Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter and my apologies for the delay in updates. As much as I LOVE this story, I needed a break from all the darkness.
I like to think of this story having 5 parts. The first is Tom Riddle's orphanage/school days, the second is his post Hogwarts and rise to power, the third is the first Wizarding war days when his powers are at their highest, the fourth is his banishment and rudimentary form days, and the fifth is his post resurrection and quest for information/revenge on Harry Potter. We have now reached part 5. As I said, this story will have 50 chapters so there's still a long way to go.
Also, special thanks to Harry Potter Wikia, which has been most helpful with research thus far.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters and rights belong to J.K Rowling. Thanks
...But the body of the boy he had killed, the shiny Triwizard Cup that was a portkey, and most importantly, his nemesis—they had all vanished.
And Tom was left with nothing but the knowledge that he had once again failed to kill Harry Potter...
CHAPTER 35: THE PROPHECY AGAIN
Britain had changed a lot in the thirteen years that Tom had been absent. It is true that when he returned with Quirrell, he had had little opportunity to see anything. And now that no one except for Harry Potter (and no doubt Albus Dumbledore) knew of the circumstances of his return, it was doubtful he would get to see much at all. Yet somehow, Tom felt like a foreigner in his own country. It was as though the wizarding community had collectively vowed to erase him from history. Wizards everywhere feared to speak his name and he was solely known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had achieved his goal, yes, but it did not change the fact that the wizarding community was happier than ever before.
After the events of the graveyard in Little Hangleton, Tom learned that Junior had been kissed by a Dementor, by order of the Minister of Magic. Tom cursed out loud and punished several of his Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse. He was furious to find out this news. Junior had been his absolute favorite the past year, aside from Severus of course.
Tom's Death Eaters brought him back to Nott's old mansion that very same night. He stepped through the main foyer of the empty house and looked around. It had not changed in the slightest. He slowly made his way into the sitting room and stopped at the center of the room. A wave of images swirled before his eyes—Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy dancing across the room on their wedding day, Avery receiving the first of the Dark Marks, Rosier and Rowle playing cards in the corner, the crowd drinking to Regulus Black, Nagini feasting on the remains of the treacherous Orion and Walburga Black, and the scene of the young girl from the half-blood family happily dancing about the sitting room whilst under the influence of the Imperius Curse…the long-lost memories of his dark reign; a previous life that felt as though it had been lived even in Salazar Slytherin's time.
Tom closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air of freedom—of rebirth. It really had been too long; too long had he been forced to live under exile, barely human and powerless, not knowing what lay ahead nor what had happened to his faithful Death Eaters, and unable to get a hold of the boy. It was maddening.
"My lord?" said Nott, who stepped in the room and eyed Tom with concern.
Tom opened his eyes and slowly turned round to look at his main group standing before him. Each of them looked anxious and concerned, and some even scared. Tom smiled.
"It's good to be back."
The summer of 1995 was a glorious one indeed. From what Tom's Death Eaters had gathered, the Order of the Phoenix was back and active. This meant that the boy had indeed alerted Dumbledore of Tom's return. However, the Daily Prophet had turned quite scandalous after Dumbledore's speech early on in the summer regarding the rise of Lord Voldemort. It seemed that now, the Minister of Magic himself was displeased with the Hogwarts Headmaster.
How very tragic, thought Tom the day he read the Prophet article.
Tom made sure to be very productive that summer. He'd instructed his Death Eaters to track down the others and have them come and re-pledge their allegiance to Tom. He'd also sent out a search party for one Igor Karkaroff, whom he really desired to see suffer. But more importantly, Tom contacted a few of the Dementors of Azkaban, and after they turned over to his side, provided them with a job.
His greatest wish was to see the boy who had taken everything away from him suffer predominantly. He knew that he would never be fully satisfied until he saw the boy dead at his own hands, and until he showed the wizarding world this. It had become almost a kind of obsession. And, now knowing that he had thrice failed to dispose of the boy, he concocted a new plan. He would have to return to the source of it all and reflect on where he might have gone wrong and how to further proceed. He would have to hear that prophecy again.
So, while the Dementors went to Little Whinging to seek out the boy and attempt an attack, Tom travelled to Azkaban to pay a visit to a dear old friend.
