Chapter 16-  Meet Tom Marvolo Riddle

Talking to Moaning Myrtle was easier said than done. Since the students weren’t left alone for a second Harry, Neville and Ron were not able to find a time to slip unnoticed into the girl’s bathroom. At least if it had been the boy’s bathroom they’d have an excuse. But the girl’s?

To add insult to injury, at least in Harry’s opinion, the teachers informed them that exams were to start in a week. McGonagall gave them a very strict lecture about the whole point of keeping the school open being for them to get an education, which included exams, and Sirius’s asked innocently if they could think of any better way to spend their time than exams. Harry glared at his father and found he wasn’t the only one in class doing so. Actually, he could think of many better ways to spend his time.

Since Hermione had been Petrified Harry, Ron and Neville noticed how much they depended on her to make their study schedule and clear out their doubts. Harry decided to make use of the Hogwarts resident tutor but when the three of them stopped by Remus’ office to sign up for a session they were disappointed to find they hadn’t been the only ones to think that and the schedule was full. Remus promised to tutor them on his free time but that wouldn’t be nearly enough time for what they needed. Things were getting desperate.

One good thing that happened was when Professor McGonagall informed them at breakfast that the Mandrakes were finally ready and the Petrified victims would be revived that same night. Ron had been happy, saying that it didn’t matter that they hadn’t talked to Myrtle, but Harry still had the nagging felling that Slytherin’s Heir was still out there and could still hurt someone badly. 

There was also Ginny’s strange behavior; she had come to tell them something but Percy had interrupted and said that she had caught him doing something that he didn’t want people to know. But Harry frowned at this. He knew Ginny, and if she had dirt on Percy she’d be gleeful not scared and nervous. She had been very skittish lately, especially with Harry and Harry figured she was still embarrassed by that singing dwarf on Valentine, which Harry later on found out had been a prank from Fred and George, but the whole school thought it had been Ginny.

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“How exactly did he get in this mess?” he thought as he felt the effects of the poison, “Oh, yeah! Lockhart!”

Things had been looking better. The Mandrakes were ready and Harry, Ron and Neville had managed to ditch Lockhart on their way to History of Magic. They had planed to talk to Moaning Myrtle but McGonagall had caught them and by thinking very quickly they convinced her they were trying to see Hermione. In the Hospital Wing, they realized Hermione had been holding a piece of paper from a book and figured out that Slytherin’s monster was a Basilisk that was going around through the pipes. And the entrance had to be in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. They were about to go tell Sirius when McGonagall’s voice ordered the students back to their dormitories. There they heard the worst news ever: Ginny had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets. Ron, Neville and Harry decided to tell a teacher, preferably, McGonagall, Sirius, Severus or Remus, about their findings (not that Ron and Neville were to thrilled to include Snape on the list). Unfortunately the first teacher they ran into was Lockhart who was floating a few trunks ahead of him in one of the corridors in a clear escape attempt. Harry didn’t think twice and with a shout of “Expelliarmus” he disarmed the phony teacher.

“Where are you going sir? Shouldn’t you be helping look for Ginny?” he asked icily. Neville and Ron had been pointing their wands at Lockhart too.

“Well, I think the other teachers can handle-“

“You are the Defense teacher!” Neville cried.

“After all you did in your books!” Ron yelled.

“Books can be misleading,” Lockhart mumbled.

“You wrote them!” Harry cried.

Lockhart rolled his eyes impatiently, “Honestly, do you really think people would be interested to hear that I only wrote about those feats? They obviously had to think I did them!”

“You mean you stole them?” Neville said incredulously, “What about the people that actually did those things?”

“Nothing a little Obliviate doesn’t solve,” Lockhart scoffed, “Now, if you’ll please lend me my wand I’ll just do a Memory Charm on you and be on my way.”

“You really think we’re that dumb?” Ron asked. Lockhart shrugged.

“I don’t think so, sir,” Harry said evenly, “You see, we figured where the entrance to the Chamber of Secret is and you are going in to get Ginny. Ron and I will take you to the entrance. Neville, can you let my dad and the others in on what is going on?” Neville nodded and left at a run. Ron poked Lockhart with his wand and Lockhart got up grudgingly.

They had gone to the abandoned girl’s bathroom and Myrtle had told them that before she died she heard a boy’s voice say something in a strange language. When she opened the stall’s door she saw a pair of yellow eyes and then she was dead. Harry went to the sink from where Myrtle said she heard the voice and found a scratch in one of the copper taps of a tiny snake. He hissed “Open” in Parseltongue and the sink sank to the ground until all you could see was large pipe exposed.

