Chapter 11: At Hogwarts
I've always believed you can get closer to the truth by pretending not to speak it - Armistead Maupin
Tom sat in front of the window, watching Joelle how she looked for his face somewhere. It wasn't until he pushed down the window that Joelle saw him - and that's when the train started already.
"See you, snowman!" Smiled Joelle, wiping away a tear. Tom waved at her and watched her for as long as the view allowed him to see, then pulled his head back into the warmth. A horrible feeling of emptiness invaded his body without asking for permission, it inflamed him, stung like a sunburn on a hot day, his stomach started to knot up - it scared Tom, this feeling of vulnerability, of weakness. A thought hit him at once. She would see Bryan now. Sit next to Bryan in the car. She sat back with Tom when they had driven to King's Cross - but now she would definitely sit on the passenger seat next to Bryan. Tom's heart pondered against his chest, his fists clenched together firmly, lips thinned. He was here and could do nothing about it. Three months. Three months.
"Hey. Can we sit with you?" Asked a voice suddenly. Tom glanced over to a dark haired boy walking in followed by another blond male. Tom merely shrugged, pulling out a book to start reading.
"My name is Decrux Lestrange." Said the dark haired boy. "And this is Tiberius Avery."
"Hi." Said Tom dryly, not even looking up.
"And who are you?" Asked Decrux. Tom closed the book, looking into Lestrange's dark eyes. "You will find out soon enough."
He murmured.
Avery and Lestrange glanced at each other, then smirked.
"Are you somebody important?" Asked Lestrange. Tom's eyebrow raised as a slight grin crept up his lips.
"We will see." He said, much to Avery's excitement. None of them could deny it, this boy here had an aura of utmost mysteriousness and elegant authority.
"Do you already know which house you wanna be in?" Asked Decrux. Tom nodded. "Yes." He said, raising an eyebrow, hoping to find out more about the other houses. What exactly did it mean? How many houses are there? What do they do?
"Most of our family members have been in Slytherin, so we will try to get in there, too." Said Lestrange.
Tom frowned. So Slytherin seems to be popular. He did not really know if he truly wanted to be in a house that ran on popularity - but then again, remembering Sylus and Joelle, he really felt like he needed to be there. Just to be better than him.
"Hello dears. Would you like to have something to eat?" Asked a young woman behind a trolley full of food. Avery and Lestrange glanced at each other, then shrugged, getting up from their seats to pick out something that they paid for with heaps of coins. Tom watched them coming back with strange beans and other things he had never seen before.
"Want some?" Asked Avery, sitting back down. Tom shook his head.
"I don't care much for sweets." He said truthfully before his eyes wandered out of the window again. They were on top of a high bridge, the large sea glistened below them. He couldn't help but grin to himself; Joelle would have freaked out at the view.
"Look at this, look at this, Marvolo! Isn't it beautiful?! Oh where's my camera, did you see my camera?" She would have squeaked. And like so often, Tom would shake his head, saying he did not know where her camera was. And like so often, Joelle would have sighed but waved it off, like so often, she would have simply watched everything with her ever so curious eyes - and Tom would have sighed to himself, just like every so often.
Time passed with its nagging foible of wearing out the victims - even Tom fell under its wing of furtive terror and was only released as soon as they got out of the train. Tom glanced around at everyone. So these people had the same talent? They did not look special at all. One could have thrusted Amy or Billy in here, the difference could not be told. How great it was then that they all had to wear their dark cloaks, uniformed and united all the same until the differences were clear. Tom did not have to wait until then. To him, it was already obvious that none of them played in his league of success.
"First years to me." Said a voice. Tom glanced up to see Sylus again, snarling up his nose, but he walked over to him nonetheless with Lestrange and Avery standing next to him, but Tom couldn't have cared less. He did not come to Hogwarts to make friends.
"We will get into boats now. It's a tradition for Hogwarts first years to reach the castle that way." Said Sylus, standing next to a plump girl with a blue tie, she looked simply ridiculous next to the arrogant good features of Sylus. They marched off.
"Look!" Said Lestrange excitedly, pointing ahead to the boats in the water. They got in one by one and the boats suddenly started to move on their own accord - Tom's eyes widened as he watched how they magically swum across the lake, raising an eyebrow at Avery leaning over the boat, pale faced even in the darkness, he was obviously nauseated. It did not take an awful long time, but there in the distance, in the foggy air, they could see the towering immense castle. Hogwarts. It was gigantic.
This day was historical for Tom Riddle.
"Dear Joelle,
I am writing this the very evening of my arrival, I hope the owl finds you as fast as possible. You couldn't believe it until you've seen it yourself, the castle would surely make you scream, it is huge. I somewhen found out that there are four houses in Hogwarts, each dedicated to the specific traits that the four founders of Hogwarts appreciated in their students. I was sorted into Slytherin, the name is not new to you as you have heard Sylus talking about it. The sorting ceremony was up first before we could eat, and it was strange. A hat sorts each student into a house, yes, a hat that can speak and look into somebody's mind. So when it sat on my head, it turned oddly quiet, it said nothing for a whole three minutes or so. After some time it then stated that it has rarely seen a mind like mine, it said that I will go far and that there's only one place for me to be; and that was in Slytherin, the house of the cunning and ambitious. Now I must say that I've already seen a lot of people in this house that don't strike me as anything special at all. I wish I knew which house you would have been sorted into, Joelle. Our common room is down in the dungeons, everything is decorated in green and silver and Slytherin's emblem, which is a green snake. I do like snakes. I believe it would scare you, though. I know you like your freedom, but here you'd probably feel a little locked up. Taking a look out of the windows means staring right into the green underwater scenery - our common room is far under the lake. School is going to start tomorrow already, I confess myself quite excited. I doubt these lessons here will be as boring as school in the 'muggle world'; muggles are non-magical people, a term Lestrange taught me (he was sorted into Slytherin as well). What have you been doing after the train left? Tell me everything. I expect a response from you soon. Take care. And keep the rules in mind,
Marvolo."
