Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[12] The House Elf Scandal

As he had told Perseus earlier, Tom returned not long afterwards. Though as he passed him by the counter, he stiffened as if he had sensed something terribly different in him.

"Tom, what have you done?" Perseus asked and his question made Riddle pause in his tracks then turn around to face him, with a calm look on his face.

"What do you mean by that?" He put forward a question instead of answering him, gazing at him with what seemed to be false innocence, "I went to do my job and returned after it was taken care of."

Perseus himself wasn't sure what was wrong. But he felt as if the Tom Riddle who had just walked in through the doors of the shop, wasn't the same. It was as if there was something missing from him. 

"What have you done to yourself?" Perseus's voice was firm and his blue eyes were staring right into his, as if reprimanding him for a heinous crime, "you are... How should I put it... Less human than before."

Riddle bent near double from laughter, "do you have the superpower of detecting people's humanity, Perseus? Less human? I don't think so, can't you see I'm just the same as ever. Though I would love to know what kind of literature you're studying now to go on delving in such farfetched fantasies. Sounds pretty interesting."

Even though he had tried to toss it away as a joke, Perseus was still eyeing him suspiciously, "I don't believe you. You have done something terrible and I know it."

A red spark flashed in those grey eyes which made him falter a little, taking a step back. It was almost as if something serpentine had been peeking through him for a short moment. 

"How about I tell you that I have done what no wizard has even dared to think of up till now?" Tom's voice was reduced to a hiss like whisper, "something that must not be named... Like you just said, something terrible. But that's very like me, isn't it? It's in my nature to do things people can't even imagine of."

And with that vague statement, enough to keep Perseus puzzled to find out the answer, he disappeared in the far corner of the shop where Caractacus Burke was standing, examining the freshly brought artifacts.

Perseus couldn't help but stare at him as if he wasn't Tom Riddle but a different being altogether. His mere presence made him feel even more uncomfortable than he had ever felt before.

Not able to stay in the shop any longer, he headed out and made his way to his uncle's abode, thinking that perhaps Demelza's company would make him feel better. 

***

A day or two passed, but Tom didn't come to the shop. Slightly anxious, Perseus went to inquire about his absence from his father and found out that he had resigned in order to pursue a better career option.

He had left without a trace, not even telling where he was going to and why. But deep inside Perseus couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was settling in his heart. He knew Tom wasn't one to quit this easily, he knew he could just not disappear from his life for good.

He could still not forget the scent of evil which rose from him when he had last seen him on his return from Hepzibah Smith's house. Even though, he wasn't completely certain, still he could feel as if Riddle had torn apart something from him that day. As if a major part of his soul was missing.

And there was only one reason for which someone could tear apart his soul and even that was too horrible for him to think about.

There was only one reason and that was creating a horcrux. The only attainable form of immortality known in wizardlore.

Despite himself, Perseus visited his apartment once and found it locked with the neighbors claiming that it was available for rent again as the previous tenant had gone away for a long time. He knew it would be useless to go and look for clues inside the apartment; Tom hada distinct trait of vanishing without a trace.

It was something he was extremely good at. Like a serpent disappearing in its hole without even leaving the trail of its slithery skin on the ground.

He was sitting at his desk just like he did before Riddle had entered his life, and was lost in a book in order to keep himself occupied elsewhere rather than thinking about Riddle and his dreadful schemes, when the bell clanged and in entered his betrothed Renata Fawley, holding a newspaper in her hands.

"Renata?" he looked up at her surprised clearly not expecting her to pay a visit.

"Have you heard what has happened?" She flicked through the pages of the Daily Prophet and placed an article in front of him which read House Elf Scandal in bold. "Miss Hepzibah Smith was found dead in her house this morning."

The words shocked him a great deal, "dead? But when, how?"

She shook her head, "they say she died two days ago as deduced by the investigation officer. No one noticed because people don't really visit her that often. Her house elf Hokey accidentally poisoned her and killed herself when she found out the intensity of the crime she had committed."

"Two days ago..." his face lost all its color instantly. Tom had visited her two days ago as well. 

He realized why he had sensed something different with Riddle that time. And what he had presumed to be the scent of murder was not a mere superstition but the truth.

She gently placed her hand on his, "Perseus, is everything okay?"

He looked up at her with wide fearful eyes, "nothing is okay. Everything is... Unbelievably messed up."

He held his head in his hands as his brain connected dot after dot, pointing out that the murderer was not the poor house elf, but Tom Riddle himself.

"Do you know anything that could help in solving Miss Hepzibah's murder case?" She spoke in a soft soothing voice, not wishing to cause him any sort of trouble or pain.

Perseus kept his head down, "what I know won't make any difference."

"Perseus..."

He looked up at last to meet her concerned green eyes, "Renata, I may seem as if I have lost my mind but please... Whatever you do, if you see Tom Riddle again, don't talk or go near him. Just let me know if you find him anywhere around you."

It seemed as if he had somehow figured out Riddle's next move. He had tried to get Demelza on his side first but failed. Therefore the only remaining option left for him was Renata. Perseus knew he had struck upon the strategy Tom was using by chance.

"Tom Riddle? Your friend who worked here?"

He nodded, "yes, but he doesn't work here anymore. Just take care of yourself, okay? And don't toss my words away for a mere superstition."

"Is something bothering you?" Renata asked yet again in her calm but concerned voice.

"I can't tell you everything right now but please be wary of your own safety," he replied taking both her hands in his own and looked at her as if he was afraid that he would lose her too, "I can't bear it if anything ever happened to you."

She nodded in reply and as she was leaving the shop, Perseus instructed Gabby to accompany her back to her home and see to it that she reached there safely. After she had left, he didn't have the will to study the book any further so he simply placed it back on the shelf.

As he returned back to where he was seated, his eyes got caught by the paper lying open on the desk once again; the picture of a lifeless Hepzibah Smith staring up at him eerily as if warning him that Riddle wasn't going to stop at just one such murder.

Horcrux, the abominable word rang in his mind again.

Tom Riddle had done what no one dared to even think about and Perseus knew that the act somehow put him more at risk. He had realized that Riddle wasn't fazed by murdering people at all and he was one step closer to becoming an abominable monster as Perseus had predicted a few days back while warning Tom to stop.

But he also knew there was no stopping it now. The deed had been done and nothing he could say or do would be able to stop Tom Riddle from descending on the path he had chosen.

***