Chapitre 57: Chapter 61: 4-9: Memory Lane
Disclaimer: Being neither British nor Japanese, it should therefore come as no surprise that I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto, nor anything from their respective franchises.
Trigger Warning: A mention and brief discussion of rape via mind-altering magic.
A couple days before New Years, Dobby popped in with a message for Iruka. "Professor Headmaster Sir is asking Dobby to ask Professor Umino Sir to his office to meet with Professor Moony and Great Harry Potter Sir's dogfather." The little elf was again dressed in a child-sized suit, this one less worn and ill-fitting, with a tweed jacket and a smart red bow-tie. He also still had one bare foot and one somewhat distressed but well-cared-for sock.
Soon enough the chuunin was once again in his employer's office. "Albus," he greeted with a polite nod, "Remus, Mr. Black."
"Enough of this 'Mister Black' dragondung," the dog animagus said, "always makes me think my father's about, especially here in the Headmaster's office." This drew a round of amused grins. "You've done so much for Harry, Moony, and me, and we're going to be hip-deep in this whole Horcrux mess together - just call me Sirius, okay?"
"Sirius it is then," Iruka replied with a smile, "and you're right, we're all friends on this little venture. Just call me Iruka."
"It does my old heart good to see such things," Albus beamed from behind his desk. "Friendship, camaraderie, love - these are all things which Tom will never understand, which many of his followers dismiss or disdain, and which I firmly believe are our greatest strength against the darkness to come." He paused, his smile dimming. "But that is for the future. For now, I'm afraid, we must focus on the past." With that the Headmaster rose from his desk and retrieved his Pensieve, along with a rack of phials that were filled with the distinctive silvery-white smoky not-liquid-not-gas of extracted memories.
"Our first trip down memory lane," he stated as he withdrew the first phial from the rack, "comes courtesy of the late Bob Ogden, at the time of this recollection employed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We shall be accompanying him as his duties take him to just outside the village of Little Hangleton some seven decades ago." With that, he opened the phial and emptied its contents into the shallow bowl before him. "Shall we?"
The four men observed as Ogden, dressed in an abysmally poor attempt at Muggle disguise, made his way first down a country lane and then into a thicket. Upon seeing the shack that was the memory's destination, Remus muttered about feeling better about his own cottage. Iruka found himself agreeing - the structure was so decrepit and ill-maintained that most wouldn't even consider it fit for human habitation. Looking over the filthy domicile didn't stop the chuunin from noticing a figure up in one of the trees near a front door 'decorated' with the corpse of a snake nailed on.
That figure dropped down with surprising agility, holding a wand in one hand and a bloody knife in the other. It was a man, filthy and unkempt, almost a mirror of his home in how little care he apparently showed for his hygiene or general condition. He hissed threateningly at Ogden, in what Iruka realized had to be Parseltongue, before cursing the Ministry wizard and laughing at the results.
Events that followed gave the half-feral man's name as Morfin Gaunt and revealed his sister Merope and their father, whose name wasn't spoken. Apparently Morfin had cursed a local Muggle, prompting Ogden's visit to deliver a Ministry summons. The elder Gaunt was clearly of the opinion that his family's 'pure blood' placed them above the law, ranting at length about their descent from Salazar Slytherin. In the process, he showed off both a rather ugly ring and a very familiar locket, the latter of which caused Black - Sirius to stiffen and mutter "Reg". He also showed his utter disdain for his daughter, whose every mannerism announced how such verbal abuse was the norm in her life.
After the Muggle in question rode by the situation deteriorated rapidly, culminating in Ogden defending Merope from her own family and being hounded out of the house by spellfire in retaliation. As he fled, he ran into the Muggle and his companion. Iruka couldn't help but note that the man was referred to as "Tom" and bore strikingly similar features to the shade of a young Voldemort.
