Tom was perched on the seat of a large chair off to the side of the common room where he had a better vantage point. He was watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his move.

The noise was ridiculous. Even worse was that under the influence of butter beer and fire whiskey, people seemed to forget exactly who he was. Random students kept bumping into him with no regard for his personal space. He had an idea how out of control things would get with all the extra contraband, but it was starting to wear on him.

This is my design… He thought just as a girl fell into him.

"OOopps! Hahaha! I'm sorry Mr. Tom Riddle." The blonde girl laughed and got up as though she hadn't just assaulted him.

Tom was making his mental list, Trevor Kirke, Edgar Sprout, Katie Switch…

Tom would make sure to get these people some small gift this holiday season.

He had to keep reminding himself that suffering all of this manufactured "cheer" would pay off in some small way at least.

He would get to show those fools in the prank squad how a holiday prank should work. They had presumed too much to make Tom a target; of course their plan would never get off the ground with how obvious they were being. It still irritated Tom to think that people still didn't understand that if they simply left him alone that he would not go out of his way to cause them any unnecessary suffering.

They would know it was all his doing, but they would never admit to it. Not those boys, no doubt one of them would take credit for it himself.

He soon needed to move from his ideal position to avoid being swept up in the tide of body's which had switched direction suddenly.

It was a swirling mass of uncoordinated, ear ringing stupidity.

The idea of using a quieting charm was tempting. Most of the inane chatter consisted of who was going with whom to the Yule Ball the following night. However he had learned a couple of nice blackmail nuggets by simply overhearing some of these loose conversations.

The idea of simply using his magic to knock everybody around him ten feet back was even harder to resist. Tom knew that he could get away with it in these circumstances; nobody would even realize they had been attacked.

There is no need for cheap thrills; the real games begin soon enough.

Even still, when he caught sight of Trevor Kirke standing on top of a table, dancing like a mental patient the urge to make him slip and fall through the glass was near overpowering. At that moment, without any real conscious thought on Tom's part the boy suddenly stumbled and fell forward into through the table and onto the floor.

He got up immediately, blood dripping from several places on his arms. The boy's face was made of pale stone for a moment, and then… He burst out in a deep belly laugh. The crowd around him soon followed along until the ripple of laughter had spread like a shockwave through the mass of students.

Well… It wasn't quite THAT funny… Tom shook his head.

When Tom managed to elbow his way to the edge of the crowd again he saw that Randall Burke was talking with his roommate's. The time was ripe.

"Happy holidays boys!" Tom exclaimed to them loudly as he pushed his way towards them.

"Oh hey, Tom Riddle!" Burke said over enthusiastically. He looked at the boy next to him and gave him a "subtle" smile before continuing, "Happy holidays to you too eh?"

Tom nodded and pulled a limited edition raspberry butter beer out of his cloak. He made sure to do it slowly and get the attention of the other boys.

"Here. A gift for all the good work and many laughs you have been providing the school!"

Burke grabbed for bottle with such vigor that he failed to notice when Tom quickly reached into the boys pocket as he had leaned forward. "Oh man, I heard this was sold out?" He said in awe as he examined the bottle. "They only made 200 of these!"

"Sold out does not mean the product ceases to exist…" Tom replied as he quickly took stock of the other boys and their greedy eyes.

On que the Trevor jumped in, verbally and physically.

"Hey! We all helped Randall with his pranks too; don't let him tell you otherwise. The prank squad isn't just a few select people when it comes down to it!"

Tom nodded; the boy couldn't have made the case better if Tom had laid it out for him.

"Of course!" Tom replied as he opened his cloak dramatically to reveal 3 other bottles which floated out and into the hands of Randall's roommates.

Randall opened his drink and said, "To the pranks behind us, and to the pranks to come!" The other boys snickered at the inside joke.

They eagerly opened their drinks and started to tip them back while failing to notice that Tom did not partake. In fact they soon seemed to forget Tom existed when a tall girl with long hair came over to see what this particular commotion was about.

