Chapter 3

"Harry, Tom, there's someone here to see you." Mrs Cole called to them through the door of their bedroom, then left airily, as if she had no cares in the world.

It had been a few years since The Incident where Amy and Dennis had taken a dive, and though they had never said a word about it, the only children who seemed unaffected by the oddity had been Tom and Harry - But without proof, all that could be done was to leave the children to their own devices and hope it didn't happen again. It didn't, and funnily enough, bullying became reduced to an all time low.

The boys spent the time practising their skills and learning all they could from the tatty library books, looking forward to the day they might go away to a boarding school if they could get a good enough scholarship. Alas, at the moment, they still had weeks until they could submit their applications.

Back in the present time, Harry was the one who answered the door for their visitor, and his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at the rather odd man before him. Albus Dumbledore stood out in the bleak orphanage after all, with his bright purple suit and his rather long beard.

Without saying a word, he stepped back and let the man in, moving to sit next to Tom, who was also looking curiously at the strange man.

"Hello my boys, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm here, firstly, to deliver these letters." He informed them, sitting down on the other bed opposite them. He withdrew two letters addressed in green ink to Harry James Potter, Smallest Bedroom, Wool's Orphanage, London and Tom Marvolo Riddle, Smallest Bedroom, Wool's Orphanage, London respectively.

The boys took the letters and opened them. Tom's head snapped up first, and Harry not soon after.

"Hogwarts?"

"Witchcraft?"

They said simultaneously, looking shocked. Dumbledore's response to this was to smile and let the two process the information in the letter.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Tom eventually said, a dark look on his face, "Sure you're not some crackpot doctor or priest? We've had our fair share thanks, so you can go if that's all you're here for." He sneered, not daring to believe for a second that their luck was that good.

"A doctor? No, no, of course not. Why ever would you...? Never mind, have you ever done anything that you couldn't explain? Something the others can't?" Dumbledore asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

Harry and Tom exchanged significant looks.

"Um, Mr Dumbledore? There have been times, but how do we know we can trust you?" Harry asked, shifting minutely closer to Tom.

Albus considered this for a second, then withdrew his wand from his sleeve.

"Do not be alarmed."

He waved the wand and the beds they were on lifted into the air three feet. Harry was delighted, Tom was tense about his feet being off the ground and grabbed Harry's arm so he didn't fall. A moment later, Albus put them back down with a simple motion.

"So that's magic?" Harry asked with a smile, charming even as his excitement died down a little.

"It is one piece of magic, there are many forms, many spells, many areas to magic to study. Hogwarts currently offers Transfiguration, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic and Astronomy as core classes, and further options are available from your third year onwards. I teach Transfiguration." Dumbledore explained briefly, satisfied when even Tom smiled at this, starting to relax.

He recognised in the boys the thirst for knowledge, and toyed with the idea that they would be Ravenclaws if they agreed to attend.

"We have done some magic before." Tom finally admitted cautiously, "We... I don't know if it counts as anything big, it's probably quite common in your world, but we can speak to snakes."

"Both of you?" Dumbledore asked sharply, looking at the two with confusion.

"Yes... Why?" Harry asked, sharing a glance with Tom.

"It's just not as common as you might assume... Regardless, would you like to know any more about Hogwarts? If you'd like to attend, I can show you where to purchase supplies... And I suppose you'll be needing money from the fund for underprivileged..." Dumbledore said all these things slowly, another part of his mind working fast, trying to figure out how the two boys could possibly both be parselmouths.

Harry put on his most grateful smile, linked hands with Tom and stood.

"We'd like to go, can you show us where to buy our things?"


Of all that they had seen in Diagon Alley, Tom thought that the wand shop was both underwhelming and the most interesting place he'd ever been in. It was dark and dusty, but there was a distinct hum of power about it, the potential within the hundreds of wands stacked high. He even found a thrill in the chill that ran up his spine when the shopkeeper appeared from seemingly nowhere.

This was their last stop, Dumbledore had left them after they had assured him they could find their way home with their packages, which they had put in their feather-light-charmed trunks (courtesy of the professor).

"Hello?" Asked Harry, stepping forward.

"Hello children, here for your wands?" A rhetorical question, Ollivander charmed a tape measure to take various measurements from Harry almost immediately as he had been first to speak. Tom watched with interest.

"How are wands chosen?" He asked as the man picked seemingly random boxes down from the shelves.

Ollivander chuckled at that, "It is not I, nor yourselves, who will choose the wand. The wand chooses the wizard, Mr Riddle."

"Why don't you try this?" A wand was offered to Harry, and snatched back almost immediately. A few wands later, both boys were confused and growing impatient.

"Isn't there a faster way to do this?" Harry asked.

"Well, you could always try summoning a wand." Ollivander joked, "If it likes you, it might answer your call."

But then, as Ollivander busied himself in the aisles of wands, something shot past him and he turned around in shock.

Tom stood there with a smile on his face, looking down at the yew wand in his hand. A moment passed, he waved the wand and a feeling of power swept the room.

Satisfied, Tom met Ollivander's eye, "I think it likes me."

Harry tried not to laugh, but failed miserably. Soon all three were laughing in amazement at the oddity, a few chuckles escaped even when Ollivander located the wand's box and told him of the phoenix feather core within it.

"I wonder..." The man mumbled to himself as he observed how close the boys seemed, talking about the new wand and other things they had seen that day.

He disappeared for a few minutes, and returned with another box that he held reverently. An atmosphere of seriousness filled the room with silence as he placed it on a table and revealed the wand inside.

"It is not often that a phoenix gives a feather willingly, I was surprised when the phoenix who gave me the tail feather in your wand, Mr Riddle, gave another soon after. I made your wand first, with yew, and later I made this... with Holly. The wands are brothers, and can never be turned on each other - one suited to light, one to dark, both potentially powerful. Would you like to try it, Mr Potter?"

Suddenly nervous, Harry faltered as he reached for the wand, then his hand wrapped around it and he knew without a doubt in his heart that the wand had chosen him.


Hours later, when darkness had fallen and the boys were safely wrapped up in bed, their supplies carefully packed into second-hand trunks at the end of their beds, Harry was finding it difficult to sleep.

"Tom..."

"Yeah?"

"Will we be better off at Hogwarts? We could have been out of here soon anyway, we still have time to apply to those other places... Are there more magical schools than just Hogwarts anyway?" He mumbled, worrying.

"I honestly don't know."

They stewed in their thoughts for a while.

"At least Hogwarts is covering our tuition anyway, if there are other magical schools we probably couldn't afford it. Just like muggle schools..."

Harry yawned loudly.

"I'm glad our wands are brothers." He changed topic abruptly, "You know I've always thought of you as a big brother, and my very best friend."

Tom's throat tightened with emotion at the confession, thinking back to the adversity they had faced through their youth, how Harry had stood by him at every turn.

"I'm glad too, Harry." He whispered.

They said no more, and fell into dreams of a new world, and of home.


A/N I finally wrote another chapter! Haha.. sorry for taking so long, uni/work destroyed my time more than I thought it would and every time I thought about writing, I found myself reading instead. *hangs head in shame*I hope you liked this chapter! Review? :)

~Riddle