Agonizing pain. Tom felt as he drifted out of his fleshy container and spilled into the boy's mind. Wait what?
But that must have been it. The horcrux ritual was a fickle thing if done improperly and his seventh horcrux was accidental. Oh the irony. He was the cause of his own pain, directly the cause of it. Harry's limbs thrashed and Tom shook silently, pondering the new information. Despite not having access to Harry's thoughts from the start of this nightmare, Tom had access to the thoughts before death. But he hadn't gained full access to Harry's body until the pain ended. How was this possible?
Tom couldn't figure it out and before he could come up with an answer, Harry moaned out "Magic."
That made Tom giggle, though it came out hoarse. He decided he would play dead this time around and see what Vernon did. He could hardly move his limbs anyway, the phantom pain of having several dogs chew on you could do that.
Harry/Tom shivered from the memory. Vernon was a cruel man. The man in question flung the cupboard door open just then and grabbed Harry by the hair. Instead of fighting it, Harry let himself drop to the floor.
"Get up boy!" Vernon shouted, but Harry lay prone.
"What's wrong with the freak?" Dudley stated and Harry twitched. He still hadn't gotten revenge on him for ruining his almost perfect plan to escape.
With a deranged smile on, Tom abandoned his plan and made to stand up. The Dursleys took a few steps back and Tom glared at the smallest of them, sending a command with all the hatred he possessed. It held true and the fat boy jolted.
This would be it. Harry's chance to escape. They watched Dudley in anticipation. Then he spoke.
"Mom, Dad! Come here real quick." He started and Vernon briefly took his attention off the freak.
"I wanna show you something a kid taught me in class." He started off and held his hand expectantly in front of Harry.
Harry returned to his cupboard and grabbed a sharp pencil which he handed to Dudley with a smile.
"I'm going to make this pencil disappear!" He said the last word mysteriously and Petunia tensed.
He stood the pencil upside down with the pointy tip facing the ceiling. Then stopped and Tom frowned, pushing the thought back in Dudley's head. He fought it hard, but eventually Tom got it to stick.
Petunia sensed something was wrong, but before she could stop what was happening, Dudley slammed his head on the table, the pencil vanishing with it.
Harry giggled and ran to the door while the Dursleys scrambled to figure out what just happened. Vernon seemed confused, but Petunia knew exactly what happened and was checking her son. She let out a shocked scream. 'Guess she found the pencil.' Harry muttered and Tom giggled.
They were out the door, keys in hand. Harry opened the car door and got in, quickly locking the doors.
As he was starting up the vehicle, Vernon burst out of the house red faced and intent on killing the freak. He charged at the car and Harry backed up. Vernon fell over and Harry accelerated, the front of the car smacking Vernon's head with a resounding thud. Petunia screamed and rushed to her husband's side. Harry backed up again and charged his aunt, this time plowing them both over. He repeated this a few more times until he was certain that they were dead, then drove off.
'Do you know where Diagon Alley is Harry?' Tom asked and Harry shrugged. 'Honestly, even if I did do you think I could get there with all this rain?'
Tom grimaced and took control of the body, driving and using magic to find his way there. Once they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, they got out and made their way in.
"Hey Tom!"
Tom answered with a "Yes?" and the barkeep looked at him strangely, before turning to the customer and refilling his drink. 'You aren't supposed to answer to Tom, Tom.' Harry said and Tom blushed.
Dark lords don't blush in embarrassment. Riddle grimaced and made his way up to Tom the barkeep. "I need to get in Diagon Alley, but I don't have a wand."
"Oh, of course you don't!" The man chuckled, noting the small boy's height. "Did you get your letter? It seems a bit early, though I suppose there's nothing wrong with shopping now. You should at least wait until the rain passes. Take a seat!"
Harry wasn't given time to protest and did what the man said. It did seem stupid to go out now, but Riddle was antsy to get his wand.
"What's your name, lad?" Tom asked.
"Harry Potter." And everyone froze. Mutters of 'The Boy-Who-Lived' and 'Our savior!' were heard and Riddle grimaced.
"H-h-harry Potter?" Tom asked and Riddle nodded. He thought it was funny that nobody knew they were talking directly to Lord Voldemort and instead thought they were talking to the prophesized savior, defeater of himself.
He nearly giggled at that, but held it in. Riddle waited for Tom to get his bearings and once he did, Tom bowed before stuttering out "My boy-." But Riddle cut him off, "My Lord." He couldn't help saying.
Tom smiled weakly. "My Lord, would you like a room? Anything you want. You need only ask."
