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I am such a strong believer that Tom Riddle was actually a good friend until he started making horcruxes.
You can NOT tell me a bunch of purebloods let some boy with the last name Riddle be an asshole to them and boss them around for their most hormonal years of life. They could have easily knocked him down a peg (or ten) if they wanted to.
My theory is that Tom was an overall good friend, who actually did like the people he surrounded himself with. He enjoyed their company and he enjoyed being a part of something. He was very smart and had natural talent, which they respected him for. He had great ideas and was a natural leader. THIS is how he gained his initial followers, not by torturing them into doing whatever he wanted.
I think this is one of the main reasons I hate His Equal now ... I kinda wrote Tom as that trope and it just bugs me.