After Arabella's thrilling confrontation with Tom, she decided she needed some blood in her system. So, instead of going back to the common room like intended, she apparated out of Hogwarts.

Arabella was an exception to the anti-dissaperation enchantments that prevented students from apparating and dissaperating on Hogwarts grounds because she was, essentially, dead.

Arabella, still dressed in her dinner clothes, landed in the middle of the Albanian Forest. She walked around before she finally spotted a white bunny beside a bush. Slowly, she crept towards the bunny, before she quickly sped at it and caught it, quietly casting the killing curse on it. Her wand was not tracked by the ministry at all. She had made sure of that decades ago.

Arabella moaned out in delight when her eyes grey began to darken and veins started to form. Her gums began to expand, revealing her sharp fangs and though it was painful the first time, she had done it so much it was no longer an issue.

It was wonderful, like a nostalgic scent you can't place. It brought her back to the times she had massacred towns and cities, drunk under the taste of blood. It almost felt like home.

But, as Arabella sunk her teeth into the bunny, there was something off. There had been something off for 44 years, really. Every time she drank animal blood there had been something off. It was dull, unexciting. She craved the sweet taste of human blood. The thick scent. It was heavenly, beyond anything any human could even comprehend. It was like cold water on a hot day or exisiting off of nothing but sweet desserts.

She yearned for that feeling and everyday she swore to herself that Albus would have to live the same fate as her one day. He would get what was coming.

•••

When Arabella arrived back at Hogwarts, it was early Saturday morning and her dorm-mates were sleeping in, like most of the other students. She quickly changed into a dress and made her way out the common room and past Tom and his gang, ignoring his questioning eyes. Arabella had a plan.

•••

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk grading papers when Arabella Chambers barged in without knocking. She inspected the disorganised office, eyeing the new herb on Albus's desk. It was vervain.

Vervain was a potent herb and a vampires greatest weakness. It was put in place by God to weaken Arabella's abilities. If Arabella were to ever make physical contact with vervain in any form, it would burn her. If she were to ingest vervain, her throat would burn and she would become feverish and extremely weak, eventually dying. And then coming back to life, somewhere far away from where she had died and much weaker than before. It would take months to heal and return to her normal self.

If a human or wizard had any form of vervain on or in them, Arabella's ability to control, compel and drink them would not work. Albus was prepared.

"Hello, Albus," Arabella addressed. "I see you're... stocked up."

"Why are you here, Arabella?" Albus asked, putting his quill down.

Arabella ignored him. "I can smell the vervain running through you," she stated, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "For all I know, you could have a whole garden of vervain. You probably put vervain in all of Hogwarts's food." She then shrugged, "I wouldn't put it past you."

Albus took his glasses off and repeated, "Why are you here?" He was now angry and she hadn't even been there for five minutes.

Arabella acted as if it were impossible to make eye contact with Albus, turning her head away and shielding her face. "I'm sorry, Albus, I can't look at your face right now. It's disgusting." She then pretended to gag.

"Stop being immature, Arabella, and get to the point. Why are you here?"

"Okay, you're right. This is no time for fun." Arabella looked straight at him. "I have more important things to discuss, like..." She stared Albus right in the eye when she asked, "What do you know about Tom Riddle?"

Albus straightened up in his seat. "Did Tom steal your wand?" he asked.

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Yes, but that was very long ago. Keep up, Albus. I am here to ask about Tom's childhood."

Albus ignored her and asked, "Were you at Little Hangelton? Did he steal your wand from there?"

"Shut up, Albus. This isn't about you. Just tell me about Tom," Arabella demanded.

Albus sighed. "Okay, I guess I owe it to you."

"Finally!" Arabella exclaimed. "You're not as vazey as I thought."

Albus brushed aside her outburst and said, "Come, sit down." He gestured to the chair across from his desk where she had sat the first night she came here.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me what to do," she quipped.

"I am just being polite, but if you don't want to know about Tom, then that is fine."

Arabella cocked her head and slowly made her way to the seat. "Here I am," she said, her hands up in mock surrender. "Now, go ahead."

She watched as Albus grabbed a lemon drop out a huge jar. "Do you want one?" he offered. For as long as she'd known Albus, he had always been obsessed with those disgusting lemon drops. It was awful.

"I will not be accepting anything from you," she replied with her nose crinkled. "Sitting this close to you is more than enough."

Albus rolled his eyes. "What do you want to know?" he asked, popping the lemon drop in his mouth and leaning back in his seat. "I would expect you know the story of his parents, considering you live in Little Hangelton. You probably put together that he is a direct relative of Salazar Slytherin."

Arabella waved her hand in the air carelessly. "Yes, I know all that. It didn't take long. What I want to know is where he grew up."

"Tom was raised in Wool's Orphanage in London where his mother gave birth to him an hour before she died on December 31st, 1926. She named him 'Tom Marvalo Riddle.' Tom after his father and Marvalo after her father. She told the orphanage never to give him to his father."

Albus had gotten straight into it. Though, it didn't take long for Arabella to process. The gears in her head were turning. It all made sense. Albus continued, "Tom was treated horribly at the orphanage by both the staff and the other orphans. They were suspicious of him. One of the workers had told me that Tom never cried, even as a baby. As he grew up, the frustration towards his bullies cultivated his magical ability. He learnt to control it when he was young, though."

"So," Arabella started, thinking carefully, "raised without any sort of love and among people who were different from him, he found it impossible to express love himself. His mind was closed off from an early age and he relied solely on himself." Albus nodded in confirmation, but Arabella could barely register the old crook was there. "He clearly wants power because he grew up powerless. Oh...this made him corrupt at a very young age."

