Chapter 4: Soul Searing

"Some things scratch the surface while others strike at your soul."
Gianna Perada

~Albus~

Albus looked around the room again trying to puzzle this contrast out and the two boys remained studiously silent staring at him. Well, Tom was staring at him Harry had lost interest in him and was staring daydreaming out the window. The blankets on the bed were thick and looked very warm. There was only one bed, which made Dumbledore think that the two boys must share the bed and while odd at their age it was not unheard of between siblings.

Albus supposed that to the two of them they were the closest thing either had to family and that was mostly since they both seemed to be magical. There was a curious set of ivories from a piano laid out on the desk exactly like it would have been in a piano, things were just getting curiouser and curiouser. "Professor, is that like Doctor," Tom said wearingly narrowing his eyes on him, "What are you here for? Did she get you to come have a look at me?"

Tom's eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched. Sadly, this wasn't an uncommon reaction among muggle borns since magic made their muggle parents very nervous. It wasn't at all unusual to find a student or two in an asylum sadly enough. "No, no," Albus reassured him as his eyes got caught on how tightly Tom was holding Harry's hand. Tom hand was white knuckled and Harry's was losing color rapidly.

Harry did even seem to reacting to the bruising grip the other boy had on him and had yet to look away from the window. He was a very odd boy. "I don't believe you," Tom said voice having the faintest stirrings of panic, "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!" Albus was startled by the heavy wave of magic that came with that command and had he been a lesser man he fully expected that he might very well, be spilling all his secrets by now.

As it was Albus was a very powerful wizard in his own right and merely shrugged off the demanding compulsion of the unfocused raw magic. Tom was glaring rather fiercely at him looking at him expectantly and Albus simply smiled not allowing the boy to think he could be intimidated by something so petty. Tom back down from glaring and began to eye him wearily, "Who are you?" he said. Albus noticed that Harry had turned his attention from the window and was staring at Tom's face with a very strange expression on his face.

"I told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school named Hogwarts, I have come to offer you both a place at my school, if you would like to come of course." He said nodding his head genially.

Tom's reaction was not what Albus was expecting; he leapt up from the bed dragging Harry along with him and backed them both up against the wall. "You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? That old cat's the one that should be in an asylum!" Tom looked very ready to begin a panicked argument about that when the most curious thing happened. Harry reached up with his free hand and pinched him…rather hard if the other's boy's flinch was anything to go by.

Albus watched as Tom turned glaring eyes to Harry, they stared each other down and Albus had the most curious feeling they were having a conversation just by staring at each other. If the boys had been a bit older and pure bloods Albus would have almost been inclined to believe that they were reading each other's thoughts. As it was he just felt oddly let out as two boys who knew each other well had a silent conversation in front of him.

~Tom~

This man made Tom very nervous from the moment he walked into their bedroom door. It was because Tom couldn't feel anything from him…it was as disturbing as the man's oddly colored velvet suit. From as far back as Tom could remember he could feel people, get impressions of them from that feeling and it had given him a certain feeling of power. He was special, he could know a lot about someone just from a feeling he got about them and it gave him power over those people.

Harry was reacting strangely to the man as well pulling in her magic and tugging his over her like a cloak. Tom thoughts were running a mile a minute, the only other person he hadn't been able to feel had been a doctor that had come to set his arm a few years ago, and going by that this man might be a doctor. However, it was what type of doctor that he might be that set Tom in a panic because he was not injured.

Tom thought furiously about why Mrs. Cole would call in a head doctor, the only major incident had happened last summer to Amy and Dennis. They should have gotten over that by now, really, what was a little pain? But this must be one of those things that he didn't understand properly and it had come with graver consequences than he thought it would warrant. He was yelling before he really knew what he was saying, his anger had gotten away from him and he blindly glared at the man who would take him away from Harry.

There was a sharp pain on his arm and Tom turned his attention to Harry. She was staring at him and Tom felt the faintest brush against his mind, Calm down. The command echoed across his thoughts but Tom couldn't. If this man took him away he would lock him in a room and he would never see freedom again. It would be hell, and he would die there forgotten and alone. He would never have the chance to be as great as he knew he could be, and he would lose the chance to discover the secret to immortality.

