BOOK I – "The Witch"
Chapter 6 – A Pact Between Friends
The next morning, Tom had considered skipping breakfast. He was exhausted, but realized it would just be suspicious. I can't get caught with that book. He dredged through his meal, forcing down some toast, pumpkin juice, and tea. How am I going to get her alone to talk about this? It would seem strange, me just walking up to her at lunch. Everyone knows we don't talk, and how presumptuous, a boy walking up to a girl at lunch like that. It just isn't done, I'll be scorned by all the teachers there. He stared at his empty plate, with dark circles around his eyes and furrowed brows. He was not ready for a weekend with his rowdy friends. He was so worried about putting up appearances that he hadn't even realized that his friends had slept in themselves! As he looked up, realizing the Great Hall was only half full, the owls came through the grand windows with the morning post. Eugh...these filthy creatures again.
"So many owls this morning!" called out a Hufflepuff from their nearby table.
Tom made to rise from his seat, just as a great, round, tawny old bird swooped down, a little too close for comfort, and dropped an envelope in front of Tom. It had a silver colored wax seal with an intricate "HS" design stamped into it. He flipped it over, and hand written in a fancy flourish of vivid green was his full name, "Tom Marvolo Riddle." Oh, right, the party. He popped open the wax and removed the invitation. He did say to bring a friend, I wonder if Nora would go with me.
"Tom, oy, morning, look at you, I should've followed your lead, mate." A very bedraggled Rosier sat at his left. "LeStrange is skipping breakfast all together, we had no idea what these parties were like." He made an exaggerated stretch and reached for some toast when that same tawny owl swooped in, causing a slight flinch from Tom, and dropped a letter on top of the toast. "Oh, it's Professor Slughorn's seal! You know, he taught my father and wrote his letter of recommendation when he was hired at the Ministry."
As he opened his letter, Nora sat down opposite Tom in an empty seat.
"Nora..." he said quietly, with a bit of a croak to his voice. How do I bring this up, there's that book, and this party and now... now everyone knows I'm talking to her, what do I even say, I can't just come out with it and ask her to-"
"Oy Nora, you should come to this party with me," Are you kidding me? "At Slughorn's office, I think you'd be welcome, you're top witch of the class anyway, come on then." Rosier. Tom's heart stopped and throat dried up.
"Oh, Jon, I-"
"It's a deal then, I'll meet you in the common room, it's two Fridays from now!" he chimed, as he rose from his seat, taking a piece of toast. "I'm still bushed, I'm going back to the dormitory." He left, taking bites of toast on the way out. He's even his old brusque self on three hours of sleep.
Tom and Nora sat across from each other, wide eyed like deer caught by a headlamp.
"Nora, I..." he started, as he held up his letter.
"Oh, you've gotten one too! Oh, Tom, thank goodness you'll be there too, that Jon Rosier, he just, well I don't know what I'd do if I didn't know anyone else there, he flusters me so." Tom was finally able to blink now that she was smiling again.
"Yes, well I suppose I'll see you there, then."
"Oh, I've the best idea, meet us and we'll go together!"
"Right, that sounds fine. Nora, I have to-"
"Now, Tom, let's talk," she dropped to a whisper, "about that... you know, the book, Tom, the black book." How is this girl always one step ahead of me?
"Yes, exactly." He smiled at her. "Should we go for a walk? I thought maybe-"
"Yes, let's go to your cliff, over the lake." Always one step.
By the time he arrived, she was already there, looking out over the water. He had to stop by the dormitory to get the book, and dodge questions from his friends. He managed to collect her stolen book, and his borrowed book from Borgin and Burke's, into his rucksack without much trouble.
"Hello, Nora." He sat next to her and pulled the black book out of his rucksack. He sat it in his lap and looked over the cover in the daylight for the first time. "Nora, how do you know about this book?"
"Well, my family has a few just like it. My father-"
"I thought you were adopted?" Tom cut in.
"Yes, my adopted father, of course, Tom," she replied with a sideways glance without pausing. "His family is from Albania, and I found all these books with no words, so I asked him about them. He just told me they were family heirlooms, and nothing more. I thought, well, that's a bit daft, having a blank book as family heirloom, that's like hanging a blank canvas in a museum or keeping a diary and never using it, so they kind of always bothered me. Then, you know, I got my letter, and found out that I was from magical heritage, and my father said that he was also from a magical family but couldn't use magic himself, he was dreadfully surprised, you see they adopted because they were both squibs that wanted a muggle life, and so," I don't think this girl ever breathes once she starts talking. "So I got my letter, and my school books, and thought that maybe I could figure out these books. Well, I learned Lumos and used it to check out the books when no one was around, and all of a sudden the books were full!"
"Yes, I learned that last night." Tom opened up the book to the beginning and grabbed his wand. "Lumos," he commanded loudly, and held the wand up to the book, where the words appeared full and dark. "So is this... is this Albanian?" He nodded to the text. "This language, and this... writing-masking technique, with Lumos?"
"Yes, but look..." she pulled out her wand, and held it over the book. "Aparecium, now turn your light out, see you can make it permanent, it will disappear again when you close the book, it's wonderful, isn't it?" He eyes were wide and proud.
Tom shut the book, and re-opened it, trying the Aparecium spell out on his own.
