"Sir, you're insulting me!" said Mrs. Cole, blushing, "I'm not saying this for money. ”

"Then you should take us to the kid now. Richard Silver looked impatient, "If it weren't for the fact that you've adopted him for so many years, I wouldn't have told you so much." ”

"I don't think it's a good idea to hand Tom over to you right now. Mrs. Cole said angrily, "Now, get out of me!

"Wait a minute, ma'am, I think you should take a moment to hear what we are here for. Dumbledore pulled his wand out of the pocket of his suit and gently pointed at Mrs. Cole, and the woman who had been angry just now fell silent.

"yes, I should hear your intentions again. Mrs. Cole said mechanically.

"Richard, your temper is getting hotter. Dumbledore said quietly, "You weren't like that before. ”

"Albus, do you think I want to do this?" Richard took a deep breath, "I'm running out of time, look at my head." ”

"It seems to me that you are still healthy. Dumbledore shook his head, "I don't think you're a wizard who can't control Muggles. ”

"Whew. Richard exhaled with difficulty, "Well, Albus, I was a bit of a gaffe just now, but I think it's hard for anyone to get to my point." ”

"Then leave it to me. Dumbledore said.

"Well, then please. ”

Harry looked suspiciously at Dumbledore Sr., who smiled and shook his head at him, indicating that now was not the time to explain.

Young Dumbledore waved his wand again, and Lady Cole's face lit up again.

"Oh, sorry, I must have been distracted. Mrs. Cole rubbed her face, "Those children make me so uncomfortable. I was a little tired on time. Where did we just go?"

"We said we wanted to invite Tom Riddle to Hogwarts, and we thought he had some of the qualities we were looking for. ”

"We're afraid we don't have the money to pay for Tom to go to school, and Hogwarts isn't a public school. ”

"No problem, Tom has a scholarship that is enough to cover his tuition and living expenses. ”

"You're saying he won a scholarship? How could that be? He never applied for it. ”

"Oh, as soon as he was born, our school recorded his name—"

"Who registered him? his parents?"

There is no doubt that Mrs. Cole is a very shrewd woman who can be a bit of a headache, even if she has only just escaped the influence of magic. Dumbledore apparently thought so, and Harry saw him pick up a completely blank piece of paper from Mrs. Cole's desk.

"Give. Dumbledore said as he handed her the paper. With a wave of his wand, he said, "I think you'll see it all when you look at this." ”

Mrs. Cole's eyes flickered for a moment, then she became focused again, and she looked at the blank sheet of paper earnestly for a moment.

"It seems to be in full compliance with the procedure. She said calmly, returning the paper to Dumbledore. Then her gaze fell on a bottle of gin and two glasses, which certainly wouldn't have been there a few seconds ago.

"Uh-huh—may I ask you for a glass of gin?" she said in a particularly suave voice.

"Thank you very much. Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Doesn't he have a drink?" said Mrs. Cole, gesturing to Richard Silver.

"Oh, this gentleman never drinks. Dumbledore said.

It was clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice to gin. She filled the cups of the two of them. I drank my cup in one gulp. She smacked her lips unabashedly and smiled at Dumbledore for the first time, who immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"I don't know if you can tell me about Tom. Riddle's background, he seems to have been born in this orphanage?"

"That's right," said Mrs. Cole, and poured herself some more gin. "I remember that very well because I had just come here to work. It was Chinese New Year's Eve, it was snowing outside, and it was freezing cold. A bad night. That girl. Not much older than I was then, he staggered up the steps of the front door. Ahem, we've been through this a lot. We brought her in. In less than an hour, she gave birth to the baby. Less than an hour later, she was dead. ”

Mrs. Cole nodded meaningfully and took another long sip of gin.

"Did she say anything before she died?" Dumbledore asked, "Like, about the boy's father?"

"yes, she did. I remember her saying to me, 'I want him to look like his father.' To tell you the truth, she was right to hope so, for she wasn't very good--and she told me that the child was called Tom after his father, and Mavolo after her own father--yes, I know, that's a strange name, isn't it?

- She said the boy's surname was Riddle. Finally she said not to let the man surnamed Silver come and take the child, which was strange enough, and she died soon after saying this.

Then we named the child as she had told, and the poor girl seemed to think very much of it, but no Tom, Marvolo, Riddle, or Silver had ever come to him, nor had he any relatives, so he remained in the orphanage to this day. ”

"So, I'd like to ask if that woman left anything behind?"

Harry could see the burning anger in Richard's eyes, and his golden head shone brighter, looking like an angry lion with a scarlet. (To be continued......)

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