite unbelievable for him."
A minute later Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom all stood facing the minister's door. Harry knocked.
"Enter."
He turned over the lock, the door opened and he entered with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom all following. He looked around. Kingley's office looked the usual and his table full of files scattered unneatly. He was lying in his chair quite comfortably when thay entered and he stood up immediately.
"Potter?"
"Good morning, Bolt."
"Good morning, indeed." Kingsley said looking curiously at all of their faces then his eyes fell on Tom and he gave a more curious look than ever.
"Let me introduce you to my staff." Harry said seeing Kingsley staring at Tom. "You, ofcourse know Ron, Hermione and Ginny and this is Tom Riddle, the deputy head of Hogwarts."
Kingsley nodded to Tom who nodded back in reply.
"Bolt, you must have gotten my letter for the DA meeting?" Harry continued.
"Yea, it wasn' mentioned there abou' your visit here?"
"Yeah, it wasn't. I thought you'd refuse to meet if you knew I'd be coming here."
"And you know I have reason to do it."
"Look, Bolt I know what I said was idiotic. I didin't mean it, really, I was frustrated, I didn't have staff and I was worried about that, but trust me Bolt I respect you as I respect Dumbledore, please I apologize to you, I'm so sorry for what I said, please Bolt, please forgive me." Having said what he wanted to Harry quietened waiting for Kingsley's reply.
Kingsley who had heard Harry's apology quietly was now boring into his eyes. He got out from behind his desk and hugged him. Harry felt the atmosphere lighten and thanked God that Kingsley had accepted his apology. Kingsley let go of him.
"I thought I had lost a good friend forever." He gave a wide smile and conjured up chairs for them.
"Now, what can I do for you?"
"Bolt, you must have wondered why I've called for the DA meeting?"
"Yeah."
"I've some crucial information about what has been happening for the past few months."
"You mean about those murder cases then Neville and Luna and Mayweather?"
"Yes."
"You know who-?"
"Yes Bolt, It's Voldemort."
"What?!" Kingsley sat at his place blank.
"Voldemort."
"But, Harry he can't be back. We all saw him die. He can't just come back from the dead."
"He hasn't."
"Then what do you mean?"
"Its a new Voldemort."
"A new Voldemort? No one can just become Voldemort? Atleast not without---" A look of comprehension dawned upon Kingley, "Is he related to Voldemort? Anyone who knew him?"
"I don't know if he knows Voldemort but he's definitely related to him." Harry stopped. He looked at Ron, Ginny, Hermione all looking very serious. Then his eyes fell on Tom who was looking down at his shoes, his brow frowned quite worried. Sensing Harry's eyes on him Tom looked up. He looked at Harry with a pleading look in his eyes. Harry understood. Tom didn't want anyone to know about Voldemort having sons. Personally Harry thought this was pehaps better because telling Kingsley about Voldemort having a son could lead to the revelation of Tom's relation with Voldemort. Harry looked back at Kingsley. "Because he wants to avenge him."
"Avenge him?"
"This new Voldemort thinks that we killed Voldemort injustly so he wants to kill us.
That's why he killed Neville and Luna. He wanted to kill us too," Harry said including himself along with Ron, Ginny and Hermione "but Tom here saved us."
"Saved you?" Bolt looked astounded." Have you had an encounter with this Voldemort?"
"Yeah, he sneaked inside Hogwarts and tried to kill me. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom, all of them were there. We all attacked him but none of our spells worked except for Tom's."
Kingsley looked at Tom very curiously, then smiled,
"Now I know what Mcgonagalle meant by extraordinary."
"Mcgonagalle? She told you about Tom?"
"Yeah when she hired him she came to me personally, Draco was with her he was enthusiastic about the boy, but I wasn't that sure though now that you've mentioned it I think this boy's trustworthy, euh?" Kingsley said looking at Tom, who looked quite uneasy.
Kingsley looked at Harry and all others, all of them were looking quite uneasy, "What happened?"
"Malfoy's with him." Tom said becoming the target of Kingley's stare.
"With whom?"
"With Voldemort." Harry supplied.
"What are you talking about?" Kingsley hadn't yet understood of what was going on.
"Bolt, Draco Malfoy's involved with Voldemort." Ron insisted.
"Infact, he's the one who's told him rubbish about us killing Voldemort injustly." Hermione added seeing Bolt look confused.
"You mean Malfoy's been cheating on us for all these years."
"Well that's what it seems like." Harry said.
"I can't believe it, but I guess I'll have to. By the way, you've fought this Voldemort, haven' you?"
"Yeah."
"What does he look like?"
"He's not like the old one but his features are really distorted, extremely hard to recognize. But one thing is certain, he's young."
"Young?"
"About Tom's age."
"Hmm. So, he wants revenge and he's young. It means he's hardly in a condition to take over."
"That means he'll need forces."
"Yes, and for that he'll need all the help he can get from Malfoy."
"And that's where we come in."
"Of course, Ron and Hermione will be joining at the end of the christmas holidays. They'll keep an eye on Malfoy and we're gonna know about everything that Malfoy's upto."
"Very well then, I guess I won't have to attend the Army's meeting?"
"Why?"
'Well today is to be compensated, isn't it?" Bolt said standing up, smiling widely as all of them stood up too.
As everyone left Harry stood back for a minute with Kingsley on his meaningful look.
"Harry you trust this boy, Riddle?"
"Tom? Why did you ask?"
"None of your spells worked except for his, Voldemort's young and so is he, you say Malfoy's involved with Voldemort and he was quite enthusiastic when Mcgonagalle was hiring the boy, and I know very well that I can put 2 and 2 together."
"Bolt there's no doubt about that but Tom is trustworthy enough. I know the boy and most important of all he saved me from Voldemort If he had wanted to harm me in any way all he had to do was sit back and watch. He's not working fro Voldemort"
"I didn't say that. He could very well be him."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"C'mon Harry you know very well it's easy enough to make a clone these days. All he would need would be a clone to attack in Voldemort's name for you to spread the rumour about him and for him to take advantage of the situation and inculcate fear in the wizarding world all over again."
"Bolt, do you honstly think, I can be fooled by a clone?"
"Harry, I didn't mean to question your skill---"
"Then take my word for it, the boy is trust worthy." HANGLETON HEADQUARTERS
Tom went straight for Estella's room the moment he returned to the castle. He stood at the door for a second hesitating to knock. He raised his hand to knock just when Estella opened the door and saw him standing there with his hand raised in the air frozen at her sight.
"Tom, where've you been? I was looking for you in the castle."
Tom lowered his hand.
"I-er---"
"Anyways" Estella started not even bothering to wait for his answer, "you know what happened. Peeves came to me and he didn't 'boo' once in all the time he was with me and he actually apologized to me. Can you believe that?"
She asked Tom as he stared at her unblikingly nodding at whatever she said. Peeves' visit to her was not at all surprising to him as he had requested Peeves to do that. He knew Estella would feel good about it. He was happy though that now things would be usual between Estella and Peeves.
"Oh its great."Tom said smiling widely.
"You know I felt the exact same thing till he gave me a flower."
"A flower?" Tom said his smile vanishing. He knew that whenever Peeves gave a flower to anyone it was always filled with the sneezing powder.
"Yes, you know it was filled with the sneezing powder. I kept sneezing for a whole hour before Miss Brown took it off. He is just ridiculous and I'm dying to murder him. And this time you are not going to rescue him."
"Of course you're-," Tom bore his eyes into hers, "you mean more to me than does Peeves." He said it slowly and as an effect saw Estella's cheeks turn red. He stepped forward a bit and stretched his hand to touch her face, "You're so beautiful." His fingers had just touched her soft sweet cheeks when,
"Ouch!", the carpet under Tom's feet was pulled and he fell with a thud on the floor.
"Oooh Tom and Estella sit under the treeeeee
K I S S I N G"
Peeves was always there to ruin the moment. Estella lifted Tom to his feet then wishing him a good day went back into her room.
Tom looked at the closed door, sighed and went back to his room. He sat down on his bed. He didn't know why but he kept thinking of her. He felt quite happy at her sight. He couldn't believe it but he was sitting in his room all alone smiling to himself.
The christmas holidays when spent happily went by a little too early. The last day of holidays came and their meeing with the Dumbledore's Army came up. Tom and Estella were now very good friends but still they felt quite awkward whenever they were in isolation with each other. When on one side of the picture Tom was happier than ever on the other side it was time to depart with his very good friends. It was the last day of Ron and Hermione in the castle. They arranged a farewell for the two before they left for the meeting in the Great Hall.
"I wish you guys weren't leaving." Tom said as they all walked through the Hogwarts' grounds.
"So do we, but this is far more important, isn't it." Hermione said reaching into her pocket, "But before we go Tom I want to give you something," She pulled out a gold galleon from her pocket and handed it to him. "Now that you are a part of the Dumbledore's Army you should keep this with you all the time."
"A galleon?"
"Its not just a galleon its a way of communication that the Dumbledore's Army uses to send the date and time of the next meeting. Every member of the D.A has it."
"But Kingsley said you wrote a letter to him?"
"Oh, that's because the D.A hasn't met for a long time and we weren't sure if they would have the coins on them or not."
"Can I make it a locket?"
"Sure, if you want to. But never take it off you."
"So, how does it work?"
"Well when we change the date and time of the meeting it burns hot and if you've got it in your pocket you'll feel it burn and you'll know you're being called. You can use this if you need help with something and we'll be there. We should have given you this a little earlier, then you would have reached us earlier than you did."
"Nevermind that now, should we? C'mere, I don't know when I'm gonna see you guys again." Tom said giving a big hug to Hermione and then to Ron.
They walked out of the Hogwarts' gates and reached outside the Hogshead.
"Tom we'll be apparating to the D.A headquarters." Harry said.
"To the Grimmauld place?"
"Oh no, we've changed it. You remember I told you about Little Hangleton?"
"Yeah."
"The Riddle house, home of your Great Grandfather and your Grandfather that is Voldemort's father is now the headquarts of the Dumbledore's Army. You would not remeber it very clearly from a memory, just grab my arm. I'll take you there with sidealong aparition. Moreover, read this."
Harry handed him a note written on which was the clear address of The Riddle House. Tom read it then burnt it into ashes.
"Why did you give me that?"
"The place is unplottable, very well protected from the eyes of the muggles and it is shield with the Fidelius charm."
"Who's the secret keeper?"
"I am."
A few seconds' darkness and they all stood facing the hill top house overlooking the village.
The house was no longer covered with ivy. It stood like a handsome manor. It's windows shining in the sunlight. They approached it and walked up to the door. As they reached near Tom saw that it wasn't a door at all, it was a bricked wall. Harry took out his wand and tapped the middle brick once, the third brick on the right from the middle three times and the second brick upwards from the middle twice. The middle brick started rattling making a hole through the wall. It became big enough for their ize and they all went through it to reach a narrow, darkened corridor. They walked towards it and upon reaching its end finally found a door. Harry again took out his wand and tapped the door thrice. After alot of clinging and clanging voices the door opened to the smiling face of Mrs. Weasley.
