Chapter 4 – The Hogwarts Secret

As Tom watched the lady struggle, his mind told him to help her. He quickly conjured a new stronger bag with his wand, and then helped pack the goods into it. The lady was very thankful. Tom then took her inside and explained that he worked here. He asked her what she would need doing. It was at this moment that the lady delved into her handbag and withdrew the small brown package.

"This was passed into my family a while back now when my great granddad married my great grandmother. It's very precious to me and I don't want to lose It." said the woman.

"I would be very grateful if you could keep it safe" she added.

"Well that's we're here for madam, we look after goods and store them away." Tom grinned slyly with these words.

"This is a little bit more precious than just a 'good', can we talk somewhere private please?" asked the lady.

"Certainly, my office is free" said Tom. "Trudy" Tom called.

"Trudy!" He called again.

"What?" said the girl behind reception.

"Look after these children, entertain them" he gave her a small wink then took the lady to the elevator. Once at his office, Tom opened the door and allowed the woman to step in first. Tom then took a seat at his desk and pointed to the empty chair at the other side of it.

"So how can I be of assistance Miss . . ." Riddle trailed off.

"Heinz" she replied, "Andrea Heinz".

"Ok then, Miss. Heinz, what have you got that needs looking after?" asked Riddle.

Andrea handed him the brown package and allowed him to remove the paper. Toms jaw dropped in shock, but his face resembled excitement. Inside the paper was a small black leather box with an eagle imprint on the lid. Tom had found the last piece to the puzzle. The eagle represents Ravenclaw at Hogwarts; he now had Ruena's last remaining treasure. Tom opened the box and peered inside. The diamond encrusted gold bracelet gleamed back into his wide eyes.

"Well Miss Heinz, I can certainly look after this, I can see it is precious to you. Is that all?" Tom asked.

"Yes, yes it is. Thank you Mr . . ." she trailed off.

"Riddle, Tom Riddle, and it has been a pleasure to serve you madam" Tom smiled at her sweetly. He then pulled out his wand and cast Avada Kedavra. His first muggle killing and it felt awesome. He then instructed Trudy the receptionist to send the children away; he had to go somewhere . . .

Tom disapparated then reappeared outside the gates that lead up the driveway to Hogwarts. He sent a special message to headmaster Dumbledore, requesting entry. After a moment, the long thick chains that bound the gates closed, slid back and drooped. Tom entered and began towards the main doors. The gates closed after him and locked themselves once more. Tom had all the four treasures in his pocket; he was going to use them once he got inside. The headmaster would be expecting him, but would never meet him. The students were in class and the teachers with them, Riddle had the entrance hall to himself.

As he reached the oak front doors and slipped inside, his excitement really kicked in. His heart began to race; his mind was just a blur of all the things he had to remember from the book. Tom Riddle was about to discover something nobody else ever had. Riddle stepped into the entrance hall. He looked around for markings on the floor. After a few moments he saw them, right in the middle of the floor, four black rectangles all of a different size. Each box had a letter on it, either "G", "S", "H" or "R". These were the Hogwarts houses. Tom retrieved the four boxes and carefully laid them on the representing black rectangle. As Tom placed the last box, the magic was ready to begin.

Tom stepped back and waited a few moments. Nothing seemed to happen. But as he walked forward and looked down, a small collection of words had formed on the floor just in front of the boxes. They read:

Dear Mr. Riddle, congratulations on finding and collecting the four Hogwarts treasures. As a gift for your hard work and determination, the four founders would like to give you this . . .

All of a sudden, the exits out of the main entrance were sealed. Doors bricked themselves up and archways became sealed. Windows turned to stone and the lights went out. Tom was stood in total darkness. Then, from the centre of the floor, the four little box lids began to glow. The pictures on top gave bright light that filled the darkness. As Tom looked around, he was now in what looked to be a treasure room. Trophies, statues, jewellery, money and ornaments. All in gold and dazzling brightly. Tom's mouth dropped in shock and delight. He was to become the richest man alive.

Tom conjured up a large bag and scooped lots of money inside. He took some trophies and jewellery so he could remember his find. It was not until after collecting lots of the startling features, that Tom realised, all of these belonged to the founders. He had what the world had been looking for, right in front of him. Tom was so happy; he couldn't believe he had solved the Hogwarts secret. Now only one thing was on his mind. How was he going to get out?