"You bastard, still keeping secrets," Tom muttered as he took the Resurrection Stone, examining it in his hand. "How exactly am I supposed to turn it?"
"Hold it in your hand and turn it three times…"
Tom pinched the Resurrection Stone between his fingers, but before he could even begin turning it, his eyes widened.
Because he noticed mist continuously rising around them.
"Hmm? It's starting already?" Wade asked in surprise when he saw Tom's reaction.
"Yeah, it's starting… but, what is.." Tom replied, a bit flustered.
But remembering that Wade had just used it earlier without any danger, he forced himself to stay calm.
Wade was quite surprised. According to The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Resurrection Stone only activated after being turned three times.
Otherwise, in the original timeline, Tom wouldn't have owned the ring for years without discovering the stone's secret.
But now, Tom had just picked it up, and the stone was already activating?
At that moment, Tom stared intently at the swirling mist, staying on high alert.
Suddenly, a voice called from behind him.
A voice. Soft. Echoing. Familiar.
—"Tom? Is that you?"
Familiar...? Why did it sound Familiar..?
Tom's entire body tensed.
Because the one calling his name wasn't Wade beside him—it was a woman's voice.
Tom slowly turned his head—and froze.
A plainly dressed, ragged-looking woman stood before him… She was the one who had just called his name.
"You… you were the one who just called me? Who are you?"
Tom turned to Wade in surprise and said, "Did you see that? There's a woman here!"
"Tom… I'm your mother…"
Tom whipped his head back toward the woman at her words.
"You… but… how is this possible? You're… already dead, aren't you? Are you a ghost?"
"I am dead. But you brought me back," Merope paused, her gaze on Tom filled with a strange, radiant light.
Tom through throbbed as he asked, "Are you really my—"
"Tom… my wish has come true. You… you look just like him…"
Smack!
Tom forcefully threw the Resurrection Stone onto the table.
As the stone left his hand, Merope's figure vanished instantly.
"What.. What the hell is this? What the hell is this?" Tom panted heavily, repeating the question as he stared fiercely at Wade.
"This is the magic of that stone, Tom... It allows you to see the one you wish to bring back," Wade said, his gaze a little complicated. "So… you wanted to see your mother again?"
"No… I didn't…" Tom denied flatly.
He looked up at Wade again. "Did you see your own loved ones?"
"Me? Hmm… unfortunately, I don't have anyone I want to bring back," Wade answered calmly.
Tom felt sure Wade was lying. If he hadn't seen anyone, how would he know the stone's magic could summon the dead?
Wade glanced at the Resurrection Stone lying quietly on the table. "What did your mother say to you? Why did you throw the stone away?"
Tom was silent for a long time before he finally said quietly, "Wade… when she saw me, the first thing she said was about him, that coward. She didn't even care about how I've been all these years! Her eyes… they've always been full of that coward!"
"And don't you think she was selfish? I… I didn't want to grow up in an orphanage. If she didn't want to live, then why did she give birth to me at all?"
Wade silently picked up the Resurrection Stone and placed it back into Tom's hand. "If you want to know the answer, why not take this chance to ask her yourself?"
Tom looked at the stone in his hand, then turned toward the corner where she had appeared.
Sure enough, Merope was there again.
This time, her face was full of sorrow.
"Child… do you not wish to see me anymore?" Merope asked sadly.
Tom stared at her without replying. After a moment, he turned to Wade and asked, "Is... she real?"
Wade shook his head. "I don't know. And only the person holding the stone can see."
If it had been before, he might have said it was an illusion. But… Merope had appeared even before Tom rotated the stone, which made it harder to say for sure.
Tom turned back to look at Merope. "Whether you're real or not… I.. I.."
"Yes, my child?"
"I.. I'm disappointed in you, Mother. How could you leave me at an orphanage and go off to die alone? Did you ever think about me, even once?"
Merope's lips trembled. "I… I had no choice… I was already in despair… I couldn't go on living anymore. I was nearly dead already, Tom… I had no will left to keep going…"
Tom said angrily, "But why not for me? Just a little strength. One more breath. One reason to stay alive—why couldn't I be that reason? Or was I just a burden to you? A mistake? A weight around your neck? How nice for you—once you dropped that weight, you could go off and die in peace, right?"
