Harry Potter and the Return of Voldemort: edited the post on page 32 - Page 6

Exactly 10 minutes later Duds sat in the chair opposite Harry's in his office.

"Why were you hiding from me?" Harry asked breaking the awkward silence.

Dudley didn't reply. He looked like he was trying to come up with an answer.

"Look, I know you came here 4 years ago but you asked everyone not to tell me you were here. All I want to know is, why? You find me after years and you don't let me know about it, why?" Harry continued when Dudley didn't reply him.

Finally, it seemed like he had made up his mind. He looked up at Harry full in the face and replied him. "I didn't tell you because I didn't wanna see you." Before Harry could stop him, he stood up and turned to leave. Harry stood up too.

"Still hate me, don't you?"

Harry's words incredibly made an impact. Dudley turned around to see him and all of a sudden burst into horrible tears. Harry walked to him and patted him on the back not knowing what else to do. Dudley hiccuped and Harry looking at his state conjured a glass out of thin air and filled it with water from his wand tip. He had expected Dudley to shout or either run away from him but he did none and surprisingly didn't react at all and took the glass from Harry calmly when he offered him so. Then after a minute or so he spoke.

"I don't hate you. I didn't wanna see you because I felt guilty about the way I used to behave with you. I treated you like scum and I'm sorry for that. My behavior with you was not fair and I now realize how it must have been for you feeling singled out being an orphan. I can tell that now how it feels, having no parents..." a tear slipped down Dudleys cheek.

"Dudley..." Harry hugged him. "Sit down. When did it happen? Why didn't you inform me?"

"I couldn't find you. Dad passed away 5 years back and mum after 6 months of that. She couldn't live without dad. But they lived their life well and died in peace."

Harry for whom it was a bit of a blow just nodded. "Dudley, Lavender told me you are a squib. Are you?" Harry had to ask.

"Well yeah. Mum told me."

"Aunt Petunia? She knew that you are a squib?"

"Yeah. She told me that very day when we left Private Drive. I couldn't do anything then so I lived my life like a muggle not that it changed anything. I'm a muggle anyways with the difference that I can see Dementors and am allowed in magical territories like wizards are but one day after dad's death mum told me to find you, to give you this." He put his hand in his pocket and took out an envelope sealed neatly by a tape. He handed it to Harry. "I went to Kings Cross to see if I could enter the magical world from there. I did it, went through the barrier and found platform 9 and 3/4. I boarded the Hogwarts Express and came here. Dumbledore recognized me at once. Porch who found me on the platform took me to Professor Dutchmen. I intended to tell him that I wanted to see you but couldn't do it as I thought you might not want to see me. After all you never returned and then the guilt of my misbehavior took over so I didn't tell him anything instead I told him that I was a stranded squib and looking for a job, not that any of that was a lie. He made me caretaker here and I took Dumbledore's and everyone else's word who knew me not to tell you I was here. I found every comfort of the world in this Castle, found friends closer than family. Porch, Tom, Neville, Hannah, Professor Dutchmen, all of them became more a family than anything else. Time flew and I never stopped to look back until I heard you were coming here. I knew I had to see you someday, I was just not ready to look you in the eye after what I put you through back at Private Drive." Dudley stopped for a second while Harry watched him bewildered.

"You came all that way to give me this?" Harry asked finally getting over it all.

Dudley nodded. He sat there a moment then stood up. "I should leave. I will be required in the Castle." He turned to leave but Harry stopped him.

"Dudley"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

They both looked at each other and Harry didn't know how to explain it but somehow he felt connected to Dudley for the first time in his life and he knew that Dudley had felt the same.

"Thank you."

After Dudley had left Harry tore open the envelope. A chain bearing a locket fell out. Also, inside was a letter from Aunt Petunia.

Dear Harry,

I know I haven't been much of an Aunt. But today I am writing to you because I may not get a chance to see you again. Time has flown all these years but I never forgot about you. How could I? You reminded me of my sister every time I looked at you. Your eyes are exactly like that of your mother's.

I want to tell you that I always loved you. I just never expressed it as Vernon did not appreciate your relation with the wizarding community and also because of Dudley. I never mentioned it but I'd have loved to have a life like that of your mother's. That's the reason I was ever so jealous of her. I always envied her and I didn't want my son to experience the same thing all his life like I did. So I kept him away from you. Always told him you were not at all better than him so he'd never envy you.

That night when both of you got attacked by Dementors Dudley told me what he had seen. I realized it that very moment that he was a squib. Lily had told me about squibs that they were allowed in the wizarding community but they did not have any powers. I told him so when we left Private Drive because for the first time I had seen concern in his eyes for you, as a brother.

I send you this locket as it belongs to you.

