Disclaimer – I do not own any fictional character.

Legilimens-Chapter 8

A stern faced teacher who introduced herself as Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Someone Harry made a note to avoid at all costs. She had good mental shields and did not linger much, but he did detect a second conscious, an animal one that was subdued. He surmised she was an animagus, and instantly received some information about her being a cat animagus, furthering his need to avoid her. A girl with bushy hair was speaking non-stop about what she read about Hogwarts, making others near her look uncomfortable. Someone needed to teach her about keeping things to herself. Weasely was shivering and soaked in water. Somehow McGonagall missed it and now he would be sorted all wet thought Harry amused. Neville was further along chatting with a red haired girl he did not know about. Feeling Harry's eyes on him Neville waved and resumed his chatting; Looked like someone had a crush. Harry had already decided the house he would be in and hopefully he would be able to coerce the hat to place him accordingly, Boy! It would definitely cause mayhem. He hoped to catch people off guard and avoid Dumbledore's little red haired minions, not that it would take much time for Dumbles to plant minions in other houses, that being said if he already did not have any. Harry had great respect for Dumbledore; he was like a Politician, a Scientist, a Warrior, and a Teacher, all packed in one, a jack of all trades if you will. Not to mention he was a master at Alchemy, Transfiguration and Battle Magics, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of Hogwarts and many more things that were not mentioned. Behind his Grandfatherly act was a man who achieved what he desired, there was no place for failure. Yet Harry felt rather excited to go against him, to ruin his plans to bring that man down and build himself on his ruins. It was ambitious and something that had not been done, many had tried and failed, Tom being one of them.

Soon enough the Ghosts drifted inside the - "firstie containment chamber"; seemingly not noticing the frightened first years. It was one of their yearly activities of entertainment, spooking the first years, since no one ever was spooked by them other than first years. No one paid attention to them either, Tom had recognized the mistakes made by wizards and learnt a lot from ghosts. Just show them some attention, talk to them a bit and hundreds of years of knowledge could be gained, lost knowledge, secrets and what not. The ghosts were good lookouts too if you could bribe them. They were undetected; not that anyone paid them attention, but could easily eavesdrop on important conversations. Tom had used their services to avoid ambushes set up by some pureblood princes that did not like being upstaged by a mudblood second year.

The ghosts soon left them alone, having had their fun and the door towards the great hall was opened. What a cruel way, first spooking the first years then exposing them to the whole school.

Ah!, the great moment of doom had finally arrived, now he would be confronting old Dumbles, well not confronting, more like seeing him in person after about 9 ½ years. Old bastard sure f**ed up his life; Harry would make sure he paid for it. There sat the twinkle eyed tyrant with his ever annoying condescending smile that made everyone feel inferior and yet never made it seem like it was on purpose. Soon enough Harry could feel his eyes on him, and Harry suddenly felt nervous, he knew that in a straight out fight Dumbledore would wipe him out in straight five seconds; hell those five seconds would be those in which he decides exactly what he wanted to do. In hindsight Harry thought it was a good thing that he was nervous, helps when you want to appear normal. The other firsties were nervous due to their sorting; he was nervous due to a different reason.

Dumbledore all the while watched as the first years lined up and entered the great hall, he sought out the people of interest, he may not be Slughorn but he sure knew how to manip..Err… motivate little children to side with the LIGhT. After all it was his job to ensure that his little followers-to-be were shown the right path. Children were the future after all and it was a good thing that he got his paws...errr…hands on them. A little smile there, a gentle reprimand there, sometimes blatant ignorance to some mistakes made by students brought them firmly in his grasp. They were so awed by his mere presence that many higher brain functions simply shut down. They never knew how he knew things that he ought not to know about, yet sometimes he helped them escape, with very little punishment.

