Tom Riddle and the Pureblood Prince

Kanashii: I hope you're still reading. I know it's been awhile.


Sjauthor: Too bad you went on vacation the day I decide to start again. I have been itching to go ahead for a few days now. Hopefully, this desire will continue. Thanks for the last review of this. There is a way around the fact that Slughorn and Dumbledore know Legilimency...There is something Riddle did to make sure they can get out of it no matter what.


Continuation of….


Chapter Twenty-Three: A Nasty Incident


Orion Black, Avery, Rosier and Jugson were with Professor Slughorn who was knocking on Professor’s Dippet’s door. Nobody answered and Slughorn was reduced to banging on it, until he finally concluded that the headmaster must not be present.

“Let’s go, boys. But I assure this is not over,” said Slughorn irritably.

But at once the door opened and Armando Dippet with his balding tufy gray hair, small black eyes and wearing a crinkling smile was standing in the doorway. He apologized, “Horace, I am sorry. I was just getting dressed for the feast. Shall we go, then?”

“No. I’m afraid there are more pressing issues at hand. That must be dealt with immediately, professor,” said Slughorn, as urgently as he could, sounding long-winded as he was still out of breath from their rush to the Seventh-floor corridor.

The smile slowly faded from Dippet’s face and he asked delicately, “What is it?”

“I think we should go inside. Perhaps you should…sit down first, headmaster,” said Slughorn respective yet awkward. Slughorn thought the man rather old and feeble and figured that it would be safe for him to be seated at extolling such grave news.

Dippet nodded, and finally shot a long look at the three boys, wondering what they had to do with this. But he turned around and swept into his office, the others scurrying around.

Dippet eased himself into the throne-like chair, and folded his hands over his desk. “Now tell me, Horace…What terrible news can there be?”

“Well….Some students have clearly gone missing. I found threatening messages on the walls. To put it exactly it said in blood, mind you ‘The Mudblood brats are alive but in pain.’”

Dippet sighed and closed his eyes, clearly nettled. “But of course, this wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened throughout the years. The recent years. The problem is we’re never able to catch whose doing it!” said Dippet. Dippet continued, “Professor Slughorn, did you see who smeared this awful message?”

“No…But I did find these four near the scene,” and he indicated Orion, Jugson, Rosier, and Avery who were either sitting at the other seats in front of the desk or standing behind the others.

Dippet turned to the four boys and looked each one square in the eye one by one. A vein was actually pulsing on his forehead. It was rare to see Dippet so angry. He asked the boys rhetorically, “Did YOU see who smeared the message?”

At once they all shook their heads enthusiastically. But Dippet did not look convinced and neither did Slughorn look the least bit convinced. “Boys…if I do recall…You – er…Mr. Avery and Mr. Jugson were in here a couple of years before for another similar crime. Of course, then none of the information we had could satisfactorily link the acts to either of you. Yet I find you here again being accused of a similar offence. A serious offence!”

Avery and Jugson glanced at each other quickly, and finally Jugson took the initiative, “But, sir – I assure you then and as regarding now, we have nothing to do with any of this!”

“Perhaps you did not…,” said Dippet, suddenly more casually, and like he was letting them off. “Consider this, Horace…Last year we were taunted by messages against Muggle-borns of a like kind - also written in blood. In fact, several students of that birth were attacked. There are similarities with that crime and this one. Furthermore, it appears the Chamber of Secrets might actually exist; yet I seriously doubt any of these boys could be the Heir of Slytherin. I do hope this won’t be a repeat of last year!” And Dippet’s entire face sagged into practically one big wrinkle of apprehensions.

Avery and Rosier couldn’t help but expel a nervous laugh at this being implied, because of course, they heard a rumor regarding the fascinating tidbit of information in the cult that their gang leader was the Heir. Yet, they did not know this for sure, only suspected.

“Yes?” said Dippet dryly. “What could possibly be funny about this?”

Rosier added quickly, “We were just laughing at how improbable it would be at the idea we're Slytherin's heirs!”

Dippet did not smile, as he did not find even that funny and he detected intuitively the feeling these boys did not dislike Salazar Slytherin like he did. “Given that we have no evidence and the boys deny their involvement…I feel that I should let them off-“

“Hold on a minute Armando!” broke in a rattled Slughorn. “I think I should at least perform a bit of Legilimency on the boys…”

“Yes, I suppose that would be better-“

“And surely when Dumbledore hears of this, he will want to use his Legilimency powers too…He is, afterall far greater than me, probably the greatest Legilimens of his time!”

“You are right, Horace…But I also think we should be securing the school at the moment, …I am afraid we shall have to deal with these boys later.”

Orion, Rosier, Jugson and Avery had a hopeful look in their eyes. The sooner they left the headmaster’s study the better they thought. Dippet rose from his seat, “….Yes. I think it is best,” he said more to himself. “Come on, boys…I am taking you to separate rooms…. Where we shall have to question you further later.”

Orion Black actually paled. Jugson said, blanching as well, “But sir- the feast. We’ll miss the feast.”

“I would swear to the ministry that I’m innocent,” chimed in Avery with the nerve to have true conviction.

“Unfortunately, the ministry cannot get involved with this. At least not at this very moment. Let’s go. Now.” The real reason Dippet had said this was for his own selfish fears. Alerting the ministry could seriously jeopordize his own academic career as headmaster, especially since the chamber incident had been a mere few months ago!

Dippet beckoned for the boys to walk ahead of him and they had no choice but to obediently follow.

Slughorn caught up to Dippet’s side, looking anxious. He asked, “But Headmaster…I’m not so sure the feast should still be on…”

“No. It may. The feast remains. It shall work as a convenient way for the staff to discover if there are truly missing students. As I assume all will attend and any that do not, we shall find out why. I certainly hope not…but I am afraid that students have been taken. Horace? Could you not hurry and tell the rest of the staff to start searching the rest of the school?…And after I confine these four to separate classrooms, I shall be heading down to supervise the feast.”

