Perception A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Eleven - Exams

When spring came, rumours about Grindelwald planning on invading Britain were growing stronger, and every day the Daily Prophet was full of articles discussing whether or not Dumbledore should finally try and stop him.

In the end it seemed Dumbledore was left no choice, and, at last, he duelled Grindelwald in what was soon considered the most famous duel in history. Dumbledore emerged the shining hero of the wizarding world. The whole school was celebrating Dumbledore's victory and the end of the Wizarding War.

However, Tom's hatred for Dumbledore only seemed to increase with the older wizard's newly gained additional popularity. Cassiopeia had the impression that, despite the mild spring temperatures outside, the temperature in their common room remained somewhere around freezing, with Tom's open hatred and his undisguised fury.

Cassiopeia didn't know how many times she had already wondered why Dumbledore was actually able to get to Tom the way he did. After all, Tom did not care for others, he didn't care about anyone else's opinion of him, and he had absolutely no feelings at all. Yet there obviously was something about Dumbledore that unnerved Tom. Thinking about it again and again, Cassiopeia had finally come to the conclusion that Tom's hatred was ultimately aroused by his utter frustration at not being able to manipulate him like the others. Dumbledore was the only one Tom couldn't charm, the only one he couldn't deceive. Dumbledore was a constant threat to Tom's façade. Cassiopeia was convinced that Tom hated the fact that Dumbledore was able to see through him, that he couldn't persuade him to believe his lies and, most of all, that it had been his own fault that Dumbledore knew him so well.

The teachers organized a celebration feast in honour of Dumbledore, and everyone was looking forward to it, with the exception of Tom. Once again Cassiopeia couldn't help being fascinated by Tom's immense acting skills. As long as their common room's door had been closed and they had been alone, Tom had not bothered to mask his fury and the intense hatred he felt for the older wizard. However, the moment Tom had opened the door of their common room, his perfect façade had instantly been back in place, shielding his true self from the world and not giving away any of his real thoughts.

They walked to the Great Hall in silence. When they entered the already crowded hall, Cassiopeia took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, and Tom walked over to his Slytherin gang. Dippet started the feast with a boring speech on Dumbledore's success. When he had finally finished, he motioned Tom and Cassiopeia to come to the front. There had been no need to discuss that it would be Tom who was going to give the Heads' speech. When they met at the front of the hall, their eyes briefly locked, and Cassiopeia saw a wicked glint flicker through Tom's eyes. Then he addressed the students and teachers, his face now a perfectly innocent mask of polite admiration. He effortlessly delivered a rousing speech, condemning the Dark Arts as a ghastly inhuman abomination of magic, thanking Dumbledore for his commitment to defend the wizarding world against Grindelwald's evil forces and praising the ultimate victory of the light. Cassiopeia knew Tom didn't mean one single word he was saying, and yet he sounded as if it was all he had ever wanted.

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With every day the end of the school year drew nearer, and finally it was time for their N.E.W.T. exams.

The evening before the Transfiguration exam Tom sat in the common room, his wand in his hand, lazily transfiguring the teapot on the table in front of him into a ferret and back into a teapot again and again. He wondered what task Dumbledore was going to assign to them. He was quite certain that Dumbledore would love to give him a task that he wouldn't be able to perform perfectly. A sneer crossed Tom's face. Luckily, Dumbledore would never be able to do so, because if it was difficult for him, then it would be near to insoluble for the rest of the class, and Dumbledore couldn't very well let his whole class fail the exam.