These small favors then added up to make up big debts, debts he made sure to collect later sometime. But this year was different, this year a first year of special interest, had arrived at Hogwarts. He peered at all the first years that were too awed by the decorations of the great hall and had yet to notice the staff table all of whom were watching the new students with interest. But the one he was most interested in was there with an air of confidence that he wasn't sure he like much. Harry Potter was there looking healthy as one must be, this was not as good as he hoped, the child was not malnourished, he looked charismatic even as an eleven year old. Was it slight shade of red in his hair?, but suddenly his demeanor changed slightly he too looked nervous, and it made Albus smile, nothing too out of ordinary, maybe he was having a rebellious streak and early puberty, his relatives may not be that strict with him perhaps but their job was to make sure to keep Harry ignorant and guide him to hate the muggle world. It would make sure that Harry found his only friends in magical world and was ready to die for them and did not run away to muggle world. Albus had no doubt that if Harry Potter chose to run away there won't be a way for him to track him easily. Harry needed to be taught magic, he needed to come to Hogwarts and he needed Albus Dumbledore to guide him towards his destiny. The Weasely boy by now must have made sure along with Hagrid that Harry knew to be in Gryffindor, where he would befriend Weasely, later visits to their home at summer would be good way to make him feel loved and a part of family. Molly was not someone evil but she needed money, money for education of children which her family could not afford, but he being the Headmaster waived their fees off. Sure they could be sent to other schools in the Isles but like all parents, she wanted the best for her children. The twins had enraged the old Hag Muriel who was going to pay for their tuition fee further trapping the Weasley's in his net of debts. He had long ago recognized that debt in money was something people either did not pay or paid in money, but he being the kind hearted good man he was never set up a contract for money, never asked for it either, he merely offered a place for the children at Hogwarts. Now they would sometime run minor errands for him and would feel honored to do so. He gave them the honor of introducing Harry Potter to the light, something Molly saw no wrong in. He merely spun a tale of Hagrid forgetting to mention the way to 9 ¾ and asked Molly to guide Harry to platform and be subtle about it. Their son Ronald was an idiot, but not idiotic enough to miss the opportunity of becoming Harry Potters first friend. He did not need legilimency to see the plans forming in his head when he knew that Harry Potter was living with muggles and was going to meet them at station. A small touch of legilimency while bidding him goodbye and looking forward to see him at Hogwarts next year, he quickly ironed out the details in the boy's impressionable mind, although he admitted the original plan wasn't half bad either.

With a nod to Minerva he signaled the start of sorting.

Harry watched with interest the staff that had changed completely since Tom was student. Only Dumbles remained, he could see some gears turning in Dumbles head, or maybe not; old Dumbles was too difficult to read that easily

He almost did not pay attention to the sorting of the red head girl's friend Neville was chatting with. Bones, yeah that's what her name was, really what was next? She would be marrying LONGBOTTOM, Harry snickered, yeah they would name their child as "femur", weird name all these people have, he thanked heavens he did not have a weird name.

So lost was he in his musing that he almost missed the glances Tonks was giving him, feeling her eyes on him he smiled and waved, Tonks turned nearly as pink as her hair which was saying something and her Hufflepuff friends were eyeing her curiously.

Soon enough Granger, "the girl with little common sense, who lacked social skills" was called and surprisingly turned out to be Gryffindor, he did not know how it happened, it had to be a mistake the girl was Ravenclaw material; she was typical Ravenclaw stereotype of a bookworm who lived under a rock. Oh well, not that it mattered now.

Some sorting later it was "Bad-Faith's" turn to be sorted and it seemed that he was sorted without touching the hat. Neville had previously been sorted to Gryffindor, he wanted Hufflepuff but it seemed that his grandmother's glare was enough to change his mind.

Soon enough it was Harry's own turn to be sorted and amongst the whisperings and mutterings, basking in the looks of awe, a few glares and some smiles he marched forward and the hat was put upon his head.

"Well hello Mister Potter or should I say Mister Riddle."

"Cut the crap Adrien, you know as well as I do that it is neither, for all purpose I am Harry Potter for the world. Not the old Harry Potter that was born, neither am I possessed, I am a "We" that you now know since I have let you enter my mind."

"Then shall I call you Riddle-Potter?" the hat asked amused.

"If it helps you entertain yourself for another year, do as you like although you need not be explained to keep things to yourself. by the way if I was replaced by Neville , would you call him RiddleBottom, or maybe RiddlesBottom, hmm?" the hat and the boy shared a silent laugh.

"That I understand Mister Potter, I do indeed. Young Thomas once tried to read my memories in search for knowledge and family secrets. He never did succeed, although it left him frustrated, one of the few things he set his mind about and failed. "

"Did he? I do not know all his life as you now know; no doubt you snooped in the sealed memories too, did you not."

"that I did, a smart hat such as myself needs to do something since ungrateful children such as yourself do not value me and I am left to rot, hearing Old coots, devising evil little plots and their flaming turkeys singing them to sleep. Now where do I sort you Mister Potter, you have great ambition to mold the world in your design, you are courageous enough to execute the most insane plans, you thirst for knowledge, although you strive to apply it and not collect it, yet you thirst for it after all. And you do not fear hard work, as long as it is interesting you do it yourself. Not to mention you are perhaps the most accomplished person in mind arts, better than Rowena and Salazaar at thrice your age. You are loyal but selectively to those who you want to be friends with, yet you do not want friends for merely friendship, you could care less for those that do not interest you or are not a part of your plans. But still you are a mother hen; those who are in your schemes are considered your responsibility. Any founder would have been proud to have you."

