Control // Tom Riddle

Eight

The words of Secrets of the Darkest Arts burned into Tom's mind. He did his best to absorb each and every word written on its pages. This book was the most useful of all he had found before, having fairly intricate directions on making Horcruxes. Even still he'd have to find a way to chat with a professor, most likely Slughorn, to see what they knew. Though he did consider himself an advanced dark wizard, Tom knew he had to be careful for this was slightly over his head- even if he hated to admit it.

Stumbling into the common room from the dorms were came his 'knights', all tired but alert. Their feet scuffed against the tile making too much noise that brought anger to the tall boy standing in front of the grand fireplace. The four took their normal places on the white couches awaiting for their leader to speak.

"It's going to be a lot harder than we thought." Tom said blankly as he started to pace the common room, "but it's happening tonight." The fire crackled making it the only thing there making noise. Riddle's loyal followers sat in an utter silence afraid to even move a muscle. Things weren't going according to plan and everyone knew Riddle kept things to a plan. He was very particular with how anything got done and hated when there was a difficult obstacle in the way. Right now his biggest obstacle was Albus Dumbledore who seemed to be the only person not giving into his charm and facade. It infuriated him; that old man wasn't going to ruin this for him.

Ever since Riddle came to Hogwarts and learned about the Chamber of Secrets in his first year, he had been set on finding it. Years of research was finally coming down to this, realizing he was the true Heir of Slytherin, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Though now that the realization of actually opening the chamber was coming to be, he realized the care he must put into place. There were so many things that could cause his plan to crumble. But he was sure it would all be worth it once the school was cleansed.

"Luckily no one uses that bathroom, besides some Ravenclaw girl." Abraxas said,

"I'm sure she'll be of no issue though."

Then Lestrange spoke up changing the conversation, "My Lord, I have a question for you regarding Miss Rousseau."

Tom stopped pacing at the sound of her name, his head snapping over towards Robert. He then made his way towards him, "what about her?"

"As of now we, you hardly know anything of her. I don't think she should be involved in any of our endeavors."

"She's harmless Lestrange. She can hardly form a sentence without stuttering." Riddle took a seat facing the four boys, "besides, all I need is information on Helga Hufflepuff's cup and then we won't be needing her anymore."

"My Lord, how can we be sure she knows where it is?"

"I already have that figured out." he sighed, unsure of if he should share. But seeing their immersed looks he continued, "so let's say she does know, she gets it for us- simple. But on the other hand she may not know. Now, if we're able to track it down we can easily use her to retrieve it. Someone may be more willing to hand it over to Helga's actual descendant. It's really not all that complicated."

"How do we know she'll comply?"

"She will. I'll just need some time to place her loyalties with us. With a little... manipulation, it'll be fine." Tom grew worried after his first tutoring session with Primrose. She always weaned her way around questions and was very vague about things as well. But yet she was either very positive or would stare off. Her eyes always had a distant look in them and he couldn't quite pinpoint where they went off to. Winning over whatever trust she had to give could take him up to this whole school year if he didn't do it right. Trust was a funny thing.. "But, that means all of you will treat her well. There can't be anything that could drive her away."

That wouldn't be necessarily hard. Neither Rosier, Malfoy, Lestrange or Avery ever held a full conversation with her before. As irksome as they found all Hufflepuffs to be, especially her, they'd have to make due. Going against anything Tom wanted was suicide, "yes my Lord."

"Good." the clock then struck midnight with a loud chime, "I'll be back." Tom knew that tonight would be the best time to attempt at opening the Chamber. After strange correspondences with the Basilisk through Parseltongue since about last year, it was eager to get out. He knew keeping it any longer would be futile and he wouldn't be at Hogwarts for much longer.

***

Tom stood in the abandoned girl's bathroom. He felt no shame whenever he entered, no one ever used it anyways.. He continued to stare down at one of the faucets; its elaborate snake decor present. Having been preparing for this for awhile now he barely felt nervous. In fact, there was an excitement in the air surrounding him. It was sick that he could get off like this thinking about purging of the school. If none of his ancestors could do their jobs, he would have to himself.

Speaking in Parseltongue, the sink began to divide and the stones fell to reveal a dark passageway down.

He stood there in a brief triumph before he took steps away and turned his back. A slimy slithering noise sounded from behind the boy, its scales scraping against the tile. An evil smirk pulled at the corner of his lips; the basilisk had arrived.

"You've finally succeeded."

Tom knew this creature was created to serve the Heir of Slytherin, he knew that it would do his bidding; so he also knew not to look it in the eyes, "of course. I wasn't planning on failing."

"Of course not. We both have the same goals in mind. To cleanse."

"Clearly. Now, what must be done to assure your success?"

"All roosters, crows etc- those devils must be killed. Their calls are fatal."

"Then it shall be done."

Tom strode out of the bathroom confident in the upcoming events. A grin was plastered onto his face as he made his way into the halls. The darkness divulged over his form and into every nook and cranny of the school. The paintings on the walls were eerily empty as if they knew something was amiss. A dark power had just been released and every muffle-born was now in danger.

***

It only took a week before the basilisk's first attack. Tom had been in Arithmancy when another teacher strode in to talk with the professor. He strode back in a few minutes later white faced as if he saw a ghost. The rest of his lesson went poorly as he could hardly stop shaking. It was then that Tom realized something happened.

The prefects were having their daily meeting with the Head Boy and Girl. There his suspicions were approved.

"We're going to have to buckle down on students wandering the halls after bedtime. The teachers have told us that there's been an accident with a student... they're only in the hospital wing but I've been informed there could be more incidents." The Head Boy spoke with certainty trying not to show his fear as well. Tom could see it in his eyes though clear as day. "Let's keep this on the down low for now please."

But Tom knew that it wouldn't stay a secret for much longer. He wanted it to be known that after 800 years the Chamber was open and that mudbloods needed to watch their backs.

***

Author's Note: REALLY short I know, but I wanted this to be a filler to show what Tom's up to in his spare time :))