#lestrange

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Face Claim: Christian Coulson

Born: December 31, 1926

Wand: Yew, 13½", phoenix feather

Hogwarts Years: 1938– 1945

Favourite Subject: DADA, Theory of Magic, Runes, Divination

🧠 PSYCHOLOGY & IDENTITY

I would say younger Tom Riddle(years 1-4) is Frank Dillane but older is definitely Christian Coulson

Psychopath or perhaps a sociopath (but I'm a crim student so I'm very iffy about just how you would measure or diagnose that, because all criminologists say that psychopath checklists are so vague and ambiguous and we hate that shit)

I would say he's just very apathetic because of the way he grew up but not a psychopath

I mean bro was a orphan during WW2

Possibly asexual (repulsed or indifferent to sex) and aromantic-coded, but also experiences flashes of obsession that mimic desire (power, lineage, bloodline, legacy, control).

Thinks love is a form of madness. Fears it(Mostly because of what Merope did to Tom Sr)

🪞 THE MURDER OF TOM RIDDLE SR.

When he went to the Riddle manor, I think he was hoping that he'd be accepted and finally have a family but obviously did not take rejection well

(same tbh)

I'd like to think that Tom hates Merope and Tom Riddle Sr. equally

I also like to think that in his mind, killing Tom Sr. was mercy killing

Like imagine spending so much time under love potion and not understanding a thing that happened and why it happened and not being able to properly explain it

I think it drove Tom Sr mad and Tom Jr. mercy killed him as a result—because what kind of life is it to live under a potion for months and not know if you ever loved anyone or were loved at all?

There’s guilt there. Not regret. Just guilt. And he represses it so hard he actually believes in his “mercy” angle.

He actually had a conversation with Riddle Sr.

Tom would NEVER tell anyone what they talked about

threw up 4 times after brewing Amortentia in class(6th year) after that

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Was an obsessive learner. Could memorize whole sections of theory on first read.

possibly a natural legilimens???(Like Queenie ig)

Maybe, maybe not. But he was very good at it

100% fangirlled when he found out he was related to Salazar Slytherin

I think Tom was sane

Like till Horcruxes 1 through 2(The Diary and the Ring) he was still sand enough

But then as he made more his eyes started to turn red and he started losing sanity and proper control over his own actions

Started off as a loner in Slytherin House because everyone thought he was a muggleborn until Herbology class in first year where Abraxas over heard him whispering to a snake in Parseltongue

Abraxas, asking his father to pull some strings found some of Tom's origins and there it all started

Finished most of his textbooks before Year 2. Got bored quickly and started reading beyond the curriculum.

Actually starting tutoring kids in exchange for money

So people LOVED him

Tom Riddle created inter-house unity just from those group tutoring sessions

Too many people flirted with him at school and he 99% of the time(till 4th year) was oblivious to it until Cain Avery told him

🕷 THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days, and the first war)

Everyone thinks Tom never cared about anyone. He did. He just didn’t know what that meant.

I think it's a consensus that his favourite was Abraxas

I'd like to say Atticus Nott was a favourite too

He was mostly just amused by Orion but won't admit it out loud

Found the name 'Knights of Walpurgis' in this book Orion lent him

Found Orion sort of childish

He doesn’t mourn them, not normally—but he feels absence in patterns. The missing sounds in a room. The laughter that never returns.

LOVES Abraxas' eyes because coloured eyes are so pretty to him(so he turned his own red lol)

Calls Hadrian "Healer Boy" in his head

Thinks Cassius Lestrange should be locked up in St Mungo's but won't ever say it outloud because he thinks Cassius is funny

Learned slurs and curse words from Antonin Dolohov in russian and often used them at the other boys at Wool's

Was very mesmerized by Laurent Rosier playing the violin but will NEVER tell him that

Wishes Cain Avery will never stop calling him "Tommy" but eventually he does

Tom only notices it after though

Had many 'acquaintances' and will gut himself before he calls them friends

At first did not want to recruit kids like Dumbledore was obviously doing but then as he lost more and more sanity he stopped caring

🧠 HORCRUX MADNESS TIMELINE

Horcrux 1 (Diary): Still fully lucid. Still playing god.

Horcrux 2 (Ring): Starting to believe his own lies.

Horcrux 3–5: Starting to slip. Increasingly paranoid. Detached

from emotions, starting to lose continuity.

Horcrux 6 (Nagini): Fully dissociated from his own body.

Horcrux 7 (Harry): Did not plan that. Furious.

🪦 POST RESURRECTION (1995)

scared the shit out of Draco on purpose because Draco looks like Abraxas and Voldy misses him

Sometimes stares too long at Draco. Sometimes calls him by the wrong name.

Saw a picture of Sirius and nearly threw up because oh that's just Orion but also not Orion... Why isn't Orion here anymore? Why isn't Orion here, bothering me and saying stupid things?

Thinks his plans were going so shit because all his new followers are not as competent as his knights

HATED Harry even more after learning how similar they were

was plain batshit insane, there was nearly nothing left of Tom, only Voldemort

"Who tf is Cedric?!"

was genuinely fucking insane after being resurrected

Killed more than half his Death Eaters before the final battle

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

He wrote his own obituary once, at 14. It had titles like “Saviour of Magic” and “Heir of All Things.”

Tom is terrifyingly beautiful, and he knows it—but not in a vain way. It’s a weapon, not an asset. He uses it the way others use charm or brute strength.

Keeps his robes pristine. Not out of vanity, but control. Dirt and disorder feel like a threat to the image he's curated.

Has extremely precise handwriting. Like it looks printed. Teachers used to keep his essays as examples.

Never fidgets. Stillness is power. The more nervous others get, the more still he becomes.

Has a cold, polite smile that doesn't reach his eyes. The closer it does get to reaching his eyes, the more dangerous the situation is.

Hadrian helped him manage the money

Loneliness is a constant background hum. But he's too proud to name it.

He’d hate Dumbledore’s socks comment. Would see it as proof of Dumbledore’s madness and unfitness to rule.

Collects rare books with dangerous margins: ones half-burned, banned, or rumored cursed. Especially if they’ve driven past readers insane.

Would absolutely win The Bachelor if it existed in the wizarding world, and then kill the producers for airing it.

His things, Horcruxes were put on display in a museum for the wars

Some people can still his things screaming

some people hear them, especially the notebook crying(it sounds like Myrtle)

All his Horcruxes contained more grief than anger

After they were destroyed, anyone coming close to the exhibits felt an overwhelming amount of sadness that wouldn't go away for days

ABRAXAS MALFOY

Face Claim: Tom Blyth

Born: 1927

Wand: Hawthorn, 11", dragon heartstring

Hogwarts Years: 1938– 1945

Favourite Subject: Potions, History of Magic

💎 PERSONALITY & LIFE

A textbook aristocrat—graceful, poised, always put-together, but with bite.

Treated his loyalty to Tom like a holy vow. Not because he believed in supremacy or ideology—but because he believed in Tom.

