The process was simple and straightforward. At the end of her life, a woman full of mysteries and stories, who in fact had a powerful background, came alone to a Muggle orphanage, gave birth to a child, and then died. It was a typical beginning of a novel.
This child, who would later become Lord Voldemort, grew up in the typical mold of a protagonist in a novel.
Unfortunately, in this story, the young Dumbledore was also a protagonist.
So, Lord Voldemort failed in the end, just like his predecessor, Grindelwald. It was fate.
Elwyn could only describe the plot of this novel as "pretentious". Shouldn't a reader's favorite plot be brainlessly enjoyable from beginning to end?
Who would want to read such a gay love story between Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Lord Voldemort?
Behind the table, Mrs Cole took another swig of gin and tonic and nodded significantly.
"Did she say anything before she died?" Dumbledore took the opportunity to ask. "Like, about the boy's father?"
"Yes, she did." Mrs. Cole poured herself more gin.
Perhaps it was magic, or perhaps it was the eager listener before her, but it was obvious that she was interested.
"I remember she said to me, 'I hope he looks like his father,'" Mrs. Cole said. "To tell the truth, she was right to hope so, because she wasn't much to look at. Then, she told me that the boy was named Tom after his father, and that his middle name was Marvolo after her own father. Yes, I know, it's a strange name, isn't it? We wondered if she was from the circus, and she said the boy's last name was Riddle. Then she said nothing more, and died soon after.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Dumbledore repeated in a low voice.
"Yes, and then we named him just as she said. The poor girl seemed to take it very much to heart, I could feel it. But no Tom or Marvolo or Riddle ever came for him, and no relation was ever seen, so he stayed in the orphanage to this day."
Mrs Cole poured herself another glass of gin, almost absentmindedly, and a blush rose on her cheekbones.
Then, after a moment's hesitation, she continued, "He's a strange boy."
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I guessed as much."
"He was very strange when he was a baby. He almost never cried. That's unusual, isn't it? I've seen so many kids, but he's the first one. Later, when he grew up, he became very … strange. "
"Strange? What kind of strange do you mean?" Dumbledore asked gently.
"It's like this, he …" Mrs. Cole suddenly stopped.
She cast an inquiring look at Dumbledore over the gin glass. There was no faraway or confused look in her eyes.
For a moment, Elwyn thought that Dumbledore's spell had failed!
"Surely he can go to your school, can't he?"
"Surely," said Dumbledore.
"Nothing I say will change that?"
"No," said Dumbledore.
"You'll take him away, no matter what?"
"No matter what," repeated Dumbledore gravely.
Mrs Cole narrowed her eyes at him, as if deciding whether to believe him or not.
At last, apparently deciding that he could be trusted, she suddenly blurted, "He frightens other children."
"Frightens?! You mean he likes to bully people? "asked Dumbledore.
"It's not simply bullying people, it's making them feel afraid. It's a feeling that's hard to describe. If you think he's a bully, that's fine, "said Mrs Cole, frowning. Mrs. Cole frowned. "It's hard to catch him in the act. There have been some accidents, some vicious incidents …"
Dumbledore did not rush her, but it was obvious that he was very interested.
Mrs. Cole took another gulp of gin, and the blush on her cheeks deepened.
"Let me tell you, Billy Stubbs' rabbit … Yes, Tom said he didn't do it, and I don't think he could have done it either. But then again, the rabbit wouldn't have hung itself from the beam with a rope, would it?"
Elwyn pursed his lips, automatically imagining a scene that could be made into a horror movie.
A boy woke up in the morning to find his beloved pet rabbit hanging dead above his head, swaying …
"I don't think so either," said Dumbledore softly, frowning as well.
Every young wizard would experience a magic riot before their awakening, but this seemed to be particularly special and cruel.
A normal little wizard would not be able to do this. It was no wonder that Mrs. Corr described the young Riddle as weird and scary.
"Oh, that rabbit, I can't figure out how he got up there and did that for the life of me. I only know that he and Billy had a fight the day before. And then … "Mrs. Cole took another gulp of gin, this time spilling some onto her chin." We went on a summer outing, you know, once a year. We took them out to the country or to the beach, and Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop have been acting strangely ever since. "
"I'm sorry, can I know what's wrong?" asked Dumbledore.
"It's just that there's something wrong with his head. Sometimes he's awake, and sometimes he's dull." Said Mrs Cole, wiping the wine from her chin. "When we asked, they only said they'd been in a cave with Tom Riddle. Tom swore they were exploring, but something must have happened in there, I'm sure of it. Besides, there were many, many other things, strange … "
She looked at Dumbledore again. Her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes were steady.
"I can't say. Some things are just too terrible. I'm not sure if he did it, but I think a lot of people in this orphanage would be happy to see him go. Yes, I'm sure of that. "
"I'm sure you understand that we won't keep him at school all the time," said Dumbledore. "At least he'll come back here every summer."
"Oh, no problem. That's better than being poked in the nose with a rusty poker. Let's get him out of here before there's any real fatality, thank God." Said Mrs Cole, with a slight belch, rising to her feet, her legs steady, though two-thirds of the gin was gone from the decanter.
"By the way, I suppose you'd really like to see him?"
"Indeed," said Dumbledore, standing up as well.
Elwyn and Harry looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
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