Author's note:
I have read countless Tom Riddle fanfics and many of them were really good. Originally, I wrote this just for myself. I never intended to put it on fanfiction. But when it was finally finished I thought that maybe someone might enjoy reading it.
I know that many of you are prejudiced against OC's. So if you don't like it, then please just don't read it. Otherwise, just give it a try.
Disclaimer: All credit for the great world of Harry Potter goes to J. K. Rowling. I only own what you don't recognize.
Chapter One - Secrets and Answers
It was early November 1941. The new term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was already about two months old and the students had settled in again. The teachers gave them a good share of homework and everything was going as it was supposed to go.
Cassiopeia Houlton was in her fourth year at Hogwarts. She was a quiet girl who tended to be on her own most of the time. She was studious and shy but also very attentive to her surroundings. She knew the others thought her to be a bore. Although she would have preferred to belong to the chattering crowd of classmates she simply didn't know how. Interacting with others didn't come easy to her.
Currently, she was sitting in the library, the place she loved most. She had chosen a table in the far corner, very close to the restricted section. Students very rarely passed these last rows of books as it was forbidden to roam the restricted section unless a teacher had given permission. Cassiopeia liked this quite deserted part of the library where she could sit and read books for hours without being disturbed. Today she had chosen a book on non-verbal enchantments. Outside the weather was rainy and it was not at all inviting to go out on the grounds. She had been reading for nearly two hours and had gotten tired. Cassiopeia closed her book and eyed the row of books that was visible from her seat. At first, there was no action at all. But then Tom Riddle entered the row, seemingly looking for a specific volume he wanted to read.
Riddle was a Slytherin and the brightest and most powerful student Cassiopeia had ever met. Riddle was the boy almost every girl at Hogwarts had a crush on. He was undeniably good looking, always polite and brilliant in every subject. In his presence girls regularly started to giggle, hoping he would grace them with one of his stunning smiles. Cassiopeia had to admit that she also liked to be around him. At the start of every term she found herself hoping that Ravenclaw and Slytherin shared as many classes as possible, so she would see Riddle in class. He had something about him that made him special. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but he radiated a power that was fascinating. Magic seemed to come naturally to him. Cassiopeia suspected that for many spells he actually didn't even need a wand but simply used the wand to keep a low profile. Cassiopeia had never talked to Riddle in all her three years at Hogwarts, and she wasn't sure if he even knew she existed, but to her it was sufficient. The crackling power around him reminded her of the possibilities that lay within magic. Whenever they shared classes with the Slytherins, Cassiopeia was elated. To her, classes were considerably more fun with Riddle being part of them. He set the bar high, and being the studious introvert she was, Cassiopeia always accepted that as an internal challenge for her to give her best. She didn't quite know if it was in hope that someday he might actually acknowledge her in class, but either way it was advantageous for her grades. Although she didn't manage to ever best him in class because magic simply kept coming naturally to him in a way that she knew she would never achieve, she was aware that he kept bringing the best out of her, even though he didn't know.
Curious as to why he was having such an impact on her, Cassiopeia had paid increasingly more attention to Riddle over the years. She had noticed that often, despite delivering top work, he still seemed to hold back, not showing the full potential that lay within his power. Sometimes there would be a minimal delay in brandishing the wand when he probably didn't even need it in order to get the spell working or a slightly mumbled incantation when he actually could do it non-verbally. The more she had observed his behaviour the more she had been astonished to find that the handsome, polite and charming model-student wasn't as genuine as he pretended to be. Sometimes she had the impression that he tired of the politeness and charm he exhibited as if it wasn't as much a part of his personality as he pretended, because although Riddle always was so politely charming towards the teachers and so politely indifferent towards the other students, Cassiopeia couldn't help but feel that all of that was only an act to cover the feeling she could sense underneath – pure loathing. She had always wondered why that was. She really didn't know what drove her to open her mouth that afternoon, but she heard herself saying, "Why do you hate them all so much?"
Riddle spun around. However, his face showed no emotion when he asked calmly, "Sorry?"
Cassiopeia bit her lip. There was no taking her question back, so she had to go on. "I just wonder why you hate them all that much," she repeated. When she realized he wasn't about to answer, she continued, "You know, first I thought you only hated Mudbloods. That wouldn't have been too odd, seeing that you are a Slytherin. But then I realized that you also hate pure-bloods. That's quite odd, don't you think? So I'd really like to know why that is." Her voice trailed off.
Riddle eyed her with a blank mask. Then he decided to say, "I don't know what you are talking about."
Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows. With a calm voice she answered, "You may be the best in class but that doesn't make me dumb. All this politeness of yours is some well learned act. But now there's no one here, no need to keep acting. You could just answer my question."