Riddle smiled. He had forgotten what it was like to command respect. 'Lord? Like that Jesus bloke? Why are they calling you savior?'
Riddle giggled. 'They're not calling me savior, they're calling you their savior.'
Harry was just more confused. 'Why?'
Riddle smiled, 'Because you defeated me.'
'That's stupid.' Harry muttered and Riddle couldn't help but agree. What fool really thought an infant could destroy a dark lord? 'What's a dark lord?' Riddle grimaced. He really had a lot of work to do.
"Yes, sir. Thank you." Riddle answered and Tom blushed. As Riddle made his way off, he heard Tom mumble something about the savior thanking him. What a silly man.
oOoOo
Harry was bored.
"Why don't they have a TV in here." Harry spoke aloud and Riddle sighed.
"This is a wizard bar. There aren't any electronics."
"Well, why not?" Harry asked back and Riddle bit back another sigh, but Harry sighed for him.
"Electronics don't work with magic." Riddle answered and before Harry could ask the inevitable 'Why?' Riddle asked that question himself. He had never really thought about it before. To be frank, he didn't really care about muggle technology. As far as he was concerned, the muggles could keep their useless junk. What did they really achieve anyway?
Unfortunately, Riddle was never alone anymore and his thought was answered with a statement.
"Did you know muggles have been to space?" Harry asked and Riddle jolted.
"What do you mean, space?" He asked, confused.
"Well, you know. The stars and stuff." Riddle was just more confused. How could a muggle go to the stars? What was even up there? Was there anything to stand on? Would a lumos work?
"They ride a ship to get up there." Harry said and Riddle grimaced. He tried imagining Durmstrang's ship flying up to the stars and giggled. Harry saw what he was thinking of and laughed with him.
"Not that kind of ship, silly!" Harry said in-between giggles. Riddle thought he should be offended, but really what did he know of muggles. They were useless. Never achieved anything…
"Did you know…" And for the next hour, Harry explained all kinds of things muggles did. He didn't want to know, but there was no shutting the boy up. Riddle rubbed his head, already feeling a headache coming on. He willed the storm to pass.
Eventually, light poured into the room and Riddle peaked out. The storm had finally passed. He could get a wand. First, he'd have to visit the bank though. He groaned at the thought of the goblins.
"Why do we need to see goblins? Wait, what are goblins?" Harry asked and Riddle wished, not for the first time, that Harry could just read his mind and understand what he already knew.
"Goblins are in charge of wizarding money." Riddle drawled in a teaching voice. "They are nasty creatures, but our treaty with them keeps them from hurting us."
Harry nodded and Riddle got up. He glared at his muggle clothes. Not even clothes, but a set of pajamas. Space themed. Riddle sneered.
He held out his arms and said "Robe me." But nothing happened. Then he remembered that he wasn't a dark lord anymore. Harry giggled at his antics.
He looked around for some different clothes, but found nothing. "Fuck."
Harry made his way down the stairs and Tom immediately greeted him. "My lord! I hope the room was to your liking."
Riddle smiled regally and spoke up. "Yes, it was fine. I however find myself without a set of wizarding robes. I cannot very well enter Diagon without any, can I?"
The silly man stammered and said "Of course not!" Before running off and finding some small robes for the boy. Riddle resisted the urge to say 'Robe me' and took the black robes.
After dressing himself, Tom led them to the brick wall and used his wand to open the passage.
"Goodbye Harry! I hope to see you soon." Harry waved bye and Riddle grimaced at the boy's antics.
'You are a celebrity. You need not act like a fool.' Riddle drawled and Harry just looked confused.
'These people hold you in great respect. You don't need to sink down to their level.' He explained further, which just led to a conversation on wizarding manners and how to properly behave.
Harry thought it was stupid, but followed Tom's lead. Clearly, he knew more about this stuff than him.
Before he made it too deep into the alley, a letter smacked him in the face. An owl flying away soon after. 'What the fuck is this?' Harry asked as he opened the letter.
He read its contents. Apparently they had some shopping to do.
They made their way to Gringotts. By the time they arrived, Tom had educated Harry on various topics regarding this new world. Tom strode in, a casual stride and his head held high. He nodded to Madame Bones who was waiting in line. It was good to establish himself correctly. Paying mind to society's important individuals was part of that. She nodded back at him and he remembered flinging dark curses at her as she defended Diagon Alley against his raid. He nearly giggled at the thought of the head Auror politely greeting Britain's greatest dark lord.
Harry made his way to a booth and a goblin greeted him. The goblin, Bone Cruncher, smiled down at him with crooked teeth. Harry shrunk away in fear, but Tom just smirked.