“I guess that’s the entrance,” Ron said.

“The other teachers should be here any second now. They’ll get Ginny back,” Harry said confidently.

“I don’t think so,” Lockhart said from behind them. He was grinning and pointing Ron’s wand at them. Ron patted his pockets. How stupid he was? He had put his wand in his pocket when he kneeled to inspect the sink!

“Dreadful business, see. The boys tried to face the monster by themselves and were caught by it. It was too late to save the poor girl and the boys lost their minds. So sorry about that. Now Harry, do be a darling and close that entrance so I can Obliviate you and we can leave this dreadful place behind.”

Harry and Ron were eyeing the wand. They were dangerously close to the pipe but Harry knew he couldn’t close the entrance. Not while Ginny was still there.

Lockhart was getting closer and Ron and Harry took another step back. Harry could feel that half of his left foot was in the air.

“Obl-“ Lockhart started but at the same time Myrtle yelled from behind him:

“You forgot about me!”

Lockhart stumbled and fell forward dragging Ron and Harry with him through the pipe. They fell for what felt like ages. Harry could see other pipes branching off in all directions. Suddenly the pipe leveled out and they were shot out landing with a thud on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel. Harry looked behind him; Lockhart and Ron had landed a little behind him. Harry hoped Ron would have been able to get his wand back but it was firmly grasped in Lockhart’s hand.

“I think this is enough then boys. You had your fun,” he said first pointing at Harry, “Obliviate”.

Harry ducked and raised a shield but instead of seeing the spell Harry heard an explosion and chunks of stone falling down. He coughed on the dust that had risen and when he was finally able to see again there was a wall of rocks where he had previously been.

“Ron!” he cried. Oh, God! What if Ron had been under those rocks? “Ron!”

“I’m here. I’m okay. The ponce isn’t,” came Ron’s muffled voice, “The wand backfired. He got a full blast. He’s knocked out.”

Harry tried to move some rocks but it was impossible. He was trapped here with no way out and a Basilisk somewhere in this tunnel.

“It will take ages to get this rocks down,” Ron said, “I can’t get through.”

Ginny was somewhere in here. She could still be alive. But for how long? Did they have time to wait for help? He made up his mind.

“Ron, try and move some of these rocks. The teachers that Neville went to fetch should arrive soon and they will be ale to help. I’ll go look for Ginny. Tell them that! I’ll need all the help I can get but we can’t wait,” he didn’t wait for an answer and left. From behind he could hear:

“No, Harry! Wait!”

After that he had followed the tunnel until he found a solid wall with two entwined serpents carved. He hissed “Open” and the wall opened as the serpents parted. He entered an enormous chamber with towering stone pillars where more carved serpents rose to support the ceiling. Very carefully Harry entered, expecting the Basilisk to show up any second now. As he surveyed the chamber his heart skipped a beat. Right in the middle of the floor Ginny lay unmoving. He ran to her as fast as he could.

“Ginny! Oh, please Ginny don’t be dead!” he begged as he shook her and hugged her close, “Please wake up. We have to leave. Come on Ginny. Please!”

She was limp on his arms. Vibrant Ginny who didn’t take any rubbish from her brothers or Harry. Who had grilled Sirius for extra hexes to use on the twins as soon as she noticed he would be more than happy to teach her. Who could get away with more things than Harry and Ron could ever dream of with Remus just by smiling sweetly at him. This wasn’t their Ginny, this unmoving doll.

“She won’t wake,” said a soft voice.

Harry looked up and saw a tall, black-haired boy of around sixteen years old, leaning against one of the pillars watching him. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window. But he recognized him nonetheless and instantly stood alert.

“Tom? Tom Riddle?”

Riddle nodded. Harry checked Ginny’s breath. It was still there.

“She’s still alive. But barely,” Riddle said with an expression that could only be called enjoyment.

As Harry turned to look at Riddle he saw the diary he had lost lying opened next to Ginny. He remembered what his dad said about the diary and somehow he knew he had to get rid of the diary and of Riddle.

“What are you? A ghost?”

“A memory,” Riddle answered, “Preserved on the pages of a diary for fifty years.”

Harry looked suspiciously at him. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. Tom seemed very at ease for someone who was in a place where a Basilisk could show up any second now.

