( ☆ ) DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK AMBITIONS ; PROFESSOR THOMAS MARVOLO RIDDLE . 𖥔 ࣪˖
. 𖥔 ࣪˖ my baby lives in shades of cool; cold heart and hands and aptitude. (...) but i can't help him, can't make him better; and i can't do nothing about his strange weather... — shades of cool, lana del rey.
╰ 𖤐 use of the actor tom hughes to portray an older version of tom riddle; adult, recently finished his higher studies to specialize on the field of (defense against) the dark arts — charmed his acquaintances to become the first choice to teach at hogwarts. in this version, tom never became voldemort, nor has specific plans of doing so.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE whose most genuine words were to dumbledore, during an incident that he provoked, that if hogwarts were to send its students home, he'd have nowhere to go—nowhere to look forward to coming back. hogwarts castle, amidst the scottish fields and moody weather, is his home sweet home; less than ten years later, half of it to complete his higher studies as an exemplary scholar, and he's back: a kind owl of suggestion from one of the course teachers who were over the moon with a genius like thomas marvolo riddle.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who has a strange relationship with his teenage years, albus dumbledore and the immensity of hogwarts' grounds. his teenagehood went through in a blurry that he'd rather not dwell, the headmaster is a sort of father figure that he's weary of, and it's a little sad that a school is the closest thing he ever felt to a home—but then again, what could one expect of an orphan like him? you cling onto dear life to the smallest crumbs of normalcy and comfort.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who developed the habit of smoking—after spending his years as a hogwarts' student mentally scrutinizing those who hid in discreet settings of the castle to steal a smoke, having felt superior for his distaste towards tobacco and cigarettes. during his young adulthood, that changed and—and, in his defense, a cigarette for a private moment before evening bleeds into night is a form of pampering himself. besides, it helped to deal with the stress of the higher academics he pursued.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who made sure to make his past be a mystery to anyone who was nosey enough to investigate him; burning his roots until its forest is nothing but a cryptic land of ashes, nowhere to trace its ancient history. no, it's more than enough to know that tom was a slytherin as soon as the sorting hat saw him—and that parseltongue is a language he knew how to speak before spelling english greetings. only albus dumbledore and a handful of other professors, hopefully dead, would remember his name as a poor orphan. no family, no money in his name, nothing but the scraps of kindness that allowed him to study in one of the best wizardy schools.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who'd never speak of his past. at most, he would comment—feigning nonchalance, because that is a past he's proud to share—that he attended a scholarship offered to him, a student with outstanding performance. his academic achievements are the only parts of his last before teaching at hogwarts that he might share. other than that, students might as well bet with each other whether he's an ungrateful son, has parents overseas, or whatever other stories they might imagine to fill the gaps of his childhood. in the end, it doesn't matter; bets are just bets, impossible to won or to lose, because a concrete answer will never resurface.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who'd be honored to let the librarian rest during weekends, so he can safely prevent wandering students of visiting the restricted section. naturally, this means that as a professor, he no longer needs the tricks he found necessary in the past, back when tom was slytherin's head boy; nowadays, its passageway is given in a silver tray for the defense against the dark arts' teacher.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who easily became a favorite amongst witches, and a reason for envy from young wizards. while his demeanor can be perceived as arousing by women—a man who behaves elegantly, smart and capable, mysterious in every sense of the word—some male students struggle to find the courage to defy him; tom never really stopped being a kind of intimidating person, perhaps due to his stoicism, which he... worked on, during his years of higher scholarship.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE whose classes actually are interesting. nevermind how dumb and imbecile a student can be, whenever his class is interrupted slash interacted with, tom gives the opportunity for the young wizard or witch to speak about their opinions. so you think that this subject is useless?... alright, then tell us why; justify your answer, convince me. from then on, tom actually listens; subtly giving hints and offering brief commentary that shapes the student's loud thoughts into something that aligns with his.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE whose head boy's habits of delivering detention diminished upon becoming a teacher. being a professor, meant that assigning detention was a problem of his to solve now—sincerely, it's a waste of time and thoughts if it's not something that upsets him; if that's the case, then he'll gladly invite wizards and witches to punishment out of pettiness. detention is given if one breaks the school's rules or if there was irresponsible behavior — tom prevents copying schoolwork and cheating by his own means, so he doesn't have to worry about that; opposite to other professors, tom wouldn't send a student to detention for performing dangerous spells. been there, done that. riddle isn't interested on being an hypocrite.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who only had to give detention once to send a message of not testing his patience. before he taught the chapter which mentions boggarts and how to defeat them, tom waited for the first dimwitted with a bad boy attitude — half an hour in his classroom after the day's classes were over, and boom. a boggart to send a little despair, lazily solving the problem and then, vague words that promised worse evenings if disobedience met his way once again. naturally, seeing the first victim of professor riddle's detention was enough to prevent talking-back and smartass behavior; for a troublemaker to return pale from their punishment, then...
