Ares Salazar Riddle| a hp fanfic

chapter eighty eight

—"WELCOME, HARRY." DUMBLEDORE KINDLY SAID AS HARRY WALKED INTO HIS OFFICE. He stood up and walked over to something in the corner. It was a cauldron. Colors were swirling inside the said cauldron, Harry noticed.

"Thank you, headmaster." Harry said, unsure of what to do. "Why did you call me here, sir?"

Dumbledore put his wand to his head and pulled out a memory, then put the said memory in the cauldron. "I want to show you something, Harry. Something you lost sight of this past year."

Harry stilled. He couldn't know, could he—?

"The likeliness between Tom Riddle and Ares Riddle." Dumbledore continued, motioning towards the cauldron. "Put your head in and watch my memory with young Tom Riddle, first."

Harry swallowed and walked up to the cauldron. After a moment of hesitation, he put his head in.

"I must admit I felt some confusion after reading your letter, Dumbledore." A woman walking with Dumbledore said when Dumbledore stepped into an orphanage. "In all the years Tom's been here, he's never once had a family visiter."

When they reached the door leading to Tom's room, the woman turned towards Dumbledore. "There have been incidents with the other children— nasty things." She warned, then knocked on the door and opened it. "Tom, you have a visitor."

A young version of Ares Riddle— no, this was Tom Riddle— looked up at Dumbledore with curious eyes.

Harry felt his heart drop. Ares looked exactly like this boy.

✫ ✫ ✫

Harry finally was out of the second memory he watched. The memory of Ares and Dumbledore meeting.

His blood chilled as he remembered the similarities between the two boys.

The two boys had looked the exact same, talked the exact same— even said the exact same things. It terrified Harry. Ares Riddle was not his father. But they were so alike..

Harry stepped out of Dumbledore's office after saying his goodbyes and started walking up the many stairs leading to Gryffindor tower, desperately wanting a good night's sleep.

If Harry was being honest, he was having trouble sleeping the past month. Ever since him and Ares broke up, he either slept too much or not slept at all. It was messing with his head.

Now, he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to fall asleep. What Dumbledore showed him.. Merlin, that scared him.

Harry did not want Ares to turn out to be like his father.

But it was inevitable.

Ares was meant to follow his father's footsteps. And Harry had to accept that sooner rather than later if he wanted any chance of winning this soon-to-be war.