Chapter 2
Tom Riddle's summer break had not gone according to plan. By September, he intended to be an active leader in Grindelwald's campaign, making powerful and wealthy connections that would be useful after Hogwarts graduation. Of course, Tom had no intention of letting Grindelwald remain in power for long, but even he was willing to admit that it is considerable easier to seize control of an existing regime than to build one from the ground up.
Instead, he sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall reading a Daily Prophet headline pronouncing that Grindelwald had been defeated, and many of his associates captured, at a castle in Prague overlooking the Vltava River. And with that oh-so-lovely news, a plan that was months in the making was laid to ruin, and Tom's mood ruined with it.
His brooding was interrupted by a simpering voice. "What do you think, Riddle? Are any of these sad looking first years worthy of joining the noble house of Slytherin?"
Riddle looked up from his paper to see Adeline Greengrass waiting expectantly for his answer. He was spared having to respond by Orion Black reaching across the table and smacking her on the shoulder. "Watch it, Addie, my little sister's up there!"
"I wouldn't spread that around, Orion. Might hurt her reputation before she's even been sorted." Celeste Greengrass smirked at Orion before winking conspiratorially at her twin sister. The Greengrass twins had the light green eyes and pale skin typical of their family. Both had stick-straight blonde hair that hung to their narrow shoulders, framing angular faces with thin lips. The twins were beautiful, but it was a harsh beauty.
Orion laughed good-naturedly and shrugged his broad shoulders. "You know, it would be easier to tell the two of you apart if you didn't agree on everything all the time."
Celeste rolled her eyes. "It's not our fault you're so easily confused," she said. "Besides, having an identical twin makes it a lot easier to skip class."
Riddle was not in the mood for their meaningless banter this morning.
"Celeste." Riddle said quietly, folding up his newspaper and putting it down in front of him. With a single word, the attention of every Slytherin at the table was turned towards him. Riddle gave a pointed look towards the front of the hall, where Headmaster Dippet was tottering towards a podium.
Conversation in the Great Hall died down as the other students realized Dippet was preparing to speak.
Headmaster Dippet nervously shuffled a messy pile of notes in his hands, and cleared his throat twice.
"Good evening, students! I don't wish to keep you from your dinners any longer than I must, and so I shall keep my announcements as brief as possible. I am sure by now you have all heard the good news about Grindelwald's defeat in Prague. It is with great pride that I announce that Professor Dumbledore himself duelled with Grindelwald and is responsible for his capture."
With this, the Great Hall exploded in a roar of students' voices as rumours flew about Dumbledore's role in Grindelwald's defeat. Riddle continued to face the podium, eyes narrowing slightly before regaining his usual composure. Of course Dumbledore was involved. The old coot was constantly sticking his crooked nose where it didn't belong.
"Students! Students!" Dippet waited for the noise to subside. "While Grindelwald's defeat is indeed a great relief, and should be celebrated, we must take care not to forget the tragedies that occurred in this dark time." Grindelwald paused soberly, and gathered himself before continuing on.
"The sorting shall begin momentarily, and I trust that all new students will be welcomed into their houses with open arms. After dinner, prefects will escort all students back to their respective dormitories." Dippet paused as though having forgotten something. "Oh, yes…Although Hogwarts does not usually accept transfer students, this year's events certainly qualify as unusual circumstances. As such, we do have one additional new student entering her sixth year, so please be welcoming. May the sorting begin!"
Once again, noise erupted in the Great Hall as students in every house discussed who this new transfer student might be. Necks craned towards the mass of first years at the front of the hall, but no older student was visible.
Orion whistled. "Wonder who the new kid is?"
"Yeah, you and everyone else here." Charles Avery chimed in, leaning forward in his chair.
"I just hope she's easy. All the girls in this house are too uptight," said Abraxas Malfoy smugly.
Charles snorted. "Maybe with you. I'm doing just fine." He waggled his eyebrows playfully.
Victoria Carrow blushed beet red, and glared daggers at Charles. "Could you please not discuss our private concerns at the dinner table?"
Charles raised his hands in mock-defense, gesturing at a ring on his finger. "Hey, we're engaged, right? Don't worry, babe, your virtue's still intact."
Abraxas snickered and glanced over at Victoria. "If you ever get tired of that particular virtue, though, you know you to call."
Charles and Victoria both seemed ready to kill Abraxas, but Riddle silenced them with a look. Normally he allowed his followers to behave like normal students when not carrying out his orders or attending a meeting, but today his black mood left no room for frivolity.
"The Sorting's begun. We should get ready to welcome the new Slytherin students," Riddle said, and the table fell silent once again.
As the parade of first year students approached the Sorting Hat one by one, a handful of nervous looking students joined the Slytherin table to thunderous applause. Orion Black clapped his sister Lucretia on the back as she walked to the end of the Slytherin table to join the other first years. Eventually all the first-year students had been sorted, and faces turned expectantly towards the front, waiting for the transfer student to appear.
The witch in charge of the Sorting paused before announcing her name. "Katherine Morrigan!"
From behind the staff table appeared the mysterious new student, striding purposefully towards the chair on which the Sorting Hat was placed. The girl was of average height, with long brown hair falling in perfectly coiffed waves past her shoulders. Elegantly arched eyebrows framed dark brown eyes flecked with gold, and the hint of a smile played at the corner of her full lips, which were painted cherry red. Reaching the chair, the girl picked up the Sorting Hat, and sat down daintily, crossing one leg over the other before placing the hat on her head. A hush came over the students in the Great Hall as they assessed this new arrival, and waited to hear which of the houses would be receiving a new member.
