I do not own Harry Potter

Tom Riddle's Pov

During all his lessons, which he found absolutely dull as usual, he had been busy thinking about the boy. Hadrian Peverell. He had, in the short time he'd come here, become the talk of the entire school. Whispers and conversations from every house, in the halls, in lessons, emotions ranging from wonder and curiosity to horror and sympathy. However considering everyone was clueless as to how he had arrived so suddenly, rumours started spreading from one house to the other about different ways the feat of magic was possible.

It was irritating, the urge to throttle the sorry excuses for witches and wizards surrounding him became more pronounced as each mindless syllable past their lips, creating rumour after rumour, some logical enough, a case of accidental magic, to others like the boy had rode to safety on the back of a fire-breathing dragon as it soared through the sky, it's full strength breaking through the wards, rending it nothing but a pile of ash and the boy the sole survivor. God, it sounded beyond stupid to his own ears, he wondered how the hell these halfwits would ever make it outside of Hogwarts, the real world would just chew them up and spit them out.

It was now one of his free lessons and he was currently in the Slytherin common room surrounded by his followers and the rest of the Slytherins.

Evan and Alphard, who were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, were playing chess, they had both been going at it for a while now but it didn't seem like the game was going to be over anytime soon. The both of them were two of the best chess players in Slytherin so they had made it their life's mission to beat the other in as many games as possible. At first, it had been a form of entertainment for the entirety of Slytherin, some cheering for Alphard, others cheering for Evan. However with how many games they'd played against each other, no one even bats an eye at the sight anymore, it just became a common occurrence in Slytherin. Though it does get infuriating when they're both at each other's necks after one of them wins and the other loses, it was only due to years of control over his emotions that he didn't curse the living daylights out of the two because of their constant bickering. Despite that, however, they were both great followers and he rather liked having the two of them around, not that he'd ever admit that.

Theo and Brax, sitting on the coach to his left, were busy talking about Thorfinn's obvious infatuation with Lysandra Avery, Paul's younger sister. Paul Avery was one of his recent followers, he had been a wild card at first but eventually he had, after realising that they shared the same interests, joined his knights of Walpurgis. He was very intelligent, one of the only ones that could hold a conversation with him besides Elijah, of course, who was considered the second smartest in the entire school, right after him. Though unlike Elijah, Paul carried an arrogance about him that many, mainly the girls of course, consider charming however for him it could sometimes get borderline irksome, especially when he made those snarky comments of his that got him in trouble more often than any other Slytherin, losing quite a few points for their house. No one ever says anything to him though because one, he knows quite a few nasty curses that no one wants to be on the receiving end of and two, despite his troublesome nature, he always manages to win all the points back with his work in class.

Amycus, was, as usual, sitting on one of the chairs to his right with his face in a book. He was the silent studious type but everyone within Slytherin knew better than to get on the wrong end of his wand, the repertoire of spells he knew could make anyone end up in the hospital wing for weeks. Those arrogant few who thought it was a good idea to challenge him, trying to up their standing in Slytherin, never looked eye to eye with him again. It was always entertaining to see those arrogant fools shot down a peg or two and he was glad that Amycus decided to join his knights as he was a great addition to his followers.

Each one of them had the power and influence from their family names however they also had other aspects that had interested him. Brax was a great duellist and he could get information about the ongoings within the ministry because of his father's job, Elijah was very perceptive, he could read others from their body language and the look in their eyes so he was useful in finding out information, Paul was very intelligent and one of the best duellists in the school, Evan could be rather vindictive when he wanted to be with his use of some quite creative curses that made healing someone very hard, Theo was very skilled in potions, he knew every potion in existence on the tips of his fingers as well as their use, side effects, where the specific ingredients are found and exactly how to make them, Alphard had access to all the books from the Black family library and the ones he had lent to him contained information on a lot of dark curses and rituals that were very useful, Thorfinn was very powerful, obviously not on par with him, but he was powerful in his own right, he was also quite gifted at charms and transfiguration, mostly in the practical work, Cygnus was a good duelist and undeniably loyal to him, with his connections from being a Lestrange, that loyalty was very useful.

He took it upon himself to know all the gossip in the school, especially within Slytherin, it was crucial for him to know how to make others tick and what better way than to find out their innermost secrets. As he was thinking he noticed that everyone around him had stopped what they were doing so he looked up and saw Professor Slughorn entering the common room before his eyes rested on him with the irritating fondness that he was coming to loathe, if only he knew who he really was, they had no clue whatsoever, well no one except that infuriating old man. Salazar, how he wished to wrap the old man's beard around his neck and squeeze until he watched the light fade from those blasted twinkling eyes. It is the hope of many within Slytherin to do so mostly because of his subtle prejudice against their house, which others like that naive fool, Dippet, seem to overlook.

"Tom my boy, I have something to ask of you." Professor Slughorn said as he gazed upon his favourite student.

"Of course sir. Is something the matter?" Tom asked politely with a pleasant smile on his face, which only the people closest to him could tell was fake.

"Oh no of course not my boy. The Headmaster wishes to see you. The new boy has apparently been sorted into our house and he wishes for you to show him around, if that's okay with you." Professor Slughorn said curious about the boy that had caused all the ruckus during the morning feast. He felt for the poor boy, to have been held captive by Grindelwald, tortured so horribly, his closest relatives killed, no family in the world and nowhere to go, it must have been a daunting experience for the child so he was happy he was sorted into his house. He was also relieved that Tom would be the one to help him get accustomed to the school as he was such a kind and polite boy.

"Of course sir. I'll make my way there now." Tom said as he got up and strolled out the common room after Slughorn. He was curious about the boy's placement within Slytherin, it had been clear to him that part of what the boy had said had been fabricated but he didn't know what was the truth, what was the lie or what was omitted, it was a Slytherin tactic that many in Slytherin often used with the teachers to take the blame off of them and with their sly acting, the teachers never even suspected them and always believed their lies, well except the blasted old coot. Even if it wasn't a Slytherin, the man would find a way to put the blame on them. He hated the damned man and the sentiment was shared by many in Slytherin.

"OK Tom now I know that you would do so anyway but after what the poor boy has been through he should feel welcomed in Slytherin so I want you and your fellow Slytherins to help him should he need it. Is that alright with you Tom?" Slughorn asked though he already knew the answer, Tom always provided a helping hand to any student that needed it so he knew that this time wouldn't be any different.

"Of course sir. You don't have to worry about the boy. I assure you he's in good hands." Tom said with a polite and reassuring smile on his face concealing the smirk threatening to emerge. Yes, the boy would feel very welcomed indeed as soon as he gets the answers he needs with the boy's full cooperation. Though he didn't doubt that, every single one of them, no matter how defiant, eventually gave in to him and he couldn't wait to break into a new one, it would definitely relieve the boredom he had been feeling before the boy's sudden arrival.

"Thank you Tom. I knew I could count on you." Slughorn replied with a jovial smile on his face as he looked down at his most favourite student. Tom was a brilliant child, ever since he taught the boy he knew that he had found a prodigy, he truly was a gifted child.

Tom just politely nodded and smiled at him with a humble tilt to his head to show the persona that the school knew of him, the polite, hard-working and normally quiet boy but only his close followers knew that that was far from the truth.

No one though, not even them, knew the real him, and that is how it would always be, for now.