The Boy Who Could Talk To Snakes
By Nikkel
(c) to J.K. Rowling
He hated the place.
He hated the grass that was yellow, even when it rained every afternoon. He hated the rusty swingsets, leaving rust stains on his palms. He hated the wrenching sound of the ancient merry-go-round.
Young Tom Riddle hated Wool's Orphanage.
He sat on the swingset alone. Normally, the swingset would be swarmed by the other children, but he had managed to catch one just before anyone else could. And now that he was on it, no one wanted to go near him. They thought he was weird, diseased even. Tom snorted – they were so dumb. He knew he was more than a little different.
"Hey, Tommy boy!" a voice carried over the small backyard. Tom looked up and saw Ryan Bigby, a rather large boy that was known for bullying the smaller children. He had his two cronies had their fists on their hips and were glaring at him. "We wanna go on the swings!"
Tom returned the glare. "Then you're just going to have to wait your turn, aren't you?"
"No," Ryan said, his face screwing up in frustration. "I wanna go now."
"Uh, Ryan? Maybe we should just leave him be... You know what Maddy said..." spoke up one of Ryan's cronies. Ryan turned his rounded face towards him.
"What you talkin' 'bout, Georgie?" he spat. "What'd Maddy say?"
"That Tom... That Tom can..."
"Spit it out!"
"Tomcantalktosnakes," Georgie said hurriedly, casting his eyes down at his shoes.
Ryan laughed, obnoxious and loud. He turned to Tom. "Talk to snakes, can you? I don't believe you. You're too stupid to talk to snakes. Now, get off my swing!"
"I can talk to snakes," Tom retorted, his fists clenching the chains of the swing. "And you're the stupid one for not believing I can."
"Oh yeah?" Ryan crowed. "Prove it."
Tom didn't move. There weren't any snakes around, and so Ryan was putting him up to an impossible task. He frowned, still glaring hard at the bully, and stepped off the seat.
"I'll show you," Tom growled, his eyes seeming to darken more than they already were. "Next time we go to the beach. I'll show you and everyone else. And you'll regret it."
~.~.~.~.~
It was a cold day at the beach, but it was a day at the beach nonetheless. Tom Riddle prowled the rocky shore, overturning various rocks to inspect the creatures underneath, and then tossing them aside. For some reason, insects fascinated him – they were so tiny and twitchy, and he could crush them between two fingers most of the time. He could overpower them so easily.
"So, Tommy boy," a voice called behind him, belonging to none other than Ryan. "Let's see this snake trick of yours."
Tom stood and turned around to face him. "I have to find one first... Duh."
"What, can't call it by name?"
Tom paused; how had he not thought of that before? It would have been so much easier to call a snake to him than waste his time searching for one. He turned back around so that Ryan could not see him.
"Come to me..." he hissed. Ryan and his cronies were laughing behind him... He needed a snake to appear, just one snake. He clenched his fists, drawing in his breath; he didn't want to think of what would happen if he didn't prove he could talk to snakes. He knew he could. "Come..."
"You call that snake-talk?" Ryan shouted. "Hsst! Hsst! Hsst! See, I can talk to snakes too!"
And there. Tom spotted a thick, black snake, streaming through the rocks as smooth as water. It came down towards him and raised its flat, diamond-shaped head, its black tongue flickering out. It had come.
"A human ssssssspeakssssss my tongue? How intriguingggg, how intriguinggggg indeeeeeeeed..." the addler hissed, watching Tom with glistening black eyes. "What isssss it that you neeeeeeed from meeeeeee?"
"You see those boys over there?" Tom replied, motioning at Ryan over his shoulder. "Attack them."
"But they have done nothingggg to meeee... I ssshould attack youuuu for dissssrupting a huntinggg sssssssessssion."
"What's the hold up, Tommy boy? Hsst! Hsst!" Ryan called.
Tom ignored him, still focused on the snake. "See? That's what I have to put up with. If you attack them, I'll catch your dinner for you."
