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Tom settled into life with Harry quite easily. Harry did not seem to have much of an interest in interacting with any other witches and wizards and while Tom was curious about them, he was content to simply shadow Harry.
After their outing to Diagon Alley, Harry began to take Tom’s lessons more seriously, although they remained haphazard. He insisted that Tom needed to continue with his traditional lessons of mathematics, history, and science, but would also throw in lessons on potions, astronomy, and magical history.
The house was still in a rather haphazard condition, but in his free time, Harry worked to repair it, chasing away dust with the flick of his wand and repairing broken furniture with a few mutterings.
Perhaps the smoothness of the transition led to Tom’s overconfidence. He grew cocky in his position, trusting that Harry wouldn’t turn him away at the slightest inconvenience. Harry seemed to enjoy having someone around to teach.
If Harry wouldn’t turn him away at the slightest hint of conflict, then surely he wouldn’t mind if Tom tried using his wand. Just to practice.
Harry had been in the kitchen, making dinner and whistling some tune Tom didn’t recognize. His wand sat on the kitchen table, where he had been polishing it just a few moments ago. Harry rarely let his wand leave his person, but perhaps he felt secure enough in their home.
When Tom’s fingers closed on the wand, wood warmed to his touch and a few red and green sparks flew out of the tip. He froze, waiting to see if Harry had noticed, but the man was too busy stirring the pot to react. Carefully, Tom crept out of the kitchen and into the study.
Once alone, he didn’t hesitate. He waved the wand around a few times. A couple more sparks launched out of the tip. A grin spread across Tom’s face. This was power. This was freedom.
He tried to remember some of the words Harry had used before in his spellcasting but before he could, a familiar splash of iridescent scales appeared in his periphery.
“You have a wand?” Aureus asked before sticking his tongue out to scent the air. His peaceful demeanor changed. “You have Harry’s wand!”
Tom had never seen a snake enraged before, but he could clearly tell the snake was furious as he slithered towards the kitchen, hissing loudly to catch Harry’s attention. Tom moved quickly, not even thinking through his decisions, just desperate to stop Aureus, but before he could grab hold of him, he was gone.
“Aureus?” Harry called. “You alright? WHERE IS MY WAND?!”
Tom had never heard Harry raise his voice like that.
“Tom has it!” Aureus, the snitch, immediately chimed in. Tom left the study, holding the wand between shaking fingers. Harry met him in the hall, Aureus draped around his shoulders. Harry’s eyes were narrowed, cheeks flushed from the warmth of the kitchen and anger. Without saying a word, he held out his hand. Tom had no choice but to surrender.
Once he got his wand back, the tension in Harry’s body drained slightly. He examined it and then placed it back in its holster before placing a hand on Tom’s shoulder and guiding him back into the study.
Tom knew what was coming. He would be punished. He had broken a rule and now he would have to pay the price. He just prayed that whatever Harry did, it would be fast and easy to recover from.
Without saying a word, Harry gestured for Tom to sit in front of him. Then it began.
Harry’s punishments were different from the orphanage’s punishments. Usually, Mrs. Cole wouldn’t hesitate to bend a child over her knee, but he didn’t hit Tom. Didn’t even raise a hand. He did raise his voice, ranting and pacing back and forth as he tried to explain why what Tom had done was wrong.
“I just wanted to do magic,” Tom whispered, looking down at his shoes and trying to look pitiful. Harry usually fell for the “pitiful orphan, Tom” act.
It didn’t work this time.
“Tom, I don’t have to teach you magic. I’m under no obligation to do so. I’m not a professor. I’m not your parent. You wandered into my house and I took you in. If you can’t follow the rules I laid out, then we’ll have to find different living arrangements for you.”
Tom’s eyes widened in horror. “You can’t just send me away!”
“I could.”
Tom couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, but under Harry’s stern gaze and the threat hanging over his head, he couldn’t help the tears that welled up. He couldn’t go back to the orphanage. Not when he knew a world of magic existed. Not when he had the chance to be the apprentice to the Master of Death.
He ducked his head, trying to hide his shame. A second later, Harry was crouched in front of him, gently lifting his chin so brown eyes met green.
“I’m not going to send you away,” he said, softly, “but if you are going to be my apprentice, then you’ll have to follow my rules. Understand?”
The panic took a moment to subside, but Tom managed to nod.
“I want to hear you say it,” Harry repeated.
“I understand,” Tom muttered. Harry’s expression softened and to Tom’s shock, he pulled the younger boy into a hug. Tom had never been hugged before. Not once. Harry was bony. He smelled like garlic and tomato sauce. He didn’t hold tight, as if he were giving Tom the chance to pull away.
Tom wasn’t sure he liked hugs. But it was nice to have Harry there and no longer angry at him.
“Thank you,” Harry finally said, letting him go. “I want you to be my apprentice. But if I am going to teach you, you’ll have to listen to me. You have incredible power, Tom. Don’t let your greed get in the way of learning to use it properly.”
“I’m powerful?” Tom asked, eyes wide.
“Oh, yes,” Harry said with a nod. “But wizards have to be careful with their powers.”
“Why? Why can’t we just… take power? Take our gifts and use them?”
Harry gave him a considering look that Tom had learned meant he was trying to decide how to phrase something.
“I once fought a wizard who sought to have power over life and death,” Harry finally started. “He pushed the boundaries of magic farther than any person ever had before. But his quest for power is what destroyed him, in the end. He could have lived a long, healthy life. Instead, he died by his own rebounded curse with no one to mourn him.”
“But you said there were no rules to magic?” Tom accused.
“That’s true. But there are rules to life and death. And magic always bows before them.”
Tom didn’t know what else to say. His brain was too wired to sort through everything he had just learned. Aureus called Harry the Master of Death, but it seemed like mastering death was more complicated than just achieving immortality. That was disappointing.
But the more important piece of information was that Harry would let him stay. Even after he had stolen from him. Harry still wanted him. And Tom would prove that his decision was the right one.