Author's Note: This chapter is focused entirely on the memories that Harry is seeing, so it's focused on Tom and there's no mention of Harry what so ever. It's narrated just like his dreams were. There are a few characters I want to point out because they've already shown up in the story: Drusilla McNair (not my character. She belongs to JKR, but I have taken the liberty of inventing her first and maiden names) and Melanie's twin sister. As for who is in Tom's year, I estimated and put in people who seemed to be reasonably close to his age. Also, Marius says he's ten and that he'll be going to Hogwarts in the fall. He says this because it is May and he is turning eleven in two weeks. Tom is nine and his birthday is July 31, at midnight, just like Harry. Oh yeah, and as for why Tom speaks as if he's older than he is, it's because he's a sort of Matilda character. He's really smart and has read every book, magazine, or newspaper he can get his hands on. I think that's all. R&R.
Chapter Six- Diary Memories:
(The day after Tom and Marius first become friends)
"So," asked Tom from where he was stretched out on the wall, "What's it like?"
"What?" Marius asked, "Being a wizard?"
"No. Having a family."
"Oh." The blond boy was quiet for a second as he thought about the question. "Actually, I don't really know how to describe it. I've never not had a family."
"Oh," said Tom, echoing the other boy's response.
"But I do know what it's like to loose a family member," Marius admitted after a while. "I have- had an older brother. Four years ago, when he was as old as I am now, which is ten, he was kidnapped by –I think this is the word my father used, but I'm not sure what it means- 'vigilante'-"
"It means somebody who takes justice into their own hands," Tom interrupted politely.
"Thanks. Well, he was kidnapped by vigilante Aurors-"
"Vigilante whats?"
"Aurors- they fight dark wizards," the pureblood explained to the boy who was only today truly beginning his 'life of magic and fantasy'. "Anyway, they kidnapped him because they thought that my father was a dark wizard, but he's not."
"I didn't think he would be," Tom said, surprising the other boy, "You're nice and I don't think you'd be nice if your father was really dark and evil."
"Thanks," said Marius very genuinely.
"For what," the emerald-eyed boy asked, confused.
"Nevermind." The blond haired wizard didn't seem to feel very comfortable explaining.
"Okay. What was your brother's name? You don't have to tell me," he added, "if you don't feel like talking about it."
"No, it's fine," Marius assured him. Actually, he liked the idea of having someone around his own age- Tom was a year younger than him- with whom he could talk about this sort of thing. "His name was Octavian, but he didn't like it. He claimed that nobody should have a name that you can't make a nickname out of that's not a stupid one. My parents called him Tave for short. He thought it was stupid. His friends and I called him Terry, because his middle name was Terrence."
"Octavian Terrence Malfoy?" Tom repeated the boy's name in disbelief. Then suddenly he burst out laughing, he just couldn't help it.
"Yah. What? Why are you laughing?"
"How can you have a name as strange as Octavian Malfoy and a middle name as normal as Terrence?"
"There is nothing strange about the name Malfoy," Marius declared indigently.
"There is to me," Tom snickered. "My name is just plain old Tom Riddle. Tom, not even Thomas." He neglected to mention that while his first and last names were as normal as Tom Riddle, his middle name was as strange as Marvolo. "I'm named after my father and his father, I think." The words, 'I think,' were spoken with less certainty than the rest of the sentence. Marius suddenly started staring at him incredulously.
"You can't possibly be talking about Tom Riddle Jr. and Sr., those stuck up, rich muggles who live at the end of the road, at the top of the hill?"
"What?" Tom looked shell-shocked. His father was alive?
"You didn't know? Oh." Marius was suddenly staring at the ground with a very odd expression on his face. When he looked up at Tom, he still wore that expression.
"What are you looking at me like that for? You don't care, do you, that I'm a- a-" Tom could barely bring himself to say the word the other boy had used earlier when talking about wizards with muggle parents. "A mudblood?" He stared up at the blond-haired boy nervously, terrified that his first and only friend, who just happened to be a pureblood, would hate him.
