Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to, I DO NOT own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They belong to the spectacular JK Rowling

Chapter 1- An Involuntary Introduction

Tom's POV

Tom Riddle wandered along the dark halls of the third floor corridor on Prefect Duty. Why did I ever agree on being a Prefect? Or even Head Boy for that matter. I haven't had a decent night's rest since 5th year- he thought, gloomily. A quiet bustling sounded within the girl's bathroom. With an exasperated sigh, Tom walked towards the ruckus and stopped in front of the destination. He hesitantly knocked several times before speaking.

"Myrtle?"

*sob*"Yes?"

"Myrtle, we've been through this more times than necessary. This area is out of bounds at night. Return to your dormitory."

A red faced, puffy eyed Myrtle opened the door and looked up at Tom.

"But they keep teasing me. They make fun of my glasses, the girls in Ravenclaw."

What do I say? He thought. Tom had never been good at this 'empathy', 'sympathy' or anything of that nature.

"Don't listen to them. They're just jealous. Your glasses are …erm…. they make you look very pretty."

"Really, Tom? Thank you, you are so nice!"

She exclaimed, hugging him whilst Tom tried his very best to suppress his grimace before Myrtle skipped off with a wide smile on her face and a spring to her step. Tom swallowed the bile rising up his throat and resisted the urge to gag.

Honestly, why did he agree to put up with this on a nightly basis?

He cast a cleaning charm upon his robes to sanitise the mudblood filth in which he had come into unfortunate contact with.

As Tom continued stalking the halls, he felt a light tug in his navel. Disregarding the sensation, he went back to his activity until a more demanding tug was felt.

He turned around swiftly, wand in hand, and eyed for the offender, except there was no one to be seen.

"Who dares to interfere with me? Head boy and Prefect? Come out, show yourselves," Riddle inquired, furiously, only to be answered by complete silence.

After one more suspicious glance, he turned back and resumed patrolling the corridor, still fuming.

All of a sudden Tom crumpled onto the floor, hands clutching his abdomen as an insistent, sharp tug grasped at his navel, crushing his intestines (at least it felt that way).

The pain was unbearable and Tom tried his absolute best to contain his cries of agony, not wanting anybody to see a model student in this broken state.

Without any forewarning, the teenager was pulled by an almighty force and was dragged into oblivion.

Harry's POV

Harry was franticly swishing his wand around, trying to get a reaction. Failing miserably, he sighed and turned to his bushy haired friend in desperate hope for assistance.

"Hermione, please help me"

"Harry, you have to achieve this on your own. I have been too lenient with you and Ronald. I let you copy my notes for everything! Can't you do something yourself for once!? You can't expect everything to appear right in front of you on a silver platter, now do you?!" Hermione concluded, panting slightly.

Ron and Harry stared, dumbfounded, at their raging companion. After a short, awkward silence, Hermione inhaled deeply and glanced at her two terrified friends, her expression softer.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. Just please don't pester me this lesson as this is probably the first time I couldn't manage a spell in charms." She stated, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

"It's alright Hermione, you don't have to be good at everything. And besides, what is the actual point of this lesson? Why do we need to learn how to summon a person. It seems quite unnecessary to me," huffed Harry. "We really should get back to work."

Just at that moment, Professor Flitwick walked towards them.

"Why don't I see anyone working?" he inquired inquisitively.

"We were just having trouble performing the spell, sir," Ron replied.

"Nonsense! You three are in fifth year and we've practiced for weeks" The short professor leaned in closer to the trio, looking around cautiously before adding "Even Neville Longbottom has succeeded with casting this spell". He gestured to Neville who indeed succeeded with the charm. The three tried to stifle their giggles as they saw his Grandma, whom he had summoned, fussing with his hair and pinching his cheeks.

"Just try again. I'm sure you'll accomplish this task eventually but until then I wi-"

"AAAAHHHHH!"

The whole class whipped their heads back to the source of the noise. It seemed as though Seamus Finnigan had convened none other than Rumbleroar, a talking lion and headmaster of the wizarding school, Pigfarts. The bloody idiot.

