Inheritance
Tom looked at the unconscious child before him on the bed. A few cleaning spells had left the guest room in Riddle Manor habitable and safe for a child.
Why he cared about the safety of the child in question was the ultimate question.
Before his rebirth he had been completely all for the plan of killing the brat after humiliating him in front of his followers to gain a bit of the respect that he lost that Halloween night back.
Now the very thought of the idea turned his stomach and made him want to rip someone else to shreds. According to his very new instincts, Harry Potter must be protected at all costs.
Why though? Why had his instincts demanded he take Potter somewhere safe and defensible? Why did he have these new instincts at all? Was it a mistake in the ritual done by Pettigrew? Was it just a side effect of the ritual that was in fine print that he overlooked?
But no, even as he was half a spirit his memories had remained the same and he knew he had studied the ritual thoroughly as a youth just as he studied everything seriously. A mistake by Wormtail was more likely than something he overlooked. Especially considering his looks. He was supposed to come out looking like himself, but instead he was pale and scaly and faintly blue.
No matter the cause, his instincts demanded that he keep Potter safe, so here he was, in his father's old manor house where he killed him, fretting over a child he himself knocked unconscious with a well placed spell.
Nagini was at the child's feet, curled around herself to better observe him. She seemed intrigued by him and refused to call him anything other than hatchling.
Tom had committed many crimes over the years but this was the first time he had willingly kidnapped a child.
Turning away from Potter abruptly, he strode from the room and headed towards the room he had stayed in previously as a homunculus. There were various magical texts that he needed to consult.
Nothing. There was nothing in his books to explain what happened. And worst of all, even he couldn't puzzle out what went wrong, or if anything did go wrong.
Tom was feeling irritable as it was, with also no answers forthcoming he could feel his magic crackling under his skin.
Walking back to the guest room, Tom paused as he heard hissing.
“--and Master is very kind, he gives lots of good prey.”
“Don't you eat people? I'm pretty sure I saw that in a dream.”
Tom stiffened. That was the boy. The boy was speaking parseltongue, which should be impossible. And what did he mean about seeing Nagini in a dream?
Tom walked into the room and the talking abruptly stopped. Green, green eyes stared up at him in fear and a small part of Tom felt uncomfortable with the look. That small part of him burned that the tiny slip of a teenager feared him.
“You are a parselmouth.”
It wasn't a question.
The boy turned his head to the side and furrowed his brows.
“Yes? I thought you would have known that already, what with you living with Wormtail.”
“Wormtail knew you were a parselmouth,” was hissed in English.
“Yes, practically everyone who was there for my second year knows,” the boy said bravely, shoving his fear under bravado.
“What did you mean about seeing Nagini in a dream?” Tom demanded.
The boy's bravado failed a little as he seemed uncomfortable. “I don't know,” he admits, “I just have dreams sometimes about you that seem real.”
Tom's red eyes never wavered from the boy's form.
He was attempting to formulate another question to ask when a swirl of water appeared in the air.
From within the water out stepped a man, or what looked like a man.
He had deep blue skin and sky blue fluffy hair. Light pale blue, almost white irises stared at the scene of Tom, the boy, and the snake.
“Well,” he said, “I can say I wasn't expecting this.”
The man introduced himself as Levi, and said he was there for the newly inherited merrow.
As both Tom and Harry had no idea what he was talking about he gave a pained smile before explaining dragels and the nevermore realm they called home, paying special attention to mention water element dragels, merrow. Tom and Harry both listened and soaked up the knowledge offered like a sponge.
Tom especially was excited. In his youth he had explored most of the world in his trips to learn magic. Now there was entirely different realms at his fingertips! He had heard whispers of them in stories before but no actual concrete way to reach another realm before.
Levi was a merrow, apparently, and so was Tom. Tom and Levi were both surprised. Tom because he had never had even an inclination that he wasn't a normal wizard other than his power far surpassing everyone he knew. Levi because of Tom's age. Even suppressed dragels lost the chance to inherit after a certain age, but here Tom was at sixty eight years old and a newly inherited merrow.
“You need to be seen by a healer, immediately,” Levi said to Tom, with a fast glance towards the boy with a still open wound on his arm as well.
“That's not necessary,” Tom disagreed. He had learned the basics of the healing arts so that he could always patch himself up if necessary.
“This isn't an argument. This shouldn't even be possible for you to have just inherited. We need a specialist to check on your health.”
Tom scowled. The other man had proved to be stubborn from what little he had picked up.
“And where would you propose we do that?” he scoffed, irritated.
“Nevarah, of course.”
Tom stiffened. Nevarah, the nevermore realm he had just learned about with so much new magic to learn about.
Tom's instincts demanded he look towards Potter and check on him. The boy was obviously on edge but just as confused and curious as Tom himself.
“Fine, I will agree to this healing as long as I can collect some things before we leave,” Tom said, already making plans.
“That's fine with me, as long as we leave soon,” Levi replied.
Tom shot another look at Harry and Nagini on the guest bed and hissed, “I will be right back, protect the boy from the blue man Nagini,” before striding once more out of the room.