Burning Obsessions : Tom Riddle

20: Waking Nightmares

[victoria's pov]

It happened in a flash and I found myself in Tom's chamber, his journal nowhere to be seen–my wand wasn't in sight either. The familiar dewy walls dripped onto the moist ground. The chamber was lit by the near moon, revealing the massiveness.

"This must be how Tom gets in and out of his chamber so fast," I said with a scoff. I knew he was clever, but not this clever. It was advanced magic, if you wanted to travel from one place to another in a second, especially on Hogwarts' school grounds because of the anti-apparate spell.
"I have to give it to him," I admitted to myself. "I'm impressed."

There was a little cobble so I turned around, assuming Tom had found me. I turned around to compliment his work but something made me freeze. Around me was what looked like a wall of purple- no–green fingernails. But the realisation sank in, panic just as fast.

I stopped myself from gasping.

They were scales.

Attempting to back away to a further column, I bumped into a leaning figure and yelped, which caused the creature to freeze. It heard me. Their body pinned me against the wall forcefully. The figure behind me wrapped their hand over my mouth as I pushed myself out of their arms and turned around.

It was Tom.

I wanted to curse at him, question him about this creature but I was more concerned about the situation itself, rather than scolding him for answers at the moment.

Tom quickly signed for me to "hush," with his finger over his lips. He tugged my wrist and we both hid behind a column. Once the creature was distant, I gave Tom a look for an explanation. He knew exactly what I wanted: answers.

"Hagrid's monster is still roaming in the school!" I exclaimed. "We have to get back and tell Dippet."

His eyes told me the opposite. He replied in a whisper. "That's not our concern, no one's really in danger." His eyes never left mine, as he was trying to explain the situation.

"At least, no one in the real world," he added.

I raised one of my brows in question.

There was a hissing sound and Tom pushed me against the column, his face stern and hands over my mouth, knowing I was going to explode with a great deal of questioning right then and now. I didn't demand for further questions though when I thought of the beast's potential wrath.

"We don't have time to argue right now," Tom said. "Nothing we do can change the past–just the events of this book, it's all just based on what I wrote down in the journal. We're only here until the last passage is played out, got it?"

I nodded. His hand moved away.

"You did this?" I whispered. "You created this- this place?"

"I only created a spell on the journal to play out the events," he said. "Intentionally forbidding magic just in case anyone decides to sneak around my things like you."

"So what?" I asked. "Someone snoops around your things and you give them a big scare?"

He stood silent.

"What aren't you telling me, Tom?" I questioned.

"We can be killed."

"I- we can be killed? You told me-"

He interrupted me. "I told you nothing we do will affect this place. Though on the other hand..."

"Anything in this world can kill us, even in the real world," I put together and he nodded.