"Hmmm..." said Tom Riddle, tapping his quill on the parchment. "That won't
do - not scary enough," he muttered, crossing out the word 'Riddlemaster'
with a single, neat line. He looked at the next name on his list and
frowned. "Sir Scary? How could I ever be taken seriously with a name like
Sir Scary?" He crossed this off too and sighed. If he was going to become
the most feared wizard of all time, he was going to have to come up with a
decent name.
But that wasn't the least of his problems. He still needed more followers...but at least he didn't have to tell his parents, on account of them being, well, dead. He pictured breaking the news to them -
"Hi Mum, hey Dad - just thought I'd tell you I won't be home this summer. I've decided to follow the Dark Arts and become the greatest and most evil wizard alive. Oh, and I'm going to kill every muggle and mudblood on the planet too, okay?"
He sighed again. Life was hard for an aspiring Dark Lord. He wondered if Grindelwald ever had this trouble...
A loud cough interrupted his thought. Tom turned around sharply and frowned at what he saw.
"Malfoy," he spat, narrowing his eyes. Lucius Malfoy had never been one of his favourite people. He was always following Tom; probably wanting to become his sidekick or something, he thought.
"What do you want now Lucius?," Tom asked impatiently. He wasn't exactly in the mood for Malfoy's whining.
"I...er...found out some information for you...about Potter,"
Tom rolled his eyes. No one seemed to understand. He didn't care about James Potter and his little gang. Not a bit. Okay, so they annoyed him a bit with all their stupid pranks, and they just happened to be good at everything...but Tom wasn't bitter so it didn't bother him...much.
"Okay Malfoy, it'd better be good," he grumbled.
"They're Animagi," he blurted out, then smirked to himself. Tom sneered.
"Do you really think I care? Who cares if a bunch of immature students can turn themselves into animals, when I, Tom Marvolo Riddle can talk to snakes! Mwahahaha!"
Lucius took a step backwards. Tom knitted his eyebrows together in thought.
"Or should that be 'Bwahahaha'?"
* * *
Tom was in a mood. Not just any mood...an extremely bad mood. His day had been a total disaster; starting with Herbology. The teacher was a very old and wrinkly woman with a face like a hag. She loved to pick on Tom, probably because of the time he managed to spill a whole can of plant food in her hair after mistaking her head for a giant magical beetroot. An easy mistake to make when her head resembled a giant tomato on most days.
She had given Tom the largest Swiss Holly (which has a fetish for human flesh) to feed and water, and he returned with several swollen fingers as well as a three foot essay on Mandrakes to write. She had also made him re- pot six Mandrakes before she let him go.
If that wasn't bad enough, he also had a detention from Filch for wearing black eyeshadow which, he decided, made him look a tad more evil.
Perhaps the worst thing of all was that he still hadn't thought of a good, or rather evil, name for himself. He decided that a midnight stroll up to the forbidden forrest might inspire him a little, and set off, making sure to stay hidden in the shadows to keep from getting into further trouble.
The cold night air helped to clear his head a little and he was feeling decidedly better as he reached the forrest. Until, that is, he saw the creature.
It was about three metres in length, and looked a great deal like a cross between an elephant, a phoenix and a snake. In other words it was a giant snake with wings, huge ears and brightly coloured tail. And it looked angry. Tom screamed with shock at seeing such a beast, then screamed again for realising he had just screamed. He had to clamp his hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming again, as the creature came, or slithered, towards him. Then it spoke:
"Exthcuthe me, do you know where I could pothibly find a thertain Tom Riddle?"
"Er...That'd be me. Why?" replied Tom.
"Oh goodie! I am here to teach you all you need to know about becoming a Dark Lord."
Tom had to stifle a laugh. 'Oh goodie'? But instead he kept his face straight and said:
"Okay...What do I have to do then? And who are you?"
"Oh yeth, I knew I'd forgotten thomething...My name ith Thandling. That'th with an eth. You have to take me back to your thcool with you and I will guide you from there."
Tom sat down. "Sandling?" he asked the creature. "How am I supposed to sneak you into the castle then? You're way too noticable, and I don't want another detention..."
Sandling grinned (well, it looked like a grin, but with his fangs it was hard to tell) and lifted his tail above his head. Then he shook his tail, making a soft jingling sound and he started to shrink. Tom stared. He was now about the size of a pony, and still shrinking. The size of a dog - then a cat - then he stopped at about the size of a mouse, and looked up at Tom expectantly.
"Well then? Aren't you going to carry me back?" he asked, giving a great yawn.
