Work Text:
Character: Tom Riddle
Prompt: “I regret nothing.”
“Something’s different about you,” Vijaya Patil stated as she locked eyes with Tom Riddle. The witch was frowning.
They were on the Hogwarts Express headed back to school for the spring term.
Tom had stopped by her compartment to pick up her half of the Defense project. Her words pleased him. So far, she was the only person to comment.
Patil’s dark eyes were narrowed as she looked him over. “What did you do?” she demanded, her eyes returning to his. She looked a little paler.
He frowned. What did she mean?
Patil shook her head. “All I can feel is dark magic,” she muttered.
Tom’s eyebrow rose. Could she sense he used various spells, including the Killing Curse? Honestly, Tom didn’t regret killing his muggle father and grandparents.
They knew about him and they left him. After the death of his mother, Wool’s Orphanage reached out to Tom Riddle Senior and his parents. They wanted to pretend Tom Senior never married Tom’s mother, and Tom would be reminded. They wanted nothing to do with him. They wanted him to die.
He only learned all this by ripping through their memories. After learning the truth, Tom killed the three muggles. Thanks to their memories, he knew who to pin the crime on. Apparently, Tom had more family in the area.
Something in Patil’s dark eyes hardened. Her wand slid into her hand. She waved her wand, muttering an incantation.
“We have some privacy,” she told him.
Tom’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?” she asked, her voice hard.
He remained silent. Tom didn’t like when others demanded things from him. With Patil, he found he was willing to make an exception.
“If I can feel something,” Patil began, “Dumbledore is likely to as well.”
She definitely knew what to say to get Tom’s complete attention. Patil made an excellent point.
He thought for a moment. “Revenge,” he told her. “I took revenge.”
Patil raised an eyebrow. “Was it worth it?” she asked.
Tom smiled. “It was,” he answered. “I regret nothing.”
She nodded, her dark eyes narrowed a little further. “You need to start casting basic spells and charms,” she said. “It will help delude the dark magic and it will make a Reverse Spell on your wand useless.”
Tom left the compartment with plans to practice his spellwork. Vijaya Patil was an interesting witch and she would be his.