A/N: This is my first fan fic posted here on FanFiction.Net. Please don't flame me too much. Please read and review.

This fan fic will be told through Tom Riddle's diary entries with flashbacks in between. Tom Riddle's diary entries appear in italics.

Oh yeah, usual disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter, so please don't sue me. *cringes from the lawyer's wrath*

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Dear Diary,

I don't know why I bother to write in you. You're just a book, just a bunch of yellowed sheets of unevenly cut parchment bound in a leather cover. It is pointless to write in you. You can never respond to what I write here. You will never respond to anything I say, anything I write of…

He glanced up from the yellowed pages of his new diary to stare as he sometimes did. He stared at the other students passing him, walking past him, talking with their friends, laughing, and never once giving him a second glance as they went by. Nobody glanced at the boy sitting in the haven of the shadows near the castle wall as they walked through the courtyard, going to their classes. Nobody ever did.

…Perhaps that is why I should write in you. You can never respond to anything I write. You can't judge me like other people do. You can't criticize my opinions. You can't laugh at what I think like the others do. You can't sneer at me or how I feel like the others do when I'm around them…

I'm not good with people, diary. I suppose it's because I've never had anyone to really talk to. I've had no one to really confide in until I came to Hogwarts. I was always a shy, quiet, introverted child, wary of everyone and mistrusting and with good reason too. But now that I'm at Hogwarts and there are people all around me, I find that I cannot speak to them without feeling awkward, so I avoid them.

I suppose that is why I am an outcast…

He glanced up from his writing again, though this time his knee bumped the bottle of ink that he had placed next to him on the ground to dip his quill into. The bottle of ink spilled over onto the ground, spreading out and covering it like a puddle of oil.

He cursed loudly as he hastened to pick up the bottle of ink as quickly as he could before too many people noticed. But for once, people did notice. Students nearby noticed and stared curiously at him as they passed, some of them slowing down slightly as they walked past. None stopped to help him, however. No one ever did…

When he collected his fallen ink bottle and righted it again, he looked quickly around to see if anyone had noticed. He saw the people gaping at him, some pointing, and a few snickering derisively. His fist clenched and his jaw tightened as he watched them staring at him. His face reddened, he returned to writing in his journal…

I hate being an outcast. It's like being a ghost. Life goes on around you, and no one seems to see you. No one ever talks to you. No one ever even tries to be nice to you. No one cares.

The people that do notice you only laugh, mock, and ridicule you. I suppose it's better to be ignored than to be teased and scoffed at all the time…

They hate me. All of them do. But I don't care. I don't need them. I never needed anyone to get where I am now. I didn't need my filthy Muggle father whose name I curse every day when I wake to this living nightmare.

And yet, at the same time, I am cursing myself, for my witch mother had the nerve to name me after him and my grandfather. I didn't need her either. She was a fool for loving a Mudblood, and she deserved what she got in the end. I didn't need her either.

I didn't need any of them to get where I am now. I am a prefect, and a top student. No one would have expected an orphan half-blood to get this far at Hogwarts. But I have. I have gone this far, and I will go much farther in life, much, much farther…

A rebellious, angry, passionate flame stirred within him as he wrote his next few lines. His hand shook with fury and ardor as his thoughts flowed out from his mind onto the page.

Yes, I will go much farther, and I will rise high above anyone's expectations for a poor, orphan half-blood. I will be extraordinary. Every person on this planet, whether they be Muggle or wizard, will come to know my name. They will respect me. They will all respect me. No one will laugh at me or sneer at me anymore if I work hard and make it to the top.

Maybe I'll be an auror or the Minister of Magic or…No…That isn't high enough for me.I will be…

I will be the greatest wizard ever. I don't care how long I have to study or what magical arts I have to study. But I will be the greatest wizard ever, and you, my diary, will record my thoughts as I work toward this goal. I know that it is a high, almost impossible goal, but everyone has dreams…The only difference between my dreams and everyone else's dreams is that mine will come true. I'll make them a reality.

If I ever told anyone else my goal, they would only laugh at me and mock me. They would think that it is a stupid goal, an impossible goal. But I don't care. I'll ignore them if I have to, and the obnoxious ones that I can't ignore, I'll…I'll deal witht them…

You will keep me sane from the mocking and cruelty of other students while I work toward this goal. You will preserve me, diary.

He paused, ready to conclude his diary entry. It was nearly time for him to go to class. Nearly every other student had left the courtyard already.

Slowly, he lowered his quill to the paper and signed with a flourish:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

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Please read and review. I'll post the next chapter if someone reviews! ;D