Chapter 3 Dining Hall Observations

The first week at Hogwarts passed in a whirlwind of lessons, staircases that shifted unexpectedly, and the strange, intoxicating mix of magic and tradition that made the castle feel alive. Liora Potter found herself growing more comfortable in Hufflepuff, laughing with her dormmates, learning the rhythms of classes, and even mastering the basics of charms and potions. And yet, through all the mundane wonder of her first week, a small, persistent unease tugged at her attention—a feeling that someone was watching her, always, from the periphery of her sight.

Tonight, as she followed the stream of students into the Great Hall for dinner, that sensation flared again. The hall was ablaze with candlelight, the enchanted ceiling above mirroring the night sky outside. Long tables stretched out in their respective house colours, filled with students chatting and laughing. The warm aroma of roast meats, fresh bread, and pumpkin juice filled the air, a familiar comfort after a day of learning spells and dodging enchanted suits of armour.

Liora’s gaze swept across her own house table as she took her seat, glancing at her Hufflepuff friends. Ella had already claimed the seat beside her, grinning broadly. Marnie and Tobias were seated across from them, animatedly discussing a recent charms experiment gone awry. Liora smiled and nodded, eager to join in, yet her attention drifted across the hall, drawn by the occasional flicker of movement from the other tables.

That’s when she saw him.

He sat alone at the Slytherin table, his posture impeccable, a dark green robe draped over narrow shoulders. The flickering candlelight caught the sharp angles of his face, the pale skin that seemed almost to glow in the dim light. Dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, and there was a dangerous elegance in the way he surveyed the room, a quiet authority that seemed to bend the air around him.

And then his gaze found hers.

It wasn’t the casual glance of a student scanning the hall; it was deliberate, intense, and unnervingly precise. Liora felt as though the eyes themselves were pulling at her chest, stirring something unfamiliar and thrilling, making her pulse quicken. She blinked, unsure if she had imagined it, but when she looked again, he was still there, watching her.

She quickly turned to Ella, hoping for a distraction. “Do you see him?” she whispered.

Ella followed her glance, then laughed lightly. “Him? Oh, that’s Mattheo Riddle. Slytherin. Everyone notices him—he’s… well, a bit legendary around here, though not exactly in the good way.”

“Legendary?” Liora repeated, curiosity tinged with apprehension.

Ella shrugged. “Some say he’s brilliant at spells, others that he’s… unpredictable. Some even say he has a dangerous streak. But no one really knows him. He’s… different.”

Liora tried to return her attention to the meal in front of her, to the roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, to the chatter around her table. But the pull of those dark, piercing eyes lingered at the edge of her awareness. She felt inexplicably aware of him, of the way he seemed to see more than just the surface of things—as if he could see her, truly see her, through the chaos of the dining hall and the noise of hundreds of students.

And then, for a moment, their eyes locked again.

A shiver ran down Liora’s spine. She quickly looked away, her hands trembling slightly as she tried to focus on pouring herself a cup of pumpkin juice. “He’s… watching me again,” she muttered under her breath.

Ella leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Honestly? Don’t think about it too much. Slytherins have a way of noticing people… especially new students. But he’s not necessarily dangerous. Just… intense. Keep your wits about you.”

Liora nodded, though her curiosity flared instead of fading. She couldn’t explain why, but the sensation of being observed felt… magnetic, compelling. She felt drawn to him in a way that made her stomach twist with equal parts anxiety and fascination.

Dinner continued, the clatter of plates and the murmur of conversation filling the hall. Every so often, Liora found herself glancing toward the Slytherin table, and every time, those dark eyes seemed to search for her among the crowd. She wondered if it was intentional, or if it was just her imagination, fuelled by the stories she had heard of Hogwarts’ mysterious students.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tray of freshly baked bread slid down the table beside her. “Here,” Tobias said, smiling. “You’ll need energy if you’re going to survive your first week. Hogwarts isn’t as friendly as it looks sometimes.”

Liora smiled, tucking a piece of bread into her mouth, but her attention still flickered toward Mattheo Riddle. He was moving now, retrieving a glass of water from a nearby student, his movements precise, controlled, almost elegant in their simplicity. And then he glanced up again, catching her gaze for the third time.

This time, she didn’t look away. She felt a strange, unspoken understanding, a connection that she couldn’t place. Something in the depth of his eyes made her feel simultaneously seen and unsteady, as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice and the ground beneath her heart had shifted.

“Do you know him?” Ella asked, noticing her distraction.

“I… not really,” Liora admitted. “I mean, I’ve heard of him, but… it’s different. There’s something about him.”

Ella raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Be careful. People like him—Slytherins like him—they’re… complicated. Don’t let curiosity get the better of you.”

Liora nodded, though a small part of her felt a thrill at the thought. Complicated could be interesting. And something deep inside her whispered that she would encounter him again—that this was just the first of many moments where their paths would cross.

As the candles flickered and the students laughed and argued over butterbeer and treacle tart, Liora found herself stealing glances toward the Slytherin table again and again. And each time, his gaze met hers, unwavering, unyielding, and intense.

By the time dessert arrived—a pile of glistening pumpkin tarts and chocolate eclairs—Liora’s mind was a whirl of thoughts and sensations she didn’t yet understand. Who was he? Why did he watch her like that? And most importantly, why did it feel as though the castle itself was conspiring to bring them together?

When the students finally rose to leave, the hall buzzing with energy and movement, Liora felt a lingering unease. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew, deep down, that Mattheo Riddle would not be a passing curiosity. Somewhere in the shadows of Hogwarts, he had noticed her—truly noticed her—and a thread had begun to form between them, thin and delicate, but unbreakable.

As she climbed the stairs back to the Hufflepuff common room, her heart still hammering, Liora Potter felt that same magnetic pull she had first sensed on the train and in the Sorting Hat ceremony. And for the first time, she realized that her arrival at Hogwarts had not only begun her magical education but had also drawn her into something far more complicated, far more intriguing, and far more dangerous than she had ever anticipated.

Somewhere across the hall, in the shadowed corners of the Slytherin table, a boy with dark eyes and sharper thoughts watched her with quiet interest, a faint smirk playing on his lips.