The gathered students had been ready to explode, but when they saw the one in the middle was Tom, the fire guttered at once.
"Mr. Riddle, what happened here?" Rouse asked, not noticing that there was an extra head sticking out of the wall.
He missed it, but Frank did not. He jumped. "Voray? Why are you in the wall? Who did this?"
Tom lifted his eyelids. "I did. Problem?"
Frank blazed. "You dare cast on a student from Ilvermorny? Is this how Hogwarts treats guests? Come with me, Rouse. Take me to Dumbledore. I will ask him what sort of example he is setting."
Tom frowned. "Annoying." He met Frank's eyes. "You can go in too."
With nothing more than a look, Frank snapped to attention, and Tom sent him into the stone opposite Cassandra.
"Frank!" Solenne had no idea what had happened. Her fiancé had been bundled away before she could think. She drew her wand on instinct.
"More?" Tom's eyes narrowed again.
Rouse moved fast, stepping in front of Solenne. "Easy, Riddle, easy. Solenne means no harm. She just wants to understand what happened."
As he spoke, Rouse threw Tom a frantic string of winks.
Tom:
...
Seriously? I am fuming and you want me to play wingman while you flirt?
He sighed. Rouse had saved him effort more than once. Fine. He would play along.
"Professor Wilkinson, you truly want to vouch for her? She is your enemy's fiancée." Tom's voice cooled. "Shall I put her in the wall as well, to help you vent a little?"
As a wingman, Tom was the wizard of the century. Rouse's eyes lit up. Inwardly he howled, Boss, you are a saint.
On the surface he arranged his face into gravity. "Riddle, I am not one to confuse grudges. Even if Solenne is Frank's fiancée, that is between me and the Graves family, not her.
"Besides, Solenne helped me many times in the past. If you want to move her, you must defeat me first."
"Rouse..." Solenne looked at him, moved in spite of herself. Yesterday's quarrel with Frank had left her first impression of Rouse poor. Now she recognized her mistake. This is what people mean when they say, a man.
"Very well. I will give you that face." Tom nodded, unwilling on the surface. "But let me make this clear. I did not start trouble with Ilvermorny's students today. Ask around. There are plenty of witnesses."
He turned to Cassandra. "Miss Voray, do you understand now whether I have the qualification you demanded? To be precise, for many pure bloods, being reviewed by me is an honor. Most families are not qualified to appear in my pages at all.
"You are a spoiled child. Open your eyes and look at the world. At the very least, your Voray line does not have that qualification."
He descended the stairs with Hermione and Daphne at his sides.
...
"We are letting him leave? He did not explain anything," Solenne said, unwillingly. "Is that Tom Riddle the one who wrote Bloodline Theory?"
"It is him," Rouse said with a wry smile. "Solenne, Riddle is not simple. He is full of tricks. If you truly anger him, both of us will end up in the wall."
He glanced around at the silent students. "Can someone tell me exactly what happened?"
"I will," Theodore Nott stepped forward. He had shadowed Tom the whole time and had seen everything. He did not embellish a word, recounting the affair from start to finish. Solenne watched the surrounding faces. No one contradicted him. She sighed.
"Cassandra has been spoiled," she admitted. "Her family are extreme bloodline purists. They raised her to that standard from childhood."
"The Vorays," Rouse gave a cold laugh. "Birds of a feather with the Graves. A little money, and they reach farther every year."
Solenne let it pass. Rouse could say such things; they were not the same camp. She could not.
She raised her wand to lower the two in the wall.
"Wait," Rouse stopped her. When Solenne frowned, he explained patiently, "Riddle's magic is strong. I am worried that forcing a countercharm will hurt them."
Solenne hesitated, suddenly unsure. "Then what do we do?"
"Find Dumbledore." Rouse gently took her hand. "He is the only one in the school who can press Riddle down, and the only one who can resolve this."
Solenne felt nothing amiss and nodded, lifting her chin as they turned to go.
Halfway up, Rouse looked back at the students. "Do not touch them. Keep the scene intact. You, Hufflepuff, you are Colin, right?"
Colin stared. "Yes?"
"I remember you carry that camera everywhere. Take pictures now for the record, and send me a copy later."
Oh.
I forgot to take pictures.
Professor Wilkinson had experience.
Colin smacked his forehead, then raised the camera and snapped away at Cassandra and Frank, flash popping again and again.
"You think of everything," Solenne said, admiration bright in her eyes.
"Hardly. Even if Frank is my enemy, I still want to uphold fairness."
"You are... honestly, too upright for your own good."
They went upstairs chatting lightly. Frank wanted to die.
This blasted fathead was not preserving evidence. He was collecting blackmail for the archives.