[Harry Potter] Crown of Thorns

[Tom Riddle (Ancient Era) Arc]

My name is Tom Riddle, and ever since I was born, I have lived under the protection of the Gorgons.

The woman who adopted me, Lady Hecate, is the queen of the shadows in the Wizarding World. She told me that Hogwarts was nothing more than a breeding ground for mediocrities, while the true holy land, Avalon, opened its gates only to ancient bloodlines.

I craved power and feared death.

But after she took me to witness the Gorgon clan's brutal yet sacred ritual of "shedding their skin," I gained a new understanding of immortality.

With Lady Hecate's guidance, I made my choice: I would strip away the fragments of my soul that held cowardice and fear, sending them out into the world to play the fool and draw every eye, while the real me would wash away the grime of the world and go to Avalon in search of the source of magic.

It was only many years later that I understood: I was both a pawn and the one making the moves.

And everything Lady Hecate had done was only to welcome one person back: her sister, the true Gorgon Queen, who had slept for a thousand years.

[Eclipse/Selene Malfoy (Modern Era) Arc]

I awoke to find that a thousand years had passed.

I was once Eclipse Slytherin, one of Hogwarts' Founders. Betrayed by the student I trusted most, Arthur Weasley, I was gravely wounded, lost the one I loved, and saw the castle stained with blood.

After a thousand years of shedding my skin, I was reborn.

Now, I am Selene Malfoy, Lucius's "younger sister" and a third-year student at Hogwarts.

The Ministry of Magic believes The Chosen One, Harry Potter, is the center of attention. Little do they know that my eyes have always been fixed on the highly esteemed alchemist, Nicolas Flamel.

The grudges of a thousand years are finally due for settlement.

When I ripped off his hypocritical mask in the Ministry of Magic atrium, before everyone's eyes, Fudge's shock was little more than background noise.

"Traitor, your judgment will be carried out by the Gorgon herself."

I will make the final move in this game that has spanned a thousand years.

-- A Guide to Reading This Novel --

※ Dual timelines, interwoven across time and space: The first half unfolds from Tom's perspective, revealing a different kind of Dark Lord's making and the secrets of Avalon. The second half follows the awakened Eclipse as the queen returns and takes her powerful revenge in a thoroughly satisfying story.

※ Eclipse is the pinnacle of strength and intelligence, lying in wait for a thousand years while masterminding events from behind the scenes.

※ A complete reimagining of the original: Two Tom Riddles, with the main soul striving forward and the split soul taking the blame; most Pure-blood families are allies, and every conspiracy has a deeper purpose. It feels more like everyone is a villain.

※ A fateful entanglement of love and hate across a thousand years: Eclipse and Salazar's deep love as husband and wife is both the beginning of the tragedy and the flame that fuels revenge.

※ HE guaranteed: Revenge will ultimately succeed, and justice may be late, but it will arrive.

※ Original pairings are broken up, such as Ron/Hermione and Grindelwald/Dumbledore, because I'm not particularly invested in them. There's no outline, updates come whenever, and the plot can get so derailed even my own mother wouldn't recognize it.

※ The Weasley family is villainized, but mainly it's Arthur Weasley from a thousand years ago and Nicolas Flamel today who are targeted. Ron and the others a thousand years later are simply caught in the crossfire because of their ancestor.

※ Includes old-school settings, such as the Slytherin house head system.

※ Includes lots of original worldbuilding.

※ Salazar x Eclipse x Zhuyin

Theme: Even if history is rewritten and the truth buried, the marks of loyalty and betrayal will eventually surface in the river of time. Justice may be late, but it is never absent.