Diagon Alley
~parseltongue~
Hendrix had ignored their conversation as much as possible and inspected the office. He noticed that it was much more sparsely decorated than what it would be in Dumbledore’s time as Headmaster, but there were more books. More books and some trophies. He looked closer at the trophies and saw that a few of them were for duelling championships. That impressed Hendrix as he did not know that Dippet had been on the duelling circuit. His attention was snapped back to Tom and the Headmaster when he heard Tom speaking to him. “Yeah,” he said softly. There was not even a point in wishing that he could have gone to Diagon Alley alone. Fate utterly hated him for some reason and wanted to punish him. He doubted that he would be able to slink into the background and away from Tom either. He clenched his right hand and wondered, for the millionth time, what had happened to his wand. Hendrix had not seen it since he found himself in the past and no one he had asked had seen it either. He must have dropped it when the dementor kissed him or something. He shuddered inwardly as he remembered the feeling of being given the Dementor’s Kiss. “We are flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, correct?” He desperately wanted to distract himself from those haunted memories.
“Yes, Mister Evans. Please be back before curfew or I will have to suspend Hogsmeade weekends for the both of you.” The Headmaster said sternly. “That is something I do not wish to do.”
Tom pulled his wand out once more and cast a charm with it. “I set an alarm for five so that we can hopefully be back before dinner. Hopefully before even that.”
Dippet smiled at the two. “You are both still teenagers, just have fun and be back before nine.” He said with a dismissive wave.
Tom bowed his head towards the wizard with a smile. “Of course sir.” He said before stepping up to the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. “The Leaky Cauldron.” He said in a loud and clear voice before vanishing through the green flames.
Hendrix looked at the fireplace with a sour look on his face before turning back to the Headmaster. “Thank you very much, sir, for letting me attend and setting this up.”
“You are very welcome, Mister Potter. Your secret is safe with me and I do so hope that you find your way back to your time. Try to get some books on Time as the library is decidedly lacking on that subject.”
“Of course.” He said as he picked up a handful of floo powder. “And if I do find my way home and end up leaving those books here, please add them to the library. I have a friend who would love to read them in the future.” With that, he threw the floo powder into the fireplace and called out, “The Leaky Cauldron.” Though he was a touch less clear than Tom’s.
He stepped through the green flames and nearly fell out the other side, only stopped from hitting the floor by two arms that wrapped around him to steady him. “Careful,” Tom said. “I don’t want to have to patch you up again so soon.”
The teenager could feel the Dark lure of Tom’s magic when they were as close as they were together. It was heady and enticing. It felt like his magic used to feel before he started Hogwarts, now that he could notice the difference. What could have made the feel of his magic change? Maybe it had to do with using a wand instead of accidental magic. If that was so, then why did Tom’s magic feel so familiar? So… safe? Hendrix blushed intensely and pulled away from Tom as he realised that the future Dark Lord was still holding him. “Sorry, all forms of magical travel hate me. The first time I used the floo, I came out in Knockturn instead of here.” He brushed the soot off of his robes before stepping deeper into the pub. “Let’s get this over with.” He said with a frown on his face. “I suppose I might as well go to Ollivander’s first.” He felt vulnerable without his wand on him.
He heard Tom follow him as they walked toward the wall that concealed the alley before the other teenager stopped him. “Oh, wait!” Hendrix turned around to see Tom pulling his wand out of his holster. Then flicked his wrist once more and Hendrix’s holly wand flew out. The wand was offered back to its owner handle first. “I picked this up when you portkeyed in and completely forgot to get it back to you. I made sure to clean the blood and grime off of it too so it wouldn’t get damaged.”
Hendrix could not conceal the shock that he felt. His wand. It was here. He shakily reached out to take it but stopped before touching it. “You didn’t do anything to it, did you?” He said suspiciously.
Hendrix saw Tom’s eyes darkened at the accusatory tone in his voice. It sent a shiver down his spine and he could see how this teenager would eventually become one of the most feared Dark Lords in recent times. “Why would I do anything to it? I don’t think it is even possible to curse a wand anyway. We can take it to Ollivander’s anyway just to make sure that I didn’t do anything to it.”
