Upon entering the study of Salazar Slytherin once again, Seraya had lethargically transfigured a pencil into a suitable armchair and had levitated it to face the chair on the other side of the desk. In a fluent motion she took a seat in the new armchair and watched as Tom headed for the other. The both of them sat quietly for several moment, basking in the feeling of Slytherin's magic humming within the room.
"Abraxas told me about your little, well, rendezvous for lack of a better term. The boy has been helplessly pining after the likes of you, you know? Ever since you first stepped foot into this castle." Tom was the first to actively break the silence and his words caused the young witch to grin. Usually Tom Riddle was known to be very eloquent and sophisticated in his use of words and Seraya was amused to see that he was only a boy after all.
"I'm fully aware of Abraxas' early infatuation with my person; his looks weren't exactly subtle." They laughed although Seraya noticed that Tom Riddle showed an expression of slight bitterness. Quickly resuming to the usual blank expression, Tom continued the light-hearted conversation: "The basilisk seemed absolutely ecstatic to see you again. Are the two of you close?" "We're as close as human and gigantic magical snake can be, I guess. Rex told me once that my scent was calming to a basilisk, whatever that is supposed to mean."
The Slytherin prefect hummed in thought before continuing: "In all honesty, I must admit to being a bit envious of your relationship with the creature I assumed to be sole master of." He paused several moments, then said: "On that note, I believe it to be the right time to officially open the Chamber of Secrets and continue the noble work of Salazar Slytherin. What do you say?" That was indeed something the young witch had been looking forward to.
Obviously with his knowledge of Tom's unique ability to speak parseltongue, Professor Dumbledore would immediately know who was responsible for the attacks on muggleborn students. "I agree, Tom, now seems to be a good time to stir up chaos and fear amongst the student body. Might I suggest however, that we take care to confuse Albus Dumbledore regarding the perpetrator of the deaths and or petrifications? Since eleven-year-old you so kindly told him you could talk to snakes, he probably is already aware of your ancient lineage.
Once the attacks start, he will start keeping an obnoxiously close eye on you which will definitely hinder your plans. I propose that, since there are now two people in this castle who can order and control the basilisk, we make sure to place you in an obvious setting, where the old goat will see you while I carry out another attack on a mudblood. That will likely throw him off and might even plant a seed of doubt regarding his perceptions of your person," the Ravenclaw elaborated her ideas and watched in satisfaction as a vicious grin spread across Tom's sharp features.
"Seraya Cassedy, you are a devious genius. I could kiss you right now, metaphorically of course." Seraya laughed at his dramatic flare and replied: "Better not, although you are his best friend and idol of sorts, Abraxas might kill you if you kissed me." "True, Malfoys are renounced for being rather jealous and possessive partners," he mused. It remained quiet for a couple of minutes, both not knowing what to say next, for different reasons.
Seraya praised herself for being quite possibly the only person to know who Tom Riddle really was and thus didn't have many questions for the boy while Tom was mentally debating on what subject to inquire her first. Obviously, it had been established during their first discussion that they had similar aims and ambitions, yet Tom still felt like he didn't know whom exactly he was dealing with. Seraya Cassedy was as much an enigma to him as she had been since coming to Hogwarts.
Again, the heir of Slytherin was the first to break the silence: "I must admit to being quite curious about your magical abilities and affinity. Since parselmagic is all about intent, the ministries worldwide categorized it as dark magic, rubbish if you ask me, therefore I presume you must have a magical affinity inclined towards grey or even dark magic. Correct me if I'm wrong."
Several days ago, the young witch had made the decision to refrain from lying to Tom Riddle. If the both of them had hopes of working together to systematically pursue their plans to remodel wizarding society to their standards and ideologies. Business partnerships as delicate as theirs were built on trust. Obviously, there were certain things that best remained hidden but those were parts of Seraya's life so miraculous and unrealistic not even the brain of Tom Riddle would think of ever considering it possible.
