Disclaimer: *crickets*

A/N: *muppet holding a tumblr sign* Ethrildragon

Reaching Through Time

Chapter 5: You're a Wizard

As much as Tom wanted Harry to be by his side he knew the younger boy would be better off with Martha. If something really were to happen and Tom needed Harry then he could easily call for him through the strange link in their powers.

"I am Albus Dumbledore."

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" Tom's voice was controlled, even, as he guessed at why this man was there.

Although life in the orphanage had gotten better and the adults had stopped 'fearing' Tom as they had before Harry had arrived in his life, there were still occasions Mrs. Cole would tell Tom that if strange things continued to happen she would call for a doctor to look at him. The threat no longer scared Tom as it had years ago; not when he could simply wipe Mrs. Cole's memory and change it to something else.

The man, Dumbledore he had called himself, looked pensive before answering. "No Tom. I am a professor.

Tom's eyes narrowed in suspicion then. Why would a professor come visit him? He'd been doing very well in school and had been achieving top marks in all of his classes so there was a chance his school had gotten in contact with a private academy or something. But that was highly unlikely seeing as how Tom was an orphan and children without parents rarely received special educations.

"I don't believe you." Tom sat up a little straighter as he looked squarely at the so called professor. "People think I'm different."

Over the years Albus had visited many children that were a great deal like Tom. "Perhaps they are right?" He inquired gently.

Albus had had this conversation with muggle born children so many times he knew what to say without even thinking about it. He was good at speaking with children, calming them and comforting them about their abilities. When he had become a professor Albus had immediately volunteered to be the one to search out magical muggle born children and to introduce them to the magical world.

He had found that if he were the first magical person they had ever met, muggle born children were more likely to give him their loyalty and to admire him.

"I'm not mad!" Tom's eyes sparked with indignation even as his voice stayed calm.

An old fear crept its way into Tom's mind; one where he was whisked away to some padded cell where doctors would poke and prod him until he really was mad.

Tom quickly pushed that fear away. He would not allow anyone to do such things to him. He had power and with Harry's help Tom had gained a great deal of control with that power. If backed into a corner Tom was sure he could take out this strange man that had caused his dear Harry so much distress.

"Hogwarts-" Albus could see something in Tom's eyes as the boy claimed to not be mad. "Is not a place for mad people. Hogwarts is a school. A school of magic."

As he spoke Albus kept a close eye on Tom's reaction. The boy's eyes had gone slightly wider at his explanation, but otherwise the boy was implicitly neutral. Albus was tempted, oh so tempted, to delve into Tom's mind to really get a feel for the boy, but he held himself back for the time being.

"You can do things, can't you Tom?" Honestly there was no real reason for Albus to look into the boy's mind. He was just a boy that had an inkling as to what he could do and understood that there were others in the world that did not have his gifts. "Things other children can't."

It was a trap. Tom knew it had to be a trap. There was no way that this Dumbledore was a professor and there was no way he was from a school of magic. Then again...with what he and Harry could do magic seemed to be the perfect explanation.

So, very slowly, Tom nodded his head an inch to show that yes he knew what Albus Dumbledore was talking about.

"I can make things move without touching them." It wasn't a skill Tom used as much as he would have liked; Harry disliked it whenever Tom tried to steal using that ability. "I can make animals do what I want without training them." Memories of all the times he'd made dogs go away when they got too close to Harry came to mind. "I can make people forget what they were doing when they try to hurt me."

When he'd been younger, before Harry had shown his displeasure for it, Tom had made bad things happen to the bullies. After he'd gained control over his powers Tom had changed how he went about punishing his aggressors. Instead of making bad things happen he simply changed their memories and controlled them.

"Who are you?"

Albus finally gave in to his want to look into Tom's mind. He only stayed at the surface so he only saw the fleeting memories that arose every time Tom spoke. He didn't see anything menacing there; just a boy protecting and caring for a dear friend. Something that could be exploited.

"I'm like you Tom." Albus lowered his voice for the next part. "I'm different."

Tom was a powerful boy for his age, there was no doubt about that, but Albus didn't see anything overtly bad or dark. What he did see was the same thing he usually found with muggle born children and it bored Albus.

"Prove it." He didn't know why he made the demand, but Tom did know he wanted evidence that the old man wasn't just some doctor trying to lull him into a false sense of security. If Harry had been there he probably could have thought of a better way to ask for the evidence.

