chapter two
Calliope rubbed her temples trying to ignore her throbbing headache from a hungover due to her drinking too much firewhiskey because of Rhibras' unfiltered rage toward her earlier.
He had shot her a couple glares during the meeting discussing the removal of dementors as guards due to many of them working with the ones who practiced dark magic with bad intentions, and were to be replaced by aurors according to the Minister's orders.
She was thankful that the cruel wraithlike demons were leaving, they may have tormented the prisoners to extreme extents, but even the staff members felt weak with dark purple circles under their eyes, even they felt chilly and felt happiness drained out of them in the presence of the creatures.
She was currently seated in her office, which was just only had worn out sage green paint on the walls, splatters of blood from the murder of the previous therapist, even glancing at the walls made her stomach churn with bile rising to her throat.
Her table was made of simple wood with a drawer, the cabinet which flanked the right side of the office was filled with old patients' reports, some of them were as old as a century.
Calliope walked over to one of the drawers and picked up a file which said 'TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE (LORD VOLDEMORT)' in big and bold letters. She had heart of Lord Voldemort back in America, he had caused quite some trouble here in the UK.
She opened the file and took a seat on her chair and set the file on the desk. She opened the file and analyzed a particular paragraph on the man 'Followers and Allies'
'Tom Riddle otherwise known as Lord Voldemort had started off with a few "friends" at Hogwarts who knew of his plans and supported him. He later than began persuading more pureblood families to join his cause, he even had giants, dementors....' the paragraph went on but a particular sentence caught her eye.
It said 'It's believed that his most loyal follower Bellatrix Lestrange, is a two-time escapee, her first escape during the second wizarding war, and second after the war, when she bewitched previous head of Azkaban, Zebron Herringham and proceeded to stun him and escape after killing her therapist Mayre Poppletim, taking his wand with her. Her whereabouts are not known currently, authorities are still in search for the witch'
Calliope felt an odd feeling of deja vu at the remainder of the name Bellatrix, she was sure she hadn't heard it before but it did strike a fire somewhere in her mind.
She brushed it off, thinking it was only her mind playing tricks on her as she gathered her files on Tom's followers and allies and clutched it close to her chest.
She walked out the room into the gloomy hallways of the staff wing. Rhibras was deep in conversation with some Ministry officials as they argued about something along the lines of 'too much security.
She payed them no heed as she trudged along but came to a stop at a turn and peeked her head to see the pair who didn't notice her eavesdropping.
"There cannot be too much security, Rhibras!" the official exclaimed with a fury of hand gestures.
"They're humans too, they need space to breathe!" Rhibras replied with his usual deep and commanding voice. "The Minister would take me down if the rules assigned are not obeyed!" and with Rhibras waved his hands gesturing for the official to leave.
Calliope turned on her heel and trudged toward Riddle's cell as she stumbled a bit with her head still dizzy from the alcohol, thinking that it was enough eavesdropping for today.
The aurors were wearing navy blue informs, with their wands clutched tight. They paid no heed and looked straight forward, not moving an inch as she trudged along with her files clutched to her chest.
The hallways seemed a bit more warmer and their intense aura of agony had slightly faded. She eventually reached a door which said "PRISONER #2342" in bold letters. The security was much higher than the other doors, she could see why.
"ID" a male auror demanded, with the hand which wasn't clutching his wand outstreched.
She fumbled in her jacket for a bit looking for it before presenting it to the auror. He nodded and swung the door open, allowing Calliope inside and immediately shut the door once she was in.
Tom Riddle was sitting on the bed as he fidgeted with hands in his lap. He looked much fresher than she saw him last, with a bit more colour to his cheeks, but other than that, there was no change in expression in the man.
"Hello Tom, how was your day?" she asked as she took a seat on his chair. He eyed her curiously before replying.
"It was quite alright, I went out had a picnic and committed murder" he spoke calmly, she couldn't tell he was being sarcastic, but from his reports it could've been anything. Hoping that it was a joke, she chuckled.
"I was hoping that I could ask you a couple questions on your allies" she spoke as she looked for the particular files.
"Alright, but on one condition" he began, "I'd like a few favours" he spoke.
Calliope scoffed, 'he really thinks that there was a choice' she thought as she rolled her eyes.
"No, you can't call in a favour that would be against the rules and would get me fired" she pouted.
Tom smirked and leaned against the wall, with one hand on his knee. His eyes were crinkled and he chuckled. Calliope felt bile rise to her throat as she gripped her wand.
"Do you think that drinking is legal, darling?" he mused, with his voice taunting. "I could smell it on you the moment you entered the room"
Calliope got up from the chair and clutched her wand tightly, her knuckles turning white. She was already on Rhibras' bad list, one more straw pulled and she'd fall into the oblivion.
"What do you want?" she asked with a firm voice, the words which came out of mouth made the ends of Tom's mouth tug upward into an even bigger smile.
"I want you to take me away from this dump, for one night" he spoke.