Already Gone

Chapter 4

"Don't." Dumbledore stopped and turned. He found Riddle's level gaze on him.

"As you wish." Riddle looked away and Dumbledore and for the first time, noticed his hands. They were splayed and utterly still, and interlaced with a silky web. Where a spider knitted back and forth.

"You're the doctor, aren't you?" Olivia looked at the young boy, he was thin and had this look on his face. 

"No. I am a Professor." Tom looked at Dumbledore, before looking behind him. It was almost like he could see the two siblings.

"I don't believe you. I hear Mrs. Cole talking, her and the rest of the staff. They want me looked at. They think I'm different."

"Perhaps they're right." Dumbledore told the young boy, but he took it the wrong way then what was meant.

"I'm not mad."

"Hogwarts is not a place for mad people." Riddle looked up and cocked his head ever-so-slightly."It's a school. A school of magic." Riddle stayed looking, but said nothing. "You can do things, can't you, Tom? Things the other children can't." Riddle eyed Dumbledore intensely and unblinking.

"Yes." He said shortly and Dumbledore nodded.

"Tell me some of the things you can do, Tom." Olivia took a deep breath as her head started to spin.

He didn't look up from the spider in his hand. "I can make things move, without touching them. I can make animals do what I want without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me. I can make them hurt, if I want." Dumbledore studied Riddle and the boy looked up.

"Who are you?" Riddle's asked Dumbledore.

"I'm like you, Tom. Different." Riddle closed his hands and the web collapsed.

"Prove it." It was not a request. Without breaking his gaze, Dumbledore's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. The wardrobe bursted into flames. Riddle looked at it with wide eyes.

Slowly Riddles smiled. Dumbledore studied him and abruptly, the wardrobe began to shake. Riddle's smile faded. "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe, Tom. Open it. Open. It." Terrified, Riddle stepped to the burning wardrobe and threw open the door.

On the topmost shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small box shook violently.

"Take it out." As Riddle's fingers touched the box and the flames engulfing the wardrobe vanished. The box continued to shake and soon became the only sound in the room.

"Is there anything in that box you ought not to have?" Riddle eyed Dumbledore a trifle fearfully this time. He spilled the box onto the bed, a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ. 

Olivia looked away from it and Harry eyed her. "Why did you want these things, Tom?" Dumbledore asked the little boy.

Tom looked off. "I like having things that belonged to other people. It makes me feel ... close to them." Dumbledore studied Riddle's profile and pondered this.

"Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, you will be taught not only how to use magic, but to control it. Understood?" Riddle's nodded silently. "I'll be going now, Tom. Leave your window open tonight. An owl will bring you a message. Read it carefully."

Dumbledore started to exit when Tom spoke. "I can speak to snakes too." Dumbledore stopped his back to Riddle. "They find me. Whisper things. Is that normal. For someone like me?"

"It is unusual. But not unheard of." Dumbledore exited without a backward glance. Leaving 11-year-old Tom Riddle alone. 

Harry, Olivia and Dumbledore reappeared. The room had grown dim in their absence. Dumbledore gestured and a lamp blazed to life.