Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all rights to it belong strictly to J.K Rowling.

I am simply having fun with my imagination.

...Mrs. Cole stared at him for a long time, then got up from her chair abruptly and left the room, shutting the door hard behind her. Smiling slightly to himself, Tom took Hogwarts: A History out from under the covers and continued to read...

CHAPTER 8: BACK AT HOGWARTS

Dear Tom Riddle,

Enclosed, please find a list of the necessary books and equipment to complete your second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as your train ticket. We hope you have had a safe summer and we will see you back here on the First of September.

Signed,

Armando Dippet

Headmaster

Tom stared at the letter that had arrived earlier that morning, his eyes sparkling with glee. About time, he thought. He hurried out of the orphanage and broke at a run to the Leaky Cauldron, without even telling Mrs. Cole. He did not need to ask Tom the barman for help this time. Just the thought of doing that again was revolting. He hated asking people for help.

There were barely any people at Diagon Alley that day. Wizarding families usually started to arrive towards the end of the month, and as it was only August 14, Tom was early. He preferred it this way, though. Clinging onto the money pouch that the Headmaster had attached to his letter, Tom made his way to Flourish and Blotts and went straight for the second-hand pile.

"A little early, aren't you, boy?" said the wizard behind the counter.

Tom ignored him.

Before turning back to him with his finds, Tom paused. Something had caught his eye. There was a whole stack of volumes titled "Standard Book of Spells" (Grades 1-7). Tom looked down at his pile, frowning. He was holding the Standard Book of Spells Grade 2, and he'd bought the Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 last year. Why not buy all of them now?

That was exactly what he did. The wizard behind the counter chuckled to himself as he processed these books, but Tom bought them anyway. He left Flourish and Blotts carrying three heavy bags, and went to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment next. As soon as he stepped into the shop, he froze. Professor Dumbledore was deep in conversation with the witch behind the counter. He turned around at the sound of the door closing with the ring of a bell, and took in Tom's presence for a moment before smiling warmly.

"Hello again, Tom,"

"Hello, professor," said Tom, stepping forwards.

"This is your student?" the witch asked Dumbledore, who nodded.

"Tom here is the smartest in his year."

Tom was a bit surprised to hear this coming from Dumbledore. The entire previous year, he had been the only one of Tom's teachers who had not ever praised him or awarded him for his achievements.

The witch began to help another customer and Dumbledore approached Tom and frowned, though still smiling.

"I'm surprised to see you here this early, Tom."

"I wanted to get my books now so that I could start reading," said Tom.

"That's very responsible of you," said Dumbledore.

"Well, there's not much to do at the orphanage anyway," shrugged Tom.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, thoughtfully. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's no matter," said Tom. "I'll be back at school soon."

Dumbledore turned to leave, and then stopped and looked at Tom again.

"How is Mrs. Cole?"

"She's Mrs. Cole," said Tom.

After Tom had bought all of the things on his list, he went back to Knockturn Alley and visited Borgin and Burke's again. Seemingly, there was nobody in the shop, but he didn't dare stealing anything for he could sense someone watching him. He simply fancied looking at the objects. He'd already picked out a few fascinating ones that he'd be likely to buy once he got his hands on some gold, but for now, he could only just look.

Once he got back to the orphanage, Tom sat down and began studying right away. He studied day and night so that on the first of September, when Mrs. Cole escorted him out of the orphanage and he made his way to King's Cross Station, he'd already read all of his course books, including the entire Standard Book of Spells series. He'd marked the pages of the spells that fascinated him most and made a mental note for himself to try them out just as soon as he was back at Hogwarts.

"TOM!" cried Avery at the sight of him. He rushed to Tom's side and beamed. "How was your summer?!"

"It was fine," said Tom, giving him his bags. "Here, load these onto the train."

"Alright, Tom," said Avery, eagerly.

Tom passed the wizard families bidding farewell to their children and boarded the train alone. Avery found his compartment shortly after the train had begun moving, and was accompanied by Lestrange, who had already changed into his Hogwarts robes.

"My father told me to try out for Quidditch," announced Lestrange.

"That'd be fun," said Avery, and then catching Tom's eye, he straightened up. "Um, I mean…pfft, yeah. Quidditch. You mean, that pathetic game?"

"What's wrong with Quidditch?" said Lestrange, looking more at Tom.

"It's a waste of time," Tom answered him. "Weak people use things like sports and little games to make themselves feel better about their obvious lack of power."

This silenced Lestrange for just about the rest of the train journey. The next time he spoke, it was at the welcome-back feast, and it was to whisper to Avery, "He's a bit…strange, isn't he?"

"You're strange," Avery retaliated.

Tom smiled to himself. Avery had completely surrendered himself to Tom without even knowing it.

After the feast, Kirk the Prefect led the Slytherin first-years back into their Common Room, while Tom and the second-years followed knowingly. Everyone went up to their dormitories, but Tom stayed behind on the couches by the fireplace with Avery, and Lestrange, who didn't really seem like he wanted to be there. Tom stared off into the fireplace. The whole of the green common room looked exactly as it had last year. It was good to be back and finish off what he'd started.