Chapter 714: Poor Merope (Edited)

October arrived quickly, and with the help of the kind man Slughorn, Fish organized birthday parties for Hermione and Professor McGonagall.

For Professor McGonagall's birthday, he had invited several other professors, including Dumbledore.

"This Friday night, bring Harry to my office." At the party, Dumbledore whispered to Fish, "There's a new story for you."

"Yes!"

(≧≦)

Although Fish's school life had recently been enriched by Slughorn's feast, the Order of the Cat party, and the introduction of two small Chimeras, Fish remained interested in new things.

"By the way, Albus."

(?ω?)

Fish cheered, then reached out and tugged on Dumbledore's coat, tilting his head and asking, "Can I bring Ron this time?"

"Weasley?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "Yes, of course, but may I ask why?" He asked curiously in return.

"Ron hasn't been very happy lately. Hermione says it's because Harry and I haven't been playing with him... obviously Neville and the others haven't reacted well..."

(?ω?)

Fish responded with partial knowledge.

The main reason was that Ron had been having a bit of bad luck lately.

He hadn't been to the Slug Club meetings, he hadn't been to Dumbledore's meetings, and to top it all off, Ron had lost his position as a Keeper to seventh-year Cormac McLaggen during Quidditch tryouts.

Although he was offered the position of Beater, it was a pity that Ron, who had trained with the team for so long and had played as a starter for a year, was replaced in his most familiar position by someone else, and Ron himself was a bit touchy.

This had caused a month of grumpiness in Ron, and Fish had heard him mutter self-pity more than once. But when Fish and Harry tried to take Ron to the Slug Club party, he refused to go.

So Fish asked Hermione, following her advice, to ask Dumbledore... even though Fish still didn't understand why Ron was upset.

Dumbledore understood what was going on as soon as Fish replied and, with a smile, said, "Bring him here then, but remember to keep it a secret."

"Yes nya!"

(`')

Fish nodded, and then scurried off to continue eating.

The day after Professor McGonagall's birthday, Fish told Ron the news, who seemed grateful.

"This, this... Thank you so much, Fish!" Ron thanked him sincerely.

At the same time, his face turned red, embarrassed by his own sense of grievance.

Harry scratched his hair embarrassingly, as he was Ron's best friend and should have been the one to ask about those things.

All this time, he had been so preoccupied with asking Slughorn about his own mother, and with the shock of the incident with Snape, that he had neglected his friend's feelings.

With Ron's gratitude, the time for Friday soon arrived.

Harry covered himself and Ron with his invisibility cloak, while Fish and Hermione naturally didn't need it. They could still move around Hogwarts after curfew even without their cat forms...

But to save Professor McGonagall's face, Fish remained in his cat form for most of the night.

The journey from the Gryffindor dormitory to the headmaster's office was as quiet as ever with Fish close by, and when the four pushed the shining oak door, Dumbledore was already seated behind his desk, waiting for them.

"Hah! Another one!" Phineas scoffed annoyed in the portrait. "Why don't you just put the password to the headmaster's office on the bulletin board?!"

"Do you have an opinion on Fish bringing his friends to play, nya?!"

(`ω´)

Without waiting for Dumbledore to say anything, Fish ran towards Phineas' portrait and shouted.

Phineas stopped talking, realizing it would be foolish to argue with Fish.

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Weasley. Fish brought you with my permission," Dumbledore said with a smile to a visibly embarrassed Ron.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Dumbledore took out his Pensieve and a vial of new memories.

Ron curiously looked at the stone container that held the silvery substance... Although he had heard Harry mention it many times, it was the first time he actually saw it.

Hermione and Fish noticed that the cabinet had disappeared, apparently stored by Dumbledore.

"The last time we saw Voldemort's mother, the poor witch Merope, she fled from the Gaunt family shortly after her father and brother were captured by the Ministry of Magic, and she was still with the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle..."

Dumbledore didn't immediately pour the memories into the Pensieve, but instead spoke about what had happened since the last memory.

"Riddle had no reason to elope with her, so... did he use a love potion? Or was it the Imperius Curse?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

"Personally, I lean towards the former," Dumbledore nodded, sighing. "However, a few months after he eloped and got married, Tom Riddle returned to the grand house in Little Hangleton, but without his wife by his side. There were rumors among the neighbors, strongly claiming that he had been 'deceived' and 'blinded'..."

"What's happening?" Harry asked. "Did the love potion wear off?"

"That would be a matter of speculation," Dumbledore said. "I believe Merope loved her husband so deeply that she couldn't bear to continue keeping him under her magical control. Perhaps, being so obsessed with love, she believed her husband would love her in return. She thought her husband would stay for the sake of the child... but apparently, Riddle didn't do that and decisively fled from Merope, leaving her and the child in her womb in London."

"How do you know he's in London, Professor?" Harry asked again.

"Based on the evidence provided by Caractacus Burke," Dumbledore said. "He and Mr. Borgin have a magical shop called Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley."

Harry let out a soft "Ah," recalling the shop where he had encountered the Malfoys in Knockturn Alley, with the owner named Mr. Borgin.

Dumbledore glanced at Harry, who had realized it, and didn't ask any more questions, as he already knew about Harry's mishap in Knockturn Alley.

He averted his gaze, opened the glass jar containing Mr. Burke's memories in his hand, and poured the silver substance from it into the Pensieve, while stopping a certain little kitten from jumping up.

"Don't worry, Fish, this memory is so short that you don't need to enter it directly."

Fish pouted and sat back down.

He had experienced it before, watching memories like watching television without entering into the direct viewing mode.

Dumbledore swirled the contents of the Pensieve, like a prospector sifting for gold, and from the swirling silver-white objects emerged the figure of an elderly man, slowly rotating within the Pensieve, pale like a ghost, but with more texture than a ghost.

The memory was simple: the old man spoke about the pregnant Merope who had come to him to sell him Slytherin's locket.

"He only gave her ten Galleons?" Harry exclaimed indignantly.

"Ten Galleons is a lot..." Ron murmured softly. Even he knew that amount of money was nothing compared to Slytherin's locket.

Only Hermione understood him. "Did you find it?! Slytherin's locket?!"

He remembered Dumbledore's speculation last time, that Voldemort had likely turned it into a Horcrux.

"Unfortunately, no," Dumbledore shook his head. "I only obtained some useless clues... that it ended up in Voldemort's possession, but that confirms our suspicions... that it was probably a Horcrux."

He raised his wand, tapped the edge of the Pensieve, and after a few swirls of the silver substance in the basin, he said, "This time, we will enter my memories. I believe they will not only be vivid in detail but also accurate. You first, Fish..."

The eager Fish immediately leaned on the table and dove headfirst into the Pensieve.

(?ω?)