Tom faded back into the crowd and maneuvered himself into a position where he could keep tabs on the group of friends.

The problem with these muggle drugs was that they affect everybody differently, it is said.

It was possible that the smallest boy would simply drop to the floor in convulsions suddenly.

Or even worse was the possibility of the hallucinogens taking effect before the sleeping pills, which would result in unbridled mass hysteria in the common room.

Tom was ready for all possibilities. He was confident that he had measured it out properly, accounting for each boy's body weight and how much he thought they planned to drink tonight.

Of course potions would have been easier to acquire and utilize, but that was too obvious.

Tom sat there watching and waiting. He was taking note of the students who were wearing colorful masks for the celebration. He didn't see why anybody would wear a mask for any reason other than to conceal their identity.

His plan was taking longer than he had expected, the boys were still bouncing around the room causing commotion every time there seemed to be a dip in the level of total chaos. Tom was beginning to worry that he had completely messed up his measurements.

They should have already headed for bed. Even if I hadn't dosed them they have been pounding back drink after drink on their own, how can they tolerate it at this level? If they continue to consume alcohol at this pace those sleeping pills may become more dangerous than I had intended…

Tom looked over towards the stairs again where Myrtle was sitting quietly and sipping on a butter beer. She turned her head away quickly and started picking at the carpet beside her.

Every time I look, she is staring… At least she has the sense to not come over and talk to me.

Tom didn't care what was on the girls mind but he did appreciate the fact that she kept it to herself.

After ten more minutes, he had to endure 2 pointless conversations. One girl had come over and offered him a grotesque green mask with a wide evil smile, insisting that it suited him. After failing to ward her off with a veiled threat and glare Tom got up and walked away, leaving her behind.

Enough is enough; it's time to force this plan into action.

He scanned the room and found who he was looking for. His eyes locked onto Burke in the crowd and his wand arm automatically trained itself down his line of sight from under his cloak.

Randall Burke suddenly shivered and rubbed his arms with his hands. Tom wasn't very skilled at lip reading yet but he could tell that Randall had said the words, "freezing." And, "sick."

After a few moments Tom had located the other 3 boys and struck them each with a serious case of chills. He made sure to end the curse the moment they entered their dorm room to fetch their cloaks.

He waited and watched to see if they would emerge once again into the "freezing" common room.

They did not. Tom waited another half an hour until he was certain that either they were in deep sleeps or it had failed all together in some way. Mixing magical liquor with muggle drugs may have implications which never occurred to him until this moment.

He slowly started to make his way over to the staircases which lead to the 7th year dorm rooms. Tom made a small detour when he saw Edgar Sprout. He passed within a few feet of the boy without ever making eye contact.

"Lingua Pratis…" Tom hissed quietly as he poked his wand toward the boy and continued past.

"He's choking!" Tom heard a girl shout from behind him, it was followed by a loud, high pitch gurgle which pierced the air and suddenly there were several more panicked cries. Tom smirked and resisted the temptation to have a look.

"Here! Let me through!" A commanding voice came across the room.

Ah there you are. Invisible all night until the moment somebody needs a hero. In crisis, shadows give birth to the form of David Monroe. Materializing from thin air with an aura of greatness, ready to take charge he comes forth in a dramatic fashion.

Tom knew David would suffer enough in the coming weeks so he pushed the loathing from his mind and focused on the task at hand.

When Tom was sure nobody was paying attention to him, he ascended the steps and moved forward into the small corridor.

Once at the door, he took Randall's wand from his pocket and touched it to the door. The oak gave a quiet click and swung open. Tom stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind him, applying additional protection.

Tom smiled as he saw that all 4 boys were in a deep sleep in their beds. He knew the drugs would give him privacy but he saw no good reason to not stun each of them for good measure anyways.

That is, unless the magic interacts with the drugs… How likely is it that a stunner would kill any one of these boys in their current state? I hadn't planned for anybody to die… Something that significant should be pre meditated…

Tom sighed and let his wand slide back into the holster on his arm. He looked down at Randall; the boy seemed to be sleeping just fine. Tom checked his pulse and breathing all the same and they were steady.

