The next day turned out to be freezing cold. Harry, dressed in just his school robes, felt goosebumps prickle on his arms, and he realized that he should've put on his winter cloak. The chilling humidity in the air didn't help, either, as he walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Tom. They had woken up early (well, more like Tom had and then prodded Harry until he had woken up too), so they had no way of knowing what the reaction to last night's incident would be. Tom was still annoyed with the whole concept of flying and Quidditch, and so held a frosty expression on his face.
Harry could already see a green blur in the air who he supposed was Marcus Flint, Slytherin's Quidditch captain, as he flew laps around the pitch. In all honesty, though, the sport didn't seem like it required much physical activity. Maybe magical, to maneuver the broom, but it wasn't overly strenuous. Of course, Harry's musings were proven wrong.
"Potter! The only reason you're here is to win, and if you can't do that, then you don't belong here." Flint had landed next to Harry. Behind him, the current Seeker, Terrence Higgs, was trying to look nonchalant.
Harry swallowed, unsure of what to say. Meanwhile, Tom had taken a seat in the empty Slytherin stands with his arms crossed.
"You're up against Higgs to catch the Snitch. You know what that is, right?" Flint questioned. Harry nodded, having read Quidditch Through the Ages.
Harry was handed a worn-out school broom, and the game commenced quickly. After a few seconds, the golden gleam of the Snitch was nowhere to be seen in the fog that had swept over the school's grounds. He followed Higgs' actions as he circled the pitch. Hours could have passed, for all Harry knew. Tom looked to be increasingly bored, from what little Harry could tell.
Finally, off by the Gryffindor-colored flag, Harry caught a quick glimpse of the Snitch, and, a second later, Higgs did too. Harry raced off towards it, in the lead, but Higgs was quickly gaining on him because of his much faster broom.
The Snitch dropped towards the ground rapidly, then rose again, spiraling and flitting and all-around taunting them. It eventually began to hover against the stands, dangerously close. Harry realized that if he sped off towards it, he was liable to hit the stands in a head-on collision. He and Higgs were racing side by side, and Harry mentally cursed the school broom for being so slow. At the last minute, the Snitch was a mere foot away from the wood of the stands.
Higgs pulled away in time to avoid any collision, whereas Harry kept flying until his hand felt the cool metal wings of the Snitch. Thinking quickly, he sharply turned his broom away from the stands to lessen the impact. He practically rolled off of the broom and into the bleachers, but stood up right away.
A slow clapping was emanating from the pitch. Flint had a smug look on his face. "Keep flying like that, and we're sure to have the Quidditch Cup for the next seven years."
Higgs had gone red in the face and stormily flew off, his broom and all of his bones still intact. Harry was astonished that he'd actually gotten a spot on the team, with a school broom, no less.
"And to think I gave you the worst broom of the lot!" Flint exclaimed excitedly. "You fly like a Gryffindor, Potter. That'll give us an unexpected edge...yes." The older boy's eyes had a sort of glaze to them as he thought of this year's Quidditch season.
"Well, thanks, then. I'll just be going—"
"—a good broom. I'll talk to Professor Snape—"
"—Alright, bye then," Harry finally said, breaking off the other's ramblings, a bit overwhelmed.
Thoroughly frozen to the bone, Harry was glad to be within the Hogwarts castle once more. At breakfast, they were serving hot chocolate as a special treat, which made Harry's day even better. Things were going normally, maybe even a bit better than normal, when a school owl flew down and landed between the toast and the strawberries on the table. It held out a note for Harry.
Dear Harry and Tom,
Thank you for your actions yesterday against the troll. I don't know what I would have done had the both of you not been there. The thought makes me shudder. Even if you didn't mean to save me (though why were you trying to get into a girls' bathroom anyway?), I'm grateful.
However, as you may have presumed, the troll died. The professors were looking to see who did it — they even cast a something on my wand that showed all of the prior spells I had done. I told them that two older students had saved me, but they were ashamed that they had gone to such extreme measures and had thus run off.
So, once again, thank you. I owe you; let me know if you ever need a favor.
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger
Harry wordlessly handed the letter over to Tom, who read it briefly.
"Gryffindors," he said finally. "Gryffindors and their sense of morality. I just don't understand it."
"You wouldn't, seeing as your moral compass is so skewed that you're bordering on insane as a person."
"How did you know?" Tom faked surprise. "But really, though, how did you? About my morality, I mean. Is it that obvious?"
Harry squirmed. "It's just a gut feeling, I guess. It's common among orphans like us, and maybe I've gotten so used to it that I can recognize it."
"I used to try to make myself feel things," Tom said solemnly. "I tried to feel love first, then guilt. I used to hurt animals and the other children to see if I would feel bad for doing it afterwards."
Tom clamped his mouth shut, as if ashamed for exposing that much about himself. "I didn't. The only time I could really feel was when I was angry."
Harry had known that Tom was different, sure, but he hadn't realized that it was this extreme. It almost seemed like something was wrong with the other, though Harry would never point that out. "It's okay, Tom," was the only thing Harry said. "How is the snake doing?" He halfheartedly tried to change the subject of the conversation.
"I named her Mari. I'm not sure why, but the name seemed to fit so I went with it. Most of the time, she stays in my trunk, though she goes out to hunt too."
"I like the name. It does suit her, but I feel bad...I kind of forgot about her until today," Harry said earnestly, with a small smile.
Tom just shook his head.
Classes passed as usual, and the students were all excited about the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match on Saturday. Harry had returned to the dorms on Wednesday to find a long, thin package on his bed, which had turned out to be a Nimbus 2000 broom. The latest gossip was that the troll had been killed by an anonymous seventh year, saving a first year in the process, but even that talk faded away.
The only weird thing that happened was Professor Quirrell asking Tom to stay after class on Thursday. Like had become routine whenever teachers needed to talk to one of them, Harry waited just outside the classroom doors. Unfortunately, because the Defense classroom was so large, he wasn't able to eavesdrop all that well.
When he heard Tom shout, though, he rushed into Quirrell's office. He seemed different than his regular, shivery self. His eyes were a bloody red color, and he had Tom pinned to his desk with his arms behind him. His wand was pointed at Tom's head.
"How did you get here? Tell me, now!"
"I don't know what you mean, sir! Did Professor Dumbledore tell you something?"
"I know who you are, Riddle. Don't lie. How did you get here?"
"I told you already, I have no idea what you're talking about! Just ask Dumbledore!"
"Will this help you out, Tom?" Quirrell hissed in Parseltongue. Tom's body went rigid.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Give it some thought." Quirrell pushed Tom up and shoved him towards the door, then saw Harry standing there in shock. Using some spell, he bound their feet to the floor so that they couldn't move.
"Obliviate," he whispered twice.
Tom and Harry found themselves in the Slytherin common room with no recollection of how they had gotten there. There was a lost period of time — was it really possible for the walk back to the common room to take half an hour? — that they couldn't explain. Nevertheless, they started their homework, a bit confused if nothing else.