Facing the Past

The Horcrux he was talking to wasn't the monster Harry had expected. When he had told Tom he had murdered his parents, the older boy had seemed surprised, even disgusted with himself. He thought about what the Founders had told him about the different future Tom could have had. If there is something he had understood, it's that Tom was consumed by revenge. Mainly against his father, but also against the Wizarding World, and Harry still didn't understand why a Hogwarts student raised by his mother could have become like this.

He was still missing information, but now he had a new strategy to get it. If Tom wanted answers, he would have to give him some too.

'Knowledge is power,' smiled Harry while looking up to meet Tom's eyes. 'If you want me to explain what I meant, you'll have to give me something in return.'

Tom considered the boy for a few seconds as he hadn't expected this from a Gryffindor. Harry was supposed to be his enemy, a threat to his growing power. But from what he had gathered, he had been the threat. He had been the one who hurt Harry beyond forgiveness. By murdering his parents and giving him a life of misery in the home of Muggles who hated magic. When Harry had told him about his youth, it had reminded Tom of his own. The fact that he had inflicted on an innocent the life he had always sought to escape bothered him.

'You've got yourself a deal,' finally replied Tom. 'What do you want to know?'

'Your father let you down, but you still had your mother. I don't get how you could become so resentful while you grew up with her and attended Hogwarts?'

'When did I say I grew up with a mother?'

'You didn't?'

'No, actually, I never knew her. The orphanage I grew up in told me she had show up with me while I was a baby and left me there.' Tom sighed. 'It was a muggle orphanage, and I didn't know about the Wizarding World yet. I had always known I was different, but they saw me as a freak too.' He tried to keep his voice steady, but Harry could hear it trembling slightly. Tom interrupted himself, suddenly deep in his thoughts and Harry stood silent, giving him the time to gather himself.

'When Dumbledore pulled me out the orphanage and brought me to Hogwarts, I felt home for the first time in my life,' finally said Tom.

'Dumbledore came for you?' Asked Harry surprised.

'He knew I was different,' replied Tom. Harry could hear the pride in his voice.

'Wait there is something I don't understand,' said Harry while frowning. 'If Hogwarts was home for you, why did you try to destroy it?' He asked while pointing towards the Basilisk's carcass.

Tom glanced at the remains of the snake but when he turned his eyes back to Harry, his saddened look was quickly replaced by his usual disdain.

"You know who I am,' he smirked. 'I am the Heir of Slytherin and as such I was left with the task to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work'.

'Because unleashing a beast on innocent students is indeed a noble task… Right.' Harry sighed. 'So much for Slytherin's legacy.'

'Who do you think you are to question me about his legacy?' Spat Tom with anger. 'I am the only one who can understand its purpose!'

'What? Killing Muggle-borns?' Hissed Harry, cutting him off. 'Do you really think that Salazar would have been proud of you?'

Tom glared at Harry.

'Magical education to worthy wizards and witches,' recited Harry. 'This is the noble task of Slytherin. This is why he built this castle. ' He withstood Tom's look. 'And you tried to destroy it. You know I am right. Because when they tried to close the school, you immediately stopped.'

Tom would have given a lot to shut the brat down.

'Worthiness comes from blood,' he said in a low voice.

'Then that explains why the father of the Heir of Slytherin is a Muggle,' said Harry sarcastically.

'Shut up!' Shouted Tom while clenching his fist. 'You shut up now! Don't talk about things you don't know!'

Tom's breath was heavy and his scream surprised him. This boy had gotten to him. He slowly calmed himself down while relaxing his hands. Why was it hurting so much?

'You have your answer,' he finally snarled. 'Your turn!'

'In my second year at Hogwarts, students were attacked inside the school,' started Harry. 'We didn't know what the threat was, but the students always ended up petrified. Quickly after the attacks started, a message appeared on one of the walls. It said that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened again,' he spat. 'The threat was taken seriously. We knew it was some sort of monster but no more. At some point, it kidnapped one of the students in the Chamber and they were going to close the school and send the students home.' Harry sighed remembering the sick sensation he had felt while learning he would maybe never come back to Hogwarts. 'This student was my best friend's sister, and I couldn't bear the thought of going back to my Muggle family. So, I went ahead and found the entrance to the Chamber.' He headed towards the black streak on the ground and contemplated it. 'I found the Chamber and I found the student lying on the ground, almost dead. It appeared she had found your diary and you used her to unleash the Basilisk on the school.'

He turned his head towards Tom and a sad smile drew on his face.

'As you probably guessed it, you lost. We argued, and this is where I reminded you that Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of all times and not Voldemort.' Tom's face tensed up, but he stood silent. 'Then you summoned the Basilisk against me and, well, it didn't turn out as you expected it would.'