He still disillusioned himself and placed a powerful silencing charm on the room. He then relieved the boys of their wands and carefully stowed them under one of the mattresses before beginning his work.

Now, what do we have here?

Tom took a seat at the foot of Randall's bed, where a pile of presents had accumulated. He picked up a large box and watched the ribbon unwrap itself and fall to the floor in his grasp. Opening the box reviled an invisibility cloak and a custom pair of ward breaking glasses.

Tom examined the glasses, they were high quality but they did not possess any power which he didn't have at his disposal already. He crushed them in his hand; they turned into a soft powder which disappeared before slipping to the floor.

He held up the invisibility cloak and stared at it.

Cheaply made… I suppose one can never have too many of these though…

He tucked the cloak into his robes and extracted a large leather pouc. He opened the pouc and hissed into it softly.

"You will need to be confined for little longer. No harm iss to come to foolss once they releasse you. Sslithering all around room and on children will ssuffice. "

Tom heard a jumbled mess of hisses agreeing to his terms.

He reached into the pouch and allowed perhaps two dozen tiny snakes to climb up his hand.

He wordlessly cast a mild heating charm on the now empty box and the snakes slithered down off his fingers and dropped in to replace the original present. He resealed the box and placed it right on Randall's nightstand where he couldn't miss it when he woke up.

They might not even understand the concept of opening a box when they wake…

Tom turned to his gift and placed a small enchantment on the ribbon which would cause the boy to feel a mild compulsion to pull it loose, no matter what his mental state was.

By the time he had left some of his friends for each of the boys to play with the next morning, he found that he couldn't help himself. Such an easy burglary was irresistible.

Most of the presents were useless to him so he destroyed them and rewrapped the empty boxes.

He did however come away with the cloak; nice pair of dragon hide boots, a pair of ward glasses that were actually useful and a number of cheap holiday cards. Those provided some small nuggets of personal information which he might be able to use in the future as blackmail or leverage.

Before he was ready to make his exit, Tom stopped beside Burke's bed and placed the muggle pill bottle under some papers in the bottom drawer of his night stand.

He started for the door and stopped suddenly, recalling reports of the drugs effect. Tom made his way back across the room and over to the window, he slid a few coins into the seam and tried to push it open but it was properly stuck.

A peek out the door was all he needed to see that he had been inside longer than he had thought.

The party had dissipated down to a few stumbling pairs of students locked together, dancing their way across the room to the rhythm of slow, cheery, source less music.

Tom stepped out of the room and the door closed behind him. The wards were too powerful and strange to try and alter directly. Instead, he pulled a tube of industrial grade muggle adhesive from his robes and ran a thick strand of it all along the door seam. A quick wave of his wand dried it and locked the door in place. Short of blasting through the oak, that door wouldn't open until Tom came and burned it away to relieve them.

A silencing charm on the room itself was out of the question, and probably unnecessary. However Tom did not know if truly panicked screams would pass through the regular wards. So he pulled a thin layer of insulation from another pouc, put a chameleon charm on it, and stuck it to the doorframe where it blended in perfectly.

Another thought came to him, so he pulled out some parchment and scribbled, "Please do not disturb". He placed it under the insulation, in case any house elves felt the need to go in and tidy up.

Tom chuckled as he descended back down the stairs; with every step he took the magical holiday music that filled the air seemed to pitch itself down a little.

By the time he made his way half way across the common room, the atmosphere in the room felt more like a funeral then a party. The few couples who had been dancing were now holding each other tightly and crying out all that fire whiskey which Tom had helped smuggle in. Katie Switch was the taking the strange change in aura around the room particularly hard. The girl was simply sitting on the floor with her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably while a couple of her friends tried, and failed to console her.

Tom stopped in front of his dorm; his wards were secure and untouched. The air had a consistency of jelly as he approached the door but it parted in his wake and the door opened itself.