"Again cut the crap stupid hat, you know where I want to go and sort me accordingly. We have taken more time than others."

"Very well Mister Potter if you wish so who am I to deny. Better be-"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

Smiling Harry took off the hat and made his way to dumbstruck table clad in yellow and black. They had not made a sound until he approached them. Poor puffs never got enough glory, now Harry Potter himself graces them with his presence. Suddenly applause erupted from the house of badgers; they got "The Harry Potter" after all. Who would have thought that Harry Potter would be a Hufflepuff, the house of Nobodies? Yet here Harry Potter sat amongst them, perhaps they would be more appreciated now that they had someone who would bring them to spotlight. No one ever thought that Harry Potter would go to any house other than Gryffindor. The Gryffindors were stunned, Harry Potter had betrayed them, and after years of anticipation he emerges to the magical world from hiding only to join the house of losers. Maybe he was not so special after all; well they did not care much about it. He went to house of losers and that was all that mattered. The Slytherins were surprised, they did not expect Potter to join them, it would have been suicide when half of the members of their house had some family member imprisoned or atleast tried for being associated with the Dark Lord. Many had lost a lot of money, many pureblood families had invested in the dark lord, if not outright join him. They all lost a good amount of money, not to mention the bribes they had to give to erase their involvement. But Potter not being a Gryffindor would bear watching, maybe he was a Slytherin who was not sent by hat to Slytherin, it mattered little to those who were neutral to politics, but those who were all for pureblood supremacy soon made plans to watch him carefully, maybe he could be a leader they needed, even if he lived with muggles, his interview did hint towards a little dislike of muggles. Many upper years that did not care about blood but were afraid to voice opinions held hope, maybe Potter would be the leader to end all prejudice. The Slytherins did not like being discriminated, who did? How could eleven year old children be considered evil? They were taught either to keep their opinions to themselves or that they were superior. Many understood later when their understanding expanded that it was not so. But till then they were already alienated.

The house of claws tried to read Harry Potter who was smiling and looking around, he reminded them of Dumbledore. But what was Harry Potter doing with the Puffs? Rumors were that Harry Potter was taught advanced magic, though they doubted it after the interview, they still thought he would know at least up to second year material and hence he would either be a Gryffindor or maybe due to his knowledge a Ravenclaw. It was still speculated that he was taught in advance and was merely saying he lived with muggles.

While all these thoughts ran, Harry was rapidly scanning people from each table, those he could read the surface thoughts of, and memorized the faces that could come to use later.

Meanwhile at the Staff table, Albus Dumbledore behind the benign smile was frowning, the Potter boy should have gone to Gryffindor, where he would have been easier to control. Having a Weasley as a friend would have furthered his influence. No matter, he would have to arrange someone in the house to guide Harry. There was one Nymphadora whose father he had aided to get a job. Although he was the sharper one of the Tonks couple his wife being pureblood worked as solicitor and he was her assistant. But they were solicitors and would see through his manipulations. Harry did not know about his wealth and he was sure if he knows it later when he was set on the right path he would use it for the greater good.

Then there was Bones in same year as him, that was not good, the girl would contact her aunt Amelia Bones, who being a politician same as him could use Harry to her own ends. She could get dirt on him; perhaps it was time to arrange an accident for Amelia Bones. If the girl was harmed she would have his hide, and the girl had a good chance of getting hurt since Albus had set up plans that involved Harry confronting Tom.

The only option remained the Macmillan boy, but the boy was not smart enough to be the second best, he would try to assert dominance on Harry, which was not something he required in a proper hero. Ronald had fit the role. Maybe Ronald would join Hufflepuff, but the Hat was stubborn and very strong to be manipulated; not that he did not try, but he could not damage a founder's artifact while he was the headmaster and the hat was in his care. Oh, how he would have loved to burn the obnoxious hat.

Soon enough the Sorting was resumed, but McGonagall looked like she had swallowed a live fly, Snape was frowning, Flitwick remained neutral and Sprout was absolutely delighted. Surprise and delight evident on her motherly face.

After Zabini was sorted to Slytherin the HeadBastard stood up, arms open wide as if nothing could have pleased him more. "Yeah right! More brains to corrupt, more subjects to spread his influence upon was more like the reason Dumbles was pleased about." thought Harry.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

In a sweeping gesture from the headmaster the plates were filled with food, many first years looked up to him with awe. Some upper years too were awed with the "Wandless Magic" shown by headmaster. It was merely showmanship by him and the food could not be conjured, those who had not read the laws were awed by him. Later they would realize that it was not conjured, but most would forget about it, yet the feelings of awe do not go away. Dumbledore had with a small gesture started sowing seeds in their minds. He had started cementing his place in young impressionable minds.