Tom's sugar daddy(without the sex, obviously)

Tom's right hand man :) He takes his position very seriously

HUGE mommy's boy

was the first one to discover Tom speaks parseltongue back in first year Herbology when he heard Tom speaking to a little garden snake in the corner of the greenhouse

Didn’t worship Tom blindly. Knew exactly what kind of person he was. He just… didn't care.

📕 THE DIARY & THE KNIGHTS (school days and the first war)

There are many arguments of whether or not Abraxas was even apart of the Knights of Walpurgis but I would like to think he was

I mean there was a reason Lucius even had the Diary

Abraxas probably took care of the diary but then forgot to tell Lucius just what it was before he died which is why 'Chamber of Secrets' happened...

Often feels very bad for Tom because Abraxas cannot imagine living without his parents

Felt awful about Tom being in Wool’s. The Malfoys actually tried to adopt him—pureblooded enough, clever enough—but were blocked by the Ministry. Dumbledore? The orphange? No one knows. It still eats at him.

Abraxas used to give Tom his old clothes but would send it in an anonymous package because he knows Tom is prideful

Was the one to introduce Tom to everyone else

Made Tom say something to a snake in Parseltongue to everyone could actually take him seriously

Abraxas' favourite(other than Tom) is either Laurent Rosier or Hadrian Mulciber

Along with Atticus Nott, Abraxas took care of any legal matters

Believed in blood purity—but more as cultural preservation than superiority. His vision was about tradition, order, and legacy. (Atticus as well believed in this)

Refused to let Lucius near the diary while he was alive. Died before he could explain why it was dangerous. It haunts him.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Obsessed with bloodlines, but in a collector’s sense. Knew everyone’s tree better than they did.

HISTORY BUFF

He knew who shat where in what year, what hour, what second—

Helped tutor kids with Tom but gave him all the money to keep

Tutoring helped him go over and study and remember things better

Could cast a patronus — a snake

Brewed calming draughts for stressed younger students—but wouldn’t tell them they were potions. He’d just hand them a drink with a nod.

Practically ran the Slytherin common room by fourth year with the Knights. If you wanted permission, gossip, or protection, you went through Abraxas.

Gossip Queennnn

He loved knowing everyone's business

🖼️ POST-RESURRECTION — Portrait!Abraxas (Abraxas died in 1979, so he was not there in 1995 when Voldemort was resurrected)

Tom argues with Abraxas' portrait every morning while he was at the Malfoy manor after being resurrected

Portrait!Abraxas makes fun of his nose

Portrait!Abraxas feels very sad though because his friend’s face is no longer as handsome as it was and clearly someone fucked up the resurrection ritual

Tom: Your grandson looks like you but he's not smart like you :( Portrait!Abraxas: It's almost like... He's his own person!? Tom: I hate you. I'm finding a necromancy book

yeah lol

Still mourns Tom, in his own way. Refuses to admit it. Keeps talking.

Portrait!Abraxas can’t do anything but watch as his childhood friend tears the remaining Malfoys apart…

Might be the last person in the world who remembers what Tom Riddle was before he became Voldemort.

“You broke everything we built, and yet you stand there expecting me to flinch. You’re not a god, Tom. You’re just lonely. Come to me Tom. I promise death does not hurt as much as you think it does.”

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Wore gloves indoors nearly all of first year.

Carried a silver letter opener everywhere.

Believed the world was meant to be controlled by clever people. Not cruel ones.

Would never say he loved Tom, but he did. In that distant, repressed, Slytherin-boys-aren’t-allowed-to-care kind of way.

The kind of boy who wore cologne at thirteen and had a signet ring before he hit puberty

Wrote with a fountain quill. Custom-made, of course. Tipped in silver. The ink was spelled not to smudge.

Cursed Nobby Leach, not because he was a muggleborn but because Abraxas found out he had a hand in what happened to Atticus' brother

Had fleeting romances, but none that lasted. No one ever got it. Except maybe Tom.

Kept every letter Tom ever wrote him in a velvet box under a floorboard in his room. Burned them the night Tom disappeared.

Probably had a thing for Orion(I SHIP IT OKAY LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!)

Was actually very good to Narcissa and thought she was rather lovely so agreed right away when the match came in for Lucius

100% supported the star names thing

Even gave Narcissa a list of possible names

Never married for love. Married for power. Told himself it was the same thing.

Married Selene Rosier(Laurent's second or third cousin)

She ended up abusing Lucius behind his back

He killed her when Lucius was 5.

That's it.

Died with secrets. Left no answers. Only the diary.

ORION ARCTURUS BLACK

Face Claim: Ben Barnes 

Born: 1929 — the youngest of the knights cuz he is canonically 4 years younger than Walburga

Wand: Alder, 11¾", unicorn hair

Hogwarts Years: 1940– 1947

Favourite Subject: Charms, Runes, Care for Magical Creatures

💫 PERSONALITY & LIFE

I see a lot of Mauruders hcs that Sirius looks just like his dad so that is where this came from

I know a lot of people say that Sirius was like Walburga but I think the opposite— Sirius was 100% a copy of Orion

The dreamer of the Knights. A little too soft for the room, a little too clever to be trusted.

Handsome in that tragedy-in-the-making way. The kind of man who still looked like poetry even when passed out drunk in a velvet chair.

Wore his uniform slightly undone. Shirt rumpled, tie loose. Always a hint of rebellion he never fully committed to.

Often misunderstood because he looked cold, but was secretly one of the more gentle members of his family.

Did not know how to communicate how he felt properly

No one ever taught him

No one was there to listen

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Wards and Charms prodigy

Wanted to take a mastery but daddy never let him :(

Knew ancient runes better than most cursebreakers. Could quote stanzas from memory.

SLYTHERIN SEEKER!!!! (Yes like Regulus in the future)

Skipped class occasionally to sit by the lake and feed the giant squid scraps from the kitchens.

Dated boys and girls—casually, half-heartedly, tragically. He just wanted to feel something. (But always sent letters to Walburga promising that he thought she was the prettiest)

Left behind half-finished poems in the margins of his notes. Never shared them.

🌌 RELATIONSHIP WITH WALBURGA & THE BOYS

Orion was not completely against marrying Walburga

I don't think so

I think it was more like: "why isn't she fun anymore :(" was his genuine confusion, not cruelty. He didn’t see the way pressure aged her in ways he never felt.

Still flirted with her sometimes, long after she stopped responding. Drunkenly, awkwardly, heartbreakingly.

Orion: Let's name our firstborn SiriusWalburga: No. That's stupidOrion: plz it'll be so funny, we can make 'serious' jokes AND it’s in the Orion constellation🥺

(Walburga definitely named Regulus)

They fought constantly, especially after Regulus was born. But some nights, they'd sit in silence together and he’d hold her hand like she was still 17 and he was still 14(I imagine them being that young or ever younger when they got engaged).

Fought for Walburga when Pollux wanted to take her out of Hogwarts after 5th year

Managed to convince his family to let her stay all 7 years by pretending to be shit at potions and saying he needed her help because she was an amazing potioneer

Not abusive, more like accidentally neglectful

Loved both his sons, but didn't know how to help them.

