Chapter Five
The Heir's Inheritance
Tom's POV
Salazar Slytherin was revered as a founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a phenomenal wizard with an unmatched intellect and a prestigious pureblooded pedigree. Many thought of him as an asset to the wizarding community and for years he taught the youth of his generation. But when the wizarding world began changing, Salazar Slytherin remained at a standstill. The other founders wished to introduce muggle born witches and wizards into the halls of Hogwarts. Salazar openly protested this notion, but he was crudely outnumbered. In outrage the Head of Slytherin house abandoned the very school he had helped to build. However, before he resigned as a professor, Salazar left behind his legacy hidden within the walls of Hogwarts. It had taken months of research to piece together just where Tom's inheritance had been stashed. He had spent countless nights following leads only to come to a screeching halt. Then just has he had reached the end of his research, Tom stumbled upon a connection with the second floor bathroom. Some older maps of Hogwarts revealed that the original room had belonged to Salazar himself, but had long since been reconstructed into a bathroom. Upon farther inspection Tom was pleased to find a serpent engraved into the facet of one of the sinks.
Staring impassively into the mirror hung just above that facet, Tom regarded his image disdainfully. He looked just like his father. That nasty stain on his family's bloodline. Tom hated his reflection. He hated the fact that he was that bastard's spitting image. Though begrudgingly he had to admit that his appearance did prove to be valuable at times. Thick tussled, black hair, brooding, dark brown eyes, a fair complexion, and a strong jawline. They were all aspects of his father, but his lips, those belonged to his late mother. They were a pale red, the bottom fuller than the top. Combined all of these features conjured a rather powerful playing card for Tom. A person's appearance boosts their ability to be charming and conceals any hints of a mischievous nature. It was similar to a wolf in a sheep's skin.
Although he loathed his father and the fact that they looked so similar, his looks were the only thing that that damned muggle had ever given him in which had any value. Furthermore, Tom would begrudgingly admit that he didn't particularly consider himself ugly. One had to consider the fact that his mother, who was so entranced by the very same face, tricked his father into giving her his affections through an extremely powerful love potion. Additionally, more than a handful of times he had been referred to as devilishly handsome by the girls he passed in the hallway. Therefore, he must not be an ugly man. After all there were numerous girls who pined over him. He was often repulsed by them. Many of the girls that swooned over him were conceited, obsessed with appearances, and always dimwitted. He didn't much care for such superficial women. Thus he had never made an effort to delve into a relationship. Then came along this opportunity to restore the purity of the wizarding bloodline, of which became a very time consuming project, so the prospect of him even considering a relationship was quickly extinguished. He didn't have time to meddle in trivial things such as girlfriends.
Sitting aside his wayward thoughts Tom reminded himself of why he was standing in the second floor bathroom. Taking a step back from the collection of ornate, stone sinks Tom decided that it was time to unleash his inheritance "Open." He hissed softly in Parseltongue. On his command the sink branded in Slytherin house levitated from the ground revealing the entrance to the chamber. A cool breeze swept across Tom's face, it was similar to the temperature change he felt once entering the common room. Wherever that tunnel led to, it must be underground. Tome pulled his wand out of his robes and softly mumbled "Lumos Maxima" as he descended into the tunnel. All at once bright, white light flooded the darkness and the entrance sealed shut behind him. Peering into the crevices that his light didn't touch, Tom became a little leery of the tunnel. Salazar was not a stupid man. Surely he had sought to protect his beast. Silently running through a few of his best defensive spells, Tom discarded his concerns, and descended the staircase before him. He took each step one at a time, mindful of the placement of his feet. Once he had reached the bottom of the staircase safely, Tom found himself staring into the endless dark abyss that was a tunnel to the unknown. A cool dampness settled across his skin and the vague smell of mold invaded his nose. This however would not defer him from continuing on.
Tom's thoughts wondered off as he traveled the expanse of the tunnel, disregarding the sound of rats scurrying away from the light of his wand. The species of Salazar's beast had never been disclosed in the books he had studying during his research. Instead it was only called a formidable, vicious creature with glowering yellow eyes. Such a description has left quite a bit to the imagination. It could be anything really. Many of the magical creatures he had come across in his school studies were considerable formidable, and yellow eyes were not exactly uncommon in animals. Tom didn't have the faintest idea of what Salazar had stashed away under the school, but according to several versions of this legend it was meant to be used in ridding the school of mudbloods. Those children who had no magical ties other than simply being born with their magical abilities. They didn't deserve the rights to a world that they truly had no part in, and yet there were wizards like Albus Dumbledore who searched for those unentitled flukes of nature. Tom's gaze darkened. He had never trusted that man. Albus put on a good show. He spoke in a philosophical manner that would suggest that he was a scholarly man, he was charming, endearing, and most of all extremely dangerous. He was well-liked by his colleagues, respected and admired by his students—he had them all fooled. None of them was ever the wiser to the ulterior motive that hide behind those sparkling blue eyes. That uncanny ability to immediately gain the trust of people was what made him so dangerous. No one ever questioned his mysterious disappearances, or the unsavory people that Tom would notice leaving his office late at night while on hall duty. After all he was a 'good' man, and they were able to give him the benefit of the doubt in good conscious. It was an ignorant thing to do in Tom's opinion. Albus was dealing in some suspicious circumstances, and though Tom was unsure of what he was up to, he made it a point to avoid the professor altogether.
