Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Assignment #3 - Veterinary Sciences
Task #1 - Wallaby: Write about someone in a high and/or authoritative position.
Warnings: discussion of horcruxes

Further prompts are at the end.

Word Count: 900


"Oh, look. He's learned about magic, and is already a mini-monster. What a surprise."

"No need to be sarcastic, dear."

"I just don't see why he needs to be kept in this cycle, when the result is basically the same each time! It's a completely useless punish-"

"Careful."

"I know, I know. Can't let the superiors hear any sign of rebellion, and I'm sure they have their reasons and everything, blah blah blah."

"You've grown cynical."

"Not really. I just… feel kind of bad for him."

"He can't tell the difference. And you know what he did."

"Once."

"Many more times, for each reset."

"Because there's no way doing this will change anything he does! And it's the principle of the thing."

-oOo-

"How long do wizards live for?"

The shopkeeper glances down at him, and Tom frowns because why does he look a little surprised? "Muggle-born, eh? Don't worry, I won't hold that against you - but I'd caution you from making that too obvious. There'll be some who think they're better than you, just because their parents and grandparents were wizards."

Oh. Lovely. Just another way people will sneer down at him, just another way he'll have to prove them all wrong.

"How long do wizards live, you said?" the shopkeeper continues. "Well, it depends on a lot of factors, of course, war and disease and all that, just like with Muggles. So on average, maybe, seventy? Eighty? But I'd say, if you're lucky, about a hundred twenty, maybe more."

Seventy. That isn't anywhere near enough - Tom knows Muggles who are that old! And with all of those other dangers that still exist, well, what use is magic if it can't keep you from dying? If Tom dies young, he won't be able to do enough, to change the world, and no one will remember him!

No. Magic has to be able to do something to help him live.

-oOo-

"Eleven years old, and already with plans of immortality."

"As has happened every single time."

-oOo-

The war that starts during Tom's third year, that the school's buzzing about even though it's 'just a Muggle war' and all, only hastens his search for methods that'll keep him from dying, especially when he learns that even though there's the war, he still won't be allowed to stay at Hogwarts over the summer - what if there's an attack on London while he's there? Why don't they care that he might die?

Which is how he stumbles across the concept, first reads about horcruxes.

A receptacle prepared by dark magic in which a wizard intentionally hides a fragment of his soul for the purpose of attaining immortality.

Immortality - if he does this, if he makes a horcrux, he never die, much less before he's ready.

-oOo-

"I can't stand this."

"Stand-?"

"You know what I'm talking about, or does nothing affect you? I can't stand watching him learn about this, choose to do this, again and again and again - he's got no other option! It's not his fault!"

"These are his choices. And what else can we do?"

-oOo-

But just one horcrux, Tom soon realizes, won't be enough - what if that object is destroyed? It's difficult, but not impossible, and if he becomes as important as he plans to, there's every chance his enemies will seek to kill him, will find out about his horcrux. Which leaves him only marginally better off than before, unless… unless he makes more than one horcrux. Is it possible? Or, maybe more accurately, is there any reason why it wouldn't be possible?

And it's through that research that he stumbles upon a book. It's some sort of myth, apparently, about a dark wizard who splits his soul into eight… and winds up insane, first, and then dead, as his enemies destroy all of his horcruxes with the fervor that is of the dark wizard's own creation. It sounds like a fanciful tale, because how would creating horcruxes lead to that, but for whatever reason, Tom knows that the story speaks of the truth, because the strangest thing is, as Tom's reading, some part of him that he can't describe starts hurting, almost like… like his soul's screaming. And, for the briefest of moments, he can see visions, like he is the dark wizard of the story, crazed and magically weak and then- dead.

It's too much of a risk. He can't do this.

-oOo-

"What did you- oh. H-hi."

"Hello. I'm afraid your companion has attempted to change this iteration, breaking the magic of this loop which, as you know, is extremely fragile. The damage they have wrought is, unfortunately, irreparable. I'm here to inform you that they have been arrested, and will be erased accordingly."

"Oh."

"Have a nice day."

"…"

"…"

"I think you were right, to do something. Right that no one, really, deserves this fate. I- I'm sorry I took so long to realize. No, I'm sorry I'm a coward who wouldn't help you - I knew it was wrong, I think, what they did to him. Hah, I'm still a coward. I still waited until they were gone, to say this, I'm still thinking that there's no use getting myself arrested. I'm still not willing to sacrifice everything, like you did."

"…"

"But I think you- you did good. I think Death chose well."


Winter Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year & Religious Events: March 2nd - Old Stuff Day: Write about doing something completely different and new.
Hot Tea Month: Oolong: (AU) Mythology
Black History Month: Mae C Jemison: Write about someone who uses their platform to raise awareness about things.
Flowers: Pussy Willow: (dialogue) "Does nothing affect you?"
Crystals & Gemstones: Labradorite: Seer!AU
Tarot Reading: Queen of Pentacles, reversed: Write about someone overwhelmed by work
But Can You Spell It? N - (word) New

Writing Club: February
Character Appreciation: Trait: Brave
Written in the Stars: (word) brutally honest
Amber's Apothecary: (object) quill
Elizabeth's Empire: (genre) hurt/comfort
Liza's Loves: Sorcerer - Write about someone learning that they have magic
Scamander's Case: (object) quill
Film Festival: Seer!AU
Lyric Alley: Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive
The Forecast Says… 8th: Icy: Leaky Cauldron
EnTitled: Something Wicked - Write about someone reliving a situation that happened in the past (experiencing it again, not a flashback or memory) - Alt - Word: Reckless
Gen's World Tour: Srinivasa Ramanujan - an Indian mathematician renowned for his work on infinite series and the first Indian elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge - [prompt] Write about someone who considers themselves 'divinely inspired'

Would You Rather? Not include any Gryffindors in your fic OR not include any Slytherins?

Stop! Hamper Time: Sandwiches: Plot Points - Egg and Cress: An incident with a time turner allows the character(s) to change one moment in canon.

Stickers Club: Marvolo Gaunt's ring - Emotion: Guilt

Resolution Evolution: Write a fic that includes one of the following characters: Tom Riddle Jr. (Before becoming Voldy or never becoming Voldy)

Fantasy February: Day Six - You check out a mythology book from the library only to find that the stories trigger strange memories to return to you. Memories which feel oddly like they were your own experiences.

365: (restriction) only Slytherins
Scavenger Hunt:
Write a story on the origin of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Fantastic Beasts: Gorgon - AU: Mythology!AU