Disclaimer: Harry Potter and, therefore Tom Riddle belongs to JK Rowling and whoever else she sold the rights to, I do not profit from this except through hopefully receiving a good grade.
Harry Potter Uncovered (It's Tom Riddle's Time To Shine Now!)
The door creaks ominously as you walk in making you gulp nervously, but you creep further in nevertheless, it's not like you really have a choice! You must get this story, the Harry Potter septet from Voldemort's point of view? Priceless! Reminder to self, thank author for this interview. It had been set up through the infamous Dark Lord, no less! The poor author had been at her wits end for a story idea that would live up to this new assignment's parameters, until on a whim, the marvelously creative author had owled Voldemort himself! Miraculously he had agreed, promising that no harm would come to poor, dear, Reader. He really only wanted a chance to tell his story! You only had to travel to the mystical place where fictional characters go to die. Also known as, they don't! It's just an island in the Bermuda Triangle where fictional characters go where they "die". It's gotten quite large after Steven Moffat made his debut.
Back to the present, Reader had very courageously gone to the remake of Riddle Manor on the island at the specified time proceeding to knock on the intimidating doors and then been ushered inside by a cowering Wormtail, the traitor. Currently, Reader was in the process of creeping into the Dark Lord's throne room after Pettigrew had given the all clear to go in. Progress was slow going however, for as one would assume, the DARK Lord's mansion was shrouded in shadows. Suddenly candles flared to light, it seems Voldemort was just entering the room himself. He seemed almost as surprised to see you there as you were him.
"Yes, hello there- MAKE IT SNAPPY WORMTAIL! Hem hem, excuse me, I was just…...asking… the ra- butler! The butler! To get us some tea, I rather thought I would have more time to prepare before our….esteemed guest…..arrived." Voldemort said trying to give a smile that wasn't as bloodthirsty and maniacal as normal- it didn't work.
"I- yes, well. I always do try to be punctual." Reader replied nervously hoping they didn't upset the Dark Lord too much.
"Ah yes, punctuality. Always a good quality to strive for in life. Come, do have a seat." Said Voldemort sweeping his arm off to the side where now one could see two couches facing each other with a low coffee table sitting in between. Reader complied, hesitantly making their way over to the couch and gingerly sitting on one as if afraid it would suddenly come to life and eat them alive. The Dark Lord seemed to take amusement from this, sweeping over in his long black robes and gracefully taking his own seat.
"Now, while we're waiting for Wormtail to arrive with our tea is there thing or place in particular where you would like to start our interview?" Voldemort inquired.
"Ah, uhm. That is to say, I- I thought that maybe some background into your childhood would give more insight as to your position morally, as well as in the recently ended war?" Reader replied nervously, sweat building on their brow.
"Perfectly understandable, one's childhood is always a solid place to start when trying to understand a person. Or what passed for a childhood in this place." He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named replied, a scowl falling over his features.
Reader gulped nervously 'Oh you've really stepped in it now ' they thought to themself, anxiously awaiting the Dark Lord's tail.
"You see, it all started on the 31st of December 1926 at Wool's Orphanage, a rather small establishment in London…" He began summoning a pensieve from somewhere in the mansion's depths and once it arrived somehow unscathed he offered it to Reader who hesitantly lowered their face to the pensieve's surface allowing theirself to be sucked into the memory.
-Flashback to December 31, 1926-
Snow blew against the window, wind howled through the bare trees, and all of a sudden a newborn's cry could be heard, another life had just been brought into the world at Wool's Orphanage.
"Miss? Miss! Stay awake Miss! Your child, what about your child?" said frantically rushing around trying to keep the young woman conscious, anyone with eyes could tell she would not make it through the night, possibly not the next five minutes!
"Tom…" A croaked whisper could be heard coming from the young woman's chapped lips calming the child in the process.
"Miss?" said questioningly halting her distraught actions.
