Chapter Two
Third year at Hogwarts was both productive and frustrating. They had gotten invited to attend what was called the 'Slug Club' which was a gathering of students who were seen as powerful or influential. It was headed by the Slytherin Head of House, Horace Slughorn and was full of people from every house.
Tom's power and influence continued to grow and Hadrian was seen as his right hand man, receiving a ton of respect in his own right. They continued to excel in their classes and had even joined the Dueling Club in which they were matched with Sixth Year students.
One thing that frustrated them both, however, was the search for the Chamber of Secrets. They continued to search the school, even using the three weeks of winter holidays, to search near the other common rooms. Still, they found nothing.
Once more Tom tried to convince Professor Dumbledore to allow them to remain in the castle over the holidays. It seemed, though, that Dumbledore was more suspicious of them than he ever had. He denied them once more.
That summer, Tom was almost murdered by one of the older boys. Hadrian, out of pure desperation, had apparated them to St. Mungo's. The act had earned Hadrian a warning and Tom had yelled at him. Hadrian, though, had only yelled back. He told him that he'd never just watch Tom die and to shut up.
The two were invited to visit the Black family house in London, thanks to Lucretia. While there, they were introduced to her brother Orion who would be starting Hogwarts that September. Finally, Hadrian and Tom could explore the Black Family Library.
Lucretia, who had a crush on Hadrian, hung on the smaller boy's every word. Hadrian, of course, seemed to be oblivious to this fact. Tom had mixed feelings about Lucretia's little crush. One the one hand, it did gain them access to the Black Family collection of Dark Arts books. But on the other hand, whenever she would so much as touch Hadrian, Tom felt like ripping her apart for daring to touch what he'd claimed as his own.
Lucretia and Orion's mother Lyra was enamored with Tom and Hadrian. This turned out to be beneficial because, while looking through the library, they found several books that would be of great use to them. They couldn't remove them from the library but Lyra could make copies of the books for them. Something she offered to do after having a long conversation with Tom and Hadrian about the books they'd discovered.
They spent nearly the entire summer at Black Manor before September 1st and they all took the Floo to Kings Cross.
September the first had fallen on Friday that year and so they had Saturday and Sunday to prepare for classes. Hadrian and Tom, naturally, took advantage of the time to sequester themselves away with the books they'd gotten from the Black Manor. Hadrian had gotten one that he'd treasure for years to come called a Necromancer's Grimoire. Tom had gotten a book about Horcruxes. They were supposed to be an object that you placed part of your soul in so that you could avoid death. Having been thoroughly shaken by his experience with death, Tom was determined to defy it.
This year, like the last, the pair continued to search for the Chamber of Secrets. They didn't find it…but they did find something else that both of them found incredible.
Hadrian and Tom were coming back from the Restricted section of the library after spending most of the evening cross referencing things out of their Dark Arts books. They'd decided to wander the castle a bit and were on the seventh floor when they heard the telltale sounds of the caretaker heading towards them. They were searching for a place to hide their books when a door suddenly appeared in front of them. They walked inside and hid their books, deciding to come back for them the next day.
The next morning, they discovered that the room could be whatever they needed or wanted it to be. It was a discovery that they would come to use many times in the coming years.
The remainder of their fourth year passed quickly. They visited the Room of Requirement many times, finding many things that were useful to the two orphans. Books about the Dark Arts, trunks with fine robes, even money.
"You're always reading that book." Tom said as they sat in the Room of Requirement together one evening.
"Well, it is quite fascinating."
"I don't doubt it. But there are other books, you realize."
Hadrian rolled his eyes. "I know. But this one is most interesting. There's so many concepts I've never considered. The spirit plane, rebirth, it's all so fascinating."
Tom gave Hadrian an odd look. "Rebirth?"
"Truly powerful Necromancers can actually call the soul of a dead person back into the physical plane and back into a living body. It's brilliant."
Tom pursed his lips. "Let me see that book."
Eager to have his best friend understand what he did, Hadrian held the book out. Tom took it and opened it to the first page and began reading, not knowing that this would change the course of their history.