Only a second after his demand the boy's wardrobe burst into flames that climbed all the way up to the ceiling. Tom's eyes went wide, but he felt like he was stuck to his seat so he couldn't rush to the wardrobe to save his and Harry's belongings.

"I think there's something in your wardrobe trying to get out Tom." Albus nonchalantly told the gaping boy.

The power that had been holding Tom to his seat lifted and the boy stood up and went over to his wardrobe. Inside was a rickety crate holding all the books he'd nicked from his school, the library, and even from the orphanage.

"Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

Albus had been expecting to find knick knacks and trinkets, not a bunch of books. A couple were picture books that small children learned to read from, but the rest were advance for an eleven year old boy. He was sure that Tom would be placed in Ravenclaw if his collection was anything to go by.

The boy was smart then, which would make it more difficult for Albus to control the boy. Then again Albus shouldn't make a judgement too early. He knew plenty of Gryffindors that were smart; he had been a Gryffindor after all. Still...an intelligent boy was not easily fooled.

"At Hogwarts you will not only be taught how to use magic, but how to control it."

After handing the young orphan the acceptance letter to Hogwarts, Albus turned to leave.

"Where will I get my school things?" Tom asked suddenly as the older man was just about to head down the hallway towards the stairs. "And how will I pay for them?" There was another thing on Tom's mind to ask, but that voice that sometimes whispered things to himself and to Harry told him to stay silent.

"Hogwarts has a fund for students that are less fortunate." Albus pointed to the letter that was in Tom's hand. "Your letter has all the instructions. If you would like someone can come and escort you to Diagon Ally where you can get your supplies."

Tom shook his head. "I can go myself. I do not want to be a bother." More like he wanted to take Harry with him. An adult would just make things difficult.

The boy was definitely too intelligent to fall for Albus' normal manipulation methods. He would need to tread carefully with his controlling of Tom Riddle.

"If that is what you want." Albus jotted something down and a little slip of paper which flew to Tom. "Go to the Leaky Cauldron in London. The barkeep there, also Tom, will help you into Diagon Ally."

And with that Albus turned one final time to leave.

When he was down on the first floor something made him pause to look into the dinning area where many tables were setup. There were a few children there, but there was one that caught his momentary interest. His back was to Albus, but the old man was sure he could feel magic coming from the boy. Powerful magic and a great deal of it.

The boy was much too young to go to Hogwarts, but Albus would need to keep an eye on him for when the time came for him to get his own acceptance letter.

"Excuse me," He mumbled as Mrs. Cole, the guardian and owner of the orphanage, walked past. "Who is that boy?"

Mrs. Cole glanced past Albus Dumbledore and then smiled a little. "That's little Hadrian Smith. He's probably Tom's only friend." She let out a small huff, her arms coming up to cross over her chest. "Little Hadrian is a blessing. If not for him I think Tom would have never come out of his shell...strange things still happen, but at least they aren't as violent."

Now that was information that Albus could use so he stored it away. He wanted to go to Hadrian and look into his mind, but the boy had his back to him and he was sure if he spoke with Hadrian it would cause problems.

"Good day Mrs. Cole."

As soon as the man was gone and far enough away down the street Harry spun around in his seat and darted out of the dining room. He'd been on edge the entire time the older man was upstairs with Tom and it'd taken everything in him not to just go and spy on the two.

"No running!"

"Sorry Mrs. Cole." Harry had been running, but he quickly slowed his pace when he'd been caught. As soon as he was upstairs and away from the eyes of adults he was running once again.

Tom had taken a seat on his bed after Albus had left. The unopened letter was still in his hands. His brows were scrunched together as he stared at the envelope in contemplation. Should he open it and learn more about this so called school that he had been invited too?

"Tom!"

A small body barreled its way into the room and before he could even turn to see who it was, he was knocked flat onto the bed with a heavy body on his chest.

Small hands grabbed Tom's cheeks and then lifted one arm and then the other looking for any injuries that might have happened.

"I'm fine Harry." There was only one person that would be this frantic over whether or not Tom was hurt.

Harry wasn't completely convinced, but he stopped his examination of the person he cared most for. He crawled off of Tom and sat down on the bed as close to Tom as he could get without actually being in the boy's lap. When Tom was sitting up again Harry hugged him.

With a small sigh Tom returned the hug before showing him the letter.

"What is it?" Harry asked as he turned the envelope over in his hands to look at the crest in the wax seal on the back. His thumb went over the seal brushing over each of the 4 little animals in the seal.

