“Hmmmmmmm. Very interesting. You have the courage to face a dragon. Enough loyalty to die for your friends, if you had any.”
“True” Harry could only agree.
The Hat continued, “A hidden thirst for knowledge, and ambition to match. This is your chance away from your relatives and you will not waste it.” There was a short pause as the hat considered the mind of the young child under him. “I must confess I am not sure where to put you. You would adapt wherever you were put. Do you have a preference?”
Harry thought about his answer before thinking it “I wish to be in the same house as my parents, as a way to honor them.”
The hat seemed surprised and slowly replied, “That will be a slight problem for your parents come from two different houses, Gryffindor and Slytherin.”
Harry was, and would be puzzled by this for years to come. As far as he knew, both of his parents were Gryffindors, something Snape never really lets him forget as far as his father is concerned. “Oh, then I guess Gryffindor will work, I like the color red.”
"Better be Gryffindor!"
It wasn’t until years later, while he was strapped to a gravestone, that he finally understood. Voldemort rose from the cauldron stepping out as the shadows moved and robed him. He slowly stalked towards Harry before stopping and looking him in the eye. His eyes slowly worked over the rest of the boy’s face before coming to a stop on his scar. Pettigrew was whimpering in the back. With a negligent wave of his hand a flaming serpent latched onto the end of Pettigrew’s hand, cauterizing the wound.
“I’m glad you could join me again Harry. I was wondering if you had reconsidered my offer to join me.”
“You killed my parents, you bastard! Why would I join you?” Harry spat back, desperately trying to escape his bonds.
“No. I am your father.”
Lord Voldemort was expecting many different reactions from his son, but he was not expecting laughter.
“I’m sorry,” he finally wheezed out “but you just quoted one of the most famous lines from one of the most well known muggle movies.” After finally getting the last few laughs out, he continued, “You must excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“Understandable, one of the weaker points is appearance. You bear a striking resemblance to me when I was your age, except for your eyes. When we met when you were eleven you were still too young for me to tell. Second, is parseltounge is an ability linked to blood and magic. If my blood did not flow through your veins, if my magic did not help shape your core, you would not speak it.”
Harry pondered this new information. “Why should I join you? I don’t know you.”
“Besides getting you away from Dumbledore? If you join me, I can complete your training. With our combined strength we can take over the government, get rid of the corruption. You can escape or even kill your relatives. Get any girl you desire.” At this Harry automatically thought of a certain french champion.
Riddle looked at his son and, trying to appeal to Harry’s nature, added, “Allow me to be the father I never had the chance to be.”
Harry thought about his experience in the Wizarding world, his friends, where he was currently headed, and came to a decision.
“I’ll join you but I have two requests.”
“Name them.” his tone amused.
“First, I want protection for my friends till I can convince them if possible.”
“Reasonable, I can not expect you to start a new life.”
“Secondly, I want to kill Pettigrew.” With this, his eyes flared red as he stared directly at Pettigrew.
A cruel smile spread on Riddle’s face, “Anything for my son, my heir.”