✨Riddle Me This✨

Part the First

The welcoming feast was loud and festive, as per usual. After the sorting of the new first years, Headmaster Dippet went up to say a few words of welcome before waving his hand to summon the plates of food on each table. 

After eating her fill, Charity sat looking around at all of the other Hogwarts students. She recognized many of them from last year, but she wasn't familiar with the wavy, black-haired boy sitting at the rear of the Slytherin table who was jotting in a black book.

"Who is that?" She pointed him out to Nora.

"Oh. That's Tom Riddle. Don't you remember him from last year?" She asked before shoveling a forkful of squash into her mouth.

"No, I don't remember. I thought he was new or something," Charity responded.

"Everyone knows Tom Riddle. I had him in potions last year. Smart as a whip, but keeps to himself. Most of the girls are obsessed with him, but he's not exactly approachable. Always looks like he's hiding something too. Kinda mysterious if you ask me."

"Hmm."

"It's too bad you know. He's quite good-looking. Maybe if he wasn't so intimidating one of us would have a chance," she said sarcastically. "You know, there was talk of him being made head boy this year, but he turned it down. Who would turn down such a wonderful opportunity? There's something not right about him I say."

Charity searched the table for him again, but he had already risen from his seat and exited the Great Hall. 

She and Nora rose along with their house prefect, Becky Shuttle, and followed the other Ravenclaws to their common room and dormitories.

Still feeling energized from her nap on the trip here, Charity stayed back in the common room to play wizard's chess while most of the others went to bed. She played three games with a fourth year named Nathaniel, two of which she lost, before heading off to bed herself. 

The next day, classes were to begin. She looked at her schedule. She had advanced Transfiguration, then Potions VI, then Charms, Divination, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. 

The first four classes flew by without much ado, mostly just reviews from what the students had learned the year before. 

Defense Against the Dark Arts, however, was taught by professor Merrythought with an exciting amount of energy. The objective was to cast a spell that would induce temporary paralization on your enemy. Each student tried to do so but their attempts just momentarily slowed down their dueling partner. 

The only sixth-year powerful enough to carry out the task was Tom Riddle, and he did so without much effort. In fact, his spell had so much force it paralized Linfred Ratshell for the entire lesson and he had to be brought down to the hospital wing. Consequently, no one got within five feet of Tom for the rest of the class period. 

After lunch, Charity walked Norma to her potions class before heading to History of Magic VI, taught by Professor Weatherby. 

"Good afternoon class. I hope you all had a pleasant summer. Now that you are sixth-years and deemed old enough, I thought an educational first assignment of the term would be to take a family lineage test. Who knows if someone in this very room could be descended from a famous wizard? The reason you have to be sixth-years to take this test is because it requires a small amount of drawn blood. Now, some of you may not be partial to drawing blood, and understandably so. Therefore, this test is optional . For those of you who do want to participate, come and get a piece of enchanted parchment form my desk."

Charity looked around as half the class stood to get parchment , and half stayed in their seats with a slightly concerned look on their faces. A row over from his own desk, Tom stayed in his seat, although he didn't look concerned or scared. Charity wasn't one to get queasy at the sight of blood, so she got up to retrieve the parchment. 

"I am going to pass out these needles, and I expect you to handle them carefully. The easiest way to go about this is to make a simple prick at the tip of a finger. Once you have done so, place a drop of blood on the bottom of your parchment. Then you may return the needle to my desk and grab a bandage if needed. Has everybody who desired one got a needle? Okay, you may begin."

Charity carefully pricked the tip of her little finger and pressed it onto the bottom of her parchment once blood beaded up. She got up to return the needle and bandage her finger. Back at her seat, she saw that faint blurry names were appearing on the page, spreading upward like something contagious. It started with her name, then her parents and aunt, then her grandparents and so on.

Around the room you could hear curious whispers and see surprised looks on faces. 

She looked down and saw that webs of names were now clearly visible, all the way to the top of the roll. Starting from her grandparents, she read through them, some names familiar, but most of them unheard of to Charity. 

Her breath caught when she got to the top of the parchment. There at the top, written in fancy script were the words, Rowena Ravenclaw. 

"Everything alright over there Miss Woodlin?" Professor Weatherby came over and scanned her scroll. Her eyes went wide as he reached the top.

"Blimey! You're a direct descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw!" She stated out loud. Every head in the classroom swiveled their way. 

"What a surprise! You should be right proud there Charity. To be descended of a Hogwarts founder os a great honor. I'll be letting the headmaster know we have someone special attending Hogwarts." She smiled at Charity, and handed her parchment back. 

"Now, anyone else have something shocking to reveal?" Weatherby chuckled, "No? Well then. You may keep your lineage parchment. That's all for today." With that the professor sat down at her desk and began scribbling away. 

After Charity's next classes, she went up to the owlery to send a note asking her parents if they knew about their Ravenclaw lineage. 

Rushing back to the Great Hall for dinner, she met Nora on the way and informed her of what she had discovered in her earlier class. 

Across the Hall, not only were people staring, but they were whispering about her too. Except Tom Riddle. He glanced in her direction, but did so silently, looking away when she met his eyes across the room. Charity wanted to melt into the floor. 

She wondered if her parents knew about the descendancy and just never told her, or if they weren't aware. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A/N: Not everything written in this fanfic will match Harry Potter lore, and it's not canon either. I'm excited for the plot build! Anyway, did you like? :D