Uncovered Secrets

Autumn 1942

The prefects' meeting was held in one of the larger compartments in the back of the train about midway through the journey from King's Cross to Hogsmeade. Abraxas Malfoy was the Slytherin sixth year boy prefect and had been a prefect the year before as well. For the most part, whoever was a prefect in their fifth year continued to be a prefect until graduation with few exceptions. That meant that all of the prefects would know one another, except for the newcomers. Abraxas was intrigued but ultimately unsurprised to see that Tom Riddle was the Ravenclaw fifth year boy prefect this year.

Tom Riddle had a reputation for being brilliant and powerful, and other than his interactions with the Black family, he tended to be distant with his peers. Abraxas hadn't bothered to get to know him because, as far as anyone knew, Riddle was a muggleborn wizard. Walburga and Alphard didn't seem to think he was, but they never mentioned anything that proved otherwise. Alphard in particular would get uncomfortable whenever someone pointed that out to him. Sometimes Alphard almost responded to that, but he would always restrain himself. It wasn't exactly subtle.

Abraxas was aware of the prophecy that involved Riddle and the Dark Lord as well as the fact that Riddle had killed Donna Abbott during the previous school year. When he'd asked Walburga for details about Riddle's fight with Abbott, she was unusually vague and seemed very uncomfortable. Riddle himself did his best to avoid questioning from anyone, so Abraxas hadn't bothered asking him.

Some time after that, Abraxas noticed that Riddle and Alphard weren't spending time together like they had before, and both appeared to be unhappy. He hadn't understood why until the summer when he'd seen Alphard moping around like some of his peers did after a breakup. It was then that it clicked in Abraxas's mind that the two hadn't simply been friends but lovers.

That very same summer Abraxas interned for William Hangleton's office. He got to attend some Wizengamot meetings and press conferences with Mr. Hangleton and read and summarized legislation for the politician. Abraxas felt fortunate to have had the opportunity as not many did. Mr. Hangleton wasn't impressed by just family names and connections; he required anyone who worked for him to have achieved greatness already or have the potential for achieving greatness.

Abraxas hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but occasionally, Mr. Hangleton asked for his thoughts about Tom Riddle. It didn't seem strange because it wasn't often, and by then, everyone knew about the prophecy involving Riddle and the Dark Lord as well as Abbott's defeat at Riddle's hands.

Now that Abraxas saw Riddle once more in person, he realized something that he was surprised he'd never realized before and that he was surprised no one else had ever seemed to notice either: Riddle looked so much like Mr. Hangleton it was uncanny. There were some differences as far as eye color, hair color, and skin tone went, but otherwise, they looked like they could be the same person, only at different ages.

There was no doubt in Abraxas's mind that Riddle had to be Mr. Hangleton's illegitimate son. Riddle looked more like Mr. Hangleton than Mr. Hangleton's legitimate son, William Hangleton Jr. (or Will as Abraxas thought of him), did.

Abraxas wondered if Riddle knew who his father was although he supposed he didn't. If he knew, surely he would have said as much. It would have improved his reputation among many in the wizarding world.

At the same time, Abraxas wondered why Mr. Hangleton wasn't open about Riddle being his son. Yes, there would be a bit of backlash for having had a child with another woman during the time he'd already been married, but ultimately, it would be beneficial to have it known that Riddle was his son. Riddle was intelligent, handsome, powerful, and prophesied to be a hero. Then again, perhaps Mr. Hangleton had no idea that Riddle was his son, especially if they had never met. It was possible that he had never learned about an affair of his resulting in the birth of a child.

Either way, Abraxas decided to keep quiet about the obvious relation between Riddle and Mr. Hangleton. The information could prove to be beneficial some day. For now, he'd simply observe and subtly confirm his suspicions.

As the prefects' meeting went on, Abraxas focused most of his attention on Riddle. The information they were being told wasn't new to him. Although it appeared Riddle attempted to hide it, it was apparent that he was excited. His eyes lit up at the mention of the perks involved with the position, particularly when it came to accessing the restricted section of the library. It wasn't surprising, really. The boy was in Ravenclaw after all.

