The Boy He Failed, a Tom Riddle Story

by chips.n.desalsa

What if a young Tom Riddle was haunted by nightmares of the evils he would commit to gain power and immortality? Further, what if Albus had taken the time to care for and teach him? Note: due to a lack of canon characters, most in this fic are either OCs or expanded from those known to have 'existed' in the era. Book 2 will updated on Tuesdays, for now.

20. (B2) Ch 6: Sine Fide Visus

Chapter 6: Sine Fide Visus

Despite being the best in his class at every topic besides Astronomy, which mattered as much to him as the whims an ant to a boot, Tom and Blink both struggled as they began to learn complicated transfiguration spells in Madame Fortescue's workshop. On the first day, Tom thought he would show his upperclassmen his abilities but when he found that turning an object into a bird was an order of magnitude more difficult than turning a bird into an object, he took a backseat and practiced just as hard as he used to. Outside of the workshops, he spent most of his day in the library taking copious notes on the nature of the spells, the magical theory for how 'life' is temporarily imparted onto the object of your spells, and most importantly, how horribly wrong the transformation can go if your intent did not match or exceed the difficulty of the spell. Tom deduced that, like his previous struggles with reversing curses and charms, it was his intent and power of will that lacked when it came to these spells. He grasped the theory and incantation meanings well enough but it still took him 3 days before he made progress he was proud of.

Blink, on the other hand, moaned to himself for the first 3 days as he struggled to turn a Quaffle into a bird of paradise. Most of which were about how 'wrong it was to turn sumfing awe-ready perfec' into a dumb bird'. However, as Tom made progress, so did he and by the end of the 4th day of their training for the second challenge, they could both cast the Avian Transformation spell, Avi Verto, without fail 3 times in a row. There were minor details, such as when Blink insisted to practice on the, as he put it, 'natural habitat' of the Quaffle and took Tom to the quidditch pitch. When Blink cast the spell, the bird always seemed to want to fly through the hoops and Blink laughed as he said, "I owe-ways knew vey were enchan'ed to go froo vee 'oops. Vey jus'' know where vey belong." Tom laughed as well as he attempted and partially succeeded at turning his red and blue hornbill into a wooden horse with a whispered but determined casting of, "Permuto Equiligneum."

As the bird began to coast towards the ground, it gave a pained squawk as its plumage gave way to a wooden frame. Its wings and crowns became larger and turned into 4 legs and hooves. Where Tom saw his mistake was in the mane of the horse. It still had the 'horn' of the hornbill instead of one made of wood. Blink looked at Tom in a mixture of surprise and offense as he asked, "An' since when have we bin ay-bow to do vat, Tommy-boy? We fought we was bruhvahs in inep… Inepppy… Damnit. Wha's vuh damn word, Tom?"

Tom, who was laughing with his hands clutching his chest at Blink's failure to complete his comeback, said after sitting up from the slope of the grassy pitch, "Ineptitude. I don't think that's a good one for your accent, Blink. Stick with 'we both suck'. Or a jape about Manchester United and their goalie always having his bollocks in his hands. And I never sucked. I just haven't seen spells like these before, so I was back to square one. I may be OWL level in defense, charms, and potions but I'm only up to 3rd year Transfiguration spells. That'll change this summer, though. It's quite fun to be challenged like this. You can only flavor a curse so much before it becomes boring. For example, stand up, Blink."

Blink raised his left eyebrow as they both dusted themselves off and Tom rolled up his sleeves and began, "Alright, so, let's say you want to cast Lumos. Normally it would come out a bland…" He cast the Light spell and out came a faint cone of light that barely showed under the heavy summer sun and he continued, "... off white. However, if I simply modify my thoughts and will the spell to change its look…" This time, Tom concentrating on the image of a rainbow and pointed his wand to the sky as he cast, "Lumos Maxima!".

This time, a giant, cascading rainbow appeared above the pitch and even though it didn't provide additional light, Blink slow-clapped as he looked up at Tom's creation, which was slowly beginning to fade. As Blink continued to look up, watching it fade out of existence, Tom smirked as he pointed his wand at the boy's face and said, "But with a curse, all I can do is… Tabus Expulso!" Blink didn't draw his wand in time before a brief fountain of green and yellow pus shot out of his nose. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards onto the grass from the force of the ejecting pus. It only lasted a second but it took a full 5 minutes of Blink coughing and blowing snot rockets into the grass before he was able to regain his composure and pounce on Tom. Tom laughed as he struggled under Blink's weight, surprised by the boy's strength. Blink wasn't bulky, but Tom knew he practiced as a Chaser every moment he wasn't with the group or eating.

