Chapter 7
... the pursuit of origins is a way of rescuing territory from death and oblivion, a reconquest that ought to be patient, devoted, relentless and faithful.
- Amin Maalouf, Orígenes -
Jenny laughed at something Tom had said, leaning over her scone, tilting towards him. The morning sun was glowing through the windows and the air felt crisp like most good mornings tend to. The room felt electric with new found energy, the snow had thawed and Hogwarts shuddered to life, no longer bogged down by slush and cold. Students were eagerly preparing for exams and the inevitability of summer. Everyone was generally in a good mood, but Jenny saw there was a hiccup in Tom's expression, his relaxed grin stiffened and his eyebrows lowered for a moment before he rebuilt his face into an impassive smile. She frowned at him, but his eyes were watching someone just over her head.
Jenny was internally debating whether she should ask him what he was looking at or if she should just turn and see for herself, but before she could decide he said, "Who does Dumbledore think he is?"
"What do you mean?" She glanced back at the professor's table, to see Professor Dumbledore was merrily chatting with Professor Beery.
"He looked at me funny."
"You're being paranoid." She brushed him off with an eye roll.
"No it's not just that," he insisted. "He's been grading me tougher than everyone else. He always is around—"
She cut him off and with a chuckle said, "He teaches here."
"I know that." He snapped back frustrated, "It's like he's following me. It's like he doesn't trust me or something."
"Please," she drew out the word lazily. "It's not like you've given him a reason not to trust you." She hesitated, picking at a cranberry in her scone, then side-eyed Tom, watching him discretely, she asked, "Right?"
He scowled, "Of course I haven't given the old fool a reason to."
"Then there's nothing to worry about." She said dismissively.
"I just have this feeling—" Tom started again but stopped abruptly.
Avery's voice rang from behind Jenny. "Hey, you two. I was looking everywhere for you Tom. You got up early today."
"Good morning, Avery." Tom greeted.
"Hi, Avery," Jenny said, as he sat down next to Tom. "Where's Rosier?" The two were nearly always together and had sat next to each other in every class. They were practically attached at the hip.
"He's in the hospital wing."
Jenny's mouth popped open in horror, she asked, "Oh Merlin is he okay?"
"Yeah, some second-year Gryffindors sent him a nasty hex in the halls this morning."
"What was it?" Tom asked, not even glancing up from his eggs.
"Beats me. Got him good though, right on the cheek. It started swelling up and turned red. He couldn't see out of one eye by the time we got him to the hospital wing."
"This close to exams too!" Jenny huffed, crossing her arms and shooting a dark look towards the Gryffindor table.
Tom shifted in his seat and rolled up his sleeves, sparing a passing glance towards Jenny, he rationalized with her, "I'm sure they were just hoping for retaliation, we've nearly won the House Cup. They want to make us lose points."
"We are going to retaliate though, right?" She asked.
Tom scoffed. "I'm not going to do anything. We both should be revising for our exams." He watched Jenny from the corner of his eye, mulling over her expression, trying to figure out if he had reeled her in from the plot she was hatching.
Jenny sighed disappointed then tried again, "Avery, come on, don't you want revenge?"
Avery watched Jenny for a moment then glanced at Tom, after a beat, he answered, "I'm not getting in the middle of this. All I'm gonna say is that Rosier thought it was a great laugh. He's hoping to take the exams late by using this as an excuse."
Tom bobbed his head contemplating this for a moment then said, "It's not a bad idea."
"Please, Professor Binns would never go for that," Jenny said dismissively.
"Not necessarily," Tom agreed thoughtfully, "but he just needs to convince Professor Slughorn and he'll talk to the other professors."
Avery scoffed, "No way mate, he's gonna have to convince Headmaster Dippet. It's the end of the year exams after all. He could get the answers from us." Then as an afterthought, he added, "That probably is his plan."
"Speaking of Slughorn," Jenny began conspiringly, "do you think he'll invite us to the Slugclub next year?"
