Chapter 1
i.
The first time Tom arrived at Hogwarts, he almost gawked at her might, full of magic and mysteries, calling for him, telling him it was where he was supposed to belong.
But his parents taught him better than that; half-blood he might be, but he still carried the blood and name of a noble lineage of the Gaunt. Gawking was rude behaviour.
The sorting was manageable despite his nervousness over the whole situation, and he was sorted to get to Slytherin, where his ancestor built it, the mighty Salazar Slytherin himself.
The way people trembled at mentioning the name Gaunt, Mother would be so proud when she knew, but she would know. Tom knew she would.
He easily went to the Slytherin's table, smiling as he sat down with someone who would be his equal, followers if one's will.
Slytherin should be the embodiment of what wixen was supposed to be, the only way that was supposed to be followed. They were regal and of noble lineage, like himself.
His parents taught him to be proud of his noble and honourable House of Gaunt family. That may be why Tom Marvolo Riddle hated Petunia Leverrette with all his might.
ii.
Petunia Leverrette was the only muggleborn in Slytherin; it should be illegal for her to even step inside the Slytherin Common Room. But not only was she sorted into Slytherin, she even got the title of The Honourable Emerald of House Slytherin in her first year.
The first time he heard it, Tom wondered if Professor Slughorn should retire already. He should know the importance of the title for the Slytherin, yet he carelessly gave it to the muggleborn.
Tom had an advantage of Gaunt's family name; people flocked to him and swore loyalty to him in his first year. Ever since he was a little boy, people told him he was the spitting image of his father, and considering his father was a handsome man, Tom felt proud.
But Petunia Leverrette was a muggleborn with an appearance of pureblood ladies. She had a long neck, piercing blue eyes, a high jaw, and an impeccable manner. Her hair was always up, not a single strand out of place, and from what he heard, she excelled in her classes. Tom would treat her courteously had no one told him about her birth.
Too bad she was nothing but a mudblood.
iii.
Tom wrote to his mother about the mudblood in the Slytherin.
iv.
His mother replied that it was indeed a bad thing. Slytherin should only host purebloods and half-bloods from a decent family.
Slytherin was deteriorating from its original value, and Tom felt the need to right the wrongs.
v.
"You filthy mudblood," Tom called her out in the common room, full of the purebloods he knew would back his claim. "You do not belong here."
Petunia Leverrette was sitting next to Dorea Black, reading a book, as it had always been since her first year. She looked up from the book the moment Tom said those words.
Tom expected others would follow, calling Petunia Leverrette mudblood until she burst into tears, but they gasped and looked at him like he was the crazy one here.
"What a vile word you say, Master Gaunt." Dorea Black said, standing up and shielding Petunia Leverrette behind her.
Theodorus Nott almost yanked his hand. "My Lord—"
"Stay out of it, Heir Nott." Dorea Black snapped and strode towards him. Her face was full of unreleased rage.
Theodorus Nott shut his mouth and stood behind him.
"I just stated the truth," Tom said in an even tone. "Petunia Leverrette was a mudblood. It shouldn't come as a shock to you I call her as such."
Tom had no idea why they would have such a reaction. Mudblood was thrown around and about in his house. It was an everyday word for him to address someone like Petunia Leverrette.
(Thought, to be fair, Merope Gaunt had never attended Hogwarts. She had never known a life outside Little Hangleton and had no idea that the term mudblood that was freely thrown by her father and brother had lost its use in recent years.
She just knew to use something that her father and brother used around her and then used it around her son.)
The silence was deafening. Tom could only hear the movement from the lake before a small thud was heard.
"Very well, Master Gaunt." Petunia Leverrette said, putting the book on the settee before walking up to him, placing a hand on Dorea Black's shoulder. "I wonder if you know what mudblood means or just consider me unworthy of having magic."
"That was right." Tom scoffed. "If you know, you should have packed your trunk and left before you embarrassed yourself further."
"You know," Petunia Leverrette said, placing her hands before her stomach. "There were two people that called me that before. One ended up in Hospital Wing for a month, and the other became my best friend. Which of the two do you reckon you would be ended up as?"
Tom hated her tone like she was talking to some dunderhead. "You talked too much, mudblood."
To his anger, Petunia Leverrette chuckled. "I was not going to stoop so low and ask for a formal duel from a first year. If you consider yourself so high and worthy of having magic, let us hold a ritual to call upon Lady Magic and see who is worthy of having magic between the two of us."
vi.
Professor Slughorn was called upon to witness the ritual and to ensure no one would temper the rune, Professor Slughorn was the one who drew the magic circles inside Slytherin's common room.
"Release your magic to the circle, My Lord." Theodorus Nott said in a small voice. "State your name and your ancestors when the magic circle has begun to siphon your magic."
Tom extended his hand before the magic circle and said, "I, Tom Marvolo Gaunt, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, called upon Lady Magic."
Petunia Leverrette removed her gloves and extended both hands to the magic circle. "I, Petunia Alayne Leverrette, a descendant of Alayne Leverrette, Lady Stoneheart of Lady Magic's court, called upon Lady Magic Hecate to be the judge of injustice."
Petunia Leverrette's magic circle grew brighter as Tom's grew dimmer until the blinding shine filled the dungeon.
All of the people were on their knees.
There was a smoky shape of a human coming from Petunia Leverrette's circle, extending her right hand. Petunia Leverrette took it with revere.
"Lady Stoneheart," The smoky shape called. "What distress you so?"
"I apologise to call upon you in this manner, My Lady Hecate." Petunia Leverrette said, a pain apparent in her tone. "But I cannot stand the slander when someone calls me mudblood, not when my family has worshipped you ever since the dawn of time."
The smoky figure turned to him, and Tom felt hostility like no other for the first time in his life. "What a brazen thing to be called upon, indeed, especially by someone from a family that had forgone the worship of me for hundreds of years."
"It was not only I that had to suffer from this slander, My Lady Hecate, but my entire family, and my ancestral home, Evenfall, who took refuge for the runaway witches and wizards from the witch hunt."
A gasp was heard, and Tom wasn't sure if it came from him or any other students.
"What punishment you deemed for this slander, Lady Stoneheart?" Lady Magic Hecate asked, her voice turned eerie. "Rest your worried heart. Tell me, and it shall be done."
Tom fell to his knees, and cold sweat filled his back.
"The boy knew no better, My Lady Hecate." Petunia Leverrette said. "Grant me the right to have Tom Marvolo Gaunt as my ward, and I shall see to right his wrong."
The smoky figure of Lady Magic Hecate looked pleased. "Your will shall be done."
The blinding light and smoky figure disappeared, and Tom felt the magic bond between him and his mother thinned, hanging on a thread. In the place of his magical bond to his mother was Petunia Leverrette, thickening each second passed.
Before him, she looked at him with a smug little smirk.
vii.
His mother wrote how their bond was almost nonexistent at this point.
viii.
Tom refused to leave his bed for days.