#180 in Fanfiction || #1 in Hermione ||
In the language of literature, there exists a seemingly-concrete, antonymous relationship between good and evil, light and dark, hero and monster. And yet, we often disregard the transition from one to anothe...
The next morning, everyone seems to reacquaint themselves with an attitude towards normal living, or at least they pretend to be acceptant of the change between battle preparations to battle clean-up. Indeed, there seems to be more going on at Hogwarts than ever before--which truly is saying something--with Ministry workers interviewing witnesses to clean-up crews being sent to clear the rubble. St. Mungo's has taken control of the Hospital Wing where the warriors from both sides are being healed, only to stand trial or return home in peace. Magical builders work in restoring the Great Hall to its foundational stability, the roof proving to be too cumbersome to reassure the walls without help. So, of course, McGonagall is quick to request Tom's help of holding it up 'momentarily' while the walls are fixed for injury. And despite Hermione's protest, Tom accepts, hating it in the end as he ends up holding the roof for a good couple hours.
On top of that, more guardians of students arrive with each moment in the day, letters having been sent with little regard for subtlety: 'the Headmaster fled Hogwarts and died, Voldemort attacked the school, your children wanted to fight, and now they may be alive.' Surely, Tom knows that there is more eloquence to the writing, but from the parents' reactions upon arrival at the destroyed Castle, you would expect that they were told that their children were bitten by Greyback.
And then there are the monsters to be dealt with, lurking in the shadows of the Forbidden Forest and making McGonagall more anxious than she ought to be. Again equipping the students as workers, she sends groups out to send the Dementors away and wrangle the remaining spiders and giants (Ron would have nothing to do with it and promptly fled to clean-up duty). Honestly, Tom has to question the sanity of all these professors, this being one of the many times they sent children into the Forbidden Forest. Forbidden, his arse.
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By the time noon arrives, the majority of the clean-up is under wraps and Tom's been relieved of the roof's weight on his shoulders, almost literally. And it might just be because he slept on a lumpy couch the night prior, but Tom wants to growl if one more magical builder comes up to thank him for his service to the school. Aren't they supposed to be ones holding up the ceiling? But Hermione seems to sense his darkening mood, her hand reaching out to his as they wait outside, shoulders immediately relaxing and his eyes resolved to only glaring at the builders (bastards).
Honestly, Tom Riddle just wants to leave the school at this point...before they ask him to hold the building again. But with the Ministry here, it's all a bureaucratic process to leave, everyone's identity being checked so that the Death Eaters cannot escape. And though he is the savior of them all, Harry Potter and his gang of messy friends cannot get a skip-the-line pass, stuck behind a sobbing mother now clinging to her Fourth Year child. Tom glares at her too.
But eventually, the four of them--Tom, Hermione, Ron, and Harry--make it to the front of the line, checked for their true identity and finally freed. And, not too surprising given the daft wizards, the two people checking Tom seem to think he is joking about his name. It's only when he begins to truly become furious that Hermione and Harry step in to 'reassure' the Ministry workers that he is Tom Marvolo Riddle and that he is no harm. Well, the latter comment seems to bring even more issues about, the wizards becoming panicked at the prospect of letting 'Voldemort' go. What would their bosses say? Eventually, at his wits end by the processing delay, Tom just ends up silently Imperio-ing the two, faking the paperwork, and walking through the final gate to a temporary Apparition spot. If Harry and Hermione disagree with his tactics, they do not say anything, again annoyed like Tom.
