His Saving Grace

Chapter 39 - Power Struggles & Hope Through Truth

"Someone whose lacuna life was hanging on by a thread, until you came along.", he continues.

"Professor, I am truly not one for games. Is there something you know that I do not?"

Dumbledore, now sitting in his desk, laughs similar to an adult listening to a child tell a joke for the first time. Then, he sighs and seems to choose his next words carefully.

"Athena, you're not ingénue. You must know that your mere presence has provided young Tom Riddle with an epiphany in concerns to life itself, whether he has fully realized this or not.", Dumbledore states in a knowing manner.

What does he know? What has been revealed to him and how? Am I in trouble? Will Tom have to leave Hogwarts? Is there something he can do to help Tom and will he choose to do so? Many questions have possessed my conscious and have begun tormenting all corners of my mind.

"Professor, I must know what you are trying to tell me. You are elucidating the impression that you have known many things about Tom Riddle and I for quite a while.", I wearily replied, losing all confidence had when I arrived.

"Similar to yourself, Tom is a gifted and powerful wizard, yet his spirit is not the same as yours. You, despite parts of your family tree, have embraced the light. On the other hand, he had embraced the darkness, but is now fighting his way back to the light because of you.", Dumbledore says with admiration.

He rises from his seat and walks past me towards the other end of the room.

He calls on me to stand next to him and says, "This is a Pensieve, a magical object used to witness a moment; a memory, once more. I want you to see something, alright?"

I nodded and I quickly fell into an abyss. In the blink of an eye, I was inside the hospital wing. Strangely, I could see myself lying on a bed and Tom studying my features as I peacefully slept.

Then, Madam Pomfrey approaches Tom and says, "How much longer will you be here? Darling, she already woke up, she's just tired right now, but she's fine. Tomorrow, she will be able leave the hospital wing on her own."

I do not have any recollection of this occurring and, usually, I am a light sleeper. But this is a memory that is not my own.

Tom replies angrily, "I do not care when she leaves or if she is perfectly cured according to you, I am not leaving her side until she explicitly says so. She has not expressed her disdain for my presence, therefore, I shall stay unless she states otherwise."

Dumbledore enters the room and says, "Mr. Riddle, what is bothering you?"

"Nothing Professor, nothing at all.", Tom responds trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Hmm... I think otherwise. You love her, am I correct?", questions Dumbledore

"I have been asked this question one too many times, you are aware of my circumstances."

"Well, love is more powerful than any circumstance.", Dumbledore wisely adds.

"Apparently so.", Tom says defeated.

"I am an old man, but I am not a fool yet. Was she bitten by a basilik?", Dumbledore inquired, but it was obvious he knew the answer to his own question.

"Yes.", Tom confesses.

"I thought so. It was you who summoned it, was it not?"

The interrogation on the quest for truth had begun. Dumbledore was too smart to believe a regular snake could have such an effect on me, he had lived too long to believe such a fallacy.

"Maybe it was, maybe it was not. I do not have to answer these preposterous questions!" Tom replied trying to avoid more confessions on his part.

"Tom, I know your internal struggle is tremendous, but we must try not to sink beneath our anguish but instead battle on. You must accept the love that has been given to you and embrace the love you are feeling, return your gaze towards the light once again.", Dumbledore spilled words from his lips meant to ease Tom's mind, but he eased mine.

Snapped out of the memory, I stood next to Dumbledore in his office once again.

"I know what he has done and what he is capable of, but I also know what you have done and can continue to do.", Dumbledore said introducing my focus back to reality and away from the memory he chose to share with me.

"Is there hope for him?", I asked with tears forming in my eyes.

I knew there was hope, he considered my feeling before his own. He had never even considered anyone or anything besides his ambitions, this was change. My mind still needed confirmation for what my heart already knew.

"We shall see. I hope you can be the remedy for the illness of the dark."

Tom is most definitely struggling with the good and evil within his soul. He desires power and control over life itself, but somehow a side of him knows there is another way. And if Dumbledore has not given up on him completely, should I actually continue to believe he is not trying to reach into the goodness that I have held onto?

"If nothing can be done for the boy, there is the possibility of serious consequences for his past and future actions.", Dumbledore added.

He gave me hope, but not false illusions. I respected Dumbledore's insight.

"I understand Professor, thank you for your insight and, even for your comfort."

I turned my body towards the exit, making my way out of the office, but Dumbledore exclaimed a name I thought I would never hear outside of my mind.

"Your father, Nikolaos Alastair, was very similar to the man you've fallen for."

I stopped in my tracks and nearly ran back to his desk. Somewhere deep inside, Tom must have known this.

Scared, confused and curious, I questioned Dumbledore, "What do you know about my father?"

"Nothing that you have not learned yourself, but your mother is a different case.", he replied. "Your mother was a kind woman who, blinded by love, met her doom before due time. But your mother's parents knew that they needed to prepare for the dark times they suspected were coming. The power your family has acquired in the ministry is tremendous, but the truth has been hidden from you. Your mother, her parents and your aunt are different from the rest, they have your spirit and have used it to their advantage. They had an image to uphold within the affluent families, but they knew what was right. Your aunt, the only one now left besides you, has continued their work. She is not only a Ministry of Magic Official; she, along other wizards, have joined my side in order to prepare for the inevitable fight that lies ahead."

"You mean to tell me that my mother's side were all affluent Slytherins who did not care for blood status, but my father overshadowed their legacy? That's all there is to it? I can still fix the past.", shock revealing itself in my voice as the words flow through my tongue.

Dumbledore nods and says, "The past cannot be changed but it is now your turn to determine what is right, in concerns to yourself, young Riddle and the future of the wizarding world. No one can erase your legacy."