unhinged ↠ 𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞

thirty four

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It wasn't my fault he knew me so well

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Kitioma Hadlee

           "Alright Kiki, we need to know exactly what he told you. This is vital to what we are going to do, to how we are going to stop his plan," Jac says as she grips her broom tightly, yelling over the wind.

"Well," I reply, yelling as loud as I can. "He wants to steal my blood to use it to win some sort of war."

Ally laughs. "Dude, we knew that. We need the stuff he whispered into your ear while trying to seduce you."

I almost topple off of my broom. We're almost at Hogwarts, as we've been speeding away from the mansion for hours. "Seduce...me..."

"Yeah, we all know he has a thing for you," Eboni murmurs from beside me, barely heard from over the wind. "Why else would he be so...obsessed?"

"Because- you know what, never mind. He knew about the night my parents died, but I was young, only around seven, so he must have been the same age. Unless he was there..."

Ellie's eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "You mean he knows about everything that happened that night?"

"Yeah, he knew everything. It was-"

"Kiki!" Ally hisses. "How could you have been so stupid? He probably read your mind and now he knows everything! Or he bribed someone close to you for information."

"Marlene..." I whisper, thinking back to the night I told her about the sweater. "No, he knew before her...was it possible she could have been connected, too?"

"What was that?" Jac yells.

"Nothing!" I yell back, shaking my head. "Well, there is something else. Riddle boy said he found something out...something about him being the heir of Slytherin? And something else, about a love potion being wiped away..."

"Riddle was born under a love potion!" Ellie exclaims, diving under a lone cloud, then coming back up quickly. "So what, the effects are wiping away? That should be impossible!"

"That's what I said, too, but he said something about because of me being the Gryffindor heir and him being the Slytherin heir, I wipe away the effects of the love potion..."

"So he can feel again..." Ally finishes. "So the more time you spend with him, the more of the effects are wiped off...and the more you spend away, the more they come back."

Hogwarts comes into view, and we slowly spiral downwards. "But that makes no sense!" Jac exclaims. "If it wiped away his only power, well not his only, but his main defense, being able to feel nothing, why would he wan t her there?"

We touch down, my feet unsteady on the solid ground. "Because..." Eboni murmurs. "It's feeling emotions or losing the main weapon. He needed to choose, and after so many years of searching for a way to win the war, he's not going to let her slip through his fingers, even if it means he feels something towards her."

"No," I shake my head. "That makes no sense. He must have found out something else about the heirs that prove to be useful. We just have to find out what."

I pass my broom to Jac, which she takes, along with everyone else's brooms. "Did he say a book title, anything he could have read?" Ally asks.

I shake my head. "No, no book titles. Wait..." My eyebrows furrow. "There's this black book he always used to carry around. I stole it once for a few months, but I never figured out how to make it reveal the writing, and Tom found me when I was trying to make it appear. He said there were secrets in there...secrets no one could never read and live."

Jac doesn't say a word, nor does Ally, or Ellie. Eboni frowns. "So it's in there, then? We just have to get the book and figure out how to read it?"

"It's not that easy, Eboni," Ally says. "How are we going to steal a book from him? Tom Riddle? He may as well be the most powerful wizard of our age, besides Kiki, of course."

They all glance at me and I frown. "Me? Powerful? I don't even know how to control my heir power stuff, but he does."

"It's just because he's better at controlling his emotions," Ellie says, trying to comfort me.

"That's only because he has none," I mutter back, and Jac chuckles.

"I have an idea!" Ally says.

"Spit it out then."

"Ok, so, you all left Hogwarts because Tom made you, right?"

"I just went there because of the food," Jac mutters, and Eboni elbows her. "What? He came up to me, was like 'join my forces, we have food' and I was sold!"

Ally rolls her eyes. I high five Jac, murmuring, "Jac, you're my spirit animal."

She gives me a weird look, but laughs. Ally rolls her eyes jokingly again before continuing. "I propose we hold a ball, a good-old Hogwarts dance in memory of our dear Gryffindor transfer student who was killed by evil aurors."

I cough. "Um. You guys hold balls here for the dead? And I'm dead now?"

Eboni chuckles, slapping me on the back as we traverse our way over the rocks I sprained my ankle on so long ago. "You should come back to Hogwarts if you're alive in a few years, they're holding the Triwizard tournament. They do it every hundred years or so, it's hilarious. They have the yule ball, and most of the time a few people die beforehand. It's pretty funny."

I rub my back, a hint of an awkward smile on my face. "Ok..."

"Anyways," Ally coughs. "I'll get Dippet to arrange it. Tom has to be there, all the prefects and Head Boys, girls, whatever have to be there."

"Wait..." I murmur, tripping over a stone. "Tom's been at school while I've been being tortured in his basement?"

All the girls nod like it's no big deal as my awkward smile turns to a concerned one. "Well then it's settled. We'll do the ball. Also, Ellie, Eboni, be careful of Tom. Stick with another person at all times."

"Wait, why do they have to be careful?" I ask.

"They're in Slytherin. As for you, Kiki," Ally grins, a hint of something I cannot place in her eyes. "You're going to be put into Ravenclaw as Trina Nicklebook, my adoptive sister. Got it?"

"Um, hold on, what?"

Ally waves on the other girls and they enter the various entrances of Hogwarts, leaving me alone with her. "You're going to need to drink this every day at 8:00 PM every night. Here, take this watch, it will shock you lightly on the arm every time you need to drink it."

I peer into the bottle.

"What is it?"

"Polyjuice potion. You'll be a whole new person. Lighter skin, blonde hair, brown eyes. A bit on the scrawny side still, but it'll be fine."

"Wait, hold on, you're saying I'll be put into Ravenclaw?!"

Oh God, this isn't going to be good.

Ally gives me a strange look. "Yeah, is there a problem?"

"Ally," I sigh, then take a swig of the potion. It burns my body, and I wince, clutching my head. The feeling fades after a while, and I attach the watch to my hand. When I speak, my voice comes out high, light. "I'm literally an idiot."

She looks me over, up and down. I'm just an inch shorter, but my clothes still fit fine. My hair suddenly feels long, light. I glance down at my hands. They are pale, strange to my eyes. I don't like it. "You'll be fine. Now let's go."

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