Riddle Me This | Mattheo Riddle

t h r e e

This chapter takes place during Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and follows parts of the original story by J.K. Rowling.

-Mattheo's POV -

Life at Hogwarts was uneventful, boring even. 

Sure, the whispers about me every time I turned a corner hadn't died down and my cousin Draco made sure to not only feed the rumors but to badmouth Potter whenever he had the chance.

I could practically hear him sneering, his voice and facial expression burned in my memories. 

'How come Potter get's to be on the Quidditch team? He's a first year!', 

'Remember that weird girl that dared to approach us on the train? How anyone could choose to be in Hufflepuff is beyond me!'

And just when I thought nothing exciting would ever happen at this school it did.

Chaos.

Halloween was chaos. 

After Professor Quirrell, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher burst in and terrified everyone by announcing how a troll had entered the school, panic and chaos broke out among the students. 

Even the Professors seemed scared. Whether for our safety or their own, I couldn't tell. 

As the prefects lead us back into our dorms I couldn't help but notice everyone's reactions. And how they were so different to mine. 

Judging by the other Slytherins' expressions I should've been terrified. 

Scared to death. 

At the very least afraid. 

But I was Mattheo Riddle. Son of Lord Voldemort. 

I wasn't able to feel. 

The only emotion I allowed myself was indifference. 

Sometimes annoyance. 

But never fear. 

Because allowing fear meant dealing with my demons. 

And I wasn't ready for that battle yet. 

Not sure if I'd ever be. 

Once we had reached the Slytherin common room, everyone was splitting into groups, bathing in their false sense of safety and gossiping about what Quirrell had said. Finally finding another topic to discuss besides me and Harry Potter, my antagonist. 

"I bet I could fight the troll easily, I'm not even scared," Draco bragged to whoever listened, making me roll my eyes. 

Yeah, right. He must've been the one who had screamed the loudest when the Professor announced the intruder a few minutes prior. 

I was about to return to my room that I shared with said scaredy-cat when someone else caught my attention, sitting in a corner by himself. 

It was Theodore Nott. 

One of the boys I had surrounded myself with because their parents were followers of Lord Voldemort and a fellow first year. He was one of the few Slytherins that had painted their faces in celebration of Halloween, a black and white skull decorating his face. I didn't understand the absurd tradition of painting on a mask to defeat the devil.

A real devil doesn't need a mask to hide from the world. 

I do.

Although now, all that was left of his skull were merely streaks that were smudged across, mixing into an ugly grey color. He seemed to be quite distressed and although usually, I wouldn't care, something dragged me to him.