For QFLC, Puddlemere Únited, Seeker: (7-Polytype Dimension) Incorporate the theme of 7 within your story (you can take this in any way you like — seven objects of import

Beta-ing by falling winter roses, JBrocks917

Co-written between Marvelgeek42(me) and Ginnys01

Word Count: 1,362

rise by sin

I. Lust

The nights that Tom chooses to free the basilisk from the Chamber of his great ancestor and have it roam around the school are not as arbitrary as they might seem to a random observer. They are very much connected, it is simply quite difficult to trace why.

These are the nights that someone rejects him.

He knows that he could settle for a lot of girls if he wanted. Here, at Hogwarts, he is quite popular, after all.

But they do not deserve him. He might have believed that any magical person would do, once upon a time. Now, however, he knows better. His blood is so much nobler than that of most of the witches in this school; he deserves someone of his standing.

And the only ones who qualify for that are the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

They, in turn, see him as beneath them as if his ability to speak the tongue of the snakes hadn't cleared any doubt of that.

The night Vulpa Yaxley denies him is special because it is the first night he actually manages to kill.

He frames that useless fool Hagrid for it and manages to get two people below worth out of this school at once.

It feels amazing.

(And thus, a diary becomes a Horcrux.)

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II. Wrath

He wants revenge. He feels betrayed by his father and grandparents for the complete and utter lack of care they have shown to him.

Tom knew that his father had been aware of his existence when he left Merope — Tom wouldn't think of her as his mother, not when she had been weak enough to die.

Tom wants his revenge. And he always gets what he wants.

He visits the Manor. It enrages him even more. They'd lived like this while he had been stuck in the orphanage? How dare they?

It doesn't take him long to find his so-called family, pathetic beings that they are.

His revenge isn't short and sweet — no, Tom very much delights in dragging the whole thing out as long as possible.

He will make them feel his wrath.

The fact that he can blame his equally absent and worthless uncle for it makes it even better.

(And thus, a ring becomes a Horcrux.)

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III. Greed

Killing Hepzibah Smith is nothing personal.

The woman liked him and her connections could have become useful down the line, but alas, Tom — Voldemort — knows that sometimes, people just have to die.

She is one of them because she stands between him and something he wants.

He cannot allow that to continue.

He is the descendant of Salazar Slytherin, the greatest of the four founders of Hogwarts. He deserves to have a relic from each of the founders.

Even if the Smith family actually were descendants — which he very much doubts, they show too little skill in anything to be such — he is still vastly superior over her.

He wants that cup, and he wants it now. And the locket is rightfully his either way.

Once again, there is someone there who can conveniently take the blame.

(And thus, a cup becomes a Horcrux.)

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IV. Gluttony

He celebrates it when he hears that the Ministry had fallen for his cover-up once again.

He finds the nearest magical bar and gets drunk — he earned it, after all.

He does not get totally wasted — he still has standards, thank you very much — but a glass of firewhiskey (or four) is an excellent idea for the evening.

Once he leaves the bar, he feels it again. The urge to kill. This time, it's not directed against any specific person, so he decides that he will simply go and use the first adequate person he finds to satisfy himself.

Of course, he has to leave the magical boroughs of Tirana for that. He cannot tell who is a Mudblood by sight alone in a foreign country, after all.

It doesn't take him long to find someone, all things considered. A tramp, sleeping under a bridge. She will never wake up again; that's not a life that deserves to continue.

He doesn't even need to find someone to blame, this time. The Kedavra leaves no evidence a mere Muggle can find, after all.

(And thus, a locket becomes a Horcrux.)

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V. Envy

Why is this peasant here? The grey lady as good as told him that the diadem is here, but this peasant has no reason to be at this place. He needs to find the diadem. His fifth Horcrux needs making and what better than the item that will bring the wearer knowledge beyond their years. No one will be smarter than him.

The peasant is out of luck. He should have moved on by now. It will no longer matter if he sees magic. Magic will be his death.

The diadem was exactly where he expected it to be. The peasant dies right underneath that apple tree. The diadem would be hidden somewhere new. Somewhere only he knows about. No one else will find it ever again.

(And thus, a diadem becomes a Horcrux)

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VI. Pride

They say this boy can kill him. A baby.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…

He almost laughs with angry disdain when he hears it. A baby can't kill me. I'll show them.

Nobody stands between Lord Voldemort and what he wants.

At least that pathetic Wormtail knows this. His help is invaluable. He shall be rewarded as soon as the boy is dead.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Does he think they will actually get away from him? They are stupider than he thought.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The spell leaves his wand and connects straight into Potter. Easier than expected, he thinks to himself. Now for the boy…

They were found in the boy's bedroom, the mother standing over her child — as if that would protect him.

"Step aside, Mudblood. Only your son needs to die." Severus needed a reward after all. He had given him the information.

She wouldn't move, how stupid of her, but not his problem. It would only mean that she would die first.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Once again the spell leaves his wand and connects with its target. He will reward Severus in a different way. There are enough witches out there, and not all Mudbloods.

Finally, just the boy left. He is just a little boy, one out of two. As soon as this one is killed he'll move to the Longbottom child.

He lifts his wand and aims.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The spell leaves the wand and heads towards the boy. What could a mere boy do to stop him, the greatest wizard alive? He's so obsessed with knowing he succeeded that he didn't see spell rebound until it was too late. The curse strikes him at the same time as the thought: 'A mere boy can't kill a Dark Lord.'

(And thus, a boy becomes a Horcrux and a Dark Lord vanishes)

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VII. Sloth

He needs to get rid of Bertha Jorkins. He cannot have her run around and tell anyone of his plans, after all. And she herself had pointed out that even an Imperio can be overcome by some.

Not that Lord Voldemort expects her to be among the number, but he will not have his plan collapse over such a minor assumption.

It is much easier to simply get rid of her, after all. He is in a weakened state, yes, but he is strong enough to do something as simple and routine as this.

"Avada Kedavra."

The words are spoken before the terror even has the time to form in that foolish woman's eyes.

It is the first sign of his glorious return and as such bears significance. Why waste the time searching for another relic when he has another connection to the noble blood of is ancestors so close by his side?

"Nagini," he calls.

(And thus, a snake becomes a Horcrux.)