Let Sirius grow wild because it made him happy—thought it would be fine. It wasn’t.

Tried telling Walburga it was fine that Sirius was a Gryffindor but she didn't listen

Orion just didn't want to loose a child like Druella and Cygnus did(Andromeda) but did not know how to communicate that with Sirius

Orion not knowing how to communicate ruined things

Sirius was Orion. Same soul, different century. That’s what made it unbearable.

When Sirius ran away, Orion never stopped checking the clock with his name.

Orion never hated him. Just missed him.

Walburga never told him what really happened the day Sirius left and Orion is not sure if he wanted to know

Bonded more with Regulus in the end, in that quiet, doomed way of two men trapped by duty.

Taught Regulus how to ride a broom, how to tie a cravat, how to play wizard chess.

🗡️ THE KNIGHTS & ORION'S BLEEDING HEART (school days and the first war)

I don't think he was actually a Knight like the others were

Orion was just there to have fun and gave Tom books from the Black Family library

Orion never took the mark and there is no actual reason given as to why so I would like to think that Tom and the rest found him 'childish' or maybe because Orion was not as 'invested' in the cause as the rest of them were

Saw the whole cause as “too serious” and “too much shouting” and "too much killing".

He liked politics like he liked parties: optional, glittering, and brief.

I'd like to think Walburga was more invested in it than Orion was

I think Orion and Abraxas were pretty good friends(interpret that as you wish)

Orion: Abraxas, my future daughter, your future son :) Abraxas: No??? Orion: Yes :)

That is how I saw it happen but then Orion had 2 sons and was like "fuck :(" and peer pressures Cygnus and Druella into marrying Narcissa to Lucius because it's basically the same thing

☠️ Post-Resurrection (1995)

Orion Black died in 1979, the same year as Abraxas Malfoy. No Portrait was left behind.

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Always smelled faintly of sandalwood, old books, and very expensive firewhiskey.

100% became a bitter alcoholic over the years because all his friends did nearly everything better than him

Oh and they forgot about him

Wished he went for pro Quidditch but didn't because again, daddy said no...

Gave up on politics because he decided the family name was already in too deep, and someone had to be soft.

I want to say that Orion and Regulus died on the same day just to make ppl sad

Because it makes sense

Orion knew Regulus was going to die. He just… didn’t know how to stop it.

Portrait!Orion begged Kreacher to set his on fire

Kreacher could not do it

Walburga did it.

ATTICUS NOTT

Face Claim: Freddie Carter 

Born: 1925

Wand: Ebony, 13", dragon heartstring

Hogwarts Years: 1936– 1943

Favourite Subject: DADA, Magical Theory, Arithmancy

🕯️ PERSONALITY & LIFE

Younger brother of Cantankerous Nott (yes the writer of Pureblood Directory)

I would say both brothers had a pretty big age gap

Emotionally reserved but not cold—everything is internalized, processed through logic, then buried under ritual and theory.

Grief-driven, to the point where it shaped his entire adult life. Every choice he made post-1942 was colored by his brother’s death.

☠️ THE INCIDENT AT DIAGON ALLEY (1942)

Cantankerous Nott was killed by a bunch of muggleborns behind Flourish & Blotts in 1942 because they hated his book

Atticus tried to save his brother who was very outnumbered but the muggleborns brought a gun because bro why wouldn't they???

I think JK should address guns because why wouldn't people bring a gun to an illegal duel

Atticus was then shot in the leg, had his entire leg shattered and tortured with the cruciatus. Now he uses a cane to walk because his leg is just severely messed up from nerve damage caused by the curse and the gun

Has a bunch of scars

Mommy's boy? Daddy's boy? Nope. Big brother's boy

Atticus looked up to his big brother and grieved for the rest of his life after watching him die

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Refused to take a single sick day, even after his injury. Limped to every class, every exam, every practical. The stubbornness was legendary.

Took over the Slytherin study sessions in his 7th year after his brother’s death. Taught younger years to protect themselves—not out of pride, but out of necessity.

Hated being pitied. If anyone offered help without being asked, they’d find their ink well frozen solid the next morning.

PITY DID NOT BRING HIS BIG BROTHER BACK HE DID NOT WANT IT

Refuses pain potions unless he’s about to pass out. Says feeling it keeps him awake. (Hogwarts Matron hates him for it)

Developed his own wand movements after his leg injury—a whole school of dueling based around stability and lower-body limitations.

Knows dark magic. Doesn’t love it. Doesn’t hate it. Sees it like radiation—dangerous, useful, and always permanent.

Once wrote a hex that could only be reversed by understanding grief. No one ever cracked it.

⚖️ VIEWS ON BLOOD PURITY

Doesn’t believe in superiority. Believes in survival.

although Cantankerous wrote the Pureblood Directory, a lesser known fact is that it was supposed to a trilogy or something of books

The first, Pureblood Directory, highlighting 'pure' bloodlines in Magical Britain

The second talks about Cantankerous' research on halfbloods and how inter-mingling with muggles/muggleborns actually saved so many bloodlines and why those in the Pureblood Directory(The Blacks for example) were beginning to die out and have too many squibs

Tom was actually a huge research point for this

Cantankerous was murdered before he could announce his plans on the book

Atticus could never get himself to finish the book

He thinks if he did...

He could have prevented the wars and maybe even prevented Tom from going mad

Had a Muggleborn lover once. Never told a soul. Their name is carved into a rune in his study.

🕷️ THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

Didn't get involved for ideology—joined because it gave him a purpose. A structure to channel pain into.

Created protective wards that the other Knights used. He specialized in defensive magics that looked harmless but trapped enemies in recursive loops.

Was loyal to Abraxas and Dolohov more than Tom.

But still greatly respected Tom because Tom respected him and cared for his opinion

Never took the Mark. No one knows why. Possibly because his allegiance was personal, not symbolic.

Would do has done terrible things for the people he cared about, but only for them.

Was the one to find the Gaunt family address for Tom

🪦 POST RESURRECTION (1995)

One of the few original Knights who survived into the First Wizarding War—but barely.

Voldemort did not trust him during the resurrection era. Saw him as outdated, too careful, and still grieving a brother no one remembered.

Atticus just wanted Voldemort to stop

"It's okay Tom. I promise it is. Please stop. You've done enough. This wasn't even our plan? You're killing children Tom. Please stop."

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Keeps a dagger under his pillow. Not magical. Just steel.

Still has the bullet removed from his leg in a box. Burnished. Etched with a ward.

His Patronus no longer forms. After 1942, it never took shape again. It comes out like smoke(But it used to be jack rabbit)

When alone, reads his brother’s research aloud. Keeps talking to him like he's in the room.

Kept his brother’s old glasses on his desk for 30 years. Cleaned them every Sunday. Never wore them.

Once helped a young Muggleborn child in Knockturn Alley after they got lost. Obliviated them with perfect precision… and cried about it later.

Wakes up at dawn, every day. Doesn't sleep much—he dreams in memories he doesn’t want to remember.

Never walks into a room without checking for ward lines. Even in places he trusts.

