evelynn | t.riddle

37 | PARTING WAYS

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE STARES IN SHOCK AT THE PAPERWORK, struck by a horrifying realization - he hasn't done anything. He didn't make it to Gringotts, or the Ministry, or anywhere outside of Hogwarts when he had the opportunity.

The chance to keep Tom Riddle somewhat under control, as opposed to a loose cannon - to use a muggle phrase - that's primed to explode. After all, the Leaky Cauldron, and by extension, Gringotts, is only a few streets away from Wool's Orphanage. He could have stopped there to get Emancipated before even heading to the orphanage!

He wishes he could use the Floo network from his office. Unfortunately, the Hogwarts fireplaces only allow calls, not travel. The Headmaster's fireplace does, but he'd need to explain his plans to Dippet. Given Dippet's fascination with Tom Riddle, he wouldn't approve a request to visit Gringotts and persuade the Goblins to withhold the boy's potential inheritance or gain custody of the Slytherin. Especially not after the botched interrogation by the Aurors.

Reaching Hogsmeade will take at least ten minutes, plus he must inform Dippet about his outing. Given that Dippet isn't particularly fond of him, he will undoubtedly want to know why he plans to rush to Hogsmeade before the Hogwarts Express returns to London. Most likely, Dippet will prohibit it, confining him to the school wards or, even worse, dismissing him and eliminating any potential control over the situation.

Albus deems this situation a looming disaster, as he buries his head in his hands, fighting the urge to scream.

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"Tom," Evelynn whispers, "we will both get through this. It's just two months until my birthday, and then we can leave. We can leave and never return." As they walk back to Wool's with their trunks, Tom nods, his grip on Evelynn's wrist tightening subconsciously. "We will not die, Tom. If something happens, I'll shadow us to Diagon and we can live in our trunks." Evelynn isn't emancipated yet, so while Tom could go to the Leaky Cauldron, she must stay at Wool's if they want to avoid taking too big of a risk and pray nobody asks questions like 'where are your guardians, you two?' or worse, contacts Hogwarts—which Dumbledore would undoubtedly intercept.

They could manage that, given that each of them has stashed away enough food to last the summer in secret spaces. Evelynn taught Tom how to make the boxes, and they spent a few hours enchanting the take-out boxes to preserve the food.

As the orphanage comes into view, Tom sneers at it and murmurs, "On the morning of your birthday, Evelynn, we're heading to the bank. The sooner the better."

Evelynn nods and says, "For now, let's just get our stuff into the room. We can head out into the forest later."

Tom is eager for Evelynn's fourteenth birthday and prefers to avoid spending time with the other children. They are halfway through unpacking their Transfigured items for display at the Orphanage, which include Muggle-looking clothes and textbooks, when someone knocks on the door.

After ensuring that no magical items are in sight, Tom gestures to Evelynn and opens the door for Cole. The expression on her face renders him speechless because she is also speechless. He briefly catches her eye and picks up a few surface thoughts - startling revelations that Mary and Thomas Riddle are here!

Cole clears her throat and says, "Tom, come with me. There are some people here to see you." These are people she never knew existed, except in the abstract, and she certainly didn't know they knew about Tom!

Two years ago, those words would have elicited a very different reaction from him. He would have thought Cole had gotten someone to examine him, as he had suspected with Dumbledore. If he had entertained those thoughts, he would have assumed they were there to disown him or something similar, to deny him even more.