Author's Note: Happy Friday everyone! :) I am so excited for this chapter. Unfortunately, I am very busy at school right now so I was only able to write one chapter for you all, but I hope you still enjoy it and next weekend I will definitely sit down and write many more chapters because I have a week-long break coming up. Anyway, thanks for the support, you are all amazing and I will see you again in one week!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights to J.K Rowling. Thanks.
...and together, they all raised their glasses and drank to their future, which looked, for the moment, to be very, very bright...
CHAPTER 24: NAGINI
As it turned out, Rowle and Nott had been right—Tom was destined for things far greater than pathetic old Hogwarts. It only took a few years' time for him to truly rise up in the wizarding world. By spring of 1968, just three years after Dumbledore had rejected him, Tom had convinced several dozens of werewolves to join his ranks. This was a most difficult task for werewolves were incredibly stubborn creatures. However, these particular werewolves were very impressed with Tom's magical abilities that they agreed even before Tom had to curse them.
Death Eater meetings were now a nightly ritual and nearly always took place at Nott's mansion or Malfoy Manor. The Blacks were not too keen on hosting meetings at their home for their oldest son, now 8 years old, still presented a sort of strangeness Tom associated with weakness. Still, Tom was very fond of the Blacks and had high hopes for their youngest, Regulus.
The Malfoys had also turned out to be very loyal followers. They always knew to say exactly what Tom wanted to hear and follow through with his orders exactly how he presented them. They also presented healthy aptitudes for the Dark Arts and always marveled at Tom's ability to speak Parseltongue. This amused Tom very much.
The rest of the wizarding world was already living in terror, though Tom thought this was nothing yet. People were disappearing weekly at the hands of the Death Eaters and so wizards everywhere feared they would be next. Tom had given specific instructions to his Death Eaters to recruit purebloods only, but there was still fear at every corner of Diagon Alley.
One evening in late April of 1968, Tom sat his Death Eaters down at Nott's mansion for a serious talk.
"I have decided that we shall now target all blood traitors," he declared. The Death Eaters did not seem to comprehend for they sat in silence, all of them looking puzzled. "This means," Tom clarified, "Those witches and wizards of any blood status, who support mudbloods."
"But sir," said Rosier, "There aren't that many pureblood wizarding families. Obviously they interact with muggles. Are we supposed to kill these—"
"Yes, Rosier," said Tom, simply. "You may attempt to persuade them to abandon their beliefs and join our side, but if they are not understanding of our values, dispose of them. It'll be good practice for you."
"Yes, sir," the Death Eaters murmured together.
"Good," said Tom. "Now, I wish to contact a specific wizard whom I know I will not be able to get in touch with quite easily…his name is Horace Slughorn. Some of you may know him for he taught—and still teaches—at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is crucial that I meet with him but unfortunately, our dear old friend Slughorn is never seen anywhere without darling Dumbledore. Therefore, I need you to find a way (I don't care how) to arrange this meeting for me."
"Yes, sir," the Death Eaters repeated, more nervously this time.
The following week, as Tom sat down with little Regulus during another one of his dinner parties and explained the uses of dementors to him, Rosier and Avery burst into the room, each grasping a fighting arm of Horace Slughorn's. Tom quickly stood up and eyed Slughorn carefully. Slughorn, who was too busy fighting his way from the Death Eaters' grasps, did not see him at first.
"We've brought the wizard, sir," said Rosier.
"Thank you," said Tom, simply. "Let him go."
Rosier and Avery let go of Slughorn who straightened up and shot them both dark looks. It was then that he finally noticed Tom standing before him. His eyes widened with shock and his mouth fell slightly open.
"Evening, professor," said Tom, bowing once to him.
The others in the room sniggered at his mock politeness.
"H-hello, Tom," said Slughorn.
He casually placed his hands in his cloak pockets, no doubt clutching onto his wand. Tom was sure that Dumbledore had warned him beforehand.
"My name is not Tom anymore," he told the old man now. "As I'm sure you know, they now call me—"
"Don't—don't say the name!" cried Slughorn. "Please, don't."
"Why not?" said Tom, pretending to look surprised.
"What…w-why am I here, Riddle?"
Tom considered him for a moment, and then glanced at Avery.
"I'd like to speak to Professor Slughorn in private," he told him.
Avery bowed his head and then motioned for everyone to leave the room. Soon, it was just Tom and Slughorn. Tom began to slowly circle Slughorn, who stood with his belly puffed out. His eyes were focused hard on a lamp somewhere in the corner and he was working really hard at avoiding Tom's eyes.
