Thursday the Richelieu Third years were leaving Arthimacy with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. A table stacked with pies stood in the hall across from the classroom door. As Sardonnes and the Third year boys walked out of the room, the pies flew off the table. Although they attempted to duck, the pies turned to track the dodging boys. Although many of the students had been hit by pie debris, the Richelieu Third year boys were covered head to toe.
Sardonnes looked up to see Evans and Nott walking down the hallway toward the scene of the pie massacre. Before he could blink, his wand was in his hand and words were forming on his lips.
Before a spell could be released, the French wizard's wand flew out of his hand and into the outstretched hand of Professor Dumbledore. "Mr. Sardonnes, you will not attack your fellow students!"
"They did this! They are behind all of the pranks! I know they are!" The French wizard started to scream at the other two students.
"Misters Evans and Nott have been with me for the last hour. I am afraid your suspicions are incorrect," the Transfiguration professor said.
Then Nott leaned over and whispered something in Evan's ear. Sardonnes snapped and charged at Tom. Tom sidestepped the charge and tripped him with his foot, sending the boy sprawling on the ground.
The Arthimacy professor, Professor McMillan, cast a Body-Bind Charm on the boy. The witch levitated the boy saying, "We will go talk to your Head of House about your atrocious behavior here today, Mr. Sardonnes.
Floating past Tom and Nott, Sardonnes yelled, "You shall rue the day you crossed me!"
Professor Dumbledore noticed Tom hand Nott a Knut. "And what was that for Mr. Evans?" Tom noticed the old wizard's eyes were twinkling.
"Nott bet me a Knut he could get Sardonnes to threaten us with a 'rue-ing'. I didn't think even he could be that melodramatic and cheesy." Tom shrugged, "I lost."
"I see," the professor answered.
The professor turned and with a mumbled word and a swish, the pie remains and table had been banished. No sign of the "Great Pie Massacre" remained. Then the professor started to make his way down the hall. He paused and turned back to look at the two Slytherins.
"So many pranks lately. Some on whole Houses, others directed at Mr. Sardonnes. The professors are concentrating on the larger pranks and ignoring the personal ones. I doubt they even realize they are occurring. I imagine that is what our pranksters intended. As long as they do not cross the line, I believe they will remain undiscovered. Oh well. My old friend Thomas would have found this fascinating." Then the old wizard turned and walked away.
The two Third year Slytherins watched him walk away.
"He knows," Nott said.
Tom laughed, "Yep, but as long as no one gets hurt he isn't going to tell.
Nott looked unconvinced, "Are you sure? He sounded a bit barmy."
"I'm sure. Let's go check on our partner-in-crime."
Tom and Nott climbed the Astronomy Tower to near the top. Just off the stairs lay one of the few remaining unused classrooms at Hogwarts. The only reason the room was unused was the distance from all of the other classrooms. The only time students climbed this far in the tower was a night for Astronomy classes. (Unless they were sneaking off for a snog.) The classroom became a storage area for desks, chairs and tables as the Hogwarts population decreased. Now it was almost completely empty.
Five minutes after they arrived, a small pop sounded in the room. A house-elf in a clean neat dish towel looked at the two boys with a smile and big, innocent eyes. "Did I do good, masters?"
Tom laughed, "Tweaky, you did amazing! It worked perfectly!"
"Sardonnes never knew what hit him!" Nott laughed. "Talking to Dumbledore gave up a perfect alibi!"
Now the house-elf looked a little crestfallen, "The other house-elves are upset that Professor Dumblydore cleaned up the mess. They is mad at Tweaky they didn't get to clean it up!"
Tom knelt in front of the elf. "Don't worry, Tweaky. Tell them we will do something to make a bigger mess for them to clean up."
The elf smiled widely, "Thank you! With all of the new elves there is not enough for all of us to keep busy!"
When many of the European magic schools closed and families fled the continent, the house-elves fled with them. Most families with elves lived in small, temporary housing or found Muggle residences. Without the large houses, there was no need for lots of elves. The school elves and extra house elves were all sent to Hogwarts. So many elves descended on the school that there were almost as many elves as students.
One night in last year, Tom snuck down to the kitchen. A mob of elves swarmed him in an effort to answer his every need. Surprised by the swarm of elves, Tom asked about the situation. The poor elves started crying about how little work there was to do. They even had to clean in shifts to allow every elf their fair chance to clean and cook!
