The Fear in The Child

6

Tom was annoyed that he had to go through the stupid sorting deal once more. It was annoying enough that he had already gone through it once, yet, he had to go through it all over again? It was frustrating for anyone, and he was certainly more then frustrated by it. It was aggravating enough the first time and now he had to do it again for the second time? It was not as though he would be sorting into a different house anyway. Definitely not. He was too much of a Slytherin for that. It was too much embedded within his very soul and was a part of who he was. Dumbledore was an idiot to think that he would be placed in another house, or even consider the possibility of something like that. Though he had admitted later that Tom did not really fit the qualities of any other house, it was the principle, the old idiot had thought about it, momentarily. Tom, as a general rule, despised all other houses, except for perhaps Hufflepuff. He liked hufflepuffs, because, although they may seem useless, they really were not. They were adorable and easy to mold. Tom actually liked Hufflepuffs, and he did not really like many people in general.

He supposed that there was nothing for attempting to skip this one step, though. It was not as though he could avoid it, he could not deny being sorted once more, and even when he gets placed into Slytherin, again, as only he should, it was likely that the Slytherins would not believe that he was actually placed within their house. That was them seeing him get placed in Slytherin as well. As such, he knew that it was far more beneficial for him to be sorted among the rest of the Hogwarts populous. It was beneficial for him, not so much for Dumbledore, which truly was another reason to do it. Anything that really inconvenienced Dumbledore was a reason for him to do something. Not to mention, being sorted among the main school students mean that the entire place would see how worthy he was of being a Slytherin. It was not useful that he would be simply placed within the house because a Gryffindor said that was where he should go, whether that Gryffindor was a Headmaster or not so he supposed it had some positives that he should probably focus on. He would have to reintegrate himself into the Slytherin house. Something that would be...difficult.

Dumbledore. Tom was not entirely certain what to feel about the information that he was a headmaster. Furthermore, he would have to be careful not to address the man as a Professor in front of others. Still, he was uneasy. He had reasons to be as well. His uneasiness was not entirely unfounded. The idiot had more power now than he had in his year and it was unnerving to think of. Now he was headmaster where before he was only a mere teacher, and he could do much more then he had been capable of doing before. Tom did not want to really think about how that was possible. He dreaded the answer. It was bad enough what the old coot was capable of doing when he was simply a mere teacher and the torment which Tom had been forced through as a result. It was absolutely inane. Now, as Headmaster, Tom did not really want to think about all of the destruction that he had wrought among the students let alone what he could do to Tom now. He could only think and he could not stop thinking of it. He did not really like the picture that it brought either, when he was finished with his thoughts.

Naturally Tom, as a true Slytherin, would only have to take advantage of this, even if it was an unfavorable situation. He had to figure something out and he would figure something out of course how could he not being who he was. He was certain that he was not the only one who disliked Dumbledore. He just had to figure out who those people were. Other than the Slytherin families of course, well other then just Slytherins. Despite the tensions that he was undoubtedly going to deal with considering the hostility among many Slytherin to Gryffindors alone in his day, which he was certain would have only escalated under Dumbledore's biased rule, he was certain the he could achieve his ends. He just had to be careful about what he was doing. He had to be sly, and cunning. First thing first, he would have to prove himself to the current breed of Slytherins.

He had Draco's attention, somewhat from what Tom was able to tell. That was enough for now, though he was not stupid enough to believe that Draco alone was enough for this endeavor alone. He knew that the Malfoy name held regard. It was highly thought after during Abraxas' time, and he knew that it was likely held in the same, if not higher regard now than it was back then.

Tom was intending to deal with Dumbledore and kick him out, and it was a good goal to have. He did not want Dumbledore to be anywhere near him. He would deal with the old man later, and hit him where it hurt. After all, it was only fair, given what Dumbledore had done to him, Tom felt that he was only being light. He would not hurt him too badly, just enough to wound his reputation and his pride and the way the Wizarding World saw him.

The hall was just as he remembered it. It was still grand, still warm, still welcoming. It was amazing. The air itself seemed to welcome him home and seemed warm to him, happy, and joyful as Tom had never really truly felt anywhere else, back to hogwarts. Even if he had quite a bit of trouble during his time in Hogwarts, he understood that it was also something more then a home then the Orphanage was. He felt that similar thrill of excitement run down his spine. He felt really happy. For the first time in a while. He could not believe that he was really back here. Sure it was a couple decades later but that was not the point. The point was that he was here. He was happy to be here. The first place that he really felt home, and the last place that he really would ever feel home.

It was time to return to his true house. To his place in the line of the Slytherin ideology. He would show Dumbledore the idiot, how stupid he truly was for ever even taking a split second to think he could be in another house. Doing this, he would also cement the assurance that he did, indeed, belong to Slytherin. It was something that Tom knew would cause contention in the house, since he was not a pureblood, but that was not something he could help, and he knew that if he managed it once before, even if it was annoying, he would manage getting into the good graces of the Slytherin people once more. While he already had a leg up in that regard as opposed to the first time he did this, he also had far less time...too.