𝕲𝖔𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈[𝕬 𝕿𝖔𝖒 𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞]

Picture Perfect.

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?" Tom asked in a hurry as they literally ran towards the Riddle Manor.

"You didn't?!" Leo exclaimed in disbelief.

Tom pursed his lips in thought. He did notice quite a few odd events but didn't put much thought into it.

Tom and Leo were close enough to see the smoke coming out of the chimney of his house. As soon as they reached near the iron gates of the Riddle Manor, Leo barged in.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They entered through the huge wooden double doors. Tom's eyes schemed over the entire hall to notice if anything was even slightly out of order. Leo ventured further into the house, disappearing upstairs.

Tom walked inside the living room to see his father reading a book right before place. The older Riddle glance up at his son's arrival.

"I thought you were bringing the Christmas tree," Mr Riddle asked while closing his book shut. Tom nearly cringed when he saw that his father didn't even bother to mark the page he was in.

"Did anyone visit you while we were gone?"

Mr Riddle shook his head, "No. It's the holidays. Everyone is with their family. Although, we might have a few guests tomorrow-"

His words were interrupted by the sound of loud knocking coming from the main entrance. Tom immediately tensed up as his eyes travelled towards the set of stairs that lead upstairs. He contemplated whether he should stay with his father or Leo.

A few minutes of tensed silence passed between Mr Riddle and Tom. One of the maid had answered the door and was conversing with the unknown guests in hushed voices. Tom tried his very best to listen into the conversation but could barely make out anything.

The maid entered the living room after a while and Tom could immediately understand that something was certainly not right.

"Who is it?" Mr Riddle asked.

"I am not quite sure, sir. They claimed that they were from some secret organisation and is asking to meet you and your...uh...son," the maid stuttered out.

Both Tom and Mr Riddle exchanged a look of confusion as if asking eachother if they were aware of something.

Mr Riddle dismissed the maid and stood up on his feet. Both of them left the room in silence. Mr Riddle didn't want to invite his unexpected guest inside until he knew about their whereabouts.

Just outside the threshold, a few people stood in the middle cold winter morning. Tom stopped right behind his father eying the odd bunch with a narrowed gaze. They were dressed in long black clothes with huge hats that hid their eyes.

"How can I help you?" Mr Riddle asked cautiously. The small group of people were rather intimidating.

"Mr Riddle, we are here to help you. But our meeting is not with you, it's with your son," the man who was standing in the middle spoke while taking off his hat. All of their eyes fell on Tom who looked quite annoyed.

"What do you want?" Tom asked, not bothering with his manners.

"We are from the Ministry of Magic. Now, it would be better of we were to talk somewhere more private," the man said with a very fake grin. Tom's glare didn't falter.

Mr Riddle was about to invite them in but Tom cut him off, "I don't see any people around. This is as private as it can get."

The young boy pushed his father behind him and stood in face to face with the man.

"Very well. We have reports of a wizard and a witch who exposed our world to a Muggle. I'd assume that that Muggle is standing right behind you," the man from Ministry of Magic gestured toward Mr Riddle.