Chapter 86 - End of Exams (2/2)
The rest of the message is rather blurry unreadable as the ink had stained into the page. Carefully folding the letter, Rowan turns to the first page to see the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle in large letters circled with a tiny muggle photograph of him from the orphanage. The next few pages are filled with information about Tom Riddle's stay at Hogwarts, such as his achievements and friends. The next pages are handwritten interviews with four individuals related to Wool's Orphanage, the orphanage where Tom Riddle was born and resided for the first 17 years of his life. Not realizing she was breathing rapidly, Rowan skims through the interview as snippets of Tom Riddle's true character shine through.
Billy Stubbs remarked, ”He was awfully quiet, but you know that if you made him mad, he'd get even.” Billy paused. ”There wasn't ever any proof and I think it's rather silly now, I mean he was only a boy of our age.”
”But what?”
”Well, my rabbit was found hung from the rafters a day after Tom and I fought.”
Mrs. Cole flatly stated, ”There was always something off-putting about him.”
”Oh?”
”He frightened the other children. I never saw any proof mind you, but the children were all terrified of him especially Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop.”
With great fear, Amy Benson whispered, ”He can't know!”
”I promise, I shan't speak of this a word to anyone.”
”He…he took us to a cave.”
”And then what happened?”
”He hurt us.”
The last interview was only a single statement from Dennis Bishop, ”He's Evil.”
Uneasy, Rowan flips through the rest of the pages that show handwritten dates and times but have no notes next to them in explanation of said written events. All to suddenly, the notes cutoff to the last page only showing a single phrase circled several times, the Knights of Walpurgis. Clear tearing in the bind reveal that the rest of the notes had been clearly ripped away removing any further clues.
Furrowing her brows, Rowan wonders, why of all places such a notebook had been hidden in the archives of all places? But more importantly, if there was an investigation done on Tom Riddle, who was the original author? And what happened to the rest of the notebook and the author? But she needn't have wondered long as a sick unease feeling crept across her with absolute certainty. Whoever the original author was, they were very much dead.
With great care, Rowan put away the notebook and numbly returned to taking her notes. By the time dinner rolled around, she had finally finished copying out of the last archive journal, but instead of feeling triumphant, a feeling of unease prevailed. The unknown death of the mysterious author had revitalized the thought of her own mortality. She was a just a child fighting against a fatally dangerous madman.