A/N: I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. I did not write anything for a little while as I had gotten sick and did not want to write anything, so I am glad that I am finally getting this out there. Thank you to everyone that posted a review and as always, if you have a question just let me know and I will try to answer through PM.
Happy Reading
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
{Parseltongue}
Upon his arrival at the gates of Hogwarts Tom took a deep breath as he took in the sight of the great castle. The three pops that indicated the arrival of Fenrir, Rodolphus, and Lucius barely registered as he basked in fact that he was finally in a position to help the first home he had ever had.
They did not speak as they made their way up the walk to the massive front doors of the castle. As they came closer they could see a frowning Dumbledore waiting with his Auror escort which caused the four to chuckle under their breaths.
"Thank you for waiting for me gentlemen. I was delayed in the meeting room." Tom nodded to the Aurors before turning his blank gaze towards Dumbledore and making a sweeping gesture towards the doors. "I am ready to accept the wards, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore looked like he had eaten a handful of his prized lemon drops. "Follow me." He turned and stiffly marched towards the third floor where his office was located. When they reached the Gargoyle that guarded his office, he practically spat out the password "Cauldron Cakes" before leading them up the stairs and into the office.
The office was slightly rounded with the walls around the massive desk absolutely covered in shelves that were covered in books and random clutter which was made worse by the spindly tables with intricate devices resting upon them. The rest of the walls were covered by cupboards containing the records and paperwork that was needed for the office of the Headmaster as well as the Hogwarts pensive, one of the oldest in existence. Above the storage cupboards were the many portraits of past headmasters; each and every one were wide awake and looking down at the occupants of the room with interest.
To the left and right of the desk were two staircases that led to the next level and Dumbledore slowly and quietly led them up the left hand side and into a private sitting room that could not be seen from the office below. On the wall was the Hogwarts Crest with two smaller crests with holes in the center. The one on the right was the Gryffindor Crest while the one on the left was blank. Dumbledore walked over and paused before jabbing the end of his wand into the Gryffindor Crest. He then turned to address Tom through clenched teeth. Tom smirked as he observed the absence of Dumbledore's famous twinkling eyes.
"This crest represents the current Headmaster of the school and is where direct control and changes are made to the wards. It will change to the Slytherin Crest once the Wards are transferred. Had you been from another school it would change to your school's Crest. Place your wand in the hole within the blank crest and the transfer will automatically begin."
Tom was much more careful than Dumbledore had been as he slipped his yew wand into the slot provided. Immediately the crest of Slytherin House was displayed and Tom could feel the weight of the wards settling on his shoulders and into his magic.
It took about five full minuets for everything to be transferred and for the two men to pull their wands from their respective crests. The Gryffindor Crest flashed briefly before settling on the Slytherin Crest. Dumbledore glared at Tom with his eyes complexly devoid of any twinkles as he backed away from the Slytherin Crest to make room for Tom. The Aurors that had accompanied them shifted uncomfortably at Dumbledore's behavior as Tom moved over to the new Slytherin Crest and once again slid his wand into the slot. For ten minutes they waited until Tom was satisfied with his understanding of the ward scheme and the few changes that he felt were immediately necessary.
"Very well. Thank you Aurors for your assistance today."
"You are welcome Headmaster Riddle-Slytherin." The oldest of the Aurors nodded before leading the others away.
Once they were finally alone, Dumbledore finally broke his silence while ignoring the other three men.
"I suppose that you are happy now Tom?"
"Yes, Yes I do believe I am." Tom did not bother to hide his smirk from the older man.
"Mark me well, Tom, this will not be your office for long. The people will not like it when you begin to teach their children your Dark ways and I will be back behind that desk before you know it. You have no hope of filling my shoes."
"Hn. We will see if you are ever welcomed back into this office. In the meantime, please ensure that you vacate the premises fully with your personal belongings by five in the evening on the thirteenth. Now, I believe that dinner is about to be severed. Why don't we go ahead and have…my staff…join us in the teachers' lounge so that we can let them know about the change in our status." Tom continued to smirk at the old man as he walked past with his followers right on his heels.
As they walked down the hall towards the teachers' lounge Tom was already mentally going over the changes that he wanted to make to the school. The first thing he would have to deal with would be the teachers and the announcement they were about to make. Truly, this announcement could not have come at a better time. If this had happened while classes were in session there would have been much more unrest than they were going to experience. Tom had chosen the Teacher's Lounge because it would be away from any students that were left in the castle over the Holidays. Tom was positive that the teachers should be told in private as a few of them would probably be unhappy with the change.