Hendrix bit his lip but took the wand anyway. “Sorry, I think I would still like to get it checked out just to make sure that portkey didn’t do something weird to it.” He knew that would not fool the other student when Tom scowled at him. The yew wand tapped a pattern on the bricks before he stowed it back in the wand holster. Hendrix shuddered a bit before following Tom through the alley. For a moment there he had felt like he had made Voldemort mad. At least he was not already on the ground being tortured by the other teenager. He had had enough of being under the Cruciatus Curse to last his whole lifetime.
Everything he saw in the alley was pretty much the same as it would be in the future. There were a couple of shops that had different names, and Florean’s ice cream shop looked like it was an office of some kind too. It was not as busy as Hendrix was used to seeing it, but that was likely explained away by the fact that the term had already started.
A faint smile graced his lips as he saw the old wand shop. The peeling golden letters that named it Ollivander’s and above the door that stated ‘Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.’ He stepped through the grey-painted door behind Tom and looked around the shop. It was just as dusty as it would be in the future.
“Thirteen and a half inches, yew, tailfeather from a rather fine phoenix. Not many phoenixes will willingly donate a tail feather to the creation of wands anymore. Those feathers had been gifted to me thirty years ago, and none have been gifted since.” Ollivander stepped out from behind the shelves of wand boxes. “Is it still treating you well Mister Riddle? I always thought that feather would go on to perform great magic.”
While Hendrix was startled by the wandmaker’s appearance, Tom looked as if he had known where Ollivander had been before the man had revealed himself. “Yes, I’ve never been unable to perform a piece of magic with it.” His wand was flicked into his hand and held toward the wandmaker.
A frown appeared on the wandmaker’s face when his eyes fell upon the wand. “This wand has recently been soaked in blood.” He said as he gingerly took the wand and held it up close to his eye to inspect.
Hendrix saw Tom look toward himself. “Yes, there was an issue with a malfunctioned portkey and Hendrix here landed on my desk in a bloody heap. I helped Madam Filch heal him and cleaned my wand up as soon as I could return to the dorms. The blood didn’t hurt it, did it?” There was genuine concern in his voice.
Ollivander waved Tom away and used the wand to conjure some black sparks. “No, it has not been harmed in any way. I would advise you to visit again once you are seventeen. There is a slight dissonance within it and I might have to make some alterations for it to work to its true potential. Highly unusual. Most of the time a wand either will stop working completely or the magic will become unpredictable should something need not match up perfectly.” He handed the wand back to Tom who stowed it back in his wrist holster.
“I will, Mister Ollivander. Thank you for letting me know.” Tom stepped to the side so that Hendrix could talk to the wandmaker.
Hendrix fidgeted a bit as he realised that he had made another miscalculation. His wand would still be in the store, back in storage. How would he explain everything to the wandmaker without giving everything away to Tom?
“Now, what is this I heard about a portkey malfunction?” The eyes that pierced through his soul were starting to make him uncomfortable. Hendrix hesitated for another moment before he slowly handed his wand to the wandmaker. He just had to hope that he would not comment about it.
“Yes, it was a very rough journey and I had also been held under the Cruciatus Curse several times, and then Tom had it for several days.”
Ollivander took the Holly wand in his hands and Hendrix could see the shock that reigned supreme before it was concealed under the haze of vacancy. “Yes… Such a set of circumstances could potentially damage one’s wand. You were right to bring it in.” His fingers ghosted over the wood. “This wand has seen a lot.” His voice murmured. “You said that Tom had it in his possession for several days?” Hendrix nodded, and then he saw those ethereal eyes dart at Tom. “Did you try to perform any magic with it?”
Tom shook his head. “No, I would not do that. I will admit that the wand did feel like it would have at least been a partial match to me. It felt eager to be used, but all I did was clean it up as it had been covered in blood as well, and keep it in my wand holster.” Hendrix looked over to see that Tom was surveying a poster that hung on a free wall and detailed wand care. If he did not know better, then the raven-haired teenager would have said that Tom was not following even the smallest movements that the two made.
“Yes, I can see why it would think you a partial match. Come with me.” He said to Hendrix then disappeared between a couple of aisles full of wand boxes to, what Hendrix assumed was, the back of the store.
Hendrix looked over at Tom. “Thank you, Tom, for keeping it safe for me.” Then, without hesitation, he followed the wandmaker to the back of the shop. He trembled as they passed through some powerful wards. The teenager could not remember ever having felt such wards before.
“I don’t know how you came by this wand mister, but I happen to know that it is the brother of Mister Riddle’s wand. I also happen to have this exact wand here in my shop.” Those curious eyes pinned Hendrix to where he was standing.
