“Many of the things you do here at Hogwarts can earn you House points if you do them well enough, and any transgressions can lose points from the House. So make sure to play by the rules at all times – and donʼt get caught doing anything you shouldnʼt.”
— Professor Slughorn, teaching his students that it's only a transgression if you get caught
Tom Riddle's Schooldays is an aborted fanfiction set in the Harry Potter universe, about Tom Riddle jr.'s time as a student at Hogwarts. Of seven planned installments, the first three, "Year 1: Silver Blood", "Year 2: Fathomless Fears", "Year 3: Masquerade" and "Year 4: Serpens Sub Rosa" can no longer be found.
This work provides examples of:
- Academic Alpha Bitch: Belinda Jabez. Marca is more of a team player, but no less ambitious.
- Advantage Ball: Tom usually holds this, although he occasionally passes it to Marca.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Jana develops a crush on Tom quite fast.
- Anti-Hero: Tom, doing good and "selfless" things for selfish reasons.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The Perevodal Glass translates things word-for-word.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Tom thinks on his feet, strategizes like an expert, and apparently taught himself to read using the few books in the orphanage. He still rises to the top of his class mostly by reading the minds of more industrious classmates.
- Bookworm: Not only are most of the important characters this, but there is a pet version.
- Captain Obvious: Marca sees people who compliment her as this. Ironic, in that she often is this herself.
- Children Are Innocent: Inverted with Tom. Played straight with Jana.
- Cloud Cuckoolander:
- Jana when she drinks a strong Draught of Peace.
- Elvira Highcastle in general.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Tom both feels this way and like he'd at least like to know who his father was.
- Conveniently Coherent Thoughts: Mostly Averted. Tom almost only hears relevant thoughts when he and the other person are focused on the same task.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Divination efforts in the second book pointing to "the Hogwarts Champion being a female girl of the feminine sex".
- Disproportionate Retribution: Belinda to Jana. Trying to put someone in permanent coma is hardly commensurate to the crime of being made replacement Seeker.
- Expy: The translation device sounds just like Google Translate.
- Eye Scream: What Tom does to the unicorn he traps.
- Fantastic Racism: It's amazing how quickly Tom takes the cultural notion that Muggles and by extension Muggleborns are bad, being outsiders, and turns it into Muggles being objectively worthless by virtue of not having magic. Unlike his older cannon self, he doesn't mind Muggleborns, seeing as they do have magic.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble:
- Optimist: Tiernan
- Cynic: Tom
- Apathetic: Marca
- Realist: Antonin
- Hair-Trigger Temper: When something annoys Tom, it infuriates him. Noteworthy in that he can control himself, and never so much as throws a tantrum.
- If It's You, It's Okay: While there's no prejudice against different sexualities, there is quite a lot of pressure to get married and have children, especially on Purebloods, so for a gay person the spouse pretty much has to be this.
- I Have No Son!: Jana's Muggle parents. If you overlook the fact that she has a brother, they are in fact correct about that.
- I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Tom is at first confused that things he can do magically don't come naturally to the other children.
- Also Inverted, as before he learned of magic he had assumed he was the only one in the world who could do that.
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Tom feels that all magical folk, but himself first and foremost, ought to be immortal.
- Meaningful Name:
- Belinda means "bright serpent". Brightly colored snakes are supposed to be the most venomous.
- Jana means "two-faced".
- Missing Mom: And dad. Tom knows little about his parents except that his mother died in childbirth and that he's named for his father. Interestingly, he assumes his father is the magical parent, reasoning that a witch mother would not have given birth at a Muggle orphanage.
- Most Writers Are Adults: Tom doesn't think like your typical eleven-year-old. In fact, none of the children do.
- Parental Neglect: Tom's orphanage is run by a drunk.
- Plucky Girl: Jana. Taking a Quidditch field to the face does absolutely nothing to halt her cheer, and the fact that she never beats Tom at dueling doesn't mean she stops trying.
- Pun:Marca: I think, that it is a wise observation.Tom: Well, I am a wizard.
- Punny Name: Marca Zelyonaya shares her name with a brand of vodka.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Marca, all the time.
- Shout-Out: There is a student named Nettleskip, in reference to canon Snape's real-life inspiration.
- Smart People Play Chess: Tom establishes his intellectual dominance on the train by winning a chess game against Archibald Aardwolf with a Surprise Checkmate. Bonus points for it being a realistic chess match.1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.g3 fxg3 5.Qf3 g2+ 6.Ke2 gxh1=Q 7.Qxf7+ Kd8 8.Qxf8#
- Sssssnaketalk: Parseltongue with its traditionally long sibilants.
- Trans Equals Gay: Defied: she likes boys.
- Unreliable Narrator: The way Tom thinks about Dumbledore, you'd think the man was pure evil. Could be modelled on how Hitler would describe Churchill.
- War Is Glorious: Antonin's father thinks this, but he also thinks Antonin should grow up and get an education before attempting to fight in the war that's brewing in Europe, thus averting Child Soldiers.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Tom's friends are not sentimental about, for instance, House elves. Tom himself takes this approach to everyone, even other wizards, regardless of blood status.
- Would Hit a Girl: Tom happily uses vicious tactics against Jana in their duels.
