Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story, J.K. Rowling does. I wish I owned them, but I don't.
In the beginning I did not intend to become the Dark Lord, whom everyone feared and hated. I just planned to go to Hogwarts, and maybe work for the Ministry of Magic after that. But things don't usually turn out the way we expect them to. A calm, simple life was not my fate, but I soon realized that I didn't want a normal mortal life. I wanted something more.
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My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. My mother was a witch, however, my father was the lowest scum on earth- a common, filthy Muggle. He left my mother when she told him that she was a witch. She died very soon after my father left. I was sent to a Muggle orphanage, where I was desprately unnhappy. I felt a bitter hatred towards all Muggles, my father especially. There was only one tiny ray of hope in my life, and that was Hogwarts. My mother had told me all about it before she died. I kept picturing the day when I would finally leave for Hogwarts over and over in my mind.
Finally, when I was ten years old, a man named Professor Dippet came to the orphanage. He explained everything about Hogwarts to me and the head of the orphanage. I could barely contain my excitment.
For the first time in over five years, I left the orphanage with Professor Dippet. We went to Diagon Alley, which was carefully hidden away from Muggle eyes. There I bought my wand, cauldron, and other magical equipment. Professor Dippet bought me lunch at a little resturant in Diagon Alley, and gave me my ticket for the Hogwarts Express. It read "Hogwarts Express, Platform 9 3/4, September 1st, 1942, 11:00"
To my dissapointment, Dippet told me I would have to stay at the orphanage until it was time to go to Hogwarts. I guess I should have expected it, but it still dissapointed me.
Two weeks later, I boarded the Hogwarts Express. I sat in a compartment with a boy named Lucius Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle. I liked Lucius. He was a pureblood wizard, who knew all about Hogwarts. He told me about the four school houses. I noticed that he spend more time talking about Slytherin than any of the other houses. Slytherin sounded like the perfect house for me. Lucius explained that an old hat called the Sorting Hat sorted everyone into their houses. Maybe I could somehow persuade this Sorting Hat to put me in Slytherin.
Soon after the sun had set, the Hogwarts Express slowed down, and then, finally stopped. As we got off the train, a man who introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore led all the first years into small boats on the edge of enourmous lake. The water looked almost black in the moonlight. Lucius, Crabbe, Goyle and I shared a boat. We were silent on the ride across the lake.
Dumbledore took us into the huge castle. We stood there, rather nervously, until Professor Dippet came to take us to the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was an enourmous room with a high ceiling. The ceiling looked exactly as the sky outside had. I later learned that it was enchanted to look this way.
An old patched hat sat on a stool in the front of the hall. The hat sang a song to the whole school,
describing the four Hogwarts houses. Professor Dumbledore then began to read a list of names, and as each name was called, that person sat on the stool, and put the hat on until it shouted the name of their house. Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle were all put in Slytherin.
After what seemed like an endless list of names, Dippet finally shouted "Riddle, Tom!" I walked up to the stool, and placed the hat on my head. A small high voice began to whisper in my ear.
"Now, let's see. Very brave, good mind, talent.....you might do well in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.....oh dear, no, that wouldn't do at all, certainly not..... you definitely belong in SLYTHERIN!"
I took my place at the Slytherin table, amidst loud clapping and cheering. Professor Dippet made a short speech, which was followed by a feast. The food was wonderful, a thousand times better than anything we'd ever had at the Muggle orphange. All the Slytherins seemed very intrigued when I told them that I had lived with Muggles almost all of my life, and most of them shared my dislike of Muggles as well.
After the feast, the Slytherin prefects led us up to our dormitories. The first year dormitory was a circular room with five four-poster beds. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep quickly. I had a very strange dream that night. In my dream, I saw a little boy, with black hair and green eyes, and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He was staring at me with eyes full of vehement hatred. He pointed his wand at me, and uttered a word that I could not hear. I woke up in a cold sweat. The dream had seemed so vivid, so strangely real, and while I could not begin to guess what it meant, I somehow know that it was not just a dream, but a vision of things yet to come.