"Tom...his name will be Tom Marvolo Riddle, after his father." The young woman smiled looking down at the boy in her arms before drawing her last shuddering breath.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Cole sighed slumping in a chair situated next to the bed the now deceased young mother was lying in. "Come here Tom," She whispered as to not disturb him as she lifted him from his mother's limp arms. "What ever shall we do with you…."
-End Flashback-
Apparently Wormtail had arrived back with the promised tea as it was sitting on the coffee table when Reader brought their head out of the pensieve. Poor reader was just a little disturbed to have had both Wormtail and the Dark Lord around your prone body when you could have done nothing to stop any harm they might have inflicted on your person. You persevered onwards however making yourself a cuppa and settling in to listen to the Dark Lord's explanation.
"I extracted the memory from the matron once I returned to the wretched place after I graduated." He began once he finished the sip of tea he had been taking. "As you can see, herself was nice enough, the kids however…" The Dark Lord trailed off with a sneer marring his already admittedly grotesque features. "Growing up in such a place, I'll admit, I became twisted. I wanted revenge on not only my family but the disgusting muggles who had subjected me to such torture. Hogwarts was my safe haven, having Dumbledore come and show me real magic, not just the simpleton things I had been playing around with as a child, now that was, excuse the pun, magical."
Reader chuckled weakly in return to the Dark Lord's rather bad pun, had he been telling the truth in his letters to the press? Has he really changed? Of course most people back home did not care much for what he had to say, his reign was done and over with, time to focus on rebuilding their world now.
"Hogwarts...Hogwarts was amazing, not only did I get to learn about magic and extensively at that, but for the first time in the world I didn't feel alone! Until it came time to go home for the summer holidays that is…." Voldemort trailed off glumly.
"Ex- excuse me Milord, but would Headmaster Dippet not allow for you to stay for the holidays? It seems such a simple request, and after all it's not like you had a family to return to, you would just be going to back to the orphanage?" Reader inquired hesitantly your hands shaking causing your teacup to rattle on it's saucer before you set them both back down on the table.
Voldemort's head shot up at that, 'Is someone finally seeing my logic?' he wondered. "Reader, please. Call me Tom, Milord makes me feel like I'm talking to one of my snivelling followers. Secondly, that would be due to both Dumbledore's influence and Dippet's rather...flighty and meek nature. Dumbledore was convinced that I would get up to no good and would further my "evil schemes" were I to stay at Hogwarts. He was also under the impression that prolonging my subjection to the treatment at the orphanage I would be humble and more pliable to his influence. Oh how wrong he was, the longer I stayed there the more twisted I became, before going to Hogwarts I had learned of my ability to talk to snakes, I had fun tormenting the other children with that one. Not only that but since going to Hogwarts and being introduced to the Pureblood supremacy theory I became even more assured of my own superiority to those weakling muggles." Vol- Tom explained.
"So of course I was infuriated with the man, this led to others taking recognition of this and and I ended up falling in with them- "the wrong sort" according to good upstanding, light, citizens. People such as Abraxas Malfoy, Cygnus and Orion Black, I can not however dedicate my success entirely to them, I was a mastermind in and of myself. Regardless of those three I would have inevitably became just as dark, twisted, and infamous as I am today. They did however, speed up the process. In my sixth year I didn't just dive into the deep end of the Dark Arts, I went over the Niagra Falls of Dark Arts. I made a horcrux. Now, dear Reader, I shall assume you know of horcruxes and also of the others I came to make seeing as how it was so publicized after the war as well as the consequences of making them. Quite frankly, I was scared. I was scared of death, I was scared of being over looked when I could bring so much good to this society. So I did what I could to ensure I could live forever and to emancipate the Wizarding World from the control of the muggle one."
You seemed to understand his reasoning so far nodding along at random intervals while absentmindedly sipping your tea. This was so interesting!