Tom could feel the boy's muscles under his shirt as he tried and failed multiple times to get up and Blink's wide smile showed a few fake teeth near the back of his mouth. They continued to roll around on the pitch until Blink finally was able to wrench his wand from his pants pockets and point it at Tom's forehead. Tom stiffened as he saw new combination of wild fury and glee on Blink's as he pinned Tom down. With one hand pushing Tom's chest down and the other keeping the wand aloft just above the space between Tom's eyebrows, Tom wondered if he had maybe gone too far. Maybe the stories Blink told were true and now Tom would get a reprisal of some kind. Blink blinked at Tom and his smile softened. Tom was still confused until he leaned a little closer to the boy's face and said, "Wait, do that again."

Tom watched as both of Blink's hazel eyes closed and reopened and Tom immediately started to laugh beneath the weight of Blink's still pushing hand. Blink asked, "Qui' vuh brave one, aren' yuh, Tommy-boy. Hel' down by me wiv me wand poin'ed and ready to curse and yu fink i's time for a righ' and hear'y chuck-oo."

Tom opened his eyes again to look into Blink's and said as he moved the boy's wand away from his face and said, "Did you just try to wink at me, Blink?"

Blink's smile dropped and said, "Well, yeah. Bu'..."

Tom chuckled again and continued, "It wasn't as funny when you showed everyone in the group but, seeing it up close… Man I just couldn't help myself. You really do blink, Blink."

Blink lessened his weight on Tom and let him slide out as he said, "Well hardy-har. Yes, I can' wink. Now, stan' up so I can give you a curse back. Tha' one you cas' was some-fing on'y a Mannie' cun' would do. Now I'll show yuh why…" But before he could continue, Tom took his chance, snatched his wand off the grass and began to sprint as fast as he could off the pitch. Blink laughed as he slowly got up and said to himself, "Hundred meters and then he's yours, ol' Blinky-boy."

True to his word, right as Tom crossed the midline of the quidditch pitch and turned to run towards the exit, Blink took a deep breath and sprang out his stance and teared after Tom. It only took a minute and a half before Tom was within 20 meters of Blink and the latter laughed like a maniac as he slowed his pace to just barely keep Tom within his reach. They both laughed for another 2 minutes before Tom began to feel an ache in both his quads and glutes and this time, Blink seized his moment. As Tom began to slow and his laughing turned to gasping for breath, Blink slowed to a walk and lazily raised his wand as he cast, "Orbis." Tom's eyes widened as he felt the ground beneath him disappear and then collapse back into him as it sucked him in. He began to breathe hard as he wrenched his hand and wand free and pointed to the sky as he cast an Ascending Charm. But he overshot the strength and Blink blinked at him again as he followed Tom's path in the air and right before his feet would have touched the ground, he cast, "Immobulus."

Tom felt his body go rigid in the air but no part of him touched the field. No part of him was touching anything for Blink had locked him into place in mid-air and was now laughing to himself as he walked over to Tom. Blink smirked and said, "Time for a good o' spin, Tommy-boy," and pushed on Tom's rigid, floating arms and legs until Tom began to spin in the air. It wasn't long before Tom lost his bearings and started to feel his stomach gurgle and vomit rise in this throat.

Thankfully, Blink performed the counter-charm a few seconds later and Tom landed softly on the pitch with just the taste of sick in his mouth. Blink laughed as he helped Tom up and said as he tapped Tom's chest with the side of his fist twice, "Min', I don't fink I'd stan' much a chance if we duelled. Bu' if anyone evuh, I mean evuh, comes a' you in vuh mugg-oo world, sen' me a pos' and I'll bring me too's from Ol' Red and they' won' si' straigh' for a munf." Tom tapped Blink twice on the chest too as he smiled and led the way out of Quidditch Pitch and back into the castle for an early dinner.

