"All the details are written on the second piece of parchment in the envelope, and you depart from King's Cross Station on the first of September, and there is a ticket inside."

In a small room, young Dumbledore sat on the only stool, dressed in a smart fuchsia velvet suit.

Opposite him was a handsome boy, taller than his peers, with black hair and a pale face.

The boy was holding an envelope with a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger in his hand.

Seeing this, Harry on the side couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore hadn't delivered the Hogwarts admission letter to the boy that day, wouldn't those things have happened later.

He subconsciously wanted to take the envelope, but his hand ran straight through it.

Of course, Harry couldn't have touched anything here, as they were just watching it all as spectators in Dumbledore's memories.

And the young boy in front of him was Voldemort before entering school...... But he's still called Tom Riddle.

……

Riddle didn't rush to open the envelope to see what was inside, but looked Dumbledore in the eye.

"I can talk to snakes, and when we go hiking in the countryside, snakes find me and whisper to me, is that normal for a wizard?"

Hearing the boy's words, Harry next to him also subconsciously turned his head to look at the young Dumbledore, wanting to get an answer.

Coincidentally, he was also able to talk to snakes, in magical parlance Parseltongue.

The Parseltongue is not a common talent, and in Harry's mind, there are not many people with this ability. The most famous is Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. and Voldemort in the back.

When he was in his second year, many people thought of him as the heir to the Slytherin Chamber for this reason.

"Rare." Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before he said, "But it's not that I haven't heard of it. ”

"If you ask me, I'm the same answer." Beside Harry, a white-haired Dumbledore said, "Talent never determines the conditions of a person's good or evil, it is more like a special birthday present.

"It's like the Nymphadora Tonks you know, really, Maggus the Disguise is more of a dark wizard than the Parseltongue, but she chose to be an Auror.

"Although at some times she may not be so reliable...... But it is undeniable that she is an upright and kind wizard. ”

"yes." Harry smiled.

He thought back to what Fred and George had said to him before they left Hogwarts.

Tonks was obviously an experienced Auror, but he was the last to find out that Katie had a problem, and the Weasley brothers complained about it for more than half an hour.

"And ...... professor," Harry asked after a moment's hesitation, "have you ever worried about his parseltongue abilities?" ”

"Not really." Dumbledore shook his head, "What I care about is the cruel, treacherous, and domineering nature he displays, as well as his awareness of his own abilities, which are surprisingly perfect and mature for a young wizard who has not yet entered school.

"He had found himself in control of magic to some extent and had begun to use them consciously.

"It's fair to say that even if he hadn't gone to Hogwarts, he would have been a great wizard in the future."

Harry stopped talking.

As Dumbledore had said, Tom Riddle had already noticed that he was different at the age of eleven and had begun experimenting with magic.

When he was eleven years old...... Wait, he seems to have used magic to put Dudley in a cage at the zoo, but he didn't realize it was his own doing.

"Kyle......" Harry couldn't help but ask, "Did you know you could use magic before you were eleven years old?" ”

"Do you want to hear what you're saying?" Kyle blinked, looking at Harry with some incredulity.

"Forehead ......"

Harry was stunned for a moment, then slapped himself on the forehead.

He had forgotten that Kyle's parents were wizards and that his neighbors were Weasleys, and that it would be strange for Kyle not to know magic in such an environment.

"It's almost time for us to get out." Dumbledore interrupted the two of them with a smile, which was also to relieve Harry from embarrassment.

After a few seconds, the room and the boy disappeared, and they reappeared in the real principal's room.

"Sit down." Dumbledore said, "Harry, what is your impression of Tom Riddle. ”

"Very smart." Harry said subconsciously.

Judging from the performance in memory alone, eleven-year-old Tom Riddle showed a maturity completely different from his age.

Even his ability to finally say his Parseltongue was to suppress Dumbledore and regain the initiative.

So even if he didn't want to, he had to admit that young Riddle was really good, and he belonged to the kind of child who was someone else's family.

……

Kyle knew that it was Dumbledore trying to get Harry to learn as much as possible about Voldemort and thus find his weaknesses, so he just listened from the sidelines and didn't affect them.

But it was a bit boring to just sit there, and he beckoned to Fawkes, and the phoenix flew over and landed on his lap.

Kyle pulled out a handful of herbs and fed them to Fawkes, gently stroking the feathers on its body as he listened to Dumbledore's comments about Voldemort.