Calm down, the command repeated across his thoughts. I can't, Tom shouted back at her he wants to take me away from you. Harry blinked at him and her voice said soothingly through his thought, he is offering both of us a place at his 'school' or were you not paying attention? Tom startled for a minute before he felt a rush of anger at the man but before he could say anything Harry's voice echoed through his thoughts again. We are strong, you and I, together we can stop him if what you think is true. Then we will run away from this place a little earlier then we planned. So calm down and think.

"I am not from the asylum," the man Dumbledore said breaking up their thoughts and drawing Tom's attention again, "I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to school nobody will force you-."

"I'd like to see them try," Tom hissed at Dumbledore as he tightened his magic around Harry.

"Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on seemingly unfazed by his threat, "is a school for people with special abilities-."

"I'm not…" Tom began to shout, he knew it was an asylum but then Harry pinched him again. Her command to Shut up and calm down echoed roughly through his mind. It was always harder for them to talk when he was upset without eye contact.

"I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic." Dumbledore said sighing as if he finally said something he had been waiting to say for a while.

Tom froze; he turned to look at Harry and caught her eyes with his own. Did you know Hogwarts was for magic? He demanded harshly. Harry just blinked at him unmoved; I didn't know there were magic schools. Obviously there are more of us out there than we had anticipated. Tom glared at her and shifted his weight. His mind had calmed down with the word magic, magic, that was what Harry had told him years ago. 'We're magic'. Tom turned his attention back to Dumbledore eyes searching his face as he tried to feel the power from him but all he felt was emptiness.

Dumbledore wasn't giving off the wave of power Tom had felt when Harry had arrived at the orphanage, but he didn't have that hallow feeling normal people had either. Dumbledore was a blank slate, a void in his feeling, and Tom didn't like it…didn't trust it. "Magic?" Tom whispered…Dumbledore would have to prove that he had it before Tom ever admitted to anything. This could just be some trick, and Tom had to be sure.

"That's right," Dumbledore said smiling at them.

"It's magic…what we do?" Tom said slowly eyes narrowed.

What is it that you two can do?" Dumbledore asked him as if in a challenge.

Tom opened his mouth to answer him in a rush of anger, eager to prove his superiority, but Harry pinched him again. Tom shook his head, "All sorts of things, I knew we were different, I knew I was special…always…I knew there was something." He said as if in a daze.

"Well, you were quite right," said Dumbledore who was no longer smiling but had a frown of disappointment. "You both are wizards." He said simply.

Tom felt strange, finally a title, finally a confirmation he was something more than a simple orphan…that he deserved more than this shabby place. However, suspicion crept back into his heart as he looked at Dumbledore's unsmiling face. The man didn't feel like magic, he felt like nothing, and what if he was only here to whisper promises to make them feel safe. Like that priest who had pretended to understand to lore him into the room where he had tried to exorcise him. "Are you a wizard too?" Tom asked eyes coldly calculating.

"Yes I am," Dumbledore said simply.

"Prove it," Tom demanded voice filling up with more magic this time he commanded, "Tell the truth."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at him, "If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts-"

"Of course we are!" Tom said fiercely.

"Harry too," Dumbledore asked eyebrow rose at the ever silent Harry.

"Of course," she said quietly.

"Then you both will address me as 'Professor' or 'sir'." Dumbledore said firmly.

Tom's face hardened, he hated being mocked, and he was coming to hate this Dumbledore. However, Tom had learned his lessons well and bit that hatred back, "I'm sorry sir, I meant—please, Professor could you show me-?" Tom watched Dumbledore withdraw a stick from his inside pocket, he felt the most curious thing from it…like magic but softer…more controlled. Then Dumbledore pointed it at their wardrobe and gave the stick a casual flick.

The wardrobe burst into flames.

Tom jumped as he felt a jolt of panic; all their things were in there, all their nice suits and some of their more precious things! It would burn everything; he felt his stomach drop in dread, and hatred swell up inside him choking the words inside his throat. He felt like screaming in rage, he needed to punish this insolent man for destroying everything, he would kill him…break him…make him pay. Just as he was about to unleash his attack he felt another pinch and felt a surge of anger at Harry.