Polite to house-elves. Cruel to anyone who thinks cruelty is power.

His son was an abuser(would hurt the girl he married)

So when the war ended, Atticus took a chance and turned his son in for Domestic Abuse and raised Theodore by himself

As a result, Atticus was able to avoid any search of the Nott manor by aurors after the first war

Was invited to teach at Hogwarts once. Refused. Said the castle was too full of ghosts.

Died about a year after the second war ended

Was not mourned loudly when he died. But his son inherited everything—the grimoires, the theories, the scars. Theodore Nott would later find a letter addressed to “My son's brotherless son.”

CASSIUS LESTRANGE

Face Claim: Jamie Campbell Bower

Born: 1925

Wand: Black walnut, 12½", phoenix feather

Hogwarts Years: 1936– 1943

Favourite Subject: DADA, Runes, Charms

🩸 PERSONALITY & LIFE

Crazy bitch

Unhinged but elegant. A man composed entirely of silk and threats.

I think he's gay. I have no reasoning, I just feel like he is/would be

Married for power, not desire. Treated his wife with respect, but never love.

He and his wife were more like friends anyway (Lavender marriage)

Highly neurodivergent-coded: hyperfixates on runic theory and political theatrics, forgets what day it is, never forgets who slighted him in 1952.

Once said, “Lestranges don’t die. They linger. We’re like mold and fine art.”

Doesn’t fear dark magic. Finds it tedious when people moralize about it.

Prone to mood crashes. Has disappeared for days, then reemerged looking immaculate and pretending nothing happened.

🐺 FATHERHOOD

Had children out of duty. Loved them in his own twisted, educated way.

Knew Rodolphus was gay/ace-coded and taught both his sons how to perform power instead of obsessing over legacy through heirs.

Thought Bellatrix was “an absolute horror, in the best way.” Was genuinely entertained by her.

“She won’t give us heirs, but she’ll burn down the world for our name. Accept the win.”

Enabled Bellatrix too often and left the mess for Rodolphus to deal with

"oh! We can definitely hypenate your name, love! Would you like Black-Lestrange or Lestrange-Black?"

Left Rabastan in charge of estate records, Rodolphus in charge of political dealings. Balanced his sons like chess pieces, but never cruelly.

Never once said “I love you” without a warning. (“Brace yourself, I'm about to say something disgusting.”)

Keeps a locket with a miniature of his sons as toddlers in a drawer he pretends he doesn’t check.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Brilliant but disruptive. Teachers didn’t know whether to give him awards or expel him.

Charismatic and terrifying. People were drawn to him like moths to a bloodstained flame.

Dueled like he was composing music. Everything was rhythm and flourish until your wand snapped.

Used to charm ink to write itself while he paced during exams—professors stopped trying to discipline him because it was technically innovative.

Was the first student in Hogwarts history to reverse-engineer a Blood-Sealing Charm and then repurpose it into a prank hex.

🕷️ THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

Tom’s unhinged enabler. The only one who could say something batshit insane and have Tom genuinely consider it. “What if we cursed the concept of memory itself?” “...Go on.”

Never took the Mark because he didn’t need it. Everyone knew who he was and where he stood.

Didn’t care about ideology—he was in it for the thrill, the arcane discoveries, and the intellectual chaos.

Believed in Tom.

Because a distant cousin of his was arrested for performing a common Samhain ritual and he thinks it's very unfair that mudbloods are changing their world

But he also believed in aesthetic terrorism: spells that make people scream without leaving marks. Curses that corrupt beauty itself.

Came from old money and older madness. The Lestrange vaults hold books the Unspeakables can’t even read.

Cassius is the one that unknowingly gave Tom the first book about Horcruxes

Once called Orion his "pretty boy" at school in front of everyone. Walburga nearly jinxed off his hair

Wishes Atticus could manage his grief better but will never say that out loud to anyone

Often buys Hadrian books about new findings in the medicinal field

☠️ POST RESURRECTION (1995)

Survived the first war through technicalities and psych warfare.

Everyone thought he was too insane to strategize. In truth, he just knew when to disappear.

Fought for his fucking LIFE to get Rodolphus and Rabastan out of prison after the first war

It did not work well

Lavender wife was executed (by Death Eaters or the Ministry depending on your source)—he wore black for five years and still flirted at the wake.

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Speaks multiple dead languages. Refuses to translate unless bribed.

Has survived four confirmed assassination attempts. Keeps score like it’s poker.

Smokes clove cigarettes laced with calming draught. Says it’s “for nerves”

Misses his wife sometimes—not romantically, but as a co-conspirator. They were genuinely close.

When Voldemort died, he felt nothing but quiet. That scared him more than grief.

Re-reads letters from Tom, even the petty ones. Especially the petty ones.

Often tries to figure out just what went wrong and where...

Did not live long after Rodolphus and Rabastan were gone

But he sent monthly payments anonymously to St Mungo's for the Longbottoms that continued even after his death

Covered their entire bill

Never told a soul

Took all his secrets too the grave

ANTONIN DOLOHOV

Face Claim: Aneurin Barnard 

Born: 1925

Wand: Cherry wood, 11", dragon heartstring

Hogwarts Years: 1936– 1943

Favourite Subject: DADA, History of Magic

🕯️ PERSONALITY & LIFE

RUSSIAN!!!!

Pureblood from a well-known Russian diplomatic family with ties to Grindelwald-era politics

Dry humor, deadpan delivery. The kind of man who could threaten your life and you'd laugh—until he didn’t blink.

Amoral. Not evil, just... doesn’t process morality the same way. If you die during a duel, that’s your fault for being slow.

Wildly intelligent. Understood wandless casting theory better than most professors. Also believed “a wand is only a leash with lacquer.”

Secretly poetic. Not in speech, but in the way he notices the world: “The way blood spreads in water tells you everything about a man.”

Not cruel by nature—but completely indifferent to suffering if it stands between him and the mission.

🧊 ROMANTIC LIFE & TRAGEDY

Betrothed at 14 to a much younger Russian girl from a prestigious family. She died of dragon pox around her 6th year.

He never pursued marriage again.

Still dreams of her sometimes, in winter settings where he cannot move or speak.

Never public about his feelings. Maybe loved once. Maybe twice. But no one ever lived long enough to say for sure.

Keeps his betrothed’s death certificate hidden in a grimoire. Opens it every death anniversary. Doesn’t cry. Just sits.

Visited her grave once in the early 60s. Left a thistle and a drop of blood. He’s never been back.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Came to Hogwarts from Durmstrang after the Ministry “invited” his family to relocate for diplomatic reasons. (Read: the Dolohovs were getting too close to Grindelwald.)

Initially hated Hogwarts. Found the spells childish and the people worse. But then met Riddle. And Abraxas. And Atticus.

Quickly earned a reputation for: - Brutal precision in duels - Speaking in Russian when annoyed - Disappearing for days and reappearing with blood on his collar and no explanation

Drove professors mad by refusing to take notes. Said memory was “a curse or a blade—you either have it or you die.”