"Oh dear, not again. I guess Mr Finnigan requires my presence. I'll check on you later," the Head of Ravenclaw said before walking over to the student in need.

"What did he mean by 'not again'?" Ron asked, puzzled. Lavender Brown leaned in and joined the conversation.

"I heard Malfoy summon him last lesson. He was complaining about needing a rocket ship or something or other," she equipped, chirpily.

"Absolute twats. They should know better than to summon a headmaster. Especially one from another planet!" Hermione tutted, disbelievingly. "We should get back to work. There are only fifteen minutes 'til the end of this period, and I do not want to spend yet another lesson on this task."

Lavender left the trio to go back to her friends and the remaining three returned to their assigned task hesitantly. Hermione and Harry were muttering to themselves and waving their wands around. Harry was rewarded with a spark emitting the holly and phoenix feather stick, but his moment of pride deflated quickly upon realising that his attempt didn't work out. Meanwhile a very bored Ronald Weasley was contemplating different plans and strategies in order for the trio to achieve the set duty in an easier way. Just then, the boy's eyes lit up as he assembled a master plan.

"Hey harry?" Ron asked with a mischievous grin.

"Hm?" Answered harry without turning to the redhead.

"I've got a brilliant idea"

"Will it get us killed?"

"Nah nah. What if we asked to summon something but without… specifying it precisely?" He asked hopefully.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry turned to his friend. "Give an example."

"Like, instead of saying something direct, such as 'Molly Weasley' or 'Albus Dumbledore', we could say 'someone caring' or 'someone wise'. D'you get what I mean?

"Yes, but what's the point of doing that? We could end up with snake-face in front of us. Or even worse, Umbridge," Harry stated with a shudder.

"Come on. Please? It'd be fun. Besides, it would certainly make this lesson a lot more interesting," Ron pleaded desperately.

"Fine, fine! I still think it's a stupid and reckless idea, but I don't think I could stand repeating this lesson again."

"Okay, great! I'll go first!"

Ron held up his wand in front of him and uttered the incantation before adding "I require somebody strong."

After a light 'pop' and a flash of light, a dumbfounded Gregory Goyle appeared in front of the spell caster. The ape-like boy scratched his head perplexedly. The act caused an avalanche of dandruff to cascade onto a nearby bench.

"How did I get here?"He asked, looking around the room. "I swear I was right over there," He added, pointing to the other side of the room where Malfoy and Crabbe were scrambling around looking for their companion.

"Just. Leave," Ron sighed exasperatedly.

Goyle turned around absently and walked snail-paced to his gang. Harry was chuckling beside Ron.

"He's a bit slow, that one," the brunette said with a small smirk on his face.

"What's up with him? He looked like a zombie,"

"Doesn't he always?" The two boys sniggered before gathering themselves.

"Well it's your turn, mate" The freckled teenager announced.

Harry Potter took a deep breath and focused on the space in front of him. He spoke the words of the incantation, making sure he pronounces every word correctly. "Bring forth a person whom I do not expect".

His wand jerked at an awkward angle and a bright spark was discharged from the end of it making a few nearby classmates turn to the source of light. The boy repeated the process a second time, thrusting his wand with increased velocity, but was only rewarded with the previous outcome.

Harry sighed in frustration and turned to his two friends.

"It's not working," he muttered. His shoulders slumped in humiliation as he watched the remainder of the class accomplishing the charm.

Hermione smiled encouragingly. "You got a pretty strong reaction. Just try one more time; I'm sure you'll get it right." Next to her, Ron and a few other students nodded in agreement.

All eyes were on him now and he desperately wanted them all to turn away. The prying eyes would surely make it difficult to focus and it would be a nightmare if he failed, since everyone was here to witness it.

Harry eyed the patch of vacant ground ahead of him with a fierce determination. He chanted the words precisely and thrust his wand in a swift, circular motion and waited. Nothing happened. The teenager stared at the ground and clenched his fists. I am a failure. It was just one simple spell! Maybe Uncle Vernon was right; maybe I am just a worthless, usel-

The negative thoughts were cut off as something, or rather, someone, landed on an unsuspecting Harry with a thud.