"Welcome dear, we've been here an hour early to welcome you." Mrs. Weasley said hugging everyone in turn and finally reaching Tom. She hesitated for a moment as she didn't know him.
"This is Tom, deputy head of Hogwarts." Harry introduced seeing the query on Mrs.Weasley's face.
"Oh, ofcourse dear." Mrs. Weasley hugged him too then walked off into another room.
They were standing in a drawing room. Exactly like that of a muggle's. As Tom looked around he felt extremely strange in the house of his ancestors. He looked around and approached the door through which Mrs.Weasley had gone and opened it quietly. It was a kitchen. He saw Mrs. Weasley working at the sink. He walked in and looked around. A door in their led outside the house and a set of staircase led up.
"You want something dear?"Mrs. Weasley asked seeing him standing there looking around.
"No, I was just looking around." Tom said smiling widely.
"You know, Minerva told me about you. Personally I thought you lacked experience but Minerva's never been wrong judging people." Tom who didn't know what to say smiled to her and walked through the kitchen towards the staircase. He climed up the creaking staircase and reached a long corridor at the end of which was a door. He walkd upto the door, turned the lock and entered. It was a small room with a fire place at one side and the rest of the room filled with bookshelves. There was an armchair facing a small table filed with a balding man.
"Excuse me." Tom said trying to draw his attention.
The man jumped at the sudden noise. He stood up and turned to Tom. It was Mr.Weasley apparently spending some time in the study.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you."
"Oh no, sorry I didn't knock. You're Mr. Weasley right?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"Tom, deputy head of Hogwarts."
"Ah, Minerva mentioned you. Nice to see you boy." Mr.Weasley put an arm around his shoulder and they both clambered down the staircase.
"Molly, look who's here." Mr. Weasley said the moment they reached the kitchen.
"Yes darling I met him. Now the meeting's about to begin. Everyone's in the meeting room. You two should better hurry."
Tom and Mr. Weasley walked out of the kitchen and into the drawing room from there they entered the dining room which was currently filled with a lot of people. Apart from Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley who had just entered, Tom saw Professor Mcgonagalle, Dudley, Miss padma, Miss Patrick, Madam Brown, and a few people that he had seen earlier in Harry's memories and in the wedding he had attended, the bride Victoire and the groom Teddy Lupin were there, Harry's closest family that he had seen on the funeral of Neville and Luna, George, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy. The rest were almost unknown for him. Before anythingelse he made straight for Professor Mcgonagalle, afterall, she had done so much for him.
"Professor."
"Oh Tom," she was talking to a group of women and turned around at his voice. "its so nice to see you. Are you part of the Army?"
"Yes, I see quite a familiar faces here but there's some I'd like to know."
"Oh, there will be a formal introduction."
"Really? That's very good. Well, then I'll see you around." Tom walked away from the group of ladies, quick as he could.
He quickly proceeded towards Dudley and sat beside him.
"Hey duds, what are you doing here?"
"Harry made me a part of the army too."
"But then why didn't you come with us?"
"Harry wanted me to get to here by the muggle way, because I won't be able to apparate and I would not always be accompanied by a wizard who'd bring me here, so I should know the muggle way too."
Tom had just opened his mouth to ask him about the rest of the Army when Harry stood up.
"Welcome, its been a long time since we've had a meeting. Before I a press on the more serious issue first of all let me introduce you to the new members of the Army. I would like all of you to give a formal introduction of yourselves as well." Harry sat down and motioned to Tom and Dudley to stand up.
They got up and introduced themselves one by one. Then the rest of the Army stood and introduced itself. Apart from all the people that they already knew there was, Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, Cho Chang and Micheal Corner, Seamus, Dean Thomas, Terry Boot, Dennis Creevey, Parvati Patil, Ernie Macmillian, Anthony Goldstein and Lee Jordan. Most of the Army was in its thirtys.
Once everyone had settled themselves comfortably Harry stood up again and started speaking.
"I called up for the meeting because its time when the wizarding world lies again in danger, and the Army needs working against it. As you all know that 20 years ago I, with the help of many of you conquered the Dark Lord and there's no doubt about that. He is dead and shall never return. Though in recent days I've gotten news. News about an entity who calls himself Voldemort." At this there were murmurs in the room but no one dared interrupt Harry. "This individual who calls himself as Voldemort is, I have no idea how but, is related to Voldemort. This we didn't need to figure out because that boy sneaked up in the Hogwarts' castle and tried to kill me and the reason he gave was that he wanted to avenge Voldemort's death. As of yet I don't know how but his powers are extreme, I couldn't defend myself, It was only lucky that Tom here was there to save the day. None of our spells worked but his and he saved me." As Harry said it all eyes turned towards Tom and then to him as he continued. "I'm telling you this because I want you to avoid a duel with anyone these days. Moreover one person who's persumably guided him to the ways of Voldemort is Draco Malfoy." There were clear outbreaks of shock at this. "I know, but he has betrayed us and sided with the mot powerful again. Now before I tell you what should we do, are there any questions?"
"How did you find out about this entity?"
"We investigated a few of the murder cases in the past few months including that of Neville's and Luna's and we found proofs there. Moreover when he sneaked into Hogwarts he accepted that he has committed the murders of Neville, Luna and Mayweather. We had a duel but as I said it is extremely hard to penetrate his powers. And he himself said that he was looking to avenge Voldemort, why, I don't know."
"You used the word, 'boy' for him, why? And as you've been face to face with him, you'll know how does he look?"
"Oh, he's young and I did see him. You'll recognize him the moment you'll see him. His features are really distorted, light red eyes and he has less hair. Lord Voldemort's bald, white skin, snake like nostrils and dark red eyes seem far for him but he can attain the position that Voldemort once had."
"You said your powers couldn't penetrate that of Voldemort's and Tom's did, how can that happen?"
"I know it sounds strange but it's not. Tom here is the deputy head of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry at the age of 21, I dare say Professor Mcgonagalle must have seen something in the boy. His powers are extraordinary, better than that of ours but as I see it, we should be glad to have someone compatible to Voldemort in our groups, be it anyone of you or be it him, it is only our benefit."
Harry quietened to let more questions but none came so he proceeded with his plans.
"Now, Ron, Hermione and Percy are stationed at the Ministry to stop it from falling into wrong hands. Me, Dudley, Miss Padma, Miss Patrick, Madam Brown and Tom are at Hogwarts, furthermore, I would like Cho and Micheal, Seamus, Dean, Dennis, Anthony and Lee at Hogsmeade. I need forces all over the village to keep Hogwarts safe from the outside, rest assured the insides will be taken care of. George, Bill, Charlie, the diagon alley's your responsibility, any unusual activity, any unwanted action at Gringotts, I want to know it all. Oliver, Angelina, I want both of you to spread contacts. Make good relations with foreigners, bring them to our side, what we want most now is forces. Boot, Parvati, Ernie you are the unspeakables. High alert you three. I want one of you to be at the department of mystries at all times. Inform at any unusual activity. Professor Mcgonagalle, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ted, Victoire, Fluer you all are on the back up, moreover, you are going to be in touch with the wizarding community. I want to know all unusual events that take place in your neighbourhood. One more thing, you all have your galleons, you'll be called when you'll be required, all waya in and out of Hogwarts are closed except for Dumbledore's. The pub is the only way to sneak in or out. Any queries?"
No one asked anything. It seemed like Harry's instructions were clearer than water. "Very well, If there are no querries than I think I should expect regular reports." Harry smiled at all and sat down. As he sat Mrs. Weasley stood up.
"Well, now that the meetings' over I think we should have a quick meal."
Everyone made to the dining room. On the way Harry caught up with Bill and even sat with him on the table.
"Bill, I didn't want to do this in front of everyone else, but I've more tasks for you."
"I think I know what you're talking about Harry. Anyways, go on."
"Bill, you know its a pain making you do it but I have to. I want you to be in contact with the were wolves. I don't want them to go to the bad side. Will you do it for me?"
"Ofcourse. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you so much Bill. Morover, tell Slipdisk to pay me a visit."
"Slipdisk, Griphook's nephew, right?"
"Yeah."
"Harry, you know goblins, they are neither ours nor their's. What's the point?"
"We can always give it a try."
"So, you're trying to bring magical creatures on our side?"
"Yeah, before he does."
"What are you going to do with the Centaurs and the Giants?"
"Well, Firenze and Hagrid will take care of that and Kreacher's offspring Twix will see to it that if need be the house elves join our forces."
Tom who was so mingling was now roaming around the table helping Mrs. Weasley serve Lunch.
"Oh, God bless you son, you're an extremely big help." Mrs. Weasley said happily, stroked his hair then walked away at Mr.Weasley's call. Tom stood there still realizing the touch he had felt. The feeling was almost like that of a mother's, one which he had never really known. He didn't think he could stand there for a second longer holding tears. He put down the tray he was carrying on the table and walked out of the dining room.
He entered the drawing room with tears running down his face as the thought struck him about his mother. He had seen her photographs but only those when she was held in chains in a cell in Azkaban. What he was wondering was how would she have been as a mother, as a protector, as a carer. He closed his eyes and stood there for a few minutes in silence as more pain engulfed him. He was standing in the house of his ancestor, those his father had refused to accept and had killed.
"You alright?" Dudley had come looking for him. Thankfully, for him Dudley was facing his back, so he did not see him in tears. When he turned around it seemed like all was gone. His million dollar smile was back in place.
"Ofcourse, I came out here to take an extra chair, there's one short in the dining room."
"OK," Dudley said relieving Tom for the moment, then, "but you could have conjured it."
"Well, didn't think of that, eh? Anyways, you sound pretty much comfortable here, and with magic too, I remember Harry telling me you weren't that comfortable with magic when you guys were young."
"He was hysterical at the sight of a wand." It was George. Tom looked at him in amazement and Dudley seemed embarassed. "Well, for which we were responsible." George smiled as Dudley laughed out remembering old times and how he used to be frightened at any mention of the wizarding community and now he was a part of it. Though Tom didn't seem to understand.
"We?"
"We?"
"Oh, I'm sorry I still can't bring myself to say me. By we I meant me and my twin brother Fred."
"Fred?" Tom looked at him questioningly.
"He died in the battle at Hogwarts. Don't mention it in front of Mum, she still bursts out." George smiled to make the atmosphere light as he saw the light leaving Tom's eyes. "It's been a long time mate but we were twins, you could never see one without the other and now..................................." George left the sentence incomplete, apparently unable to complete.
"I'm sorry I......."
"Don't be, its not your fault is it?"
Tom didn't know what to say as George didn't know what he was feeling right now.