It closed behind him once inside; he turned and placed additional protection on the door, the knob, the door frame, and the hinges. Normally he would call such measures paranoid beyond reason, but when there was a possibly drunk Bellatrix Black unaccounted for in the castle somewhere… Tom didn't know if the word paranoid meant anything in that context.

As he lay down he tried to imagine the utterly bizarre and alien world of horror which Randall Burke and friends would wake up to tomorrow morning.

He had never tried the hallucinogen himself. However the experiments he had done with runaway muggle teens in London had shown that LSD and snakes did not make for a pleasant experience.

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Tom awoke early the next morning and swiftly made his way out into the common room and found it empty.

He looked up towards the 7th year dorms, there was nothing of note to be seen but he had to investigate.

Tom peeled the near invisible sheet of dense foam from the door and pressed his ear to it. He could hear muffled yelling and bangs. Now and then somebody would shriek a word in what could almost be considered language.

He replaced the soundproofing and made his way back down stairs with a little bounce in his step.

They are probably going to end up killing my snakes…

Tom wrote the thought off; the snakes knew they were going into a suicide mission. Or rather, he had assumed that they understood that they would likely be killed.

He decided to go to the great hall for breakfast, it was early but the hall seemed to accommodate all schedules this holiday season.

Tom stepped around a corner; in front of him Headmaster Dippet was making his way downstairs.

"Good morning Headmaster."

Dippet stopped and turned, "Ah , you are up early I see."

"I slept well sir." Tom replied as he walked forward to meet the man and Dippet started moving backwards ever so slightly.

"Good, Good! I expect I will see you at the Yule Ball tonight then!" The old man said it with just a little too much cheer.

Tom had to suppress a laugh at that. Last night had been enough "celebration" for him. There were far better things to do than to make small talk and dance when the school would be barren.

"I doubt it sir, not my atmosphere." Tom said, waving off the suggestion with his hand.

Dippet seemed shocked at that.

"Tom! It's my retirement party; do you not realize the magnitude of this?" Dippet leaned forward to look at Tom closer.

Tom knew all too well what it meant, it meant that Dumbledore was coming to power and that things were going to be changing.

"Of course sir, I'm just not the type to attend."

Dippet scoffed at that. "I would think somebody with your ambitions would want to make a good appearance for the Hogwarts alumina that will be present!"

Tom had thought about that briefly. It would be a chance to meet some influential people who may not be stupid. He had written it off but now that Dippet was pressing it, the idea seemed to nag at him a little. He didn't think Dippet had any interesting friends, but Dumbledore certainly would.

It may be worth a look.

"Perhaps sir… I may step in for a time." Tom reluctantly allowed.

Dippet seemed both excited and taken aback at that.

"Ah well then, who is the lucky lady?" Dippet asked in a strange voice.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"Your date Tom! Who will you bring?" Dippet pressed on.

Tom considered himself at least equal to any two people. He saw no reason to add a third into any of this. Yet it dawned on him that if he brought someone with him it would make a better impression, along with giving him a reason to disengage from any conversation he chose.

"To be determined." Tom said firmly. Dippet took a step back and coughed.

"Ah, excellent, I will see you tonight ." The headmaster seemed to forget about breakfast as he turned and started back towards his office.

Is it really worth it?

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There were a few people in the great hall when he arrived, nobody worth a second thought.

Tom took his usual seat at the end of the Slytherin table, and looked down at his plate, squinting at it.

Why should I have to speak my order? "I demand blue sausages, with eggs and toast! Produce!"

His mental command to the plate failed to produce any food. Sighing he repeated his order out loud in a more polite tone, to which the plate responded by filling itself with his desired breakfast.

He took a closer look around at who was in the room with him and saw that Myrtle was once again pretending not to stare at him. She quickly grabbed for her goblet to take a sip but ended up knocking it over.

"Myrtle, come over here."

The girl looked startled at that, but she got up slowly and started to walk over. She stopped a few feet short and stood there like a lost puppy.

"Well, have a seat and explain yourself." Tom said with a little annoyance in his voice.

