Author's Note: So, I did say no more updates for a while, but then I got an anonymous review that told me to update soon, as a while can be anytime from a few months to a few years. I'm not quite sure why, but that review gave me motivation to write my chapter immediately. The length of it is alright, at least longer than the last chapter. Enjoy!
The Experiments of Tom Marvolo Riddle – Chapter 3
Written By YT12J
Harry walked slowly up the stairs, wondering what he was going to do now. He couldn't possibly let Riddle find the location of some secret location, but there wasn't any way that he could stop him. Having been ordered by Moody to pack his trunk, and bring his broom with him as a means of travel, he walked to his trunk, and slowly started to pile things into it.
Suddenly, he heard a soft noise behind him. Turning around immediately, he was greeted with the sight of a smirking Tom Riddle.
"Hurry up and pack your stuff. And as for the invisibility cloak that you own, I'll be taking that for the flight to this 'secure location'. While it may not protect against that Auror, with his magical eye, I can use charms on it that will. I shall extend your broomstick slightly, giving me enough room to ride along with you. Any attempt to throw me off will also be stopped by the curse, so don't even try.
Throughout Riddle's lecture, Harry had almost finished packing his trunk, making sure to extract his cloak, and his Firebolt. For now, he might as well just go through it, not having any idea of how to stop Riddle. He could also somehow sense that the charms were still on Riddle, so nothing would happen if a member of the group from downstairs decided to walk in. He was however curious as to the identity of several of them, as they mostly kept quiet, Professor Lupin and Professor Moody being the only ones to actually speak at all out of them.
As Tom patiently sat on a chair, Harry finished off his packing, and shut his trunk. Turning it upright, he dragged it along with him, his Firebolt in his other hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tom waving his wand over the invisibility cloak, muttering something under his breath. He hoped that he did not do anything permanently damaging to it. Stopping, he decided to wait for Tom, just so that he could observe anything else that the other may do. However, Tom was already finished. He put the cloak around himself, but to Harry's surprise, the cloak just disappeared, leaving Tom perfectly visible.
Obviously Tom must have charmed the cloak so that Harry would be the only person who could actually perceive him, not that Harry was complaining. He would rather be able to keep Tom in his sights, as frustrating as it was to look at him and be reminded of the fact that there was nothing that he could do to get rid of him.
Opening the door, he walked towards the stairs, and began to pull his trunk down. Then suddenly, the trunk was lifted up into the air, and levitated down the stairs. Surprised, he turned around to see Tom, his wand out, and a look on his face that seemed like he was trying not to roll his eyes at him. He jerked his head in the direction of the trunk, and Harry got the message, and turned around to continue walking down.
Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, the trunk was released to the ground, and Harry grabbed it, dragging it along towards the front door. He sensed that Tom was following closely behind.
Once he reached the front door, he set the trunk down in front of Moody, who then proceeded to snatch Harry's broomstick, and to somehow attach Harry's trunk to the end of it with a charm.
Then Lupin spoke up "Harry, we might as well quickly introduce you to the rest of the group before you leave. You already know me and Alastor Moody. This is Nymphadora – "
"Don't call me Nymphadora!"
"This is Tonks, who prefers to just her surname. Also, meet Elphias Doge, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones, and Dedalus Diggle."
Most of the group were nodding at him, but Dedalus Diggle did an excited jump and squeaked "We've met before, Mr Potter."
He could see the curiousness on Tom's face at the apparent eagerness that many of them seemed to show at just being able to meet Harry, though at the moment, he couldn't really care less.
"Anyway, we shall all be riding on broomsticks Harry. You need to stay close to Tonks, and make sure that you don't lose the group."
"If any of us die, Potter, then make sure that you continue heading east, and the rear guard should take over."
"And if you die Harry, then curse Moody with your last breath for jinxing the whole operation just by speaking."
Harry smiled at Tonks, though Moody was currently glaring at her, obviously not as amused as Harry. "Let's head out now. And remember what I said, Potter. Constant Vigilance!"
Tonks rolled her eyes, but Harry nodded, and headed out with the rest of the group. He was glad that he did not have to stay with the Dursleys for the whole summer, though Tom would still be with him, so it would not be much better.
Outside, a shower of red sparks was suddenly visible among the stars. "First signal, mount your brooms." Shouted Moody.
Harry mounted his Firebolt, and when green sparks showed in the sky, Moody screamed for them to kick off. Just before he did, he felt the broom suddenly seem to extend, and he saw Tom mounting it out of the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything, he was already in the air.
