To say Tom Riddle was excited to go to Hogwarts was a huge understatement, he had never been so happy in his life. He was finally about to leave behind all the stupid kids in that dump of an orphanage. He finally had proof that he was indeed special and thus superior to the other kids there. Not that he would show this happiness outwardly, no Tom only ever smiled when he got the satisfaction of making someone else cry.
So on September 1st, when every other First Year getting ready to get on the Hogwarts Express drove their parents crazy by bouncing of the was in excitement, kipping all over the train station and almost exposing the Wizarding World to the muggles by yelling loudly about the things they were planning to do at Hogwarts; little Tom walked stiffly in his best clothes (he only really owned one nice set of clothes) and with a haughty look through the wall that was the barrier to platform 9 and 3 quarters.
It didn't mean he wasn't nervous, he just didn't like to show his emotions to other people and certainly not to all those stupid little kids jumping around an giving wet goodbye kisses to their parents. He already felt better than them, because he thought himself to be more mature.
He found an empty compartment at the end of the train and seated himself comfortably for the long journey to school. He busied himself with reading his potions book – he was already looking forward to secretly feeding someone a boil potion. Every time someone else passed by, he would give them an ice cold look and especially the kids his age would shrink back immediately and leave him alone. That was totally fine with him, he didn't want to bother with them.
When they finally arrived at their destination, and after putting on his brand new Hogwarts uniform, he made sure he was one of the first ones the be of the train. Despite his own insistence that he wasn't one of those stupid overexcited kids, he didn't want to risk missing out on anything cool.
He elegantly climbed into the first boat and tried to ignore is companions. Even Tom couldn't hold in the gasp that escaped from his lips when he first saw Hogwarts castle. That Dumbledore dude had been right, it was absolutely gorgeous!
After getting out of the boats they were led into a small room and told to wait there until the sorting began. Now that he knew about already, it was one of the other things that weird man had told him about. He wondered what house he was going to be in and if he would find some allies there. Because as bright as he was he realized he would need to " befriend" some people if he wanted to climb higher on the social ladder, for he certainly was a nobody now in this world. But not for long, he thought, not for long if I have anything to say about it!
As queue of first years got shorter and shorter, Tom could feel the palms of his hands get clammy. He tried to tell himself it was because of the comfortable heat in the Great Hall, but he had never been very good at fooling himself, so for the very first time he had to admit that he was nervous. And not a little bit either, that filthy old hat would make a decision that would lay out the path for the rest of his life!
Finally he heard the call: "Riddle, Tom!" And he walked over to the chair and let them drop the hat on hear. It had barely even touched his head, when it called: "Slytherin!"
And so the rest of his life began...