On the first day of the sixth years' Potions class, Professor Horace Slughorn had all of the students line up in the front of the classroom to smell the love potion, amortentia. Each student was asked to describe what different scents wafted up to their nose, a bright blush staining their cheeks as they giggled and pondered on what the scents meant.
When it came to be Tom Marvolo Riddle's turn, all of the students within the classroom peered at the handsome wizard excitedly, wondering what their mysterious peer would smell.
To Tom Marvolo Riddle's pleasant surprise, he did not smell a single thing.
When he proclaimed so, Professor Slughorn looked at him with confusion painted across his features before prompting the young wizard to try once more.
"Another try, then, m'boy!"
And so, Tom Marvolo Riddle leaned in again and inhaled deeply, a lovely smirk stretching his full lips. He smelled absolutely nothing.
Professor Slughorn chose not to comment, offering the young prodigy an uneasy smile instead before beginning the day's lesson.
Despite the professor's unease, Tom found the discovery monumental. This discovery, that he was not attracted to anything, that he didn't have a weakness, was an indication of how powerful Tom was as a wizard. If anything, Tom speculated that it was because he only loved power and ambition, and those did not have a scent to them which was why he didn't smell a thing.
This was a confirmation that he was meant for unprecedented greatness in the world.
Even the gods were not immune to the frivolities of love, and Tom was - Tom was greater than the gods themselves.
His smirk turned into a rare, self-satisfied smile as Tom decided that the Fates were on his side, and the name Lord Voldemort would one day be known everywhere.
Revised April 16, 2019