Holding in his laughter, Tom offered to help by making more work for them. The elves looked like Christmas came early. Tweaky, who all of the other elves thought was a bit off, offered to help Tom make messes. Tom laughed out loud now. Tweaky was an anti-house elf!
Tom, Nott and Tweaky started playing their pranks using only magical knowledge that a normal Third year would have. While Tweaky did help with spiking drinks with potions, Tom and Nott did most of their own pranks. Tom felt it was cheating to do it any other way.
"I want to do one big prank and then stop for a couple weeks."
Nott looked surprised. "Why, Tom?"
"Dippet is going spare trying to figure out who we are. Today threw off suspicion but he will catch us eventually. Getting caught is not Slytherin. Only a Gryffindor allows themselves to get caught."
Nott nodded his agreement. "What did you have in mind?"
"Something my father mentioned. I found a potion that will do it."
Nott snorted, "Has Sluggy realized you are half way through the Sixth year NEWT material?"
Tom acted offended. "What kind of a Slytherin do you take me for?"
Raising his hands in mock surrender, Nott asked, "So what does this potion do?"
Tom grinned.
30 September 1940
Two weeks later, the Hogwarts students wandered in for dinner. The Houses settled to their places. Professor Dippet stood and made his typical evening announcements. Then with a wave of his hand the food arrived and the feasting began.
The students dove into their dinners. Conversation filled the Great Hall in a low rumble of overlapping words. Halfway through dinner a sudden scream silenced all of the conversation. As one, the students turned and looked in the direction of the scream.
A young witch in Gryffindor robes stood next to her table patting herself down in a sudden panic. Then a Ravenclaw wizard stood with the same look of panic on his face.
"Ms. McGonagall, please sit down at once!" Professor Merrythought yelled.
The young witch looked at the professor and yelled, "But I'm not Minerva!"
Then the Hall erupted as all the Fourth year and older students stood up yelling. Several fainted, including both of the new Slytherin Beaters who stood up screaming, pointed at each other and then dropped to the ground.
A sudden boom filled the room. A silence filled the room. "Students, take your seats!" The students sat in the nearest available bench. Professor Dumbledore could now been seen standing with his wand drawn.
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Dippet said. Then he turned to the students. "We seem to have pranksters in our midst. Please wait quietly while the staff and I decide what to do."
The professors huddled up for a quick conference. Then several of them started to circulate through the students. After ten minutes, an angry looking headmaster stood in front of the students again.
"I am afraid to inform you that the Fourth years and older have been given a Body-Switching Potion. We are not sure how this happened but the results are temporary. In twelve hours it should be worn off. For tonight, I must ask you to sleep in the bed of the body you currently occupy. House-elves will provide you with anything you might need from your dorm rooms. Please follow the Third years of your host body to your dorm. Thank you."
As the students started to comply with their instructions, the sound of trumpets filled the room. Some of the Muggle-born among them recognized the music as Glenn Miller. Then a banner appeared above the staff table.
Viva La Revolution!
Houses of Hogwarts Unite!
(Keep your hands to yourselves, little witches and wizards!)
Tom happened to be standing near the door to lead the older "Slytherins" to the dungeon. Before he could turn to leave, Professor Dumbledore caught his eye. The twinkle was obvious all the way across the room. Then the professor did something that shocked Tom.
He winked.
It took all of Tom's self-control to not react beyond a small smile. However, he left the Hall as quickly as he could without being obvious.
As promised, the prank lasted for twelve hours. By the time the Houses woke for breakfast everyone was back in their own body. Most of the older students seemed extremely embarrassed about the results of the prank, but several seemed to be eyeing their former "hosts" with a great degree of speculation.
2 November 1940
Over the next several weeks nothing was heard from La Revolution. At first, many students spent a great deal of time speculating on who it could be. Tom heard his name mentioned once or twice but never seriously. No one really expected a Third year to be able to brew a NEWT level potion.
Professor Dumbledore never said anything. Tom walked into Transfiguration expected to be held after for a "discussion", but nothing was ever said. The house elves had been happy with all of their work moving students' things around during the "Night of the Body-Switchers". (A Muggle-born named the event.)
The next prank occurred in Professor Merrythought's office during the Richelieu and Hufflepuff Third year DADA class on the afternoon before Halloween. The prank was revealed when the professor opened the door to her office at the end of class.
