Wade looked at the yard. The orphanage was now empty, the yard overgrown with weeds, a sense of age and decay everywhere. On the outside wall was a government notice about its planned demolition.
"I think you can probably guess that Merope used a love potion to win over old Tom Riddle. When she stopped using the potion, the man left her and their unborn child without hesitation."
Dumbledore gently waved his wand and said, "As a result, the child named Tom Riddle grew up here."
In the phantom, the baby quickly grew into a little boy. The other children kept their distance from him, and the boy often talked to the snakes in the corner. Then, the boy ran inside, and Wade and Dumbledore followed him.
The boy stretched out his palm and made a rabbit float in the air, hanging it from the rafters. Sometimes, he would run into a room, ransack the bed and wardrobe, and then secretly stuff something into his pocket.
Dumbledore said, "I don't know if this child would have been better off in a normal family, but the orphanage certainly wasn't a good environment for growth. Little Tom Riddle quickly learned some bad habits, like stealing or intimidating others."
"He had some innate abilities, which allowed him to easily harm children who were older and stronger than him."
On one occasion, the boy's behavior seemed to be exposed. A gaunt woman grabbed his arm and pushed him into a room, locking him in. The woman's movements seemed malicious, but there was also a hidden sense of caution.
The boy sat on the bed, seemingly reading. Not long after, the scene flickered, and a tall man with a long beard walked in. Although the image formed by the mist wasn't very clear, Wade immediately recognized that the wizard was the one standing beside him now.
"Oh, that's me," Dumbledore said. "The boy was a wizard. His name was recorded in the Hogwarts registry from birth. When he turned eleven, I went to take him to school."
The young Dumbledore didn't talk to the boy for long. He suddenly raised his wand and lit a phantom wardrobe next to him, and the boy jumped up. The flames disappeared, and Tom Riddle took a cardboard box from the wardrobe. The things that spilled out of the box were what he had previously stolen. The two talked for a few more sentences. The young Dumbledore handed Tom Riddle a money bag, and their meeting quickly ended.
"Let's go." Dumbledore held out his arm again and said, "The rest of the story is at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore Apparated directly to the school but did not remove his disillusionment charm. Wade's disillusionment charm was like a chameleon's, and a person who was very sensitive to color might be able to spot the difference. But Dumbledore's disillusionment charm was like wearing an invisibility cloak, and no one would notice it at all.
Students came and went in the school, and no one saw two extra people in the corridor. Soon, the class bell rang, and students hurried into their classrooms. The corridor became empty.
Dumbledore took Wade with him, and the figures formed by the mist walked alongside them. The little boy, wearing a Hogwarts uniform and holding books, walked in the corridor. He was always followed by a group of people, and as he gradually grew older, their numbers seemed to increase.
The professors all smiled at the boy, but Dumbledore always looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Riddle was exceptionally talented, intelligent, and an orphan. He caught the attention and sympathy of the teachers as soon as he enrolled, and almost everyone liked him," Dumbledore said.
"Soon, he gathered a group of loyal friends... or rather, subordinates."
"They were a complex and well-organized group. During their years at school, there were several serious incidents at Hogwarts, but there was no conclusive evidence to link them to the group."
"The most serious one resulted in the death of a female student."
On the floor, a pale, bespectacled corpse lay on the ground, its eyes wide open and its body stiff. At this moment, they happened to walk near the girls' lavatory on the second floor, and the sound of a girl sobbing came from inside.
"Moaning Myrtle, she was also a Ravenclaw student. She was crying in the toilet after being bullied and ridiculed by her classmates when she suddenly died."
Dumbledore said, "We still don't know what caused her death. I can only guess that it might have been related to Riddle."
"After the death, Hogwarts was at risk of being closed. But then, Riddle caught the 'culprit'—he reported another boy in the school, saying that he secretly kept a murderous pet."
The scene changed. Tom Riddle and a big boy were fighting. A gigantic, multi-eyed spider quickly scurried through the corridor and escaped. Riddle seemed to be yelling loudly, and soon many people came running.
"Is that Hagrid?" Wade asked.
"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "After that, Hagrid was expelled from school, the Ministry of Magic forbade him from using magic, and his wand was broken."
"But I believed he was innocent, so I persuaded Headmaster Dippet to let him stay and train him to be the gamekeeper."
"Because Hagrid's father had already passed away at that time, and he had nowhere to go if he left Hogwarts."
The scene changed again. Tom Riddle had grown tall and handsome. He became the Head Boy, won school awards, and then graduated from school.
Amidst the swirling mist, the newly formed scene seemed to be many years after the previous one. The little boy had grown into a man, but his face had become pale and distorted. Many people followed behind him. They were wearing black robes, hoods, and masks, like demons that had climbed out of hell.
They broke into other people's homes and killed the owners. Some people knelt and struggled in front of them. Although no sound was made, it was obvious that the person was being cruelly tortured. People were constantly being killed, but the mist did not immediately disperse. The once-empty corridor seemed to have turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. People lay on the ground in various positions, their listless eyes looking up at the sky.
"After graduating, Tom Riddle applied to stay at the school, but he didn't succeed. He refused the Ministry of Magic's invitation and worked at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley for a while, and then disappeared for many years," Dumbledore continued.
"When he returned, he had a new name, Voldemort, and his followers were called Death Eaters. But he didn't see them as family or friends; he saw them as servants. The honor he gave them was to let them kneel and kiss his robes or the backs of his feet."
"They did many terrible things. Wizards and Muggles were dying, and there was panic everywhere. Until he was at the peak of his power, he was defeated by a baby."
In the scene, the wizard fell backward and dissipated into mist. Another baby was crying loudly, holding a fist. It was like a cycle.