Chapter 728 Young Tom Riddle
"All the details are written on the second parchment in the envelope. You will leave from King's Cross Station on September 1st. There is also a ticket inside."
In a small room, young Dumbledore, wearing a sophisticated purple velvet suit, sat on the only stool.
Across from him was a handsome boy, taller than his peers, with black hair and a pale face.
At this time, the boy was holding an envelope with a lion, snake, eagle and badger printed on it.
Seeing this, Harry on the side couldn't help thinking, if Dumbledore hadn't delivered the Hogwarts admission letter to the boy that day, wouldn't those things have happened later.
He subconsciously wanted to take the envelope, but his hand went straight through it.
Of course, Harry couldn't touch anything here, because they were just in a certain memory of Dumbledore, watching all this as a bystander.
And the young boy in front of him was Voldemort before school...but he is still called Tom Riddle now.
...
Riddle didn't rush to open the envelope to see what was inside, but looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes.
"I can talk to snakes. When we went hiking in the suburbs, the snake found me and whispered to me. Is this normal for a wizard?"
Hearing the boy's words, Harry beside him subconsciously turned his head to look at the young Dumbledore, wanting to get an answer.
Coincidentally, he can also talk to snakes, which is called Parseltongue in the magic world.
Parseltongue is not a common talent. In Harry's impression, not many people have this ability. The most famous one is Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. And Voldemort later.
In the second grade, many people regarded him as the heir who opened the Slytherin Chamber for this reason.
"Rarely." Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, then said: "But it's not unheard of."
"If you ask me, I have the same answer." Dumbledore, who was white-haired beside Harry, said: "Talent never determines the conditions of a person's good or evil. It is more like a special birthday gift.
"Just like Nymphadora Tonks you know, to be honest, Metamorphmagus is more like a dark wizard than Parseltongue, but she chose to be an Auror.
"Although she may not be so reliable at times... but it is undeniable that she is an upright and kind wizard."
"Yeah." Harry smiled.
He thought of what Fred and George said to him before leaving Hogwarts.
Tonks is obviously an experienced Auror, but she was the last one to find that there was something wrong with Katie. The Weasley brothers complained about this for more than half an hour.
"So, Professor..." Harry hesitated for a moment and asked, "Have you ever worried about his ability to speak Parseltongue?"
"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "What I care about is the cruel, treacherous and domineering nature he has shown, as well as his awareness of his own abilities. For a young wizard who has not yet enrolled, his abilities are surprisingly complete and mature.
"He has found that he can control magic to some extent and has begun to use them consciously.
"It can be said that even if he does not go to Hogwarts, he can become an excellent wizard in the future."
Harry stopped talking.
As Dumbledore said, Tom Riddle had already noticed his difference when he was eleven years old and began to try to use magic.
When he was eleven years old...wait, he seemed to have used magic to put Dudley in a cage in the zoo, but he did not realize that he did it at the time.
"Kyle..." Harry couldn't help asking, "Did you know that you could use magic before you were eleven?"
"Do you want to listen to what you are saying?" Kyle blinked and looked at Harry in disbelief.
"Uh..."
Harry was stunned for a moment, and then slapped his forehead hard.
He just forgot that Kyle's parents are wizards, and the neighbors are the Weasleys. In this environment, it would be strange if Kyle didn't know magic.
"We should go out soon." Dumbledore interrupted the two with a smile, which was also a relief for Harry, so that he would not be so embarrassed.
A few seconds later, the room and the boy in front of them disappeared, and they reappeared in the headmaster's office in reality.
"Sit down." Dumbledore said, "Harry, what is your impression of Tom Riddle."
"Very smart." Harry said subconsciously.
Judging from the performance in his memory alone, the eleven-year-old Tom Riddle showed a maturity that was completely different from his age.
Even when he finally said his ability to speak Parseltongue, he wanted to calm Dumbledore and take the initiative again.
So even if he didn't want to, he had to admit that the young Riddle was really excellent, and he was the kind of child from other people's families.
...
Kyle knew that this was Dumbledore letting Harry know as much as possible about Voldemort and find his weaknesses, so he just listened from the side and didn't mean to affect them.
But just sitting there was a bit boring, so he waved to Fox, and the phoenix immediately flew over and landed on his lap.
Kyle took out a handful of herbs and fed them to Fawkes, gently stroking the feathers on his body while listening to Dumbledore's evaluation of Voldemort.
