Potter, Weasley, and I led Professor Lockhart into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I had no idea what we were going to do if Potter's hunch was wrong, but we had to try.
"Oh, who's there?" Myrtle asked at hearing our footsteps. Then she smiled flirtatiously and crossed her arms down in front of her. "Hello, Harry."
"Looks like you have an admirer," I whispered in his ear.
"Shove off," he grumbled.
"What do you want?" She asked, serious now.
"To ask you how you died," he answered simply.
Myrtle seemed to swell with happiness. "Oh, it was dreadful! It happened right here, in this very cubicle," she pointed down to the space underneath her.
"I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying... and then I heard somebody come in."
"Who was it, Myrtle?" Potter questioned.
"I don't know," she said loudly, suddenly sounding offended. "I was distraught! But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language, and I realized it was a boy speaking, so I unlocked the door to tell him to go away... and I died."
"Just like that? How?" I asked, confused.
"I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes over there, by that sink," she said, turning to me and then gesturing to the sink closest to her. And with that she gave a wail, going back to slowly floating around the ceiling.
Potter stepped up to the sink and felt around the sides of the mirror, the porcelain, and even the handles. He tried to turn one, and no water came out. Then he bent down, running his fingers over something on the faucet.
"This is it," he said suddenly.
"How can you tell?" I wondered aloud.
He motioned for me to come next to him. I observed a small snake carved into one side of the faucet's base. I looked at him in surprise, and our noses were almost touching. I quickly stepped back to Weasley's side.
"This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Potter confirmed, coming back to us.
"Say something," Weasley instructed. "Harry, say something in Parseltounge."
He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing his mind I assumed. He hissed. There was a click, and then a rumble from deep underground, and then the sinks separated. The sink with the serpent on it lowered into the ground, creating an opening to the gaping hole in the floor.
Professor Lockhart exhaled. "Excellent, Harry. Ah, good work. Well, then, I'll just be, um... there's no need for me to stay." He tried to run back to the door, but the three of us caught him around his arms.
"Oh yes there is," Potter grunted, and pushed him towards the opening. He extended his arms, just barely catching himself. We all pointed our wands at him again.
"You first," I said, flicking my wand in encouragement.
"Now, children, what good will it do?" Professor Lockhart asked.
"Better you than us," Weasley responded.
"Um, but... obviously. Yes," Professor Lockhart sighed, turning so he was now facing the hole.
"Sure you don't want to test it first?" He asked hastily.
I kicked my leg out, pushing him forwards. He fell, yelling, through the ground. There was a crash, and then an annoyed, "It's really quite filthy down here."
"All right. Let's go," Potter muttered.
"Oh, Harry," a voice came from above. Of course, it was Myrtle. "If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."
I snickered into my hand, and he slapped me. "Erm... thanks Myrtle." And we all jumped.
I could hear Potter and Weasley screaming in front of me. I believe I was screaming too. It was like falling down a steep waterslide, except there was no water, only slime. Weasley landed first, then Potter, then me on top of him.
"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly.
"M'fine," he mumbled.
Professor Lockhart was just standing there with a horrified expression.
"Ugh," Weasley complained, looking down at the small rat bones littering the floor.
"Now, remember," Potter began. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." He lifted himself through another humongous hole, this time in the wall, and I followed. I heard Weasley poking Professor Lockhart along behind me.
We reached a tunnel with slanted, much lower ceilings. Something strange was curled over the floor, and only when I got closer did I realize it was shedded snake skin. A lot of shedded snake skin.
"It looks like a... snake," Professor Lockhart voiced. No kidding.
"Bloody hell," Weasley said. "Whatever shed this must be sixty feet long. Or more."
A loud thud came from my right, and I turned to see that Professor Lockhart had fainted on the floor.
"Heart of a lion, this one," Weasley observed.
Then Professor Lockhart jumped up, grabbing Weasley's wand out of his not-prepared hand, and I jumped at the sudden movement. He held it up, breathing heavy in victory.
"The adventure ends here, children," he smiled. "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So... you first, Miss. Malfoy."
He pointed the wand directly at me. I tried to back away, but there was nowhere for me to go. My back hit the wall. "Say goodbye to your memories." I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Obliviate!" He yelled. I braced myself. But all I heard was a yelp, and then a loud crack. Weasley's broken wand had caused the spell to backfire, meaning that Professor Lockhart was sent backwards, hitting the wall hard before collapsing, actually unconscious this time.