"I don't think you are a mudblood, Tom, but even if you were, I'd still be your friend. Your one of the only friends I've ever had who hasn't just liked me because my family is rich." The last sentence was more of a confession on his own behalf than a reassurance for Tom. The first two sentences filled Tom with relief. He was glad that he wasn't a mudblood, and especially happy that, as he had been informed yesterday, he was not a muggle, because he knew that Marius wouldn't have befriended him if he were a muggle. Not because the other boy wouldn't have wanted to be Tom's friend, but because he wouldn't have been allowed to be.
"You think I'm a halfblood then," Tom asked, once more in good spirits, as well as very eager to hear whatever his friend might know about his parents.
"I think so, yes," replied Marius. "I think I might even know who your mother was. You said she died giving birth to you, but do know anything about her?"
Tom shook his head. "Nope. I don't even know her name. The only thing I have that belonged to either of my parents is a locket. I've only seen it once. It's heavy and made of gold and it has two S's that look like snakes engraved on the front and it hangs on a thin chain which is made out of gold too." Suddenly, Tom's voice became resentful. "The matron says 'I'm too little to have something so special yet.' I know the stupid, mean, old bat just keeps it locked up because she wants it for herself since it's made of real gold and gold is valuable." He brooded silently for a time before returning to his excited mood. "So, does that help at all? Do know who my mum was?"
'Do I know?' Marius thought to himself, 'Of course I know. Every pureblood within a twenty mile radius of this town knows about the Gaunts and the Gaunt-Riddle disaster.' Out loud he only said, "Yes, I'm pretty sure that your mum was a pureblood witch named Merope Gaunt."
"If her name was Merope Gaunt, how-come the locket says 'SS'?"
"Because the locket wasn't made for her. It was made for one of her ancestors, named Serina. Serina was Salazar Slytherin's daughter." Marius gave the younger boy a moment to absorb the information. There was a silence as Tom tried to remember why Serina's name and her father's name sounded so familiar.
"Wait a minute," he exclaimed, climbing into a sitting position, "Wasn't Salazar Slytherin one of the four founders of the school you're going to in the fall and I'm going to start at next year?" Marius nodded. "And he was the one who could talk to snakes." Tom asked for verification. Marius nodded again. "Well that explains it," the emerald-eyed boy mused.
"Explains what," Marius inquired, very confused by the seemingly random statement.
"Explains why I can understand Nagini's whining and complaining about her thirteen brothers and sisters all day long."
"Nagini?" Marius raised an eyebrow, now more perplexed than before. "Who's Nagini?"
Tom turned a little bit so that he was looking at the small flowerbed against the back of the orphanage and said, "She is." Marius at first didn't get it and so looked around, expecting to see a person and then realized that Tom had said that Salazar Slytherin's descendents having the ability to talk to snakes explained why he could understand Nagini; And that's when the ten year old wizard saw the tiny green snake who was curled up among the flowers.
"You're a parslemouth," Marius stated, a little in awe. He had heard rumors that all the Gaunts in the past few generations had been parslemouths, but he'd never known for sure that it was true. "Go on, say something in parlsetongue," he urged.
"What's a parslemouth and what's parlsetongue? They're magic, well wizard words, aren't they?"
"Parslemouths are people like you who can understand and talk to snakes in Parseltongue, snake language," Marius patiently explained.
"And you want me to say something in Parsletongue?" Tom sounded a reluctant.
"Please, Tom? I've never seen anyone talk to a snake before. It would be so neat."
"Okay," Tom agreed, "er… what do you want me to say?"
"Anything you want. Just think about what it's like talking to Nagini and say something the same way," the other boy replied.
"Like what? I can't think of anything and I feel stupid," Tom complained. He looked up and was surprised to see that his friend was staring at him in awe and admiration.
"Wow, that was brilliant," Marius declared before asking eagerly, "What did you say?"
