Victoria

II

'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'

Dumbledore stood outside as he looked upon and beyond the huge gates in front of him, his mind wandering back to a specific old memory. It wasn't the first time he had received a call like that from there, and so he found it befitting to be the one to accomplish this task.

The old wizard walked through the entrance, into the building, looking around surprised at the immense change when he compared it to what he remembered. The previously dark corridors were now lit up with recessed lights that ran across the false ceiling and the old and murky walls were now painted in bright colors, littered with frames of happy photographs and multiple drawings that Dumbledore assumed were done by the children that lived there.

Children indeed looked happy as they played and ran around, as compared to when he had visited the last time where he couldn't help but notice that the place looked more like an asylum than an orphanage with its brick walls and gloomy environment.

Dumbledore met with the administrator of Wool's Orphanage who guided him to the room of the girl he had been called there for. Walking down a familiar path, the woman stopped before a familiar door, beyond which lay the familiar room he knew all too well.

Leaving the lady with a polite smile, he pushed the door open before stepping into the tiny room that didn't look much different, unlike the rest of the building. The floor was still lined with the same dark tiles, the bed was still a single one with a grey metal frame, and the small table still stood in the corner with a wooden chair neatly pushed into it. The only difference was the walls had been painted a blindingly brilliant shade of white to reflect the light from the tiny little low-voltage bulb on the ceiling.

This scene reminded Dumbledore too much of the past. If only he would have sensed it, if only he would have acted quick enough, if only he would have killed him while he was still the orphan boy that didn't understand the true depths of magic, so many would have been alive, so many would have been spared.

"Victoria, you have a visitor," The administrator said softly with a kind smile before closing the door and leaving the little girl and Dumbledore all alone in the room.

"How d'you do, Victoria?" He asked, subconsciously using the same words he had used with Tom, before sitting down in one corner of the bed. 

Dumbledore was skeptical about the child, considering the previous one he had met in that room of the orphanage had turned into the biggest villain of the wizarding world, however, when the child looked up and locked her sapphire eyes that were filled with nothing but childlike wonder with his pale blue ones, he realized the girl couldn't have presented him with a scene more contrasting with what he had expected even if she tried.

"I'm doing great Mr. Albus, thank you for asking. How do you do?" She said with a tiny but warm smile before looking back at her puzzle to delicately join in the stray piece in her hand.

"I'm doing absolutely great as well," He replied, watching with curious eyes as the girl who seemed like nothing more than an ordinary ten-year-old completed what looked to be a thousand-piece puzzle, a dazzling smile spread across her face as her eyes lit up in excitement and satisfaction, and Dumbledore couldn't help but smile along as well.

"Miss Catherine told me you would be coming to see me today," She said finally, looking up from the huge jigsaw puzzle that lay at her feet, her smile dropping slightly as she eyed him up and down, "Are you.. the doctor?"

Dumbledore felt himself hear Tom's voice through the girl that sat on the bed in front of him, its hollow emotionlessness sending a chill down his spine, but the wizard ignored it. After seeing the joyous expression on the girl's face he knew that she couldn't possibly have a soul as dark as his.