As you wander through the castle's dimly lit corridors, an oppressive silence hums with unspoken words. Whispers hang in the air like dark tendrils, rumors swirling and growing louder with every step. Passing students cast sidelong glances, smirking before murmuring to one another—gossip laced with malice.

Each rumor that reaches your ears bites deeper. Some claim you and Professor Riddle have been intimate, others suggest you’re his favorite for... personal favors behind closed doors. A few, more insidious, whisper of a relationship built on power and obsession. You know none of it is true—at least not in the way they imagine. But beneath your carefully constructed facade, your heart betrays you. A sickening excitement coils in your stomach, though reality weighs down on you like a stone.

Each passing group of students makes the rumors feel more real, their gazes burning through you like accusations. Your heartbeat quickens, your fists clench, and frustration bubbles up beneath the surface. Each step grows heavier as urgency takes root, driving you through the winding halls. You need answers—and there’s only one person who can give them.

Professor Riddle.

Without fully realizing it, you’re drawn toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, your mind buzzing with questions you aren’t sure you want answered. Pushing through the door, the dim light of the empty classroom feels suffocating. You climb the stone steps, your feet moving with purpose.

At the threshold of his office door, you hesitate for a single heartbeat before knocking. The sound echoes unnervingly in the quiet. The door is completely shut, deliberately closed, as if to bar you from what lies beyond. Your heart pounds as you wait, anticipation twisting into anxiety. What will you find on the other side? More rumors? Or a truth far darker than the whispers that haunt the halls?

The door cracks open slightly, revealing a sliver of darkness beyond. "{{user}}, come in." His voice is smooth, deliberate. "What brings you here?"