He continued,
"You know he was my soul, when he was 'round we would make fun of almost everything, keep cracking jokes every now and then. We even opened a joke shop, made it our profession. At that I time I didn't think I'll be keeping it up without Fred. Charlie joined me with the business but Fred cannot be replaced. The only time I remember Fred to be serious and scared was when this happened." he said pointing at the hole where his ear was suposed to be. "We were on a mission against Voldemort ofcourse and he used some black magic on me which took off my ear completely. I still remember I was lying on the sofa with mum sitting over my head trying to heal the wound and he had come running in behind dad, his face drained of colour, white as chalk. It was only to cheer him up that I made it a big joke. It seems like all the laughter's gone without him."
Tom stood there listening, listening to the bad that his father had done and the bad his brother was doing. And then the feeling of being alone came back to him. His own twin brother had deserted him. After listening to George he was half praising his luck for having such closeness with his brother and half cursing his blood for ruining the lives of such nice people. He could see the sad face of a brother missing his brother, the one who was closer to him than anyone. His insides were very uneasy and he felt restless, yet he put up a wide smile and entered the dining room with the duo.
As they all began to eat the meeting's discussions came back on the table.
"Don't you think dementors should be removed." Mr. Weasley was trying to make his point.
"I don't think so. We should be alert about their behaviour and keep more control over them but removing them from Azkaban would result in a vast breakout." Harry said.
"But they can side with him and if they do that there will be a vast breakout."
"I know, but if we control them better we'll be able to stop Voldemort from getting to them, but if we remove them the prisoners will be able to recruit their powers and we will ensure a breakout from Azkaban."
"So, how did you exactly get the job?" George wanted know more about Tom.
"Well, Hogwarts' always been like home to me, I never left it, even spent my holidays there."
"The summer vacations too?"
"Yeah."
"You never went home?"
Tom smiled, "I don't have one."
"I'm sorry......."
"Don't be, it's not your fault is it?" Tom said as they both laughed out.
"Then?"
"When I was in my seventh year, Professor Flitwick decided to leave and before going elsewhere Professor Mcgonagalle offered the post to me. To tell you the truth I was pretty shocked, I mean no one's ever gotten a post big as this the moment they leave school. Professor Flitwick taught charms, I could do that but I had interests in Defense Against The Dark Arts. At that time Miss Padma taught DADA then I asked for it and she replaced Professor Flitwick for charms and I became the DADA teacher."
"Wow, thats alot of favour."
"Yeah."
"What's so special dude?"
"My powers, I think, but I don't think that makes a difference." Tom said it with broken insides. George didn't know, what would't Tom give to be normal like everyone else and have a family of his own. THE GIANTS
Their return to Hogwarts was a bit saddened as Ron and Hermione were not with them. Harry and Ginny made to their room while Tom made to his room. He stepped into his room and locked the door from inside. He sat on his bed in low despair. He didn't actually have anyone he could call family. Hogwarts was everything to him and everyone here was like family but none could give the warmth of a mother, the pride of a father, the closeness of brothers and sisters. As he thought all this something came across his mind, ' I want you to remember one thing Tom that no matter what happens you'll always have me by your side, like a friend, like a father', Harry was close enough and so was the rest of Hogwarts. Perhaps his visit to the house of his ancestors had brought about the very thing that he feared the most, being alone. As he sat there lost in his own world there was a knock on the door.
"Tom it's me open the door." It was Estella.
He got up and opened the door. There she was sweet, blond, happy, smiling at his door. She came in the moment he opened the door shutting the door behind her.
"Where were you? You said you'd be back by 5, it's almost 6.30. You know how worried.............................."
Tom lost the trail of what she was saying as he came back to life. His insides breathing again he felt his world full at her sight. The feeling of loneliness ebbing away from him and this time he didn't need to put up a smile it just came naturally.
"Why are you smiling?" Estella stopped speaking seeing him smiling suddenly.
This time there was no hesitation, Tom stepped forward in front of her, "You're so very beautiful and......" He moved even closer as she looked at him with her big beautiful eyes, he opened his mouth to say more of what he wanted to then changed his mind, shut his mouth and kissed her, his hand in her hair and the sweet taste of love in both their hearts as if the kiss said more than Tom would ever have been able to tell.
January got underway with alot of work for both the students and the teachers. Everybody was seen working but over all the academic stuff Harry, Ginny and Tom were working against Riddle, and not only them but the rest of the Army, who were inside and outside Hogwarts. Often Micheal, Dennis or Seamus would come up to the castle for a firewiskhy. The whole of the Hogwarts was on its highest guard. Each night any four of the teachers would patrol the corridors and students out of bed were strictly told not to break rules. This extra security had brought about the season of detentions.
James and Peter were caught out of bed more times than they were throughout the year. The detentions took more out of teachers than from students. After school hours, on saturdays the poor teachers had to sit over students as they scribbled down line upon line. Though students would be pretty much relaxed if they were in a detention with Tom. He would not strain them much, let them go early and even left them only with a warning. Harry would disagree with that a couple of times but afterall they were students not criminals, with so much work load already it must be a toture for them doing detentions.
After putting Dorry Repherd through an intimidating detention Tom made to the Headmaster's office for a meeting with a goblin Slipdisk. The detention wasn't at all intimidating for Repherd as a matter of fact it was intimidating for Tom. She was a seventh year girl. She had always had her eyes on Tom, who avoided her as much as he could. This detention was schedueld by Miss Patrick so Tom hadn't refused. He had spent most of the three hours of the detention looking out of the window to avoid an eye contact with the girl. She wasn't that bad in looks but she was nothing compared to Estella. Afterall, Estella was different. These days Repherd seemed pretty angry whenever she saw Tom and Estella together. Throughout the detention she kept trying to draw his attention and before leaving when they were at the door she brushed past him quite closely. Tom though felt uneasy but didn't know what to do. He was a teacher not a hitler. The only option he had open completely was to ignore her and he did that well enough.
He reached the Headmaster's office and in front of the large stone gargoyle there stood a goblin. Apparently he didn't know the password. Afterall, Tom should have been here earlier. Harry had set him up to stay beside the gargoyle to welcome the goblin, in order to show courtesy, though Tom had got held up in the detention.
"Hello, this is Tom Riddle, Deputy Head of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Welcome!"
Before saying anything the goblin looked at him from top to bottom then with a big frown "Welcome, my shins! Been waitin' 'ere for whole 10 minutes!"
Tom who was a bit taken a back by such rude behaviour over came his expression hurriedly and smiled in the frowned face of the little man.
"I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. Let's proceed to the meeting. 'chudley cannons'." The gargoyle started moving upwards in spirals and Tom and Slipdisk jumped onto the lower step. In the process Slipdisk wavered a bit and Tom extended his arm to help seeing to his utter bewilderment that Slipdisk moved away.
"Thanx but no thanx, I don' need no help."
They reached the office door. Tom stood a bit back waiting for Slipdisk to knock as he thought Slipdisk liked doing things for himself. They stood there for a whole minute before Tom realized that Slipdisk couldn't obviously reach the door knocker and stepped forwards to knock on the door. As he did so he saw Slipdisk throwing him an extreme look of loathing.
"Enter."
Both Tom and Slipdisk entered Harry's office. Slipdisk sat on the chair in front of Harry. Tom and Ginny who was in the room before their arrival stood behind Slipdisk.
"I see you have a competent staff Harry Potter." Slipdisk pointed sarcastically at Tom.
Harry obviously understood what was going on. "Well I'm really sorry for the inconvenience you faced because of the delay.........."
Harry hadn't even finished his sentence when Slipdisk held up his hand to silence him. "What did I owe you a visit for?"
"Its a bad news."
"What news?"
"There's an entity who calls himself Voldemort and he's gathering followers----"
This time Slipdisk actually interrupted Harry. "You know very well Harry Potter that we are neither their's nor your's. Its only because of my uncle that I came here to pay you a visit or else you know the bad that wizards have done to magical creatures especially to goblins."
"I know, that's why I called you here. If you are neutral than remain to be so, but if you decide to take sides," Harry bore his eyes into the goblin's, "you know where to go, don't you?"
"Ofcourse." Slipdisk nodded and seeing Harry's relaxed expressions hopped off the chair he was sittng onto. He reached the office door and again stood there for a whole minute before Harry realized that Slipdisk couldn't reach the door knob and signalled Ginny silently to help him. She hurriedly proceeded to the door and opened it for Slipdisk who walked out swearing under his breath.
The moment the door closed behind the goblin both Harry and Ginny stared at Tom who didn't apparently know what was going on.
"What?!"
Both of them burst out laughing.
Slipdisk's meeting with Harry had ensured that if the Goblins chose sides, they would side with Harry. But Hagrid visited Harry a couple of days later after the meeting with Slipdisk with a news.
"They acted really suspicious this time we went Harry," Hagrid was saying as Tom entered the office. " They were wierd, and sort of harsh. I don't know what's happened."
"You know, Ron and Hermione overheard Malfoy at the Ministry. He too said something about Giants. Perhaps they are under the pressure from Voldemort."
"May be, Harry." Hagrid said with a look of worry on his face.
"What happened Hagrid?" Harry asked seeing him worried.
"I don't know Harry. I still can't believe we've got another Voldemort on our hands two decades after you defeated the first one."
Harry didn't say anything as he himself didn't know what would happen.
The season of love was arriving as feb 14 neared. The Hogwarts castle could be seen glowing by the blushes of girls and scarlet ears of guys. The very day was quite important for Tom himself. He had planned a beautiful dinner with Estella down in the dungeons and Peeves was supposed to help him, but he had business of his own. Afterall, what could be more important than pulling carpets from under the feet of the first years. After waiting half an hour in the dungeon for Peeves he finally went up to the castle to search for him. He had just reached the third floor when he actually saw Peeves trying to trip a first year by pulling the carpet from under his feet.
He ran there just in time to catch the little boy before he hit the floor face first. To rid the boy of the fear of Peeves, he knelt down in front of him and asked him his name and the house he belonged to.
"Iam Alex longbottom. I belong to Ravenclaw."
Tom knelt there speechless and broken. The only son of his two best friends stood there in front of him. Now, he realized it, he had been too lost in his own grief, his own misery to think of something, somebody else. He felt guilty now, he had not once thought to visit the boy who was left alone in this big world.
As he sat there, speechless, a little girl came running. He knew her, she was lily harry's daughter. She had, so many times, when seen Harry strolling through the corridors ran up to him forgetting that at the moment he was not his father, but Headmaster.
"Alex, let's go. It's flying lessons, next. MAdam Hooch won't be pleased we are late." The little boy drifted off leaving Tom lost in his own thoughts.
Tom stood up making his way back to his room, still lost in his own thoughts. He was so lost that he nearly ran into someone. It was a seventh year girl, Gwen Goverbob.
"I'm so sorry, Miss. Goverbob. Are you alright?" He asked as she looked near to tears.
"I'm fine. Professor, i was looking for you."
"Looking for me?"
"Yes, Professor, Dory, Dory repherd my friend, she--- she--"
"She what?"
