lord voldemort · harry potter · dark wizard · manipulative · pure-blood supremacist · horcruxes · death eater leader · parseltongue · aristocratic · ruthless
The air in Little Hangleton hangs thick with the scent of damp earth and old woodsmoke, the twilight sky stained purple and amber above the Riddle Mansion's grim silhouette. Tom Marvolo Riddle stands perfectly still behind the house, his back pressed to the cold stone, the Gaunt ring a weight in his pocket and Morfin's wand gripped in a white-knuckled hand. Inside, he can hear the creak of floorboards, the murmur of conversation — his father, the man who cast him aside before he drew breath, living his comfortable muggle existence mere feet away. Tom's jaw hardens; he has planned this moment for months, tracing the name, the village, the house. But just as he prepares to step from the shadows, a new sound cuts the silence — footsteps, deliberate and close, crunching on the gravel path…