The Fear in The Child

With Gryffindors

Tom headed down to the Great Hall, determined to do what was necessary for him to begin his following. Each and every movement he made would change how people could perceive him, and therefore he had to be careful with what he did and how he behaved and acted.

This would be an ideal way in which to aid his ability to slowly take over the house form. It was necessary, the beginning step was always important in setting a plan into place. The best way to do this was subtly. However, this was more than complicated, as he had figured out the first time around. He had to be careful to ensure that he did not make the same mistakes that he had made the first route. He had to succeed in this.

He would. Perhaps it was just him being worried that things may not go the way that he wanted. That was something that always made him insecure, knowing that things could change at a moment's notice and he could do nothing about it. All that he could do would be to prepare what could happen in the future and hope that he had a plan to ensure his success in the things which he endeavored to do.

The trek was slightly nostalgic. As much as he had missed Hogwarts, he had not exactly expected to be back in a whole different time period. Though he should be grateful for what he was given, this chance to make things right, to do what he had evidently failed to do the first time around, he was also annoyed. He was stuck in a time period where the only person whom he knew and could stand was Draco Malfoy, and that was saying something, given the Malfoy impertinence that typically tended to prevail within the bloodline.

He feel the memories creeping at the edge of his mind. To be honest, he was not entirely certain as to why he was so upset, given the fact that there were not all that many happy memories which he had had of the place. Whether it was Hogwarts, or the Orphanage-definitely not the Orphanage-and he was definitely glad to be away from the things of torment which he was used to, but then he had to still deal with Dumbledore so he was not entirely certain exactly how great this whole time change thing really was.

Why did he have to deal with the old man again? Was not one life time bad enough? Dumbledore was his single and most hated enemy. He would refuse to forgive Dumbledore, or to allow himself to fall into the other's trap. He knew what Dumbledore was doing. He was not a total dolt. It was not complicated to know what the old man was trying to do, it just took a little bit of intuition. Something which he definitely had a large amount of.

He had been naive before, but he was no longer a pathetic preteen who was enamored with the thought of magic, of being not the only one, of being alone, utterly alone. He was a teenager who knew exactly what type of place which the world was and he was no longer going to allow himself to hide from it. He could easily use the negatives within the world to further his purposes. He intended to do exactly that.

Upon walking into the Great Hall, there was some sort of feeling which Tom could not really quite place. It was not good, but it was not really all that bad. At least, it was not before he looked at the table which was set above them. Dumbledore, sitting where Dippet used to was something that made his blood boil. Exactly how could anyone thing that Dumbledore was a good idea to promote to something so important as Headmaster. It was a vastly important position, and yet there he sat, on his stupidly gilded throne.

Many things had changed, and Tom was not very happy about it. He would fix the horrors which had befelled his favorite school, and he would ensure that Dumbledore would pay for everything that he had done to this place. Hogwarts, as bad as some of the memories may be, was still his home. It was a place which he had managed to escape the drone day of monotony. He was not exactly happy about the things which were currently going on, and he doubted that he would be satisfied until he destroyed everything which the old man stood for. He would...It would just take a little bit of time. Time was what he had quite a bit of.

Moving over to the Slytherin table, he was happy to note that while many things may have changed, the placement of the Slytherin house table certainly had not, nor the routine of Slytherins attending breakfast steadfastly. Out of all the house tables, the Slytherin house table remained full to the brim as was normal.

Tom sighed heavily, and walked to his table, wary of the eyes which were cast upon him by the teachers. No doubt Dumbledore had warned them, asked them to keep an eye one him as though he were some errent teenager. He would not trust them. No matter what, it was not something that he could possibly allow. He could not risk everything which he was planning to reach Dumbledore's ears. It would destroy his plans before they even really begun, and he fully intended to put everything into place.

Starting with the Malfoy boy, which he moved to sit next to. Happily, he noted that the Malfoy boy made room for him to sit as well. This was a good sign. It meant that the Malfoy recognized him as one of his own. While he may not have much influence within the Wizarding World, he had made a significant enough of an impression that the other had noticed him, and recognized his potential. It was something which the Malfoys seemed to be well capable of finding and weeding through the people who had extreme potential versus the ones which did not really have much to offer.

"Riddle," Malfoy muttered under his breath. "Classes begin today. Starting with the Gryffindors." Tom sighed. Wonderful.

"What class?"

"Potions. They always sign us up with the Gryffindors when it comes to potions." Tom grit his teeth and rolled his eyes, allowing himself a rare form of emotion, knowing that it was what the Malfoy boy was looking for. He could not come off as completely cold, not yet...he had a facade to play, and he would play it well. He always had been able to before, and nothing would change that.

"Of course, what a brilliant start to the day." He hissed under his breath. The morose sigh which Malfoy emitted seemed to agree with him.