Tom Riddle had just finished rereading an email he was about to send. He locked the phone for now then pocketed the device. Tom kept a low profile while he observed. He was currently in a newly built conference hall, along with his fellow recent graduates from various schools, mixed with some of the most experienced heroes with varying levels of recognition. All of them were waiting for the chairman to arrive. Not wanting attention from the Hogwarts alumni, he kept his hood up and face hidden from others.

Most of the seasoned heroes were engrossed with their devices or hero gears, but the few famous individuals had grouped themselves and were locked in a rather heated debate about recent government politics. Hero Mad-Eye was particularly loud with his arguments with the vampiric underground hero, Half-Blood, who remained as stoic as ever.

Nearly all of the rookies settled to eagerly watch them verbally spar with one another. Tom noticed that the rest of the rookies, who weren't openly enjoying the show, looked nervous. As for him, he was excited, but there was still a slight annoyance simmering underneath.

His body was still a bit sore from yesterday's Danger Level Examination. The pain doesn't bother him per se, but it served as a reminder of the result he had gotten from it. With a quiet sigh, he ran his thumb on the hero pin held between his fingers to activate it. It read his biosignature and his license information was displayed. Tom stared at the tiny hologram projection for the seventh time that morning.

-National Hero License-

Hero Name: Voldemort

Civilian Name: Riddle, Tom Marvolo

Date of Birth: 31-12-2978

Quirk: Parseltongue

DLC: X

Issued: 8-6-2997

Expires: 8-6-3002

Tom's brow twitched in irritation. His DLC or Danger Level Category was added yesterday. It only had a single X listed. He knew it, he already saw it and he knew who was responsible for why his quirk was classed so low. He swore to himself that if a person was stupid enough to say how weak and boring his quirk was based on this info, he would feed them to his snake.

The door slid open and this agency's chairman, Albus Dumbledore, ambled in. The old man looked fondly at the recruits that will become a part of the once defunct hero agency he was trying to revive. He smiled warmly at them. He also conversed briefly with a few selected individuals he personally knew while directing them all to take their seats. All of them settled down on their chairs after a few greetings, handshaking and blatant hero-worshipping from the young rookies. The atmosphere was getting excessively friendly until his blue twinkly eyes landed on Tom.

At first, there was a clear surprise in his widened eyes. Then his smile faded off his face and Tom was met with a cold stare. Tom tempered down his need to smirk. Instead, he discreetly pulled out the phone again and unlocked it. It wouldn't do to antagonize his boss on his incoming debut.

"Mr. Riddle, I'm afraid there must've been a mistake. This hero agency only sent invitations to selected individuals. We never offered a position to you, as far as I could remember."

It seemed that their future commander-in-chief wanted to play dirty in singling him out. Too early but Tom had expected it. The old man's hatred for Tom was widely known to everyone at Hogwarts after Myrtle's incident.

He wanted to laugh. Dumbledore saw great potential in him back when he was still the little orphan boy he traded ideologies with underneath a waiting shed. Then one day the old man offered a recommendation slot for him in the hero course at Hogwarts University and he accepted. He never really wanted to be a hero at first but he would do anything to get out of the orphanage.

One tap on the phone hidden under the table and the message was sent.

The old man's phone pinged and he took a quick look at the notifications that popped up on his wristwatch. He was about to speak again but instead, his brows furrowed before he pulled out his phone and flicked the screen to open the message. Then the old man's eyebrows went up.

It wouldn't do to antagonize his boss on his debut before he could see what the prime minister had demanded of him. Demands that the old man could have bargained with if he had enough time to know what's in them. Demands in exchange for his fancy dead hero agency to operate again without going through the proper channels, of course.

"Ah, I see. Weatherby sent The Minister's 'recommendation' letter late yet again." Tom's voice was calm and composed. He purposely used the same incorrect name that Weasley gets from his own boss. Tom knew how close the Weasleys were with Dumbledore. On that principle alone, the Weasleys hated him too.

Except Percy, who was currently ostracized by his family for working and siding with the ministry. Tom and Percy were never friends. Their common ground was vindication. Percy felt slighted by the old man, however indirectly it was through his family's actions, just for having differing opinions. Tom just wanted revenge. A lot of it.

With the blessing from the senior undersecretary, the two had formulated this inane plan to send the lists of demands as late as possible. The press was waiting outside for the contract signing. Tables and cameras were already set up for live broadcasts. Not to mention, young heroes these days were also 'gossips' themselves. Nobody here would have a chance to know what was in the letter, except for the two of them and probably the old man's consorts, but the rest will wonder.

Dumbledore won't have enough time to maneuver Tom out from the list in private if the young man was already in the photos and news articles where he was introduced as a member. Tom could be edited out later if only the largest news publication in Britain were on Dumbledore's side.

Tom promised to give Percy's phone back tonight. His payment will come much later in the form of introductions to influential people in the next upcoming gala. With all the issues the ministry had piled up against Dumbledore clamoring for his attention, give or take, this will give Tom about a month's time within the agency to prove his worth. Riding out the controversy of this undead agency would be the best publicity.

"Well then." The chairman addressed all of his new recruits and sighed. Tom felt giddy on winning this round and his crimson eyes became brighter for a bit.

"I'll make this short but for the sake of formalities, I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, also known as Hero Warlock and I welcome you all to The Order of the Phoenix."