Hello everyone! This is a story (as you just read) that explains how Tom Riddle got so powerful. It starts out after Tom Riddle has just turned in Rubeus Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets (in the second book…) Please tell me any suggestions you have… =D
Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort and all of them are JK Rowlings, but Lyn is mine.
Chapter 1
That night, after Tom Riddle and Headmaster Dippet had a long discussion about Rubeus Hagrid and the happenings of the past year, the Prefect strolled down the corridors to the bare stone wall that stood before him. He took a breath before going in, but realized that no one would be up at such an hour and sighed with relief. So badly he wanted to tell Lyn about this. Lyn would care; she would understand.
He stopped shortly before going into the boys' dormitories and thought, but soon changed his mind and went to go get Lyn, his only friend.
Finding her room quickly, he quietly walked on the wood floor, choosing his feeting wisely. If one of the other girls woke up, he could only guess how much trouble he would be in. Lyn's bed was in the far corner surrounded by books and old, ragged robes.
"Lyn… Lyn…" he shook her arm gently, and she rubbed her eyes and looked up at him.
"Tom… What is it?" she said while trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
"It was Hagrid. Hagrid!" he whispered excitedly. Even though he knew who the real culprit was, if he could make her believe the lie, then maybe he could keep her as a friend.
Her sleepy eyes suddenly went wide as she sat up in bed and stared blankly at Tom.
"C'mon" he beckoned as walking swiftly out of the silent dormitory. She got out of bed, still in her pajamas and followed him closely, eager to hear what he had to say.
When they reached the green common room, they stopped, and without even sitting down, he began to tell her all the actions of that night.
After hearing the whole story, Lyn had a wave of anger pass over her. "Hagrid? You turned in Hagrid? Now I guess you expect me to believe this!" her face hardened into a glare that stared directly at Tom who glared right back. "Tom, I know the truth…"
Their expressions stayed the same, but before saying another word, Tom looked around the room to make sure that no one else was there.
"I didn't do it!" he said angrily. "I thought you trusted me!"
"God damnit, Tom, this has gone too far!" she shouted, but then realized how loud she was being and looked around again warily.
"Yes, but now its going to stop. I promise!"
There was a small pause, then a deep sigh of regret. "All right then, Tom, all right…"
They both looked at each other for about a spit second; then, Lyn found a chair and dumped her tired body into it. He reached for her hand and held it tightly. She felt his warm hand and squeezed it. They were the only ones who knew about this. No one else would care or believe if they ever did try to explain. They were the outcasts.
In the very first year they arrived, there were a few people who were known as the losers. No one ever wanted to talk to them or even listen what they had to say. Lyn Willard and Tom Riddle were among the most un-cool losers and they both knew it. Of course, they tried to ignore the fact that they were hated and mistreated; they pretended that it didn't matter to them and that nothing could get in the way of them learning magic. That was the way that Tom and Lyn met.
In the process, they learned a lot about each other. Both had once had witch mothers and hated their fathers. Lyn's dad was still alive; she lived with him over the summer but hated every second. He was always mad and often drunk. He also beat the crap out of Lyn when he felt especially mean or angry.
After hearing his story though, Lyn didn't feel so bad about her life. Sure, it was pretty awful, but at least she didn't have to live in some terrible orphanage where everyone was mistreated.
Another trait of the two was that they each were headed for the same future. They hated their lives and had always wanted to grow up to something better—something beyond Muggles and childish magic. They agreed that there was nothing worse than the foul unmagical people, and hoped to someday seek revenge on their stupid Muggle family members who didn't care about them and wouldn't notice them there or missing.
Tom thought about the past years while standing there. He noticed that so many horrific memories of schoolboys and other orphans flooded his memory, but since he met Lyn, things had changed. Someday he would get them all back. Someday…
Days of ruling flooded his dreams at night and his thoughts in the day. So many people needed to be punished… Oh so many! Yet, he knew he could not get there alone. He knew that once he made it to the top, whenever that was, he would kill Lyn. Not that he would want to, but he would have to kill her because he wasn't about to make an alliance, even with his one friend. There was no partnership, to him, only power. They already had some started ideas about how to rule above others. Yes, they were only 16 years old, but it made no difference.
Now, he had one favor to ask of Lyn. They had to start something sometime.
"Lyn…" he started.