Frequently in detention for “excessive spell use,” but never expelled—because he was too valuable.

🕷️ HE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

Voldemort’s unofficial enforcer. When things needed to be done without hesitation or conscience, Antonin was sent.

Didn’t take pleasure in torture—just saw it as a tool. Precision over passion.

Was the one who refined the Dolohov Curse, a silent, rib-shattering dark curse that he didn’t name after himself. The others did.

Loyal, but not devout. Never worshipped Tom—just respected him. Called him “the mind behind the flame.”

He likes teaching the others curse words in Russian because it's funny

Immediately regretted it when Orion called him a "suka" (means bitch according to google)

His family expected greatness, but got something closer to a ghost. They disowned him quietly when he chose the Knights over Grindlewald's ideology that was setting back Dark Wizards centuries. He never went home again.

Quietly protective of the younger Knights—even if he never says it.

Adores Orion as he always wanted a younger brother(genuniely fell apart at Orion's funeral in 1979, begged Hadrian or Tom to find a way to bring him back)

⚖️ AZKABAN YEARS & POST-RESURRECTION

Went down hard during the First War. Took five Aurors to bring him in. He killed two.

Azkaban twisted him.

Face scarred from a werewolf fight in the upper levels.

One arm slightly warped by prolonged exposure to Dementors while his magical core tried to defend itself.

Was one of the first to rejoin Voldemort in the Second War. Not out of loyalty or because Voldemort broke him out of Azkaban—but out of a sense of unfinished work.

Voldemort trusted him less post-resurrection, but still needed him.

Had no patience for Lucius Malfoy. Thought him a “child dressed in silk.”

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Always has a blade on him. Not magical. Just steel. Just in case.(picked up the habit from Atticus)

Keeps a list of every curse he’s ever created. Annotated, perfected. Some require blood. Some require grief.

Does not lie. If he doesn’t want you to know, he says nothing. Otherwise—you get the truth, raw.

If he likes you, he’ll insult you in Russian.

If he hates you, he’ll curse you in silence.

Never rushes. If Dolohov is walking toward you, you won’t outrun it. That’s the point.

Still occasionally sends unsigned letters to the grave of his betrothed. They are written in ancient runes only he uses.

Reads Muggle war memoirs. Thinks they understand death better than wizards.

Has perfect posture and teaches others how to stand and move like they mean it. (“Your stance is your shield before your wand.”)

Watches the stars obsessively. Knows every constellation. Still whispers her name to one of them and Orion's to his namesake

His hands are rough, scarred, but steady. The kind of hands you’d expect to belong to a surgeon or a killer.

Felt personally responsible for letting Orion slip away from them

When the war ended, and Voldemort died, Dolohov went still. Didn’t run. Didn’t rage. Just stood in the middle of the battlefield and watched the sky.

Was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss

As a last wish, he visted each Knight's Grave and ended with his betroth's

Was the last Knight to die

LAURENT ROSIER

Face Claim: Louis Partridge

Born: 1926

Wand: Blackthorn, 10¾", veela hair core

Hogwarts Years: 1937 – 1944

Favourite Subject: Charms

🕯️ PERSONALITY & LIFE

French Boy!!!

Speaks fluent French, English, and the language of entitled disappointment.

I see him as someone with a baby face, hence Louis as the fc

Treats off-branch Rosiers like charming but slightly embarrassing lesser nobility.

Genuinely charming—until he’s bored. Then he becomes cutting, cold, and passive-aggressive in three languages.

Proud, dramatic, and carries himself like an heir—even when he’s covered in blood or hex soot.

A bit of a snob, but never without humor. Has a way of insulting people that sounds like flirtation.

Absolutely hates crowds, family gatherings, and mandatory balls. Mostly hides behind the piano to avoid talking to his sixth cousin again.

Always immaculately dressed. Cufflinks, tailored robes, faint perfume (sandalwood and citrus), collar never crooked.

Has impeccable handwriting. Uses a fountain quill. Writes letters with sealing wax embossed with the Rosier sigil.

Drinks wine, not firewhisky. Owns three cursed decanters and a chalice that whispers horoscopes.

🎻 THE MUSICIAN

Keeps a personal violin in perfect condition. Has cursed three people for touching it.

Once hexed a classmate for mocking his bow grip. Said nothing. Just hexed their chair to collapse every time they sat for a week.

Can also play the piano, but insists it’s “too sentimental” and only uses it to manipulate party moods.

Plays for Tom in the dorms—not because Tom asked, but because he noticed the way Tom would pause mid-reading whenever he did.

Plays for the knights and often for his kids and whoever he married

Once wrote a lullaby that functions as a blood-binding spell. Performed it once. Buried the sheet music.

Secretly dreamed of becoming a composer of magical symphonies. Settled for becoming a political weapon instead.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

His Patronus is a swan—majestic, cold, and deadly when provoked.

Got out of detentions with charm and subtle bribery (once gave a professor a signed first edition of a magical poetry book).

Very much “caught snogging behind the greenhouse” energy.

Was once hexed by a jealous Hufflepuff for flirting with both her friends. He congratulated her on her aim.

Did not take school very seriously

Got people do to his homework for him

Just wanted to play his music

🕷️ THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

All the knights call him "Laurie" except for Tom who just says "Laurent"

Not ideological. Was drawn to Tom because he saw power and wanted to be in orbit of it.

Probably fell in love with Tom in that quiet, painful way a lot of people did. He never expected it to be returned.

Believed Tom had vision. Never thought he’d win—but thought he was the only one worth following.

Probably helped launder gold and enchant cursed heirlooms. You need quiet aristocrats as much as killers.

Took fashion cues from Abraxas, magical theory notes from Atticus, and general “how to be scary without blinking” from Dolohov.

Knew Cassius Lestrange was insane but loved him like an uncle even if he was only one year older. (“You always need one relative you don’t explain to guests.”)

Had a soft spot for Orion Black. Called him “the last good thing we didn’t deserve.”

Never took the mark. No one made him. No one asked him.

☠️ POST RESURRECTION (1995)

Laurent Rosier died 3 years after the end of the first war and left no portrait. It was a suspected suicide.

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

His greatest fear is irrelevance. That he’ll be forgotten once he’s no longer beautiful or useful.

Keeps a box of letters, pressed flowers, and ticket stubs from school years. Won’t admit it.

Once cried in the library after a fight with a cousin and swore he’d never let anyone make him feel small again.

Had kids young. Married as soon as he finished Hogwarts and first kid was born in the next year

I can't decide if he'd be Evan Rosier's grandfather or father but they ARE related like that(I guess depends on the fic you're writing)

Big family because which pureblood isn't related to the Rosiers???

I'm kidding

I think he just has a lot of cousins and many a few branches of the family but Laurent is definitely main line Rosier

Treats off branch Rosiers like charming but slightly less embarassing nobility

Hated that he could not finish off Selene himself after what Abraxas told him what she did to Lucius

Felt so gulity even though it wasn't even him that made the match

Still calls Evan “mon petit oiseau” in private letters, even though they haven’t spoken in years, even though Evan was dead

Laughed his head off when someone told him Evan took out Moody's eye and leg

Leaves parties early. Not because he’s tired, but because he doesn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of watching him leave.