When the meeting ended, the students left the compartment, Abraxas included. He was invited to the first meeting of the year for Professor Slughorn's "Slug Club" and had to attend that. It was unsurprising to find that Riddle had been invited as well. Anyone noteworthy who was at least in their fifth year was invited to be a part of the Slug Club.

Several invitees weren't impressive themselves but had well-known names and were likely to be successful in their future careers. Professor Slughorn made it quite clear why each person was there with the introductions. He spent a lot of time praising Riddle, much to Riddle's clear discomfort. Abraxas supposed it was because attention was brought to the fact that Riddle had a target on his back with the Dark Lord's name written all over it and had killed someone.

Eventually, once Professor Slughorn got his fill of gushing over the new treasures he was adding to his collection, the meeting ended. Abraxas and Riddle, like other prefects, had to begin making rounds on the train and assist the younger students once the train reached Hogsmeade.

Abraxas noticed that Riddle stared for a strangely long period of time at the carriages before he got inside one.

The welcoming feast went on normally until near the end when a house elf popped up near Headmaster Dippet and frantically began to tell him about a student's pet snake having gotten loose and then gone missing. Abraxas was not happy to learn that night that it had been his pet snake that had disappeared.

The next morning, at breakfast, Abraxas was shocked to see that his snake was draped on Riddle and that Riddle looked completely at ease. Riddle acted as though there was nothing unusual happening, and a corner of his mouth twitched as the snake hissed at him.

At some point, Riddle noticed Abraxas's arrival and proceeded to hand over the snake wordlessly. There was a look of longing in Riddle's eyes for moment before it disappeared, and Riddle walked away. Abraxas wasn't sure of what to make of it.

Over the course of the first several weeks of the school year, Abraxas's main encounters with Riddle alternated between prefect meetings and Riddle returning his snake to him. For some reason, the snake kept escaping and kept seeking out Riddle. The Ravenclaw prefect didn't seem to mind the snake's attention. In fact, Abraxas would swear that he liked the snake just as much as the snake seemed to like him.

It was purely by chance that Abraxas caught Riddle communicating with the snake one day, and it was truly communicating, that much being evident by the back-and-forth nature of the hissing between the snake and him. It suddenly made sense why his snake was so drawn to Riddle: Riddle was a Parselmouth.

Abraxas couldn't help himself from blurting out the revelation, which caused Riddle to freeze before he began insisting that he was not to tell anyone about this. Abraxas thought it was incredible and didn't understand why Riddle would want to keep it a secret. Was it because he was in Ravenclaw?

Riddle wouldn't give an answer as to why he wanted the information to be kept secret, but Abraxas agreed to keep it secret nonetheless.


Tom had expected the new school year to be rather lonely without Alphard's company, but it turned out that that didn't end up being the case. He was kept busy with preparation for his OWLS, his prefect duties, and his unlimited access to the restricted section of the library, along with his normal coursework.

Abraxas's pet snake, Sasha, frequently visited him and entertained him. She told Tom on more than one occasion that she preferred him over Abraxas, saying he was much better at listening to her and conversing with her in general. Tom pointed out that that was because he was a Parselmouth while Abraxas was not, but she considered it to be a weak excuse. Sasha spoke of pretty much everyone, including Abraxas, as being a peasant. It was, in fact, her favorite insult. Tom was the only person she didn't consider to be a peasant. To Sasha, Tom was a lord while she was a queen.

Tom hadn't liked when Abraxas learned of his ability to speak Parseltongue, but that was the consequence of not being vigilant enough of his surroundings. He'd been engrossed in a conversation, really more of an argument, with Sasha. The snake felt that Tom needed to stop taking her back to Abraxas and just keep her with him, and Tom had told her he couldn't because she didn't belong to him. She then accused Tom of only taking her back to Abraxas in an attempt to gain the Slytherin prefect's affection, which Tom wholeheartedly denied. Then Sasha insisted that Tom should be seeking out Abraxas's affection in order to get Abraxas to give her to Tom permanently. It was all very vexing.

It wasn't long after that that Sasha got it in her mind that Tom and Abraxas needed to be brought together and that it was her duty to make it happen. She continued escaping from Abraxas and going to Tom, but she also started doing other things. Sometimes she'd escape from Abraxas and not go to Tom, hoping Abraxas would assume she'd gone to Tom and seek him out to talk to him. That was effective. She also occasionally used her body to trip one or both of the boys. It hurt, but she felt it was a worthwhile sacrifice when she'd see one or both boys with flushed faces when one either fell to the ground and was helped up by the other or one fell but got caught by the other.

