The First Lesson
Many thoughts rushed about Toms mind regarding Hadrian Peverell, many of them being questions. Initially, he had not considered Peverell to a very impressive person with the only significant part of him being his valuable name. But it was naïve of him to think and was an assumption that he would not be making again any time soon. There were actually many interesting and fascinating things to Hadrian Peverell. Firstly, his appearance was incredibly unique something that he had noted after the meeting with Slughorn, finally having the opportunity to look at him face to face. Hadrian was small in stature being a good few inches smaller than him if not more, he had strikingly black hair that contrasted with his rich green eyes. His face was decorated with a reasonable number of freckles however this was not drawing his attention instead a scar that decorated the majority of his forehead did. The scar jutted out in what could only be described as a realistic lightening shape, it was not an unappealing scar in fact it was a stunning addition to his appearance. After having introduced Hadrian to the rest of their dormmates it was clear that the majority of them thought so too as many of them spending far more time than could be considered usual staring at his face.
He had also observed that Hadrian had intriguing personality. While he was plainly struggling to handle a lot of the social situations that he was being thrust into he was present in the conversation at all times paying attention to everything that was occurring around him. There had only been a few times where he had caught him looking distant and unaware but those were fleeting. A refreshing trait to have and he found himself already assessing how useful it could be if he were to become his ally in the future. He had every intention of making those thoughts reality. He seemed to also have a strong will which he demonstrated to everyone the other day as he easily rebuffed Rosier and the aggressive comment. Everything in him screamed at him that Hadrian was important, and he would be dumb to let him slip through his fingers.
It was after these realisations that he became far too aware that his usual techniques of befriending someone would not work on Hadrian. Hadrian was not a typical Pureblood and even this short time between meeting him had indicated this to him in more ways than one. In addition to this Hadrian was plainly uncomfortable in his presence, for whatever reason. He had to be careful and treat Hadrian carefully. He also needs to learn more about him before he makes any big attempts at becoming close enough to him to consider him an ally. He needs know so much more, thankfully his group seemed to realise his interest without any words needing to be exchanged directly. Orion seemed especially tuned into this as he was striking up casual conversations with Hadrian every single time that he has the opportunity to. They would all have to play their cards delicately if they were going to succeed.
The classroom was fascinating for a lack of better words. In all the time that Harry had been at Hogwarts never had he seen a classroom dressed like this one had. There were engravings littered across the walls that looked like someone had delicately and gently taken their time to make them perfect. He had explored arithmancy under the guise of studying with Hermione only with the intentions of knowing what gift to give her last year for Christmas. It was most certainly worth the effort at the time because Hermione had not seen the present coming. But unlike that research these number charts were fascinating and complex in every manor. They were downright intriguing which was not something he had ever felt for anything in subject before.
Riddle led the group into the classroom fully taking his time in picking seats for them to take.
He eventually led them to a row of desks towards the back of the room slightly but that would not be out of sight from the professor a seat that Harry personally would not have chosen to sit in if not for Riddle. What was startling to him was that Riddle indicated that he wanted to place him between himself and Malfoy. Ending up positioning him between the two of them. Bizarre, as what Harry can remember is that the Malfoy family had always been Riddles right hand family and their friendship was unbreakable at one point in time. So where was the logic in placing a barrier in between the two of them. There had to be something that he could gain from this. There could have been a multitude of reasons for this but all he cared about in this moment was that he would end up seated next to both Riddle and Malfoy. It was a paralyzing thought and his emotions tried to bubble to the surface, he just had to hope that they were only interested in his name and after some time they will begin to lose interest in him. Plus, he is making assumptions by assuming they had negative intentions, they may just want to seem generous to the teachers by giving the new student some extra attention and guidance. But his intuition is telling him that he must be wary around these two in particular.
Regardless of his inner turmoil, he took the seat between the two watching for their reactions carefully but of course there were no cracks in their perfectly constructed masks. How the sorting hat said that he belongs in this house he will never truly understand, these people could handle these social interactions as though they are some sort of game that was fun to play. In his mind it just a frustrating web of lies that he has to slowly pierce through and the more scrutiny he puts their actions under the closer he will get to understanding them in the long hall.
The classroom was eerily quiet, and it became obvious to Harry that they had led him into the classroom extremely early as there was no one else present. This triggered something within him, and he began noting ways to remove himself from the room even without his wand. Being alone with both a Malfoy and Riddle himself was not on his list of things he wanted to do today.
