Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle ✓

chapter twenty-four

Despite Hogwarts being home, every student was excited to go home for the summer. Summer was a six week holiday with bliss weather and no stress from school whatsoever. The only school-related event during the break would be the results from the OWLs that the fifth years had taken during the last few weeks of term. Every student was excited to some extent, yet Evelyn seemed to be the only exception.

After her encounter with Tom earlier in the week, she was unsure how to feel about going to Little Hangleton with him. She barely knew the place and she knew even less about him. As more time passed, she began to regret her decision to go with him yet she knew it was never really her decision to make, she knew she wasn't really in control, Tom was.

Evelyn packed her trunk with great care, ensuring everything was sorted by colour and style before closing it and sealing it with a quick wave of her wand. She levitated her trunk and Olympia's cage alongside her as she made her way out of the common room. It felt strange to Evelyn, saying goodbye to Hogwarts, even if it was only for six weeks: a lot could change in six weeks.

Evelyn made it to the Hogwarts express with plenty of time to spare. She leisurely strolled onto the ruby carriage and took a seat in the first empty compartment. Evelyn knew that Little Hangleton lay close to Birmingham and since she was without further knowledge from Tom then she had to go on her own gut feeling.

She had heard little about Little Hangleton before Tom had told her that they would be visiting, and of course, like a true Ravenclaw, Evelyn had visited the library before Hogwarts had closed for the summer. Yet even when using her strongest intuition, she could barely find anything about it. All she had found out was that there was an impressive graveyard located in the centre of the small town.

Interrupting her train of thought, smoke began to pour into the station and the Hogwarts Express began its journey across the rolling hills of Scotland. Evelyn barely even saw the train rolling out of the station before her eyes closed and she drifted into a tranquil slumber.

Whilst she slept, her body rested but her mind was more agitated than ever before. Pictures of the horrors that could unfold at Little Hangleton poured into her mind, flashes of all the terrible curses that Tom could be casting were like fireworks in her mind: explosive and bright for a moment, but quickly fading into the distance with no trace of them to be found after the explosion.

Evelyn still did not know what events would unfold once she arrived at Little Hangleton with Tom and the curiosity that flowed within her began to feel overwhelming. Her heart was palpitating uncontrollably with the fire of a thousand suns and the thoughts that rode the carousel around her mind did not want to stop.

What would be the dangers of going to Little Hangleton? Why on Earth had she even agreed to this godforsaken task from Dumbledore? Her mind flashed back to the moment he had first asked her to delve deeper into Tom Riddles world and she wondered why she had even thought that she could do anything to stop him. Dumbledore had left her stumbling in the dark when he had the power to turn on a light. Evelyn had gone into this blind and she would come out of it exactly the same way as well.

She knew that large scale results would take time, time that she did not possess, but if she aimed for marginal gains then perhaps she would finally achieve progress in the task she was given at the beginning of her fifth year, a task that only she had been given. For unknown reasons, Dumbledore had chosen her for the task, not anybody else, just Evelyn and Evelyn alone would change Tom Riddles life. She was not sure how, and she was not sure when, but she was certain that she would.

When Evelyn awoke, it was dark outside. The train was still in motion and the vast fields passed by the window in fractions of seconds. The Hogwarts Express travelled at such speed that any muggle would be physically sick if they travelled on it for a journey of such length as the one to Scotland.

The rest of the journey passed by slowly, every second ticking by precariously on Evelyn's golden pocket watch. After a total of almost five hours, the Hogwarts Express pulled up outside Birmingham station. Without missing a beat, Evelyn was off the train and leaning against the platform wall in an attempt to look casual in front of Tom. Her attempt was clearly not successful by the displeased look on Toms' face when he walked by. A scoff escaped his lips as he held out his hand for Evelyn to take.

Evelyn made a mental note of his bitten-down nails as she looked at his hand with wide eyes. "What do you expect me to do? I am not holding your hand." She chuckled to herself.

"Evelyn, how do you expect we are getting to Little Hangleton?" He asked with a sigh, rolling his eyes deep into his head.

"That's not for me to work out, you planned this!"

"We are wizards, we use magic. Take my hand and we will apparate to Little Hangleton."

"You can't apparate! That's against the law, the ministry will have your wand!" Evelyn shrieked in disbelief.

Tom saw that Evelyn would not obey him without force so he forcefully pulled her hand and connected it with his own, and then they were away.

Evelyn felt her body being torn in different directions, her limbs being pulled from her torso and her skin being stretched. She was being pulled in every direction possible and the pain overcame her. Although the moment only lasted a few moments, for Evelyn it was a memory she wouldn't forget. The feeling was unbearable and the second Evelyn felt her feet touch the grass, she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

"Welcome to Little Hangleton," Tom said with a chuckle.