She obeyed and took a seat, "What do you mean?"

"Either you are planning to assassinate me, or there is something that you want to talk to me about. Either way the staring has to stop, so make your move or say your piece."

The girl blushed and looked away, "Obviously I'm not trying to kill you Tom…" She replied slowly.

"Obviously not, though perhaps I should check you for polyjuice or imperius just to be safe…" Tom tapped his cheek with his finger as he almost considered it.

Myrtle was alarmed at that, "I promise I'm not trying to kill you!" She stated, too loudly.

Tom frowned and focused for a moment, a quieting barrier sprung up around them.

"Don't be ridiculous Myrtle. Say what you have to say or leave me to eat in peace." There was a tone of finality in his voice. He picked up his fork again.

The girl turned red and started observing her shoes. "I was wondering if you were going to the Yule Ball tonight." It was almost a whisper.

"I may." Tom said as he bit the glowing blue end off of the sausage.

"Are you… Going with anyone?"

"I suppose if I do attend, I should bring somebody with me for appearance's sake among other things." Tom knew it was rude to speak while chewing, but he was hungry and this was Myrtle.

"Oh." She seemed to finish.

Tom swallowed and looked at her, "Is there anything else?"

"No, I'm sorry to have bothered you Tom." She got up and slowly made her way out of the hall, leaving her breakfast behind.

Hmm… Strange girl, though she re enforces the point that I am expected to bring someone.

Tom's first instinct was to bring Bellatrix with him because it simply made sense. Considering she was following him around all the time anyways. His second instinct, as always was to confine Bellatrix in 20 cubic feet of solid stone the first chance he got.

She has been suspiciously absent lately… If she is trying to use my name to find into Groleo's bookstore again, I swear to Merlin…

Tom never finished the thought; instead he got up and decided that he had better find her in any case.

He had a good idea where to start, so he made his way to the lake. He knew the girl liked to stare at the clouds sometimes, but he couldn't understand her reasoning. Tom enjoyed the sky, at night. During the day it was rather boring for the most part.

"The clouds are pretty!" Since when does she think anything is "pretty?" Maybe she's lying, waiting for ideal weather conditions to evoke some terrible magic…

Tom walked around lake the long way, trying to sense any disillusioned witches but there was no hint of anybody in hiding.

He got around a clearing in the tree's that led to a path and stepped in a little ways.

"Bellatrix Black!" He yelled down the trail and his voice echoed eerily through the trees.

He waited a moment but there was no response. Though, he thought he heard something…

Rather than walk into the brush and possible ambush Tom drew his wand and muttered, "profunda audiendo" as he swept it across the treeline.

He stopped; there were muffled shouts coming from the west, deep in the forest.

Tom tapped his head with his wand and became invisible. Another wave and his movements were silenced. He moved forward into the forest to investigate.

After perhaps ten minutes of walking through the brush Tom could hear the shouts clearly just up ahead. He stopped and looked around; it seemed as though they were coming from the top of a tree.

After moving coming forward a little more he saw through a clearing that there was a boy stuck one of the highest branches on the large tree. He was swaying back and forth in the cold morning wind.

Tom had to laugh. The boy was totally naked, except his underwear, which were tied tightly around his face. Things started to become a little clearer to Tom.

"Prewett! Why are you out here exposed to the elements like this?"

Muffled yells were the reply.

"I cannot hear you! Speak up!" Tom shouted to the boy.

More yells came down, more panicked this time.

Tom let out one more laugh and then pointed his wand at tree just below the boy's feet and it exploded into splinters. The sounds of muffled screams and branches breaking filled the air as Prewett fell.

At the last moment Tom flicked his wand upwards slightly and the boy came to a halt a ten feet from the ground. Tom moved his wand away and the boy fell to the grass with a satisfying thud.

After the boy was free, and clothed Tom bound him again.

"Explain how you came to be up there." It wasn't a question.

"It was Bella! I mean, she pretty much lured me out here. I just wanted to talk, you know…" The poor boy explained.