"I visited Tom in 1938 to bring him to Hogwarts. Throughout the years he's been here, he's even made special requests to Dippet remain in school during the summer to avoid returning to the orphanage," explained Albus.

Arabella quickly got up. "Much... appreciated, Albus," she said slowly, finding it hard to thank him. "But we are far from even," she then warned before rushing out his office.

•••

While speeding to the common room, Arabella put together everything she had just learnt: Tom grew up with no love, so that was the strong factor in why he couldn't express it. He learnt that he was the Heir of Slytherin, which meant he knew about Salazar's beliefs and the Chamber of Secrets - which is what he was reading about in the Library. He killed his muggle family because he believed that that was what he was destined to do - rid muggles and finish Salazar's work.

It all made so much sense.

Arabella rushed into the common room where she found Tom's followers, but not Tom. Through the weeks, she had learned that Tom called them 'The Knights of Walpurgis' which was the most stupidest name she had ever heard of.

They were seated around the fireplace - Lestrange, Malfoy, Edmund and Avery. She made her way up to them. "Edmund, have you seen Tom?" she asked him.

The group immediately sat up straighter when they noticed Arabella there. "Oh, um, I believe he's in the Library," he answered, looking at his friends for confirmation. They didn't say anything in reply so Arabella thanked Edmund and walked in search of Tom.

She searched for him all through the library but he wasn't there. She searched the Great Hall, the classrooms, the Astronomy Tower and the rest of Hogwarts but he was nowhere. Arabella sighed in annoyance. She decided she needed to clear her head. And then it came to her. The only room she hadn't checked.

•••

Arabella made her way to the seventh floor, left corridor where the Room of Requirement was. She paced up and down the area three times before a door formed on the wall.

The Room of Requirement transformed itself into whatever room a witch/wizard needed it to be at the time. It was Helga's idea and all the other founders (including Arabella) had helped to create it.

At that moment, Arabella had been hoping for Tom to be in there. When she opened the door, the room embraced her with the cozy smell of old books. The wooden floors stretched widely in the room and everywhere she looked, books stretched high from floor to ceiling. The far wall held a large window that overlooked the Hogwarts ground, providing the room with the warm glow of the midday sun. There was a fireplace beneath the window, charmed a deep green which matched the two comfy throne-like armchairs that faced each other in front of the fireplace.

Tom sat in one of the armchairs's writing in a diary. It was black and each corner was tipped in gold with his name engraved in a gold plate at the bottom. He immediately looked up when Arabella walked in, scowling at her.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "How did you find me?" He shut his diary and placed it on a small table between the two chairs.

"Hello, Tom," Arabella greeted, making her way into the armchair across from him. The sound of her heels were muffled by the soft, plush carpet of the green rug. "Plotting your world domination plans?" she asked, nodding to his diary.

"How do you know about this room?" he ordered again.

"I read about it. Decided to find it myself. It didn't take long," Arabella lied.

Tom stared at her wide-eyed. It had taken Tom three years to find this room and this girl had found it in three weeks.

"Anyways, Tom, I have some really exciting news. Would you like to hear?" Arabella offered, twisting the ring on her right hand. Tom noticed. It had gold banding that twisted around her middle finger and onto a red gem in the centre of the huge ring. He found himself wondering where she had got it.

"Go on, then," he deadpanned with no real interest in anything she had to say.

"Well, I have won your little game. I have found out everything I need to know about your childhood." Tom narrowed his eyes at her as Arabella continued. "Merope Gaunt gave birth to you on December 31st, 1928 at Wools Orphanage before dying. You were bullied at that orphanage. You have made special requests to Dippet to stay the summer. You murdered your family because you hate muggles. You want to finish what Salazar started."

Arabella gave a smug smile as Tom stared at her in disbelief. "How do you know this?"

"Tom, I think we have both accepted that I know much more than it seems," Arabella replied. "Now, have you found the Chamber of Secrets yet?"

Arabella didn't think it was possible, but Tom's scowl deepened. "No," he replied, "not yet."

"Oh. Disappointing. But, it is not as great as it sounds if that makes you feel any better." Arabella frowned at him in false sympathy.

"You've found the Chamber? Already?" he questioned, surprised.

"Well, of course, darling," she said lazily. "After all, it is named after me."

Tom scoffed. "It's a chamber, Chambers. It's not that hard to name. Not everything is about you," he stated in a bored tone.

Arabella ignored him and got up from her seat. "Where are you going?" Tom questioned hastily.

"Do you want to see the chamber or not?" She said without turning around.

Tom quickly rose from his seat, but didn't follow her. "I know what you're doing, Chambers. You want something in return."

Arabella spun around with a smile. "For once, you are correct. And without the help of me! I am proud, Tom."

"Well, hurry up. What do you want?" he asked her impatiently.

"Okay, this is a very simple question, Tom. So, it shouldn't riddle your fickle mind," Arabella said. "All I want to know is what you get out of murdering your family. I already know it is cause they're muggles and you, like Salazar, believe you are superior to them and the other boring reasons, but what else? That can't be the only reason. Why travel all the way to Little Hangleton in the summer and murder them? What else did you get out of it, besides increasing your already big ego, of course. Oh, and another simple question: why did you frame Morfin Gaunt? Was that your plan all along?"

Tom sighed. "Fine," he stated. Inside, though, he was excited. If he could explain his plans, then she would more likely join his side. He needed her, as much as he hated to even think about.

Arabella smiled proudly, taking her seat again across from Tom as he started his story.

Tom Riddle's Guide to World Domination.