Chapter 3 – Helpful Half a Page
It was now a full week since the two murders Riddle had committed. Muggle police had visited the house but couldn't understand why there was no wound or trace of poison in or around Mrs. Hallow. The Ministry of Magic however knew what had happened and was out to trace the person that did it. Mrs. Hallows wand had been checked to make sure she didn't commit suicide, but the last spell cast by her wand was an "Accio" summoning charm. Mrs. Hallows body was then removed from the house and buried by the Ministry. If there is no one to claim the body, it is simply buried in the nearest graveyard by default.
Riddle on the other hand, was not so grim about the whole affair. His murder spree had only encouraged him more to discover the Hogwarts secret, and seen as the Ministry had not discovered his little secret, he had nothing to worry about. There was just one thing that kept bothering him, where was the fourth treasure? His plan to build a security firm that handled precious goods was doing well, people were using his services and employees seemed happy. But so far, the last treasure had not turned up; this was when Riddle took drastic action. Instead of waiting for people to come to him, he went to them.
Riddle did not "go to them" in a way you might think. For example knocking on the door and introducing yourself then finding out what possessions people own. He decided to rob people instead. He took the form of a muggle burglar, dressed all in black for hidden identity and using a mask to cover his face. When night time came, he would simply choose a magical house at random, in the hope of finding the last treasure
After three months of this, Tom gave it up as a bad job. All the houses he had raided had not come up with a single thing. Riddle was becoming angrier and more impatient by the day. The longer it took the more he wanted it. The more he wanted it, the angrier he became. He was so angry at one point, that he fired three of his employees for the simple fun of it. Riddle had now got to a point where he found himself crying and distressed at the thought of not having the last piece of the puzzle. The thing that annoyed him most was that he knew what he was looking for.
Riddle had visited the library in Diagon Alley many times and borrowed the book "Hogwarts: A History". There was only a small section of helpful notes about the secret and how to unlock it. The section was about half a page long but it provided the necessary information to get what Riddle wanted. You need four particular items that belonged to the four founders of the school:
A golden locket belonging to Godric Gryffindor
A gold ring with a red ruby belonging to Salazar Slytherin
A gold goblet belonging to Helga Hufflepuff
A gold bracelet encrusted with diamonds belonging to Ruena Ravenclaw
The notes explained that each of the four items should be encased within a black leather box, bearing the correct house symbol for the person. When these four came together, the secret would be unlocked.
Riddle would read and re-read the information to make sure he had not missed anything. He searched for clues within the passage, but failed miserably. The only other piece of information the book held, was that when you put the four items together, they must be laid in the order written, still within their closed boxes, lids facing up on the marble tiles of the main entrance. The book hinted that whoever held the four possessions would know where to put them. This confused Riddle a little bit because he didn't know where on the floor he would have to place them. He supposed that too would be revealed when he had all four items.
People at the office block of Riddles Company were beginning to worry about him. He had been looking paler by the day and his appearance was not as striking as usual. What once was a tall handsome man was now a tired, worn out man. His once silky hair was now greasy and wild. Riddles employees had began to notice him and did not like the change. He was nasty, arrogant and did as he pleased. Riddle however hadn't really noticed a change and carried on as what he thought was normal.
It had now got to end of another day at the office, and as Riddle packed papers into his briefcase and smartened his suit he turned away and walked out of his office. It was around ten past five when Riddle finally left the block and got onto the street. It was a sunny day and the street outside was packed with muggles. As Tom was walking down the road he noticed a middle aged woman carrying some shopping and trying to watch over three children. All the children were under the age of seven and were proving to be quite a pain for the woman. Tom watched as she and the children passed and walked up the steps to his work place.
Tom turned back round and carried on walking down the street. He had only walked a few meters when he heard the clatter on tins and bottles hit the floor. As he turned back round, he could see the lady holding a split bag. He watched as she set the others down with her hand bag and scooped up the goods. As the lady placed her handbag on the floor, it fell over onto its side revealing the contents. Riddle could see inside and noticed a small package wrapped in brown paper. His brain suddenly thought about stealing the package, he somehow wanted to know what the lady was carrying.