Riddle was turned towards him in his seat, giving him the same neutral expression that gave away to a slight smile that could only barely be noticed.
“You like the classroom engravings?” he said it with what appeared to be an amused laugh as though he thought it was endearing that Harry was inspecting the room and had been interested in them. It did not seem to him like mockery but more genuine curiosity from Riddle.
“I have not seen anything like them before.” A truthful answer as there would be no pointing in lying regarding what he does and doesn’t know as it may lead to him making mistakes further down the road. That is if he is here for much longer but better to be safe than to be sorry.
“We have not learnt how to do these one yet. So don’t worry you can learn them if you would like.” He laid his elbow on the table in front of them, resting his head in his hand. He didn’t not once let his eyes wander from Harry something that was incredibly unnerving, yet it managed to simultaneously be captivating making him want to meet his eyes and stare back. Obviously, he did not do that instead looking away not wanting to deal with the outcome of unintentionally staring down a budding Legilimency Master. He was preoccupied with his thoughts of avoiding riddles piercing eyes and was unable to come up with a response, so he gave him a slight not trying to indicate he was thankful for the information.
“How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far Peverell?” this time it was not Riddle to speak up but was instead Malfoy. His voice was neutral, and his face appeared non-threatening, but it was hard to tell when he had never met before yesterday. Knowing his descendant does not help in reading the infamous Malfoy. The question itself was somewhat boring and more than likely an attempt at making conversation where him and Riddle were failing.
Taking time to actually consider his answer, he knows he cannot be fully truthful about his experience as this goes without say but lying to them is never a good idea either as it carries too many inherent risks. He had to think about the context of his situation and give an appropriate answer.
“It is very different than what I am used to. I was homeschooled.” He had to add the homeschooled part to avoid anyone picking too far into his past and he tried his best to be convincing, so he had to just imagine that they accepted his answer for now.
Malfoy did seem surprised by this admission, his eyebrows raising comically for a brief moment. If it were not for the seriousness of the situation, then he likely would have laughed.
“Oh, I did not know. Are you going to be able to handle all of the lessons?” Malfoys face now had his normal neutral expression on his face, but it was clear that his eyes keep flicking past him and although this was subtle it was not something that he would miss easily. Malfoy was looking to Riddle and watching riddle during their conversation. It was a complicated thing to consider for Harry as this could just be something that Malfoy had gotten into the Habit of going or it could be that he is looking to Riddle as there is something more tense about this situation that he is missing. Unfortunately for him he never was very good at mental Magic and only had to hope that what he was estimating from what he already knows of them is correct. That Riddle wants him for his name and his gang of followers will follow him in that endeavour. He hasn’t had time to come up with a plan for this yet, but he mostly hopes to do so in the near future, for now he is just doing his best to cope with whatever is thrown at him.
“I do not know; I had not considered it too much.” He tried his best not to seem embarrassed that the truth had escaped him while in deep thought and his mouth had begun moving before his mind caught up. He looked to Riddle wanting to check his reaction but nothing much had changed he still had this smirk like smile planted on his face and his eyes screaming that he was amused. Malfoy on the other hand appeared more controlled and had no smile but his eyes too were screaming that he was amused. It has incredibly silly, to be so embarrassed by admitting that he doesn’t know how he will handle the schooling to them. They probably didn’t think much of it, but he had finally given them something to grab onto and begin talking to him about something that he would be unable to avoid. Frustration gripped him but he tried his best not allow anything to show.
“I have already been assigned as his tutor to help him if he struggles Abraxas.” Riddles penetrating voice cut through his now panicked thoughts.
“That is good then Peverell, Riddle is by far the smartest person in our year you are lucky to have him tutoring you.” Malfoy gave him a smile as he spoke and appeared to be openly expressing some of his emotion. His words were interesting and showed just how much admiration that he held for Riddle.
“Now, Abraxas you would also have been a great candidate to tutor him you have just as good grades as me.” Riddles expression had not changed but Malfoys certainly had, and he was now tilting his head upwards as though he was proud of getting praise of Riddle and in hindsight Riddle did not give praise easily.