Had a soft heart once. Buried it somewhere between grief, war, and magical expectation.

HADRIAN MULCIBER

Face Claim: Fionn Whitehead

Born: 1926

Wand: Poplar wood, 12", unicorn hair

Hogwarts Years: 1937 – 1944

Favourite Subject: elective - Fundamentals of Magical Healing, Charms

🕯️ PERSONALITY & LIFE

Wet library boy™ meets sad battlefield nurse

Introverted, melancholy, observant. Always listening, rarely interrupts.

Kindness buried under layers of trauma, legacy expectations, and chronic disappointment.

Struggles with feeling out of place even among other purebloods—he doesn’t want power. He wants peace.

Had a childhood stutter he worked hard to get rid of; it still comes back when he’s emotionally overwhelmed.

Always looks like he just cried or is about to. He hasn't, but give it a week.

Always looks like he walked through fog to get here. Hair damp, collar crooked, but somehow poetic about it.

Eyes look too old for his age. Hands always faintly ink-stained. Robes never quite pressed.

Rain makes him feel better. Walks without an umbrella and lets it soak into his skin like penance.

Dresses down, unlike the rest of the Knights. Thinks “theatrics are for people who want to be remembered.”

Smells like old pages, eucalyptus salve, and candle smoke.

Keeps a small vial of mullein and lavender potion with him at all times for calming anxiety.

Empathic to a fault. Could always sense when someone was in pain—whether they were bleeding or just broken on the inside.

🏥 THE HEALER THAT WASN'T...

Was obsessed with magical medicine from childhood. Collected ancient salves, memorized wand movement diagrams, could recite counter-curse chants by age 11.

His father forbade it. Told him healing was “servant’s work” and "Mulcibers command, they do not cure."

Took Fundamentals of Magical Healing as an elective anyway. Lied and said he was taking Advanced Dueling.

Could’ve been one of the best Healers of his generation. He knows that. That’s the part that haunts him.

Still carries a kit of healing salves and blood-replenishing phials in his inner robe pocket at all times.

The Mulcibers are feared, not loved. Old bloodline, obsessed with tradition, known for violent spell invention.

Hadrian wanted out, but pureblood society is a vice — and his father had eyes in every corridor.

His older brother (dead by the time Hadrian graduates) was the heir. Hadrian was meant to be the scholar.

After the war, Hadrian refused to join the Ministry. Disappeared for a few years. Some say he worked in underground healing wards for illegal duelling clubs.

He would never confirm it.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Excelled in Charms and Healing, often helping classmates with minor injuries in secret.

Secretly studied ancient healing magic outside of class, fascinated by its potential for restoration and protection.

Hated Potions with a burning passion — not because he was bad at it, but because it reminded him of what his father wanted him to be.

Kept a small herb garden hidden in the Slytherin common room for personal use and research.

Aided Tom with the tutoring groups — covered the healing classes and gave all the money to Tom

🕷️ THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

Didn’t join out of belief, joined because there was nowhere else to go.

Tom saw him as “unshaped clay.” Respected his intelligence, doubted his resolve.

Antonin Dolohov respected him, but told him, “You think too much. You’ll either be the one who survives, or the one who dies first.”

Loved listening to Laurent play piano or the violin

Was often the one patching others up after duels, whether they asked or not.

would brew pain potions for Atticus and try to find ways to make his knee better

Always the first to warn when things were going too far — and the first to be ignored.

Never took pleasure in cruelty. Took guilt like a second skin.

Would send Tom nourishment potions in the summertime because unlike the rest he knew what things orphans went through

Never got married

When his older brother died, leaving behind a son, Hadrian tried his best to raise him but Hadrian's father ended up twisting that and turning Mulciber Jr(Severus' classmate) into a Death Eater

Hadrian began to hate Tom by then

Never took the mark.

Told Tom to go fuck himself by the time the first war started

☠️ POST RESURRECTION (1995)

Hadrian Mulciber died 5 years after the end of the First Wizarding War. Did not leave behind a portrait, only a journal of what should have happened.

The journal was later put into a museum made to honour and remember both wars.

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Writes letters he never sends. Especially to his dead brother.

Is terrified of dying in obscurity — not for legacy, but because he wants someone to say, “He was gentle, when he could have been cruel.”

Collects broken wands. Tries to fix them, like it’ll fix something in him.

Had a crush on someone once. Never told them. Still keeps the flower they gave him in an old herbology book.

Keeps his childhood wand in a box under his bed. Doesn’t know why.

Lived in a small, anonymous cottage and healed those who couldn’t go to St. Mungo’s.

Rumours said he kept the ghosts of those he couldn’t save as company. They were wrong—but he did talk to them in dreams.

Died quietly, in bed, surrounded by half-finished letters and dried potion ingredients.

His name was never cleared because of all the contrasting stories about him.

But the people he helped told stories.

And that was enough.

CAIN AVERY

Face Claim: Nicholas Galitzine 

Born: 1926

Wand: Walnut, 10.5", phoenix feather

Hogwarts Years: 1937 – 1944

Favourite Subject: DADA

🕯️PERSONALITY & LIFE

People hc him as a flirt

Idk though but I think I agree. Not to a huge extent though

He’s not the type to seduce you into bed—he’ll seduce you into betraying your morals.

Charismatic enough to be liked even when he’s awful. Wears his worst traits like silk.

Smiles like he knows a secret. Because he usually does.

Flirt? Yes. But not an over-the-top womanizer. He flirts with everyone—because it’s fun, because it’s armor, because it’s strategy.

Cain Avery collects reactions. He doesn’t need you to fall in love with him. He just wants to know he could make you.

📚 ACADEMICS, SCHOOL LIFE & MAGIC

Very well-known in school. Not infamous like Tom—just… everywhere. Hosted the best common room parties.

Liked by professors despite being a low-level menace. Got away with everything.

Had people who hated him—but couldn’t prove anything.

Did not have any actual ambition as he was a third son so he was free to do as he wished

Exceptionally skilled in mental magic. Occlumency came naturally to him.

Good at DADA, great at Charms, scarily competent at subtle dark spellwork.

Never tested for Legilimency, but it’s rumored he was decent at it—used more for reading mood and motive than digging deep.

🕷️ THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (school days and the first war)

Join not because of ideology, but because Tom needed someone socially dangerous.

Cain was the perfect face: rich, clever, likable, able to say awful things and make you laugh at them.

Tom never fully trusted Cain. But he used him—Cain knew everyone, and everyone told him everything.

Respected Abraxas for his power, mocked him for his rigidity.

Antonin Dolohov terrified him, and Cain never admitted it.

Was sort of patronizing toward Orion but not in a way that was obvious

Absolutely had a rivalry with one Gryffindor boy who hated him with the fury of the sun. Cain called him “darling.”

Laurent Rosier once said Cain was “the most dangerous man in the room because he looks like he isn’t.”

