i am lord voldemort • Tom Riddle

XXVI:

Ophelia's match against Fenella was an unexpectedly swift one. So, was Tom's match with Avery, for the exact same reason.

Ophelia took position in one corner of the room, facing Fenella, who had her back to Avery, who in turn faced Tom. The problem arose, evidently, because Tom severely overestimated Avery's ability. Instead of blocking Tom's attack, like any normal wizard in their right mind, he leapt out of the way as it soared past, leaving Fenella wide open and completely unawares of her impending problem coming up from behind.

Ophelia, however, could see it coming and didn't waste a second reacting. Giving that deflecting the attack wouldn't help Fenella in the slightest, being in between Ophelia's wand and the curse, Ophelia aimed her wand straight at the other girl and fired.

Although Tom was certain Fenella would deny it later, her shriek as she was lifted off her feet and sharply jerked several feet to her left was something straight out of classic theatre, but even more comical was the shift in Ophelia's expression as she realized that Fenella was shooting straight for the wall at less than comfortable wall crashing speeds. At once, Tom could see everyone in the room having the exact same flashback of Ophelia sending Fenella into the wall months earlier with a mix of horrified dread and comical amusement. Luckily, Ophelia realized her mistake in time and recovered, stopping her within an inch of crashing distance, all the while leaping to avoid the curse now headed in her own direction.

All said and done, Ophelia seemed aged years in a matter of seconds, no doubt recalling how if she was in this mess for making the mistake of throwing Fenella around once, then she would probably be murdered in her sleep for doing it again.

"You are so lucky," Fenella said when her feet dropped back to solid ground, spearing a finger at Ophelia, then Avery, and finally Tom. "All three of you."

Ophelia eyed Fenella warily. "Er... let's give it a redo."

"Did I ask for a redo?" she snapped and Ophelia took a step back. Funny how someone could see a basilisk and essentially be a fugitive from birth but still get cowed by a single feisty witch. "I lost fair and square. We'd already started when you got me with that charm, and I dropped my wand, regardless of his bumbling."

She spared Avery a look of supreme resentment and marched over to grab him by the arm to cart him off the floor.

"I haven't even lost yet," he protested.

"Oh, shut up. You lost before you even began. Everyone knew it but you."

When Tom turned to face Ophelia, he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly was not what he got. Everything about her— even the very air surrounding— turned serious, though he couldn't imagine what prompted such a change.

She wasn't mad at him, surely? He racked his brain for anything he might have done recently to warrant being on the receiving end of such wrath and came up blank.

Okay, that was a lie. He'd done plenty, if he were entirely honest with himself, but nothing she might have discovered in the last ten minutes. Even interfering with her attempts to forfeit the contest had only earned him little more than an exasperated glance.

Had it been Rabastan? Fenella? Somehow he doubted it. Ophelia had an irritating soft spot for the Lestrange, and her relationship with Fenella had only been on the upswing. That, of course, left only him.

How much simpler it would be to just slip inside her mind and see for himself— but to try would be only to invite more trouble. If she was indeed irked with him, that would only prove to increase her ire a thousand fold. As someone with half a dozen good reasons to be mad at, it didn't make much sense to add another.