A Puppet on a String-(Tom Riddle x OC)

Chapter 6

Reese was knocked out of her daydreams when she heard a large group of boys walk into her classroom. Two of which continued walking up to the front of the classroom, she recognized them as Malfoy, who had given her directions, and Tom Riddle, their head boy. She brought her head back down, but her attention was deflected again as she saw someone pull out the chair next to her, and then two others sat at the desk in front of her.

She looked up at him and without saying a word put her head back down and ignored him. There were other open desks in the classroom so she wasn't sure why he had sat next to her, but perhaps he had the same intentions to be as far away from the class as possible. Or maybe they had assigned seats and Reese took someone's chair. Her cheeks darkened at the thought of having to move out of someone else's seat, so saving herself from the embarrassment she asked,

"Does anyone else sit here?" The boy sitting next to her smirked as if he was waiting for her to speak up. The way he looked at her reminded her of Eli, which made a pit set in her stomach.

"It's a new semester so we can sit somewhere new" He said smoothly looking down at her.

"Oh" is all she said, she didn't bother to introduce herself, or ask him his name. He looked a little disappointed but he continued talking anyway.

"I'm Mulciber, Leo Mulciber." Was all he said, when she did not have a reaction to his last name his patience broke, "You're a transfer right? Probably a mudblood doesn't know the right sort from the wrong," he chuckled, mumbling the end to himself and his friends, his two friends in front of him also laughing. He had dirty blond hair and dark eyes but as light as his hair was, his energy was dark.

"How flattering," She mumbled, not bothering to give him her name, or any justification on her blood, she was obviously pure but she could tell that guys like him only want to get under her skin. He looked mad that he didn't get a rise out of her, but right before he could say something again, a short man strolled into the room, only who she could assume was Alughorn.

"Hello students! I hope your break was a good relief from classes but we are back now and starting head on for a difficult potion." His eyes strolled around the room before landing on Reese's. Oh no. She thought to herself.

"But before we begin I notice we have a new member in our class, I heard we were getting a transfer! Would you like to introduce yourself, miss ...." That was her que. She sighed and stated,

"Cliodna, Reese Cliodna, I just transferred from Ireland for the second semester." She said without standing up. Slughorn's eyes brightened and many students turned to face her.

"Ah yes, I had your mother many years ago, she was very gifted, perhaps you hold the same magic." Hearing about a gift made her scared, she didn't want anyone to know about her visions but perhaps she was thinking too much into it and he was being general with using the word gift. Slughorn simply turned around and continued talking; it was hard for her to sit in lectures since most of her lessons were hands-on. This school of course had more students though, which makes that hard.

"Well today we are going to be making veritaserum, a very powerful truth serum, can anyone tell me anything about it?" Slughorn stated looking around. Tom was of course the first to raise his hand. "Yes Tom my boy go on"

"Well, veritaserum is colorless, odorless, and can be hard to distinguish from water itself. Whoever drinks it will be forced to answer questions honestly." Tom recited as if he had memorized their textbook word for word. What a teacher's pet.

"Very good Tom, ten points for Slytherin. Tom is correct, it is a very hard potion to make so we will do a test run in class, and I will also give you two more days in class to successfully make the potion. You will be working on your own" TWO EXTRA DAYS?! Reese thought to herself, I mean it was an advanced spell but for people their age it shouldn't be that difficult.

"Well, I know your name now, Miss Cliodna, since you are new you can ask me if you need help with this potion, or perhaps you would want to meet me after school to study." Mulciber said slyly. Ew she thought to herself,

"That won't be necessary, thanks." Was all she said before she got up to get her ingredients, following the other students. As she walked into the closet full of ingredients, she noticed on her list there was no dittany, which was weird since she always used that in her potions at Erehnoll. She decided to ignore the list and grab it anyways, just as she was about to put some in her pocket she heard,

"I do not believe that is on our ingredient list Miss Cliodna." She turned around to see only Tom and her in the room.

"Oh, my apologies I must have read my list wrong, I wouldn't want to blow up a potion on my first day!" She lied through her teeth. She was impressed with how well she played the innocent transfer girl who was confused. Tom turned around and walked out the room, satisfied with seeing Reese put the ingredient back. Little did he know she grabbed it again right after she left, and then she hurried back to her cauldron. Slowly the students worked for the next 45 minutes to make their potion. As class was coming to an end, most students were tinted heavily and had to work on making it colorless, Toms being nearly clear but only slightly diluted, he was clearly the best out of his group of friends.

Slughorn made his way around the class observing the potions his students made.

"Tom my boy, this is nearly perfect! You will not need all three days to make this! Some simple adjustments and you will be fine, five points to Slytherin!" Tom grinned with satisfaction knowing Slughorn had not praised anyone elses potion like his. As he made his way to the back of the class he laid his eyes on Mulcibers potion,

"Leo this is quite bad for the middle of the year, I do hope you will improve by tomorrow if you want to pass." As much as Mulciber did not care about grades much, he did not like being humiliated in front of his students. Finally he made his way to Reese's, most students were packing up at this point. He took a look at her cauldron and with wide eyes stated,

"Miss Cliodna, this is perfect! I am quite impressed with how you completed this on your first day well done! Ten points to Ravenclaw. Perhaps for the next two classes you can help Mulcibers since yours is completed. Please meet me after class." The class went quiet as Slughorn walked away, most looking with wide eyes wondering how this quiet girl could make such a small deal out of completing a complex potion in one day.

Tom turned and glared at her with eyes that almost appeared red. The jealousy was seeping through him knowing someone took the spotlight away from him. Mulciber looked back at her with a smirk,

"Well it seems like we will be working together for the next few days, perhaps you can tutor me," he sneered with a wink. Shivers went down Reese's spine, and his friends laughed at her reaction.

"Sure Mulciber whatever you say" She stated packing her bags and beginning to walk up to Slughorn's desk as others walked out. As she walked up the rows, Tom glared at her intensely, almost like a warning. She ignored it and continued walking. The class was empty by the time she approached him, not wasting a minute to hurry this conversation so that she would not be late to her next class.

"What would you like to talk about to me professor?" She questioned.

"Well I hope that you are settling well here, but I have never had a student complete such a potion so quickly, you are truly gifted. I do not want this to feel rushed, but I do have dinner parties every Friday for my most gifted students. It's called my Slugclub, it doesn't sound very formal but students do tend to dress in more formal wear if you would like to attend this Friday." He was very excited.

"I am a very flattered professor, I would love to be there!" She said, even though she was not trying to draw attention to herself, a little socializing couldn't hurt. She swifty walked out the class and made her way to transfigurations, a class she believed was mixed with Gryffindors, perhaps they would be more bearable than the Slytherins she had met so far.