Riddle continued to look at her, his eyes betraying no feelings at all.
Cassiopeia waited, looking into Riddle's face with interest, inwardly cursing herself for having even asked. When she decided he wasn't going to answer, she grabbed her book and got up.
"Maybe another time then," she mumbled. She put the book back on the shelf and walked to the main row. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head. She tried to close her mind and put up her mental shields the best she could and concentrated hard on blocking him out of her mind. It was really difficult. Who would have thought that he was that strong? Cassiopeia was suddenly glad that her father had always been somewhat paranoid and had been teaching Occlumency to his children for quite some time now. He probably hadn't expected that it would be other students who tried to get into his children's heads, but Cassiopeia was thankful none the less. She made a mental note that she would have to keep practising though. She could feel her mental shields shake hard under Riddle's pressure, and she knew that if he only got a little more power she wouldn't be able to fight him off anymore. But for now she could feel the stabbing pain subside and was glad that Riddle obviously had to retreat. She slowly turned back to Riddle. Riddle looked taken aback. He raised his eyebrows. "You know Occlumency?" He eyed her curiously.
"My father always says it should be my decision to share my thoughts." Cassiopeia cast a last look on Riddle; then she rounded the shelves and left the library. However confusing Riddle was and however fake his charming politeness was, Cassiopeia still felt attracted to him.
For a moment Riddle stood there and looked at the place she had just left. Then he turned to the shelf again and continued his search for the volume he originally had come to get.
Riddle sat at the Slytherin table and was looking at his plate. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he felt that he should eat something. He was listening half-heartedly to the chatter of Malfoy and Black. Looking over to the Ravenclaw table, Malfoy was saying, "Such a shame she isn't in Slytherin. She really should've been. What a waste to be a raven."
Looking up from his plate, Riddle followed the boy's gaze and saw the girl from the library walking along the Ravenclaw table and taking a seat there. Something stirred Riddle's curiosity. He remembered how she had blocked him out of her mind. Up to now he had invaded the minds of other students without being thrown out, mostly even unnoticed. It wasn't common for other students to have any mental shields, least of all that strong. With his voice as monotone as ever he asked, "Why should she be in Slytherin?"
Black answered, "Her family is a respectable pure-blood family. Her brother was a Slytherin Headboy a few years ago."
"She might've been an acceptable match," Malfoy drawled, "But not being in Slytherin definitely rules her out."
Riddle kept his gaze on Cassiopeia Houlton. He wondered why she had asked him her question.
He had adapted very quickly to the way life was going at Hogwarts. He had soon understood that he had to cover his true self. He had found that pretending to be the charming innocent model-student was making life easy. The teachers favoured him due to his perfect politeness and excellent work. They were always ready to turn a blind eye, and they didn't suspect anything when he asked for permission for the restricted section of the library. Riddle had soon realized that he was far more powerful than his fellow students. Being determined not to raise any suspicion, he had taken to conceal some of his abilities like doing wandless and non-verbal magic. He didn't quite like that he had to keep such a low profile, but he had realized from Dumbledore's reaction back then at the orphanage that it was dangerous to let others see his true face. He couldn't risk being suspected of any ill intention before he came of age. Afterwards there would be means to avoid any consequences, but he needed to get rid of the Trace. That would only happen if he turned seventeen with a clean record. He was determined to achieve that, even if it meant that he couldn't be himself for some more years.
The only one who didn't buy his act was Dumbledore. It was all because of these incidents at the orphanage. Being overwhelmed by the news of being a wizard he had acted carelessly and instinctively. He had deeply regretted it afterwards because it had made Dumbledore suspicious. That old fool had had an annoyingly close watch on him ever since, and nothing he did could take away that first impression Dumbledore had gotten during the visit at the orphanage. Riddle knew it had been a grave mistake to show Dumbledore so much of his true self. But for once he had been excited when he had learned about the magical world and had thrown caution to the wind. He had soon known that had been wrong. Now he was determined to not repeat his mistake and had built up a deceiving façade that was just as perfect as everything he approached. Of course Dumbledore didn't buy the act, and Riddle was annoyed, but he was also determined to not let Dumbledore ruin his perfect reputation. Ever since he had come to Hogwarts he had been careful to not give Dumbledore any evidence that the sinister character that had greeted Dumbledore at the orphanage still remained in the studious and polite model-student. Dumbledore mistrusted him, but he couldn't do anything against Riddle. Riddle knew that Dumbledore would take the first chance he got to have him dispelled from Hogwarts.