Tom bent down and carefully scooped up the little creature. Then he dropped it into his inside pocket of his robes and set off towards the castle, shaking his head in disbelief.
* * *
A/N - Like? Hate? Review please!
Thanks to those who had reviewed already - I finally got the second part of chapter 1 up!
But that wasn't the least of his problems. He still needed more followers...but at least he didn't have to tell his parents, on account of them being, well, dead. He pictured breaking the news to them -
"Hi Mum, hey Dad - just thought I'd tell you I won't be home this summer. I've decided to follow the Dark Arts and become the greatest and most evil wizard alive. Oh, and I'm going to kill every muggle and mudblood on the planet too, okay?"
He sighed again. Life was hard for an aspiring Dark Lord. He wondered if Grindelwald ever had this trouble...
A loud cough interrupted his thought. Tom turned around sharply and frowned at what he saw.
"Malfoy," he spat, narrowing his eyes. Lucius Malfoy had never been one of his favourite people. He was always following Tom; probably wanting to become his sidekick or something, he thought.
"What do you want now Lucius?," Tom asked impatiently. He wasn't exactly in the mood for Malfoy's whining.
"I...er...found out some information for you...about Potter,"
Tom rolled his eyes. No one seemed to understand. He didn't care about James Potter and his little gang. Not a bit. Okay, so they annoyed him a bit with all their stupid pranks, and they just happened to be good at everything...but Tom wasn't bitter so it didn't bother him...much.
"Okay Malfoy, it'd better be good," he grumbled.
"They're Animagi," he blurted out, then smirked to himself. Tom sneered.
"Do you really think I care? Who cares if a bunch of immature students can turn themselves into animals, when I, Tom Marvolo Riddle can talk to snakes! Mwahahaha!"
Lucius took a step backwards. Tom knitted his eyebrows together in thought.
"Or should that be 'Bwahahaha'?"
* * *
Tom was in a mood. Not just any mood...an extremely bad mood. His day had been a total disaster; starting with Herbology. The teacher was a very old and wrinkly woman with a face like a hag. She loved to pick on Tom, probably because of the time he managed to spill a whole can of plant food in her hair after mistaking her head for a giant magical beetroot. An easy mistake to make when her head resembled a giant tomato on most days.
She had given Tom the largest Swiss Holly (which has a fetish for human flesh) to feed and water, and he returned with several swollen fingers as well as a three foot essay on Mandrakes to write. She had also made him re- pot six Mandrakes before she let him go.
If that wasn't bad enough, he also had a detention from Filch for wearing black eyeshadow which, he decided, made him look a tad more evil.
Perhaps the worst thing of all was that he still hadn't thought of a good, or rather evil, name for himself. He decided that a midnight stroll up to the forbidden forrest might inspire him a little, and set off, making sure to stay hidden in the shadows to keep from getting into further trouble.
The cold night air helped to clear his head a little and he was feeling decidedly better as he reached the forrest. Until, that is, he saw the creature.
It was about three metres in length, and looked a great deal like a cross between an elephant, a phoenix and a snake. In other words it was a giant snake with wings, huge ears and brightly coloured tail. And it looked angry. Tom screamed with shock at seeing such a beast, then screamed again for realising he had just screamed. He had to clamp his hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming again, as the creature came, or slithered, towards him. Then it spoke:
"Exthcuthe me, do you know where I could pothibly find a thertain Tom Riddle?"
"Er...That'd be me. Why?" replied Tom.
"Oh goodie! I am here to teach you all you need to know about becoming a Dark Lord."
Tom had to stifle a laugh. 'Oh goodie'? But instead he kept his face straight and said:
"Okay...What do I have to do then? And who are you?"
"Oh yeth, I knew I'd forgotten thomething...My name ith Thandling. That'th with an eth. You have to take me back to your thcool with you and I will guide you from there."
Tom sat down. "Sandling?" he asked the creature. "How am I supposed to sneak you into the castle then? You're way too noticable, and I don't want another detention..."
Sandling grinned (well, it looked like a grin, but with his fangs it was hard to tell) and lifted his tail above his head. Then he shook his tail, making a soft jingling sound and he started to shrink. Tom stared. He was now about the size of a pony, and still shrinking. The size of a dog - then a cat - then he stopped at about the size of a mouse, and looked up at Tom expectantly.
"Well then? Aren't you going to carry me back?" he asked, giving a great yawn.
Tom bent down and carefully scooped up the little creature. Then he dropped it into his inside pocket of his robes and set off towards the castle, shaking his head in disbelief.
* * *
A/N - Like? Hate? Review please!
Thanks to those who had reviewed already - I finally got the second part of chapter 1 up!
