Thomas Potter-Love is a Different Dimension

Hold Me Up

Hogwarts, 1st September 1995

Tom's POV:

Tom's tie magically turns red and gold, the seams and the house patch on the left breast of his robes are scarlet.

Albus Dumbledore partially stands up from his seat, a hand clumping his white beard, completely stupefied.

Sirius Black drops in his seat, mouth hanging for a second, then he tips his head back, arms holding his stomach, and guffaws loudly from his table. Severus Snape's lips curled up in a sneer of distaste at Sirius's reaction.

Professor McGonagall blinks twice, wrinkled lips pursed, before ceaselessly pulling off the Sorting Hat from Tom's head, and directing him to sit with the lions.

As if he was imperiused, Tom does as he is told, walking stiffly to the Gryffindor table, his eyes fixed on Harry's face. A mixture of relief and horror.

"Wow, didn't know there were two of ya!" Said a boy with sandy-coloured hair in a thick Irish accent. The rest of the Gryffindor table were also clapping, compared to Harry's grand acclamation of welcome, their clapping is a mixed reception of - who is he ? And another hot Potter?! Godric have Mercy!

"You're the other one Sirius Black rescued from America, aren't you? I remember reading in the papers," Says a darker skin girl with black plaited hair, dark brown eyes shining a little too eagerly.

"You're as tall as Ron and Neville! And you look so mature for your age," Says the girl with golden curls beside her. Her hands over her lips, batting her golden eyelashes at him.

"Gran says they had to keep your identity hush-hush because your muggle family was someone well known," Mumbles a tall gawky boy before Lavender. His shoulders hunched as he eyes Tom timidly.

"My surname is Thomas," Tittered a darker-skinned boy with short tight curls. "This will be a laugh for the Professors,"

" Oi , give him some space yeah, you're crowding him," Grouches a red-haired tall boy with an explosion of freckles on his face. "At least let him sit down ,"

So many people were handing out their hands for Tom to shake. Tom was still reeling in shock, his mind unable to catch up with the reality of where he is, and took it all without pause.

But what mattered was the silent grasp of Harry's hand under the table. Eyes behind black glasses screaming, what the hell just happened?

Tom gave a quick squeeze, to tell Harry they'd deal with this later. His mind brought attention to the Sorting Hat that was announcing the Houses of other first years- suspiciously devoid of the blue-tinged glow Tom noticed during Harry's sorting-and the inscrutable stare from their Headmaster.

Tom grits his teeth as he recalled the crushing sensation of his magic, unable to be released, and the fact that he couldn't take off his metal chain at will.

He kept his face on the table, his mind whirring, thinking about the signs he's missed. Tom never took into account, properly examining the Headmaster's gift. Never thought they couldn't trust the Great Albus Dumbledore.

And now they were paying the price.

Something happened during Harry's sorting. Why was it difficult for Tom to release his wild magic? And the black metal chains around their necks, what was it truly for?

Tom had a half ear opened during the Headmaster's welcoming speech, but it was a mindless dribble as far as he was concerned. Tom couldn't stand to even look at the old wizard right now, he couldn't release his normal magic, but he could feel his insides on fire. Hot and uncomfortable, needing to be released but was unable to find a window of escape. It made him want to do something irrational and violent. Like throwing the silver platters to the old wrinkling face.