Chapter 232 – The Defeat of Gormlaith Gaunt
At ten o'clock, in the Headmaster's office on the eighth floor of Hogwarts, Tom Riddle finally revealed his true expression as Dumbledore's words fell.
It was one of curiosity—and a spark of competition.
"Harry Potter? From the Potter family? Is he a professor at Hogwarts?" Riddle asked rapidly, unable to contain himself.
"He is still recognized by the wizarding world as the one who defeated your true body," Dumbledore answered calmly.
"After your downfall, only a small number of Death Eaters continued to follow you. Most were captured and sent to Azkaban, while the rest claimed they had been under the Imperius Curse." His tone was almost mocking, though Riddle paid it no mind.
"One of those must be Lucius Malfoy. He's a speculator—just like his father." Riddle sneered, then pressed further. "But it doesn't matter. Is Harry Potter here at Hogwarts? I want to meet him. Is he James Potter's father?"
In Riddle's imagination, Harry had already become some bearded old man, the father of James Potter, the Gryffindor who had once stood against him.
"No," Dumbledore corrected, a faint sadness in his eyes. "He is only a child. James and Lily are his parents. After your true body killed them, you attempted to murder their son… but failed. You left him only a scar. Then you lost your body—reduced to less than the humblest wandering soul."
Riddle frowned. "How could a baby, without any magic of his own, defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How could he survive with only a scar, while I was destroyed?"
"And Lily?" Riddle pressed on, his expression twisting. "She was Severus's beloved, wasn't she? How did she end up with James Potter? Did I take Snape's side, only to fail so miserably?"
"It was love," Dumbledore said firmly. "The one force you never understood. When a witch or wizard chooses to die willingly for the one they love, the magic of love awakens. Lily's sacrifice shielded her son. The curse you cast rebounded upon you."
He leaned forward, his tone grave. "That is the power of love, Tom. The oldest, deepest magic. A magic you never valued."
Riddle looked unconvinced, though his ears sharpened at the mention of his family name.
"Love is mysterious, difficult to comprehend. Even the Ministry of Magic acknowledges its power. Deep within the Department of Mysteries, there is a chamber dedicated to studying it." Dumbledore's voice grew solemn. "One of the earliest recorded examples of this power comes from the 17th century, when the Irish witch Isolt Sayre founded Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in America—and was hunted by her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt."
"You know," Dumbledore added, "Gormlaith was the strongest of Slytherin's descendants in centuries—until you."
Riddle gave a cold smile. "Wrong. Isolt Sayre herself was a descendant of Slytherin. Gormlaith was her aunt.
"She wasn't strong—only notorious. She became famous because she stole Salazar Slytherin's wand, while the rest of the Gaunts were too ignorant even to attend Hogwarts."
Riddle leaned back and smirked. "I'll tell you the real story, Dumbledore."
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He began.
"Isolt's father was William Sayre, an Irish pure-blood wizard, and a descendant of the Animagus Morrigan. Isolt was born to William and Leona Gaunt, Gormlaith's sister.
"Gormlaith despised her sister for helping Muggle neighbors with magic. In her fury, she set fire to their home, burning her sister and brother-in-law alive. She 'rescued' young Isolt, raising her in isolation, trying to mold her into a pure-blood supremacist like herself.
"But Isolt eventually escaped to America, where she married a Muggle man, James Steward. Together they adopted two wizarding boys, Chadwick and Webster Boot. She also saved a creature called a Pukwudgie—a small, gray-skinned being with long ears, distantly related to European goblins. Because it refused to give its name, she called it William, after her father."
"Later, after Isolt gave birth to twin daughters, Gormlaith found her again. She cast a powerful curse to put Isolt and James into a deep sleep, and used Parseltongue to disable Isolt's wand.
"But Chadwick and Webster were untouched. Their wands, carved from the same horned serpent, allowed their magic to combine and multiply tenfold. They fought back, delaying Gormlaith long enough for the cries of Isolt's twin daughters to awaken her."
"Even then, Gormlaith gained the upper hand. In despair, Isolt cried out her father's name. At that moment, the Pukwudgie William appeared—and shot Gormlaith through the heart with a poisoned arrow."
"Afterward, William remained at Ilvermorny, serving as its protector and guardian."
Riddle's smirk returned. "And that, Dumbledore, is the truth. Not some fairytale about 'love.' Gormlaith Gaunt didn't fall to love—she fell because of weakness, because she couldn't kill her own kin. Sentimentality destroyed her, not some noble magic."
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