The Half-Blood Prince Takes MVP

"Evil? Me?"

Getting called an "evil brat" by the story's biggest villain left Gavin with mixed feelings.

From dozens of feet away, his Super-Sensory Charm let him watch Tom Riddle's face—a temporary construction of Life Force—twist with rage.

Honestly, Gavin didn't think he had done much.

Hadn't he just pretended to be Justin and asked Tom a few calculus questions?

Hadn't he just told Tom that Voldemort was sweeping floors for Grindelwald?

Hadn't he just made up a story about Dumbledore marrying Grindelwald?

Was that really worth holding a grudge over?

Fifty years had passed, and Tom was still that petty. No wonder people said he couldn't see the bigger picture.

Tom gave Gavin little time to reflect on his "crimes."

He opened his mouth and issued an order to the Basilisk in Parseltongue.

"Hiss, hiss—hiss—(Kill—)"

The Basilisk's slit pupils searched the darkness. Its enormous emerald body turned soundlessly, scales scraping across the stone floor with a hiss that set teeth on edge throughout the Main Hall.

Before Tom could finish his command, Gavin cast Muffliato, and the sound vanished again.

Without an order to guide it, the Basilisk hesitated.

Gavin seized the chance to blend into the shadow of a Stone Pillar with a Disillusionment Charm.

The Basilisk swung its head from side to side, its slit pupils sweeping every Stone Pillar in the Main Hall. But it could find no sound to guide it to its prey.

The corner of Tom's mouth twitched.

It wasn't as though he had never seen a Disillusionment Charm. Back at Hogwarts, he had used it to sneak into the Restricted Section after midnight at least a hundred times.

What truly infuriated him was that silencing spell.

In his day, he had never seen anything like it.

Finite Incantatem could undo it, but