He appeared out of nowhere

Chapter 13: Ur adopted

Being the sophisticated person he is, Tom did not land in a heap on the floor - a factor that surprised even him.

“Well hello Tom, I must say, you’ve caused quite the confusion in the department for Child Care and Wellbeing,” a woman, presumably Miss Bones said on his appearance,

“The reason being?”

“We have no idea who your parents were or how you even exist.”

“Ah.”

The one fatal flaw in Tom’s plan was that he had no idea how to explain that he knew he was a wizard, or who his parents were. He could say his parents were squibs and he didn’t know which family he was from, but that could lead them to make him take an ancestry test. But there really weren’t that many other options that could explain his circumstances. He would just have to hope that fate and magic were on his side.

“Well my parents were squibs who got cast out of their families, I’m not sure what families though,”

“And they homeschooled you?”

“To the best of their extent, yes”

“Well, Mr Richards we will have to do an ancestry ritual, just in case there are any other last names that you are able to take, understood?”

“Yes,”

*

He let some of his blood fall onto a piece of blank parchment and words began to appear on the page.

Full name - Tom Marvolo Riddle

Parents - Thomas Riddle and Merope Gaunt

Family/Heirships - Gaunt, Slytherin

When the words appeared Tom immediately did the first thing he could think to do so he wouldn't blow his cover.

"Stupefy! Obliviate!" He seized the parchment from the table and started to adjust the woman's memory so she'd think it all went normally and forged a document with his new identity written instead.

*

"Well, Tom, this all checks out," she smiled "Most squibs are cast out of their families so this is as expected. Now we need to discuss what to do with you," This was the part Tom wasn't looking forward to. The only option for orphaned wizards is adoption and he did not like the family dynamic.

"We have a lovely couple who are interested in adopting someone of any age or gender, they already have an adult daughter,"

"I'm guessing it's difficult to find anyone who wants to adopt someone of my age,"

"Yes, currently they are your only option other than going to a muggle orphanage where you will be placed in their system," Tom sighed, plan B it is then,

"I'll meet them if I have to,"

"Good! Stay here for a bit whilst I floo call them,"

*

That 'bit' of time turned into half an hour and Tom was bored, plan B consisted of pretending to be a recluse and going to Godrics Hollow as often as possible.

The office he was in was quite nice, it wasn't too boring whilst still being professional. It was easily noticeable that the office belonged to someone who was not Amelia Bones and she was just covering for them, the room was too girlish to belong to a strong, independent type like Amelia.

"Sorry for the wait, they wanted to dress up for the occasion,"

Entering the room behind Ms Bones was a blonde male, a light-brown-haired female and a hot-pink-haired female (who he presumed to be their daughter)

"Hey there! My name's Nymphadora, but please don't call me that, I prefer Tonks," her hair changed to a dark brown similar to his "Cor he is posh-looking,"

"You're a metamorphmagus,"

"Yep!"

"My name is Edward Tonks, but you can call me Ted, and this is my wife, Andromeda,"

"Pleasure,"

Once they were acquainted, Amelia brought out some paperwork,

"Since this is the only option you have, I am assuming you're happy to go ahead with the adoption?"

"Yes, I suppose so," this was his only way of keeping contact with the wizarding world, he'd be kept under closer surveillance in the muggle world. This was his only way to keep somewhat on track.

Edward and Andromeda signed the document and he wrote his own (false) name in his tidy script.

"You are presently an official person documented somewhere in our system, congratulations,"

*

He was taken back to The Leaky Cauldron for his belongings before the Tonks family took him to their home. It wasn't a small home, but it wasn't massive, they were obviously very happy with where they were in life.

When entering, he found himself in a short hallway that led to a kitchen, on his right were a set of stairs and a door, and on his left was an open door frame that led into the living room.

"This will be your room here," Andromeda explained, opening the door to his right which, upon examination, was a pretty bare bedroom. It had a large bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a bay window that was cushioned.

"We kept it basic so we could adjust it to fit how you like it,"

"Right,"

He set his trunk down on the bed and began to pack his clothes away. He had his new Hogwarts uniform, a suit for special occasions and some other smart items of clothing, mostly wizarding clothes but some were muggle style, however, there wasn't much difference.

When he turned around he realised that Nymphadora was still standing in the doorway,

"So, Tom, want me to spruce it up for you, I know the white walls are boring,"

"I don't mind what colour it is, though I do need a bookcase," he nodded to the large number of books stored in his trunk.

"Alright then," She transfigured a piece of scrap paper into a nice mahogany bookcase and began to put books into it.

*

The family kept trying to get close to him, it made sense, they wanted to care for a child who's never had a home before. Regardless, for Tom, it was a nuisance.

The only time he could get away was at night, but he still needed sleep. Progress on tidying the house was slow.

On one night Tom had finally made the house stable enough to get into the final room on the upper floor. Inside he found an empty nursery, there were still toys and baby products from when Harry had been a baby. Tom broke down. He did this, even if indirectly. Harry was orphaned because of him.