"All the details are written on the second sheet of Parchment in the envelope. You'll leave from King's Cross Station on September first, and there's also a Train Ticket inside."
In a small room, the young Dumbledore was wearing an elegant crimson velvet suit, sitting on the only stool.
Opposite him was a handsome boy, a bit taller than other children his age, with black hair and a pale face.
At the moment, the boy was holding an envelope stamped with a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger.
Seeing this, Harry, standing off to the side, couldn't help thinking that if Dumbledore hadn't delivered the Hogwarts letter to this boy that day, maybe everything that followed would never have happened.
He instinctively reached out to snatch the envelope away, but his hand passed straight through it.
Of course Harry couldn't touch anything here, because they were only inside one of Dumbledore's memories right now, watching everything as detached onlookers.
And the young boy in front of them was Voldemort before he came to school… though right now he was still called Tom Riddle.
...
Riddle didn't rush to tear open the envelope to see what was inside. Instead, he stared straight into Dumbledore's eyes.
"I can talk to snakes. When we go hiking in the countryside, snakes find me and whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?"
Hearing the boy's words, Harry also instinctively turned his head to look at the young Dumbledore, wanting an answer.
Coincidentally, he could also talk to snakes; in the Magic Realm, that was called Parseltongue.
Parseltongue wasn't a common gift; in Harry's impression, not many people possessed this ability. The most famous was Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, and later, Voldemort.
In his second year, many people had treated him as the Heir who opened the Slytherin Secret Chamber for precisely this reason.
"Very rare," Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, then said, "but not unheard of."
"If you asked me, I'd give the same answer," said the white‑haired Dumbledore beside Harry. "Innate gifts have never been what determines whether a person is good or evil. They're more like a special birthday present.
"Take Nymphadora Tonks, whom you know. To be honest, being a Metamorphmagus is far more suited to a Dark Wizard than Parseltongue is, yet she chose to become an Auror.
"Though she may not be that reliable at times… it's undeniable that she is an upright and kind wizard."
"Yeah." Harry smiled.
He thought again of what Fred and George had said to him before they left Hogwarts.
Tonks was clearly an experienced Auror, yet she was the last one to notice something was wrong with Katie. The Weasley Brothers had complained about that for over half an hour.
"So, Professor…" Harry hesitated a moment, then asked, "were you ever worried about his Parseltongue ability?"
"I was not." Dumbledore shook his head. "What concerned me was the cruelty, cunning and domineering nature he displayed, and the way he understood his own abilities. For a young wizard who had not yet come to school, his powers were astonishingly complete and mature.
"He had already realized that he could, to a certain extent, control magic, and had begun consciously using it.
"You could say that even if he'd never come to Hogwarts, he would still have become an outstanding wizard in the future."
Harry fell silent.
Just as Dumbledore had said, at eleven, Tom Riddle had already realized he was different and had begun trying to use magic.
When he was eleven… wait, he'd also used magic to shut Dudley in the zoo's cage; it was just that at the time he hadn't realized he'd done it himself.
"Kael…" Harry couldn't help asking, "did you know you could use magic before you were eleven?"
"Do you hear yourself?" Kael blinked, looking at Harry in disbelief.
"Er…"
Harry froze for a second, then smacked his own forehead.
He'd just forgotten that Kael's parents were both wizards, and their neighbors were the Weasleys. In that environment, it would've been strange if Kael hadn't known about magic.
"We should be going out now." Dumbledore cut in with a smile, rescuing Harry so he wouldn't feel quite so embarrassed.
A few seconds later, the room and the boy in front of them vanished. They were back in the real Headmaster's Office.
"Sit down," Dumbledore said. "Harry, what impression did Tom Riddle leave on you?"
"Very clever," Harry said instinctively.
Judging from that memory alone, eleven‑year‑old Tom Riddle already showed a maturity completely out of keeping with his age.
Even revealing his Parseltongue ability at the end had been an attempt to overawe Dumbledore and regain the upper hand.
So, whether he liked it or not, he had to admit that the young Riddle was truly outstanding—the type people called "other people's child."
...
Kael knew Dumbledore was trying to let Harry learn as much as possible about Voldemort, so he could find his weaknesses, so he just sat listening at the side, not intending to interrupt them.
But just sitting there was a bit boring. He beckoned to Fawkes, and the Phoenix immediately flew over and settled on his knees.
Kael took out a handful of Herbs to feed Fawkes, gently stroking its feathers as he listened to Dumbledore's assessment of Voldemort.