"A school apparently." Tom licked his lips quickly. "A school of magic."

Harry looked at his friend sharply before using his thumbnail to break the wax seal from the envelope. "Magic?" Just because Harry was littler than Tom didn't mean the older boy could tease him with something like magic.

Even as Harry looked at Tom with a big frown and disbelieving eyes, the older boy simply nodded in all seriousness.

"So...magic..." Harry said slowly as he dug his thumb nail under the wax seal and flipped open the envelope. "A school of magic. Do you think they'll know about time traveling?" He asked hopefully as he tugged the folded papers out of the envelope.

Tom could see that Harry was quickly warming up to the entire idea of a magic school. "I'm sure they do."

His younger friend brought up a good point though. The two of them had been trying to figure out their abilities on their own for years. This was their chance to learn magic from people that actually knew what they were doing. He and Harry could figure out a way to keep Harry in the past!

"Wow Tom! Look at this supply list!" Harry had handed over the actual acceptance letter to Tom for the older boy to read. Harry himself was much more interested in all the neat things that Tom would be needing to get for school.

The letter was a simple reiteration of what the Dumbledore man had said. It also included a time and place for where he would need to catch the train going to the school.

"We'll go to London tomorrow then."

Harry looked up from the supply list in surprise. "Tomorrow?"

With a smile Tom reached over and snatched the rest of the paperwork from his younger friend. "Might as well. A trip to London had already been planned for this week for supplies. Tomorrow is as good a day as any."

The fact that they would get to go to London so soon left Harry feeling excited and jittery. It took Tom taking Harry to the park to have him run around to wear him out enough that the boy actually slept that night.

In the morning Harry was up long before Tom. When the smaller boy saw that his friend was still asleep though Harry tried to go back to sleep. The sun wasn't even in the sky yet, the horizon just barely becoming lighter. After a little while of tossing around in his bed Harry finally gave up. As softly as he could Harry crawled out of his bed and climbed into Tom's.

When Tom didn't move or seem to wake up Harry slipped under the blankets so he could snuggle up next to his friend. Being so close to Tom helped to lull Harry back to sleep.

The moment Harry had awoken in his own bed Tom had slipped out of sleep as well. He was a light sleeper on the best of nights. Sometimes Harry had nightmares that left the smaller boy crying softly and shaking. On those nights Tom always woke up to comfort Harry.

But this time Harry wasn't having a nightmare. Instead the boy just couldn't sleep. Tom slammed his eyes closed when he heard Harry slip out of his own bed. He waited until Harry was tucked under Tom's own blankets before opening his eyes.

The smaller boy fell asleep quickly against Tom. As soon as Tom was sure Harry was fast asleep once more he opened his eyes to stare at his younger friend.

There was something about Harry that made Tom's heart beat harder in his chest. The boy's lips were parted as he breathed softly. His hair was even more wild and unruly.

With gentle fingers Tom reached up and brushed Harry's hair from his face.

He'd seen it years ago so the sight of the scar upon little Harry's forehead wasn't a surprise at all. Tom traced the jagged line with a thumb and felt the familiar tingle across his skin as he did so.

Tom must have dozed off at some point. He found his shoulder being nudge and shaken by a very awake Harry.

"What time is it?" Tom mumbled as he sat up. He was the morning person, not Harry, and yet it was the younger boy that was excited and wide awake.

"7! Mrs. Cole says breakfast is ready and we'll be going to London after that!"

Harry had gone to London now and then with his aunt and uncle, usually when his babysitter wasn't available or when Harry needed clothes that he couldn't just get from Dudley. So a trip, especially with Tom, was exciting for the young boy.

The trip into London was mostly uneventful for the most part, but once there Tom and Harry were taken to the side by Mrs. Cole.

"Just in case you miss the ride back." She stated as she handed Tom a pouch with some money. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for an emergency.

To say Tom was surprised was an understatement. Rarely did the older woman ever do anything like this without some sort of prodding on Tom's part.

Mrs. Cole's lips pursed a little and she looked away back towards the others that had come along. "I am responsible for your safety. Both of you." She said nothing else as she turned and left the two boys to what they needed to do.

Tom looked at the money pouch they had been given and then shrugged. He and Harry had already come up with a plan on how to get back to the orphanage so they could stay out later. This extra money would just be helpful.

