HP • Legilimency | 𝐍. 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘

𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲

September 1st ─ I'm still crying. Where is my Hogwarts acceptance letter, Minerva? You motherfucker

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Astria tried everything, but the diary's pages remained blank ─ mocking her. She couldn't explain, not even to herself, why she simply didn't throw away Riddle's diary. The fact was, even though she knew the diary was blank, she couldn't stop absentmindedly picking it up and flipping through it, as if it were a story she wanted to finish. And even though she was sure she had never heard of T. M. Riddle before, his name still seemed to mean something to her, almost as if Riddle were a friend she had when she was very young, and she had somehow forgotten. But this was absurd. She never had friends before Hogwarts.

Still, Astria was determined to find out more about Riddle. So, near dawn, she went to search for information about him, just as she had searched for information about her parents.

She found Riddle's name on an old Medal of Magical Merit and on a list of former Head Boy and Girl. Riddle had been a prefect for years and probably the top student in all his classes. Astria couldn't explain it, but she was obsessed with learning more.

She headed to the Trophy Room to see if she could find anything. To her surprise, she didn't even have to search much. A golden shield with the name 'Riddle' was tucked away in a corner cabinet. It didn't contain details about why it was awarded.

While the sun began to shine on Hogwarts, and people felt more hopeful, with no more attacks since the incidents with Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, Astria, who hadn't slept enough due to late Quidditch training, hurried to the Great Hall, slightly late.

However, when she entered, stopped abruptly. She almost thought she had entered the wrong door because the walls were covered in bright pink flowers. And worse yet, ─ from a sky-blue ceiling, heart-shaped confetti rained down.

Seriously, it was like someone had vomited love everywhere.

Astria made her way to the Slytherin table, where Draco sat looking nauseated, and Blaze couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"What's going on?" she asked the two, sitting down and wiping confetti off her bacon.

Draco pointed grumpily to the teachers' table, apparently too queasy to speak. Lockhart, dressed as if he had confused Valentine's Day with a drag queen party, wearing bright pink robes and extremely tight trousers, along with a corset adorned with hearts, was gesturing for silence. The professors on either side of him looked stoic. From where she sat, Astria could see a muscle twitching in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked like he had just taken a sip of the most repulsive drink on the planet, and Lady Black looked bewildered with rosy cheeks, staring at a massive pile of cards in front of her.

Lockhart then uttered a "Happy Valentine's Day!" that sounded more like "Let's all suffer together!" ─ After an overly dramatic flourish of his hands, he continued to everyone's dismay: "And can I thank the forty-six people who have sent me cards so far? Of course, I took the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you, and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands, and through the door leading to the entrance hall, eleven rather grumpy-looking dwarfs entered. But these weren't just any dwarfs; Lockhart had them wear golden wings and carry harps.

Kill me

"My cupids, card deliverers!" Lockhart smiled. "They will be circulating around the school today, delivering Valentine's cards. And the fun doesn't stop there! I'm sure my colleagues would like to get into the festive spirit of the day! Why not ask Professor Black to teach you how to brew a Love Potion! And speaking of which, Professor Flitwick knows more Enchantment Spells than any other wizard I know ─ the little angel!"