Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 39 ⚡️

"Yes, sir," answered Vega and Harry.

"Thus far, as I hope you agree," Dumbledore replied. "I have shown you reasonably firm sources of fact for my deductions as to what Voldemort did until the age of seventeen?"

Vega and Harry nodded quietly.

"But now, Vega and Harry," Dumbledore said. "Now things become murkier and stranger. If it was difficult to find evidence about the boy Riddle, it has been almost impossible to find anyone prepared to reminisce about the man Voldemort. In fact, I doubt whether there is a soul alive, apart from himself, who could give us a full account of his life since he left Hogwarts. However, I have two last memories that I would like to share with you both,"

Dumbledore indicated the two little crystal bottles gleaming beside the Pensieve. Vega looked at them closely as he continued, "I shall then be glad of your opinion as to whether the conclusions I have drawn from them seem likely,"

The idea that Dumbledore valued their opinion this highly made Vega feel even more deeply ashamed that they had failed in the task of retrieving the Horcrux memory, and she could see Harry felt the same as he shifted guiltily in his seat next to her while Dumbledore raised the first of the two bottles to the light and examined it.

"I hope you both are not tired of diving into other people's memories, for they are curious recollections, these two," Dumbledore informed them. "This first one came from a very old house-elf by the name of Hokey. Before we see what Hokey witnessed, I must quickly recount how Lord Voldemort left Hogwarts.

"He reached the seventh year of his schooling with, as you might have expected, top grades in every examination he had taken. All around him, his classmates were deciding which jobs they were to pursue once they had left Hogwarts. Nearly everybody expected spectacular things from Tom Riddle, prefect, Head Boy, winner of the Award for Special Services to the School.

"I know that several teachers, Professor Slughorn amongst them, suggested that he join the Ministry of Magic, offered to set up appointments, put him in touch with useful contacts. He refused all offers. The next thing the staff knew, Voldemort was working at Borgin and Burkes,"

"At Borgin and Burkes?" repeated Vega, stunned.

"At Borgin and Burkes," Dumbledore repeated calmly. "I think you will see what attractions the place held for him when we have entered Hokey's memory. But this was not Voldemort's first choice of job. Hardly anyone knew of it at the time – I was one of the few in whom the then headmaster confided – but Voldemort first approached Professor Dippet and asked whether he could remain at Hogwarts as a teacher,"

"He wanted to stay here?" Harry asked, more amazed still. "Why?"

"He wanted to be a teacher...?" Vega asked, her voice going quiet when she realised that she was dipping into the same pool as the person she refused to accept.

"I believe he had several reasons, though he confided none of them to Professor Dippet," Dumbledore informed. "Firstly, and very importantly, Voldemort was, I believe, more attached to this school than he has ever been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been happiest; the first and only place he had felt at home,"

Vega remained quiet – it was true that she, too, loved Hogwarts as her home but she had much more desire to be a teacher where she could cultivate students to be their best, and so she could continue to improve herself with them, too.

"Secondly, the castle is a stronghold of ancient magic," Dumbledore continued on and Vega looked up at him. "Undoubtedly Voldemort had penetrated many more of its secrets than most of the students who pass through the place, but he may have felt that there were still mysteries to unravel, stores of magic to tap.