May 9th, 1943
The restorative potion has been used on the victims. Michellina promised that they should return to full health within the next twenty-four hours. I can’t wait! Neither can Sophie. We both miss Marcella a lot.
---
That evening at the Great Hall, Miriam and Sophie gorged on the wonderful food that was served, as they hadn’t felt much like eating the past few weeks.
The next morning came and the girls received quite a surprise. Marcella was sitting in a chair by the fireplace, smiling up at them.
“You’re BACK!” Sophie and Miriam exclaimed, each one taking the stairs two at a time. Marcella grinned as her friends cornered her into the chair and gave her an embrace.
“We missed you so much!” Miriam exclaimed.
“What happened that night?” Sophie asked.
“I don’t really remember much, but I do remember being on the third floor looking at the trophy case. All of the sudden, I saw reflecting in the glass case, two large yellow eyes looking at me. It was the last thing I remember before blacking out.”
“We’re just so glad your back and okay!” Miriam said. It was like the time Marcella was gone had been nothing but a bad dream.
May 30th, 1943
The days are becoming mightily hotter, yet we’re stuck here in the library, preparing for the O.W.L.s that are coming soon. If that wasn’t bad enough, add Madam Zuzellam breathing down our necks every five minutes.
As mean as this may sound, I’m glad she looks ready to have a nervous breakdown... maybe then she’ll get off our backs....
---
Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue, but half of the fifth years couldn't enjoy its beauty because they were crowded into the library for the final few days of studying that were left.
4:15 pm, she thought, looking at her watch.
5 pm, she thought, looking at her watch again. Dinner will be starting soon.
Deciding to stop and take a break, she closed her stack of books and hurried out of the now almost vacant library, as she wanted to make a stop at the girls' bathroom before heading down to the Great Hall.
Walking along the corridors to where the bathroom was, she could begin to hear voices speaking... they sounded fearful.... Miriam turned down the last hallway and came upon something she wasn't expecting at all... a crowd hanging by the girls' facility.
Squeezing her way into the crowd of students, she came upon Marcella and Sophie who appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"What's going on?" Miriam whispered.
Sophie wrung her hands nervously. "Apparently Myrtle's been missing all day. Nobody has seen her since early on this morning before breakfast," she replied, her voice shaking slightly. "Dumbledore just went in to investigate a few minutes before you came. Something must be seriously wrong in there...."
"Headmaster Dippet got concerned when nobody could find her, so he asked Olive Hornby to look in the girls restrooms," Marcella added fretfully, pointing toward Olive, who was standing at the front of the crowd.
"Back away, students!" bellowed a voice that was soon followed by Professor Ambley's stumpy structure. Following behind her was Professor Sanderson. They made their way through the crowd and into the girls' restroom where other voices could be heard. Quiet fell over the waiting crowd, each person anxiously waiting to hear the answer as to what had been going on.
Nothing happened for at least thirty minutes, but every minute seemed more like an hour. Just when Miriam thought that nothing was going to happen, Tom came up behind her and virtually scared the living daylights out of her.
"What's wrong with you?" she hissed. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"
"What's going on here?" he asked, completely ignoring her question about his sanity.
"It's Myrtle... she hasn't been seen since this morning," Miriam replied.
"Oh...."
They waited another thirty minutes, then finally Dumbledore poked his head out of the girl's restroom door. "Will all Prefects please come here?" he asked grievously.
Miriam, Tom, and the rest of the school Prefects fought their way to the front where Dumbledore announced very solemnly, "Please lead your house mates back to the dormitories quietly."
"How come? What happened?" Miriam inquired, her heart suddenly pounding loudly in her chest, which she was sure could be heard by the others standing beside her.
"Myrtle Vranda has, sad to say, been found dead in one of the stalls."
Miriam gaped at Dumbledore, hoping that what he just said wasn't true, but the anguished expression on his face seemed to confirm it. Miriam glanced at the other Prefects and saw that they were rubbing the tears away from their eyes, which were now starting to look bloodshot and puffy. Tom, meanwhile, wasn't showing any sort of emotion. He just stood there, gazing at the bathroom door with an almost eerily calm expression upon his face.
"How... how'd she die?" Emily Chang squeaked, her almond-shaped eyes glistening brightly.