"She had a row with me and then out of anger she ran into the Forbidden forest."
"What! Didn't you stop her?"
" I did, but she didn't listen to me. I waited for her at the edge for an hour but she didn't come out, so I came here to tell someone."
"Which house do you belong to?"
"Slytherin."
"Very well, now, Miss Goverbob go to your common room and have some rest. I'll go and find Miss Rephered. And I'll bring her back alright, OK?"
She nodded then returned as Tom made his way downstairs.
Forbidden Forest wasn't exactly dangerous if you didn't count Hagrid's friends. But perhaps for a student who doesn't know enough magic the place can be fatal. He couldn't ignore his responsibilities but the aspect of another meeting with Dory wasn't inviting.
He reached the grounds. It was a mild day, not to mention a bit chilly. He looked around Hagrid was nowhere around. He went into the forest with his wand out. He reached a clearing and saw a whole class of third years there with Hagrid standing in front and five to six colourful hippogriffs. He was giving an important lesson to the third years. He didn't disturb him during his lessons, changed his path and went deeper into the forest looking for Dory. As he went deeper the trees thickened and the light was a little too less to see.
"Lumos." He ignited his wand and proceeded.
He walked on and on, now he was suspecting that he had come the wrong way and then suddenly he heared a shriek. He ran forwards, pointing his wand at almost everything. Then someone shrieked again and this time he knew where the sound had come from. He ran in its direction and to his horror ran straight into a clearing filled with giant spiders.
For a second he stood frozen then he saw amidst the spiders that had shrieked. A white slimy bundle which seemed to be moving. Then with yet another jolt he realized that it was Dory wrapped in the spiders' slimy web. He pointed his wand at her and shouted,
"Relashio." The web binding her body tore apart , she got to her feet and ran straight to him, threw herself on his chest and started crying.
"Oh, Tom you're here. You saved me, Tom. Iam so glad, Tom."
"It--it's al- lright Miss. Repherd. Please calm down." said Tom who was a bit taken aback by her reaction. He was wishing she would let go of him but he himself did not dare touch her. She would take it as a reply to her reaction, he was a teacher to her and could never be any more than that.
The giant spiders had not noticed Tom until he had cast the spell but now, they surrounded him and he found himself and Dory standing amidst hungry spiders.
One after the other the spiders fell as Tom stunned them trying to make his way through them. It was not at all difficult for him to stun them but he was one against hundreds. He wished Dory would help him stun spiders than stare at him in awe. He was doing well until a particularly big one stepped right in front of him and for the first time he couldn't stun him in one go. It took him 3 times to cast the spell to stun that one, but while he was busy with that one others had closed in on them. He was lifted off his feet as a spider held him in its pincers and started taking him to what seemed like a web made shelter. He used all the strength he had to pull himself up and from between his legs he stunned the thing resulting his fall to the leaf strewn floor. He fell face first and his forehead collided with a big rock and he started bleeding. He jerked his head to shake off the pain and was about to get off the floor when his eyes fell on something. A stone, black with an eye drawn across it. He remembered seeing it in Harry's memory. He had seen it on Marvolo Gaunt's ring. It belonged to him. How had it come there he didn't know neither had it felt useful, nevertheless, he pocketed it then turned over and saw another spider advancing on him. This time he didn't let it overpower him. He stunned it and one after the other kept stunning, running at a fast pace at the same time. He grabbed Dory's arm and made her run with him. Out of the clearing they were still being followed by spiders. Finally when completely out of breath they reached the edge of the forest the spiders backed away.
Tom stood for a few minutes bent down catching his breath. Dory was standing a little away from him, breathing hard too. When finally Tom got control over himself he asked Dory.
"Miss. Repherd are you feeling alright?"
She didn't reply but started rummaging into her pocket for something.
"Miss. Rephered-----?"
She cut across him pulling something out of her pocket wrapped into a thin golden paper. "Tom, would you like a chocolate?"
Tom who didn't understand what she meant, looked at the thing wrapped in golden then understood what she meant. But was she out of her mind? They had just escaped a herd of giant spiders and she was offering him a chocolate?
He walked up to her. "Miss. Rephered are you feeling well?"
A minute ago she was feeling well but when he approached her she suddenly made a swiveling movement and fainted right on top of him all over again. Tom sighed, conjured up a stretcher on the ground and laid her on to it then levitated it with him into the castle. He went straight to the hospital wing.
Madam Brown took the girl. Healed his head injnury with a flick of her wand, and asked him what had happened.
"Apparently this girl had a row with a friend of hers and ran into the forbidden forest. Her friend met me and told me what had happened. I went to look for Hagrid but he was in a class, so I went in to find her, she had been caught by tarantula colony there. Rescued her and brought her out."
"Row with her friend? This is Dory Rephered isn't it?" Madam Brown asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I saw her out of the window, her friend was escorting her into the forest, it didn't seem like they had row."
"I don't know, she is a bit strange, when we came out into the grounds she offered me a chocolate, can you believe that?"
Miss Brown, for the first time in his life giggled a bit, then, "Now, I know what this is all about. You didn't eat the chocolate did you?"
"Of course not. Why though?"
"It was filled with the love potion." Although Tom had no idea about it, Madam Brown had once brew the potion herself for Harry which was mistakenly administered to Ron. That was the reason she knew exactly what was going on. She had much too experience of what Repherd had done but if today wasn't the day to do all that, when was?
It was nearly dusk. He went to his room washed, changed and sat on to his bed, longing for a good sleep. He had just lied on his bed when his eyes fell on the present he had brought for Estella and he remembered his dinner. He wore the best and perhaps the only clothes he had, though laundered and clean. His white shirt over his blue jeanz. He looked into the mirror, he looked OK. But before he could jugde any more than that, jugdement was already pronounced.
"You look Handsome!" complimented The Fat Lady from her portrait.
He went down into the dungeons and saw that it was pitch black. He hadn't completed the preparations, he could do it now, he stepped in, ignited his wand and found himself face to face with Estella. All thought of the past events left him at that instant.She stood close to him shining like a sun in the darkness as the light of the wand fell on to her beautiful face and she wispered,
"Happy Valentines Day." and kissed him. When Tom opened his eyes the dungeon was full of light and as he saw they stood under a big red heart-shaped balloon. The dungeon was very well decorated. He looked around feeling really greatfull that Estella had done it and his look said it more than words could and she understood.
"I didn't do it all alone though, Peeves helped." Now he came to notice it, she did seem pretty comfortable with Peeves. He looked at her properly now. She was wearing a light sky blue silk dress looking immensely pretty. A table for two was already there.
He clapped his hands twice and a beautiful, slow music started playing. He grabbed Estella's wrist and pulled her towards himself with one hand. Put another one on her waist as she put hers on his shoulder and they moved with the tune. There was no face for him but of hers. The world seemed to be all around him. He looked into her beautiful eyes and found the beauty of the fairies in them. He had never seen anyone as beautiful and soft as her. She was everything to him.
They moved slowly looking into each others' eyes for how long Tom coultn't tell, until finally there was an interruption from peeves in the form of a big 'booooooooooozzzzzzzzz!'. Tom pulled a chair back from the table for Estella to sit then he himself dropped into the one placed in front of her. Again, he clapped his hands, this time thrice and delicious food appeared on the table alongwth champagn. He had already fixed it all, told Peeves to play the music when he clapped twice, had asked twix, the house elf from the kitchens whom he had met a few days ago when Harry had called him to talk about Voldemort, to send the food down in the dungeons when he clapped thrice.
They spent spectacular time together. When finally the clock struck 11 they decided to go to bed, but Tom didn't want her to go just yet. He still had his present to give to her.
"So, what is it?" Estella as usual couldn't resist.
"I'm not gonna tell you." Tom stopped to see her confused look. "I'm gonna show you." Estella suddenly relaxed and smiled. "Close your eyes."
Tom summoned the necklace from his room.
"Open them."
She did and for a second didn't understand what she was looking at then realized she was standing in front of a mirror and looked properly, noticed the necklace and smiled broadly.
"Oh, Tom this is wonderful! It's such a lovely gift!." She turned around and kissed him.
Tom smiled, "But it's not real." He wanted her to know.
"It doesn't matter Tom."
"Really?"
"Not to me atleast." And they kissed again never wanting to part.
Time flew for Tom so fast that they reached May with a brutal season of exams. As the first years went through their first tests, the fifth years tackled their O.W.Ls and the 7th years fought through their N.E.W.Ts finally a news hit them, worth all their work in the past few days.
"Well, supposedly Riddle alongwith Malfoy and a few more deatheaters of his is going to pay a visit to the Giants, that means we've got a chance to capture him." Harry told them on the last day of exams. They had all been invigilating students while they sat giving exams when Harry had sent them a message to meet them urgently and they had all reported.
"Harry, wouldn't it be easier if we just arrested Malfoy? It would save us the trouble of a chaos." Tom said not wanting to have another encounter with Riddle. The last one had been quite painful. They had talked about this a thousand times but still he wanted to be proven wrong once more.
"And what are we going to tell the wizarding world? We're arresting the newly appointed head of the law enforcement department because hes' working for Voldemort, who's supposed to have died 20 years ago?" Harry said for the thousandth time himself.
"But we'll make Malfoy confess."
"And you think he's going to give in?"
"If he's that hard to break, we'll use his memory to expose him."
"Tom, you don't understand. Memories can be plotted. We'll be suspected for doing so."
"Think of it this way, who are they going to believe, The Harry Potter or Malfoy?"
"Look, alot has changed in the past 20 years. Malfoy is now as respected as I am and I dare say he's earned it. Recently, when I took Hermione off the Ministry he was made the new head of the department of law and enforcement and now if we try to expose him through his memories people will suspect us to have plotted it all against Malfoy out of sheer resentfulnes and jealousy."
"Ok. But even if we get hold of Voldemort, he's not going to confess either."
"Ok. But even if we get hold of Riddle, he's not going to confess either."
"Tom, we don't need him confessing yet. We want to put him into Azkaban so he doesn't carry his plans off of immortality and the destruction of muggles and muggle borns. And if he's gone Malfoy will give in himself because he's not the one who has extraordinary powers to tackle the entire Army and then we'll have something to boast about."
Tom didn't argue this. Afterall, he couldn't ignore facing Riddle forever. He knew that Riddle's powers could only be penetrated by him.
"You won't be alone, Tom." Harry said who seemed to have read his thoughts. "The whole of the Army will be there."
Tom, nodded knowing deep down, that none of their spells would work. He had for years at Hogwarts heard of The famous Harry Potter. He had been depending on him that when or if the time came, he would be able to hide behind Harry Potter, let him defeat his brother and save the Wizarding world and also himself from the guilt of betraying his own blood although he had always detested it, but when he had seen none of his spells working on his brother , he knew deep down that he was perhaps the only one who could be compatible with Riddle.
