Heathens
Hogwarts is a large prestigious school that once held countless famous wizards and witches throughout the centuries it had been created. It's also a school that holds many twists and turns through the classically structured halls with walls or corridors hiding their own secrets of the past. It's through these halls that secret rooms are never found.
Rooms that allow meetings of the sinister to take place.
Hidden in the depths of the tunnel structure lays a room that Tom uses to summon all his minions to gather in. The room was only illuminated by the four stands of a dozen candles on each corner of the room with a large wooden table in the center occupancy with a seat surrounding it.
All the members who received notice to attend were nervous. It's rare for their leader to summon all of them, especially even rarer when it comes to the Triwizard Tournament. They all believe that their leader was not interested in it so imagine their surprise that this meeting is focusing on just that.
"I want to know what the first tournament is."
His fingers tap on the wooden table as he announces the purpose, "The tournament will be happening in the month that is coming close, so that means till now there are only 2 weeks until the first tournament starts if my calculations are correct. Since Dumbledore has been preparing for the event months in advance, so I need to know what the topic of the first tournament will be."
"I have heard rumors of dragons being seen somewhere deep in the forbidden forest." One member of the group speaks up first.
"Oh, that reminds me! I have seen an unknown wizard entering the courtyard of our school -", A newer member follows right after but was interrupted by the same boy from before.
"Do you mean the brunette man, with a French accent that was shaking hands with Professor McGonagall this morning?"
"Yup, that's the one!"
Tom places both of his arms on the table and he places his face on his hands. Closing his eyes as he gathered the intel he was gaining. 'Dragons, Forbidden Forest, and an unknown man on the school's property. It's highly possible that dragons may be the first tournament, but that leaves the rest of the other two tournaments unknown.' Brown eyes stare at the way the candlelight flickers, though he does prefer it to be burned on wood.
"Does anyone know anything about the unknown man?" Tom questions out loud.
"No, but by the looks at the way he was dressed it will mean he comes from a higher status and holds enough power to communicate with the Prime Minister in person."
Everyone pondered for a few minutes until a brave soul among them asked the question that they were all wondering to themselves, "My Lord may I ask a question?"
"You may," He responds, closing his eyes again.
"Why the sudden change of heart? You didn't care about the event when it was first announced."
The soft tap from his fingers on the wood is all that could be heard in the room. Tom responds with a calming tone, smiling ever faintly remembering the soft smile she send to him the day it was declared she is the third champion. How his heart then and now skips a beat in the very thought of her. So he decides for the first time to test out, to savor the way his soulmate's full name sounded on his lips.
"Aurora Belmont."
"The champion for Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, what about her?" The same wizard asks again, his heart racing in both fear and curiosity. Everyone was now fully invested in what their Lord had in mind. Bellatrix included since she didn't fond the girl from the very beginning, especially after the statement she made in the dormitory in front of everyone.
He sighs, having his fingers come together, debating on telling them the truth or giving them a lie that they will easily believe.
'What will be the best decision?'
Tom can keep a lie going as long as possible but it is such a huge hassle to make sure that the lie lives and everyone believes in it. The truth, on the other hand, will be much easier to work with and even then it's not like anyone will dare defy him of all people.
'I guess the truth it is...,' He sighs again, opening his eyes into a cold stare that grips into the hearts of all his minions and a sense of reminder comes to them on who is in charge of the group.
"Listen well all of you, I will only say this once and will not answer any questions afterward." Everyone at the round table stayed quiet, tentatively waiting to listen to the important announcement he was going to make. Tom pulls out his wand placing it on the table, feeling the texture of the wood, feeling its power hum to him in recognition.
"Aurora wasn't lying about what she said in the dormitory yesterday morning -" Everyone gasps the atmosphere is mixed between shock and surprise. Of course, there is always one member in a group that can't keep their mouth shut, that being Bellatrix who rose up from her seat yelling, "WHAT!! That's impossible!!"
A soft mumbled of the spell, "Crucio" led to Bellatrix falling down to the ground screaming and whimpering under the intense pain. The hearts of the rest of the group pounded in fear knowing that they could be on the receiving end of the spell if they followed in her footsteps. Now in the once quiet room, the painful screams from Bellatrix could be heard as Tom intensified the spell's pain.
Narcissa remained as stoic as possible but not even she could hide away the tears that were falling down from her cheeks as she listened helplessly to her sister being tortured right next to her. Thankfully, Lucius wrapped her right hand with his left hand that was on her lap hidden underneath the table, giving her a tight squeeze of comfort and reassurance which she squeezed back to him.
The spell lifted slowly, easing down on the scream to be a whimper. Bellatrix bit down on her lips, taking a grip on herself to seal her mouth shut knowing that another noise from her would only intensify the spell again. She hugs onto the cold floor not tempting to move her aching body that screams in soreness and pain every time she attempts to move it.
Tom then decides to continue where he was rudely interrupted, "She has been my soulmate since the beginning, although I couldn't find out about her location or anything about her since she didn't speak at the time. Obviously, times have changed she is here now and the reason why I didn't go along with introducing myself yesterday was that I don't want her to get involved with all of this. But that won't mean I won't try to protect her from the shadows..."
