The Enemy of my Enemy

The Memory, Part II

"No, I am a teacher," said Dumbledore. "I have come to offer Tom a place at my school."

"What school's this, then?"

"It is called Hogwarts," said Dumbledore.

"And how come you're interested in Tom?"

"We believe he has qualities we are looking for. "

"You mean he's won a scholarship? How can he have done? He's never been entered for one. "

"Well, his name has been down for our school since birth -"

"Who registered him? His parents?"

Teddie bit her lip. There was no doubt in her mind that Mrs Cole was a sharp woman, and apparently Dumbledore thought so too. Discreetly, he slipped his wand from his pocket, and at the same time, picked up a perfectly blank sheet of paper from Mrs Cole's desk.

"Here," said Dumbledore, waving his wand once as he passed her the piece of paper. "I think this will make everything clear."

Mrs. Cole's eyes slid out of focus and back again as she gazed intently at the blank paper for a moment. "That seems perfectly in order," she said placidly, handing it back.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about Tom's history?" Dumbledore asked. "I think he was born here in the orphanage, was he not?"

"That's right," said Mrs Cole, nodding. "I remember it clear as anything because I'd just started here myself. New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in, and she had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour."

"Did she say anything before she died?" asked Dumbledore. "Anything about the boy's father, for instance?"

"Now, as it happens, she did," said Mrs. Cole. "I remember she said to me, 'I hope he looks like his papa,' and I won't lie, she was right to hope it, because she was no beauty— and then she told me he was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, for her father— yes, I know, funny name, isn't it? We wondered whether she came from a circus— and she said the boy's surname was to be Riddle. And she died soon after that without another word. Well, we named him just as she'd said, it seemed so important to the poor girl, but no Tom nor Marvolo nor any kind of Riddle ever came looking for him, nor any family at all, so he stayed in the orphanage, and he's been here ever since. He's a funny boy. "

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I thought he might be."

"He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried; you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was. . . odd."

"Odd in what way?" asked Dumbledore gently.

"Well, he -" But Mrs. Cole pulled up short. "He's definitely got a place at your school, you say?"

"Definitely," said Dumbledore.

"And nothing I say can change that?"

"Nothing," said Dumbledore.

"You'll be taking him away, whatever?"

"Whatever," repeated Dumbledore gravely.

She squinted at him as though deciding whether to trust him. Apparently she decided she could, because she said in a sudden rush, "He scares the other children."

"You mean he is a bully?" asked Dumbledore.

"I think he must be," said Mrs. Cole, frowning slightly, "but it's extremely hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents. . . nasty things . . . "