"I've already given Harry a one-on-one lesson. Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and said to the four youngest members of the Order of the Phoenix, "Now, before I teach Harry my next lesson, as usual, let me show you another memory I have gathered. ”

As he spoke, Dumbledore pulled out a new bottle of silver-white memories from his robes, stabbed his wand and pulled out the cork.

"This time, let me take a look at Voldemort......"

"His memory?" Tonks asked in surprise, "how did you get it?"

"This is actually my memory," Dumbledore laughed as he poured the memory into the meditation basin, then waved his wand to make the meditation basin larger, "The memories of decades ago, if not preserved, would have been blurred long ago." ”

"Are you going to show Harry this memory in a few days?" Blake asked.

"Yes, what's the problem?" Dumbledore looked at Black, "don't you think Harry is fit to look at the memories of Voldemort?" ”

"No ......"

"Come on, then. ”

"As for Voldemort's early experiences, I think you'll remember the last time we spoke of the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, who had abandoned his witch wife, Merope, and returned to his home in Little Hangleton. Merope was alone in London, carrying in her belly the child who would become Voldemort. ”

With Dumbledore's introduction, several people buried their heads in the meditation basin. Once again, they fell in the darkness...... Seconds later, Lockhart's feet hit solid ground, and he opened his eyes to find him and others standing on a busy, old-fashioned street in London.

"Voldemort's mother sold all the necklaces we saw last time we saw in order to get a little money to give birth to him. Dumbledore walked down the street with the four of them, "That's me." Dumbledore pointed to a tall figure in front of him and said cheerfully, as the man crossed the road in front of a horse-drawn milk cart.

"Sold, how much?" Blake asked.

"Ten Galleons. ”

"Ten Galleons?" said Blake, indignantly, "that's a Slytherin pendant! I'm willing to pay a hundred thousand for it!"

"His mother is obviously desperate...... Dumbledore and a few men followed the young Dumbledore not far away, and finally passed through a large iron gate and entered a bare courtyard.

Behind the courtyard is a boxy, eerie building, surrounded by high railings. He walked up the steps that led to the front door and knocked on it. After a few moments, a scruffy girl in an apron opened the door.

"Good afternoon, I made an appointment with a lady of Cole, I suppose she's the head of the house, right?"

"Oh," the girl said with a confused look on her face, looking sharply at Dumbledore's odd outfit, "yes...... Wait a minute...... Mrs. Cole!" she cried out, turning her head.

"An orphanage. Lupin said unemotionally.

A voice shouted in answer in the distance. The girl turned to Dumbledore again.

"Come in, she'll be right here. ”

Dumbledore walked into a foyer covered with black and white tiles. The whole room looked shabby but very neat and spotlessly clean. The crowd and old Dumbledore followed. Before the door closed behind them, a scrawny, tired-looking woman walked briskly towards them. Her face was well-defined, and she looked more anxious than vicious. As she walked towards Dumbledore, she turned to another helper in an apron.

“...... Bringing iodine upstairs to Martha, Billy Stubbs scratched his scabs, Eric Wallley's blood stained the sheets - unlucky enough to get chickenpox!" She seemed to be speaking into the air when her eyes fell on Dumbledore. She jerked to her feet, stunned, as if she had seen a giraffe cross her threshold.

"Good afternoon. Dumbledore said, holding out his hand.

Mrs. Cole looked at him dumbfounded.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I have written to you asking you to make an appointment with me, and you have very graciously invited me to come over today. ”

Mrs. Cole blinked. She seemed to decide that Dumbledore was not her hallucination, so she pulled herself together and said, "Oh, yes. Okay - okay - you'd better come to my room, yes. ”

She led Dumbledore into what appeared to be a living room and half office. It's as shabby as the foyer, and the furniture is old and unmatched. She invited Dumbledore to sit in a rickety chair, and she herself sat behind a cluttered table, looking at him nervously.

"I have already told you in my letter that I am here to consult with you about Tom Riddle and to arrange a future for him. Dumbledore said.

"Are you his relative?" asked Mrs. Cole.

"No, I'm a teacher," said Dumbledore, "I've come to ask Tom to come to our school." ”

"So, what kind of school is this?"

"The name of the school is Hogwarts. Dumbledore said.

"How can you be interested in Tom?"

"We think he has some of the elements we were looking for. ”

"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. Dumbledore apparently thought so, and Harry saw him pull his wand from the pocket of his velvet suit while picking up a completely blank piece of paper from Mrs. Cole's desk.

"You brought the mystery man into Hogwarts?" Tonks asked incredulously, "Don't you see anything wrong with that kid?"

"Are you saying he's going to be the Dark Lord in the future?" do you think I can tell?" said Dumbledore, with regret, "you can see him first." ”

"Give. Young Dumbledore said as he handed her the piece of paper, waving his wand, "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.

"Imperius?" Lockhart asked.

"Not exactly, it's actually a pretty good confusion spell. Dumbledore explained softly.

"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.

It was clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice to gin. She filled the cups of the two of them, and drank her own 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, pouring herself some more gin, "I remember that very well, for 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. The girl, not much older than I was, staggered up the steps of the front door. Ahem, we've been through this a lot. We brought her in and within an hour she gave birth. 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. Mrs. Cole had gin in her hand and an enthusiastic audience in front of her, which clearly intrigued her.

I remember her saying to me, "I want him to look like his dad." To be honest, she was right to hope so, for she wasn't very good-looking herself—and then she told me that the boy was called Tom after his father, and Mavolo after her own father in the middle—yes, I know, that's a strange name, isn't it? We wonder if she's from the circus—and she says the boy's surname is Riddle. Then she didn't say anything more and soon died.

Then we named the child as she had told, and the poor girl seemed to think it very important, but no one from the Tom, Marvolo, or Riddle family came to him, nor did he have any relatives, so he remained in the orphanage to this day. ”

Mrs. Cole poured herself another glass of gin almost absent-mindedly. Two blush flushed her cheekbones. Then she said, "He's a quirky kid." ”

"yes," said Dumbledore, "I guessed it too. ”

"He was very eccentric when he was a baby and almost never cried. Later, when he grew up a little, he became very ...... Weird. ”

"What's weird, what's weird?" asked Dumbledore gently.

"That's right, he-"

Madame Cole paused suddenly, and she threw an inquiring glance over her gin glass at Dumbledore, which was not at all dazed or confused.

"He's sure he can go to your school, right?"

"Definitely. Dumbledore said.

"Whatever I say, it won't change that?"

"No, it won't. Dumbledore said.

"You're going to take him away anyway?"

"Anyway. Dumbledore repeated sternly.

"This woman is afraid of scaring you, Mr. Headmaster. Lockhart chuckled.

Mrs. Cole squinted at young Dumbledore, as if judging whether to trust him or not. Eventually, apparently thinking he could be trusted, she suddenly blurted out, "He's scared the other kids." ”

PS: (There are less than 40,000 manuscripts in storage, so I'm desperately writing, and the update is late.) Ask for collections, recommended votes, and because of the original content, tomorrow is Monday, so there is a third update in the middle of the night...... ）