Tom Riddle and the Pureblood Prince

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Continuation of....


Chapter Forty-one: The Funeral


Over one hundred people came to see the funeral for the great Chief Healer.

Eileen spent a week mourning the loss. Graham’s body was hauntingly present in the house. The wake took place at Stonewall Estate.

After the wake the body was transported to what would become Graham’s final resting place: the village his ancestors first settled in. Cornwall, England was a Pureblood location. The Princes had originally dwelt there and nearly all were buried in its rocky shoreline.

A long procession came from all directions to where the final ceremony would take place. It was a breezy, serene Spring morning and Easter was coming. The recent coolness from a rainstorm was refreshing to the tearful mourners.

It was decided that in a few days she may return to school even though it had not been two weeks. She knew father would wish to see his family move on. People mustn’t forget to live while they still can.

Prudently, Eileen believed that dreams no longer mattered. She could not harp on memories of father, as it only hurt more that way. She must move on with life. Graham would want to see his eldest child become a fully qualified witch.

Eileen joined hands with her mother and brother before an ancient stone circle. Pillars of white stone formed a circle of protection, Graham’s body laid in a casket at the centre.

Around them came more and witches and wizards who did not join the circle but watched. Amongst them, was Seraphimus Smith hauntingly present. Nobody had an inkling of an idea that he arranged Graham’s death. Nobody could ever guess that a schoolboy named Tom Riddle worked with Smith to have Prince murdered undercover. And most shockingly of all, that the daughter interacted with Riddle.

Eileen gazed at her father’s limp frame, the eyes had been forced shut. The examiners of the body knew the Avada kedavra curse leaves the eyes opened. They had seen this had been so with Graham and there was already talk that this had not been accident, but malicious intent.

The rest of Graham was covered with fragrant flowers, masking the scent of death.

Unspeakables sometimes functioned sort of like Wizard High Priests. An Unspeakable stepped into the circle and raised his wand.

They all watched him do the last magical rites to secure Graham into peaceful eternity in a presumed afterlife.

Every last Healer had come. The unwitting Clark watched with clouded over eyes.

The Unspeakable said the final words and delivered a magical benediction in Latin. Eileen was in a state that she could barely process the words. When the eulogy came she heard mixtures of, “A wizard of insurmountable talent….A compassion for caring for all manner of creatures and a disregard for purity of blood…A noble man, a true wizard. Order of Merlin Third Class.” All of this was true and great, but it mattered little to the immediate family. Little Francis and Eileen simply knew Graham as their perfectly loving parent. He had cherished the children above all else.

The Unspeakable raised his wand to the sky. All followed suit, Eileen trying to steady her hand as she raised her wand in one hand and squeezed Francis with the other. It was the last and final farewell, Eileen realized suddenly.

Francis was on the verge of tears. Any second now he was liable to breakdown.

White flames spit out the Unspeakable’s wand, binding the casket. For a moment the casket seemed to be burning. Then the white fire ceased. The flames did not taint the body but only transformed it, and sealed the casket.

Francis let out a loud bawl.

Marie Prince with her hooked nose peered down severely. She wanted to reprimand her son right there, but couldn’t destroy the regality of the moment. Marie Prince strongly believed like most aristocrats of the era that emotion was never shown in public.

More tears squeezed out the little boy’s eyes but a look from his mother silenced him. Eileen turned red, bearing the outcry with effrontery.

Clarke observed the Princes with pity. He was a good man. Seraphimus was not affected. He was secretly glad that after this was settled he’d be up for promotion. He would succeed Mr. Prince as Chief Healer.

That afternoon they buried Eileen’s father by a craggy shoreline with a breathtaking view of the sea.


Easter holiday had ended. Tomorrow Eileen would be back to Hogwarts. It was a few days after the burial, a cold April evening.

A bedraggled Eileen traipsed down the driveway, clutching a satchel and schoolbooks. Her mother in a swift gait ushered Eileen out of the house.

“Your carriage arrives soon. I’m sure you will continue to honor your father’s memory at Hogwarts. Won’t you?”

“Must we go through this again? Of course, I’ll do my best. Leave me be mum. I’ll wait for my ride alone!”

Marie frowned with disappointment. She might have been genuinely hurt at her daughter’s coldness. Mother and daughter never had a good relationship, it had always been estranged. But Eileen had gotten along much better with father. He had been the kinder parent and did not seek to criticize.

“Here it is!” said Marie when she spied a black carriage wheeling through the gateway.

“Goodbye,” Eileen said.

“We shall see you in the summer, Eileen. July is not far off.”

Eileen nodded and climbed inside. It was being pulled by Thestrals.

For the first time ever she could see them. The death of a loved one had sunk in and they were visible. They would be visible to Eileen forever. Once visible, it was permanent, just as permanent as the reality of death.

Eileen cried full of horror at the creatures and hated sitting so alone in a carriage. But she had not yet passed the apparition test. Without a license she could not apparate to Hogsmeade.

And so she must take a harrowing eight-hour journey by carriage.

It was a dark time for the young woman’s life. Eileen’s loneliness turned to self-pity along the way.


NOTE: Now we are back to Hogwarts and some interactions between Eileen Prince and Tom Riddle. Eileen will not be so terribly down in the next scenes, but talk of the death of Graham is not over. Of course, I am considering how and if Eileen discovers through the cult the true reason for her father’s death. I think she does, wink , wink and that will irrevocably change everything she thought she felt for Riddle!