The school year was finally drawing to a close. The corridors of Hogwarts hummed with the usual chatter of students eager for holidays, yet I remained focused, calculating, and far above the petty concerns of the House Cup. I had instructed my housemates not to strive for victory; the House Cup was insignificant compared to the network I had built. My true goal had always been far greater—recruiting the most talented minds from across the castle, molding them into allies for the revolution I would bring upon the wizarding world.
I checked the recruitment system one final time before leaving the castle:
Gryffindor 14% recruited. Current reward: Godric Gryffindor duellist talent and natural body reflexes.Slytherin 87% recruited. Current reward: Heart of Dark Magic—enhanced dark arts efficiency, supreme spell power, immunity to side effects, and mastery over all dark magic.Ravenclaw 41% recruited. Current reward: Triple intelligence.Hufflepuff 29% recruited. Current reward: Double Charms talent and advanced Herbology proficiency.
I could feel the change before it fully integrated. My heart faltered for a brief, terrifying second, as though it might stop altogether. Then it surged with new power, steady and unshakable, like it had been reforged. My senses sharpened. Reflexes that once were merely human became preternaturally precise. My intelligence expanded in a flood of clarity and depth, new ideas for spells, enchantments, and dark rituals forming in my mind before I could even fully grasp them.
It was overwhelming and intoxicating all at once. My body and mind had absorbed the essence of these gifts, and I could feel the raw potential radiating from me. Every movement, every thought, every spark of magic I could summon now carried an edge of perfection. The culmination of a year's work—the meticulous recruitment, the clandestine studies, the mastery of alchemy, dueling, and ancient magics—had brought me here.
I stood in the quiet of the common room, the shadows of the stone walls stretching long as the year ended. Hogwarts, with all its history and power, felt like a mere stepping stone. I was no longer just Tom Riddle, the brilliant student, the charming manipulator. I had ascended. Every secret I had unearthed, every spell I had mastered, every ally I had won—everything coalesced into something new, something unstoppable.
The world of wizardry was on the cusp of a revolution, and I—its dark prodigy—was ready to reshape it in my image.