Second Heir

I'm not going to bore you with my description of the years between the months of August 1927 and June 1943 - in other words, the years from my birth until the end of my fifth year at Hogwarts aren't particularly captivating. I suppose you would want to know a bit about me beforehand if you're taking the time to read this however. Background information is important. Without it, I'll take a dive headfirst into my story without you knowing anything, completely unprepared for what is ahead (or behind, for me).

Firstly, my name is Timothy Morfin Gaunt and I was born on August 3, 1927. My middle name, Morfin, was for my father. I still don't know the name of my grandfather, as I still haven't even met him. I didn't even know if he was alive at the time. I found a few years ago that he wasn't, but that isn't a story that will be told quite yet.

As I was saying, Morfin Gaunt was my father. The least I could say for him is that he was never particularly right in the head. He tried, and I respected him for that. My mother died when I was young and my father was quite the sociopath, so I had to fend for myself growing up for the most part. That was why I began learning magic when I was quite young. I was around five when I began experimenting with the powers I tended to exhibit whenever I was angry or particularly emotional about something, and managed to control it to a certain extent. Though I am a pureblood wizard and magic should seem completely normal to me, I have always found magic in itself to be one of the most fascinating subjects in existence. I don't understand how Muggles fend without it. I particularly found, as I still do, Legilimency and Occlumency quite fascinating; I began experimenting with those just before I entered Hogwarts.

In the year 1938, I found my way into Hogwarts. My father did something I never expected of him - he gave to me the ring that had belonged to my grandfather, as well as many of our ancestors. I knew how highly he regarded the ring and it amazed me that he was willing to give it up with such little thought. I saw myself to the Hogwarts Express on September 1, but he gave that to me just before I had left home by Floo Powder. It was on the Hogwarts Express that I met the boy that would become my greatest friend, my greatest ally, and my greatest enemy.

We became friends on the Hogwarts Express, which even to this day I find surprising. In school, Tom was never lacking when it came to "friends," but he never considered any of them truly to be friends; none but me, who he looked at as something like a brother. Whether it is a privilege or a curse is yet to be decided.

We were both sorted into Slytherin, strengthening our friendship more yet. I expected as much; my herritage wouldn't have allowed anything else. Tom, who had grown up in a Muggle orphanage, had no idea where he was going, but I knew from meeting him where he would be. He was ambitious and hated Muggles from his time at the orphanage - that was more than enough information for the Sorting Hat to have reason to put him there.

Tom never let anyone that wasn't in his close social circle know who he was. He treated every kindly enough. Many of the teachers at Hogwarts even described him as shy. I won't deny for a moment that I was the exact opposite. My own head of house despised me for my outspoken and, in general, loud nature. I was the resident Gryffindor abhorrer. The only teacher who didn't seem to mind me was Albus Dumbledore, my Transfiguration professor. He didn't mind that I was outspoken, I mean - he gave me the most detentions of any other teacher for letting it be publicly known how much I despise Gryffindors. I can understand why, as he was a Gryffindor himself, but I thought it was cruel in those days.

My first through fifth years at Hogwarts were marked by Tom Riddle's own self-discovery. He began growing his powers in his third year beyond what he was learning in school. He bought books of hexes and curses. In turn for my teaching him Legilimency, he taught me the Control, Torture, and Killing Curse. He had only wanted to learn them then to show off at the time, using mice and bugs and things of that sort, as had I. Times change people, however, and the learning of those curses turned out to be an important milestone in our journey into the Dark Arts.

In our forth year, we made a discovery about each other that made secret communication quite a bit easier. We discovered we were both Parselmouths. If there was anything we needed to talk about that we didn't want anyone else knowing, it was easy enough to talk to each other in Parseltongue. He had been trying to keep it secret more than anything, as he had gotten the impression from his first meeting with Dumbledore that it was quite strange, even evil. I had just never thought about it. I never thought it to be that big of a deal, as my father was one as well, as had been the rest of our family through the ages.

In our fifth year, Tom was made a prefect. This surprised no one but Tom, who had never expected such a thing. With how he generally acted as a student, I'm amazed he found it surprising at all. He was a favorite student of Headmaster Armando Dippet, though Dumbledore, who would become headmaster in later years, was always suspicious of him. It was also in his fifth year that he got into anagrams. His name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, was soon transformed into "I Am Lord Voldemort." This began the "Knights of Walpurgis," what he began calling his "friends." I was still just a friend - he chose not to draft me as he had them. Because of my own stupid, childish choices, however, I myself chose to become one of his followers.

He changed his name upon discovering that his father was a Muggle, the very beings he hated. His father was Tom Riddle senior, and he was Tom Riddle junior. He hated bearing the same as his filthy Muggle father, and he wanted a name that would be both feared and respected when he left Hogwarts and set out on a journey to rule the wizarding world. He wasn't sorted into Slytherin for nothing - he was one of the most ambitious wizards I had ever heard of.

Our sixth year was the year things began to get a bit more fascinating. It was then he revealed to me that he was the Heir of Slytherin. I was an heir of Slytherin myself, believe it or not. That was what the Gaunts were famous for. It was also that year that he showed me one of Hogwarts's greatest kept secrets: a hidden chamber that could only be accessed by those who could speak to snakes. From there, it was history.