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Undead
Chapter: 3
"The Truce"
A boy with untamed hair was attached to a metal table with straps around his ankles, wrists, shoulder and the waist. His mouth was blocked too and thus was completely defenseless against his captors. He tried to struggle but the straps were too tight and started cutting into his wrists.
A man in weird clothes was standing near the boy beside a table with a syringe in his hand which he was filling with a strange blue colour liquid. And when the boy saw the man coming near him, his struggles for freedom increased but it was no use.
The man came and inserted the needle into the boy's bruised skin. For a few minutes everything was silent, as the liquid was spreading in the blood and mixing with it.
And after the silence came the temperature of the skin rising, the boy's eyes rolling back and his body shaking uncontrollably and finally what followed was a scream.
A blood curdling scream.
…..
Riddle had just had the most boring day of his life. The boring lessons, the imbeciles surrounding him, not bothering to use their minds. The essays and the homework: he cant even explain how different they are to how he used to do.
Tom Riddle is the Defence Against The Dark Arts Assistant Professor, Professor Galatea Merrythought was requested by Headmaster Dippet to stay behind for a year or two and he will get her an assistant which she can then leave behind and may retire.
To which she grudgingly agreed as for Tom was her favourite pupil out of all and was an excellent student, and also perhaps the only one who can bear her teaching and succeed.
Which led to the present situation in which the Professor had to go on some urgent business and left tom to take care of the classes as a kind of practice. Which led to Riddle's mind and body completely and utterly stretched out.
The imbecile cant even fight a boggart without either breaking their own bones as they scramble away from the creature or someone else's. Some girls were even braver than the boys which was pleasantly surprising.
Right now he was one his way to the Headmaster's office. He had gotten the letter through the phoenix of the Transfiguration Professor.
"Dear Tom,
There is a matter of urgent importance, if you could please come to the Headmaster's office, that would be very kind of you.
Transfiguration Professor.
Dumbledore."
The cursive writing and the means of its transportation had been a dead give-away even without the signature.
And so he is standing in front of the Gargoyle that guards the office thinking why he was here in the first place. He didn't have time for Dumbledore's frivolities. He was tired and hadn't gotten much work done, either in the castle or with his followers.
"Knowledge is power"
And with that the Gargoyle moved and the stairs started spinning and he climbed on it, waiting patiently for it to reach its destination.
When he entered the Headmaster's office, there standing in front of him, Dumbledore that pathetic fool, the weak Headmaster and one other man was standing who had his back to the door.
Other people wouldn't have known but with Tom being one of the powerful wizards and also a Magic Sensitive, he could see and feel the mans Magic, which is different individual to individual.
And the Magic whose colour was gray, with killing curse green, crimson and yellow mixed with it can belong to one more person.
"Headmaster, Professor and Secretary Evans.", he greeted all with a nod of his head. And as he neared the man, he could feel his Magic reacting and trying to reach out to the man. But he with satisfaction noticed that the man's Magic was also reacting in a similar way but the difference was that it wasn't leaving its owner.
"Ah Tom! So nice of you to join us,", said the Headmaster, "As you can see we have Mr. Evans here."
"Yes, I can see. But may I enquire as to why?", asked Tom, he was tired but didn't wanted to leave important things like this, but that didn't change the fact that it was Eleven-thirty two in the night.
"Well yeah, so you see Mr. Evans here wants to have his lodging fixed here at Hogwarts,", tried to explain the Headmaster.
This surprised Tom as many Ministry officials have their own private living area made specifically for them. And someone of a higher rank like the Minister's Secretary have their own villas.
What though Tom liked about this situation was that he could keep the Secretary under his surveillance and find out all his secrets and may even have him as a follower if he was capable enough.
"And what is your plan Headmaster?", enquired the Hogwarts Defense Assistant Professor.
"Mr. Evans has told me that he had immense interest in teaching Defence, but due to personal reasons could never do it,", said the Headmaster, "And so I have decided to have him help you, as you are now the Defence Professor."
"Defense Professor? What about Professor Merrythought?"
"You see Tom, Galatea dear was too old for these energetic minds, so she before going on this supposed vacation gave me her word concerning you.", told Tom the old and kind wizard.
"Concerning me?", asked the slightly bewildered and now the Defence Professor.
"Yes, she said if you could prove yourself competent enough while she is away then she can have her freedom which I have been keeping. And as you proved yourself more than competent I have decided to give you promotion to the Defence Professor from the Assistant Professor." Was the answer to Tom's question.
"Thank you Headmaster! It's a pleasure to be officially be part of the Hogwarts." Said Tom with a blinding smile.
The man who was the soon to be Assistant Professor noticed the smile and its characteristics but said nothing and such cleared his throat.
"Ah! Yes! Yes! Your welcome Tom. And I have some more news for you too," said the forgetful Headmaster.
"And what might that be Headmaster?"
He also noticed that Dumbledore has not lost his smile this whole time, meaning he had done something that would no doubt irritate Tom.
"Yes! Tom I have gotten you an Assistant," here the Headmaster pointed towards the Secretary, "Mr. Evans here is gonna be your Assistant.", finished the Headmaster with a flourish, showing that he was very happy with the outcome.
Here Tom looked at his soon to be Assistant and then at Dumbledore. And figured everything out. Dumbledore was trying to use his new Assistant to spy on him and also to recruit him and may use him further too.
Wait.
He noticed that he had been looking at the man this whole time but while pondering Dumbledore's antics had missed what the man was doing.
The man was shaking his head very minutely, which gave away his thoughts.
The man knows. Delicious! Lets see how this rolls out!
"Thank you Headmaster for everything, and you had to go to such lengths to for me as well, I'm very grateful to you," here he nodded at the Headmaster, "And if you don't mind Headmaster, may I take my Assistant with me? I have to make preparations and will need his help. And I'll also explain everything to him on the way."
"Ah! Your welcome Tom!" said the now happy Headmaster, "And thank you as well for taking responsibility for Mr. Evans here," at that moment the subject of the discussion moved towards Tom, his cloak swishing with him but still keeping him covered.
As Tom turned to go, "Wait Tom!"
"Yes Headmaster?", asked the Defence Professor.
To this enquiry of Tom's, "Mr. Evans will be staying with you Tom, in your chambers, as you are both male and also teaching the same subject, it'll be helpful and shouldn't be problematic. Plus Mr. Evans can learn things from you as well.", Dumbledore gave this answer, eyes twinkling as always.
…..
"This is going to be your room, while the one down the hall is mine. That is the bathroom, and here this room in the mid is the office plus library. You may find any book related to the Defence subject here."
Tom was very irritated. Very irritated.
Why did he have to accommodate the new member to the staff? And that Dumbledore! How he wished to rip that old coot apart! That old troublesome guy did it all on purpose, he knew it that this was something which he could use against Tom and also have some entertainment by irritating Tom.
Tom looked over at his new chamber-mate. At the party he didn't have much time or opportunity to talk with him for any length. And now he had the mystery man all to himself, at least there was something positive to what that old man have done.
The man was scanning his room and the whole of the chambers, as if searching where the danger could come from and also where were the exists that could be used.
The man's keen eyes were sweeping over every single object, calculating and hell bent on leaving nothing from its way. His hair were as wild as ever, but the robes or clothes? He was wearing was the cloth in a fashion that was completely foreign.
The robes neither showed status or power, but neither was it showing meekness or submission. Instead the robes seemed to be used for, first: to cover, and second: to be able to move easily. Meaning that the man had maximum agility in those robes but those robes also showed off his figure, which wasn't as thick as Tom had thought originally.
It was in fact very slim, the man must have maintained a specific diet to gain that kind of body, which if combined with a nice repertoire of spells can be lethal. As agility with sharp and good spells can be a deadly combination, going as far as making a simple first year spell harmful.
"Would you like to change anything?"
"No, everything is perfect! There is no need to change anything, and if there ever came such a need then I'll do it. Thank you for your help!", said the infuriating man, who never once glanced at Tom.
"Why did you choose Hogwarts?"
"Pardon?", the man was confused.
"I said, 'why Hogwarts'? You could have had your own Ministry approved manor, which should have been sufficient enough, in security as well as comfort.", elaborated Tom.
"Ah!"
At this non-answer Tom raised an eyebrow and was gonna say something which was promptly forgotten as those intense green eyes finally rested on Tom's own deep blue. There was something in those eyes, those eyes were always hiding something.
At one time there is this intense pair of eyes, and then there is that pair of eyes which scream for end. An end that Tom didn't get at all, end for what? From what?
"Mr. Riddle was it?", at this Tom nodded.
"So Mr. Riddle, I have always been fascinated with magic more than an average wizard. And from where I come thee aren't as monumental things that contain such an amount of magic like dear Hogwarts does," said the man while sweeping his right hand around him, his left hidden in his cloak.
"And so I have come here to learn from Hogwarts and also to do some research alongside my duties as the Secretary.", finished the man.
Research, huh? I wonder…
"Well you can do whatever you want, just make sure to never interrupt me or my projects and you can do whatever you like without me prying in it, understood?", asked Tom trying to show who had authority here.
"Crystal."
"So do we have a Truce then?" asked the man as Tom was in the doorway.
"I suppose we do.", and with that Tom exited his new Assistant's room with his robes swishing around him dramatically.
…..
A/N: Thank You to all my readers! I never expected such a response for this story, but nevertheless appreciate thanks to all those 7 reviewers, 11 favs and 36 alerts, I really appreciated them. Thank You very much J
Also to my lovely reviewer who took her time to drop a word: Emily; that 'tobe' is what I write in a hurry and leave it for the auto correction to correct it, which it certainly doesn't do as you have kindly pointed out. Thank you for pointing this mistake, I have tried to correct it but if there is some left then please do forgive this humble writer ;-)
Hope to see you all very soon with a chapter, (and do pray as my college is starting and I may have less time to write but who knows, eh? ;p)
Yours Truly.