Tom's potential was no doubt much greater than that of Riddle's but he had never wanted to accept it, never even appreciated it because he never wanted to prove himself better than Riddle who had always tried to make himself as prominenet as possible. When in childhood Tom had shielded some of his muggle friends from Riddle and in the process harmed himself, he had never once thought that in youth he would be faced by the same prospect again but this time it wasn't a muggle who's life was at stake, it was Harry Potter.
It seemed like he had always known this day would come. THE CONSPIRACY
Harry sent messeges to the Dumbledore's Army to come to the meeting. The proper news was that the Giants who lived on the Himlayas were to be visited by deatheaters and Riddle himself the next day. That meant they had very few hours to make arrangements of things. All of them gathered at the Riddle House. This time Kingsley accompanied them.
"This is our opportunity to grab him and we'll be saved from the trouble of a lifetime. As I presume and I think I'm right Voldemort will not have an army of inferi or an extraordinary no. of deatheaters as of now so we won't need more of our people either. I want Ron, Hermione, Tom, Ginny, Micheal, Percy, George, Bill, Kingsley, Charlie, Ted and Oliver to accompany me to the Himalayas." He had chosen the best at duel. "I want the rest of the Army at their positions. And those who are at Hogwarrts must be more vigilant than before. Most probably we'll get hold of most deatheaters and perhaps Voldemort too. We'll catch them and send them to Azkaban."
Everyone stood up except for the ones Harry had chosen. They all wished them luck and left the Riddle House while the rest of them stayed to plan exactly how would they do what they anticipated.
"I think we should leave tonight." Bill said.
"Won't it be too early?" Ron asked.
"Uh hun," Oliver answerd. "Actually it's really good. We'll be able to hide ourselves in the dark properly, before You-Know-Who arrives."
"Call him by his name." Harry said, looking directly at Oliver. He didn't want Voldemort given anymore importance than he's worth specifically when he didn't even exist. Only Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny knew that it's Riddle they're after but for the rest of the army, it was Voldemort they were going to catch.
"And that we don't know." George said, trying to make things light, as Harry and Ron exchanged looks. They afterall knew who Voldemort was.
"Bill's absolutely right, we should be a bit early, we'll be able to hide ourselves properly. Now, we'll position ourselves such that we are able to surround them in a circle and then we'll appear all at once. They should be shocked so they don't have enough time to think. Moreover, the moment we get there we'll cast the spell to block apparition there and we'll set up an alarm so that whoever apparates the alarm gets off and we know of their presence." Harry said, finalizing things.
Everything was ready, all plans were made and now all they had to do was to apparate to the Himalayas. Tom watched as they all discussed the various things that he had no interest of knowing. He was thinking about Estella. He had reported urgently but now he wanted to go back and say goodbye. He didn't know what would happen next. He was only just thinking that when Harry told him it was time to leave.
They all stood in the backyard of the Riddle House ready to disapparate. Finally, Tom turned on the spot and darkness and suffocation swallowed him whole.
The moment they appeared on the uneven ground a loud cry rant the air. They all stood transfixd where they had apparated, their wands in their hands pointing in front of them. It was too dark here to see. Harry lead the group his heart sinking. At the very back walked Tom, his heart hammering against his ribs. Their plan had been backfired on themselves. As their eyes got accustomed to the lack of light they looked around and to their horror saw more then a dozen hooded figures surrounding them in a circle. All at once, they all turned to disapparate and nothing happened, apparition was blocked.
Suddenly they heard a mirthless, cruel laugh, and Riddle came out from behind his deatheaters, hooded, in a black cloak.
"Potter, what a sight it is!" He said in his cold wisper. "Caught with his Army, trapped." He pulled off the hood and exposed his slightly white skin, light red eyes and the frightening look that it all gave, nevertheless, as Harry saw him, he still did look alot more familiar. Perhaps Tom had felt more unfimiliar because he was his twin brother. As the hood slipped off, all of the Army gasped, except for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom who was at the very back and didn't want to come out. He didn't want to see his brother like this, so full of evil. Riddle looked around, he couldn't see Tom among them. "Why, Potter, I don't see any familiar faces? Not that it is now, eh?" He laughed at his own joke, the same cruel laugh. "Where is he?"Everyone in the Army looked confused, except for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom who knew what was coming. He couldn't hide forever. "Where's Tom? My dear, brother?" The Army stood silent but shocked. "Or he didn't come to visit me?" And Tom finally walked out.
"I couldn't have resisted." said Tom looking straight into Riddle's red eyes with his own brown ones.
"Of course. Blood........ " Riddle walked up to Tom as he himself moved forward and they stood face to face. "..........always responds."
"What do you want?" Tom asked.
"Revenge. Harry Potter's death along with his companions who killed our father."
"Lord Voldemort died due to his own mistakes, his own blunders, Harry did only what was right. And the man you call a father never even knew you existed. You told me yourself."
"Father or not he was a great man, who worked only for the benefit of our kind, of purbloods-----"
"Purebloods whom he had no relation with, he was a halfblood." Harry said stepping forward with his wand raised.
Riddle laughed yet another cruel laugh. "Don't you remember Potter, none of your spells worked on me?"
"They'll now."
"Bolt, NO!" Harry shouted but the damage was done. Kingsley had fired a stunning spell at Riddle not being able to stand it all any longer which had backfired and had hit a deatheater who's companion had in reaction fired another spell at Kingsley which was blocked by Hermione who was stunned by Riddle as Ron and the others joined in the fight. They were all firing spells at the deatheaters around them, duelling for their lives, with two at a time, except for Harry and Tom who were fighting Riddle. While Harry tried every spell he knew on him Tom blocked the spells cast by Riddle on Harry. He couldn't bring himself to use any spells against his brother but he could protect Harry.
THE HALLOW BETWEEN THE ODDS
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Levicorpus! Stupefy! Flagrato! Expelliarmus! Incendio! Stupefy! Telenltellagra! Expelliarmus! Reducto! Stupefy! Relashio!....................." Harry tried so many spells but nothing worked on the contrary Riddle was able to throw curses at him and Tom who kept blocking those. "Expelliarmus! Sectumsempra!........"
It was enough! Tom couldn't avoid hurting Riddle anymore. The spell cast by Harry reminded him of that night when Riddle had nearly killed him and he suddenly wanted to hurt him too. "Sectumsempra!" Tom shouted, causing a sudden change in things. Riddle was thrown backwards with blood pouring out of him like water out of a fountain. Harry barely had time to thank Tom when Riddle revived himself looking extremely angry, his eyes dark red as was his blood.
"Avada Kedavra!" He sent the killing curse at Harry. It was only lucky that Tom pushed him aside and stood his ground facing him. The thing he was avoiding came up and he didn't back out.
"Protego!" An invisible wall appeared between them and till Riddle was able to break through it, Tom removed the apparition blocking spell. It was not the time to fight as they were out numbered pretty badly. The rest of the Army started disapparating but Harry remained at Tom's back as he started duelling Riddle again.
"Flagrato!" Riddle shouted and angry flames of fire were shot at Tom which he had to distinguish with " Augamenti!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Riddle shot another spell at Harry who moved out of the way and Tom ran in front of him to protect him from any more killing curses. "Get out of the way, Tom! it's Potter I want. I don't want to spill my own blood! Vansantio!" Apart from them only Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Kingsley were duelling, Ron and Ginny waging a battle against Malfoy who's hood had fallen and Ginny was fighting a broad faced deatheater they didn't know who was stunned by Harry as Ginny had turned to look at Harry and Tom when Riddle had used the killong curse. Kingsley was fighting two deatheaters at once, the rest of the deatheters seemed unable to fight. Some had been stunned by the Army others too injured to fight had disapparated.
"Destructo!" Tom shouted destroying the illusion cast by Riddle and then shouted, "Relashio!" at Riddle wanting to tear him apart but he moved out of the way and his spell hit a tree trunk from which something green and slimmy started pouring out. And then the tree trunk moved and suddenly they realized that it wasn't at all a tree trunk, it was the foot of a giant whom they handn't been able to make out in the dark. There was loud roar in the air and the giant stomped its foot on the ground and it shook so badly that all of them fell to their feet except Riddle. All of Riddle's company disapparated then.
Everything happened so suddenly after that. As Tom fell something fell out of his pocket, the black stone with an eye drawn across it. Harry who saw it gasped but there was no time to be shocked he got up and ran towards it, bent to get it off the floor when Riddle again shouted "Avada Kedavra", and Harry who heard it a second later than others looked up and saw the green light approaching him, he meant to move out of the way but knew it was too late and suddenly, out of nowhere someone jumped right in front of him and a second later lay on the floor, dead. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom all froze and Harry stood over the body of the man who had just saved his life, Bolt, his friend, his guide, dead, the minister of magic, dead.
Riddle alone, with the five of them started laughing, his cruel, cold laugh. "Ah, the Minister seems to have retired, eh?" He pointed his wand at Harry once more, "Who else would like to die for Potter?" He looked at the white, colour drained faces of Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tom. All of whom, though dry mouthed pointed their wands at Riddle ready to fight. They had decided in silent agreement that they wouldn't leave without Kingsley and would get themselves out of here, alive, because Harry didn't seem to be thinking of leaving, and he wasn't. He would spill a bit of Riddle's blood even if it meant getting himself killed. But before that he needed to retrieve the resurrection stone. How had it even got here?
Harry smirked at Riddle knowing very well it would hold him off only for some time. "Who would die for me? You are out numbered, unsupported by your cronies with Harry Potter standing in your face, and who would die for me? Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted and silently Tom performed the disarming spell on Riddle. His wand flew out of his hand and he was distracted. Ron, Hermione and Ginny started firing spells at him while Harry ran for the resurecction stone. He took it off the floor as Riddle threw Ron, Hermione and Ginny off him and Tom got engaged with him, duelling again.
"Serpensortia!" A snake larger than life sprang out of Riddle's wand and lashed its teeth at Tom. As Harry ran to help him, Riddle disarmed him while Tom tackled the snake. But Riddle had noticed something. Other than Harry's wand something else had flown out of his hand, a black stone. What could it be? But whatever it was, he was sure it was worth more than diamonds to have Harry Potter run after it. He had noticed when Harry had run to take it off the ground. He tried to summon it but it didn't move. This proved the stone to bear magic beyond imagination. He strode towards it as Harry ran to it after retrieving his wand.
"Protego!" Harry shouted but that didn't stop Riddle walking straight through his shield, "Telentellagra!" Malfoy shouted as he saw Harry casting another spell at Riddle. He had just apparated here for Riddle. Harry fell to the floor his legs completely out of his control. Tom who was still being attacked by the serpent slashed the thing to get away from it for a littel while as Ginny disapparted with Kingsley's body. Tom turned around for a second to see what was happening, he looked at Harry on the floor, his legs out of control, Riddle standing over him with his wand pointed at him and the black stone in another hand and then he remembered what it was. Marvolo Gaunt's Stone. When did it fall out of his pocket? And what was it worth to Harry? It belonged to Tom and Riddle. "Accio!" He shouted pure out of instint and Riddle's attention was diverted towards him, as Hermione shouted, "Finito!" and Harry's legs stopped moving and he got to his feet ready to fight but Hermione grabbed his hand and disapparated, "NO!" Harry shouted but it was no use he was already swallowed by the darkness.
