"Harry? Harry, where are you going? You can't just run out of the room after announcing that you can't kill Voldemort!" Hermione shouted in a huff, as Harry did the very thing she was telling him he couldn't.

Harry stuck his head into the Library, hoping luck would be on his side for once, it always seemed to fail him when it concerned a certain Potions Master. He gave a sigh, it seemed his track record was safe, for luck was not with him today either. Not only was Lucius talking with Severus, so was Draco. He did not need their input on this certain topic, not until after he had Severus' first at least.

Harry gathered his Gryffindor courage and Slytherin cunning, then squared his shoulders and walked into enemy territory. "Sir, I was wondering if we could talk about something...Alone," Harry finished pointedly looking at the other two men in the room.

Draco sneered, but was pushed out of the room by his father before he was able to voice whatever snide remark had formed behind the sneer.

"We can finish this later, Severus, I am sure whatever has forced Mr. Potter away from Miss Granger is of the utmost importance," Lucius said in the tone of voice that provided how insincere he felt about the words that passed his lips.

Harry rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting. He really did not want to start out with Severus in a snit.

"We are now alone," Severus said after he closed and warded the door for privacy. "We can talk now, I must say that I am highly curious. You hardly ever come to me to talk, normally I have to catch you off guard. So, what has brought you here today?" Severus asked.

Harry looked at Severus, and started to pace as he gathered his thoughts. "I need you to hear me out fully. No interruptions to yell at me, no just assuming I've done something stupid or Gryffindorish. I learned some pretty...some," Harry shuddered as he thought of all he had seen, "well some down right nasty stuff, and that was just the stuff I understood. Most of the spells I witnessed were non-verbal and I just don't have the knowledge to understand what was going on by the effects alone. I'm not even sure you're going to be able to tell what some of them were, I didn't know the right questions to ask," Harry said in a very good impression of Hermione when she had way too much information to pass on, and not enough breath to get it all out.

"Harry...Harry...Harry calm down. I do not understand what you are talking about. Where did you witness these spells, and whom were they being cast upon? I understand that you want me to listen to you, but you have to make sense, or I cannot help," Severus said calmly.

Harry was startled out of his explanation by Severus' interruption, but listened to the words and calmed himself down. "I'm sorry, it's just that what I saw was so upsetting. I went back into Voldemort's head, but this time I met someone. Now this is the part I need you to listen to me about without interruption. At first He appeared to me as a toddler of around four years old. Then later changed into a teen version a little younger than what I saw in the Chamber. He showed me things that had happened to him in that orphanage, things done to him by a dark wizard...Grindelwald to be exact. I...it was really bad, I think you should see for yourself, I thought I could talk about it, I really did. But it's just too hard to describe," Harry explained.

Severus was speechless for once. He took a few minutes to process what he had been told, then looked at how shaken his son was. "We should take the Pensieve to your room, I have the feeling that we won't want to be disturbed," he said and motioned towards the door.

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"The bad man that came and showeded me that I was specialwer than the other kids. But he huwt me. Made me do mean things to my fwiends. I didn't wan to huwt them," the young Tom explained. "Hewe, maybe I can shows you," he exclaimed and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling them backwards through the currently running memories.

Harry tried to watch as much as possible as they traveled back through the dizzying array of memories, but they were moving so fast he was only able to catch glimpses.

"Hewe, this was the fwist time he came to visit," Tom said as he let go of Harry's hand and pushed him into a memory.

Harry came to an abrupt stop in a small room filled with varying aged children, all whom were doing their best to amuse themselves while staying quiet.

"Children, please may I have your attention? Thank you. Now as you know, today is your check-up day. We are lucky enough to have this wonderful Doctor volunteer his time; I want you each to be on your best behavior. Children please say hello and thank you to Doctor Bagshot," she said as she stepped away.

Harry was slightly taken aback by the man's appearance; he had long, blonde, curly hair. No doctor he had ever seen had hair that long, at least no Muggle.

"Hello, Doctor Bagshot," was quietly heard. Many of the younger children were too scared to speak.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cole. We should start with the oldest, don't you agree? That way they can show the little ones that there is nothing to be scared of," Doctor Bagshot said with a charming smile. He then led the oldest into a smaller room, and closed the door behind them.

Harry watched as child after child disappeared into that room, and he watched as each one of those children emerged smiling. Something about those smiles scared Harry, as well as the fact that the children, somehow, looked less healthy than they did before they entered that room.

Harry was drawn from his thoughts as a hand slipped into his once again, it was Tom's turn. The watchers followed the little boy into the room.

Doctor Bagshot lifted the child up onto the makeshift work table. "Well, little one this shouldn't take to long. There is no need to be scared, this won't hurt much," the doctor said as he pulled out a wand. This action made Harry's eyes go wide, and an understanding started to take place in his mind.

"My, my, my, what do we have here? Truly, today has brought me great luck. Here I thought I had simply found a group of Muggles to experiment with. But no, I have found a hidden treasure. With you, my little one, I will be able to advance my research further than I ever thought. With me, you are going to be able to become far greater than you would have ever been simply as a Muggle-born wizard."

