[tom riddle x oc | slowburn | enemies to lovers | angst]
Darkness was edging its way into the forests of Finland. Deep in the heart of these woodlands, the native magicians practised ancient magic long forgotten by the outside, concealed and unaware...
"I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give."
━━ JANE EYRE
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•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Inkeri Koskinen surveyed the outside of the Borgin and Burke, eyes downcast to avoid meeting any gazes and triggering unwanted conflict. She already detested the dingy shop and the alleyway in which it was situated, but Ora had said that the secretive company would serve well to distract curious minds from investigating their sudden presence.
They had Apparated to London, which was yet another unfamiliar term to the young girl, and a new form of magic which she had not known existed— the ability to materialise in a different place entirely, on the whim of will. She turned to the Seer, whose body was cloaked by a black robe, and face was hidden behind his hood to conceal his grotesque appearance.
"Just do exactly as I told you to," he said in his callous voice, scraping against her ears like metal screws. "Don't stray from it, and you will be fine."
"You can't accompany me further?" She asked, breath hitching in her throat at the fear of facing the new world alone, but he shook his head.
"No," Ora said, "this is your task to complete. You needn't worry— when I last visited, I found the place to be abysmally dull, perfectly sheltered from danger." She wondered when exactly he'd 'last visited', considering he'd spent the last two hundred years in a church.
"I informed Armando Dippet of your arrival at his school months ago," he continued. "Through his nightmares, although it was ridiculously difficult considering the old fool seldom wrestles with any demons."
"You sound almost jealous," she said in an attempt at a joke, but he just frowned at her.
"Good luck, Inkeri," Ora said genuinely, and for the first time, she saw a hint of concern in his amethyst eyes. "Whatever happens, do not let the darkness consume you." Inkeri did not understand, as her head swam with new information that she already needed to remember, but she was not given the chance to question him, because with that, he vanished like lightning's sudden gleam.
She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, and made her way down the gnarled cobblestone road. She needed to get to Diagon Alley, that was where she would get all of her supplies. Odd eyes found themselves peering at the newcomer, whose white robes and hair stuck out as the only brightness to be found.
She almost felt as though bony, skeletal fingers were reaching out for her when she turned the corner of Knockturn Alley, out onto the busy, bustling street that was Diagon Alley, and Inkeri watched with amazement; she had never seen so many people, so much life and so many colours all in one place.
