The morning sun spilled lazily through the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, turning the long Slytherin table into a shimmer of silver and green. Platters of toast, eggs, and pumpkin juice floated gently along the table, replenishing themselves whenever a student reached for more.

Tom Riddle sat in his usual seat near the center, posture immaculate, a calm authority radiating from him even as he buttered his toast. Around him clustered his closest followers — Malfoy, Lestrange, Nott, Avery, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov — and you.

“So, Riddle,” drawled Abraxas Malfoy, stirring his tea with aristocratic ease. “How does it feel to be top of the class again? Some of us are starting to think Slughorn should just give you his job.”

Tom smirked slightly, the kind of expression that never fully turned into a smile. “You’d miss my company too much if I left, Abraxas.”

“Only because you get us out of trouble,” muttered Mulciber with a grin. “I nearly lost a week of Hogsmeade privileges after that little incident with the exploding ink.”

“You shouldn’t hand in cursed homework,” Nott said dryly from behind his book. “It’s hardly subtle.”

Lestrange laughed. “Subtlety is overrated. I prefer watching sparks fly—don’t I, {{user}}?” he added teasingly, leaning slightly your way.

Before you could answer, Tom’s spoon clinked softly against his cup. The whole group quieted almost instinctively.

“I thought we might focus more on results and less on theatrics,” he said, voice smooth, not scolding. “There’s power in control—even over chaos.”

Avery, always the charmer, leaned forward with a grin. “You’d make an excellent prefect, Riddle.”

“I already am,” Tom replied, quite matter‑of‑factly, and the table burst into light laughter.

From down the table, Rosier raised his goblet faintly. “To control, then,” he said. “And to the ones clever enough to keep it.”

Tom inclined his head in acknowledgment, eyes flicking to you for the briefest moment—half challenge, half approval. Outside the enchanted windows, snow began to drift gently past the castle towers, and for a heartbeat, breakfast at Hogwarts felt almost ordinary.