Unravelled² → Tom Riddle [Rewritten]

A SURPRISE

It was the very first day that sealed her fate.

As soon as Estella stepped off the Hogwarts express, her whole world changed for the better. She had lived a life of secrecy, of hiding, but now, here she was, in the one place she could truly be herself- a place she could call home for the next seven years of her life.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" Urged a deep voice as she followed the rest of the first years through the station.

Estella glanced up, her mouth falling open as soon as she laid eyes on the source of the voice. "Who"s that?" She asked around her, unsure if she should be intrigued or afraid.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!" He nodded down at the students, his face hidden behind his matted brown hair.

Estella followed the man down a steep, winding path, losing her balance a fair few times. "Where are we heading?" She turned to those around her, barely visible in the moonlight, "isn"t the castle that way?"

"We have to cross the Black Lake," she turned to see a short boy beside her, his light blonde hair glowing in the luminescence. " Merlin are you a muggle born or something?"

"How will we cross the Black Lake?" She asked with a puzzled gaze, barely able to see in front of her own feet, let alone into the darkness of the lake.

He raised his brows at her, scoffing lightly, "boats." As soon as the words left his lips, he turned away, heading off with another gaggle of students. Estella clearly wasn"t worthy of his friendship.

"Oh..." She sighed, following as the crowd made their way towards the boats lined up at the shoreline.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called to the eager students over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

Estella did her best to stay close to him, shuffling along until the path opened up onto the edge of the lake. "Wow," she called out quietly as she laid her eyes on the castle, perched high above a mountain, almost fading into the dark and starry night. It was just like her postcards.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little wooden boats sitting in the water by the shore.

"Oh," she said to herself, "boats."

Students around her rushed forwards, crawling into the boats as quickly as they could, clearly sitting with those they had befriended on the train; something Estella had wished she had been lucky enough to experience. Estella had sat alone on the train, and as she clambered into the rocky wooden boat, she found herself alone once more.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then – FORWARD!"

At once, the fleet of boats set off, gliding across the glassy lake. No one said a word, too in awe to speak. Estella leant over the edge of the boat, gazing into the lake. Despite the darkness, she could still see the light ripples dancing across it as the boats made their journey. Deep within the lake, there was a golden glow, light flowing all around it as though carried by heavy winds. Estella sighed, there was something about the lake calling to her, an invisible string pulling her towards its bed.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the boats moved forwards into a curtain of ivy covering a wide opening within the cliff face. They moved through a dark tunnel in silence until they arrived at an underground harbour, the bottom of the boats scraping across the tumbling rocks.

Estella steadied herself on the edge of the boat, using it to help get herself onto the pebbled surface. She pushed into the back of the group, wishing she were taller.