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Many of you would feel sympathetic towards my childhood indeed. It is after all a very sorrowful tale... However, none of the muggles who tyrannized me knew that a day would come when they'd be scorched in my thirst for revenge. We Slytherins have never been known to forgive... Our allies were always our most trusted possessions; should they show a sense of loyalty. But betrayal was often paid with a dire price.

And little did I know that I would be instilled with power to become the greatest wizard of all time. It all came into existence on a very fine day. The day of my eleventh birthday...

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It was a very foggy night and I had been unable to sleep. Earlier that day I had obediently done my share of work without protesting and Joe had finally begun to relax his 'brutal exercise' on me.

I tossed on my hard bed. The night was cool and everything was silent except for a constant cry of a cricket.

My birthday today had gone unnoticed, just like at always...

Restless I punched my pillow for what seemed like the hundredth time and flopped my head on it...

"Tick, Tick, Tick..." Still no sleep was coming... Usually I always managed to fall into deep sleep when I counted the ticking of the clock.

My eyes traced the shadows that were moving across the room and without warning the shutters of the window banged open and I sat on my bed with a start!

"W-w-who's there?" I stammered, feeling the beat of my heart get rapid as my I gazed at the murky darkness.

"Ssssssssssssssssss" came in a noise...

Okay...now that really made me sweat till I was soaked in my night clothes.

Slowly, I scrambled off the bed, crawling on my stomach, trying to head towards the exit.

But the moment I raised my head to look at the door knob, a pair of reddish orange eyes stared at me.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

IT WAS A HUGE SNAKE, WIDE LIKE A CAR!

I screamed and screamed and screamed, unable to tear myself away from the sight that was in front of me.

The giant serpent on the other hand raised itself and slithered towards me and wrapped its coils around me till it was hard for me to move and yell anymore.

I thought for sure that it was my end, but to my extreme surprise, it spoke...

"Sssstand sssstill and make no noissse young Masssster..." it said, or should I say that it hissed...

Abruptly it uncoiled itself and glided, leaving me heaving with perspiration.

"If you want to eat me, you can do it quick!" I replied closing my eyes and pinching myself to assume if all this was true.

Was I imagining it or did the snake just grin?

"No Masssster, you are my Lord, I love you... How can I kill you thus?" it questioned.

I was stunned but I felt my fear leaving at the sight of this reptile. A very unusual quality had I been a normal wizard or a muggle... But I wasn't...

"How can you talk English?" I asked.

"How can you talk Parseltongue?" it questioned.

"Parseltongue? What is Parseltongue?" I inquired but gasped in shock as I realized that I had just now hissed instead of speaking.

"Parseltongue is the language of all serpents," declared the serpent.

This time I actually slapped myself to see if I was having a nightmare.

Silently I stood not knowing what to say... After all talking with snakes wasn't a day to day hobby of mine... (Though it did become once I was a wizard...)

Meanwhile, the enormous snake flickered out its purple tongue.

"I'm set here by Salazar Slytherin and you, young Master, belong to the wizards."

"Wizards? You mean people who do magic? Am I a magician?"

"Not the type which muggles denote, young Lord..."

"What is a muggle?" I asked. (For at that time I didn't know that muggles were non magic folk.)

"A muggle is a person who cannot work magic. Humans," replied the snake with a twitch of impatience.

"Go on," I urged. "What's your name?"

"My name is Varnish; I have come to inform you of your ancestor's power. You are the heir of Slytherin, the only existing member connected to great Salazar. Soon, you will arrive at Hogwarts, a school for young wizards and witches..."

"Hold on... I'm going to go to a school?"

"Yesssss... There you have to work hard in order to retrieve the greatest prophecy of my Master... Learn well and make your blood proud."

"How can I go to this place? I'm actually stuck here..." I cried when the serpent turned to depart.

"All is arranged... You only have to follow the path..."

With that it disappeared out of the window, its great length of a body, winding like a ribbon, out into the clouded night.

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For four months I heard nothing and my heart began to lose hope. Indeed it had been a dream my mind criticized...

Each and every night, I stayed awake for that snake's return, but nothing happened...

But one morning as I was removing weeds amongst some flowers, something perched on my shoulder and hooted into my ear.

Surprised I wheeled my head to gaze into a pair of beady eyes.

It was a grey owl!

The bird hopped down on the ground and extended its leg to me. A letter was tied onto it.

Blinking and rather taken back, I inspected the envelope.

It was yellow in color and was sealed with a wax imprint. On the left side on the front of the envelope lay a crest comprising of a lion, a snake, a badger and a raven... The letter 'H' held the crest together in the middle. A streamer was draped at the bottom with a title in Latin which said: "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titllandus."

But my eyes stayed frozen on the snake.

"A snake..." I whispered and read the address:

To: Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle,

The Attic,

Redford Orphanage,

Swansea.

My hands began to shake with excitement; wondering what the envelope contained since it was quite bulky.

Soon I tore away the paper to find a letter submerged in it. I unfolded the parchment and scanned it. The following was written in a monotype corsiva script:

Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Headmaster: Armando Dippet (Order of Merlin, First Class; Chancellor at St Mungo and Professor of Arithmancy.)

Dear Mr. Riddle,
We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted in the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Owning to a statement issued by the Ministry of Magic; you are to be catered with special care. Term begins on September but an Auror will be sent (On August 28th) to be an adjunct to you and we advise that parents/guardians should permit shopping as well as security and guidance in the Hogwarts Express, conducted by the specified Auror. Students who fail to comply will be terminated from enrollment. Please attach your response immediately by the owl which delivered this letter. A list of necessities will be enclosed within.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore.

(Deputy Headmaster)

A sigh of relief and sheer happiness escaped from my mouth. The serpent hadn't been a dream after all!

In another parchment there was a list of things which I had no clue about so I thought that I had better wait for this "Auror" thing or person to arrive.

Quietly I tiptoed into the library clutching the owl and took a pen to sign my initials as well as my response on the parchment.

Dear Sir. Dumbledore,
Happy to join school, please send Auror.
Waiting anxiously.

T.M

Rolling it, I found a string and tethered the letter with tight knots before the owl flew away; taking my hopes and dreams with it...

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A/N: Response for reviews.

*Vesta is referred to have a slender figure due to the fact that she was suffering from malnutrition.

*Will try to put in details... But depends on what 'details' are supposed to be based on...

* Kenneth Potter is supposed to be quite nasty. Even James Potter wasn't such a nice fellow remember? "Judging by what he had just seen, his father had been every bit arrogant as Snape had always told him."--- (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) The past is unclear about the Potter generation but I'm writing 'assuming 'theories. After all this is a fan fic...

*** But overall, a HUGE thanks for all those who reviewed! I wouldn't have the determination to continue if it hadn't been for all of you! If there are any misconceptions in this story, please feel free to denounce them politely. And please do type a few lines to let me know if you liked the story or not.

PS: If there's a few typing mistakes, my apologies. (Might be due to haste)

Thank you-