Chapter 164: Tom Riddle
Chapter 164: Tom Riddle
Voldemort looked into the courtyard.
The once-thriving orphanage now lay abandoned, overgrown with weeds, exuding an air of decay and corruption. A notice of demolition from the government was plastered on the outer wall.
"I suppose you've guessed that Merope used a Love Potion to ensnare young Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said, giving a slight flick of his wand. "And when she stopped dosing him with the potion, he left her and their unborn child without a second thought."
"So, the child, Tom Riddle, grew up here," Dumbledore continued, and in the mist, an infant rapidly aged into a small boy, isolated from the other children. The boy often spoke to snakes in the corners.
Then the child ran into the house, and Voldemort followed, with Dumbledore close behind.
The boy held out his palm, and a rabbit floated into the air, hanging suspended from the ceiling, lifeless.
At other times, he would sneak into a room, rummaging through beds and closets before stealthily slipping something into his pocket.
"I don't know if he would have turned out differently had he been raised in a loving home, but an orphanage is certainly not a place for a child with a predisposition for evil, such as young Tom Riddle. He quickly learned bad habits—stealing and bullying, for instance."
"He had certain powers that made it easy for him to hurt those who were bigger and stronger than he was."
On one occasion, the boy seemed to have been caught in the act. A scrawny woman grabbed his arm and pushed him into a room, locking the door behind him.
Her movements seemed harsh, yet there was an underlying wariness in her actions.
The boy sat on the bed, seemingly reading. But soon, the scene flickered, and a tall, bearded man entered the room.
Despite the obscuring mist, Voldemort recognized the wizard standing by his side.
"Oh, that's me," Dumbledore said. "The boy was a wizard, and his name had been entered into the register of Hogwarts School at birth. I came here to fetch him when he was eleven."
The young Dumbledore didn't converse with the boy for long before he suddenly raised his wand, igniting the nearby illusory wardrobe. The boy jumped to his feet in surprise.
As the flames vanished, Tom Riddle pulled out a cardboard box from the wardrobe, revealing the items he had stolen.
After a brief exchange, the young Dumbledore handed a bag of coins to Tom Riddle, and their meeting came to a swift end.
"Let's go," Dumbledore said, extending his arm once more. "The rest of the story continues at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore disapparated directly to the school, maintaining his Disillusion Charm.
Voldemort's Disillusion Charm was akin to a chameleon, and a keen observer might detect subtle color discrepancies. However, Dumbledore's charm was akin to wearing an Invisibility Cloak, completely imperceptible.
Students bustled through the school corridors, oblivious to the two additional figures among them.
Soon, the bell rang, and students hurried into their classrooms, leaving the corridors deserted.
Dumbledore, accompanied by Voldemort, strolled through the halls, the misty figure trailing alongside them.
The young boy, now clad in Hogwarts robes, walked down the corridor with a stack of books in his arms, a constant entourage by his side. And as he grew older, the number of followers seemed to increase.
Professors smiled warmly at the boy, except for Dumbledore, who always regarded him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Riddle was special, brilliant, and an orphan. He attracted the attention and sympathy of the staff from the moment he stepped into the school. Almost everyone was charmed by him.
"Albus Dumbledore said.
"Soon, he had gathered a group of devoted friends... or subordinates around him."
"They were a diverse bunch, well-organized, and during their time at Hogwarts, several malicious incidents occurred, although there was no conclusive evidence linking them to the group."
"The most severe incident resulted in the death of a female student."
On the floor, a pale, bespectacled corpse lay stiffly, eyes wide open in shock.
At that moment, they had reached the vicinity of the second-floor bathroom, and the sound of a girl's sobs could be heard from within.
"Crying Myrtle, she was also a student of Ravenclaw. She died suddenly while crying in the bathroom after being bullied and ridiculed by her peers," Dumbledore explained.
"To this day, we still do not know exactly what caused her death. I can only speculate that Riddle may have been involved somehow," Dumbledore added.
"After the death, Hogwarts faced the risk of closure. But soon after, Riddle caught the 'culprit'—he reported another boy in the school, claiming that he had been secretly keeping a killer pet."
The scene shifted.
Tom Riddle was shown grappling with a burly boy, while a large, many-eyed spider scurried quickly down the corridor to escape.
Riddle appeared to be shouting, and soon, many people came running over.
"Is that Hagrid?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "After that incident, Hagrid was expelled from school, had his wand snapped by the Ministry of Magic, and was banned from doing magic."
"But I believed in his innocence and convinced Dippet to keep him on as gamekeeper."
"This was because Hagrid's father had already passed away, and leaving Hogwarts would have left him with nowhere to go."
The scene shifted again, and Tom Riddle had grown into a tall and handsome young man. He served as the male student body president, received medals from the school, and eventually graduated.
As the mist swirled, the scene that formed seemed to be set many years later.
The once-young boy had fully grown, but his face had become pale and twisted. He was followed by many people, all clad in black robes, hoods, and masks, like evil spirits crawling out of hell.
They broke into people's homes, killing the occupants; others knelt before them, clearly enduring cruel torture, despite their silence.
People were constantly being killed, and the mist did not immediately dissipate, so the once-empty corridor seemed to have turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Bodies lay in various positions on the ground, their lifeless eyes staring up at the sky.
"After graduation, Tom Riddle applied to stay at Hogwarts, but was unsuccessful. He turned down an offer from the Ministry of Magic and worked at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley for a while before disappearing for many years."
Dumbledore continued his narrative.
"When he returned, he had taken on the name 'Voldemort,' and his followers were known as Death Eaters. However, he did not see them as family or friends but as servants, and the honor he bestowed upon them was to let them kneel and kiss his robe or the back of his hand."
"They committed numerous atrocities, and both wizards and Muggles perished, spreading fear everywhere. It was only when he was at the pinnacle of power that he was defeated by an infant."
In the vision, the dark wizard fell backward and dissipated into mist. Another infant, this one crying and clenching his fists, took his place.
It was like a cycle.
(End of Chapter)
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