~Harry~

Harry felt her stomach drop as she watched their wardrobe be consumed by flame and even though she knew it wouldn't harm anything Harry felt the faint stirrings of anger. Tom was gearing up beside her to unleash hell on her old headmaster and Harry pinched him again. She disregarded his glares, he would learn in time to control himself and turned her eyes to Dumbledore as the wardrobe started to rattle. Dumbledore whose face was cold and unflinching as if he wasn't terrorizing two children with his thoughtless actions.

"I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe," Dumbledore said coolly to Tom as the wardrobe rattled ominously. Tom glared at Dumbledore and released Harry's hand to cautiously approach the door of the wardrobe. "Open the door," Dumbledore commanded.

Tom glared at him and wrenched open the door defiantly revealing the wardrobes contents. Their clothes hang on a rack, pressed, and well taken care of and on the shelf above them was Tom's box of treasures that was rattling like the contents had come alive. "Take it out," Dumbledore commanded in a cold voice.

During all this Harry felt something strange, something she hadn't felt in a long time…indignation…anger…protectiveness…the emotions surprised her so much for a moment she did nothing and could only watch. She watched as Dumbledore looked down at Tom coldly forcing him to spread the contents of his treasure box on their bed. A Yo-yo belonging to the one that had broken Tom's arm, a silver thimble from the helper that had gotten the priest in here to 'help' Tom and a harmonica from the boy who had always hiss freak at them all lay out on the bed.

These were things Tom had taken in retribution, to show those horrible people he was stronger than they wanted him to be…that he could survive and thrive in their hostility. Harry began to shake; a familiar anger began to creep over her and her hands clenched as she fought to regain her indifference.

"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," Dumbledore said sternly, as he put his wand back into his jacket, "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warmed: Thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts." Then he gave Tom a nod, full of satisfaction and self righteousness.

Something inside Harry snapped and she rushed between the two of them. Dumbledore startled at her sudden movement and stumbled back from where he had been leaning imperiously over Tom. "Excuse me sir, but are you planning to adopt Tom?" Harry asked dangerously calm.

Dumbledore looked quite startled at the seemingly sudden question and shook his head frowning, "I am afraid not, I am sad to say," he said but Harry saw he wasn't saddened by that at all.

Her fists clenched and her fingernails bit into her skin, "Then I am a little confused about your actions and words here today," she said glaring at him piercing him through with her eyes. "You do not plan to adopt Tom, you do not plan to take on a father role, and yet here you stand presuming to give him an inept moral lesson? What gives you that right? You are an outsider to this, you have spent maybe an hour in our presence and yet you imagine that you can do this to us?" Harry said waving vaguely to the wardrobe.

Dumbledore looked ready to defend himself but Harry refused to give him that chance. "Frankly sir, your callous disregard to how we would view you threatening everything we own by lighting our wardrobe on fire has taken away any impact your words might have had. All you have done today is bully us. You think you know Tom because perhaps Mrs. Cole has shared with you some of her suspicions and so you have come in here with your view of him already tainted in your mind. Have you given any thought to his side of things, about why he might have taken these things from someone?" she said.

"No! You have not; instead you come in here with your black and white world view. You come in here assured to your own righteousness and by doing so you have ensured at the very least my own hostility! What gives you the right to do your heavy handed lessons on morality? What gives you the right to take that role? You were not here for the struggle, you will not be with us when we rise, you cannot begin to deduce our reason, or try to understand us…no sir…you are not our guardian. You are not our father, it is not your place to punish or presume to dictate terms to us! You may be our future Professor but you have not gained any respect from us today…only enmity…only fostering anger and resentment." She said.

"Until the day you wish to invest the time to raise Tom, until the day you decide to take on the role of father to him, until then I am afraid I will have to tell you to stay out of our affairs. You may have power over us once we step foot into Hogwarts but until that time you have no power here. You are just someone who is supposed to tell us what we need to know. So, Tom will not be returning anything because you have assumed much by giving him such an order. You will sit there, explain what we need to know calmly and then you will leave us. Because frankly sir at the moment I can hardly stand the sight of you. Did it occur to you that everything we own, all our worldly possessions, are in that wardrobe?" she said.

