Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 543 The True Story of Ama

At this moment, everyone, including Cohen and his group, as well as Ogden and the others from their memories, stopped talking.

Outside the open window of the cottage, the tinkling of bells mingled with the sound of horses' hooves, and the voices of a woman talking to a man could be heard.

The window faces the path leading to the village, but it's blocked by a fence, so you can only hear the sounds.

"Good heavens, what a spoilsport!" said the girl's voice. "Tom, couldn't your father just tear down that little shack?"

“That’s not ours,” the man’s voice said. “The things on the other side of the valley belong to our family, but this little cabin belongs to a homeless man named Gaunt and his children. His son is mentally unstable, and you should hear what the villagers are saying about him…”

Mofen hissed, her face filled with greed, as if she were savoring some pleasant memory.

Melop, on the other hand, was frighteningly pale.

……

"Don't look at him, Cecilia, my dear." The man's voice faded into the distance with the sound of horses' hooves and bells.

“‘Darling.’” Mofen grinned at his sister and hissed in a Parseltongue, “He calls her ‘darling,’ so it seems he doesn’t want you.”

"What's going on!" Gunter asked, his eyes wide, now looking even more like a hairy gibbon whose food had been stolen. "What did you say? Morfin?"

“She likes to watch that Muggle.” Morfin stared at Melop with a malicious look that Cohen felt was almost impossible between normal relatives. “Every time that Muggle passes by, she watches him in the garden, doesn’t she?”

Melop shook his head pleadingly, but Moffin kept talking.

"She's pacing outside the window, waiting to see that Muggle ride home on horseback, isn't she?"

"Lingering outside the window, waiting to see a Muggle?" Gaunt repeated in a dangerous, disbelieving tone.

"He must be furious, just like Sissoko found out you're dating the little basilisk," Cohen said, as if watching a show.

“You wretched little Squirrel, you filthy little scoundrel!” Gaunt roared. “My daughter—a pure-blood descendant of Salazar Slytherin—is pursuing a dirty, lowly Muggle?!”

“Sissoko is much better than him,” Harry said, his face contorted with disgust as he watched Gaunt grab Merop’s throat.

Then, Ogden used a "Power Release" spell on Gaunt to save Merop, triggering a series of chain reactions—Old Gaunt was forced back by the spell, and Morfin roared in anger because his father was attacked, leaping up from his chair and brandishing a bloody knife while shooting a bunch of random evil curses from his wand.

It must be said that the pureblood madman's talent for spellcasting is indeed very high—or rather, his talent is all focused on aggression. Morfin's way of casting spells looks a lot like the explosion caused by Ron using his broken wand in his second year.

Ogden fled, shielding his head with his arms, and rushed out the door.

At this point, the memories began to blur and become distorted. Dumbledore took Cohen and Harry away from there and returned to the headmaster's office.

“He’ll be in Azkaban for a while for assaulting law enforcement,” Cohen said. “Plus the charge of Morfin assaulting a Muggle…”

“That’s right. Marvolo Gaunt was sentenced to six months in prison for injuring several Ministry of Magic officials,” Dumbledore said. “Morfin was sentenced to three years for his prior record of attacking Muggles and for resisting the Ministry of Magic’s arrest along with his father.”

“And… what about Merope?” Harry asked. “You mean… Voldemort’s mother?”

“She didn’t participate in the rebellion, and naturally, she wasn’t punished,” Dumbledore said. “The Gaunt family is a very old wizarding family, known for its restlessness and violence. Marvolo, Morfin, and Merop are the last few descendants. Due to inbreeding, these personality traits have become more pronounced with each generation. You see, they are impoverished, yet arrogant, conceited, and unreasonable.” “So, who is the Muggle that Merop likes…?” Harry asked curiously.

“Ah, that’s old Tom Riddle. Harry, Cohen, I’m sure you know what happened after you heard that Muggle’s name.” Dumbledore nodded.

“But Melop clearly… I mean…” Harry said.

“She’s ugly.” Cohen pursed his lips. “Let alone Muggles, even if her family had some assets, I believe most wizards wouldn’t choose her, especially since her family looks like vagrants.”

“She married old Tom Riddle and had a child,” Dumbledore said. “What means is there for a witch to win the heart of someone she admires?”

“The Crucifixion,” Cohen replied immediately.

“Cohen,” Dumbledore said in a helpless tone.

“The Imperius Curse?” Harry said. “Or a love potion?”

“I personally believe she used a love potion, which I think would have made her feel more romantic,” Dumbledore said. “And it wouldn’t have been difficult to achieve.”

“The Imperius Curse is like being in love with yourself,” Cohen said. “Like being in love with your right hand—although even if you weren’t in love, your right hand is probably everyone’s favorite thing…”

“I usually use my left hand,” Harry said.

“I don’t advocate it.” Dumbledore pressed down on both of their shoulders. “Soon, a few months later, without the pressure from her father and brother, Merop did it. For a while, there were rumors in Hangleton that the squire’s son and the tramp’s daughter, Merop, had eloped together.”

"When Marvolo returned from prison, he expected his daughter to be waiting for him obediently, with a steaming meal laid out on the table. ('Hmph.' Harry snorted, as if amused by Marvolo's mentality.) Of course, Harry, Cohen, Marvolo arrogantly considered himself the absolute ruler of the house, and extended this sense of dominance to his entire world in a kind of spiritual victory. He thought his daughter was just a cooking slave, so he starved to death."

"Starved to death?" Harry asked incredulously, a grown wizard who couldn't even find food for himself.

“Ama may have been poisoned by eating tree bark,” Cohen said with interest. “The tree outside their house poisoned many small animals, and there was a pile of broken bones next to its roots.”

"In any case, Marvolo didn't live to see Morfin's release," Dumbledore said. "He probably never learned how to cook for himself; Azkaban ruined his health."

"What happened to Merope? Did she have a child with old Tom Riddle and then live with him?" Harry asked.

“They only lived together for a few months,” Dumbledore said. “A few months later, Tom Riddle returned to the house in Little Hangleton, insisting that he had been deceived and misled. I think Merleep loved her husband deeply and couldn’t bear to continue controlling him through magic…”

“So she stopped taking the medication,” Harry guessed.

“I want to tell Ron about this,” Cohen said. “I know what he’s going to say next—'I woke up to find an ugly wife lying next to me, and I remember all the sweet moments we shared…'”
-
"If it were me, I would have immediately lost my nerve."

After hearing the whole story from Korn and Harry, Ron said with a contorted expression,

"Tsk... That Muggle is so pitiful. He was fooled for months and ended up with a son who will become a terrorist. Do you think the mysterious man will still go to see him?"

“Old Tom is definitely dead,” Harry said. “Voldemort used my father’s bones to resurrect himself, remember?”

“But his mother is still alive.” Cohen had already developed all the photos. “I mean, she’ll live on in the photos—now the whole wizarding world will know what his mother looks like… Do you think Dumbledore still has photos of old Tom Riddle and Voldemort from their school days?”

(End of this chapter)