"No, I do not know."

"Well anyways I thought things were going good… Suddenly I'm floating up into the air and my clothes are torn off… I couldn't even fight it!"

Tom rolled his eyes at the stupidity of that statement. Of course Antonius Prewett had no way to overpower Bellatrix.

This boy is going to get himself killed… It would almost be a mercy if I simply struck him with the killing curse on the spot.

"I'm sure the girl had her reasons." Tom said with all the certainty of a lottery.

"All I did was try to kiss her!"

"How did that work out for you?" Tom was highly amused.

"I ended up stuck in a tree for 24 hours!" The boy replied like a moron.

Tom looked down at the pathetic boy laying rigid on the ground and asked, "Where is she now?"

"I don't know! I've been stuck in a tree for-"

"For 24 hours, yes I'm aware…" Tom paused to wonder where on earth that maniac may be, and how many victims she had claimed.

Tom started to walk away to return to the school.

Prewett yelled out from behind him, "Hey, you can't just leave me here like this!"

Tom slowed a little, "Why not? You've been stuck for 24 hours; another 4 or 5 aren't going to hurt you… I even gave you clothes!"

Tom continued on at his regular pace and left the ungrateful fool behind him.

After a few hours of wandering around and having more conversations than he would have liked, he still hadn't located Bellatrix Black. Part of him hoped that she had panicked after leaving her fiancé for dead, that she fled the country to never be seen again. Tom never liked to be that optimistic however.

He did run into Katie Switch however, he had been running into her quite frequently as of late.

"Hey Tom Riddle!" The girl greeted him as she casually walked over. Tom couldn't help but to notice how calculated and unnatural her movements were. He started to expect that she was hiding something.

"Miss. Switch." Tom nodded at her.

Almost before Tom had finished speaking, she blurted out, "I thought that we should probably go to the Yule Ball together… If you're not going with anybody yet…"

Why on earth would you think that? Have you taken a good dose of Bahl's Stupefaction?

Tom considered for a moment how to reject her advance in the best possible way. He ended up deciding that accepting was the best course.

"Well Katie, it sounds like a good idea. How about you meet me outside the library at eleven o'clock?"

She smiled at first but it turned into a confused frown, "Isn't that rather late? We'll miss the best parts!"

Tom nodded sadly, "Yes, we would miss the performance I expect. I apologize but I cannot make it any sooner."

The girl gave a sigh, followed by a shrug. "Alright Tom, that's alright. I'll meet you at the library at eleven!" Tom nodded in agreement and the girl smiled at him again before walking away with a little kick in her step.

Tom had decided who he would bring, so he made his way upstairs.

He found himself in front of that dilapidated washroom Myrtle called her dorm. When he reached to knock the door seemed to open on its own for him.

Isn't this a girl's washroom? Shouldn't it be trying to keep me out?

"Myrtle?" Tom asked into the open washroom. The girl stepped into view with a startled look on her face.

"Tom! Hi!" Her voice cracked as she greeted him.

"Are you, busy?" Tom asked the raggedy girl.

"No, I'm just thinking… Look in that mirror." She asked of him. Curiously Tom stepped forward and looked into the mirror. It was unremarkable, except that one of the stains almost looked like an ancient rune in the poor lighting, if you squinted.

"What about it?" Tom asked to humor her. He was beginning to regret coming here. Normally the girl had good instincts for when to shut up, maybe it was a mistake to think she could be the ideal "date".

"I don't know, I was just thinking… If we were living inside a mirror would we ever even know it?" She trailed off.

Are we inside a mirror? How in Merlin's name would we get inside a mirror? Is this what the girl thinks about? Is she insane? No wonder she has no companions.

"Do you know what a CEV is?" She asked softly.

"No." Tom said, hoping she wouldn't try to explain.

"A Closed eye visual" they call it, some potions cause them. Sometimes when I look in the mirror and close my eyes I can picture myself at home. It's a nice safe home where I can stay forever and nobody can hurt me anymore."

