October 1936.
London.
Tom
Tom watched the taxi drive away with utter relief and minor disappointment. The black cab drove down to the end of the street and out of sight, taking away a good portion of Tom's fear with it. Finally, Billy Stubbs was leaving the orphanage and leaving Tom in peace but leaving with an absurdly wealthy grandfather, that made him frown with bitter jealousy. Why should a boy who had almost had him raped get to strut off into a life of luxury while Tom had to stay in this dreadful place?
He fiddled with the corner of Gisela's latest letter, thankfully containing far more content as requested, and retreated to his bed to reread the letter. With Billy Stubbs gone, the frustration and anger had faded and left him only in sadness. Every morning he woke expecting his friend to be breathing softly on his shoulder but found himself cold and lonely. He hoped he would gain some sanity back now that his tormenter had departed, and Gisela's letters were longer.
Dearest Tommy,
I cannot express how horrified and guilty I was reading your letter. I hope that nasty boy has left and you are safe. The Sergeant will pay for his crimes one day, no need to worry. Karma eventually bites us all, no matter how long it takes.
Durmstrang is proving to be a fantastic school. The first-year subjects are Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic and our 'lessons', that consist of singing, languages and ballet for girls. Unfortunately, it seems the German Wizarding World is as far behind on Women's Rights as Britain is. All this talk of marriage as though it is our only path in life, yet I laugh after all that talk in my room; I'm never getting married. I have decided to put my effort into my study, and I am clearly top of the class for my stream.
Hogwarts curriculum is somewhat the same, apparently, but instead of Dark Arts they teach 'Defense', and Astronomy and Divination are subjects - a load of horseshit about reading palms and crystal balls like they do at the circus, and frowned upon here at Durmstrang. They also have houses, which I mentioned before, that separate you by personality; Gryffindor for the Brave and Glorious, Ravenclaw for the Wise, Hufflepuff for the Loyal and Just and Slytherin for the Ambitious and Cunning. Having read deep into the descriptions, I have no doubt you fit the Slytherin traits - as do I.
The only problem with the Slytherin house is they are very... prejudice. Unlike Durmstrang, Hogwarts accepts students with parents who are both Muggles, and there is a sort of 'elite' society that is very anti-Muggleborn, who are mainly in Slytherin house. I looked up 'Riddle', and the surname isn't on the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' Pureblood list, nor is there any record in the Durmstrang library. I'm sure there is something in the Hogwarts library, but perhaps we should establish a 'German' identity for you to avoid anything going wrong. No one will think you're any less than half-blood in Slytherin house - which you aren't based on your ability to speak to snakes - but I worry about them thinking you have some Muggle heritage and it being like the orphanage. If they question you, we have all the proof you need; your sister goes to Durmstrang. We obviously will need to elaborate on this story, but it would be a settling start.
As for my fellow classmates, which are all girls as they separate genders here, we were right in thinking they would be a bunch of spoilt pampered children with lovely childhoods. I have only made one real friend here, a Russian girl called Olga, and she is all I need for company. I think you would actually tolerate her presence. She is the only Russian here and grew up in Paris. For some reason, she is quiet about her own childhood, as I am, although she does have some family. Why she attends here, and not Beauxbatons or Koldostoretz, remains a mystery.
Unfortunately, it has become painfully obvious how much skinnier and smaller I am than the other girls, and I often get stares because of it. No one has tried to openly bitchy to me at least, but I feel as though that will change over the years. Thankfully, I am starting to fill out with all these unnecessary feasts of food.
I have enclosed a package with some old spare copies I found of an introduction to Charms and History of Magic. I will send two at a time for the subjects, as I wouldn't want to stress the owl anymore with the weight. They are all in German, so you will just have to suck it up and improve your language. At least you don't have to learn French as well as trying to keep up with German like I am. I've had to ask Klaus multiple times how to write essays correctly in German, a struggle you won't have to face mister.
With love,
Gisela.
Tom had spent the last few days devouring the contents of the books, circling the areas most of interest to him with a broken pencil so that Gisela may send him more information on the particular subjects. He spent days hiding in his room only appearing for meals, with only a few school classes taking place as most days the teachers taught at the local public school, which was overflowing too much to accept the orphans in. Tom suspected it was more to do with the government not caring for educating the poor past their numbers and letters. Had he not discovered he was a Wizard, he would be expecting to be working in the factories or the docks by fourteen or join the armed forces at eighteen. He would never have belittled himself to such worthlessness though, even if Professor Klaus hadn't had come knocking. Tom understood at a very young age that the only way to survive in this world was with power, and he would stop at nothing to gain it.
The History of Magic textbook and Gisela's letter had also informed him that in the Wizarding World, there was also a power hierarchy formed by ability, wealth and, unfortunately, blood status. The matter of his parentage had always been a touchy subject, as an orphan, and while Gisela had discovered half of hers so quickly, it seems he was not so lucky. His father must have been a 'half-blood' or 'muggle-born', as his surname does not belong on the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight'. As an orphan with no history to his heritage, he would have to make up an identity that would help him climb the ladder in a world of chaos.
His hours of peace were interrupted by a loud rapping on the door, and reluctantly Tom rose from his bed to click it open. There, in all her glory, stood Amy Benson. She sneered down at him, Dennis Bishop stood quivering at her side, raising her chin to appear superior.
"Now that Billy has left, things will go back to normal. I am in charge again, and I want to remind you of your place here," she snarled.
"Oh, I am very aware of my place, Benson. I am in control, and you are the dirt under my feet," he spat back at her.
"Be careful -" she began to exclaim with rage, only to be interrupted.
"It is you that should be careful, Benson. Do you really think what happened to Billy was an accident?" he smirked, looking up at her darkly through his long eyelashes. Her smile faltered, eyes narrowing at him.
"You should know not to try any -"
"You don't get to order me around, scum," he spat, attempting to close the door but prevented by her hand shooting out.
"Would you like Dennis and me to call for the Sergeant -"
Slap!
Amy gasped at the contact, being the first to receive physical revenge from Tom in a very long time. He grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her to her knees and forcing her face up to look directly into his coal black eyes. Dennis backed away into a corner in fear, wanting to avoid the wrath that Tom had just unleashed.
"I am going to make this very clear, bitch, stay the fuck away from me, or there will be hell to pay," he seethed, "and there is nothing I love like sweet revenge. It took one stunt to have Billy knocked from his high horse, and understand that while he bothered me badly, it was only for three months. I have had to put up with your scheming for my entire life, and I will make sure you pay for it. I won't do anything now, nor anytime soon if you play your cards right, but one day when you think you are safe and happy, suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth and you will know the debt has been paid."
He threw her to the floor and slammed the door in her face, threatening to burst with magic as he thought of the insufferable girl who had caused such nuisance to him and such torment to Gisela. He knew that while Billy had to be dealt with quickly, he would have more time to plan his next endeavour carefully. He wanted to horrify that bitch and her lapdog truly and knew the orphanage was no place for his ideas without getting caught and sent to an asylum. No, he would have to wait.
News had spread throughout the children that morning that in May the following year there would be an outing to the coast, where the orphans could enjoy a day at the beach sponsored by some rich man's charity work - not that the orphans cared if it was for the man's personal gain in reputation and not at all from the heart. They would enjoy a day in nature by the beach, with all the freedoms in the world to enjoy themselves.
It was the perfect opportunity for an accident.