"So... how did it go?"
Tom looked over to Alannah," How did what go?"
"The thing," she yawned as she spoke, "Last night I saw you leaving the common room to go to it."
The whole school was currently in the Great Hall eating dinner at the large tables. Although Tom certainly stood out a lot more now he was... bigger in size, he still sat apart from everyone else and nobody gave him a second glance. Just how he liked it.
"Went badly," Tom responded in a mutter, picking up a few potatoes with his fork and funneling it into his mouth. Alannah repulsed as he did so.
"Do you have to eat like that?" she inquired before carefully cutting her own potatoes and eating them politely. Tom gave her a withering look.
"Not everyone is from a royal family or whatever," he said, "And besides, you've never mentioned how I eat before.
"It didn't bother me as much before. But now you're like... fully grown or something. I dunno. Maybe I'm just saying it because its still weird for me to see you like this," Alannah cut up another potato.
"I have to eat a lot to keep looking like this," Tom said as he stuffed his mouth with a piece of meat. Alannah winced.
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" she chided, "Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners."
"Nobody ever even taught me how to read," Tom said, taking another bite and Alannah gave a humourless laugh. Then she looked at Tom's face and saw that he was completely serious.
"Wait, for real?" Tom nodded. Alannah's eyes widened in shock, "Huh? How? You know now right?"
Tom shrugged, "I know a few words. But readings never helped me before so I don't see how it would help me now."
"What?!" Alannah almost jumped up out of her chair, "You're not joking, right?"
Tom shook his head blankly, "No. Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? How do you not see how important reading is? How are you not even taught that?" Alannah was in a state of shock. She still wasn't even convinced but Tom had never lied to her before... why would he now.
"This is- what?- my fourth year in this school, and it hasn't made anything worse yet," Tom said lazily.
"So was that what the thing last night was? Reading classes?"
Tom almost winced at the idea alone, "Eugh," he said, disgust clear in his tone. Alannah laughed.
"To be honest, I still can't tell if you're being serious," she said, changing back to the serious topic, "Does anyone else know you can't read?"
"I don't think they care," he turned to look toward the teacher's table. They were all eating happily, talking to each other. Professor Potter noticed where he was looking, smiled at him and raised a glass. Tom quickly turned away.
"Hey," Alannah knew now that he was being serious. She gave him a concerned look and put a hand out on the table, "That's not true. I'm sure they would."
Tom continued giving her a blank stare. Alannah kept giving him a concerned one. Tom eventually conceded and broke eye contact. He sighed. Maybe she was right. Or maybe she wasn't.
"Do you know why they wouldn't care?"
Alannah shrugged, "Why?"
Tom looked up, "It's because to them," he pointed toward the teacher's table, "To them I'm just a 'freak' and a 'Slytherin'."
Alannah chuckled, "That's not true."
"It is. And it's the same reason why Aubyn Young always gets the special treatment."
Alannah groaned, "You're still on that?!"
Tom ignored her reaction, "There is something about this whole society- the Gryffindors are pushed up and the Slytherins are pushed down-"
"That's just not true," Alannah interjected but was interrupted again.
"-But beyond that..." Tom paused, "There is something... I don't know what it is but there is something else with Aubyn Young."
Alannah was tired of this, "You need to chill. I don't know what's with you tonight."
While she was speaking, Tom rubbed his head with his hands. He had a headache.
"You gonna be leaving the common room again tonight as well?" Alannah asked while yawning. Tom exhaled heavily and then nodded slightly.
"Yeah. I need to clear my head."
The night sky was dark and beautiful. Where Tom was sitting in the grounds- right by the huge lake where the squid resided- was lit up spectacularly by both the milky white moonlight and the orange candlelight that was emanating from the castle. Tom simply stared out in front of him as he sat on the grass. The lake was stunning. In the night its surface seemed to shimmer and dance. In the distance, the inhabitants of the castle could still be heard but apart from that... there was silence. Tom breathed in and out carefully as he stared out into the distance in front of him. It was so peaceful. Until it wasn't.
