Or that time Kitsu learned it wasn't supposed to be normal to drink coffee before 16 years old. Ooops.
"Oi! You're gonna be late for breakfast!" One of the students called out to him, shaking him awake for classes. It was the morning after he had asked for the basilisk to be killed and rendered, and Tom was feeling rather tired from the lack of a proper sleep schedule.
"Alright, I'm coming," Tom told the boy with a sigh. He had not received enough sleep to be ready for the day, and it certainly showed in his sluggishness. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."
If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't just use the Time Turner right in front of the boy to turn back time and sleep some more, he likely would have done just that. But for now, he resolved to split off from him and "get slightly lost" on the staircases so he could go to the seventh floor and take a nap there instead for a few hours. After all, if he timed it just right, it would simply appear as if he had accidentally missed the timing on the moving staircases and ended up in the wrong part of the castle for a moment or two.
"Alright. I'll be waiting outside, so hurry up!" the blond-haired boy told him with a bit of urgency.
Tom didn't know what he was so excited for, as Hogwarts food really wasn't all it was hyped up to be in the books. But he figured that the boy was English born and raised, and likely had never tasted anything actually decent. At least not beyond what was well known and memed about as average British food in the reincarnator's past life.
Still, he should at least try to talk with the boy a little. Who knew what he had to offer for ideas after all.
Plus, he did look quite familiar for some reason, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was. Tom decided he would have to check in with him and see what he could figure out about the friendly and somewhat helpful boy.
Once he was dressed, he made his way over to the door and greeted the boy outside. "Morning, thanks for waking me up," Tom thanked him with a sheepish grin, allowing the plants to fix his hair for him as they moved through the common room.
"No problem, mate! Just doing my best for an old roommate," the boy told him, returning the grin with one of his own. Oh? Well, that was certainly interesting.
"I didn't catch your name yet by the way, I'm Tom," the dark-haired boy told him, committing the mousey features of the blond-haired boy to memory as he tried to remember where he had met him before. There was a place he could think of, but the boy would have to have an incredible memory to have been able to remember him, so it couldn't have been there.
"It's me, Jimmy! I was the one who you helped with schoolwork back in the orphanage a lot and taught those memory games!" he exclaimed happily. "It turns out if you focus on your magic while you do those, it really helps to remember important stuff, so I got ahead in school just like you did after you left."
Wait what? Tom vaguely remembered what he was talking about, but he certainly hadn't noticed any major increases in his memory capacity from playing memory games. Was it because he didn't know how to control his magic at the time? Could this be the potential answer to the start of Occlumency?
Tom's eyes narrowed in thought. It seemed he had much to discuss with this one.
"Oh? I honestly had no idea it could be used like that," Tom told him with a small smile as he followed him towards the stairs. "It really would have helped a lot to know that it could be used like that. Maybe we can share some tips sometime?"
Jimmy's eyes widened at that. It seemed that the thought that Tom hadn't intended for it to be used like that hadn't even crossed his mind. "Oh wow! You didn't know that, and you still managed to get as far as you did? You must be a studying legend."
"I worked really hard to get the marks I did, yes," Tom admitted. The conversation was mildly awkward so far, but it was also oddly pleasant to be able to reconnect with someone from the orphanage. He would need to call in during the summer to see if he could organize a bit of something for them to do together, perhaps.
"Well, I'm glad I got over my rivalry with you back at the orphanage now. Because if I needed all that extra boost from magic just to catch up to your normal, I can only imagine what it would be like to try to compete with you once you figure out how to use that trick yourself," the small blond said to him with a bright smile.
They were closing in on the stairs, however, so he took a left turn instead of a right at the stairwell and rode the staircase up towards the seventh floor while the boy wasn't looking directly at him. He felt somewhat bad about it. But if he timed it right, he should be able to simply state that he got on the wrong staircase, and ended up on a floor that was higher up by mistake.
After all, he did just point out that his memory wasn't as good as Jimmy's, right? The boy probably wouldn't think anything of it this time. And hopefully there wouldn't need to be a next time.