Slughorn had only invited a few first years into his club at the start of the year. Lestrange had been one of them, which had left a bit of tension in Tom's relationship with him. Funnily enough, Lestrange hated being apart of the Slugclub, he didn't attend most of the meetings except for when Professor Slughorn asked him to attend in person.
Avery shrugged, "I wouldn't want to go, it sounds boring."
Jenny turned to Tom who was looking at Professor Slughorn contemplatively. He looked back at her with a small spark of determination in his eyes. "I think he's just waiting to see how we do in the exams. I'm sure he'll invite us next year."
"We'll see." Jenny mused after considering this.
"Well, he won't invite us if we get terrible marks. Come on, let's go to the library." He said as he pushed his now empty plate away and left the table. Leaving Jenny and Avery seated.
Jenny rose and hesitated considering bringing the rest of her scone, but ultimately decided to abandon it. She then asked Avery, "Will you be joining us?"
He laughed, "We already have class today. I'm not revising before class, then doing homework after too."
Jenny shrugged and said, "If you visit Rosier before classes let him know Tom and I hope he's doing better." With that, she turned and join Tom who was waiting for her.
"What took you so long?" He asked.
"Please Tommy, relax." She huffed, "I was only asking if Avery wanted to join us since Rosier is in the hospital wing."
"Seeing he's not here, I can assume you wasted our time." He noted smugly.
"Don't be rude." She deadpanned back.
They walked in silence down the corridor. Most of the late risers that still wanted to get breakfast were working their way to the Great Hall. Nearly Headless Nick was floating amongst the students, chatting with the Fat Friar. When they spotted Tom and Jenny, the Fat Friar excused himself and drifted towards them. Tom spotting this, paused and produced a smile.
"Friar!" Tom greeted him like an old friend. "How pleasant to see you this morning."
"Tom, just the man I was looking for," the ghost's eyes found Jenny, "Ah, my apologies, how rude of me, I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm the Fat Friar."
"I'm Jenny Endall."
The Friar look like he was going to start in on more pleasantries, so Tom cut in trying to redirect the ghost, "I'm dreadfully sorry Friar, but we really must hurry to the library, you see, we've got exams coming up."
"Ah, yes," the round ghost nodded gleefully, "I won't be but a moment. I wanted to let you know I was able to put in a good word for you with the Grey Lady. She's agreed to speak with you." The Fat Friar smiled pleasantly, apparently pleased to deliver the news.
"Thank you, Friar. I knew I could count on you." Tom said with a charming smile. He was looking quite pleased with himself.
"Well, it was the least I could do since I wasn't able to remember if I had met your father or not."
"That's quite alright, you've assisted me splendidly." He amended.
"Alright well, I best not keep you any longer from your studies. Do ask if you have any trouble finding her. I'm always floating around here or there."
"Thank you," Tom said as they went separate ways.
"What was that about?" Jenny asked.
"She's the last one!" Tom answered with a little extra spring in his step.
"The last of what?"
"The last ghost that I need to ask about my dad." He answered as though it was obvious.
"You're still on that? It's almost been a whole school year."
"Yes, yes, but the Grey Lady is notoriously shy. She was unwilling to talk to me when I first approached her. She favors the Ravenclaws." He noted the last part mostly to himself.
"I thought you were friends with some Ravenclaws." She said confused, "What about that one Prefect? You know? I think he has glasses."
"Bletchley?" He chuckled, "No, he isn't nearly delicate enough. The Fat Friar was an obvious choice."
They turned into the library, which was filled with more students than usual cramming for their various exams. One student, in particular, was surrounded by a mountain of books and seemed like they were on the verge of a mental breakdown, they looked about of age, presumably, they were studying for the NEWTs.
Jenny took the lead as she stepped in front of Tom and weaved between the students zeroing in on a table in the back corner of the library near the restricted section that wasn't occupied. Sliding her school supplies on the table, she decided to study from her History of Hogwarts book first, which was the class she felt she was most behind in. Tom, on the other hand, had opted to study his Transfiguration book, which Jenny noted bitterly to herself, he didn't actually need to improve in that subject.
