I had devoted my life to God. My body, my soul, was His. My mother and father had raised me to be His, and I had always followed their instructions. I prayed every chance I got, listened exclusively to worship music, and went to a Catholic boarding school. It was my life—perfect and routine, until I met him.
Tom Riddle was new at the school. I was only in the eighth grade, and he was in eleventh. However, that didn’t stop us from quickly growing close. He was the first real friend I had there.
We met at the first weekly Mass of the year. Tom had sat next to me, and I was, like everyone else, entranced by him. He had divine beauty, almost like a greek statue sitting beside me, and my heart fluttered when he spoke to me.
~
“Hello there,” the boy said in a velvety soft voice.
“Oh- I- hello…” I hardly knew what to say, scared to embarrass myself in front of someone like him.
“What’s your name, little lamb?”
“It’s… Harry, Harry Potter,” I mumbled, suddenly ashamed of my boring name. I wished it was something cooler, something that danced on the tip of my tongue when I spoke it. Something worthy of speaking to this boy.
“I’m charmed to meet you, Harry…” he shook my hand. “Tom Riddle. I can already tell we’ll be fast friends, won’t we?”
I nodded eagerly, wanting nothing more than to be friends with him. “Of course!” This earned a smile.
Tom patted my knee gently, then turned to the Priest as the service began.
Shamefully, I couldn’t pay attention to anything but Tom. He was so beautiful, so incredible, how was I supposed to be able to focus on anything else?
Surely Tom had noticed, casting the occasional glance at me, but politely he didn’t say anything, which I was grateful for. It left me to continue admiring him, wondering about him.
Then, before I knew it, the Priest was closing the mass with a prayer. I found my mouth speaking a small “Amen” for me, and looked over quickly enough to see Tom doing the same, and to watch him sign a cross.
After Mass, they had time to themselves, supposedly to think over the service. However, as I was standing up to leave, Tom caught my arm. “Harry… care to come up to my dorm? I’d love to… show you my favorite Bible passages.”
I quickly agreed, looking forward to talking with Tom about the Bible. I wondered what scripture he would show me, and would he give me the chance to share my favorites?
So I followed Tom to his dorm, and couldn’t help but gasp in awe when he opened the door. It was a gorgeous room, spotless. The walls were a dark grey, his white bed was perfectly made, and there were several bookshelves, neatly organized. I know I barely knew Tom yet, but it seemed so perfectly him.
“Here, Harry…” Tom pulled out a chair from his desk for me to sit on, and he sat down on his bed, leaning back against the headboard.
“Your room is so pretty, Tom,” I was still looking around in amazement. His room showed devotion to God — countless Bibles, prayer candles, crosses on the walls, statues of the Virgin Mary. “So, what scripture did you want to show me?”
At my words, Tom pulled a bible from the bookshelf, and began to turn. “Well, I’ve been studying Joel recently, and I thought you might want to talk about it? You seem quite smart for your age, after all.”
“Of course!” I blurted out, probably a little too fast. Of course… I wanted to prove myself to him.
He only grinned at me, something between affection and mockery, and found what he was looking for and began to read:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.
Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste
—nothing escapes them.
They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
Before them the earth shakes,
the heavens tremble,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?”
There was a long pause. I was a bit confused, I’d never heard this before, and besides, it was hard to pay attention when Tom looked so beautiful.
“Do you understand what this means, Harry?”
“I… I’m not sure.”
“It says that the Lord is at the head of a great army, which is coming against us. How can that be true, when the Bible says that God is on our side?”
“I… don’t know.” The way Tom said it made me question what I knew. What if… the Bible wasn’t always true? “Oh, Tom! Don’t say that… we must repent from this sin….” I began to get on my knees, but Tom stopped me. “How is it a sin?”
“Tom! You’re… questioning our Lord…” tears came to my eyes at the thought.
“Where does it say that curiosity is a sin?”
“I…” I was at a loss for words. “I don’t know… but… this can’t be good, Tom!” I felt that it was wrong, very much so, but what if he was right? I… didn’t want to think about that possibility.
“Alright, Harry…” Tom had come to me, kneeling before me (though I came only to half his height when we were both kneeling), and wiped the tears off my cheek. “How about you share a passage with me, then?”
“O… okay, Tom….” He thought for a moment before reciting his favorite from memory:
“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you.
for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
I took a deep breath, waiting for his reply. I’d always held the passage close to my heart. Since I was young, growing up in an orphanage, I’d felt as though maybe God had punished me. A thorn in my flesh. So I’d taken comfort in the idea that my suffering helped Him.
“Oh, Harry…” Tom took hold of my face. Something about the situation made me begin to weep, collapsing in his arms. It was embarrassing to cry like this in front of someone so perfect, who I barely knew, but it was easy with Tom. He comforted me, holding me to his chest.
After a few minutes, he picked me up in his arms, and set me down on the bed. “Here, why don’t you relax.” He laid next to me, holding me in his arms. “We have about an hour before classes start again, why don’t you try to sleep. I’ll be here with you.” Tom ran his hands along me, sending a shiver down my body, and leaving a sweet burning feeling in my stomach.
“Okay….”
~
And so, this was the beginning of my corruption.