Conversation then continued between mainly Malfoy and Riddle for some time, and it was nothing of much interest mainly discussing this that Harry had not interest. That conversation withered away as more and more people began to enter the classroom. He found himself paying a fair amount of attention to those who were coming in, maybe in attempt to see those that he might be able to recognise but there were only a few that he had slight suspicion around. Feeling disappointed that the only people he had been able to recognise so far were Death Eaters and Dumbledore himself, he had expected to know so many more people. It was making it all the more real to him just how many people had died in the war and how much magical blood had been shed. It was deeply saddening, and he found himself pondering how it could have been without the war. Maybe everyone could have found a way to be happy. A nice thought but just not a fact of how things work.
Before he knew it a Lady came storming into the room, her footsteps hard and heavy as she moved quickly across the room. She had neatly laid hair that fell to her shoulders, but she somehow had managed to look extremely strange while also being put together, such an odd combination. She was not the image he had in his mind for someone who might teach the Arithmancy, he always thought of them as a classic very uptight person but to see someone so different he was now excited for the lesson ahead of him.
That had been a very severe mistake despite the excitement that he had felt initially the lesson itself was dull and boring and he often found himself becoming frustrated at his lack of knowledge. Maybe this had become clear to both Malfoy and Riddle as the non-ending glances that he had been suffering under the entire lesson. It was irritating but most certainly not the worst thing that they could both do, he had to keep reminding himself of the reality of who he was speaking to and that they were not people he could relax around.
The lesson had dampened his mood that had been improving ever so slightly. When the lesson finally wrapped up and everyone began moving, he had let out a very quiet sigh.
“Are you alright Peverell?” Malfoy quickly asked much to his shock as he hadn’t anticipated anyone being able to hear him.
He didn’t trust his words in this moment and found himself just nodding towards Riddle as he began to stand. Both him and Riddle quickly followed this movement also standing and packing away any items that they had with them. Despite wanting to leave, he waited for them knowing that not only did he not know what was next on his schedule but also as he could not find it in himself to consider the ramifications from leaving the two right now.
“We have a free lesson next Peverell, we had planned on staying in the common room is that alright?” this time Riddle spoke and catching his attention and meeting his eyes. It was an easy answer as Harry just wanted to be able to sit without the constant droning of a teacher for some time even if he did have to handle Riddle and his gang hovering around him the majority of the time. He just had to hope that once they realised, he wasn’t all that interesting that they would leave him alone and just pretend he had never existed.
He nodded again still not finding his words. Riddle seemingly got the message that he was feeling tired from the lesson and began walking in pace with Malfoy out of the room. Both of them were ahead of him as they walked yet every now and then one would glance back to confirm whether or not he was still behind them. The fresh and flowing air from that flowed freely around them was extremely refreshing to Harry and almost immediately began to make him feel more relaxed. He wished at this moment that he had his broom and was able to go flying just to get a break from everything, to lay back and to feel that great sense of relief that he felt all the time when flying. But as they got closer and closer to the Slytherin Common room those thoughts withered away and he found himself feeling a lot better whether the break from having to think had done it or the thoughts of flying he didn’t know but he felt like a weight had been off loaded. A massive relief that seemingly came from just having some time to himself. He used to hate being alone but as he came to spend more time at Hogwarts the more and more, he had appreciated those moments of peace. Something he had obviously forgotten having spent so much time anxious of his surroundings.
When they entered the common room there were a few people littered about one that he could recognise as being Orion and a few others that he had seen the evening before but not been introduced to. They were once again in that section of the room that just seemed to be left entirely to them as there was no one else there. They went easily to that spot where Orion was practically jumping up and down after he had spotted them.
Riddle and Malfoy took seats on one of the couches facing the rest of them that had previously been empty and Harry found himself with options to seat either next to Rosier or next to Riddle. There were many that would consider this choice easy but to Harry it became a puzzle of sorts. He both didn’t want to seem as though he disliked Riddle and bring attention to that by sitting by the person who had publicly snubbed him just the day before. He knew instinctively the non-suspicious road once again led him to sit beside Riddle and he realised he would have to come up with a better way to avoid riddle or he no doubt would continue to face social situations like this that lead him to having to spend far more time with Riddle than he liked.
He would have to come up with something quickly or this could get out of hand before he even knows it. Regardless of this he had no way to currently begin changing this now and had to instead face the music. He followed both Riddle and Malfoy to the seat and sat down carefully as not to anger his injuries.
As he did this Riddle gave him what must have been as close as he could get to an approving smile. Before turning to face the rest of the group who appeared to be watching them interact for a moment. That was easily interrupted however by the person who was quickly becoming his favourite of the group.