“Yes, sir. Right away,” said Slughorn hastily, as he went in one direction down the corridor and Dippet and Riddle’s followers another.

Dippet turned around suddenly and said with dislike emanating from his voice, “Oh…and tell me where that Rubeus Hagrid was…Perhaps the horrid boy had something to do with this…”

“I will,” said Slughorn, who was gone, running down the steps, hurrying as fast as he could to alert everyone as soon as possible. They should all be making their way to the Great Hall…Meanwhile; Dippet locked up each boy in a separate classroom to be questioned more fully later this evening.

*
A little while later, Dippet entered the busy Great Hall, full of expectant students waiting for the feast. He was the only teacher present, all the others were busy doing everything they could to get to the bottom of the emergency. The school slowly started to buzz with talk of the surprise that only one teacher had entered, usually they all came in for meals together. And the caretaker, Apollyon Pringle had managed to scrub off without magic the awful message written on the front doors of the Great Hall, but that unfortunately did not occur until every student had went through and seen the words. The room was festive, candles below the star gleaming ceiling and pumpkins strung up and hundreds of live bats. Yet the ghosts were not there, as they were doing all they could to help as well.

Immediately, as Dippet came through a side entrance he was up on the staff table and he went to his special place in the center.

“Before we begin the All Hallows’ Eve feast…I have a very important announcement…Please quiet down now and listen. I promise afterwards, we shall begin.”

Within a few short seconds, the hundreds of voices died down, and a full silence descended upon the hall.

“Thank-you…It appears that several students are missing…I know not who they are, but I assume they could be anyone not attending the feast. The rest of the staff is currently scouring the school. If anyone knows anything, anything about who is missing or who is responsible I must know. If you are responsible-,” Dippet paused with terrible suspense. “I ask now that you be so brave and come forward. I can promise you that if you speak up, AND if those that are not here are NOT seriously harmed…I shall not have anyone in trouble with the school and certainly not the ministry. But only if this is merely a school prank…”

He waited. Nobody spoke. Dippet’s eyes scanned the room and he noticed an unusually large gap in the very front benches where the First Years sit. Several of them were conspicuously absent. Tom Riddle looked completely unfazed. Of course, he wasn’t going to turn himself in and his followers who were present were certainly not going to either.

Dippet bit his lip, looking disappointed. “Clearly this is a serious malicious attack, then….” Resigned, to the fact that nobody would divulge, and of course, the ever-pressing fear in the back of his mind that it was an outsider not from Hogwarts, Dippet motioned with a clap of his hands. The food appeared on everyone's plates and everybody eagerly started the feast.

*

Half-way through most of the teachers returned. Dumbledore approached Dippet and said, “Our caretaker, Mr. Pringle is still doing the dungeons. Other than that, it appears we cannot find anyone to be in danger….”

Dippet put down his knife and fork on the plate. He had eaten hardly anything; much too worried there would be another death at the school. If another little girl or boy like Myrtle died, he would probably have to resign as headmaster given the pressure powerful Wizarding families and the ministry would put on him. It certainly did not give him an appetite.

“Right…I suppose you could question the students at the tables, personally, Professor Dumbledore. Save me the bother. I already asked the school if they knew and nothing came of it!”

“Yes, I will do that, professor,” said Dumbledore lightly and he strode away, first towards the Gryffindors’ table.

A little while later, Professor Dumbledore was fast coming to the conclusion that the missing students had to all be First-years. Each First-year he questioned did not know where there friends had gone, and Dumbledore being a Legilimens saw they were completely truthful. Furthermore, he discovered that every one of the missing First Years, was indeed Muggle-born. At the Slytherin table, he briefly questioned, the little first year with black curly hair named Alphard Black. Dumbledore saw that he was also content and simply enjoying the feast, without a care in the world.

Finally, Dumbledore scanned the back of the Slytherins' table. He found Tom Riddle seated amongst his “friends” as usual, looking positively content as well, actually eating a large piece of pumpkin pie whilst slowly munching on jelly slugs. The only food offered at this feast is candy and he was hungry.

Not a few seconds later, the handsome boy caught Dumbledore’s sharp glance. Dumbledore could not believe his eyes what happened next. The boy – who he was sure had a hand in this – In fact, most surely was the mastermind behind this, Riddle had the nerve to actually smile widely straight at him. It was a wicked smile, almost a satisfied smile of pure evil.

Dumbledore moved up the table and hovered beside Riddle, commenting in a low voice, “I wonder what part you played in this, Tom.”

Riddle frowned and any exuberant mood he had been portraying before disappeared. He knew he couldn’t play Dumbledore. He had long since known there was no way to charm or really manipulate this man.

Riddle looked up, straight at Dumbledore’s clear eyes and said firmly, “Nothing, Professor Dumbledore. Please leave me to enjoy the feast. I shall…have your Transfiguration assignment in tomorrow. Good night.”

“I know you will, Riddle. But what concerns me is where you were today...." And for a moment Dumbledore forgot he was talking to a young man without a conscience, "We need to find out what happened and locate the missing children. Get justice for them.”

Riddle could see his followers and other associates watching and listening now. So he said politely, “I know nothing, Professor Dumbledore. I visited Hogsmeade today and arrived with everyone else just as the feast started, and that message was already up on the door. You can ask my friends, they’ll tell you the same!”

Dumbledore gave Riddle one final look of disgust and said, “Yes, I’m sure you’ve covered yourself completely, Tom.” And finally, Dumbledore was out of his way, and Riddle went back to enjoying the feast with everyone else.