My Dear Dark Lord

Chapter 9: First Class

"Students, I understand that you all are horrified by the incident that occurred in the United States. But remember that you all are within the wards of Hogwarts. They are more ancient than any Ministry ward. So no harm will come to you. Moreover, if we get any information about any unusual events taking place in Britain, I promise that I'll inform you. Please have your breakfast, you all have your first classes today."

It seemed to make the students a bit relieved. Slowly, the usual chatter started.

Tom was still looking at the newspaper. There was something about it that made him restless. Like it was a clue to a bigger mystery.

Snape then walked towards the Slytherin table to distribute the timetable. He seemed to be in a worse mood than ever. He looked ready to kill someone.

Finally, he reached Tom.
"Riddle", he sneered, "I heard that you abandoned your Prefect duties last night. I had warned the others that making you a Prefect is a mistake. But sadly, even with the Head of Slytherin disagreeing, they made you one."

With that, he quite literally threw the timetable Tom's way and went away.

Tom took the timetable and started reading it, trying to forget Snape's words. It wasn't the first time he said that. Snape said those words last year too. Word to word. And he hated him from his first year. He hated Tom even before he met him. Probably something to do with Dumbledore.

When he looked up from his timetable, his eyes locked with Professor Peverell. He was looking straight at him. He wore a strange look on his face, a mixture between amusement and understanding. The next moment, there was a squeal at the Ravenclaw table and the Professor looked away.

Flushing, Tom went back to reading his timetable.

'Great, I've first class with Professor Peverell.' They had five DADA classes a week. With that, Tom got up to go to the DADA classroom.

Tom sat at his usual place in the DADA  class, in the front row at the center. Professor Peverell entered the class at the exact time.
He looked as handsome as always. He wore dark red robes and surprisingly black round glasses. His hair was above his shoulder, falling in elegant curls.

"Good morning class, I'm Professor Peverell. And since I'm new, I would like to know your names," here he smiled mischievously (Tom swooned internally), "though I know that you're all 6th year students and not 1st, and wouldn't like standing up one-by-one to introduce yourselves, let's make this interesting. I will  erect a privacy ward, call you here one-by-one and you'll perform the hardest spell or charm you know. The privacy ward will prevent you from feeling that you need to be better than the others. Removes the sense of competition. And again, please perform the spells you Know and have done before. I'll really prefer having no accidents in my first class." With a final smirk, the Professor erected the ward and went behind it.

Soon there were excited chattering all around the class. This was the first time they got to show-off and practically do any spell.

"Aaron Smith." The professor called.

The Hufflepuff went inside smiling nervously.
Five minutes later he emerged with pride on his face. Slowly the students were called alphabetically.

Tom wondered which spell he should use. He could perform almost every spell upto the 7th year syllabus. The man didn't even mention whether the spell should be dark or light. He looked around the classroom. A picture behind the Teacher's desk caught him attention.

He knew which spell he had to perform.

"Tom Riddle." The Professor called out.

Taking a deep breath, Tom entered the privacy ward. The ward stretched by at least 3×3 meters. The Professor was standing in the middle.

Smiling, he said, "Good morning Mr. Riddle, please stand here", he said pointing beside him, "to perform the spell. And once again, remember that this activity is for me to know your knowledge and strength. Please perform the spell you are confident that you can do. I'll never judge." With that, he beckoned Tom forward.

Once again taking a deep breath, Tom went to stand beside the Professor and strengthened his resolve.

Concentrating, he said, "Expecto Patronum".