Chapter Summaries

Tom struggled to understand why Professor Charida’s divination kept showing him a black bird, while Ian and Mickey tried to reassure him and offered their friendship. Just as Tom prepared to invite them to the Black Lake, Nott arrived and led him away from the two Hufflepuffs.

• Tom wondered whether the black bird in his tea-leaf readings foretold his future, and Ian and Mickey promised to stay by his side.
• Tom used a Calming Charm on Mickey and wondered whether he could trust the two Hufflepuffs as friends.
• Tom began to invite Ian and Mickey to the Black Lake, but Nott interrupted and said Radolphus and the others were waiting.
• Mickey tried to confront Nott after he shoved past them, but Ian held him back.
• Nott insulted Ian and Mickey and urged Tom to leave with him.

Tom rebuked Nott for disparaging the Hufflepuffs, then faced Slytherins who challenged his friendship with them. He used Parseltongue to warn Evan and resumed teaching, while Corban tried to ease the tension.

• Tom left with Nott after silencing him and regretted that his actions had hurt kind people again.
• Nott planned to make the Hufflepuffs disappear and sought helpers, while Tom failed to notice.
• Tom gathered the Slytherins in the common room and guided them through spellcasting.
• Evan criticized Tom for associating with the Hufflepuffs, and the others watched without intervening.
• Tom used magical pressure and Parseltongue to warn Evan, who apologized for overstepping.
• Corban interrupted with a request for help with Potions to break the tense atmosphere.

Tom learned that Ian and Mickey had been severely injured in the Forbidden Forest, and he suspected Nott was responsible despite having warned Rosier. The chapter ended with Dumbledore asking why Ian and the others had gone into the forest, while Tom concealed his anger and denied knowing.

• Keben told Nott that the upperclassmen objected to the boss associating with Ian and Mickey, and Nott decided to act himself.
• After several days without seeing Ian or Mickey, Tom headed toward the Hospital Wing but hesitated, fearing they had been hurt.
• Dumbledore told Tom that Aug had found Ian and Mickey in the Forbidden Forest after an attack, and Ian had permanently lost his right eye.
• Tom suspected Nott had arranged the attack and angrily interrupted Dumbledore before apologizing and claiming he did not know why Ian had gone into the forest.

Tom hid in a secret passage, tormented by guilt over Ian and another boy being hurt, then secretly treated them in the Hospital Wing. He resumed his arrogant pure-blood persona beside Nott and began planning to make the nobles who had harmed them fear him.

• Tom fled from the professor and hid in a secret passage, blaming himself for Ian and the other boy’s injuries.
• Tom visited Ian and the other boy under the Disillusionment Charm, cast healing spells, and gave them potions.
• Tom walked with Nott and acted as though he worshipped pure-bloods, winning Nott’s admiration.
• Tom asked Nott whether Muggle-born wizards should exist, and Nott said they should be enslaved as servants.
• Tom welcomed Nott’s loyalty and vowed to make the nobles who acted wantonly fear him.

Tom pushed Ian and Mickey away, claiming he was tired of their company, then returned to the orphanage alone. Ian and Mickey suspected Tom was lying to protect them, while Tom mourned the loss of his friends and vowed to kill Nott one day.

• Tom met Ian and Mickey at the Astronomy Tower and told them he no longer wanted them near him.
• Tom blasted Ian away when Ian grabbed his sleeve and called him filthy.
• Ian cried in Mickey's arms and insisted Tom had been healing them in secret.
• Mickey comforted Ian and said they could only trust and support Tom from behind.
• Tom sat by the little snake's grave at the orphanage and regretted never telling Ian and Mickey he considered them friends.
• Tom vowed to torture Nott to death one day.

At Malfoy Manor, Abraxas and Olivia discussed the risks of revealing his feelings for Little Tom and the possibility of using magical conception to produce an heir. Olivia swore to devote herself to Abraxas as his friend, while he hesitated to accept her sacrifice.

• Abraxas cradled the flowers Little Tom had given him and decided he could not yet reveal his feelings because rivals might use Little Tom against him.
• Olivia asked whether Abraxas could be certain the future would go as he wanted, and he vowed to obtain what he desired through patience.
• Olivia told Abraxas to begin preparing for an heir, hoping that shared blood might make her life feel more complete.
• Abraxas refused to rush into magical conception because of its risks to Olivia's health and asked her for more time.
• Olivia swore in the name of Olivia Greengrass Malfoy to devote everything to her friend, Abraxas Malfoy, and never betray him.

On the Hogwarts Express, Tom’s friends Mickey and Ian told him they would stand by him despite the danger surrounding him, and Tom finally admitted that they were his only friends. They laughed together as the train journey began, leaving their friendship reaffirmed.

• Tom cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm on the compartment as the train prepared to leave.
• Ian and Mickey told Tom they had chosen him as a friend and would remain by his side.
• Mickey set a handgun on the table and said he would make the person who hurt them remember pain.
• Tom apologized and confessed that Ian and Mickey were his only friends.
• Ian and Mickey laughed, saying they had always known Tom cared about them, and Mickey shared a legend about the Hogwarts Express making compartment-mates lifelong friends.