"Got the directions?" Harry asked as he adjusted the bag he had slung over his shoulder. Both boys had bags since they would be getting quite a bit.

Sure enough Tom pulled out the slip of paper that Dumbledore had given him.

It took awhile, since London was so huge and it wasn't like the Leaky Cauldron had been setup to be noticeable, but they eventually found the establishment.

"It looks..." Harry winced a bit and clung to Tom's sleeve as they stood across the street from the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom could only nod. The place looked unappealing and not a place where two young boys, even if one was a preteen, should wander into.

Still they needed to get into Diagon Alley to buy Tom's supplies. So with a deep breath Tom took Harry's hand in his and led him across the street.

Honestly the inside looked as seedy as the outside had. There were only a few people milling around, but all of them had cloaks on and hoods up or were hunched over a mug of beer. The only smile the two boys got was from the bartender who was waving a stick around.

Glasses, mugs, and pitchers were floating around him. Some were being cleaned while others were being filled and sent off to tables or up the stairs towards the back of the room.

"What can I do fer ye boys?" The bartender asked as he continued to wave the stick in small circles in the air near his head.

Tom cleared his throat and nudged at Harry to get the smaller boy to stop gawking at the floating dishware. "We need to get to Diagon Alley." His words were crisp and clear as he straightened up to seem more confident then he secretly felt.

The bartender's grin just broadened. "Gettin yer school supplies I wager! Follow me."

It surprised Tom how quickly the man accepted that two young boys were trying to get into a magical hidden place without even asking any questions. Wasn't the man even remotely concerned that he and Harry could be up to no good?

Children going to Diagon Alley on their own must have been a common occurrence.

The two boys were led out a side door into a rundown little patio with a crooked table and a broken chair. Tom eyed the space suspiciously and held Harry closer despite the boy trying to get a look at what the older man was doing. Tom seriously did not trust all of this and was sure the Dumbledore man would jump out at any moment with doctors to take the two of them away.

Tom's paranoia lifted when suddenly the man before them tapped on the bricks and with a shudder the wall started folding away.

The two boys shared identical looks of wonder and amazement as a busy street filled with people in robes was revealed to them. Each building was a different color and everywhere the two looked there was something new to see.

"Tom look!" An insistent tugging on Tom's sleeve had the older boy looking to where his friend was pointing. A group of kids around their age were walking down the street talking and laughing. What Harry was really pointing at though was the building the other teens had been walking past.

Piles of books were stacked up in the window with just barely enough room to display one or two book titles.

"You need your school books right?" Harry asked as he tugged at their connected hands. "Let's get those first!"

"We have to go to..." Tom looked down at the letter he had pulled out of his pocket. "Gringotts first."

"Gringotts is straight down that way."

Both boys had forgotten about the man standing off to the side. He was still grinning at them, but his smile looked a little more knowing. Like he knew they had never seen so much magic before.

"Thank you sir." Tom thanked the man politely and then tugged Harry forward. He didn't much like how the man was smiling at Harry with that fond smile that almost all adults gave Harry.

Once they were far enough away from the entrance to Diagon Alley the wall closed up. Tom let out a small breath of relief. They had finally made it to Diagon Alley. It was real. Magic was real.

Thankfully for them Gringotts was the most obvious building on the street. It was the biggest and it stood out from the colorful buildings around it with its marble walls. Another thing about the building was it made Harry's skin tingle.

"It feels...strange." Harry mumbled to Tom as the two stepped through the door and into a large echoing room where strange creatures sat behind tall counters.

"Strange...bad?" Tom whispered back as covertly as he could.

The younger boy quickly shook his head. "Strange different."

Harry wasn't shaking or looking nervous like he had when Dumbledore had visited, instead he was looking with interest at the strange creatures sitting behind the counters. His eyes seemed a little glazed over which did worry Tom a little.

"Well then." A voice to down and to the left of Harry had both boys jumping in surprise. Standing there, with a rather disgusted expression, was one of the long eared creatures.

"Follow me." The creature clicked its heals together before turning and slinking away towards a door that was barely visible from the shadows.

The two boys looked at each other with varying degrees of confusion, worry, and curiosity.

An annoyed voice sounded over by the door and the two boys hurried to follow after the creature.

"Protocols must be followed, but I can answer some of your questions." The goblin told them as he led the way down a hallway lined with doors. He snapped his fingers and one of the doors opened to reveal a rather normal looking office. "Before you ask, I know what Harry Potter is."