Tempus | Tom Riddle

FOUR

It was now October and Tom was just as close to Mercy as he had been when they first met.

She seemed to take absolutely no interest in him, and spent all of her time with either Ravenclaws or Ade, Oberon, and Marceline. Tom, on the other hand, had assumed the company of the less boisterous Slytherins, unsure of how to squeeze himself onto Mercy's radar.

When he started Hogwarts at eleven years old, it was easy to adapt to his surroundings and gain favour with the other students, for even if some of them already knew each other, they were all first years with no direction and lots of room for development. Now, however, Tom was trying to find his place amongst seventh years. Cliques had been long established, and most people were focusing more on graduating than making new friends. If it hadn't been for his last name, Tom probably would have gone ignored by his house for the rest of the year.

Despite his slow progress, his first month hadn't gone completely to waste. Perhaps in the way of his mission it did, but he made the best out of the situation by learning as much as he could about the people around him.

The first thing he deduced was that Leonard Spencer-Moon was, in fact, a current student. He was a sixth-year Ravenclaw to be exact, and Tom made sure to strike up a few conversations with him just for the hell of it.

Another notable observation was that Hogwarts seemed to be at complete and utter peace. In the forties, sentiments of mistrust, fear, and even loathing festered between peers. Perhaps the war caused a greater effect on societal dynamics than Tom realized; Grindelwald was only just starting to rise to power at this point, and based on what he read in the papers and heard from students, he was simply seen as a cult leader or a 'deranged radical'. In Tom's time, however, Grindelwald was marked a serious threat and had managed to capture entire parts of Europe.

Grindelwald, Tom theorized, sent the wizarding world into chaos in three major ways:

1. General instability is expected in times of war: death, economic strife, and attacks on the government make sure of that.

2. Grindelwald's message actually attracted many mudbloods, and their new sense of purpose enabled them to start pushing back against their "mistreatment". (Although Tom would argue that their treatment was perfectly justified.)

3. The Statute of Secrecy was seriously close to being dissolved, and this was dangerously polarizing, even amongst high society. It threatened the entire structure of the wizarding world; some saw this as a good thing, and others not so much.

On a far more underwhelming note, he also learned that Mercy had two brothers in the school: one in his fifth year and a prefect, Ambrose Moltenore, and one in his second year, Dantes. Both had the same blonde hair and amber eyes as Mercy, and both seemed rather popular, just like their sister.

Instead of focusing on the Moltenore family, he figured he should write a book on the history and impact of Grindelwald's regime, instead. He'd probably have far more success with the latter.

"Tom, are you coming to the party?"

Taliesin fell onto the couch, kicking his legs up on the table and effectively ruining Tom's brooding.

"Party?"

"Oh, has no one told you?"

Tom stared at him blankly.

"Well, party might be a bit of a stretch. It's more like ... a get together with the Ravenclaws. Usually by this point we've all gone through at least one exam, so we like to reward ourselves."

"Why are Ravenclaw and Slytherin so close?" Tom inquired, though he had a vague idea of the answer. Even in the forties, Slytherin and Ravenclaw were far more amicable than Slytherin and Hufflepuff or, God forbid, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Similar lines seemed to be drawn now, but Slytherin and Ravenclaw were strangely attached at the hip.