"Mm-hmm?" She looked up at him with her large brown eyes.
"I need to come over to your house this summer… Maybe even for the whole holidays…"
"Why?" she looked a bit confused.
"Well, we have so many good ideas! We need to get away from these hells we are in and get out somewhere. I would truthfully rather die than go back to that orphanage, and I know you can't stand up to your dad because he beats you… We could help each other…"
"I'm sure that's okay. Why not? We would have to see if everything worked OK, but sure. My dad wouldn't noticed unless he was sober, but like that's gunna happen…" she said sleepily, "We had better get back to the dorm… Need our rest for tomorrow…"
"Yeah," he said, "Thanks Lyn." He was plesantly surprised she could answer so quickly.
She stood up and looked at him with a sarcastic smile. "Hey, no problem," she said and then kissed his cheek lightly.
Suddenly Tom's blood ran cold and his mind filled with rage. He ripped his hand from hers.
"Don't you ever kiss me again!" he said as holding his wand up readily.
She glared at him. The truth was, she loved him. For the longest time, she had a crush on him simply because he was the only one who treated her differently, but now, she loved him as a friend, and it was a real love.
"Want me to tell you what you shouldn't do?!" she yelled, "You shouldn't ruin my fun! My life has been miserable too, Tom. I know you don't like to hear it, but you're not the only one who has been living an awful life!"
She calmed herself down quickly remembering that she respected this person, but knowing all the same that what she had just said was true.
"Good night. I'll see you in the morning," she said and walked off into the girls' dormitories.
* * *
The next day, unlike they expected, there was no announcement about the Chamber of Secrets. None of the headmasters said anything about it, except that there would be no more attacks and they were sure of it. Not many students took their word for it, but since all of their professors stopped walking them down the hall and being so cautious, they began to believe it.
Lyn and Tom were the only ones who knew the real truth and the teachers respected them for that. Tom was, after all, the one who 'saved the day'.
At the end of the last week of school, when all of the finals were done and everyone was either up-tight about their grades or restfully waiting for summer to come along. Unlike all the normal students, they were the two outcasts. They didn't want summer to come along and pick them off their feet; they wanted to stay at Hogwarts forever, even if they were nonentities there as well.
But this holiday was going to be different. Tom didn't care whether the orphanage wanted him to or not, he was going to Lyn's, and Lyn was also pretty happy about this. No more beatings for her!
At the end of the year, there was always a duel that was a challenge to all the students. Everyone was allowed to try to get into it, but only a few students from each grades were allowed to enter into the championships where the whole school would be watching. No matter what year, it didn't matter, because it was against all the Hogwarts students. It was a huge honor to get into the championships and everyone who did was obviously a great dueler.
Tom had won the school championships every year, ever since his very first year of Hogwarts. Now you know why everyone had hated him. He was great! He could fight anyone and win, obviously showing so much power and righteousness. And this year, he planned to win it again.
Lyn had never gotten as far as Tom, but had gotten into the championships, which was still a big accomplishment. She admired Tom so much for his ability.
Again, they felt great that they both made it, but to Tom, it wasn't enough to just make it into the championships, he had to win to feel real satisfaction.
They both were studying all kinds of spells until right after breakfast when they knew they would have to duel all day until dusk when they there would be the announcing of the final two champions.
"Hey Tom!" a seventh year picked up Tom by his shirt collar and yelled angrily in his face, "I'm gunna beat you this year!" Tom looked unimpressed as the taller boy threw him back where he had been sitting, turned around, and marched off into the laughing crowd he had just made.
Tom straitened up and looked over at the only girl in sight who wasn't laughing. "I guess we'll see then," he murmured only loud enough for her to hear. She smiled back.
Thirty minutes later, Headmaster Dippet announced the beginning of the annual duel and the game begun. Three duels were going on at once in the huge great hall, but most of the crowd made their way over another seventh-year Ravenclaw who was beating the crap out of a first –year Hufflepuff.
Since neither of them were dueling at that moment, they watched this as well. The seventh-year couldn't just say "expelliarmus."; it was almost as though he had to torture the poor Hufflepuff first.
This brought terrible memories to Tom's mind. He remembered how they laughed and made fun of him… but he won. He crushed the final seventh-year that he was against and was awarded because he was the first to win the annual duel in his first year. He won.
