#whgtb

Hi! Do you mean the difference between how Tom felt for Harry in WHGTB vs. how he feels about him at the current stage of ATLWETD?

If so: in both stories, it takes about two years for Tom to fully decide that Harry is his person and that he will never let him go. However, this period of indecision is described briefly in WHGTB, so we spend most of the story watching how obsessed Tom is with Harry and how he worships the ground he walks on.

In ATLWETD, a big part of the story focuses on the slow burn. We're watching all the stages of how Tom's feelings develop, from fascination, possessiveness, attraction, and obsession to love, tenderness, and worship. Right now, we are in the stage of attraction and obsession.

The main difference is that in WHGTB, for the most part, Tom adored Harry and would never let him come to any physical harm. In ATLWETD, Tom hurts Harry himself repeatedly; I'd say his feelings are more physically abusive, and attraction plays a big role here. In this story, Harry started breaking through his walls after they had been carefully constructed and cultivated for years; Tom is unsettled by his own feelings, so while he's fascinated, he also resents Harry for throwing his mind into chaos.

He wants to dominate him, to overwhelm him; he thinks about Harry nearly all the time now, and he despises him for it. So there is always a touch of cruelty in his actions. He's also completely clueless about love and how to express it. In WHGTB, Harry raised Tom, so he learned what love is, even though his idea of it was still twisted; in ATLWETD, Tom is way more detached from this concept.

Inspired by @k-s-morgan's amazing work What He Grows To Be, god I love it so much！

Would it be alright to create a podfic of WHGTB for ao3?

Thank you again for the happiness you've baught into our lives through your stories!!!

Thank you for these wonderful stories, and I send virtual pets to every single one of your animals, as someone who loves pigeons and cats but can't have any yet.

Hi! Ah, so lovely to meet a fellow pigeon and cat lover <3

As for which memory Harry erased, I can offer three ideas:

1) Snape’s love for Lily. I think it would make sense for Harry’s mind to jump from Tom to the memories about another tragic love story with unhealthy and obsessive components, a doomed relationship that Dumbledore never understood entirely, as the “always” conversation with Snape demonstrated. This would be sad because in a way, Harry would lose one of the few links with his mother, the memories about her childhood and her complex relationship with Snape that Harry could draw some parallels with. Sooner or later, he would realize that he has no idea why Snape was on their side, and he’d drive himself crazy with frustration as this would be something he’d never get answers to.

2) The specifics and the aspects of Tom’s ritual that restricts Harry from ever having a romantic & sexual relationship with anyone else. Harry felt extremely bitter and betrayed over this in particular, and with his talk about freedom right before Obliviating himself, this could be something that his mind snapped to. I imagine there would be a fall-out once Harry figured it out - Tom would be reluctant, but he would tell him the truth, and Harry would have to undergo the feelings of hurt and betrayal again. The consequences wouldn’t be long-lasting, though, since Harry would understand that it’s still in the past and that he already sort of got over it once.

3) Some small thing about Tom. For example, that he’s afraid of being tickled; his favorite meal; the date of his birthday, etc. Harry would derive great pleasure from rediscovering it.

However, Harry died in WHGTB not only twice, but I really want to know how Tom would react if Harry died several times and didn't bring him back as the owner of death?When Harry mourned for Beth in the snow, did he die once? I remember the description in that paragraph. Harry was almost frozen stiff until magic began to save his body.If he really dies at this time, and Tom comes home and only sees Harry's frozen body ... I can't imagine what it would be like.And the duel between Harry and Grindelwald and the time when Harry committed suicide by drinking poison, I really want to know how Tom will react when Harry really dies at these moments.

I would be very grateful if you could answer my question!!!

Hi! Oh, no worries, I'm always glad to get asks about my stories, including the ones I've already finished.

I think that if Harry were to die at any point for good, especially after Tom got fully hooked on him, it would break and destroy Tom irrevocably.

In the first scenario you mentioned, if Harry wasn't a MoD and froze to death in his grief over Tom becoming a murderer, and Tom came upon him, I struggle to even imagine how he would manage to survive with his sanity intact. He'd understand that it happened because of him, because of his direct involvement, and this thought would never leave his mind. It'd torment him until the end of the times.

He'd stay there with Harry's body for the entire day and night, with only his own magic keeping him alive, and after that, if he succeeded in gathering himself together at least a little bit, he'd start to plan. He wouldn't tell anyone that Harry is dead because then it would mean accepting this new reality, and this is something he'd never do. Tom would construct some icy coffin to preserve his body and look at it whenever he wants, remembering why he needs to keep functioning, and then he'd throw himself into studying time travel, resurrection, immortality, and other related themes, all the while acting like Harry is alive both for the others and for the benefit of his own sanity. He'd send him letters from Hogwarts, write replies pretending to be Harry, argue with the imagined version of him, etc. Sooner or later, he'd succeed in bringing Harry back. Someone with Tom's level of power, in the world of magic, and with his determination can probably do anything.

What kind of life they'd have afterward is another question. I doubt Tom would be entirely sane at that point.

As for the second scenario, in the duel with Grindelwald, once Tom realized Harry was dead, he'd probably end up dead himself. He wouldn't be able to destroy Grindelwald on his own since Tom at that age wasn't his equal, and the pain, horror, and devastation from Harry's death would engulf him completely. Either Grindelwald would kill him, using his state, or Tom's own magic would tore him from inside out in an attempt to kill Grindelwald or bring Harry back.