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Serpent of the World	By : TheLadyMiya Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 9486 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I make no money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
New chapter! Many thanks to Ozzy for betaing this chapter, and well, this whole story thus far. What would I do without her?
I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, faved and subscribed! You give me something to smile at while on sick leave! Review reply can be found here: http://tomioneconvention.forumotion.com/t1011-review-reply-serpent-of-the-world
Enjoy!
Chapter 11
Tom poured the coffee into a cup. Coffee was about the only thing that helped after such a curse. It would calm his nerves and reduce the shakings.
He sat down at the table again, cup in hand. He drank slowly. Granger could not be allowed to see how shaken up he actually was. He didn't want to acknowledge that himself either. It had been many years since he had last been tortured. A Dark Witch had tried to steal an artefact from him and managed to surprise him. He had been around thirty at the time. Since then, no one had managed to actually torture him. A couple of hexes had managed to get through his defences, but nothing like that.
Whoever Gabriel really was, he was dangerous. A part of Tom wanted to flee, but at the same time, he would not let Gabriel think he had scared him away. He was Tom Riddle, he didn't get scared. This was just a temporary setback. A miscalculation. Nothing to worry about.
He pressed his left hand between his thighs to stop it from shaking, and took another sip of the coffee. The hot brewage was starting to do its work, soothing him from the inside. He silently took a deep breath.
What kind of spell had it been? It had felt like a curse originated in blood magic, but Gabriel hadn't been able to get his blood. Also, his shield should have stopped a blood curse, but it hadn't. It was as if the magic hadn't appeared from Gabriel's wand. Instead, it had appeared right in front of Tom, bypassing the shield altogether. He had never heard of anything like it before. It shouldn't be possible.
Talking to Gabriel would be the only way to find out. There had to be some way to beat Gabriel. There always was.
Tom and Granger sat in silence for ten minutes, before Gabriel came back in again. He noted the coffee, but didn't comment on it.
"Let's move to the living room," Gabriel said. "It's more comfortable there."
Tom drank the last of his coffee and then followed Granger down the hallway, which opened up into a big living room. Even though the house was grand and probably cost a small fortune, there was no real luxury in the house. The lounging area in the living room was robust, but plain, with no decoration. The walls were covered with paintings, but not any famous ones, just paintings of animals and landscapes. The coffee table was littered with old coffee mugs, newspapers and a couple of books which seemed to be of Muggle origin. The only thing that looked remotely interesting in the room was a big, black cupboard, standing behind the sofas. It appeared to be locked, and Tom sensed a magical ward over it as well.
"You have a great view from here," Granger commented politely, looking out of the big windows, before sitting down on a sofa. Tom followed her view, but didn't agree with her. It was just open fields and a forest in the distance. What was great about that?
"Thank you," Gabriel said, sitting down next to her. "I've been living here for ten years now. It's peaceful."
"I thought you said you wanted to have fun," Tom remarked, sitting down on the empty sofa. This one too was littered, but with clothes instead. A pair of knickers had fallen down, onto the floor.
"Yes, but I create my own fun, and I like to do it in a peaceful environment," Gabriel said, smiling broadly.
"Where did you live before this?" Granger asked, appearing curious.
"Norway, and before that, I lived in the UK. But a certain someone started a war, so I decided to move on," Gabriel said, giving Tom a pointed look.
So he had been in the UK in the seventies, Tom mused. "How old are you, then?"
Gabriel shrugged. "I've passed a hundred, but really, you stop counting after a while. Haven't you?"
"Not yet."
"Well, you probably will, if you keep it up. What's another decade?"
Granger looked amazed at that, and Tom felt a sting of hatred towards the other man. Why was Granger so fascinated by him? She had known him for weeks now, surely he had shown her enough for her to not so easily be impressed?
Then again, Granger never seemed to appreciate him properly.
"Where were you born?" she asked.
"Iceland," Gabriel replied. "But enough about me, I still haven't heard what the two of you are doing together. I'm sure that's an interesting tale."
"Hermione and I have an agreement," Tom said, before Granger had a chance to answer. "She wishes to learn some things, and she helps me out until she is done."
"What sort of things?"
"Useful things."
