A Different Beginning

Chapter LXXIII - Flight from Death

Harry and Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace and into the kitchen in Grimmauld Place. Harry took Ginny's hand in his and they headed into the living room after finding the kitchen empty. Dumbledore was seated in an armchair staring at the fire in the grate. He never even looked up when they came in.

"Good morning, sir," Harry replied, hoping to sound calm and not as worried and panicky as he felt.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes." He shook his head as if he was pushing thoughts out and when he turned to look at them Harry realized just how old Dumbledore was. He knew that he was an old man, up in age, but he never really thought about it because he was so full of life. But now, as Dumbledore sat in the armchair, his hands crossed in front of him, his blue eyes not twinkling as much as normal, he looked every bit his age of one hundred and fifty-two.

Ginny pulled Harry over to the couch and they took a seat. "Sirius said that you wanted to see us, Professor?"

"Yes I did. I apologize; I'm a little out of sorts this morning. I assume that he told you about Aberforth?"

Harry nodded. "He did. Have you heard any news?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I have not and I don't expect to. Abe can hold his own; I'm not concerned so much with that. He may be my younger brother but he's always been able to hold his own. It's ... if Voldemort finds out what we're up to ... chaos will erupt."

"What we're up to? Sir, I'm not following you." Harry replied.

"I don't expect you to. We have many very important things to discuss, Harry. Some of which you will be angry that I kept from you and some of which will shock you to your very core." He sighed. "I'm an old man, Harry, and I've made many mistakes in my past. Some turned out to be worth it and others turned out to be even worse. I asked Ginevra to be here with you today because a good portion of it concerns her and I could use her help as well."

Ginny nodded. "Of course, Professor, you know that Harry and I will help."

Dumbledore smiled now. "Thank you. I am honoured for your blind loyalty that you devote to me without even knowing what it is that I am to ask of you."

Harry shrugged. "Ginny's right. We don't need to know, sir, we trust you."

"Thank you." He waved his hand and Dobby came into the living room with a tray of tea. "I asked Sirius to mention that you will be staying here for the night. Staying the night for sure as what I have to tell you is so vast ... I've been struggling with telling you the truth since I told you of the prophecy."

Harry's eyes darkened. "It concerns the prophecy?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not the prophecy itself, but it plays a large role in the final outcome of it." He leaned over to pour himself a cup of tea and then he took a sip. "I'm not even sure where to begin. Even the beginning seems like a faraway place."

Ginny smiled. "Wherever you think it is necessary, sir."

"I've always admired your wisdom, Miss Weasley." She blushed and he smiled. "Alright, let's start with the prophecy. Sixteen years ago, the world was in chaos. Voldemort had risen to power quickly and effectively and he was more then ready to take what he saw as his manifest destiny. He wanted to be in control; he wanted to have power; he wanted others to know about that power and not only fear him but to be in awe of him. He succeeded in many ways but at the same time he failed at others. You see, Voldemort is an alter ego, I suppose that alter ego is the right term, for the man himself. Voldemort is powerful and he's dangerous. Tom Riddle is still a man. Ginny understands this."

Ginny nodded. "But even as Tom, he was ... dangerous, I mean."

"He was, yes. Why?"

She glanced at Harry for a moment and when he took her hand in his again she felt calmer. "Because he had a way of manipulating you. He was mean and he was rude and sometimes really harsh, but before that side of him came out he was friendly and sweet and charming, and he acted like he cared. It was almost as if he was drawing me in for something later. I didn't realize it at the time, but I thought that he was wonderful. The perfect friend."

Dumbledore nodded. "Go on. Why did you think that? How did he make you believe it?"

"By talking to me and being sympathetic. He was so good at being sympathetic. I wrote to him ... poured my soul out to him about this stupid crush that I had on Harry and how my brothers were mean to me and how I didn't feel like I fit in. He told me I was wrong and that I naturally belonged but I just hadn't figured out where yet. He told me ... he told me that my brothers were just older so they thought that they knew what was best and that one day I would kill all of them and prove them wrong. I was shocked and I told him that I didn't want to kill my brothers and that I loved them. He immediately apologized, claiming that he had misunderstood me." She moved automatically closer to Harry and he slipped his arms around her waist as she leaned back against him. The feel of his warm body behind hers made her feel calm again. "He was sweet like that, complimenting, and when he did sneak in a horrible statement he acted so appalled ... he was feeding me."

"Tom had many skills as a young boy. One of the biggest ones was manipulation. He taught himself to use it long ago when he was very young. It could have been as a result of his childhood or it could have been a way for him to want attention, but either way, it was troublesome." Dumbledore explained. He took a sip of his tea before continuing. "Tom doesn't seem to have any fears at first; he's on top of the world and he feels like he owns it. But Tom is afraid of something. Harry, do you know what that is?"

