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This wasn't right! He had only been gone for the summer. How could his magnificent basilisk been slaughtered…aged?
In fact how had things changed so quickly? He was quite positive that the Chamber of Secrets had been in better shape just moments beforehand. In fact there was no doubt about it in his mind.
Everything had appeared normal. The doors had obeyed his commands and he had expected his basilisk to be slithering around with pent up energy. The brief forays into the other layers of the castle in the last year had not been nearly enough activity for the creature.
Instead things kept changing. A quick flicker out of the corner of his eye every few seconds that disappeared when he turned to take a closer look.
Now the room shifted in his sight. The chamber flickering, there his basilisk turning to obey his hissed commands like it should, then back to the festering remains that he had stumbled upon.
Suddenly, it stopped and steadied on only the remains.
Tom froze, blinked and when nothing changed in the chamber except for the dripping of water in the pipes slowly moved from his original spot. He walked to his defeated serpent. Every step echoing all wrong.
When he got within inches of the snake, he crouched down to look closer. It's once deadly eyes were crusted with dried blood. The fangs still oozing venom. Venom that sold in Knockturn Alley or other less than reputable areas could pay for the rent on a flat for him for months.
However, monetary value was the last thing on Tom's mind at the moment even if it meant leaving the orphanage the coming summer. Tom raised his hand to touch the face and pulled back once he realized his hand was shaking. He felt a loss standing before the creature. Even though he had had to close the Chamber of Secrets last year, he by no means avoided his inheritance.
In fact it was quite possible that it was the only living creature in the school he really truly enjoyed spending time with.
Now the snake was gone.
Dead.
Just like the person who had defeated his basilisk was going to be when he found him.
Tom fancied that a few rounds of making the poor bloke pay, might just brighten his mood. Or not.
As warming as that sentiment was, Tom soon realized that revenge plots were going to be pushed to the side for a while, when he moved into one of the large pipes heading back to the girl's lavatory.
He was quite positive that there had not been a cave in during the brief amount of time he had been in the chamber. The passageway had been clear when he first arrived. Now it wasn't.
By the time he arrived in front of the sinks that were the opening to his chamber he was pushing down the growing feelings of panic.
"What are you doing here?"
At the sound of the girl's high pitched whine Tom actually jumped much to his distaste. In an attempt to cover his nervousness he whirled around, only to come face to face with the ghost of his victim Myrtle.
"Ohh….I remember you!"
Remember him? He had only been gone for the summer! One raised eyebrow and a quick brush down the front of his robes was Tom's only response to the girl's comment. He didn't even get a chance to glance around the room before she continued.
"Tom Riddle, right? It's been over 50 years since I lusted after you! You're much more handsome than that Potter bloke, more polite too."
50 years? Potter…there was a Potter in Gryffindor, 1st maybe a 2nd year? Lusted? It's clear why she was the first to be killed…perhaps the rest of the female population next. Giggling and screeching should be banned.
"You're not supposed to be here…I'm telling the Headmaster!" with a manic giggle she soared though the nearest wall before Tom had a chance to get a word out otherwise.
Tom briefly debated the idea of heading straight back into the Chamber of Secrets and coming back up at a later time. But with Myrtle keen on informing whoever was reigning Headmaster on his presence he had a feeling that the room would be monitored for his return. No need to give up his one possible advantage so soon.
Anyway he needed information before making any decisions. Things were not exactly going his way and he was not pleased about how the day was progressing at all.
It was soon after he made sure the entrance to the Chamber was sealed that things went downhill even more.
The door to the girl's bathroom opened and Myrtle's excited "He's in here, Headmaster," could be heard. Along with a quiet "thank you Myrtle I can take it from here."
The girl made to protest but the headmaster seemed to turn her attention elsewhere.
When Tom foundhimself face to face with Albus Dumbledore, he almost whished the ghost hadn't left.
The old fool looked liked he always did. Garishly colored robes, a deep violet this day. Half-moon glasses with the blue eyes that never seemed to stop twinkling to the masses but always grew sharp when turned to him. The hair was different though. Last Tom checked his Transfiguration professor did not have grey hair and it was slightly shorter too. Reddish in color also. The grey was not an improvement, nor were the beads added to his beard.
"Tom."
He was pleased to note that Dumbledore's voice seemed apprehensive and unsure, not to mention nervous.
"Yes, sir…I can explain, a rather ridiculous dare on behalf of my fellow roommates. I can assure you I will not be making that same mistake with Abraxas Malfoy again." He laughed slightly, like he was remembering a fun card game or what not.
May as well seem as clueless as possible, not that the old man was going to fall for any of it. The bad thing was, he had no idea what was really going on here.
"I see."
Which it was clear that neither one of them understood anything. Not a good position for either one of them, as both were fond of knowing information that others wanted or needed.
The two wizards regarded each other for a few seconds before either one made a move to continue. Albus was the first to return to the conversation.
"Tom, would you be so kind as to tell me today's date?"
That question did nothing to soothe Tom's already frayed nerves.
"I take it, this is not the year 1943…"
"Quick as always Tom, why don't you move away from the girls' bathroom. I believe we have a few things to discuss. I'm sure whatever caught your attention there can wait."
