Something Wicked This Way Comes

Intriguing

in·trigu·ing
/ˌinˈtrēɡiNG/
adjective
arousing one's curiosity or interest; fascinating
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I wish to be sorted in Slytherin, Hat.

Slytherin you say? Are you certain? Slytherin is for the ambitious, and those with a drive for greatness;  I see no ambition in you, Miss Grindelwald.

How do you know my name?

I know everyone and everything, I am omniscient Miss Grindelwald, I see you; I see all.

I seek glory from my father, I want to succeed in this mission. I thirst for knowledge and I want to know about everything! If that isn't an ambition then what is?

Most seem to seek power more than anything and yet you have not mentioned it at all. The need to be the best. You do indeed thirst for knowledge, that is very clear, perhaps you would do well in Ravenclaw? Rowena would treasure you as one of her brightest scholars.

I do not want Ravenclaw! I decidededly want Slytherin! Despite what you may believe, I do have a drive to be the best. The issue is, I am already the best at everything; I've already reached the stars.

Have you now? Very intriguing, I've had many students come with that attitude, and very rarely do they even up being correct. I believe you might be one of those few.

Does that mean you will put me into Slytherin?

You would do well in Slytherin, it is true, but the blood of Slytherin runs thick with snakes, it's hard to complete a mission with no trustworthy face. You would be all alone.

I'm used to being alone, what's another..nine..months...?

I can handle it.

I have no doubt you could.

Then why must you take so long to sort me? Why are you being so difficult, Hat?

It is about estimating which house you would be better in, a task easier said than done when it comes to peculiar cases.

You said you are omniscient correct? That you could "see me?" Why do you not look into the future and see which house is better?

While it is true that I can see into the past and, to some degree, the present; I cannot see into the future...at least not yet.

Then it seems as though you have the same credentials to sort myself as I do, Hat. Therefore, I think it is fair to say that my opinion that I should be in Slytherin should hold weight in your decision.

Very bold of you indeed Miss Grindewald; perhaps I should put you in Gryffindor?

Do not tease me, Hat. I demand you put me into Slytherin for the last time!

Be careful what you wish for, Hermione, because you just might get it.

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Hermione Grey had just hit the three-and-a-half minute mark on the stool, cementing her as a hat stall. He inspected her face as she glowered up at the hat on her head he wasn't the only one with a negative sorting experience, Tom Riddle mused.

It wasn't long after the hat shouted Slytherin, marking the girl as part of his house. He watched as she walked over to their table, clearly recognizing his group from the train earlier in the day. She decided to sit down next to Alphard as he waved her down to him.

"So what did you think of the hat?" Alphard asked her as she grabbed a dinner roll in front of her.

"I thought it was quite eye-opening, I like the honesty it provided. Though the hat could do with less attitude, it wasn't too helpful in actually sorting me."

Tom Riddle put on a blank face and tuned out the conversation with the new girl, uncaring of anything in my they could say. He had more important matters he needed to execute before the end of the week than to spend time socializing with a new nobody.

Tom needed to find a new place where the knights of Walpurgis would be able to meet throughout the year. At the end of the previous school year when he was freshly sixteen, he had finally discovered the Chamber of Secrets hidden in the second-floor girl's lavatory, and the discovery was life-changing. He was the true heir of Slytherin.

Unfortunately, that meant that this year the school had tightened security within the dark forest, especially with the supposed "monster" still on the loose, meaning that no more meetings could happen within the forest for the rest of the semester. They needed a new meeting spot on school grounds where they would not be discovered by anyone, a task easier said than done.

With extensive research, Tom had learned about the elusive "come-and-go room" (an abysmal name in his opinion) that would appear to suit a student in need. But there were no records of where the room was or precisely how to summon it. So it seemed for now that he had hit an impasse.

Nonetheless, once Tom Riddle had put his mind to something, there was hardly anything that could stop him; a principle he took with him in his studies and his world domination.