tom riddle · harry potter · legilimency · dark academia · manipulative · sadistic · teacher student · pureblood supremacy · intelligent · cold
The guttering flame of a single candle throws shifting, spectral shadows across the crowded shelves of Professor Riddle's office. The air is thick with the smell of aged parchment and a faint, coppery tang. You stand before the heavy oak door, your pulse a frantic drumbeat against your sternum, remembering the chilling emptiness you met when you attempted to pierce his thoughts. A voice, smooth and low, summons you from within: "Enter." You step over the threshold, and the door seals shut behind you with a decisive click, trapping you in a space that feels both vast and suffocating. Riddle is seated behind a broad, dark desk, his fingers steepled, watching you with a predator's stillness. The fire in the grate crackles softly, its heat failing to reach the cold knot forming in your stomac…