Gabriel chuckled. "I've heard you are secretive, Tom. Very well, I won't pry. But I think I know why you are here. Or actually, Hans told me to expect you. He didn't know who you were, though, that was a pleasant surprise."
"Yes. Hans told me enough about you to make me curious," Tom admitted. "You seem to have a lot of influence over the Order or Katla."
"You want to arrange a deal," Gabriel concluded. "You are looking for new followers, and you don't want competition. Well, they aren't my followers, so they can do whatever they please. I'm just a … consultant of sort."
"Their dragon trainer."
Gabriel smiled and nodded. "It has been too long since we had any dragon warriors in the world. I thought it would be entertaining."
"Yes, very entertaining. Especially since such a force would be able to overthrow any government," Tom remarked.
Gabriel laughed. "Why on earth would I want to overthrow a government? I have no wish to rule. It's too much work. But then, I guess you don't agree with me."
"Will you try and stop me?" Tom asked, ignoring the jab.
Gabriel shrugged. "What for? The Order of Katla will do what they want to do, or rather, whatever you convince them they want to do."
Tom studied him with suspicion. No one who was this powerful could possibly lack ambitions. 'Fun' was not an ambition. However, whatever Gabriel had planned, he didn't seem to think Tom would come in the way of that. Or he did, and was trying to get Tom to lower his guard so he could stab him in the back.
"I do, however, find it curious that you would want to learn things from him," Gabriel continued, turning to Granger. "Is he blackmailing you?"
Granger snorted. "No. We just have a common goal and have agreed to help each other achieve it. Then we'll go our separate ways."
"I wonder what that could be," Gabriel said softly, and looked from Granger to Tom and then back to Granger. "Could it possibly have something to do with the wand you have, Tom?"
Tom looked down at the wand in his lap, trying to figure out why Gabriel would ask that. He had got the wand from Slytherin, who had said it was a family heirloom. What did Gabriel know about it?
"Not at all," Tom said. "I needed a new wand after my 'defeat'. This wand responded to me."
"Did it really?" Gabriel stared at Tom, intensely. "I take it you are well aware of the history of that wand?"
"Of course," Tom said.
"But yes, of course you would. The heir of Salazar Slytherin," Gabriel mumbled. "You must have found it with his things. I heard Slytherin had some secret chambers at Hogwarts."
Tom didn't respond. A lot of people had known that he was Slytherin's heir and that the Chamber existed. But not even Tom had known that there was some heirloom wand in the family, despite having read everything he could find about his ancestor. So how could Gabriel know that the wand was connected to Slytherin?
"What's special about Tom's wand?" Hermione asked, much to Tom's happiness. She wouldn't be expected to know, but Tom could listen to the answer.
Gabriel glanced at Tom, but when he didn't say anything, Gabriel turned to Hermione. "I have always found the old Norse myths interesting. I guess you get that from growing up in Iceland. There are runes there that the Muggles haven't found. Runes describing the magic of the Norse gods. I recognised the runes on the handle, from those stones. They're the runes of Loki, the god of mischief."
Granger's eyes widened. "You mean Tom's wand belonged to Loki?"
"It was created by him, yes. But he made many wands, so it's impossible to say if that wand actually belonged to Loki. It could have been a gift to someone else who then used it," Gabriel said.
"Slytherin was related to the Norse gods," Tom informed Granger, even though she already knew that. He didn't want Gabriel to know that this was old information to her. Only the information about the creator of the wand was new. What had Slytherin wanted to achieve by giving Tom Loki's wand?
"Yes, which brings me to the reason why I actually wanted you to stay and talk," Gabriel said, suddenly sounding much more serious. "I've searched for that wand for a very long time. I wish to study it."
Tom controlled the urge to tighten his grip on the wand. "What for?"
"Loki's wand-making techniques were unique. They are supposed to contain elements of things that no longer exist. I would like to study it and try to copy the technique," Gabriel said.
Tom instantly realised two things. The first was that the wand he was holding must not only be unique, but powerful in some way. The other was that Gabriel couldn't take it without his consent. Gabriel had had Tom's wand in his hand, and he had recognised it. Since he hadn't stolen it there and then, it must mean that there was something preventing him from it. Perhaps an heirloom spell, he knew those had been frequently used up until some centuries ago. It wouldn't have surprised him if Slytherin had put heirloom spells on the wand. He had put it on the Chambers of Secrets after all.
