Prompt: The life and times of one Tom Riddle

Tom Riddle era

Word count: 2316 (300each writer)

Note: The following story is a submission to the facebook group Platform 9 3/4. An Aesthetic was made as the prompt and each writer was given 24 hours to write a submission, they were then given the opportunity to write a second piece of the story.

Disclaimer: the authors of this story did not create these characters and will in no way claim ownership therein. All things Harry Potter related belong to JK Rolling.

Story Title : Tom write-a-long, The Future Dark Lord

Rating: K

Genre: General

Fanfic name : Platform9 3/4

Pairing if any: None

Ocs if any: None

Summary : There is more to Tom Riddle's story than what there appears to be...

The Future Dark Lord

October 31, 1980
He walked through the small nursery looking over the body of Lily Potter. He had taken care of James a few minutes earlier. "You honestly thought you could stand up against Lord Voldemort? Filthy mudblood!" he sneered while moving Lily's head to face him with his foot. He walked over to the crib holding a child with messy black hair and vivid green eyes. "So, you are the one destined to be my ruin?" he laughed, "Well, we shall see. AVADA KEDAVRA!" Pain unlike any other blossomed from his own body as memories assaulted him. As his body vanished, all he could see were maniacal blue eyes looking at him.

July 7, 1938
Professor Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had just come from Wool's Orphanage to visit a young wizard named Tom. To say he was disconcerted after the meeting was an understatement. He couldn't help but be frightened of the power that the young wizard seem to have in droves. Left unchecked, the child could very well unseat the name Dumbledore as the 'greatest wizard of the modern age'.

Feeling threatened was not something he could handle positively. He knew what he had to do now. He thought back to his friendship with Gellert and recalled feeling the same way. It was easy to turn Gellert into a Dark Wizard, after all. Why couldn't he do the same to Tom Marvolo Riddle? His decision made, he started arrangements to create and then destroy the new Dark Lord.

'I need to find him minions.' He thought desperately. 'Blacks, Malfoys, Notts, Averies, Carrows and McNairs should do well. There shall be no doubt as to who greatest wizard is when I am done with you, Mr. Riddle.'

September 1, 1938.

Tom made his way to King Cross station in London, England, alone, as he does everything else. 'Finally, getting away from those brats at the orphanage, I hate the way they cry, their always whining.' Tom thought to himself. Getting out of the orphanage was step one of the plan he's had since he could remember of giving himself a better life than he has currently. Finding out that there's more people like him out there! 'I'm already powerful, with all the books, professors, and other students for me to talk to I'll learn that much more, no one will cross me again!' 'And learn about my father, he must have been powerful also, for me to be this strong. He must be out there somewhere, not knowing I exist. I'll never return to the orphanage when I find him.'

Getting on the train, Tom felt a pull to the 7th compartment he passed. Seeing it already full of other boys his age, including one with the lightest blonde hair he's ever seen, he allowed himself to go inside and strike up conversation. Tom had no idea that it wasn't chance that put him in that compartment, but that Albus Dumbledore had already started his manipulations and that he was listening to every word himself and the other boys said.

Sorry it's late. Different time zone, :P
Sliding open the door, he took a deep breath and walked in, facing the other first years in the compartment.
A boy with blond hair and striking grey eyes turned to stare at him.
"Who are you?" he sneered, his eyes traveling up and down Tom's ragged clothes.
"Tom Riddle. You?"
"Abraxas Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family," the strange boy replied, propping up his legs on the plush seats opposite to him.
"There's no room for mudbloods here."

"I can assure you right now that I'm not a mudblood." Tom didn't know what that was, but it was something bad for sure- and he didn't want to start off Hogwarts with a bad reputation. "Oh really? Then what's your heritage?" By now, kids from nearby compartments were watching. Abraxas was shouting. Tom could tell Abraxas didn't like him, but that would change very soon. In fact, it did as soon as he said his mothers name. "Merope Gaunt is my mother. I never knew my father but I assure you he had to be a wizard." And with that, they were the best of friends. The train ride was a long one, and when Tom saw the castle from the boats, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was breathtaking. Abraxas, who was a year older than Tom, had taken carriages up to the school with his other friends. When Tom got to the school he was even more amazed. At the sorting he was one of the last to get sorted- "SLYTHERIN!" It yelled, before even touching his head. The whole of Slytherin applauded, as every house had done for their new first years. Amongst the clappers, he saw Abraxas. As soon as he sat down and looked at his housemates, he knew he belonged here. It was a place he could truly call home, and believe it.

After the great feast Tom followed his fellow Slytherin's back to their common room. Walking through the castle had been fascinating. Never before had he seen pictures that moved and interacted. Staircases that switched direction was baffling. As they had made their way down to the dungeons Tom grew more at peace. Everyone around him was buzzing with conversation and excitement.
Once in their common room Tom stood amazed. Everything was so grand. The snake carving over the mantle drew him in. The sapphires shining as the snakes eyes were mesmerizing and Tom had a hard time looking away. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Abraxas standing next to him.

Abraxas turned out to be the terrorizor of Tom throughout his first and second year. The blond wizard was older than Tom by two years, and pretty much ruled the common room.

By third year, Tom decided he would not let Abraxas rule over him so. Second year had brought on many changes, it was when professor Dumbledore began offering him private tutoring. Tom learned to get a hold of his magic and wield it with more control.

"Use your anger as fuel, Tom. Learn to control your hate lest it controls you," the wise professor instructed him.

After the welcoming feast, as usual, Tom was left at the end of the pack as the other Slytherins made their way to the dungeons. Once he made it inside, Abraxas and his minions were waiting for him.

"If it isn't the Mudblood," the Malfoy heir sneered. "Come back for more this year?"

"I'm not a Mudblood," Tom said quietly, looking steadily up at the fifth year.

