"Happy New Year, Riddle." Tom looked up from his dinner to the approaching Blacks, as Lucretia and Alphard sat opposite of him. "Happy New Year. I heard you all had a busy Yuletide." Lucretia shrugged her shoulders as Alphard served himself some food. "I am guessing you heard about it from the Prophet covering the Wizengamot Session? Or did Lilith fill you in?" Tom shook his head. "Just the Prophet." Alphard narrowed his eyes, looking up and down the table, not being subtle at all as he turned around and inspected the Ravenclaw table. He frowned. "Riddle, where is she?" Tom sighed, having expected the question to come up if she decided not to appear at the reception dinner. "We had a bit of an issue over the Recess and she decided to spend the rest of her time elsewhere. I am hoping that my last gesture of apology has made amends for my comments, but I haven't seen her yet." Lucretia hummed to herself, before she shoved Alphard's shoulder. "Take it easy on him, Alphard. He clearly understands that he made a mistake and has tried to fix it. Until we hear from Lilith, that is good enough for me. But yeah, our family had a busy Yuletide, though we can't go into specifics." Tom nodded. "I understand." Tom listened to the other Slytherins chatting about their Yuletide at home, before the feast ended and the students returned to their Common Rooms.
Not seeing any sign of Lilith, Tom was about to head to his room when Alphard spoke up. "Tom, there is a package for you here." Tom stopped and looked towards Alphard, spotting the large green and silver present box sitting atop the small table currently set at the center of the Common Room. He suddenly felt very nervous. Giving gifts to other students through the elfs was considered the norm, as it allowed for the students to have some privacy in what was supposed to be a deeply personal moment, not to mention that elves could detect curses and keep the students safe from anyone intending ill will. Leaving a present in the Common Room, however, was the opposite. It was meant to be seen. Typically, the exchanging of gifts before the entire House was done by the older students, especially by those currently courting, as a show of what one family could provide another. Tom had personally seen a few of these go horribly wrong, with the witches being insulted by the gifts. A few of the times he had seen a gift left in the Common Room, however, had been by one of the remorseful wizards apologizing publicly, though a few still failed catastrophically. Moving slowly to the sofa next to the table, Tom wiped his hands on his robe, before reaching the present. Sitting down, Tom moved the box closer to him, seeing the familiar script of Lilith on the letter attached to it. The Blacks crowded behind him, making Tom feel even more nervous.
Herr Riddle
Thank you for the present. I hope mine carries as much meaning as yours did. If you trust me, press your hand onto the top of it, after you open the box. Do try and take good care of it. Oh, and no refunds.
Frau Lilith von Schwarzwald
Stashing away the letter into his robes, Tom felt a bit more comfortable now. After undoing the bow on the present, Tom lifted the top of the box, before looking inside. He blinked at it in confusion, before lifting the object out of its container, turning it over as his eyes sought to unravel what it was that he was looking at. The rest of the students started whispering at each other, with Orion coming to sit next to him. "Is that a dragon egg? It's huge." Lucretia leaned over her little brother. "I don't think so, it's made out of metal. Looks like bronze." Tom, remembering the instruction on the letter, placed his hand at the peek of the bronze egg. A few seconds later, he flinched as a needle jabbed into his hand, which made him pull his hand away from the egg as the needle retracted. The egg started shaking, before the shell seemed to break apart. Except, the pieces of the shell didn't fall away, but instead reformed. The egg opened from the front, revealing the face of an owl, with the shell becoming the owl's feathers as they settled into place on the creature's body and wings. Soon enough, the shell had fully disappeared, leaving behind a stunned silence as everyone looked at the bronze owl that was currently on Tom's lap. The head shook, as if it was waking up from a nap, with its large glass eyes that seemed to glow with a faint blue light snapping open. It looked at the faces of everyone in the room, its head rotating almost completely around, before it switched back. Eventually, the owl focused on Tom and it stretched out its wings. "Hoot!"
Orion reached out with his hand. "It's so cool! It looks so real." Alphard looked at the owl as it seemed to preen as Orion touched its metallic feathers. "Huh, an enchanted owl. That's certainly an interesting gift. I wonder how realistic it's behaviour is." Tom watched as Alphard reached out to touch it, feeling a bit annoyed with everyone touching his gift. The owl watched as Alphard's hand drew near, before it bit down on the closest finger, causing Alphard to yelp as he pulled his hand back. "It bit me!" The owl seemed to huff in laughter softly, before beating its wings. It took off, flying through the room, with Lucretia smiling as it flew by. "I don't think it's "just" and enchanted owl, Alphard." The owl landed on Tom's forearm, its sharp looking claws retracting into its feet for safety. It looked him in the eyes. "Hoot, hoot." Reaching out with his hand, Tom caressed the owl's feathers, feeling the odd sensation of its metallic feathers bending and flexing softly, yet somehow remaining unbroken. He then felt something odd as he looked at the owl. Closing his eyes, he searched for the odd sensation, before finding it within himself. It felt as if a bit of his magic was leaking out, flowing into the owl, before flowing back into him. Through that magic he felt more than he expected. There was a feeling of excitement, curiosity, as well as a deep sense of loyalty. Tom opened his eyes as the owl hooted again.