Sasha was certain that Tom and Abraxas were attracted to each other, and she got frustrated after a few weeks when they still were not mates. From conversations she had with Tom, she knew he still had feelings for a boy named Alphard even though the two of them couldn't be together. Tom also didn't seem to think that Abraxas and him were even friends. As for Abraxas, while Sasha couldn't talk to him, she could observe him, and she did notice him staring at Tom a lot, so it supported her hypothesis as far as she was concerned.

By the time winter break came around, Tom and Abraxas had managed to form a friendship but were still a ways away from a romance, much to Sasha's displeasure. To make matters worse, Sasha didn't get to stay at the Hogwarts with Tom but instead had to go back to Malfoy Manor with Abraxas.


Winter 1942 - Spring 1943

He was hungry, so very, very hungry. This is all Aragog could think about as he scuttled across the floors within the castle. He'd escaped from Rubeus Hagrid about an hour prior, and his objectives were to find something to eat and to get out of the castle and go into the Forbidden Forest. At first, it hadn't been so bad to be with the half-giant boy, back when he was smaller and food was easier for the boy to obtain for him, but now Aragog was starting to get bigger, and the boy couldn't take care of him properly. He spent so many days just thinking about food. Rubeus kept him trapped and wouldn't let him hunt for his own food either as the boy was concerned about getting caught with a creature he wasn't allowed to have.

The first form of life that Aragog encountered was a girl with dark hair, pale skin, and glasses. Before Aragog was even aware of what he was doing, he leapt at her and bit her. The girl screamed, but all Aragog could think about was that he finally was going to have a proper meal. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't even a minute later that he was hit with a spell from behind that forced him off the girl and onto the ground some distance away.

It didn't take long for Aragog's vision to go dark and for him to lose consciousness.

Once the acromantula was incapacitated by the blasting curse Tom had sent at it, Tom went over to Myrtle Warren, the girl who'd just been attacked. He had no idea how such a dangerous beast got inside the school, but he would find out. However, that would be after he took his fellow Ravenclaw to the hospital wing and got her medical treatment. The bite of an acromantula could kill her if not treated quickly enough. He used a levitating charm, knowing he could get Myrtle to the hospital wing more quickly by levitating her while running as opposed to carrying her while running. He had excellent control of his magic, but his physical strength was simply average for a teenage boy. It was fortunate for Myrtle that he'd been nearby when she'd been attacked.

Just a short while prior, Tom had been in the Room of Requirement. He still often visited the room though it was usually only to practice dark magic. This time he had visited for the peculiarity that he always witnessed on December 31st: The boy in the Mirror of Erised with messy black hair, a jagged scar on his forehead, and green eyes behind a pair of circular glasses. Unlike the first time Tom had seen him in the mirror, he didn't look confused; he didn't appear to be aware of being in the mirror at all. This was the case every year after the first one. Tom would see the boy get progressively older while the boy didn't seem to notice him at all. It always left Tom in a pensive mood, and he'd walk around the castle while thinking afterwards.

It was while Tom was walking around the castle this day that he had heard Myrtle's scream and had come running. He had been horrified to see an acromantula feasting upon her and sent a blasting curse at it without a moment's hesitation.

As Tom ran to the hospital wing while levitating Myrtle in front of him, Myrtle cried. She'd been crying ever since the acromantula attacked her. She didn't have it in her to protest being levitated to the hospital wing. She was in too much pain. She hadn't just been bitten. The beast had been eating her alive! There were chunks of flesh torn off her body, and her clothes were torn. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten to her face. She already got made fun of for her glasses and acne and weight. She didn't need people, especially Olive Hornby, to mock her for missing chunks of flesh from her face or facial scarring too. She could at least hide any other problems under her clothes.

When Tom and Myrtle reached the hospital wing, the matron came out and immediately took action upon seeing the state Myrtle was in. As the matron began cleaning Myrtle's wounds to prevent any infection from developing, Tom explained what happened. He was instructed to go to the deputy headmaster and inform him of the situation while Myrtle received treatment. It was unnecessary, however, as Professor Dumbledore entered the hospital wing just as Tom was about to leave.

