TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Thirty

When Tom had entered the Headmaster's memory, it had felt like he was falling. When he entered his own, it was practically instantaneous. One second he was in the Headmaster's office and in the blink of an eye he was back where he'd always been. The orphanage. Or more specifically that room.

Tom instantly froze when he realised where he was. His eyes slowly drifted downwards but his body stayed rooted to the spot. It felt like his whole body had been dropped into cold water. His body felt stiff and heavy. His whole face seemed to go numb. And in front of him sat the very thing that he feared most.

A tiny, thin little boy was a scruffy jot of dark black hair sat crumbled over in a small, grey seat. The room surrounding him was gigantic in comparison to him. The seat he was in and the table that he sat at was placed at the exact centre of the room. The small child looked upwards at nothing but the air in front of him. His whole face was blank; completely devoid of emotion. His large wide eyes were the only hint to any sort of feeling on the boy's countenance. Tom recognised him instantly. It was himself. This was exactly how he looked all those years ago.

For a solid moment, there was pure silence even within the memory. The present Tom looked down, unable to move, at the past Tom who sat perfectly still and staring blankly upwards into space. Tom found it haunting. He didn't know how old the version of himself he was looking at was. All the years at the orphanage besides the recent ones were practically a blur. They all merged into one.

As Tom continued to stare at his younger self, he took particular notice to the expression that he wore. He wondered if he still wore it to this day. Tom found it very hard to look at himself but at the same time, impossible to look away. He was completely glued to it.

"Where are we?"

Finally, a voice. Tom though, couldn't find the strength in his body to look around. He kept his whole body still and eyes trained on his younger self.

"Home," Tom finally managed to speak. Harry Potter looked around at the strange room he found himself in.

"This is the orphanage?" he found himself asking another question. Tom couldn't even bring himself to nod.

"This is the room where you're meant to have appointments."

"With potential parents?" Harry looked up at Tom. Tom didn't reply. Harry looked back down and surveyed the room once again. The walls were pure white but there was barely any light to brighten up the room. This left it feeling grey and cold and lifeless. Harry looked at the younger Tom and immediately felt something pang in his ribs. From a simple glance he could tell something was wrong with the child although at first he didn't recognise it as Tom.

"After a while I stopped getting appointments," Tom randomly said, his eyes still glazed over and looking at his younger self, "I still had to wait in the room. I had to wait and wonder why nobody even showed up. Why nobody ever wanted me."

The door to the room suddenly opened. Harry's eyes instantly shot to it to see what new person was coming into the memory. Tom however stayed completely still. Even in the memory, the younger Tom didn't react to the door opening in the slightest. An older woman burst into the room, a harsh scowl evident on her face. She sped over to Tom and grabbed his arm, tugging him with all her might out of the seat.

"Up," the woman snapped, disdain clear in her tone. She practically dragged the small boy out of his seat and flung him over onto the ground. The young boy somberly got up and followed the older woman out as she led him somewhere. Harry was shocked by these sudden turn of events. He, alongside the present Tom, followed the older woman and the young boy she was taking with her. They exited the white room and came out to a white hallway. The whole building felt dark and lifeless now and Harry could tell that outside the building it must be night time.