“Peverell! Good to see that you made It back to us alive. We thought you might have turned to stone during Arithmancy class with how utterly boring it is.” Orion was moving in all types of ways as he spoke that was interestingly a large amount like Sirius, but his temperament was far more like Ron than Sirius. An interesting thing to note and something that did make his heart ache at the thought of his friends. But the smile on Orion’s face pulled him back into reality.
He allowed a smile to sneak onto his face and before he knew it, he found himself laughing. It must have shocked those around him as they were looking at him as though he had two heads.
“Don’t go filling Peverell’s head full of nonsense now Orion. Arithmancy is a needed class for a future head of house and heir.” Malfoy sounding far more like the classic Malfoy that he knew before interrupted this interaction reminding him that these people were not his friends as much as he wanted them to be. Part of him wanted to tell Malfoy that he could most certainly make up his own mind regarding what he needed to learn and what he didn’t, but he held his tongue. Orion however did not.
“Leave us be Abraxas, don’t take everything so seriously. Plus, Peverell found it funny so there was no harm done” he argued quickly but the smile on his face didn’t disappear leading him to believe this was a common dance that the two did around each other. The rest of the groups reaction also indicated this as they did not appear bothered in the least. In fact, some of them appeared incredibly amused by this and almost like they were equally enjoying this interaction.
“The lesson was slow.” He tried to make the balance between agreeing with both of them so as to not start a fight. His addition to the conversation drew a lot of attention however that he wasn’t expecting.
“Yes, her lesson does tend to be quite slow unfortunately, let me know if you need help” Malfoy leaned forwards so that he could see Harry from where he was sitting. The small admission from Malfoy stopping the argument that was already going in its tracks and he also seemed to be remembering the conversation that him and Riddle had regarding his tutoring before the lesson had begun. While the offer itself was kind he had a feeling that Riddle would only allow Malfoy to begin tutoring him when he gets bored or something more pressing comes to him. He nodded towards him nonetheless thankful for the offer and could only hope that he got the chance to take him up on that offer.
“Enough about Peverell, how did everyone get on with that charms assignment.” Orion easily restarted the conversation showing just how much of a conversationalist he is. Some people whose name he had not yet learnt began adding to the conversation here and there, but the conversation was not exactly something he could add to not having to personally do the charms homework they were speaking off. Although it did not sound too difficult.
Riddle clearly saw that the conversation had moved on and was not something he was involved in anymore and took the time to strike up another one with him.
“After Lunch we will visit Slughorn to get permission to Floo to Diagon Alley if you are still feeling up to it.” He sounded uninterested but by this time he could tell that he was far more interested than he was attempting to let on as he had now mentioned it a multitude of times. It was also evident that Malfoy was listening to the conversation due to his total silence and the fact that he was not paying any attention to the other conversations that were occurring.
He gave Riddle a nod noting how close together they once again were, a running theme that he was becoming very annoyed by at this point but could not do much about it.
“Is there any place that you would like to go first, other than Gringotts of course.” He questioned seemingly trying to appear uninterested still. Harry took a brief moment to consider his options the first of his concerns were regarding that he did not even know if he had much of anything waiting for him at Gringotts, but he supposed that if he didn’t that, he could feign being ill and try to find an alternative way of handling the fallout of that situation. His first priority should be getting a wand without a doubt, then he would need some school supplies and books maybe even some other additional things. But his first priority was very clear to him.
“I will be needing a wand.” His voice was low as he spoke as he did not want many people here to know that he had bene without one. Even though it felt wrong to reveal to Riddle it was unavoidable at this point and was more of another unfortunate occurrence.
Riddle did not look surprised but then again, he had rarely seen him show any emotions since he had met him which was unnerving and off putting, so his lack of reaction did not really mean anything in the long run.
“We will make a quick trip to one of the wand makers then. That is no problem.” Harry couldn’t help but question cautiously in his mind what Riddle meant when he said one of the wandmakers surely the one that they would go to would be Ollivanders as everyone went there to buy their wands unless there was a more popular wand maker during this time. He hoped not as he had thought that maybe his actual wand would be stored away in Ollivanders somewhere, but he was beginning to doubt whether or not he would ever see it again. He sincerely hoped he would, his wand meant everything to him. It would hurt bad to not see it again. He was thankful that Riddle did not appear to be trying to make a big deal about this trip to Ollivanders and was instead keeping it quiet, maybe for his sake but he did not think so. He was likely also wanting to avoid the questioning and offers of money to get something in exchange.