Once everything was explained, Professor Dumbledore sent a note off with his phoenix, Fawkes, to St. Mungo's hospital. Then he and Tom left the hospital wing.

"Professor," Tom spoke hesitantly, "we both want to know who's responsible for letting an acromantula into the school, and I think I have a way for us to gain that information quickly if you aren't opposed to it."

"I hope you aren't suggesting bringing it back from the dead, my boy," Professor Dumbledore said sternly.

"No. It would involve briefly summoning its spirit back."

"Briefly?" the professor questioned doubtfully.

"Yes."

"And you're certain you can do this safely and without harm to anyone, including the spirit?"

"Yes."

The professor's eyes turned shrewd. "You have practiced this, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

Tom averted his eyes. "Enough."

"I'll allow it," Professor Dumbledore conceded, "but I will be present when you summon the spirit."

Tom nodded. He had expected as much.

The pair walked back to where the acromantula's corpse lay. Tom sat down near the dead beast and shut his eyes while focusing on the magic needed to summon the spirit while the professor stood a few feet back. Tom was certain he could safely summon the spirit of the creature and do so briefly because it hadn't been long since its death. He'd had enough practice to know when too much time had passed.

"Tom."

Tom opened his eyes. He didn't need to hear anything else from the professor to know that he'd been successful in summoning the spirit. Sure enough, it appeared before him.

"Hello," Tom began since he saw the acromantula looking around wildly.

The acromantula turned its eyes to him. "Who are you?"

"Tom Riddle. And you are...?"

"Aragog."

"Hello, Aragog. I have a couple questions for you that I hope you don't mind answering."

"How am I here?" Aragog asked. "Am I dead? Was I dead?"

Tom grimaced. Every spirit that he summoned asked these questions. "I have summoned you briefly. You are dead and will be allowed to leave soon."

"I was killed by a curse. You killed me!"

"Unfortunately, yes. It was necessary. I couldn't allow you to eat a girl alive."

"I was hungry."

"That's still no excuse."

"I hadn't eaten in days."

"Why?"

"The boy hadn't been able to find food to feed me."

"Which boy?"

"Rubeus. He means well, but he has no idea what he's doing."

"Why were you running around the castle?"

"I escaped. I planned to go to the Forbidden Forest. There would have been food there. Why am I telling you so much?"

"Spirits are obligated to be fully truthful to natural necromancers. I don't know why that is the case. Do you have anything to ask or tell me before I allow you to leave?"

"No."

"In that case, this is goodbye." Tom banished the spirit. It would go to wherever it had been before Tom had summoned it.

Tom turned around and faced the professor, who looked grim. "Professor?"

"That information was most troubling. Thank you for your assistance this evening, Tom. It's given me much to think about. Now, I must leave. I suggest you go get some rest. Ms. Warren will be treated and should be just fine."

The two parted ways.

During the remainder of the winter break, Tom visited Myrtle in the hospital wing to check up on her progress. Acromantula venom didn't cause issues right away and usually took about a day to set in although symptoms could begin to appear for up to two weeks following an acromantula bite, so she had to remain in the hospital wing. Tom found that she was pleasant enough when she wasn't stalking him.

It was when Myrtle first came to Hogwarts that she had been constantly following Tom around, peering at him from behind bookcases, trying to sit near him at dinner, asking him for help with her homework when she understood the subject matter just fine, and more. Myrtle had eventually stopped doing all of that after Tom had begun spending a lot of time with Alphard. It had been about two years by this point since she'd last stalked him.

By the time the new term began, Rubeus Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts and his wand snapped.

The authorities had wanted the half-giant sent to Azkaban, but Professor Dumbledore had made the case that that would be too harsh seeing as how Myrtle had lived without serious permanent injuries and Hagrid hadn't been involved in the attack. He was a child who somehow obtained a dangerous creature that he had no way to care for. Rumor was that Hagrid had gotten the acromantula from Newt Scamander, the famous magizoologist, but no one had any proof of that.

Myrtle's parents had wanted to sue Hagrid or his family, but there was no money they could get from him. The only recourse they had was that he would be expelled and his wand snapped.