Guys, pls read this before the chap. I gotta get something off my chest:
Tbh, almost every "new" fic on this site (HP ones included) is just a trashy Chinese translation.
You guys might not notice, but it's all AI slop with zero effort. The fanfic section is basically a dumpster fire right now because of this. Ever notice how they top the rankings but always get dropped halfway? That's cuz the "translators" have zero control over the story.
Plus, since they are technically stealing paid chapters from the original authors, those fics can get banned or deleted at any moment. Nothing is guaranteed.
But these thieves don't care. They just spam content and don't give a damn if the story is abandoned or unoriginal.
Readers get baited, start reading, and never see an ending. It's annoying af that the top ranks are full of this stuff.
But this ff? It's 100% OG. No copy paste, no MTL. You guys can tell the difference. Long story short: as long as you support me, I'll keep writing despite all the trash on here.
That's where I need you, fam. I need your reviews and Power Stones to help me rise above the garbage.
(For every 5 star review, I will release 1 bonus chapter. You have a total of 10 slots.)
I've always believed in Quality over Quantity.
If you agree, pls help this fic stand out among the AI slop and soon to be dropped translations.
Sry for the long rant, just had to vent. Enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter 24: Kindness Is the Sharpest Blade in Slytherin
But with Slytherin House taking sides between Malfoy and the Blacks, the power of the House as a whole was also divided – meaning that attention was also divided.
All of a sudden, there was this mad scramble for allies between the two most prominent families in Magical Britain, where every man was important. Even the orphan half-bloods. Especially the orphan half-bloods.
All the other Pureblood families were pretty much bound to honor age-old contracts, so their sides in the conflict were already determined.
The people from the non-major families were the real swing votes, and at the top of the pile was none other than Tom Riddle. It was no surprise that he was the most influential student among the neutrals, even if he was a penniless first-year.
Neither of them trusted him completely – but they didn't really trust anyone, so it wasn't like Tom was any more or less desirable in the honor department than any of the other Slytherins.
Rather, it was his potential that they were hoping to harness in the future, and as long as the feud continued to last, and Tom continued to prove himself to be a valuable asset in the invisible post-graduation war, he would be needed.
It was this necessity for talented allies that drove the Blacks and Malfoy to desperation, and this desperation caused them to overlook any blood issues that might have been a problem in regular times.
So they catered to his every whim, hoping to cash in on it later in the form of an ally, and Tom kept humoring them, always leaning in the direction of whoever was present and perpetuating the bidding war of favors with no intention of redeeming any of them.
And in this way, Tom Riddle went from a mere nobody-who-might-be-somebody-one-day to that person that everyone had to be friends with or else!
Oh, sure, there would always be brats with an over-inflated sense of self-entitlement who couldn't comprehend just how important he was to the future political scheme, but Tom always made sure to be so especially nice to them.
It was his – well, Jerry's – favorite way to screw with people he didn't like: by being nice to them.
Ah, smiling. The absolute best way to intimidate a man.
Technically, now that Tom thought about it, Edmond Lestrange should have been the desirable ally number one in the Malfoy-Black war, as the Lestranges were the third most influential family in Great Britain, and they were still currently neutral.
But Edmond was too young and too inexperienced to get caught up in this spat.
Meanwhile, Tom Riddle wasn't. If anything, he was the one throwing alcohol onto the flames (not that he would tell anyone that clear liquid he was handing them wasn't really water).
Of course, Lestrange was smart enough to know that he was being left out of something big, even if he didn't know what, and decided to randomly guess and blame Tom for it. Unfortunately for him, Lestrange was right.
And by "him", Tom meant Lestrange himself.
Because every time he sought Tom out to start a fight, the confrontations always went in the same circles.
"I don't need help from a filthy little half-blood orphan like you!"
(Cue the sniggers from Lestrange's cronies.)
"I didn't realize I was offering you help in the first place, Lestrange. I was under the impression that you, as the only scion of the most powerful pureblood family in Great Britain, could easily be at the top of the class without any extra assistance. But, now that you've mentioned help…"
"I said I don't need any help!"
"Well, that's a shame. Oh, well. I suppose not everyone can be like the Blacks or the Malfoys."
"What about the Blacks or the Malfoys?"
"Well, they're not ranked below any 'filthy little half-blood orphans' now, are they?" Tom sighed. "So sad. Looks like the Lestranges aren't all that they're cut out to be, after all. Washed up after only five generations. But that's all right. I hear the Crabbes and Goyles are still going strong."
(Cue the sniggers from Lestrange's ex-cronies, turned Tom's minions.)
"Just you wait, Riddle. I'll – I'll – "
"Stutter at me? Come now, that's not very refined, now, is it?"
"My father will hear about this!"
"By the way, did I ever tell you how much better you are than Minerva McGonagall?"
(Cue the sniggers from Lestrange's cronies, once again.)
"But you just said – "
"What did I say?"
"You insinuated that I was ranked below her in classes!"
"I didn't insinuate anything."
"Yes, you did!"
"No, I didn't. I stated it. As a fact. There are progress report sheets available for anyone who wants one, and you're not even in the top five."
(Cue the sniggers from Lestrange's-cronies-turned-Tom's-once-more.)
"So you're insulting me!"
"Since when did I insult you? I've always supported you and believed that you were better than all the common masses."
"Wait, what?"
"It's true. Edmond Lestrange, you are the brightest, most intelligent, most charismatic first-year I have ever run across."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. You are destined for great things; I can feel it."
"Well, of course, we Lestranges have to be better than everyone else, don't we? You're not so bad yourself, Riddle. Even if you're a half-blood."
(Cue the confused looks from Lestrange's cronies.)
"That's very nice to know, Lestrange. I must say, you are doing a wonderful job of using your family name to cover up your own insecurities and lack of any actual talent."
(Cue Lestrange's enraged howl…five minutes too late, when Tom had already walked away.)
And then the next day:
"Oh! And here's your homework, Lestrange! You left it behind in the dormitories, so I went and got it for you. After all, it's not fair for someone like you to have to walk all the way back to the dungeons to get something when a house-elf can do the job just as well, right? Gosh, you're such a flawless person. I could only hope to be half the wizard you are."
Slowly, but surely, Tom's tactic of being "nice" drove Lestrange mad, while simultaneously endearing him to the public even more. Mainly because Tom wasn't asking for anything in return. And of course, Lestrange, being decently schooled in the art of politics, if not masterfully schooled, knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
His problem was that, like the rest of Hogwarts, whom Tom "helped", he didn't know how he was paying for it – because, unfortunately, he had not yet managed to comprehend the idea that there were less conspicuous forms of payment than pure money, or an explicit request for a favor.
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