From behind him Tom heard shuffling and hushed giggles. Even so, he did not react. He hoped that these people would just ignore him and pass him by. He didn't want to ruin his zen-ness. But as the shuffling grew closer and the laughter became more distinguishable, Tom knew that there was no chance he wasn't going to be interrupted. Suddenly the shuffling stopped. The group were now in position behind Tom. They were under the impression that Tom hadn't heard them. But Tom had. But still he kept looking forward, waiting for them to move first. Because he knew they would. It was just a matter of time.
"Expelliarmus!"
Tom's wand, that had been in his pocket, flew out behind him and was caught by a fourth year Gryffindor boy. Tom still didn't react. The rest of the Gryffindors came out and began their jeering. Tom didn't recognise any of their tones. Except for one.
"Hello again, freak!" yelled out Charlie. He stepped forward confidently, "What you doing? Thinking of drowning yourself?"
They all burst into laughter. Tom still didn't react. He still sat exactly where he was. Charlie walked up to the Gryffindor boy who held Tom's wand and took it. He snapped it into 3 pieces and threw it as far as he could into the river. Tom saw the pieces past his head but still didn't get up. But he finally reacted.
"Where is Aubyn Young?" Tom asked calmly. Charlie laughed again.
"Not here!" he answered childishly.
"Why not?" Tom asked calmly again.
"Why would he be?" Charlie spoke childishly again.
"Is he not your leader? The head of your little... gang?" Tom didn't even turn around. He stayed perfectly still.
"No!" Charlie laughed. But the rest of the group didn't.
"Then what makes him so special?"
Charlie was not having as much fun now, "All us Gryffindors are from prestigious families but he's from a MORE prestigious family."
Tom understood. He changed the subject, "Why are you all out here?"
A happy smirk grew on Charlie's face, "To beat you up ya freak," the rest of the Gryffindors burst out laughing.
"Why?"
"Because we're Gryffindors are you're a Slytherin. We're good and you're evil. We are superior!" proclaimed Charlie. Tom finally stirred. He got up. And only when he did so did the Gryffindor boys truly realise how big he was. As he was standing, everyone realised how he loomed over them. Tom was huge; his body was masculine and tall. Compared to everyone else he was like a mountain.
"Your ideology is flawed," Tom still spoke calmly as he walked up to Charlie, "Because I am superior to you."
Tom's fist collided with Charlie's face. The force in which he hit was so strong, Charlie instantly fell down to the ground. The impact could even be heard. The rest of the Gryffindors all stepped back in fear.
"Answer me truthfully," Tom's anger was now finally beginning to come out. His fists began to clench and his face began to tense, "What is so special about the Young family?"
There was no answer. Tom wasn't keen to wait. He walked through the Gryffindors. His fists were like trucks as they collided with various body parts. He swung his fist through the air with insane strength and agility and while they were not precise, sent anything they hit to the ground. After only a few punches his hands were stained with blood as he broke a few noses with only the pure connection. But he was still not satisfied. He stormed up towards another Gryffindor boy who had been trying to scramble away. He picked him up easily and threw him back down.
"Answer me!" Tom's voice was monstrous. It was deep like a demon's and full of anger. The boy whimpered in fear and tried to protect his face with his hands.
"I-I don't know! Nobody knows! H-he was telling the truth when he said he's just from a special family!"
"That doesn't help me," Tom raised a fist and easily striked through the boy's defenses.
"Stupify!" Tom didn't have time to react. The spell hit him like a whip. He was sent flying backwards. The boy who had used to spell on him looked terrified. His wand was literally shaking in his hand. He and another were the only two Gryffindor boys who were still conscious after Tom's onslaught. They both recovered enough to fire their wands at Tom.
"Stupify!"
"Stupify!"
Tom was sent backwards again. He soared through the air until he landed with a hard splash in the river.
"Stupify!
"Stup- Wait... huh?"
