Tom was deep in the darkening forest an hour early and an hour later than he would have like to be. An hour of preparation was sufficient but two would have ensured the utterly overwhelming victory that he wanted to achieve tonight.

Thomas Chang was proving to be a capable opponent. The boy had natural skills and unusual magic from his homeland. He was also an exceptional student. Tom was surprised how quickly the boy was learning and adapting to Tom's style, or lack of particular style. The last Battle Magic meet had come far too close to a tie for Tom's liking.

The key to an overwhelming defeat is often battlefield preparation… Tom thought as he walked around the thick patches of trees towards the open area near the cliff.

He looked up at the overhanging rocks that cropped out from the side of the cliff and tapped his cheek with his finger for a moment before moving on to observe what else he had to work with…

After a few bits of his unique and "controversial" magic it was time. Tom had not finished completing even half of his traps but that couldn't be helped.

Tom had made sure to work Professor Slughorn up so much during potions that the man had doubled the length of the essay on wormwood which he was demanding by tomorrow. Tom knew Chang was far too ambitious about his formal education to risk leaving it undone. This had given Tom the insurance that Chang himself wouldn't show up early while preparations were being made. Yet Chang was also far too ambitious about his informal education to be late for a good fight. So Tom had to wrap things up and go to meet the boy at the predetermined spot.

Tom found that rules often made things less interesting. Even still, for something like this there were some required guidelines. Obviously you do not talk about Battle Magic. More importantly, you do not talk about Battle Magic. You also have to do your best to not actually kill your opponent, unless you have a reliable way of resurrecting them. Tom had added that last part "as a joke" but in truth he had hoped that Chang would know some secret. Some key piece of information from his homeland that could lead down the right path. Some hint which he would offer up without having to be asked directly. The boy either knew no such secret, or he was keeping it guarded.

The last rule was that apart from the three previous rules, that there were no rules. Once 8pm hit and the opponents met in the field nearly anything was allowed.

Tom did not bother to disillusion himself as he walked down the slope. It was a futile effort against his opponent's superb "sense" of magic. Tom hoped that same sense would become a disadvantage later on when it came to trapping the boy.

The slope wasn't very steep, but it would do. Tom would force Chang to fight him uphill, funneling him towards the prepared locations.

Tom Riddle stopped mid stride. He flicked his wrist at his side and his wand was in his hand as though it had always been there. There had been something which had alerted him to a presence nearby, some faint whiff of strong magic.

Tom felt his magic start to flow like the blood in his veins. Subtle wards were starting to form on his around him on instinct without any real conscious thought on his part.

Someone was approaching rapidly but there was no sound or hint of hidden magic. Tom raised his wand as thoughts and curses flashed across the front of his mind for a moment before it clicked and he comprehended what he was sensing.

Prey…

It was a different kind of magic, something that Chang surely thought would catch his opponent off guard. It probably would have if his opponent was not also an animagus.

Tom casually yawned and paid no attention to the creature approaching on his left.

The squirrel climbed up the trunk of a tree near Tom and ascended rapidly. It made its way up and onto a branch high above Tom's head and perched itself.

After all my preparation is it really going to be this easy?

Several things happened at once.

Chang the Squirrel leapt down from the tree towards Tom just as Tom raised his wand to line up the animal and start to shout an incantation. Chang the student suddenly appeared as a whisp of smoke on the wind several feet behind Tom and immediately aimed his wand point blank and fired a glowing orange bolt at his back.

There was no time to comprehend what was happening. There were just raw facts flashing through his mind in the brief moment before the screaming jet struck him down. Chang was the squirrel, now he is not and he has taken my rear. I cannot dodge his spell this close and it's too powerful to try and overcome this quickly.

Tom's wand was still in the air and trained on the squirrel falling towards him. He took control of the animal's flight with his wand and swung it around mid-air with a gesture that he put all of his body weight behind.

The bolt of orange light hit the squirrel as it came around and Tom used his momentum to throw himself to the side and away from the resulting explosion.

He lost his balance and fell onto the ground flat on his back. He did not have time to get up or re position himself; Chang was quickly rounding on him and preparing another curse. Tom wildly swept his wand horizontal at the boy's legs and a crimson strand of barbed wire lashed out, threatening to wrap the boy's legs in its barbs.

