Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Rowling, and the rest is mine. I am not Rowling, just to clear that up with y'all. If I was, I would be laughing at this pathetic attempt of fan fiction. xD

Mister Tom M. Riddle,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…

The pale, scrawny boy read over the letter clutched in his hands and snorted derisively. Yeah, right, a school for magic? He'd eat his non-existent hat before he ever believed that one.

At age ten, Tom Marvolo Riddle wasn't exactly the pride and joy of the London Orphanage. Truth be told, he was too smart to fit in with kids his own age, and the older children all despised him for always managing to worm his way out of trouble. Administrators had always turned a blind eye towards trouble caused by the orphans, but at the insistence of the Headmaster they made sure Tom stayed out of it.

Tom had been playing a game of chess against the headmaster, Mr. Cowin, when the official-looking letter had dropped down onto his head. He'd regarded it with indifference for a moment before opening it and letting his eyes scan the page. He glanced at Mr. Cowin with his dark eyes, wondering if the man was behind this prank, as he didn't seem too perturbed by the fact a letter had just been dropped on his head.

"What have you got there, boy?" Mr. Cowin's hazel eyes never left the board in front of him as he spoke, moving his bishop a few squares diagonally and taking a pawn in front of Tom's king.

"Just a stupid hoax by one of the other kids; it's nothing of importance." Tom crumpled up the letter in his fist and stuffed it into his pocket, returning his attention to the game at hand. He smirked upon realizing he had the headmaster beat in a matter of six moves.

"Are you sure about that?" The headmaster waited until Tom had moved his knight between a pawn and another knight before speaking, and then moving his bishop once more.

"Yes, I'm sure. It was about a stupid school to go to and learn magic. No doubt they wanted me to come to you or one of the others and tell you about it, thus ensuring I was locked up in an insane asylum and out of here for good." Tom spoke in a voice laced with venom and anger, frustration making him move his queen to a guarded square where it was promptly taken from him.

The headmaster clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, a habit that young Tom was picking up.

"May I see your letter, Tom?"

The boy squinted at the headmaster from behind his curtain of long hair, finally pulling out the letter and handing it over. It was read quickly, a smile coming to Cowin's lips as he finished it. Looking back up at Tom, he said nothing for a few moments, wondering how best to phrase his words.

"It is just as I suspected. Upon your coming here, Tom, I received a letter from a man named Armando Dippet, explaining to me that you were a child with an unusual gift. You are a wizard, Tom, and this school is where you will go to master your gift. I hardly believed it at first, but it was proven to me when the man made my chair levitate, and since then I have been waiting for them to contact you.

"You see, Tom, over the years I have been monitoring your behavior very carefully. You may not have noticed it, but certain things tend to happen without you realizing them when you are angry, upset, or scared. For example, do you remember last year when a whole flock of birds shat on the boys that were picking on you in the yard? Or how after your lunch was stolen you always got it back? I am quite convinced that it was not just coincidence that made these things happen."

Tom gaped at the man. Was he out of his mind? Then again, he did recall wondering how all those strange things kept happening to him. And there was that one time with the snake…

"Are you telling me, sir, that I'm a wizard?"

"In a few more words, yes," Cowin smiled at him once more, moving his rook down beside the boy's king. "Checkmate."

A/N: Right, just a few things to say before you go. First off, I am aware that this chapter is extremely short. I apologize for that, but I figured it was a good place to end. Secondly, updates should be regular. I wrote up a whole bunch of chapters before I started posting them to avoid the whole "Nooo! Another five weeks before she updates!" thing. And I just wanted to mention that this will be going through all of Tom's years at Hogwarts, and feedback would be very nice. (Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.)

Thanks to my mother (yeah, I'm not too cool to speak to her) and Hannah for being my betas.