The DADA professor opened the door to her office and was greeted by a most unusual sight. A wall of water stood in the door. A magical barrier held the water back but the professor could see it filled her office. Shocked by the sight, the professor could not comprehend what she was seeing as several goldfish swam by the open door. Through the water she could see a banner hanging from the ceiling. It read, "Welcome to the Revolution!" She just stood and stared at her flooded office in shock.
Unfortunately, ten seconds after the door was opened a bell sounded. It rang for three seconds. The professor turned and started to run but the spell holding the water back released. Professor Merrythought and the students who had gathered to see the flooded office were hurled by a wall of water back into the classroom.
When it settled, three inches of water filled the DADA classroom. Professor Merrythought sat up in drenched robes, her hair a sopping mess. In a small pool formed by her lap a panicked goldfish was trying to find deeper water. The Third years were in the same situation. None of them noticed the camera equipped house elf taking pictures.
15 November 1940
The Slytherin table was startled when a ball of fire popped over their heads. Then they recognized the Transfiguration professor's phoenix. It was rare to see the phoenix outside the professor's office. Occasionally it could be spotted flying over Hogwarts, but never in the Great Hall.
Fawkes swooped over Tom, dropping a note onto his plate. With a trill of laughter, Fawkes flew straight at the closest wall. He impacted in a flash of fire and was gone.
"Bloody hell, the bird's as barmy as Dumbledore!" Nott said in shock.
Tom nodded his agreement as he picked up the note the phoenix dropped. He read the note and suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
"What does Dumbledore want?" Mary asked.
Tom tried to act nonchalant, "He wants me to report to his office right away. He doesn't say why." Tom exchanged a glance with Nott. If they knew who was behind "La Revolution" wouldn't they call for both of them?
Tom stood to leave the Great Hall. Nott started to stand also but sank back down when Tom shook his head. "I'll catch up with you in Herbology."
In too short a time, Tom found himself standing outside Dumbledore's office door. 'Funny," Tom thought, 'that walk usually seems longer."
"Come in, young Tom" Dumbledore called before Tom could knock.
Squaring his shoulders, the Third year walked as confidently as possible into the professor's office. The professor sat behind his desk. Various magical instruments of unknown sorts lay atop bookshelves. Stacks of scrolls competed for space on the professor's desk. Fawkes sat on a perch behind the professor's chair.
"Ah, Mr. Evans, thank you for coming so quickly."
Tom nodded and tried to smile, "You sent for me, professor?"
A gentle smile answered him. "Yes, I needed to talk to you about the last essay you wrote."
Tom almost fainted on the spot. This was about class work! Tom wanted to collapse from the release of tension.
"Tell me, how would you manage to keep water held back?"
"I found a book about building magical dams and…" Tom stopped in shock and starred at Dumbledore. "How did you know?"
The professor smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "I have been at this school as a professor for more than seventy years, Mr. Evans. Before that I spent seven years here as a student. I have seen pranksters in all four of the Hogwart's Houses. How they perform their pranks often tells me the House they are in."
Tom slumped into his seat. He thought they weren't leaving any trace behind. "What is my punishment?" Tom didn't mention Nott. Maybe only one of them needed to lose points and get detention.
"Punishment, Mr. Evans? Why would I need to hand out punishments? I am unaware you have broken any school rules. I merely asked a hypothetical question."
Then a new voice intruded, "As long as the pranks remain harmless and help divert the students' attention from the war, Professor Dumbledore will not feel a need to determine the true identities of the pranksters."
Tom turned in shock to see his father leaning against the wall in the corner. "Dad! How long have you been here?"
James smiled, "Not long." He moved over to take an open chair. "The professor was telling me about the new pranksters of Hogwarts. I noticed the map was missing. It was not too hard to figure things out from there."
Tom shrugged. "I knew you would figure it out once the map was missing."
James grinned, "I enjoyed the body-switching prank."
With a sour look on his face, Tom said, "Not as much as some of the Seventh years did according to what I heard. I wanted to Oblivate myself from some of the stories I heard."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at that. "Did some of them take advantage of their 'hosts'?"
"The potions exchanged two people. So the person who ended up in your body was the same one whose body you were in." Tom looked at the two older wizards to see if they understood. Seeing their nods, Tom continued, "I was told some of the students snuck off with their opposite number for some … experimenting."
Dumbledore looked concerned, "So both participants were willing?"
