The Unsolved Riddle

Chapter 1

Hogwarts Express. This was it. There was no turning back. It wasn't until this moment that Alex realized how scared and nervous he actually was about everything that happened to him. During the last couple days he had been thrilled. His dream was finally about to come true. All his life he had some how known that he was meant to be a wizard. As he got older the dream changed from becoming just a wizard to becoming a powerful wizard. But now when he actually had the chance he couldn't believe how scared he was. In the past couple of days his entire world had changed. One day he was a normal 11 year old kid who played midfielder on the local football team, and the next day he was wandering through Diagon Alley buying a wand amidst wizards and witches in brightly colored robes. Now he was sitting on a train zooming through the English countryside, leaving his family and friends far behind, to go study magic at a castle far from everything he had ever known. Plus, it didn't help that his dad had been acting very strange and quiet the last couple of days. Alex couldn't help but wonder that there was something his dad wasn't telling him. How did my dad get into the wizarding world anyway? A muggle doesn't just suddenly decide to work for wizards out of the blue. What did dad mean when he said that he had his reasons for not wanting me to study magic? Why is it so dangerous? Then he suddenly changed his mind. What's up with that? Thoughts kept racing through Alex's mind as he tried to figure things out. And what in the world happened to Rocky?

Meanwhile back at the Miller home, Tim was sitting in his son's empty room staring off into space. Or he might have just been staring at Alex's Star Wars poster hanging on the wall in front of him. Either way, Tim still wasn't completely convinced that this was the best idea for the world, his family, or his son. What if he is sorted into Slytherin? That would just be one more step in his grandfather's shoes. It seems like he is already obsessed with magic. With each passing day since Alex had received his letter and Rocky the beagle had revealed his true self, Tim had become increasingly more and more worried about the future. He had toyed off and on with the idea of telling Alex the real reason why he had not wanted him going to Hogwarts. Ultimately he decided against it. Alex has to make his own decisions. If he is sorted into Slytherin he must try to be an example of the more positive and good aspects of Slytherin House. Alex has no reason to go bad. He was raised in a good supportive home. He has had a decent education and good friends. He was raised knowing right from wrong. He is not ashamed of his family or of who he is. There is no reason that he should ever be attracted to the type of magic that his grandfather was. Trying to convince himself that everything was going to be fine was harder than Tim had expected. It's all up to him now. There is nothing I can do.

"Excuse me darling. Would you like to buy something from the sweet-cart?" Alex woke up from his daydream to see a kindly old witch pushing a cart outside the compartment. Alex had been lucky enough to find an empty one.

"Yes, please. Have any Snickers?"

"Sorry, dear, no. But would you like to try a chocolate frog or some of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"

"Ummm... Sure. I'll take one of each, please. Thank you." Luckily, Alex's father had an account at Gringgott's Bank in Diagon Alley. He was paid muggle money from his muggle job and wizard money from his Ministry job. That way he could survive in both worlds. However, Alex was still having trouble with the galleons, sickles, and knuts. Once he managed to pay the witch the right amount of wizard money he sat back in his seat to try his first ever Every Flavor Bean. The Beans started drawing Alex into a false sense of security. The first couple were normal flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc...

"Blegh. Yuck. What was that? It tasted like spinach."

"Only spinach. You haven't tasted the vomit or toe scum ones yet, have you?"

"Vomit flavor jelly beans?!" Alex couldn't contain his disgust.

"They aren't your regular muggle jelly beans, they are Every Flavor Beans. Which literally means you have a chance of eating a bean of any possible flavor." The blonde, brown eyed girl now standing in the doorway had obviously been eating vomit and spinach flavor beans since she could chew. She hadn't grown up eating Snicker bars and M&Ms.

"Every flavor. Interesting. So what's your name? Is this your first year at Hogwarts?" Alex asked. His mouth still tasted like spinach and he was sure he had a look of disgust on his face. He'd never make friends if people kept walking in while he was eating a spinach jelly bean. Or worse a vomit flavored one. Or worse...wait what could be worse than that.

"Yeah, I'm Abigail. You can call me Abbey. I was just wandering around the train trying to get away from my usual crowd. With wizards being so spread around you tend to spend all your time around the same ones. It can get kinda annoying. So is this your first year as well? It has to be. You didn't know about the beans. So do you always greet people with that look on your face?" Abbey had come into the compartment and was already situated on the other seat before Alex could answer.

"Yeah this is my first year. I didn't even know about Hogwarts until a couple of days ago. My mouth still tastes like spinach."

"Don't worry the taste will go away soon. So both your parents are muggles. How'd they react when they found out about your hidden talent? I bet it was quite a surprise to find out about our world. And what's up with your funny accent? Aren't you British?"