His brown eyes turn swiftly to a shade of dark ruby as he responds with a menacing tone that senses a shiver down all of their spines, "If I hear another member in my group speak ill about or attempt to do anything to her of any kind, Iwilldeal with you personally..."
Everyone remained silent allowing the threat to hang over their heads and suffocating the room they were in.
Small gasps whimpers of pain can all be heard from their fallen member. Tom slowly lifts his wand and Bellatrix can feel the spell fully lifting off of her. He leans back into the cushion of the chair and with a wave of his hand, he allows his minions to leave the room. Which they all hastily do wanting to get out of there quickly, Narcissa quickly made her way to her sister helping her up from the floor. She wraps an arm around her sister's waist, lifted her up, and carried her out of the room.
Now alone as the door closed behind the two sisters, Tom sighs again.
'Why must things be difficult?'
He grabs the book he had laying on his lap and places it in front of him. It was a book he borrowed from the library. "Ancient Magical Creatures Around The World", could be read on the front cover with bold, cursive, gold writing on the navy blue color. Flipping the page open, skimming through till he finds the animal he is seeking for till...
Mist Lynx Cat
These species are indeed a rare breed and even harder to capture due to their fast swift movements and their special abilities. It has been reported plenty of times from different wizards and witches that even though they are difficult to capture it is possible with patience and timing (& with a lot of luck).
Although they do come in different colors, they are mainly known to migrate together and originally come from Asia. They all have the same abilities: teleportation through time and space, can see the magical core of all living things, change forms, live longer than an average cat, amazing recognition (highly intelligent creature), and can track anyone they have 'sensed' no matter how far the person they're tracking is.
Brown eyes widen in amazement as he eagerly continues reading down the pages.
Even though these creatures are impossible to capture, they are known to be extremely friendly when it comes to children but passive-aggressive when it comes to adults. They are known to zinc with only their original owners, which are the only ones they will follow orders from.
"Zinc huh...That makes so much sense..." He continues to read more onto the pages.
"Zinc" is an agreement pack between magical creatures and wizards/witches. It's a binding contract between the two that can be formed and only works when both parties agree to link to each other. It's majority used as a reassurance of loyalty and partnership between both parties. Once the "zinc" is created neither party can break it and it's tied to their magical core till one of them dies.
"I wonder what type of pack did you two make with each other?" He then closes the medium-sized book leaving it on the table. The stench of the candle's melting was slowly getting on his nerves and so he got up from his seat. Grabbing the book and with a wave of his wand he distinguished all the flames out.
Walking around the hallways in the dark always felt...soothing to him and being a Perfect helps him separate himself away from everyone. He was close to heading to the dormitory of Slytherin until he heard whispers of the unknown coming toward him. Tom hid behind a statue in the hall peeking through the small spaces to see who the voices were and holding his breath waiting patiently for the voices to walk past him.
"How is the preparation coming, Mr. Baudelaire?", Professor McGonagall questions the wizard figure that blends so well in the shadow, making it difficult for Tom to identify who it is.
"They are going well, I have all the dragons ready for when the time has come," The male person responded. Tom takes notice of the French accent that sounds very familiar to Aurora. 'Could he be from France as well?' But sadly Tom was so focused on asking himself these questions in his mind that he didn't pay attention to the fact that Professor McGonagall was no longer there because all he hears is...
"You can come out now...", the wizard's voice spoke to him.
Tom refocus his attention back to where Professor McGonagall and the unknown wizard were and his eyes widen seeing only the wizard standing there alone under the moonlight from the glass window staring directly at him.
"It's alright I won't get mad. You can come out...", the wizard spoke to him in a reassuring tone.
Tom swallows down his uneasy nerves and walks out of his hiding spot, allowing the moonlight to reveal who he is. It was there that Tom got a good look at the wizard his professor was speaking to. A man taller than him in which he can clearly tell that this person is very muscular with broad shoulders. His hair was light brown hair with a fresh undercut, and his blue eyes glowed perfectly under the light.
"Hello there and who might you be?" the man questions.
"Tom Riddle, sir." He responds back in his charming voice making sure to keep his persona of an excellent student activated. Tom reverses the question back to the other man, "And who are you?"
"Henrik Baudelaire."
"May I ask what you are here for?" Tilts his head to the side to express a sense of curiosity.
Henrik smirks, seeing the golden badge that says "Perfect" on the boy's cloak and he looks back into the other's eyes, "I'm in charge of one of the tournaments, actually."
Tom's eyes widen in shock and he wants to ask the man countless questions but before he had the chance the other gave him a closed-eye smile and started walking past him saying, "Sorry I can't stay around and chat I have somewhere I need to be." It was at that moment that he saw the same lynx cat that was with Aurora sleeping on this man's shoulder in its kitten form.
'What is the cat doing with him?'
But he couldn't stop the other from leaving because just like magic Henrik was gone again with no noise or trace. Things were getting confusing and the more that he kept the bond muted the more frustrating lost he was feeling ten-fold. Finding out information on his own was going to take a while so he might as well wait till any of his minions come to him with new information. Until then, he was going to get some rest and see what the next morning will bring.