Teaching History (is Old News)
21 – Disagreement
Tom storms out of the Hogwarts floor, flames rushing out like parting stormy waves, followed by a string of floating purple ducks that look like they're clinging to the remnants of a crashing muggle plane. Students leap out of the way as Tom barrels past them, eyes intent on one retreating back.
"Potter!" he snarls. And no, that's not the right name, the right address, anymore. Not for him. "Harry!"
His name tastes like the killing curse. Bright. Brilliant. A flash. Gone. Why did he waste so many years sneering 'Potter' when 'Harry' feels right? What was it that looney Trelawney once said? Yes… 'you cannot know someone until you truly name them.'
Again, students start to whisper excitedly like a chorus of snakes. Tom pays them no mind as he pushes them out of his way, ignoring the agitated quacks behind him. Some ducks nearly spiral into armor, their feathers raining in Tom's sight—
Finally, Tom snatches Harry's hand from the crowd.
"Stop it," Harry says coolly, back still turned to him.
"Never." The words slip out. Unbidden.
"Let. Go."
"I don't want to," Tom says foolishly. But no, how is it foolish to hold on to what is his? How is it foolish to stop denying what Harry Potter is? Harry is powerful, an expert duelist, excellent with serpents, fitting to stand by Voldemort's side. "You always walk away, you don't truly look at me." After all, how often has Harry seen other Dark Lords in Tom's eyes? "I won't let go until you listen."
Harry whirls around and jabs his finger at Tom's chest. "Listen?! Listen?! Have you paid any attention to what I've told you this weekend?! I listen all the bloody time! You wouldn't believe the shite I hear. And you… oh you… I listen far too much to you. No, Tom Riddle, I think you should be the one to really listen for once! I have no obligation to stay here just because you tell me to. I'm leaving."
He rips his fingers away from Tom's hold, leaving Tom's hand cold, and storms off.
"Harry…!"
"Perhaps, Professor Riddle…" Of all people, Dumbledore appears to investigate the situation. Why does the universe keep throwing the old fool his way?! "You should move your domestic dispute away from prying eyes.
"What eyes—" Tom stops, finally processing the huge crowd of curious students gathered in the corridor. "Get back to your dorms, you little—"
"Professor Riddle." Dumbledore coughs too loudly. "Would you like to walk with me back to your office? Professor Potter seemed to be heading there."
Tom glares at the last of the scurrying students who are jumping to the nearest exits. "…Fine."
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"…Well then," Dumbledore begins, after a tense minute flies by, "what did you do to upset young Harry?"
"I made him upset?! He—" Tom stops and glowers. "He's not upset. It's just a minor misunderstanding."
"Hmm… I'm sure."
"Harry is stubborn. He doesn't listen to anything I say!"
"Sounds familiar."
"Can't he see that I'm showing him a better way to live?"
"…I'm sure you believe you are correct."
Tom scowls at him. "I'm not in the wrong."
"You never seem to be."
"Because I never am."
Dumbledore shrugs.
With narrowed eyes, Tom hisses, "Harry will see things my way."
"Then by all means," Dumbledore gestures to the door, "go see him."
True enough, they've already arrived at Harry and Tom's joint office. Tom stares at that door, at the plaque, for a few burning seconds before storming through the door, slamming it behind him.
"Harry," Tom wonders what face he should put on. The charmer? The contrite? No, this isn't Tom's fault. It's Harry's somehow, for not understanding who Tom is. Not seeing himself in Tom as Tom sees himself in Harry…
Tom doesn't bother with fake faces.
"Harry," Tom begins, ignoring the ducks now waddling upside down from his hover charm, "I admit I deceived you but my intentions were—"
Nagini hisses despondently on the empty floor. [Green Eyes has left usssss,] she wails as much as any snake can wail.
[What.]
[I said—]
[I know what you said!] The main office is bare, stripped of all eccentric paper cranes, of all colour. No bean bag chairs, no swishy hammock, no drawer with edges of colourful wool peeking out. No ridiculous Harry Potter smiles or mischievous eyes. Just emptiness. Nothing. [Where is he?! Why did he go?!]
Rolling over as much as any giant snake can, Nagini hisses, [He said he needs a break from you. To think. He said he might not come back for a while. What did you SAY, Master!? Did you offer him rotting mice?! I told you to always bring FRESH mice! The fresher the better! Probably live, in Green Eyes' case!]
[I'm going to fetch him, Nagini, stay put,] Tom scowls, intent on pulling Hogwarts apart if he has to.
[He went through the fire-thing. He's not in Hogwarts.]
[He has to teach tomorrow!]
[Then he'll come back in the morning. Unlike you, he seems genuinely fond of those human babes. Does he view them as his own snakes? I might have to kill the competition.]
Tom rushes out, shutting the door to Nagini's delusional ramblings. Sure enough, Dumbledore still remains standing by the door, humming to himself.
"Where is he?" Tom demands.
"I assume in your office," Dumbledore says patiently, as if to a child.
"He's not there! He flooed out! Where does Longbottom live? Diggory?" Tom snarls. Those are the only two that Harry would turn to. The only two that can claim to know Harry better. Soon that won't be the case.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that right now, Tom. You don't appear to be in the best mood…"
"I don't care about that, I need to see him!"
