i once knew a muggle girl from liverpool with hair like spun silk. no light could resist it.  you've been reckless this summer, harry.
rather unpleasant to behold, isn't it? the tale is thrilling if i do say so myself, but i'm afraid now is not the time to tell it. take my arm. do as i say.
indeed. and quite successfully i might add. most people vomit their first time.
welcome to the charming village of budleigh babberton, harry. i assume right about now you're wondering why i've brought you here, am i right?
wand out, harry.
lumos.  the tip of dumbledore's wand blazes. he sweeps the shadows. calls out.
horace! nothing. dumbledore points his wand down a narrow hallway. motes of dust dance in the wandlight, but nothing else. he starts down the hallway, toward the open doorway at its end. slowly, the room beyond comes into view:
i must say, you make a very convincing armchair, horace.
dragon's blood.
ah yes. introductions. harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, horace slughorn. horace, this is, well, you know who this is. apparently there's some thought he may be the chosen one.
so why all the theatrics, horace? you weren't perhaps expecting someone else, were you?
take matters into their own hands?
well, i think it should be put back in order for them, don't you? mind?
that was fun. may i use the loo?
mind if i take this? i do love knitting patterns.
i think i know a lost cause when i see one. regrettable. i would have considered it a personal triumph had you consented to return to hogwarts, horace. you are, like my friend mr. potter -- one of a kind.
indeed they are.
you are talented, famous and powerful -- everything horace values. professor slughorn is going to try to collect you, harry. you would be his crowning jewel. that is why he is returning to hogwarts. and it is crucial he return.
i fear i may have stolen a wondrous night from you, harry. she was, truthfully, very pretty. the girl.
you'll not be going back to little whinging tonight, harry.
both are waiting for you.
the very best of evenings to you! first off, please join me in welcoming the newest member of our staff, horace slughorn.
professor slughorn, i'm happy to say, has agreed to resume his old post of potions master. meanwhile the post of defense against the dark arts will be assumed by professor snape.
now, as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival tonight. you have a right to know why.
once there was a young man who, like you, sat in this very hall. walked this castle's corridors. slept beneath its roof. he seemed, to all the world, a student like any other. his name? tom riddle.
today, of course, the world knows him by another name. which is why, as i stand looking out upon you all tonight, i am reminded of a sobering fact. each day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle. but in the end, their greatest weapon remains.  you.
just something to keep in mind. now, off to bed. pip pip!
good evening, harry. you got my message, i see. come, come. sit.
so. how are you?
enjoying your classes? professor slughorn, for one, is most impressed with you.
do you?
and what of your activities outside the classroom? do they bring you satisfaction?
i notice you spend a great deal of time with miss granger. one can't help but wonder if --
forgive me, harry, i.
 i was merely curious. in any event, i'm sure you're wondering why i've summoned you here tonight. the answer lies here.
what you see before you are memories. in this case pertaining to one individual: voldemort. or as he was known then.  tom riddle.
this vial contains a most particular memory -- of the day i first met him. i'd like you to see it. if you would.
i am not family. but his name has been known to me since birth.
perhaps you could give me an example. mrs. cole starts to speak, then shakes her head, moves off. as dumbledore makes to follow, his eyes happen upon a framed photograph on the wall, old and yellowing, depicting a seaside scene of a sharp rock outcropping and a cave. as he exits, we hold on it.
how do you do, tom.
as you wish.
no. i am a professor.
perhaps they're right.
hogwarts is not a place for mad people.
it's a school. a school of.  magic.
you can do things, can't you, tom? things the other children can't.
tell me some of the things you can do, tom.
i'm like you, tom. different.
i think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe, tom. open it. open. it.
take it out.
is there anything in that box you ought not to have?
why did you want these things, tom?
thievery is not tolerated at hogwarts. at hogwarts, you will be taught not only how to use magic, but to control it. understood? i'll be going now, tom. leave your window open tonight. an owl will bring you a message. read it carefully.
it is unusual. but not unheard of.
did i know that i had just met the most dangerous dark wizard of all time? no. had i.
over time, while here at hogwarts, tom riddle grew close to one particular teacher. can you guess which teacher that might be?
no. i did not. you see, professor slughorn possesses something i desire very dearly. and he will not part with it easily.  i'd rather not divulge any more just yet, harry. but i promise. in time you will know everything.
i did.
yes.
confused? i would be surprised if you weren't.
this is perhaps the most important memory i've collected. it's also a lie. this memory has been tampered with. in this case by the person whose memory it is, our friend professor slughorn.
i suspect he is ashamed of it.
why indeed.
i asked you to get to know professor slughorn and you've done so.
now i want you to persuade him to divulge his true memory. any way you can.
you're the chosen one, harry. and horace is, at heart, a decent man. provide the proper circumstances and he will confess his sins.
this memory is everything, harry. without it, we are blind. without it, we leave the fate of our world to chance. you have no choice. you must not fail.
quick thinking on your part, harry. using a bezoar. you must be very proud of your student, eh, horace?
why indeed.
this appears to be a gift, horace. you don't by chance remember who gave you this bottle, do you -- which by the way possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry when not polluted with poison.