Making his way over to the Room of Requirement with a sigh, he proceeded to pace in front of it again and went right into his secret base as soon as it opened. With a yawn and a groan, he made his way to the first nap room, and flopped onto a bed, turning back time with his Time Turner to get an extra four hours of sleep. After setting his watch to go off about a half an hour before he went to bed, Tom grinned, and went to meet Morpheus in the land of dreams.
~~~~
With a ring from his watch and a strange magical zap, Tom awakened from his nap feeling very refreshed. He was quick to rush off to the attached shower room, grateful that it included all the necessary things to help him cleanse himself. With that in mind, he showered as he waited for his other self to walk in and take a nap in the other room.
The Room of Requirement was quite useful to him so far. He was very glad that unlike how it was seen in the books and movies, the door did not need to remain open while people were inside, and he could hide the entrance as soon as he wished simply by closing the door.
Of course, this meant that if someone wished to find him specifically, the Room of Requirement would lead them right to him, unless he specified otherwise upon wishing for the door. And that if someone had need of the same facilities he was using, they could simply enter and take what they wished. However, as long as he was able to keep it a secret, neither of those things would be even the slightest issue.
After all, there were more than enough resources to go around if needed, and he was planning to take several samples with him in an expanded trunk either way. It would make it much simpler to deal with, rather than trying to see if plants in other worlds had the right types of magical properties needed to achieve the same effects. He would be rather annoyed if he lost access to the things in this world that would be able to help him in the long run.
Hmm… How hard would it be to make a Room of Requirement of his own, and anchor it to an expanded trunk? He would have to find out as soon as he was able to.
As it was, the other him had closed the door to the bedroom and gone to sleep by the time he was finished showering. So he made his way out the other door to get out of the Room of Requirement before he missed breakfast.
Hopefully there would be some coffee and cream when he arrived, as he was in for a rather long day. He would need the energy if he was to survive the Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the day with the Ravenclaws, let alone Care of Magical Creatures that afternoon with the Gryffindors.
Making his way down the steps, he soon reached the Great Hall just in time for it to open for breakfast, the students all piling in at once with Jimmy looking at him like he had grown a second head.
Right, he was able to tell he had showered and rested in the amount of time it took him to get down the stairs, because he had a rather good memory. Perhaps he could have waited to clean himself before coming down to meet him for breakfast, couldn't he.
"Well, I won't ask what spells you used to clean yourself up just yet, but I'm going to figure out how to do it, and then I'll share it with the others," Jimmy told him with a grin. "That way no one bothers you about it when they already know they can just come to me instead, and you can focus on more useful things to share with me later."
Quite presumptuous of the kid, but Tom could recognize an attempt at good-natured bartering for resources when he saw it. "Alright. Let me know when you've figured it out then," the dark-haired boy told him with a charming smile, before making his way over to the Hufflepuff table to be seated for the morning meal.
And coffee. Couldn't forget caffeinated beverages.
When he arrived at the table, a familiar face from the train sat down on the other side of him from Jimmy. One he had almost thought was going to forget about him due to how busy she had been during the school day before.
"Morning Tom!" Tonks said to him with a bright and cheery voice. "I see you've made another new friend!"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Jimmy. I knew him from way back," the mousey blond told her with a small smile. Holding his hand out to her for a handshake, he patted Tom on the shoulder to show his apparent familiarity, "We've known each other since we were kids."
Tom tried his best not to look uncomfortable at how close the two of them were getting to him, but they were crowding him from both sides and he felt rather cramped. It was almost suffocating to be forced between two extroverts, and he wasn't quite sure how to handle such a thing being shoved in his face all at once quite yet.
Luckily for him, it was only a few moments later that breakfast was served. A very nice breakfast spread of fried bacon, scrambled eggs, ham and cheese omelets, buttered biscuits of various types, sausage, bacon, and assorted cut up fruits, and bacon were available for all the students to take. While the meal from dinnertime was bland and flavorless, filled almost entirely with grease, the breakfast was at least somewhat better. If only because that was exactly what one wanted from an English breakfast.