“I was very eager to meet you Harry,” Tom said walking towards Harry with a hungry look. “For months now I’ve been wanting to know all about you, and little Ginny was very eager to tell me everything. Of course I had to endure all her silly little troubles, how people would tease her for her second-hand robes and books. How she would never live up to her brothers and her brother’s best friend, you. How people would always see her as little Ginny that came to have classes with Harry Potter and never really as a real student. It’s very boring. But I was sympathetic, patient. I wrote back kind words. She loved it, Oh, Tom. No one understands me like you do. I am so glad I have this diary to confide in… It’s like having a friend that I can carry in my pocket.”

Riddle laughed a high cold laugh that sent shivers down Harry’s spine. He knew that laugh from his nightmares. He knew that laugh from the end of last year, but it couldn’t be.

“If I say it myself, Harry, I have always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss. Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss. Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul into her…”

“You did it all!” Harry said through narrowed eyes.

“Oh, in a way I didn’t; she did. She opened the Chamber of Secrets, she killed the roosters, she unleashed the serpent that Petrified four students and the Squib’s cat,” he sighed dignified, “I was merely the conscience behind it all but she executed it all. It’s all the same.”

“No it’s not. Ginny would never do that on her own free will,” Harry growled.

Riddle laughed again, “You’re right. She did try to fight me when she realized that she didn’t remember chunks of time…’Oh Tom, I thin I am losing my memory. There are rooster feathers on my robes ad I don’t know how they got there.’ Eventually she figured she was the one doing all those things and tried to get rid of the diary. And that’s when you showed up. Ginny had told me all about you. Oh, how I had wanted to meet you.”

“And why is that? Wanted to find out how you got defeated?” Harry asked icily and Riddle laughed.

“You are not as dumb as I first presumed. How did you figure my anagram out?”

“What anagram?”

Riddle used Ginny’s wand that was in his hand to write “Tom Marvolo Riddle” in the air. The letters shuffled and formed the words “I am Lord Voldemort”. Harry looked at it disdainfully and said:

“Nope, sorry. I don’t waste my time with silly child games,” at this Riddle fumed. Harry didn’t think it completely wise to goad him but he knew help was on the way so he wanted to stall, “I recognized your laugh. It’s quite distinguishable.”

“Really? Glad to be remembered. But as you said, I want to know how you did it. That is the whole reason we are here, Harry. When Ginny wrote again in the diary I was furious. She saw you with the diary and panicked. She went through your things and stole it back. I had wanted to talk to you more. So, I had to act. I made her attack again in the hopes to drive Dumbledore away,” he smirked here, “And I succeeded. Ginny told me how he is like a Grandfather to you. I couldn’t have him here protecting you, No, no, no,” he shook his finger as if talking to a naughty boy. “The next move was to bring you down here. Do you know a better way than abducting your best friend’s baby sister? I counted on the fact that only you can open the Chamber and of course, your Gryffindor foolishness. And I was rewarded. Here you are. Now how did you manage to defeat the greatest Wizard in the world?”

“You are not! Dumbledore is the greatest Wizard in the world!” Harry cried angrily pointing his wand at Riddle.

“Dumbledore! Dumbledore was driven away by the mere memory of me!”

“He’s not as gone as you might think,” Harry hissed. His mind was working furiously. What could he do? Ghosts weren’t affected by spells. Were memories affected? Riddle opened his mouth but froze. Music was coming from somewhere. Music Harry knew. Music he’d heard so many times when he was little and scared and his Grandfather had been taking care of him. Harry looked up and his heart beat more strongly. Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame. Flying low he dropped something on Harry’s lap. As he looked down he saw the Sorting Hat. Harry frowned. This was not the time for cryptic messages.

Riddle laughed, “That’s what Dumbledore sends his big defender? A bird and an old hat? Do you feel brave Harry Potter? Do you feel safe?”

No, he didn’t but he wasn’t about to let Riddle know.

Riddle turned serious, “Enough with the chat now. I want to know how you managed to survive my attempts at your life twice. Tell me everything; the longer you talk…the longer you stay alive.”

Harry’s mind was racing. He could stall and wait for help, but the longer he took, the more life was dwindling from Ginny. Swallowing hard he decided to act. He had his wand and Fawkes. He’d try his chance on a duel. Maybe, with a lot of luck, he could defeat Riddle, who was older and more experienced in the Dark Arts than him. Who was he kidding? He was a goner! But that was Ginny’s best chance.