to whom might i ask?
ah, to be young and feel love's keen sting. come, everyone, i think mr. weasley is well tended.
how is he? horace?
this is beyond anything i imagined. in my life i have seen things that are unimaginably horrific. i know now.  you will see worse. dumbledore looks off, his eyes distant. harry watches him intently, as do the headmasters in their frames above. finally, tentatively, harry speaks.
oh he succeeded. and not just once. think, harry. he's just told us.
they can be anything. the most commonplace of objects. a ring, for example. or a book.
it's a horcrux, yes. four years ago, when you saved ginny weasley's life in the chamber of secrets, when you brought me this -- i knew. this was a different kind of magic. very dark. very powerful. but until tonight, i had no idea just how powerful.
belonged to voldemort's mother. it was difficult to find and.  .  even more difficult to destroy.
one destroys voldemort.
true. but magic, especially dark magic.
 leaves traces.
yes. and i think.  perhaps.  i may have found another. but this time i cannot hope to destroy it alone. harry peers into dumbledore's eyes. dumbledore nods.
once again, i shall ask too much of you.
whether it has or hasn't is irrelevant. i will not negotiate this with you, severus. you agreed. there's nothing more to discuss.
harry. you need a shave, my friend.
at times i forget how much you've grown. at times i still see the small boy from the cupboard. forgive my mawkishness, harry. i am an old man.
like your mother, you are unfailingly kind.
a trait people never fail to undervalue. i'm afraid.
the place to which we journey tonight is exceedingly dangerous, harry. i promised that you could accompany me and i stand by that promise. but there is a condition: you must obey any command i give you -- without question.
understand what i'm saying. should i tell you to hide, you must hide.
should i tell you to run, you will run.
and should i tell you to abandon me and save yourself.
you will do so.
your word, harry.
take my arm.
being me has its privileges.
this is the place. oh yes, this place has known magic. where you stand, harry, tom riddle once stood many, many years ago, when he was but a poor orphan boy with a penchant for cruelty.  dumbledore's wand stops briefly in its arc and his face registers pain, as if detecting some past unpleasantry. he begins to trace his fingers over the surface of the rock.
one wintry afternoon, he lured two younger classmates to this cave. what happened is unclear. but this much is known: the children were damaged.
in order to gain passage, payment must be made, payment intended to weaken any intruder.
oh, no, harry. your blood is much more precious than mine.
careful. the water.
it's there. the only question is how do we get to it?
perhaps not.
if you would, harry.
only recreationally. you see, i believe one creates one's own luck.
yes.
remember.  the water.
oh yes.
it has to be drunk. you remember the condition on which i brought you with me?
this potion might paralyze me. it might cause me to forget why i'm here. it might create so much pain i beg for relief. you are not to indulge these requests, harry. it is your job to make sure i keep drinking this potion even if you have to force it down my throat. understood?
because i am much older, much cleverer.  and much less valuable. your good health, harry.
don't.  don't make me.
nooooooo!!!
make it stop.  please.  make it stop.
my fault. it's all my fault.
too much.  i can't.  take it.  i want.  to die.  kill.  kill me.  kill me, harry!
your word, harry! your word!
kill me! it's the only way! harry stands paralyzed, unsure what to do. then.  dumbledore collapses, rolls onto his back. harry pelts forward, dips the goblet into the basin and kneels by dumbledore.
water.
water.
water! harry dips the goblet into the basin yet again, brings it to dumbledore's lips.  but once again finds it empty. dumbledore tries to speak, but his lips are cracking, his tongue like sand. he gulps drily for air.
go.
we have to.  go.
i am not worried, harry. i am with you.
no. severus.  severus is who i need.  go and wake him.  tell him what has happened.
speak to no one else.  i.  i shall wait here.
no, harry. i do not pray. i was merely closing a window -- the one that had allowed us to apparate.
hide yourself below. and do not speak or show yourself without my permission. no matter what.
do as i say, harry. harry hesitates. dumbledore's eyes blaze.
trust me. harry meets dumbledore's eyes, then pockets his wand and slips down the stairs. as he reaches the level below, the door above flies open. harry peers up through the grid, watches malfoy come into view.
good evening, draco. what brings you out on such a fine spring evening? or is it summer?
i often talk aloud to myself. i find it extraordinarily useful. that which sounds sane at a whisper can seem utterly mad when said for all the world to hear. haven't been whispering to yourself, have you, draco?
you are not an assassin, draco.
like cursing katie bell and hoping she would, in turn, bear a cursed necklace to me? like replacing a bottle of mead with one laced with poison. forgive me, draco, but these are attempts so feeble i cannot help but question if your heart has been really in them. i'm curious. when voldemort gave you this task, when he asked you to kill me, was it in a whisper?
then i shall make it easy for you.
well done, draco. but i warn you. killing is not nearly as easy.
you're not alone. are you. there are others. how?
that cabinet has been broken for years.
ingenious. let me guess. it has a sister. a twin.
a passage, yes. very good. i once knew a boy years ago who made all the wrong choices. let me help you, draco.
say that again, draco. but aloud this time.
good evening, bellatrix. i think introductions are in order.
severus.
severus.  please.