"Did you even think about how horrible it would feel if we came into your home and set all your things on FIRE? Everything we have we have earned from the blood and sweat off our own backs! We do not have the luxury of some children to have parents to provide for us and so we must provide for ourselves! So don't you dare come in here thinking your better than us, that you know better, because until you have lived your entire life with no one to help you or guide you…until then you cannot presume to even imagine what we our life has been like or who we are! You sir, are nothing more than a bully of a man that thinks he knows best but let me tell you something. You know nothing!" Harry hissed at him panting from her rant and form barely contained anger.

~Albus~

Albs staggered into a chair that sat by their desk, blown away, and tried to process what the hell just happened. The quiet one, the one that didn't seem to be able to muster enough excitement to even acknowledge him…had given him a verbal lashing he hadn't had since his mother had been alive. Thinking about that made Albus think of the last verbal lashing his mother had given him before she had passed…it had been frighteningly similar to this one.

He watched as Harry huffed and puffed as he straightened squaring his shoulders. Tom had the oddest expression on his face, an expression he had not seen before and he stepped up beside Harry taking his hand again. Then Tom looked at him, smug, and superior as he tilted his chin up at him to look at him from down his nose. How he managed to do that while Albus was quite certain he was much taller than the boy Albus wasn't sure.

"Forgive me I have overstepped my bounds," Albus said as he nodded to Harry and the flames went out on the wardrobe. "You will find that your things have not been damaged from my rash behavior." He said simply. There was nothing else he could say, Harry had quite skillfully painted him into a corner using words alone and now there was nothing he could do but apologize. He felt a little bitterness seeing how smug his apology had made Tom but he stifled it for now.

He had bungled this enough without losing his temper again. Albus had thought by showing Tom that stealing and bullying wouldn't be tolerated…in fact punished severely then he would think twice about his way. Albus had hoped to make him see that his actions have consequences, that Tom wouldn't be able to hide using magic in the magical world. He straightened in the chair and tried to make his badly handled point anyway.

"At Hogwarts," Albus said, "we teach you not only how to use magic, but to control it. You both have—inadvertently, I am sure—been using your powers without proper guidance. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But our world has laws, the Ministry of Magic—yes, there is a Ministry—that say that it is not allowed for children to use magic unsupervised. Our world is a hidden one, we cannot have children running around drawing attention, all new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they must abide my our laws. So I must caution you that we will not tolerate magic outside of the classroom until you are of age."

Tom's face got twisted with anger and he moved to shout at him…Albus was sure. However, Harry pulled him back and turned to look at him coolly. "Your school year it starts in September, I expect?" he said evenly.

"Yes, quite right my boy," Albus said cautiously.

Harry smiled at him, giving Albus the impression of a shark grinning at its prey before it bites, "It's the middle of January now, September is still months away and we will not be entering your world until then I expect. So until we do your laws do not confine us. You did say that no one can force us to attend Hogwarts, as such no one can force us to enter your world and abide by your laws." He said smirking.

Albus felt quite, frustrated, this was not at all going how he had expected. Mr. Riddle was nothing like the other muggle borns Albus had introduced all wide eyed and in awe of the world he presented them. No, Mr. Riddle was difficult, a bully, and a thief…coldly calculating. Mr. Vedette was not what he had been expecting either, he had been so silent…so distant at first and now Albus was feeling like a child before his upset mother. It was not a feeling he enjoyed, he was a grown man and didn't appreciate how low this child had made him feel.

However, Albus knew he had not handle this as maturely as he should have…he saw that now…and forced himself to swallow his bitterness about this situation. "I am at a loss on how to proceed, it seems we are at an impasse, was there something you would like to know?" Albus asked hoping to turn this conversation a little less hostile.

"We haven't the money," Tom said sneering at the olive branch Albus was presenting but taking it none the less.

"That is easily remedied," Albus said smiling as he drew out two leather money pouches from his pocket. "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on secondhand, but—"

"Where do you buy spellbooks?" interrupted Riddle taking the money bags from Albus without thanking him. Albus was not amused but he did not reprimand him as the now silent Harry was still eying him with those penetrating green eyes. It seemed Riddle was taking over the lead in talking once more and Albus wanted this over with as soon as possible.

"In Diagon Alley," Albus answered, "I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you both find everything—"

"That will not be necessary Professor, I think we both would much rather do this on our own…you have proven to be unaccommodating and we wouldn't want to inconvenience you." Harry said softly words still as sharp as knives.

