Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[45] Scandalous Overthrow

For the first time in years, Tom Riddle tasted the liquor of victory; the triumph at having an obstacle removed from his path was almost akin to the exhilarating sensation of Firewhiskey draining down his throat. The latest issue of the Daily Prophet was proof of his success. Nobby Leach, the first Muggleborn Minister for Magic, had been finally thrown out of office.

Abraxas and Avery had succeeded in digging out a scandal against Leach, which had resulted in the end of his tenure as Minister for Magic. The case was associated with the use of unfair means and illegitimate use of power and status to win the Quidditch World Cup, hosted in Britain in 1966.

Due to Abraxas's clever handling of the whole situation, many Ministry officials had gone out on protests against the Minister and at the end, Nobby Leach had been forced to resign from office.

Tom was thoroughly enthralled to receive the news. Now that one person on his list was taken care of, there were only Dumbledore and Whitburg to deal with.

Mulciber, another trusted Death Eater, had been tasked to keep an eye on Whitburg and inform Tom regularly about his whereabouts. At first, it had been rather difficult to track Whitburg out, since Dumbledore himself was offering him protection. But then he had been spotted at Hogsmeade's High Street and Mulciber had assured Riddle that he would bring all the necessary information in no time.

Tom repeatedly glanced at the old clock which, with each passing hour, propelled him closer to the time of Mulciber's arrival with his report on Nathan Whitburg.

At last, the clock struck seven and shortly afterwards the fireplace crackled, announcing that he had indeed arrived. A man with sharp features and cunning dark eyes stepped out of the fireplace, bowing before Tom soon as he laid eyes on him.

"My Lord," he lifted his head upon Riddle's gesture, "I have fulfilled the task."

"Well done," he replied, eager to know what he had found out, "take a seat and get down to the report immediately."

"Of course, my Lord," Mulciber dipped his head in a bow again before resuming, "Nathan Whitburg lives in Hogsmeade with his family, in a cottage right next to the Thatcherts' abode. I had asked a few residents as subtly as I could, and they willingly imparted all they knew about him. Whitburg used to teach at Hogwarts but last year he had resigned when faced with accusations related to a fire breakout in his office, right when the OWLs exams were being conducted. No one knows whether he had pursued another job after the incident or not."

Tom felt a surge of relief at hearing that Whitburg was no longer the Defense Professor. If he couldn't get the job, then no one else would be able to keep it; such was the curse he had inflicted on the post and Whitburg conveniently happened to be the first victim to suffer from it.

However, he recalled a certain word that struck a warning bell somewhere in his mind, "you said he lived with his family... Whitburg had no family, as far as I knew. His parents had died years ago, the rest of his relatives are probably still in America and even the Auror file he possessed carried no record of any remaining family of his."

"He married after his escape from here," Mulciber stated, "he now has a wife and son and they both live with him at Hogsmeade."

"Wife and son?"

"According to my sources, in mid February, 1962, Whitburg had got married to Herbert Burke's daughter. The people at Hogsmeade don't know much about the Burkes, so I had tracked them back to a town near Wiltshire. Even there, the only known aspect about them was that they were a trader family from London and their daughter was a widow who had a young son. Presumably after marriage, Whitburg had accepted her son as well."

Tom's mind completely blanked out for a moment. It seemed as if he had just envisioned a nightmare and couldn't think straight anymore. The only words ringing through his ears were: Whitburg got married to Herbert Burke's daughter.

Whitburg got married to Demelza.

His Demelza.

And he had also accepted Eridanus.

His son.

"How... How dare he!" his voice rose to a dangerous pitch alarming the man in front of him, "how dare he lay his filthy hands on my... My..."

His grip tightened around the glass he had been holding as a result of which it smashed abruptly, piercing a thousand little shards into the pale hand. However, no blood trickled out from the wounds for it seemed as Riddle no longer had any blood coursing through his veins.

Mulciber couldn't understand what he had said wrong that had angered him so much. He cowered under his threatening glare, deeply frightened for his own life. Because he was well aware of the chaos that could ensue when Lord Voldemort was angered to such an alarming extent.

"Both of them belong to me and nothing, not even Whitburg, can take them away from me," his voice was tumultuous as his fury seemed to vibrate off him, "how dare he try to steal what belongs to Lord Voldemort? My son! My..."

But he couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. He could not understand what Demelza was to him. He could have called her his love, if only he hadn't been disgusted enough to say that word again. There was a time when he had loved her, but now no sign of that former affection was left in his stone cold heart.

He no longer loved her, but he was still obsessed with her.

Her soft brown eyes, her gentle smile, her loving touch... Even though he deserved none of it, still the fire of desire scorched him internally. To him, Demelza was nothing but a treasured possession; a delicate doll that he wanted badly so that he could do whatever he pleased with her.

A possession, a belonging, an ornament to be kept for decoration.

A fragile yet beautiful angel whose wings he had mercilessly torn apart and then imprisoned her in a cage of misery.

But now that someone else had taken her away from him, he couldn't bring himself to cope with the bitter reality of losing her.

Mulciber hadn't been aware of Riddle's connection to Demelza and Eridanus earlier, but by observing the wrath building up inside him, he could easily perceive that Eridanus was no doubt the Dark Lord's heir and his mother had probably been of great importance to him.

"And that bastard, Abraxas Malfoy... He knew all about it! He knew yet he dared to keep me in the dark. The insufferable, vile backstabber!" Riddle had caught Mulciber by the throat who was shaking badly, terrified at envisioning the extreme rage pulsating off him, "bring the traitor to me at once, or else I will burn his Manor down with all his family inside!"

Roughly he let go of Mulciber who, still shaking with fear, stumbled back to the fireplace, heading straight to the Malfoy Manor in order to bring Abraxas along with him and follow the order given by the Dark Lord.

After he was gone, Tom hurled every thing that was within his reach at the wall, smashing it all down in his anger. He was burning in the fire of his own wrath, destroying all that he could reach.

He had trusted Abraxas Malfoy, he thought that he was the only person who could be completely trusted, he thought he knew him well enough since his school years. Abraxas had always been the most loyal to Lord Voldemort and his cause, but now he could clearly see that the man had betrayed him right in his face.

How dare he, he repeated in his head manically, how dare he!

He was angered beyond limits and a murderous intent ensnared his senses, urging him to painfully drag out every drop of blood from Abraxas's body, torturing him painfully until he met a shameful end.

But he couldn't just kill him right now. No matter how much he hated Abraxas due to his betrayal, he still had to hear him out. He simply had to know what had turned his most faithful man against him.

And after that, he knew he would make sure that Abraxas Septimus Malfoy received the excruciatingly painful punishment he deserved.

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