Before I could fully register what happened, everything started shaking. Debris fell from above us. I dived out of the way. Pounds of boulders fell, creating a barrier. When the dust cleared, I saw Potter laying with his hands over his head across from me.
"Are you guys okay?" Weasley yelled in panic.
"Ron!" Potter yelled back. "Ron, are you okay?"
"I'm fine! Where's Malfoy?"
"Still alive," I croaked out.
There was a groan from Weasley's side of the wall. "Hello. Who are you?" Professor Lockhart asked politely.
"Um... Ron Weasley," Weasley's confused voice responded. Potter and I shared a look.
"Really?" Professor Lockhart asked, sounding pleasant. "And, uh... wh-who am I?"
"Lockhart's memory charm backfired!" Weasley yelled out to us. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!"
"It's an odd sort of place, this, isn't it?" Our clueless professor said with humor in his voice. "Do you live here?"
"No..." Weasley replied, obviously lost.
"Really?" Professor Lockhart asked again. There was a grunt, like Weasley had just knocked him out again.
"What do I do now?" He asked desperately.
"You wait here and try to shift some of this rock," Potter answered after a pause. "We'll go on and find Ginny."
"Okay," Weasley's voice wavered.
Potter took out his wand and led us forward a little ways until we reached an odd sort of safe door. Except there were seven snakes acting as the hinges, the one in the middle the longest, and the rest of them getting smaller as they fanned out.
Potter hissed the same command he had at the sink, and after a moment each snake curled up, unlocking the door. The rusty metal opened with a loud creak. I just stared at Potter in amazement.
"After you," I managed.
He reluctantly stepped through, wand outstretched. There was a small ladder, and I climbed down after him. We landed on a wet stone platform, with water on both sides of us. Coming out of the water were serpent heads, seven on either side.
At the very end there was a stone statue of a man's face. He had angry, blank eyes and a beard that expanded out over the surface of the water. And in front of this was Ginny. Potter and I immediately ran over to her.
I landed on my knees and placed my two fingers to the side of her neck. There was a faint pulse, but her skin was ice cold.
"Ginny. Oh, Ginny, please don't be dead," I muttered.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Potter said frantically.
"She won't wake," a soft voice said from behind us. I whipped my head around. A teenage boy of about fifteen or sixteen was standing there with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Tom. Tom Riddle," Potter realized. This must have been the boy the missing book showed him. "What do you mean she won't wake?"
"She's not..." I whispered.
"She's still alive," Riddle finished for me. "But only just."
"Are you a ghost?" Potter asked.
"A memory," Riddle answered. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
I went back to Ginny, grasping her hands in an attempt to warm them.
"You've got to help us, Tom," Potter pleaded. "There's a Basilisk."
"It won't come until it's called," Riddle responded calmly.
"Give me my wand, Tom," Potter said, slowly standing up. I realized Riddle had picked it up off the ground, and was now twirling it between his long, white fingers.
"You won't be needing it," Riddle promised.
"Listen, we've got to go. We've got to save her!" Potter continued. But I was beginning to catch on.
"You're the one... you're- you're the Heir of Slytherin," I gasped, now standing up as well.
"Very good," Riddle smiled coldly. "Now, of course I know the famous Harry Potter, but who are you?"
"Alexandra Malfoy," I said, straightening with some pride. Even if I didn't love my surname, it almost always earned me some respect.
"Ah. Your father would be very disappointed to see you working against me," Riddle laughed quietly.
"How do you know my father?" I whispered.
Riddle just waved his hand, dismissing the question. "Unfortunately, I can not help. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger. Yes, Alexandra Malfoy, I am the Heir of Salazar Slytherin.
"But it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."
"But why?" Potter asked.
"Because I told her too," Riddle said simply. "You'll find I can be very... persuasive."
There was something nagging in the back of my mind. Something missing about this whole situation that I felt I should know the answer to. I just couldn't grasp at it.
"Not that she knew what she was doing," Riddle continued, eyes never once leaving Potter's face. "She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her, and she tried to dispose of it in the girl's bathroom. And then, who should find it but you?"
I was getting worried. If this little chat went on for much longer, Ginny would be dead.
"The very person I was most anxious to meet," Riddle said, now walking around Potter.
"And why did you want to meet me?" Potter asked quietly.
"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could," Riddle answered. "So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid, to gain your trust."
