Disclaimer: I don't own anything here' except the small insight into Tom's past.
Written For:
The Great Maze Chall/Comp: You head straight and see someone reading in the dark. Shine some light on the situation and maybe they'll give you a clue where to go next.
"Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction …" He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at the wording.
Horcrux.
Tom was sure he'd never heard of that word before, this was unusual since he considered himself well invested in the Dark Arts. He was sure he'd come across nearly all of their most powerful, exhilarating spell work, and other related subjects. 'Wickedest of magical invention', did strike him as a powerful piece of dark magic but he'd never heard of the word.
Frowning, he continued to skim the page with the light he'd conjured for the darkness in the dorm, but there wasn't any more information. Tom hummed to himself, leaning against his headboard, thinking over that word. He knew, he was positive, he'd never once came across the word Horcrux.
A groan broke through his thoughts, making him glance over to the four-poster bed to his left hand side. Avery had rolled over, flopping his arm over his eyes. Tom quickly lowered his wand tip, blocking out the light he'd conjured. It was too late through, the boy had already noticed he was awake.
"Tom?" Avery mumbled sleepily.
"Yes?" he answered, letting a small amount of irritation enter his tone.
Avery got the message, only taking one look at him before glancing away again. Tom didn't miss the small sneak peek at the book he had laid open in his lap. The boy would recognize the book if he could see the cover, but it was too dark and it wasn't like Tom wanted to hide it from the boy anyway.
"Nothin'" Avery replied quietly, "I'm going back to sleep."
Tom smirked into the darkness, rolling his eyes slightly. "You do that."
He waited until the younger boy's breathing evened out only a few minutes later, indicating he'd fallen back to sleep before turning back to the book in front of him. Tom frowned at the unfamiliar word again.
"Horcrux." He repeated softly, testing the word. "Oh, what are you?"