"Riddle hates his name. You should have noticed how irritated he was when I mentioned that the owner of the Leaky Cauldron was also named "Tom" like him... It shows that he despises anything that makes him appear ordinary. s things.
"Also, he is extremely confident and likes to do everything by himself. He refused to accompany me to Diagon Alley. The same is true for Voldemort as an adult. He doesn't have a single friend."
"Wait, Professor." Harry interrupted, "But those Death Eaters..."
"They're not exactly friends, Harry."
Dumbledore said, "In Voldemort's view, Death Eaters were nothing more than a tool that could help him save some time, like a shorthand quill that could be replaced at any time.
Voldemort fooled them into thinking he was trusted, when in fact Voldemort never had a friend, and I don't think he needed one. "
…
Dumbledore talked a lot, and it wasn't until half an hour later, when curfew time was about to come, that he ended the topic with Harry's half-understanding look in his eyes.
Although Harry didn't understand why Dumbledore told him this, he still tried to remember every word at his request.
"Okay, Harry, it's really time for bed."
Harry stood up and walked toward the door, but stopped halfway.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Professor." Harry asked hesitantly, "Are there really Aurors who can speak Parseltongue?"
"I understand what you mean. Seeing is believing, right? But I need to correct you. Not all wizards with good intentions are Aurors."
Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I know a man who can understand the languages of all magical animals, including snakes, and can chat with them like friends."
"All magical animals?" Harry grinned in surprise.
"Yes, all." Dumbledore glanced at Kyle intentionally or unintentionally.
Kyle just sat there calmly, as if he didn't hear...
In fact, Kyle did not hear it, because he fell asleep, as if he was really taking a history of magic class. Fox lay on his lap, with his neck and wings drooped, and he also slept soundly.
Dumbledore's eyes twitched. He had been a professor for so many years, and this was the first time a student had been so arrogant in front of him.
"That's awesome." Harry smacked his lips, "I dare say his grades in Care of Magical Creatures will be very good."
"It is no exaggeration to say that he is number one in the school, including professors." Dumbledore took a deep breath and said.
At this time, Harry also noticed something strange about Kyle...
What a sound sleep, Harry couldn't help but think as he poked Kyle's back against Dumbledore's increasingly strange gaze.
"Well, good night, Professor." After doing all this, Harry turned and walked towards the door.
After he left, Kyle also woke up.
"Huh? Are you done?" Kyle rubbed his eyes and looked at Dumbledore.
Facing Kyle's inquiry, Dumbledore just asked lightly: "Why are you still here?"
That tone was like facing an unwelcome guest.
"Huh?" Kyle blinked, trying to wake himself up.
It's really strange. Didn't Dumbledore insist on letting him stay? Why are you asking about him now?
If Dumbledore hadn't asked him, he would have gone back to the warm common room. Why stay here and listen to what he said about Tom Riddle? After all, he had already heard these words once... No, more than once .
Every time Dumbledore brought up the subject of Voldemort, he would mention it again, and Kyle was almost tired of hearing it.
Kyle stood up and was about to leave, but because he had just woken up, he forgot that Fox was still on his lap...
Caught off guard, Phoenix fell directly to the ground, and was so angry that it began to peck Kyle's calf.
"Oh, sorry Fox." Kyle apologized quickly and blurted out at the same time: "Dumbledore asked me to get up. You know, I fell asleep just now."
Hearing this, Phoenix changed its attack target without hesitation, flew over and started pecking Dumbledore's beard.
The principal's office immediately became lively and noisy, and even the portraits on the wall could no longer pretend to be asleep and opened their eyes one after another.
Phoenix Black looked at Dumbledore who was being pecked by the phoenix and was running around, and then at Kyle who pushed the door and walked out as if nothing was wrong. He couldn't help but opened his mouth and said:
"Ha, is this the kind-hearted wizard Dumbledore was talking about?"
"Uh..." A person next to him hesitated. "Maybe the person Albus is talking about is his father. I think his name is Chris, the Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic.
"I've seen him a few times in my Ministry portrait. He's a standard Hufflepuff."
…
On the other side, Kyle, who left the principal's office, didn't know that the portraits were talking about him behind his back. He stretched out and rubbed his calf that was sore from Fox's peck.
"Kyle, how are you?" Harry's voice came from the side, and he had been waiting here.
