But that was where the conflict arose. Harry had seen memories of Tom Riddle when he had been human and he couldn't bring himself to hate him. Riddle had become his mentor, his teacher, as Harry learnt extensively from the memories. Watching Tom Riddle struggle to rise up the ranks of society made Harry admire him; here was yet another wizard who had been abused by Muggles, shunned by wizards, and yet managed to remain strong.
Tom's life had not been easy. His early days at the orphanage were terrible as it had been for Harry and Dylan and being raised during a time of war was never easy. It wasn't so bad when he was a baby, but when the incidents of accidental magic started, things became worse - just like how it had happened to Dylan and Harry. It began small, like bursts of magic when he was angry or upset; these were handled by magical parents when they knew what to look for, but Muggles were not equipped to deal with or raise magical children. Orphanages were already poorly staffed and funded, not to mention the caregivers were not always the best, especially during wartime, leading to bullying problems. Tom's incidents of accidental magic lead to the matron, Mrs Cole, to panic.
Just like how the Dursleys had forced it on Harry, just like how the matron at the orphanage had forced it on Dylan, Mrs Cole had also forced Tom to undergo an exorcism when he was five years old. All three boys had been scarred by that incident and none of them had ever spoken about it to anyone ever again; until Harry had mentioned it to Dylan and vice versa. That one incident managed to break Tom Riddle, making the young child forever lose trust in his caregivers, making him hate them - just like how it had happened to Harry.
When school started, he immediately became the top student in the incoming class, but not all were impressed with him. Teachers doted on him, while others did not like the way he grasped everything so quickly. Jealousy was a dangerous emotion, and in the small, poorly funded school that Tom was sent to during his childhood when the Second World War was just heating up, meant that no one noticed. That was when Tom began developing his mask of always being polite, though his emotions did sometimes get the better of him.
But there was another problem - the bullies. News of his strange powers had spread throughout the orphanage, especially after the failed exorcism, and he was treated horribly by them. They said that his mother had died because even she didn't want to raise a freak such as him and that he was evil, that he was cursed, and that was probably why his mother died. He was also punished by Mrs Cole for talking back whenever he tried to defend himself, making him colder in the process. Like Harry, there was no one to protect him from his tormentors. He was alone.
Having no one to help him, he had turned to the only alternative he had available to him - the arcane force that everyone said was abnormal. Using his powers, he began retaliating against his tormenters. Billy Stubbs, who had killed Tom's newly discovered pet snake which was in the back garden, found his rabbit dead; Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop who always said cruel things about him and his mother found themselves scared and tortured in a cave by the sea. Children could be mean, but unless they were disciplined, it stuck to them for life. Unfortunately, Tom had no one to help him - unlike Harry - so he grew up to become more hateful.
His Hogwarts letter was a surprise, but not unwelcome. But things were not smooth down in the dungeons. Slytherins did not take kindly to Tom, a suspected Muggle-born, to have been sorted into their House. Tom was shunned and picked on by the older purebloods, but his natural talent with magic, not to mention his ability as a Parselmouth eventually won them over. Soon, he began gathering allies. The Chamber of Secrets incident was not well thought out, but he had survived it, however, the Muggle Second World War had shaken him to the core, enough for him to create a Horcrux at the age of sixteen. The London Blitz was the cause behind Tom's irrational fear of death. When Professor Merrythought retired, he had applied for a teaching post at Hogwarts just after graduation.
He had genuinely wanted to teach.
But it had been denied to him. The anger caused by the splitting of his soul had made him want to seize more power. Tom had then travelled the world, learning all forms of Dark Magic in the process, taking part in horrifying rituals to strengthen his body and magical core. The more he split his soul, the more Tom Riddle disappeared, leaving behind the monster known as Voldemort.
Tom had wanted allies to wage a political battle, doing his best to save witches and wizards from the danger of Muggles, but Voldemort wanted power, only power. Tom Riddle was essentially dead by the time the war was in full swing, with Voldemort destroying anything in his path.
Harry was absolutely disgusted by Voldemort's actions and how he had crippled Magical Britain in his attempt to seize power. The Dark Lord had killed men, women and children without mercy. While Harry respected Tom Riddle as his teacher, he knew that Voldemort was an inhumane monster; a very dangerous monster who needed to be put down as quickly as possible. The atrocities committed by deformed, power-hungry wizard were too terrible to behold; rituals such as the ones Voldemort used were never to be attempted. There was a line that was never to be crossed, and Voldemort had shamelessly broken the laws of Magic which everyone held so dear.
If only they could find that blasted locket. Where had Regulus hidden it?
....
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