Hendrix rubbed the back of his head. “Accidental time travel sir. I don’t know how it happened to be honest. I had,” he wrapped his arms around him and looked back to make sure that Tom had not followed them. “I had been Kissed.” He heard a gasp from the wandmaker. “And the next thing I knew, I was laying on a desk and heard his voice.”
Ollivander was silent for a moment then he nodded. “Well, your wand is not damaged, but you are in a similar boat as Mister Riddle. I do have an idea as to what additional parts you will need, but it depends on how your time here goes. It yearns for some type of snake parts. Does that mean anything to you?”
Hendrix paled and leaned back against a shelf. “I fought and killed a basilisk in my second year. One of the fangs got me in the wand arm, but Fawkes saved me.”
Ollivander shook his head. “I do believe that would do it. Basilisk venom from the one that failed to kill you.” He hesitated for a moment. “If you ever do make it back to whatever time you come from, rip off a piece of that dementor’s cloak. The phoenix feather core yearns to be paired with a thread of the dementor that failed to devour your soul and the venom of the basilisk that failed to kill your body. Amazing.” He waved the wand and purple sparks appeared in the air. “Yes, do not wait until you turn seventeen to approach me again. Come here as soon as you have the fabric and venom.” He handed the wand back to Hendrix. “I didn’t get your last name mister?”
Hendrix took the wand. “You’ll figure it out in the nineties.” He said with a smile on his face. “But the name I’m going by now is Hendrix Evans. Hopefully, the next time I see you, Mister Ollivander, it will be the summer of ninety-five.” Thankfully Hendrix had styled his hair in such a way to cover the cursed scar. It would not do for Ollivander to figure the mystery out too soon.
“Yes, I do look forward to seeing you, both when you are younger and older, Mister Evans.” He turned to leave but was stopped with a hand to his shoulder. “Mister Riddle’s wand has tasted your blood. I do believe that your wand will eventually taste his as well. Be wary, that shunning any one type of magic will get you nowhere Mister Evans. You and Mister Riddle The two of you will change the world, but if you suppress the Light or the Dark, then magic will erode and die. Balance is not victory over the other, but compromise. Embrace your inner Darkness and help Mister Riddle to embrace his inner light.”
Tom was irritated.
He had tried to cast listening spells on Hendrix and they had failed! He just knew that they were talking about something important. It might have been the reason Hendrix hated him. Or what caused him to land on Tom’s desk.
His bad mood just got worse when he saw Hendrix walk back to the front of the store and the idiot stored his wand in his back pocket. That was a good way to lose your wand! If this teenager was a spy then he should have known better.
Tom would make sure that he learned better.
Thus, with their business concluded in the wand shop, Tom walked towards a dull brick building not too far away from the shop they had just left. Then he got to the building he turned to go down an alley on the other side of it but paused. He looked back at Hendrix with plain anger in his eyes. “Pull your hood up, don’t talk, and follow me.” He said as he pulled his black hood up over his head. It would not do for their faces to be seen where they were going. When he saw that Hendrix had done as he said, Tom spun back around and stalked down the entrance to Knockturn Alley.
The brightness of Diagon faded rather quickly as they travelled down the gradually blackening brick path. The shops grew more sinister with some selling rare potions ingredients or cursed objects. They passed Borgin and Burkes before turning down an offshoot. It was slightly cleaner here, but still nowhere near as clean as Diagon was. Tom passed by several shops before coming to a plain, redwood door. He knocked on it seven times and waited to be answered. The young Dark Lord could only count his blessings that Hendrix had done as he was told and followed him without complaining. If the other teenager had not then he could have gotten lost. He did not have the protection here that Tom did.
After about twenty seconds a small mail slot in the door opened up. Tom raised the top of his hood so that his eyes were visible and hissed into the shop. ~Let me in.~ The door opened quickly and they were bowed into the shop. Once the door closed, Tom threw his hood off completely and motioned for Hendrix to do the same. “Good morning Fawley, my friend here requires one of your… special wand holsters.” He said while keeping his eyes on Hendrix, daring the other teenager to contradict him. “I also would love to view your selection of books.”
The man bowed. “Of course Heir Slytherin, feel free to browse my collection while I retrieve my stock of holsters.” Fawley did not even look at Hendrix before he rushed out of the room.