"Huh? You heard what I said. I said it in plain English. I might be able to understand snakes and all the snakes in Britain understand English –Nagini's family even knows a little Welsh- but I can't speak snake language4."
"You can too speak snake language," Marius differed, "You sounded just like a snake when you said… well, whatever it was you just said. I swear, it definitely wasn't plain English. So what did you say?"
"I said that I felt stupid and couldn't think of anything to say," Tom answered, this time in English.
"It must be awesome to be able to speak parsletongue if you can call yourself stupid and not sound at all embarrassed." Suddenly there was a hiss from the flower bed.
"Shut up, Nagini," Tom said, speaking in English, just to annoy her.
"What did she say?" Marius asked, full of curiosity.
"She snickered and said I sounded stupid, even though I didn't sound embarrassed, for talking in her language to a human who wasn't a- a- I think, in English, the word is 'speaker' which must mean parselmouth," Tom explained.
"Well it wasn't stupid really, it's not like you knew that you were doing it," the grey-eyed boy offered. Nagini chose this moment to slither over to the wall and to the top of it via a vine, before she wrapped herself around Tom's arm. Seeing the snake up close, Marius could tell Nagini was not the average garden snake. "Tom, do you happen to know what type of snake Nagini is?"
"Yah. She once told me she was a royal Indian cobra. But before you ask, I have no earthly idea who she and her family got all the way from Asia to Britain, and neither does she."
Once more, the other boy was awed. "A real, baby, royal Indian cobra. Tom, do you know how rare those are?"
"Yes, I do. And Nagini is highly offended that you called her a baby. She wants me to inform you that she is two years old and that her species stop being considered babies by other snakes and speak- parselmouths after the age of six months. Just thought I should pass that along," Tom interpreted.
"Well, I'm sorry, Nagini," Marius responded sincerely, though he did feel distinctly strange apologizing to a snake. "I didn't know how old you were. I'll make sure not to call you a baby again." Then he looked at the parselmouth who held the snake he had just apologized to and asked, "She could understand me, right?" Nagini let out a long series of hisses which, Marius assumed, were some kind of reply.
"Yes," the younger boy answered, "She says she accepts your apology. She would also like you to know that she respects you for apologizing. Most humans who aren't parselmouths don't show enough respect to snakes to actually address them directly."
By now the bell had rung and Tom had to go back inside. "Bye Marius," he said, as he jumped sown from the wall, "see you tomorrow."
"Of course, then I can tell you about your mother. Oh, and, Nagini, you're welcome to come too."
"I'll be here at ten tomorrow morning then," Tom agreed as he let Nagini slither back into the garden.
(September first, the following fall)
"Well, are you ready to go," Marius asked the younger boy, who would be attending Hogwarts as a first year. Because the boy was an orphan and had no one to bring him to platform nine and three quarters, Abraxus Malfoy had offered to take him, since he had to drop Marius off to begin with.
"Yes," the excited emerald-eyed eleven-year-old replied, "I have everything packed. All my supplies and books –which I made sure I read at least twice each- and of course, Nagini." He held up his arm to show the snake wrapped around it. For a moment a look of worry crossed Tom's face. "You don't think they'll make me get rid of her, do you? Snakes aren't on the list of pets that we're allowed to bring."
"Of course they won't make you get rid of her. Professor Slughorn won't mind at all," the second year Slytherin reassured his nervous friend.
"Professor Slughorn, maybe, but what if I'm not sorted into Slytherin? From what you've told me, Professor Ravencall and Professor Dumbledore wouldn't really like her." At this, Marius burst out laughing.
"Tom, you don't need to worry about what the head of Ravenclaw thinks of Nagini, and you certainly don't need to worry about what the head of Gryffindor thinks of her. You're definitely going to be sorted into Slytherin," he stated in a confident manner.
"But how can you be sure about that," the raven-haired boy questioned in a tone that bordered on whining.