Tom nodded, "Yep." Then a grin stole over his face. "It gave new meaning to the term, 'self-love'." James laughed at the idea while Dumbledore looked a bit green. Their reactions made Tom start laughing. "One the plus side, we now have a lot of cross-House relationships now."
"I liked the flooded DADA office," James said when he stopped laughing. "I know my father and godfather would have laughed themselves silly over that one."
"That was horrible," Tom protested with an innocent face. "I missed my DADA class that day!"
Dumbledore absently rubbed the side of his nose. "Your protest would carry more weight, Mr. Evans, if I had not heard Professor Merrythought complaining about your lack of enthusiasm in her class.
James sobered a bit, "Have you been slipping in class?"
"No, it is just so boring! All we do is talk about Dark creatures. She won't even bring any in to class, a poltergeist, a ghoul, something!
James grinned, "My Second year defense professor released a sward of pixies in our class. Then we had to collect them when he was chased out of the room."
Tom snorted, "I heard a First year Gryffindor is pushing her to bring in a dragon. Seems fixated on them.
"Ah, young Mr. Hagrid," Dumbeldore sighed. "He was inconsolable when he was Sorted."
James looked surprised, "He didn't want to be in Gryffindor?"
"No," Tom said with a smirk on his face, "he was told you had to face a dragon to be Sorted. He was disappointed when he only had to wear the Hat."
James laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Gasping for breath he said, "At least I know now that Hagrid hasn't changed."
After James settled down, Tom looked directly at his father. "Dad, why are you here?"
"You mean aside from the fact your mother knows you are behind the wave of pranks hitting Hogwarts?"
"She knows?"
James grinned, "I think the twins are taking notes. They are hissing in their own shorthand language."
Dumbledore sighed, "Oh, dear." His face looked concerned but the twinkle said otherwise.
James shot his old professor a smirk. "Their grandfather said something about training them early." Now Dumbledore really did look concerned.
Tom turned back to his original question. "So, why are you really here, Dad?"
"I have to go on a business trip to Salem. We are going to be looking for some additional teachers. I may not be back before the New Year."
Tom felt his heart skip a beat. "Do you think you will be gone that long?"
James shrugged, "Possibly. I heard some other schools are out looking right now also. I don't know what they are looking for but it seems that all of the qualified teachers have gone into hiding. It may take a while to fill all of the positions."
"Be careful traveling over, Dad. The Muggle papers say the crossing is dangerous right now because of all the U-boats."
James smiled slightly, "I am more worried about the trip home. It may end up being a round-about route."
Tom felt really nervous about this news. He knew his father was often involved with missions in hostile territory, but if his father came to say something before he left, it must be something extraordinarily dangerous. Putting aside his fears, all Tom said was, "Just be careful."
James grinned, "You can count on it."
Groaning at the pun, Tom answered, "That is what I am afraid of. Don't go all Gryffindor on me. Think Slytherin."
"I'll keep that in mind." James stood up. "I have to get going. I promised your Mum I would be home for lunch." Tom stood and they embraced. "Be good."
Tom laughed as they separated, "You mean don't get caught."
James looked confused, "That's what I said."
"When you get home I may have pictures of a certain DADA classroom filled with water."
"Cool." James glanced at Dumbledore out of the corner of his eye. "Make sure you prank your Transfiguration professor also. He needs to be kept on his toes."
Dumbledore smiled vaguely and offered his candy dish, "Lemon drop?"
James backed up towards the door. "Be careful of the lemon drops."
The professor only smiled, "Good day, gentlemen."
"Bye, professor." "Take care, Albus."
Tom walked his father to the Entrance Hall. They only talked about minor family issues and stories of Tom's siblings. Reaching the doors, Tom said, "Bring me back a gift from your trip."
"We'll see," James answered. "Take care of your mother and your siblings."
"I will, Dad. Be careful."
After a brief hug, Tom watched the only father he ever knew walking out of Hogwarts. Tom knew his father was not heading to America. He was going somewhere in Europe dealing with the war. "Get home soon, Dad," Tom murmured.
17 December 1940
The rest of the term passed quickly for Tom. The school was in chaos in the weeks leading up to the Christmas break.
Since the prank on the DADA classroom, a series of copycat pranksters appeared. Minor pranks occurred everyday. His favorite was one cast on the Gryffindor portal. Every fifth boy found his shorts gradually shrinking over the day. Nothing dangerous, just a lot of uncomfortable Gryffindors walking around the school.