"I'm fine, I just got pecked a few times by Fox." Kyle lifted up his robe, revealing his bruised calf, "Should I say it, it's quite painful to be pecked by Phoenix."
"What, Professor Dumbledore sent a phoenix to peck you?" Harry asked in surprise. He had thought that Kyle would only get points deducted at most, but he didn't expect that the principal would punish students in this way.
It would hurt him for a long time to be pecked by Hedwig, let alone the phoenix... Isn't this a bit too much?
"Huh? No!" Kyle shook his head, "I accidentally dropped Fox to the ground."
Kyle waved his hand, not wanting to continue the topic, and asked instead: "Why are you still here?"
"I'm waiting for you." Harry originally wanted to ask Kyle what Dumbledore meant when he told him so much, but when he thought of Kyle's sleeping appearance, he closed his mouth again.
Forget it, let's wait until we get back and ask Hermione and the others.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Kyle waved his hand and said.
The two separated along the next corridor, Harry heading back to the Gryffindor common room and Kyle heading downstairs.
…
Ten minutes later, curfew time came.
A figure walked through the quiet corridor on the eighth floor and quickly came to the gargoyle stone head.
It seemed that he had known that someone would come. He didn't even say the password, and the stone statue jumped to the side, revealing the passage behind him. The light spreading from the principal's office also shone on the face of the visitor.
It was Snape. He walked in and opened the oak door at the back.
"Dumbledore, I have... what's wrong with you?"
Snape was just mid-sentence when he suddenly realized that something was not quite right in the room.
Dumbledore's hair was disheveled, as if he had just been attacked, and there were silver-white things everywhere.
Snape picked one up casually and looked at it carefully. It seemed like...a beard?
"What happened here?" He couldn't help but ask: "Did the Dark Lord sneak attack you just now?"
"It's worse than that..." Dumbledore looked at his scattered beard distressedly, sighed and said, "How are you doing over there?"
Snape didn't ask any more questions and said, "I've already contacted Draco, and he seemed a little unconvinced."
"Yeah, that's understandable." Dumbledore waved his wand, and the principal's office became clean and tidy again.
"After all, it was the first time he was entrusted with an important task, so he would naturally want to perform well."
"Entrusted with an important task?" Snape sneered, "The Dark Lord didn't even want to keep him alive. This was his punishment for Lucius Malfoy!
"Let Draco kill you. What a ridiculous task. Even he can't do it himself."
"It's not impossible..." Dumbledore said with a smile, "What Tom can't do doesn't mean that everyone can't do it. You know, I never stay wary in front of students."
Speaking of this, Dumbledore suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but touch his remaining beard.
He found that this was not a very good habit, and it would be better to break it if given the chance... At least he had to be vigilant when facing a certain student.
"So how was your conversation?" Dumbledore continued, "Does he agree with your suggestion?"
"He should not act rashly again," Snape said.
"That's good." Dumbledore said, "The child's soul has not been completely eroded by the darkness, and there is still a chance to turn back."
"You mean he gave up his plan at the last moment and knocked Katie over?" Snape asked.
"This is only part of it, and it is also the most intuitive manifestation." Dumbledore said, "Severus, do you think who planned this, young Mr. Malfoy?"
"Draco did buy the opal necklace." Snape was silent for a while, "But this morning, Narcissa left Malfoy Manor, and no one knows where she went."
"Really?" Dumbledore glanced out the window. "It seems that Minerva is right. I really shouldn't agree to the students going to Hogsmeade at this time."
"Severus, could you please pay more attention to Mr. Malfoy in the future?"
"It's definitely fine for me," Snape said, "But on the other side, he was attacked for no reason. Do you think he will let it go?"
"Don't worry, I will find another opportunity to talk to Kyle." Dumbledore took off his glasses and wiped them.
The reason why he kept Kyle here this time was definitely impossible for him not to pursue the matter completely, but Dumbledore felt that if he hinted at it, he would be able to restrain himself somewhat.
After all, there are too many differences between the two sides. If Kyle really wants to deal with Malfoy, then he won't even have room to resist... Umbridge of St. Mungo's is the best example.
But no one expected that there would be an incident in the middle, and he was interrupted before he could mention it.
Dumbledore touched his beard again. For a moment, he even wondered if Kyle didn't want him to talk about this topic on purpose, but when he thought about it carefully, he felt that it was too far-fetched.