"We're used to doing things for ourselves, we go around London on our own all the time and we don't need you. How do you get to this Diagon Alley—sir?" Tom asked mockingly.

Albus was tempted to insist on coming with them, just to put a bee in their bonnet, but he wanted to be out of their company more. So he gave them both their equipment lists and their acceptance letter. He told them exactly how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from the orphanage and then he said, "You will be able to see it, although Muggles around you—non magical people, that is—will not. Ask for Tom the barman—easy enough to remember, as he shares your name—" Albus saw Tom twitch like he had irritated by a troublesome fly.

"You dislike the name 'Tom'?" Albus asked trying not to feel satisfaction at Tom's flinch. Albus decided then and there Mr. Riddle would always be Tom to him.

"There are a lot Toms," muttered Tom. Then as if he could not stop himself from asking a question burst out from Tom, "Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me." He asked.

"I'm afraid I do not know," Albus said.

"My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died," Tom said more to himself than to them. "It must've been him. So—when we have all our things—when do we go to Hogwarts?" Tom asked.

"All the details are in the acceptance letters I have given you; you'll both leave from King's Cross Station on the first of September. There is a train ticket in there too." Albus said standing. He wanted to get back to Hogwarts and have a nice warm cup of fire whiskey. Albus nodded to the two of them and excused himself from the room. It looked for a moment that Tom was going to say something more but Harry pinched him again. Albus couldn't help being a bit amused at Tom's indignant expression.

"Goodbye Mr. Riddle, Mr. Vedette, I shall see you at Hogwarts." He said simply leaving them with no small amount of relief.

~Tom~

Tom waited until he was sure Dumbledore was gone before he rubbed his bruised arm and glared at Harry. "Oh don't be a baby;" Harry said at his expression, "you were two steps away from spilling all our secrets. Sometimes, Tom it is best to leave a little mystery when dealing with unruly adults." She said as she set her letter and her money pouch on the bed. Begrudgedly Tom accepted that perhaps Harry was right and followed her example of setting down his things.

"Are you going to tell him you're a girl," he asked, "they seem to be under the impression you're a boy." Tom said sneering at their blindness.

Harry sat down on her chair and brought her violin case onto her lap, "I am not sure I want to clear up their confusion," she said as she took out the violin and began polishing it.

Tom sat down on the bed and opened his letter to read it. "Why?" he asked simply. It wasn't that Tom cared that Harry wanted to pretend she was a boy but he was curious about why she wanted to continue to do so.

Harry looked up at Tom and had the oddest expression on her face, "Tell me Tom, what is expected of women in the non-magical world? Can they vote? Are they paid well? Do they have the same rights men do? Are they treated equal to any man? …No…so until I can see how this 'magical world' will treat a girl I much prefer the safety and rights given to a boy." Harry said simply as she resumed polishing her violin.

For a moment Tom said nothing, he looked at Harry considering, and then back at the letter in his hands. It was true, there were very few jobs women could be hired for and even fewer that paid well. Until something changed, until women had more power, Tom wouldn't want to be a woman either and he couldn't begrudge Harry her masquerade. Tom looked up at beautiful Harry, the only person in the entire world who had ever stood up for him…and smirked, "I'll change it for you." He said.

"What?" Harry asked looking up at him again.

"The world, one day, I'll change the entire world for you and then you won't have to pretend anymore," Tom said with conviction. He would change the world and one day they would bow at both of their feet. One day everything would change for them…Tom would make sure of it and until then they would have to use what they could to become the ones with power. Instead of the ones the powerful people used and abused.

Harry had a strange expression on her face, she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time, "I think you will Tom, how could you not change the world…just by being you." She said simply before smiling and going back to polishing. Tom felt a strange surge of pride at Harry's belief in him…not that there was ever any doubt but it was still nice. It felt warm…like her magic…and without realizing it Tom smiled…soft and small. Harry saw the small smile from the corner of her eye and wished she had a camera so she could capture that smile for the whole world to see.

A.N.: Whooo, what a ride! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! ^_^ you guys are great and so I just had to get this out as soon as I could! Please read and review to tell me your thoughts! What do you think about Harry's little confrontation with Dumbledore, satisfying? Lol