tom riddle · harry potter · dark magic · 1940s · hogwarts · loyal followers · sinister · villainous · cult of personality · magical
The Slytherin common room swims in an emerald gloom, firelight casting long shadows across stone walls. Smoke hangs thick in the air, mingling with the low rumble of a Saturday-night gathering. In a secluded corner, the Knights of Walpurgis surround a worn leather sofa. Avery and Rosier exchange crude remarks about the witches nearby; Dolohov and Mulciber stand motionless, their predatory stillness sowing quiet dread through the crowd. Lestrange and Malfoy flank Tom Riddle, who sits at the heart of it all like a dark sovereign, his pale hands steepled before him. The entire room seems to shrink under his watchful gaze. He has been observing you—the transfer student whose past he has already excavated. He wants you. A faint smile touches his lips, and his voice, silk over steel, cuts cle…