The spells had stopped. Tom had landed in the river but he'd stayed on the surface of the waters long enough to see it. The magic had stopped working. The wands stopped shooting out spells. The two boys were terrified. As soon as they realised their wands were useless, they began running away to the castle. But Tom didn't even try to chase. Because he couldn't.
Tom found himself falling down through the waters. It was dark. And cold. And wet. Tom didn't dare open his eyes. He felt the water surround him and he felt himself sinking through it. The strange gurgling sound of water surrounded him. His ears quickly became full of water. Tom had never felt this feeling before. He didn't know how to swim. His body froze as he slowly fell to the bottom of the lake. His nose and mouth kept desperately trying to search for air but found nothing. The pain. The pain was becoming unbearable. But Tom didn't dare even try and open his eyes. There was a muffled thud and Tom guessed he'd hit the lake's floor. He reached out his hands and felt the wet sand beneath him. It was horrible. He reached out even further and felt something... different. Something familiar. It didn't feel exactly right but he knew for sure what a wand felt like. He felt around and found two pieces which he could definitely feel to be a wand. He picked them up and- not really knowing what to do at all in the situation- held them close.
'So... is this how I really die?'
Tom's eyes shot open and he jumped forward. He was breathing heavily. That was good. He could breathe now. But his vision was still bleary. He could barely see anything around him. He felt around his whole body. He felt fine. There was a towel wrapped around him and he was shivering profusely. He tried to look around him but all it was was a blur of colour. Eventually his eyes focused and he could more or less see clearly around himself. He jumped again. Tom stood up and pulled the towel away from himself. He was still shivering but he chose to put it around his neck and shoulders.
Tom recognised where he was. He was in the Headmaster's office- where he had been just last night. In front of him, standing by some strange artifact was Professor Potter, his back turned away from him and fiddling with something. Tom stepped forward to get a better look.
"Good evening again Tom," Professor Potter said without even turning around, "I do hope you won't break anything this time."
Tom did not reply. He could see what Professor Potter was doing now. Floating in the air were the two parts of the wand that Tom had been holding. They were intertwined with a strange yellow liquid-like aura that Professor Potter seemed to be controlling with his own wand. He swished his wand with the utmost care, side to side, controlling the liquid-like aura. It seeped into the cracks of the wand and then solidified. The wand was now completely fixed. Professor Potter picked it up in his hand and put it carefully in his pocket.
"Do you know what wand this is?" Harry said, now turning around to face Tom. Tom gave him a blank look before shaking his head. He was still holding back his shivers and failing horribly.
"I'll tell you," Harry took the wand out of his pocket, "It's your's."
He handed it to Tom who cautiously accepted, "W-what h-happened t-to my w-wand?" Tom's teeth were chattering.
"Didn't find it," Harry responded simply, "Didn't have time to go back and check, was it important?"
Tom shook his head, "Wasn't even mine," he then suddenly looked at Harry suspiciously, "How did you find me?"
Harry sighed and went over to his desk. He sat down at it, " I saw you outside sitting alone and went down to see why you were out so late. As I was about to exit the castle, Kevin Krevice- a Gryffindor boy in your year, ran up to me. I asked him what was going on and he said that you had randomly attacked them," Tom opened his mouth to protest the story but Harry persisted with his story, "I went over to where you'd been sitting and found the unconscious bodies of the other Gryffindors and found you lying at the bottom of the lake."
"They came up to me first," Tom managed to get out. Harry's look was more than skeptical, "Why don't you believe me?"
"I saw yesterday what happens when your anger gets out of hand. Those boys are very injured out there-"
Tom interrupted, "They deserved what they got."
"No they did not," Harry was speaking with care but also with authority. Tom however did not seem to be backing down. He grimaced.
"They always see that side of the story," growled Tom, "The story where the Slytherin's the bad guy and the Gryffindor's the good guy."
Harry tried to step in, "I never said-"
"Or maybe the story where the freak's the bad guy. You all always believe that one. But you never believe me."