Tom disregarded her delusional comments and simply asked her, "Will you accompany me to the Yule Ball tonight?"

Myrtle couldn't seem to make eye contact. When she tried to speak she started to choke, and her face was turning red so rapidly it was as though she had been cursed suddenly.

The last thing Tom needed was to be accused of murdering this girl in the bathroom. He drew his wand and trained it on her, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

The girl put her hands up in the air and shook her head, then took a deep breath.

"I'm… I'm fine Tom. Thank you… I would love to go with you…" She still wasn't making eye contact with him.

"Very well, meet me at the entrance to the great hall at eight o'clock sharp." Tom turned and left. Myrtle muttered something behind him but he wasn't paying attention anymore.

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Tom looked at the dress robes he had been given at the last moment and sighed.

At least his expensive ones had looked intimidating… As intimidating as dress robes could possibly look anyways. However they had still looked foolish to him. They had accidentally, or on purpose burned up in his hands. Sometimes he couldn't even be sure what an accident was anymore.

Very carefully he picked up the robes and examined them closer.

Well, a few changes and they may do…

Tom let go of the robes and let them float in the air in front of him and drew his wand. First thing that needed changing was that color, he wanted the red and black of his old dress robes.

It took him 3 attempts before he accepted the fact that whoever had created these had done a very good job of making sure that they would stay in their current unpresentable form.

After putting them on he was even more disgusted.

He tried to swing his arm around in a wide loop but was restricted heavily. He tried to jump back into a fighting stance, but the tightness around the waist threw off his balance. It occurred to him if his movement was hindered this much, even if he was inclined to dance he would be unable.

This is ridiculous, no hidden pockets for potions or small devices… If there was to be an ambush I'd have to disrobe first which could take at least a second. Not that Tom anticipated an ambush at an event like that, but then again that would be the perfect time to strike. Tom heavily believed in constant vigilance.

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At the entrance Myrtle greeted Tom with more enthusiasm then he had ever heard from the girl. "Hello Tom! How are you?"

"Hello Abigale, you look well." Tom couldn't help but to notice she did look well. The girl was standing straight for once and she had washed her hair, the normal body odor she emitted was hardly noticeable.

"Thank you! You look very handsome…" She suddenly shrunk again a little.

"Yes, well I'd rather be wearing a loose cloak and good pair of dragon hide combat boots." Tom replied a little sharper than he intended.

"Oh… Why dragon hide combat boots?" The girl seemed confused.

"Dragon hide is resistant to some spells, people never think to go for the feet, but it only takes one clever opponent to take advantage." Tom lectured the puzzled girl as they made their way inside the hall.

"Why would you need those here?" She pressed on, Tom was starting to get annoyed now because he wanted to survey the room, not answer ridiculous questions.

"An ambush can happen any time, but a good one happens when you don't expect it. I don't actually think I will be ambushed, so I take caution…" He hoped that would be the end of it. If he ended up getting angry at her she might start to cry. That would draw attention.

"Who would ambush yooou?" She put emphasis on the last word.

Tom looked at her and smirked.

"Quite right, it never hurts to be careful however. For all I know Cedric Bagshot has a time turner which he plans to use to duplicate himself into 7 Cedric's in an instant. Each one could be shouting out part of a terrible incantation to strike with before anybody can react..."

Myrtle nodded and forced a smile.

Tom had been looking around, but from here all he could see was a mass of people surrounding him.

"I'm going to look around." He told Myrtle as he started forward towards a clearing near the wall.

"Oh, Ok. I guess I should stay here?" She asked timidly.

Tom paused for a moment, impressed with her instincts. "Do as you please." He told her before continuing on.

When he had made his way through to the side of the room he found that Myrtle had followed him. As long as she kept using her good instincts he had no problem real problem with that.

After a few moments of observing the room he failed to notice anybody of any significance.

There was a band setting up, and a few people from the Ministry were milling about.

He had known it was ridiculous to think Nicolas Flamel would be in attendance. Even for this, but he knew that Alastor Moody was friends with Dumbledore as well. The man was quite the famous auror, Tom might have liked to meet him.