Dear Marvolo,
I was most excited to see that an owl actually brought the letter, I began to panic a little, not knowing how to write to you, I somehow forgot to ask you, so you can imagine my face when an owl was sitting on my window sill the next morning, hooting me awake. I'm so happy for you, even though I had somewhat of a crying fit after I returned to the orphanage, but I'm mostly just happy. And oh my god, an underwater-common room, really? That sounds awesome! But you're right, it's also scary. I'd probably panic about the windows breaking and me drowning in the middle of the night. If it's possible, it can happen. Did I scare you? Haha. Do you feel well in Slytherin? It's funny that you mention you like snakes, I was sure I had seen a snake at the countryside, I even had a dream about you talking to a snake. How silly. Or maybe it meant something - after all, you ended up in that house, did you not? I guess we will never know. As I'm writing this, your first lesson has probably already started, you should totally tell me about your first day at school! By the end of the week you may even already have a favorite subject - let me know. Well, what can I say? I've been doing nothing, actually. At least nothing exciting, I've been helping Martha with Eric and Billy. Did I ever mention to you that I don't like Martha that much? (To my defense, she's not fond of me either). She's always so stressed, I don't see why she's even working at the orphanage, she doesn't seem to like children that much. Sigh. I do miss you already. And please let the owl rest before you send your next letter - or take another owl. Take care.
Joelle
PS: You have the most beautiful handwriting ever.
Dear Joelle,
The owl reached me in the afternoon, and okay, I will let another owl send the next letter. I don't know where to start. We had our flying lesson up first today - I don't know how I feel about that. I like the fact that we can fly, but flying on a broomstick is most definitely not my definition of elegance. It looks plump...and girls on a broomstick look downright vulgar. I would not want you to sit on a stick flying through the air. I will try my best to find a substitution for broomsticks. It must be possible somehow. If a broomstick can fly then I can, too. Joelle, I had asked you not to be around Eric and Billy, there is nothing you can do for them. Just let them be. (I mean it). Did you spend the rest of the day with Bryan? I don't like how you did not answer me properly, I'm still as clueless as before. I, however, am sorry to hear that you cried because of me, but I now know that I can return to you the 23rd of December. That's a Friday. My first day at school was very promising. I've had Transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore after Flying, it was interesting...but Dumbledore knows how to observe closely...You probably don't know about all the subjects taught here. There is Transfiguration, Potions (didn't have that yet), History of Magic (very interesting so far), Charms (didn't have that yet), Flying (urgh), Herbology (didn't have that yet), Defense Against the Dark Arts (I'll have that on Monday, can't wait...) and Astronomy (which I also didn't have today). I wish you were here to experience all of this with me,
Marvolo.
PS: Your handwriting could need some improvement.
Dear Marvolo, who definitely needs some spanking for all the cheekiness,
I had to laugh so hard when you wrote that part about flying, I couldn't breathe, you almost killed me! And yes, I did spend the rest of the day with Bryan, I couldn't just send him away after driving us to King's Cross, could I? So we actually stopped by a restaurant to eat something and then just spent the evening together. (Not in the way you might think, I'm not like that...). I'm glad to hear that Dumbledore teaches you, you have to admit that he is a wise man. The most interesting thing of today must be the return of Amy and Dennis. It's very sad, they still do not talk to me at all nor to anyone else for that matter. I wish I knew what they had to go through in that cave, their faces are marked with constant alert and panic. The doctors could not find out either, they haven't talked much, Ellie said that they couldn't get anything out of them. I don't mean to make you sad, though, I mean you have grown up with them, surely you somewhat wonder and care, don't you? Take care and have fun with your other classes,
Joelle
Joelle,
I believe it's YOU who needs some spanking instead. I don't exactly see why you couldn't have just sent Bryan away, his service was done, you didn't need him any longer. This shows me that you do not mind the rules! I must admit that I'm disappointed. And to be honest, I'm too angry now to continue writing this letter. Enjoy your time with Bryan!
Marvolo
Joelle!
It's Wednesday evening (!) and you did not yet write back to me! I'm sure you and Bryan are having a GREAT time, right?! I WANT you to wri
Joelle,
Why did you not write back yet?! It's Wednesday evening! The owl is fine! Are you too busy with Bryan? Are you ha
Dear Joelle,
It's Wednesday evening and I haven't received a letter from you yet, which makes me beyond sad. I have to give you credit, though. It's quite clever to punish me by not writing back. After all, I can't really change it, can I? I just miss you...maybe I wanted too much. But you have to understand that I, as an orphan, have never had anyone...please answer me.
Marvolo
Dear Marvolo,
I'm very sorry! I should not have been so selfish, I should have known why you're acting like this...that was very stupid of me. Bryan, however, is my friend. Do you think you can just try to accept this under the condition that I promise that it won't change anything? I miss you a lot, snowman. Take care! And wear the scarf, it's already cold outside!
Joelle
AN: Oh I liked this chapter. I found it quite exciting to let the plot continue just through the letters and abandon the narrator's voice for once. Don't worry, there will be enough narrated "realtime" action coming again.