His first 3 duels he won easily and with no hurry. Lyn was still going too.
They kept winning until there were the final 4 people, Lyn and Tom being two. The other two people were seventh years. There was one boy and one girl…
Lyn had never made it to the final four. She had once made it to the final 6, but making it this far was what she had dreamed about all year, yet she knew that no matter how good she was, she could never beat Tom… It was impossible.
"Hey Tom," Lyn said quietly. There was a low rasp in her voice that she only got when she was extremely tired or worn out. "I don't think I can go any further… Sure, it was a blast getting here, but I know I can't last much longer…"
He nodded. He hated the first thought that came to his mind and later regretted it. 'One less competitor'
She looked up at him and for that instant knew he was going to win. There was almost no point in saying it, but she thought she might as well. "Good luck."
Tom's next duel was against the Gryffindor 7th year that had yelled at him before. If anything, Tom wanted to make the ugly boy look totally embarrassed in front of all of his friends. Besides winning, that was his goal.
"Face your opponents!" Mrs. Jagger, the Gryffindor professor, said loudly and clearly. It was quite obvious that she wanted her house to win, but that didn't throw off Tom. Not in the least.
When they had to begin, Tom was first to move; he always was.
"Heloclora dagriosa!" he yelled the curse that would prevent one from speaking, but was shot down because the Gryffindor yelled the counter-curse.
"Decrosium!" the other kid screamed with a very low bass voice. This was the curse for what was called the 'body scramble.' If you didn't call the counter-curse then you would fall in a heap on the floor.
But Tom was too quick for this and shot back immediately.
"Beautifica!" he almost chuckled while saying this because he knew his opponent wouldn't know the counter-curse.
Suddenly, the older Gryffindor's shapes began to become more smooth and rounded while his hair and eyelashes grew longer.
Well, Tom got what he wanted. Everyone, even those who hated Tom started laughing. Now all he had to do was say the words and he would be one of the final champions.
"Expelliarmus!" He yelled with a hint of laughter in his voice as his opponents want flew in the air and the whistle blew to signify the end of the duel.
He looked over to see Lyn smiling and obviously happy for him.
"How did you do?" he asked over a laughing crowd. They were still laughing at the boy that was now looking rather feminine.
She shook her head. "I can't wait to watch you crush that girl," she said with a bit of anger in her voice. Lyn never got sad, just angry.
"I will," he murmured.
He had never seen this 7th year Ravenclaw. Her name was Jerri and she wore the most concentrated face Tom had ever seen.
But when the whistle blew, her expressions changed immediately. She began smiling and even laughing, even though neither was in the lead.
Tom yelled curse after counter-curse after curse. It became almost repedative, but he was not willing to let his concentration die… He had to win.
"Omnilius!" she screamed and laughed. He knew this was the remembering curse that made you not able to remember anything for the next 15 or so minutes.
"Dohmunica!" he yelled, but then heard another voice out of the crowd say the words "expellarmus," And he was not quick enough to respond.
It had to be another voice out of the crowd.
There was no way she could have said that.
Someone else was helping her.
Why?
Tom's wand flew from his hand and Jerri started cheering almost immediately. She had won.
He stood there for just a second staring at them. They were all surrounding her. Cheering for her.
"That's not fair!" he screamed. It wasn't. She had no right.
"Oh, Tom! You're just jealous!" almost everyone screamed. They had announced that she had won.
How dare they!
How dare they steal his victory!
Before losing his temper, he stomped out into the hallways. Where was the fresh air? Now, he had to get outside.
If he hadn't been so angry and seething over with rage, he might have heard the small padding of footsteps behind him.
Now he was outside in the center of the Quidditch field where he threw himself down and pounded the soft, grassy ground with all the anger he felt. He was screaming so hard that almost nothing came out of his mouth.
"Tom!" he heard Lyn's voice running toward him.
"What do you want!" His voice seemed to echo through the empty stands.
"Riddle," she said and put her hand on his shoulder, "Riddle…"
"WHAT!"
"You are NOT all powerful! You can't expect yourself to be!" she said harshly.
"But I should be!" he spat back, "Someday Lyn… Someday…"
He had somewhat calmed down now
"Someday what?" she asked curiously
"Someday I will be the most powerful wizard… I swear it."
"Correction," she said. Tom looked up at her. "Someday we will be the most powerful wizards."
* * *