Then again, if he is as good as they say he could be standing right behind Dumbledore right this moment and I'd never know it.

Tom looked at Dumbledore, he was still seated to the right of the Headmaster for the time, and the old man was terrorizing anybody who dared walk past by literally pulling a rabbit out of their ear while laughing maniacally. Tom found himself envious of just how evil that laugh sounded.

"Oh look, it's Bellatrix Black!" Myrtle said with forced enthusiasm.

Tom snapped his head around and tried to locate her. He found that she was plowing her way through the crowd and headed straight towards Tom.

If I killed her now I may be able to say it was self defense…

"Have you seen Prewett?" Bellatrix asked with false concern. "I haven't seen him since-"

"Since the two of you took your walk into the woods." Tom finished for her, and pressed on.

"Where have you been Bella, other than the forest?"

Myrtle seemed confused at the conversation but she had the sense to step aside and not ask questions.

"Around… Getting holiday gifts actually…" Bellatrix replied teasingly.

"Oh that's good; I hope you got a set of robes for Prewett. His current pair is an awful mess." Tom's voice was flat and unamused when he said it.

"No, but I got you this!" The girl pulled a bottle of some sort of expensive looking purple drink from her robes and showed it to him.

Tom smiled, "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got my own drinks." He pulled a flask from his pocket and showed her.

The foolish girl pressed on; obvious to the danger she was now putting herself in.

"You don't have to drink it right now, later tonight maybe." She tried to hand him the bottle but Tom didn't reach out to take it; instead he snapped his fingers and the world went completely silent around the two of them.

Tom grabbed the arm holding the bottle and pulled Black towards him.

"It occurs to me that a holiday gift would be a very simple way to poison somebody, or otherwise dose them with something…"

Tom suddenly had a feeling as though he had accidentally left a potion unattended.

Oh… I had better check on the mental patients and make sure they haven't killed each other…

Tom let go of Bellatrix's arm and she quickly stepped back.

"I have to attend to something Bella. I will give you this chance to destroy that bottle and I will never ask what was in it…"

The girl was shaking a little bit, and looking rather pale… After a moment she nodded. She hovered the bottle out an open window; a muffled pop confirmed it was gone.

Tom was staring through Bellatrix. When he spoke he could almost feel his mouth freeze from the chill in his words. "If you ever attempt anything foolish like that again… I will cut that arm off, force you to make it into stew and have you eat it."

He snapped his fingers again and the noise of the hall rushed back in like a wave.

Tom put on an exaggerated smile and said, "Well Bella, I'm afraid I can't dance with you just now. That doesn't mean you shouldn't dance though!"

Tom whirled his wand at the girl's feet and stuck them in place with every bit of force he could apply in the moment. There was just enough time for Bellatrix's eyes to widen in shock before a quick figure 8 gesture from Tom's wand had her upper body swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music.

Tom knew a silencing charm was pointless. She wouldn't call for help. Instead she would stand there furious, dancing in place until she managed to work herself loose.

Myrtle had seen what Tom had done, she gasped as Tom led her away.

"You can't just leave her stuck there like that!" Her voice was trembling a little.

Tom suppressed a smile. "Trust me, she had it coming."

Myrtle actually giggled, it was an odd sound which took Tom aback for a second; he thought she was starting to choke again.

"I bet she did, she's awful." Myrtle said with a beaming smile.

Tom nodded in agreement, "Yes, she definitely is. Which is why I suggest you never say that to her. In fact you should probably completely avoid her for a while if you want to be safe."

The girl smiled and nodded. Tom turned away from her to make his way to the exit.

"Oh, you're leaving?" She sounded like her usual sad self again.

"Yes, I forgot about something rather important actually."

"Ok… I had a good time tonight Tom, Thanks!" Myrtle said it to his back

Tom waved her off without looking back and headed down to the dorm rooms to see how those self-proclaimed pranksters were taking their own medicine.