Dumbledore stood aside, watching as Douglas Holmes packed away the last of his things. He was just about to say goodbye when Douglas spoke up.
"Professor, you said before that Voldemort's father was from this village, right?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"That's right. It's that old, rather rundown house on the hillside we passed earlier. I saw it in old Ogden's memories from fifty years ago—once, it was the grandest building for miles around.
But ever since Morfin Gaunt—the last male of the Gaunt family, Tom's uncle—killed the Riddle family, the place has fallen into ruin.
Why do you ask? Do you think Tom might be hiding there?"
Douglas shook his head. He remembered from the original story that Voldemort had indeed returned here, but not at this point in time.
"Professor, I recall there's an ancient regeneration potion that allows a disembodied wizard to regain a physical body. One of the key ingredients is the father's bone.
I'm wondering—was his father ultimately buried here as well?"
Douglas wasn't making this up. He couldn't remember exactly which potion Voldemort used for his resurrection in canon, but the main ingredients stuck with him: father's bone, servant's flesh, enemy's blood.
He'd spent his summer break, with the help of the Scholar Development System, buying magical books he'd never normally be able to access. After combing through ancient magical texts, he'd found a simple body-regeneration potion—its effect was nothing more than restoring the body and original strength.
He'd also found several other, more advanced regeneration potions. At first, he couldn't understand why someone with Horcruxes would choose the least sophisticated resurrection method. Then he thought of Peter Pettigrew—maybe, in the end, it was Voldemort's only option.
Dumbledore eyed Douglas curiously.
"Why on earth were you researching regeneration potions? To be honest, even I don't know much about such obscure magic…"
Douglas shrugged, offering his go-to answer:
"I'm a writer, Professor…"
Dumbledore felt a little silly for even asking.
They strolled together toward the Riddle House. As they emerged from the bushes, they noticed several villagers standing on rooftops or at the edge of the village, peering in their direction—perhaps drawn by the earlier commotion.
Still, no one came closer. Maybe the Gaunt family had left behind more than just a ruined house—maybe there were still stories of terror lingering here.
As they walked the dirt road toward the manor, Douglas frowned in puzzlement.
"Professor, I get the feeling someone's still living in that house. The path looks freshly used."
Dumbledore shook his head, calm as ever.
"I wouldn't know. I've never actually been here before.
If not for that article sparking my suspicions—leading me to discover the ring and the locket in old Ogden's memories, and suspect they might be Horcruxes—I might never have come at all.
As far as I know, Tom always considered this place a mark of shame. I have no idea when he came back and turned the ring into a Horcrux.
I suspect the locket is the necklace from the story, but it's not here.
Strangely enough, I asked all my old friends who might know about that article, and every one of them denied writing it…"
Douglas kept his expression neutral as he took in the landscape. He couldn't tell if Dumbledore was probing him.
He did know where the locket was, but until Sirius could walk freely in the wizarding world, there was no way to retrieve it from his family home. For now, the place was surely crawling with Ministry Aurors.
He changed the subject.
"Professor, what did you mean earlier about Morfin Gaunt killing the Riddle family?"
Dumbledore thought for a moment.
"At the time, Morfin was sentenced to three years in Azkaban for attacking Muggles—he had a prior record. Marvolo—Marvolo Gaunt, Tom's grandfather—was sentenced to six months for attacking old Ogden and injuring a Ministry official…
Marvolo died soon after his release. Morfin came back here and lived alone for years, until one day—over a decade later—he suddenly murdered the entire Riddle family. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban."
Douglas snorted, clearly unimpressed.
"What, did he lose his mind? After ten years, he suddenly remembers to kill a Muggle family? Didn't the Ministry investigate properly?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"Actually, he was a bit unbalanced—perhaps a family trait.
But the Ministry didn't need any special investigation. Morfin's wand showed he cast the Killing Curse.
Even before they used Veritaserum or Legilimency, he provided a string of details only the murderer could know—he even seemed proud of it.
I had my doubts, but the evidence was quite compelling."
It was true—the Ministry wasn't always incompetent.
Douglas paused, thinking. If he remembered right, Myrtle's death and the Riddle family's deaths happened not far apart, likely under the same Minister for Magic.
Why was it that, with pure-blood Morfin, the Ministry insisted on perfect evidence, terrified of a miscarriage of justice—while with half-blood Hagrid, they barely investigated, simply broke his wand, and called it a day?
Was this the wizarding world's attitude toward pure-bloods and half-bloods?
(Hagrid was expelled for keeping dangerous creatures at school, but since he was underage, the Ministry didn't send him to Azkaban—just broke his wand.
Adult wizards, on the other hand, were sent straight to Azkaban for crimes. When Hagrid was later suspected of murder, he was immediately carted off to Azkaban, as in the original story.)
Dumbledore noticed Douglas's silence and smiled, but said nothing.
Suddenly, Douglas asked,
"Professor, have you ever considered that Voldemort did it and framed Morfin?"
Dumbledore stopped in his tracks, eyes fixed on Douglas. By now, he'd learned: whenever Douglas had suspicions, there was always something to them.
Still, he explained,
"Anything you could think of, I thought of at the time—like ways to avoid the Trace. But as far as I know, Tom had a solid alibi. You know I kept a close watch on him."
Douglas thought for a moment.
"Let's reason it out from the nature of Horcruxes. If killing Myrtle let him create the diary Horcrux, then for this ring, who did he kill?
Someone capable of killing the Riddle family at any time suddenly snaps after ten years? That's odd. Why didn't anyone dig deeper? What if Morfin's memory was tampered with?
If we're serious about destroying Voldemort, we need to prepare for the worst—like the possibility that he killed more than one person while still at school.
Do you remember Tom Riddle?
I recall you once said you had ways to deal with altered memories…"
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