Today has possibly been the most interesting of my entire, so far dull, life. I have been in this cursed orphanage as far back as I can remember, they say that I was born here; no-one has turned up to take me away with them. No relations, no family friends, no-one. I don't really care to be honest, I like being on my own, if you stay with others they challenge your choices and decisions, they point out things that are of no importance and they expect you to be nice to them. Nice, that's a funny word, they're always telling me here "be nice" what is nice when you are stuck in a dull place with equally dull people and would rather be left alone?
Even though this has been my home for nearly eleven years now I don't really call it home. I hate all of the people and the carers even the house itself. The great black railings outside about six foot tall house the dull concrete and then as soon as you get inside the drab everything. Grey all around, even our clothes are grey, it's like we live in the workhouse, not an orphanage. Don't get me wrong, I don't like everything colourful and happy, I would prefer to be in a creepy old house where you could get lost in a dark room full of musty old furniture and cracked old windows, where you could just be alone and the only light to see by is that of the moon breaking through the dirty window panes. I don't know what draws me to places like this perhaps it is a place like that where I would have lived before my mother died.
Anyway, they all hate me here. Not that I care, as I mentioned I would rather be alone. Mrs Cole is always trying to get me to play with the other losers in this place but to be honest I hate them. They are all scared of me, the carers know it but they can never catch me at my game, that's the way I like it. I remember a little while back I was forced to play with that stupid Billy Stubbs, well he just wanted to bore me to death about his stupid fluffy rabbit, maybe I would be interested if he had a pet snake, but no, it had to be a stupid little ball of fluff that girls get silly over! I love snakes, I haven't met many but I can communicate with them, I understand what they are saying and they understand me, they are the closest things to friends that I have got, stupid little Amy Benson found me hissing to one once and started screaming as girls do, no-one believed her but they still gave me the icy glare that I have got so used to over the years. I got into an argument with Billy and it ended with his nose pouring with blood, yet I hadn't touched him. I was then sent to my room and wasn't allowed down until the next day, since it was eleven o'clock I wasn't too pleased at missing out of two meals, so I got my own back. The next day I got his stupid fluffy rabbit and carried it up into the attic. The rafters were extremely high and I wasn't a good climber but that didn't stop me. One second I was holding the stupid thing in my arms and the next it was hanging tied by its ears from the rafters, squealing like a pig! I ran downstairs again and settled down to read while the house turned into uproar looking for the source of the squealing. That was the first time that I had full control over my 'gift'.
The next time I managed to use the 'gift' that I had we were out on our summer trip. I was sent to play a stupid ball game with Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop. I didn't particularly want to play so I decided to lead them on a little expedition into a nearby cave. They didn't like what was in store. I lead them through basically a reel of torture throwing them into an icy pool, bringing down rubble all about them; I even managed to get bats to attack them. They were so scared of me that they dared not tell what had happened to them, the carers suspected me, I could tell by the icy stares that I got from them, if only it had been them in that cave. I really was starting to enjoy my powers you see, it kept me alive, it kept me sane, my want of vengeance on whatever had brought me there was burning away inside me and I knew that with my powers I was unstoppable. And it turns out that I was right form the beginning, with all that knowledge I will get at that school I will be able to do whatever I please! Vengeance is sweet.
So I have lived a life of solitary confinement they whisper about 'that Riddle boy', let them whisper, it's only in fear. The carers have tried reasoning with me; they come and sit on the end of my bed, link their fingers and put on a mocking voice and say: "Now Tom." Tom, what sort of name is that! So plain, so boring and ordinary, it lacks power and meaning, I want my name to be known but not as the one that I have now. I now know that my mother gave me my name, Tom after my father, Marvolo after hers and presumably my father's surname was Riddle but I cannot be sure. I'm going to find out all about him when I can, hopefully there will be more information about my ancestry where I am going soon. My mother couldn't have had the same gift as me otherwise she wouldn't have died when she had me.
It won't be too long now until I find out all about my father, as today I found out that I was a wizard! I always knew that I was special and different from all of the other children. I think that it was my father who was a wizard as my mother died; she couldn't have had any magic power.
This morning, I was sitting in my room reading a horror book when that horrible woman Mrs Cole knocked on my door saying that a Mr. Dumbledore had come to see me. Well, he is certainly the strangest looking person that I have ever met. He was tall and thin with a crooked nose which had half moon spectacles perched precariously on the end. He had a long auburn beard and hair that he could tuck into his belt and his eyes were a bright, piercing blue. He wore a suit in a shade of plum, a strange sight to behold in such a bare building; I doubt that this place has ever seen so many colours. I was very wary of this man and glared at him suspiciously as he made his way into my room and held out his hand to me. I took his hand hesitantly still suspicious and when I heard the word Professor uttered I thought that he was a doctor to cart me off to a mad house.
I took some reassuring that he didn't want to take me to a mad house and eventually calmed down enough to listen. He told me how I was a wizard, of course this explained many things and I told him how I had always known I was different, special. I am going to a wizards school called Hogwarts, it's like a boarding school for the gifted and I only have to come back here for the summer holidays for six weeks, the rest of the year I can spend at school.
I went on to tell Dumbledore how I can already do magic and he seemed surprised but not all too pleased at what I had been doing with my power. I told him how I can move things and control animals without touching them and how I can make people hurt when they annoy me. I remember him looking at me quizzically, almost looking into my soul and he said to me:
"Well you were quite right," he said to me, "You are a wizard."
I asked him whether he was a wizard as well when he confirmed my thoughts I demanded for him to show me. He clearly showed displeasure at my 'rudeness' and told me that if I was to join the school I was to call him Professor or sir. I wasn't too pleased to showing manners to a complete stranger that simply walked into my room but played along, hoping to see a little bit of magic. When I amended my words, I thought that he wasn't going to show me after all and simply carry on with his words yet he pulled out a stick from his pocket and pointed it at my wardrobe which burst into flames before my very eyes! I jumped up and roared at him, all of my worldly possessions were in that wardrobe yet he casually set it alight. He flicked his wand again and the flames vanished leaving the wardrobe completely as it was. I stared in astonishment at the wand in his hand and demanded where I could get one. However, he was more interested in what was in my wardrobe. He found my box of stolen goods and warned me not to steal anymore; otherwise I would be chucked out of the school that I was soon to be going to, and to return everything that was stolen. As if I was going to graciously return everything! But there was something in his face that told me to do what he wanted or he would know otherwise. There was something about that unnerving calm gaze that says doesn't mess with me, I have a feeling that he is a powerful wizard; hopefully someday I will be even more powerful than him.
He gave me money to buy my books and school supplies and told me where to go, he wanted to come with me but I thought that I would rather explore the magical world on my own than side by side with a teacher, who knows what I could find on my own!?
When he left I immediately went out and told a snake that I found in the small patch of garden that we have, I get regular visits from them as word has spread that there is a snake talker in the area and they come from far and wide to talk with me. This particular one had heard of Hogwarts. This quenched any worries that the place was real. I can a always trust my little snake friends. I go to Diagon Alley tomorrow after my leaving celebration thing tomorrow, I don't know whether I should appear or not, after all I have only one week and then I am off. I have to catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform nine and three quarters, he failed to tell me how I get there, never mind I'll work it out myself. I can't wait to get to Hogwarts, I bet none of them has the talent of mine, the look Dumbledore gave me about the snake speaking was enough to figure that out.