"Oh no. I have always known about the wizarding world. My dad works for the Ministry of Magic as a muggle spy in the muggle ministry. He was positioned in the British embassy in the U.S. though until about a year ago. Someone has to keep an eye on those Americans. I was born and raised in the US we just moved to England a year ago. My dad is English and he missed it so he got re-positioned. That's what's up with my accent. You guys speak funny here. It can get confusing." Alex explained. He figured that now there was no harm in letting the cat out of the bag on his dad's job now that he was in the wizard world. Although he still half expected an owl from the ministry to come flying in with a notice for his immediate memory erasure.

"Ha ha. We have the silly accent? That's a joke. It's you Americans you speak funny. Wait. Did you say your dad works for the Magic Ministry? How does your dad work for the Ministry if he is muggle? I mean how in the world did he find out about our world and be allowed to work for us? I've never heard of that happening before." Abbey was confused. Her dad also worked at the Ministry. He was also known as the big gossip within the Ministry as well. As soon as anything happened at work his family knew about it before dessert. He would have said something about a Muggle working at the ministry.

"Well, now that you mention it. I have no idea. He's worked there since I've been born and I never asked. He has always been proud of the fact that he was the only muggle to work for the wizard ministry. Maybe it was fluke. Maybe he made friends with a wizard when he was out of work and the wizard pulled a few strings. But you're right I guess that would be kinda weird." Alex shrugged.

Suddenly, excited voices could be heard out in the passageway of the train. Abbey and Alex strained in their seats to try and make out what they were saying. Obviously Abbey's dad wasn't the only gossip in the family. "You can't be serious. He's going to be teaching!!" "I've heard they haven't been able to keep that job filled for more than a year since he was a first year.!!" "And guess who's on the train now?" "Who?" ".....daughter.....first year." Unfortunately, the voices were muffled and no longer in hearing distance so Alex and Abbey couldn't hear who it was they were talking about.

"You've lived in the wizard world you're whole life, any idea who or what they were talking about?" Alex asked.

"Well, the first person they were talking about, the one that is going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year, is none other than the great Harry Potter himself. I have no idea who the other one they were screeching about is. Probably the kid of some famous Quidditch player or something. Although no player I know of has a kid this age, and believe me I know all the players in England, and all their families."

"What's Quidditch?" If it was some kind of sport Alex was definitely going to have to check it out.

"It's a sport..." Score! "...played on broomsticks." Abbey like most wizards loved Quidditch and was about to explain it to Alex much more in depth and talk about all her favorite players and the newest broomstick out, the state-of-art-precision-handling-0-60-in-5-seconds Flying Cheetah. Unfortunately before she could open her mouth for another word Alex spoke again...

"And, ummm, who's Harry Potter?" Alex asked, ashamed that he had no idea who it was because when Abbey had said his name it sounded like someone even the muggles should know. Rightfully so, Abbey was stunned and Quidditch was swept from her mind. She had trouble remembering that outside the wizarding world the only muggle's who knew about Harry were the Dursley's. Still the fact that not everyone in the world knew about Harry Potter stunned her.

"Come on. Even the muggles should know who he is. He saved the world from the worst possible wizard that ever existed." Alex definitely felt embarrassed now. His dad surely knew about this wizard hero. Why hadn't he told Alex about him? Didn't his dad want him to be prepared for anything? Alex had gone to boy scouts since he was 8. His motto was 'Be Prepared.' He had never felt so unprepared in his life.

"And who was this bad guy?" Alex asked. He figured he should know as much as possible about this Harry Potter if he was going to have him as a teacher.

"We don't like to say his name. We call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. But since you don't know who he is and you should if you are going to be a wizard I guess I can spit it out just this once. His name was V-V-V-Vol-Voldemort, although that wasn't his birth name. His birth name was Tom Riddle. Now can we not talk about him?" Abbey said as fast as possible with a shiver, her arms wrapped protectively around her.

Riddle. Riddle. Why does that name sound so familiar? Where have I heard it? The truth is Alex had never heard that name before in his life. His dad was very careful not to mention it. However, for some reason it tickled something in the back of Alex's brain. He wanted to continue talking about this Tom Riddle but Abbey was obviously not comfortable with the subject so instead Alex said, "So how 'bout them Yankees?"

"Them what?" Abbey asked. Now it was her turn to be confused.

"Them Yankees. They are a baseball team from New York. But I just said that to change the subject. So, umm, how did Harry Potter beat You-Know-Who anyway?" Alex figured Harry Potter was a safe subject as long as Tom Riddle wasn't mentioned.

