The last chapter felt a bit too short so i thought of adding one moreSupport me through patreon please:https://patreon.com/rez540------------------------------"Tom Riddle is Voldemort?" Dracula's eyebrows shot up as he turned to Dumbledore, surprise flickering in his crimson eyes.
"That's correct," Dumbledore confirmed, his tone steady but grave. "More than fifty years ago, I was the one who brought him from Wool's Orphanage to Hogwarts, giving him the opportunity to learn magic."
He paused, as if sifting through memories of a time long past. "Tom was exceptionally skilled at charming others and earning their trust. While still a student, he began assembling a group in Slytherin House, the early incarnation of what would later become the Death Eaters. It was during those years that he abandoned his Muggle father's surname, Riddle, and the ordinary name of Tom, choosing instead to fashion himself into 'Lord Voldemort.'"
Dracula leaned back casually, a faint smirk curving his lips. "A boy from an orphanage, enduring hardship, outwitting even the most formidable of professors, and eventually establishing a force that strikes fear into the hearts of wizards everywhere. Quite the tale of ambition, don't you think? Inspirational, even!"
Dumbledore sighed, but Dracula continued, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Really, why didn't that old hermit Nicolas wake me back then? I'd have loved to see this 'young Tom' in action. Perhaps I could have joined him—purely for the entertainment, of course! Imagine helping shape the rise of the so-called Dark Lord." He chuckled, as if envisioning the possibilities.
After hearing Dumbledore's stories about Voldemort's youth, Dracula gained a clearer understanding of the unnamed Dark Lord and found himself unexpectedly intrigued by him.
In Dracula's eyes, Voldemort was no longer a flat and unremarkable figure—a demon king without depth, intelligence, or personality.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore, standing beside him, seemed lost in thought.
For a brief moment, he wondered if bringing Dracula to Hogwarts as a professor had truly been the right decision...
"Uncle Dracula!" Helena's voice interrupted, sharp and pleading. "Don't forget, Tom Riddle stole my mother's crown. You promised to help me get it back!"
Dracula's smirk softened into something more reassuring. "Of course, Helena. I haven't forgotten. I'll make sure he regrets ever laying a finger on it—and I'll ensure he returns it to you, with tears in his eyes."
Myrtle, feeling ignored and unable to join the conversation, sulked back into the toilet, fluttering away in frustration. Her retreat reminded both Dumbledore and Dracula of the task at hand.
"Professor Dracula, I believe we must act quickly," Dumbledore said gravely. "For Tom to reveal his younger self so openly suggests he no longer feels the need to hide. In other words, he knows we've set a trap and is waiting to confront us."
"But to obtain the Sorcerer's Stone, he still has to walk into the trap, doesn't he?" Dracula replied with a confident smile. He turned to Helena. "When Voldemort steps into the pit, I'll make sure to give him a proper lesson and retrieve Rowena's crown for you. How does that sound?"
"Yes!" Helena nodded firmly, her expression resolute.
"Alright then, Professor Dracula, it's time we got to work," Dumbledore said, moving toward the bathroom's center. "We need to uncover whatever Voldemort and Quirrell have hidden in this semi-abandoned girls' lavatory."
Dracula nodded and reached into his pocket, retrieving an old, worn parchment—the Hogwarts title deed, which he had grown quite adept at using.
With a small surge of magic, lines crisscrossed the paper, forming an intricate map of Hogwarts Castle. Dracula's eyes scanned the grid as one section expanded, revealing the detailed layout of Myrtle's bathroom. Magic nodes appeared on the parchment, their locations precise and clear.
"Watching you wield the authority of the land deed sometimes makes me question my role as headmaster," Dumbledore muttered with a sigh, observing Dracula's ease with the castle's secrets.
Dracula, focused on the parchment, ignored the comment. He studied the map closely, his brow furrowing.
"The magic nodes here seem... peculiar," he remarked.
He turned toward the decrepit sink he had been leaning on earlier.
The sink appeared ancient, its marble surface cracked and worn. Moss grew faintly in the grooves, and water stains marked its base. Above it, several tarnished faucets dripped intermittently, the steady "tick, tick" of water splashing onto the damp floor.
A large, weathered mirror hung behind the sink, its surface cracked and smudged. It reflected the figures of Dracula, Dumbledore, and Helena, though Myrtle, having withdrawn into the toilet, was absent from the mirror's image.
"Is there something unusual here?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes moving between the sink and the mirror.
Dracula held the land deed out for him to see.
"As headmaster, you're well-versed in the castle's magic system, aren't you?" Dracula asked. "Notice how the magic nodes throughout the bathroom are normal—except here." He gestured toward the sink. "At this spot, there are suddenly several extra nodes. What's more, the area behind these nodes appears intentionally blank, as if something is being concealed."
"So, there's something hidden behind this sink?" Dumbledore mused. "Could there be magical nodes that even the title deed cannot reveal?"
"Indeed. I'm the lord of this land, but the castle was ultimately constructed by Salazar and Godric," Dracula explained. "If the founders wanted to embed their secrets during its construction, it's not surprising they left certain aspects inaccessible to the deed."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.
"Look here," he said, pointing to a specific faucet on the sink. "This one doesn't seem to work."
It was a copper faucet, slightly different from the others. It had a small serpent engraved on its surface.