"Professor," Harry called out hesitantly. Dumbledore looked up at him. "You were Tom Riddle's professor as well. What was... different about him?"

Dumbledore was appalled by the question. Being the professor and the headmaster of the school who'd accepted such a dangerous and dark wizard, wasn't always his greatest accomplishment. His breathing was unsteady. Tom Riddle was a complicated wizard. Where would he even begin?

"He wasn't always... tame," he began. "He was peculiar from the very beginning. He hadn't known what wizards and witches even were to know what privilege being pure-blood held. But he was always dark and.. tainted, if you will."

Harry tilted his head to the side before taking a few steps forward. "What do you mean he didn't know the privileges?"

Dumbledore gave him an unclear look. "I guess you can say that he didn't hold a grudge against any form of blood in the wizarding world until he met a lady. Very beautiful, very captivating."

"Was she pure-blood?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "She was the most privileged of them all."

Tom Riddle stared up on the humongous territory that they'd called school. His uniform was standard and undecided as everybody claimed. He hadn't the slightest idea what that even meant.

"Back then Harry, Tom would pass as a normal boy, whatever normal would mean to you. Only intimate people would know that there was something vile about him."

"Hey," A boy suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and stared almost degradingly at the boy with the palest hair he'd ever seen. "I'm Lucius. What's yours?"

Lucius was cold. His voice was stagnant and sure. Tom felt the need to put him down and intimidate him, maybe have some of that certainty that Lucius felt he had.

"I'm Tom Riddle. What about it?" he spat, raising an eyebrow.

Lucius was a bit shocked and frightened. "Just wanted to know if you were interested in being friends," he shrugged.

Tom smirked inwardly. "If I have to," he replied. He didn't want to give Lucius the satisfaction of simply having him as a companion. It had to seem like a win.

Lucius nodded at him and directed him to his own group of friends. Tom kept his chin high up in the air and followed Lucius like he was his personal servant. They'd made it to a small group of people talking amongst themselves.

"This is Tom Riddle," Lucius introduced him, and Tom felt very highly of his name. It was his name of course. "And these are my friends. Would you want to know them?"

Tom merely nodded for him to continue.

"This is Bellatrix." Lucius pointed toward a short girl with curly and wild tresses scattered all around her small, pale face. She definitely looked like the witch that muggles like him would think of.

"This is Avery." He pointed toward the guy with light brown, almost blonde, hair that was swept to the side like a proper Irish man. He raised his hand up and did a small wave, to which Tom only blinked his eyes at.

"And this is Alisha. She's a triple A," Lucius jeered with a small chuckle at the end, pointing toward the girl whom Tom thought was the most beautiful creature in the world. But his expression showed otherwise.

"What's a triple A?" he asked sharply. Everyone was a little wary of how straightforward his language was, or how it sounded like at least.

"I-It means her name's all As. It's kind of an admired thing around here," he explained. "Alisha Aries van der Austrelle."

Tom couldn't even help but stare madly at her. She was taller than many, easily catching people's eyes. Her smile was contagious and charming. Her hair was a warm, sunflower blonde colour, curling in and out down to her waist. Her eyes were sky blue, the kind of blue he'd seen in the waters of a resort pool. Her skin was pale, rosy and had a hint of bronzed tan.

The most distinct part about her was the way she brought herself up; so effortlessly seductive. The look in her eye just gave off the innocence and fantasies combined. He was utterly compelled in more ways than one.

And then, just when he thought he might just slip away into death, she smiled at him and said, "Hey, I'm Alisha."

At that moment, he knew to be specifically watchful of her. He did not trust her.

He nodded his head in understanding before a deep voice started from behind. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Harry noticed that Dumbledore was especially calm when he began discussing he-who-must-not-be-named's interest in this blond bombshell when he was a teen.

"Was he in love with her?" Harry asked curiously, tapping his hand lightly on Dumbledore's desk.

Dumbledore nodded. "He had a very twisted definition of love. But to his heart, he was very much in love with her. But not as much as he was envious of her."

"Envious?"

"She reminded him of everything he could've been if it weren't for his father."