Tom heard the cry of surprise and turned to look at the small boy who had appeared at some point. His robes were not exactly new, but he did not seem difficult to get along with. Tom offered a modest smile at the right moment and politely invited him to sit down. "The train's about to leave. We should sit down first. I'm Tom Riddle. What should I call you?"
"Ian Gallagher~" Only after sitting down did Ian carefully examine the boy his own age across from him. He scratched at his slightly reddened face. He had never seen anyone so good-looking. "You wouldn't happen to be a pure-blood, would you? My dad's a wizard, and he'd been teaching me spells before school started, but I can't even use the Levitation Charm properly."
Not quite understanding what a pure-blood was, Tom frowned slightly. Though the redhead across from him was somewhat noisy, Tom had still gained some useful information from him. At the very least, he could assume that his talent really was quite good.
Those basic spells were not difficult for him to learn. Running a hand over his wand, Tom felt a little more confident. With his eyes lowered, he tugged at his secondhand school robes. "Sorry, I don't know anything about my background..."
Frozen for a second, Ian remembered that this was wartime and desperately wanted to slap himself. He pressed his lips together in frustration. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't know you were... uh..." Catching himself in time, Ian pinched his thigh and decided to change the subject. "Right! Which house are you planning to join? Professor Dumbledore was in Gryffindor. My dad said that because Professor Dumbledore was here, the Wizarding Supremacy Party in Germany hadn't come here to start a war."
Tilting his head and blinking, Tom heard the term Wizarding Supremacy Party for the first time. It seemed there really was far too much he did not know. Hopefully, he would find all the answers at school. But could he possibly be sorted into Gryffindor?
"Um, do you know how they sort students?"
Ian's expression changed, his face gradually turning pale. His idiot father refused to tell him anything about how students were sorted! He had only pityingly patted Ian on the head and warned him to stay safe! "I... I don't know. Dad didn't tell me. Merlin, it can't be dangerous, can it?!"
Tom recalled his first meeting with Professor Dumbledore, and his mood grew a little heavy. Did they have to walk through fire? Or take part in some strange ritual, like the ones in picture books, where they were tied to crosses and only those qualified to continue studying would survive?
Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Tom did not believe anything dangerous would happen. In a gentle, steady voice, he soothed his companion, who was nearly pulling his own hair out. "Probably not. We're just first-years who don't know anything, aren't we?"
Ian snapped out of his imagination. Seeing Tom's smile, he blushed again and shifted awkwardly in his seat. "You're right. Dad must have been trying to scare me. He always loved picking on me."
Not wanting to hear anything about family, Tom's eyes darkened. He tried hard to keep his expression steady and not reveal his jealousy. "Could you tell me what the Wizarding Supremacy Party is? You know... I don't know much about the wizarding world."
Ian blinked, feeling a little sorry for his new friend. I really deserved to die! Why had he brought up that stupid dad of his? Wasn't that just making his friend feel bad? Carefully recalling what he had heard, Ian stumbled through everything he knew.
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