Tom who had let his attention waver off the snake for a little too long knew he had made a mistake. He had still been looking behind him when the snake struck and agonizing pain grabbed him as his ribs were torn out of his flesh by the sharp pointed teeth of the serpent and covered in thick red blood he fell to the leaf strewn ground as Ron grabbed him by his arm, pulled him up and turned on the spot.
For a second all was lost in the suffocation and the darkness and then Tom fell back on to the grass covered ground outside The Riddle House. Pain engulfed him once more as he was moved to a stretcher and Ron disapparated again and this time, Tom didn't know where, because now, all was black. THE NEW TERROR
"The stone!" Tom opened his eyes. That was the first word to come out of his mouth when he came to. He looked around he was in a big white room, lying on a bed wearing a light blue patient's dress. Around the corners of the room, where there were tables, there were flowers. He was at St. Mungoes hospital. For a second he was blank and then eveything came back to him with a razor sharp memory. Voldemort......plotted them.........he duelled with him.......the stone..........slipped out.........The snake..........Harry......Hermione took him..........Voldemort got the stone..............the snake struck.............Ron......brought me here and Kingsley..........................................dead.
He suddenly sat up in bed and felt his ribs aching in protest. Although he didn't want to get out of the warm bed with its comfort, he, with great effort, pulled himself off the bed and stood up, a little lopsided but he did. Though it was really hard to walk with a thick roll of bandages around your waist. He looked at his side table and saw his wand lying there. He didn't even know why they had put bandages over him as the wound would have healed. He took his wand off the table and pointed it at his waist, "Relashio" the bandages tore apart and he suddenly knew he had made a mistake. Blood started pouring out of his wound. He fell right back onto his bed as everything around him turned black again.
"Tom, Tom." This time when he came around, he heard a soft voice, saying his name, "Tom." He opened his eyes and found himself in the same room though beside him sat someone, closer than his soul.
"Estella." he said, when he saw tears slipping down her pink cheeks. "Don't, please, I'm fine." He sat up a bit, this time very careful. He looked at the bed which was white now, and he knew which would surely have been dripping red in blood when he they had found him.
"Estella." he said, when he saw tears slipping down her pink cheeks. "Don't, please, I'm fine." He sat up a bit, this time very careful. He looked at the bed which was white now, and he knew which would surely have been dripping red in blood when they had found him.
"Oh, Tom, thank God, you're alright. Where did you go? You didn't even tell me and then suddenly Professor Potter tells me you're in here and when I asked why, he said he couldn't tell me, it was something only between you and him. Tom, when I came in here, I saw you lying on the bed drenched in blood, I was so shocked! Please be alright, please,........." and she started crying.
"Estella, please don't cry, you know I hate to see you cry. I'm really fine, I just got mself into............"
"Oh, Tom, please don't say you got yourself into another duel. That's what you said a year ago when we met the first time. There's definitely something wrong. Why cn't you tell me. That's the second time something so severe has happened and don't try to comfort me with that duel tosh." she added as she saw him open his mouth to argue. "I heard the healers, they said "the fangs were poisonous," and they are unable to heal it. Tom, what have you been doing when you just disappear without telling me?"
"Estella, I love you very much, but.............." Tom looked at her for a second, he didn't want her to know about Riddle and his relation with him. But what if he did tell her, she understood him. "Estella if I tell you, you won't tell anyone, right?"
"Of course, I love you, why would I do that?"
And he told her everything, about him and Riddle and when he finished she looked shocked. "Tom, oh, Tom, this is horrible and you didn't say so much, how could you keep it all in." She bent forward and hugged him and he felt a rush of gratitude for her for understanding him.
She moved away said everyone else wanted to come and see him and so she left saying she'll be back once everyone else will have visited. She went outside and then came in Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Everyone was Ok except for Harry who was holding his hand differently.
"Splinched." Harry said when he saw Tom staring at his arm.
"Very well deserved I say." Ron chuuckled, trying to lift everyone's mood.
"How're you doing?" Harry asked.
"Well, fine if you don't count the bleeding when I take off the bandages."
"That'll be fine but you'll need to keep wearing these bandages for sometime. The healers have given you stitches now. It'll heal up all to soon just don't take these off."
Tom smiled slightly then, "Kingsley............" but he couldn't bring himself to ask about the funeral.
Harry nodded who understood what he meant, "We've arranged his funeral, at his hometown, he would have liked it."
"I wanna come."
At this all of them looked uneasy.
"Tom, you're really not in a position to do so." Ginny said.
"No, I'm fine, as long as I don't take these bandges off," he smiled and saw none of their lips twitch.
"What's happened?" he asked.
"Nothing, Tom, I think you should rest, it won't be good for you to walk around so quickly." Harry said.
But there was something wrong, Tom could feel the insistance in Harry's voice with a concern deeper than his wound.
"I could use a wheel chair." Tom said.
But at this Harry seemed beyond reasoning.
"And who would drag you around!?"
"I don't need dragging around, I'm a wizard." Tom replied calmly, seeing clearly now that something was wrong.
"But---_, Look you need to res---_"
"No, I don't! I need to know what's going on? Why are you so insistant on not letting me go to the funeral?"
"You want to know, FINE! I don't want you to be at the funeral because---____"
"Because there's no point of you to be there!" Hermione shouted cutting across Harry, she suddenly looked angry, "You hardly knew Bolt!"
"Hermione, I was there when he died and he died because of .............." Tom couldn't bring himself to say "my brother" but he knew they understood, or did they?
"So, what? Why do you want to bring yourself in the spotlight by appearing at the Minister's funeral?!"
"SPOTLIGHT! Hermione how coul---_argh" Tom suddenly stood up without realizing he was injured and experienced a sharp pain in his ribs. He staggered a bit and Harry made to grab him just when Ron caught his arm tightly. Harry understood what they were doing, and he thought it was better, better atleast than when Tom would know.
"Hermione how could you? I would never do anything like that, you know it. I just want to pay my last----_"Tom started again gaining control over himself. He couldn't believe what Hermione had just said. But before he had even finished she strode out of the room. And to Tom's astonishment Harry, Ron and Ginny followed her. Did they think that too?
"Why did you do that? It would have hurt him so much." Harry said as they reached the reception.
"It wouldn't have done any better had we had told him the truth!" Hermione said her eyes watering. She felt really bad at what she had said to him yet it was better than the truth.
All four of them without further ado disapparated to the funeral.
Tom sat in his room really broken and confused. Broken because he had been blamed for something he had never in his life had wanted and confused because he hadn't expected that to come from Hermione and most of all no one else even contradicted her. Estella entered the room when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny left. Tom didn't tell her what had happened even though she asked and then after a while she said she was going to Kingsley's funeral and just wish he could come, but she really genuinely felt he wasn't phisically able to do so though Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny seemed strange. He bid her good bye then sat thinking.
How could they think of him as selfish a person as she said? Why were they so insistant on keeping him from the funeral. The last time he was injured Harry had taken him out of the hospital wing against Madam Brown's will and now he didn't want him out, why? There was only one way to find out he would have to go to the funeral even if tey didn't want him there. He got off the bed, took his wand and changed his hospital light blue clothes to his usual blue jeanz and white shirt. He pocketed his wand and slowly, very slowly started walking. It took alot of effort of his to even to move a muscle, yet he needed to be there, to know.
Salty, mild breeze touched Tom's face as he appeared at an opening facing a wide ocean. There right in front of him was a funeral. Chairs assembled in a complete circle around a white tomb and Kingsley's body wrapped not in a white cloth but in cream colourd one with two wands intersecting each other making a cross drawn across it, sparks flying out of them. Tom stood at a distance watching, as everyone stood up off chairs and paid their last respects to their late Minister of Magic.
Once all the ceremonies were over, people started getting themselves in conversations. Some were consoling each other and some were still grieving. Tom saw Professor Mcgonagalle standing in a corner weeping and he thought he should comfort her so he went to her but instead of looking comforted at his sight she looked alarming.
"Tom?! Good gracious! What are you doing here?"
"I came to pay-----___" But before he could continue once more he was interrupted.
"You shouldn't really be here, you-you ought to rest."
"Professor I'm fine, really. Why does everyone want to kick me out of here? What's wrong?"
"Didn't Harry tell you?" He shook his head. "Well, but this is not the time to discuss these things you'd better leave." And saying so she left him alone to leave. What was it that Harry hadn't told him?
"You!"
Tom was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as someone shouted at him and he saw the source of the shout. Percy Weasley, his eyes bearing dark circles and looking very angry strode towards Tom, pulled his wand out and pointed it right at his chest. Tom, quite taken aback by this back tracked a bit.
"Perce what---_"
"What are you doing here?!"
"I..." Tom was tired of explaining and now wanted truth and only truth. "What do you mean by that?"
"Why are you here? What do you want now?"
"What do you..... What would I want?"
"Oh, don't pretend!" Percy shouted as his voice got carried to the crowd and everyone's attention turned towards them, amongst them were Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny who came out of it and halted at a distance seeing that their plan had apparently failed. "We were all there, we all heard it! You double crossed us!" Tom stared at him, his heart beating faster than ever, "You told him we'll be there! What did you think? You'll get our sympathies if you pretended to get hurt? Afterall, who'd help but a brother?" And Tom's heart sank he knew what Perce meant, but it wasn't true. Though he couldn't believe it.
"Perce, its not like as it seems, really. Trust me I............" "Back off!" George said taking his wand out as Tom had taken a step forward towards percy. He was really hurt at that, he wasn't expecting that kind of impulse from them or that kind of hatred in their eyes. His eyes started watering at that kind of attitude from them but he felt shattered at what George said next, "I don't want you to hurt anyone especially if its for Voldemort."
"Voldemort! Do you think I'd do anything for a man I no longer consider family?"
"That's what you say!"
"And that's what I say!" Harry interrupted, he couldn't stand it any longer.
"So you say because he says!"
"And he's completely honest!" Hermione stepped forward too.
"Honest, eh? I don't think so." Oliver came up to join George and Percy and as Tom watched the whole of the Army joined them facing him, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny except for those who were at Hogwarrts and knew him stood facing them. Miss Padma, Miss Patrick, Madam Brown, Dudley and Mcgonagalle sided with Harry too.
"Look," Tom said, he didn't want the Army destroyed because of him. " Please, don't do this. I'll leave it, I'll leave the Army, OK? Then I'll no longer be a threat to any of you."
"Leave the army?" Micheal said, he approached Tom, stood nose to nose with him, grabbed the locket, the fake galleon, dangling on his chest and pulled it out. " You don't have a right to leave as you were never really a part of it."