Tom had not waited for Fawley to finish talking before he strode over to the loaded bookshelves. It was moments later when his browsing was interrupted by a furious voice. “What the heck Tom? You don’t get to ju-...” Tom whipped around and shoved Hendrix against the wall. He placed his hand over the other’s mouth and stepped close enough to him to hold his little mystery in place.
Pinned to the wall.
“I will explain everything to you later, just shut up and don’t protest,” Tom growled in his ear. He would have rather not done this with a near stranger, but he also knew roughly how powerful Hendrix was. No one that was that powerful should carry their wands like he was. It was nearly suicidal! Especially with their magic still developing. The chances of a spell coming from an unsecured wand were relatively high. His fury was leaking through his mask.
Hendrix stared straight into Tom’s eyes. The Dark wizard took full advantage of the opportunity of eye contact and physical touch to employ a bit of passive Legilimency. The memory he pulled from Hendrix’s mind before he broke eye contact, was of a strange lizard-like creature with glowing red eyes. The fear that memory contained peaked when a bolt of pale red light shot towards him. Tom barely registered that lipless mouth forming the words ‘crucio’ before an echo of remembered pain shot through his mind. Tom felt like his body was on fire, but he bit the inside of his cheek to contain his reaction. It was not the worst pain he had ever felt, but was close. He pulled away from Hendrix with great difficulty and turned back to the shelves of books. He would have to think carefully about the memory he had pulled from his new project later, he decided, as his eyes were drawn back to the treasure of information that was before him. He only acknowledged Hendrix again when he noticed the other teenager was interested in some of the books, especially ones that were about Occlumency and, oddly enough, time. Maybe his earliest dismissed theory had more weight to it than he originally imagined. A time traveller?
“If you want to learn that, then you should get it here and not wait until we are back in Diagon. Mind magics, while not quite illegal, are more of a grey zone when it comes to the law. Just like you won’t find any books about time, necromancy, rituals, blood magic, or even elemental magic anywhere other than here in Knockturn.”
He saw Hendrix hesitate for a moment before the teenager nodded. “And I guess the library won’t have anything useful either?”
Tom sneered at the thought. “It's nearly impossible to find anything useful even in the Restricted Section.” The young Dark Lord pulled out a selection of books across a multitude of topics. He had never been able to just… buy any book that he wanted, so he was going to splurge for once.
He saw the new Slytherin nod with a thoughtful look in his eyes. Tom watched as he pulled out a couple of books himself, but was stopped by Tom. “Don’t get these two, I have copies of them that my friends have given me, you can borrow them.”
That just left Hendrix with one book on time as he put the books on Occlumency back. “Thank you for the offer, Tom.” He suppressed a grin at the uncertainty in Hendrix’s voice. He watched from the corner of his eye as Hendrix pulled out a few random books about elemental magic without studying them too closely.
Was Hendrix trying to throw him off of his trail?
That amused the young Dark Lord almost as much as the flare of pure panic in Hendrix’s expressive eyes as he plucked the rest of the Time books off the shelves.
“Here we go, Heir Slytherin,” Fawley’s voice tore through his concentration and he looked over as the other wizard sat a box of wand holsters on the counter. “Go ahead and pick through them. You’ll want one that doesn’t seem hostile to you.”
Hendrix’s head tilted to the side as he walked to the counter. “So they are similar to wands in that way?”
The man nodded. “Yes, they are all made from the hide of different magical beasts. I even have a thestral and basilisk skin one. I haven’t been able to sell that one, it is hostile to everyone.”
“Hmm…” Tom watched as Hendrix carefully sorted through the holsters. Surprisingly, or maybe not, it was a dark green holster that Hendrix pulled from the box. There were many black threads stitched through the hide to form several runes in intricate patterns. “This is it.”
Tom smirked as Fawley’s jaw dropped in shock. “Basilisk skin and thestral hair. One of a kind as separately the two beasts are picky, but together? I never thought that I would find someone who matched it. I thought Heir Slytherin would, but he couldn’t even touch it. Still got a basilisk skin holster, like there was any doubt about that.” He looked at Hendrix. “Any chance you are related to the Potters? They are the only ones who ever pair with thestrals, but then only parselmouths pair with basilisks.”
It was an interesting tidbit that the Potter family pairs with thestrals.
“I’m neither.” He heard from Hendrix after a moment, “But I have faced a Basilisk before. It nearly killed me.”
