so I hope I'm doing this right! A word before you begin: this may look like
its an ordinary what-Tom-Riddle-did-at-Hogwarts fic, but it isn't. There is a
Dark Lord for a villian, and Tom Riddle is the hero. But there's a difference....
this is taking place during oh, say... 1992 or 1991. Anyone getting any ideas?
If you don't have any idea of what that means, then look at the name of the
Dark Lord when it's mentioned. It's a clue to what is the basis of this story!
Chapter 1: Tom Riddle, not your average orphan...
Tom Riddle rubbed his eyes and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
He glanced around with a sigh. Ever since he could remember, he'd lived in this orphanage,
watching as the friends he made came and went as they were adopted by the people who
supposively loved children so much. No one ever wanted to adopt him though. He
supposed it was because of the scar he had that ran along his temple, starting from just
above his eyebrow to his ear. It looked like a snake, and it was the only thing he had left
of his dear ol' mum.
Tom glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only 7:35, so he could try to fall back
asleep for a few minutes, before one of the employees came to wake him up at 8 am. The
only person left in the room was himself, and he was expecting to be downsized to a smaller
room anyway, since he was the only boy left that was exactly his age, 11. He knew why: it
was his scar, the one thing about him that made any couple who would want a child like him
for their very own turn away in disgust or fear, and all the fault of his mother's death in what
he was told was a freak gas explosion.
"Oh well," Tom thought, "its 7:40 am by now, might as well get up..." So Tom,
who thought himself the most unlucky boy he'd ever met, started his day, unaware that
his life was about to change in an extremely lucky way...
* * *
"TOM!" called Rosa, manager of Orphanage #1983, Northshire, Nottingham
County, England, asdecreed by Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. However by
the looks of it, it looked more of having been decreed by Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth I.
"THOMAS MARVOLO RIDDLE, YOU'VE GOT MAIL FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE,
WOULDN'T YO-" Rosa's angry yells were cut off by the gust of wind and streak of grey she
could only assume was Tom, but her assumtion was correct when she heard his, "Thanks Rosa,
sorry I thought you were just yelling at me again.."
Tom came out of motion and landed at the great table in the dining hall, which was
occupied only by himself and Rosa at the moment. It would be at least 8 if not 9 when the younger
children would be awake. Tom did try to eat earlier than them anyway, his scar usually gave the
smallest of them a fright.
"So what's in the letter, Tommy?" Rosa asked innocently. Tom rolled his eyes and read
how it was addressed.
"To Mr. Thomas M. Riddle, 948 Glenwood Drive, Northshire, Nottingham Country,
Great Britain." Tom read off in a falsely offical voice. He turned the funny paper over- he guessed
it was parchment- and looked at the seal on it. It wasn't the seal of any program any of the
Ministries run that he had ever seen, it being an 'H' with several animals around it, and in
green wax. He cracked it open, and read to himself:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Riddle,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Tom read it, and re-read it, and finally read it out loud to Rosa. She looked somewhat
suprised at it, but then the idea of magic wasn't a suprise to her: unknown to many people,
wizard and non-wizard (called Muggles) alike, the most common job of a Squib, or a person
with no magical ability but born into a wizarding family, was managing orphanages. This was
due to the fact that in the instances where Muggle-born wizards or witches appeared there,
the arrival of their letter would be less shocking if there was someone familiar with magical
going-ons present, to make the transition easier for the child. After the horrible incident back
in '93, well 1893, when a Muggle-born witch was discovered to be in a London orphanage,
the Ministry of Magic had to set the world record number of Memory charms: 1,978. After that
all Squibs were employed to run orphanages, and paid well for it, so that such an event never
occured before.
"Congradulations Tom!" said Rosa pleasantly. "I would wanted to tell you earlier,
but I was told to wait for the letter from Hogwarts before I could talk to you about this."
"What does all of this mean... and what can you tell me, Rosa?" Tom asked uncertainly.
"Well you're a wizard, if that isn't clear to you already Tom. And, might I add, you're an
extremely famous one."
"But... how?"
"Let me start at the beginning. I am a Squib. That means that my mum and dad were a
wizard and a witch, but I don't have any magical ability."
"What does that have to do with me, and this letter?" Tom asked shakily.
"For several years before you were born, a Dark wizard - someone who did the Dark Arts,
which are the bad forms of magic, terrorized the magical community of Britain, and the non-magical
as well, which we call Muggles. That's why there were so many children in your year Tom, because
many people had been killed..."
"He was evil, so evil... and one night he came to your house, Tom. He killed your mother,
and your father was dead already, and then he turned to you... you were only a baby, and he went
to kill you as well but it didn't work... that's how you got your scar. You were an overnight
sensation, Tom! Thats why you were sent here, where most magical folk would never find you...
You would have not liked the life you would have had, if you were to stay in the spotlight..."
"What was his name, Rosa?"
"Oh Tom... Any magical person who wasn't a Death Eater - what his followers were called -
called him You-Know-Who or He-Whose-Name-I-Will-Not-Say. But... well I'm going to have to get
you to London-town soon anyway. I'll tell you now, but please don't repeat his name, alright?"
"Sure Rosa..." said Tom agreeably.
"His name was Hortpareyt."
There was a slamming at the door, followed by a whispered "Oops!" and then the noises of two
women entering the building, one heading towards the kitchen and the other towards the dining room.
"Susan, please watch over the children today!" called Rosa.
"What for, Rosie?" said Susan. She walked into the room and sat down next to Rosa,
who was across from Tom, who shoved some papers under the table nervously. Susan looked at him
suspiciously for a moment, then turned to her boss.
"Oh... well I need to take Thomas here in to... do some work on his case. I got a letter this
morning saying they wanted to see him, in person, A.S.A.P. about his file... Who knows with the
way the Ministry is, these days..." Rosa mumbled quickly, glancing out the door of the room.
"Sure then, do you want to use my car?"
"Oh no Susan, that's really alright." said Rosa after a pause, with a smile. "I'll use my car."
"You mean they've .. let you.. use... floo?" Susan gasped. Rosa nodded with glee.
Tom turned to Susan. "You're a Squib too?"
"Oh yes, unfortunately. That's why Rosa and I are in charge here!"
"But why did Rosa say that about my file and case and the Ministry..." said a somewhat
confused Tom.
"Oh that's because I saw Nancy, the cook and a Muggle, walking by, dear." Rosa smiled.
"We should get going now if we're going to leave at all..."
"But what about breakfast?" Tom said with dissapointment.
"Tom we can get something to eat in Diagon Alley, which is where we need to go.
Now give me your letter and go get dressed. I'll be waiting in my office."
Tom nodded and ran upstairs, as quietly as an excited 11-year-old could go.
Ok well thats chapter 1! Did you get the name of the villian, and who he really is?
If you didn't figure it out, then check back at the start of the next chapter to get the answer!
Ok, and just because I am not sure whether or not anyone will like this story, I'll only post
the next chapter if I get ten reviews, so that way I'm not posting a story that no one is reading.
k? Ja ne till then! Any c & c is welcome! ~LPG