Tom began to form a resolve to become a great wizard and protect those he cared about, then learned that Ian could see Thestrals after his grandmother’s death. In his mindscape, he discovered that the young man’s eyes had changed and that the grass was spreading, though a misty valley remained hidden behind a barrier.

• Mickey shoved Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into Ian’s mouth as they joked about their friendship and living together.
• Tom decided he would become the greatest wizard, protect his friends and the person he cared about, and eventually face his feelings without hesitation.
• Ian stared at the Thestrals, and Mickey explained that Ian’s grandmother had died the previous month.
• Tom wondered whether death was unavoidable as he thought about the Old Headmaster, then returned to the dormitory and entered his mindscape.
• Tom noticed the young man’s eyes had changed color, and the young man said that everything in the mindscape reflected Tom’s state of mind.
• Tom walked across the grass and watched it spread until an invisible barrier blocked him from the misty valley, which the young man said he would understand one day.

Tom arranged to use Polyjuice Potion while planning revenge, as Keban and Orion discussed Nott’s trap in the Forbidden Forest and Dumbledore’s suspiciously timely rescue. Ian later recalled how close he and his companions had come to dying there.

• Tom handed two hooded young wizards the Polyjuice Potion and led them out of the castle.
• Keban said Tom had chosen to abandon Nott for two half-bloods and reflected on controlling his subordinates.
• Orion told Keban that Nott had lured the two students into the Forbidden Forest and trapped them with poisonous gas and beasts.
• Orion questioned how promptly Dumbledore had arrived to rescue the students.
• Ian said he was still traumatized by the Forbidden Forest and believed he and his companions would have died without Dumbledore.

Tom sensed a familiar presence while setting traps, canceled them, and practiced spells with Mickey as crows flew overhead. As the three friends left, Tom learned how dangerous Ian and Mickey’s families could be and wondered how they had ended up in Hufflepuff.

• Tom felt a strange familiar sensation, canceled the bait traps, and practiced spells with Mickey.
• Mickey gave Ian a vague explanation about crows being Odin’s eyes and ears, while Tom wondered what they were hiding.
• Ian decided to hold off on retaliating against Nott because they could be suspected if anything happened to him.
• Tom asked what Ian and Mickey’s families would do if they caught Nott, and they warned that death would be a mercy.
• Tom asked how Ian and Mickey had been sorted into Hufflepuff, and Mickey recalled that he had once considered throwing the Sorting Hat into a septic tank.

Tom suspected Dumbledore had deliberately arrived late to test his loyalty after Nott attacked Ian and another boy. Dumbledore investigated the Forbidden Forest, while Keben reconsidered his future with Tom.

• Tom silently cast a spell toward an ancient tree as he and his companions left the Forbidden Forest.
• Back in the common room, Tom sealed Nott's mouth with a Cutting Curse and berated him for causing trouble.
• Tom wondered whether Dumbledore had deliberately let the attack happen to see which side he would choose.
• Dumbledore searched the attack site and worried that the Forbidden Forest creatures had been provoked by something on the two boys.
• Dumbledore wondered whether Tom had seen through his Disillusionment Charm, while Fawkes silently mocked his confidence in his smile.
• Keben knocked on Tom's dormitory door and reconsidered his plans after seeing Tom deal with Nott.

Tom resolved to stop playing along with those who had harmed him and make them offer up ancient magic, but Corban’s report about Nott enjoying Tom’s punishments left him horrified. Tom wrote Abraxas a warning about choosing friends, and Abraxas eagerly received the letter the next morning.

• Tom decided to make his enemies personally offer up ancient magic rather than quietly plunder their resources.
• Corban pledged to remain Tom’s steadfast follower, then told him that Nott had seemed to enjoy Tom’s punishments.
• Tom lost control of his magic, shook the dormitory, and carefully rescued an undamaged gift box before tidying the room.
• Tom wrote Abraxas a letter warning him about Nott and promising to find him other one-night stands if he ignored the advice.
• Abraxas kissed Tom’s envelope repeatedly the next morning, leaving the other two embarrassed.

Abraxas received a warning from Tom Riddle and vowed to investigate who had put him through a punishment game, while Brutus left to vent his anger. Back at the manor, Abraxas confronted his aging father about the curse, and Brutus prepared to explain the family’s secrets.

• Abraxas read Tom Riddle’s letter and delighted in its crossed-out endearment, while Brutus and Olivia urged him to take the warning seriously.
• Abraxas resolved to investigate who had involved Tom in a punishment game and left to handle his affairs.
• Brutus left the manor intending to send someone to Germany to break Stuart’s legs.
• After returning to the manor, Abraxas saw Brutus hiding a potion and admitted that he had seen Arcturus.
• Abraxas asked Brutus why he had not told him about the curse and whether it could be lifted, and Brutus invited him to learn the family’s history.