Saw how dark things were getting long before anyone else did. Didn’t know how to leave.

Often thought about running. Never did.

Disappeared at the start of the First Wizarding War. Rumors say he faked his death. Others say Tom killed him.

One theory claims he left England altogether and now runs an underground magical safehouse in France.

Another says he died protecting a half-blood girl during a purge.

☠️ POST RESURRECTION (1995)

Cain Avery's body was never found. It is debated what truly happened to him but a ring he wore is on display in the museum for the wars right next to Hadrian's journal. It used to be in another display but somehow it always ended up in the case with the journal anyway.

🐍 OTHER HEADCANONS & INFO.

Once fell in love with someone from a half-blood family. Broke it off coldly to “protect” them. Still dreams about it.

Carries a silver lighter. Doesn’t smoke. Just likes clicking it open.

Once snuck into the Restricted Section for a bet. Stayed four hours reading anyway.

Never had any kids but left everything he inherited to whoever "killed the dark lord" (yes that is what was written on his will)

GENERAL HEADCANONS

Originally it was a mix of charisma, academic superiority, shared trauma, and elitism that bonded them. Tom Riddle, of course, was the magnetic center.

They didn’t all believe in the same things. They just believed in each other (or, more accurately, couldn’t imagine surviving without one another).

There were secret meetings, invented rituals, “codes of conduct” scrawled in books, and duels in the Forbidden Forest just to feel powerful.

Their bond was a mix of intellect, codependency, ambition, and the belief that no one else in the world understood them. They were right.

Named after Walpurgis Night—a real European celebration where witches once gathered in the mountains to drive out evil. The Knights? They liked the inversion. They were the storm, not the shield.

The name stuck. It made them feel like something bigger than themselves. Tom fed that myth—spun tales about them being part of a prophecy, the next great magical order, destined to rise beyond life and death.

Some joined out of belief. Some out of fear. Some out of loyalty to a friend who had stars in his eyes and murder in his future.

I feel like they all called Tom “Tommy” when in private up until his eyes turned red because that just wasn’t scrawny, handsome and too smart “Tommy” anymore

It definitely made them sad

Tom used to think of them all as friends until his eyes turned red

The Knights found the Death Eaters name so funny

Tom still called the ogs his knights though(for sentimental value!)

Long silences after arguments. Touches too brief to be tenderness. Knowing glances. And never, ever saying “I miss you.”

They are all mirrors of Tom, or perhaps reflections of what he killed in himself.

Loyalty wasn’t always to ideology—it was to each other.

The moment the circle broke—when one of them died, or betrayed, or doubted—Tom turned the Knights into Death Eaters. Not soldiers. Relics. Pieces of himself, spread across history like horcruxes in human form

By the time Tom became Voldemort, the Knights no longer existed—not as they were.

Some took the Mark. Some didn’t. Some were killed for knowing too much. Others disappeared.

The Death Eaters were followers. The Knights? The Knights were founders.

Voldemort never formed bonds like that again. He didn’t need to. The Knights were both his trial run and his undoing.

Every time he looked at one of them, post-resurrection—especially their portraits or sons—he remembered what almost was.

In the end, they were not monsters. They were boys. Sharp, scared, brilliant boys. And it was the world that made them into something else.

At least three of them were probably in love with each other and never said it.

At least two of them died with the others’ names on their lips.

They never took group photos. They said they’d remember it all. They didn’t.

Some of them were buried in unmarked graves. Others were given marble tombs by families who never knew who they were.

Just a terribly toxic friend group that could have been fixed if at least ONE OF THEM could have learned how to communicate

The Velvet Serpent was more than just a burlesque club—it was the underground heartbeat of wizarding depravity, a place where the drinks were strong, the smoke was thick, and sin dripped from the velvet-draped walls like honey. Slytherins ran the place in every way that mattered, and tonight was no different.

You sat in a dimly lit booth, the air laced with the scent of cigars, perfume, and something sweeter—the afterglow of the little pills you'd all swallowed earlier. X. Molly. Whatever you wanted to call it, the high was pure bliss, rolling through your veins, making every touch, every sound, every glance electric.

Avery Lestrange had his arm draped over a waitress’s waist, whispering something against her ear that made her giggle. Mulciber cutting up the rest of the coke he had into an array of thin white lines on the table, his movements meticulous despite the haze of intoxication settling over them all. Theo had returned, a lazy grin on his face as he exhaled a cloud of smoke, eyes bloodshot red as he offered the joint to Tom.

Tom didn’t even glance at the joint, his focus entirely elsewhere. His fingers tapped an idle rhythm against his thigh, his demeanor composed yet coiled tight, like a predator biding its time.

“You know he doesn’t indulge, Theo,” Avery drawled, smirking as he pulled the waitress onto his lap, her giggle drowned out by the pulsing bass of the club.

Theo just shrugged, taking another slow drag before turning his attention back to the stage.

You felt the pulse of the molly in your veins, emboldening you, making the club lights glow a little brighter, the music sink a little deeper into your skin.

You were so high.

The burlesque stage is cleared, the last dancer stepping off with a teasing wink to the crowd. A new group of girls is ushered up, but the MC’s voice cuts through the music, playful and coaxing.

“Well, well, we’ve got a wild crowd tonight. Who’s got the guts to get up here?”

Laughter ripples through the room. The idea is absurd—getting up there, stripping under the heat of the lights, letting strangers devour you with their eyes.

You scoff, tipping your drink back before smirking. “I should go up there.”

Tom lets out a low chuckle, tilting his head toward you. “You?” His tone is rich with amusement, like he’s indulging the thought for his own entertainment. “No, you wouldn’t.”

You arch a brow at him. “You really think I won’t?”

Tom’s lips curve into something smug, something knowing. “Oh, I know you won’t.”

And that does it.

Because he thinks he knows you. Thinks he has you figured out, like you’re some predictable little thing that exists just within the boundaries he’s drawn for you.

But that molly is hitting now. Hard.

The club lights are nothing but a blur of red and gold as you stand, your pulse thudding in time with the bass. Your confidence is liquid fire in your veins. You feel untouchable.

And the moment you start walking toward the stage, the laughter at the table dies down.

Avery and Mulciber hoot, nudging each other, not believing their eyes. Theo lighting another joint, a lazy grin curling his lips.

But Tom—Tom isn’t laughing anymore.

His gaze sharpens, cutting through the dim haze of the club. You don’t have to look at him to feel the shift, the heat in his stare.

You step onto the stage, fingers skimming the cool metal of the pole, the heat of the lights washing over you. The music changes, something slow and dark, dripping with sin.

And then—you move.

Deliberate. Controlled.

A slow roll of your hips, a teasing tilt of your head, fingers trailing along the curve of your neck as you sink into the music.

Tom is staring.

His jaw tight, fingers curled against his glass, tension coiled in every inch of him.

The silk of your dress pools at your feet, slipping off your shoulders like a whisper, leaving you in the lace bodice beneath. Gasps and whistles ripple through the crowd, but you don’t hear them.

Because you’re looking at him.