"Fooooooolisssshhhh human... I need no sssssssservant..." The snake began to slither away, uninterested. Anger boiled in the young Tom Riddle, and his eyes became completely black as he raised a hand to the wandering snake, as if to telekinetically pull it back towards him.
"You will listen to me, snake," he commanded.
"What arrrrrre youuuuu dooooing to meeee?" the snake cried as it began to slither backward against its own will. Tom grinned, realizing that he was now in complete control, and turned around, the snake at his side. A twisted little smile adorned his pale features.
"Come here, Ryan. I have something to show you," Tom called out, his hand poised above the snake's head, it's body raised in an attacking position. He watched with pleasure as Ryan's mouth went slack and his face turn pale. "Or are you afraid that the snake-talker will get you?"
"I..." Ryan stuttered. His cronies were now hiding behind him. "That... That doesn't prove anything! It just likes you!"
"Would you like me to tell it to attack?" Tom asked, his smile remaining. "Because I can. Watch. Att –"
"N-No! Stop it!" Ryan cried. "I believe you!"
"I don't think you do, Ryan. I need you to be honest with me."
"I do! I really, really do!"
Tom turned to the snake. "Do you think he believes me, addler?"
"I do not knowwww, ssssssirrr... Jussssst what are you doooooooinggg to meeee?" the snake replied.
"Stop that!" Ryan yelled. "You... You freak!"
"Let's get outta here!" Georgie bellowed, and the three of them scattered away.
Tom turned to the snake, kneeling down and unrolling his jacket sleeve. "We'll get them. Climb onto me."
"Conssssssidering I have no other choiiiiiiccceee... I mussssst..." the snake hissed back, annoyed, but coiled its leathery, black body around his right arm. Tom pulled his sleeve back down with a slight bulge in the creases.
Nobody would even notice.
~.~.~.~.~
It was half-past midnight when Tom sat up in bed. He wasn't much of a sleeper, and he had had to wait for everyone to go to bed. His feet shifted across the wooden floor as not to make a sound. He knelt down to the wardrobe in the corner of his room, opening it to reveal a shoebox with holes in the sides, held down by a single stone. Inside, was the addler snake he had found at the beach a fortnight ago.
"Time to come out to play, Mr. Snake," Tom chuckled. "Are you hungry?"
"Sssssstaaaaaarrrrviinggggg..." the snake hissed angrily. "You ssssssssssaid you would feeeed meeeee... You liiiiiiied..."
"No, no, Mr. Snake. I did not. You feed tonight, and on raw, human flesh."
"Human flessssssssssshhh?"
"Did I stutter?"
"Nooo... But oncccccccce I do thissssssss for you, you will let me gooooo?"
"Yes, Mr. Snake. That is our deal."
"Exxxxxxxxxcccellent..."
"Your prey sleeps on the third floor, seventh bed on the left... Don't disappoint me."
The snake gave a final hiss and slithered out of the box. Tom opened a crack in the door enough for the snake to fit through, closing it after it left the room. He then crossed back to his bed and laid down in it with his hands behind his head, a smile playing his lips.
"Any moment now," he said aloud, his heart pounding with excitement. "They will all fear me..."
The minutes ticked by, the silver light of the moon filtering through his window and spilling onto the floor. A bloodcurdling scream rose in the air, shrill and terrified, the lights of the orphanage coming on immediately. Tom rolled over into his blankets, knuckles curled up to his mouth, stifling his ridiculous fits of laughter.
Ryan was dead by dawn.
Author's Note: Woohoo! Harry Potter! Not something I do often... Nonetheless, I love to draw similarities between Tom Riddle and Harry. While Harry was not present in this fic, he and Tom had a similar expierence - they were both pushed around by people larger than them. Harry grudgingly took Dudley's bullying and didn't fight back, whereas Tom sought revenge... Just another point to that a whole situation can change by just one choice.