Tom Riddle, Hogwarts, and basic other ideas are not mine, they are J.K. Rowling's.  The story alone is mine.

Chapter 2

The Letter

                The next day at the orphanage one of the head care workers gave a speech to everyone at breakfast explaining what happen to Laura.  He said due to a tragic accident Laura was in a coma with serious brain damage.  If she ever woke up, she would be paralyzed for life with no hope for recovery.  The odds of her ever waking up from the coma were slim to none.  He didn't give any details about the "accident".  After the little speech, Tom, Benny, and Fredrick were surrounded and asked hundreds of questions about what happen from all of the other orphans.  None of them really cared about Laura of course; they just wanted to hear about the blood and gore.  Tom told them that if they were suppose to know what happen, then they would have been told.  Benny and Fredrick also declined to answer, Fredrick because he honestly didn't know, and Benny because he was afraid.  They pestered the three boys for a while, then when it finally sunk in none of them were talking, they gave up and everyone began making up their own stories and guesses.  Tom ate his slimy slop, keeping his eyes on his bowel the whole time.  Then, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Fredrick and Benny whispering to each other.  He looked up and saw Benny say something to Fredrick very quietly looking around while he spoke.  When he was finished Fredrick look at Tom with a dark glare.  When he realized Tom was looking back at him, Fredrick eyes dropped to his bowel.  Tom finished quickly and hurried up to his room.  He was almost at the door when he felt a strong grip on his arm holding him back.

                "Hey Riddle."  Fredrick said glaring.  "Benny told me what he saw.  I know the truth.  You tried to kill her, didn't you?  We all just thought you were some weird freak, not harmful or nothin', just really weird. But Laura knew the truth.  She knew you were an evil kid.  That's why you tried to kill her, wasn't it?  Wasn't it?!?"

                "Let go of my arm."

                "No.  Not till you admit the truth.  Admit what you tried to do!  Admit it!!"

                "Is this wise?"  Tom glared at Fredrick hard.

                "What are you talking about?"

                "Well you think I purposely tried to kill someone, yet here you are grabbing my arm and not letting go when I say.  That just doesn't seem very wise to me."  Fredrick paled slightly and loosened his grip.  Tom yanked his arm away.  "Just stay out of my way Fredrick.  That's all you have to do."  He turned and entered the room.  Fredrick's faced grew red with fury.  He gave a loud yell and lept on Tom's back.  Tom fell to the floor.  Fredrick spun him over and punched him hard in the face.  He tried to punch him again, but he no longer had the element of surprise.  Tom was ready and caught his fist just before it reached his face.  He twisted Fredrick's wrist.  Fredrick moaned in pain.  Tom spun him around on his stomach still grabbing his wrist, which now lay on his back in a painful lock.  Tom twisted the wrist as hard as he could.  Fredrick was crying now and begged Tom to stop.  Tom just laughed. 

                "Get off of him!"  Benny cried rushing into the room.  He hurried to Tom and pulled him off of Fredrick.  Fredrick was sobbing and clutching his wrist.  "You psycho!  What did you do to him?!?" 

                "He asked for it."  Tom answered calmly.  A care worker came in the room because she heard Fredrick's sobs.

                "What's going on in here?"  she demanded.

                "I think Riddle broke Fredrick's wrist."  Benny said immediately.  The woman looked at the sobbing boy on the floor, and then at Tom.  His lip was bleeding and starting to swell from where Fredrick had punch him.  She sighed impatiently.  Fights were a daily thing at the orphanage and many times serious injuries occurred so this was nothing strange or odd.

                "All right, both of you come with me."  She ordered.  Fredrick got up slowly and followed the woman, Tom behind them.  She led them to the nurse's station.  Fredrick's wrist wasn't broken, but it was badly sprained.  The nurse put a strong bandage on it.  The punishment for fighting was two days in solitary confinement.  There were never any questions about what or who started the fight; in fact there were no questions at all.  The fighters went to the nurse's station, fixed their wounds, then they were led to the small dark chambers in the basement.  There were six of them, though all six had never been used at one time.  Each fighter was put into one of the rooms.  In each room there was a bucket in the corner for their human waste.  It was cleaned once a month, so it usually smelled very badly.  The door was locked and didn't open until dinnertime.  They were given only half of the regular portions.  Same with breakfast, they weren't given lunch.  In exactly 48 hours after the door was first locked, it opened and the fighter would be free to go.  Tom had never been put in solitary confinement and wasn't looking forward to it at all.  Fredrick had also never gone, and was in a panic.

                "No!  I won't go!  I won't!"  he screamed, wrapping his legs and arms around the leg of a table in the nurse's station.  Tom stood by the door with the woman caretaker who was beginning to get very angry with Fredrick.

                "Get up this instance!"  she ordered.

                "No!  Please!  Don't send me to the hole!  Please!" 

                "You should have thought about that before you got into a fight.  Now stop that howling and get up."

                "But it wasn't my fault!  Riddle…"

                "I don't care whose fault it is." She interrupted.  Her hands were on her hips and she took a step forward.  "You know what the punishment for fighting is, regardless of who did what.  Now get up and let's go!"  Fredrick began to cry again. 

                "Please!  Don't make me!  I can't go to that terrible place!  I can't!  I can't!"  The tears where streaming down his face and he was shaking.  Tom had never seen such a sniveling, wining, pathetic, muggle in his entire life.  He was considering asking the woman if she would give Tom a few minutes alone with Fredrick.  If she did that, Fredrick would be begging to be sent to the hole.  The woman's cheeks were now very red and her eyes were glowing with rage.

