Tempus | Tom Riddle

THREE

Tom kept to himself for the next couple of days, only speaking when spoken to as he tried to gain his bearings. He read up on all of the families he could, and managed to track down thirty-four of the supposed forty pureblood families in the UK by pouring through various records, newspapers, and tomes.

Oddly enough, the only information he could find on the Moltenore family was a picture of Oracio Moltenore, the inventor of the time-turner, in Magick Most Mysterious. This added to the long list of questions he had for Mercy, for Professor Binns had told his class that the name of the mastermind behind the device had, ironically, been "lost in time". 

Mercy was harder to get alone than he had initially anticipated. She was in many of his classes but was constantly surrounded by people, so he instead opted to sit with Taliesin Crouch and Regulus Black, both of whom took their studies seriously and were relatively quiet. Oberon, to Tom's dismay, was constantly by the side of Mercy, flirting with her incessantly and causing a disruption every twenty minutes. 

Abraxas was far more reserved than his uncle, it seemed, which Tom greatly appreciated. 

"Next week we will be mastering Bombarda Maxima, which is a far more powerful version of the regular Bombarda you all learned in fourth year," the Dark Against the Dark Arts professor, Galatea Merrythought, announced, snapping Tom out of his thoughts. It was strange to see the woman teach with such liveliness, for by the time Tom had her, she was a miserable old lady that constantly misplaced her wand. 

"Since this class is small enough, we'll be able to end every week with a duel. Today's will be two-on-two. Listen carefully for your names; I don't want to have to repeat myself." A scroll unrolled itself mid-air before her. "Regulus Black and Colton Macmillan will be going against Donato Bridgewater and Alessandra Caste. Oh! And once your names are called, please group together somewhere in the room. Hm ... next will be Taliesin Crouch and Penelope O'Leary against Arthur Green and Demetrius Straus."

"Ah fuck," Taliesin huffed next to Tom, glaring at a small brunette with Ravenclaw robes, rectangle-shaped glasses, and a face full of freckles. "She's smart but a horrible duelist. One of the only mudbloods in this class." He whispered, shaking his head. "Merrythought always puts me with her. It's infuriating."

"If she's incompetent, then it would make sense to pair her up with someone far more powerful," Tom glanced over at the hook-nosed boy, who seemed satisfied with this answer. With much reluctance he finally stood and made his way toward the three students that would be participating in his duel.

"Oberon Malfoy and Mercy Moltenore will go against Thomas Gaunt and Rose Smith."

Heads turned to Tom, gazes full of curiosity at how well the Durmstrang transplant would perform. 

"Bloody hell - good luck with that." Regulus whispered from his side. "Oberon and Mercy are a great team. Rose is the other mudblood. Merrythought must be testing you."

Tom's expression turned into a scowl at the thought of being paired up with someone of such low status, but he supposed that this could be a blessing in disguise, for if he managed to beat Oberon and Mercy (which he was sure he could), then that would make him all the more interesting to his classmates. Now that he knew a bit more about the people who surrounded him, he was ready to start edging his way into their inner circle, which is where Mercy apparently sat.

A tall, spindly girl made her way toward him. Her hair was long and dark, and her eyes matched the blue of her robes. "Hi," she muttered shyly. "I'm Rose."

Tom barely acknowledged her presence before setting off toward Oberon and Mercy, who awaited his arrival with giddiness.

"I don't think I've ever been so excited to duel in my life," Oberon tossed his arm around Mercy's shoulders. "Do you think we'll beat a Durmstrangian, Merce?"