However, Tom also scolded himself for not inspecting his new wand closely. He had just been happy that the wand worked so well for him, and had then been focused on breaking Slytherin's bond. It hadn't occurred to him to take a closer look at the wand.
"And you expect me to do this out of the goodness of my heart?" Tom inquired, amused.
Gabriel chuckled. "It was worth a try, but no, I didn't expect that. But I know a lot of things that you would find interesting. The Norse gods have been a research project of mine since I was a child. I'm sure there are things I could tell you which you would find interesting."
"I'm sure I already know everything I need to know," Tom dismissed him. Granger was researching that, he didn't need someone else to do it.
"If you did, you would have been able to block me, Tom," Gabriel said softly.
Tom regarded Gabriel coldly. He hadn't expected Gabriel to offer that. "You are willing to risk your life to study a wand?"
"I'm not risking my life," Gabriel said confidently. "I'm sure that if we spend some time together, you'll come around the idea of wanting to kill me."
Tom scoffed. "Said one Dark Wizard to the other."
Gabriel laughed. "Yes, our kind is not known for our mercy. But I'm confident you won't kill me."
Tom studied him, but Gabriel's face was annoyingly unreadable. Tom was always able to sense whether someone was lying to him or not, but either Gabriel was completely honest or he was talented at hiding his lies.
What lies could he possibly hide? Was he just waiting until Tom granted him access to the wand, to kill him? Or – Tom felt a thrill go through him – was Gabriel certain he couldn't get killed because he was immortal?
In Tom's own search for immortality, he had often come across tales of wizards who had achieved immortality. But once they did, it was as if every trace of them disappeared. For a long time, Tom had thought that they were just lies to make wizards seem more powerful than they were. He had thought that he alone had gone further down the road to immortality than anyone else.
Then he had died.
It still pained him greatly to admit that, but he had. It was only sheer luck due to which he was sitting here today. It had all been Slytherin's doing.
Thus, Tom had started to consider that maybe the secret to gaining immortality was disappearing once you did. If you took a new identity and "disappeared" now and again, no one would suspect you were immortal and try to find a way to kill you.
Gabriel seemed to be doing that. Moving around from country to country, not gaining fame for himself… it was possible that Gabriel had achieved immortality and was baiting Tom with it.
Tom finally pulled out the wand and looked at it. If Gabriel was offering him immortality, it meant that this wand was very special indeed. Tom couldn't just hand it over.
"I could let you study the wand," Tom said slowly. "But I will be the one to handle the wand. You tell me the tests and analysis you wish to do, and I can do it."
To his great pleasure, he saw a flash of annoyance cross Gabriel's face. It was gone in the split of a second, but it told Tom enough. This wand was very important for Gabriel.
"I guess that will be reasonable," Gabriel said, much to Tom's surprise. He had thought that Gabriel would try to bargain further.
"However," Gabriel continued. "Then I'd also like to have her for myself, every now and then."
"What?" Granger exclaimed, staring at Gabriel in horror. "And what exactly would you have me do?"
Gabriel, however, ignored her, and just watched Tom with a smile.
"Define 'now and then'," Tom asked, also ignoring Granger.
However, as he had expected, Granger flew up. "I'm not yours to sell, Riddle! We have a deal."
"Just for the nights," Gabriel said, with a shrug. "Not when you have use for her, I'm sure."
Granger slashed her wand at him, but he saw it and deflected it. Tom hit her with a body-binding spell, making her fall back onto the sofa.
"That's agreeable. But if I do need her one night, I'll deliver her to you when I'm done, and you can keep her for longer in the morning instead. And I will not be held accountable for whatever unpleasant surprises she tries to pull on you."
"A wand oath, then?"
"You promise to tell me everything you know that I can find useful and we'll study the wand together, and you can have Hermione Granger for the nights," Tom summarised, holding out his wand.
