A Change of Heart

Chapter Sixteen

They walked in silence for a while and then Harry asked. "How come no one recognized him? Or even his name?"

Dumbledore shrugged. "The number of people who knew him when he was Tom Riddle is less than a handful now. But that is not why today no one recognized him. He had cast a rather powerful spell on himself. All they would have seen was a tall, balding fellow and when Arthur comes home today, you will see that Tom Marvolo Riddle was not the name he heard."

"But we saw him. And heard his name correctly too."

"That's because we already knew it was him."

Harry digested this is silence. The Slytherin part of him was glad that Tom had taken precautions, but the Gryffindor part of him felt disappointed as well. He supposed he must get used to being conflicted. That seemed to happen a lot ever since Tom appeared in his life.

"My scar no longer hurts when he is near," said Harry.

"Are you disappointed?" Asked Dumbledore, his gaze sharp.

Harry did not answer immediately. If he was honest with himself, he might have to admit that he was slightly upset. But he was mostly relieved. And he told Dumbledore that.

"He told me on the day of the Dementor attack that the spell he used changed him. Is that why he's behaving like this?"

Dumbledore considered this. "The spell he used is his own invention," said he at last. "There is no precedent to it, nor to any of the things that connect you two. I can only take a guess." He paused. "But first, I must ask you something. Do you hate him now, Harry?"

Harry felt almost ashamed to admit it. "No, but... I feel I should... but I don't..."

"Then my guess might be nearer to the mark. Mind you, I cannot say if it is accurate since I do not know exactly how Tom's spell works and I doubt Tom would tell me. But from what I understood, he took your blood and then touched you."

Harry nodded.

"He took your blood thinking that the protection your mother provided you would extend to him. And also that, with your blood in his veins, you will not be invulnerable to him. He was right on both counts, but where he miscalculated was in the nature of the protection."

"My mother died to save me," said Harry.

"Her protection was her love for you Harry. And Tom Riddle took that love into him when he took your blood. The magic activated when he touched you. It changed his appearance, destroying part of the evil within him. But he's still far from being good, Harry. Quite far from it."

"Then..." said Harry in a colourless voice, "it's only because of the spell that he's like that with me."

"I don't think it is entirely the spell, Harry. The magic affected both of you. But all it really did was to remove all the negative feelings you two had for each other at that time.  But even with your blood in his veins, he could have rebuilt his hatred for you and gone back to being what he was. But he chose not to. My guess is he tried to learn more about the magic that protected you so he can gain access to you. And he did not do that to harm you." Dumbledore paused. "And you too had lost your hatred due to the magic and you too chose not to hate him further."

"That's only because he was nice to me," protested Harry.

"Well, we both know he can be nice when he wants to, and I don't think what he did today classifies as just being nice, even with all the precautions he took. But I have to ask you this, Harry. Has he ever visited you in your aunt's and uncle's house?"

"Um.. yes, the night before the Order came for me."

"Do you know why you are staying with them, Harry?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore, confused. "The time for keeping this from you is past," said Dumbledore softly. "I gave you to them because your aunt shares your mother's blood; the blood Voldemort spilled; that blood is your greatest protection against him. He would never have been able to set foot in that house or anywhere near it, had he intended any harm to you or to your relatives. He is powerful, but there are more powerful things than him. He would have been destroyed had he come anywhere near that house, intending to harm you."

"He... he told me to ask you why he tried to kill me when I was a baby."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. I feared the time would come. I have run out of excuses not to tell you."

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" Harry stared curiously at Dumbledore, feeling slightly betrayed and a lot angrier.

Dumbledore sighed. "You will know when I tell you."