Harry's arms were still wrapped around Ginny as he looked over at Dumbledore. He wanted to say no, that he had no idea what the evil maniac was afraid of but even as he thought it, he remembered. He could see it all clearly, the battle in the atrium at the Ministry and how Dumbledore had taunted him. "Death."

Dumbledore nodded. "Tom's afraid to die. I think that I know why this is but at the same time I can't explain it fully. He's afraid of death."

"Why?" Ginny asked. "I mean, I don't want to die either but I know that I will someday. I just figure that when I do it will be my time, my destiny to die at that time."

Harry nodded. "I agree."

Dumbledore smiled. "Death is but the next great adventure. But Tom doesn't see it that way. He doesn't believe in an afterlife or anything of the kind. He sees death as a final end. Ginny, what did you learn about the afterlife?"

Ginny looked startled for a moment before she shrugged. "Well, nothing really. I mean, nobody really knows anything. It's just a common belief. I know that muggles believe in something called religion strongly and they hold onto it along with their so-called God to save them. There's a belief in Heaven, a mystical paradise, I suppose, where one gets to go if they lived a good life. Then there's the Hell dimension, which one goes to if they've had a bad life. But then there's other religions that believe in samsara and karma. That whole wheel of rebirth and reincarnation deal. That's more like, well, if I did many good things in my life then I might get to return as an incredibly beautiful and smart person or if I did something really rotten, well, then I might come back as a snake. Those are odd options, I know, but it's the idea that you will be reincarnated into another living thing." She explained. "But then there's other people, like Tom I suppose, who don't believe in any of that. He thinks that when you're dead, you're dead, worm food and under ground, left to rot for centuries. I think that idea scares him more then anything." She grinned. "Maybe that's the way to defeat him."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked.

Ginny grinned. "We can put him in a coffin and bury him alive and he'll just scare himself to death."

Dumbledore chuckled softly as he shook his head. "Interesting theory, Miss Weasley, but I don't think that that would work. Tom is afraid to die yes, but I think that he would find a way out of that coffin. One thing that Riddle is, is very determined. If a very determined young man turns that determination into such a drive for power, what do you think that would bring?"

Ginny's eyes widened. "A search for immortality."

Harry gulped. "He couldn't do that, could he? I mean, sir, the Philosopher's Stone, it's destroyed."

Ginny shook her head. "There are other ways. Bill's told me hundreds of stories. The ancient Egyptians believed in immortality and all sorts of potions and ancient scrolls have many different variations of how one goes about it."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, they do."

"Bill told me though that some of them aren't really immortal in the way that one might want. I mean, some of them are like immortal in death; the legacy lives on. And some of them are that you die now but you're soul can move into others and never die." Ginny explained. "Those are dangerous dark ancient magicks. You don't think that Tom got into those do you?"

Harry nodded. "Please say it is isn't so. I don't know anything about immortality except that it allows you to never die and that's the last thing we need right now."

"I don't know if he has delved that far into the ancient magicks but I do know of something that he has done to prevent his death. Harry, I think that you know a little bit about this."

Harry shook his head. "Not really."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes you do. Think about it. Why isn't Voldemort dead now?"

Harry shrugged and then realization hit him. "Because ... well Da put some huge spell on me and Mum for protection."

"That's not quite it. Harry, I know that you and James have phenomenal powers that go back to ancient goddesses. I don't know the full extent of it as it is a deep secret in the Potter family, but I do know that you survived that night for a reason."

"Because of Mum's love for me." He replied. "She tried to sacrifice herself for me. By her doing that and on top of all of the protection spells from Da, the spell backfired and hit Voldemort. But he didn't die because it wasn't the full spell. But it did strip him of his body. He was left as nothing more then a lifeless soul floating the earth. He could possess things and he eventually did with Quirrell to try to get the stone. But even then, he had to go through Quirrell because he didn't have his own body. He almost came back again by using his soul to possess that old diary of his but when I destroyed it; he lost another thing to work in. But then he invented a potion to bring his body back."

"You're on the right track, Harry. What did that potion entail? I know it was a hard night for you, but I need you to remember."

Harry gulped as he closed his eyes, remembering that night that he had stayed in the graveyard, chained to the headstone. "I - I was tied to the headstone, his father's headstone. Tom Riddle Senior, a muggle. There was a big cauldron filled with water. I don't think anything else was in it ... well, unicorn blood. But Wormtail took some of my blood and then he cut off his own hand to add to the mix. Blood of the enemy and flesh of the servant, a sacrifice. Then he needed bone from the father. He hated his father. I think because he was muggle but he did and made a point of saying so. I think it probably would have angered him to know that he would need to use something of his father's to bring him back to life. To bring him back to life in the sense that he wanted anyway. He needed help but he found a way to come back to life."