"It's not like that… not at all… My love for you was never lacking!" Merope cried, her face full of sorrow. "At that time, I was already at the end of my rope. I used the last of my strength to give birth to you, then did all I could to arrange a place for you to go… I just hoped that after I died, you'd at least have a roof over your head…"
She stepped forward, reaching out as if to touch Tom's cheek.
But Tom turned his head away to avoid her hand.
"Arrange a place?" he said bitterly. "You mean dumping me at an orphanage? Eleven years—do you know I lived there for eleven years? Do you have any idea what those years were like? If I hadn't awakened my magic as a wizard, do you realize how dark my future would have been? I hated that place… Mother! If I had a choice, I would rather never have been born!"
Tom had always harbored a vague resentment toward his mother deep in his heart.
But after visiting the Riddle family, that resentment had reached its peak.
After he returned, he had even wondered to himself: what if his mother hadn't died at the orphanage gates?
What if he had been raised by her?
What would things have been like then?
Tom was sure that if he had known he was a wizard earlier, if he'd had access to magic sooner, then with his talent, he could have ensured a decent life for the two of them. At the very least, they wouldn't have gone hungry.
Even if he couldn't use magic to commit crimes, would stealing some food or clothing have been so hard?
If things had been that way, he wouldn't have started out so late...
At the very least, he wouldn't have grown up in that orphanage, knowing nothing, only to have Wade Reynolds step all over him.
Merope's voice was full of sorrow and powerlessness as she apologized, "I'm sorry… child… I'm so sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, but… at the very least, let me look at you one more time."
Tom took a deep breath. "Enough… it's really enough…"
He cast one final, deep glance at his mother, then placed the Resurrection Stone back on the table.
As soon as the stone left his hand, Merope's figure vanished from the room.
He looked up at Wade, who had been silently watching from the side. "Take the stone… I don't want it anymore."
Wade looked at him, surprised. "Why? Tom… the fact that you saw your mother means you wanted to bring her back. That means… you do feel something for her, don't you?"
"Does it?" Tom murmured. "I don't know… but I.. I really don't want to see her again." With that, he turned and headed upstairs, not sparing the Resurrection Stone another glance.
"Tom… even if you don't want to see your mother again, what about the Gaunt family ring? Isn't that your heirloom?" Wade picked up the Resurrection Stone and asked.
"I don't want it anymore... That's the Gaunt family's thing! In the future, I'll have heirlooms belonging to my own family—starting with me!" Tom said, not looking back as he went upstairs.
"Tsk tsk, still a bit hot-headed, this kid," Wade muttered to himself, then turned his gaze back to the Resurrection Stone in his hand.
He still wasn't sure what had caused the strange reaction earlier when Tom held the stone, but one thing was certain—this stone was a treasure.
From what Wade remembered, Grindelwald had once attempted to gather all three Deathly Hallows, and his reason for seeking the Resurrection Stone had been to raise an army of the undead.
Which meant… this thing could actually raise corpses?
Wade remained skeptical. There had been no such mention in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, as far as he remembered.
With that thought, Wade ran back to his room and pulled a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard off the shelf.
He'd bought it out of curiosity some time ago, and now it was finally coming in handy.
He glanced at the inscription "Peverell" on the Resurrection Stone, then flipped the book open to the story The Tale of the Three Brothers.
Right after, he set the stone down and pulled out a piece of parchment to begin writing a letter.
After finishing the letter, Wade called Toby over and handed it to him.
"Take this to Professor Dumbledore. You know where he is right now."
…
Dumbledore had been working busily in his office at Hogwarts Castle.
At first, he thought the letter delivered by Wade's house-elf was just about some minor matter.
But after reading it, Dumbledore immediately dropped everything he was doing and, without hesitation, used the fireplace in his office to travel directly to Wade's safehouse at top speed.
The Resurrection Stone!
One of the three Deathly Hallows!
To both him and Grindelwald, the Deathly Hallows held immense significance.
If Grindelwald's greatest desire was the Elder Wand, then his own deepest longing was undoubtedly the Resurrection Stone…
He had dreamed countless times of seeing his sister again—of seeing his parents one more time…
And finally being able to say to them…
"I'm sorry."
_________
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