Unravelled² → Tom Riddle [Rewritten] ✓

CHAPTER THREE

Working at Borgin and Burkes was exactly what Tom Riddle had needed after leaving Hogwarts. Although he was offered positions of higher importance to society, Tom had quite contently taken a job at Borgin and Burkes. He knew that the job suited him far better than any other ever could. Every day, he successfully attempted to convince wealthy witches and wizards to part with their valuable heirlooms, from trophies to lockets.

During his time working there, he had been able to secure hundreds of valuable items into his possession, assessing each one before deciding whether or not he would swipe it for himself. Valuables that he took were kept in a vault at Malfoy Manner, ready for a second assessment closer to the creation of each one of his horcruxes.

After his siege in Nottingham, Tom Riddle knew exactly where to find Hepzibah Smith and with one quick piece of mail, he had been able to convince her to meet with him at Borgin and Burkes to assess the possible prices of her valuables. As usual, Tom was expecting to use his charm to convince Hepzibah to hand over her valuables to him. He had spent months prior investigating all about Hepzibah's life and had found her perfect.

Tom Riddles charm worked with almost everyone, but he found females especially were far easier to manipulate. Those older than him were also easier than individuals younger than him, they were less agile, less able to defend themselves against his attacks. They were often more open to his charm, more willing to talk with him and share information about their lives. Hepzibah was the perfect target for him.

Tom began his day at work as he always did, early. Twenty minutes before he was expected to be there, Tom was already stood behind the counter. Coming to work early allowed him to inspect the collections from previous days that he had not been able to see. He was able to identify how much each item was worth and how valuable it would be to him, allowing him to swipe anything that took his fancy without anybody else noticing.

Today's collection was rather bare, with only a few new necklaces in the chest below him. Each one almost identical: a long silver chain with small diamonds studded along it, the chains meeting together at a spherical metallic ball. Although they were hideous to look at, he could just by looking at the diamonds that it was expensive.

"Good morning Tom. Early for your shift again?" A male voice bellowed as he entered the room.

"Morning Mr Dragee, I enjoy admiring the new additions to the collection before everyone else you see." Tom smiled, something he had been able to perfect during his time at Hogwarts. Despite not enjoying smiling, he found it made others more open to him and being more open made them more easy to manipulate. Whilst at Hogwarts, Tom had practiced social interactions with his teachers, each year coming back more charming than before after a summer of watching others and mimicking their actions. As the majority of his teachers had grown fond of him, Tom had found them easy targets to practice social interactions on, always willing to talk and more excitable by Toms false compliments. His practice at school had come in handy at work more often than not, however, when it came to his other life, social skills were not compulsory.

"Ahh..." Mr Dragee sighed, going to join Tom behind the counter. "Rather hideous to the natural eye but reach in my boy, let me show you."

Upon his command, Tom slid his hand into the glass display unit, looping his fingers around the chain and pulling it up to extend it. Mr Dragee took the metal sphere in his hand, pushing his it closer to Tom. "Unlock it." He whispered, his voice almost giddy with excitement.

Although Tom was all too skilled at non-verbal magic, he preferred to keep that skill more hidden. With one swift movement, he had his wand out of his pocket, "Alohamora." He manoeuvred his wand in the appropriate way and the sphere began to change. The once smooth metal now had one continuous slit down the side of it that popped open, splitting the sphere in half and revealing the centre. Floating in the centre of the hollowed-out half was a small phial, filled with a clear liquid to the brim. Instinctively, Tom reached his hand out and then stopped, looking at Mr Dragee for permission as though he was a schoolboy again. With one swift nod, Mr Dragee gave his permission and almost immediately Tom's fingers grasped the phial.

He pulled it close to him, twisting open the lid and bringing it to his nose. "Not too close, it's powerful stuff." Warned Mr Dragee, watching Tom with an eager eye as he lifted the potion to his face and leant in for a sniff. His whole face recoiled in disgust at the stench. "Poison."

"A rather powerful one as well Tom. I have studied poisons and potions for years and even I do not recognise it. I assume it to be foreign or made by house-elves who simply cannot understand instructions." He said as he took the phial from Tom's hands, a little too aggressively, and began to reassemble the necklace.

"What kind of effects would it have on its victim? Do you think it would be fatal to consume?" Tom asked quickly.

"Well," Began Mr Dragee, opening up the glass cabinet to secure the necklace again. "Judging by the strength of the smell, it would kill almost instantly. However, the victim would almost certainly have to willingly drink it due to the pungency of the poison."

"Do you believe the stench could be covered up though, perhaps by the smell of cocoa or tea?" Tom leaned in closer to Mr Dragee.

"Well, perhaps my boy but as I am yet to see such poison in use, it would be almost impossible to guess." He rushed the last few words, clearly ready for the conversation to end at once. "Could you open up, I have a few pieces of business to attend to?"

Tom nodded, flashing Mr Dragee his usual charming smile and heading towards the front door. With one flick of his wand, the sign flipped to display the 'Open' sign to passers-by. He quickly returned to his post behind the glass cabinet, reaching beneath it to ensure that the money bank was still there, safely locked away.

Work was usually slow for Tom; with not many wealthy witches and wizards left alive, very few people entered and exited the shop. Most customers usually just came to browse, or if they were more elderly sometimes they just wanted to chat, often with made-up stories about their past to prolong the discussion. Tom wasn't one for small talk and he was usually able to see immediately whether or not a story was genuine, if it wasn't he would direct them to any other employee, however on the rare instance that they told the truth, he was more than willing to listen; getting to know powerful witches and wizards was highly beneficial for his extracurricular activities.

At the sound of a bell Tom's eyes locked onto the front door of the shop which swung open gracefully to reveal a rather plump, old lady. Despite knowing full well had entered the shop, it took Tom a double-take to truly recognise them.

"Young boy, is it you that I am here to see?" She hobbled in through the door, a small house elf following closely behind her.

"I do believe it is." He met her halfway across the shop floor and extended his hand. "Tom Riddle."

"Hepzibah Smith, and that young fool is Hokey."