Augustus Rookwood, former member of the Department of Mysteries and a faithful Death Eater, was quite surprised when Tom dropped by…even more surprised that he was able to do so without being exposed by the Dementors.
"They are our natural allies, Rookwood," said Tom, simply.
Rookwood smiled vaguely but did not offer any conversation. He looked absolutely gaunt and haunted. Azkaban had definitely taken its toll on him.
"I have some questions I need to ask you regarding your former department," announced Tom after a moment's silence.
"I'm listening," said Rookwood in a quiet voice.
"I want to know what its primary focus is."
Rookwood frowned for a moment, trying to come up with an intelligent answer.
"It is the section of the Ministry of Magic that carries out confidential research, my lord," he finally said. "Most of its operations are carried out in total secrecy."
"What kinds of operations?"
"Research on the various mysteries of the world, sir."
"Example?"
"Space, thought, time, death…love."
"Love," repeated Tom.
"Yes," said Rookwood, nodding. "We who work there—or those of us who did, at least—are called Unspeakables because of the confidential nature of the work."
Tom frowned.
"It is said to contain some secret magical objects, is it not?"
Rookwood nodded.
"Back in the 1890s, the department was notorious for conducting time-travel experiments. There is a room that consists of thousands upon thousands of time turners. There is the Death Chamber wherein there exists a veil in an archway that will bring instant death to anyone who falls through it—a fascinating object." Tom nodded in understanding. "There is the Brain Room where there is a tank of encephala that swim in a sort of green solution. They're very highly aggressive and will attack anything that tries to disturb them. There is also the Space Chamber which is simply a dark room full of planets floating in mid-air. This is where we study the aspect of space as it is one of the limits of magic…"
"And what do you know of prophecies?" interrupted Tom.
Rookwood paused, frowning.
"There is a room that consists of millions of records of prophecies . . . they are held in glass orbs and are magically protected."
"Protected how?"
"Well…" Rookwood paused. "The only people who can lift them off their stands are the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecies and the subject or subjects of the individual prophecy, meaning that anyone else who attempts to inspect the orb with their hands will be afflicted with instant madness."
"Interesting..." Tom's voice trailed off.
"M-my lord," said Rookwood, quietly. "Will I see you again soon, my lord?"
"I think not, Rookwood," said Tom, who was now standing up. "But when the time comes, I shall free you all."
"Thank you, my lord, you are kind."
"And look where it has brought me," said Tom, bitterly, before departing from Azkaban Prison.
Later that day, August 2, the Dementors returned to Tom with the news that the boy was capable of casting a Patronus Charm and that they had been unsuccessful in properly delivering the attack.
"The boy will no doubt have been relocated by the Order of the Phoenix by now," Malfoy pointed out.
"Surely," said Tom, softly.
"What else can we do, my lord?" said Malfoy.
"Have you had any luck reviving our old comrades?" Tom asked him.
"Yes, my lord, some," answered Malfoy. "They are expected to arrive tonight."
"Good," said Tom, now turning to face the rest of the room. "For the time being, I want all of you to operate in secret…you may wish to continue using these masks of yours. Continue to gather our old friends but in small numbers. As far as anyone else is concerned, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are deceiving the wizarding world with regards to my return. I would like to keep it that way—not for long, Lucius, only until I see it fit."
"Yes, sir," said Malfoy in a quiet voice.
"Any names of those coming tonight?"
"Some, my lord," said Malfoy, truthfully. "Yaxley, for one, is happy to return."
"Now," Tom added, bitterly. "But only a few months ago, dear old Yaxley hadn't given it a thought. He will be punished of course."
"Yes," said Malfoy. "Greyback will join soon enough, and the Carrows as well."
Tom only nodded at this, his mind still swimming around that untouchable prophecy. He was more determined than ever at getting his hands on it. He was even more eager to locate the prophecy than he was to locate the boy at the moment, because he understood that to locate the boy would be useless without full knowledge of the prophecy. And the longer he searched for the prophecy, the more defenses Dumbledore would set up.
MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM
DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER 'HIGH INQUISITOR'
In a surprise move last night, the Minister of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "The Minister for Magic has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time," said Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic, Percy Weasley. "He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve."