Dumbledore nodded. "Exactly. He found a way. But there's something that neither one of you have considered."

"What's that?" Ginny asked, pouring herself a cup of tea and one for Harry.

"He didn't hate his father for being a muggle, at least not initially, though that might have been part of it later. He hated his father for deserting him."

Ginny nodded. "That makes sense. Tom told me once that he grew up in an orphanage because his parents were dead. That explains why he fears death so much, both of his parents succumbed to it before he even had a chance to know them."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Alas, that too would have been the initial feeling. But both of his parents were not dead, at least not for many years."

Harry managed a slightly puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

Dumbledore stood up and placed a pensive on the table. "In this pensive, I have memories that I have collected over the last year of people who knew Voldemort when he was young. You can both view them at a later date but right now I think that it will be easier for me to summarize it for you. Each one tells a story that will lead up to vital piece of information that will result in exactly whose side will win this war."

Harry nodded. "Alright, what are they?"

Dumbledore nodded. "About seventy-two years ago, a young man by the name of Bob Ogden, headed into Little Hangleton on official ministry business. The place that he was to go belonged to the Gaunt family. They lived in a little ramshackle shack on a heavily wooded hillside just above the small town. Ogden worked for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had been headed that way because of Morfin Gaunt, the son of Marvolo Gaunt. Morfin had been accused of hexing a muggle. This was a huge problem at one time because of the whole muggle/magical relations. Now before Ogden even met Morfin, he knew something was wrong with the family. There was a snake nailed to the front door when he walked in. What they discussed, I'm not sure as I do not understand Parseltongue, would you mind giving it a try, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded. "Sure." He watched as Dumbledore used magic to play the pensive memory on the wall almost as if one was viewing a screen. Harry grimaced as he listened and he knew by the way that Ginny had slid closer to him, that she could still understand a great deal of it.

"Well, that first part's a song." Harry replied. "Not much of one, mind you, but it's there. It says: Hissy, hissy, little snakey; slither on the floor; you be good to Morfin or he'll nail you to the door. I'm getting the feeling that this guy is a bit of whack job."

Dumbledore chuckled. "He was a bit, I suppose. Alright, what else is going on?"

Harry was quiet for a few minutes as he listened. "When Ogden arrives he's a little nervous because of the snake and about what kind of people he's dealing with. He sees Morfin hissing this little tune that he doesn't understand so I guess that would make him a bit nervous as well. Marvolo comes out. He's really angry and demands of Ogden why he's there. He doesn't like strangers or unexpected visitors. Ogden explains that they were notified of the arrival and that he is there to talk to Morfin about using magic on muggles. Morfin and Marvolo basically ignore him so he follows them inside. There's a girl there. She's not very pretty and she looks ... battered, I suppose, is the word. She's very plain. Ogden finds out that this is Marvolo's daughter Merope and she seems to be a squib. Marvolo is constantly yelling at her. She looks like she might have been abused. When Marvolo realizes that Ogden is still there he throws his heritage in his face. Marvolo is ... blimey, the direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. He shows off a ring on his hand. It's very intricate. A gold ring with a coat of arms that is carved into black stone. Ogden ignores him and says that it hardly matters but then they are interrupted by the sound of two muggles riding by on horses. Merope gets this weird look on her face and Morfin begins to tease her. He says how revolting it is for her to fancy the rich muggle who lives in the mansion on the hill. Both Marvolo and Morfin are disgusted by this. They think that that's the worst of all crimes for her to fancy a muggle. They see muggles as below them and that Merope is acting shameful. Morfin continues to resist the trial so Ogden leaves."

Dumbledore smiled. "Very good, Harry. I got a good portion out of that without the words but it helps to re-organize things for myself. Ginny, did you understand that as well?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes. Most of it. I still sort of retained some of the skills Tom left with me."

Dumbledore nodded. "You would yes, because Voldemort never meant to give you his powers, he meant to kill you and come back to life, feeding on your soul." When she shivered, Harry kissed her cheek and cuddled her closer as Dumbledore smiled. "You know this and you understand why some of his skills were passed to you. Now Harry, you said that they called Merope a squib? I don't believe that she was a squib. She was abused and battered to such an extent that I think she fearfully hid her magic."

"Hid her magic?" Harry asked. "How does one do that?"