The amount of energy one could gain from such a breakfast was ideal for a hard day studying or at work, though overindulging would definitely lead to diabetes. Tom wondered to himself idly about how the wizards of this society weren't all utter balls of lard with how much they ate though. They must have some sort of ritual they did to make sure they would maintain their health, or maybe a potion of some sort.
He would have to look into it when he was finished eating. With a smile, he subtly grasped the Time Turner in his pocket, knowing he had all the time in the world to achieve his plans, right at his fingertips.
After all, it's not like a few hours here and there would be that noticeable on his ageing that people would comment on it. Growth spurts were a thing, and he would simply have to claim it as such if people asked about it, and any questions would likely go away all on their own.
"You listening, Tom?" Tonks asked as she looked at him with pinched brows, her annoyance written plainly on her face.
It seemed Tom had missed something important during his inner monologue. Perhaps he should try to find a spell that let him record and play such things back for his own convenience in the future? It might just save his life one day.
"Sorry Tonks. Was busy thinking about the lack of coffee near us," Tom mentioned with a sigh. It really was a shame, to be honest, so it wasn't that much of a stretch.
"You sure you wanna drink coffee? It's so bitter!" Tonks asked him with a mildly disgusted expression. She was clearly exaggerating it for comical effect, but it was still more cute than funny in his mind.
Only a true working adult could understand his love for coffee after all. "Of course. Just add a little cream and sugar, and it's quite tasty," he explained. "You can even add chocolate, vanilla, or caramel to give it a bit of extra sweetness."
"Are you sure? I don't think sugar can save that…" Tonks looked over at the coffee near the seventh years warily.
"It's kinda like lemonade," Tom explained with a grin, "You don't wanna drink lemon juice straight, but if you add water and sugar, it becomes sweet and delicious."
"Alright then, maybe I'll give it a go myself," she claimed. At that, she laughed and brought some over with the levitation charm — along with some cream and sugar — one at a time.
As she did this, Tonks looked over at Tom and smirked. "You should be able to do at least this much by now, Tom! It was in the list of things to practice that Professor Flitwick gave us!" she told him with a sly grin, probably thinking he was just being silly for not doing so himself. And to be fair, he was just using that as an excuse for not paying attention, so he should have seen it coming.
"Thanks Tonks," he told her, the girl visibly preening as her hair turned a deep shade of reddish pink just for him. Once he had fixed up his coffee and taken a sip, he turned to her with a small smile and asked her about what she had said to him. "Now what was it that you had said before we were interrupted by my preferred choice of beverage?"
Tonks perked up, grinning at him with a triumphant smile as if she had figured him out completely and was looking for a chance to show off. "I was asking what you were going to do for Quidditch and broom flying practice tomorrow. Jimmy said you'd figure it out in twenty seconds or less and then proceed to do laps around everyone else, but I told him that Quidditch doesn't seem like something you're into, so you probably wouldn't show off even if you could," she claimed, proving a startling amount of observational skills for an eleven-year-old.
"Yeah, I'm not sure I'd be any good at it though either, at least not at first," Tom calmly stated. He knew it was likely he would fail horribly the first few times just like everyone else and he didn't want to end up looking like a braggart. "It's not like I'm a genius after all, I just work very hard to keep myself at a good pace with my learning."
The rest of the breakfast continued on without incident, and Tom found himself quite enjoying the company of the two children. They reminded him a lot of his own grandchildren to be honest with himself, and he was quite happy to imagine what they might have thought of his new friends in his second life. He figured that they would get along rather well, most likely.
Unfortunately, that was a thought for another time. He had work to do, and he couldn't let too many distractions get in the way. His maximum focus would be required if he wanted to get through the day, especially during Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Tom might not know who was going to be the teacher that year, but he was certain that it would be an issue he would have to do his best to avoid. After all, wasn't the position quite literally cursed? He would need to watch for any red flags as he went about his day.