"Riddle hates his name, and you should have noticed how annoyed I was when I mentioned that the owner of the Leaky Cauldron was called "Tom" just like him...... This shows that he has a contempt for anything that makes him seem ordinary.

"And he's so confident that he likes to do everything on his own, and he refused to let me accompany him to Diagon Alley, and that's the same with Voldemort as an adult, and he doesn't have any friends."

"Wait, Professor." Harry interrupted, "But those Death Eaters ......"

"They're not friends, Harry."

Dumbledore said, "To Voldemort, the Death Eaters were nothing more than a tool that would save him some time, like a shorthand quill, which could be changed at any time.

Voldemort fooled them into believing that they were trusted, and in fact, Voldemort never had a friend, and I don't think he needed a friend either. ”

……

Dumbledore said a lot, and it wasn't until half an hour later, when it was almost curfew time, that he ended the conversation with Harry's seemingly incomprehensible look.

Although Harry didn't understand why Dumbledore was telling him this, he tried to keep every word to heart at his request.

"Alright, Harry, it's really time to sleep."

Harry stood up and walked towards the door, but stopped halfway through.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Professor." Harry hesitated and asked, "Is there really a Parseltongue Auror?" ”

"I understand what you mean, seeing is believing, right, but I need to correct you that not all good-hearted wizards are Aurors."

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I know a man who understands all magical creatures, including snakes, and can talk to them like friends."

"All magical beasts?" Harry closed his mouth in surprise.

"Yes, all." Dumbledore glanced at Kyle, intentionally or not.

Kyle just sat there calmly, as if he hadn't heard......

In fact, Kyle didn't hear it, because he was asleep, as if he was actually in a history of magic class, and Fawkes was lying on his lap, his neck and wings drooping, and he was also sleeping soundly.

The corners of Dumbledore's eyes twitched, he had been a professor for so many years, and this was the first time that a student had been so arrogant in front of him.

"That's amazing." Harry smacked his lips, "I dare say he must have done well in his Protecting Magical Creatures class." ”

"It's not an exaggeration to say that I am the first in the whole school, including the professors." Dumbledore said with a deep breath.

At this time, Harry also noticed that Kyle was strange......

Sleeping soundly, Harry couldn't help but think about it, and he poked Kyle in the back with his hand against Dumbledore's increasingly strange gaze.

"Goodnight then, Professor." With all that done, Harry turned and headed for the door.

When he leaves, Kyle wakes up as well.

"Huh? Finished? Kyle rubbed his eyes and looked at Dumbledore.

In response to Kyle's inquiry, Dumbledore only asked lightly, "Why are you still here?" ”

The tone was like facing an unwelcome guest.

"Huh?" Kyle blinked, trying to come to his senses.

It's weird, isn't Dumbledore going to let himself stay? Why are you asking about him now?

If it hadn't been for Dumbledore's request, he would have gone to the common room in peace, so why stay here and listen to what Tom Riddle has to say, after all, he'd already heard it once...... No, more than once.

Every time he talked to Dumbledore about Voldemort, he had to bring it up, and Kyle got tired of hearing it.

Kyle stood up and prepared to leave, but he had just woken up and forgot that Fawkes was still on his lap......

Caught off guard, the phoenix falls directly to the ground, and in a fit of rage, it begins to peck Kyle on the calf.

"Oh, I'm sorry Fawkes." Kyle hurriedly apologized and blurted out, "It was Dumbledore who got me up, you know, I fell asleep just now." ”

Hearing this, the phoenix did not hesitate to change the target of the attack, flew over and began to peck at Dumbledore's beard.

The headmaster's room immediately became lively, tinkling, and even the portraits on the walls could no longer pretend to be asleep, and opened their eyes one after another.

Phoenix Black looked at Dumbledore who was pecked by the phoenix and ran around, and then looked at Kyle, who pushed the door and walked out as if he was fine, and couldn't help but open his mouth and said:

"Hah, that's what Dumbledore said...... A good-hearted wizard? ”

"Uh......" A person next to him hesitated. Probably the man Albus was talking about was his father, and I remember it as being Chris, the head of the Department of Magical Beasts Management and Control at the Ministry of Magic.

"I've seen him a few times in my Ministry of Magic portraits, a standard Hufflepuff."

……

On the other side, Kyle, who had left the headmaster's office, didn't know that the portraits were talking about him behind his back, and he stretched and rubbed his calf, which was pecked by Fox.

