CHAPTER 37
17 May 1992 - Hospital Wing - 6:19AM
An exhausted Lily tenderly stroked Harry's motionless hand as he laid asleep in a coma. Blinking rapidly, Lily once more turned down her capacity for empathy to a dull thirty-percent, lest she broke down (again) into tears. Next to Harry was Jim, who laid just as motionless in the same coma. It had been three emotionally draining days since the confrontation between her sons and the Dark Lord-possessed Professor Quirrell, and they had yet to wake up. Lily had barely eaten or slept, refusing to be away from her sons. Even James' appearance to check on his Heir (Lily snorted) hadn't moved her, and though James had seemed relieved to see both his sons alive, he hadn't been willing to test his luck with an upset Lily and quickly made his way out after speaking with Madame Pomfrey about Jim's condition.
Lily sighed once more as she stared unblinkingly at their comatose forms, angry at herself for allowing this situation to happen. She and Severus had been in the middle of repairing the first of Eileen's damaged memories when Olivia Kolumbiko's cheetah patronus had rushed in a flash of light, informing them that Quirrell had essentially kidnapped Jim, Ron, Neville, and Hermione. And to make matters worse, they'd been kidnapped by the madman as a means to lure Harry to the Mirror Chamber to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. Terror unlike anything Lily had ever known had gripped her, before using her cuff to practically scream-call Tom. With matching urgency, Tom had informed both her and Severus that he would take care of it and they should continue on with their task.
Using the Floos connecting the Evans' Keep and Lily's private Hogwarts quarters, Tom had raced to the Slytherin dorms, startling a quartet of Third Years who'd been tiredly entering the Common Room after a grueling night in the Library. Meeting a grim-faced Olivia (Libra's niece) who'd been surprised yet relieved to see him, the Slytherin Seventh Year had concisely explained the situation as they hurriedly made their way to the Third Floor Corridor. A quick hissed conversation with Matilda (Olivia was already aware he was a Parselmouth) confirmed the presence of the firsties in the Mirror Room, causing Tom to hiss-swear before he and Olivia had raced through the gauntlet as quickly as possible.
A Gemino Charm had created three duplications of the golden harp that ensured Fluffy would stare asleep. A hissed command from Tom to keep at bay had kept them free of the Devil's Snare, while an acid curse from Olivia had made quick work of the locked door in the key room. Upon reaching the chess room and seeing the fully reformed and functional pieces, Tom had cast a powerful Reducio Charm that shrunk the room-sized board to the size of a tile, allowing him and Olivia quick bypass. The pair sped through the Troll Room, noting the beast was still unconscious thanks to a stake lodged through one ear and ending directly on the other. Finally they reached the puzzle room with the flame doors. Recognizing Severus' work with the potions, Tom quickly identified the Flame-Freezing Potion and duplicated the bottle for Olivia. With matching grim nods, the two took the potion at the same time before venturing into the black flames into complete chaos.
Neville, blacked out in the arms of a panicking Ron and Theo. A tearful Hermione, being held back by a grimacing Blaise while she screamed for Harry and Jim. And (from Tom's horrified perspective) just beyond a massive pile of broken masonry, the screaming Potter Twins being strangled by a possessed Quirinus Quirrell. Who was also screaming in agony while Harry and Jim clawed at his face, forcing it to crumble to ash.
With a sharp "Get them out of here!" to Olivia, she immediately sprung to action. The Slytherin Prefect cast a wide-reaching Somnus charm that knocked out the still-concious First Years, before shouting for a House Elf to take her and the unconscious firsties to the Hospital Wing.
Once the elf snapped them away, Tom quickly cleared the rubble before casting a Parseltongue-enhanced Patronus Charm just as the ghostly black form of the Dark Lord rose from Quirrell's ruined body, before screaming in wrath as he passed through the Potter twins' collapsing bodies.
The wraith actively recoiled at the form of the massive serpent patronus that hissed viciously as it protectively encircled the unconscious forms of Harry and Jim. A second passed before Tom witnessed a hole opening in the air… to Somewhere-Frightening-and-Endless… before the wraith form was sucked through and the portal disappeared. Filing that disturbing bit of strangeness away for later, Tom immediately went to work. Yew wand a blur, he cast multiple diagnostic spells, the glowing symbols revealing that Jim and Harry were suffering from extreme magical exhaustion with cores at critical levels, forcing them both into a coma. Conjuring matching stretchers to stabilize their bodies, he summoned the Slytherin House Elf to take them immediately to the Hospital Wing.