With everyone's attention on the sorting, no one witnessed Riddle's jaw drop in surprise for what may have been the first time in his life. His thoughts began racing a mile a minute, because he had seen this girl before. She may be using a new name, but Katarina Markova had come to Hogwarts.
The Sorting Hat had only been on Katherine's head for a few seconds when it opened its hat-brim mouth to cry: "Slytherin!"
The Sorting Hat's announcement broke the silence that had settled across the Great Hall. There was a brief pause, before the Slytherins erupted in applause, thrilled to have the excitement of a new student awarded to their house.
Katherine Morrigan placed the hat back on the chair, and began to saunter towards the Slytherin table, looking as if she owned the place. She stopped at the head of the table, where Tom Riddle sat surrounded by some of the other sixth and seventh year Slytherin students, placed a hand on her hip, and waited.
Abraxas broke the brief silence. "Welcome to Slytherin, where the great get greater and the weak don't last a week." His smile was half-welcome, half-challenge.
Katherine raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips curling into an amused smile. "Well, I'm not sure if I can get any greater, but I'll try to find room for improvement," she said.
Riddle had closed his mouth by this point, and regained his usual mask of polite indifference. Inside, however, his thoughts were spinning. Katarina, or Katherine as she was calling herself, spoke with a perfect English accent. Riddle had predicted she might be able to do so at Grindelwald's party. What he had not predicted, however, is that she might follow him to England. What in Merlin's name could she be doing here?
Katherine's clever remark hung in the air for a moment, before Orion broke out in a laugh. "I think she's going to fit right in here!"
"Here, Katherine, sit next to me. " Adeline had gestured for Charles to move down a seat to make room. He did so without protest, looking glad to get to sit next to the new girl. Katherine took the offered seat, sweeping her pleated uniform skirt under her.
"Let me introduce you to everyone." Adeline began gesturing around the table. "I'm Adeline Greengrass, and this is my sister, Celeste. Across from you are Orion Black and Abraxas Malfoy. The idiots playing exploding snap at the end are Antonin Dolohov and Thaddeus Lestrange. Next to you is Charles Avery, and next to him is his fiancée, Victoria Carrow."
Adeline paused for a moment, before looking towards the head of the table with a kind of deference. "And that's Riddle. He's Head Boy."
Katherine smiled knowingly at Riddle, whose dark green eyes remained fixed on her as she turned her gaze towards the rest of the table. "Thank you for the introductions, Adeline. It's a pleasure to meet all of you; I've heard great things about the house of Slytherin."
Katherine was pleased, although not surprised, that the Slytherins seemed so taken with her. Her behaviour was always calculated to induce a positive response from those around her, and her appearance was carefully assembled to suggest both confidence and warmth. Katherine knew she was skilled in the arts of manipulation and politics; you had to be to make it at Grindelwald's court. So while some of the Slytherins welcoming behaviour may be an act, it seemed likely that at least the boys' behaviour was genuine.
Riddle continued to stare relentlessly at the new addition to the table. Although his face continued to smile politely, there was a barely perceptible tightness in his jaw that wasn't there a few minutes before. "We're honoured to have you join our house, Miss…Morrigan was it?"
"Yes, Katherine Morrigan. I didn't hear your first name, Mr. Riddle," said Katherine inquiringly.
"Riddle is fine," he said, continuing to stare.
"Well, I've never been one to shy away from a good Riddle." Katherine laughed to ease the building tension. It was neither the time, nor the place for a fight. That would come later, Katherine was sure.
"I've heard that one a few times before. You should really get some original material." Riddle seemed to have regained his composure, flashing a warm and relaxed smile in response to Katherine's joke. It appeared Katherine was not the only Slytherin who could control her outward appearance.
"To be fair, I have just arrived. Give me at least an hour before I break out my quality material," said Katherine.
"Speaking of just arriving, you're going to need someone to show you around the castle. I'd be more than happy to help." Abraxas offered, leaning across the table towards her.
"Brax, don't you think someone who actually attends their classes should show her around?" said Orion, the corners of his mouth quirking into a smile.
"Yeah, Orion, I agree. Makes me the perfect man for the job," said Charles smugly, earning him a scathing look from Victoria, who didn't appreciate how eager he sounded at the prospect of playing tour guide to Katherine.
Katherine looked up through her lashes at the boys sitting across from her. "I'm flattered to have so many kind offers." She paused, resting her chin lightly on the back of her hand. "How will I ever choose?"
Just then the feast appeared before them on the table. Plates were piled high with dozens of sizzling dishes, from herb-rubbed steaks to bouillabaisse and everything in between. Ornate silver pitchers contained a myriad of drinks, into one of which Abraxas had already begun emptying the contents of a flask.
Katherine looked with satisfaction at the many Slytherin faces turned her way. "Between such a warm welcome and this good-looking food, I think I'm bound to have a lot of fun here this year. Wouldn't you agree, Riddle?"
Riddle helped himself to a steak, stabbing it rather more firmly than was necessary. "I certainly hope you have an interesting stay here at Hogwarts, Miss Morrigan." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. It was clear that Riddle would be more than happy to ensure that her time at Hogwarts was anything but boring.
"Please, call me Katherine," she said, not one to back down when threatened.
"To Katherine, the newest addition to our fine house!" Abraxas toasted, raising his goblet of punch and whatever he had added from the flask.
The other Slytherins echoed his cheer, raising their goblets high. A moment later, Riddle followed suit, holding her gaze as he raised his goblet slowly in Katherine's direction, as if to say: "Game on."