"I wish to see my vault."
"I require your key." He said and stuck out his hand, fingernails all too sharp.
"I do not have it on my person. I request a new key to be made." Tom drawled and the goblin sneered, pulling his hand back.
"Very well. Come with me." He said in an almost Snape like manner before walking away, Tom following.
He led them into a large room adorned with trophies. These trophies mostly consisted of snapped wands and skulls. Bone Cruncher saw Harry staring and adopted a cruel smile.
He took his seat and Tom sat across from him. "I require your blood." He said and handed Tom a knife. No stranger to pain, Tom took the knife and cut his finger, eyes not once leaving the goblin's own. Bone Cruncher looked at him impressed before taking the knife and the blood and pressing it into what looked like a leather book which absorbed the blood. He tore out the page and wrapped it around a large key. Then he took a hammer and pounded the key with it.
Tom felt the magic shimmer and the goblin handed Harry his new key.
After he destroyed Harry's blood, Tom was very insistent on that, the goblin led him down into the caves.
The cart ride was uneventful, though Harry laughed and whee'd his way through most of it, which made Tom facepalm and the goblin eye him warily.
After his vault was opened, Tom just stood there mouth agape.
Harry was transfixed too. There was so much gold. The Potters had clearly been rich.
The goblin didn't comment, he just went back to the cart and waited for the Potter heir to finish.
Harry walked in and touched his gold. 'Not gold.' Tom corrected. 'Galleons.'
"Galleons." Harry breathed and Tom smiled remembering his first time seeing the Gaunt vault. Finding out your extended family was rich while actively orphaned was a bittersweet experience.
Tom grabbed a pouch from the side of the vault and started filling it. It was one of those expanded pouches so he didn't have to worry about how much he was putting in it. Harry seemed amazed at the idea of a never-ending pouch. Tom explained the mechanics of the pouch and Harry listened on in shock.
This was the start of something great. They were free.
After filling enough galleons to keep them afloat, Tom peered around the vault in search of anything noteworthy. Ancient, Noble houses often contained artifacts of interest. The Potters were a light house, sure, but Ancient nonetheless. Tom was sure he'd find something useful. He picked out a wand from the stack which was in a large box. It wasn't as compatible as his Yew and Phoenix wand, but it'd be fine until he could get a better one.
"Wingardium Leviosa." He incanted and let out a shaky breath at the magic he felt. Tom felt himself cry. Dark lords didn't cry. He didn't feel any shame in it though. The past few days? Weeks? Who knows. They had been tough. Wandless magic was fickle. Only good for things like legilimency, and even then that simple thing was difficult in his current form.
Muggles were not easy to deal with without a wand, especially when you were ten. Tom held the wand and swished it, banishing the bag across the vault. He giggled. Which turned into a full cackle.
He felt Harry stare on in awe at the magic he witnessed. 'So that is magic.' Harry said and Tom nodded. "A basic form of magic, yes. But magic nonetheless. You're a wizard, Harry." He said and he felt Harry's happiness. Tom was not a kind man, but this moment he could not deprive Harry of despite what the boy had done to his body. A wizard should never have to live without magic. It was anathema to think otherwise.
There wasn't much else in the vault, though there were a few books entitled 'Potter Family Magic' which Voldemort greedily took. Knowledge was power afterall. He left the vault and the goblin took him back up to the surface.
Their first stop was to Madam Malkin's to get some proper robes. Tom ordered black robes with green and silver trim, the Potter family crest woven in. They were made with proper charms, which included warming charms and charms to fit him perfectly and adapt to his body growth.
He doubted he would be sent anywhere but Slytherin. Harry might have been sent to Gryffindor, but the experiences he lived through had hardened him. Bravery was foolish. Bravery led to death and pain. They could not die, never again.
Death meant living Dursleys and sticks in eye sockets. It meant your legs being used as chew toys and biting your tongue off. Harry would not die. He was sure of it. Anyone who would try and make him would die. In that respect, Harry and Tom were in agreement.
After being properly robed, Tom went to have his hair done. With his own traits, the Potter hair was slightly more manageable and they were able to get it to stay made. He didn't pick up new glasses, they hid his perfect red eyes. Harry giggled and compared him to a vain cartoon villain and Tom grimaced. He was NOT a cartoon villain.
The conversation went back and forth from there.
'Are too.'
"Are not!"
'Are too.'
'Are not!"
'Are too.'
Tom was about to answer him when he nearly bumped into a tall blonde man.
"Luc-." Tom halted and stopped himself. Harry did not know Lucius Malfoy. Thankfully the man did not hear him, and turned around to face Harry.
