Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Six

"We are partners for an assignment, sir," she clarified.

"Ah, I see," he mused. "Curious young man, he is. Talented beyond his years." She didn't answer, just nodded. His fingers traced along the base of an hourglass he had on the desk as he pondered his next words. "I've been thinking back to when you and I first crossed paths. You said to me that you are here to stop someone at this school from doing terrible things." He paused, his gaze falling back onto hers as he spoke. "May I ask how you intend to change their path?"

His question lingered in the air, unanswered, for several moments. He was patient, waiting for her to sort through the jumbled thoughts that swarmed her mind, though the quiet that he provided unnerved her to no end. A part of her knew that there was no wrong answer when talking to Dumbledore, yet she also knew that there didn't exist a right one, either.

"Sir," she said, watching as he leaned slightly forward as she spoke. "I said it before, as well, but there are some things I simply cannot tell you."

"Ah, yes, of course," he said, an all-knowing smile brushed across his face. "I suppose we all have our secrets."

Her mouth was dry and her fingernails were digging into the palms of her hands. She couldn't seem to find the right words and for once, silence seemed like the better of two options, but she spoke nonetheless. "Professor, I assure you... I will never do anything that is not absolutely necessary. I am only here to ensure that an unforgivable darkness is stopped."

"The thing about darkness, Miss Hendrix, is that it cannot be fixed with more darkness. Only the light can expel it."

"Not all things in life can be so simple, sir."

"No things ever are. Which is why the most terrible acts are oftentimes committed by the hands of someone who has had terrible things happen to them."

"That is no excuse for their actions."

"Not an excuse, my dear. Only an explanation, a means of understanding." He kept her gaze, his eyes gentle and forgiving. "I only wish to remind you that there are ways to change a path without burning the road."

She broke their stare, grabbing her things abruptly before she spoke. "With all due respect, sir, I must be getting to the library."

"Of course. Tell Mr. Riddle I apologize for keeping him waiting," he said, watching her intently as she scrambled to exit the class as quickly as she could. Her head was spinning, though she wasn't sure if it was with anger, annoyance, or anxiety. The future headmaster had always held a soft spot in her heart for his vague drops of wisdom, though at that moment, she would've done anything to have forgotten their entire conversation.

She didn't need a lesson on morality from someone who had no idea what the future held. Dumbledore didn't know about the death that would plague their lives. Even he, himself, would one day lose his life to the greed of Lord Voldemort's choices. She desperately wished she could tell him what she was up against-- what they were all up against-- so she could see that smile wipe off his mouth and be replaced with fear for what is to come, and disgust at who will cause it.

All bad things in life led back to Voldemort-- to Tom Riddle.

She didn't care what horrors he had witnessed that caused him to become such an empty shell of a human. She didn't care if the world had been so cruel to him, that he chose to be cruel back. She didn't care about any of it.

Because she knew so many people-- kindhearted people-- who had been hurt time and time again by the world and its inhabitants, yet still held dearly to their virtues with their last dying breaths. Harry's face came to mind. She thought about how he had, from birth, been exposed to the darkest parts of humanity, and yet spent every last second of his existence fighting for good, for decency, and for light.