What if He had a Choice?

Best Laid Plans Part 2

It amused him. Quite a bit actually, the way Lucius had paled and stuttered ever so slightly on breath, not words of course Malfoy's do not stutter, but the realization that Tom Riddle, the boy that his son brought home, was the younger version of Voldermort, the man whom he had pledged himself to? Well, Tom rather liked his reaction to that. It was quite amusing. Especially when it dawned on the older man that he had Draco within the palm of his hand, somewhat. Draco was...a work in progress. Tom had always enjoyed the company of the Malfoys, Abraxas, and now Draco, but the biggest uphill battle that he would have to fight is to force Draco's allegiance to him, and not to his father. He would need to rip it away from Lucius. Though, given the fact that Draco had saved him, multiple times, offered multiple excuses in order to keep him from being found out, as well as the fact that the other had willingly told him of his Father's transgressions, and everything regarding that, Tom did not believe that obtaining the young Malfoy boy's loyalty was going to be as hard as he had previously believed. It would not be easy, of course, a Malfoy's loyalty was never easy to obtain, and right now Draco's loyalty  to him was strictly because his father was loyal to him, and he simply could not be having that. 

He needed more...absolute loyalty. Having Draco loyal to him would do him wonders for various reasons. Leverage, of course, for though Lucius clearly had some questionable parenting skills it was clear that despite it all he did care at least minimally for his son. Furthermore, Draco was young enough to be pliable. Tom just had to be careful with how he did it, and what he was doing and Draco would be eating out of his hand in no time. The Malfoy's would be within the palm of his hand, literally. Draco was the key to that, however, and that meant that he was going to have to ensure that Draco was...well, that Draco swore his fealty to him. It would not be an easy process, but it would be a simpler one than he had previously believed it may be.

For now, he focused on the main detriment. Dumbledore. He needed to get him out of Hogwarts in order to be capable of going TO Hogwarts in order to keep watch on Draco, and begin to integrate himself into the Slytherin House . Draco was young, and a Slytherin, but Tom would not be capable of truly cementing his need for Tom himself if he was not there to constantly provide the continual presence. It would be easy then, for Draco to slip and start questioning. This was something that Tom simply could not afford. Draco was a rather powerful ally, but he could also be an incredibly detrimental enemy should Tom not play his cards right. This was partially the reason that he had pardoned Malfoy so swiftly. That and the fact that he saw no reason to bully the man. Not yet at least. He wanted a more proper reason than something like getting out of Azkaban by lying. He was certain many had, and though Tom would not share the same mercy for them, Lucius was a special case. 

However, this all implied his ability to get into Hogwarts. Should he get rid of Dumbledore, the main obstacle would be removed, and Tom would be able to infiltrate much easier within the mass of grade six students. This was essential. Tom would need to get rid of Dumbledore, perhaps not right away, but firing him from Hogwarts was essential, or at least demoting him to the staff of a mere teacher rather than a headmaster. He would also need to make sure that his ally was headmaster. He knew from Draco that Severus was a powerful ally during the war, and had acted as a spy of sorts for Voldermort, and for Dumbledore. Nobody knew where his true alliance lay. This could be helpful, though Tom would have to watch the older man to make sure. He did not make a habit of trusting easily. 

That was the main point. He set Lucius the task of gathering as much of Dumbledore's misconduct during the time of his residence at Hogwarts as possible, Tom himself helping with a few of the things whilst he had still been a teacher, and those things which had been covered up, or hidden. This was important. Both Tom and Lucius were well aware that for someone so respected by a majority of the Wizemagont it would be difficult to truly fire the man permanently from Hogwarts, what he needed was temporary, enough to get him IN, and that was all. He could continue from there. First, however, he needed to find a way into the school. 

According to Draco the man had a more than sketchy past, one which led to the rule that he was not allowed within the dorms unless the head of house was present. Though Draco refused to go into the specifics, it was enough that it had occurred and that the old man had broken that rule. Tom was not entirely certain what the situation was regarding the rule, however, as the council had laid the rule in place, Dumbledore's disregard of the rule in any circumstance would be head for suspicion. It was also brought to his attention that Hagrid was still living on the school grounds. Ohhh...The things which Tom could do with that. The amount of lovely interrogations and inspections which could be launched simply because Dumbledore was more a fool than many believed. He was smart, but when it came to Tom, he was never smart enough. Something which Dumbledore had always despised. While the man may be near him in Magical Power, raw power that was, Tom knew better how to wield it, and though he may not have the same reputation that Dumbledore had, he had spent years working on plans on how to crumble that pristine reputation to the ground. Now, with the aid the Malfoys would give, it would work.

Brilliantly.