The Tall Man (500 words, rated G)
Did I write short Voldemort POV fic today? Yes I did.
THE TALL MAN
How poetic a fate is this. In life, I hungered for immortality. My only fear was death, and that fear saved me from oblivion. Now I drift the halls of Hogwarts, insubstantial as the mist that flees before the dawning day. I exist, and that is all. Because of the actions I took in life, in death I have less substance even than the other ghosts who roam the castle. Only in darkness can I be seen at all, and then, only just.
The students who come here now call me "the Tall Man". They speak of me in fearful whispers, if they speak of me at all, and they avoid me when they can. They know my other name, too, but none of them fears to speak it now. No child now at this school was alive to remember me. They do not know that I am still here -- that I am the shadowy presence they fear. When I speak to them, to tell them my true name, they hear only the breath of a whisper.
The castle doors open. The children enter. They do not see me standing in the shadows, watching. Their lives are so small, but I envy them. When they enter the Great Hall, I follow. One by one, the names are read out. One by one, they step to the front and place the Hat upon their heads. Some of the names are familiar. Some of the faces are dimly mirrored reflections of faces I once knew.
A boy with the Malfoy name and face steps to the front, looking determined. When the Hat declares him a Hufflepuff, he looks pleased.
A few more students go by, and then -- a face so familiar that I would have caught my breath, if I still breathed. Black hair. Green eyes. The Potter boy. The face is rounder, though, and he does not wear spectacles. There is no scar upon his forehead.
His name is called out, and I laugh softly. Potter has named his son for my great enemy, Dumbledore, and for the traitor, Severus. Fear shows on his face as he puts the Hat on his head. A moment passes, and then another, as the Great Hall holds its breath in expectation.
"Slytherin!" declares the Hat, to audible gasps from the onlookers. The child on the stool looks as if he might cry.
I throw back my head and laugh. Potter's son, Sorted into the House that was once my own -- the House that gave me so many of my followers in life.
A few nearby students glance over their shoulders and move away, shivering. They had not even known I was there. One leans close to another and whispers, "The Tall Man ..."
I want to tell them that is not my name, but I cannot. I have no power to make myself known, or to affect the world around me in any way. The only power I have is the power to watch and to exist, endlessly, deathlessly. This is my immortality. Be careful what you wish for.
The Tall Man @AO3
The Tall Man @FanFiction.net
THE TALL MAN
How poetic a fate is this. In life, I hungered for immortality. My only fear was death, and that fear saved me from oblivion. Now I drift the halls of Hogwarts, insubstantial as the mist that flees before the dawning day. I exist, and that is all. Because of the actions I took in life, in death I have less substance even than the other ghosts who roam the castle. Only in darkness can I be seen at all, and then, only just.
The students who come here now call me "the Tall Man". They speak of me in fearful whispers, if they speak of me at all, and they avoid me when they can. They know my other name, too, but none of them fears to speak it now. No child now at this school was alive to remember me. They do not know that I am still here -- that I am the shadowy presence they fear. When I speak to them, to tell them my true name, they hear only the breath of a whisper.
The castle doors open. The children enter. They do not see me standing in the shadows, watching. Their lives are so small, but I envy them. When they enter the Great Hall, I follow. One by one, the names are read out. One by one, they step to the front and place the Hat upon their heads. Some of the names are familiar. Some of the faces are dimly mirrored reflections of faces I once knew.
A boy with the Malfoy name and face steps to the front, looking determined. When the Hat declares him a Hufflepuff, he looks pleased.
A few more students go by, and then -- a face so familiar that I would have caught my breath, if I still breathed. Black hair. Green eyes. The Potter boy. The face is rounder, though, and he does not wear spectacles. There is no scar upon his forehead.
His name is called out, and I laugh softly. Potter has named his son for my great enemy, Dumbledore, and for the traitor, Severus. Fear shows on his face as he puts the Hat on his head. A moment passes, and then another, as the Great Hall holds its breath in expectation.
"Slytherin!" declares the Hat, to audible gasps from the onlookers. The child on the stool looks as if he might cry.
I throw back my head and laugh. Potter's son, Sorted into the House that was once my own -- the House that gave me so many of my followers in life.
A few nearby students glance over their shoulders and move away, shivering. They had not even known I was there. One leans close to another and whispers, "The Tall Man ..."
I want to tell them that is not my name, but I cannot. I have no power to make myself known, or to affect the world around me in any way. The only power I have is the power to watch and to exist, endlessly, deathlessly. This is my immortality. Be careful what you wish for.
The Tall Man @AO3
The Tall Man @FanFiction.net