Bob Ogden made his exit soon thereafter, followed immediately by the four observers exiting the Pensieve. Once they'd all returned to their seats, Iruka was the first to speak. "There was certainly a fair amount to digest there, but given the amount of Parseltongue being spoken we probably missed a lot of information. Would it be possible to bring Harry in, at least for this memory, to provide a translation?"
"Actually," Albus replied with a twinkle in his eye, "while I cannot naturally speak Parseltongue, nor could I truly be considered fluent, I am in fact able to understand it when spoken by a human. I have here a transcript which I previously prepared, including a translation of all of the dialogue spoken among the Gaunts." He withdrew a roll of parchment from his desk, and proceeded to create three copies with a wave of his wand and distribute among his guests.
Sirius snorted as he read what Morfin had first said. "'You're not welcome,' he says. I never would've guessed, what with the knife and the cursing."
Finishing the scroll and considering what he'd read, seen, and heard, Iruka spoke up again. "That wealthy Muggle, his companion called him 'Tom', and he looked a lot like the teenaged Tom Marvolo Riddle that Filius, Harry, and I encountered two years ago. Given Merope Gaunt's heritage and clear infatuation with the man, would I be correct in guessing that we just saw Voldemort's parents?"
Remus looked thoughtful, and Sirius shocked, but Albus simply smiled proudly. "Well reasoned, Iruka," the Headmaster replied. "The Muggle we saw was named Tom Riddle, while the forename of the senior Gaunt was Marvolo. Lord Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle, named for his father and maternal grandfather." He proceeded to explain the events that followed the memory they'd all just watched, the arrest of the male Gaunts and the sudden elopement of Tom Riddle with Merope Gaunt, and Riddle's subsequent return.
Sirius commented again. "That Marvolo reminded me of my dear departed mother," all present could hear the sarcasm dripping from the word 'dear', "with his son more like my cousin Bella. Must be all the Dark magic, rots the brain."
"I doubt the generations of inbreeding helped," Remus responded, shooting a wry look at his old friend, "in either family's case."
"Oi!"
Iruka chuckled at the byplay, before turning serious. "Merope Gaunt's situation reminds me uncomfortably of those of Harry and Dobby, though both of those two seem to have come through in better shape mentally and morally. I certainly can't see Harry committing what is tantamount to rape, regardless of how downtrodden or infatuated he might be. Both of Voldemort's parents were victims - one of a lifetime of abuse, the other of mind control and rape - and neither of them deserved it. It just makes it even uglier that one victim was the other's assailant."
Albus nodded somberly. "A convoluted set of events to be sure. Ms. Gaunt's circumstances in no way excuse her actions, nor do those actions make what came before less abhorrent. Try as I might, I find it difficult to truly find anything positive anywhere in the entire matter."
"Setting that aside for now," he continued, "I'm sure you all recognized the locket the unfortunate witch was wearing. I had already suspected before Sirius's discovery that it might be of import, a suspicion that is now confirmed. What else did you gentlemen note?"
"The ring," Remus said immediately, "something Marvolo Gaunt clearly considered even more important than the locket, given that he wore it himself instead of hanging it on a daughter that he didn't care for. I don't recognize the name Peverell though."
"It's an old Pureblood family," Sirius explained, "really old, but they went extinct in the male line centuries ago. Dear old Mum made sure Reg and me knew everything she could cram into our heads about Pureblood genealogy and bloodlines."
Iruka suspected that he was the only guest in the office to notice its occupant relaxing a bit at the former fugitive's recounting. Rather than bring this up, he pointed out another observation. "Both Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt were insane: Marvolo was made of pretty much nothing but hate and ego to the point of not even bothering to maintain his own home to even a basic level. His son was even worse, all of his father's faults and probably a full-blown psychopath besides. To be honest, given what he did to snakes, I wouldn't have been at all surprised to find out he'd moved on to giving people the same treatment at some point. Investigating the background of serial murderers often reveals a history of torturing or killing animals starting from a disturbingly young age." Albus didn't even bother to hide his stiffening at that statement. "I'm guessing that ties into something else?"