"Now, Tom, I know you're normally a bit reckless when it comes to Harry, but—"
"I'm not reckless."
Dumbledore just sighs forlornly. "Is this your first major fight as friends?"
Friends, what a simple word for what Harry is to Tom. Dumbledore could never hope to understand them.
"I see myself in him," Tom says instead.
For several maddening seconds, Dumbledore merely stares at him.
"…Of course you do. Similarities can be one of the many things that draw people together in friendship. But sometimes differences between other individuals draw them together too. Harry always tells me how fond he is of your professionalism, your ingenuity, and your ambition."
"I…" For some reason, Tom feels heat rushing to his face, "I had no idea." But of course, Harry would say that. Everyone says that. But it feels different now, coming from Harry. Somehow… Tom has come to… value… what Harry says. If Harry has always thought of Tom this highly, then Tom's deceptions must have felt disrespectful, an insult even…
"How…" Tom hates to give Dumbledore more information to use against him, but Dumbledore's regard for Harry will be more useful, "do you regain favour with someone who's angry with you?"
Dumbledore beams so warmly that Tom wants to put a bag over the old man's head. "Well, you gave them space to calm down first. Respect their distance for a reasonable amount of time, and then approach them for a discussion. Explain how remorseful you are and apologize. Hope they accept the apology."
Tom frowns. "I'm not remorseful. I merely… regret omitting certain information."
"…I believe that is one of the definitions that mean 'remorseful.'"
Tom glowers. The floating ducks behind him quack unhelpfully from behind.
"Surely, you have better advice on this subject?"
"Well, you do supposedly know everything about Harry. I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you to figure out, Tom."
This infuriating old man and his infuriating sarcasm will die someday.
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"…Stay. Still." Tom hisses at the purple duck that keeps trying to nestle on his head instead of his desk. If this duck is Bellatrix, he will throw her into a pond.
[Why can't I just eat them. They look tasty. Maybe poisonous. But I'm sure I could still eat them,] Nagini muses, still claiming the empty floor that Harry left behind.
At this rate, Tom might let her. [I told you, they're my followers. I still need them.] Probably.
The spell cast on his Death Eaters seems to be a combination of human transfiguration, a colour dye charm, confundus, and a fourth element Tom can't figure out yet. Once he figures out the fourth element of magic, he might be able to reverse the transformation…
"QUACK!" the duck on his head blares into his ears.
Tom slams his hands on the table. "Enough!"
He immediately freezes them all into a stasis spell and shoves them into his desk. A few purple feathers fly out and Tom swats them away.
[I'll do this later, after I talk to Harry. Don't eat them, Nagini.]
[Urgh… fine…]
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That night, Tom finds himself tossing and turning. He can't hear the sound of Harry rustling around downstairs, or the hammock swaying. No bustling as Harry tries to secretly cook a new concoction for Tom to reject. Nothing but Tom's own breathing, Nagini sulking where Harry used to be.
Was Hogwarts always this quiet?
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"Whoa there, Professor Riddle looks really tired," a few students whisper.
"What? Why? I thought he finally took Professor Potter out on a date! He should be glowing! More handsome than ever!"
"Didn't you hear their fight in the corridor last night? Professor Potter looked like he might burst into tears!"
"No way!"
"Yes, way! Professor Riddle must have really screw—oh hi Professor Riddle, don't you look so handsome today?! Ahahaha… oh look, I see Ginny!" Lavender Brown scampers off towards the Gryffindor table. The other girls behind her follow suit.
Tom glowers at the rest of the students peeking at him from their tables. They all quickly return their attention to breakfast.
"Professor Chang," Tom says, when he takes his seat at the table, "I was wondering if Harry paid a visit to your… significant other… last night."
"Why do you ask?" Chang smirks infuriatingly. "I heard from a little bird that you two went on a date—"
"It was merely a drink—" Well, a meeting with the order that will rule the world one day.
"—so he should have been with you. Did he run off? Scared he decided to change his mind and date me and Cedric?"
"What."
"We are very fond of him."
"You have each other, stay away from him."
Chang just beams. And refuses to answer the question.
Respect their distance for a reasonable amount of time, Dumbledore's voice echoes.
Fine. Just for today.
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The day seems to pass by sluggishly. Tom keeps glancing at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds till the next meal. Again, Harry isn't there…
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"He took the day off," Dumbledore shrugs, when Tom demands an explanation at dinner.
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By evening, every student knows to avoid Professor Riddle if he comes anywhere near. Their handsome and polite professor seems irritable, eager to snap at any imperfection, overly sarcastic, and dismissive…
Tom ignores them all when he returns to his office, pacing back and forth, ignoring how much louder his footsteps echo now. Irritating. When Harry was here, Tom didn't have to think about how big this room was. It was filled with useless trivial things like knitted cup warmers, magazines on gardening, the latest attempted pastries. Tom can still smell the lingering sugar and cinnamon now…
Harry's being unreasonable. Once Tom has the opportunity to talk to him, all will be well. Tom will feel—
Will feel…?
"Oh," Tom stops, feeling very much like a fool.
I miss him.
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AN: This was literally my only chapter note for this chapter - Tom realizing he doesn't know shit about harry and he really wants to. How do u friendship. Monday being unbearable without harry ahahahahahahahaahah…ha