Harry watched as the toddler tried to understand what this adult was telling him. He saw as hope crept into those young eyes, and Harry could tell that no one had ever told the child that he was special. Harry's heart ached with empathy and then horror as he realized just how easily this young child would be able to be molded into the monster he would become, simply because no one had cared for the child before now. Unfortunately for Harry, he hadn't seen the worst of the situation yet.

Doctor Bagshot hummed to the child as he thoroughly examined him, only to have the humming stop here and there as the doctor mumbled to himself as he got the results, that is until he got a very unexpected result.

"Oh, I see. You are not a Muggle-born at all, are you my little one. No, you can't be with this protection that has been placed on you. How is it that you have a Pure-blood protection on you, yet you are here in a Muggle orphanage? Highly unusual, I shall have to do some research before I get started with you. One must know what they are working with before they start, right, little one?"

Harry then watched as the doctor created a magical report from his findings and then cast a Compulsion Charm on the child. The information was still there, he just couldn't tell anyone what happened to him.

Harry turned to his companion and knelt down to speak to him face to face, as the memory faded. "This was just the beginning for you, wasn't it? What did that man do to you?"

"I saw that man constantly until Albus Dumbledore defeated him in 1945. Unfortunately for you, I, and the rest of the world, that defeat came entirely too late, for Gellert Grindelwald had already accomplished his goal and created his masterpiece with Voldemort's first kill, my father and grandparents," a now teen Tom Riddle explained to a very fear-struck Harry.

"There is no need to fear me, as I hope my memories will show you. I am the good, the light, the pure and untainted portion of Tom Riddle's soul. I am the portion Grindelwald worked to separate, he considered all those things to be weak, that those things were holding us back from taking our rightful place above Muggles and he wanted to prove that. His experiments on me were to be his proof," Tom revealed to Harry.

"Forgive me for being so unbelieving, but the last time I saw you, you were trying to kill myself and another with a Basilisk. You have also tried, and succeeded to trick me in my own mind. So why should I trust you when we are in yours?" Harry asked warily.

"Actually that manifestation of me was a few years older than the version I have currently taken to show you what happened. As it is, we are two sides of the same coin, he and I. By the time that Horcrux was made, he was purely dark, there was no light available to him. I was completely locked away by then. There is also the fact that the nature of our connection makes it impossible for me to hurt you, I doubt even Voldemort could hurt you any longer now that you know how to manipulate your side of the connection, since your side is the stronger of the two."

"Wait, what do you mean? How can my side be the stronger of the two? Doesn't your, er...his side control our connection?" Harry asked, extremely puzzled.

"No, actually, it is you that has control over the connection. That is why it hurt you so much to be near Voldemort. He was overtaking your control of the connection, when it wasn't his to control, but until recently you were not strong enough to assert your own control. Now that you can, your run-ins with him should be a lot less painful for you, well at least in your scar," answered Tom.

"How do you know all of this and why should I trust you? You have yet to answer that question," Harry challenged.

"I know it, because even though I was trapped by Grindelwald, I was still here as Voldemort lived his life. I saw first hand what happened when you defeated him as a baby. I saw our protection transfer to you as it tried to set itself to rights. I then watched as the protection your mother's sacrifice fused with the Slytherin protection to attack that which was your greatest threat, Voldemort, and thus created the connection between the two of you. That very connection is why you should trust me. You are in control here, I could no more hurt you than I could turn back time. The only power I hold is to be able to show you what you need or want to know," Tom calmly responded.

Harry stood there trying to absorb all the information he had been shown, in such a short amount of time. "You said I control this connection, is it possible for me to bring someone else here with me? I am...I don't think I know enough to begin to know where to start," Harry said, still slightly overwhelmed.

"Yes, you control the connection, and it might be possible for you to bring someone here with you, especially if you are a decent Legilimens. The problem you will run into is that Voldemort might sense that other person. While you are safe in here, I cannot say the same for anyone else. Our connection makes you special. I also do not believe I would be able to communicate with anyone else. Dumbledore was in Voldemort's mind enough while we were in school, yet something kept him from seeing anything that had happened. As far as he saw, we were alone in our quest for revenge and power, and he only ever saw that we had done everything on our own. You are the only person I've been able to show what Grindelwald did to turn me into an us."

Harry nodded to show his understanding. "Can you show me more? I might not be able to bring someone else with me undetected, but I can use a Pensieve to show those that are more knowledgeable than I am," said Harry.

Tom laughed. "You sell yourself short, dear Harry. You are far more intelligent than you let yourself believe, but that is a discussion for another time. For now you need to see the experimentation that took up so much of our youth," Tom said. He then grabbed Harry's hand and took him on a trip down memory lane.

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Harry watched the dizzying blur of memories fly past once again, until he was once again in the common playroom. He looked around the room, trying to find the child he was there to observe.