The Headmaster nodded, removing Bob Ogden's memory from the Pensieve and adding the next one in the rack. "This time, we are going to enter my memory. I think you will find it both rich in detail and satisfyingly accurate. Iruka's comments seem almost prescient on one point of its contents. In any case, please accompany me back some months over fifty-six years into the past, to Wool's Orphanage in London."
While the orphanage was old, dreary, and shabby like the Gaunt shack, it was vastly better-cared-for. Its cleanliness, bustle, and obvious lack of money all reminded Iruka of the Burrow, albeit without some of the vibrancy and warmth of the Weasley family home.
Albus's reaction to Iruka's comments was easy to understand upon hearing that a young, presumably ten- or eleven-year old Tom Riddle had killed another child's pet over an argument. The incident on the school outing was another red flag. It was clear from what the increasingly-inebriated matron was saying that the young boy already had his peers and even caretakers frightened of him.
Eleven-year-old Riddle looked like a clone of his father; even sitting on his bed reading, his posture was confident to the point of arrogance, not entirely unlike the cocky Muggle aristocrat, but also not as relaxed. It was telling that he expected the orphanage staff had called in some kind of expert to examine him, and that he was shocked that Albus hadn't promptly obeyed his command. Albus's persistent calm and pleasant demeanor was quite impressive, given the boy's behavior.
If they hadn't already known what this child would grow to become, Iruka would have been interrupting the memory to warn the others that he was dangerous. Practically every sentence from the boy's mouth, every expression on his face only reinforced the impression that there was something dark and foul in his makeup, that this was one of those rare few people too deeply and inherently evil for even Naruto to reach. The chuunin wished that he could somehow reach out to that past Albus Dumbledore, plead with him not to give this monster-in-the-making any more power to abuse, a feeling that seemed to be mirrored on the faces of his fellow observers.
Leaving the Pensieve and retaking their seats, all four men were silent for a few moments.
"That was... disturbing," was all Remus could say. Sirius just nodded his agreement.
"An accurate observation," Albus remarked with a wry but strained smile, "but perhaps not the most useful to us at present. What would you gentlemen say this encounter teaches us about Tom Riddle?"
"He was a creepy, evil sod even as a kid?" Sirius ventured.
"He wanted to be special," Remus cut in with a chiding look to his friend. "The instant you told him there was something different, something special about him, he grabbed onto it with both hands. There's also his dislike of his name, 'Tom', for being so common and ordinary."
"He also wanted power," Sirius added. "Look at how eager he was to get his hands on spellbooks, and how proud he was of being able to 'make things happen' as he put it. There's also the fact that he turned down any sort of help, wanted to do everything himself."
"Trophies," Iruka said, drawing confused looks from the Marauders and an approving smile from the Headmaster. "He had that box of items stolen from the other children, but they weren't particularly valuable. I doubt he was using them, either, since some were musical instruments and making any use of them would instantly point him out as the thief. If he wasn't taking them because he had an actual use for them, and couldn't make any money off of them, that only leaves a few likely possibilities: He might have had a compulsive urge to steal, enjoyed the challenge or the thrill of stealing, simply wanted to deny the other children their prized possessions, or wanted trophies of some type. The first two seem unlikely, since all of the items seem to have been stolen from the other orphans - a compulsive thief or a thrill-seeker would have taken things from the adults too, as well as possibly things from outside the orphanage. If it were about denying those items to the other children, he could have destroyed them and left the remains to be found rather than keeping evidence of his thefts where it could be found. To my mind, that just leaves some form of trophy-keeping, prizes to remind him of his domination over his fellow orphans."
