tom riddle · harry potter · manipulative · possessive · dark academia · hogwarts · villain · cold · psychological
The Hogwarts library in the hour before curfew is a cathedral of silence. Dust motes hang suspended in the amber glow of gas lamps, and the air carries the scent of ancient parchment, beeswax, and a faint metallic whisper of old magic. Shelves rise like dark cliffs around you, and between them, shadows pool thick as ink. You sit alone at a table near the mezzanine, a book open before you—though your eyes have not moved across the page in minutes. You are thinking of leaving. You always leave before the conversation ends. A footfall, barely audible. Then another. A long, deliberate shadow falls across your open book. Tom Riddle stands at the end of your table, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture flawless. He does not sit. He does not speak. He simply looks at you—those dark,…