Harry Potter: I, Tom Riddle, am not the Dark Lord Chapter 24 24: Andros: Let’s Find a Way to Take Down Snape!

Before this school year, Slytherin had already won the House Cup six years in a row. One more victory would mark an unprecedented seven-ti streak.

And now, with a Potter in Gryffindor, Snape was taking the House Cup competition more seriously than ever. He absolutely refused to lose to the son of Jas Potter—even if that sa boy was also Lily Evans' son.

He had never taken a single point from his own students in previous years, and this year, there was zero chance of that happening.

Besides, he was thoroughly fed up with Rosier and his gang.

If they hadn't gone looking for trouble and provoked Riddle in the first place, would Snape have ended up getting his taphorical lungs punctured by fury today?

Right now, his desire to punish Tom had absolutely nothing to do with the boy hitting his dorm mates. No—it was purely to vent his own anger.

"If you dislike your dorm mates so much," Snape said in a voice like dripping venom, "then I'll find you a nice quiet place to stay. Starting tonight, you'll be serving detention in the abandoned classroom next door. One full week."

"I'm not going," Tom replied casually.

"You're not going to... what?!" Snape couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah," Tom said matter-of-factly. "I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I be in detention? If anyone should be punished, it's Rosier and the others."

"You think I'm asking you for your opinion?" Snape barked, his face dark with rage. "Detention is a disciplinary right given to professors! You have no say in the matter!"

"Well, I'm still not going."

Tom blinked innocently. "If you want to punish , fine—take house points, give a derit, heck, even expel . I can't stop you. But detention? My legs are attached to my body. If I say I'm not walking into detention, then I'm not."

His system only said he had to earn points to get course credits. It never ntioned losing them.

If Snape wanted to deduct points, let him. They'd see who ended up regretting it more.

Damn it. This kid was a force of nature.

Staring at Tom, Snape felt like he was facing a hedgehog curled into a ball—no weak spots, no way in.

Every trick in a teacher's disciplinary playbook was useless here: take house points, report to the Head of House, notify parents, give detention, issue derits, or, in the most extre cases, expel the student.

Points and reporting to the Head of House? Out of the question. Tom wasn't even part of another House.

And the kid was an orphan—so much for calling in the parents.

Detention? The brat outright refused to show up.

As for derits or expulsion, Snape didn't have that kind of authority. Only Dumbledore could do that.

And there was no way this situation was serious enough for Dumbledore to approve that. At most, the old man would give Tom a mild rebuke—if that.

Tom Riddle… was unstoppable.

Snape's blood pressure skyrocketed. Shaking with fury, he jabbed a finger at the door. "GET OUT! Out of my office!"

"Goodbye, Professor."

Tom stood up without hesitation, turned, and walked out. Before leaving, he even thoughtfully left the door wide open—just to make Snape get up and close it himself, as payback for never bothering to rise when Tom entered.

Unfortunately for Tom, he forgot one little thing—this was the wizarding world.

As soon as he exited, Snape whipped out his wand. BANG! The door slamd shut with such force it echoed through the hallway.

Students heading to Potions class in the dungeons jumped at the noise, startled. They all turned to stare at Tom with curious eyes.

Inside the office, Snape's chest was heaving with heavy breaths. He was livid.

There's a term in psychology called cognitive dissonance—when your behavior contradicts your self-perception, your brain will distort or bury the mory to avoid lingering anxiety or regret.

Snape was experiencing that in full force.

But today, a student had dragged those buried regrets right back to the surface—forcing him to relive the mistake he'd give his life to undo.

"Those who call others Mudbloods deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces… not worthy of love…"

His voice trembled between a laugh and a sob. Pain and guilt weighed heavily on his chest until it was hard to breathe.

For the first ti ever, the notoriously punctual Potions Master was late to his own class. He didn't show up until halfway through, and when he did, his gaze was icy enough to freeze the room.

…

anwhile.

Seeing Tom return safe and sound, without any punishnt, Daphne was overjoyed.

"Looks like Professor Snape is actually pretty reasonable. I guess those upperclassn really misunderstood him."

"Reasonable? Hmm. Yeah, let's go with that," Tom said after a mont of thought. Snape had been sowhat reasonable. Their little conflict hadn't gone beyond verbal sparring.

Even after nearly getting a lung full of taphorical daggers, Snape hadn't shown the slightest intent to get physical.

All the preparations Tom had made had gone unused.

The two of them stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, admiring the view beneath the lake. After a while, Daphne got a sudden idea—she wanted to buy a cara and take pictures to show her younger sister.

"You really love your sister, huh," Tom remarked. From the very first mont they'd t on the train, Daphne had been constantly talking about her little sister.

It wasn't just words—she genuinely cared, wore that love on her sleeve. A classic case of older-sister syndro.

Hearing that, Daphne lit up with a bright smile. "Once you et Astoria, you'll like her too. She's coming to Hogwarts next year. You'll understand when you see her."

Tom nodded. "If her big sister is this adorable, her little sister can't be far off."

The complint caught Daphne completely off guard. Her face turned scarlet, like soone had set her on fire. She didn't say a word—just spun around and bolted straight into the girls' dormitory.

Tom: "…"

This girl… got embarrassed that easily?

He had no idea Daphne had grown up overly protected, rarely interacting with boys outside of her family. Hearing such a direct complint from a boy? Of course she blushed.

Shaking his head, Tom gave up on enjoying the view alone and headed back to his dorm.

Snape hadn't punished him, true—but that didn't an his tattling roommates were getting off scot-free.

Unfortunately, when he arrived, the dorm was empty. No sign of Zabini or the other two.

A bit disappointed, Tom sat down and cast a Disillusionnt Charm on himself before sinking into his study space.

Inside the ntal realm, Andros slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Your Potions professor has so very valuable stuff. Looks like… it's ti we figure out how to clean him out."

Tom: "???"

He'd just entered and things were already this intense?