Megan Potter - A Saga of the Heart - Book 6 - Dark Temptation-

Chapter 31 - Bottled up emotions

"Please, sit down," Dumbledore said.

Megan did, her mind buzzing.

"... Professor Trelawney was right after all..." she said.

"About what in particular?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"I... In my fourth year, she said my birthday was in winter... but I was born in July. So... that means she sensed the part of Voldemort in me... didn't she?"

Dumbledore petted his beard a moment.

"You know, that might be true," he agreed. "She was right about other things, after all, wasn't she?"

Megan nodded silently. Thinking back to what she'd just witnessed, she looked up at Dumbledore.

"... He believed it faster than I did," she said. "I didn't believe Hagrid at first, and I had my mother's copy of Hogwarts a History. I thought it was all fiction."

"Ah, that is because you, ever modest, always undervalue yourself, while Riddle was perfectly ready to accept he was – to use his word – special."

"... Did you know?" Megan asked. "Who he'd turn out to be?"

"Did I know I'd just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time? No. I did not. I suppose, looking back, that I should have been more suspicious. But I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned to school intending to keep an eye on him, which I would have done anyway, as he was alone and friendless."

"Like me..." Megan said in spite of herself.

"Yes," he admitted. "Your childhood wasn't much better than his. However, there is a very big difference: you were born from real love, and that does a great deal to the character of the person who was born from it. Even if you were not with them, you knew your parents loved you and tried to live up to them. Which, if I may say so, you have done fabulously."

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"Riddle, on the other hand, nurtured nothing but resentment for his parents who abandoned him, and contempt for people he knew himself to be different from. There was no possible salvation for him."

"So you're saying he would have been evil no matter what?"

"Well, maybe that's a bit unfair. Perhaps if he'd had a caring wizarding family, or even his parents, he would have turned out differently. But I think that even if he had, some other boy would have become Voldemort, or something like him. His powers, as you noticed, were quite well developed for such a young wizard. What is even more interesting and ominous, however, is that he had already found himself to have some measure of control over them, and was using them consciously. Unlike you, for instance, whose power only showed when scared or angry. He was already using magic against others."

"And he was a Parslemouth", Megan said.

"Indeed he was," Dumbledore nodded. "A rare ability, supposedly connected to the Dark Arts, but as we know there are Parslemouths among the good, too," he glanced at her over his spectacles. "In fact, I wasn't concerned about that ability so much as his blatant instincts for violence, domination and secrecy."

He looked at the sky.

"Oh, time has fooled us again," he said. "But before I release you, I would like to point out some of the finer features of what we have just seen. They will have great bearing on what we discuss in further meetings."

"Like the way Riddle winced at his name?" Megan asked.

"Very good, I thought you might notice. He showed contempt to anything related to others. He wished for difference, superiority. He left that name, as you know, a few short years after we met and dubbed himself "Lord Voldemort", the name behind which he has hidden for so long. I suppose you also noticed that he was highly self-sufficient, secretive and friendless. He did not want help or companionship for any matter. He has not changed, at least not in that respect. Oh, many Death Eaters will claim he confides in them and that they alone understand him, but they are mistaken. Lord Voldemort never had any friends, nor did he ever want any or understand the power they can have on a person."