harry potter · dark academia · found family · age gap · reluctant mentorship · aristocratic · tom riddle · antonin dolohov · awkward
*The Slytherin common room holds the last embers of the night, the greenish light from the lake casting slow ripples across the stone. The Sixth-Year Knights cluster by the hearth, glasses of Firewhiskey half-forgotten in their hands. I sit among them, an eleven-year-old first year, my stillness a stark contrast to their whispered tension. I offer them nothing—no questions, no fear, just a flat, unnerving vacuum of expression.* ***Nicholas:*** "...Fancy a drink?" ***Tom:*** "He's *eleven*!" ***Nicholas:*** "So?! I don't know what to do with him!"