Gabriel nodded and held out his wand, letting the tip of it touch Tom's. The air fizzed with magical energy, showing them that the oath had been put into place. Wand oaths were hard to break, but not impossible, which was why Tom had agreed to take one. They were also quite flexible and as long as both wizards felt like the agreement was being followed, no harm would come to any of them.
Riddle released the spell over Granger and waited for her attempt to cause him severe pain. To his surprise, Gabriel turned to her before she had the chance to pick up her wand, which had fallen to the floor when she was bound.
"Now, before you start hexing us, please here me out," he said. "I'm not going to rape you or anything like that."
Granger eyed him, suspiciously. "Then what exactly did you have in mind when you said you wanted me to stay with you at night?"
"You'll find out. But it's not anything you will find unpleasant or painful, that I swear," Gabriel said, sounding very sincere.
"But I haven't agreed to this," Granger pointed out. "I can just leave now and— "
"No, I'm the one that is going to make you stay with him," Tom said sweetly. "That was the oath."
She turned to Tom, looking appalled. "And you just agreed to that, without knowing what he intended to do with me?"
"Well, since he is only allowed to have you for a certain amount of time, he won't be able to kill you. And as long as he doesn't kill you, I have no problem with whatever he wants to do to you."
"This was not our agreement," Granger hissed.
"You should have been more specific, Granger," Tom said softly. "You said you would do anything if I took you with me. Well, consider this anything."
"I didn't—" She paused, then she paled.
"But you had to take me with you," she continued quickly. "You don't know how to do what needs to be done, and you don't want to do it. So if you want it done, you have to make sure I'm able to do it. How will I be able to train if I'm with him?"
"You have all day for that," Tom said calmly. "And I believe Gabriel just swore not to hurt you, which means you will still be able to train."
Granger was looking at him like she wasn't sure if she should hex him or beg him. After a moment, she decided to get up.
"If that's the case, then I had better make sure I speed up my training," she spat, and stalked out of the room. A minute later, he heard the front door slam shut.
"Such a lovely woman," Gabriel remarked, smiling.
"Wonderful."
"You are not lovers, I take?"
Tom just snorted.
"Sex would probably relax her more," Gabriel pointed out.
"But I'm quite sure it would not be good for my nerves," Tom replied with a smile, and then he turned serious again. "But I do not want her to come back hurt from you. If you feel like you need to cause damage that will last, I want you to consult me first."
"But if I can heal her before the night is over, we are fine?" Gabriel asked dryly.
Tom tilted his head. "You really did mean it, then."
Gabriel nodded. "However, I find it interesting that you would sell her off so readily and then come with demands once she has left. You don't want her to know you care about her welfare?"
"She wouldn't believe you if you told her," Tom said, with a smile. "But if you hope to use her as a means to blackmail me, you'll be disappointed. She is useful, but not irreplaceable."
"Yet, you strike me as a person who gets attached to his possessions," Gabriel observed.
"Oh, don't let her hear you say that, she will kill you in your sleep," Tom said, and then finally rose. "I have some other business to attend to. Granger will be busy studying for the rest of the day, but I trust she can stay here?"
Gabriel shrugged. "If she wants to."
Tom nodded. "She will come in again when she has cooled off. I'll return in time to take her out to dinner, and then I guess she will be yours for the night."
"I look forward to it."
Tom nodded. "We can talk about when we should schedule the other things tomorrow, when I come to pick her up."
"Very well."
Tom left the room and went to gather his shoes. This was the time to test Gabriel. Granger would be alone with him, and he would be able to judge him by his treatment of her. If she was dead when he came back, it would tell him just as much as if she was alive and happy.
He Disapparated. Now it was time to set up his own headquarters in Sweden.
xxx
Hermione fumed as she stood in the forest. How dare they? Well, okay, so she could expect that from Tom, but she was shocked at Gabriel. He had seemed so friendly at first. But then again, he was a man. Hermione was starting to see a pattern in all her encounters with men.
Men were pigs who were only thinking about one thing. Which they weren't even that good at!
Men. Bah. Humbug.
Well, the sooner she learned what she needed to do, the sooner she would be rid of all of them. Thus, she called out, summoning a snake to practice with. One appeared sooner than she had expected.
"Tongued one?" it asked.
