Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 7
"Now, Tom, the students are about to arrive. We can't have your reputation ruined," I told him teasingly. His mouth snapped shut, and his eyes became pools of hatred and malevolence.
"You're right. My image would be ruined," he said, solemnly. "Thank you." The effect was ruined when he winked.
"Who do we have class with Professor?" I asked, trying to forget the hatred I had seen in Tom's eyes.
"The Gryffindors, as Slytherin always does. It gets a bit tedious after seven years. Why your uncle suggested it, I'll never know," said Flitwick, rolling his eyes. "It's the worst idea he's ever had!"
"Simple, it'll promote inter-house unity," I said.
"Oh yes, inter-house unity. Simple solution for that," said Tom, with a wicked glint in his eye. "If they would only get rid of the Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, everything would be ok." I felt a wave of happiness rush past me. Tom wanted to keep Dumbledore! "We Slytherins could easily cow Dumbledore, the house of one, with our superior numbers."
"Hah! As if, no one defeats a Dumbledore in a duel, as you will soon learn, Mr. Riddle. Professor Flitwick, please recite the rules of dueling for my undereducated opponent," I said, ready to defend the honor of my newly established house. I tuned Flitwick out as he recited the rules and prepared the room. I put some wards in place to protect the students who would undoubtedly enter soon, as class was due to start in three minutes.
"Miss Dumbledore, Mr. Riddle, I have one request to make, since this duel will likely run into our Charms class. Use as many charms as possible," said Flitwick, attracting my attention when he said my name. "And five points to Dumbledore for constructing such useful wards so quickly." Tom glanced at the wards I had put in place before looking at me in awe.
"What can I say, I'm a girl of many talents," I said. We bowed quickly and moved away from each other quickly, waiting for the Professor's signal. Because Tom was a Slytherin, I was preparing myself for an attack at any moment. I was shocked when the Professor's signal came and Tom hadn't attacked.
He sent a Petrificus Totalus at me, which I ducked easily. I retaliated with a charm that would change his outfit to bright red when it hit. He stepped to the side and avoided it. We noticed the students trickling in and began dueling nonverbally. I sent two Stupefies at him in quick succession. They bounced off of his shield and back at me. I shielded myself for a moment, before conjuring yellow birds to attack him. While he was distracted with them, I tried to disarm him with Expelliarmus. Unfortunately, he was able to banish my birds and avoid my charm. He sent his Patronus, a snake, to distract me. I easily summoned my otter. The snake dissipated quickly and my otter moved to distract Tom. While I was watching my otter, Tom tried to stun me. A quick motion with my wand was all that was needed to send it flying back at him. As he shielded himself, I caused a large spout of water to come out of my wand. The water landed near Tom, making the floor stones very slippery. A quick freezing charm had Tom struggling to keep upright. I debated between the Jelly-Legs charm and Tarantella for a moment. I cast Tarantella to his right and the Jelly-Legs charm to his left. He tried to jump, but he slid to his right instead of becoming airborne. He started dancing on ice. I disarmed him when he fell down. I ended the charm, banished the ice, and helped him up to a round of applause from the gathered students.
"Twenty points to Dumbledore and Slytherin for excellent charm work," said Flitwick, disabling the wards I had set up. "Now, everyone, find a seat and prepare yourself for the test." A gasp arose from the Gryffindors. I could tell that the Slytherins were also shocked, but Slytherins maintain their composure much better than the Gryffindors do. "This test is for me to see what you've remembered over the summer and how much I need to teach you before your NEWTs." I smiled in fond remembrance of the NEWTs I had taken five years ago, after Voldemort's defeat. Tom assumed I was smiling in relief as the other students were.
Flitwick handed out the test to the students nearby. I had my quill ready.
"Bet you I'll score higher than you," whispered Tom.
"You're on," I replied. Flitwick handed me my test. I began answering the questions. The first few questions were easy. I read through the rest of the test. All of this was easy. I started answering questions. I finished half an hour before any other student. Flitwick's mouth dropped into an amusing o when I handed him my completed test.
Flitwick gave me my test back at the end of class, about five minutes before Tom turned his in. I hadn't missed a single question.
"Why the smile?" asked Tom, when he saw me grinning. I handed him my perfect test.
"Why so serious?" I asked, when his face lost the look of disbelief and assumed an expression that a businessman might wear in a meeting with the people who would make or break his career.
"You won the bet. It's time to negotiate what I'm going to have to do," he said. I adopted a serious face and a low voice to mock him.
"First, you shall have to worship Filch's cat. Then, you'll switch Slughorn's shampoo with red dye. Lastly, you will convince Uncle Al to plait his beard and tie it with pink bows," I said with a straight face. However, when I saw the look of pure horror on Tom's face, I burst out laughing.
"Very well, a bet's a bet. I'll speak to Professor Dumbledore after Transfiguration."
A House Elf rushed into the classroom and handed Flitwick a scroll. As he read it, his normally cheerful features became more and more solemn.
"Class is dismissed. Please go directly to your common rooms. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. Miss Dumbledore, Mr. Riddle, you two will accompany me to the Headmaster's Office." I turned to Tom; he looked just as confused as I did.