"Lucretia, what did you mean that it isn't just an enchanted owl?" The Young woman smiled at her younger brother, reaching out with her hand towards the owl, before pausing, her eyes fixed on Tom. After getting his nod of approval, she was able to caress its head gently. She looked over at Alphard. "Now you try it, but ask for permission first. Without words." Alphard did as instructed and was able to touch the owl without injury, though the owl was a lot more observant of Alphard's movements, its eyes focused on the young man's fingers. Lucretia smiled. "See? There were no instructions. It acted on Riddle's instructions without so much as a word from either of us. Riddle, give it an instruction, something complicated, without using a wand or commanding it vocally." Tom, curious himself, looked into the owl's eyes, realizing that they were the same shade of blue as his. The mechanical owl took flight, heading towards a table on the far wall, before returning to him, carrying a candlestick in its claws, before it released it on Alphard's lap. The owl then landed on Tom's shoulder, puffing up its chest feathers, as it clicked its beak. Alphard stared at the owl. "But that's… how? Enchanted owls can't do that!" The owl looked at Alphard, hissing at him, before the young man looked at Tom. "You aren't telling it to do that, are you?" Tom shook his head as Lucretia snapped her fingers. "It's a magical construct!"
With the entire Slytherin Common Room looking in her direction, Lucretia blushed. "Guess nobody here has heard of them. It's a bit of an Enchanter's myth. When mechanical clocks and other machines were introduced to Magical Society about a century ago, there was a dream about replicating living creatures with mechanical constructs powered by magic. The theoretical name for the Enchanters who achieved this were Artificers. In the years since, no construct ever lived up to the initial dream. Enchanters could make machines do certain tasks, but they were always dependent on the caster themselves. They could never get the construct to behave truly independently as a proper reflection of a living creature, not without the magic eventually fading away or becoming twisted by the magic that surrounds it. The enchantment would eventually fade, leaving behind empty husks, until the magic was restored." Tom looked at the owl on his shoulder, who proceeded to rub its head against his cheek, before flying down onto the table. Alphard looked at the mechanical bird with a growing sense of concern. "Lucretia, if this is a magical construct… that means there is an Enchanter that did the impossible. There is an Artificer in the world." The students in the Common Room started chatting far more excitedly, with Orion begging Lucretia for one, as Tom realized the implications of what Lucretia just said.
Over the summer, Tom had seen mechanical pieces of the same material on Lilith's desk, with her working night and day on it. If the owl was her personal creation… then that meant that she was an Artificer, the first to ever manifest. Tom looked at the owl, who looked back at him, the creature hooting softly. He smiled, realizing what Lilith just did. By having the present opened in front of the majority of Slytherin House, the students would not only know that an Artificer existed, but that they were associated with Tom, drawing the witnesses to him first, while keeping her own involvement mostly hidden. She had also responded to his show of trust brilliantly. Tom had sent her his Diary, revealing to her his deepest thoughts, with her trusting him back with what could literally be her life's work. If the mechanical owl was as capable as a real… no, it was as capable as a real one, as Tom flinched at the indignant screech the owl just released. With this owl now, his troubles with letters would now be covered, meaning that she had given him the opportunity to feel what so many other witches and wizards felt. He would have to ask her about how he and the owl were connected, but if he was honest with himself, Tom wasn't bothered by the connection they seemed to share. In fact, it felt comfortable in a way that he couldn't put into words.
As the students started heading to bed, Lilith, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, stood at the far back of the Slytherin Common Room with a satisfied smile on her face. If she was honest to herself, she had been a bit harsh on Tom after he sent her so many books to her as her Christmas present. As someone with so few personal possessions, asking him to give her something deeply meaningful to him was too much in her own mind, but at the same time tradition demanded a proper repayment. His response, however, had moved her deeply, when she felt the familiar leather cover of the Diary under her fingers. Lillian's memories of the Tom Riddle that she had met through the Horcrux had resurfaced and Lilith hadn't complained. Those had been some of her more treasured moments, moments that she would never forget or retell to anyone who wasn't important to her. She had heard from Snape that the Diary had eventually been destroyed, with Lillian feeling exceedingly depressed about the loss of her first true friend. If she hadn't been developing her friendship with Luna at the same time she would have hated the thought of coming back to Hogwarts for her third year. Giving Tom his own magical construct had been a no brainer by then. His trust in her and his clear desire to remain by Lilith's side had been all that she needed to know. Now if only she could stop fantasizing about how much closer they could get, Lilith was certain the next few days would be fine. She really doubted her emotions would be so kind. They never were.