Harry looked at Tom. He understood it now.
"Those guys..." there was a hint of desperation in Tom's voice. Desperation for someone to understand him, "Those guys tried to attack me. And I defended myself. And then I almost drowned."
"Why did you not swim?"
Tom groaned, "Do I look like I know how to swim? I barely know how to do a single spell."
Harry walked up to Tom and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm gonna help you out, ok?"
"Huh?" Tom didn't know what Harry meant.
"I'm gonna make sure you're not punished for this," Harry elaborated, "I think I do believe you."
Tom was surprised. His eyes slightly widened. He did not expect this. His lips barely opened and his mouth felt slightly dry, "T-thank you."
From the entrance to Professor Potter's office, a set of footsteps coming up the stairs could be heard. Professor Granger made her way into the office, a stern look on her face. Harry grasped Tom's shoulder again and gave him a nod. He walked up to Professor Granger.
"Headmaster, Tom Malumis is going to have to come with me," Professor Granger said, a frown on her face. Tom reciprocated with a hate-filled grimace.
"No, no, Hermione. It's all fine. Tom, here, is going to go back to bed now. In fact I think I called a student named Alannah Estevan to pick him up."
"'Pick him up'?" Professor Granger didn't follow, "No, he's going to need to be punished."
"I think I have made my decision clear Hermione," Harry's voice grew darker. Professor Granger stepped forward to whisper.
"Harry!" she hissed, "You can't let him get away with this! He broke many students' bones! He viciously beat them up when they were just walking along! This can't be allowed."
Harry sighed, "I said... I have my decision clear."
Hermione stepped back. She had to do as he said.
"As you wish Headmaster," she growled.
"Is everything ok, Headmaster?" called out a familiar voice from the bottom of the staircase.
"Yes, yes, quite alright, you can come up."
Alannah Estevan made her way up into the office. She only had a second to bask in the glory of it all before her eyes set on Tom.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?"
Tom was still shivering and absolutely soaked, "I'm fine," he said in a deep voice.
"Please Alannah, take him back to the Slytherin common room," Harry spoke clearly to Alannah who nodded and quickly ran over to Tom and began pulling him delicately by the hand out of the office. As they were leaving, Tom overheard Professor Potter's and Professor Granger's conversation.
"I think I believe Tom's side of the story-"
"Malumis' side...? Have you gone mad? This is unfair-"
Something clicked in Tom's brain. He snapped around to Professor Granger and stormed right up to her until he loomed over her.
"'Un... fair'?" he repeated, his voice echoing around the room, "Me?" Tom tapped his chest, "ME? Unfair?" his face contorted with rage, "You Gryffindors dare to lecture me about what's unfair?" Professor Granger was too shocked to retort. Alannah in the background was shocked as well by Tom's actions.
"The whole system is levied against us while it's all turned in your favour. Society treats you better like you are 'superiors'. Even though you're not. You are lucky enough to be 'blessed by fate' while I, apparently, am not," Everyone in the room apart from Tom was still frozen, "This society... is bullshit. I see the bias. I see the truth," Tom turned away and walked out of the office. Alannah awkwardly chased after him. The two professors were seemingly lost for words.
"Wow," Hermione finally managed to muster.
"I think it was a good choice for me to pick him for these sessions," Harry said.
"I don't think so. I believe Aubyn Young was a better choice-"
Harry shook his head and interjected, "You and Ron have a connection with that boy already. I do not. While I don't believe what he said about society being biased, it may be fair to give him a chance."
"I think it's completely wrong AND I think you're wrong for letting him get away with his actions!"
Harry groaned and went to sit down by his desk, "Good night Hermione," he said tiredly. Professor Granger got the hint and left the office. Harry leaned forward slightly in his chair.
'Maybe what he said wasn't... entirely false,' Harry stroked his beard in deep thought, "But maybe it was a mistake of me to gift him what he found at the bottom of the lake. After all, he probably isn't ready for the power of the Elder Wand.'