To Revive a Soul || Tom Riddle

25. Solving the Riddle

Eleanor lugged the last of her belongings onto the cart at King's Cross, her ticket for the Hogwarts Express in hand. She turned back to Isobel, who was standing beside Robert with a gentle smile on her face as she waved her off. "Have a wonderful year, Eleanor," she said, hoisting a now-eight-year-old Minerva into her arms. "You'll be graduating at the end of this year, but I truly hope you'll take the time to spend another summer with us. You're always welcome."

"Thank you, Isobel, really," she replied, "but I'll be surprised if I'm not hired as a professor before I receive my N.E.W.T. scores if Dumbledore has any say in it."

"Yes," she hummed. "That man did always have a soft spot for you."

Robert looked down at his watch, his eyes widening when he realized the time. "It's nearly eleven. You should head out soon."

Eleanor nodded in confirmation, walking around her luggage cart to meet the McGonagalls in a family hug. They really had been there for her in some of her darkest hours these past couple of years, and it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye.

"I'll write to you," she told them, backing away and starting to push her cart down the aisles of platforms. Hogwarts was filled with magical moments that outshone Ilvermorny every step of the way; one of those moments was students' means of transportation. How cool is it to walk between two platforms to reach a secret, magical platform that will take you to Hogwarts? Ilvermorny could never have come up with something so fascinating.

She glanced around her for any No-Maj's as she neared the platform. And then, quick as lightning so that no one could see, she barreled through the wall between platforms nine and ten, breathing in the cool air on the other side with a bright smile. Just one more year, and she'd be free.

Eleanor hadn't quite thought about what she planned on doing after graduation. She was still, for all intents and purposes, on the run from MACUSA, and it wasn't exactly easy to navigate the Wizarding World while walking on eggshells. Something needed to come to a head this year. It needed to end.

But she had no courage to truly face her past.

With the pessimism creeping up on her, she lugged her things onto the train and climbed on, admiring all of the students that were giving final goodbyes to their parents. But a smooth voice called out from across the train, ordering students to quickly climb into their chosen compartments. Her head snapped to the boy giving the commands, and there was Tom Riddle, standing just as tall and proud as he had the day she had first met him, with a domineering glint in his eye.

He met her gaze almost instantly, and she couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Squeezing through aisles of excitable first years, she finally reached him at the very back of the train. "You're Head Boy?"

He cocked his head to the side, grinning down at her. "You're not Head Girl? Shame. It would have been an eventful seventh year."

She chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be just fine on your own. I don't... do very well with authority. Not in cases like these, at least."

Tom nodded, looking away from her as he snatched a wand out of a first year's hand. "I'm sure your talents can be useful elsewhere," he muttered to her as he vanished the wand.

The first year gaped at him. "That's my wand!" he whined. "I paid Mr. Ollivander good money for that!"

Tom peered down at the boy with disinterest. "It will be in your dormitory when you get there. Unauthorized magic is strictly prohibited on the Hogwarts Express."

"You're a—"

"I wouldn't talk back to me if I were you," he told the boy with a smile. "Headmaster Dippet wouldn't want to hear about that, would he?" The little first year gritted his teeth, stomping his feet and storming into a compartment.