Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord

Chapter Two: First Day of School

WAKE UP!! EVERYBODY WAKE UP!! With those words, the curtains were flung open up and down the room. Bleary-eyed children groggily sat up, and rolled out of bed, and started getting dressed or tidying their living area. All except one child. This child was already awake, dressed in a crisp, clean uniform, and sitting on a chair, next to an immaculately made bed. This child had been awake for a couple hours, watching the other children sleep, thinking of various ways to get back at those who picked on him. For, this child was indeed picked on.

The older kids taunted him for killing his mother by being born. They taunted him for never having met a single relative--just about every other child had lived at least a short while with a blood relative- parent, aunt/uncle, grandparent, etc. But most of all they taunted him for being different. Different was perhaps an understatement when it came to Tom Marvolo Riddle. Always quiet, never wanting to play with the other children, and, well, weird things just seemed to happen when Tom was around. Like the time the pipes burst, and water flooded the orphanage and everyone was walking around in water halfway to their knees, but Tom never got wet. Not a single drop of water was on his pants when the water receded. The matrons were too busy with the young children and clean up to notice, but the other kids noticed. There was also the time, when the students were taken to the zoo as a treat, and in the reptile house, Tom seemed to be communicating in some way with the snakes housed there.

But for all their teasing, the older children never went so far as to physically bully the young boy. They had all witnessed what happened when one of the matrons went to paddle him for some minor offense. The boy stood utterly still, but there was boiling rage in his eyes--some of the children would later swear that his eyes took on a red gleam. The matron got in one good hit with the paddle before things went haywire. The paddle flew out of her hand, and skidded across the floor. The matron went to pick up the paddle, and upon bending over, got stuck that way. No matter how she tried to stand straight, her body would not cooperate. The other matrons thinking that she had perhaps done injury to her back rushed to help her. None of them noticed the self-satisfied smile that crossed Tom's face. But the other children in the room saw it, and knew somehow, with a child's intuition that Tom had been responsible for the matron's malady. They all also remembered the one time that Tom had actually gotten into a fight with one of the other kids, and both had to be isolated as punishment. Tom came out of isolation without a scratch on him, but the other boy had to be taken to the hospital, having overnight been wounded in several different ways- a broken arm, two busted ribs, a sprained ankle, two black eyes, teeth busted out, broken nose, a combined total of 4 broken fingers between his two hands, a rather gory scalp laceration, and a split lip. The other boy refused to ever speak of what happened that night in his isolation room, but the other children knew it had something to do with Tom.

However, on the morning early mentioned, nothing peculiar had happened in awhile. The boy seemed to be on his best behavior, both towards the other children, and the adults caring for him. For Tom was now five years old, and due to start school, and he knew that if things had continued down the path they were headed, he mightn't be allowed to go to school with the other children. He might be prevented from learning. This above all else was what Tom wanted. He wanted to learn, so he could be the smartest person in the world. He wanted to learn so he could devise more devious ways of revenge, without calling the attention to himself that his bizarre powers seemed to do. Yes, the child was aware of his abilities, and was even more aware that he could use them as he wished. However, he did yearn to have a bit more control over them--maybe he could get that at school too!

After a light breakfast, the children were walked across the street to the primary school they would be attending. Tom and the other five year olds were introduced to their teacher, and the first day of school began. This day consisted mostly of games, and story-telling for the youngsters. There was an hour devoted to coloring, and this was where Tom put a crack in his newly constructed good-boy façade