Tom could cut someone’s hopes down around them with a few, polite words, and an offered handkerchief when they inevitably burst into tears. He was never harsh, and always courteous, but Draco whispered that Tom enjoyed rejecting their peers more than anyone would ever know. ("Tom relishes their shame more than you enjoy sugar quills, and I, Mother’s sticky toffees," were Draco’s exact words. "Tom enjoys things that no one else does.")