For the first ten years of the boy's life, people seemed to fear him. There was something about Tom Riddle, he would hear them whisper, that wasn't quite right. He believed them. He could feel it. There was something inside him that was missing. Something not quite in its place.

It wasn't the fact that he had… abilities. It wasn't that he could move things with just his mind or that his very presence could terrify the other orphans. It was something more, something that had been wrong with him since birth. He was always a little separate from other people, always just a little indifferent to their emotions. But the more he tried to put a name to it, tried to understand what might be wrong with him, the more he feared himself.

It was only when Dumbledore showed up at the orphanage that he could start to understand. At first, there was more fear. The man with the red beard was evil; he was there to drag him off to an asylum. The matron of the orphanage, Mrs. Cole, was finally done with him and wanted him gone.

But he was wrong, and it felt like out of nowhere Dumbledore was telling him, "You're a wizard," and for once, something an adult had told him made sense.


At Hogwarts, Tom found a home. There, he belonged. He was surrounded by children who had the same abilities as him, even though he despised blending in with others. He was bright, ambitious, and charming. Brilliant, his teachers would say of him. He even managed to collect a group of followers, who all wanted a leader to protect them, to help them wreak more havoc. None of them could be called friends, though, and even when surrounded by people, Tom was alone. And the sense of belonging he felt at Hogwarts was not enough to quench his thirst. He needed to know more. He needed to know where he came from.

Most of Tom's time was spent in solitude in the library, as he much preferred to be on his own. After hours and hours spent looking for his father, Tom Riddle Senior, he was forced to conclude that his father was, in fact, a Muggle. But finally, one day, he found the truth. Using the name Marvolo instead of Riddle, he found his family. Marvolo, Morfin, Merope… His mother had been Merope Gaunt, and through her bloodline, he was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself.

He had expected to feel relief that he now knew where he was from. One of the biggest questions of his childhood had been answered. But he felt no such thing. Because now, he knew that even though his mother had been a witch, she had still died after giving birth to him. He was left parentless because she had not saved herself, and he had no idea why.

So by the summer before his seventh year at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle had made up his mind. He was going to pay a visit to Little Hangleton. There, he would finally find the whole truth and just maybe, understand who he had become.

Note: In this fanfic, Tom hasn't opened the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts.