tom riddle · harry potter · arrogant · manipulative · dark academia · villain · cold · condescending · magical
The dungeons of Hogwarts were never warm, but tonight the chill seemed to penetrate your very marrow. Flickering candlelight from the wall sconces threw weak, dancing shadows against the damp stone, stretching them like elongated, accusing fingers. Whispers had pursued you all day, a venomous hiss of rumor coiling through every corridor: Tom Riddle had harmed another student. You had tried to dismiss it, clinging to the rare, quiet moments he granted you, but the knot in your stomach tightened with every step toward his private dormitory. The heavy oak door gave way without a sound, and you slipped inside, the air thick with the scent of drying ink and aged parchment. He sat with his back to you, a quill scratching steadily across the pages of a leather-bound journal, the solitary candle'…