The Secrets of The Sighted (Golden Trio Era) {3}

The Love Story of Merope and Tom

"I think that will do," Dumbledore spoke before he took Harry and Mikayla by the elbows and tugged. Next moment, they were both soaring weightlessly through darkness, until they landed squarely on their feet, back in Dumbledore's now twilit office. "What happened to Merope in the cottage? Did she get away?" Mikayla asked at once, as Dumbledore lit extra lamps with a flick of his wand. "Oh, she survived," said Dumbledore, reseating himself behind his desk and indicating that they should sit down too. "Ogden Apparated back to the Ministry and returned with reinforcements within fifteen minutes. Morfin and his father attempted to fight, but both were overpowered, removed from the cottage and subsequently convicted by the Wizengamot. Morfin, who already had a record of Muggle attacks, was sentenced to three years in Azkaban. Marvolo, who had injured several Ministry employees in addition to Ogden, received six months." Mikayla sighed in relief that Merope was okay, "Marvolo?" Harry repeated wonderingly. "that's right," said Dumbledore, smiling in approval. "I am glad to see you're keeping up."

Mikayla bit her lip anxiously as the realisation formed in her mind, which Dumbledore soon confirmed that Marvolo was Voldemort's grandfather. "Marvolo, his son Morfin and his daughter Merope were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins. Lack of sense coupled with a great liking for grandeur meant that the family gold was squandered several generations before Marvolo was born. He, as you saw, was left in squalor and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic amount of arrogance and pride, and a couple of family heirlooms that he treasured just as much as his son, and rather more than his daughter." Mikayla's gaze fell to her hands, she knew who Merope was, why they were shown the altercation between Odgen and the Gaunts, she's Voldemort's mother, but Mikayla couldn't help but feel sorry for her, that is the life Mikayla was living back in the O'Brien Manor and she felt guilty for getting away so young and easily. Merope suffered her whole life in the Gaunts house, treated less than the others because of the fact she was a woman.

"And they ended up married?" Harry said in disbelief, unable to imagine two people less likely to fall in love. "I think you are forgetting," said Dumbledore, "that Merope was a witch. I do not believe that her magical powers appeared to their best advantage when she was being terrorised by her father. Once Marvolo and Morfin were safely in Azkaban, once she was alone and free for the first time in her life, then, I am sure, she was able to give full rein to her abilities and to plot her escape from the desperate life she had led for eighteen years." Mikayla felt sick to her stomach at the fact that Merope was suffering for 18 years.

"Can you not think of any measure Merope could have taken to make Tom Riddle forget his Muggle companion, and fall in love with her instead?" Mikayla answered Dumbledore's question with the suggestion of a love potion. "Very good. I am sure it would have seemed more romantic to her and I do not think it would have been very difficult, some hot day, when Riddle was riding alone, to persuade him to take a drink of water. In any case, within a few months of the scene we have just witnessed, the village of Little Hangleton enjoyed a tremendous scandal. You can imagine the gossip it caused when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter Merope." Mikayla's teeth gritted, she couldn't believe Dumbledore's words as he described Merope, foul words that should never be used to describe a woman, no matter what.

"But the villagers' shock was nothing to Marvolo's. He returned from Azkaban, expecting to find his daughter dutifully awaiting his return with a hot meal ready on his table. Instead, he found a clear inch of dust and her note of farewell, explaining what she had done. From all that I have been able to discover, he never mentioned her name or existence from that time forth. The shock of her desertion may have contributed to his early death- or perhaps he had simply never learned to feed himself. Azkaban had greatly weakened Marvolo and he did not live to see Morfin return to the cottage." Mikayla believed that Marvolo got what he deserved for 18 years of mistreatment of his only daughter. "And Merope? She... she died, didn't she? Wasn't Voldemort brought up in an orphanage?" Harry continued the questioning, "Yes, indeed," said Dumbledore, going on to explain how Tom had returned home without Merope and rumours spread that she had lied to him to trick him into marrying her, mainly because Tom couldn't come out and say she was a witch who spelled him to fall in love with her. "But she did have his baby." Harry argued, "yes, but not until a year after they were married. Tom Riddle left her while she was still pregnant." 'Asshole' Mikayla thought to herself, before she quickly remembered what Merope did, how his infatuation with her to get her pregnant was all because she set a love potion on him, and then she felt a little bad for Tom who didn't get to marry the love of his life, Cecilla.

"What went wrong? Why did the love potion stop working?" Harry asks looking for a flaw in the magic Merope used, "again, this is guesswork, but I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion. Perhaps, besotted as she was, she had convinced herself that he would by now have fallen in love with her in return. Perhaps she thought he would stay for the baby's sake. If so, she was wrong on both counts. He left her, never saw her again, and never troubled to discover what became of his son." The sky outside was inky black and the lamps in Dumbledore's office seemed to glow more brightly than before. "I think that will do for tonight..." Dumbledore spoke up after a moment or two of silence.

Mikayla got to her feet, gathering her belongings and picking back up the book Dumbledore had given her. Mikayla smiled at the pair, she felt so drained from the long day that she couldn't wait to get to bed. "Sir, is it okay if we tell Hermione, Ron and Avery everything you teach us?" Harry questioned, as he slowly stood up, "I believe that telling Mr Weasley and Miss Granger is safe but it may put Miss Carra in danger, make her a target for Voldemort..." Mikayla looked away, she didn't want to have any secrets between herself and Avery, but she knew that Dumbledore is right, that Avery will be a target since Death Eaters have easier access to her because most of their kids share a house with her. "I understand, I don't her to get hurt. I won't say anything." Mikayla knew that Dumbledore was mostly appealing to her to keep Avery out of the loop, "I'll just tell her it's about learning more of my abilities, because I have to tell her something." Dumbledore agreed with what Mikayla was suggestion as an escape goat. "Goodnight, Sir." Mikayla and Harry chime in sync before walking out of his office, and making their way back to Gryffindor Tower, agreeing not to tell Ron and Hermione until the morning.