Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle ✓

chapter four

Although Evelyn had barely ever spoken to Tom Riddle before, she knew it was his voice before she even had the chance to look up. "Tom," She said as her eyes locked onto his.

"Vandalism isn't the sort of thing I had you down for Evelyn Rivers," He looked away from her eyes, remaining standing in a way that made him seem more menacing than Evelyn believed he was.

"I wouldn't call it vandalism, this book cost me more than enough for me to be able to do with it as I please. What sort of thing did you have me down for then?" She closed her book.

"Quidditch, being a prefect, head girl, that sort of perfect student thing."

"I can do both." She rose from her seat so that she was stood at his level.

"One might get you in more trouble than the other though, we wouldn't want that for you, would we?" He said.

"I'll keep that in mind Tom. Thank you so much for your concern," She rolled her eyes, strolling past him out of the courtyard and back into the dungeons.

Evelyn knew that Lily and Sara wouldn't be done yet, not that they weren't capable, but they simply couldn't multitask and enjoyed talking far too much. Peering into the classroom, she saw them both still stirring their potions and adding ingredients to their mixture. She gave them both a pleading look, hoping that they would speed up their work so Evelyn could leave the dungeons. No one particular thing made Evelyn dislike the dungeons, but simply the overall feeling she got when she walked down the steps was enough to make her uneasy. It didn't help that the stench of poorly brewed potions was the only smell that circulated the area, making most students wish they couldn't smell to save them from the horror. Many students tended to struggle with potions which meant that the smell was present after every lesson.

Eventually, Lily and Sara were able to pull themselves away from their conversations and finally finish up. "I'm going to see if I can find Tom, maybe he can help me with my potions." Sara giggled as she made her way out of the library on a futile quest to seduce Tom Riddle.

"I guess she'll be late to charms class then," Lily stated, beginning to make her way to the next lesson alongside Evelyn. They strolled across endless corridors until they found the charms classroom and took their usual seats beside one another.

Evelyn adored charms classes. She adored learning about each charm and how it worked, the fact that she excelled at it also made her enjoy it more. Since her Ordinary Wizarding Exams were fast approaching, she knew it would quickly become a more challenging lesson but Evelyn felt prepared. She had revised the content they would begin to cover this year so that she didn't feel overwhelmed when the work began to pile on, especially since Quidditch would continue to take up large portions of her time.

Once all the students were seated and silenced, Professor Blackburn strode into the classroom, seemingly as excited about the subject as the day he began teaching it. Professor Blackburn was another reason that Evelyn enjoyed her charms lessons more than most, he favoured her above many other students and didn't try to hide it. Every time she got an answer right, he beamed with pride as though he was looking at his own daughter.

"As you all know you will be taking your charms O.W.L this year, there will be one written part and one part practical, we will start today with some very simple revision questions to prepare you." He smiled, waving his wand over the pile of parchment causing it to float around the room, one piece placing itself in front of each student.

Evelyn pulled out her quill from her bag and dipped it into the pot of glistening ink, slowly beginning to write and form answers in her mind to each question. After gathering answers in her mind, she transferred them onto the parchment with ease. Within half an hour, Evelyn was done. She sat back and watched as the other students worked away on their questions, each one scribbling away on their parchment.

After her simple charms lesson, Evelyn was feeling refreshed. She breezed through the rest of her lessons with ease and feeling content as she only received one piece of homework all day. Evelyn met with her friends outside the library, finding herself smiling as she caught sight of them.

"Did you manage to find Tom then?" Evelyn asked, turning to Sara who seemed embarrassed.

"I think I've given up on that task. I don't think I'm qualified enough"

"How can you not be qualified enough? What other qualities do you need?" Lily asked, confused.

"I need more patience, he just didn't talk to me and I don't want to be the only one carrying the conversation. I'm not skilled enough to get him to talk." Sara felt the corners of her lips begin to turn down into a frown.

"There's always someone else Sara." Evelyn gave her friend a brief hug, feeling surprised at how strongly she felt about Tom. "I didn't realise you cared so much, I thought you just wanted a challenge.

"There's not another Tom though, he's exciting. Everyone else here is too easy for me." She sighed.

The trio strolled into the library, taking their usual seats without a word and began to lose themselves in their work.