After sliding his wand into another Slytherin Crest beside the door within the Teacher's Lounge, a way of sending messages to staff about meetings, Tom made himself comfortable in the armchair at the center of the room while his followers placed themselves around the chair in various positions. Dumbledore just stood glaring at Tom until the first teacher arrived. As each teacher arrived, Tom would quietly ask that they wait patiently until all were present for an important announcement. A few teachers bristled at Tom telling what to do; such as McGonagall, Sirius and Hagrid, and when they looked to Dumbledore for information they were completely baffled at the frozen look on his face as he stood silent.
As the last professor slid into a seat McGonagall shifted in her seat and demanded answers in her thick brogue. "Now, what is all this about. Albus, what is Riddle doing here?"
"My dear…" Dumbledore began only to be cut off by Tom.
"It is nice to see you too Minerva. I am here because I have an announcement. Earlier today, the Wizengamot voted to replace Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster due to the falling standards here at Hogwarts. As of about fifteen minutes ago, I became the new Headmaster and your employer."
"What!" McGonagall's shriek of outrage was almost impossible to hear over Hagrid's furious sputtering. Sirius Black could be heard muttering under his breath about slimy Slytherins as he glowered at Tom and his followers but he refrained from making as much noise as Hagrid and McGonagall. A few of the other teachers looked upset but most just looked confused as to what was going on. Filius Flitwick just sat back in his chair beside Pomona Sprout and observed.
Tom let off a loud bang with his wand. "I think you will find that I already have, Mr. Hagrid. Mr. Dumbledore will be leaving the grounds of Hogwarts by five on the thirteenth. You have until then to come to terms with having me as your employer and to say your goodbyes. If you find that you do not wish to work at Hogwarts under my Headship, well then, please let me know so that your duties can be fulfilled by someone else. We will be having formal staff meeting after dinner on the thirteenth and attendance is mandatory. Classes will resume on the fifteenth and we will have a lot of information to go over before they arrive."
"I am sure that you can address them now Tom; they are already here after all." Dumbledore seemed to be trying to resume his grandfatherly demeanor as he spoke with a slight twinkle in his eyes. The grandfatherly persona had never impressed Tom.
"I could…but I will not. I will give them time to come to terms with what is obviously a shock and allow them to say their goodbyes. Of course, it is probably for the best that we wait anyway as they would not be distracted by non-staff members in attendance." Tom smirked again as Dumbledore began to glower at him again and McGonagall resumed her ranting.
Tom rose smoothly from his chair and made his way out of the room. Sharp silence fell as the door to the teacher's lounge closed cutting off the chaotic noise within. "Well then. That should keep them busy for a while." Tom smirked as he began to walk down the hall.
"The look on McGonagall's face was priceless. Did you know that Black was working here?" Lucius asked as he walked along with the others.
"I did not, but I am not surprised. He would have to have some type of employment as he has no access to the Black vaults. I suppose he teaches Defense as he was an Auror at one time."
"I cannot even begin to imagine him as a teacher." Rodolphus sneered and looked around the dusty hallway they were traversing. "Where are we going?"
"Hn. I wanted to be away from the teacher's lounge before I called an elf. I would rather avoid the teachers for now; especially while Dumbledore is still here." His followers said nothing as they followed him along to an unused classroom. Gaining control of Hogwarts had been something that Tom had wanted for a long time and they all knew that he had plans for the school, but they could also understand the desire to keep those plans from Dumbledore if at all possible. "This will do. Head Elf." Tom spoke firmly as he called for the Head Elf of Hogwarts.
An old and wrinkly elf wearing a clean tea towel with the Hogwarts crest on it popped into room. "New Headmaster is calling for Onyx?"
"Onyx, will any of the elves follow orders from Dumbledore?" Tom asked.
"No, new Headmaster. The elves is being feeling the bond shift to new Headmaster."
"Wonderful. I am Lord Riddle-Slytherin and I need information on Hogwarts. First, I will be moving to Hogwarts as will others that will begin teaching here. Tell me about living quarters located in the castle."
"Hogwarts is being having many quarters for teachers. Headmaster Riddle- Slytherin is being staying in Founder Rooms."
"Founder Rooms? I have not heard of those?"
"No Headmaster Riddle-Slytherin. They is being behind magic's that makes peoples forget about them. They are only supposed to be used by someone that is from the families of the Founders."
"I see. I would like to see these rooms."
"They is being located on fifth floor. I wills meet you at the tops of the stairways and show you the way." With a quiet pop the elf disappeared.