Tom's thoughts faded away as he came upon a heavy metal door embellished in the bodies of stone serpents coiled within one another. Four detailed snake heads poked out of the entangled bodies, and stretched to the edge of the circular door, their glimmering red eyes watching Tom ominously. With a closer inspection of the door Tom noted that there was no knob. This was not particularly out of the ordinary. He had expected something like this, after all the chamber was only meant for the heir of Slytherin to open. Going off a mere suspicion Tom whispered open in his rare, inherited language. He was proven to be correct. The loud squeaking of the unused hinges pierced his eardrum, but Tom didn't so much as flinch for his eyes were intently focused on the entrance to the chamber of secrets. All of his research had finally paid off. Peering into the hollow darkness beyond the threshold of that door, Tom squared his shoulders and stepped into the chamber with a sense of ownership. As if being welcomed home the aisle before him lit up a brilliant shade of lime green. Huge columns with serpents carved into them lined either side of the stone walkway. Each of the snake's mouths were open wide in such a way that it gave Tom the impression that they may be hissing silently at him. Within those mouths were magically charmed fires sporting green flames. Beyond the columns was what appeared to be a small, underground lake, and at the end of the pathway was a gigantic carving of a man's head into the wall. The carving had to be twenty feet higher or more. The man represented in the carving was undoubtedly Salazar Slytherin himself. Tom studied the high cheek bones, dead eyes, and long hair that flowed down into the lake. Absently he traced the contours of his lips. He was almost certain that they were alike in that aspect. After all it was one of very few features he had inherited from his mother.
Tom began to move deeper into the chamber, drawn to the impressive statue before him. This was his family's legacy. Before him was the man that had started it all… all the fame and fortune that his mother had foolishly disposed of the moment she married his damned father. Tom's steps faltered and he slowed to a halt, suddenly seized by a foreboding thought. He wasn't a pureblood like Salazar. Whether he liked it or not Tom still had muggle blood running through his veins. With his impurities, would he be able to take control of the creature that did inhabit this chamber? Would it respond to him? Or would it turn on him? Up until that point Tom had neglected to consider such a notion. He had simply assumed that he would have control of this creature. Now it was dawning on him that the possibility of his control was nothing more than a fifty-fifty chance. He wasn't particularly fond of those odds.
Thinking better of his bold assumptions, Tom was just about to turn around and leave when he was rooted to the stone floor by a chilling hiss "Who are you...?" Scanning his surroundings Tom looked for whoever or whatever it was that had asked the question. Upon discovering that he was utterly alone in the chamber a cold chill went spiraling down his spine. Where had it come from? "I will only ask once more…. Who are you?"
Without realizing it Tom had slipped into parseltongue and responded in the language of the serpent "My name is Tom Riddle." Heannounced concealing the waver in his tone "I am the heir of Slytherin."
"The heir of Slytherin!" All at once the smooth, calm surface of the lake was broken by an explosion of water as a beast rose up out of the lake. In the aftermath, the displaced water rained down onto the pathway, soaking through Tom's robes. Once the spray had settled Tom pushed his dripping wet bangs out of his eyes to get a better look at the creature that was now sitting before him. His breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon the scaly body of an impossibly large serpent. Almost immediately Tom knew that he was openly gawking at a basilisk. Quickly he adverted his eyes to the floor as he knew that this creature's gaze was deadly "Fear not young heir of Slytherin." The creature hissed gently "I wish not to harm you." The snake bent its neck forward until it's head was directly in front of Tom. He was willing to bet that the beast's head was nearly the size of a small car, and there was not a doubt in his mind that behind those thin scaly lips rows of venomous, pointed teeth lied. Cautiously he viewed the reflection of the creature through the puddle of water that lay at his feet. To his surprise a white, milky film was concealing its yellow eyes. Placing more stock in a mere suspicion than he should have, Tom looked directly at the basilisk's strange eye. As he had predicted nothing occurred. He had survived a look into the eye of a basilisk, and had not been petrified. Now arose the question of why he had not succumbed to the same fate that so many others would imperatively have.
"Why is it that I did not die when looking into your eyes?" Tom asked in partial amazement.
"Every basilisk can conceal their deadly gaze." Replied the serpent. Tom thought on this for a moment and determined that such an ability would undoubtedly be crucial to the lineage of their species. After all, if they had a deadly gaze then would they not kill their partner in the process of reproduction? It made sense for the basilisk to be able to conceal their eyes, if only for the sake of their species continuance. Cautiously Tom extended his hand toward the nose of the serpent until his palm was flat against the emerald green scales of the creature. She held deathly still as he ran his hand from the tip of her nose, along the length of her jaw, and part way up her neck. He was mesmerized by the texture of her scales. They were cool to the touch and smoother than any silk he had ever encountered. Once he was satisfied with his minor investigation, Tom allowed his hand to drop to his side, and decided it was time to get to the business aspect of this discovery.
"I have come seeking your help." Tom announced, a slight curve tipping the corners of his lips upward.
A/N: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for reading! If you have any comments please leave them in the box below :)
