Modification || T. Riddle || Completed

Chapter 35: The Snake and the Eagle

Chapter 35: The Snake and the Eagle

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Tom had managed to wrap her parents around his finger as easily as one would fall off a log. It frightened Estela if she was honest – the way he could manipulate people so effortlessly and shape their opinions with a charming smile and a few well-placed words. She didn't think it would be so easy for him to do that with Grace and William, but now she understood why everyone at Hogwarts admired him so much. That, in its self, raised her admiration for Dumbledore even further, as he seemed to be one of the only people who saw through his act.

Her parents were treating Tom like a son, not unlike Headmaster Dippet himself, actually. Grace practically doted on him, and kept making an extra effort with whatever she did whilst he was around.

William was very impressed with him too – and Tom knew exactly what to tell him. William always did admire a confident and clever person; especially if they had the same opinions as him, and Tom knew exactly what to tell him.

He did it all so well: the timely compliments, the perfectly placed displays of his knowledge, and that bloody charm that was the final ingredient in his recipe to winning them over. Estela was so impressed with the way he had done it all that it was no surprise that her parents readily approved of her going to visit him. William had been a bit hesitant to begin with, though. After all, going to stay with a boy was still a big fatherly issue for him, but after consideration he gladly agreed. If only they knew the truth about Tom Riddle.

"I told you I have a way of getting what I want," Tom said with a smirk as he sat down at the small wooden desk in the guest bedroom, with a look of supreme confidence on his face after just having dinner downstairs, where he'd been the focus of attention as usual.

Estela crossed her arms disapprovingly as she walked over to him, furrowing her brow. "I can't believe how easily you won them over."

He sneered. "Perhaps I'll teach you some day."

Estela rolled her eyes before they fell on a small photograph that was on the desk where Tom sat. It was just visible underneath one of his many books that were piled up high on top of it. She pulled it out from underneath the books curiously and regarded it.

"Where's this?" she asked Tom, whose face had become unreadable as he watched her examine the photograph.

It was a very plain looking photo, and Estela wondered why Tom even had it – he didn't seem like a very sentimental person at all. It was a picture of a large, rocky cliff that seemed to have an entrance to some sort of cave on its rough side. The sea seemed to be crashing severely into the cliff, and it looked as though it would be impossible to enter without magic.

"I went there when I was younger. It was the orphanage's version of a holiday: a trip to the gloomy seaside," he told her in a reserved manner, maintaining that unreadable expression with complete ease.

Estela took one last glance at the picture and had a strange and almost unnerving feeling about the image. There was something eerie about it in some way, and she found it strange that Tom would keep a photo of such a place. Something must have happened there – something that made him happy, a fond memory, perhaps, and she wondered what that was.

"Have you packed?"

"Not yet," Estela replied. They were leaving for Albania tomorrow morning, and Estela could hardly believe it. They were actually going to find the diadem. Her diadem. "I don't really know what to bring."

"Bring whatever you can," he said simply as he got up from where he sat. He towered above her, and Estela found the sudden change in height a bit daunting.