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"Oh?" Lestrange crossed his arms, injecting some trembling bravado into his voice. "And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"No one," Tom said. "It's a free country, so do what you want. No one's stopping you. I just thought that someone of a supposedly noble house would have the manners to engage in less disgraceful behavior than childish mimicry and squabbles. But of course you're too refined for something as petty as that, right?"

"Of course!" Lestrange retorted without thinking, and then realized that he had just walked straight into Tom's verbal trap a second too late. Now he was bound by verbal contract to either stop bullying people, or otherwise accept that he was little more than a petulant child not deserving of his birth title.

Ooh, big words! That ought to do it. Nice touch with the Hobson's choice, by the way.

Lestrange gave him a funny look, like he didn't know what to do with Tom. Tom had tricked him, but he hadn't insulted or offended him. He had simply given the other boy an ultimatum – be mature, or dishonor his own family name and pureblood status – in the most polite and subtle way possible. No one was hurt, and no one was humiliated – or no one would be humiliated if Lestrange behaved.

In the end he simply accepted Tom's presence, and regarded him as a respectable person. Not quite a friend, but definitely not an enemy. He had no grounds for hating Tom, and no reason to enact any petty revenge or carry any grudges. Tom had successfully kept him as a potential ally without offending any of his current ones.

It was so much easier to, ah, persuade someone if you were on civil terms with them.

Now, if Lestrange had been a bit older, a bit more worldly, then he would have realized that Tom had, in actuality, humiliated him, and was a threat to be disposed of immediately. Tom had, after all, called him out in front of a bunch of his peers, and unfairly maneuvered him into accepting a one-sided treaty. In effect, he had undermined Lestrange's status as the dominant fish in this small pond, and now whatever advantage the boy would have had as the firstborn of a prominent Wizarding family had flown out the window. The other first-years were now looking to Tom as their leader – a self-assured, but fair individual, who didn't depend on force but wasn't afraid to use it to defend himself. Kind and trustworthy, but also powerful. Definitely a better choice than Lestrange, who had seemed to be the only option for top dog before.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/10972919/4/