"All of those are excellent observations," Albus replied, "and largely match my own conclusions. I would only add Tom's suspicious nature: He did not trust the staff of the orphanage, nor did he trust me. Sometimes such suspicion is warranted, a sign that things are not right in the individual's environment, but given the evidence at the time and since I consider this unlikely. More likely in this case is the tendency of those who are least worthy of trust to also be those least willing to extend it to others. We all tend to act on the assumption that the minds of others are largely alike to our own, as our own mind is the only example we are able to study in depth. This is why Hagrid is so trusting - he himself is honest almost to a fault, and has difficulty grasping that other people are not nearly so noble as he is. At the opposite end we find Tom Riddle, a boy already filled with guile, selfishness, and deceit, and who therefore sees these traits in others regardless of their true character."
"I do wonder at times whether young Tom's introduction to magic could have been handled better," Albus said to nobody in particular. "If I had only been kinder and more welcoming, could he have found love for others in his heart? If I had been stricter, could I have steered him from the path he took? Alas, I doubt that we shall ever know."
Iruka shook his head. "Most people are decent enough," he began, "or at least they start that way. Even many of history's greatest villains and monsters had the best of intentions, at first, only to be corrupted by power or driven mad with grief or pain or hate. I once encountered a man, one who called himself a god and wanted to create the most powerful and horrific weapon the world had ever seen, and was willing to commit atrocities to make that happen. As a child, he was a kind orphan who loved his friends and dreamed of bringing peace and happiness to everyone. Events and circumstances can twist even the noblest of people, and many of the greatest villains were once great heroes, or at least had the potential to be."
"There are a rare few people, though," he continued, "that are different. Something in them is just inherently broken, wrong, evil. From the moment they were born, they never had a chance to be a good person, because there simply was no good in them to start with. Tom Marvolo Riddle was one of those. He showed neither remorse nor any shame over hurting his fellow children, only fear of being punished. Even back then, he had no conscience, no sense of empathy - someone like that will always become a monster, given the opportunity."
Another thoughtful silence followed, broken by Sirius. "Fear. You said it, Iruka, fear of being punished. That's why old Moldy wants power: He's afraid and thinks power will make him feel safe. It'd explain why he was daft enough to rip his soul apart too - fear of death. Even the name he took announces how scared of death he is, well, death and French lessons apparently." This produced a snort from Remus and lightened the heavy atmosphere in the room.
"Getting back on topic," Iruka said pointedly, "I'm guessing that your conclusion, Albus, was that Riddle may have continued with his practice of keeping trophies, and used those to house his Horcruxes?"
"Indeed", the Headmaster replied, "that is my assessment. His habit of keeping trophies along with his ego and desire to be special likely drove him to use the greatest treasures he could to hold the fragments of his soul. After all, in his view, only the most precious of items would be considered worthy of housing a part of the great Lord Voldemort."
Remus frowned. "What about the diary, then? That wasn't any great relic, just something you could pick up at any Muggle bookseller."
"Well for starters, it was probably his first Horcrux," Iruka explained, "so he might not have had any historical treasures available at the time. Beyond that, my best guess would be that it's part of his whole 'Lord Voldemort' persona: I doubt he just left it blank - someone from a poor background wouldn't buy something they didn't intend to use - so I'd bet he originally recorded his discovery of the Chamber in it. That made it 'proof' that he was the heir of Salazar Slytherin, that he had an important and special wizarding pedigree. The locket is the same way, and so is the ring assuming that pans out."
Albus nodded thoughtfully. "In other words, we should be looking for items that help to make Lord Voldemort feel special. I use Tom's chosen alias rather than his birth name because he has sought to distance himself from his former identity. Tom was given a Special Award for Services to the School for his framing of Hagrid, an award that to this day remains in the Trophy Room here at Hogwarts; I have cast upon this award every diagnostic and detection spell I could find, with all coming up negative. Further, I must confess to having slightly defaced it with a weak cutting charm, and the resultant scratch remains unrepaired. This, to me, is near-absolute proof that the award is not a Horcrux."
"He might've considered it as a teenager," Sirius pointed out, "but once he set his sights on older, more valuable stuff he'd have passed a school award off as not important enough. Not to mention that Moaning Myrtle's the only murder I know of at Hogwarts in the last fifty years. I mean, maybe he could've stolen the plaque or cup or whatever for however long it took to make it into a Horcrux and then brought it back, but that's a lot of work for something he'd have felt was beneath him."
