Shadow Tongue

Chapter 2.

Smiling at Florian, Madeline lifted the hat off her head, handing it back to Professor Dumbledore. In an instant her black robes had gained their blue details. When she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror, she knew she had made the right decision. Professor Slughorn was already cursing Merlin for his poor luck, but all in good spirit. On the other side of the office, Professor Dumbledore's face was almost relieved, but Madeline couldn't fathom why. 

"How efficient for Mr. Lestrange to already be here," Dippet concluded, his tone more jovial now that the whole ordeal was done and he could finally go to sleep.

The Professors said their goodnights and goodlucks, proceeding down the tight spiralling staircase. Florian threw his arm around her and announced that the way to the Ravenclaw tower would be long and windy. Madeline didn't doubt him in the least, considering how large the castle was. And a dark one at night nonetheless. She had no desire to go wandering the halls alone. Either way, she was more than glad to be leaving the grey stares and scrutiny of the old headmasters in the paintings. Most of them had already gone to bed. It made her wonder who was awake in the castle, when the students, professors and paintings slumbered. 

It was only when they got to the doorway that they heard voices in the staircase below.

"Oh but good evening Miss Rosier, Mr. Riddle. If my pocketwatch doesn't mistake me, it's half past nine already," Professor Slughorn chided with humour. 

"As Slytherin prefects we wanted to come see our new schoolmate, to welcome her and maybe guide her to the Slytherin common room." A smooth female voice, Miss Rosier answered right away.

Slughorn laughed, "How diligent you are! Five points for Slytherin for your uncharacteristic kindness, dear children. But I must disappoint you in the same way I was disappointed, Ravenclaw has once again snatched a good potential Slytherin from our grasp. Well no can do, no can do."

When Madeline rounded the corner, oblivious to all, a coldness not unfamiliar to her crept up her spine. She stayed on the last stair as Florian walked ahead without notice. It was like ice that spread across water, darkness that just kept on coming. Again, it engulfed her, kissed the breath out of her lungs for a millisecond. She pushed until the shadows backed down, forcing them into her will. And then Madeline Wilde finally looked at Tom Riddle. 

Even in his handsomeness it was no wonder that his shadows were the way they were. Blackness, like the aftermath of an atomic bomb, charred, breathtaking, radiating. Even with his chiselled face, straight nose, and oak deep hair that contrasted so perfectly with the paleness of him, he was still a weapon. A beautiful, destructive weapon. 

And now he was looking at her and she was looking at him. And he was wondering what she knew with her stare and she was wondering what she could find out.

"Ah there she is! Miss Wilde, may I introduce you to my finest students: Keira Rosier and Tom Riddle, the Slythin prefects. Slytherins and Ravenclaws share quite many classes together," Slughorn explained in his common opportunistic fashion. 

Madeline felt like coughing the shadows from her throat, vomiting if she must. It was difficult to answer, but she peeped a slight "evening". How potent the air around him would be wasn't something she'd expected. Madeline silently cursed her weakness. This otherworldly boy had altered her whole existence with just existing, she wasn't going to let him hold her back for another moment. And to ensure her own sanity, she now realised she'd have to stay as far away from Tom Riddle as humanly possible. 

After they exchanged good nights, the pairs went their own ways. The corridors were silent. For once, every student was under their snuggly covers, resting for the day ahead. The path to Ravenclaw tower truly was long and Madeline couldn't fathom how far they had climbed. But when she at last made it to her own little nook, her own room in the tower, she didn't mind the long trek all that much anymore. 

A canopy bed with blue velvet covers, a perfect writing desk and a window you could see the whole of Hogwarts from. Buying the telescope she'd been admiring from Diagon Alley was a must, now that she'd been blessed with this wonderful room. Here, it was as if she could reach as far into the universe as she desired. So high and so far, she truly felt like a bird, a raven perhaps.

On the other side of the school, almost as far as the other side of the world, was the Slytherin common room. Beautiful in its own unique way. Tom Riddle stood before the floor to ceiling windows, eyeing the nighttime creatures swimming beneath the lake. It was silent apart from the cackling of the fireplace and the ominous sounds of dripping water.

Tom didn't know what to make of this doe-like girl. Praising himself for being able to identify emotions and thoughts from even the slightest of movement, Miss Wilde was a tabula rasa. He couldn't decipher the building blocks which made her. His intrigue was palpable, he had to know more about Madeline Wilde.