Chapter 92: Riddle in the Trophy Room
It was almost October, and the weather was no longer as hot as it was at the beginning of the school year. However, the Gryffindor team was still as enthusiastic as they were at the beginning of the school year. Della didn't meet Fred and George in the corridor on the first floor until after the History of Magic class on Wednesday afternoon.
"You guys have been really busy lately." Della said this as she stared at the sweat beads dripping down Fred's cheeks. She had just put on a small lining this morning.
"Fight for Quidditch!" George waved his hands and shouted first.
"You should add a 'cup' after that." Fred raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face, revealing a small scratch on his wrist.
"You are injured? When did it happen? But you were still training today." Della frowned and took two steps towards Fred.
"What are you talking about?" Fred shook his wrist and put his hand in front of Della generously. "It's just a minor scratch. You don't feel anything. You don't even need to go to Madam Pomfrey."
"He thought the Bludger might bounce off the ground and attack our Seeker," George jumped and hugged Fred, leaning Fred back with some dissatisfaction, "he just thought about getting closer to the ground and completely forgot about me as the Beater."
"George!" Fred was led back two steps by his brother. He grabbed George's hand on his shoulder with both hands, and with his legs, he pushed George's feet off the ground again.
"......" Looking at the two people making a fuss, Della couldn't help but smile, "I'm so glad to see you guys are so energetic. I thought the training must have exhausted you."
"Physical fatigue cannot compare to the excitement in our hearts." Fred winked at Della. Taking advantage of the break between him and George, he took out a small mercury-silver disc from George. He quickly broke away from George and walked towards Della.
"How cunning, Fred!" George shouted, and jumped up to hug Fred again, but this time he didn't use much force, and he followed Fred to Della.
"Yes, you came here for this, right?" Fred took out a black one from his hand and handed it to Della.
"We carry it with us all the time," added George, who was leaning on Fred.
"That's really a great help. I'll let you use it first when it's done." Della took it, opened her shoulder bag, and put the things in her hands into it.
"What are you going to do?" Fred asked.
"I've been curious from the beginning!" said George.
"Well, this is a free project. Please allow me to keep it a little mysterious." Della rolled her eyes upwards. "I hope it will be an interesting product that meets your expectations."
"Dumbledore's topic will not disappoint us!" Fred smiled.
"Can't wait, Miss Moonlight!" George shouted.
"You're teasing me again, George." Della let out a sigh of helplessness. The three of them paused for a moment, then all laughed.
"We still have to go to training. Let's go first, Della." Fred made an effort and lifted George up completely on his back.
"See you next time, Della!" George waved at Della while resisting Fred's strength, and they both had the same warm smile on their faces.
"Be careful during training." Della leaned forward and waved at them. She watched their backs get smaller before she straightened the strap of her bag and turned to walk towards the stairs.
Today Maggie was on the shoulders of Arrian's good friend Eloda, a gentle Ravenclaw senior. Maggie seemed to not want to see Arrian these past two days. Was it because of Aidan who has been wandering around the campus recently?
Regardless, it was important to make sure Maggie wasn't around.
Della walked towards the trophy display room on the fourth floor that was never locked. If there really was a Riddle in Hogwarts, and he was as smart as Nick and Hagrid said, there might be some traces left.
If that Riddle was still related to her, just as she guessed in her heart, then she should leave some traces. After all, she was already planning to apply for the position of class leader in the fifth grade, and he should do better.
It was colder in the showroom than outside. This was Della's first time here. She first took a look at the eye-catching large trophies. When she was about to look at the small medals in the window one by one, Della saw the list of student union presidents on the cabinet with yellowed pages. She picked up the list of male student presidents and scanned it at a glance.
Soon, she saw a name with the same last name as hers - Tom Marvolo Riddle.
'Served since 1944'
Della frowned when she saw the date of appointment behind the name. It was much earlier than she had thought. However, there was no more Riddle on the list, and there were no vacancies.
She thought of the Voldemort she had seen in her first year, and ran her fingers over the name.
No, not really. Voldemort at that time did not look like a man approaching old age.
Della put the list back and began to look at the medals in the display room one by one. Not long after, she saw 'Riddle' again on a medal for excellent moral character. However, it was still Tom Riddle.
She continued her search, and the name Tom Riddle appeared for the third time, on a gleaming golden medallion.
Looking at the words "Special Contribution Award", Della narrowed her eyes. It started to look like that again. Apart from age, these three marks perfectly matched Della's perception.
Did Dumbledore change something? Della was not sure, so she could only make a note of it.
It was quite a gain.
Della thought so as she walked out of the trophy display room. On the way to the library, she ran into Hermione, whose hair was bouncing up and down with fluffy hair.
"Are you going to the library?" Della approached her and greeted her.
"Oh, hey, Della!" Hermione seemed to have just come back to her senses. "I was just thinking about the Transfiguration class this morning. Do you think the Transfiguration spell principles we talked about today will be a test point? I think Professor McGonagall seemed to have hinted in this regard."
"Whether it's true or not, you will learn well," Della smiled at Hermione, lifting her bag. "Would you like to go to the library together?"
"Okay, let's go together. I also need to review the Potions class this morning. I have two more Potions classes tomorrow afternoon. Professor Snape will definitely ask some difficult questions." Hermione hugged Della's arm.
"Even if he never asks you to answer questions, you still have to prepare well?" Della asked doubtfully.
"I like answering questions, even if I'm not being asked. Besides," Hermione rolled her eyes, "now that I think about it, his Defense Against the Dark Arts class was actually pretty good."
"Is this the best Defense Against the Dark Arts class you've ever had in school?" Della looked at Hermione and smiled.
"Professor Lockhart coming to Hogwarts is the best thing that has happened to me this semester." Hermione also raised the corners of her lips.
"Of course, of course, charming Lockhart." Della said in an aural tone, and Hermione poked her with her elbow in embarrassment. The two of them quarreled all the way and only stopped when they entered the library.
Hermione and Della had very similar thinking and habits. They both believed that studying was their own business, so as soon as they entered the library, they found seats tacitly.
Della went to the corner near the restricted books section as usual and took out the book she had just borrowed on Monday from her bag, "Bound Your Mind", a book about Legilimency and Occlumency.
Although she had practiced Legilimency in her first year, she was only good at the practical part at that time and did not have a thorough understanding of the theoretical part, so she planned to study it in detail.
Della wanted to verify her own conjecture: was her own brain naturally closed? And would her eyes, which she had abandoned until now, be very talented in this area?
Knowing that you may be gifted is not a difficult thing, but having too many abnormalities in one person can undoubtedly be a lonely thing.