What! He's enhanced his speed somehow… Tom realized as Chang leapt clear over the fiery rope and grabbed onto a branch overhead. He then swung himself out of range of the spell.

I would be impressed if I hadn't already thought of that myself. I shouldn't have been so arrogant as to hold back.

Tom rotated the bronze ring on his finger three times quickly and muttered, "Augendae." The runes inscribed in the ring turned bright white for a moment and then faded.

Tom didn't know what magic Chang was using to enhance his speed but there were disadvantages to all of them and he could find Chang's and exploit it. Tom's device would only provide bursts of speed for a limited time, but it let him move faster and more fluidly then Chang was currently able to.

Tom raised his wand and twisted it back and forth, which caused it to issue a large wall of electric arcs towards Chang. The boy was already moving away in an unpredictable pattern. Dodging the curse and coming towards Tom with purpose. There was no time to level his wand; Tom knew Chang was closing in to fight hand to hand. The boy had a clear advantage yet when it came to that type of fight.

Tom kept using bursts of speed to avoid Chang's rapid approach but he could not use any proper magic on him with at this pace. The boy was forcing Tom into a fist fight.

If I'm to be forced into anything it will be on my terms… Tom conceded. His wand disappeared from his hand and he met Chang head on.

The boy was throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at Tom's head and body. The movements were so fast that branches on trees nearby were flailing wildly. The extra speed that he had was only giving him a slight advantage over Chang's superior technique and intuition.

I can't keep this speed up as long as he can…

Tom deliberately let himself get hit with a particularly hard side kick to the ribs and stumbled a few steps towards where a large boulder stuck up from the earth. As expected Chang pressed on looking for a finish, but when he went to throw another kick at Tom he found that his opponent wasn't as badly hurt as he seemed.

Tom instantly regained his composure and caught the kick in the air as he was falling. He concentrated and focused his mind, body and magic into one, then again used his body's momentum and magic in concert to throw Chang into the boulder with enough force to shake the ground slightly. Chang had started to protect himself in flight but his shield had not had time to fully form and the boy took most of the blow.

He fell to the ground, landing in an awkward position. He gave a raspy groan and his wand rolled away from him.

I'm not about to underestimate him yet again…

Tom rapidly fired several curses at his fallen opponent. Within moments the boy was stunned, paralyzed, bound completely and secured to the boulder naked.

I'm disappointed that none of my original plans came to fruition. Though I cannot deny I enjoyed this spontaneous battle more than I would have liked shooting fish in a barrel.

Tom brought Chang back around with a word and gesture but the boy seemed groggy.

"What happened?" Chang asked. His head was down and drool dribbled down his chin when he spoke.

That is what I want to know…

"You lost. I might add that it was rather one sided from the beginning."

Chang groaned in response.

"Do you submit then?" Tom asked him as he threateningly poked at the boys belly with his wand.

"I do."

"Alright then, that's that." Tom dispelled the boy's binds with another wave and clothed him with another. Chang was far too instilled with "honor" to continue the attack after a formal submission. More importantly his power was clearly depleted and he was no longer much of a threat either way so Tom asked him, "Do you require mending?"

"No." He was prodding at himself with his wand and wincing with the effort the healing spells took. The boy was obviously drained far more then he should have been from the fight alone.

A potion then… Tom concluded. He shook his head slightly in disapproval. A potion for speed was a poor method to use in what could have easily been a drawn out fight. Obviously Chang had thought that he would win a quick and overwhelming victory himself with whatever animagus magic he had used.

"You were a squirrel, and then you were a man but the squirrel was still there. You possessed it somehow." Tom didn't make it a question, nor did he direct it at Chang. He wasn't about to reveal just how he knew that Chang had been in the animal but he suspected the boy could guess.

"That is close enough to the truth."

Obviously I'd have to torture his secret from him and it's too early to try anything of that nature… No matter. I will learn in due course.

"Do you know why you lost?" Tom lectured the boy who was still massaging aches from his back.

"I underestimated you." Chang replied instantly.

"Yes. Always. That is not the single point of failure here however…"

"The potion…" Chang offered.