"Tom," the blond said slowly, so that his friend would get the point, "you are descended from Salazar Slytherin. There is absolutely no way that you won't be in the same house as me."
"If you say so," Tom said with a sigh. He still wasn't sure if he believed that Marius was correct. Then suddenly he remembered something and his mood improved drastically. "Marius, guess what!"
"What?"
"I got the-" He lowered his voice so that Abraxus and Isis wouldn't hear him. "I got the locket from the matron's room. I'll show it to you on the train. It's beautiful. Inside there's even a picture. I think it's of my mother." Marius' eyes lit up. He and Tom had been conspiring for an entire year to get the bloody locket back from the matron. Now Tom had gone and done it on his own without even telling Marius when or how he had planned to do it.
"You actually got it? How, and why didn't you send me an owl?"
"I'll tell you how I got it once we're in the train." Then, without warning, Tom smacked the older boy in the back of the head.
"Hey!" Marius straightened out his hair before demanding, "What in Merlin's name was that for?"
"That was for asking a stupid question," the younger boy replied quiet seriously. "I don't like it when people ask stupid questions." Then he went on to elaborate. "You realize, don't you, that I don't have an owl and that Aquila was at school with you, so unless you owled me first, then I couldn't have owled you."
"Right," the older boy muttered.
Half an hour later, the two boys were settled in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They had a compartment to themselves because Marius was making a point of avoiding Drusilla McNair, who was convinced that she would one day marry him. Unbeknownst to her and much to the relief of Marius, the Malfoy heir was already betrothed to a girl named Ariana Zabini. Unfortunately, his attempt to avoid the overly persistent, overly prejudiced girl were not to be successful, because the train was not more that fifteen minutes out of the station, when the door to their compartment opened and she stepped in.
"There you are Marius," she said theatrically, "I've been looking everywhere for you. Why aren't you in the usual compartment with the rest of us?" Then she saw the emerald-eyed, raven-haired soon-to-be first year sitting across from Marius. She studied Tom and he studied her in return. She wasn't bad looking, but she wasn't overly pretty either. She had long, slightly wavy, dark brown hair and her eyes were light blue.
"Oh, you were lending a hand to a new first year." She suddenly addressed Tom in a very condescending manner, with her hands on her hips. "Well, what's your name and what house do you think you'll be in?"
Tom didn't like her tone of voice, but in an attempt to be polite, he answered her anyway. "My name is Tom Riddle and I'm not sure what house I'll be in. I hope I'll be put in Slytherin but I think I could deal with being put in another house, as long as it's not Hufflepuff. That would be downright humiliating."
"Riddle," the girl repeated, "I've never heard of that name before. You must be a mudblood then." She spoke with such nonchalance, but the term she had used still cut Tom acutely. First he felt ashamed, but then his thoughts went to the locket in his trunk and to his mother, to Salazar Slytherin, and then he became furious. Like a shot, he was on his feet and had his wand aimed at the girl.
"Would you like to say that again, McNair," he asked threateningly. Drusilla just threw her head back and laughed at him.
"Sure. I'll say it again," she goaded. "You're a mudblood. Oh, put your wand down, Riddle. What are you going to do with it, poke me in the eye? You probably don't know a single charm."
He glared up at the second year. "You'll apologize. Now. For your information, I'm from the Gaunt family, but due to certain facts about my uncle and grandfather, as well as the death of both of my parents before I was even a week old," –Tom decided to lie and give her the impression that his father had been a wizard too and that Riddle was just the name the orphanage had given him- "I grew up in a muggle orphanage. But because of my mother's family, I am descended from Salazar Slytherin, the founder of your house. My blood is ten times as pure as yours!" He paused a moment and reigned in his temper, knowing it would only get him in trouble. "Also," he continued in a calmer, but far more menacing voice, "I probably know more spells than you do, but because it's not polite to hex a lady, especially if she doesn't have her wand out, I won't do anything to you." He sneered as he said the word lady, implying that he was using the term extremely lightly. He lowered his wand halfway to show that he was serious about not hexing her without further provocation, but refrained from lowering it completely, just in case she pulled out her own wand and tried to hex him.