Fawley hummed and nodded his head. “That could be. Five galleons for the holster and two for the books.” He looked at the stack of books that Tom had and counted them up. “For you, and with how many books you have there it will be fifteen galleons.” Tom knew that Fawley had cut a deal for the both of them. Usually, the wizard sold his wand holsters for far more, at least fifteen galleons each, and the small mountain of books he had collected was worth so much more.
He knew his face was glowing with happiness as he handed over the galleons for his order but did not care. He took Hendrix’s books and shrunk the entire stack before placing them into one of the pockets inside his robes. “Thank you ever so much Mister Fawley, I’ll probably be back during the summer for more books.” Knowledge was one of his biggest weaknesses.
Avada green eyes followed Hendrix as the other teenager struggled to secure the wand holster to his right forearm. Tom waited until he was certain that Hendrix would not be able to accomplish it on his own before he walked over and gingerly took the holster from him. “Here, I’ll show you how it goes on.” Tom slid the green leather over his hand and settled it just below his elbow. “That’s the correct placement, now you’ll tap each buckle with your wand and they should adjust to you.”
“No spell or anything?” He could see that Hendrix was becoming flustered once more by the delightful flush that was slowly becoming more and more evident on his face. It seemed that his touch could be a useful tool to manipulate the other.
“Nope,” He replied to the shorter wizard. “Just push a small tendril of your magic through your wand and into it,” Tom explained quickly.
“How do I do that?” Hendrix had finally gotten control over his discomfort over Tom being close for the time being, he noticed grumpily.
Then his words registered.
Tom withdrew his hand and stepped away from Hendrix. His eyes clearly showed the struggle he was having with controlling his temper. “None of your teachers taught you?” He could not help the hiss starting to seep into his voice. That only happened when he was truly furious. How could these so-called Light wizards expect their kind to survive the next hundred years, even if they refused to teach the basics of magic casting? He was so deep into his anger that he did not notice he had started to pace with his magic flaring up around him.
“Tom? Tom!” His attention snapped back to Hendrix and his breath caught at the look of pure terror on his face. He would have been thrilled with it on any other student but with Hendrix…
He forced his anger back within his tight control and retreated behind
his Occlumency shields for a moment. He had to control his anger or he risked losing Hendrix completely before he ever got his claws into him. Hendrix would be too valuable to his campaign, though he did not know how other than the sheer amount of magic the other possessed. “Sorry about that. I just figured that with you having been privately tutored you would not have been shackled with the Ministry’s educational standards.”
“Anyway, you will need to find your magical core first. When you find it, you’ll cast a simple spell or charm so that you can experience how your magic moves through your body. After that, you should be able to use that feeling to push a wave of magic to the holster.” The young Dark Lord stepped back a bit and leaned against a wall. “Now, close your eyes.” He could see that Hendrix wanted to refuse and smirked when his little snake decided to do as he was told. “Now cast the lighting charm and follow the magic back to where it originates from.”
It took a few minutes, but eventually, Hendrix confirmed that he had found his core. “Good, now recast your lighting charm so that you can feel how the magic moves to obey you. Once you have it, then allow that feeling to fill you again. Direct it towards the holster on your arm and tap each buckle.” Tom thought that it would have taken longer than it did for Hendrix to figure out how to manipulate his magic, but it only took a few seconds before the black-haired teenager tapped his wand on the buckles. Tom watched as the holster adjusted to the young wizard in front of him and grinned. Yes, Hendrix would make a fine Knight once he untangled all of his secrets.
He watched as Hendrix placed his wand in the holster then he drew the piece of Holly experimentally and his eyes lit up. After a few more draws, he was just as quick as Tom at drawing his wand. He handed over the seven galleons he owed the man. “Thank you, sir.” He pulled his hood back up over his head as they left the shop together. “Back to Diagon?” He asked Tom and they walked through the streets.
The teenager nodded. “Yeah, we better get you your robes first and while we wait for them to be made, we can get the rest of your stuff starting with a trunk so we don’t have to carry everything around.” They walked back into Diagon Alley and both teenagers lowered their hoods.
“Sounds good,” Hendrix said with no great amount of enthusiasm in his voice.