…
"Dumbledore couldn't find anyone so the Minister put in Dolores Jane Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success…"
…
"This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the falling standards at Hogwarts," said Weasley. "The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch…"
…
"I feel much easier in my mind now that I know that Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation," said Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night.
Tom looked up from the paper and gave Malfoy a small smile, which Malfoy, though puzzled at first, quickly returned.
It was late evening on September 9. Tom was reading the Daily Prophet in the sitting room of Nott's old mansion, with most members of his main Death Eater group. Nagini was hissing about the room, minding her own business and Wormtail was lurking somewhere in the corner, keeping out of sight. It had been a quiet summer, as Tom wanted his return to remain a secret for now. The Death Eaters had worked hard at recruiting and were able to get back a lot of Tom's previous followers. Meanwhile, the Potter boy had been on trial for underage magic and was at risk of expulsion when Dumbledore intervened as usual and sorted everything out with the Ministry. Scoffing, Tom returned to his paper.
"Many of us with our children's best interests at heart have been concerned about some of Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in the last few years," he added, "We will be glad to know that the Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation."
…
Rumours abound, of course, that Albus Dumbledore, once Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, is no longer up to the task of managing the prestigious school of Hogwarts.
"Ha!" laughed Greyback, who threw his cards down on the table and sat back in his chair, coolly. Tom grinned at him and then returned to the paper once more.
"I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step toward ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in whom we can all repose confidence," said a Ministry insider last night.
…
"Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost of Cornelius Fudge's office," said Wizengamot elder Griselda Marchbanks. "This is a further disgusting attempt to discredit Albus Dumbledore."
"Wormtail," said Tom, who now set the newspaper down on the table.
Wormtail moved forward on trembling feet and kept his head bowed.
"I want you to find out where Griselda Marchbanks lives," said Tom, coolly. "That will be all."
"Yes, m-m-my lord," said Wormtail before bowing again and hurrying out of the room.
Tom sat back in his chair with his full wine glass and frowned at Nagini who was slithering by around the fireplace at the back of the large room.
"It is a pity that Podmore did not work out," he said, quietly.
"He was not careful enough," said Avery who was sitting near Tom and eyeing the large snake as well.
"I think the question is not whether he was careful enough but whether you all were, Avery," said Tom, with a bit of an edge in his voice. "A wizard who is under the Imperius Curse does not think for himself."
"Yes, sir," said Avery, quietly.
"And none of the others could get past that door, you say?"
"None, my lord."
"Beautiful," said Tom, bitterly.
He pulled out his wand and began to gently stroke it with his long fingers, as he often did when he was deep in thought. Tom tried not to show his fear in front of the others, but he knew deep down that soon, Dumbledore would make the prophecy completely unreachable, for it contained the secret of the boy's existence. It contained all the answers that Tom had sought for 14 years. And as much as he hated admitting it even to himself, Tom knew very well that while the prophecy was hidden, Dumbledore had the advantage on his side.
"My lord," said Avery, clearing his throat. Tom did not look up. "My lord, c-could we possibly try using an Untouchable? Y-you said previously that Rookwood claims only Untouchables can enter those chambers . . . could we lay our hands on one?"
Tom lifted the wand, causing Avery to flinch, but still did not meet his eyes.
"I guess you have work to do for the next couple of months, don't you, Avery?" said Tom, finally.
"Y-yes, my lord," said Avery.
Tom then rose from his seat and headed out to the garden for a little walk. Nagini followed shortly after.
As Tom walked in the dark, he thought back to that strange feeling he'd gotten the night before. It was as though his mind was stretching out against its will. One minute, he was sleeping in one of the bedrooms of Nott's mansion, and the next he was at Hogwarts, on one of the beds in the Gryffindor dormitory. It had been a very weird sensation and even more alarming so that it had occurred by accident. Tom tried to convince himself that it had been due to his lack of sleep in the last few months and his stress and anxiety about that prophecy that holds all the answers. But, even now as he walked along the dark garden with Nagini slithering at his feet, he could not deny that magic was providing him unexpected surprises, yet again.
Note: So as you've noticed, there's a bit of a time jump in this chapter. It begins hours after the events of the graveyard, then jumps through the summer, and ends just as the winter begins. The next chapter (expect update soon) will consist of Tom's first attempt to manipulate his newfound connection with Harry Potter, as well as everything else that happens before the events at the Department of Mysteries.