Tom could feel his hand curl around his wand and his jaw tighten as he forced himself to nod and stay silent. No need to dig himself deeper into trouble than he already was he could deal with the basilisk remains later. At least he hoped he could…
Dumbledore motioned for him to follow andthey both left the bathroom in silence.
He was loft to admit it, but he preferred the layout of the Headmaster's office under Dumbledore better than when it had belonged to Headmaster Dippet. The room instead of feeding an old man's ego by showcasing awards and articles, screamed eccentric scholar instead. There were quite a few objects andbooks in the main office that Tom found he wanted to get his hands on. It went against every one of his sensibilities to accept that Dumbledore was in fact a very talented and powerful wizard. However, Tom knew it would be a cold day in hell when Albus Dumbledore would let him rifle through his personal effects.
The walls, like always, were covered in paintings depicting the past Headmasters over the years. Dippet was snoring softly on the edge of his frame. Tom certainly wasn't impressed.
"Allow me to conjure you a seat Mr. Riddle."
And so he did, a plush dark blue armchair appeared facing Dumbledore and when Tom didn't move to sit down the chair started to repeatedly nudge his legs.
Tom's first thought when the chair made its first swipe of his leg was along the lines of meddlesome old git, that damn twinkle was back in his eye.
Dumbledore's mouth twitched upward he watched Tom grudgingly sit down in the offered chair.
"Well now that you are settled in we can begin." Albus said his voice no longer showing signs of surprise or discomfort at seeing Tom. Andsettled in, would be one way to describe Tom who was carefully perched at the very edge of the seat as if he was expecting it to swallow him whole at any second.
"If you would please begin with telling me the basic facts of what you assume to be true right now. From there I'll fill in as much as I believe I am able to Tom."
Tom shifted on the chair but refused to allow himself to lean back and get more comfortable. He sorted out his thoughts pushing the ones he absolutely did not want Dumbledore to get his hands on to the back of his mind. He was going to study Occlumency and Legilimency more than ever after this was over.
"Well, sir, this is the first week of my 6thyear at school. It's a Friday, as I said before, a stupid dare with Abraxas landed me in the girl's bathroom… When did young Miss Myrtle return as a ghost, I would have never interrupted her had I known?" any other teacher would have fell hook line and sinker for his construed answer. It was an almost perfect mix of boyishness and humbleness. Dumbledore just nodded and picked out a lemon drop from the bowl on his desk. Unlike in the past he made no move to offer one to Tom much to Tom's relief.
Tom continued, "The differences seem to mostly show in you, sir. Headmaster now?"
"Indeed I am now Hogwarts' Headmaster. " he folded his fingers in front of him before continuing, "and it is no longer the year 1943 as you have so clearly deducted. As for Miss Myrtle, she returned not even a week after her unfortunate death. I believe she spent a good deal of time hiding from her peers and subsequent mocking. People can be inherently cruel in even the most shocking situations." His blue eyes moving to meet Tom's as he finished talking.
"But that has little to do with why you are here now. Any ideas, Tom?"
He weighed his next words carefully, the polite tone the conversation was taking only masked the fact that both wizards were unsure about each other's motives. Tom would not put it past the man to not let him leave the room unscathed if he knew more than he should.
"Time travel, sir?" he cut right to the chase. It was the most obvious explanation for the changes and Dumbledore's unfortunate appearance.
"Indeed that is a logical assumption, if time can be considered logical," he replied. " And in this case I believe you are correct. As for this year's date it's August of 1996. The new school year will be starting next month."
"1996!?" he tried to keep his voice as steady as possible and mentally chided himself when he failed.
"I am at a slight loss at how to move from here. I do not know how you come to travel forward in time. While it's not a novel idea, time travel has caught the eye of many, I have never heard of a successful attempt to move forward in time. It is also clear that you did not orchestrate this on purpose." He stopped and rubbed the bridge of his crooked nose.
"I do not know how to send you back, nor do I know what to tell you without ruining a good number of peoples pasts and futures."
Tom nodded finally deciding that it was safe to lean back in the arm chair. It looked like he wasn't leaving for a while, if at all.
"The laws of time travel, I've researched them, they only discuss traveling back in time, not forward." He leaned forward before reciting the basic rules pertaining to traveling to one's past. The inability to kill or harm one's ancestors, the careful avoidance of one's past self and the do not try and change the future under any circumstance rule. The last one was the most inconvenient and easily bent rule. "However it is possible that they apply loosely to the future. "
Now he actually found himself smirking at the Headmaster. Knowing that the year difference was that far apart guaranteed him a decent amount of safety. Dumbledorewould not be fondof screwing around with time lines. But he needed more information than he had already, he had a sinking feeling that Dumbledore knew entirely too much information about him. Past and future self.
The former veiled mistrust and politeness on the man's behalf had turned into a cautious and blatant disappointment and dislike.
Suddenly, Tom realized just how much trouble he really was in. This was a man that knew more about his actions than he did. A charming manor and twist of words wasn't going to get him out of this mess.
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