The diminutive Professor was walking out of the door. I hoisted my bag and rushed after him. Tom was right behind me.
"Professor, what is this about?" asked Tom.
"Walls have ears, Mr. Riddle," said the professor, gesturing to the portraits. Flitwick said the password to the gargoyle guarding the office of the Headmaster and we climbed up the stairs. When we entered, we found the Heads of Houses already gathered.
"Armando, why are we including the Head students but not the other teachers?"asked an indignant potions professor. "I know these two are highly capable students, but they are still students!"
"Because Dumbledore house is also part of this school, and the Head of House is Ms. Dumbledore. I have appointed Mr. Riddle to be her assistant in this and all her other duties to the school," replied Dippet. "Now, as you were all informed, Durmstrang has been attacked by Grindelwald's forces. I am planning on extending an offer to all the students to come to Hogwarts to finish their schooling until Durmstrang is once again safe. I believe that many of them will come, and I wish them to be sorted into the different houses. Are there any objections to this?"
Professor Ampullae began to speak after a quick glance at all of her colleagues, including me, "I speak for all of us when I say that we will welcome the students into our respective houses with open arms."
"I have a question, though, as to the students sorted into Dumbledore. How will they be sorted? Mia was placed in her house because she contained traits of all four houses, as do most students," said Tom, after a brief silence. Now that I thought about it, I had absolutely no idea what the sorting hat would do.
"I think that that question had best be deferred to the hat itself," said Dumbledore, seeing his superior at a complete loss.
"An excellent question, young Tom, and it deserves an excellent answer. However, the answer is for Ms. Dumbledore's ears alone now. You'll get your answer when next I sing. I feel that it will be sooner than any of you expect." I put the hat on, and heard its voice in my head.
"The traits which will place a student in Dumbledore house are few. There must be bravery in the soul, ambition in the mind, loyalty to the school, and studiousness in all things, whether it be fun or grades," it said.
"In fun?" I thought of the Weasley twins.
"Yes, I look forward to sorting those two once more. They'll find a new home in Dumbledore."
"Thank you," I said, out loud as I pulled the hat off of my head. Tom looked at me, with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. I smirked.
"If that is all that the pair was needed for, can we summon the rest of the teachers and dismiss them now?" asked Slughorn.
"Indeed, the details of this attack are not for children's ears," said Professor Flitwick. I shuddered to think of the ideas that Lord Voldemort could get if he heard the details. I wasn't aware that I had visibly shuddered until I saw Dumbledore's concerned look.
"Mr. Riddle, I entrust my niece's welfare to you," said my uncle. Tom nodded and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. We walked out of the Headmaster's office.
I stiffened; Lord Voldemort had his arm around my shoulder. I had forgotten about my mission, until now.
"Do you want to play Snap in my common room?" I asked lightheartedly. "I could teach you my favorite card game! It's a Muggle game."
Tom hesitated at the word Muggle, and then nodded cautiously. I wished I knew what he was thinking, but it was too risky to use Legimancy on him.
TRHG
Tom's P.O.V.
I followed Mia to her common room. She leaned into towards the portrait of herself, who for some reason had chosen the name Ragner, and whispered the password.
She used the bounce stair I had created to get to the actual Common Room, instead of the thousands of stairs. I glanced upwards before following. Every so often, I saw doors. Someday, I'll find out where they lead, I promised myself, before bouncing up to where Mia was waiting.
She had a pack of ordinary Muggle cards in her hands and was sitting at a table by one of the large windows shuffling. A storm was brewing on the horizon. Dark clouds were waiting over the Forbidden Forest for the wind to push them to Hogwarts. I saw the banners blowing. It would hit soon.
Perhaps I should name my followers The Storm. Not permanently, because the damage caused by storms can be repaired, but for a short amount of time. Right now, we're poised to attack the Wizarding World, to destroy the Muggles. When we do attack, we shall feast on the deaths of our enemies, the Death Eaters.
"Are you coming?" said Mia, slightly impatiently. I realized that I had been lost in my thoughts for a long time. We played games, some that I didn't know. I taught her a game I used to play at the Orphanage.
The storm hit right after dinner. The Evening Prophet was being passed around. Rumors were flying.
"Durmstrang destroyed!"
"Grindelwald's responsible!"
"It'll be years before Bulgarian wizards can get a decent education there! The repair crew says that it will take at least 10 years to fix up the crumbling castle, and another 2 to recreate the wards, and at least one more to improve them!"
"They might as well build a new school!"
Mia was reading the article across the table from me. Abraxas Malfoy had decided to sit next to me at the Dumbledore table. To his dismay, his plate was a fiery orange. The Prewett girl was sitting next to Mia.
"Ms. Dumbledore, do you know if the Durmstrang students are safe? My cousin goes to school there," said a first year Hufflepuff.
"I'm sure they're fine. Professor Dippet is inviting the students to come here to Hogwarts. What's your cousin's name? I'll ask my uncle if he's one of the ones who agreed to come," said Mia.
"His name is Alastair Krum," she replied. The Hufflepuff couldn't tell, but I could. Mia had gone pale.
