OF SERPENT AND ANGEL ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎➝ tom riddle ¹ | ✓ |

THIRTY-EIGHT

If Eliza ever felt even a little safe, it was during the times that Tom disappeared for days on end. Even then, saying that she felt safe was far from true, but maybe she felt a little less unsafe.

Tom always assigned Thaddeus to watch over her. Eliza couldn't help but feel that it was odd behaviour on his part; she would have expected he'd give the role to a different Death Eater each time, especially after he had caught her and Thaddeus discussing his business in the library once. But it wasn't rare for her to spend days on end with the Lestrange boy as Tom did whatever it was he did to enact his worldview.

Maybe it was because she been so isolated and secluded from social contact for so long, but it felt almost nice to spend time with him. Thaddeus felt almost sane, sane but thoroughly mislead.

Despite everything in the situation, Eliza began to feel like maybe she was breaking his surface, maybe she was getting to something, maybe she could make him change his mind.

"I just ... I don't understand why Muggles are supposedly below us," she said to him as they occupied her parlour, identical to the one that had been on the second floor of her family manor. She was seated because her body was too weak to keep her upright whilst he stood mostly because he wasn't allowed to look like he was off duty.

"Because they aren't magic," he replied stoically, though he wasn't near as good as Tom was at sounding convincing and she could hear a slight undertone of irritation in his voice at her lack of understanding.

"And what significance does that have?" Eliza challenged. "People vary in skills and characteristics of any manner, why is one held at a different esteem than others?"

Thaddeus didn't have the answer to her question, so instead, he said: "You can't live properly without magic. You're resigned to all sorts of demeaning and tedious tasks that could be solved in seconds with magic."

"It's clear that none of you have ever actually met a Muggle," she said somewhat defiantly. "They aren't savages. Just because they do things differently, doesn't mean they do things wrong."

"They're filthy."

"They're other; not lesser," she contradicted.

"The value they have is to serve; it is built in their very psychology. They should subject to their masters with all reverence. They're barbaric – haven't you seen the war they're fighting at this very moment?"

Whenever they spoke, he only ever seemed to go round in circles. He would say something, then say another, and then return to the first. It showed his lack of arguments and more importantly, Tom's sloppiness when it came to indoctrinating his Death Eaters. His arrogance got the best of him, he wanted to be feared, not believed in. It made Eliza question if any of his followers truly believed in the cause.

Upon further reflection, she realized that it was more likely that she was allowing her goodness and faith get the best of her – or her naivety, as some would prefer to call it.