The Girl from Azkaban ~ Tom Riddle (18+)

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

~✧~

"And how can it be that this gift is still present?" Tom asked thoughtfully.

"That's a good question and one we've been pondering for a long time, but we haven't found an answer," Slughorn replied dryly.

"Mhh," Tom searched for an answer himself, while Slughorn sipped again from his whiskey glass.

"In the forbidden compartments we found a book about this gift," the professor explained after a moment, looking at Tom's thoughtful expression.

"Really? Where is it?" asked Tom a little too curiously, inwardly hoping that his professor would not find his quick response comical.

Slughorn merely laughed briefly in response, apparently he already had too much alcohol in his blood to find the situation strange, "Burnt," he answered Tom's question in a syllable.

"Why burnt?" pecked Tom with a puzzled expression, while now he was the one sipping the whisky glass.

"As I was saying, my boy, greedy wizards wanted control over witches with such power, which is why we decided to burn the book," Slughorn explained what had already happened.

"Okay, I see," Tom muttered, a little bitter at the loss of what was surely an information-rich book, "Probably better for the witches with such a gift, at least more won't know about them."

"We thought so too, but don't worry I'll tell you everything you need to know to help Taraphina, after all it's important that she doesn't draw attention to herself," the older of the two placated the younger.

Tom merely nodded and stared into the dancing flames of the fireplace as he traced the rim of the glass with his thumb.

"Your main task will be to keep her under control. That's what the locket is for," the professor informed him.

"What is that locket anyway?" the inquisitive young wizard hacked in.

"The locket itself is not very special," Slughorn explained, "What is crucial is the special potion that is inside the glass sphere. It is made up of very rare ingredients such as a piece of a mermaid fin, a piece of a unicorn horn and fairy wings."

"These are all very hard to obtain ingredients from very white magic creatures, Professor," Tom stated with a furrowed brow.

"I know my boy, that's why the potion gives control though. For example, once you add a piece of siren's fin instead of a piece of mermaid's fin, you will no longer have control but will be a magnet for witches with such a gift," Slughorn voiced his knowledge.

"How long did it take you to make this potion Professor," the future dark lord inquired.

"About three months it took us to obtain all the ingredients and then another month to brew," Horace replied, "Did you bring the locket, my boy?"

"Of course Professor," Tom pulled the locket out of his Slytherin robe.

Slughorn took the locket from Tom's hand and grumbled thoughtfully as he fixed his gaze on the glass sphere.

"What's Professor?" enquired Tom, after emptying his whiskey glass in one go and setting it down on the side table.

"There's not much of the potion left," the professor explained, his eyes focused on the glass sphere, "Due to processes that are difficult to trace, more and more liquid is dissolving from the potion, so far no one has been able to provide an answer as to where the liquid has disappeared to, it doesn't oxidise or form any other known bonds, I'm afraid soon the potion will just have to be brewed again, otherwise it may eventually become dangerous."