Once complete, Tom surveyed the ensuing damage while his Patronus hovered protectively by him. Knowing he had little time before the Hogwarts Professors arrived, he quickly got to work. With a hissed command, his cuff gave a small series of clicks before a tiny golden rune-covered orb slowly levitated out of the basilisk symbol, stopping right at eye-level. His own customized Eye-Spy immediately projected a ghostly blank screen and slowly began circling Quirrell's down form while Tom hissed out a series of unique diagnostic and cataloging spells. Ghostly sigils appeared on the blank screen as the results of his spells were actively recorded. Tom lightly clenched his jaw upon reading the results.
A minute later the Eye-Spy finished, its projector screen winking out of sight before it levitated back into the basilisk symbol of his cuff. His Patronus serpent tenderly flicked at his nose before winking out of existence, causing him to smile in spite of himself. The sound of hurried footsteps caused him to quietly summon the Slytherin House Elf once more, kindly asking to be dropped off in the Hospital Wing.
He would deal with Albus Dumbledore later.
Headmaster's Office - 10:03 AM
"Tea?" Tom nodded before Dumbledore summoned an elf to bring them a tea set. Preparing a cuppa, Tom made sure to nonverbally and wandlessly check his cup (and spoon, water, and tea leaves) to ensure that they hadn't been tampered with or laced with anything untoward. Allies of necessity did not good friends make, and he had long since accepted that he would never fully trust Albus Dumbledore. A few minutes passed in relative silence, save the occasional clang of spoons against teacups, before Tom decided to speak.
"I see your face has healed up nicely." Dumbledore chuckled in spite of Tom's lightly snide tone, though he did reach a hand to lightly touch his cheek. His arrival in the Hospital Wing had been met with Lily Evans' ire; the furious witch had sent a dizzying amount of hexes his way, all the while ferociously berating his general incompetence and persisting desire to endanger underage children. Dumbledore had blocked most with the exception of two rather vicious Boil Hexes which had caused his face and neck to erupt in stinging pustules. Severus and Sirius had had to physically restrain and all but drag her away to Madam Pomfrey's private quarters, while she viciously threatened to strangle him with his beard should he ever come near her sons again. Knowing Lily's temper was commensurate to her abilities, Dumbledore hastily debriefed with Madam Pomfrey on the Potter Twins before quickly departing.
"Yes Tom, thank you for asking." With twinkling eyes he took a sip of his tea, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the man's enduring feigned casualness. "I assume there was something you desired to discuss with me?" Tom took a few sips of his tea while getting his thoughts together. His first instinct was to verbally chew the man out for his absolutely absurd plan in capturing the Dark Lord so Jim could fulfill his 'prophetic duty'. But he didn't want to immediately sour the mood.
"There are a few things I would like to discuss with you," Tom smoothly replied. "But in this instance, I will defer to you and your thoughts on how your most recent…methods failed to capture the Dark Lord and resulted with the Potter Twins currently lying in a coma." Dumbledore flinched at the calm yet sharp tone, his expression guiltily twisting. In the back of the old wizard's mind, he marveled at the turn of events where Tom Riddle was now interrogating him.
"I will admit that in hindsight, my plan to capture the Dark Lord was…not as foolproof as I had originally imagined." Tom's quirked brow was the only response he received. "I had assumed that the darkness of the Mirror of Erised would be enough to lure and entrap the Dark Lord in his spirit form, already tempted by the prospect of acquiring the Stone. I… I hadn't foreseen kidnapping Jim Potter and his friends to lure Harry Potter to retrieve the Stone for him."
"You…hadn't foreseen a potential kidnapping as a possibility?" Dumbledore sighed at Tom's sarcastic tone, choosing to sip his tea instead of responding. "And of course, you did not foresee the Dark Lord utilizing legilimency to intrude upon the minds of the same kidnapped firsties to discover your maze and further work out how to defeat it." Once more, Dumbledore could only sigh.
"...My lack of foresight is regrettable, but…circumstances forced my hand to utilize the little I had at my disposal." Tom only blinked in response. "As I am certain you have already surmised, I'd hoped the mechanics of the Prophecy's magic would create the opportune moment for Jim to fulfill his destiny."