After another few days of intense practice, with some added help from Isobel on the rare occasion she graced them with her presence, Tom was able to cast each of the possible transformation spells without fail and turn them back into their original form. No squawking tin men. No wooden birds of paradise. And no bees with the wings of a toucan. Isobel helped him in a kind of guided meditation before he cast each one. To center his design for his intended transformation, Isobel had him view it as if it were in motion and he had to circle it with his mind as well. To take in its surroundings. To feel the wind on his cheeks and hair. To smell the wood of the horse, hear the cry of the bird, feel the sting of the bee, and see the glint of the tin man. Tom didn't say it, but those moments helped a lot. And he didn't pass up any moment to make Blink jealous when Isobel would come close and touch their foreheads together as if she could pass the imagery into his mind through metaphysical osmosis.

While Tom still sat and helped Tom light up the pitch after dinner so Blink could practice broom maneuvers, he spent the rest of his day away from the group and hanging out with his Gryffindor friends. Tom wasn't as connected to him so it only bothered him a little whenever he would leave to be with them. They still had their moments. They now had a silent competition every night to see who could transform a piece of parchment into an origami animal using only magic. Oswald was only up by one point, 5-4, because he performed, and Tom even admitted it was, a masterful charm that turned the plain piece of paper into an origami dragonfly that fluttered around their heads until Albus came over to them and said, "Well done, Mr. Friedrichson. This is quite beautiful; may I keep it?"

Tom felt a hint of jealousy rise in him but he channeled it into the following night, the night before the second challenge, and did something even a few of the 7th year students, Isobel including, looked at in awe. Oswald cast his spell and turned a 14 inch long sheet of parchment into a rhinoceros that bounded up and down the Great Hall. Tom and Oswald laughed together when it tried to ram into the buttocks of the Slytherin girl, Myrra. She looked back just in time to flex both of her glutes and the rhino bounced right off and backed away with a crumpled paper horn. Myrra gave Oswald a wry grin, which Tom saw made Oswald blush even in the darkness of the dimly lit hall, before she turned back over to go to sleep.

Tom poked at him and said as he looked back to Blink's sleeping bag from near Oswald's, "Oh boy, Blink, get over here. I think Ozzy's got a crush on a girl in our house."

Blink spun from inside his sleeping bag until Tom saw just a pair of hazel eyes and white teeth in the darkness. The eyes narrowed and the smile turned into an evil grin as Blink stage-whispered, "Oh, Ozzy-lad. Vuh treason continues."

Oswald immediately punched Tom and muttered, "Leave it well alone. I've got a process and it won't work if you two keep blabbing it for all the orphaned and abandoned to hear. Now, it's your turn, Tom." Tom's jaw nearly landed in his lap as he heard Oswald use his first name for the first time. Oswald didn't seem to notice as he shoved the requisite 14 inch piece of parchment towards Tom and Tom knew he had to let it pass. He closed his eyes hard and pictured everything he wanted his mind. He had never touched it, smelled it, nor heard it. But he knew its colors. How beautiful it was as it swam through the water beneath his boat that day. This would be a good way to tie their score and end the competition for good. There was no way Oswald could top this.

Tom opened his eyes, concentrating so hard his eyebrows began to hurt, and whispered, "Rugamutas Locomotor." At first, the paper began to only slowly fold itself but as it picked up the pace, everyone around them began to watch as the folds became more and more intricate. Tom knew it would take some time and he was glad the paper was just loud enough that even a few girls began to cross the border into the mens, including Myrra who sat right next to Oswald, and watched Tom's spell work. Slowly but surely, tentacles began to form, and then a small paper beak, and then a bulbous but beautiful polygonal head. It kept going for a couple minutes until almost everyone in the hall was now gathered in the middle as a small, iridescently purple, blue, and light green began to glow as it floated ominously up and around the great hall.

Even if it wasn't the real thing, it's beauty haunted Tom as he looked upon his work and then looked around to see everyone else's reactions. Every single person in the hall, which now included every teacher that decided to stay at Hogwarts, and most importantly Albus Dumbledore, watched in silence as the miniaturized, paper giant squid of the Black Lake floated around the Great Hall. Madame Fortescue wiped away a few tears and Tom could have sworn that even in the dim lighting of the hall, he saw the raw smile on Albus's face he had been fighting and hoping for since the day he came to Hogwarts.