"You are quite right in your assumption, Tom. My magical core is strongly inclined towards dark magic however, I am capable of performing light magic as well. For example," Seraya raised her wand, clearly not catching on to the look Tom was sending her main magical instrument, and moved it in a swift movement of her wrist. "Expecto Patronum." From the tip of the delicate wood the silvery form of a large snake emerged. It was about half the size of a fully grown basilisk and seemed to be of glowing silver smoke. It slithered around their legs for a few moments before the Ravenclaw-student stopped the spell.
"You can cast a corporeal Patronus? An extremely powerful and advanced light spell that isn't taught at Hogwarts until seventh year?", Tom inquired incredulously, mouth slightly agape in wonder, gaze still trained on Seraya's wand. "Well, yes," she answered, "I learned it during my time at Ilvermorny." The boy made a confused humming noise: "I've tried my hand at the Patronus charm several times but nothing ever happened for me. I always thought that since my magical affinity is dark, I physically couldn't perform such powerful light magic."
Seraya snorted in disbelief. Sure, that's what the ministries declared to keep their citizens from mingling with darker forms of magic. It held no truth whatsoever. Granted, it took a little more time and practice to master spells of another affinity but a witch or wizard, no matter what magical affinity, could physically learn and perform all sorts of magic.
To reassure him, she told Tom: "I suspect that learning to cast a Patronus without proper instructions and the lack of a Dementor's presence is a feat nearly impossible, no matter how powerful the witch or wizard. The Patronus-Charm is a strong defensive spell and will therefore be more difficult to cast with a lack of offensive danger." The young heir nodded in understanding. "I could teach you if you like," Seraya offered unsure whether Tom would accept.
The Slytherin boy was a very proud person who hated relying on others. His insatiable thirst for knowledge however seemed to prevail when he gave a curt sound of agreement. Silence, again. It was weird. When she talked to Tom Riddle, occasional silence and loss of words was common yet it didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable. "What is your wand made of?", Tom suddenly asked, eyes trained on the piece of wood that Seraya still held in her right hand.
The witch gazed down at her wand and smiled lovingly. "Dark-Yew wood, Thestral skin, eleven inches. Why do you ask?" "Yew, you say? No wonder I got a feeling of familiarity from your wand." Tom delicately pulled out his own wand and turned it between his long slender fingers. "Yew, phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches." The handle of the pale ebony colored wand was intricately shaped like a bone and Seraya found that it suited its master very well.
Compared to Tom's, her wand looked rather elegant. There were runes carved into the surface of it, that glowed a deep blood-red. The handle of her wand was kept rather simple except for a detailed snake made of silver that twisted around it and gave the carrier a great grip on the wand. The runes and the snake stood out well against the dark wood of the Dark-Yew.
"I've been reading a lot about wand-lore lately and I must say, I am quite intrigued with yours. Yew and Dark-Yew especially are considered woods that mingle with dark magic best. I've personally never heard of a Thestral-Skin core in a wand, at least not here in Europe. Is it a common core ingredient in the States?" "No, it isn't. In fact, I don't know of anyone else who has such a core beside me obviously. I do not believe that wand-makers use it," Seraya informed the extremely curious boy.
Tom looked even more confused by her answer. "If Thestral-Skin isn't used for wand-making then how come you have it as your core?" "I thought you'd be asking that question," the Ravenclaw-girl replied, "My wand is my only tie to my family. When I got my admission-letter to Ilvermorny, I went to the wizarding streets in New-York city to buy my school supplies. The local wand-maker there told me that my father had deposited a wand and letter for me shortly after my birth. My father was a man of many skills and wand-making was apparently one of them."
The boy seemed to notice that Seraya felt uncomfortable talking about her father and thus quickly changed the topic: "Quite remarkable, indeed. I must admit, however, to being far more interested in your personal use of magic. We've clearly established that you have a dark magical affinity but how much dark magic have you actually practiced?" The Ravenclaw looked unsure. She had cast some really dark stuff, nasty curses and the most forbidden magic.
Tom being the perceptible young man he was, caught on to her indecisiveness: "No worries, I will be the last to judge." "Yes, well, I don't doubt that you of all people won't judge however verbally admitting some of the things I've done could get me into serious legal trouble." Tom's head shot up in sudden interest and he eyed her calculatingly and with an expression of great intrigue. His mouth turned up in a malicious smirk as he ushered: "Well then, by all means do tell..."