He made to sneer, but then saw how Harry held himself and raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him. The boy was dressed in proper family robes and held himself as an heir to the Wizangamot should.
"Ah, Mr. Potter." He drawled. "I had heard rumors that you have been traipsing around Diagon, but I did not believe it myself."
"Did the esteemed Headmaster see fit to send out your letter early? Surely your fame does not grant you special privileges." Tom imagined that he should be offended, but could not find himself to care, he was far too amused. Lucius was one of his favorite followers. The man breathed nobility and Tom often found his drawl to be quite amusing.
"Lord Malfoy." Tom greeted with a respectful nod. The man looked slightly thrown off balance, but quickly regained his equilibrium.
"Our great and powerful Chief Warlock did not send out any letters early." Tom lied, causing Malfoy to hold in a derisive snort. "I came here of my own ambition. Despite my age, I wanted to get a handle on my house's affairs. It would seem Dumbledore-" He said the name with distaste "did not see fit to inform me of my duties as heir to house Potter."
Malfoy pierced him with a strange look he couldn't quite interpret. Clearly he was not what the man had expected. "I see. Good on you for taking these matters into your own hands. If our illustrious Albus Dumbledore does not care for our great nation's noble houses then it is only right for us to take charge." He drawled before smirking. "Ten points to Slytherin."
Tom smiled and nodded at the man who then swirled around in a very Severus like fashion, except for the cane, and trotted off at a dignified pace. Likely to go find his wife and brag about meeting the new heir Potter, hater of Dumbledore and future Slytherin.
Harry giggled at his antics. He didn't mind Tom's use of his body or words. He found the whole thing amusing and didn't mind so long as he would never have to return to the Dursleys.
Tom then made his way to Ollivanders. He felt dread at meeting the man again. He was a creepy sort.
Tom entered the store and gazed around. It had barely changed since he was a child. The ladder flung around magically and Ollivander stepped off and faced him.
"Tom?" He asked in a deathly quiet voice. Voldemort didn't even flinch. He was used to the creepy man's antics.
"Yes?" He answered and a chill went up the wandmaker's spine.
"And Mr. Potter?" He asked weakly.
"Hiya!" Harry hollered, waving his hand up at him. Tom giggled and Ollivander nearly fell over.
He just stared at them for several minutes. Tom sighed and leaned against a wall, gazing at his fingernails. After another couple minutes, Tom sighed again and turned to face the pale man.
"Look, can we just get this over with? I already have a wand with me, but it isn't as compatible as my yew one. We both know who I am and we also both know you won't tell anyone so can we move past the nonsense?" Tom drawled and Ollivander harrumphed.
"I don't even want to know why there are two persons in young Mr. Potter's head. I do not interfere with worldly matters, but even so you cannot fault me for being shocked." The man finally said in a brisk, business like tone.
"How do you know about Tom?" Harry asked in an innocent voice and Garrick looked at him sadly.
"Wandcrafting is an ancient art. We are sworn to not interfere with the affairs of wizardkind and are granted powers of sight. Powers like Divination, but not quite. The wandcrafter's lore is a sacred one. My line, and the lines of other wandcrafters are connected with the planet's magic. This is not a connection one can make themselves, no matter how hard they try." He said and glared at Tom with a disapproving look.
Tom just brushed it off with an uncaring shrug.
"So when you look at me, you see two of us?" Harry asked and Garrick nodded.
"I see one whom I've already served and one whom has yet to obtain a wand. Your destinies are-" He tried to start but Tom cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're a creepy old man and you enjoy being mysterious." He said mockingly and Harry giggled. "Can we get on with it?" Tom finished and the man harrumphed again shooting Tom a withering glare.
After going through several wands, Tom asked. "Do you have any wands with a phoenix core?"
The man stopped and stared and Tom just shrugged. The man however relented. "I do have one." He pulled out a box and handed it to Tom. He took it and pulled out the wand, immediately feeling the power wafting from it.
Harry and Tom both felt strange holding it. It just felt right. "Curious. How very curious it is that this wand finds its way to you when its brother gave you that-" He cut off. Looking at Harry's scar for the first time and shivered, stumbling back.
"Oh." The man said weakly.
Tom sighed dramatically. "Can we go now?"
Ollivander shot him another glare and he took it in stride. "Yeah, yeah, evil dark lord gets the wand that he used to try and murder boy savior. Big fucking deal."
"GET OUT!" Garrick shouted and didn't even care that Tom had yet to pay him for the wand. The old guy had an angry, but also sad look on his face as he shepherded the dark lord and boy from his store.