"Alright. Let's go see these rooms." Tom said as he walked out of the room. Right before he disappeared through the doorway he turned back and smirked at his followers. "I guess we can then think about where your own quarters will be located."
All three men paused for a moment before Fenrir began cursing a blue streak under his breath. Lucius paled as he whispered. "What does he mean 'our quarters?"
Tom was still smirking when they arrived at a back stretch of wall towards the back of the castle. Had the elf not been leading them through the twisting corridors they never would have found this area of the castle. A few hallways that had looked like dead ends would have sharp turns that would open to yet another corridor. It was not surprising at all that these halls were unused and covered in thick layers of dust.
Lucius looked down at the elf with a frown. "Is there a reason that so much of this castle is covered in filth?"
Onyx looked at the floor sadly as he explained "Old Headmaster Dumblesdore is being telling the elves not to be cleaning unused parts. There is not beings enough work for the elves anymore."
"Well that will soon change. We will discuss this latter though. Open" Tom placed his hand on the wall where he could feel the wards telling him a door to the rooms was located. The wall seemed to melt away to show the entrance to the living quarters.
It took almost thirty minutes before the four men had been shown the entirety of the living area by a slightly embarrassed Onyx. After showing them a very dusty living room, he called a few of the other elves to begin cleaning while he showed them around. There were four good sized bedrooms that each had attached bathrooms, a dining area, a fairly good sized library, two studies, and two rooms that were complete empty.
Returning to the living room, Tom settled himself into a large wingback chair. "This should work out well. I think I will have the two empty rooms combined into one and we will move the portraits from Black Manor here so that the boys have somewhere to have their lessons while we are busy."
"We?" Fenrir was having a hard time containing the soft growls that were escaping as he looked at his Lord.
"Yes we. I have been making plans for a while and plan for quite a few of my followers to try their hand at teaching. I will need quite a few new teachers and will need to be assured that the teachers are not idiots. I will stay here tonight, but you Fenrir, may go home and arrange to have everything moved here. If I am only allowed this position for only the five years, we will then move to one of the manors closer to Durmstrang anyway." Turning to look over towards Lucius and Rodolphus who had taken seats on the couch, he continued to speak with a small smirk. "I will arrange for you to have your own suits of rooms of course. Preferably along this hallway. Onyx."
The elf stepped forward from the corner he was standing silently in. "Yes Headmaster?"
"Are their other rooms along this corridor?"
"There is not being any rights now, Headmaster, but you cans be moving other rooms here if you is wishing to."
"I thought so. Will I also be able to have a door that will attach my rooms here to the Headmaster's office once Dumbledore has left?"
"Yes Headmaster. You is just needing to use the wards to be telling the castle what you is wanting."
Tom smirked. "Perfect."
The next few days were extremely busy for Tom, his followers and their households. Elves worked tirelessly to pack and transport things to the castle and into the family vaults in preparation for their stay at Hogwarts. Fenrir, Lucius, and Rodolphus kept an eye on the activity around them before closing and warding their houses to the best of their ability for the foreseeable future. Bellatrix and Narcissa made sure that everything went smoothly and that the elves knew where everything belonged; they spent most of their time checking and double checking an endless supply of lists. Rabastan, Severus, and Barty took turns keeping an eye on Corvus, Draco and Xavier, who were practically bouncing off the walls at the prospect of living at Hogwarts. Severus was the only one that was able to get the boys to quiet down as he would pull out their potion kits and keep them busy for hours.
Tom found himself equally as busy as he had immediately had Onyx fetch the accounting ledgers from the Headmaster's office and bring them to him in his rooms. Had it not been for Onyx bringing him food and telling him that it was late, Tom would have remained immersed in the ledgers for days on end. Tom did not bother leaving his quarters until early on the thirteenth, when he finally decided to join the staff at breakfast.
He was not surprised at all to find that he was the first to arrive in the Great Hall that morning as he had gotten up before the sun made its appearance. Tom grinned widely as he sat in the large chair at the head of the single table they used during holidays; honestly, it was much more throne than a chair, but it had been the Headmaster's chair since the school had been founded. The massive chair even had its own chapter in Hogwarts a History.
Slowly, as Tom sipped at his tea, others began to filter into the room and take their seats. Horace Slughorn claimed a seat next to Tom and began to wax poetical about the latest gift one of his past students had sent to him. Filius Flitwick claimed the seat on his other side and politely began conversing with the new Headmaster. Pomona Sprout and Septima Vector were the next to claim seats and begin to speak with Tom. While conversation flowed easily on his end of the table, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black and Hagrid each claimed seats as far away from him as they could without sitting in the seats that were normally reserved for the students.
