Magic and Mistrust ~ Mattheo Riddle

6

I stroll down the halls, being on time for breakfast for once. I didn't usually care, but I was excited to see James. We could all hang out since it was the weekend.

I get to the great hall and spot him, reading and munching on some waffles. Classic Jameson. He did his own thing.

That was his usual spot. Annie and Dash were right behind him; they found a way to sit together despite the differences in houses.

I sit beside him and tap him on the shoulder.

"Oh hey," He snaps out of his reading trance and greets me.

"Hi." I greet him and the others, serving my plate. I had an appetite for some reason.

"I heard there's gonna be a party," Dash grins. He was up to no good, as always. "We should go."

I think about it and look at Jameson.

"Whatever," he agrees.

"It'll be fun!" Annie exclaims.

"Sure, why not?" I say, but I can't lose control again; it's like being around people was triggering me. I like my friends, but I don't want to go too far.

We finish up and walk towards the exit. Just as we are about to go out, Mattheo stops me.

I turn to my friends, "I'll catch up."

"Actually, I was hoping we could work on our project," he suggests.

"Oh, yeah." Now that we didn't hate each other, I forgot all about the project. "You guys go. I'll find you when I'm done."

"Okay, have fun," Annie says.

"Don't do anything stupid, Riddle," Dash warns. Annie and James side-eye him, even though they agree.

James waves goodbye, and they go out, leaving me with Mattheo.

"What did you have in mind?" I ask him.

"I checked the library for books, but I couldn't seem to find any." He explains. "I even tried looking in the restricted section—nothing."

"I had to work with limited information when I made my script." I shrugged; it was no big deal, but I had a feeling Trelawny wasn't gonna let us off the hook if we didn't impress her.

"I've got an idea," He smiles, a glint of mischief in his eyes. He takes my hand in his and apparates us somewhere.

I look around. It was a huge library. Just like in Beauty and the Beast, except bigger.

No wall could be seen; there were bookshelves all around. It was amazing.

"What is this place?"

"The Riddle Library," he tells me, observing my reaction.

I was in the Riddle Mansion. I tried not to look shocked and continued to admire the library.

There was a hint of darkness; the bookshelves were black, but that didn't make it any less impressive.

"Shall we look?" I asked, pushing away the fact that I was inside enemy territory. This was the perfect opportunity to snoop around and find something.

He kept a straight face, but I could tell he was relieved that I wasn't judging him; I'd learned my lesson. If I didn't know something, I wasn't going to judge.

We start at opposite ends. I would've asked him where to look, but I needed to explore.

I ran my hands along the spines of the books; they were dusty like no one came here often—not even their maids bothered.