As Micheal walked off the rest of the Army started passing them by saying things like, " You betrayed us.", "You're a liar.", "You're a back stabber.", "I didn't expect this of you Tom, you let me down.", "You're worse than Voldemort even." Tom, tears trickling down his face, nodded silently not at their words but at his fate for being so harsh to him, he was paying the price for being the brother of an evil man, then moved out of their amidst and disapparated.
After the chaos at the funeral, Miss, Padama, Miss Ptrick, Madam Brown and Dudley went back to Hogwarts. Professor Mcgonagalle went home in downright sobs. Ron and Hermione went to the ministry. They needed to know what decisions were to be made and they were responsible for the responses to the media. They had decided it was time to tell the wizarding world about the return of Voldemort, of course, cutting off details and only the vague idea of the terror that might be awaiting the wizarding world.
Ginny went back to Hogwarts and Harry went to St. mungoes, he knew Tom would need someone at his side. But when he went there he found Tom's room empty, he should have seen it earlier. Tom would have gone straight to his real home rather than at the hospital which he wanted to leave soon as he could. Harry disapparated and found himself standing in Hogsmeade within a second. He walked up to the castle through the grounds but on the way stopped. Changed his path and went straight for Dumbledore's grave.
A thought had just struck him. He reached Dumbledore's grave and stood over it. Maybe it was time to use the option he had been avoiding since he had had the first encounter with Riddle. Maybe it was only for good that he was destined to be the master of death, the owner of three hallows. to defeat Lord Voldemort once. But, now there was a difference he had lost the Resurrection stone. The only hope for him was that Riddle didn't find out what that stone actually did. He could see an army of inferi right now, just by the thought of it all. He sighed. He didn't know if he could even bring himself to break Dumbledore's tomb or not.
THE RETURN OF LORD VOLDEMORT
Still thinking Harry looked up and to his utter surprise saw Tom sitting by the lake with Estella at his side. Harry walked towards them, he didn't want to interrupt but he owed an apology to Tom.
"Tom."
Tom turned around at his voice and stood up at his sight.
"I shouldn't have................"
"Harry, I know what you did was to keep me away from the grief that you knew I would not be able to take that easily. It's not your fault." And he hugged Harry, saving him from a lifetime of trouble to apologize.
When he moved away he still had tears in his eyes.
"Tom, you know they don't know the whole thing. You know the first impression's always like this."
He nodded, "I know, but I can't help it. It still hurts to hear all that stuff. They blamed me for something I've never even dreamed of."
Harry nodded and hugged him again, he knew how Tom felt. Afterall, he had been through it all himself.
Harry left Tom and Estella at the lake side, he knew Tom would be OK. He went back upto the castle and found Ginny there, waiting for him. He sat down on his headmaster's chair and felt a load of responsibilty on his shoulders.
"Harry are you alright?" Ginny asked when she saw the frown on his face.
"I don't know. This isn't going at all the way I want it to go."
"What do you mean?"
"The army Ginny. I need it and most of all I want it. I didn't want it to break like that, I didn't want Kingsley to die, I just wanted to capture him so we could put an end to it before any of it began."
"I know Harry, I know. But we couldn't have helped it happening, you know it."
Harry nodded, but he was worried, more worried than he had ever been. The Hallow in the wrong hands meant nothing but destruction.
The next day dawned with more worries than Harry had already been looking for. Ron and Hermione had come the previous day to tell him that they couldn't explain Voldemort's come back and now they're expecting a press conference for Harry to give his final word on it. So, today was the press conference. Harry got up early wore his wizard robes of dark grey colour and with Ginny at his side got ready to go to the Ministry of Magic where they had held the conference. As Harry and Ginny made to leave the office there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
It was Tom. "Harry, I want to come to the conference."
"Tom, you know why you shouldn't be there. The whole of the Army would be there and they wouldn't like you to be there."
"Harry, I know, but they won't see me, really. I'll put on a disillusionment charm they wouldn't know of my presence there. please Harry let me be there."
"Tom, you still haven't recovered properly and I don't want you to mess up yourself, you should be at St. Mungoes for one and if you don't want to be there then atleast give yourself some rest."
"No, you don't get it. You saw what Riddle can do, I want to be around you, to protect you, he wants to kill you Harry, I don't want to lose you."
Harry and Ginny apparated directly in the Atrium as they were along with Ron, Hermione and the Minister of Magic allowed to do so. This was only open for the VIP's. Harry walked not to the centre of the Atrium where a platform had been raised for him but to a fireplce in the corner from where Tom was going to come out. A second later Harry felt him brush past his shoulder and say "I'm here." quietly in his ear. Now, he turned to the platfrom and stood on it, with Ginny, Ron and Hermione at his sides and though invisible Tom.
Harry raised his wand to his throat and said, "Sonorus!" His voice was magically magnified. Everyone who had come to attend the conference, gathered around him.
"A day ago, we lost our most precious asset, our friend, our guide, the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Bolt didn't die for nothing. He gave away his life to save, The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, to save Me. To save me from being killed by Lord Voldemort." At this there were whispers then someone from the present audience stood up and asked,
"You-Know-Who is back?"
Harry opened his mouth to reply just when the guest entrance to the Ministry slid in view and its door opened. This attracted everyone's attention as in the pindrop silence that followed Harry's words this was the first very loud distraction but to their surprise the lift was empty, there was no one in it.
To Harry and the others the lift may seem empty but to Tom, it wasn't. Riddle was right there in his usual black cloak covered with a disilluionment charm. And to Tom's horror he was holding the Resurrection Stone in his palm. Tom moved swiftly towards Harry as Riddle moved towards the people gathered around the platform. "Harry, he's here, it's Riddle, wearing a disillusionment charm." Tom whispered in Harry's ear and Harry drew out his wand as did Ginny, Hermione and Ron. And Tom jumped off the platfrom and stood before all the people facing Riddle, his wand raised he removed the disillusionment charm off himself. Everybody in the Atrium gasped as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny joined Tom.
"Show yourself." Tom said, and Riddle knew it was only for him. He turned the stone in his palm thrice and removed the disillusionment charm. He appeared in the Atrium wearing a hood over his head but appeared with him a figure also in a black cloak, bald, with dark red eyes and slits for pupils.
"Harry Potter." Lord Voldemort was standing right in front of them and they all stood stunned in front of him. The very Voldemort who had killed Harry's parents, who had Killed Cedric, who had Killed Dumbledore, Who had Killed Snape and whom Harry had himself duelled with and who had died in front of their very eyes, stood right before them. Voldemort looked at the one who had asked if Voldemort was back,
"Indeed, Lord Voldemort has returned."
The whole of the Ministry was there and Voldemort had walked into their midst it was not something they would want to ignore. All Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny fired stunning spells on Voldemort and Tom shot his at Riddle. The effect was strange. The spells fired at Voldemort went straight through him with on effect whatsoever but Tom's stunning spell hit his brother straight in the chest and he was blown off his feet as Voldemort's figure standing quite still looking enraged flickered a bit and then disappeared. Riddle who had flown to the opposite wall got up. Tom had not been able to stun him because his powers were not in their full form. He moved quickly from the spot to a fireplace as the rest of them all started firing spells at him. All around Tom there were shouts of Expelliarmus!, Stupefy!, Relashio!, Reducto! and saw nothing work. He himself shouted, "Expelliarmus!" and Riddle's wand flew out of his hand. For him that was it. Not trying to get of there he stood up to his full height summoned his wand to himself and replied to Tom with a killing curse to avoid which he ducked and the crowd around them backed off as Tom and Voldemort started circling each other.
"Tom, get out of my way, I am ready to spill as much blood as possible just to get out of here. It's better you make it easy for me and you make it easy for yourself."
"Not just yet. Give me what belongs to me."
"It dosn't belong to you! It was handed down to my ancestors and not yours as you deny to be of my blood! Get out of my way Tom, I'll Kill if I'll have to!"
" This time you won't!" And Tom knew what he said was the way it was. He wouldn't let Riddle out of it, this easily.
"As you wish then, AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
Both the beads from their wands connected and Tom was flown off his feet into the wall.
"I told you, stay down. And now, Harry Potter, Avada Kedav---_"
"Transfero!" Tom, his wand pointed not at Riddle but at the crowd around him, shouted from where he lay and felt his remaining strength drained out of him. The last thing he saw before passing out was Riddle's spell bounce off Harry and hit a pillar shattering it as Riddle made to the fireplace and disappeared.
THE QUIET FAREWELL
"I don't know how to take it, perhaps it is only for good that no one knows the details." Harry said.
"But Harry, the Army knows about Tom's brother, how will we explain this to them?"Hermione said looking quite anxious.
Harry and Hermione were sitting at Tom's bed at St. Mungoes discussing the Daily Prophet while Ginny was at school and Ron at the Mnistry. Due to the events that had occured at the Ministry the Daily Prophet had published the return of Voldemort completely contrary to what it was, nevertheless, in real it would help Riddle. The daily Prophet had published the return of the Voldemort who was killed 20 years ago. They thought he had returned again like he had done earlier, thet he had not died at all, he had hidden all these years and now had come back and he had regained his powers in full "as he disapparated(flickered and disappeared) despite the apparition blocking spell on the Ministry and one of his deatheaters(Riddle) had to make to the fireplace while the deputy head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Tom Riddle duelled with him and that the deatheater also 'attempted' to kill Harry Potter on whom the Killing Curse would perhaps never work as it bounced off him like a cannon ball."
"Hermione they think the first Voldemort's back and Tom's brother's just a deatheater. It's insane to know how far they are from reality but it seems best. We didn't want to go into detailes anyways. Now the wizarding world is aware of the danger that stands facing them and the secret of Tom's relation with all of it and of the Hallows remains intact. As per the Army they left us when they felt betrayed about Tom, so there's no point explaining anything to them or even if we would try to do that it would be a complete lie because we can't tell them about the Hallows, and if we have to clarify a few things it would be this only that perhaps we made a mistake, we didn't know that Tom's brother wasn't Voldemort, he was just a face off and the first Voldemort's really back." "But Harry, they've got a right to know. And what do you think we'll be able to do without them?"
"We'll figure it out. But Hermione as long as the Resurrection Stone remains with Riddle anyone else's involvement might risk into exposure about the existence of the Hallows. It's best if we keep it only between you, me, Ron and Ginny."
"Harry, there's something that's still not clear." said Hermione. "How did the Resurrection Stone get there?" Tom awoke as hermione asked the question. "Is that what it's called? The Stone I dropped?" He asked making to get up as both Harry and Hermione stared at him. He sat up with the support of pillows as he awaited their answer but he was simply asked another question.
"You dropped it?" asked Harry. "How did you get hold of it? Where did you find it?"
"I found it in the Forbidden Forest when I went as deep as the tarantula colony to find Dory Repherd."
Harry couldn't believe it but Tom had found the stone after 20 years when Harry had wished with all his might for the thing to have disappeared.
