𝐵𝑒̂𝑡𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑟𝑒 ; ᴛᴏᴍ ᴍᴀʀᴠᴏʟᴏ ʀɪᴅᴅʟᴇ

30

Lilith woke up again to a blinding light, thinking it was just her ending up in the infirmary again because of Riddle's ignorant tactics but the more she opened her eyes, the more she realized that this seemed much more like an office than a lonely and poorly decorated hospital ward.

"Lilith," A voice called and echoed. Her head was pounding like she had a concussion. "can you hear me?"

Lilith sat up, pressing her hand to her forehead as she tried to get past her weakness. She looked up at an brown haired man who she was familiar with.

"Yes, yes I can. I feel incredibly lightheaded. What happened?" She managed to get words out of her mouth but it was slurred.

The man clicked his tongue and sat on a brown leather couch the opposite side of Lilith so that he faced her. Lilith soon recognized that it was Professor Dumbledore and her eyes widened.

"There is no other way to say this. I'm afraid I will have to lay out the truth."

She straightened her back and felt the atmosphere tense around her. The more the clock ticked, the more time slowed. Something was wrong and she felt in rushing in her body.

"There was another scream of a possible attack. It has "targeted" you but luckily one of your friends carried and rushed you down to the infirmary as soon as it was reported. With countless medicines and days of doctors coming in and out, you had slipped away from death but stayed in a coma. I don't wish to shield the truth from you and pardon my frantic behavior but I'm afraid there is no more time and I require your assistance immediately." Dumbledore kept his calm composure but took deep breaths in between certain parts and looked away as if there was something about her that was fear inducing.

"What do you mean?"

"I have made a mistake sending you here." Professor Dumbledore said plainly. Hearing those words was like a stab.

Lilith felt her lungs twisting inside her as she swallowed a hard lump.

"I need you to tell me everything you know now so that I can ensure your safety and determine what is best fit."

Her eyes scanned the room profusely and she didn't know what to do. Her throat felt dry. It was like getting suffocated. If she told him everything, she'd be completing her task and getting away from Tom. Another part of her told her to not tell him anything. She was already confused enough. All she knew was Tom was the heir of Slytherin and that he was a descendent of a fairy tale monster. However, she wasn't even sure if he was. Her mind told her he was and that she has seen him take the form of a beast but it didn't feel right. Yet.

"Professor, before we get to that, can you tell me about the Tale of the Beastly Snake?" Lilith felt silly for asking such a question but Dumbledore didn't seem phased at all.

"You don't remember?"

Lilith scrunched her eyebrows and shook her head. All she remembered was Malfoy telling the tale to Riddle but it was echoes in her head.
She needed to hear it from Dumbledore.

"That tale is very famous for what the wizarding world knows today in dark magic and phenomenons. In France, it was called," Dumbledore got up and walked to a bookcase, grazing his fingertips over an old book.

"Bête Noire."

Lilith got a surge of flashbacks rushing to her. She remembered flipping through pages in the library and stumbling upon those words. She remembered the guards saying those words. She remembered her mother telling her in French.

"Black beast." Lilith felt stiff. Did she lose that much of her memory? She didn't even recall most of the things she should've known. She didn't even know everything about her crimes let alone committing it. If she even did.

"There is the first tale which is the start of the Beastly Snake and the second which has turned perspectives upside down. Would you like me to tell you?" Dumbledore pulled the book out and flipped to a page and sat back down, looking up at her.

"Yes, please."

"After the Beastly Snake, or the Bête Noire, became notorious in towns and villages, he soon had a rivalry with the world of the living. They continued advancing their knowledge and weapons in hopes to defeat the beast that terrorized them but there was no hope when there was no light. He was born out of no love and only created hatred. His fear was becoming his father and being weakened by a woman because of her beauty. Soon, there was a challenger of the Bête Noire who hated him like oil to water. She was full of rage and was fiery but she was human.As he tried to brainwash her and kill her, she escaped his magic and became his worst fear. His father's obligation to weakness. She had weakened him to the point where there was no escape and they had become a dangerous pair. Her hopes to take him down had only caused the worst war of civilization." Dumbledore stared at the page with no words on it. He turned it and revealed a drawing of a beast holding a bloodied woman.

Lilith clamped a hand over her mouth and she felt like the walls were closing in on her.

"They became the Bête Noires. Enemies of each other. Because of their anger and hatred, they had the same fate as one another. Live as a pair, die as a pair. Bête Noires are rare but incredibly dangerous. They decide the wizarding world's fate. To either strengthen it or burn it." He finished and the silence was immeasurable.

Lilith knew Dumbledore had figured out something and she knew as well. It all made sense. The screams, the beast, the connection between her and Tom. It only made sense now.

If the fate of all the wizarding world laid in their hands, she was sure it was going to burn. There were so many ifs. She needed to focus on how.

"Professor Dumbledore,"

He closed the book and set it down next to him, crossing his legs and raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

There was no turning back now.

"First, I want you to preform Legilimency on me," Lilith paused and she thought out her next words carefully, "second, I'd like to form a plan on what lies ahead if what we are both thinking is true."

"Are you sure you want me to preform Legilimency on you?" He seemed shocked and she didn't blame him. It was shocking to her as well but there were reasons.

"I want you to look at what I can't explain and keep them for when it's needed. I need to learn how to block my thoughts and shield them."

"May I ask why, Rosenyx?" Professor Dumbledore was always bumbling with questions and most that she couldn't, or wouldn't, answer. But, now was different.

"Reflecting on what has happened during my days here, I'm sure most of them are not truthful. I've been manipulated unknowingly and I need to create a block from it happening any more. I'm under the impression that that is the reason why I am losing more and more memories. Because I am replacing them with lies." Lilith got up and her head felt unclouded. There was something new washed over her.

"You're a clever witch, Rosenyx. You are blessed and cursed."