19 The Tragic Tale

"You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? 'Professor,' yes, of course – well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!"

"No one's taking you anywhere against your will, Tom."

"But you are a doctor, aren't you?"

"No Tom, I am a professor."

Tom huffed, exasperated. Honestly, why did everyone think him so naive? "I don't believe you. I hear Mrs. Cole and the others talk, they want me locked up. They think I'm different."

"Perhaps they're right."

Tom glared at the old man, trying to convey how utterly unimpressed he was with his supposed 'insight'. "I'm not mad."

"Hogwarts is not a place for the mad – it is a school; a school of magic."

Tom froze, at that.

"You can do things, can't you, Tom? Things that the other children can't."

"Yes." Finally...finally someone had found him.

"Tell me about some of the things you can do, Tom."

"I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me. I can make them hurt if I want to..."

"...I can speak to snakes too," Harry moaned a bit, and then continued to mumble, "They find me, they whisper to me..."

He blinked blearily. "Hogwarts..."

He reached under his pillow, pulling out the little mirror and smiling hazily at Tom. "You got your Hogwarts letter!"

The look on Tom's face was unreadable. "As will you, a year from now."

Harry's smile grew sharp and bright. "I can't wait...I wish it was today. I wish I could go today."

"Patience is a virtue, Harry."

Harry scowled playfully. "What would you know about virtue?"

The boy in the mirror smirked, but it was subtle. "Very little. It's all hearsay."

Harry laughed quietly.

"It is your birthday tomorrow, is it not?"

Harry nodded eagerly, despite the discomfort growing inside him like a festering sickness. The last couple of months had been...tense. Tom had been staring at him – really staring at him, his face unreadable, and he refused to confess what was distracting him, no matter how many times Harry asked, and Harry could not help but wonder if the distance they'd managed to close since their first meeting was widening once again. He really hoped not.

Over the past year and a half, Tom had changed. Perhaps he hadn't changed, but at the very least he was less...caged. As time wore on, he started to show emotion – more than just anger, annoyance, and amusement (those, Harry had catalogued as his default states); there were times when he even seemed troubled, or betrayed sentiments akin to affection.

When Harry confessed his fears and insecurities, there were times when Tom would refrain from mocking him, and would instead grimly acknowledge his confession, and offer silent solidarity. There were times when Harry could swear he saw genuine pride in Tom's eyes when he managed to master a new spell, and while Tom still stared on impassively when Harry referred to him as his friend, he no longer mocked and denied it.

And then there was the thing about parseltongue...Tom would never admit it, of course, but Harry had come to recognize that Tom found Harry's enunciations of the language of serpents endearing...a fact that he had learned to use to his advantage.

Tom had become more human...in some ways. But with Tom's new openness came further evidence that he may have been wrong, and that Tom, as always, was right – Tom Riddle was not a good person. There were times when he seemed a little...unhinged. It had become evident that he really did take great pleasure in his own cruelty, and that he was not capable of expressions that came easily to Harry – like sympathy, remorse, and grief.

Tom never showed any regard for anyone besides himself and Harry, which was...concerning. Especially since, as the months slowly passed, Harry found himself acting more and more like Tom. He didn't think he was being cruel, no, and he certainly wasn't remorseless...but at the same time, stealing money from Aunt Petunia didn't bother him very much anymore, and neither did scaring Dudley off with carefully placed 'accidental' magic.

He found that he no longer had any interest in gaining the approval from the Dursleys, and didn't want to even try to befriend his classmates. He'd never say it out loud, but they were all just so...pointless. He didn't want to hurt them or scare them, like Tom encouraged him to...but he didn't want anything to do with them, either.

Tom had noticed his change in behaviour, and seemed pleased by it. And, as it happened, a pleased Tom was a Tom less inclined to torture Harry on a whim, and more inclined to crack a joke. Apparently, Tom Riddle had a sense of humour. Who knew?

.....

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