"We don't know, but there weren't any marks or injuries to her. Nevertheless, I must ask again that you lead your respective houses back to their common rooms."
"Should... should we tell them?" Miriam asked.
"Please don't. An announcement concerning this will be made shortly after we have informed her parents."
As if her mind had suddenly became engulfed in a fog, she hardly remembered sorting out the Gryffindors in the crowd and helping to lead them back to the common room. Much of the same could have been said for the other Prefects as they rounded up their own housemates. The only exception was Tom, whose face still had an indecipherable expression on it.
The walk back to Gryffindor Tower seemed slow and arduous, and her head was still swimming in a murky haze. Nobody said anything during their trek back to the common room, except for a few whispers and murmurs here and there. Miriam felt so hollow on the inside, almost as if her heart had stopped beating, and she was certain she would have keeled over right there on the spot had she not seen the portrait of the fat lady in the distance.
Back in the common room, there was a sense of sorrowfulness lingering in the air. Everyone seemed rather listless, the life having been completely sucked out of the atmosphere. Nobody but the Prefects knew what was going on, but the other students seemed to pick up on their sadness.
The rest of the twilight had been put in slow motion, and though it was way past dinnertime, nobody was hungry anymore. Everyone was startled when the portrait door swung open and Dumbledore came walking in, levitating trays of food and drinks behind him.
"Eat up," he said, levitating the trays onto the tables before turning to leave.
June 1st, 1943
There are rumors going around again that Hogwarts may be closed. When I think of this school being no more, I can’t help but feel depressed. Four years ago this place was alive and bursting with activity, but as of now, that seems like a lifetime ago....
---
Two days had passed and rumors were floating around that the school would be closed and that Myrtle had died, which they thought explained her three-day absence.
During dinner that night, Dippet finally made the depressing announcement that Myrtle had, indeed, been found dead, confirming everyone’s worst fears. Dippet had also announced that Myrtle's parents were due to come and pick up their daughter's remains within the next day or two.
After dinner, Miriam lagged behind everyone as left the Great Hall. She needed to clear her head and apparently, she wasn’t the only one to feel this way. Tom was heading toward Professor Dippet’s office instead of toward the dungeons.
She wasn’t sure how long her walk had lasted, but it felt good. When she returned to the Entrance Hall, she looked up toward the top of the marble stairs and saw Dumbledore talking to Tom. Neither of them could see her below.
"What are you doing, wandering around this late, Tom?" Dumbledore asked.
"I had to see the headmaster, sir," he answered.
"Well, hurry off to bed," Dumbledore replied, giving Tom a penetrating glare. "Best not to roam the corridors these days. Not since..."
Miriam knew what he was going to say. "Not since Myrtle died." It was a tragic event to befall the school. The rumors going around were apparently very close to truth. Deep inside, Miriam hoped the school wouldn't close. It would mean going back to live at Madam Westyn's until she was eighteen.
She slowly started to walk away when she heard more voices coming from above her. At that moment, four teachers came around the corner, carrying something on a stretcher. As they made their way past where Tom was standing, she got a look at what they were carrying... a body.
Time seemed to stop as she watched them carry Myrtle's lifeless body down the stairs.
June 2nd, 1943
Myrtle’s parents are coming to the school tomorrow to retrieve their daughter’s body. The whole school will be turning out to meet Mr. and Mrs. Vranda in the Great Hall, which has now taken on a bleak and dreary appearance as black draperies have been hung throughout the room.
To clear my head, I went for a walk about the castle. What I saw during my walk, I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes.... Tom is trying to make it look as if Hagrid is to blame for Myrtle’s death....
---
Miriam crept down a dark hallway, on the trail of her brother, who seemed determined about something. She listened closely and heard Tom round the corner... she peaked over and listened.
"Evening, Rubeus," said her brother sharply. Something sounded like it had slammed shut.
"What yer doin' down here, Tom?"
Miriam watched, sucking in her breath as Tom walked closer to Hagrid.
"It's all over," he said. "I'm going to have to turn you in, Rubeus. They're talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."
"What d'yeh -"
"I don't think you meant to kill anyone. But monsters don't make good pets. I suppose you just let it out for some exercise and -"
"It never killed no one!"
"Come on, Rubeus. The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure that the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered...."
"It wasn't him! He woundn'! He never!"
"Stand aside," she heard Tom say. Looking around the corner, she saw Tom drawing out his wand, yelling a spell that sent flaming light down the corridor. A door behind Hagrid opened with such a strong force that Tom was knocked into the opposite wall. Something came out of the wall, something that had a hairy body and too many legs to count. Tom raised his wand again, but the monster had bowled him over. Miriam heard the creature coming in her direction and she ran into a vacant room as fast as her legs could carry her.
Closing the door slightly, she could see Tom scrambling to his feet looking after it. She closed the door a bit more so he couldn't see her as the thing came scurrying by. Once Tom got to his feet, he raised his wand, but Hagrid leapt down on him, seized his wand, and threw him back down and yelled "NOOOO!"
Miriam gasped as Tom fell back down, making a sickening sound as his head hit the floor. She stepped back further into the darkened room, her hands clasped tightly around her mouth as she hyperventilated. She tried to sort out these startling events....
Slowly walking back to the gap in the door, she could see Hagrid lumbering by with Tom slowly getting up and staggering after him, holding his head and a look of agony mixed with anger on his face. Stumbling to keep up with Hagrid, Tom threw himself at Hagrid's feet and tripped the giant, causing a loud thudding that surely could be heard from above.
Unfortunately, she was right. Not more than five seconds later she could hear footsteps hurrying down to where the noise had been made.
"What the bloody hell is going on down here?" Panes yelled as he looked at the spectacle that was Tom struggling to hold Hagrid in place.
"Sir," Tom began, beads of sweat starting to trickle down his face, "Hagrid here was responsible for releasing that monster on the students. I caught him... and was," he grunted, trying to keep a firm grip on the struggling giant, "in the process of bringing him to Headmaster Dippet, sir."
Professor Panes looked at the two boys. “Follow me,” he grunted. Hagrid’s shoulders slumped as Tom finally let go of him.
Once they were a good distance around the corner, Miriam slowly walked out from her hiding spot and followed them up the stairs, but she made sure to keep a fair distance between them and her.
June 6th, 1943
Last night is an absolute blur, and I wasn’t the one that had suffered from the concussion. Things I never thought to be possible....
Hagrid is going to be expelled from Hogwarts for a crime he didn’t commit. Let me explain....
---
Miriam watched from behind the slightly unsecured infirmary doors as Tom lay on a bed, a huge bandage wrapped around his head, with Headmaster Dippet facing him, positively bursting with pride. Dumbledore stood behind Dippet, watching them both with his arms folded across his chest.
"He is indeed a role model, a hero. Single handedly capturing the monster that was attacking the students was certainly very brave of you," Dippet complimented, his face alight with pride.
Tom beamed. Yet his smile soon faded as Dippet leaned in closer to Tom's bed, and Miriam couldn't hear what was being said. From the looks of it, Dumbledore himself couldn't hear what was being said either. But when Dippet leaned back a few minutes later, Tom had an even larger smile on his face.
"I'm... I'm shocked," he said. "I'm so glad that Hogwarts won't have to close now."
"As am I," Dippet sighed. "But remember... not one word is to be spoken of it...."
Tom nodded his head discreetly as if to say his lips were sealed. Dippet looked around at Dumbledore and said, “I think a Service to the School award is in order, don’t you agree?”
Dumbledore merely continued to gaze at Tom and Dippet. His face looked grim. They remained quiet for a moment before Tom, still maintaining his innocent appearance, nodded his head toward a fidgety Hagrid, who was hiding in the shadows of the infirmary.
"Sir, if I may say so, shouldn't he be expelled for what he’s done?"
"Without an undeniable doubt -"
"Honestly, sir! Aragog never killed her! He's not like that! I swear! He never killed her!"
Dippet looked painfully at Hagrid, debating on what to say to him. From her hiding spot, tears started spilling down her cheek. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Hagrid was forced to take the blame for the sins of her brother. It wasn't fair that Hagrid who loved and cared for all sorts of creatures, no matter how ugly or savage they were, was being charged with the murder of Myrtle Vranda. Deep inside, she knew that it was her brother who killed Myrtle, and slowly, that sadness inside melted into anger.
"Come along now, Hagrid," Dumbledore said, as he slowly walked out of the infirmary with a distraught Hagrid at his side.
Miriam hid further behind the doors as Dumbledore left the infirmary. A moment later, Headmaster Dippet followed. As soon as they were gone, Miriam stormed into the infirmary, her green eyes ablaze with rage.
Bad enough Tom goes and opens the damn Chamber, but now he's gone and got one of my housemates EXPELLED for his unspeakable act.
She knew she was stomping and making a ton of noise that wasn’t necessary, but she was way too irritated to care. As she walked straight to his bed, Tom looked up and greeted his sister with a fake, guiltless smile.
"Have you heard? For my capture of the big, blundering oaf and his ugly pet monster, the school is going to honor me with the Award for Services to the School."
Miriam merely glared at her brother with a contemptuous look.
"I... can't... believe what you just did," she said through clenched teeth.
"I know," he said, completely overlooking the malevolent glower she was giving him. "Getting this award certainly will be exciting. I only hope that Hagrid gets sent to Azkaban.” He sighed and then added, "Look what happened to me!” He pointed to his bandaged head.
“You should grateful that’s the only thing that happened to you!” She lifted her hands... grabbing Tom by the collar of his robe and yanked him close to her, her nose touching his.
"Don't you EVER do that to someone from my house EVER again! You understand me, you... you little son of a bitch? If you ever pull this stunt again, I swear I'll curse you to hell and back!"
Tom seemed a bit surprised by her sudden outburst. Taking a deep breath, he replied as cool, calm, and collected as ever, "Don't insult our dear, dead mother, Miriam."
"What the hell do you even know about her?" she snarled. "You've never even met her!"
"I happen to know a lot about her!"
"Such as?"
"I know that she was a descendant of Slytherin himself!"
"Liar!"
"It's true!" he replied nonchalantly, narrowing his green eyes at her, almost as if he were daring her to continue calling him a liar.
"And you want to know something else?" he asked, a smile tugging on his thin lips. "This one's the real kicker.... Not only is she a descendant of Slytherin himself, she's... (he let out a small derisive laugh) ...she's the sister of... get this... Grindelwald!"
"Liar!"
"It's -"
"LIAR!"
"“ true. Do you know what that would make him?" he asked, a cold, icy glare in his eyes now, the smile slowly fading from his face only to be replaced by an ugly glower.
"Stop it..."
"Our -"
"Tom, I'm warning you..."
"- uncle." He let out another derisive laugh. “You don’t know much about our family tree, do you?”
Miriam released her grip on him and reached for her wand. With it pointed directly at him, she looked at him squarely in the eyes, contemplating what hex she should use on him.
"Go ahead, curse me!" he snapped. "I dare you to!"
The words to a particularly nasty one were sitting on the tip of her tongue, just waiting for her to say them, but in a blink of an eye, the words began to fade from her mouth.
"No," she said quietly, "I'll never stoop down to your level."
Putting her wand away, she turned on her heels and left the infirmary feeling very much confused.
Your brother has followed into the shadow of Grindelwald... and now, his soul is as good as gone.
These taunting words kept replaying over and over in her head... combined with the sounds of her brother saying that they were related to Grindelwald. She suddenly felt dirty and violated....
June 7th, 1943
Hagrid has been formally expelled from Hogwarts today. Thank heavens that Dumbledore was able to convince Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as a gamekeeper.
Aragog, the reputed monster of all the attacks, has been released into the Forbidden Forest where it will roam free, among the many other disturbing creatures that live there.
But to top off this most nauseating day, today was also the day Tom received his fraudulent award for Services to the School. It was most unfortunate that it had taken place during dinner where I had to witness this extreme iniquity....
I think I'm going to vomit now...
---
“And now, it gives me much pleasure to give a student, a remarkable student, an award for single-handedly capturing the monster that has been terrorizing this school,” Dippet announced grandly. “Mr. Riddle, if you please.”
Tom got up from the Slytherin table and sauntered over to the front of the Great Hall where Dippet was waiting, holding a large plaque with Tom’s name engraved on it.
“Thank you, sir!” he replied, taking the award. “I just feel good knowing that the school is once again safe.”
That lying little - She couldn’t thing of a word harsh enough to call him, though several rather colorful choices sounded loudly in her mind. Her blood pressure was rising every second she watched this sham take place, and her ears were pounding....
Her friends knew exactly how she felt, and they were just as scandalized as she was over this whole matter.
June 12th, 1943
This has been a most exhausting month, and we're only part of the way into it. Everyone was asked to stay a bit longer at Hogwarts to compensate for the O.W.Ls that were temporarily cancelled from the tragedies that have take place.
Though today was a weekend, the school decided to hold the postponed O.W.L.s now as all the students will have to leave Hogwarts very soon.
I’m still seething over Tom’s award. Ever since he got it, he’s been acting like he’s God’s gift to this school. I really don’t know how his shoulders can support his now over-inflated ego....
And one last thing, this will be the last time I write in here... at least for a while, anyhow. Just until there is something worthwhile happening....
---
Miriam was completely troubled by the recent events at the school with Myrtle dying, Hagrid being expelled, but allowed to stay as a groundskeeper, it was all weighing heavily on her mind. It had truly been a miracle that she could even concentrate on her O.W.L.s.
Once the exams were finished for the day, Miriam hurried out of the Great Hall, where the exams were taken, and wandered with the other students, heading outside to enjoy the summer day.
~*~
It was later in the afternoon when Miriam returned back inside Hogwarts. The time she spent outside did nothing to clear her head; she felt just as befuddled as before. Not feeling very hungry, she decided to head up to the Gryffindor common room to take a nap and completely skive off dinner that night.
As she passed by one hallway, she could hear voices... laughing... very loudly....
"Oh! Oh lookie... it's... it's a... basilisk!" Tom mimicked in a high-pitched, girly voice, which he soon followed up by a fake scream. He pretended to stumble backwards and faint. Carrey and Murdoch snorted loudly.
Miriam thought that was truly in poor taste and mean-spirited, especially on someone who had just recently died. Continuing to watch them, Tom and his friends eventually reached a state of delirium from laughing so hard. Tears were pouring down their faces, and they were hiccuping and stumbling over themselves like a couple of drunks.
"I heard that some of the students sent things to her funeral, flowers and such," Carrey mentioned, with a disgusted look upon his tear-streaked face.
"Pity," Tom mumbled, wiping the tears from his eyes with the hem of his robe sleeves. "Waste of money if you ask me, especially for some filthy little Mudblood. Frankly, the school is better off without her!"
"I - I heard," Murdoch added, hiccupping slightly, "that a few of the Ravenclaw second years were excused from the school and attended her funeral."
Tom shook his head unbelievably. "I never would have been caught dead attending her funeral," he sighed, "but I did send a nice letter saying I approved of it."
This sent them into fits of laughter again.
"You - you know Tom," Muchdoch said, wiping the tears away from his face after they finally stopped laughing, "you shouldn't waste your talents on merely killing stupid Mudbloods. You have the talent to become something great!"
"He's right... Voldemort," Carrey added, winking.
"Yes, I do want to move on," Tom said, rubbing his chin with his fingers. “Perhaps even give Grindelwald a run for his money....”
Miriam had heard enough. Thoroughly disgusted, she stormed off to the common room and flung herself down on her bed and covered her head with her pillow, never wanting to come out again.
"Miriam!" a unearthly voice called out. "Please... save me!"
She sat bolt upright in her bed, sweat was beading on her forehead and her robes were drenched, she didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep. Looking around her room to see who had called out to her, she saw that it was well into the night and everyone there was sound asleep.
It was just a bad dream, she thought, relieved.
Brushing it off, she lay back down and tried to go to sleep, but to no avail. Hoisting herself back up, she looked out the window onto the massive lawns and sighed. Doing what she usually did in times of distress, she pulled out her diary and began writing, though she made a promise not to write in it until something good happened.
My brother is truly a riddle wrapped in a enigma, wrapped in a mystery. Why would he go from a decent human being into a cold-hearted murderer? Is he harboring much deeper resentment toward our failure of a father than I realized?
I heard him earlier tonight. Is he serious about taking over where Grindelwald left off? Is this new name for himself, Voldemort, only the beginning? How long will this continue? I can't help but wonder.
Hopefully he’ll realize, and see the error of his ways, before it’s too late to save himself....