Brutus handed Abraxas the Malfoy patriarch’s scepter and urged him to protect the family while warning him against acting rashly for love. Abraxas accepted his new role and vowed to lead House of Malfoy to greater glory.

• Brutus used the scepter to activate the tapestry bearing Abraxas's name.
• Brutus gave Abraxas the patriarch’s scepter and explained that he had planned to pass on the position in a few years.
• Brutus told Abraxas that House of Malfoy had pursued wealth and power for self-preservation, and warned him to prepare for the cost of pursuing what he wanted.
• Brutus cautioned Abraxas not to challenge the pure-blood nobles or wizarding world before he was ready.
• Abraxas accepted the scepter and vowed to shoulder the responsibilities of the Malfoy patriarch.

Tom waited impatiently for a reply from Abraxas, but Apos returned from Malfoy Manor with a letter and news of a mate he had found there. Tom’s mood lifted as he handled the sealed letter, while Apos attacked Radolphus for being ugly.

• Brutus teased Abraxas about marrying into the Gaunt family and gaining a descendant of Salazar Slytherin for the Malfoy name.
• Abraxas objected to Brutus’s jokes and told him to stop associating with his acquaintances.
• Tom grew irritated after waiting several days for Abraxas to reply to his letter.
• Apos returned from Malfoy Manor and delivered an envelope to Tom, while privately revealing his excitement over finding a mate.
• Tom told Apos to return to the owlery, and Apos bit Radolphus’s hand instead.
• Tom joked that Apos hated ugly things and traced the crest on the letter’s wax seal.

Tom received Abraxas’s teasing letter and sent him a group photograph, while Abraxas cut out Tom’s friends to keep a portrait of Tom alone. As Abraxas worked to arrange his marriage with Olivia’s help, he questioned why everyone assumed he was the one being pursued.

• Tom read Abraxas’s letter asking him to send photos and dismissed the request as ridiculous.
• Tom checked his appearance, then decided to take a group photo with his friends as a keepsake.
• Abraxas received Tom’s photograph, cut his friends out of it, and kept Tom’s solo portrait.
• Olivia teased Abraxas about Tom’s close friends, and Abraxas admitted that he was glad someone was looking after Tom.
• Olivia offered to help Abraxas secure a marriage alliance with House of Bulstrode’s properties as her dowry, and Abraxas asked why everyone was sure he was the one being pursued.

Tom watched Mickey fight Nott and stopped the Slytherins from joining in, while Professor Herbert and Slughorn broke up the fight. Slughorn deducted one hundred points from Hufflepuff and assigned Mickey weekend detention as Nott was sent to the Hospital Wing.

• Tom told Radolphus to apply himself, but Radolphus said his family fortune would keep him comfortable regardless of his talent.
• Tom stopped the Slytherins from rushing to help as Mickey fought Nott in the corridor.
• Professor Herbert and Slughorn separated the students, and Herbert silently approved of Mickey.
• Slughorn deducted one hundred points from Hufflepuff and gave Mickey weekend detention tending greenhouse herbs.
• Slughorn sent the injured Nott to the Hospital Wing, while Tom told the others to check on him and went to the library.

Tom met Mickey and Ian in the library, healed Mickey’s injured hand, and began tutoring them in Potions. After enjoying the satisfaction of teaching, he considered becoming a professor and reflected on how Hogwarts had become his home.

• Tom met Mickey and Ian, healed Mickey’s injured hand, and heard that Mickey had attacked someone despite losing a hundred House points.
• Tom began tutoring the two boys in the Inferno Draught, then bound them with a rope when they tried to escape the difficult lesson.
• Tom left his dazed companions and considered applying to become a professor because he enjoyed teaching.
• Tom walked through Hogwarts and reflected on the truths, loved ones, friends, and memories he had found there.

Tom enjoyed the view from the Astronomy Tower until Dumbledore joined him and warned that uncontrolled abilities could corrupt their wielder. Tom dismissed the warning, but later wondered whether the feeling it stirred had been guidance rather than caution.

• Tom went to the Astronomy Tower and enjoyed the breeze and scenery.
• Dumbledore approached Tom and said he also liked observing people from high places.
• Dumbledore reflected on Tom’s resemblance to both Gellert and his younger self, and asked Tom what he thought of magic.
• Tom said magic was simply an ability wizards were born with, and Dumbledore warned that uncontrolled abilities could corrupt them.
• Tom left, dismissed the warning, and wondered whether he had felt guidance that urged him to prove Dumbledore wrong.

Tom, overwhelmed by fear and loneliness, sent Abraxas a Patronus confession of his love and despair. Abraxas rushed toward Hogwarts to reach him, but Brewster and Olivia stopped him with a full-body bind.

• Tom collapsed in despair over the missing Forbidden Section books and his belief that everyone he cared about suffered misfortune.
• Tom summoned a silver-white peacock Patronus and confessed that he loved Abraxas, then watched it fly away.
• Abraxas received Tom’s message and hurried out, determined to get to Hogwarts and comfort him.
• Brewster and Olivia heard Abraxas blast apart his study door and immobilized him with Petrificus Totalus.