Ladies Man
From his evolution from Tom Riddle to Lord Voldemort, seven women who influenced his life the most. Canon-compliant.
Minerva—Leadership
At Hogwarts, Tom Riddle tolerates orders from only one person: Minerva McGonagall, the Head Girl for Hogwarts' Class of 1944.
She isn't especially pretty, and she's too feminist for almost any boy to be truly attracted to her. However, she's smart, and she's strong, and the younger years look up to her whenever they need help, even if she does intimidate them a bit. He doesn't mind taking orders from Head Girl Minerva, really, because she knows what she's doing. She can be passionate, but above all she's a woman of cold logic and she doesn't let House or blood prejudices get in her way, trampling both beneath her like grass. Unlike her Head Boy counterpart, Cornelius Fudge, who's both an idiot and a coward; Tom really can't see why Dippet made Fudge Head Boy in the first place, as he has no good leadership skills whatsoever, and it really is a wonder that anyone looks up to him at all.
She consistently talks down the more adventurous prefects, even when they all cast their votes against her. She sways them all to her side in the end, like a lone Juror crying "Not Guilty!" when all the others are ready and eager for blood—or a school dance, as the case may be. Sometimes, she even manages to honestly convince Tom that she has the right of things.
She is as wise and just as the goddess that is her namesake, and, if the rumors are true, just as prude. Not to say that she's never dated, but she's a no-nonsense woman, and if hands start wandering then her temper is something terrible to behold. Tom has never been on the receiving end of her wrath, but he's witnessed it coming down on others and he admires how quickly people bend to her when she's angry.
She looks rather pretty when she's furious, and he's sure that she'd be a right hellcat in a duel, hissing and spitting with her shoulders high and head low, claws extended.
Those that get caught breaking or wiggling around her rules are quickly snapped back into place. They look up at her with eyes wide and alarmed and are quick to appease her with "Yes, Miss McGonagall," and "Sorry, McGonagall," and "It won't happen again, McGonagall." And indeed those she scolds usually don't act out again, cowed by her, though there are always the more daring, unrepentant troublemakers to challenge her authority.
He has seen her merciful, and he has seen her very nearly cruel. For one year Hogwarts is her empire and she rules it with a fist that is iron where it needs to be and feather-soft where it needs to be. Tom admires her steadfast leadership and, secretly, models himself after her. He is cruel where she would be harsh and less cruel where she would be forgiving. He observes the way she carries herself and how she speaks and when she speaks. She doesn't interrupt and hates to be interrupted. She'll make a good teacher, though she presently has bigger dreams.
From her he learns how to feign confidence in himself, even when the only things he knows about himself are things he hates.
As Head Girl, she seems to tower over the prefects, even if she isn't particularly taller than any of them, so even when they are all standing it creates the illusion that they are looking up at her. They have fewer students acting out this year than there have been any other year previous, though he supposes the commotion with the Chamber of Secrets may have a small part in that. Nevertheless, Minerva is to be respected and admired, and he has every intention of outdoing her next year.
"So, Mister Riddle," she says, "Would you please present the evening patrol schedule you have come up with for the dungeons?"
He smiles disarmingly, and every girl but the Head Girl blushes. "Of course, Miss McGonagall."
Notes:
Not much to say about this one, except that Professor McGonagall can be scary. Thus, why I like her.
There's a 'roundabout Twelve Angry Men reference in there, but I couldn't actually reference it because the play wasn't written until the fifties.
Could've been longer, I guess, but... meh.
Read, review, and all that jazz, my dear snarklings!
Megii