His expression doesn’t shift, not in the way you expect it to. No clenched fists, no furrowed brows, no sharp exhale of frustration.

No, Tom Riddle doesn’t react like a man caught off guard.

He reacts like a man who’s watching. Calculating. Deciding.

The moment your eyes lock, the air between you tightens, humming with something dark—something that makes your skin prickle with awareness, makes your breath catch in your throat.

And then, the corner of his mouth twitches. Just barely. Just enough to make your stomach drop.

Your friends are still laughing, still cheering you on, but their voices are distant, mere echoes lost beneath the slow, deliberate way Tom sets down his glass.

He tilts his head, eyes dragging over you with a weight that makes your knees feel unsteady. It’s not lust, not exactly. It’s something sharper. Darker.

Approval.

As if he knew you had it in you. As if he’s been waiting for you to show him.

And fuck, the way he’s looking at you now—like you’ve finally done something worthy of his attention—makes the heat pooling in your stomach burn just a little hotter.

Still, he doesn’t move.

Doesn’t call you over.

Doesn’t have to.

Because now, it’s your move.

The moment your feet hit the floor, you step off the stage, chin high, gaze steady. A challenge in the way you move, in the way you weave through the crowd without sparing anyone else a glance.

Your friends are still talking—laughing, throwing arms around your shoulders, singing your praises—but none of it matters.

You don’t stop until you reach him, until the space between you is too close and not close enough, the scent of his cologne filling your lungs, that unnerving stillness of his presence wrapping around you.

His gaze flicks down—just once, just a slow drag over your body before meeting your eyes again.

“Enjoy yourself?” His voice is smooth, quiet.

A shiver rolls through you.

But you smile. A little breathless, a little too bold. “I think you did.”

Something flickers in his eyes, dark amusement curling at the edges.

He leans forward, just slightly, enough that his breath ghosts against your cheek, enough that no one else notices the way his fingers press, just slightly, against your thigh—deliberate, calculated.

His voice drops, quiet enough that only you can hear—just for you.

"You do love an audience," he murmurs, voice a dark thread of amusement curling around your spine.

Your breath catches, but you refuse to let him see it. Instead, you tilt your chin, let your smile play at the edges of your lips. "And you love to watch."

He leans back, as though nothing happened at all, lifting his drink to his lips, gaze sliding to Theo as the conversation shifts.

In the weight of his silence, in the way his eyes flick back to you—brief, knowing—before he takes another sip of his drink.

A private acknowledgment.

A silent well done.

Your lips curl as you trace the rim of your glass with one fingertip, letting the moment stretch between you, secret and thrilling.

Because Riddle may think he’s the only one who plays this game.

But tonight, you made the first move.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

a/n: ive been rewatching gossip girl again and its SOO good such a comfort show, I took inspo from the first szn when Blair dances for Charles so hot oml

Dorian Mulciber is one of the most catastrophic. He has an almost nihilistic and carefree thinking due to the years of wealth and privileges. He loves expensive wine and parties that are cloying or banal, he only attends because he can and thus generates more connections. A man adorned with a touch of arrogance or sophisticated boredom. He feels gratified to be surrounded by people like him and to be under the “care” of his master. His attitude is haughty, not very subtle and not at all elegant. Someone who could be narcissistic and hedonistic, with an air of decadence or moral superiority. His personality is capricious and volatile, oscillating between elegant disinterest and a well of darker emotions.

Orion Black has a strange attitude that changed over the years. He behaved like a somewhat selfish infant, he wanted many things and always found a way to get them. The Mask: This sweetness is his main tool of manipulation. He does what he wants because he doesn’t conceive that the rules or consequences really apply to him. This is the essence of her childish and irresponsible nature, wrapped in a charming appearance. He likes to maintain cloying and false closeness with people to know their weaknesses and make fun of it. He likes to deceive and provoke various reactions in people, as if they were his toys. He projects an innocence or gentleness that contrasts with the darkness within his mind. Before he was not interested in the repercussions, he lived blinded by his age believing that time was easy to stop, until the commitment (engagement) came earlier than expected.

Cyrus Lestrange. The most applied, aggressive and loyal. Intense, focussed and on the verge of explosion. A tense body language, the look is direct and defiant, with an air of rebellion or cynicism. Someone impulsive, passionate and perhaps a little temperamental. A man with an emotional intensity that makes him dangerous and unpredictable. He could be a rebel who does not easily accept authority. If you are looking for a nickname, they would name it “the court dog”. He hates disloyalty and makes him nauseous. He is close to Orion because they have the same strange characteristic of wanting to provoke various reactions in people. Lestrange is present there, always willing to attack if they give him the order, even if it is in a malevolent way, because it is what amuses him the most. He doesn’t analyse, he reacts.

Cassius Avery is probably one of the most variable and different from the knights. He doesn’t have warmth or kindness, he uses it. He loves poetry and Gothic literature due to the depth of writing based on human emotions. He sees the world through a prism of fatalism and elegant pessimism. Always with a tense jaw and a direct look that seems to be judging or evaluating, judgement full of rigidity. He is reserved and usually maintains an impeccable facade of tranquillity, almost neutral. However, he is one of those who feels the most. He can hold extreme resentment. The emotion that most perpetuates him is... the fear toward his lord and the inability to protect himself from him.

Abraxas Malfoy, the most favorite and famous one. Rich from the cradle. Cold and haghy, with a downward look that denotes power and disapproval. The most loyal to his lord in an obsessive way, considered the right hand in certain seasons. He likes ostentation but boasts of not having any vulgarity in his system. A self-confident, aristocratic and possibly snobbish individual. Someone full of confidence and absolute control over his image. His personality is impeccable, calculated and always aware of his status. He fights and scolds Mulciber for his lack of refinement, but everyone knows that behind that neat facade he is the first to go into crisis in the face of some mistake. He obeys orders effectively but in a bad attitude, since he has no more options, and dislikes being perceived (by others and by himself) as a lackey or servant.

Elias Nott. He is reckless, severe, determined, direct and with deep nuances. He loves history and the analysis of the various time variables. Analytical, nothing impetuous. A tormented or bitter person. He could be obsessed with a goal. He manifests his emotions only in two parts of his face: eyes and jaw. A serious person, possibly cynical, who takes life with great solemnity. He’s ambitious and reserved, someone who rarely relaxes or smiles. Always rigid, formalistic and with a very reserved personality. He is someone who strictly adheres to the rules or conventions, but not out of cheerful conviction, but out of duty. He is harsh and disrespectful, he has charisma but uses it only in specific cases. He likes to know everything, absolutely everything, thus having many tools to use against people.

Druella Rosier. A woman with a sharp mind, stubborn. She maintains a hedonistic and arrogant personality. She lives with such a carefree air, even defiant. She’s a rebellious person in her own way, who lives under her own rules and enjoys pleasures (or vices). Her beauty is a tool of power. She’s combination of formal elegance and dangerous indulgence. A figure that dominates any environment with a mixture of aristocratic coldness and a subversive charm. She have an imposing and extremely manipulative personality. Strong and independent, evil and banal.