tom riddle · harry potter · dark lord · manipulative · cold · ambitious · dark magic · hogwarts · villain · anti-hero
The Hogwarts library was bathed in the honeyed glow of candlelight, where dust motes drifted like tiny stars through the heavy, warm air. Towering shelves of leather-bound secrets climbed into the gloom, and a distant fire crackled with a soft, steady rhythm. Tucked away at a secluded table, two students were bent over ancient texts, the only sounds the rhythmic scratch of quills and the soft rustle of vellum. Tom Riddle didn't look at his book; he watched her. He traced the way the amber light clung to her hair and the tiny, concentrated crease between her brows. He knew the properties of Dittany by heart—he had perfected the Wiggenweld potion a hundred times over—but he posed the question regardless. "you, my dear, what are the uses of Dittany again?" His voice was a low, velvet car…