“No one knows exactly what happened, how you lost your powers but what I do know is that it wasn’t my doing. It was my common, Muggle-Born mother’s doing. She defeated you. Her sacrifice out of love made it impossible for you to kill me. Lord Voldemort was defeated by a Muggle-Born witch, who transformed you into the wreck you are today. Hiding, ugly, foul. Barely living!” he almost yelled in his rage.

Riddle’s face contorted but then it turned into an ugly smile.

“So it was luck that saved you. No special power. Just a miscalculation on my part,” his smile grew even more twisted, “Now Harry let’s see how you fair against Salazar Slytherin’s Heir’s power.” Riddle walked away and stopped between the stone pillars. He looked up into what Harry realized was the stone face of Salazar Slytherin and started hissing.

“Speak to me, Slytherin greatest of the Hogwarts four.”

Another password Harry figured. It did take one egocentric megalomaniac to understand the other.

Slytherin’s gigantic mouth moved and in horror Harry saw something stirring. Still clutching the Sorting Hat, Harry rose and backed away until he hit the wall. Before he closed his eyes he whispered Wingardium Leviosa at Ginny and floated her to a covered corner of the stones where he hoped she wouldn’t be a target.

Something huge hit the floor. He could sense the serpent uncoiling as Riddle hissed “Kill him”. He began to run blindly hoping to get away. Hand outstretched he tried to feel his way. With the other hand he sent all the damaging curses he knew but he knew they were useless. The Basilisk skin would protect it.

He heard hissing and trashing and was suddenly hit by something heavy that flung him towards a wall. Disoriented Harry couldn’t help it. He opened his eyes and what he saw made him want to sing in joy. Fawkes had attacked the basilisk’s eyes and blood was seeping through them. It was blind, making it safe for Harry to look.

Encouraged by this, Harry started firing more hexes at it knowing they were at least hitting the target. The Basilisk grew more agitated and moved to the direction of the hexes. Harry ran but tripped and had to use the hand holding the hat to break his fall. As he got up again he put the hat on his head to have both his hands free and ran as fast as he could.  He was suddenly met by a wall and as he turned he saw he was corned. He begged for help to arrive soon but he saw nothing. Instead, Harry felt something hard thud on the top of his head as the hat contracted. He grabbed the hat to pull whatever was in there off and his hand grasped the hilt of Gryffindor’s sword. The sword he had seen so many times in his grandfather’s office. Almost by instinct Harry held the sword firmly in front of him just in time for the Basilisk to fling itself forward. The sword went through its open mouth and hitting the roof of it. Harry felt blood drench his arm at the same time a searing pain throbbed above his elbow.  Suddenly the Basilisk was flung away from him by an invisible force and Harry saw it drop dead several feet away from him. Harry saw one of its fangs had sunk deep in his arm. He slid against the wall, griped the fang and wrenched it out of his arms. He knew it was too late. He would die. And so would Ginny. As white-hot pain was spreading slowly Harry saw Fawkes fly towards him and he heard Remus’s voice crying for him. He wondered, “How exactly did I get in this mess? Oh, yeah! Lockhart!”

 He felt something drop on his lap and through a foggy vision, he saw Fawkes had brought the diary. He didn’t really know how he knew what to do, but he pierced the fang still in his hand through the diary and heard an awful scream somewhere as dark ink spluttered off the diary flooding the floor.

“Harry,” Remus choked voice came. He felt strong hands lift him and dropped the diary and the fang. “Harry, look at me cub. Please. Don’t let go.”

“Sorry Uncle Moony. We tried to get you. Lockhart-” he said weakly.

“Sh, it’s okay,” Remus whispered through tears smoothing Harry’s face with a trembling hand.

Blackness was getting near as Harry felt something warm and wet drip on his arm, just where the fang had pierced. Slowly the darkness left and so did the pain. His vision was coming back in focus and Harry could see Remus clearly. He looked at his arms and saw Fawkes crying on it. He smiled. Fawkes saved him.

“Thanks Fawkes. You were brilliant.”

The bird gave a happy chirp and flew away to where Ginny was waking up. An army of teachers burst through the entrance and Harry saw Ron run to Ginny and Sirius to him. Remus hugged him closer and rocked back and forth. Sirius joined the hug and the rocking, kissing Harry’s head. Harry didn’t say anything. He knew this was for Sirius’ and Remus’ benefit more than his own.

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A/N- Some of the dialogs are from “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”

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Special thanks to my beta Swaddict1986