The Common room had nice atmosphere and he found himself becoming comfortable where he was despite his company. The sofa was soft and made the aches that the potions could not hide ease and feel far better than it had previously. He wondered again if he would need to change the bandages on him soon. But if he had to, he could easily, do it himself or he could just visit Madam Pomfrey when he needed too. He did not think of her as a threat to him by any means instead he views her already as maybe his only ally in this strange reality. A disappointing thought but unfortunately the truth. He found himself looking out of the big window he had spotted when first entering the Common Room and wondering if all the rumours he had heard about the great squid were true, though he had always thought they were made up just to excite the first years.
The peace that he had found due to the atmosphere of the common room and finally feeling less threatened in spite of Riddle being right next to him was easily interrupted as people were beginning to get ready for lunch now. The thought of food had his annoyance at being brought out of his peaceful state of mind being pushed away and no longer something that was on his mind. Instead, his body had seemed to not just how hungry he truly was, maybe he had exhausted himself far more than he had realised. He was very thankful that someone else had been paying attention to the time now as he really did need something to eat. This time unlike the smaller group that they had divided into this morning there was a lot more of them now as they had begun the walk to the great hall hence a lot more chaos and turning heads as they walked past.
Interesting was what the group could be described as, there was Orion who was jumping and skipping about dramatically all while managing to get disapproving looks from the other people in the group mainly Malfoy and the ones names he had not yet learnt. Riddle led the group towards the hall, and he was close second to that regardless of wanting to be able to observe the group as a whole from behind.
They reached their destination without much difficulty much to the surprise of Harry as he been anticipating Malfoy and Orion having a full-on duel from the sounds of their bickering. He could only pray that this was not how he and Draco sounded to others when they argue. If they did, he doubted that they would ever be able to handle them arguing again that, is I he ever got the chance to again.
The hall itself had already mostly filled up and there was quite an empty place at the Slytherin table where no doubt their group would be heading. He thought for a split moment that he would look up to see Dumbledore but the idea of that easily went away. For some reason something about Dumbledore was giving him incredibly bad feelings and he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with that. Instead, he would rather pretend that the grandfatherly man he had come to know wasn’t even here at least until he would be able to deal with that.
They got to their seats and took the same seats as they had the day before except this time Orion elected to sit opposite him which was a nice change and Orion had given him a massive grin upon noticing him looking.
He gave a smile in return, but he was no where near as enthusiastic as Orion managed to be. But Orion didn’t seem to notice or mind if he did instead, he began to collect food on his plate in a happy manner. Many of the others in the group had done the same but Harry had found himself floundering as he did not know what to put on his plate having never actually tried most of them. It must have been clear that he had no idea what to eat as Orion had begun to select stuff for him. It was a shock to his system, but he did find himself feeling grateful for this but at the same time he had tried to shoo Orion away only for Orion to slap his hand gently out of the way and shushing him into silence.
It was an embarrassing moment that had to subtly check whether or not people had seen that interaction. And of course, most of the people near them had. They were all grinning and smirking in some sort of way and he found himself bracing for the smart comment coming his way. But instead of that many of them continued eating as though this was normal occurrence. He couldn’t help but look around slightly confused at this bizarre interaction. He met Malfoys gaze after finding no one else who seemed to be willing to give some sort of explanation.
“Don’t mind him, he always does this, he seems to have no concept of boundaries. Eat.” He was rolling his eyes and looking exasperated as he spoke, but the amusement did not leave his eyes. He pointed as he said eat giving him a pointed look. It was laughable who knew that the future death eaters all acted somewhat like mother hens when it interested them. Such as weird thing to be witnessing nonetheless he did begin to eat the food being careful to note which one he liked and which on he didn’t for the future. He could only hope that the group did not notice his stumble and would instead assume he was just not feeling very hungry.
He could not wait until after lunch now as the anticipation was build, he could have a wand and maybe even his own wand within his grip again and that mere idea would make him feel so much more secure. Regardless of whether or not he was becoming used to the group more and his paranoia was beginning to slowly dissipate he was not oblivious to the fact of who he was surrounded by, in fact it was almost impossible to forget that for even a split second. He would much rather that he did not forget, he was not planning on getting comfortable here after all.