i am lord voldemort • Tom Riddle

XXIX

Ophelia placed an ear to the thick wood, but either the door was too thick or it was enchanted against eavesdroppers, because she couldn't hear a thing besides the rustle of Tom's robes skimming the ground as he joined her.

A hand found the small of her back as he said, "Calm down. We don't know why they're here, yet," but the tightness in his expression was far from reassuring.

"That's true." She swallowed. "They could be here for you, as well."

She'd been trying for humour there, but it fell flat. Tom just shook his head.

"Doubtful. The Ministry adores me."

Had anyone else said that, she might have suggested they had narcissistic personality disorder. Unfortunately, Tom was probably right. Not everyone received a reward for contributions to the school, after all.

"I'm going in," she decided, and pressed her palm against the door, pushing it open again.

Quick as lightning, Tom darted forward to pull it closed by the handle. "Oh, no you are not."

She blinked, sure she'd misheard. Had he not learned his lesson about trying to tell her what to do yet?

"Come again?" she asked.

Tom would have had to be deaf to miss the dangerous note of defiance in her voice.

"Have you taken leave of your senses?" he hissed, as though that was indeed a distinct possibility.

"Considering they might be here for someone I'm rather fond of— myself— I think I have a vested interest in going in there to figure out if that's true or not!"

"And we will figure that out," Tom agreed tersely, still holding tight to the brass door handle. "But I am going inside. Alone. Without you." Like that wasn't enough clarification, he added, "By myself. Is that clear?"

Ophelia crossed her arms. "Of course. Go right on ahead."

His stiff posture eased, but only slightly. "Stay out of sight," he instructed, and slipped inside, easing the door shut behind him.

For her part, Ophelia began to count to ten. At five, her patience dwindled and she decided he was probably far enough away for her to follow.

As the old saying goes, she thought, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Besides, he deserved to be duped if he believed she'd actually take a back seat on this. It wasn't just her being impulsive or impetuous, either. If the Ministry were really there looking for her, then her best chance of evading them was from within the castle. At least inside she could sneak away in some hidden passage, like the one they used to sneak her into Hogsemeade. Outside of it, what was she expected to do? Wander blindly through the Forbidden Forest until she got far enough away to Apparate?

No, thank you.

"This is a place of learning, Minister. I do not appreciate you terrorizing my students," she heard Professor Dumbledore say from the next room, his surface calm bellying a serious warning.

"We wouldn't need to if you'd simply do something! The public is in outcry! They demand we do something, follow every lead, and, well,, Dumbledore, this is a lead," Leonard Spencer-Moon, the Minister of Magic, said with a note of finality.

Headmaster Dippet stood beside Dumbledore, and from her vantage point creeping around the perimeter of the Great Hall, Ophelia could just make out his flustered expression. "You can't believe she'd be here, Leonard. Surely if Grindelwald wanted the child educated he'd send her to the Durmstrang Institute, not Hogwarts."