Chapter Eleven: The Ouroboros

Chapter Eleven: The Ouroboros

"I do hope you're enjoying yourselves," said Slughorn, smiling evenly. If he noticed their obvious discomfort, he gave no indication. "I see Tom has finally found you. By the way, Tom — excellent work on your essay, I've just graded it — truly impressive, the attention to detail."

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," said Tom with a small smile.

"Kiss-arse," muttered Minerva.

Tom glared at her. "Know-it-all."

"I haven't gotten to yours, yet," said Slughorn, nodding at Minerva. "But I believe I will also be impressed." He sighed. "Sadly, I cannot say the same for... certain others..."

"Nott and Mulciber?" asked Minerva, without missing a beat. "I'd be surprised if they had the attention span to write three inches' worth of anything."

Tom Riddle turns to revenge (ahem, shameless thrill-seeking) as he searches for the identity of his three attackers. All that he has to go on is a golden unicorn, a birthmark, and a ring in the shape of an ouroboros.

Fortunately for Tom, the Hogwarts library is open... but what else might he discover? With the (unwitting) help of Horace Slughorn, along with some pickpocketing and general scheming, it seems that revenge may be in sight...

Warnings: Without giving too much away, I’m going to borrow the AO3 tag. Tom Riddle is his own warning. Featuring a very pissed-off kid!Riddle at his pettiest and most vindictive. You’ve been warned.

Read from the beginning at FFN | AO3!

Chapter Nine: Words Shall Never Hurt Me

“They think I’m a Mudblood,” Tom spat, glaring at his shoes as if they had personally offended him. 

“Tom!” Dumbledore exclaimed, looking scandalized. “That word—“

“That’s what they call me, sir.”

“Ah.” Dumbledore pushed his half-moon spectacles further up his nose, his expression pensive. “Hence, the frantic searching for evidence in the library. Have you perhaps thought of spending time with students outside your House? Those that might be more… open-minded?”

Tom searches for his father’s legacy as he attempts to prove himself worthy in Slytherin House. Blood is spilt. Dumbledore is watching him.

Warning: This contains the (I think?) most disturbing scene I’ve posted yet. Like, I know the first two chapters are murder scenes and TMR’s head is generally not a nice place, but prepare thyself, this is (slightly?) more disturbing.

Read from the beginning at FFN | AO3!

tag yourself, i’m mcgonagall.

"A Forgetfulness Potion — can't be that hard, can it?" asked Eustace Mulciber. It was the last ten minutes of class, and as always, the idiot was far behind everyone else. "I'm always forgetting things in this class."

Thaddeus Nott snorted.

"Can't you be quiet?" asked Minerva irritably. "I'm trying to concentrate."

Though Tom was loath to admit it, he had to agree with her. Mulciber and Nott erupted into a fit of laughter — Tom heard a whispered "What if we put this in?" — and then, the cauldron exploded with a deafening boom, sending sharp bits of pewter flying in every direction. Tom ducked quickly under the table, but Minerva hadn't been so lucky, and one of the shards had hit her cheek.

There was a lot of blood — Tom hated the look of so much blood, it made his head spin — and all of a sudden, Slughorn was rushing over.

"What happened here?" he asked, looking between the four of them.

Minerva began to cry, and Tom winced. Must she be so shrill?

"They were mucking around with the potion, Professor!" Minerva shrieked, cupping her cheek with the handkerchief Slughorn had given her. "You're wicked, Mulciber! You evil, slimy little—"

"We didn't!" said Nott. "Honest, Professor Slughorn!"

How can I possibly benefit from this?

How can I show Slughorn that I'm better than Mulciber and Nott?

"Mulciber and Nott deliberately wrecked their potion, sir," Tom explained, pointing to the pewter shards and black puddles of ruined potion strewn on the floor. "It made the cauldron explode and Minerva got hit with one of the shards."

"I'll take Minerva to the Hospital Wing, sir," he offered gallantly in response to Slughorn's concerned expression. "My potion's finished."

Slughorn seemed pleasantly surprised. "And so it is, m'boy. Good of you to offer — come now, Minerva, Tom will take you to see Madam Gale."

Excerpt from Chapter 9, which will be up on either Saturday or Sunday. Read from the beginning at FFN | AO3!

Or perhaps in Slytherin, You’ll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means, To achieve their ends.

everyone i think snape is me as a TA/tutor.

let me explain

1. student asks me a question i don't know the answer to.

2. students messing around in class during the group sessions and i empathize but need to act responsible.

3. me realizing that i am the same age as the students i'm TA-ing and yet i have less of a life than they do.

severus snape vs teenage drama: another saga

sarcasm is the lowest form of wit (but the highest form of intelligence).

1: 53 am.

scorpius: potter

scorpius: u up?

scorpius: fuck

scorpius: not that kind of u up

scorpius: no offense but ew

lily luna: blond hair?

lily luna: bad attitude?

lily luna: must be a mALfOy

scorpius: omg

scorpius: f u freckles

scorpius: it was only funny the first time

scorpius: you haven't come up with anything witty since

lily luna: then y r u texting me if i'm not funny, m8?

scorpius: it's 2 am and i'm procrastinating.

scorpius: i have history of magic homework. and stop texting like a ten year old.

scorpius: albus is asleep

scorpius: plus he's pissed at me for some reason

scorpius: i'm bored

lily luna: i'm flattered

lily luna: uwu

scorpius: don't be

scorpius: you're only marginally more interesting than professor binns

lily luna: i hope u fall off ur broom and binns fails u

lily luna: bad night