"If you're not going to hex me, which I doubt you can actually do, what's stopping me from calling you a mudblood? You might be related to the Gaunts, but you wouldn't have been left at a muggle orphanage unless you were part muggle, so you still have tainted blood," Drusilla sneered down at him. A strange expression came over Tom's face and he lowered his wand. Marius saw the malicious glint in the other boy's eyes and realized what he planned to do.
"You shouldn't have said that, McNair," the blond boy warned.
"Oh, why not, Marius," Drusilla asked, her sneer momentarily lessening in intensity as she addressed the pureblood. "He already said he's not going to hex me. What is he going to do?"
"He's not going to do anything," Marius said, "but he doesn't have to."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Marius didn't have a chance to answer her, because at that precise moment, Tom veritably threw Nagini at the girl. The three-year-old, foot- long snake was poised to strike and let out a menacing hiss as she eyed the foolish human who had insulted her master.
"It means," replied Tom with a vindictive smirk, "that while I promise not to harm you at this moment in time, I can, unfortunately for you, make no such promises on the behalf of my snake." Nagini hissed again and launched herself at the girl's ankles. Drusilla let out a shriek and leapt backward through the doorway, slamming the compartment door. After a few second's silence, Marius finally said something.
"Impressive, Tom. You just managed the feat of 'convincing' Drusilla McNair to leave me alone. Now I know how to get rid of her." Marius joked, "Next time she's bothering me, I'll just throw a snake at her." For a few seconds, both boys managed to keep a straight face. Then they couldn't help it and burst into peals of hysterical laughter.
Several hours later, the Hogwarts express pulled into Hogsmeade station. A voice from down near the front of the train called out, "First years, this way!" With a brief goodbye, the boys went in separate directions, Marius to the carriages and Tom to the boats. It seemed to take forever for them to reach the dock. "Three people to a boat, please. No more than three to a boat," the man leading them instructed. Everyone obeyed, although some of the muggleborns, who hadn't expected to travel via water, had to he coaxed into their boats. When they finally pulled away from the dock and began sailing in the direction of Hogwarts' underground harbor, Tom looked to see who his companions were. One of them was a boy with light brown hair and dark, navy-blue eyes. The other was a girl with brilliant red hair and sapphire eyes. Neither of the boys said anything until the girl decided to introduce herself.
"My name is Melanie Duval. My twin sister, who is in the boat right ahead of us, and I are the head of Ravenclaw's daughters." Tom suddenly looked at her with great interest, knowing that Ravenclaw's head of house, Juliet Ravencall was descended from Rowena Ravenclaw. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd fount one of Hogwarts' other heirs without even meaning to.
"I'm Tom Riddle," he said, offering his hand. The girl shook his hand and said it was a pleasure meeting him. He assumed she was only being polite.
"Well, my name is Moody, Alastor Moody," the other boy said. He didn't say anything other than that for the entire ride.
Once they arrived at the castle, they were greeted by the deputy headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The man had auburn hair, a long beard and bright blue eyes that twinkled merrily in the candle light. He briefly explained the house system to them and then led them into the great hall. All the first years followed him through the hall until they came to a halt near the teachers' table, in front of a three-legged stool, upon which was placed a ragged old wizard's hat. Within seconds, all the nervous students, as well as many of the more confident ones began to whisper amongst themselves about what the sorting would be like. "What do we have to do," wondered a boy next to Tom. He had dark red hair and freckles and was accompanied by another boy who was apparently his twin brother. "Virginia told me it was some kind of test, but how's a hat going to test us?" The boy asked his twin.