'You? You killed the Basilisk?' Asked Tom bewildered.

Harry nodded.

'But you were twelve… How did you do it?'

Harry explained how his loyalty to Dumbledore had made his phoenix, Fawkes fly to his assistance, bringing him the Sorting Hat in which he had found the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

'Dumbledore must have been so proud,' said Tom sarcastically.

'Is that jealousy I hear?'

'Jealousy?' Tom burst out laughing. 'I never cared about his opinion! And I was right because his only interest towards me was to make sure I wouldn't be too much trouble. I should have been the quiet model student.' The laugh faded out and the grim smile was back. 'A model student,' he repeated scornly.

'But he pulled you out of the orphanage,' insisted Harry. 'Surely you must have some consideration for him.'

'I would have left it eventually. I can only thank him for saving me some time.' His disdain turned into something more intense. A gleam appeared in his eyes. 'I knew I was born to achieve great things, Potter. You can't understand this, but I knew my life was about to change in an unprecedented way. I could sense it!'

He passed a hand in his hair while glancing at the dead Basilisk again and the smile faded away.

'You found Godric's sword…' Said Tom. 'But you're a Parselmouth aren't you?'

'I wouldn't have been able to get here if I wasn't,' replied Harry.

'How is this possible?' Asked Tom after considered the boy a few seconds. 'How can you be a true Gryffindor and speak Parseltongue at the same time?'

'That's another question,' said Harry with a little smile. 'I believe it's my turn now.'

Tom rolled his eyes up but nodded. Harry took his time to gather his thoughts before speaking.

With every burst Tom had let out, he had been able to draw the portrait of the forsaken kid who never grew out of his wounds. He could see now that Tom had never been able to seek any hope anywhere even when he had come to Hogwarts. He had suffered all his life and revenge had consumed him to the core. But underneath this rage, there was a weakness that Harry had easily spotted.

'Hogwarts is the Home that us, the left out, never thought we had. This is the haven we never hoped we would have one day.' Pain was pointing in his voice but he ignored it. 'Tell me, Tom Riddle, was its destruction one of the great things you wanted to accomplish?'

Tom considered Harry and looked away. Every word the boy had pronounced had echoed off his mind and had shaken him. He hated it but the boy was right. He had internalized every blow, every insult. He had never forgotten about the adults who had turned their back away from him when he needed them. He had judged them all and his sentence was irrevocable.

But he had never expected that his action could hurt innocents. And somehow, he was ashamed of it. He almost felt a shock when he realised it. He was starting to sense something he had never felt before and he didn't know how to describe it. Knowing that he had hurt people who didn't deserve it bothered him.

'Hogwarts is Home,' he repeated in a soft voice Harry had never heard before. 'I didn't have a choice but to follow my legacy.'

'For a Slytherin you seem to be very attached to rules.'

Tom stood quiet, still looking away.

'How can you lie to yourself like this?' Harry continued softly. 'The problem is not the Muggles, the problem is your father! You were abandoned at your birth, left alone among people who despised you because they couldn't understand you. Because you were different, and they were afraid of this difference. And instead of embracing your future when you arrived at Hogwarts, instead of realizing that there was hope, you chose to let revenge leads your actions.'

'You are just a child hurt by the loss of his parents.' Replied Tom without much conviction.

'I am,' simply said Harry, 'and so are you.'

Suddenly Harry felt very tired. Reminiscing about the past had exhausted him. He looked at the pale face of Tom who seemed to be lost in his thoughts and turned his heels.

'Where are you going?'

'I am done for tonight,' replied Harry with a dry voice.

'You still owe me an answer!'

'And you'll get it!' Replied Harry without looking behind him. 'But right now, I need to be alone.'

Tom stood still for quite a long time after Harry left. He definitely wasn't the typical Gryffindor. He wasn't a golden boy, had a past which rivaled with his in terms of sorrow and was apparently a Parselmouth. This was Slytherin's Heritage and he didn't understand why someone unrelated to his lineage possessed it.

He looked at the remains of his old friend with sadness.

What a fool he had been. He realised it now. He had thought he had been better than everyone else. Sharper, cleverer, destined to a bright future where he would be able to show everyone how superior he was. And apparently he had succeeded. But this part was foggy in his head. Everything that had happened after he had created the Horcrux with the diadem of Ravenclaw was distant. He tried to remember Harry's parents. He could see himself going to a little cottage because he was convinced there was a child there he had to end. This child was a threat to his power. And then, a green beam. His curse that had turned against him.

He let out a deep breath and sat down. Harry Potter was the strangest boy he had ever met.