It took them several hours to cycle through the entire alley. Robes were dealt with first, then a trunk. Tom had convinced Hendrix to buy a couple of extra potion books that explained the ingredients in more depth along with the hows and whys of brewing more comprehensively than Hendrix had ever seen. Tom would not allow someone in his house to not get the absolute best grades possible. Of course, he did not realise it, but it would likely help that Snape was not Hendrix’s potion professor. A double set of potion supplies was added to the trunk as Hendrix knew, even with a source for greater understanding, that he would still likely mess his potions up. Then they got the rest of Hendrix’s course books and a replacement Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook for Tom who had also somehow snuck in introduction books to Ancient Runes and Arithmancy into Hendrix’s stack. Quills, ink, and parchment followed. They stopped at the Leaky Cauldron at some point during all the shopping to grab a quick bite of food for lunch before they returned to the Alley.
It was only when Tom’s wand started to vibrate that they had finally finished their shopping, but Tom hesitated before leaving the Alley. “Do you mind if we visit the pet shop?” He knew that he would not be able to buy a pet, but he always seemed to find his way there whenever he came to the Alley anyway.
Hendrix shrugged and started to walk towards the shop. “Sure, I nee-” Hendrix stopped short for a moment then shook his head and forced himself to keep walking. “I was wanting to look there anyways.” His voice was shaky as if holding back tears.
Tom noticed but did not say anything as they walked into the shop. He figured that Hendrix must have had a pet, but lost it at the same time he lost his family. If that was what had actually happened. He walked to the very back where there were several tanks set up. He smirked when he heard the soft hissed complaints of the snakes that were housed back there.
~Has Speaker finally come to take one of us away from this place?~ One black snake raised her head as she spoke to Tom.
~I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not until I’m done with school. As long as I return to the orphanage every summer, it will not be safe for me to take one of you home.~ Somehow the hissed words sounded sad.
~I know Speaker, but it does not hurt to ask.~ She hissed back. ~Are you sure that you cannot at least take Seraphina? She has fallen ill and the idiot here can’t help her.~
Tom frowned at the news. ~What does Seraphina need to get better?~
A small, black snake hissed at Tom, though her hisses were weak and filled with pain. ~Magic~
~Seraphina and Dahlia are both magical snakes. They were taken away from their mother before they had formed their magical cores to sustain them. They would have been able to live without the magic of a wizard then, but both will die unless someone takes them.~
Tom looked at the small black snake with pain in his eyes. ~I would be saving her just for her to die later.~ He had not noticed that Hendrix was no longer with him. ~I truly wish I could help.~
A second, even smaller black snake stuck her snout out of a log and flicked her tongue at Tom. ~Save my sister.~
Tom groaned as he heard the plea of Dahlia. “Dammit there really isn’t a way.”
Hendrix came back at that moment and Tom looked at him. He saw that those killing curse eyes were full of anger and hate. Tom wondered what had gotten him so mad, but then Hendrix walked right over to the tank that had the two sisters in it. He stuck both hands in the tank and held them very still for the two. Then something remarkable happened.
Hendrix hissed at the snakes. ~Come.~
Tom stared at Hendrix in shock. He had mused about the possible connection between the two of them because they had the same eye colour, but he never truly believed that Evans could be a Slytherin Heir like him.
The two little snakes slithered up the offered hands and coiled up in his hands. ~Another speaker!~ He straightened back up and walked past Tom again and up to the counter. Tom followed silently.
Hendrix’s magic was starting to crackle around him as he faced the shop owner. Tom was surprised how the light magic also had traces of darkness in it. “See? They might be venomous, but neither of them is strong enough to even attempt to bite! You will have two dead snakes in the next few hours. You idiot! You don’t even know what species they are. You literally just picked them out of a nest while you were on holiday.”
The man growled at the teenager. “Fine! If you care so much about them then just take them! It’s not like anyone else will want them.”
Hendrix’s eyes narrowed towards the man. “Those tanks are too cold for the other snakes and it will eventually kill them.” With that, he spun around and stormed out of the pet store.
Tom watched everything happen without saying anything. He would not admit it to anyone, but he was impressed at how Hendrix had gotten his way without even revealing his ability to speak to the snakes to the man.
The shop owner rolled his eyes. “They are just stupid snakes. I hope that once he gets those two healed up they bite him.” He said darkly.
Tom clenched his teeth at the way the man was speaking. He longed to curse him, watch him flail in pain, turn his mind to mush. “You would do well to listen to him. Those snakes you nearly killed? I don’t know what species they are either, but they are magical ones.” He said with a smirk. “They could have likely fetched several hundred galleons each if you had been knowledgeable about them and taken care of them properly.” He said before he breezed out of the shop.
