For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Seventeen: The Black Lake

Gwen and Tom had followed High Street until it spilled them out into numerous fields in the mountains surrounding Hogwarts. In the evening light, Gwen could spot fireflies dancing amongst the tall grass. Crickets chirped their nightly tune, providing music and spirit for the magical setting. The occasional croak from a toad accompanied the crickets' jubilee, making the natural song even richer.

Gwen would pop an individual Exploding bonbon into her mouth when the conversation lulled. The taste of the sweet, creamy white chocolate complimented the tangy orange center; a pleasant tickle would erupt on her tongue when the popping pieces met the wetness of her mouth.

There was a certain feeling in the air that Gwen hadn't experienced before. It was a dazzling, honey-sweet hysteria that threatened to sweep her off her feet. The dimming periwinkle sky and rising moon; the tall swaying grass; the crisp chill; Tom by her side. There was an ebb and flow to the magnetic, magical pulsating that surrounded them. Gwen wondered if Tom felt the same—that the air was palpitating, drenched in an energy that was euphoric and riveting—it was enchanting, the true epitome of magic.

They almost seemed like normal teenagers. Gwen didn't want the moment to end.

The path took a sharp left skew, and vegetation began to grow in lush thickets. Winter had started early the previous year, and the weather had already shifted its interests onto spring. Everywhere, there was new floral life beginning to take root again, prepping for their magnificent show of colors set to start in the late of March.

The beeches and oaks and pines and even the occasional yew of the Forbidden Forest towered overhead, reaching their barren but budding branches toward the sky to seek solace in the sun's rays; but their cries fell on deaf ears as the yellow-dripping spun light had dipped behind the horizon. The warmer than a typical Scottish winter weather had even permitted knotgrass and thorns to begin to rear their troublesome heads, but not so much that Gwen was worried about snagging her heavy coat on the pesky plants.

The grounds of Hogwarts functioned partly as a nature reserve for magical creatures which had difficulty existing in Muggle-inhabited areas, but also served as a thriving habitat for the rarest of flowers and the commonest of shrubs.

Thoughts of Gwen's brother and father didn't enter her mind as she walked underneath a mass of trees. She didn't want to think back to the night she nearly made an Unbreakable Vow. She didn't want to think about Grindewald, or the Muggle War, or all the people dying.

She wanted to stay in this moment, this little slice of something different she had stumbled upon.

Tom and Gwen meandered through the Forbidden Forest at ease before the path dumped them out by the large, freshwater lake that flanked the castle. Gwen had never really stopped to admire the beauty of the body of water. Durmstrang's alpine lake was frigid, but she had managed to swim in it several times during her schooling there. Tiny fish would nibble on your toes if you managed to stay in the icy water long enough to reach a depth where the creatures swam about.

It was rumored that the skeleton of Nerida Vulcanova sat at the bottom of the lake. Nerida Vulchanova was the great Bulgarian witch who founded Durmstrang Institute, serving as its first Headmistress in the Middle Ages. At some point, she had suffered a mysterious death, but her body had never been found. Shortly afterwards Harfang Munter took over the school, in what was later to be considered a dark period in the history of Durmstrang. Munter substantially altered the curriculum to focus on dueling and martial magic.

Gwen would often think about Nerida while she walked the hallways of Durmstrang, curious if the women knew about how the school was faring from the afterlife. She also came to mind whenever someone questioned Gwen about Durmstrang being an all-boys school—yes, founded by a female witch, the school only served males. She liked to roll her eyes at the ignorance.