"Everyone reacts differently to different situations. You showed magic at a very young age and even when you didn't understand that you were using it, you still managed. Both of you did. Merope was treated unfairly her whole life and I think her fear caused her to repress her powers. She was used as a slave for Morfin and Marvolo."

"So, she did have magic?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, but it never showed itself, or I don't think it did, until after this. Now Ogden knew that he wasn't going to be able to get Morfin to trial so both Morfin and Marvolo were arrested. Marvolo was arrested for attacking the Ministry personnel who tried to arrest Morfin. He was sentenced to six months in Azkaban. His son was sentenced to three years. Suddenly, Merope found herself alone in this shack, independent for the first time in her life and now she could do magic. The only thing she possessed was a heavy gold locket that once belonged to Slytherin. Do you remember why Morfin and Marvolo were so ashamed of her?"

"Because she fancied a muggle."

"Exactly. Eighteen-year-old Merope was in love with the rich young man named Tom Riddle. He however, had no desire to be near her. What do you think she did to rectify that the minute she found out about her powers?"

Ginny smiled. "She wanted him to love her. So she probably used a love potion."

Dumbledore nodded. "That's what I believe. She brews a love potion and slips it into the drink of Tom Riddle. He falls in love with her and they get married much to the dismay of Riddle's parents and the townspeople. Riddle had been engaged to a beautiful young woman at the time and everyone was shocked at the sudden wedding. Now I don't know exactly what happens from there, but Merope became pregnant and she believed that Riddle actually loved her so she wanted to take that chance. She stopped giving him the love potion. Once the effect of it wore off, he took one look at her and deserted her. He didn't love her like she thought he did. Now Merope is alone and pregnant. At some point Marvolo returns from prison only to find that his daughter has left. He's horrified that his daughter has run off with a muggle and he doesn't live to see his son come out of prison."

"So now Morfin is still in jail and Merope is pregnant and alone?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"And that baby, that's Voldemort?"

"Yes."

Ginny continued to stay cuddled next to Harry, his arm draped over her shoulders as she took his other hand in hers. "So what happened to Merope?"

Dumbledore sighed. "What happens next? Well, from the information that I have gathered, it's mostly all theory. But first things first, is that she needs money. Riddle deserted her completely and left her with nothing. The only thing that she has is the locket of Slytherin. She goes to see this jewelry owner named Caractacus Burke. He offers to buy it for ten galleons, very cheap. She accepts because she's desperate. I don't know how much time passes in between then but soon she goes into labour and gives birth to a baby boy. She stays alive long enough to name him Tom Riddle for his father and Marvolo for his grandfather. Tom is then placed in an orphanage. I don't know much about the next decade but I do know that the summer before his first year at Hogwarts I went to the orphanage to talk to him myself. Headmaster Dippet often assigned teachers out to talk to prospective students. I met Mrs. Cole, the head of the orphanage where he was living, and the things I learned left me with curiousity and a bit of concern."

"Concern?" Harry asked. "Why concern?"

"He was no ordinary eleven-year-old boy. Now I'm not saying that as a bad thing as you, Harry, were hardly ordinary. You were powerful at that age and you had come from a loving family even if you had some rocky years. Tom was different. Mrs. Cole and the other administrators and children considered him odd. He was a bully and Mrs. Cole told me that she knew he was the reason behind nasty little accidents that happened. But she could never prove it. When I went in to speak with him he was rude and he was demanding. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he had already learned to control people with his mind to a certain degree. I could even feel the gentle probing against my shields. It amazed me as he was very young. At the time, I had no knowledge that he was Slytherin's heir but you could be sure that I researched his past after that visit. I learned something else that day. He kept trophies."

"Trophies? Like awards?" Ginny asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, no, not that kind of trophy. He was a bully. He kept trophies of things he did to other kids or things that he had stolen from them. I made him return them all. He wanted a demonstration that I was who I said I was so I set his wardrobe on fire. He was shocked and I wanted to shock him. He was young and arrogant and rude. I forced him to return the items he had stolen and to apologize. I told him more about Hogwarts and gave him a list of supplies. He was more then ready to accept that he was a wizard. Right away, it was this dawning of realization. He wanted to be different, to be special. I left, but I decided to keep an eye on him. He came to Hogwarts and I thought maybe that I had been wrong. He had good grades. He was immediately sorted in Slytherin and the teachers tended to treat him a bit differently. They were sympathetic towards the fact that he was an orphan. He might have fit in well but he had this obsession with finding his parents. He searched for a long time before he gave up on finding his father and he came to the conclusion that his father wasn't a wizard. I don't think that he wanted to admit that his mother was a witch because he doesn't understand why she would have let herself die otherwise. I also think that he had a very negative attitude towards women. It's at this time that I believe he picks up the alias name, Lord Voldemort."