They studied in silence together. The sun crawled lazily along the window sill as the time passed. They remained undisturbed until Tom snapped his book close. Jenny inhaled sharply in surprise and looked up at the source of the noise.
"It's just about time for Potions," he explained, gathering his books.
"You don't have to be so abrupt about it." She snapped in a hissed whisper, after spotting the librarian eyeing them.
He shrugged to Jenny unapologetically as they exited the library and said, "Let's hurry, I don't want to get on Professor Slughorn's bad side."
"Is that even possible?" She mumbled sarcastically.
A playful smirk grew on Tom's face as he obliged her with a correction, "Okay, then I don't want to force his hand and get detention."
"That sounds more accurate," she agreed.
"I'm glad I can be of service." He replied with mock arrogance.
They arrived in Potions a few seconds before the bell chimed indicating the start of class. Slughorn had yet to arrive, giving Jenny and Tom ample time to set up their cauldron and supplies.
Jenny smiled over at Tom proudly and said, "Mr. Riddle, you are perfectly punctual as usual."
With a playful grin he nodded and replied, "Why thank you Ms. Endall, I owe half of my success to my lovely partner."
Lestrange snorted behind them, "You both almost earned yourselves detention."
"Ah, but we didn't," Jenny responded cheekily.
"Dumb luck," Lestrange said with a laugh.
Before Tom or Jenny could respond, the door swung open and Slughorn walked in, with a large book in his hands, several pages had papers sticking out of them. The class silenced at once, looking to the professor for instructions.
Professor Slughorn opened his book and flipped to one of the pages marked with a paper and mumbled, "Yes, here we are." Clearing his throat he spoke to the class, "Would you all be so kind as to turn to page 279." There was a rustle of papers that punctuated the professor's pause as the class found the page in their textbook. After it appeared everyone had found the spot he continued, "Today we will be brewing the Herbicide Potion. Now, can anyone tell me the effects of this potion?" Tom's hand went up, as well as two Hufflepuffs. Slughorn considered each student for a moment then said, "Riddle?"
"As the name suggests, this potion is a poison to plants that kills or damages them depending on how hardy they are."
"Very good, Riddle my boy!" The professor praised him then asked, "Is this potion harmful to anything other than a plant?" This time a Hufflepuff was called on, who answered that it can make humans who drink it ill. "Excellent! I can see you've all been doing your reading. Please begin brewing this potion. If you finish up early you can leave after I've seen it. Keep in mind that for your final exam you will need to brew the Wiggenweld Potion and be able to answer what it can be used for."
With that, the class hurriedly began prepping the potion. Jenny defaulted to cutting up lionfish spines into smaller chunks to make them easier to crush, meanwhile, Tom was setting up the mortar. Once she dumped the spines into the mortar she began crushing them, leaving Tom to scoop out some herbs to add to the mixture. They continued like this, each dividing the work wordlessly, supplementing additional steps into the recipe when they felt it was needed. When Tom gave the potion a final stir it turned an emerald green as described in their book. Jenny flashed Tom a smile, then looked towards Professor Slughorn who was already making his way to them with a small potted plant in one hand and a spoon in the other.
"Excellent colour you two. Let's see how potent it is." The professor said as he dipped his spoon into the mixture. He poured the thick liquid at the base of the plant. Tom and Jenny watched with bated breath as it was slowly absorbed by the soil and the plant began to fade brown and curled up. Slughorn eyed the plant then looked at his students, his face was neutral before he broke into a chuckle and patted Tom on the back. "Marvelous work!"
With a wave of his wand he vanished the potion and dismissed them. Jenny and Tom packed their supplies silently. They were the first group to complete the potion and seemed to be the few who had not been struggling. After they exited the classroom Tom stretched then said, "I'm going to track down the Grey Lady while it's still fresh in my mind."
"Where do you think we'll find her?" Jenny asked him as they walked down the hall towards the common room.
Tom shook his head and said, "I'm going to go alone. The Fat Friar only put in a good word for me. I don't need her getting scared off."
She nodded, disappointed but agreed, "Alright, let me know how it goes?"
"I will," he promised.
