Protection

Tom watched in horrified amazement as Heir Black's magic broke out of him - the magic seemed to have been freed from its shackles and tendrils of magic - visible to the naked eye, slithered across Black's skin like snakes.

The tendrils didn't move away from the said person's skin but curled in on themselves over the skin and seemed to be ghosting over every inch of Black's body - Merlin! even his ebony hair wasn't exempt from those grey ringlets.

Tom could see the immense struggle Heir Black seemed to go through to keep his magic only around himself and to not let the wisps lift and lash out around his surroundings - almost as if tethering the magic to himself by mere force of will and not allowing it to fly away on its own and wreak havoc.

The sheer raw unadulterated magical power left him gasping - in wonder or jealousy was anyone's guess.

Tom wondered if this happened with all pureblood heirs with significant magical power during a ritual or if this was an isolated case.

He mulled over things and also realised that if it was the former option and he himself hadn't gone through this - he could assuredly say that his magical power was almost on par with Black, then that meant he was a muggleborn which wasn't conducive to his future plans and he himself was loath to have or admit those base muggles as his parents.

If it was the latter, then why did Heir Black go through something like this and what was its significance?

Tom also felt as if he could hear a similar trill as he had heard when he had watched Heir Black bond with his wand more than a year ago at Ollivanders.

The distant symphony seemed to have the undertones of happiness and even with a wall separating them, he could still sense Black's magic exerting pressure on the surrounding air and then another sensation caught his attention!

It was as if an answering call to Black's magic was rising from somewhere far far away and otherworldly and that magic felt oppressive as if it wouldn't take anything more than a mere touch for that magic to obliterate everything.

For the first time in his life, Thomas Marvolo Riddle felt such a vast, devastating force of magic.

Something that he had never even thought could exist in this world.

Whereas Black's magic had felt all-encompassing even if it gave off the feeling of the waves of an ocean gushing forth, the answering magic was akin to a hurricane that would sweep away anything and everything in its path entirely.

Fearing for his own life and magic, Tom created a thin-membrane like shield out of his own magic and covered his body.

Even though he knew instinctively that the answering magic wouldn't take more than a second to turn against him and kill him, having his own magic shielding him provided him with a much-needed psychological boost.

What left him perplexed was that the magic that felt so oppressive to him was somehow in a perfect semblance of harmony with Black and didn't seem to affect him in any way.

It didn't feel like as if something otherworldly was answering Black on the night when the dead roamed free on The Land of The Living.

No.

It was more like a long lost friend come to see the said person and caressing Black in its warm embrace.

Around forty minutes later, the answering magic dissipated within the blink of an eye and Tom gave a sigh of relief as if a huge stone was taken off his chest and the shuddering pressure in the room decreased significantly.

Conversely, he watched as Hadrian Black reigned back those writhing strands of magic one by one.

The magic seemed to buck and whine about being constrained but didn't fight against Black's will and the magic folded back into the body - as if lying in wait for the next time its wielder would let it lose of his own will.

It was as if even though the magic had a will of its own and had some small sentience, it had been tamed by Black and it obeyed his commands, nary a question asked and then the ritual came to an end.

Tom almost sagged to his knees in relief of having watched and avoided a train wreck by a hair's breadth.

He turned towards Black and saw him panting - the other boy must be bone-tired having gone through all of that.

"Black," he whispered and the other person raised their head towards him in response to the call.

For the first time since he had seen Heir Black in the wand shop all those months ago, Black graced him with his trademark heart-warming smile and replied, "Bloody brilliant, isn't it?"

All Tom could do was nod his head in response.

"Help me off the floor, will you please?" and Tom knelt by his side and helped him lie down on the bed.

With a muttered,"Thank You" Black closed his eyes and went to sleep while leaving innumerable questions and theories for Riddle to envisage.

Though everything Tom had gone through today and seen was a novel experience for him, he still didn't forget to thank Lady Hogwarts before going off to sleep.

He thanked her wholeheartedly for shielding and protecting him during the ritual and he felt Lady Hogwart's magic awash him in its soothing presence.

The future Lords of Grey and Dark Magic didn't know but this was the first night Lady Hogwarts cradled them in her own magic throughout the night.

Not only had Lady Hogwarts saved the future Dark Lord from the presence of Death's very own magic, but it had also saved The Grey Lord from having his magic touch Riddle's.

If she hadn't, in the unlikely but probable future The Dark Lord might have had another card up his sleeve - if he ever went truly against The Grey Lord and it would have been remiss of Lady Hogwarts to not do her part to nip such an occurrence in the bud.

Atleast, this way she had protected Hadrian Black's secrets from being disclosed to a person who had the potential to not only bring him the greatest joy but also the foulest and heart-wrenching harm.