"How are you, sir?" said Tom, casually.
"Fine, thank you," said Slughorn.
"Still working for Dumbledore?"
"Yes, I am."
"Hmm…ever considered leaving that place?"
"And why would I do that?"
Tom stopped to look at him.
"Because I can offer you so much more."
"I…I'm sure I d-don't know what y-you mean," said Slughorn, who was still avoiding Tom's eyes.
"You are a respectable wizard of pureblood status," Tom reminded him. "You were in Slytherin—head of Slytherin house, in fact—and you were my absolute favourite teacher at Hogwarts. I am prepared to offer you a place in my ranks."
"Well, I—"
"Let me explain it to you more clearly," said Tom. "As I'm sure you know, I have travelled a lot these last few years and have gone further in the magical arts than any other wizard in existence. I have experienced and I have conquered. I am very learned in the Dark Arts—thank you, by the way."
Slughorn bit his lip.
"However, I'm afraid I am not quite satisfied just yet," continued Tom. "You see, I plan on…changing the wizarding world forever. I want to remind witches and wizards everywhere of how much they have been manipulated by muggleborns these last hundred decades. I realise that not many will agree with what I am prepared to teach them, and so I will try my best to be—eh, persuasive, if you will."
Slughorn finally met his eyes and frowned.
"You don't understand?" said Tom, simply. "No matter, I will explain. You see, I feel that the only thing worse than a pretend wizard who has muggle blood in their system is a pureblood wizard who condones this and encourages it."
Tom shook his head and chuckled slightly. Slughorn's frown deepened.
"Anyway," said Tom. "What do you say? Would you like to join me?"
"Thank you, Tom," said Slughorn, quickly. "But I'm afraid I am far too old and confused to—"
"You are perfectly fine in my opinion," interrupted Tom, who was no longer smiling. His hands were behind his back and he was staring at Slughorn demandingly.
Slughorn struggled on the verge of speech and fiddled around in his pocket absentmindedly.
"Uh, I'm afraid I must decline your offer at this time," he finally said.
A moment's silence stretched through the room, bringing with it painful strokes of "I TOLD YOU SO" which sounded a lot like Dumbledore. Tom glared at Slughorn, feeling oddly familiar with this situation. Only three years before, Dumbledore had said those exact same words to him.
"This is your final answer, is it?" said Tom.
"Y-yes," said Slughorn, uncomfortably.
"Very well then," said Tom. "You may leave."
"Goodbye, Tom," said Slughorn, and he turned around and crossed the room to the door.
"Wait," said Tom.
Slughorn froze at the door.
"Professor," said Tom, who took a few steps towards him.
Slughorn slowly turned around to look at him again, his face expression overwhelmed with anxiety.
"I want to warn you," said Tom, and he himself was surprised to find that there was no hint of mockery in his concern. "I plan to take serious action from now on… I plan to take over the wizarding world very soon. And when I do, things will become very dangerous for pureblood wizards who defy me or befriend muggleborns."
Slughorn stared at him incredulously as Tom told him this.
"If you refuse to join me," said Tom, very slowly, "Then leave. Leave the country as fast as you can. I will not spare your life again."
Slughorn's jaw dropped.
"A-are you t-threatening m-m-me, T-tom?" he stammered.
"I am merely stating a fact," said Tom. "This is your last chance."
Slughorn eyed him for a long time. Then, he turned around and walked out the door, leaving Tom alone in the room.
By winter of 1969, Tom had made an agreement with the Dementors and they were officially under his leadership. He had gotten to the vampires and the goblins as well and some of them had joined him. His Death Eater numbers were now in the triple hundreds and the Ministry had never been more frightened. Things were happening very fast.
The Death Eaters had been instructed by Tom to recruit at any means necessary. This included manipulation, curses and jinxes, and blackmailing. Most of the time, it worked, but there were the odd cases that refused to give in. And, when the Death Eaters went after them, they learned that they'd been placed under special protection. One example of such a wizard was a man called Arthur Weasley, who had only just left Hogwarts. He was a pureblood who liked to associate with muggleborns and even worked at the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office at the ministry. However, he was now nearly unreachable as there were several protection charms placed around his residence. Tom strongly suspected that either Dumbledore or the ministry were behind this.
Although Tom was growing more followers every single day, he was also losing many of his favourites. The older Death Eaters were dying off or getting killed in battle. Their children though were getting older by the minute and there was already talk at Hogwarts of Slytherin students planning to join Tom after graduation. Tom was sure Dumbledore was more pleased about this than anybody else.