"Why Voldemort?" Ginny asked. "I mean, I've always wondered about it. What does it mean?"

Dumbledore smiled. "That's an interesting question, Miss Weasley, and one that no one before really cared to know."

Harry grinned. "But you know the answer."

Dumbledore smiled. "Aye I do. It's an interesting name that he chose. It's French and it actually means "flight from death"."

"That's bold on his part isn't it? I mean, isn't he basically telling people, I'm afraid of death?" Harry replied.

"Not really." Dumbledore replied. "Why would anyone take the time to research the meaning of his name? And even if they did I don't think that they would notice the difference there. They would not stop and think that he is afraid of anything."

Ginny nodded. "That makes sense. After all, Voldemort is too greatly feared by those around him. No one would stop and think about that. Flight from death, that's very interesting. And the lord?"

Harry shrugged. "I figure he thinks that gives him power. Throughout history a lord has had power over peasants and large groups of people. Other then the king, he was the most powerful; he had the power to tax and to control and to build armies. Or if you look at it through that religious angle again, Lord Almighty, Lord God, Lord of Heaven - an immortal being. Something that cannot be explained because the power is so great. Something that can't be killed and something that has unexplainable power. The fear of God - can put fear into people's hearts quickly. Or the wrath of God - that whole angle of punishment. Either way, I think by using Lord it gives him power."

Dumbledore smiled. "Very good, Mr. Potter. That does indeed give him power. It also puts him above the rest of us. Or so he believes. We all know that the title doesn't do that. James carries the title Lord, and he hardly acts superior."

"So what happens next? I mean, Tom's at school now and he's adopted this alias name. What's he doing?"

"He's exploring, Ginny. Like I mentioned before, he doesn't believe that his mother was a witch, or he doesn't want to believe it because otherwise she wouldn't have fallen to the human weakness of death. Very soon after, he discovers that he is a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. I don't know how he learns of it but I assume soon after he discovers the Chamber of Secrets. I'm not sure how long before he opened it."

"I do, Professor," Ginny replied. "He told me. He studied it for years before he finally risked opening it in his fifth year."

Dumbledore nodded. He reached over to pour himself another cup of tea. "That explains a bit. Like as to how he knew enough about it to have Hagrid holding the bag so to speak. Well, the summer before his sixth year, he went on a mission to search for his family. I believe that this was the last time he tried anything about finding them. His research led him to the Gaunt shack. I'm sure that he was quite horrified by the state of it. Marvolo was dead by this time but Morfin was still living there. Morfin was shocked and angry by him as he assumed that he was Tom Riddle, the rich man from the hill who had stolen his sister. They converse in Parseltongue for a bit, which surprises Morfin. Tom learns from his uncle that his father is a rich muggle who lives only on the hill nearby. I got this memory from Morfin, which I carefully extracted from his mind during the summer before he died. He spent a long time in Azkaban. You see, once Tom learned of his father, he stole Morfin's wand and he went straight to the house on the hill. There he confronted his father and his grandparents, who were by all accounts, sitting around the dinner table. He killed them. I believe it was the first time that he had killed anyone. After that he planted the memory of killing them in his uncle's mind and his uncle was sentenced to life in prison. With the memory in his brain, Morfin confesses to the ministry officials, who go to him since he is the only muggle hating wizard in the area."

Ginny rubbed her fingers over the top of Harry's hand. "He killed at sixteen."

"He hated them," Harry muttered. "They deserted him in every way. He had so much anger stored up."

"He did. But he went about it the wrong way."

Harry nodded. "I know that. But at the same time, I can see why he did it. But then when you look at what he did to his uncle, you know he wasn't suffering. That was cold and calculated the way he made sure that someone else was accused of the crime."

"Exactly." Dumbledore replied. "He was a very disturbed young man. But there is something interesting. At the same time that Morfin goes to prison, Marvolo's ring goes missing."

"You think he stole it?" Ginny asked.

"As a young boy he had a hankering for trophies," Dumbledore replied. "You don't think that he still would?"

Ginny nodded. "He took the ring. Did he know that it once belonged to Slytherin?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "That I don't know but he most likely discovered it fairly soon after. I saw him wearing it soon after the deaths of the Riddle family. It was soon after that I learned about Morfin and I wondered but I never knew the full details. So he finishes up at Hogwarts, friendless I would say, though he does have faithful followers. It is this group that he commanded in school that became the first Death Eaters."

"That's an odd name also," Ginny replied. "I mean what's that supposed to be anyway some type of weird cliché about how they eat death for breakfast or something?"