Everyone continued to watch as the paper squid made one more lap around the Great Hall and landed in Tom's hand. As it unfolded and it's coloration faded, Tom looked around and everyone was wordlessly getting back into their sleeping bags. A feeling of dread was just rising in him before Blink squashed it back down as he said loud enough to echo off the walls of the hall, "Blimey, Tommy-boy. I ain' cried like va' since Liv-uh-poo came back from 5 down tuh Ci'y. Good one yuh, done stunned us all tuh silence. I fink he's won vis round, Ozzy-lad."

Oswald, who Tom saw was squeezing the hand of the Slytherin girl, Myrra, was sitting so still Tom thought he might have been petrified. After a few seconds, Myrra said, "You're hurting my hand, Oswald."

Oswald looked down and did a double take on his intertwined hand with Myrra's and Myrra's face and immediately let it go as he stammered, "I… Yeah… Sorry… I jus… Ahem. You win Tom. I can't… I'm… I need the loo…"

Myrra stood up at the same time as Oswald left to leave the hall and said back to Tom before she crossed over to the female section, "Do yourself a favor and don't do that again. Wolfe would curse us all for coming after you." Unsure of what she meant but not willing to pursue it either, Tom looked down at the paper and fell asleep to wondrous visions in his mind of the paper squid floating around the Great Hall, faintly glowing as it coasted along the walls.

Tom awoke the next day with a calm he didn't expect but welcomed it nonetheless. He had fallen asleep on top of Oswald's sleeping bag and someone must have covered him up because he had a purple throw blanket on him. Oswald did as well as Tom looked around and saw him a couple feet away with his face buried into his pillow. The sun had not risen yet but as Tom pandiculated his way into sitting up, he saw that Blink's sleeping bag was the only one of the boy's missing. Figuring he must be down at the pitch, Tom went back to his bag and changed his shirt before leaving the castle towards the Quidditch Pitch.

Before Tom made it there, however, Tom saw Blink standing in front of 6 Quaffles on the ground and was turning them, in turn, into different things. One by one down the line he turned each maroon ball into one of the 4 different transformations needed for the day's challenge. Tom sat against the wall of the castle as he sat and watched Blink complete 4 circuits in a row before, as he turned around the wipe his sweaty face on his shirt, he saw Tom and grinned.

After crouching down next to Tom, Blink said, "You caugh' me, Tommy-boy. If you tell anyone I care about vis as much as I do Quidditch, I'm gonna need my Elbow Grease tuh clean up afterward." Blink blinked and gently elbowed Tom in the ribs before getting back up to continue practicing. Every now and again, Blink's accent would keep him from performing an incantation correctly and then he would pace back and forth for a minute, reciting it again and again until he had it managed and tried the circuit again. Tom helped from the wall by casting, "Reparifarge" every time Blink successfully transformed something into a bird. It wasn't as often because Blink still seemed to have trouble with because, as he told Tom during a previous workshop with Madame Fortescue, "I's hard tuh fink of somefin withou' life suddenly havin' i', yuh know? Like, I always fink vuh best Chase-uhs have go' a connection wiv a Quaff. Bu' va's different from vis. My min' can' breave life into everyfing I fink of. It's all mad."

After a few more successful circuits, Blink vanished each of the 6 balls in a show of mastery that showed enough surprise on Tom's face for Blink to blink at him and say with a smirk, "I clean up my messes, Tommy-boy."

They spent the rest of their morning eating breakfast with the rest of the groups. Every time Isobel, who was now in loop on the brewing love between Oswald and the Slytherin Myrra, saw Oswald look toward Myrra's group, she would make a single mushroom sprout from his hand and Tom and Blink would cackle. When Tom saw Blink look longingly at Isobel, Tom whispered to him, "You need a mushroom of your own, my friend." Blink's sable cheeks blushed and he gorged down his bowl of porridge.

After everyone had eaten, Madame Fortescue stood up from her seat along the professor's table and said, "Alright, it's time for the second challenge tweenies. I've got a cactus with the name of whoever attended my lessons and still finishes last, so don't give me any ideas. Professor Dumbledore'll meet us on the lawn outside the Forbidden Forest."

Tom and the rest of the students followed the librarian out onto the grounds and down a steep hill until they saw an item resting on a pedestal between Albus Dumbledore and a brown haired woman Tom did not recognize: a simple rock. Albus smiled as he looked to each group and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Good morning everyone. Before we begin the event, I would like to introduce a close friend and former colleague of mine. She has been on… sabbatical… for the past few years but we hope to see her return soon. Please help me give a warm welcome and return to Madame Minerva McGonagall."

