EDITED
Harry sat on his four poster and flicked through the blank pages, not one of which had a trace of scarlet ink on it. Then he pulled a new bottle out of his bedside cabinet, dipped his quill into it, and dropped a blot onto the first page of the diary. The ink shone brightly on the paper for a second and then, as though it was being sucked into the page, vanished.
Excited, Harry loaded up his quill a second time and wrote, "My name is Harry Potter."
The words shone momentarily on the page and they, too, sank without trace. Then, at last, something happened. Oozing back out of the page, in his very own ink, came words Harry had never wrote.
"Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?" Harry thought back to the boy in his grade, the one that his sister seemed to be best friends with, Mattheo Riddle. Were they brothers? maybe they are cousins? They have the same last name so surely they have to be related right?
These words, too, faded away, but not before Harry had started to scribble back. "Someone tried to flush it down a toilet." He waited eagerly for Riddle's reply.
"Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink. But I always knew that there would be those who would not want this diary read."
"What do you mean?" Harry scrawled, blotting the page in his excitement.
"I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"That's where I am now," Harry wrote quickly. "I'm at Hogwarts, and horrible stuff's been happening. Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets and do you know a Mattheo Riddle?" His heart was hammering. Riddle's reply came quickly, his writing becoming untidier, as though he was hurrying to tell all he knew.
"I don't know a Mattheo Riddle but of course, I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned."
Harry nearly upset his ink bottle in his hurry to write back. "It's happening again now. There have been three attacks and no one seems to know who's behind them. Who was it last time?"
"I can show you, if you like," came Riddle's reply. "You don't have to take my word for it. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him."
Harry hesitated, his quill suspended over the diary. What did Riddle mean? How could he be taken inside somebody else's memory? He glanced nervously at the door to the dormitory, which was growing dark. When he looked back at the diary, he saw fresh words forming.
"Let me show you."
Harry paused for a fraction of a second and then wrote two letters.
"OK."
The pages of the diary began to blow as though caught in a high wind, stopping halfway through the month of June. Mouth hanging open, Harry saw that the little square for June thirteenth seemed to have turned into a minuscule television screen. His hands trembling slightly, he raised the book to press his eye against the little window, and before he knew what was happening, he was tilting forward; the window was widening, he felt his body leave his bed, and he was pitched headfirst through the opening in the page, into a whirl of colour and shadow.
He felt his feet hit solid ground, and stood, shaking, as the blurred shapes around him came suddenly into focus. He knew immediately where he was. This circular room with the sleeping portraits was Dumbledore's office — but it wasn't Dumbledore who was sitting behind the desk. A wizened, frail-looking wizard, bald except for a few wisps of white hair, was reading a letter by candlelight.
Harry had never seen this man before.
"I'm sorry," he said shakily. "I didn't mean to butt in —"
But the wizard didn't look up. He continued to read, frowning slightly. Harry drew nearer to his desk and stammered, "Er — I'll just go, shall I?"
Still the wizard ignored him. He didn't seem even to have heard him. Thinking that the wizard might be deaf, Harry raised his voice. "Sorry I disturbed you. I'll go now," he half-shouted.
The wizard folded up the letter with a sigh, stood up, walked past Harry without glancing at him, and went to draw the curtains at his window. The sky outside the window was ruby red; it seemed to be sunset and he couldn't help but think of his sister, he knew how much she loved to watch the sunsets.
The wizard went back to the desk, sat down, and twiddled his thumbs, watching the door. Harry looked around the office. No Fawkes the Phoenix — no whirring silver contraptions. This was Hogwarts as Riddle had known it, meaning that this unknown wizard was headmaster, not Dumbledore, and he, Harry, was little more than a phantom, completely invisible to the people of fifty years ago.
There was a knock on the office door."Enter," said the old wizard in a feeble voice. A boy of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointed hat, but it was the next person to enter that seemed to surprise him even more, it was his sister, though she looked older, she looked about 16 too.
"Kirra?" Harry asked but just like everyone else, she didn't seem to hear him
A silver prefect's badge was glinting on both of their chests. He was much taller than Kirra and Harry, but he, too, had jet-black hair.
"Ah, Mr Riddle... Miss Winston" said the headmaster.
"You wanted to see us, Professor Dippet?" said Riddle. He looked nervous.
"Sit down," said Dippet. "I've just been reading the letter you sent me Riddle"
"Oh," said Riddle. He sat down, gripping his hands together very tightly and the girl who looked like Harry's sister sat next to him with a confused look on her face
"My dear children," said Dippet kindly, "I cannot possibly let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you want to go home for the holidays?"
"No," said Riddle and the girl once at once.
"I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts than go back to that — to that —" Riddle started and Harry noticed the girl place her hand on the boy's leg, comfortingly, Riddle sent her a small smile.
"You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?" said Dippet curiously to Riddle and then turned to the girl "And you live with your father".
"Yes, sir," said Riddle and the girl, reddening slightly.
"You are Muggle-born?"
"Half-blood, sir," said Riddle.
"Pureblood, sir," the girl replied which seemed to surprise Harry since he and his sister were half-blood, but this girl seemed to not be his sister, after all this was 50 years ago
"Right yes of course, an heir of Helga Hufflepuff" Dippet said with a proud smile on his face and then he turned to Riddle and waited for him to continue.