This was difference that Tom never could bridge between himself and Dumbes, Tom was considered a prodigy but Dumbledore had by then cemented his position of a Divine entity.

Sensing Nymphadora eyeing him he waved at her, many of her peers soon started questioning her about knowing Harry Potter. Harry had yet to discern her motives, but her antics amused him and he did not feel any bad vibes from her. Sure she had some hidden agenda, but then again who did not? Most people he would be friends with would first try to be friends with him because of his fame. Still his parents trusted her parents since he did see himself in her memories, just flashes of it that she remembered.

At other end of table the Fat Friar was chatting with some upper years. He would have to somehow gain his trust. Ghosts were useful, somehow Tom knew the Ravenclaw ghost but he had yet to gain those memories, and somehow those memories did not come to him even if he thought about it. He had yet to encounter something else about which Tom knew and yet he did not get the information. Tom had locked those memories away, why he did not know, but he knew that there was a good reason. He knew that Tom did not have any bad intent, for all sense and purpose they were now one, He was not completely Harry, and neither was he Tom.

IF those memories were hidden, they were better that way.

He glanced sideways and the redhead girl blushed, being caught watching him. He introduced himself to his fellow first years, and soon conversation started. He had recited and practiced a lot of lines, his background story that Dumbledore created of being raised by muggles, being ignorant. If he played his cards right, those around him would take it unto themselves to get him acquainted to magical world and he would soon drop the mask of ignorance. Macmillan was reciting the story of THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED to Justin Finch-Fletchley who was now looking at Harry in wonder. Some older years were eyeing him as if measuring him up. A fourth year name Cedric Diggory introduced himself to him and other first years.

Soon enough the feast was over and Dumbledore after a not so subtle hint of something being hidden in the third floor corridor, and a horrendous song that Dumbledore called music, bid them goodbye.

Harry wondered whether Dumbledore amused himself by making others sing the song and then appreciated it in front of others. Maybe it was due to the fact that no one contradicted him about the song being lame; he got some silly pleasure that he was challenging others – "LOOK I CAN MAKE YOU ALL EMBARRASS YOURSELVES AND YOU CANNOT DO A THING TO STOP ME".

It was eerily similar to Vernons boss who loved to crack lame jokes and Vernon had to laugh along with him all the while groaning inside. The boss obviously knew that those jokes were not funny but was rather amused because people had to laugh at them, so as not to anger him. In short he enjoyed having power upon others. It was like- " I am Dumbledore, I will do as I want."

Maybe if someone did object about the song, he would go all TWINKLE EYED and say – "MY boy not tolerating others is the first sign of darkness." although twinkling eyes, horribly colored clothes with stars and moons along with half moon spectacles and inconveniently long beard were the first sign of darkness in Harry's opinion.

What better way to appear innocent than to act like a fool and a stereotyped genius with huge number of eccentricities and an act that would put the best actors to shame.

Harry got up and followed the prefect guiding him and others to their common room.

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A.N:-Firstly I would like to apologize for my long absense. I got sick and then exams…

Tom is completely merged with Harry, he did not have any other option, Harry would have died due to exhaustion due to wrongly timed accidental magic. So Tom being the intelligent being he is chose to merge rather than completely destroy himself. He feared destruction and did not wish to know what happened on the other side, especially since he was a piece compared to others who moved on and were complete.

While the original soul piece would have been anchored on due to other horcurxes, he the accidental horcrux would have moved on.

Tom then sketched up a rough schedule for Harry to learn, what he deemed important and felt lacking when he reached Hogwarts.

No one whispers in his mind, not yet anyway. I am giving away something, but yes, the older Tom would somehow communicate with Harry at a later date, how he does it after completely merging is a surprise.

As for BASHING, Harry merely disliked Ron after scanning him ( he does not find invading privacy as morally wrong, just a precaution to look out for himself.), neither is Dumbledore bashed. Ginerva on the other hand maybe bashed, or rather used by harry (not that way!), but rather as what Bellatrix is to Tom, who does not want a fangirl who would do anything if you pay her attention.

If you avoid her she might try something idiotic, like potions. But if you made friends and then showed small bits of affection, you would get them to do what you want.

thanks to all those who reviewed

Trying to update from 19 march, but some error on stops me. Well i will update when i can.

if someone has problems updating, in the error message page, change the word "property" to "content" and press enter. Hope it helps till they fix it.