Everyone in the group except for Tom lightly clapped. He was just far enough behind everyone that no one would notice and he wasn't ready to pass judgment on her. However, to his dismay, this woman had sharp eyes and they locked onto Tom's after everyone stopped clapping and stayed there until she addressed them with a stern voice, "Today's challenge, as I am sure Professor Dumbledore has briefed you all, is a time trial. The first transformation is from a rock into your desired progression, however, from there, each member of your group must transform the next object into something that has not been used, and so on until you have completed the trial. Your time will be added to or subtracted from for the quality of your spells. While each group goes in turn, you all will wait outside. Good luck to you all."

Tom looked around at everyone and saw them all huddled and planning for their turns, so he looked to his own group and they were waiting for him a few feet away. When he joined them, Isobel said, "Alright, we've got this in the bag. I don't think we should order ourselves until we see the course. Plus, we have no idea what…"

She looked out at the rock between Madame McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore and continued, "We can't even see the course. My guess is the moment we touch it something will happen that clouds the area so no other group can see how we completed it. We've got this either way. Blink, you've been aces practicing with those Quaffles. Oswald, you're no slouch. Tom and I, well, you already know."

Each of them nodded as Professor Dumbledore announced that the first group would be one led by the Gryffindor boy Arthur Wright and that each group would be announced thereafter. Everyone else found a comfortable spot on the ground as Arthur and his group, two Ravenclaw boy's and a Hufflepuff boy, walked forward to meet with Madame McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. The boy nodded as he listened to instructions Tom couldn't hear and then nodded to his group just before he touched the stone and something marvelous happened. Tom had no idea how the stone could contain such powerful magic, but a massive black fabric began to flow like a river out from behind the rock and formed itself around both his group and the two judges. It whirled around them like wrapping paper until it formed an immense black tent and they disappeared from view. No sound escaped from the tent. The fabric of the tent flapped in the wind and despite lacking any stakes or visible means, it remained rooted to the ground.

Many minutes passed as they all waited for the first group to complete the challenge. A few groups took to practicing the spells required for the challenge but Tom felt confident enough in his abilities to lounge back on the grass. After 15 minutes of silent waiting, Tom watched as the first group emerged from the tent, haggard and downtrodden. Arthur's Gryffindor tie was missing from his neck and his white dress shirt was covered in dirt. The gears in Tom's mind went as fast as lightning as he saw the first group trudge up the hill back up to the castle. One of the boys was silently crying as he leaned on his fellow Ravenclaw and nearly bit the dirt after tripping on a rock and he gasped out a cry as the other boy lifted him to his feet.

Interest creeped its way into Tom's mind. What could have possibly made those boys, all of which were older than Tom, come out looking so beaten? When Tom heard Dumbledore call the next group, he looked back and saw that the stone was back on its pedestal and the tent was gone. However, when that group touched the stone, again the tent began to ripple and form around them until it cloaked them beyond their sight and ears. Tom impatiently waited for 11 minutes before the next group came out. Similarly haggard and dirty, none of them were crying but they all looked like they needed a good night's rest before they'd be ok. Both Minerva McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore consoled them as the tent once again retreated back into the stone. Tom wanted to go up and ask them what happened but Oswald grabbed him by the arm before he could get up and shook his head when Tom tried to release his wrist.

Minerva McGonagall called Tom's group next and as they were walking down the last part of the hill, Tom heard Blink say, "If i's a figh', stay behin' me, Bellie. I ain' le'in you come ou' lookin' li' va'." Isobel smiled and whispered a response Tom didn't catch but she looked more confident than Tom thought wise. Even he was unsure of what was inside that tent but he knew it was enough to rattle two NEWT level students. When they approached the stone, Albus looked down at Tom and Tom wasn't sure what look he was giving. Was it a pity? Assurance? Doubt? Nonetheless, Albus spoke just loud enough for Tom and his group to hear, "What is inside this tent cannot harm you. It cannot kill you. Its sole aim is to test your prowess and reactions to adversity."

Madam McGonagall added, "While it is difficult beyond your current level of education, each of the groups before you have completed it. The one hint I shall give is that time does not work normally while inside. Should you be on the brink of failure, Albus or I will dispel the arena and you will be free to leave. Good luck." With that, Albus gestured for Isobel to touch the stone and as she did, the black fabric, which Tom now saw seemed to defy gravity as it flowed around them in unnatural ways, formed the tent and they vanished.