And now there was Cassiopeia. She was the first besides Dumbledore who had questioned his perfect façade. She wasn't supposed to know about his hatred. He had done everything to conceal it. It unnerved him that she had gotten to know about it. Maybe he could try to play his act even better than before and hope that she would forget about it. But to be true, he was curious how she had found out about it and why she cared. Was she spying for Dumbledore? Maybe it wasn't her own observation. Maybe Dumbledore was trying to find new ways of getting rid of him. Riddle didn't like secrets that weren't his own. He wanted to know, and he was determined to find out.
The Houlton Family was an old pure-blood wizarding family. Their members had always been interested in studying and exploring the fields of magic beyond those points that were taught at Hogwarts. Many of Cassiopeia's ancestors had been deep into the Dark Arts. Cassiopeia was used to being surrounded by people who were enthusiastic about the Dark Arts. However, she had never felt the desire to delve into them; in fact, she was deeply afraid of them. When Cassiopeia had been only seven years old, her mother had died due to some dark experiment having gone wrong. Cassiopeia remembered her mother to be not necessarily a caring mother but definitely a capable witch. After her death Cassiopeia had missed her. At first she hadn't known what had happened, and nobody had told her. But over the years she had realized that her mother had been killed because of her fascination with the Dark Arts.
Cassiopeia was proud to be in Ravenclaw. Luckily, her family had never held the opinion that a pure-blood had to be in Slytherin. Although both of her parents and her brother had been in Slytherin, her father and brother had shared her joy and excitement when she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. After all, both her grandmothers had been in Ravenclaw and several of their ancestors as well. To her father, it wasn't the house that mattered but the academic results that his children achieved. Her brother had set the bar high. He had been a top student, and he had been Head Boy. Cassiopeia was proud of Cepheus. But she also was determined to do her best not to stand in his shadow.
Her father had always encouraged them to read and study with enthusiasm. Houlton Manor housed a large library with a vast range of ancient tomes, many of which were without doubt not approved by the ministry. Being surrounded by all those gorgeous books her whole life, Cassiopeia had loved reading and studying since she was little. She could sit in her room with a book for hours. She definitely preferred the presence of a book to that of other people. Thus, it was no surprise to her that her fellow students had soon lost interest in her and never asked her to join any of their gatherings. Sometimes she felt lonely and left out, but in her books she always found consolation. All in all, Ravenclaw definitely suited her most.
The next time Riddle came to the library, he stopped at the corner of the row he had planned to enter. He saw Cassiopeia sitting on the windowsill, reading a book. He pondered using Legilimency once again for a moment, before he decided against it. Instead he said with an emotionless even voice, "Why do you want to know?"
His voice broke the silence and Cassiopeia gave a jerk. She turned and looked at him. Then she smiled and said, "Hello to you, too." Riddle didn't answer. He walked closer to the window until he stood right next to her. For a moment they both stared out of the window. Then, Cassiopeia shrugged, "I was only curious. I've never seen anyone with so much hidden emotion, so much hatred."
Riddle continued to watch the students outside on the grounds. He wondered if he should answer. He had never paid much attention to her, but it hadn't escaped his notice that she was intelligent and almost as good a student as he was. She was always friendly towards others, but she never was the centre of attention. She seemingly preferred being on her own. Somehow she was different from the others. Her Occlumency skills had definitely astonished him and left him wondering if she could be useful somewhere along his way. He felt that responding to her question might be dangerous but maybe helpful, and he could be careful. He would see where things would be going. "I'm just not too social." Riddle's voice was casual.
"You don't say." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Riddle couldn't suppress a smirk. Cassiopeia looked at him, "You don't want to tell me; I get it. It's okay, y'know."
Without having given away anything, Riddle felt that something had changed between them. Somehow it felt like they shared a secret now. He hadn't admitted anything and still it felt like he had and that she knew it.
Cassiopeia turned her gaze back to the book she had been reading before. Riddle eyed the book. Then he said, "That book isn't worth the time reading."
Cassiopeia looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"The theory on non-verbal enchantment through affection is definitely wrong," Riddle continued.
"I don't think so. Have you ever thought about the effects that involving a feeling can have on the magic flow?" Cassiopeia answered.
Riddle pondered that for a moment. Then he shook his head and sat down. "I think you get the theory totally wrong there."
Soon, they were deep into academic discussions. They only came to an end when the librarian came to tell them that the library was about to close.
Cassiopeia gathered her things, got up and left for the dorm. Riddle watched her leave before he packed his things and returned to the dungeons. He thought about the events of the evening. Cassiopeia had reacted differently from Dumbledore. Riddle had the impression that in a way Cassiopeia didn't actually care whether his personality was dark. She seemed genuinely interested without questioning his motives. Just as he had thought Cassiopeia really was different from the others. Somehow he had won her over without even needing to charm her. He had won her over with his true self. Thinking about it, that was definitely strange, but somehow it felt right.