"Hagrid's my friend," Potter said angrily. "And you framed him, didn't you?"
"It was my word against Hagrid's," Riddle replied, very close to Potter's face now. "Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent."
"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Potter muttered.
"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work," Riddle explained.
"Well, you haven't finished it this time," Potter said proudly. "In a few hours, the Mandrake draught will be ready, and everyone who was Petrified will be alright again."
"Haven't I told you?" Riddle asked. "Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been you."
Potter took a step backwards. I was so close to figuring out who Tom Riddle was. I could feel it piecing together frustratingly slow in my mind.
"How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" Riddle asked, voice quickly rising. "How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" He continued, and used Potter's own wand to push away his bangs, showcasing the lightning shape on his forehead.
"Why do you care how I escaped?" Potter shot back. "Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemort," Riddle said slowly, taking a step back, "is my past, present, and future." And then he used Potter's wand to write his full name out in flaming letters in the air.
Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Marvolo...
It clicked.
"Potter, get away from him," I yelled, grabbing his arm and yanking him back towards me.
"What? Why?" He stumbled.
The letters began to rearrange, forming the sentence, 'I am Lord Voldemort.'
"Smart girl," Riddle chuckled. "It's a shame I have to kill you. Your father will be so disappointed. My stomach curdled.
"You're Voldemort," Potter whispered, horrified.
"Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name?" Riddle asked menacingly. "No. I fashioned myself a new name. A name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Potter replied fiercly.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me," Riddle spat.
"He'll never be gone," I argued. "Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him." Riddle stared at me with danger in his eyes, and I forced myself to stop from shrinking away.
Then a bird cawing came from above, echoing off the mildewy walls. We all looked up to see Fawkes, holding none other than the Sorting Hat in his beak. He dropped it, and Potter caught it.
"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders?" Riddle laughed cruelly. "A songbird and an old hat." He then walked over to the statue of Salazar Slytherin, extending his arm and speaking in Parseltounge. But where when Potter spoke it, it only confused me, when the Dark Lord spoke it, it wormed its way into my brain, ringing in my ears.
Salazar's mouth began to open.
"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter," Riddle announced. From behind him, there was a shriek and a growl. Then a serpent's nose appeared.
"Run!" Potter yelled, turning away before we saw the eyes. I followed his lead, and we ran down the platform.
"Parseltounge won't save you now, Potter," Riddle called after us. "It only obeys me."
I was running faster than I ever had in my life, just behind Potter, when suddenly he tripped and went sprawling. Too close for me to stop myself, I landed on top of him.
"Here we are again," I said, before rolling to the side to avoid the Basilisk's attack. Fawkes gave another cry and swooped over to the snake. There was an awful squelching sound, and then a roar. I looked to the shadow of the two animals on the wall. Fawkes was clawing at the eyes of the serpent.
"No!" Riddle yelled. "Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you. I stood up with Potter, the two of us stumbling over each other. The snake was thrashing its head, but when Potter took a step back, it stopped to listen. Out footsteps echoed in the water.
With no other options available, I pulled Potter to the side seconds before the Basilisk lunged. It's face smashed against the ground.
We sprinted together into another maze of pipes, the snake never far behind. We took a turn, but were met only with a metal gate. Potter shook at the bars, but it did nothing. We turned to go back around and I slapped my hand to my face to muffle any sound.
There was the Basilisk, sniffing the air for us. We backed as far into the corner as we could, but the snake's head slowly turned around our corner. It opened it's mouth, showing fangs as long as my forearm.
I sunk to the ground with Potter as the monster hissed, and I hid my face in his shoulder. From down the other end of the pipe tunnel, a rock clattered. I didn't dare look up until Potter made a movement to stand.
"I kind of wish I was on Weasley's side of the rocks right now," I whispered.
Potter choked out something inaudible.
We cautiously walked out of the dead end to watch the snake's tail curve around into a different pipe. With one more look at each other, the two of us ran back to the Chamber. Tom Riddle was still there, standing over Ginny's body.
"Yes, Potter. The process is nearly complete," Riddle confirmed my unspoken notions. "In a few minutes Ginny Weasley will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return... very. Much. Alive.
"Ginny..." I whispered, my heart breaking at the thought of having to tell Weasley that we couldn't save his sister after all.
Just then, the blind Basilisk burst out of the water from behind us. I gasped and jumped backwards. Riddle laughed at my reaction.