Riddle continued, "Muggle father, witch mother."
"And are both your parents — ?"
"My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me — Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather." Dippet clucked his tongue sympathetically while the girl gave him a small smile of sympathy.
"The thing is, Tom and Ophelia," he sighed, "special arrangements might have been made for you, but in the current circumstances. . . ."
"You mean all these attacks, sir?" said Riddle, and Harry's heart leapt, and he moved closer, scared of missing anything.
"Precisely," said the headmaster. "My dear children, you must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to remain at the castle when the term ends. Particularly in light of the recent tragedy . . . the death of that poor little girl. . . . You will be safer by far at your orphanage and of course you at your home. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic is even now talking about closing the school. We are no nearer locating the — er — source of all this unpleasantness. . . ."
The girl and Riddle's eyes had widened and RIddle spoke up quickly "Sir — if the person was caught — if it all stopped —"
"What do you mean?" said Dippet with a squeak in his voice, sitting up in his chair. "Riddle, do you mean you know something about these attacks?" the girl seemed to be confused as she looked at the boy and she had a look of deep thought on her face
"No, sir," said Riddle quickly. But Harry was sure it was the same sort of "no" that he himself had given Dumbledore. Dippet sank back, looking faintly disappointed.
"You may go, Tom and Ophelia. . . ." Riddle slid off his chair and grabbed the girl's hand, standing her up as he slouched out of the room. Harry followed them. Down the moving spiral staircase, they went, emerging next to the gargoyle in the darkening corridor.
Riddle stopped, and so did Harry, watching him. "Go find Avery and Nott, I've got to do something, I'll catch up with you later" RIddle muttered to the girl but she shook her head almost instantly
"Tom, I know you're hiding something from me, you can tell me anything, you know that right?" she asked him softly and the boy let out a small sigh before clutching the girl's face in his hands, Harry's eyes widened and felt the need to go and separate them but he knew that he couldn't do anything, besides, he was sure that it couldn't be his sister, her name was Ophelia Winston and this is a memory from 50 years ago.
"I know that love, I just need you to listen to me, go and hang out with Nott for a while, I'll be back with you shortly," Riddle said and leant forwards and kissed the girl softly on the lips, they stood there for a moment before Riddle pulled away and she softly nodded her head before walking off out of sight. Harry wanted to follow after her but he knew he had to stay with RIddle.
Harry could tell that Riddle was doing some serious thinking. He was biting his lip, his forehead furrowed. Then, as though he had suddenly reached a decision, he hurried off, Harry gliding noiselessly behind him.
They didn't see another person until they reached the entrance hall, when a tall wizard with long, sweeping auburn hair and a beard called to Riddle from the marble staircase.
"What are you doing, wandering around this late, Tom?" Harry gaped at the wizard. He was none other than a fifty-years-younger Dumbledore.
"I had to see the headmaster, sir," said Riddle.
"Well, hurry off to bed," said Dumbledore, giving Riddle exactly the kind of penetrating stare Harry knew so well and then he looked around. " Wheres is your usual little companion, I hardly see you without the little Hufflepuff girl under your arm. Best not to roam the corridors these days. Not since . . ."He sighed heavily, bade Riddle good night, and strode off.
Riddle watched him walk out of sight and then, moving quickly, headed straight down the stone steps to the dungeons, with Harry in hot pursuit...
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As Kirra was walking around the school with Mattheo and Theodore, her brother and his friends had stopped her abruptly. "We need to talk to you," Harry said quickly.
The youngest potter looked at her brother in confusion and then nodded her head, "what's wrong? Are you alright?" she asks and Harry looks up at Mattheo with a suspicious look on his face before looking back at his sister, "its kind of private" Harry tells her and she nods her head and says goodbye to her friends before walking off with Harry, Ron and Hermione.
As they walked outside on the grounds, Harry explained everything to the girl about what he had seen the previous night when he was sucked into the diary. Hermione and Ron looked disbelieving but Kirra found it so disbelieving that she found it amusing.
"so you're telling me that I was making out with some kid named Tom Riddle?" She asked and laughed which seemed to aggravate her brother
"It was someone who looked exactly the same as you, but you looked like you were 16 and yes you and Tom Riddle, the person who owns the diary, were kissing, it was gross," Harry muttered out
"That's not the Riddle that I would kiss" she mumbled under her breath
"What did you say?" Harry asked and she played dumb quickly
"Huh? oh nothing" she quickly muttered out while Hermione looked at her with a mix of shock and amusement, she seemed to be the only one that heard the Hufflepuff, the boys however, did not seem to hear her, which Kirra was grateful for.
"Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people. . . ."
"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully.
"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harry miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."
Ron tried a different tack.
"Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"
"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione, though Kirra did not believe for one second that Hagrid was the one who opened the chamber the first time.
"And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Harry. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here. . . ."
"So do you think he could be related to Theo?" Kirra asked
"I don't know, you're awfully close to Theo so why don't you ask him?" Harry asked, seemingly annoyed that his sister now had a nickname for the boy
"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?" Hermione asks
"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Harry quickly. The four of them fell silent. After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice.
"Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?"
"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron and Kirra let out a small snort of laughter. "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?"
In the end, they decided that they would not say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack.