SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

045. LUDENS IGNE

*Atlas's aunt's name was changed to Keres

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
— playing with fire

       TOM WAS NEVER PLEASED WHEN ABRAXAS MALFOY, LUPE NOTT, AND RAMSEY LESTRANGE VISITED WOOL'S ORPHANAGE. There had only been a handful of instances when the three of Tom's most trusted companions stepped foot in London to visit the place Tom had the misfortune of calling home and each time had been excruciating for the Riddle boy. The first to ever set foot in the place had been Lupe, accompanied by a younger Astrea Ravenswood after the end of their first year at Hogwarts. Astrea had been Tom's key into the original group of Slytherins that made up the first of his Knights of Walpurgis and Lupe — the least trusting of them all — demanded to see where the boy had come from in order to learn more about him. It had been humiliating for Tom as he watched the way they reacted to seeing where he lived. Astrea had frowned, her face a mixture of pity and sadness as she looked at him (a  look that had never truly gone away). From that moment on, he was Tom the orphan instead of the great wizard he wanted to be viewed as. Lupe, on the other hand, hadn't said much but he never did. Instead, he gave Tom a firm nod and suggested the three of them went to Malfoy's. That's what Tom liked best about his friend and why Nott was his favourite. Lupe never needed to say much for Tom to know his loyalty lies with him. Abraxas always said that Lupe's loyalty "came without a price" and that much was true. Nott's trust couldn't be bought.

Ramsey and Abraxas didn't see the orphanage until later on — the winter break during second year, to be exact, when Tom first began forming his plans to create the Knights of Walpurgis. Astrea had been reading a Muggle book about a witch-cult in Great Britain and rattling about it to the boys for days. Tom remembered Astrea briefly speaking about Walpurgis Night, a time when witches' gathered for a sabbath and their powers were at its peak. All of it had inspired Tom to form a group of his own where he could enlist the most brilliant minds of those in Slytherin and nothing more. Tom could still remember how they celebrated Walpurgis Night in the Room of Requirement. While the others danced and partied, Tom had been busy reading a book he had come across in the Forbidden Section of the library — Secrets of the Darkest Art.

The Rosiers had been the first to join the Knights apart from the original five members, though Druella only agreed because Jasper assured her it was a study group that would help her get better marks in Charms. Avida caught wind of what happened from Jasper and she suggested adding Ramsey into the fold due to his duelling prowess. Ramsey Lestrange hadn't been a friend of Abraxas before Tom brought him in and Abraxas had adamantly advised against allowing Lestrange into the group due to the rumours that the boy could be quite sadistic if you crossed him, but Tom could see the value in having someone as ruthless and apathetic as Lestrange on his side. 

When Ramsey first visited the orphanage, one of the other Muggle children had made the mistake of making a comment regarding the way Ramsey and Abraxas were dressed. Their dark robes stood out from the trousers and shirts the children normally wear and drew the eye of Muggles when they passed. Ramsey hadn't taken too kindly to the comment and, when he was finished, Tom was left cleaning up his mess. With Lestrange in the group, Mulciber and Avery followed along with new manners of cruelty that couldn't be rivalled and a new vision for what Tom wanted his Knights of Walpurgis to be.

Abraxas and Lupe would keep Ramsey in line during this visit, Tom was sure of it. Once summer ended, he didn't plan on returning to the orphanage again but he wasn't going to have Ramsey ruin things for him before his time. His eighteenth birthday would come during December and he would be free. The thought nearly made him smile.

Tom glanced at the clock that hung from the wall in his room, wondering where the three boys were as he paced around the room. Tom turned his gaze to the desk that was propped against the wall, one wobbly leg propped up by a stack of old books, where a neatly folded letter laid on the surface. Rhea's handwriting managed to peek out at him and Tom was once again reminded of her response.