Tom closed his eyes as the tent closed itself around him and his group. He felt the fabric buffeted him with air as it took form. He felt the heat of candles ignite around him and finally opened his eyes. As Tom looked around, he saw he was alone and all that was in front of him was the stone sitting on its pedestal in the middle of the tent. The fabric of the tent ebbed and flowed from the wind outside but only the light inside were candles floating aloft every 6 feet along the tent's inner perimeter. Tom yelled out, "Blink, Isobel, Oz? Can anyone hear me?"

Silence.

His voice didn't even echo back at him. Tom began to walk around the edges of the tent and every time he tried to touch the tent, it seemed to always flow away from his fingers. It didn't matter how far he reached out his arm, it would expand away from him. When he pulled out his wand and tried to push it away with a determined casting of Ventus, nothing happened. Neither wisp nor breeze came from his wand. He looked down at his wand, puzzled, and tried again. And again. And again. Was his wand becoming like Tarquin's, losing confidence in its owner?

He tried every spell he could think of to do something, anything, inside the tent but nothing came from his wand.

"Incendio." No flames ignited.

Tom moved over to one of the candles and cast, "Engorgio." It did not expand.

"Expulso." No explosion.

"Colovaria." The tent's color didn't change even a shade.

Not one of the spells in what he thought was a vast repertoire worked inside this tent and Tom was beginning to grow angry as he whirled around and stared at the stone. It looked completely normal and as he picked it up, it felt normal too.

Tom put his wand back into his trousers and went over every segment, every imperfect edge of the stone and found nothing. It was just a normal, sedimentary rock. He threw it on the ground and desperately wracked his mind. There had to be a way out. Everyone else that came out looked like they had dug through the ground for something. Maybe there was a clue hidden in the ground. Or tried to dig their way out. Or maybe that's what kept them from succeeding earlier. Too focused on getting out of whatever was causing their magic to fail.

Tom's anger began to coarse through his body as he looked for threads in the tent, which again and again moved away from him before he could touch it. He tried to use the stone or cast any spells on it and none worked. He tried every transformation spell assigned for the challenge and again, nothing. He rolled up his sleeves and got down on his stomach as he resorted to examining every blade of grass he could find. He beat his fists into the ground, disgusted with how dumb the idea was.

Seething, Tom got up without bothering to dust off the scraps of the lawn on his clothes, and went over to the stone on its pedestal. There had to be a way to manipulate it. Albus and Madame McGonagall would not have placed it in such a central place for it to just be where the tent comes from. There had to be more. Tom thought of every possible way to influence the stone and began to let loose the tempest roaring in his body.

"Reducto!"

"Spongify."

"Depulso."

"Avad…"

Tom's vision was immediately struck by vision of intense, blinding green light. The same green light from his nightmares. A series of incoherent images flashed in his mind.

An unknown, bearded man in an overlarge, tattered coat lying at his feet.

A newspaper from 1979 with an image of an empty town on the front page.

A view from high above a densely built city on fire.

A man with long black hair and black robes standing at the edge of a cliff by the water.

Each one only flashed once and as Tom came too, he found he was on the ground, clutching the stone to his chest. Tom racked his mind, doing everything he could to remember every detail he could. The wrinkles on the man from the first image. A piece of brick shingling hanging off the edge a house from the empty town. The caved in section of what Tom knew to be the Palace of Westminster. The matte black fabric of the man in the last image's cape. Every detail mattered. He wished he had a notebook. Why did 19…

Tom's desperate attempts to memorize the visions halted as a fire had erupted near the same corner where the wind had somehow entered the tent and blew from the inside. Tom jumped to his feet and went over to try dousing the flames with a counter-charm but it didn't work. Another, more powerful gust of wind struck Tom in the chest and blew him 6 feet through the air. Tom pulled out his wand again and cast, "Finite!" in the direction the torrent came from. Nothing came out. Because of course it didn't. Tom shoved his wand, tip first, into the dirt.

Tom sat in the grass for a few minutes before he heard the stone fall with a clunk onto the pedestal. As he turned around to inspect it, Tom saw as it levitated off the pedestal and fell once again but before it fell, Tom saw some of the light from a candle behind him shine through the stone and show a different tent in the light. It was faint and blurred, but it looked different. For one, Tom thought he saw scorch marks in the grass of the image.