With Love,

Aunt Petunia.

Harry folded the letter and put it into his desk drawer, his face wet with tears then he opened up the locket. It had a picture of his mother and father with a baby in between them. The baby was Harry. He sat on his chair with his face in his hands. Somebody knocked. Harry straightened up in his chair, wiped tears off his face. And said: "Enter."

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Ron, Hermione and Ginny entered. Harry sank back into his chair. He told them about Dudley.

"Blimey! And I thought he was the biggest muggle ever!" Ron exclaimed.

"He kept this for you all these years?" Ginny asked looking at the locket Harry had already put around his neck.

He nodded. "I can't believe Aunt Petunia never hated me. She was only trying to protect her son and somehow, being a father, I get that now. Dumbledore had always been right. There is nothing more powerful than love."

"Not that you've ever believed it." Dumbledore spoke up from his portrait. All four of them looked at him confused. "I know what happened before you discovered Mr. Dursley. Your exhibition of power was more of an exhibition of your hatred."

Harry turned red in the face. He looked up at Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He would at least have to tell them.

"You confronted him openly?" Ron asked astonished when Harry had finished explaining.

"What did he say?" Hermione asked curious to know if anything they suspected had been proven.

"Nothing. He denied all my allegations."

"How did you penetrate his powers?" Ginny asked. She had seen Tom healing himself but hadn't known Harry had bruised him.

Harry stood up and turned away from them. He hadn't told them. He braced himself. "I don't want anyone judge me. I didn't tell you this because there was no need to say anything." He turned around to look at their confused expressions. "The night Neville and Hannah died, I came here. I came to Hogwarts. I came here to get this." He pulled the Elder Wand out of his robes. "I didn't want to leave another Hallow out here when I had already dropped the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest the night I defeated Voldemort. We ought to have some leverage."

Hermione gasped. "You broke open Dumbledore's grave!"

"For the record, I don't mind." Dumbledore put in from the portrait.

"Like you'd care! You're a portrait." Ron retorted at him.

"Yes, but I am still my portrait." Dumbledore winked at them.

They all relaxed. "You should have told us." Ginny said.

"I wanted to but I didn't want you to think any less of me." Harry replied.

"We understand what you must have gone through, no one expects any more from you." Hermione said beaming at him.

Harry smiled.

"Tom must have been surprised when you penetrated his powers." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, he was, for a moment, at least. He conceals his mind pretty well though. I couldn't tell anything about his behavior for sure."

"He must have been scared." Hermione said quite happy at the idea that the hallows were doing their job.

"He wasn't scared." Ginny replied her. "I saw him afterwards. He is a bit weird, sentimental, may be. I saw him smiling at his own wounded reflection. Whatever he was feeling, wasn't probably fear."

"Weird or not, he seems totally harmless. I haven't seen him crossing any lines." Ron spoke up.

Harry nodded. "I agree. He proved true exactly what Dumbledore had said. He didn't draw out his wand until my curse accidentally struck Dudley and that too in defense not in offence."

"May be we've all been too quick to judge." Ginny replied knowing exactly what Harry had been thinking of.

Harry smiled at her. She understood him even better than he understood himself. "Perhaps, we have. We should have been a bit more sensitive considering the recent events. Porch told me how close Tom was to Neville and Hannah."

"I am glad you have come to terms with that reality." Dumbledore inserted from his portrait. "You should also know, Neville named Tom Alex's Godfather."

"Well, then, he couldn't have done it." Ron concluded. "He couldn't have harmed someone that close to him."

"Wait a moment." Hermione looked as if she had swallowed a lemon. "Ron, just because Neville named him Alex's Godfather doesn't mean he's innocent!"

"Then, what does it mean?" Harry asked.

"It could mean anything. Maybe he confunded Neville, maybe he was deceiving him, maybe he gained his trust, got into his house unattended and unsuspected and then attacked them. Harry, think about it. Perhaps, all of this is merely an act. Don't you remember what Voldemort was like when he was at school? No one would have said anything against him. He always played innocent. Perhaps, Tom Riddle is following into his footsteps all too well."

Harry, Ron and Ginny all stared at Hermione. They turned to Dumbledore's portrait.

"You've seen the first Tom Riddle prowl these corridors in flesh and you've seen the second one. Care to shed some light on it?" Harry asked quite frustrated.

