Chapter Text
Another name on the List of Acceptance, or at least it is until the headmaster had been wrangled into an investigation on the death of Merope Gaunt. While she was never a student at Hogwarts, as none of the Gaunts had been for generations, she was known to have died at a muggle hospital. A hospital in which the records had indicated she was pregnant and had given birth. The child and father however had been struck from the records, seemingly out of the father's desire to not have anyone find them. Depending on the circumstances most people, and even families wouldn't bother to investigate this far, but for some reason the Gaunts has felt the need to hunt her and the child down... and as the last descendants of the Slytherin line the Ministry wasn't in a place to deny them.
In order to check that the child wasn't a squib, and thus not much of a concern the Ministry had asked the headmaster to look through the Book of Admittance and give a list of those that would have shown up around the time that the child would have been born. It had taken a while, but eventually they had managed to piece together who exactly the child was, Tom Riddle Jr.
Had it been a squib or a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Griffindor, or even Helga Hufflepuff this wouldn't have meant much other than needing to keep their ego in check once they got here or assumed that... but this was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Even if they somehow wasn't a Parselmouth, there would be no doubt an uproar once he arrived that the descendant of Salazar Slytherin was being raised by Muggles. Though from what the Ministry was able to gather, they were rich, not popular but rich. Though, that didn't always equate to good parents.
So in 1929, when they knew the child would be able to answer, questions Albus Dumbledore during the off-season was sent to the Riddle's estate, to determine if the child would need removing from the house or simply need an eye kept on them. He didn't exactly like the idea of taking the child away, but the idea of the Gaunts emerging from their den to try and take the child by force nearly gave Albus a headache. He, nor most people didn't know much about the Gaunts but they would absolutely not be the ideal people to take care of a young child. He wasn't sure how the Ministry kept them from acting yet, but he was glad.
Knocking on the front door Albus expected no response as he doubted that they would willingly open the door to a random stranger but he waited, waited for thirty minutes before he started to turn to leave. At which point the door opened behind him, turning around he was greeted by the face of a young man. Albus was a bit taken aback, he knew the man would've had to catch Merope's attention but hadn't expected... well Albus was glad he had a full beard or else his blush would've been easily seen.
"You are quite persistent," the man said, "why in the bloody hell are you here?"
"I'm Albus Dumbledore and I am here to talk about Tom Riddle Jr.," Albus said.
"How do you know of my son to?" the younger man said, glaring at Albus.
"It's complicated and can't be discussed out in the open," Albus said, "if you are okay with it I can explain inside."
"Well, I am not," the young man said before grabbing the handle.
"Shit" Albus thought "I shouldn't use magic but I can't let him close the door on me."
"I know what Merope Gaunt was," Albus said, causing the young man to stop.
"Then what was she," he asked Albus, seemingly having heard a variety of answers before.
"A witch," Albus said with a hushed voice, "a witch who used a potion on you."
At that the young man opened the door back up, chuckling a little at the information.
"I had always suspected something was off with her," Senior said, "I think we need to talk then."
Tom Riddle Senior led Albus Dumbledore inside, heading to his personal study that was further in. Albus followed behind him, taking in the decor of the house which was... well Albus couldn't deny that at least someone in the family had decent taste. With the walls having been plastered with floral wallpapers that made the walls look as if they had vines covering them with the occasional blossom. It wasn't as impressive as if a Wizard or Witch had made it, but he couldn't hold it against them. You can't achieve what you literally are unable to do.
Reaching the study the young man opened the door, walking in before inviting Albus into it. Albus took a seat on a chair, one which was next to a fireplace rather than the one by the desk.
"So, how how do you know of my son's existence?" Tom asked, sitting across from him, "is there like something that you have that can track if a child is born with magic?"
Albus was only able to nod, knowing how ridiculous it would sound to someone who had never heard of such a thing before.
"By god almighty," Tom said, rubbing his temple, "so trying to hide the medical records actually only made him stand out more."
"If I might ask," Albus said, "why have you kept him? I suspect that she... didn't exactly win your heart."
"You're right she had... given me something that messed with my head," Tom said, "I was madly in love with her after taking it... and then once she stopped giving it to me I was back to hating her... I still do by the way."
"Then why did you keep the child?" Albus asked him.
"I... didn't want to at first," Tom said, "actually took getting a letter from the hospital stating that I was his father for me to even go see him, and once I went and saw him... I still didn't want to."
"So why not put him in an orphanage?" Albus asked him.
"I know I'm not magical, but... something inside me was screaming at me that if I didn't take him... stuff was going to go terribly wrong," Tom said before a smile spread across his face, "and don't worry it took probably a year but... I have no regrets now. He's a bright young boy, and will probably make a good heir."
Albus simply made a mental note of that to ask him later. He knew that it could easily have been a hit instinct, but for some reason Albus felt a nagging at the back of his mind.
"Well, could I meet him?" Albus said, moving his mind away from that thought, "we can talk more, but part of my visit was to check that he was okay... I can explain further after I've checked that he is doing fine."
"Didn't expect to be checked like this," Tom said while standing up, "but I guess."
Tom Riddle Sr. led Albus to the room Tom Riddle Jr. was in, which was a nursery slash bedroom, the transition stage between them in essence. With the room covered in wallpaper that was leaves, making the room a variance of dark and light greens. He was in the middle of playing with some blocks when they entered. To which the young Tom simply looked up at them, a look of curiosity in his eyes.
"You doing okay?" Tom Sr. asked his son.
"Yeah," he said, "who is the man behind you?"
"Oh," Tom Sr. said before pausing, not sure how to introduce the total stranger.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore," Albus said, "I wanted to check in on you."
"Why?" Tom Jr. asked.