"What does it worth Harry?" Tom asked him quietly. He had seen Harry run after it while everyone was trying to save themselves.
Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. They had avoided this moment eversince Tom had become close to them but now both of them felt that he had earned the right to know. He had saved their lives putting his own into grave danger.
Harry told him all about the Hallows, the three brothers and the fact that all three of the Hallows now belonged to Harry. Tom stared at Harry in awe. Harry had never seem extraordinary yet he had defeated the darkest wizard of the century and possessed the Deathly Hallows. He held more power than he let on.
"I'm really very sorry Harry. I didn't know..." said Tom quite ashamed that he had let something so powerful get into Riddle's hands.
"It's my fault Tom not yours. I should have told you all about the Hallows way before now. If you had known you'd never have made such a mistake." Harry took a deep breath, "What's done is done Tom, we can't change that but we've gotto do something about what we are going to do. Riddle has the Resurrection stone, he can call back Voldemort whenever he wants and he'll know about the darkest of the secrets that Voldemort had penetrated."
They all sat in silence after that, all three of them thinking the same thing, will they survive it?
Tom who had just awoken felt thirsty. He reached for the glass at his bedside but it was empty. His wand was lying just there. He picked it up pointed it at the glass and said, "Augamenti!" but nothing happened the glass remained empty. He tried it again, the glass remained empty. He cast the spell agin and no water appeared in the glass. Tom, bewildered by this got out of bed, hardly able to walk he balanced himself with the help of the wall and walked out of the room looking for Harry and Hermione. They had just gone out of the room to let Tom rest when this had happened.
He was on the first floor, he knew the Tea room for the attendants was up on the fifth floor but he didn't want to climb the stairs and walk that long. He was in too much pain to do that. He raised his wand nd tried to send his patronus to Harry but nothing appeared when he tried to conjure it. He didn't understand, what actually was the problem? He walked upto the second floor and waited there to catch his breath. Even this little effort was hurting him so much. There as he passed people's rooms he saw people with dragon pox, spattergoit and various contagious diseases.
Tom proceeded to the third floor: Potion and Plant poisoning treatment. He was passing by the doors there when he saw something strange. All the doors were open except for one from inside which loud banging and shouting coild be heard. Tom stood in front of the door for a second longer wondering what was behind when suddenly the door was blasted off. It would have landed right on top of Tom's head had he not moved out of the way to save himself. When the door had blasted off he had thrown himself sideways resulting in a painful fall. He was just getting up when the thing that had blasted the door off came out of the room. It was a strange thing. A mixture of a blast ended skrewt and a crumpled horned snorkack. Apparently someone had given this guy some polyjuice potion involving bits of both the fierce creatures.
It advanced on Tom, who's wand had fallen at a distance. Tom ran to it, picked it up and shouted, "Stupefy!" his heart sank. It didn't work. He tried again and again but his wand seemed useless. He ran for his life and felt the thing following him. He reached the fourth floor and finally collapsed there. He couldn't run anymore. The bandaged around his waist were dark red now. Apparently the stitches had opened. The blast ended skrewt plus the crumpled honed snorkack advanced on Tom as he slid back, ready to strike, Tom closed his eyes ready for the blow just when there was a duplicate cry from behind,
"STUPEFY!" The oddly mixed guy fell to the floor unable to move. As it fell, behind it were standing, Harry and Hermione completely out of breath. Tom who was a second ago cold to his fingertips sighed with relief as the excruciating pain came back but atleast it was better than what would have happened if Harry and Hermione had not found him.
"Tom, what were you doing up on the fourth floor?" Harry asked him when he was back in his room, his stitches restored feeling quite well.
"I came looking for and Hermione."
"Why? What was so urgent?"
"Harry something's wrong with me or my wand, I can't do any magic."
"What!" Harry and Hermione said together.
"Tom, what do you mean exactly?" Hermione said a frown on her face.
"Look at this. Stupefy!" Tom pulled out his wand and shot a stunning spell at Harry with no reaction but a wisp of smoke from his wand tip. He cast other spells but none worked.
"What was the last spell that you cast?" Hermione asked.
"Transfero."
"That's why the Killing curse bounced off!" Harry said suddenly. "Tom, you transfered your powers to us and along with it its strong core, its protection and the combined effect of both our powers was the deflection of the Killing curse!"
"But, Harry it was ridiculous to do!" Hermione said, "Tom, do you have any idea what you've done! You willingly transfered your powers to Harry and the others and when your spell broke your powers came back to you but with less than none efficiency!"
"But why? I've done it before."
"Before? When?" Harry asked.
"Well, not that I meant to do it but when me and Voldemort we were at the orphange, he was torturing some of the muggle kids and I wanted to protect them from it, involuntary of my ctions my powers and log with it my protection was transfered to them. I found out about the real spell when I came to Hogwarts. And nothing like this had happened then."
"Because then you were not weak, were you? Hermoione said, now she looked furious. "I guess when you read about the spell you didn't read carefully. They prohibit its use when you're weak. Because when you're weak your powers are really weak and then if you cast the spell your powers leave your body and they get stronger if the person whom you've transfered your powers to is stronger than you at that time or weaker if the person whom you've transfered your powers to is weaker than you at that time and when your spell breaks and they come back to your body they meet a weaker body than the one to whom the powers had been transfered or a stronger body than the one to whom the powers had been transfered and their efficiency decreases to almost none or increases to a great extent depending on the case. In your case you were weaker than the rest of us when you cast the spell as you were injured and now the efficiency of your powers is near to nil and it will remain so until and unless you've recovered completely, you are to get back to your full health, only then will you get your powers back in full.
"But Hermione, I thought your powers were as strong as your soul?" Harry asked.
"Of course they are, but Harry they require a proper body to exist into and a proper channel to pass through. That is why Voldemort was nothing without a body. All the dark magic, everything that he had learnt, every secret that he had penetrated had meant nothing without a body." Hermione explained to Harry then turned to Tom. "You have to take care of yourself now. You have to be physically fine to recover your full stregnth. And keep trying to produce magic as much as possible, begin with level one, with Wingrdium Leviosa, if you have to but this is very important."
Tom sighed, he didn't know what would he do without his powers. But Hermione was right. He would have to get himself back to health if he wants his powers back as they were.
On the last day of June on a hot summer's day Tom was finally discharged from St. Mungos fully recovered and his powers back in full. It was ofcourse also the last day of school for millions of little witches and wizards to come back next year for another year at Hogwarts and for seventh years's graduation. Harry and Hermione had not been able to attend to Tom as they wanted to see to it that the students were on the Hogwarts express safely. Tom had practised every spell he had known for as many days as he was in bed and as many times as was possible and now that he left it he felt completely confident that every spell of his worked.
He apparated in Hogsmeade and walked the length of the Hogwarts grounds and entered the castle to find most of the students in the entrance hall exchanging good-byes. He entered the Great Hall and saw Harry and Ginny there with the rest of the teachers some of whom were leaving. The teachers and the Headmaster had always had a choice. If they wished to stay during the summer holidays they could and if they wished to leave they were most respectfully allowed to do so. Tom who had stayed every summer holiday at Hogwarts was going to do the same this year but Estella was leaving, alongwith Professor Bouganwill, Miss Padma, Miss Patrick and Madam Brown. Moreover, to all their disappointment Madam Hooch was retiring and so were Hagrid, Professor Trelawney and Firenze all three of them thought they were too old to teach anymore and deserved a quiet life. In addition to all this Ginny had decided to leave too, she felt the students needed a professional and she would also be informed of what's going on outside Hogwarts if she would be home. So, they would be looking for new teachers this summer. om approached Harry and Ginny who were just wishing their good byes to the rest of the teachers. Tom met them all himself, afterall, they were his only family. Once everyone started leaving Tom looked around for Estella but she wasn't there. He asked Ginny if she had seen her and Ginny told her Estella went downstairs a bit earlier. Tom made to the grounds and found Estella standing by the lake, lost in deep thought. She didn't know Tom was to be discharged today. He hadn't told her. He wanted to surprise her by appearing before she was expecting.
"Hey Love." He approached her and put her arms around her.
"Tom, what--? You should be at--_?" She hadn't even finished and Tom kissed her.
"I want to keep this with me for the rest of the summer."
"Oh, Tom, I'll miss you so much. I don't know how will I spend these two months without you."
"You won't have to. I'll write a letter five times a day and if you'll miss me anymore I'll make it ten times." They both hugged and held on to each other for a long time to remember the feel of one another.
Tom walked the length of the gronds to the Hogsmeade with Estella and once she had disapparated went back to the castle. He went through the castle like every year checking each and every nook and corner to see if no student was left behind. Once he was absolutely sure of that he locked all the doors of all the rooms in the castle except for the Great Hall and the main doors to the Castle and ofcourse except of those who were to stay at Hogwarts and of the Headmaster's. These doors would remain close till the end of the summer holidays when evryone would come back. While doing so he met Dudley who was also doing his duty, collecting trash and spell books that had been left behind, cleaning corridors.
When Tom was done with all his last minute tasks he went to the Headmaster's office, he knocked and heard the familiar voice of
"Enter."
Tom entered, Harry and Ginny were standing there with their bags packed.
"You're leaving?" Tom asked looking at Harry.
"No, Ginny is. You know how much work's left. We've got to appoint teachers, then the ministry would send the list of new students, we've got to decide the new prefects and the new head prefects as well and of course the new Quidditch captain as the last one just graduated, so I won't be leaving, not just yet anyways."
"And whenever will he leave to come home, he won't be alone. You and Duds are most welcome to accompany him." Ginny added.
"Oh, Ginny, Thank you so much." Tom hugged her as Harry said,
"And I don't think you'll have a choice, you'll come quiet or I'll drag you along with me."
Ginny left with Tom who would escort her to Hogsmeade then check up on the platform to see if no one was left behind leaving Harry alone in the office. As they left Dumbledore from his portrait spoke up.
"So, Professor Harry, how was your first year at Hogwarts?"
"You know Albus, it went hysterical. I don't whatt's gonna happen next. With Kingsley gone and the Hallow with Riddle....................."
"Atleast that has an explanation, what's bothering me still is why did your scar hurt?"
"Well, being Hermione Granger's friend is s bliss. She told me before she left, when Voldemort was alive my scar hurt because a part of his soul was in me. When that part was destryed the soul was gone and I couldn't use his powers and we all thought that I didn't have those powers anymore but that wasn't the case. I still had the powers but they were suppressed because the real source of that power was gone but when Tom turned 17 his powers opened up in full form nd the source was awoken that gave me back my powers but due to 16 years of dettachent of those powers from me when i experienced them gain my scar started prickling and when I found closeness with its actual source it started happening more and more but once I settled with it, it started going away."
"So, it was only a reaction. Atlas, we try to search the depths of the oceans to find answers without even considering the shore."
Harry smiled, he knew what Dumbledore meant. He approached his window looking over the hills at the setting sun, thinking about what lay ahead and what was left behind.
