Harry Potter and the Rise of Tom Riddle

Chapter III

Harry had been led back to his room by Peter Pettigrew after he asked and answered a few questions from the man who'd tried to kill him his whole life. The man who now had no intention of bringing him to any harm. Harry, for a better lack of a term, had just made a deal with the devil.

Now, Harry was only eleven. He'd only known the wizarding world for about a year. But even in that time, he'd come to realize there were some serious issues. If no one else was going to fix them, might as well be the Dark Lord.

The plan was for Voldemort to teach Harry. Every summer until they decided it was time, Harry was going to learn all of the spells in advance of Hogwarts curriculum and some of the spells they didn't have time to teach in a year. There were, of course, going to be some incredibly dark spells thrown in there as well.

Harry wasn't a dumb wizard. Taking over the world didn't really feel like his thing. But there was something enticing about Voldemort and he wanted to figure it out. It didn't help matters that he'd offered Harry a chance to learn about his heritage.

He could learn a bunch of advanced stuff and things about his family, and then use his 'secret power's to vanquish Voldemort. As long as Harry played his cards right, he could learn useful stuff and take down a madman while also fixing some of the messed up things that wixen had gotten wrong.

Even though the Dursleys weren't the best people ever, Harry didn't want them dead. And after what Harry had told Voldemort about them and their distaste for magic, they would be. It seemed as though Voldemort did not care much for abusive relatives.

Once Harry had promised not to go blowing anything up, he was given his school trunk. He had asked for his wand once he realized they hadn't given it to him, and Pettigrew informed him that Harry needed to earn Voldemort's trust in order to use it recreationally.

So Harry was in 'his room' and attempting to make it look livelier. There was no furniture other than the bed so Harry could really only put his clothes in the closet. Reorganizing his trunk was not fun.

He was weary of sleeping. He knew he should, and it was really all he could do, but he felt as though he should be doing something productive. Hedwig flew over and perched beside him on the metal rail of the bed. Even her chirps could only do so much to make him feel better.

Getting up to grab a book, Harry decided he might as well do some review. It was common knowledge that some classes got through more lessons than others due to spacing. This meant that they didn't get all of the way through their books.

His Charms book was somewhat interesting, since he could still remember Hermione's voice giving him advice on the spells. Once he finished Charms, he moved on to Transfiguration. It was rather dull, but he finished it nonetheless.

A short nap later and Harry was finally at a time where he willingly chose to read a Potions book. So he read. Only about ten chapters in, he caught himself making sure to go back a reread them multiple times so he didn't fall asleep. The nap earlier was nice because he was a light sleeper, but he knew that the next time he slept would be deeper due to exhaustion.

Harry was utterly bored. There was nothing to do, since he didn't have his wand. The nap he had taken was neither long nor comfortable. The bed was soft enough, but he didn't quite feel safe leaving himself so vulnerable.

He played with Hedwig as much as he could, but even she got tired and decided to nap at the foot of his bed. Even she was bored. Perhaps he could ask his captors for a cat or something; there were only so many ways you could play with an owl.

With no wand and no clock, Harry had no idea what time it was. He was looking at the Marauders Map to watch the teachers walk around when a shaking knock rapped on his door.

It opened and Peter stuck his head inside to make sure Harry was still present. His eyes widened when they caught sight of the Map. There hadn't been enough time between Peter opening the door and sticking his head inside for him to hide it.

Harry simply folded it back up and tucked it under his jumper nonchalantly. "Is there something you need from me, Pettigrew?" He'd already put together that the man in front of him had been one of the holders, due to Wormtail being the name Voldemort used for him every once in a while.

"Our Lord has given me instructions to introduce you to the house elves." Peter snapped his fingers and two elves appeared. "This is Vera," he pointed to the one on the left, "and this is Vern."

They were both dressed in tunics with the Slytherin house crest on their chests. Both of them bowed to Harry.

"If you require something, just say their names and they'll appear. They know what they can and can't give you, so our Lord has advised you against asking for your wand."

Harry glared at the man and waved to the elves. They seemed happy with his acknowledgement and looked to Peter for their next instructions. He gave them a nod and they disappeared with a soft pop.

Pettigrew was looking at the place where he had tucked the Map, but Harry was not going to relinquish it. When Peter finally looked up to his eyes, he jumped a bit from the force of his glare.

"Do you know who's map that is?"

His glare intensified and Harry wrapped his arms around his midsection as if Pettigrew would try to take it. "It was the Weasley Twins's. Before that, it was my father's."

The man smiled. "Ah yes, that map holds some wonderful memories. It's a shame James lost it seventh year-"

"Don't talk about my father! You have no right, not when you betrayed them."

Pettigrew looked almost regretful. The emotion was still evident in his voice when he said, "War is a time where people do things they never thought they would do. No person comes out with clean hands." He paused for a moment and then spoke again. "That map," a smile, that was surely charming once, spread across Pettigrew's face, "it was a miracle. You can even see people under invisibility cloaks. We finally finished it in fourth year- my, the skill we possessed even at such a young age."

Harry wasn't sure what to say. The man in front of him was a murderer and had betrayed his parents, but he looked wistful as he thought about his school days. Perhaps war really does change people. He's sure his parents weren't completely innocent- even if they were hurting bad guys. Those bad guys were still the good guys for their side.

With the silence between them stretching on, Harry thought of a question to ask. "You said you created the map in fourth year, I thought it was like the cloak and had been passed down." Harry didn't phrase it like a question, but he was sure Pettigrew would answer it like one.

"The cloak has been passed down through generations of Potters but the map, that wondrous map, was an invention of our own." Pettigrew stopped for a moment to chuckle. "We made a deal that it would remain in our families only. Whoever had a child first would get the map first, that's you, Harry, and then you would pass it on when you graduate. You said the Weasley twins had it, I'm sure they nicked it from Filch's office after James got caught and lost it seventh year, and Our Lord and I know you're close with them. They're as close as family, so you managed not to break the pact even though you knew nothing of it. One day, Harry, that map will be a relic that your family line holds as close as your invisibility cloak."

It was after his speech that a house elf, Vera, appeared beside him. "Master Voldemort requires Master Pettigrew in the Dining Room."

Pettigrew glanced at Harry one more time before closing the doors.

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Word count: 1428
Last Updated: May 30, 2023