Tom Riddle was a boy who had been raised in an orphanage with no friends, no brothers, no sisters and no love. Then, one day, A strange man showed up with a long beard and set his wardrobe on fire. He went to Hogwarts where he began to make friends for the first time in his life, but, every single friendship he tried to forge failed. He didn't understand why. He couldn't connect with anyone beyond discussing school life or the weather. So, he retreated into the library where he began to read.

Tom wasn't picky about what he read. There were potions recipes and transfiguration tombs but what truly fascinated him, wasn't the dark arts or divination but the Daily Prophet. He would read articles from the old editions, not because he cared about the paper or the particular events, but because the pages held real stories from real people about real things.

Tom didn't limit himself to just wizarding newspapers though. He received a subscription to The Times so he was up to speed with the goings-on in the muggle world. This was how he learnt of and read about many of Winston Churchill's great speeches and the muggle side of the war. It was here that he began to sympathise with the one teacher who had become actively involved in the war, Albus Dumbledore, the transfiguration professor who took a few students in when they were feeling lost.

Tom thought that he might be more able to make friends if he understood their past if he could correlate their feelings to how people used to think.

Tom was never invited to join the Slug Club for dinner. By the time he reached his seventh year, he was resigned to this fact. He took it as a chance to have the common room to himself, not bothered by the endless discussions of whose blood was purest, he began to write.

Tom never had any affinity towards a particular branch of magic. In fact, if he was honest, he was rather average in all his practical classes. And yet, each of his teacher's raved about his every essay, declaring them to be Outstanding.

Tom sat, beside the fire one night, desperately hoping that inspiration might come to him when he heard a small tapping on the window, there was a small bird there with a letter in its beak. He was reluctant to call it an owl due to its entirely too small stature. He walked over to the window, opened it and allowed the bird to fly in before fastening the window again, as there was a bitter wind in Northern Scotland that winter night.

Tom was surprised to see the bird perched on the back of his chair, letter still in its beak as if waiting for him to relieve it. He had only ever received his Hogwarts letters before now, no one had ever found cause to write to him and no one had ever given him a reason to write. Reluctantly, he took the letter and slit open the envelope. It read:

Mr Riddle,

My name is Fredrick Gamp, I am the Minister for magic's current speechwriter, however, in recent years I have found the pressure and persistence of the role to be slightly too much to bear every day. And such, as we transition from a period of war and weariness to one of peace and prosperity. The Minister has given me permission to seek a replacement to train up.

I have decided that this is a role for one much younger than I and so, I enquired in Hogwarts, to see if there was a student with remarkable talent. It is, after all, far easier to teach a writer what to say than to teach someone how to write.

I am sure that you will be pleased to know that upon enquiry, most of your professors have remarked upon your skill with a quill. They claim it to be the most enchanting experience to read one of your essays.

You could be of great service to your country by agreeing to present yourself at the ministry at your convenience in the next week for an interview and discussions surrounding what this role might entail. You should be aware that the minister may well wish to meet with you during this time, so please, be prepared to not make a complete muggle out of yourself.

Yours,

Fredrick Gamp

Tom was stunned. Never had he expected a letter from Minister Cunningham's special Advisor and speechwriter. He had, of course, been struggling with the existential question facing every young adult as they leave education and venture out into the world. He had considered convincing the headmaster that his presence on the teaching staff would be beneficial but ultimately he had resigned himself to working in a shop. Even going as far as securing himself a position in Flourish and Blotts for the summer.

Tom approached his transfiguration teacher and the deputy headmaster after class the next day to ask him what the process was for leaving the school to attend the ministry. Little did he realise at the time that mentioning this to Albus Dumbledore, who had defeated Grindlewald only months previously, would result in being accompanied to the ministry by the most famous wizard on the planet.

Tom would have gone to his head of house had Professor Slughorn not lost whatever respect Tom may have held for him in his third year when he began the Slug Club which was exclusively for purebloods who espoused a Grindlewald like agenda.

A/N: Chapter one complete – slightly shorter than they will be I think, I just wanted to set up the story and ensure the differences were laid out. As you can probably tell, this Tom Riddle will not be turning into a Dark Lord. There was one key difference in his childhood that influenced exactly how he behaved once he came to Hogwarts that will be revealed in later chapters, if you have any guesses please leave them in the reviews I will let you know if you are correct.