Harry snorted. "Uh, Gin, I'm not sure about that one."

Ginny shrugged. "Well, I think it's a good point. Sir, do you know why they are called Death Eaters?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Alas, no, I do not. But I suppose that he thought it might have suited the image that he worked out for himself."

Ginny nodded. "I guess so."

Harry grinned and turned to kiss her softly. "You're crazy, you know that?"

She shrugged. "You're the one that's in love with me."

He laughed. "Yeah, maybe I'm crazy." He kissed her again. "Nope, not crazy, just happy." He turned to look at Dumbledore who was smiling at them, the twinkle winking in his eye even if it was only for a moment. "So, he forms the Death Eaters, then what does he do?"

"He asks Headmaster Dippet for a job."

"He what?" Ginny spluttered. "He wanted to work at Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, he did. Tom has never really had a home and Hogwarts felt like home to him. I however, think that there was a bit more to it then that. First of all, Hogwarts was the place where he had been the happiest, so naturally he would be sad to leave it. Second, is that the castle itself is a stronghold of some ancient magic and Tom had already discovered many of its secrets. Lastly, as a teacher, Tom would have had a great deal of power and influence over the students. That was a great danger. Dippet was considering the boy but I asked him not to, for those reasons and because he was only seventeen. Dippet agreed and told Tom that he was too young and to come back in a few years. So Tom went and got a job at Borgin and Burkes."

"He became a sales clerk?" Harry asked in surprise.

"He did. Many people were very surprised with this. Why would he waste such talent? But he obviously enjoyed his work. The next memory I took from a house elf. It was of Tom going to see a woman named Hepzibah. It was her house elf, Hokey, that I took the memory from. He was charged with working to get two of her most treasured possessions from her and to bring them to Borgin and Burkes. The cup of Helga Hufflepuff and the locket of Salazar Slytherin."

"The one that Merope sold?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. So, he charmed her with flowers and compliments. He could be very charming when he needed to be."

Ginny nodded. "Eerily charming."

Harry tugged her closer so that her head rested on his shoulder. "So what happened?"

"Well, he flirted and charmed her into bringing them out to show him. Two days later she's found dead. Funny thing about it though is that her house elf confesses to poisoning her at the same time that the cup and locket go missing."

"He planted the memory again."

"Yes, Harry I think that he did. But again a lot of this is speculation on my part. He resigns from Borgin and Burkes and he goes away to study. This is when he delves deeply into dark magic. His followers grow larger and there are more frequent deaths. Years later, when I am headmaster, he returns to the school. He asks me for the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts, which is open as our DADA teacher was retiring. I questioned him about his activities and kept calling him Tom. He became angry and agitated, stating that it wasn't his name. I questioned him a bit more about the Death Eaters and the rumoured activity I had heard involving them. He shrugged it off. I refused him the job and to that day Hogwarts has never had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that's lasted more then one year. Though I'm hoping that Sirius breaks that record this year. I'm quite pleased with him." Dumbledore replied.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, Sirius is great. So you just let him go? I mean, you knew that he had been involved in all of these terrible things?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I did not. I only knew rumours. It was the year after that that the war really kicked off and his name became known. But it is here that the horrors begin."

"Horrors?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, what is the meaning of Voldemort again?"

Ginny glanced at him quizzically. "Flight from death."

"Yes and if we've been discussing his great fear of death then what do you suppose he was doing during all that studying of dark magic?"

Harry nodded in understanding. "Trying to find a way to become immortal."

Dumbledore nodded. "Exactly. And I believe that's he's partially succeeded."

Harry spit his tea out of his mouth. "HE WHAT?"

Dumbledore held up his hand. "Listen, Harry, partially succeeded. Voldemort can be killed. Do either one of you know what a horcrux is?"

"I've heard of it," Ginny replied. "Bill mentioned something about it once. He found a spell relating to it from some ancient Egyptian tomb. But he said it was believed it originally came from Crete, the idea. He wouldn't tell me what it was except that it was really bad."

"It is bad. A horcrux is an object or a thing that can hold a piece of one's soul, keeping it alive and well."

"And you believe Voldemort made one of these?" Harry asked.

"I do. However, it is not just one that I think he made. I managed to snag a memory from a good friend of mine; a retired potions teacher who taught you're parents, Harry, Professor Horace Slughorn. He was Potions Master here when Voldemort went to school. In his memory, Voldemort asks about horcruxes. He uses the excuse that he found it in a book and didn't know the meaning. Horace shared his knowledge because he's the type to always believe the good in people. He told him that a horcrux can only be made by taking a life. Voldemort asked if one could split their soul into more then two pieces and suggested seven. Horace was horrified by this and stopped the conversation. But it leads me to believe that since at least sixth year, Voldemort has planned on making seven horcruxes." Dumbledore explained.

