From Me to You
Mid-June, 1943, Hogwarts found itself housing multiple petrified students, one of whom was named Myrtle Warren. The cause of her near-demise had been the bare eyes of Slytherin’s basilisk, who had met Warren’s eyes under the hissed order from its current master.
Tom Riddle had not expected someone to be in the room when he decided to call on the serpent as a glance to the bathroom stalls had told him that none were occupied. As it had turned out, the one stall that was in use had been warded and charmed to contain the caster’s sobs and imitate the next stall’s appearance of unuse. Warren had always been a studious girl, striving to represent her house of eagles ever since her sorting ceremony. Her unfortunate constant as a victim of bullying meant that she knew certain tips that would help evade her tormentors. Hence, her precautionary spells to the stall she had turned to for comfort. It was just unfortunate that this had led to an unwelcomed ordeal.
The click of a door and a feminine voice calling out had Tom panicked. In that split second, he had to quickly come up with an escape route, and what better than to get rid of the witness to his schemes? After all, dead men tell no tales. The basilisk obeyed his rash decision easily and looked straight ahead at the trembling girl. However, graced by Magic, it seemed, the room suddenly lit up in blue and an almost-translucent creature passed by its vision just as Warren locked her eyes with the serpent. Having exposed to its fatal eyes indirectly, the third-year did not collapse lifelessly and instead, stilled in her spot, eyes wide with surprise clear on her face.
Setting the situation with Warren aside for the meantime, both, Tom and the basilisk, turned to regard the glowing newcomer who was now looping in the air to reduce its momentum to a slow pace. As it drew closer to the flabbergasted pair, Tom managed to make out its feline form in all its regalia; whether it was a leopard or a panther – or whatever else, really – he wasn’t well-versed enough in the topic to pinpoint its species.
Now standing only an arm’s reach away from him, he noticed that it was holding onto something oddly shaped with its mouth. It jutted its chin out and he tentatively placed a hand out which seemed to be the correct thing to do as it then leaned in to drop the object onto his palm. Upon closer inspection, the – gift? – turned out to be a paper crane, and its imperfect folds and creases told him that the person behind all this unexpected confusion had manually crafted it. A glance to the big cat showed its patient eyes looking right back at him and he surmised that it wanted him to do something with the paper.
With narrowed eyes, he aimlessly unfolded the crane into a piece of square paper, each step exposing the ink on it which eventually revealed to be words:
Restricted Section, Shelf 23, Title: Soul Maintenance
Satisfied with Tom’s actions, the patronus chuffed out lightly and stepped back. He watched in hidden awe as it pranced into the air and took speed in leaving the room, back where it came from – that is, through the wall. The light blue tint to the room vanished along with the stranger and Tom paused for a moment to process his current predicament.
“Master. The girl.”
The hissing snapped him out of his thoughts and his gaze fell onto the unmoving student. Filing away the memories of the patronus and the book recommendation to further examine later, he sighed as he considered ways to deal with Warren. Using an Unforgiveable to kill her off would undoubtedly raise alarm in the Hogwarts magical wards so that was out of the question. There were ways he could take her defenceless life and stage the scene to imitate an accident, but one misstep would make the perpetrator traceable and he couldn’t risk that. Perhaps now was the time to take advantage of Rubeus Hagrid’s secret pet and pin the crimes onto the unsuspecting Gryffindor. The petrification aspect could be explained by the venom of the Acromantula after all.
Tom gave himself a moment to fully foolproof the plan, giving his serpent partner the order to lie low as usual in the chamber. A solid plan, he decided. First and foremost, he needed to obliviate Warren. Set on his task, he ignored her unrelated memories and focussed only on the ones he needed. It wasn’t until dinner that day that he learned of his victim’s name.
It was a solemn meal that night. Headmaster Armando Dippet had explained the situation and shared that the aurors have been dispatched to investigate the incidents of the petrification of the student body. Aside from acting to blend in amongst the crowd’s surprise and fear, Tom paid half his attention to Dippet and gave subtle glances around the hall in hopes to catch a hint of the caster behind the patronus charm earlier. Whoever it was, however, seemed to have their guard up and Tom left dinner just as clueless of their identity as ever.
Back at the Slytherin Common Room, under the privacy of a ward, Tom reassured his circle of friends that the investigation would not give away their involvement in the situation. They shared his bafflement when he told them of the mysterious interruption and their letter, none of them any wiser of the possible suspect, to his dismay.
He had borrowed the book that the note had named earlier that day, making use of the Restriction Section pass that Professor Horace Slughorn had entrusted him with. The subject of the book gave him an inkling that whoever the author of the note was, they seemed to have clocked onto his interest in Horcruxes. That was a terrifying thought and there was now a dreaded possibility that they would divulge his secret.
And so, he added another point to his to-do list: prepare a defence for a confrontation of his fascination with the Dark Arts.
The odd thing behind this entire event, besides the mysterious person seemingly knowing his plans, was their willingness to keep his secrets. True, the timing of the patronus and Warren’s situation could have been a mere coincidence, but he didn’t like to leave things up to happenstance. There was now an unknown variable in his plans and so, he had to disappointingly put them on a pause. Their existence was throwing him into a spiral and he could already feel his head hurting. He was never a fan of uncertainty and this prolonged enforced vigilance was already tiring. Magic on his side, however, it wasn’t long before he came to learn of their identity.
