Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all rights to it belong strictly to J.K Rowling.
I am simply having fun with my imagination.
...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 where he'd started...
CHAPTER 9: SECOND YEAR
"Today, we will be discussing fluxweed and its many fascinating properties," announced Professor Beery. "Who here can tell me what fluxweed is used for?"
Tom raised his hand in the air almost automatically and Professor Beery smiled at him at once.
"In making the Polyjuice Potion, sir," said Tom.
"EXCELLENT!" beamed Professor Beery . "And how many scruples of it are needed to brew this complicated potion?"
"Sixteen," said Tom, without pausing to think.
"That's right! 10 points to Slytherin!" cried Professor Beery, still beaming. "You have talent, dear Tom. Oh yes, talent indeed."
It was the end of November. The last three months had zoomed on by in the blink of an eye. Tom was still at the top of all his classes and Avery was still clinging on to him. Lestrange was not as keen to hang out with the two of them, which only further fueled Tom's desire to include him in their little adventures about the castle.
As Professor Beery continued on with the lesson, Avery leaned closer to Tom and continued their whispered conversation.
"So when do you want to sneak out?"
"Later," said Tom from the corner of his mouth.
"I want to know now!"
Tom gave him a threatening look which made Avery back away immediately. He steered clear of Tom for the rest of the lesson, and did not walk out of greenhouse 3 with him, nor did he return to the Great Hall with him at supper. It was only after, late in the evening when everyone was in their common rooms, that Avery finally came to sit with Tom on the couch.
"I'm…s…sorry," he said, looking down at his feet.
Tom did not look up from his copy of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5.
"I d-ddin't mean to upset you."
"Have you heard of this spell, Expelliarmus?"
"Uh, no," said Avery, frowning at the book.
"It is a disarming charm," said Tom. "Let me demonstrate."
He motioned for Avery to stand up. Avery hesitated. Tom glared at him for a few seconds, and then Avery did as he was told. Tom pointed his wand at him and muttered, "Expelliarmus". Avery was thrown backwards a few feet and hit the wall.
He cried aloud in pain. Laughing out loud, Tom sat back down on the couch and continued to read his book. A little while later, Avery joined him on the couch again.
"So, as I was saying, I'm sorry, okay?"
"I don't like it when people don't listen to me," said Tom, coolly.
"Yes, I know," said Avery, feeling ashamed of himself.
Tom looked up.
"We will sneak out tonight. I want to show you the trophy room."
"Alright," said Avery.
"Tell Lestrange to come too."
Avery hesitated.
"I think he has a transfiguration test tomorrow," he said, not meeting Tom's eyes.
"He will come," said Tom.
It was not a question or a demand. It was a fact. He knew that sooner or later, Lestrange would come crawling himself. It was only a matter of time.
Sure enough, that very night, when all the Slytherins had gone off to bed and Tom and Avery were the only ones left in the Common Room, Lestrange came to join them just as they were about to crawl through the portrait hole.
"Hi," he said in a small voice.
"Let's go," was Tom's only response.
They weren't supposed to be out in the corridors at this time of night, and the two nervous boys following Tom were very well aware of this fact as they trotted on behind him.
"WOW!" cried Avery excitedly as he eyed the trophies that Tom pointed at.
"Focus," said Tom, sternly. The two boys stood before him, watching him carefully. "These trophies here are not just pieces of gold and silver with carvings in them. They are representations of triumph and victory. Do you two want trophies like these?"
The two boys nodded vigorously.
"And do you know how to obtain trophies like these?" continued Tom.
"No," said Avery and Lestrange together.
"I do," lied Tom. "And I promise you that if you obey my every command from this day forth, you will be very victorious in life."
"We will win trophies?" said Avery.
"No," said Tom, "You will be victorious. The trophies are symbols for victory. Focus, Avery. Don't be such an idiot!"
Avery closed his mouth and looked at his feet.
"How are you able to promise this?" said Lestrange, narrowing his eyes at Tom.
Tom raised his eyebrows at him and slowly withdrew his wand. Lestrange, noticing this, took a step back.
"Do I need to prove it to you?" said Tom, holding his wand in view of Lestrange.
"No, sir," said Lestrange, gulping.
Tom frowned. Sir. He really liked being called that. It fit.