Nott was upset when the first copycats appeared, but Tom pointed out it was providing them with a good alibis. It Dippet couldn't figure out who was doing what prank, they would be safe.
The beginning of December saw a pair of Fifth year Richelieu boys caught coating spoons in the Great Hall with a potion. It would have given all of the students a one hour bout of the Muggle condition called Tourets. Professor Flitwick caught them when he came in to start decorating the Hall for the holidays. This confirmed for Dippet and most of the students that a group of the French students were the pranksters behind 'La Revolution'.
Tom was actually impressed with the idea of coating the spoons. Who checks those? If you cast a detection charm for potions, it was almost always directed at the food, not the tableware. Tom decided to keep that in mind for when someone tried to prank him.
Because almost half the Hogwarts student body was comprised of war refugees, a record number of students would be remaining at the school for the holidays. Tom planned to spend most of the holiday at home but the school was allowing the students to freely wander between the castle and Hogsmeade. Tom invited (with his mum's permission) a number of his friends to visit over the break.
The first day of the break saw Tom leading a group of people down to his house for a free day in the village. The group consisted of Nott, Evan Rosier, Janek Nowicki, Mary Greengrass, Laura Parkinson, Ela Zamoyska, Andrea Sardonnes, Xurana, Tabitha Figg, and Penelope Midlands. Snuffles escorted them home while Nagini stayed warm inside Tom's coat.
A late night snowfall left a six inch layer of white stuff covering the landscape. Nott started throwing snowballs for Snuffles to fetch. Snuffles would dive into the snow to retrieve the snowball. After the first one, Snuffles shot the boy a reproachful glance. Nott threw another one and Snuffles was off again. Soon the large black dog was running widely around chasing disappearing snowballs. Tom suspected Snuffles knew exactly what was happening with the snowballs, but was having too much fun.
The game continued until Nott took a snowball to the side of his head. He turned expecting to see Tom. He only had a split second to see his attackers as another hit him right between the eyes. Tom saw Nott hit by the snowball 1-2 punch. He dodged as two flew through where his head had been a split second before.
Ela and Andrea stood with their wands drawn. A large pile of snowballs sat at their feet. With a flick of her wrist, Andrea sent another snowball hurling at Tom. Tom dodged but soon all seven of the girls were pelting the four boys with snowballs. Nott and Rosier attempted to retaliate but were unable to get anything going in the face of the assault. Janek simply turned his back to the girls and braced himself.
Seeing Janek's statue imitation, Tom ran to place Janek between himself and the girls. Mary and Laura taunted Tom for hiding from them and moved to get a better angle.
Unnoticed behind Janek, Tom drew his wand. Mumbling quietly, Tom made a stirring motion with his wand. The tip of his wand started to glow a brilliant blue. Before Mary and Laura could get him Tom darted out and released the pent up energy from his wand.
A bright blue bolt of spell energy leapt from Tom's wand and impacted directly between Laura and Mary. Everyone braced for something to happen but nothing seemed to happen. Laura started to laugh while Xurana made an off-color joke about impotent spells. Then the snow started to twist and the wind picked up. A heartbeat later a vortex formed over the spot Tom's spell impacted.
The miniature snow whirlwind formed a six foot tall spinning cloud of snow. The girls looked at Tom's snow storm in shock for a moment. Then Andrea was the first to run. Mary started right after her.
With a flick of his wand, Tom sent his revenge on top of the veela. The whirlwind ran over Andrea, dropping her to the ground and coating her in snow. Then the storm turned to chase after Mary and the other girls. Now it was the boys' turn to laugh as the girls fled the storm. Ela latched onto Janek hoping Tom would not send his whirlwind after her when it would get one of the boys too. Good strategy, too bad Tom felt no qualms about burying Janek in snow also. In a short time, all seven girls and Janek lay on the ground covered in snow.
As the girls stood back up, Tom heard Andrea growl her vengeance. Tom noticed the magical part-avian girl's eyes were glowing red. A part of Tom's mind calmly thought, 'No wonder people get so scared when I get angry.'
Fortunately the rest of Tom's mind recognized it was time to run. The other boys reached the same survival instinct a moment later. (Since the glares were primarily directed at Tom, this was an understandable delay on their part.) Soon Hogsmeade was treated to the sight of seven snow covered girls chasing three boys through the village. A large black dog ran around them all barking happily. A fourth boy trailed behind them at a much slower pace due to his laughter.