"No? Riddle is no Pureblood name I've ever heard. Why you were ever sorted into Slytherin is beyond me."

Snickers erupted in the common room.

Tom felt his magic, angry, and crackling around him. It begged to come out and play. Remembering what Dumbledore had shared with him and the books he had given him to read over the summer, Tom felt compelled to retort, "My mother was a witch."

"So a Half-Blood then?" asked Lestrange. "That's hardly any better." The boy raised his wand threateningly.

"Means someone with magic knowingly coupled with a filthy Muggle," Avery added, to the rapt attention of all those watching in the common room.

Tom had had enough. Lifting his wand, he muttered a dark curse of his own creation. The burgundy choking hex poured out of his wand in a powerful force, landing first on Lestrange, then on Avery. Tom held the diverging spell steadily, taking sadistic pleasure in the way in which the two boys clawed at their throats and gasped for air, while all the while, Malfoy looked on in horror, his trademark sneer replaced with shock.

"I am no one to trifle with," he hissed the warning. "I can trace my lineage back to the noble house of Salazar Slytherin himself. I would take care to remember it."

Tom lifted the curse and the boys dropped to the floor. He whirled away, his robes billowing behind him, without a backwards glance. No one would be bothering him this year. And Malfoy's followers, would soon become his own.

By the time seventh year came along, Abraxas Malfoy's followers followed Tom around like a lost puppy, and that included Abraxas himself. So much had changed in the seven years since he learned what he was. He was living in the house of his ancestors, Salazar Slytherin himself! He could speak to any snake he pleased, and could they all did his bidding happily. Like that time Nott stepped out of line, Tom didn't even have to hiss one word before Nagini jumped to his defense. Nagini had become as close to him as possible, if he could feel like all the other students, he might consider her his best friend, but alas, feelings weren't for the powerful. Feelings hold you back and make you weak. There was no place for weakness in Toms life.

Samara was another being Tom spend a lot of time with. Being stuck under the school, the 60 foot long and 6 foot wide basilisk looked forward to any time Tom came to visit and opened the passage to the forbidden forest for her. Since he woke her up in his second year, he came down almost every night and every morning to let her free to hunt. Sure it got tiring, but after she killed that mudblood Mrytle with her beautiful eyes, Tom kept her happy. Luckily for him because Samara was Salazar's personal pet, her deadly eyes had no effect on his noble bloodline. 'And a follower that wants to do your bidding, will always stay by your side' Tom told himself as he went down to the chamber early that morning.

He remembered that Headmaster Dippet had told him that if they did not solve the mystery of who (or what) was terrorizing the castle, then they would shut down Hogwarts forever.

Anger flashed through him. They could not close his home down. It was his rightful place to be there! The most powerful of Salazar Slytherin's heirs. A grand wizard in the making. Samara must understand that she must sleep and that he would be back for her.

If only Dumbledore had not gotten suspicious of him. Good thing that giant brute Hagrid, was able to take the blame for girl's death.
He would be back after he left Hogwarts. He will make Hogwart's his home again. He will purify and make Hogwart's pure again and do what the smartest of the four founders could not do. He will show those who had rejected him who he was. Lord Voldemort would forever be his name.

Plans began to set into place in his mind as he realized the entire wizarding world could be his.

It was too dangerous to continue to let the basilisk do as she pleases. With a heavy heart, he sealed the Chamber of Secrets, closing it until he graduate from Hogwarts. After that, only after he left this place, he would let her out again….

TIME SKIP

Skimming down one of the pages of "Darkest Evile" in the Restricted Section, he searched for a way to live forever. The short time that a human can live is not enough for him, he needs more time to dominate the wizarding world.
"Horcruxes." He whispered, his eyes widening in understanding the solution of his problem. He snapped the book close and put it aside, heading towards the potions classroom. Tom knew who to ask about this phenomenon, the teacher who was the easiest to manipulate and most enamoured by him. Professor Slughorn.

Slughorn went white at the mention of Horcruxes. But he answered Tom anyway, on the condition he would not repeat any of this to anyone. "Thank you, Professor Slughorn." He said after their most unusual meeting.

Tom knew exactly what he wanted first Horcrux to be- actually he knew all of them: His diary, something from each of the Four Founders, his mothers ring, and his beloved Nagini. Would 7 Horcruxes be too much? Professor Slughorn had been baffled about asking how to make 1, let alone 7. But Tom didn't care if it was too much- he would find a way to live forever.

-Time skip-

Tom reentered Hogwarts with his cloak pulled tightly around his face. Headmaster Dippet had finally met his end - and now - his master Dumbledore was Headmaster.

The years had not been kind to Tom. His once perfectly chiseled face was gaunt and hallow. His eyes held an unnatural red sheen to them. His lips were not so red, but rather pale. It still did nothing to deter the Knocturn Alley witches from throwing themselves at him.

He pulled his cloak further over his head, the hood casting menacing shadows over his face as he made his way to the Headmaster's office. At 29, he'd set out to do all his master had required of him. Now it was time to finally receive the mission he'd been destined for.

"Lemondrop," Tom muttered to the nonsentient gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's door. A stairway appeared and he quickly climbed them.

When he reached the dark wizard, he bowed to one knee in deference.

"How may I serve you, master?"

"How many horcruxes have you made?" asked Dumbledore.

"Seven," he answered promptly.

"Good," the dark wizard said, nodding. "I think you're ready." He withdrew a golden necklace from his robes with an odd hourglass in the middle. "Do you know what this is?"

Tom frowned. "No, master."

"It's a Time-Turner. Stolen off of a traveler who came to this time from the future in order to destroy you. I've mended it and tweaked it a bit. Tom, what I'd like for you to do is travel to the date May 3rd, 1998."