"I researched the type of protection you have, I found that it dates back to the time of the Founders of Hogwarts. Unfortunately I could not find which one to attribute it to. It is no bother, I know of many ways to use that protection to my advantage. You, my little one, are going to have a great advantage when you go to school. A wizard of your ilk should not start school at the same disadvantage as the lesser Muggle-born children. You are lucky I found you, with my help you will be able to rise to your rightful station. It is appalling that the Wizarding world would leave its own to rot away in a place such as this.

No matter now, is it? I shall rectify their mistakes and we shall prove that Muggles are below us. Now, let us get started, up onto the table, please."

They watched as the man took out his wand and started casting spell after spell. At first there was no change, and then, all of a sudden, there was a bloodcurdling scream coming from the small child. The air around him seemed to push in on the child, as if trying to suffocate him even as he screamed for his life. But just as sudden, it stopped and the child passed out, causing the world to blur around them once again.

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"Tom, how are you today? Any new talents I should know about? I must say, your last one surely did surprise me, such magical talent in one so young, and all because we've started to lock away those weak emotions. To think you can cast the Blood Boiling Curse at seven years of age. Such talent, and it would have all gone to waste had I not found you. Now, what would you like to try today?"

Tom held out his wand and said, "Serpensortia!"

What shocked Grindelwald this visit, was not the fact that his apprentice had cast the spell correctly the first time, no it was the fact that he was talking with the snake. "I do believe we just figured out which Founder's line you have come from. What a pleasant surprise indeed. We shall have to explore this new talent much further."

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"To cast Imperious should come easily to you. You simply cast the spell and force your will onto what or whomever you wish to do as you command. While some would think that nine is to tender an age to accomplish this, but I have faith in you. Now try this on your friends pet. Yes, that is it. Have it hang itself. Very good, nicely done."

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Grindelwald was laughing as he entered the room. "Your Muggle caretaker has been extremely helpful. Calling me in to see if I can see what has caused your behavior problems. It seems that your peers," this word was sneered in extreme disgust, "are afraid of you. It would seem that our little outing by the sea had some repercussions," he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "no matter, you shall be leaving for school soon. That reminds me, we shall need to lock down your memories. It would not be productive to our cause if that over emotional, Muggle loving fool to find out just yet. He let his softer feelings for me blind him once before, but unfortunately he is far too intelligent to let it happen again."

Once again Grindelwald was casting and the child, now 10 was screaming in pain. "There, I have covered our tracks as much as possible. Even the Great Albus Dumbledore will not find me in your mind."

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"It is a good thing you found out about your inferior Muggle father. We shall need to purify you before we go further in your training."

Harry did not understand how this teen, that couldn't be more than thirteen years old, could just lay there as blood began to seep from every pore in the child's body. From the clenched fist with the white knuckles, he could tell the process was extremely painful, yet the boy just laid there like this was an everyday thing for him. If this was what Tom Riddle grew up enduring, it was no wonder that he threw around Cruciatus like it was nothing as an adult.

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"You must be proud to have caused a death this year. That Muggle-born never belonged at such an illustrious school as Hogwarts to begin with. While I am proud of the accomplishment, you must push further this summer, and I have found the perfect subjects for you to work on. I have found where your mother and father came from. You will be delighted to find out that you have relatives alive on both sides of the family. This should be a very...enlightening experience for you."

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"Yes, I see what you mean. I do believe it would be best if Lucius, Narcissa, and even Miss Granger saw this as well. I believe it is going to take all of us together to figure out how to deal with this newest information," Severus said as he squeezed Harry's shoulder, and unconscious gesture, but a very welcome one.

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Harry was still ill when the group emerged from the Pensieve, no matter how many times he watched, it never got easier. He could hardly comprehend the things that madman did to the young Tom Riddle. "Now do you understand why I cannot kill Tom Riddle? He is not the monster that Voldemort became!"

Lucius snorted. "You would suggest anything to keep from showing that you are too weak to use an Unforgivable. Who cares what happened to make the Dark Lord, it is not like anyone can turn back time and undo the damage. You should know as well as I do that there is no way to undo all the Dark things that were done back then, not to mention what the Dark Lord has done to himself since then."

Harry glared at Lucius; he could feel his magic wanting to change. Now that he understood that this was his magic's way to express feelings, Harry also knew that he could stop the change and verbally express himself. "We have had this argument before, and I refuse to have it again. It does us no good to win this war if we lower ourselves to the enemy's level. I refuse to use such dark magic, and I feel that everyone on our side should refuse as well!" Harry exclaimed.

"Such naïve sentiments, typical for a Gryffindor, to bad none of you father's Slytherin attributes seemed to make their way into you. You are nothing but a child playing at an adult's..." Lucius ranted, before he was suddenly cut off.

"Harry, son, let Lucius down. While I agree he went too far," Severus said as he sneered up at the ceiling where Lucius was currently dangling, "you need to let him down, slowly, so that we can finish discussing this problem, preferably with cooler heads all around."

 Lucky for Lucius, Harry had just set him down as Remus came into the room in a rush. "Arthur believes he has found Ginny...and Percy. He wants to organize a raid with the Order as soon as possible, and he wants as many of you to help as possible."