Tom saw Hendrix standing over by the gate to the Leaky Cauldron and walked over to him. “So now there are two of Slytherin’s Heirs running around Hogwarts.”
Hendrix glared at Tom. “No, I’m not descended from him.” He flicked his wand out to tap the bricks to summon the exit.
Tom laughed at that. “Sure you’re not. The parseltongue paired with the green eyes definitely is not one of the most obvious indications of Slytherin’s bloodline.” He smirked as he watched Hendrix freeze. Tom could have plucked those panicked thoughts straight from his mind, but he did not want to. He wanted there to still be some mysteries for him to figure out on his own, rather than to rely upon Legilimency.
“Well,” Hendrix’s voice was shaking a little, “the only real way to tell is to get an inheritance test done at Gringotts… and we don’t have the time to go there today.” He could tell that Hendrix was trying to stall as much as possible, but that worked for Tom. “Maybe over the holidays. For now, we need to get back to school.”
Tom shrugged and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. That would work exceedingly well for him. By that point, he would have Hendrix firmly where he belonged. “Yeah, I’ll go with you. I never had one of those done so I might as well get further proof. They will also be able to tell me if I’m related to any other families.” He paused for a moment then frowned. “And reveal which one of us takes primacy.”
Hendrix waved Tom’s worries away. “I’m fairly certain that, if I am descended from Slytherin, it would be on my mother’s side. I have her eyes. So you should have nothing to worry about as she was a muggleborn.” He said as he walked into the pub.
To frowned at the offhand comment by the other teenager. Why would Hendrix believe that would reassure him? He had never told the other his blood status. He could have been a mudblood himself. Then it would have been a coin toss as to who was closer to the main branch. “Just because the line you are descended from squibbed out, does not mean that it was not part of the main branch, meaning you could be the Head of the family if my family is an offshoot.”
Hendrix shrugged as he grabbed a handful of floo powder. “It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t even know if I would want it.” He threw the floo powder into the fireplace before calling out his destination. He vanished in a wave of green flames, leaving behind a baffled Dark Lord who did not understand why someone would not want the power that came with being a Lord of their line. Hendrix continued to confuse him and he was looking forward to picking the secrets out of the other parselmouth.
Tom flooed to the Headmaster’s office after having given Hendrix roughly half a minute to stumble out of the way. He gracefully stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the deserted office.
Hendrix had already left.
So he walked down the spiral staircase and exited out to the hallway, but still did not see the Slytherin that he was supposed to be guiding. It was weird that he would take off alone without knowing where he was supposed to be going. Tom doubted that he would even be able to find the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. He did not even know the password. Then again, he could order it open with parseltongue. There was still the problem of how Hendrix would even find out where the dorms were.
So Tom spent the next several hours searching the castle from top to bottom. It was evening before he finally gave up and went to the kitchens. There he ate a plate of food before deciding to retire to the common room for the night. He also had to put his purchases away in the dorm room. It was irritating having to share with so many other students. There were eleven other males in their year, now twelve with the addition of Hendrix. Tom wished that they had been able to get individual rooms, but there were simply too many students. He hated sharing his space. It could have been worse, they could have had only one dorm room for each year. Instead, they were spread through four dorm rooms. Since it had just been him and Prince, the least annoying of his followers, Hendrix would most definitely be put in their room.
It was an irritated Tom Riddle that swept into the common room just moments before curfew. His killing curse eyes scanned the chairs and couches but did not see Hendrix there. His anger was steadily rising to explosiveness as he walked over to Azariah Prince.
“Have you seen Hendrix this evening?” If one were to look at the Dark wizard’s hands, one would see that his fingers were twitching as if he needed his wand in his hand.
Azariah Prince noticed how bad of a mood Tom was in so he answered quickly. “Yes, he is in our room and has been since before we returned from dinner.”
Tom froze for a moment at that revelation before he dismissed it. Surely one of the other snakes had shown Hendrix where the common room was.
The Slytherin Heir swept out of the common room and towards the corridor that housed the four rooms that housed the Slytherin fifth years. His eyes shone with anger as he stormed into the room he had previously only shared with Azariah. A wave of his yew wand activated some wards he had placed on the room the very evening they had arrived for the new year. Tom flicked his wand at the rapidly closing door so that it slammed shut and locked. “Hendrix.” His eyes finally focused on the person he had just spent hours attempting to track down. What surprised him was the holly wand that was aimed directly at his heart and green eyes holding just as much anger as his own.