𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧

chapter 19

talia took her time with snape's papers and notes, not wanting to go back to her dorm. she even had a good, long conversation with luna lovegood when they passed each other in the hallway to kill some time.

then, after a while, she decided to go back before dinner. she was just nervous of seeing pansy, because she knew going to draco's dorm right now wasn't an option.

the hallway's were pretty quiet, just a few students every now and then walking by. talia's attention was grabbed when she saw professor mcgonagall walking towards her.

"ms. riddleson. headmaster dumbledore would like to see you in his office. it is urgent." she said, stopping in front of talia.

talia became confused and a little worried.

"in his office? did i do something?" she asked, making sure she heard correctly.

"do you know where you're going?" mcgonagall questioned. talia shook her head.

"it's located in the headmasters tower. you will see a circular, moving stone staircase which is concealed by a gargoyle on the third floor. it will be moved with the password." she informed. again, talia shook her head.

"i'm sorry. i don't know the password." she said.

professor mcgonagall looked ahead and started walking up to a group of boys that were being a little roudy.

"the headmaster has left everything there for you. boys! boys!" she said, hurrying off.

talia watched her and turned back around, heading for the office. she thought about everything she had done wrong since she arrived at hogwarts. she would be upset with herself if this was because she got detention today.

eventually as she walked, talia came up to a gargoyle like mcgonagall told her. in front of it was a hard, yellow looking candy wrapped in a cleared wrapper.

"a sherbet lemon?" she wondered. suddenly, the gargoyle moved out of the way and revealed the staircase, just like mcgonagall said.

talia chuckled and shoved the small candy into her pocket, walking up the stairs. the entrance reminded her of the slytherin common room, having to say the password to get in.

when talia reached the top of the stairs, she saw a large, circular room. it was full of funny little noises, and a number of curious silver instruments that stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. the walls were covered of people talia assumed to be old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. there was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat; the sorting hat.

and, a few feet away staring out of the window with his back turned to talia stood dumbledore.

"something is brewing in the sky." he said, staring at the dark clouds. talia thought it was interesting how he knew she was there without even needing to turn around.

"was it supposed to storm tonight?" dumbledore asked. talia shrugged.

"i'm not sure, headmaster. by the looks of it, i'd say yes." she said. in truth, she did know it was going to storm. tonight was the night she was finally able to take the mandrake leaf out of her mouth. but she didn't know how to talk to a guy like dumbledore. he was wise and intimidating.

"tell me. are you enjoying your classes? do you like hogwarts?" he wondered. talia nodded.

"yes, sir. i love it here. and i've met some really great people." she said. draco, ron, harry, hermione, luna, ginny, even pansy all flashed through her mind.

dumbledore nodded.

"enough chitchat. please, take a seat. you must be wondering why i summoned you here tonight. the thing is, talia, i want to tell you a story." dumbledore offered. talia saw a desk by the front of the room, where she carefully sat down.

"am i in trouble?" she asked.

dumbledore looked at her for the first time.

"well...that depends on how you view it." he said.

talia grew more and more nervous as the seconds went by, and it was noticeable. dumbledore took his time sitting down, looking around at random things in the room. eventually, he reached the desk and slowly sat down, looking at talia over his glasses.

"do you know the story of tom riddle?" he wondered. talia shook her head.

"i don't know the details. i just know he grew up to be evil and is the reason harry has that scar." she explained. dumbledore nodded, but he nodded so slowly, some wouldn't even be able to notice.

"our story begins the 31st of december, 1925, wools orphanage, london. tom marvolo riddle was born. he was an english half blood wizard, the only child of tom and merope riddle. his mother died when her magic was lifted giving birth, and his father had abandoned him. he was raised in the muggle-run orphanage." dumbledore told. talia sat with her eyebrows furrowed, listening carefully. she didn't know why dumbledore was telling her this story, but she didn't question him.

"that sounds like a hard upbringing." she said.

"hard, indeed. tom didn't start attending hogwarts until 1938. i still remember seeing him being sorted into slytherin. he was a...fascinating student at hogwarts. but i never knew he would make it as far as he did. beyond normal evil." dumbledore continued. he took a brief pause in his story, but continued talking after thinking for a moment.

"during his time here, tom met a girl named jane halliwell. she was a wonderful student, and ordinary. tom was incapable of love, and jane fell for him. she ended up having his baby after they had graduated and moved on from hogwarts; a baby girl."

it wasn't until then talia started to have a weird feeling in her stomach.

"tom was ripped from his body in 1981 after attempting to kill harry potter, very soon after the baby was born. he saw him as a threat after learning of a prophecy. although unable to die, he was not able to gain a permanent, physical body right away. he stayed a shell, less than the meanest ghost, but alive."

"what happened to the baby?" talia wondered. she saw dumbledore chuckle.

"jane kept it a secret from him as best she could. even though she loved him, she didn't know what he would do with the child. if he would kill her, too. so, she adopted her to an american couple, far away from her and tom. and, when tom found out...he killed jane." dumbledore explained. talia started breathing a little heavily.

"do you see where i'm going with this?" dumbledore asked, noticing talia's demeanor.

he decided to speak up again when talia didn't answer.

"talia, i want you to listen very carefully. as the words i'm about to say will change you're life as you know it..forever. it is a great deal of dangerous information you must be careful with." he went on. talia nodded slowly.

she knew what dumbledore was going to say.

but she didn't want him to say it. she couldn't hear him say it, because it couldn't be true. she needed it to not be true.

"you're name is not talia riddleson. you're real name is talia halliwell-riddle, and you are the heir of tom riddle and jane halliwell."