Dumbledore looked fairly cornered. After a moment, though, he smiled. "There could be no comparison. The original Tom Riddle would never have allowed anyone to lay a finger on him even if it was an act. He was, although, largely famous among his teachers and classmates, he had an untouchable quality about him. He was ruling wherever he went. No one dared speak up to him, no one dared challenge him. He felt an immense satisfaction in exhibiting his powers." Dumbledore stopped as now he had their complete attention. He wanted Harry to understand exactly was he was trying to point out. "If I had to compare the original Tom Riddle to anyone I would probably compare him with you, the present day Harry Potter." Harry felt his ears going red. He did not argue. He knew Dumbledore had been right. The years of fighting evil had turned him harder than he had expected. He had never quite felt what many called wisdom. His time was yet to come. Even he knew that.

Dumbledore continued. "The present day Tom Riddle, when compared to the original Tom Riddle, is-_"

"--_quite the opposite." Harry completed his sentence. He had understood Dumbledore's words quite plainly. He was starting to see what Dumbledore had seen all these years.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Would you like to continue?"

Harry nodded. "He would give himself up to protect those he cares about and they tend to do the same for him. He is famous among his teachers, classmates and students alike but he's not untouchable. Seth and Malcolm cornered him pretty easily. He's not a ruler, not yet at least. He considers himself a part of everything, rather than above it. He allows his students to be his friends, he trusts them and gains their trust in return. He is definitely not intimidating and although challenged a lot doesn't respond to them unnecessarily." Harry nodded to Ron. "You said it yourself, he could have replied to Malfoy in kind but he didn't and went about his business." Finally, Harry turned to Dumbledore. "And he doesn't like exhibiting his powers, nor does he enjoy an exhibition of such a kind from anyone else." Tom's words that had followed Harry's confrontation had obviously reached Dumbledore's ears too.

"So, you trust him completely?" Hermione asked fuming.

"I don't know that yet, but I can't rule him out pure evil without giving him a fair chance. I have to get over the fact that he's called Tom Riddle and move on to the fact that he's an entirely different person from the original one."

"Not entirely." Hermione snapped. She reached out for her handbag resting on Harry's desk which no one had noticed for a while. "I went to London on my way back from the Burrow. I went to the Ministry to get a copy of this." She threw a file on Harry's desk. "This is Tom Riddle's professional profile. Do you know what his full name is?"

Harry took the file and read it. "Tom Marvolo Riddle." He read out loud.

"He must know more about Voldemort than the rest and he has to be related to him somehow."

"I get your point." Harry put the file down. "But what do you suggest we do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hermione, Harry's right." Ron spoke up. "We know what Tom's name means and who it belonged to. Everyone else is unaware of it. So far Tom hasn't done anything that incriminates him, we don't have a single evidence against him. What do you think we can do? Grab him like a bully, corner him and throw all of it in his face?"

"Well, yes." Hermione thought over it a moment then replied. "He'd probably come clean with us. Harry can overpower him easily, anyways, can't you, Harry?"

They all stared at her.

"I can but I won't." Harry replied her calmly. He remembered Tom's words quite clearly and also Dumbledore's hints. "He will come clean with us, we don't need to resort to ways that are unwise. I've already confronted him once, what came out of it?"

"Fine, but unlike the rest of you, I don't trust him. I want to keep tail on him." Hermione wouldn't accept defeat that easily.

"Alright." Harry handed her the invisibility cloak.

"At least tell me you're with me on this." She turned threateningly to Ron.

"Of course, I am." Ron smiled. "I love you more than I like him." He took her back to their room winking at Harry and Ginny as they went.

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At the end of the day Harry called Tom Riddle in his office. He felt the time for confrontations and deductions ought to come to an end.

"Enter." Harry called as he heard a soft knock on his door.

Tom Riddle entered in his plain white shirt and blue jeans quite clean and alright. Lavender had patched him up well.

"Have a seat." Harry offered him to sit in front of him.

Tom sat down expecting just about anything.

"I wanted to get a few things out of the way before the new term gets underway properly." Harry started gaining his complete attention. "For one, I would like to clarify that I am not an impatient person. The only reason I lost patience was that I was kept in the dark about Dudley. After everything that has already happened to Hogwarts' teachers, Neville's and Hannah's deaths, and Mayweather's disappearance, the caretaker's disappearance made things a lot more confusing."

Tom suddenly remembered the harsh words he had spoken to Harry only a few hours before. He felt horrible for doing so. He nodded to let him continue.

"Secondly, I do not like to exhibit my powers, but if someone like you who is famous for having extraordinary powers thinks I am stronger than you then I'd like to take that as a compliment."

Tom felt like burying himself somewhere. He felt utterly embarrassed. He had not known Harry Potter had taken his words to his heart. He nodded again to allow him to continue.

"And finally, I agree with you. I did not, truly, gain anything out of the violent exhibition' of my powers. I am after all human, and under the circumstances, when things became too confusing I resorted to an option that perhaps should not even have been an option. Pardon my aggressiveness."