It was a crazy idea, Tom thought as he picked up the stone and felt it try to shoot out of his hands. As he walked over to a candle behind him, he had to hold onto it with both hands as it continued trying to escape his grasp and he held it up to the candle. Tom saw, through the now somehow see-through rock, a candle as it if were through a blue filter. An idea forced its way to the front of his mind and he moved out of the way as he continued holding the stone to the candle but allowed the light of it to shine through and cast through the stone and onto the ground. Tom saw a blue-lit image projecting out of the stone and showed the inside of a different tent. It had to have been different because the grass was ablaze and Oswald was desperately trying to shovel dirt and grass onto the fire.

Tom passed the stone over the candle, back and forth and each time he did, he watched in amazement as the projection vanished and appeared as if it were made of light itself. Tom kept the stone to the candle as he looked at his own stone, and yelled as loud as he could into it, "OSWALD. PICK UP YOUR STONE."

In the projection, Oswald jerked away as Tom's idea seemed to have worked and after a moment of hesitation he left the sight of the projection. The gears in Tom's mind began to straighten back out as he made quick assumptions and followed the path Oswald took until he was able to project exactly where the Gryffindor boy was now kneeling on the ground and yelling into the stone. Tom couldn't hear anything he was saying so he said, "Put it up to one of the candles and try again, Oz."

Puzzled but obedient, Tom watched as the projection of Oswald stood up and walked over to the nearest candle, which Tom had to reposition to the next candle to see, and began to speak into it again.

Silence.

Tom nearly threw the stone into the ground again but stopped short as he said, "Okay, as you're holding the stone up, use it to project an image onto the grass. See who yours can see. I can see you like… Like you're right in front of me but you're made of… bluish light… Or something." Oswald moved out of the way and now Tom saw as another layer of the projection appeared inside his own and he saw yet another tent. It didn't show who it was but as Tom instructed him to continue moving around Oswald finally came upon an Isobel who was holding up her own stone to a candle and projected into hers was Blink.

Blink was in the fetal position on the grass of his own tent. He was holding his own rock up to his face, which Tom could barely see was wet from the boy's tears. Isobel looked like she was softly singing to Blink through her rock. Tom couldn't hear what Oswald was saying but Isobel nearly dropped her stone when his voice seemed to come through. She frantically tried to talk back but Tom saw Oswald mouth something and she calmed down. She now lifted her own stone back up to her light, Tom's showing now 3 layers of different, smaller projections that confused his mind for a moment before he started to understand. Tom watched as the projected Isobel tested speaking into the stone when it was away from their light and with and came to the same deduction as Tom had: whatever magic enchanted the stone only worked while it was up to the light.

As Isobel held her stone up to her candle and she looked down at Blink, who was still lying in the fetal position, she said something that stirred the boy and Blink looked down at his own rock. Whatever she had said worked and Tom finally heard Blink's voice come through, "Oy, Tommy-boy, if you can hear me, tell Ozzy-lad and then tell him to tell Bellie… I mean Isobel."

Tom shook with excitement as he did exactly that and watched the chain of communication come together until he saw Isobel jump with excitement as well, losing Blink's projection as it passed the candle twice and she finally said something to Blink who then said to Tom, "Isobel says she wan's tuh run an idea by yuh be-fo she tries i' ou'. I fink i's barmier van a lawn gnome collection but' i' migh' work. Hol' for a minute."

Tom waited as he saw Isobel go into a heated description of something, using her arms to aimlessly explain whatever it was before Blink continued, "Aw'righ', Tommy-boy, she says she wan's you to tell Ozzy-lad tuh ligh' a bit of her grass on fire. Ver' was a bunch of uvvah stuff but va's vuh gist."

Tom moved closer to his stone as he said, "Alright, I think Isobel's got an idea. So, what I think she's going for is that we can each only affect someone else's tent, next in a line. I can hear Blink because he is after Isobel, who is after you. However, when we hold this stone, weird as it sounds, up to a candle it shows us what we've done. So, she wants you to light a patch of her grass on fire. Nod if you understand."

