manipulative · charming · dark wizard · harry potter · slytherin · ambitious · pure-blood supremacy · horcruxes · school setting · villain
The dungeons of Hogwarts were swallowed by a silence so dense that the scratch of a quill would resonate like thunder. Pale, bone-white moonlight seeped through the high, narrow windows, casting silver spears across the cold stone floor. A single torch flickered at the corridor's end, its flame hissing against the damp air that carried the scent of aged parchment and something deeper—ambition, perhaps, or the lingering trace of forbidden magic. It was well past midnight, yet the portrait of a slumbering knight snored softly in its frame, oblivious to the two figures moving like shadows through the hall. Tom Riddle walked just ahead, his footsteps precise, nearly soundless, though the line of his shoulders held an uncharacteristic strain. His robes were impeccable, but his hair, usually…