"Indeed?" Tom replied quietly. "And just exactly how did you know what tasks each room would entail? Tasks so perfectly suited to the abilities of Messrs Longbottom, Potter, Weasley, and Ms. Granger?" Tom stared at the old man with a critical eye, almost daring him to lie. To his surprise, Dumbledore looked almost…angry at the insinuation.
"Those tasks were created by each Professor before the start of the year." His voice cracked almost thunderously. "I had no way of knowing that Mr. Longbottom was a Herbology prodigy, no way of knowing of Mr. Potter's Seeker abilities, no way of knowing of Mr. Weasley's chess skills, and no way of knowing Ms. Granger's intellectual prowess." His anger left him as quickly as it had come, deflating the old Professor lean back almost wearily in his seat. "It would seem that my efforts to outwit Fate resulted in giving her the upper hand."
"Prophecies want to come true," Tom murmured quietly. Dumbledore just nodded in agreement. A few beats passed before Tom asked:
"Have you given some thought as to how the Dark Lord survived at all? Last I recall, rebounded Killing Curses don't typically render their victims into parasitic wraiths."
"...I imagine I have given it the same amount of thought as you have Tom." Dumbledore peered significantly at Tom from behind his glasses, who merely sniffed. The two just stared at each other as a mountain of unspoken words gathered between them. Despite the necessity of their allyship during the previous Wizarding War, their decades-long distrust of each other still lingered, still soured the air between them. Neither would bend to the other's will if they didn't have to, and in this case, both were playing their cards close to their chest.
"Are you planning any other schemes that may involve the Potter children?" Dumbledore raised a brow at his former student's forwardness, before sighing and reaching for a lemon drop.
"No Tom," he replied, popping the sugar-frosted candy into his mouth. "I am not planning any other schemes that involve the Potter twins. Trust me when I say Tom, I mean them no harm and no harm shall come to them as they occupy these halls." Tom didn't believe him for a second, but he nodded his acquiescence anyway.
"Good. We wouldn't want Professor Evans to deliver on her promises, now would we?" He grinned sinisterly, his expression souring into a frown at Dumbledore's almost cheerful chuckles.
"Indeed, we would not." A bright light suddenly flared in the office, drawing the attention of both men. Fawkes the phoenix had flamed from wherever he had been into his perch in Dumbledore's office, crooning in greeting. As always, the magnificent bird looked resplendent, feathers practically glowing in vibrant shades of red, orange, and gold.
"Hello my friend," said Dumbledore, eyes crinkling in delight when Fawkes crooned back. The bird took flight and landed on the Headmaster's desk, turning to face Tom and give a delighted greeting. Softly laughing, Tom greeted him back, softly smiling when the phoenix nudged his hand.
"Fawkes has always been fond of you," Dumbledore said quietly, his expression unreadable. Tom scoffed while he tenderly stroked the top of Fawkes' head, causing him to warble a joyful trill that caused both men to smile.
"He has always been the better judge of character," Tom replied quietly, smiling as he watched phoenix take off to his perch. Dumbledore just stared contemplatively at Tom's statement, neither agreeing nor rebutting. "If that is all we have to discuss for today, I will take my leave." A beat passed before Dumbledore nodded tiredly.
Rising, Tom gave a quick nod to the old man and a small smile in Fawkes' direction before turning to stride purposefully from the Headmaster's office. About halfway down the stairwell, he ran into James Potter, who gritted his teeth before grinding out a greeting.
"Well met Lord Potter. I assume you are coming from checking on your sons?" A terse nod was the only response, and Tom fought the urge to roll his eyes at James' surliness. He still marveled at the son of Dorea Black growing up to be a churlishly reactive man-child, but he supposed Charlus Potter had more to do with the unfortunate turn of his upbringing.
"Well, enjoy your conversation with the Headmaster. I will be off to check on Harry…and Lily. Poor thing has been absolutely restless, and she needs all the support I can give her." True to form, James' expression turned ugly, face purpling in repressed rage as a particularly large vein throbbed above his right eye. Smirking, Tom continued on with a flourish, quietly snickering at the sound of James' stomping footsteps as he ascended the stairwell.
AN 1: Any Horcrux talk between Tom & Albus will be had Year 2. Should be fun!
Next Up: The Final Chapter of Book 1, then onwards to Book 2! Even more PoS-divergence in Book 2, so I am very excited :)