Tom vaguely inferred that Virginia must be an older sister or cousin, before he turned to the pair of redheads and explained, "It's not a test. All we do is put the hat on our head and it looks at our personalities, and then puts us in one of the houses." Proud that he had learned that on his own and not been taught it by Marius, Tom added, "I read that in 'Hogwarts: A History'." Then he turned back around to face Professor Dumbledore, who unrolled a long piece of parchment and began reading students names from it, calling them up to be sorted.
"Black, Orion," was the first new student to be sorted. He had black hair that seemed slightly wild and blue eyes. He approached the stool and sat down with no apparent nervousness. It was obvious that he knew where he would be put. The barely touched his head when it shouted, "Slytherin!" The students at the furthermost table on the left (from the perspective of Tom, who was facing the teacher's table) all applauded. Drusilla McNair and a second year boy who looked like he was Black's brother were cheering with extra vigor.
The next student to be called, "Bennet, Douglas," was put in Hufflepuff, as was, "Bones, Amelia."
"Boot, Aaron," joined Ravenclaw, followed by, "Chang, Raymond."
"Duval, Heather," after two minutes, was placed in Gryffindor, while her sister, Melanie was a Ravenclaw.
"Edgecombe, Georgia," became a Hufflepuff. So did "Fig, Christopher."
"Lestrange, Julian," was sorted into Slytherin.
"Lockheart, Bianca," became the fifth Hufflepuff.
"Longbottom, Barry," proudly walked over to his new house table after the hat declared that he was a Gryffindor.
"Lovegood, Lawrence," was put in Ravenclaw.
"Lupin, Jonathan," was put in Gryffindor.
"Macmillan, Caleb," was placed in Hufflepuff.
"MacNeil, Augusta," was placed in Gryffindor.
Lucretia Malfoy, who was Marius' cousin, and another girl, "Marillier, Amanda," were both sorted into Slytherin.
"McGonagall, Alexander," joined Gryffindor, where he was welcomed warmly by his sister, who looked like she was in either third or fourth year.
Alastor Moody, the boy who had been in Tom's boat, was sorted into Slytherin. Another set of twins, "O'Rourke, Emma," and "O'Rourke, Erin," were both placed in Gryffindor.
A boy who appeared to be from India, "Patil, Riu," was sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Pettigrew, Allan," a terrified boy of small stature, who bore remarkable resemblance to a mouse (a/n: mouse, not rat), scampered over to the Hufflepuff table as soon as the hat was removed from his head.
"Pince, Irma," who, in great contrast to Pettigrew was tall and calm was surprisingly also sorted into Hufflepuff.
A very pretty, but serious looking girl with straight, ebony hair and onyx eyes, whose name was, "Prince, Eileen," was placed in Slytherin.
"Riddle, Tom," Professor Dumbledore called. Shakily, Tom came forward and sat on the stool. The hat was put on his head and he listened to its muttering with a great deal of nervousness.
'Hmm. You're one of the tricky ones, tike the Duval sisters and that Prince girl. You're very intelligent; you're far ahead of most of your peers in that department. You are certainly brave, as well as nearly fearless. The only things you seem to fear are death and fear itself. Ah, you're quite cunning and above all ambitious. Now let me see." The hat mused silently for a while and Tom began to wonder what on earth was taking so long. He was positive it had been more than four minutes since the hat had been placed on his head. 'You'd never make a good Hufflepuff,' the hat continued, 'Your loyalty and trust are not too easily given. You could do well in Gryffindor, but you're not as rash or open as most of the students in that house, so I don't think you'd enjoy it there. Just judging by your personality, I'd say that you'd do equally well in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but something about you, something in your blood weighs more in favor of Slytherin. Yes, you will do very well there and I expect that you'll accomplish great things.' The Hat seemed to have finally made up its mind and proclaimed, "Slytherin!"
