My Dark Lord

Chapter Three: Fangs and Foundations

The steam coiled like a serpent around the scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express, thick and purposeful. The platform thrummed with excitement and nervous chatter-- but I felt only anticipation. The kind that coils low in your chest and waits. 

Eileen and I stepped aboard without ceremony, pushing past a pair of first-years who clealy didn't understand that power didn't wait its turn. We found a private compartment near the rear of the train--Eileen immediately warded the door with a subtle privacy charm. I approved. We'd have silence. We'd have control.

The trunks were stowed, the seats claimed. A comfortable quiet settled between us. I sat by the window, watching the crowd shift and part as students filed on. The moment Tom Riddle appeared at the edge of the platform, I knew. 

He had found the snake.

He didn't show it. Not in his face. Not in his movements. But he entered the compartment with that deliberate, measured air-- his usual stillness now heavy with awareness. The kind of awareness that comes when someone sees a game being played and realises they're a piece on the board.

Good. He understood.

He said nothing. Simply nodded, sat across from me, and settled in.

For a moment, everything was perfect. Then the door slid open. 

Three boys stepped in like they thought the train was theirs.

Abraxas Malfoy-- tall, silver-blond, smirking like he'd been born to inherit the world.

Cassian Avery-- wide-shouldered and thick in the way most pure-blood sons are when they're told brawn matters more than subtlety.

And Rufus Lestrange-- pale, narrow, with a quiet cruelty behind the eyes that intrigued me for half a second before I dismissed him.

"Well, well," Malfoy drawled, scanning the compartment like a lion deciding which hunk of meat to eat first. "Didn't expect you to be in here, Grindelwald."

"Looking for somewhere to sit?" I replied without glancing up from my book. "Try the floor."

Lestrange chuckled. "Feisty. I like that."

Avery leaned on the doorframe, eyes flicking down my form, not even bothering to hide it. "You've got sharp teeth, Grindelwald. But you're too pretty to snarl."

They stepped fully inside, ignoring Eileen completely-- fools-- and turned their attention to Riddle.

"And who's this?" Malfoy questioned, his tone sharp and eyes narrowing.

Tom didn't flinch. 

"Thomas Riddle," he said simply.

Avery wrinkled his nose. "Riddle? Never heard of it. You pure-blood or something... less?"

Tom's silence was precise. Weaponised. 

Malfoy turned to me again. "Really, Layla. Your could do better. I mean, if you're in the market for a companion, I know a few names your father wouldn't be ashamed to hear mentioned."

"You think you'd make that list, Malfoy?" I asked sweetly.

He smirked. "Well, I'm not bad with a wand."

"Then perhaps use it to summon some dignity."

Lestrange chuckled again-- this time at Malfoy. Avery shifted uncomfortably. 

"Well I've certainly never heard of the Riddles doing business with my parents." Malfoy gloated.

Tom tilted his head, almost pleasantly. "No, you wouldn't have."

Lestrange stepped forward. "Look at you-- wandless, alone. You should be careful... mudblood."

I opened my mouth-- but I didn't have to speak.

Because the snake did.

A hiss rose from beneath Tom's cloak, and before anyone could react, it slithered down his arm and onto the compartment floor-- a sleek grey adder with silver eyes that glinted like ice. It coiled protectively at his feet, tongue flicking.

Lestrange stepped back instinctively.

"Speak again," Tom murmured not to the boys-- but to the snake.

The serpent hissed, low and dangerous. Its eyes narrowed as if understanding every word it heard, I watched with quiet satisfaction as the pure-blood boys-- my peers-- stepped back from the boy they'd mocked mere seconds previous.

"You're a Parselmouth?" Malfoy asked, voice too high.

Tom didn't answer.

I did.

"Of course he is. You thought only pure blood can carry ancient magic?"

Malfoy glanced at me, then back at the snake. "Huh," he muttered, and something in his posture changed. He gave a shallow nod and swallowed. "Interesting, You'll do well in Slytherin."

The three of them left without another word.

Tom gently picked up the snake and slid it back into the folds of his cloak. He didn't thank me outright. But he didn't need to.

He sat beside me without a sound, his hand brushing mine in passing. And in that silence, I heard what wasn't spoken.

He knew. I had given him power. And now, whether he liked it or not, he owed me.

Loyalty was a fragile thing. But debt? Debt was a shackle that even pride couldn't break.

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The Sorting

The castle loomed above us, jagged and ancient as the boats carried us across the black lake like offerings. Tom sat beside me, his eyes fixed on the rising towers and turrets. Eileen was quiet, her grip on her wand a little tighter than usual.

As we filed into the Great Hall-- hundreds of eyes staring down from the House tables-- I let my chin rise just slightly. Let them see me. Let them wonder who the girl with the serpent-eyed owl and the blackthorn wand was.

The Sorting Hat, tattered and grinning, called names one by one.

Eileen Prince-- Slytherin.

Tom Riddle-- Slytherin. The Hat barely touched his head.

Then it was my turn.

"Grindelwald, Layla."

A murmur rippled through the room like a spell gone wrong.

I sat.

The Sorting Hat dropped onto my head, and the voice that greeted me was old, amused, and oddly weary.

"Ah... a mind like a razor's edge. Power. Purpose. Lagacy. And... hunger."

Put me where I'll rise above them all, I thought without hesitation.

"Oh, you're quite certain you belong among Slytherin's brood. And yet... there is potential for greatness in more than one way. Ravenclaw would sharpen you. Gryffindor might challenge you--"

No, I said sharply. I don't need sharpening. I need a stage.

There was silence.

"Very well, Miss Grindelwald. You seek ambition. But remember-- Slytherin house is no friend to the weak, even among its own."

Good, I thought. I didn't come to make friends.

"Slytherin!" the Hat erupted.

The table leapt into applause-- some hesitant, some thrilled. The Malfoy boy clapped with enthusiasm. Lestrange and Avery looked smug. Eileen looked quietly proud.

Tom Riddle watched me sit beside him and gave a slight incline of the head.

Yes.

We were where we needed to be.

Among the snakes.

And soon, above them.