Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[34] Bitter Revelation

A new term had started at Hogwarts with Nathan Whitburg as the Defense teacher instead of Professor Merrythought. He had so far been right in his decision of coming to Dumbledore after his escapade. Not only was Hogwarts a safe haven for him but he also got to do what he loved most; teaching in one of the most prestigious schools known to wizardkind.

A while had passed by since then and Nathan had adjusted rather well with his new life. After living the dangerous life of an Auror, he found his time as a Professor quite relaxing. But no matter how much time had passed, he was still quite worried for Perseus.

Perseus had been of tremendous help to him and if it hadn't been for him, goodness knows Nathan wouldn't have been alive even. He had promised Perseus to reveal Tom's evil plans to the Wizarding World and he had done in his part in revealing it all to Dumbledore. Surely a wise person like Albus Dumbledore would know what to do in such a situation.

But there was the other part of the promise which was still nagging at him. Perseus's hollow voice would haunt him frequently; tell them it wasn't me.

At first he had thought that Perseus had wanted him to clear his name of all the accusations filed against him in the Ministry due to Riddle using his disguise. He had requested Dumbledore to see into it himself and the latter had assured him that the Ministry would be duly informed.

But even then, Perseus's face would often turn up in his dreams, repeating the same sentence, the plea written clearly in his blue eyes. Tell them it wasn't me.

He had been quite disturbed due to the uncanny dreams which seemed to have no end. And it seemed as if Perseus was somehow confronting him for not keeping his end of the bargain. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got. Until one night when he had a dream including his conversation with Perseus in which he had asked him about his family. He could only envision it in snippets but when he woke up, he realized what Perseus had meant exactly.

Early next morning, he headed to the library issuing old editions of the Daily Prophet which featured a few articles on the mysterious disappearance of Perseus Burke and his alleged evil doings. In there he found a section covering the calamities that had fallen on the Burke household after Perseus's disappearance.

He found out that Mafalda Burke, Perseus's mother, had fallen extremely ill due to grief and passed away an year after the incident. Caractacus Burke still ran his shop with Borgin while Herbert and Belvina Burke along with their only daughter Demelza had left Knockturn Alley and shifted to some other town.

He recalled that Perseus had told him that his family had disowned him and thought of him as a traitor. He understood now that Perce had wanted him to tell his family the truth as well and to tell them that he hadn't been responsible for all the dreadful things that happened to them and that he was utterly helpless in that case.

Nathan decided to do exactly what Perseus had asked him to. However he couldn't straight up go back to Knockturn Alley in order to meet Caractacus due to the fact that Voldemort's followers could be flocking in there in search of him and there was also a chance that the old man wouldn't even believe him.

Instead, he made up his mind to track out Herbert Burke's family. With some help from his friend Nobby Leach, he had discovered that they lived in a small Muggle town near Wiltshire. Knowing that Christmas was nearing and the classes would be off for a few days giving him sufficient time on his hands, he resolved to pay the Burkes a visit in the Christmas Break.

***

Herbert and Belvina had left Knockturn Alley shortly after Eridanus's birth and now resided in a town nearer to the Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire. Surely they couldn't resume living in the Alley not only due to the painful memories that consistently haunted them but also due to the fact that people would question Eridanus's existence and drag the family's reputation further below.