Tom's secret stash
"Of course I am!" Tom cried.
"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'Sir'," Dumbledore replied.
Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unusually polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir, I meant - please, Professor, could you show me -?"
Dumbledore cooly drew his wand from a pocket inside his suit jacket, pointed it at Tom's shabby wardrobe in the far corner of the room and gave the wand a casual flick.
The wardrobe burst into flames.
Tom jumped to his feet, howling with shock and rage. He rounded on Dumbledore at once, but as he did the flames vanishesuddenly as they appeared. The wardrobe appeared completely undamaged.
Tom stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore, then, with a greedy expression, he pointed at the wand.
"Where can I get one of them?"
"All in good time," said Dumbledore. "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."
And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. Tom started feeling frightened.
"Open the door," said Dumbledore.
Tom hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the highest shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was shaking and rattling as if several frantic mice were trapped in it.
"Take it out," said Dumbledore.
Tom took the quaking box down. He looked unnerved.
"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?" Dumbledore asked.
Tom threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look.
"Yes, I suppose so, sir," he finally said, in an expressionless voice.
"Open it," said Dumbledore.
Tom removed the lid and tipped the contents into his bed without looking at them. Dumbledore saw a mess of everyday objects fall out; among them a yo-yo, a silver thimble and a tarnished mouth-organ. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still on the thin blankets.
"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," said Dumbledore calmly, putting the wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."
Tom did not look the least bit embarassed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. Finally he said in a colourless voice, "Yes, sir."
"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "we teach you not only to teach magic, but to control it. You have - inadvertently, I am sure - been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor are you the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic - yes, there is a Ministry - will punish lawbreakers more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."
"Yes, sir," said Tom again.
He put the little cache of stolen items back into the little cardboard box, his face remaining quite blank. When he was done, he turned to Dumbledore and said baldly, "I haven't got any money."
"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'Sir'," Dumbledore replied.
Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unusually polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir, I meant - please, Professor, could you show me -?"
Dumbledore cooly drew his wand from a pocket inside his suit jacket, pointed it at Tom's shabby wardrobe in the far corner of the room and gave the wand a casual flick.
The wardrobe burst into flames.
Tom jumped to his feet, howling with shock and rage. He rounded on Dumbledore at once, but as he did the flames vanishesuddenly as they appeared. The wardrobe appeared completely undamaged.
Tom stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore, then, with a greedy expression, he pointed at the wand.
"Where can I get one of them?"
"All in good time," said Dumbledore. "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."
And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. Tom started feeling frightened.
"Open the door," said Dumbledore.
Tom hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the highest shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was shaking and rattling as if several frantic mice were trapped in it.
"Take it out," said Dumbledore.
Tom took the quaking box down. He looked unnerved.
"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?" Dumbledore asked.
Tom threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look.
"Yes, I suppose so, sir," he finally said, in an expressionless voice.
"Open it," said Dumbledore.
Tom removed the lid and tipped the contents into his bed without looking at them. Dumbledore saw a mess of everyday objects fall out; among them a yo-yo, a silver thimble and a tarnished mouth-organ. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still on the thin blankets.
"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," said Dumbledore calmly, putting the wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."
Tom did not look the least bit embarassed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. Finally he said in a colourless voice, "Yes, sir."
"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "we teach you not only to teach magic, but to control it. You have - inadvertently, I am sure - been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor are you the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic - yes, there is a Ministry - will punish lawbreakers more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."
"Yes, sir," said Tom again.
He put the little cache of stolen items back into the little cardboard box, his face remaining quite blank. When he was done, he turned to Dumbledore and said baldly, "I haven't got any money."