Ginny let out a deep breath. "Explain this horcrux thing a bit more. So a piece of a soul goes inside, how does one do that?"

"A horcrux is when a witch or wizard splits their soul in two, putting half of it into an object outside of the body. By doing this, the witch or wizard has a chance at survival. Therefore, if their body is attacked or destroyed they can't die because part of their soul is still out there somewhere. It's still on the earth and it's undamaged because it wasn't inside of the body when the body was attacked. To split one's soul you must commit an inexplicable evil. To split one's soul, you must commit murder."

"And Voldemort gave the impression that he wanted seven horcruxes?" Harry asked in shock.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes."

"Can he do that?"

"Yes, Harry, I believe that he already has. It's never been done before but I still think that he's done it. The most anyone has ever done was one horcrux. I believe that Voldemort has managed seven."

"Why seven?" Ginny asked.

"It's considered a magical number. It always has been. The meaning for it, well I've heard so many it's hard to narrow it. But if seven is a magical number then naturally he would want seven of them." He explained.

She just nodded. "Wow."

Harry nodded. "Yes, wow."

Dumbledore sighed. "I know that I just threw a lot of information your way but I'm afraid there's more."

"More? How can there be more? How are we supposed to find seven pieces of a soul?" Harry asked. "It's impossible!"

Dumbledore smiled. "Nothing's impossible, Harry. And just because there are seven doesn't mean that there are seven left to be destroyed." He reached into his robes and pulled out a ring before tossing it at them. "What's that?"

"Slytherin's ring," Harry replied.

Dumbledore nodded. "I found it buried in a hidden chamber beneath the Gaunt house. There was a horcrux inside. I destroyed it."

"How?" Harry asked.

"With James' help. I know your father is powerful and I asked him to help me get rid of the curse on it. He did so, no questions asked. I told him that I couldn't explain just yet. He has no idea just what he helped destroy."

"Well, one down, anyway," Ginny murmured.

Dumbledore shook his head. "More then one. Harry destroyed one when he was twelve years old."

"He did?" Ginny asked in surprise, glancing up at her boyfriend.

"The diary," Harry murmured in understanding. "It was a horcrux."

Dumbledore nodded. "It was. That's how Voldemort managed to make it possess Ginny in the way that it did. It was a part of his soul."

Ginny shivered. "How did he destroy it?"

"I shoved a poisonous basilisk fang through it," Harry replied.

"You did and it destroyed it. Why? Because it was probably one of the first, if not the first, horcruxes that he made. It wasn't as strong or as powerful as other ones, such as the ring, was." Dumbledore explained. "Now, the locket of Slytherin was also a horcrux."

"It's gone too?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "The dark magic on it was intense and I asked Sirius to take a look at it. He's good at dodging dark spells to break into things. Orion Black put spells like that over everything. Sirius was just like James in the sense that he didn't ask he just destroyed it." He pulled the locket from his robes. "That makes three horcruxes down."

"Four more to go?"

"Three technically," Dumbledore replied. "The seventh and final horcrux would lie in Voldemort himself. A man can live without a soul but Voldemort wouldn't give up his totally."

"Sir? Does he know when a part of his soul is destroyed? I mean, can he feel it?" Harry asked.

"Excellent question, Harry, and the answer is no, I don't believe he can. To split the soul, murder must take place, and then from there the soul is torn apart. Once it leaves the body I don't think that Voldemort can feel it anymore until he is using that part of the soul again. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't know what I have been up to with the horcruxes, at least not yet."

Ginny's hand flew over her mouth. "Aberforth!"

Dumbledore nodded. "He's been helping me locate the forth horcrux. We believe it to be the cup of Helga Hufflepuff and we have a few ideas of where it might be. The fifth horcrux, I have no idea what it might be though following true to form, I would think that it's an artifact of either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. The sixth horcrux I think is Nagini."

"His snake?" Harry asked in surprise. "Is it even possible to put a piece of one's soul in a snake?"

"If is it done properly. Nagini has been around for at least thirty-five years. Quite a long life for a snake. I'm almost positive that that's where the last piece rests. But before one could move in on Nagini, the other two have to be located so as not to tip him off."

"But Aberforth won't tell him?" Ginny replied.

Harry shook his head. "So he'll torture it out of him. He's a supreme Legilimens."

