Madison Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Chapter 17: The Riddle Who Is No Longer A Secret

Madison Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Chapter 17: The Riddle Who Is No Longer A Secret

Harry and I stood outside of Dumbledore's office at eight o'clock Monday night, ready for our lesson. Dumbledore opened the door after we knocked, looking very exhausted.

His hand was black and burnt still, but he smiled at us and gestured us over to the Pensieve.

"I've heard you both have had a busy time while I have been away," Dumbledore remarked. "Including Katie's accident."

I nodded. "How is she?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Still ill, but she is very lucky. She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin: there was a tiny hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even held it in her ungloved hand, she would have died. Lucky Professor Snape was able to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse-"

"Why him? Why not Madame Pomfrey?" Harry rudely asked.

"Harry!" I whisper yelled at him.

"Harry, Professor Snape knows much more about the Dark Arts than Madame Pomfrey."

No dip he does. He's the freaking DADA teacher and is a Death Eater.

"Where were you this weekend, sir?" Harry asked, pushing his luck.

"Harry! Stop being so rude!" I patronized him.

"Anyway, let's get on with the lesson."

Dumbledore poured in the silvery contents of the memory into the pensive. Inside of it there was a little old man with a lump of hair that covered his eyes completely.

"Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances," the old man stated. "It was brought in by a young witch just before Christmas many years ago. She said she needed the gold badly, and that was obvious. Covered in rags and far along in her pregnancy. She said the locket had been Slytherin's. But heard that a lot- 'Oh, this was Merlins, his favorite teapot'- but this was the real deal! I gave her ten galleons for it!"

Dumbledore suddenly gave the Pensieve a horrendous shake and the man was gone.

"He only gave her ten galleons?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Burke was not known for generosity," Dumbledore wheezed. "So we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold. She was desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession: the locker that was one of Marvolo's treasured family heirlooms."

"But she could do magic!" I cried out. "She could have got food and everything for herself by magic, right?"

"Ah," Dumbledore nodded, "perhaps she could have. But I believe that when her husband abandoned her, she stopped using magic. She didn't want to be witch any longer. Merope refused to raise her wand even when to save her own life."

"She wouldn't even stay alive for her son?" I blurted out.

Dumbledore looked at me curiously. "Could you... Possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?"

"No," I quickly replied, "but she had a choice! Not like my mom-"

"Your mom had a choice too," the old man informed me. "Yes, Merope chose death over her son, but judge her too harshly, Madison. She was weakened by long suffering and never had your mom's courage."

It was silent for a moment while the geezer put in a new memory.

Suddenly, my feet hit the ground. I was next to Harry and Dumbledore, standing in an old-fashioned street in London.