Forgive me | Tom Riddle

Chapter 2 - Rough Start

Lillian

The moment we arrived, a very tall man led us towards the black lake, as this is where we would get picked up by boats which would bring us to the castle.

During the walk I still could not take my mind off Tom. I hadn't seen him since he left without saying a word. Although our interaction was short, it felt genuine. Something I hadn't experienced in the normal world. Or was he just fooling me? If he was friends with that blonde twat, he couldn't possibly want to have anything to do with me.

I was probably overthinking this whole thing, though. In the end I would find friends here at Hogwarts and in a few months I would have completely forgotten Tom. I didn't even get to tell him my parents weren't magical. I think he would have been interested to hear about my background and I could have learned more about the magical world with his help. But I could do that on my own as well, I didn't need the assistance of other people to get on.

The girl from the train and two boys passed by. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get to the lake, apparently wanting to secure good spots.

"Did you guys know that almost every year people fall into the lake during the trip? I heard it's quite dangerous."

"It will be fine. All my brothers have done it as well and they made it."

Dangerous? What did they mean by that?

When the first people entered the boats, curiosity got the better of me and I asked the trio.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what are you talking about?" I did get kind of scared after hearing that. It was completely dark as well, which did not help.

"The boat ride to the castle. The lake is said to have its own monster, which is able to swallow boats whole." The girl said.

"It's literally a myth. Don't worry.", the red-haired boy I had already seen at the train station added.

I nodded but couldn't hide the frightened expression on my face. Goosebumps started to form all over my body and suddenly I wished I was home in my bed again.

"I am Hermione, by the way. This is Ron and Harry. You can join us on our boat if you'd like."

"I would love to" I replied.

Soon enough it was our turn and we entered the boat. It was quite the bumpy ride and we all got drenched, but in the end we arrived safely at Hogwarts.

The castle was by far the most stunning I had ever seen. The size of it alone blew my mind and I was sure that even after having spent seven years there, I would still get lost.

Professor McGonagall, who I had also gotten the letter from, led us into the great hall, where we would get sorted into our houses. The older students were already waiting to welcome us and cheered us on.

"You will now be sorted into one of our four houses.

Gryffindor, for the brave and daring,

Ravenclaw for the intelligent and wise,

Hufflepuff for the loyal and hard-working

and finally, Slytherin for the cunning and determined."

She then started reading names. The person had to sit down on a chair and a talking hat, called the sorting hat, was placed on their head. Sometimes it would take a few minutes to decide which house the person would join and other times it didn't even need to be fully placed on top of the student's head to announce its choice.

When McGonagall called for Tom Riddle my head shot up. It was him. Whispers broke out again and the Slytherin table seemed to already be celebrating. He was one of the people where the sorting hat didn't even need a second to decide. The moment it touched a single strand of his hair we could hear „Slytherin" being announced by the hat.