The Diary (pottermort)

chapter three

It's not a hard book to get a hold of. It's not even one that raises suspicion to obtain-- most wizards have read it when they were children, it's a classic if there exists one-- something that pleases Tom greatly. He doesn't want anyone getting wind of his plan, currently half-formed yet well on its way to being more.

Harry got the impression that Tom was immensely interested in obtaining the Deathly Hallows, which would prove the myth true and set his name in history forever (without needing blood to do it this time around.) The only issue in obtaining the Hallows is not getting Tom on board, but rather obtaining the Hallows in it of itself.

One simple problem with a likely overcomplicated solution showed itself very early on-- an impassable obstacle that Harry had not anticipated (proving, again, that he would never have been a Ravenclaw): he held only a vague idea about where the Hallows were.

The Invisibility Cloak was likely being pocessed by a Potter, if Harry's speculation proved correct. That was only if James Potter had inherited it from HIS parents, and if they were going by Potter now or if that would happen later, with marriage-- and Harry still had no clue where, exactly, it would be stored as of current.

Harry assumed that Tom would have to befriend Harry's future grandparents if he wanted to even have a chance of getting his hands on it. A difficult task but not an impossible one (not much was impossible when you're the one and only Tom Riddle.)

The Elder wand belonged to Grindelwald, Harry believed, and would be until Dumbledore defeated him in 1945. He had no way of getting to where Grindelwald resided then and even if he did, Harry would not advise against going after him. Tom Riddle, however intelligent and potential filled, was only twelve and no match for the most power wizard of the time.

No, it was best to play the waiting game here-- Harry knew enough about Riddle to know playing long-con was something he excelled at (or would come to.) They would have to wait until Dumbledore got ahold of the Elder wand and then-- murder would ensue, he supposed. He did not want that to happen, however mixed his feelings were on the man, but it seemed the only possiblity. He'd rethink it later.

As for the iconic Resurrection Stone, before it fell into the hands of Tom Riddle and later Albus Dumbledore, and even more so later Harry himself, it belonged to Tom Riddle Senior. He got it from the Gaunt family line, from his now dead wife, who got it from the original Cadmus Peverall himself.

Tom Riddle Jr gets ahold the ring in 1943 when, at the age of sixteen, he kills his father and steals his ring (which reportedly has the stone embedded in it) for overkill because he's a straight up angsty bitch. Which means that Tom Riddle Sr currently held pocession over it. Harry supposes to get Tom (his Tom) to meet the man and steal the ring, he'd have to reveal to him his parentage. It'll come, it's in his plan to do so, but he'd like to put it off as far as possible.

He thinks that he can save Tom Riddle Sr this time around, but as lives go, it's not that high of a priority for him. Tom was angry at his father for abandoning him and killing him significantly decreased that anger. Hate is not a passive emotion, to keep it up is tiresome, active and painful.

Tom Riddle wanted the pain to end. It is perhaps the most human want of all.

Whether or not Tom Riddle Sr lives is not of high concern, however unheroic it is for Harry to think. As long as no Horcruxes, no Dark Lords, and no massacres are created, it's fine. (Or so he tells himself, even as his morals scream at him the mantra of every life being precious-- it's fine, it's fine. It has to be fine.)

He's found that more and more often his morals take the backseat-- or maybe they don't, it's hard to tell. It's a rather difficult situation, he thinks, and he's trying the best he can to save lives through the lying he so deeply hates. He's trying and hopefully that's enough.

Harry's not spoken to Tom about his plans and all he knows, he's a great liar when need be. He's set Tom on the task of befriending the Potter he attends school with and eventually set about, hopefully, aquiring the cloak-- he can take the meantime to plot and figure out the game plan. There's ideas revolving Dumbledore and Gellert that he needs to sort out in his head and the longer Tom stays occupied, the better. Playing God (for is that not what he's doing? Deciding whether or not Dumbledore will die decades before he should?) is taxing and time consuming. The child pestering him (because Tom Riddle, though he may turn out to be more than the vengeful abandoned boy he is, is only a child now) would not be helpful in the process. It's better to keep him out of the way.

Tom's asks him if he's related to Fleamont Potter and Harry said: "It's possible. Likely very distantly related-- we were very remote from relatives. They probably haven't heard of us, I'm afraid." It wasn't enough to ward off any questions but when asked, Fleamont says he hasn't heard of him. Not much comes from it.

Harry thinks he can consider Tom Riddle a friend, even if their friendship's very foundation is of melded lies and buried hatred from one side and suspicion from the other. It's a fragile thing, this crafted relationship they have, but Harry is willing to work with it and cherish it for all it's worth. He can manage, he always does.

He spends his nights thinking, overthinking, and thinking again, and his mornings playing nice with the man he hopes will not kill his parents. It's tiring. These days, is not everything?