June passed by without any more petrification incidents. The culprit behind the victims’ unfortunate situations had been caught about a week after the fateful day and words spread that Hogwarts had Tom to thank for. Tom’s plan a success, Hagrid was apprehended for the crime, citing that his Acromantula had been the cause of the students’ petrified state and that he would be expelled from Hogwarts for the danger he had brought upon the school.
The semester ended on that note and soon enough, the students were boarding the train back to London.
Paying half a mind to the chatter of his friends around him, Tom spent most of the ride with his eyes trained on his book. His thoughts occasionally wandered to the patronus that he had been graced to see in close distance. The Patronus Charm was a highly advanced magic that many schools had apparently decided was too difficult to bother including it in the syllabus. As far as he knew, only some Hogwarts staffs were capable of such magic and they were high on the list of suspects he had considered. To be able to maintain their patronus for a long period of time and have it understand its caster enough to pass on a physical message to someone, he wondered just how powerful the big cat patronus’ caster was.
Bemusement was significant that day when he had met the feline, so it was only afterwards when he had a chance to look back on the occurrence that he had felt the patronus’ effect. It was subtle as he only had his subconscious memory to rely on, but the feeling of calmness had definitely touched him. In hindsight, perhaps that was why he had even bothered to entertain the situation and pay heed to the patronus without losing his total cool. The patronus wasn’t his so it felt odd to feel emotions beside his own. It was weird enough that that was possible to experience – how exactly do you explain feeling another set of emotions that wasn’t yours? Accompanying the peace was elation and pleasantness, and he felt a twinge of bitterness when they felt unfamiliar to him. There was a reason why he could never manage even a wisp of Patronus magic.
Now, as the train slowed down to a stop at King’s Cross Station, he was reminded of the poised figure that stood proudly in that dingy bathroom; the way it emitted the faint but distinct glow onto the room and the rush of magical energy that made up its being. The beauty that Magic was capable of had never failed to impress him and it disgruntled him that the traditions that had shaped Magic into what it was now were being taken away to incorporate more muggle ones. Gone, were the cultures that celebrated Magic.
Clearing his thoughts to ground himself back into reality, he grabbed his belongings and made his way out of the train. Just before he could bid his friends goodbye on the platform, he heard a call of his name. All nearby heads turned to see a girl approaching Tom with an unfailing bright expression, a plain paper bag in hand. This was a familiar sight to many; a girl seeking out Tom with a confession of love, only to receive a – feigned – empathetic rejection from the boy. He could almost feel the pitying gazes around them and yet, the nearing girl didn’t let that deter her.
Despite the absence of her trunk, Tom recognised her to be a student. It’d be slightly concerning if he didn’t, seeing as they have had multiple classes together throughout the past five years. They had never shared a conversation together, however, apart from the quick greetings when they would recognise each other. Theana Grace was friendly enough of a year mate.
Mirroring Thea’s cordial smile, Tom greeted her equally once she had stopped in front of him. “Grace. How can I help you?” He had no doubts that stories of his rejections have made its way throughout his year so, giving credit where credit was due, he applauded her unwavering confidence.
Except, the expected confession did not leave her lips.
“It’s been a while since then but I do hope that Pinky left a good impression on you.”
He had a quick flashback to the bathroom incident with how unexpectedly confused she had rendered him and he simply blinked at her. “I’m sorry- Pinky?”
“Oh! My panther, I mean.”
His lips parted in surprise and his mind halted at her revelation. There was no mistaking which panther she meant and that was two questions answered. One, the identity of the reason behind his unrest this past couple of days; and two, what breed of cat the patronus was.
With these two thoughts ramping up in his brain, he couldn’t have possibly confronted Thea with her actions at this moment, in public, so he settled onto the next quick thing he could think of. “I was unsure if it was a leopard or a panther.”
Amusement widened her grin and she held back a chuckle at seeing Tom with his mind in chaos. Years of examining him unnoticeably in school meant that she could pick up on the tiny tell-tale signs of his inner voice.
“I’m no expert in animals either but I’m fairly sure they’re the same breed.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t often that Tom felt stupefied.
Deciding to cut him some slack, Thea decided to skip the small talk. “As for why I’m here, I’ve got a gift for you.”
She brought her paper bag up and extended it to him, who, in his stupor, accepted it with only little hesitation. He was beginning to theorise that a patronus reflected their caster, in which, both of them had done a great job at catching him off-guard.
“What…”
“I thought you might like these titles so I’ve picked a couple out.” She glanced away for a moment to the station’s clock and he felt urgency when he knew what was coming. Before he could speak, however, she was quick to continue. “Sorry, I’ve got someone waiting for me so I should head home now. I’ll see you next semester?”
“Wait-”
She took a step back and he unknowingly followed after her with a foot forward. Her apologetic look was enough to wrap up their talk and he reluctantly sighed in defeat. “I’ll see you then, Grace.”
With a final bid of goodbye, she turned away and he watched as she made her way to the designated floo system in the station. A rage of green flames, and she was gone. As if she had taken his sense of calmness away with her, he felt frustration settle in his bones when it clicked in his brain that he would have to spend two months without a way to appease the curiosity in him about her purpose.
Ignoring the way some onlookers were gaping at him – they couldn’t hear their conversation so all they had seen was Tom seemingly trying to stop Thea from leaving – he acknowledged his friends’ puzzlement with a simple, “that’s our mystery patronus person.”
More surprise, understandably so.
None of the boys had ever talked about her, him included, so he had no hope that any of them knew anything about Thea. That would change come next semester, he promised. But for now, he had a gift to unwrap.