Chapter 168: The Duty to Inform
The return journey on the Hogwarts Express was unusually quiet.
Tamara occupied a spacious, high class compartment all to herself.
No one came to disturb her.
The reason was simple.
The faint outline of the Dark Arts backlash mark was still visible on Tamara's neck.
In everyone's eyes, it was a glorious and painful medal of honour left by a hero who had saved her companions.
They felt that what Tamara needed most right now was peace and rest. Any unnecessary disturbance would be a desecration of her great sacrifice.
This self awareness allowed Tamara to unintentionally gain a moment of tranquillity.
The compartment door was tightly shut.
Tamara leaned back in her seat alone, watching the fields and villages fly past the window, her face devoid of expression.
One hand idly toyed with her wand, while the other gently brushed against a parchment reply in her pocket.
Just last night, she had used a special method of contact to issue instructions to Quirrell, who was hiding in the shadows, telling him to come to Britain to pick her up and take her to Albania.
Due to the successive turmoil of the Chamber of Secrets and Hogwarts, the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic were stretched very thin during this period.
As the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor whose life or death remained uncertain, if Quirrell were to appear ostentatiously at King's Cross Station, it would certainly cause unnecessary trouble.
So Tamara had told him to pick her up at a place she loathed, yet had to use as a transition point.
Wool's Orphanage.
She had specifically emphasized the word prudence in her letter.
Tamara required Quirrell to disguise himself thoroughly enough that he would absolutely not arouse the suspicion of any Ministry of Magic eyes or any Muggles.
Although Tamara did not hold high expectations for Quirrell's competence, his cowardly and subservient nature meant he would not dare compromise his master's orders in the slightest.
"Finally..."
Tamara closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
As the train gradually pulled away from the Scottish Highlands, the suffocating feeling filled with Dumbledore's surveillance, the saviour's foolish concern, and the system's nauseating loving broadcasts finally began to peel away from her bit by bit.
Her second year at Hogwarts was over.
The next two months belonged entirely to the Dark Lord.
...
When the red steam engine slowly pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross Station with a long whistle, the space outside the carriages was immediately flooded with clamouring voices, hooting owls, and clattering trunks.
Tamara pushed her luggage out of the carriage.
The platform was crowded with parents greeting their children.
Almost the moment Tamara stepped onto the platform, she keenly sensed several gazes from adult wizards.
Those were the parents of other Pure blood families.
Clearly, they had already heard their children describe the various exploits of this Miss Riddle at Hogwarts in their letters.
But for various reasons, they did not choose to step forward and strike up a conversation.
Except for the Malfoys.
"Father. Mother."
Draco quickly walked toward a well dressed couple.
Narcissa gently touched her son's blond hair, while Lucius looked toward Tamara as she slowly approached.
When his gaze fell upon the black haired girl, Lucius's fingers tightened imperceptibly around his snake headed cane.
The fear of being strangled by a venomous snake, which he had felt during their previous two meetings, faintly resurfaced in his heart.
But he was, after all, the head of the House of Malfoy.
He forcibly suppressed that instinctive discomfort and gave a slight bow, his voice carrying the smooth drawl unique to the Malfoy family.
"Miss Riddle."
"Draco has been full of praise for you in his letters. As a School Governor, I must also thank you for what you have done for the honour of Slytherin during this Chamber of Secrets incident..."
Lucius paused.
A flicker of carefully concealed wariness and inquiry flashed in his pale grey eyes.
"...your outstanding contribution."
He spoke a little slower than usual, as if carefully treading through a minefield.
Tamara saw right through Lucius's blustering facade.
This slippery Death Eater had clearly become a frightened bird.
He was testing the waters here only because he wanted to figure out whether she truly had some secret connection to that great name.
If there really was a connection, then this old Pure blood fox, who cherished his reputation immensely, would have to immediately begin reassessing his allegiances and planning early to preserve the future of the House of Malfoy.
"It was merely my duty, Mr. Malfoy."
Tamara replied flatly, her tone neither warm nor overly distant, perfectly maintaining a condescending composure.
Seeing Tamara's airtight reaction, Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly and was just about to say something more.
Beside them, Draco suddenly spoke.
"Tamara, do you have any plans for the summer? If not, Father and I would very much like you to come visit Malfoy Manor."
"Mother has newly arranged the gardens, and the library at the manor has many rare editions of ancient spells..."
Draco's eyes shone with anticipation.
However, Tamara did not answer immediately.
Her gaze moved past Draco's expectant face and Lucius's scrutinizing eyes, finally landing in an inconspicuous corner near the hem of Lucius's robes.
There, shivering, stood a house elf wearing a ragged old pillowcase.
Its two large, bat like ears drooped, and its bulging eyes, the size of tennis balls, were filled with terror as it nervously tugged at its long ears.
It was Dobby.
A flash of amusement instantly crossed Tamara's eyes.
"A visit won't be necessary, Draco. I have other, more important matters to attend to this summer."
Tamara politely but coldly declined Draco's invitation.
She paid no heed to the unmistakable disappointment on Draco's face. Instead, her gaze locked directly onto the house elf.
"However..."
The corners of Tamara's mouth curled into a strange arc.
She took a slow, deliberate step forward and stopped in front of Lucius.
"I didn't expect this house elf to actually belong to the House of Malfoy."
Hearing Tamara's words, Dobby trembled violently and let out a terrified shriek, desperately trying to hide behind Lucius.
Lucius frowned, utterly disgusted by Dobby's pathetic reaction.
He gave the house elf a cold glance, then turned back to Tamara, his tone tinged with wariness.
"Why? Miss Riddle, is there some problem with Dobby?"
"A problem?"
Tamara gave a light chuckle.
There was no warmth in that laugh. Instead, it carried a malice that made one's bones go cold.
"Of course there's no problem. I simply find it... interesting."
She narrowed her dark eyes slightly and spoke airily.
"In this short school year, I have seen this house elf twice at Hogwarts."
Tamara watched Lucius's expression instantly stiffen, and the smile at the corners of her mouth deepened.
"And quite coincidentally, both times, it appeared loyally by Harry Potter's side."
"If I hadn't seen it following at your heels today, I truly would have thought..."
She paused slightly, her voice soft and cold.
"...that it was a loyal servant specifically left by the Potter family to protect their Boy Who Lived."