"It is! Thank you! Now, what about-"
"The language, yes, Transferio Communus, there, this should do it, I obviously don't speak Albanian, like my father, so I had to figure this one out, it's about done by now..." The letters, one by one, page by page, were transforming like tiny worms crawling around in circles.
Tom's eyes froze on the title of the book, as the words "Errët Magjike Spells" transformed into "Dark Magic Spells," and "Një Historia Sekret" into "A Secret History". The new subtitle caught his interest even more. "The complete unabridged collection of Lord Aziim's scrolls discovered in 1790."
"Nora, is this..."
"Yes, I'm sorry, it's all dark magic, which I guess most people think means, you know, BAD magic, but I wanted to show you this." She took the book from him and placed it between them, flipping ahead toward the middle of the book. "I remember you asked in Charms if you could charm a person instead of an item, and then again in Transfiguration, you asked another question, that's in here too but later on, but see?" She flipped a few more pages and pointed to a paragraph toward the bottom.
"One of the most commonly used Dark Magic spells misused in this century has been the Imperius Curse, created by one of my acolytes over ninety years ago."
"Ninety years, how long did this wizard live to have acolytes that long before writing this?"
"I don't know, I haven't found any books about this Lord Aziim yet, I only just found this last week. I haven't really had time to do any research."
"The Imperius Curse is a sort of charm one can used against one's opponent to do one's bidding. Once created, we cultivated this Curse to be long-lasting and strong. Any wizard trained in the ways of the Imperius can, in a way, charm another wizard, creature, or even muggle if need be, to physically do as the caster desires. There are, of course, negative implications to casting such a Charm or Curse, but the question must be raised as to the true nature and desires of a wizard. I believe, now that the war is over, that this Curse must be on the list of specially advanced spells only those true to the cause of righteousness may be taught once the Oath of the King has been made."
"Nora, I don't even know what this means. There's a war, and... a king?"
"Yes, I mean... it is very old, and I don't know that much history, but if you turn to the next scroll, a few pages later..." she did it for him.
"The Imperius Curse Nora, it's... it's right here! How to cast it, what to do... this book, what else-"
"You know, I'm not sure, but you know, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't answer your question, and I just knew there had to be an answer, and I just happened to see this, and I want you to have it, maybe then..." she looked back out over the lake again. "Maybe if there is anything of interest we could learn it together? You know, teach ourselves things the teachers don't want us to know yet?"
"We'll be ahead of the game for later years, won't we? That sounds extraordinary."
"More than that, I think. This wouldn't be in the Restricted Section of the library if it were going to be taught to us later, would it? I think we'll be ahead of more than just the game, and our classmates. Tom, you and I are the brightest in all of our classes, I think we could be the greatest wizard and witch of all someday!"
"We could." Tom couldn't take his eyes off the pages. "How will we practice these things?"
"Well, if we are very careful, we could try things on each other and reverse them, I'm sure, and there's got to be places we can go." She scooted a little closer, and had the most unnerving grin on her face. "Tom, let's make a... I don't know, a pact, or a promise."
"What kind of promise?" he chuckled at her. "I promise not to use these spells on you, that's for sure. Maybe LeStrange," he laughed out loud, "we can make him-"
"No, Tom, I'm being serious! Let's be the most powerful witch and wizard, let's learn it all!"
He looked out over the water, aware that she had not turned away or taken her eyes off of him. I already am the greatest wizard of our time, it's just that no one knows it yet. I wonder if I should trust her. I mean she hasn't given me a reason not t-
"Tom, please, what harm could it do?" He looked back at her face, expecting that same grin but instead finding sadness. "I know we're capable, don't you trust me?"
Oh, Nora... it isn't just you...
"Alright, a contract then." Against his better judgement, he looked down and closed the book. "A Binding Magical Contract, like the ones we learned about in History of Magic. We will help each other be the most powerful wizard and witch of all. We will do this in secret, of course. And we will protect our secret... at any cost, Nora."
"Yes, yes I agree, Tom."
"And another thing, part of becoming the most powerful being... we must unlock the secrets of immortality. If we are to become the most powerful wizard and witch, we must rise above the rabble, you said your birth parents are pureblood?"
"Yes, my adopted parents said they knew this for sure, but they were... killed... Tom, I don't know of any immortal wizards."
He replied with an unnerving grin of his own.
"Alright, Tom. I accept this Contract."
"I accept this Contract. We are superior. Now we will rise above those who are beneath us." They sat still, looking at the lake together. Oh, the other book! "Oh, Nora! I have something else for you." My first test of her trust, I suppose... it's as good a time as any. He pulled his small borrowed book from his rucksack and put her Albanian book away. He paused a moment, then handed it to her.
"What is this? Wandless Magic? Where did you get this?"
"I've got it on loan from Borgin and Burke's, and-"
"Tom! That shop in Knockturn Alley, you can't be serious!"
"Says the girl who snuck into the Restricted Section of the library in an illegal unregistered animagus form, and stole a book on Dark Magic?" Gotcha. He smirked at her.
"Ah, you got me..."
"Read it, get it back to me at Slughorn's party, without anyone seeing. I'll be there with LeStrange, he cornered me when I stopped at the dormitory for the rucksack."
"Oh, no," she groaned. "How did I get tangled up in this party with all of your friends."
Tom shrugged at her and stood up. As he started to walk away toward the castle, he turned back and said, "Nora, don't be foolish. You're my only true friend," and walked away, leaving her with his book and walking off with hers.
The only friend I've ever made.