Oswald's projection nodded and he pointed to a corner far away from where he saw Isobel in his own stone's projection and it ignited. Isobel began to frantically nod as she said something that Blink passed on as, "Now she's gone a bi' more barmy and said we have tuh cast, in turn…"

Isobel continued to talk into her stone as Tom saw Blink nod and then his voice continued, "Sorry for va', she's sayin' we'll have tuh turn each-uhvuh's stone's into what Dumboo-dore said. Bu' one a' a time and each has tuh be differen'. She's sayin… Ok, she's sayin for me tuh turn mine intuh a tin man. Ven you will turn yours into vuh bee. Ven, you tell Ozzy-lad tuh turn his into a vuh bird o'par-o-dice. Ven she'll roun' i' ou' by turnin' hers intuh vuh wooden horse. Wai' one mo…"

Tom watched as Oswald began to fidget and he said into his own stone, "Sorry Oswald, Isobel is still coming up with her idea. I think she's on the right track and I'm guessing she's wondering if the next person's stone will turn into…"

Blink disappeared for half a minute as Isobel set her stone on the ground and Tom watched as she tried to cast multiple spells on it before lifting it back up to the candle. Blink was now holding his stone up to the light Tom saw his own projection in the layers of light and Blinks' voice returned, "Okay, she's go' i' down. Tommy-boy, I'm gonna turn yours intuh a tin man. Hold i' tigh'. If i' works, tell Ozzy-lad you're gonna turn his into a bee and to hol' i' tigh'. He's ven gonna turn Isobel's intuh a bir'. And ven Isobel is gonna turn mine intuh a wooden horse. I'v go'a pu' mine down to cast i'. I can' hold a movin' wooden horse. Goo' luck, Tommy-boy!"

Tom's projection inside Isobel's disappeared as they all watched Blink set his stone down on the ground, close his eyes, and then jolt them open as he cast his spell. Tom felt the stone in his hand morph in his hand until it was a slightly smaller, still rough around the edges tin soldier. Tom nearly dropped it as he cut his finger on the small rifle the soldier carried on its back. When he lifted it back up to the candle, nothing appeared and he could no longer hear Blink. Tom closed his eyes and after a few deep breaths, he put the tin soldier on the ground and, an idea popping into his head, cast a Levitation spell on it before saying, "Nigrapis Verto."

Again, no magic that came from him seemed to work. He was once again alone. He wouldn't be able to know if his spell succeeded and if it worked like Blink's had, Oswald was alone now too. The only person who would be able to see anyone was Isobel. Oswald would have seen his stone turn into a tin soldier and Isobel would have only seen Blink try to make that happen.

Tom waited for a few minutes, or what felt like minutes, as he stared at his tin soldier and wondered if Blink would try to change it. But nothing came. Not until the fabric of the tent began to shift and whirl around him like a maelstrom and Tom watched as the fabric on the 3 of its 4 sides flowed away and back into the tin man. Behind the fabric, looking desperately from one another and to him, were his teammates. Isobel tried in vain to wipe of the dirt caking her uniform and hands. Patches of grass held onto Blink's face and arms, light against the boy's sable skin. Oswald was the only one who still remained clean but his eyes wouldn't meet Tom's. Tom wondered how many, and which, of his spells affected Oswald but his thoughts cut off as he looked back and the last wall of fabric lifted as well to show Albus and Madame McGonagall standing and lightly clapping as they joined Tom in his tent.

Isobel and Blink quickly hugged and Tom slipped a five with all of them before turning to Albus, who began, "Well done. If you would all please place your stones back onto their stands, you have completed the challenge."

Tom looked to what was his tin soldier and saw it had turned back into a stone and he and the rest of his group took their stones and placed them back in their original position. As Oswald set his down last, all of the black fabric making the tent surrounding quickly flowed back into a stone behind Albus. As the sunlight hit them all, Tom watched through squinted eyes as each of the other pedestals vanished in the light and all of the damage each had caused to the other's tents faded as well.

Madame McGonagall smiled at each one of them as she shook their hands and said, "You have done well. I am especially impressed by you, Ms. Kelly. You were the fastest of all groups so far to deduce the relationship between the stone and the candle. It is a shame I did not have the pleasure of teaching you."

Isobel thanked her as they all looked out at the remaining groups on the hill. All of them looked even more nervous but there was a note of surprise on their faces as well. There would be time to talk to each of his group members later but all Tom wanted to do now was trudge up the hill and eat dinner. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days.