Wouldn't be very fun to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, now would it?
~~~~
As the school year went by at a slow and steady pace, Tom was forced to realize that things were going a bit easier than he expected.
It was almost suspicious how much money he had managed to acquire simply by providing some of the ingredients from the Room of Requirement to the House Elves to sell amongst the students and staff, and how not one of them seemed to bat an eye about how he received such things. The dark-haired boy almost wondered why not even Snape had asked where the sudden influx of potions ingredients of all types was coming from, and why he was being paid so much for them, despite what he thought was a reasonable price being much, much lower than he was given.
Sure, Tom certainly made use of what he had learned about the sub-par quality potion ingredients in Diagon Alley with Snape, but he had offered quite steep discounts to the staff and students as an incentive to buy from him. It wasn't as if he would lose on quantity after all, so he would turn a hefty profit from that alone. He definitely wasn't expecting the potions master to step in and force the students to pay him more.
Again, he had no idea why this was happening, even if he knew how and what, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It would be rather stupid to try figuring it out at the stage it was at, and so he resolved to let that go for now.
Well, he certainly wouldn't complain about the results, but he found it hard to believe that this was in any way sustainable, so he made sure to use the premium mail service to set up a personal account with Gringotts remotely. If only because of the fact that he would need a place to store the frankly ridiculous amount of money he had made thus far.
He had every suspicion that it was simply because wizards in general had no idea what the concept of money was as a proper method of buying and selling goods, and that their ability to understand proper business sense was practically non-existent. Unfortunately, he didn't have any true knowledge of wizarding economy to base this knowledge off of, but this certainly seemed to be the case in his mind.
As a direct result, he had more than enough cash to afford to invest heavily in the modern tech industry. All while still being able to afford a trip to America in the summer with the funds he had received by the end of Christmas Break. And with that number only growing over time, his investments in the muggle world through Gringotts — as well as more mundane banks through his father — were really starting to pay off.
For the first time in this life, he had reached a point where he had more money than he could actually make use of, and he was rather pleased with himself for that fact. Now if only he could make use of his status as a minor to not have to pay taxes and fees in the wizarding world as well, he would be very happy.
Alas, not everything could go the way he wished, thus he paid his taxes and continued about his day, wondering what the teachers thought of him as a student who had found success within their halls.
~~~~
"Larry, I need to ask you a favor," Tom called out one day within the Room of Requirement as he browsed through row after row of expanded trunks, looking for ones with the best preservation charms he could find among them already built in. Such a thing might be utterly unnecessary due to the fact that everything he had gained from the Room of Requirement, along with all of the rendered basilisk parts were already magically preserved. But it would certainly help for later purchases nonetheless.
Of course, he knew by now that the house elf he called for would come as soon as his name was mentioned. Larry was always ready to help him. Which was why he felt confident that he could sit in a cushioned chair, and browse through the magical catalogue set out before him while he did so. It was much more comfortable than getting up to physically inspect them himself right away.
"Of course, Young Master Tom," the distinguished voice of the house elf called out to him from a rafter above, before he appeared directly in front of Tom with a small grin. "What will you have me do for you today?" he asked, eager to begin his latest task.
Tom nodded, folding his arms across his chest as he spoke. "I need you to find me any potions books with notes in them from someone known as 'The Half-blood Prince'. It is very important to me that this be done swiftly and silently, so that absolutely no one notices the search."
"I will arrange a team, and we will begin without delay. Is that everything?" Larry asked him with a small smile, his hands clasped in front of him like he was trying to beg Tom for more work.
"Well, an egg and bacon sandwich with salt and mayo with a mug of coffee would be nice," Tom admitted, happy to provide the work-happy being with more things to do. It was very much something that was useful to him, and he was considering asking Larry himself if he would be willing to become his personal house elf.