During the Christmas holidays, Avery, Lestrange, and a few other students from a combination of houses stayed behind. On most nights however, Tom left them to go to the library and continue his search for the Chamber of Secrets. Sure enough, in the Restricted Section, he found out that Salazar Slytherin had built the hidden chamber in 932 A.D and had hidden a monster in it. The monster acted only against those born of muggle-blood. It had been Salazar Slytherin's mission to purge the school of all those who, in his view, were unworthy to study magic.
The more Tom read about this, the more he desired to find this chamber. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not do it. By April, he had put the quest for the chamber on hold, and resumed his search for information about his past. He could not find much information about his mother anywhere…just the reference from Salazar Slytherin's treeline. However, he did find another name that was related to his mother and the years seemed to coordinate as they were not that far apart… Morfin Gaunt. He stored this name in his brain, promising to come back to it.
Tom's second year at Hogwarts had been pretty uneventful and fairly similar to his first year. He continued to excel at each and every one of his subjects, earning hundreds of house points in the process. His teachers praised him continuously…with the exception of Dumbledore, of course. However, Tom was not concerned. Avery and Lestrange were his new mission. They were becoming frightened of him and did everything he told them, which worked perfectly in accordance to his plan. He did not allow them to spend much time with him though. He still enjoyed a lot of time to himself and mostly preferred to operate alone.
Professor Dumbledore continued to watch Tom carefully…in class, during meals in the Great Hall…everywhere. This really annoyed Tom as those accusatory eyes followed him around the halls. From the moment he'd first met Dumbledore, he knew. He knew that Dumbledore was not like the others. A part of Tom was afraid of him, though he did not like to admit this even to himself.
Finally, during the week of break that he enjoyed after his end-of-year exams, Tom made two very crucial discoveries. He'd finally made the connection between Morfin Gaunt and his mother. Morfin had been her brother…his uncle. And he was still alive. This breakthrough was not much, but it kept Tom pleased.
The more important discovery however, was stumbled upon quite accidentally in another book. Tom had become very interested in his ability to speak parseltongue, and he was skimming through a dusty old book called The Slithering One, when he came across a rather odd term…basilisk, it read. According to the book, the basilisk was a fearful creature (a large serpent) whose eye had the ability to kill if it met another's. And then, quite accidentally, Tom caught the name Salazar Slytherin and made the connection right away. The basilisk was what resided in the Chamber of Secrets. The basilisk was the monster that Slytherin had created to get rid of mudbloods. How genius! Tom quickly became obsessed with finding this chamber, figuring out how to open it, and finishing his great forefather's noble work. But seeing as how it was the end of the year, he knew that all of this would have to wait.
No matter, he thought. He had all the time in the world. Unlike his filthy, useless mother, he would never succumb to death quite so easily.
On the last day of term, Tom boarded the Hogwarts Express again and watched as it drove away from the castle he already longed to return to. Great. Another dreadful summer. And now that he had made these new discoveries about his uncle and about the Chamber of Secrets, he had never wanted anything more than to stay at Hogwarts. He had learned so much that year. He knew the International Warlock Convention of 1289 off by heart. He could brew hair-raising potions and swelling solutions in his sleep. He could do a variety of different spells, from tickling charms to memory charms to freezing charms to engorgement charms to severing charms and unlocking charms. Half of this stuff not even his classmates could do.
As the train pulled into King's Cross Station, and Avery and Lestrange waved goodbye to Tom, Tom thought about the events of the year. He wished he had made those two discoveries earlier on in the year. That way, he would have had more time to explore the castle for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He promised himself that that would be his sole mission the following year. As the Heir of Slytherin, it was his duty to continue his forefather's work. Professor Dumbledore though, would make this quite challenging. Tom was sure of it.
Although, finding his relatives was equally as important to him. And wouldn't his forefather want him to take care of them first, before embarking on any great missions? He thought about it hard as he made his way back to that dreadful orphanage and locked himself up in the basement. By evening, he concluded that it would be best to first track them down—find out where they lived—before going ahead to look for the Chamber of Secrets. That was the wiser choice.
Author's Note: Hey readers! I will post the next chapter within the next couple of days. It is called "Third Year" and will feature more of Tom trying to discover the whereabouts of his remaining relatives. There will be parts in Hogsmeade and more moments with Professors Slughorn and Dumbledore. Also, there will be an addition to Tom's, Avery's, and Lestrange's little group.
Enjoy!