While trailing Tonks, he heard a whisper in his ear. "Don't say anything, just casually fly. If you do anything suspicious, then you won't live to regret it."
Harry nodded quickly, and carried on flying, getting extremely nervous. However, he knew better that to attempt anything while they were so high up, even with all the people flying with them.
After what seemed like an age, he saw Tonks flying lower, and followed her down. They eventually landed with the others in a small street, with many grubby looking houses that Harry did not like the look of.
Moody silently passed him a small piece of paper. Confused, Harry took it, and unfolded it. He felt Tom lean over his shoulder to take a look as well. It said:
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
The handwriting he recognized as Dumbledore's. However, he did not understand why he was given the note. Looking up, he could tell that there was no number twelve, just a number eleven, and a number thirteen. And what was the Order of the Phoenix? None of it made any sense.
"Why did you give me this? That house doesn't exist."
Lupin turned to him and said "Think about what the writing on the paper said, Harry."
Harry did, and the results were not what he expected. The houses eleven and thirteen seemed to stretch out, creating another house in between. That house was number twelve. It made sense now; there must have been some sort of charm on the house that stopped anybody from seeing it unless they had the note.
Before he could comment on this, Moody had grabbed the note, and using his wand, set it on fire.
The rest of the group walked towards the house, and, knocking on the door, walked in after somebody opened it. Harry followed them, and could sense Tom following behind him as well.
Inside, Mrs Weasley greeted him. "Oh Harry, it's so nice to see you. I'm afraid that you'll have to go upstairs, we're having a meeting down here and –"
"There's a meeting?" Harry interrupted. "If it's about Voldemort, then I want to be involved Mrs Weasley."
Behind him, he felt Tom tense at the name 'Voldemort'. Harry cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have said that near Riddle.
"I'm sorry Harry, but only members of the Order can attend."
"What's the –"
"Ron and Hermione are upstairs, dear, they'll explain everything dear. Dinner will be served later, so if you're hungry, you'll have to wait a little bit. Your room is on the second floor, first door on the right. I'll call you down once the meeting is over."
Harry just nodded, and walked upstairs, with Tom beside him. He was confused. What was this Order of the Phoenix, and what did they do? Hopefully Ron and Hermione would explain things. And hopefully, Riddle would not be nearby once they did, as it wouldn't be good for him to find out information about some secret meeting.
Pushing the door open, he walked into a bedroom. He was immediately attacked by Hermione, who ran up to him, and hugged him tightly. "Harry, it's so good to see you. We were missing you so badly."
Behind her, Ron was also there. Once Hermione let go, he also came up and hugged his best friend. "Hey mate good to see you. We were worried, and then we heard about the dementor attack. Hermione wanted to walk all the way to Surrey and curse the dementors herself."
Harry smile, and said "Yeah well, it wasn't so bad, though I would have appreciated it if you'd included a bit more info about what was going on in your letters."
Ron and Hermione both looked sheepish, and Tom leaned it to listen more closely. "Sorry 'bout that mate, but Dumbledore made us both not say anything in our letters, just in case they were being monitored by him"
"Still, you could have said something. What is the Order of the Phoenix anyway?" Harry asked, forgetting about Tom.
"It's a secret society that was set up by Dumbledore." Said Hermione. "We don't know much about it, or who the members of it are. They're focused on fighting Voldemort."
However, before he could inquire any further about the Order of the Phoenix, two jets of red light were sent out by Tom. They hit Ron and Hermione, and they both collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Harry turned around, shocked, to see Tom standing there, his signature smirk on his face. Terrified, he hoped that Riddle wasn't going to kill them.
"I think that it's time that some other people were let in on the secret, don't you, Potter?"
Harry just stood there, horrified. He would feel better knowing that other people knew about Riddle, but if they did, then he was able to torture them, otherwise he couldn't because of the risk of being found out. And Harry most certainly did not want them to be tortured.
"Please, don't do this; I don't want them to be tortured as well."
"And what will you give me in return for them being spared, Potter?"
The smirk that Tom wore told Harry that this was the only reason Riddle had stunned them in the first place, to get Harry to cut a deal with him. One that he would benefit from greatly, knowing how much he would probably demand.
"What do you want, Riddle?"
Riddle's smirk widened, and he softly said "Information about the future. Lots of information, especially concerning my future self."
Harry groaned. This wouldn't end well.
Author's Note: I would just like to thank Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter for reviewing twice! And to answer your question, in this story Dumbledore shall be a good guy, though that doesn't mean he'll react pleasantly to seeing Tom in the future, though that won't happen for a while. Please Review!