Nott yelled at Tom as they ran, "That was a stupid Gryffindor thing to do!"
Tom yelled back, "No, running was the Slytherin thing to do! Staying to face them would have been the Gryffindor thing to do!
The usually quiet Rosier added, "A 'puff would have never thought about doing it and a Ravenclaw would have been smart enough not to do it!"
Spell-thrown snow balls started falling around the running boys as they reached the Evans house. Katie and Michael were outside on their little brooms skimming over the surface of the snow. They paused to watch the show of their beloved older brother running from seven furious teenage girls. The twins reacted much like any other younger siblings would in this situation.
They applauded.
Running out of room, the boys turned to face their pursuers. Tom raised his hands above his head and tried to look meek. "We surrender. Peace"
Ela walked right up to Tom and looked down at him for her extra three inches of height. "What are you offering in return?" Before Tom could answer, Andrea, Laura, and Mary walked up to surround Tom
"Um, hot chocolate?"
Tom never got an answer to his offer. Instead a little boy's voice interrupted them. "Which one is Tommy's girlfriend?"
The stunned teenagers turned to hear Katie answer, "I can't tell. They are all acting too silly. It's just snow." The girls surrounding Tom turned varying shades of red.
Tom hissed at the twins in Parseltongue, None of them are my girlfriend!
Katie shrugged and answered in the same language, Then why are they acting so silly?
Michael smiled Mummy said teenagers get silly cause of 'ormons'.
Tom started to chuckle as Mary protested. "What are you three saying?"
Laura added, "No using a language no one else knows!"
Andrea asked, "Are parselmouths that common in England? Does all of Tom's family have that gift?"
"No," a new voice commented, "only the children have that particular gift." Sarah Evans stood in the doorway with a large grin on her face as she took in the scene in front of her. Tia was riding on her mother's hip.
"What about Daddy?" Katie protested.
Sarah bent down to look her oldest daughter in the face. "Your daddy is the biggest child in the magical world, just in front of grandpa and Uncle Albus!"
Katie giggled at her Mummy calling Daddy a little kid.
Christmas did not seem the same without James Evans home. The youngest twins were too young to understand anything but eating and sleeping. Katie and Michael had a harder time of understanding why Daddy wasn't with them on Christmas morning. Tom tried his best to divert the twins' attention, but he knew it just wasn't the same.
31 December 1940
It was the day before Tom's fourteenth birthday. Sarah left the younger kids with the Potters for the afternoon. She decided to take Tom to Diagon Alley for new robes. Tom also wanted to get a set of authentic Puddlemere United team Quidditch robes. The Potters had also given him some galleons for some new potions equipment. (Tom also found a book called "Pranking with Potions"!)
Tom enjoyed the afternoon with his Mum. He knew it was not the kind of thing a typical almost 14 year-old enjoyed, but spending his first six years with no parents gave him a greater appreciation of them then most of his peers. The Alley was rather quiet late in the afternoon as most of the magical adults prepared to celebrate the New Year.
They were approaching the Diagon Alley entrance to the Ministry of Magic offices when several men in black robes with their hoods up rushed towards the entrance. The men could not see Tom and Sarah until they almost reached the Ministry entrance.
Tom froze for a moment when he recognized the robes, Dark Army. The Dark wizards noticed Tom and Sarah just as Tom pushed his Mum back and shouted, "DARK WIZARDS!"
Three of the Dark wizards turned and fired spells towards the pair. Red, green and purple lights lit the darkening Alley. Tom shoved his mum out of the way as the green spell approached. Sarah landed in a clump between two buildings, hitting her head on the corner of the building. Sarah knew nothing else until she woke in St. Mungos an hour later.
Tom saw his mum fall to the ground after he shoved her. He knew she was hurt but he had no time to help her. Two of the Dark wizards were coming after them while the rest went into the Ministry. Tom drew his wand and stepped ahead and to the side of where his mother lay. (He didn't stand directly in front of her out of concern that spells fired at him might hit her if he dodged them.)