"Have thing happened around you that you couldn't explain?" Albus asked him.
"Yeah," Tom Jr. said.
"Well, that was magic, which makes you a wizard," Albus said, "and just like you, I have magic as well. I was sent by a group of people called the Ministry to check on you."
"Why?" Tom Jr. once again asked.
"Because," Albus said, "not everyone is nice to people who are like us... and it can become dangerous in certain cases. I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"But daddy isn't dangerous," Tom Jr. said.
"Well yes," Albus said, "you know that but sadly me and the people who wanted to check in on you weren't aware."
"Are you here to take me away?" Tom Jr asked.
"Only if there is something that forces me to," Albus said, "now, how are you treated?"
"Good," the little boy said.
"Can you explain?" Albus asked him.
"Maybe later," Tom Jr said.
Albus was simply confused by that remark. While he admittedly not been around kinda that much... he didn't think that kids would... be like this.
"Apologies," Tom Sr. butted in, "he... has a tendency to not be responsive to questioning if he doesn't know the person."
"I can understand," Albus said, before turning back to Tom Jr, "I have some stuff to talk about with your father. I might be back later, just letting you know."
"Okay," the young boy said, before returning to his blocks.
Tom Riddle Sr and Albus Dumbledore made their way outside the room and headed back to the study. With not much chatter between the two, Albus wasn't sure if the man in front of him was scared, angry, or seriously just this calm about the situation.
Tom Sr. simply sat at the desk before letting out a sigh.
"So care to explain why the sudden interest?" Tom Sr asked.
"The Ministry had been sent a message asking for the investigation into Merope Gaunt's child since he had went missing to the magic world," Albus said.
"Well apologies," Tom Sr said, "I had no idea that there was a magic world in the first place. Nor that the accursed Gaunts family would search for him."
"You sound like there is a disdain for the Gaunt family in general," Albus said.
"Please, they are far from the kindest folk," Tom Sr. said, a hint of anger to his voice, "even if they are magical, I refuse to let him go to them. I would sooner run away to the wild than let them lay their hands on him."
"Does this have anything to do with Merope?" Albus asked him.
"Barely," he said, "they terrorize those without magic, they live in a shoddy shack, and are openly known to abuse those in the family they dislike? My family might not care for the people in the village, but you won't find us brandishing guns at them for fun."
Albus audibly gulped at that, he knew the two men of the Gaunt family had been arrested and sent to Azkaban. He also knew that Merope's father had passed, so it was probably risky to send the young boy to them... but that raised another question in Albus's mind.
The Gaunts rarely reached out for anything, and had shown no interest in finding Merope herself... so why the kid? He doubted the villagers would have talked about the kid to them, and they likely would've refused to ask about her whereabouts during their jail sentence.
So... who had actually went looking for the young boy?
"Don't worry," Albus said, making a mental note to look into that, "there is no way I'd support giving him over to them."
"Good," Tom Sr said, "I may have no love of his mother but he is my son."
"Apologies, but going back to his mother and him," Albus said, "you said you felt that something inside you was screaming that if you didn't care for him something would go terribly wrong? Could you explain that a bit more."
"Well," Tom Sr said, "as I turned to leave I felt as if all the heat drained out of me. Like I was naked as the day I was born, in the middle of a blizzard. Then a pit in my stomach formed, one that was so deep I physically could not take another step away from him."
"Sounds almost like you were near a Dementor... but those only exist at Azkaban," Albus said, "I do not know what might cause it... but, I will say that such a thing doesn't occur for no reason."
"Now then," Tom said sitting forward in his seat, "a question for you. What all do I need to look out for with my son? I know he can move objects, cause things colors to change, talk to snakes-"
"He can talk to snakes?" Albus said, "a Parselmouth..."
"So talking to snakes isn't normal, even among wizards?" Tom Sr asked Albus.
"No," Albus said, "it's extremely rare, and the only family that it for sure occurs in... well is that of his Mother's... or more accurately the Slytherin tree, which the Gaunts are a branch of."
"So even among wizards and witches they are unusual..." Tom Sr said, "then again, I doubt all Wizards are inbred... you obviously aren't."
Albus had to stop himself from gasping. He wasn't sure if it was the man just insulting the Gaunts, even though it was accurate... or if Tom Sr had just tried to compliment his appearance.
"Well then," Tom Sr said, "is there anything to worry about?"
"Most likely not," Albus said, "other things like a Metamorphmagus are rare and not known in the Gaunts family."
"I assume a Metamorphmagus is a person who can change their body?" Tom Sr asked him, "and before you ask it's simply knowing the root words, no need to worry about me somehow having spied or extracted information from a wizard or witch."
"You are right," Albus said, before clearing his throat "also, just to let you know... there will have to be a magical legal guardian for him."
"A magical legal guardian?!" Tom Sr shouted, before taking a deep breath to calm himself, " I apologize for the outburst, but why must he have one? What is the problem with me being his only guardian?"
"Outbursts are to be expected, and it has nothing to do with your qualifications as a parent, rest assured," Albus said, before taking a deep breath, "the reason is because of the nature of the magical world. You have to be able to sign documents, form magical agreements, or easily transport like a wizard of witch can, without the help of one at least."
Normally, from what Albus understood, the process happens so fast and close to enrollment at Hogwarts that the majority of Muggle parents simply don't have time to voice objections. Though, in the case of the Riddles, they'd already been forced to live with the Gaunts who didn't bother to hide their magic... and not because they used it to help others.
"There are procedures that need to take place, but I can try my best to argue for you to have some choice at least. Most muggleborn don't come into this with encounters with a magical family, especially so negatively," Albus said.
"Also, not saying right now, but I would like to at least understand somewhat of what my son is walking into," Tom Sr said, " like a guidebook or the like."