Bellatrix Black had just graduated from Hogwarts with honours and was already training heavily. Her sister, Narcissa, was only in fourth year but no doubt headed in the same direction. Rosier's children were already grown and active in the field. Lestrange's son Rodolphus was also a grown man and looking to marry. Malfoy's kid Lucius was already in his sixth year at Hogwarts and was a Slytherin Prefect just like Rodolphus had been. It seemed to Tom that every one of his Death Eaters' children was following in his footsteps. Just as planned.
On a late Sunday evening in the summer of 1970, Tom revealed his new plan to Avery and Lestrange, who listened carefully. They were meant to convince the trolls of the distant mountains to join the cause. According to Lestrange, the Ministry of Magic had been talking for quite some time about declaring a war on the Death Eaters. They feared that Tom would recruit all manners of dark creatures and that they would be left with nothing. In fact, every other day, the Daily Prophet reported about another group that Lord Voldemort had manipulated. These articles were clipped to the wall in the main room of Nott's mansion for entertainment during their dinner parties.
Things however went downhill from there. In the next couple of weeks, the Ministry of Magic had issued a new decree which allowed its auror office to use any means necessary to capture Death Eaters. Dolohov, Rosier, and Davis were being massively sought throughout the country for they had been discovered to have tortured a half-blood family. Tom provided them with special protective jinxes but they were still too nervous about going out in public and so they spent the next couple of weeks locked up in Nott's mansion.
"Any luck with the trolls?" Tom asked Avery one night.
Avery shook his head.
The two were sitting alone in the corner of Nott's party room. The other Death Eaters were immersed in conversations and drinks, and laughing cruelly at the lifeless form of a mudblood witch who hung by the window.
"They are being stubborn, my lord," Avery explained. "But Rosier and Lestrange are over there right now, trying to persuade them. We will know very soon."
Tom nodded. He stared down at his wine glass for a long time, thinking about Dumbledore and what he must be doing in preparation for the war that was sure to come very soon. Finally, Tom got up and put his wine glass aside.
"I'm going out," he announced, and without waiting for anybody's reaction, he disapparated.
He landed on top of a cliff amongst shallow fields of grass which was slightly illuminated by the moonlit sky. He walked along slowly, whispering to himself in Parseltongue, as he did whenever he was alone. He had a very strong feeling that Dumbledore was out to get him. He felt that Dumbledore was planning something big to oppose him. He'd never liked or trusted Tom—it would be crazy to assume that he'd sit back and do nothing while Tom took over the world.
"You are right," hissed a voice.
Tom paused and looked down at the ground. A large green snake, larger than any he had ever encountered before, was slithering right at his feet.
"And you are?" he asked it.
"I am agreeing with you," she answered.
Tom frowned at her. No snake he had ever encountered had spoken with him so fearlessly. Usually, they addressed him as master or sir. None were comfortable with talking to him openly.
"Where do you come from?" Tom asked the snake.
"Crystal Cave," the snake answered.
Tom froze. It was the same cave where he had hidden one of his horcruxes—Slytherin's locket. It was the same cave where he had come many times as a child and had threatened muggle children. Could it be that he had spoken to this snake before?
"Nagini," he said in a low voice. "Your name is Nagini."
"So it is," answered the snake.
"And you will be mine."
"Will I?" she hissed as she slowly slid up to his shoulders and rested herself there.
"You will," said Tom.
The snake slithered around him in a sort of teasing manner. She really was quite beautiful and daring.
"Well, if you say so," she answered.
Tom smiled. He had not been this happy since he'd retrieved those two Horcruxes from the old hag Hepzibah Smith many years ago.
He brought the snake back with him to Nott's mansion hours later, surprising the Death Eaters who had remained there. They seemed a bit uncomfortable with Tom's new pet but he couldn't care less, for at that precise moment, Nott, Rosier, Avery, and Lestrange burst through the doors, all of them panting hard.
"News?" said Tom, calmly. The party instantly stopped and everyone stared.
"Yes, my lord," said Rosier. "The trolls have agreed. They are on our side."
"Good," said Tom.
"That's not all, my lord," said Lestrange.
Tom waited. The Death Eaters exchanged a few looks.
"The Ministry found out about this, sir," said Avery. "They've…they've declared war. The Ministry of Magic has officially declared a Wizarding War."
Next chapter update will be next weekend and if you haven't already guessed, it will be called "The Wizarding War".
I really look forward to writing it and I promise that chapter will be long :)
Thank you!