Tom nearly fainted in relief and he barely managed to walk steadily as he rushed over to the Slytherin table and took a seat between Marius and Alastor Moody. The rest of the sorting went by rather quickly, now that he wasn't the center of attention. "Trelawney, Kassandra," was put in Ravenclaw. "Umbridge, Dolores," an ugly, toad-like girl with a sickly pink ribbon in her hair was, much to Tom's displeasure, sorted into Slytherin. "Warren, Penny", "Weasley, Michael", and "Weasley, Patrick," all joined Gryffindor house. The very last student to be sorted was a shy, pretty girl by the name of, "Zabini, Ariana." As Tom later found out, she was betrothed to Marius. She joined the Slytherin table, sitting next to Marius' cousin, Lucretia. Then Professor Dumbledore put the sorting hat and stool away and the Start of the Year Feast at last began.
(Spring, three years later)
"You can't do it Riddle," Drusilla McNair drawled, "You won't raise your wand against another mudblood." Tom grit hid teeth, but refrained from hexing her.
"I can do it. And I don't appreciate the use of the word 'another'. I don't consider myself a mudblood. I'm a halfblood and the magic half is so pure that it practically cancels out my father's worthless blood," the irate fourth year shat back.
"Oh really?" McNair smirked and said, "Go ahead and hex Andrew Sanderson. I dare you."
"Sanderson? He's only a first year, that's not fair. Why not Warren, she's a mudblood, she's in my year. It would be a fair fight," he argued.
"Fair?" Drusilla repeated him and looked around at the rest of the group. "Fair? I think the sorting hat meant to put Riddle in Hufflepuff." The group, which included Dorian and Orion Black, Julian Lestrange, and Dolores Umbridge, snickered at this comment. McNair continued, "See. What did I say? He won't do it. I bet he's a muggle sympathizer too, after all, his daddy was a muggle," she mocked.
"I can do it," the Tom declared loudly, tired of being bullied by members of his own house.
"Prove it then," his antagonizer said, crossing her arms and continuing to smirk condescendingly.
"Fine," he all but growled as he pulled out his wand and stalked over to the group of Gryffindor first years that were congregated around a nearby tree. "Sanderson," he called, imitating the worst bullying tone he could muster, which actually could quite easily rival McNair's.
"Who, me," the first year stuttered.
"Yah, you, the mudblood with the mousy brown hair, I was just wondering how some one like you got into this school. I know a squib that has more magic than you do." Tom taunted the first year Gryffindor, hoping the kid would say something back. Then he wouldn't have to feel so bad about hexing him. Luckily for Tom's conscience, the boy's Gryffindor bravery, or as some called it, Gryffindor stupidity kicked in.
Sanderson straightened his back and steadied his voice before saying, "I'm not afraid of you, Riddle. You and your slimy Slytherin friends are all talk and no action. I don't know where you get off trying to pick on me anyway. I might have muggles for parents, but at least I have parents."
Suddenly, Tom decided he no longer had qualms about hexing the younger student. His conscience was blessedly silent as he pointed his wand at the boy, fully prepared to hex him. Before he could say the incantation however, an older, female voice demanded furiously, "Riddle, what do you think you're doing? Ten points from Slytherin for threatening another student, a first year no less."
"Go right ahead and take the points," he sneered. "I'm friends with the Slytherin and Ravenclaw prefects. They'll just give them right back." He smirked at the older girl, who had hazel eyes and black hair that was pinned up in a bun. She glowered at him for a moment before she turned to the little boy Tom had been picking on.
"What did he say to you, Sanderson?"
"He called me a mudblood and said he knew a squib that had more magic than me," Sanderson answered, unashamed. The head girl was a seventh year from his own house, no to mention one of the best duelists in the school, so he wasn't worried anymore. If the Slytherins tried to pick on him, she would make sure they stopped.
When she heard what Sanderson had been teased about, she was outraged. "How dare you," she exclaimed furiously to the fourth year Slytherin in front of her. "Picking on him for being muggleborn, were you? What a bleeding hypocrite you are, Riddle. You go around bulling people who aren't purebloods just to cover up the fact that you're a halfblood." This infuriated Tom enough, but what she said next made him see red. "And not only are you a halfblood, but you're a BASTARD halfblood!"
