It didn't take long for Elizabeth to notice the change in Tom. He was becoming... darker.

She tried not to ponder on it for too long but her thoughts always got carried away with themselves. Tom wasn't evil, definitely not. Yet Elizabeth couldn't deny that he was heading in that direction, especially not after the incident with the matron.

She couldn't confront him, no. Elizabeth knew that. Tom was defensive enough about his private 'studying' and when she asked what book he was constantly reading, he would snap it shut and shove it in his pocket away from Elizabeth's eyesight.

She was becoming more aware of Tom Riddle's goals day by day. And she knew she had to do something to stop him from actually succeeding with a single one.

The first time Elizabeth knew was after she'd finished the rest of her catch up lessons in Potions due to her time spent in the hospital wing. She was cleaning up the rest of the materials and the cauldron when Tom entered the room.

Elizabeth was in the cupboard and was just about to come out to finish up with the cleaning. She was about to exit when she heard Slughorn's voice.

"Something on your mind, Tom?"

"Yes sir. I couldn't think of anyone else to go to. The other professors, well, they're not like you. They might... misunderstand," Tom said. His voice appeared occupied and hesitant but Elizabeth knew there was something more to it than that.

"Go on," Slughorn urged.

Tom was silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "I was in the library the other night, in the restricted section, and I read something rather odd about a bit of rare magic, and it's called, as I understand it, a Horcrux."

"I beg your pardon?" Slughorn responded. He sounded wary.

"A Horcrux," Tom pushed, "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."

"I'm not sure what you're reading Tom, but this is very dark stuff, very dark indeed."

Tom's attempt to impress Slughorn into giving him information was evident to Elizabeth, "...which is why I came to you."

Slughorn began to speak again, "A Horcrux is an object which a person has concealed a part of their soul."

Elizabeth could hear Tom's footsteps, suggesting he'd approached Slughorn - perhaps to intimidate him into telling Tom more, "But I didn't understand how that works, sir."

"One splits one's soul and hides it in part of an object. By doing so you are protected should you be attacked and your body destroyed," Slughorn informed him. It was obvious that he wasn't sure about whether or not he should be telling Tom.

"Protected?" Tom questioned impatiently.

"The part of your soul that is hidden lives long," Slughorn answered, "In other words you cannot die."

Tom's footsteps could be heard again. He was now facing the fire, fiddling with the ring on his finger, "How does one split his soul, sir?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, Tom," Slughorn said.

"Murder," Tom almost whispered. The word rolled off his tongue as if he had no fear of it.

"Yes," Slughorn said, his tone becoming even more serious, "Killing rips the soul apart; it is a violation against nature."

Tom was more intrigued by Slughorn's response. He continued, "Can you only split the soul once? For instance... seven?"

"Seven?" Slughorn said, clearly astonished, "Merlin's beard, Tom, isn't it bad enough to consider killing one person? To rip the soul into seven pieces... This is all hypothetical Tom, isn't it, not academic?"

Tom turned and laughed briefly, "Of course, sir. It'll be our little secret."

With that, Tom turned around. He heard the deep breaths of someone who was perhaps frightened, but thought it must have been Slughorn behind him and continued his path.