Tom Riddle stood up at this. He had not expected an apology from Harry Potter. He didn't deserve it. "Please, don't apologize to me. You were justified in your actions."

Harry stared him a moment. He stood up too, got out from behind his desk and stood facing him. "How so?"

Tom had not meant to say it out loud, but now that he had, he'd have to cover it up. "Duds shouldn't have been hiding in the first place. It did make everything very confusing."

Harry nodded. "Perhaps... Now, I would like to ask you a question." Harry looked into his Hazel Brown heavily lidded eyes. "Have you really lost respect for me?"

Tom felt so ashamed at this he felt like he was shrinking in front of Harry Potter. He stood before the man who had done everything in his power to deliver the wizarding community from evil. He ought to have been a bit more sensitive, he had been too harsh. He retreated a few steps before answering.

"Let me begin by saying that I am extremely sorry that I ever said any of that to you because you didn't deserve to hear any of it.

I was so angry. I have never felt anger like that before. And honestly, you were not the reason behind it. Neville's and Hannah's untimely demise, Mayweather's disappearance... All of it happened so suddenly, I couldn't do anything to protect my family. Robert, Heldar and Professor Dutchmen retired and Duds was forced into hiding due to your arrival. I had lost just about everyone that mattered to me in a matter of days and I hadn't been able to do anything about it. And finally, when Duds caught the curse, I couldn't see him get hurt too. I reacted as suddenly as all of it was happening.

I couldn't be sorrier and I completely mean it. In answer to your question, no, I have not lost the respect for you. How could I? You have impressed me even before I had seen you. Growing up at Hogwarts, all I've heard is tales of your feats, Duds, spoke about your personal life, he still recounts how you protected him from the Dementors, your Godson, Ted, he was a good friend of mine, he spoke so many generous things about you that I had never expected to see what I actually saw."

Harry grinned. "I blew my own image, didn't I?"

Tom smiled too. "Trust me, nothing hurts more than a fallen idol. I promise you, whatever I said, was in the heat of the moment, I didn't mean any of it."

"I think we both got off on the wrong foot. We need a fresh start. What do you say?" Harry grinned again making to the bar.

"I say I owe you an apology for being utterly harsh." Tom replied not realizing he had already apologized twice.

"And I say I have had enough of those." Harry replied him grinning, handing him his drink.

Tom took it smiling, exposing all 32 of his teeth. He had never seen Harry Potter grinning before. Harry was as much surprised. He had never seen a more beautiful smile before.

"Although, what I am surprised at is that Dudley told you something good about me. How did that happen?"

Tom nearly choked on his drink. "He always praises you, never speaks ill of you."

"Is this the same Dudley? He wasn't abducted by aliens was he?"

Tom smiled widely. "He's changed. He told us what a bully he was when you were at school. He regrets ever being like that. He told us when Porch and I shared our grievances with him."

"You mean your grievances with bullies like Seth and Malcolm?" Harry asked quite forgetting that Tom wasn't supposed to know that Hermione had followed him, come across him being cornered and told Harry about it.

Tom didn't even pretend to be surprised. He knew Hermione had followed him and told Harry all about it. He also knew that Harry knew Tom could see through disillusionment charms. He had told Porch that morning in his room and had seen Dumbledore visiting the Fat Lady then. Obviously, Dumbledore was closer to Harry Potter than to him. Harry would get all news of anything that would happen in his room now. He also knew that Harry had found a way around his powers, he had somehow found a way to penetrate them, and he could conceal himself from Tom easily. "Yes."

"Aren't you going to ask me how I know about it?" It was a trick question.

"News travels fast at Hogwarts and the Headmaster gets all of it." He winked at Harry. Both of them were at a stalemate that neither wanted to give up.

"Why do you put up with them? All you have to do is file an official report and they'll be packing their bags." Harry asked quite curious as Tom gulped down the last of his drink and put the glass back on the bar then turned to Harry to answer his question.

"Why would I do that? I can't throw them out for bullying. God knows why they've taken up this job, they could be going through a financial crisis for all I know. I could not render them jobless for something so unimportant."

Harry simply stared at him. He was actually amazed at the way he thought. "So, you'd rather get cornered by them everyday than get rid of them?"

Tom smirked. "As if, they can corner me." He winked at Harry. "They could only get their hands on me because I didn't know they were in the vicinity. Now that I do, they won't find me. Besides, I have powerful friends."

"You mean Porch?"

"Actually, I mean Peeves. Peeves matches their skill set well enough." He smiled widely again.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"Why do you dress up like a muggle?"

"What difference does it make, Harry? We're all same, aren't we?"

Harry didn't reply him but he couldn't help smiling. Tom wished him a good night and left his office.

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