Perception A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Twenty - Perception

Tom never mentioned Cassiopeia's ancestry ever again. Yet, her reckless attempt to make a difference to his opinion had not failed. Grudgingly, he relented and agreed to spare innocent victims that had not been battling against him. He even promised to stop his malicious attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns and fight only those who entered the war.

Cassiopeia knew that was all she could expect. For once she felt as if she had done everything she could to save the world. After all, she had risked a lot. She had sacrificed a lot.

The older Tom felt torn. He didn't quite agree with the way things were developing but he was at a loss for an idea how to change things. He had contemplated going further back in time again, but actually he didn't want to mess with time any more. After all, there was no denying that quite some things had actually changed for the better. He was still sane, his mind was still sharp and clear, he was powerful and strong, and Cassiopeia was still alive.

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Tom stayed true to his promise and didn't attack defenceless innocents any more. He concentrated on infiltrating the wizarding government again and successfully undermined it from within, using his strategically positioned Death Eaters and their allies, until, in the end, he finally gained control over the ministry.

Tom was content. Things were going just as he had planned.

With the ministry on his side Tom was finally able to start concentrating on the last remaining bastion of his enemies and the one target that had always mattered most to him – Hogwarts.

After all, Hogwarts was where he had been happiest; the first and only place he had ever truly felt at home.

Tom wanted control over the school, and most of all Tom wanted Dumbledore to be driven out of the castle. He wanted to finally get rid of the one man whom he hated so much, the one man whom he still feared.

Yet it was obvious that Dumbledore would never surrender Hogwarts to Tom's control. Tom was well aware that there was going to be no other way than to confront Dumbledore and defeat him if he wanted control over the school. But despite his usual determination and fearlessness Tom was hesitating.

Cassiopeia and Tom were sitting in Tom's lair. Cassiopeia leant back in her armchair and eyed Tom curiously.

"Are you really still afraid of Dumbledore?" Her voice was inquiring. "I know he was a risk back then when you were still pretending to be nice. But by now probably no one remembers charming Tom Riddle anymore, and everyone knows that Lord Voldemort is the epitome of darkness and danger. So Dumbledore's no threat any longer, is he?"

Tom pursed his lips and gazed at his wand but remained silent.

Cassiopeia kept watching him and wondered what he was thinking. She knew that Tom had always been wary of Dumbledore and that he had hated him for the fact that Dumbledore had mistrusted him since their first meeting in the orphanage. But she didn't understand why Tom kept holding his grudge against Dumbledore because, after all, Dumbledore had been quite right about Tom all along. Of course that had been inconvenient when he had still been at school. But by now Tom wasn't taking the trouble to disguise his character any more. Granted, he still had his looks and probably this kept making things easier. Yet it certainly were no longer his looks that made him get his way but the unbounded power and unscrupulous cruelty of his magic. Despite his looks no one mistook Lord Voldemort for Prince Charming any more. And by now there were only Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix standing between Tom and Hogwarts.

Tom twirled his wand between his fingers. Actually he didn't know either why he still feared Dumbledore. Thinking about it, Dumbledore had always been a little unsettling. Tom was no fool. It was obvious that Dumbledore was undoubtedly a powerful wizard. It had certainly taken quite a lot of magical talent to defeat Grindelwald back then in that famous duel. After all, Grindelwald had not been a stupid troublemaker but a capable wizard whom lots of others hadn't been able to defeat. He had taken down several governments before he had finally been stopped by Dumbledore.