"Yes, that's another thing." Tom stared at him waiting for the boy to continue to list his failures.

"How did you increase your own speed so greatly? Some spell?" Chang asked him. Tom felt his wand twitch in his hand, the boy was in no position to take over questioning at this point. He took a breath and relaxed.

"That is close enough to the truth." Tom would normally share a small secret like that with the boy, but if he was unwilling to participate in a trade then he would get nothing of true value from Tom tonight.

Tom took on a more condescending tone as he went on. "You played to your strengths which is well and good, but you solely relied on your physical prowess. If you had attacked me with magic while pressing the attack I may have been overwhelmed. You were far too confident in one particular skill and neglected to use your others. This allowed me to use your advantage to my advantage, though I would have found a way regardless."

Tom was looking down at the boy as he talked and when he finished he felt a smirk cross his face briefly. He could tell that Chang had been properly shamed. That was one of the things Tom liked about him, the boy had deep humility ingrained in him. The boy's rigid set of internal moral rules made him very predictable with his general behavior, he would be easy to mold into any shape Tom wished to form him to.

Tom was lifting his fork to his mouth the next morning at the breakfast table when Headmaster Dippet stood up and asked for attention. "It seems there were some unsettling events in the forbidden forest last night."

Tom casually glanced up at Dippet for a moment before pretending to return attention to his food. He made sure not to look towards Dumbledore, there was no need to. Tom was sure that the man was already looking at him. He bit the glowing blue end off of his sausage and moved some food around on his plate as he listened and calculated any implications of possible statements about to be made.

"In a show of highly unusual and never before documented behavior it seems that a number of our resident Acromantula took it upon themselves to construct an elaborate maze of thick magical webbing deep in the forest."

I should have undone my work immediately instead of planning to build upon it for next week… That was an obvious mistake in retrospect, but possibly not a fatal one. Tom mentally kicked himself as he bit into a piece of toast and chuckled once along with a couple others next to him at some joke he hadn't really heard.

"A number of creatures are caught in the webbing and need to be cut free. We would be offering extra credit in care for magical creature's classes for students help in efforts to take down this mess… However…" Headmaster Dippet paused in hesitation which seemed to bring the noise level of the room down to zero.

"For some reason a vast majority of the snakes in the forest have migrated into a small cave system nearby… This is also very strange behavior which we do not know the meaning of. It is a question for experts better than I quite frankly."

Obviously I cannot make contact with my team now. I cannot go anywhere near there… I must speak with Chang and learn all I can of his own animagus powers… I need to issue commands to my servants from within the school somehow.

Dippet was still going on, now about a potential rock slide hazard also in the forest.

Tom continued chewing and risked glancing at the staff's reactions to this news. He let his gaze move across the entire table quickly. He noted confusion, a little fear, and even some excitement. He also noted that Dumbledore was doing his best to mentally break Tom's head open for the secrets to spill out like a howler for all to hear. Tom disregarded this as he was far too used to it and went back to his meal.

Just as he went for another sausage Dumbledore stood up. Tom didn't see it but he could feel it, the man was about to speak with authority.

"I would just like to make an unrelated note following the Headmasters comments." Tom looked up at the man again, and Dumbledore was still looking in Tom's direction.

"I am afraid that our delicious blue sausages are being discontinued from our menu."

This statement was met with much confusion and little complaint.

"The elf in charge of that particular recipe is retiring and requests to take his secret with him, and I feel happy to oblige as it is a small request."

Dumbledore took a seat and people started muttering.

"What does that have to do with anything? Who cares?" Some ignorant girl asked.

"I bet the elf was responsible for the incidents in the forest so they had to fire it." One voice near him said.

"If a house elf goes off on its own like that the proper response is to kill it." Tom recognized MacNair's voice this time.

Tom looked down at his fork and the remaining sausage he was about to eat had disappeared.

That seemed extraordinarily petty on Dumbledore's part. It also made Tom question just what Dumbledore really knew about everything.

He couldn't help his thinking; it was tainted with annoyance over this petty issue.

Small scale warfare, is that the way of it old man? I don't think that's a battle you want to pick with me regardless of what you believe you know…

Tom picked up some bacon and bit into it, pretending that it was his favorite food.

It just wasn't the same…