By the time that Dumbledore joined them the students had all arrived and begin to load their plates. They were not shocked to see someone new in the Headmaster's chair as Tom's appointment had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet along with information about Hogwarts falling standards.
Tom could hear McGonagall and Black complaining to Dumbledore while Hagrid kept blowing his nose into an over sized handkerchief while blubbering about how unfair that Dumbledore got booted. Most of the students and teachers were trying their best to ignore the horrible table etiquette. During the lulls in his own conversation he could hear Dumbledore encouraging them to keep him in the loop and that he would never be very far from Hogwarts in times of need. Tom hid a snort at his continued attempts to make himself look like a savior and then had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as the three adults lapped it up.
As the meal progressed, the few students that remained watched as Dumbledore glared at Tom while Tom ignored him all together. It was only after the meal had ended that Dumbledore approached Tom, causing everyone that was still in the room to stop and watch the interaction.
"Tom, my boy, may I speak with you for a moment." Dumbledore drew himself up with imagined importance.
Tom came to a smooth stop before he turned to face Dumbledore. "Mr. Dumbledore, I have let this go for quite some time but I feel that I must make this perfectly clear. I am not now, nor have I ever been 'your boy,' nor do I ever recall giving you leave to use my given name. Please address me as Headmaster or Lord Riddle-Slytherin as is proper."
Dumbledore's twinkle died a quick death as he began to glare at Tom again. The students in the room had never seen this side of their old Headmaster and were more than a little bit startled at his demeanor. Dumbledore clenched his teeth and fixed a parody of a smile on his face before he began to speak again.
"Do forgive me To…I mean…Lord Riddle. It is just that I cannot forget the image of you waiting to be sorted when you were just a nervous first year. That image will never leave me."
Tom was not the only one to note the false stop that Dumbledore used while speaking, nor was he the only one to note that he had chosen to call him Lord over the title of Headmaster or that he had left off part of his last name.
"Hn. Perhaps you should have the healers of St. Mungo's check you for Senility as I just told you that my last name was Riddle-Slytherin and you seem to have already forgotten." Tom's face remained blank at the look that came over Dumbledore's face. It was made all the better by the gasps that they could hear around the room. "Was there something that you needed Mr. Dumbledore?"
"Yes." Dumbledore looked around the room before he continued the conversation. "I have been having a bit of trouble with my packing. You see, things just keep disappearing from my trunks no matter how many times they are packed away. I fear that the castle itself will prevent me from being ready to leave by dinner tonight."
"I see. What are the items that refuse to stay packed?" Tom asked with one brow raised.
"Oh just the majority of my books, some of my trinkets and artifacts and of course my pensive."
"Ah, I think I know what the issue is then. You see, Mr. Dumbledore, when I took over the wards I activated one that ensures that Hogwarts property cannot be removed. I was quite surprised that it had even been deactivated as I know that library books that had not been returned would do so automatically while I was still a student under Headmaster Dippet. I must say, I really do suggest that check up with a Healer as it seems that you are not able to identify things that do not belong to you. I cannot begin to think of a reason that you would believe that a pensive that has been at this school since its founding belongs to you personally, after all."
Dumbledore had frozen as Tom spoke, painfully aware of the wide eyes that were looking at him in horrified fascination. He had practically been accused of trying to steal from Hogwarts in front of most of the staff and all of the students that had stayed for the Holidays. It took everything he had to keep himself from drawing his wand and hexing the young man standing in front of him, but he desperately wanted to keep as much of his reputation intact as he could.
"I see. Perhaps I will have a check-up after all then. I must say that these next five years will be a great time for me to rest before I take on extra duties. Why, I imagine that I will be much more relaxed at the end of these five years."
"Hn. Remember Mr. Dumbledore, you are to be off the grounds of Hogwarts by five o'clock this evening. I will ask that the elves help you to remember so that there is no further confusion." Tom smirked at the angry look that Dumbledore was trying to keep off of his face before he turned as swept out of the room with his robes billowing.
He still had a lot to do in preparation for the arrival of his followers and their families as well as making an agenda for the meeting he would be having with the teachers after dinner. If the meeting did not run terribly long, he wanted to go ahead and get started on organizing the mess that was currently the Headmaster's office. He was already dreading the amount of paperwork he would have to go though and interpret if the accounting records were anything to go by. He could foresee a great many late nights in his future.
Entering his rooms, he was brought out of his thoughts by a small body ramming into his legs.
"Papa!"
Tom smiled into his heir's unique eyes as he patted him on the head. "Hello Corvus. Welcome to Hogwarts."
