Modification || T. Riddle || Completed

Chapter 11: The Murder of The Mudblood

Chapter 11: The Murder of The Mudblood

Estela sat thinking about what had happened between her and Abraxas Malfoy. He had tried to attack her for no reason, but thankfully Estela was quick enough to protect herself. She had thought that the Riddle gang had been acting strangely towards her recently. For what reason, though, she had no idea. She had left him there alone and unconscious. And she hated herself for feeling a pang of terrible guilt building up inside her.

She couldn't believe that she felt guilty - he had tried to hurt her - but she still couldn't bear the thought of him lying there.

She loosed a long breath as she threw on her robe and sneaked out of the Common Room, moving as quietly as she could in case the school's caretaker caught her out of bed. Once she reached the corridor where she left Malfoy, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes frantically flicking from left to right.

He wasn't there.

She cast the lumos spell and looked around the floor for his wand, which she had forced somewhere down the corridor. It was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't have recovered that quickly. Someone must have found him. She started to panic - a teacher must have found him. He would tell them everything and she would lose her prefect badge.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest as she struggled to breathe when a silvery light moving from around a corner caught her eye. She could see the light approaching her serenely, and Estela looked up to see the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw looking at her wearily.

"Estela, what are you doing wandering the castle at this hour?" she asked, seeming somewhat surprised to see her looking so flustered.

"Oh, I lost something around here earlier so I came to look for it," she lied, trying to compose herself.

The ghost's face turned into something that told Estela she didn't believe her. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the ridiculous task Dumbledore's put you up to, would it?"

Estela froze. "How do you know about the task?"

"Secrets are hard to keep in a castle with such thin walls." She said whimsically. "Just be warned," she went on, her voice turning bitter. "Riddle cannot be trusted. Forget the task, it will do you no good."

"I can't just forget about the task," she said, shaking her head. "The burden is on my shoulders for a reason. It might not do me any good, but if changing Riddle and hurting myself along the way saves thousands of people, I'm willing to take that risk."

Helena frowned. "You care too much for others."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Estela retorted.

Helena looked pained as she watched her. "You've been warned," she said disapprovingly before she turned and began floating off down the corridor. "When history repeats its self, don't tell me I didn't warn you."

***

The next day, Estela had tried her best to focus on her lessons throughout the school day. She had tried to listen and join in with Cayra and Anthony's conversations about everything from Witch Weekly to the events of Grindelwald's war. But she couldn't help but mull over what The Grey Lady had told her last night.

After her final lesson of the day and feeling exhausted, Estela was on her way back to the Ravenclaw Tower. She was walking through a corridor on the first floor when she heard a faint weeping sound. She stopped to listen and realised it was coming from the Girl's Bathroom.

She looked left and right to see if anyone was around, but she was the only one standing in the middle of the wide, stone hallway.

She peered around the door to the bathroom. "Hello?"