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who jinxes and charms his exams, so that his students don't have a way to possibly cheat on his tests. some of these include distorting the sequence of its questions, or charms that blurry the sight of those papers from farther pairs of eyes. his tests aren't easy, either; it takes more than decorating paragraphs from the DADA's manual book to impress professor riddle in his field of teaching. most of his questions require critical thinking, where you must use your knowledge to solve a situation — truly preparing his students from quick-thinking and real life situations.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who enjoys suggesting debates to discuss the end of a chapter he finished teaching; it helps to understand if there is a topic that wasn't properly understood while working the students' memory to internalize important information. furthermore, it helps to build trains of thought for DADA related purposes. tom supposes that it also helps to shape the students’ moral compass.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who praises his students for actually participating in class for asking questions—pertinent, interesting questions—rather than feeling annoyed by it. even though tom doesn't perceive himself as an extrovert, much less enjoyer of most conversations, the dark arts is a topic that utterly fascinates him, hence why he's surprisingly happy teaching it to young wizards and juvenile witches. besides, he values that his audience is interested and curious about the topic; as a curious wizard himself, tom doesn't mind wasting a few minutes after class to answer doubts. furthermore, never shies away from answering whatever he's asked (if it's related to the subject he teaches, not himself; never himself). asking him grants questions—but if the subject brings a raise of an eyebrow, then he's keeping an eye on you.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who just knows when a student is declining to a dangerous interest of the dark arts. professor riddle has a sixth sense that whispers in his ear that tonight, he'd find a certain scoundrel attempting their way down the restricted section—or a stupid adventurer about to endanger their life in the forbidden forest. discreetly gives them detention, because no, you wouldn't outwit tom even if he was half asleep—all of those rules, he broke himself as a student; but never got caught. let's not insult his intelligence, alright?
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE whose favorite colleagues are fellow professors who mind their business, do not push him for work hang outs in hogsmeade's pub but offer pleasant conversation from time to time. does not tolerate ignorant imbeciles; tom would rather deal with insecure talented people, those aware of their difficulties or arrogants who, at least, perform flawlessly. would discreetly jinx people that he doesn't like—for good reason—to improve his mood and teach them a lesson.
⌕ ، types of professors he'd sympathize with: minerva mcgonagall, remus lupin, horace slughorn, pomona sprout, mirabel garlick, abraham ronen, eleazar fig.
⌕ ، types of professors he'd have a rough time spending more than thirty seconds with: dolores umbridge, sybill trelawney, severus snape, gilderoy lockhart, matilda weasley.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who'd probably be one of his student's first choice to ask for help, because before you've gained courage to request it, tom had already figured out that something was wrong; something that he might be able to fix. reassures that he won't overshare your problems with no one else — simultaneously, reminds you that depending on the problem, he'd have to report to dumbledore so proper authorities can do their job. tom wouldn't lie to you—lying is the key ingredient to break trust, and some softer side of him, one that he pushes to the brink of the unvisited depths of his heart, genuinely doesn't want to fail a student. a kid, a teenager who doesn't know better. professor riddle convinces himself that his job is done once he contacted the correct lines of work, that he shouldn't waste a thought on a situation that's already resolved, but...
... but, tom keeps an eye on records that might be exchanged between desks, attentive to any information received from dumbledore or mcgonagall. he just... wants to be sure, that he's done everything he could, that everything was set right.
tom doesn't care. tom just wants to be competent at his job. right?
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who has a softer spot for slytherin students, especially if he notices that the snake's house no longer is a social status, but somewhat discriminated by other students—be it by salazar slytherin being interpreted as a terrible person, or for its supposed relation with death eaters. definitely gives a lesson to students who spread nonsensical rumors that could begin a case of bullying; offers wise words of resilience to students who are struggling, but that's it—this man doesn't know how to comfort someone.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who sincerely enjoys spending time in his office. the DADA's classroom had always been one of his favorites; the assigned office didn't disappoint. tom doesn't mind being visited if there are pertinent issues to be solved; otherwise, he's happy to read in front of the fireplace when it rains outside, or taking a stroll in hogwarts' grounds whenever a sunny day presents itself.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE whose hair never looks messy, gives life to the scent of old books and a refreshing male perfume with the intensity of a breeze, dressed with neat ties, different shades of grey or discreet colors, resembling dark academia if it was a living man of a mysterious background.
☆ PROFESSOR!TOM RIDDLE who might have a hidden agenda, coming back to a castle of unspoken secrets and valuable information. not that one should worry about that. tom knows what he's doing... as much as dumbledore refuses to stop teaching until he feels that the castle is safe once again.
· 🫁𝄒 ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSES with professor thomas marvolo riddle as a romantic interest ◞
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && student!reader◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && auror!reader ◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && professor!reader ◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && honeyduke's waitress!reader◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && criminal!reader◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && healer!reader◞ waiting for updates / requests.
𖤐 ⏜ professor!tom riddle && ghost!reader◞ waiting for updates / requests.
⏜ 𖤐 ◞ bots with / about professor tom riddle.