"Kyle, how are you?" Harry's voice came from the side, and he had been waiting here.

"I'm fine, I just got a few pecks from Fox." Kyle lifted his robe, revealing his blue and purple calves, "Should I say it or not, it hurts to peck at the phoenix." ”

"What, Professor Dumbledore let the phoenix peck you?" Harry was surprised, he had thought that Kyle would be deducted points at most, but he didn't expect the headmaster to punish the students in this way.

He would have been pecked by Hedwig for a long time, let alone a phoenix...... Isn't that a bit too much?

"Huh? No! Kyle shook his head, "I accidentally threw Fawkes to the ground." ”

Kyle waved his hand, not quite like continuing the topic, and instead asked, "Why are you still here?" ”

"I'm waiting for you." Harry wanted to ask Kyle what he meant by Dumbledore telling him so much, but he shut his mouth again at the thought of Kyle falling asleep.

Forget it, let's wait until we get back and ask Hermione about them.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Kyle said, waving his hand.

The two parted in the next hallway, Harry headed back to the Gryffindor common room, and Kyle headed downstairs.

……

Ten minutes later, curfew time arrived.

A figure walked through the quiet corridor on the eighth floor and quickly came to the dripping spout stone head.

As if he had known that someone was coming, he didn't even give a command, and the stone statue jumped to the side, revealing the passage behind him, and the light that spread from the headmaster's room shone on the face of the visitor.

It was Snape, who walked in and pushed open the oak door at the back.

"Dumbledore, I've ...... What's wrong with you? ”

Snape was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized that something was not quite right in the room.

Dumbledore's cape looked like he had just been attacked, and there was something silvery white all around him.

Snape picked one up and looked at it closely, as if it were ...... Whiskers?

"What's going on here?" He couldn't help but ask, "Did the Dark Lord sneak up on you just now?" ”

"Worse than that......" Dumbledore sighed as he looked at his scattered beard distressedly, "How's going on over there." ”

Snape didn't ask any more, saying, "I've already looked for Draco, and he seems a little unconvinced. ”

"yes, that's understandable." Dumbledore waved his wand, and the Headmaster's room was clean and tidy again.

"After all, it was the first time he had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility, so he naturally wanted to perform well."

"Entrusted?" Snape let out a sneer, "The Dark Lord didn't want him to live at all, this is his punishment for Lucius Malfoy!"

"What a ridiculous task for Draco to kill you, he can't even do it himself."

"It's not impossible...... Dumbledore said with a smile, "just because Tom can't do it doesn't mean everyone can't do it, you know, I've never been wary in front of students." ”

Speaking of this, Dumbledore suddenly thought of something, and couldn't help but touch his little beard again.

He found that it was not a very good habit, and it was better to break it if he had the chance...... At the very least, you have to be vigilant when dealing with a certain student.

"So how did you talk?" Dumbledore continued, "Does he agree with your suggestion?" ”

"He shouldn't be rash anymore." Snape said.

"That's good." Dumbledore said, "The child's soul has not been completely eroded by the darkness, and there is still a chance to turn back." ”

"You mean he gave up his plans at the last minute and knocked over Katie?" Snape asked.

"That's just part of it, and it's the most intuitive." Dumbledore said, "Severus, who do you think planned this, young Mr. Malfoy?" ”

"The opal necklace was indeed bought by Draco." Snape was silent for a moment, "But this morning, Narcissa left Malfoy Manor, and no one knows where she went. ”

"Really?" Dumbledore glanced out the window, "Looks like Minerva is right, I really shouldn't have agreed to allow students to go to Hogsmeade at this time. ”

"Severus, can you please pay more attention to Mr. Malfoy in the future?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine." "But on the other side, after an attack for no apparent reason, do you think he'll give up?" ”

"Don't worry, I'll find another chance to talk to Kyle." Dumbledore took off his glasses and wiped them.

He kept Kyle this time because of this incident, and it was certainly impossible for him to completely ignore the prosecution, but Dumbledore felt that his own hints would always make him a little more restrained.

After all, the two sides are too far apart, and if Kyle really wants to deal with Malfoy, then he won't even have room to resist...... St. Mungo's Umbridge is a prime example of this.

It's just that no one expected that there was a little episode in the middle, and he was interrupted before he could mention it.

Dumbledore touched his beard again, and for a moment, he even wondered if it was Kyle who didn't want him to talk about it, on purpose, but on closer thought, he felt that it was too far-fetched.

(End of chapter)