Tom took a sip of his own tea (cream with four lumps of sugar, who would have guessed that the Dark Lord would have a sweet tooth?) before continuing on with his monologue as villains are so apt to do. "After I graduated Hogwarts, with all O's in my NEWTs of course seeing as how I was a prodigy, I took a job a Borgin and Burke's in order to look for more objects to make into horcruxes building my power and follower bases all the while. I later applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, ironic I know, at Hogwarts which was then under Dumbledore's reign. He- of course- refused to even consider me, which in hindsight, is completely understandable- to him that is. I continued to recruit and coerce people to my views until the outbreak of the first war in 1970. The war was bloody, terror filled, and full of mass casualties for both sides, however I felt a spike of fear when I heard a prophecy speaking of a child who was to be born that would be able to defeat me. I was a man with a mission, I would purge all of the muggle filth from the world, after all what do you think they would do were they to learn of us? That we could kill them, ensnare their minds, or even give them unimaginable pleasure with some words and a wave of a stick? They would eradicate us of course. I had to stop this, and this- this, child comes into this world thinking he can stop me? If that's what Dumbledore thinks was coming he had a whole other thing coming to him. It was infact myself who had a whole other thing coming unfortunately. I, foolishly thinking I could cheat fate, made to kill the boy and his family. That is until one Severus Snape came to me crawling on his knees begging for me to spare "his sweet Lily". Now of course, I, being the accommodating leader that I am, agreed to spare his little obsession, it's her own fault really that she died, I did give her a chance to move." Tom huffed clearly lost in memories.
Reader shifted uncomfortably, hoping the former Dark Lord would not decide to return to his old ways. Sensing that there would be a lull in the conversation turned monologue Reader delicately took a sip of their tea, and promptly proceeded to just refrain from spitting out the now cold beverage. 'Phew, that was close. I don't want to know what would happen to me if I spewed cold tea into the, even former, Dark Lord's face. Oh look, he seems to be aware again, let's get back to it shall we.' Reader concluded settling back into the green with silver trim (of course) couch.
"Now then," Tom continued shaking his head as if to clear it. "Everyone knows what happened afterwards, blah blah I got defeated, blah blah boy hero. Now to the interesting part, I was not, as the public later found out, killed. I became a disembodied spirit miraculously once again finding my way to the Albanian forest where I had sought out Ravenclaw's Diadem previously, where upon something very good for my career as a Dark Lord happened. I met Nagini, after possessing random little animals she was a refreshing break and stayed with me afterwards even consenting to carry a piece of my soul. The rest, as it's said, is history- or in this case is written in a septet called the Harry Potter series (and movies too!)." Tom concluded with a satisfied air leaning back into his seat. "As you can now see, I was entirely justified in doing what I did, just you wait Reader, one day some loudmouthed muggleborn is going to come along and show our secret to the world, and when you're all crying thinking where ever did we go wrong, just remember this, remember how a boy who was condemned to a childhood spent with "the nasty muggles", remember how he saw the truth, and tried to bring it to light, and you all shot him down and sentenced him to a life spent ostracized and looked down upon. And when you ask for my help remember this. You. Will. Get. None." He hissed with a menacing look in his blood red eyes before blinking and shaking his head. "Forgive me dear reader, I don't know what came over me, I was under the impression you were the child hero Potter for some reason. Riddle house shall always provide help for you Reader, all you need to do is ask." A smile returning to his face before he stood, brushing imagined wrinkles from his immaculate robes.
Reader blinked a few times, 'Maybe he has Multiple Personality Dissorder?' you thought before standing and shaking Tom's hand. "Thank you for having me Tom, and thank you for the pledge of assistance, it is greatly appreciated. Now I'm afraid I must be on my way, it had been a pleasure speaking with you."
"And you, dear Reader, I'll have Wormtail show you out, safe travels!" Tom replied while still holding your hand only dropping it when he called for his "butler".
Reader walked out, their hands in their pockets deep in thought. 'Maybe the world really has misjudged him' you thought. 'Maybe he's right, maybe the muggles are bad news, I mean he seemed a perfect gentleman to me and he was correct about his points and views being justified.' Reader thought walking out the impressive front doors. In fact, Reader seemed to be so lost in their thoughts they completely missed Tom peeking out from his throne room with a smirk on his face watching you go and the cackle that resounded through the entrance hall as the door was falling shut- maybe you, and the world, were better off not knowing.