"No one actually knows for sure. One day after Harry's last day at Hogwarts they had a facedown of some sort. Only Harry came back. Well, part of Harry anyway. He lost his memory somehow during the fight or whatever happened. It took powerful magic just to get him to remember his Hogwarts years and best friends. However, there isn't magic powerful enough to get back his memory of what happened that day. All he knows is that it happened, but he has no idea how. To tell the truth, and I am very reluctant to say this, there is a possibility that You-Know-Who isn't even dead. All we know is that Harry is here and he isn't but he is very good at hiding. He did it for years." Abbey explained. She had the story burned into her mind since she was able to listen and sit still for more than 5 minutes.

"Hey Abbey! Guess who's on the train?" At the beginning of the train ride Alex had been alone in the compartment. He had it all to himself. Then Abbey showed up. Which was good. He finally had company and someone to explain the mysteries of the wizarding world to him. And maybe he had also made a friend as well. Now there was yet another wizard in the doorway. A short, pudgy kid named Bruce. Abbey was obviously a little annoyed to see him. "Come on Abbey guess!"

"Bruce you know I don't like guessing games. Just tell me."

"Penny Weasley!!"

"Really?! What a coincidence that the year Harry Potter begins teaching at Hogwarts is the same year that his two best friends' daughter starts her first year."

"Yeah that's quite a coincidence. Now what are you guys talking about?" Alex felt out of the loop once again.

"Harry Potter's two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are almost as famous as he is got married shortly after Harry saved the world. Penny is their daughter. So that's probably whom they were talking about earlier. I was kinda hoping it'd be some Quidditch player's kid."

"So why are they so famous?"

"Well, mainly because they are friend's of Harry's and have been with him since he started Hogwarts. But they are also a great wizard and witch and heroes from the Dark War. Nowadays Hermione is the Minister of Magic and Ron is an internationally known Quidditch ref."

"So why is that a coincidence?" Alex was still lost. But he figured he'd be lost for a long time to come. He had 11 years of wizard knowledge to catch up on.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Bruce Marco the third. Abbey and I grew up next-door to each other..." Alex tried to hide a smile as Abbey rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at the back of Bruce's head. Obviously wizard 11 year olds could also be as immature as 11 year old muggles. "And who are you? First year as well? Muggle-born or wizard family? What house do you want to be in? Gryffindor? Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff? Slytherin?"

"Uh slow down. My name is Alex Miller. Yes I am a first year. Muggle-born. And I have no idea what you're talking about. But no one answered my question. Why is Penny Weasley, whoever she is, and Harry Potter being at Hogwarts at the same time a coincidence?" Alex lost as ever was now even more lost. Houses? Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin? What is this kid talking about? Why is everything so confusing?

Abbey annoyed with Bruce and anxious to talk to someone who seemed normal butted in "It's a coincidence because the Defense Against the Dark Arts job has a sort of curse on it. No one has been able to keep that job for more than a school year since Harry Potter's first year. Now he will be a teacher in that cursed job, the same year that his best friends kid comes to Hogwarts as a first year. It's almost as if he is there to watch over her..."

"Or keep her in line is more like it. You know the Weasley tradition. Always making mischief." Bruce interrupted

"True. Anyway there are four houses at Hogwarts. You get sorted into them. They are named after the four founders of Hogwarts. All they mean is who you'll have classes with and who you'll eat with and where you'll sleep."

"My family has always been in Hufflepuff. It's a family tradition." Bruce said proudly.

"It's no wonder why." Abbey said with a snort.

"That's a stereotypical statement. Just because you're in Hufflepuff does not mean you are stupid. Cedric Diggory was in Hufflepuff...So there."

Once Cedric's name was said both Bruce and Abbey shared a silent moment. Alex stayed quiet as well but had no idea why. There was so much to learn.

"I'm sorry guys. Could we possibly have a conversation that I could be a part of? Anything but school, or houses, or famous wizard heroes that I should know. Please. Hey Abbey maybe you could explain Quidditch to me."

"If you guys are going to talk about Quidditch I'm leaving. I hate that sport." Bruce said and then left the compartment.

"That's because he was always picked last. He's a little bit of a wimp but he's still ok. You'll get used to him. He's pretty smart actually. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets sorted into Ravenclaw and breaks his family's tradition. Now about Quidditch..." Off she went. She loved everything about the game. The crowd, the Quaffles, the Bludgers, the Snitch. The broomsticks. The racing through the air. The first time she had gone to a Quidditch game when she was five she had taken her dolls and a brush to brush their hair with. But then the game started and she was on her feet more often than the seasoned spectators. At five she was already yelling at the ref's for any call they made against her team. At six she was caught twice by security guards for trying to break onto the field after a game. At seven she had a personalized seat in the crowd. She had been to every game since that first one at age five. Quidditch was her life. And Alex for once forgot about baseball or football which he started playng when he moved to England and became enchanted with the wizard game as Abbey explained every single miniscule detail of the game. If this was the wizarding world was like Alex would have no trouble fitting in. Yet the name Riddle kept hitting a nerve in the back of his mind. Where do I recognize that name from?