"So is Aberforth." Dumbledore replied. "But I'm still going to worry. The last time I spoke with him he told me that he thought he knew where the cup resided and that he was going to go after it as soon as he worked out the final details. Then last night he was captured. Something is brewing, something big and if Voldemort finds out what I've been doing, something bigger will happen."

"Why are you telling Ginny and I all of this now?" Harry asked. "You could have brought it up loads of times, especially last year with the prophecy? Why now?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I didn't want to drop more weight on your shoulders, Harry. It's bad enough that you know that you're destined to kill Voldemort or he shall kill you so I thought that if maybe I could get some things out of the way, like these pesky horcruxes, it would help you out."

"And me? Why did you want me to know?"

"Because you played an important role in destroying a horcrux and because you are just as close to Voldemort as Harry is. Not only because of what happened in the Chamber but because you love Harry. You're love will play a big role in the outcome of good versus evil."

"My love?" Ginny asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Love helped Harry defeat Voldemort the first two times and it will be love in the end that does it again. There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that at once is more wonderful and more terrible then death, then human intelligence, then forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save Ginny in your second year and that power also saved you from possession by Voldemort because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In the end, it mattered not what your powers were, but what your heart is. Love saves you, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Alright, so what would you like Gin and I to do?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you. First things first, we need to find out where that cup is. Ginny I could really use your help here."

"Me?" Ginny asked in surprise. "How am I supposed to help out here?"

"You can help. But before you can I need you to do me a favour. Do you remember a little trip you made to Tibet?"

Ginny glanced at Dumbledore in surprise. "How did you know that I went to Tibet? I wasn't even there that long."

Dumbledore smiled. "Li Chung is an associate of mine. She owled me to tell me that she had met you. It was a short visit, I know, but what did she teach you?"

Ginny smiled. "She taught me how to further go about in my healing skills. She took what I learned and helped me refine them. It was basically just a test and I was with her for less then a few hours."

"Yes, you were. But she remembered you and respected you." Dumbledore replied. "Ginny, there's something that I've been meaning to ask of you since I found out what you did with Lily. Are you up for it?"

"Anything that will help Harry."

Dumbledore smiled warmly. "This will help more then Harry. First of all, I need you to take a portkey to Tibet and convince Li that I need her here. Once she comes, contact Miss Stanton. Between Emma and Li, they will be enough for you to stay grounded."

"Stay grounded?" Ginny asked.

"What do you want her to do?" Harry asked.

"I need some information that a young man has. A young man, who by all accounts is guaranteed to never gain his memory back. Something that hurts one of your friends to no end."

"I'm not following you, sir." Ginny replied. "What am I doing? How am I going to bring out this information?"

"The information that I'm looking for pertains to the cup. No one else has the power that you do. It will take a good portion of your strength which is where Emma and Li come in." Dumbledore replied. "I want you to bring Frank and Alice Longbottom back."

Ginny's mouth dropped open. "W-w-what?"

Dumbledore nodded. "You heard me. Neville has suffered enough without his parents. You brought Lily Potter back and I know that you can bring the Longbottoms back. They will be able to help aide in this investigation for information. We have to find this cup and destroy the horcrux before Voldemort learns of it from Aberforth. Well, Ginevra, what do you say?"

Ginny turned to look at Harry, her hand clasped tightly in his. "What do you think?"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her softly before whispering in her ear so that only she could hear him. "Do you think that you can do it?"

"I know I can. And it would make Neville so happy."

He brought her hand to his lips. "I have faith in you. I'll even be there if you want."

She smiled. "I want you there. I need you there too."

"I promise I'll be there."

She turned to grin at Dumbledore. "Alright, I'm in. How am I getting to Tibet?"

Dumbledore grinned. "Thank you." He picked up the tea pot off of the cart and muttered, 'Portus' under his breath. "It's scheduled to leave in five minutes. It should bring you straight to her flat."

Ginny grinned. "Alright."

She kissed Harry goodbye and then they waited for the portkey to activate. Once she disappeared, Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Now I need you to go back to Potter Manor."

"Go back?" He asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "While Ginny is busy getting Li to come over here I need you to tell James and Lily everything that I have just told you. Bring Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and Lexy in on it as well. Can you handle that?"

Harry nodded. "Of course, sir, it just doesn't seem like much."

Dumbledore smiled. "It's more then much, Harry, once they understand we'll have to get to work from there. One more thing."

"Yes, sir?"

"I'd like for all of you to join the Order as soon as possible, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Lovegood, and Miss Granger as well. We'll have to get that all settled in. But having you on board will help."

Harry grinned. "Thanks, sir."

Dumbledore sighed. "We need help for this; with only those we trust the most. Because we, Mr. Potter, are going to embark on a horcrux hunt."