He could indeed simply buy some from a place that sold young ones. However, he was well aware that the Hogwarts house-elf was likely the best one he could acquire. Unfortunately, the rules on buying house-elves from Hogwarts were a bit stricter than buying them from most breeders. It was also consequently much cheaper to buy from Hogwarts, simply for the fact that almost no one wanted to buy a used house elf. At least, not from a place that could afford to be so stringent and picky with their customers.
"Right away, Young Master Tom!" the excited house elf exclaimed, popping away in an instant to deal with the tasks he had been given.
With how happy the elf seemed while working for him, Tom knew he would need to go through Hogwarts to find his house elves. If only because they seemed to be well taken care of here, and had already picked up the vast majority of the skills they would need to help him in his daily tasks, and thus, did not require training of any sort.
Within a few moments, Larry popped back up with his sandwich, along with a mug of coffee with sugar cubes and cream nearby for him to add it to his desired amount for the day. "How many cubes and splashes today, Young Master Tom?" he asked as he held the tray close for Tom to inspect with his magic.
"Three cubes of sugar, and two small splashes of cream please," Tom told the house elf as he took the sandwich from the plate. Taking a bite, he was filled with the satisfaction of a delicious sandwich, as he expected of Larry by this point.
The house elf nodded his head and proceeded to expertly mix the ingredients into the coffee with his magic directly. It really was quite an impressive feat, even among other house elves. And it made sure that the coffee was mixed evenly, with no wasted sugar left at the bottom of the mug. "Very well, Young Master Tom. Here is your coffee," he told Tom with a smile.
"Thank you, Larry. That will be all," Tom told him, watching as the elf nodded and disappeared to do the rest of his tasks.
Tom had long learned the most important lesson he could have about the creatures taking care of him at the castle. House elves were a necessity if he was to advance in life, and he would ensure that he acquired one that he liked, through whatever means he could use. If he didn't, he would be wasting a lot of time and effort better spent doing other things, and he only had so long to leave the world before he would be forced into a war he really didn't want.
In any case, he had work to do. "So, if I combine Dragon blood with Phoenix ashes…"
~~~~
AN:
Kitsu: This one is done, because it needs to be broken up into multiple chapters, honestly.
It's very fun, and I want to fully flesh out the alternate POVs in the next chapter to make it an interlude chapter, and then have the chapter after be about how he sells the stuff from the ROR and goes on a magical tour of America.
I have a bunch of energy from taking my meds for once, plus coffee and need to be up all night anyways, so I'mma just get it done if I can. Or at least as much of it as possible.
Asdo21: Please give your likes and feedback if you have any about the story and remember to direct them to me. Love to see what you guys/gals think about the story and what even might be improved or might have been forgotten. Now I go to die in my bed.
Kitsu: Yus~ I will be reviving my Patreon, so you can read chapters early on there. The more you pay, the less time you'll have to wait for more to come out.
And hey, if you wanna see more come out faster for any of my stories, you can toss cash my way via my ko-fi to sponsor a story you like! Come chat on my Discord if you wanna support me! Links are in my website: https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/
EN:
Kitsu: Yes, I know that Care of Magical Creatures is supposed to be a third year thing. However, I wanted it to be a thing for first years during Tom's early years, simply for the funnies in the first draft of this section.
If you need a reason why it's no longer offered to firsties, just look at all the accidents Professor Kettleburn seemed to have gotten into. He probably had an accident earlier as well, so they pulled the class from first and second years.
I kinda hate the missed opportunity here, but when we got to chapter ten, me and Asdo wanted to move on to the next world, so we kinda rushed out as much as we could.
If you want more Harry Potter content though, you can ask Asdo to get me to properly write out those years as well… Well, you'll see. This is only chapter 7 after all.
TheLetter_A: I once again don't know what to add here. Weather's been pretty sunny. While Kitsu's been fun to work with, I'm perfectly willing to branch out to other clients. Can't be bothered to post my kofi link here, but you can find it either on Kitsu's carrd or on the discord server.
https:// aiko akiyoshi . carrd . co/
Have a good one guys! :wave: