Tom Riddle had a secret - he had murdered his family. Arabella Chambers knew his secret - she had witnessed it.
After Tom Riddle kills Arabella Chambers, he steals her wand for safekeeping. But, unexpectedly, Arabella shows up at Hogwarts, very much...
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THE DINER Billie Eilish
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Outside Hogwarts Castle, the weather had shifted with the turn of the seasons. The crisp bite of autumn now lingered in the air, accompanied by the gentle rustle of fallen leaves swirling in the wind. Each gust carried with it a faint whisper of frost, hinting at the approaching chill of winter that lay just beyond the horizon.
Within the castle's hallowed halls, the air was alive with the spirit of Halloween. Pumpkins carved into grinning faces lined the corridors, their flickering candlelight casting shadows against the stone walls during the evening. Cobwebs adorned every nook and cranny while clusters of bats flitted playfully overhead.
In the Great Hall, tables groaned under the weight of festive treats, their surfaces adorned with bowls of candy and platters of pumpkin pasties. Decorative spiders dangled from the rafters, their glittering webs swaying gently in the draft, while the soft glow of enchanted candles bathed the room in an eerie light, perfect for the halloween season.
Arabella sat at the Slytherin table with a large plate of her dinner in front of her as she doodled on a piece of parchment paper within her notebook. After classes, she had managed to persuade Tom to join her for dinner, an unusual occurrence considering his usual absence from these meals, but Arabella would take what she could get.
She looked up and watched Raymond and Izar enter, mischievous grins on their faces. Arabella knew what was coming. Raymond and Izar (and Abraxas too) were the most ruthless of the group. It was not a surprise they aligned themselves with Tom and his ambitions. They took every chance they had to terrorise muggleborns and torment anyone who crossed their paths.
"Colloshoo!" yelled Raymond, pointing his wand to two small first year Gryffindors nearby. The first years' shoes stuck to the ground, leaving them helpless and vulnerable for Izar to go next.
He cast the Bat-Bogey Hex, causing the bogeys inside the first years' noses to transform into large, black bats, similar to the fake ones dangling around the Hall. With a loud squeal, the bats flew out of their noses, flapping wildly around their heads. The two Gryffindor boys shrieked in horror as they tried to swat the bats away, their shoes still firmly stuck to the ground.
Raymond and Izar laughed uproariously and a small smile made its way onto Arabella's face. Tom's face remained unreadable as he watched the small boys scream. A sixth year Ravenclaw girl smacked Izar on his arm. "Watch your manners, Avery," she scolded. "You're scaring the little ones."
Izar grumbled with a small grin on his face, rubbing his arm where she had hit him. "Mind yourself, Hawthorne, or you'll be next. Just having a bit of fun, you know?" He then grabbed Raymond's arm and they made their way to the Slytherin table.
Arabella, Romeo, Edmund, Abraxas and an officially recruited Valerie had huge smiles on their faces, minus Tom to Arabella's right side. Seated with them was Isadora Black in her 5th year who Arabella had convinced to join their group. She was the older sister to Orion Black, and, despite Tom's suggestion, Arabella had not recruited him, deeming him too young.