But Potter crawled over to the Sorting Hat, laying forgotten on the stone, and pulled out a ruby-encrusted sword. My eyes widened. Where in the world did that come from?
He held it out to the serpent, running to the right side of the Salazar statue and proceeding to climb up the beard. He swung again and again and again, just missing the Basilisk's head every time. It shot forward, breaking the smooth surface of the statue's head where Potter had just been standing.
I screamed.
Fawkes cawed.
Riddle was laughing. Laughing so loudly it seemed to be reverberating off the walls of my skull. I felt weak with dizziness. Or was it dizzy with weakness?
Potter tried to climb higher, but the snake broke the carved stone where his footing had been. He was now hanging off one piece of rock, dangling over the water. He managed to swing himself up the the top of Salazar's head. From my position, he looked like a tiny figurine.
He swung once more, this time nicking the snake's cheek. He rolled away from the monster's open mouth, dropping the slowly sliding sword where his body once was. He dived for it, grabbing the last bit of handle. Then he thrust it up, right through the roof of the Basilisk's mouth.
I staggered back with shock. Except that wasn't right, because I was sitting next to Ginny on the floor. Maybe Riddle had kicked me down with his foot.
The snake howled in pain as Potter tugged the sword back out. But no, that was Potter's voice howling. This wasn't right. Why was Potter in pain? It could have been because he just pulled something long and white out of his arm. I felt fuzzy and nauseous with worry.
Potter's body slowly came back to us, and then he fell to his hands and knees.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Riddle asked with raw fury in his voice. "How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body?"
No. That thing Potter had pulled out of his arm was a Basilisk fang. No, no, no, no. I tripped over myself to try and get to him.
"What've you done to her?" Potter ground out. Was he talking about me?
"She will suffer the same fate as little Ginny Weasley here, only much faster." Riddle answered. "In a way, I'm doing her a favor. No one wants as painful of a death as yours is about to be."
I tried to stand. My eyelids fluttered.
"You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry," Riddle said.
I watched Potter grab Ginny's hand out of the corner of my eye. My chest exploded with hurt and unwanted, confusing jealously.
"Funny, the damage a silly little book can do." Riddle commented from a million miles away. "Especially in the hands of a silly, little girl."
Potter's hand jerked, taking the diary from the crook of Ginny's arm and flipping it open.
"What are you doing?" Riddle asked suddenly. Potter lifted the fang that had been in his arm moments ago over the open pages.
"Stop. No!" Riddle roared. But it was too late. Black blood bubbled out of the pages. A shining hole of light appeared in Riddle's chest.
Potter lifted the fang again, and then dug it into the other page. More light shone out of Riddle's face. Finally, Potter closed the cover of the blood-soaked diary, plunging the fang right through the middle.
Riddle threw his arms wide open and burst into ashes just before my eyelids closed, just to snap open a second laster. I took great, gulping breaths, as did Ginny next to me. I grimaced, pushing myself up to a sitting position, and then helped the much weaker girl next to me.
"Harry, it was me," she began to cry. "But I swear, I didn't mean to. Riddle made me, and..." then her eyes widened. "Harry... you're hurt."
He covered the blood under his torn robe with his hand.
"Don't worry," he said, and then turned to me.
"Alexandra, you need to get yourself and Ginny out. You know the way, just follow the Chamber and you'll find Ron."
"Potter, I'm not leaving you here to die," I argued.
"Yes, you are," he said quietly, but I'm sure he would have made his voice much louder if he had the strength.
"No, I'm not-" I started to respond, but was interrupted by Fawkes. She fluttered down in front of Potter and stared right into his eyes.
"You were brilliant, Fawkes," Potter swallowed. "I just wasn't quick enough."
But the bird lifted its head down to Potter's injury. I stared on in confusion, but when I saw a droplet of water fall, I understood.
"Phoenixes," I said in dazed relief. "Their tears have healing powers."
"Of course," Potter whispered, watching Fawkes flap away.
I gave a kind of cry-laugh and hugged Potter around the neck. "You are the most prone person to near-death experiences I have ever met," I scolded the second I pulled away. "Honestly, what would Professor McGonagall say if she saw you in this state?"
"Erm... I dunno..." Potter stumbled out, quite obviously embarrassed.
I jumped up. "We have to get back. Now. The whole school must be looking for us."
I held out a hand for Ginny, and we ran out together as quickly as her frail state would allow, Potter right behind us.