Tom took the stance his father drilled into him and yelled, "Reducto!" at the closest Dark wizard. Tom heard his opponent say something in a language he did not understand. Tom assumed the spell was a shield. However, Tom's spell was not fired at the wizard, at least not directly. The spell struck the cobblestones three feet in front of the front wizard. The stones exploded with the spells impact, throwing stones like shrapnel into the legs of the approaching wizard.
The wizard dropped with a scream as his legs gave out from the stone shrapnel damage. Without waiting to consider the reality of what he had just done, Tom followed it up with a Stunner. The Stunner took the wizard by surprise and he went unconscious.
The second wizard slowed as he approached his downed collogue. He glanced down momentarily but looked up too fast for Tom to take advantage of it. In accented English, the wizard said, "That was very impressive. Not many youth can keep their cool in a situation like this. I salute you, young wizard." Without looking down, the wizard summoned the other Dark wizard's wand and placed it inside his robe.
Tom knew this one would not underestimate him like the other one did. He had to play for time. For the first time, Tom regretted his father removing the Ministry wand usage charms. "What do you want?"
"Come now, boy, I am not going to stand here and play with you. I am sorry, but I can't have you reporting us." The wizard raised his wand.
Tom dropped into a roll to his side away from his mother. He never saw the spell fired but he heard it crack against something in the distance. Coming out of the roll, Tom started firing off Stunners, Bone-breaking Cursed and Reductos as fast as he could.
The Dark wizard was forced completely onto the defensive. Tom's rapid cursing prevented him from dropping his shield to curse Tom back. However, he was willing to be a little patient.
Tom soon understood why. A fourteen year-old wizard, no matter how powerful he was destined to be, simply did not have the depth to his magical core to go toe-to-toe with an adult wizard in an endurance match. Tom could feel himself weaken with each spell.
Suddenly, the wizard stepped to the side and fired a spell at Tom. The fireball came straight at him. Tom stepped to the side to allow it to pass. He failed to notice the spell following in its wake. Tom was hurled back as the spell slammed into him. It felt like he had just been cracked across the chest with a Beater's bat.
Tom lay on the ground gasping for breath. All of the air had been knocked from his lungs by the spell's impact. A hand reached down and grabbed Tom by the front of his robes.
Tom found himself being held up and face to face with his attacker. The wizard set Tom on his feet. "You have been a great deal of trouble, boy. But you deserve to die on your feet."
Tom summoned up the breath to hiss one word. Nagini!
The snake had been sleeping in the pocket of Tom's robe. Being a snake he hated to cold. Tom cast warming charms on his robe pocket on the inside of the robe. Shopping was not Nagini's thing so he slept for most of the afternoon. However, Tom being thrown across the Alley was not something even Nagini could sleep through.
The snake erupted out of the robe to bite the hand holding the front of Tom's robe. The wizard screamed in shock as he reflexively released Tom. Pulling his hand away, Nagini pulled back and hissed menacingly.
The wizard stumbled back as Nagini's venom spread into his blood stream. He was looking at his hand in horror. His knees gave out and he sank to the ground. Based on what Tom knew of Nagini's venom, he would be dead in less than twenty minutes without the proper antidote potion.
Tom hissed to his familiar, We need to get mum out of here. She is hurt. Tom noticed an additional shock on the dying Dark wizard's face as he heard Tom hiss.
As Tom struggled to his feet, he heard a crack as the other Dark wizard Apparated away. Tom frowned. He never noticed when the wizard regained consciousness from the Stunner. He would worry about that later. First, he had to get mum out of here and then alert the Aurors about the attack.
Lifting his mother carefully, Tom started to make his way as quickly as he could towards the Leaky Cauldron.
Three days later, an injured wizard appeared in his master's chamber.
"Were you successful?"
The wizard stood painfully in place. He had not been invited to sit in spite of his wounds. "The Ministry raid failed, master. We never reached the records room. However we may have succeeded in part."
The pleasant faced Dark Lord smiled, "Explain, please"
The courteous request did not make the wizard more comfortable. His Lord would be courteous right up to the time he cursed you. "A young wizard confronted us in Diagon Alley. He killed Schultz with a poisonous snake. I heard him hiss a command to it. He must be the missing Gaunt boy. Morfin Gaunt claimed only his family had that gift."
The Dark Lord nodded, "You are correct. Your mission was not a total loss. Place your memory into the Penesive. I want all of my operatives to know what the boy looks like. We will find that boy. I must have Slytherin's journals to complete my work."
"Yes, master." The wizard turned to limp out of the chamber.