That night Jenny couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. She had surrounded herself with various books and papers in her room until her roommates had wanted to go to bed, she then levitated her school supplies to the common room to continue her frantic revising. The common room was empty, giving her sufficient peace for studying by the fireplace light. Around midnight, the door to the common room swung open, causing the half-asleep girl to jump. She looked wide-eyed towards the intruder and recognized Tom walking with shoulders slumped, looking rather defeated.
"Where have you been?" Jenny asked, causing him to look up.
"I was looking for the Grey Lady," he explained.
"You missed every class! Exams are soon, you should have attended," she scolded him.
"She was hard to find." He said with an apathetic shrug as he threw himself on the couch next to Jenny.
She shut her textbook and moved it from the precarious position on her knee to a table. She studied Tom's sullen expression and knitted her eyebrows in worry. "What did the Grey Lady say?"
"She'd never met a Riddle at Hogwarts before." He answered bitterly.
Jenny hummed for a moment thinking, then said, "Alright, maybe we should reopen up the option that your mums magic."
He laughed sarcastically, "Yeah, right. There's a better chance that I was the first Mudblood to get into Slytherin."
She punched him playfully on the arm and with a small smile said, "Oh, get over yourself. If you refuse to believe it's your mother, then maybe the ghosts just didn't remember your dad. They have been alive for a while. I'm sure they don't remember every student."
"What do you propose I do then? Start asking every painting? Maybe they'll remember?" He asked mockingly.
With a sigh she said, "Tommy, you're not using your brain." His face scrunched up in anger, but before he could respond she continued, "Why not look in the library?"
"Okay, who's not using their brain now? Do you know how many books are in there? It'll take years!" He snapped back face growing red, either from frustration or embarrassment of not thinking of that first.
She laughed at his exaggeration, "Not every book is about old families and lineage."
He scoffed, "I don't have every day to shove my head in a book and read for hours in hopes of finding a person not even ghost whisper of."
"I never said you had to." She sniffed back annoyed.
He looked at her for a moment and with purpose, he unclenched his jaw and loosened his muscles. They had tightened in frustration, which he was now misdirecting at Jenny. "What are you doing up so late anyway?" He asked changing the subject.
She looked between the books and him and felt her eyes beginning to water. "I'm going to do terrible on the History of Magic exam. I know it."
He rolled his eyes and picked up her History of Magic textbook from the table, "You're underestimating yourself. I'll help you study for a bit, then we'll get to bed, being sleep deprived isn't going to help you one bit."
She nodded, feeling her worries ebb away as he started quizzing her.
"What about you guys?" Rosier said causing Jenny to pop up from her slumped position on Tom's shoulder.
"What?" She asked sleepily.
Tom shifted slightly, stretching and said, "He was wondering what we plan on doing this summer."
"Oh." Was all Jenny responded with, feeling embarrassed that they wouldn't have any grand plans like their housemates.
Tom chuckled and answered for both of them with a shrug, "The orphanage is rather boring. We'll probably be reading for most of the summer."
"Sounds like a drag," Avery said. "I'll owl you two some, so you have something to do."
Lestrange and Rosier nodded in agreement. Then Lestrange said, "My father has plans to start training me for Quidditch. I'm going to try out for Chaser next year."
Avery laughed, "You're gonna have competition. Rosier's trying out too," he nudged Rosier who was rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed.
"I'm still trying to decide." He said bashfully.
Tom rolled his eyes, "Why waste your free time with a pointless hobby?"
Lestrange sniffed snobbishly, "It may not be something muggles are familiar with, but Quidditch can actually lead to a very lucrative career if you become a professional."
Before Tom could respond with an equally biting remark, Jenny explained quickly, "Muggles have stuff like futball, so we get it, but isn't it rare to become a professional player?"
Lestrange replied without missing a beat, "That's why I'm going to train to become the best."
Avery pulled a face then said, "Good luck with that, mate."
They talked on for some time before the Hogwarts Express pull to a stop at platform 9¾. The children hurriedly wrapped up their conversation and when they finally exited the train, they waved goodbye as they parted ways for the summer.