Hermione we taken aback by the polite reply. So far, she had only heard snakes call Riddle by that name. Had she finally gained the respect of snakes? Riddle had said that it would come as soon as she took command for sure. Maybe her being pissed off actually helped?
"Hello," she said, then decided to test it. "Show me your young ones."
Riddle had told her that snakes never took anyone to see their eggs. He had told her to try to get one to take her, but so far she hadn't been successful.
Now, however, the snake turned around and started to slither toward her right. She followed it. She only had to travel a few yards into the forest until they came upon them. Hermione kneeled next to the snake, amazed at how easy it had been. So it really was just a display of authority that got snakes to do what you wished. Riddle had told her so, and she had thought she was doing it right, but something must have changed. Her anger must have changed something in her voice or the way she acted.
She thanked the snake and went back towards the edge of the forest. She should try to call some other snake and see if it worked again. Her success made her feel better. Maybe she could be through will all of this, sooner rather than later.
"Hermione?"
Her good mood disappeared at once, as she saw Gabriel make his way towards her, from the house. She stopped and turned to him, crossing her arms, but making sure her wand was visible in her hand.
"What?" she snapped.
"I do understand your anger," Gabriel said, quickly. "That's why I want to explain myself. My agreement with Tom doesn't come from any sinister intention for you. I won't lay a finger on you. But I need to test Tom."
She regarded him. "What for?"
"Tom Riddle is known for working alone, and yet, he brings you here with him," Gabriel said. "I have yet to figure out why, but I can see that you are very important to him. Thus, by not having access to you all the time, he loses something. I want that."
"That makes no sense whatsoever," Hermione commented.
Gabriel shrugged. "Not to you, no, but you are not a Dark Arts expert. I don't know what he will use you for, and I don't care, but by keeping you from him, it will take longer for him to achieve whatever it is he wants to achieve. And I want him to lose time."
"Why?"
"Because I do. Now, I don't mind if you tell him this, he has probably already figured it out and it will annoy him greatly not knowing what my plans are. But you have nothing to worry about coming to me tonight. We will just hang out. Or, if you prefer to be alone, you can do whatever you wish, and I'll just watch some TV. As long as you stay inside the house for the night, the agreement is being fulfilled," Gabriel said.
Hermione watched him doubtfully. "You watch TV?"
"Oh, yes, I love it. So many good shows. Oh, and the weather forecast. You just have to love those Muggles, trying to predict the future. It's so cute."
"You like Muggles?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Yes, they are great entertainment," Gabriel said happily.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Of course. Gabriel didn't hate Muggles, but he clearly didn't see them as equals any more than a lot of wizards did.
"I'll let you go back to your training," Gabriel said after a few seconds, when she hadn't said anything. "Oh, and Tom told me to tell you that he will pick you up for dinner later. But if you want to come in and eat something before that, feel free. Otherwise, we can talk more tonight."
Hermione nodded, unsure of how polite she had to be. On one hand, she didn't mind getting away from Riddle every night. It would probably decrease the amount of time she had to serve him. And the less she saw him, the less annoyed she would be, hence less likely to lash out, and thus, the fewer opportunities for him to torture her.
On the other hand, she wouldn't be able to stop Riddle from doing anything bad if she wasn't around. Then again, had she been able to, thus far? It wasn't as if he took her with him all the time. Those times she did get to follow him to his meetings seemed important, but she was sure Riddle wouldn't bring her if he thought she would hinder him in any way.
However, she was still unsure about why he had brought her here today. He couldn't possibly have known that Gabriel would want her as part of their agreement. Or had he? Had all this been a setup for him to get rid of her for some time, but still know someone was keeping an eye on her?
Dread filled her. What was he planning?
She glanced back at Gabriel's house again. Perhaps she could turn this to her advantage. If she could turn Gabriel against Tom, she would have a much greater chance of stopping him once the Serpent of Midgard was taken care of.
The more she considered it, the more she saw the benefits of the plan. It wasn't as if it would be hard to turn someone against Tom. He was a very unlikeable person. She just had to give Gabriel the right amount of motivation to actually do something about it, at the right time.
Finally, something was working to her advantage.
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Serpent of the World