Enraged, he pointed his wand at her and practically hissed, "Corporis ardeo!" The burning curse hurtled toward her, but with her quick reflexes, which she had gained from playing Gryffindor Seeker since her second year, she moved to the left and the spell missed her by inches.
"Impedimentia," she threw back at him.
"Protego. Expelliarmus. Impedimentia. Petrificus Totalus. Corporis Ardeo. Sectumsempra," he fired in rapid succession. She dodged all of them except the burning curse, which hit her near the collar bone, and the cutting curse, which left a deep gouge on her side.
"Homo rana verto," she incanted. He ducked the curse and just narrowly missed being turned into a frog.
"Serpensortia," he hissed. A snake appeared in front of him, but before he could order it to attack her, she countered.
"Evanesco," she shouted. Then she went on the defense again. "Avis transmuto." The spell hit him before he had a chance to counter it and he was transfigured into a bird. Quickly she aimed at his flying form and said, "Includo in ferrum." A heavy iron cage materialized around the bird and gravity sent it plummeting to the ground. Just before the cage made impact with the ground, the hazel-eyed witch added, "Wingardium Leviosa." She lowered the cage to the ground. Satisfied that he wasn't a threat at the moment, she took the time to perform a temporary healing spell on herself so that she wouldn't suffer too much from blood loss. In doing this, however, she was reminded that he had dared throw two potentially deadly curses at her and she was filled with a new fury. She pointed her wand again before saying, "Violo ala sinestra." The bird in the cage let out a screech of pain as its left wing was broken. The headgirl was prepared to break his other wing –a wing for each of the two curses he could have nearly killed her with- , when suddenly Professor Ravencal appeared.
"Miss McGonagall, what in Merlin's name is going on? You are covered in blood and you have what I'm guessing is a second degree burn!"
"I got into a fight with Tom Riddle," Minerva answered honestly.
"Well, where is he now," questioned the divination teacher. Minerva simply gestured toward the bird cage. Ravencall's eyes widened and she sputtered, "You didn't- you wouldn't- McGonagall, please tell me that is not Mr. Riddle."
"It is," the Gryffindor admitted.
"Well, let him out of the cage and turn him back," Ravencall ordered, "Immediately."
With a sigh, Minerva pointed her wand at the cage and said, "Claustra evanesco," banishing the cage, and then, aiming at the 'bird', "Ad forma homo reverto." An instant later Tom Riddle was once more in his natural form, kneeling on the ground, clutching his broken left arm.
"I can't believe that you two would so something so foolish, especially you, Miss McGonagall. You are the headgirl. You are supposed to be setting a good example for other students." The head of Ravenclaw declared, "I'm brining you both to the hospital wing, but the instant Mister Pomfrey (a/n: Poppy Pomfrey's father) is has finished healing you, you are both going to speak with your heads of house about this."
"Slughorn won't let you get away with this," Tom whispered viciously to the headgirl as both of them followed the professor up to the castle.
"Honestly," Minerva replied with a victorious smirk, "I couldn't care less what your precious head of house does because nothing is going to change the fact that I just kicked your ass."
Sorry this was sooooo long. In Microsoft word, it's about twenty eight pages. It's the longest chapter I've ever written. Did you appreciate the fact that it was McGonagall who hexed the out of Tom? Or are you more amused with the fact that fifty four years later, she would use almost the exact same line on the fake Prof. Moody as Ravencall used on her? Questions to ponder: What is Heather Duval's married name? What happened to Marius' brother, Octavian Terrence Malfoy? What is Drusilla McNair's married name? YOUR OPINIONS: If I were to bring one character who actually is dead back to life, who would it be, and why (you don't have to answer the why part): Dumbledore, Sirius, Lily, James, Melanie, or no one? That question is important! Please take the time to answer it!