                "Dammit  get up!  I'm not playing with you any more!  You broke the rules now you must face your punishment!  NOW GET UP!!!!!!"

                "I can't!  I can't! I can't!"  Fredrick chanted it over and over sobbing the whole time.   The woman turned and left the room.  She was only gone about thirty seconds.  When she came back, she had a large man with her that had huge bulging muscles.  Fredrick was still sobbing and chanting.  The huge man looked at Fredrick with discuss.    He walked over and grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked very hard.  With Fredrick's weak wrist he couldn't hold on.  His hands and legs slipped from the table and he was in the man's arms.  Fredrick screamed and yelled.  He squirmed and tried to get free but the man held firmly. He walked out of the room carrying Fredrick.

                "Follow me." The woman ordered Tom.  She was a few paces behind the huge man and screaming Fredrick, Tom was a few paces behind her.  When they reached the basement the woman went in front of the huge man and unlocked one of the cell doors.  The huge man entered it and dropped Fredrick.  He turned, exited, and the woman slammed the door shut and locked it.  The woman thanked the huge man and he nodded and left.  The woman unlocked another cell and opened the door.  Tom walked in.  "You won't have to listen to the blubbering for much longer."  She assured Tom.  "A guard will be sent down.  He doesn't take any nonsense and will shut that boy up."  Tom nodded.  The woman closed and locked the door.  Tom sat and leaned against the door.  This time would be hard, but perhaps this would be good for
Tom.  It would help him grow stronger.  The stronger he felt, the better his revenge would be when he was finally ready to give it.  Tom could do this time and do it well.  He was sure of it.  Fredrick was still sobbing and begging to be let out.   In a few minutes just as the woman had said, a man entered the basement.  Tom couldn't see him of course, but he knew he had come.  The man walked to Fredrick's cell.

                "Boy quit that noise!"

                "Sir, please let me out!  I won't do it again!  I swear!  Just let me out of here!  Please!!"

                "I will not.  But you will shut up."

                "I can't stay in here!  I can't!  You have to let me out!  Please!"

                "This is your last shot sonny.  Quit that moanin'!"

                "I can't stay in here!  Let me out!  Let me out!!!" 

                "I warned you."  Tom heard the door open.  Then he heard several thudding noises that were the hard blows the guard was giving Fredrick.  He kept screaming.  Finally he shut up.  Tom suspected he had been knocked incontinence.  The door closed and locked again.

                Tom didn't hear Fredrick the rest of the time in the hole.  He knew what was awake for parts because he heard him shuffling around.  After exactly 48 hours the guard unlocked both doors.  Tom saw Fredrick for the first time in two days.  His eye was black and he had a huge lump on his head.  His face was still tear-streaked and his head was down.  The two boys were lead up to their room.  The guard left them there.  Fredrick  walked into the room and went straight to his bed.  He laid down and faced the wall.  He stayed like that for three days, never going to meals or playing outside when Benny asked him to.  Benny called a caretaker in and they examined him.  They decided the solitary confinement had some serious psychological effect on him.  He would probably be in a daze for the rest of his life.  He was sent away to the same hospital that Laura was.  Benny was absolutely terrified of Tom.  He was sure that Tom was trying to get ride of all his roommates and that he would be next.  He never spoke to Tom and whenever he was alone with him he never made eye contact.  Tom didn't mind being feared, in fact, he sort of liked it.  It gave him a sense of power and control.  Power and control was something Tom enjoyed, and almost craved.   One day, a week after Fredrick was sent away, Benny and Tom were both in their room.  Tom was reading his mother's journal and Benny was writing something.  It was raining, so he couldn't go out and play his stupid muggle games.  Tom was very into the journal, as usual, and he didn't hear the loud tapping noise.  Benny did hear it.  He looked up from his paper and looked around the room trying to find the source.  His eyes came to the window closest to Tom's bed.  Outside he saw something hovering outside of it.  He let out a loud yell and leapt off his chair.  Tom looked up, upset that he had been interrupted.

                "What is it?"  he demanded angrily.

                "Outside the window.  There's something there.  I think it's some kind of monster."  Tom looked at him skeptically.  He got up and went to the window.  Benny cowered closer to the wall.  Tom opened the window.  A huge barn owl flew in.  Benny cried out and fell to the floor.  The owl flew around the room a few times to dry his wings then he went to Tom's bed.  He opened his talon and a letter fluttered to the floor.  Tom snatched it up and tore it open.  He read it out loud in a hushed whisper.

                " ' Dear Mr. Riddle, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.' "  Tom's mouth dropped open.  "I'm in." he whispered.  Then he shouted  "I'm in! I'm in!"

                "Riddle what are you talking about?  In where?"

                "In Hogwarts you stupid muggle.  Hahahaha!  No more hanging around boring, uneducated muggles.  I'll finally be surrounded by my own kind.  Finally!"

                "What?  That doesn't make any sense.  Your crazy." Benny declared.  He got up and hurried out of the room.  Tom couldn't have cared less.  He was going to go to Hogwarts.  He was going to study magic and learn all there was to learn about magic.  Then he would be the most powerful wizard in the history of magic.  He didn't just want to, he had to; and he would.  Tom would make sure of it.