"Not to mention being somewhere that anybody could find it," Remus added. "With a public spot like the Trophy Room, people would've noticed pretty quickly if something in there had nasty curses or booby-traps on it. He certainly went out of his way to protect the Locket, after all, so it stands to reason that any other Horcruxes would also be hidden and protected somehow. While I'm sure he'd be tickled at the idea of hiding one of his anchors in plain sight right under Albus's nose, I doubt he'd be foolish enough to think it would actually work."
"Why thank you, Remus." Albus's eyes were set to 'maximum twinkle'. "One other thing I feel I should point out to you all: Tom quickly concluded that his mother could not have been magical, for he was certain that if she had been she'd not have died. Even at his first true introduction to magic, he was already viewing it as a means to escape the limits of mortality."
"In any event," he continued, "I believe our time today is very nearly up. Until we are able to reconvene, please consider what we have already witnessed and discussed - new questions or insights might arise after you've had more time to digest this information. Of course, as before I must remind you all to keep these meetings absolutely secret."
"Before we go, Albus," Iruka cut in, "I think it might be helpful to share this information with Harry at some point. While he may have reacted very differently than a young Tom Riddle, the fact remains that both boys had a lot in common in their backgrounds. If we get stuck, he might be better at getting inside Riddle's head, so to speak."
"I will consider it," Albus sighed, "but it is something I would very much prefer to avoid if at all possible. Harry has already been burdened enough as it is, and I have no wish to add to his burdens. Let him enjoy his childhood, what few years of it remain."
Iruka nodded. "We should at least get as far as we can ourselves before bringing in anybody else, for secrecy's sake if nothing else. If that's all, I'll see you gentlemen - and Sirius - later."
A/N: Again the struggle of striking a balance between covering the material adequately and avoiding excessive rehash of canon. I refuse to fully write out something that stretched for over a dozen pages in Half-Blood Prince when it's basically just exposition.
Re-reading the scene of Dumbledore bringing Riddle his Hogwarts letter, I'm impressed by how well Rowling painted a budding young monster. Magic or no magic, that kid was a serial killer in the making. Morfin was too, to be honest.
A lot of people commented on my handling of Ron last chapter, mostly disappointed that he wouldn't be part of S.E.N., and I understand their feelings - I was disappointed too! There's even a spot in the events I'm working on (chapter 77 or 78, probably) where he'd be the perfect person to bring something up if he was there. I'd originally intended to have him be somewhat of a Shikamaru analogue, a lazy but brilliant tactician, but just couldn't find a way to plausibly bring him into the group. The person he was back in First Year wouldn't have wanted anything to do with something being described as a "study group". They could have told him the truth, but throughout the series he tends to lack a filter between brain and mouth, particularly when angry or annoyed, which could have led to their secrets being shouted out in Draco's face within days ("Oh yeah? Well I'm learning awesome foreign magic that'll let me walk on walls!" or something similar). My original take on the Chamber of Secrets had Ron being part of it, but with the way events played out there was no way to have him there; after all, why would Iruka bring a twelve/thirteen-year-old noncombatant into such a dangerous situation unless he had no other choice?
My take on Ron is that he had a lot of potential as a character, but it was never truly realized in canon. He also had some serious issues that were never really addressed. Going forward in this story, he's not going to be playing a significant role (unless I land in a spot where he'll be present to offer some strategic insight to the Order), but neither will he be subject to bashing.
Fic Recommendation: "The Original Naked Quidditch Match" by Evilgoddss - Fred and George have managed to land the Gryffindor Quidditch team with a binding magical obligation to play their game against Slytherin completely nude. The Chaser girls want to kill them, Harry's fan club are hoarding cameras, and Harry himself is debating the pros and cons of allying with Voldemort.
Posted 30 June 2019
Current WIP Chapter: 77
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone