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I had to encourage Ron that he will be fine and that nothing is going to happen. For safety, I cast an extremely powerful shield of wind around Ron and Professor Lockhart, afraid that the ice won't be frozen forever.
I stood in front of the circular door, having no idea how to open it. But then I remembered what Ginny did and gave it a try. "Gaaaayshaa gassaaa." I mimicked her hissing sounds, hoping it would work. And according to a sudden bang sound from the door itself, it did. As each one of the stone snakes slithered back to unlock the door, a random lonely snake sailed along the edge, making a full circle until it disappeared behind the giant hinge. The door opened slowly with a groan and I cautiously stepped inside. I stood there for a moment when the door closed behind me with a loud thud. I glare at the door for being so loud. As I took a step forward, a voice spoke through the short, eerie silence. I ducked and dropped myself against the hard, cold and wet floor so that the owner of the voice can't see me.
"How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" I looked up to see who the voice belonged to. It belonged to a young man, a boy no older than sixteen with black hair and a handsome face. He looked tall and pretty. "Hoe did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's (I winced at the name.) powers were destroyed?"
"Why do you care how I escaped?" Harry snap. "Voldemort was after your time."
The handsome boy smirked. "Voldemort is my past, present and future." He softly replied.
I snorted quietly. "What a fanboy."
He turned around and traced through the air with a wand.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
It spelled out. I gape at the boy. This is Tom Riddle? Who shoved Harry into his diary to show him who let the monster out? Wow.
Tom then gave the wand a wave and the words rearranged themselves.
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
No freakin' way...
"You see?" Tom whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
" Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry bit.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" Tom hissed.
"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" Harry hissed back.
Gosh, it feels like watching two children.
Tom gave Harry an ugly look, before he looked up in surprise at the sound of a bird that echoed through the chamber.
From above, a crimson bird, the size of a swan, sweeped through an opening, scaring me. It had a glittering, golden tail, as long as a peacock's and gleaming, golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle. The bird was flying straight towards Harry and dropped the thing in his hands and flew away, straight to me this time.
I scoot backwards as the bird land near me and gave me a curious stare. "You're Fawkes." I gasp quietly as I stared at the bird in amazement. "You're beautiful." I cooed as I slowly moved towards him. He just stared at me, watching my every move. I reached out and stroked his feathers. Luckily he didn't bite me, he just continued to stare at me as I happily pet him.
"So, this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender. A songbird, and an old hat." Tom drew his lip up and walked towards a great, big statue of a man with a big beard and mustache. The looked quite old and important. He must be Salazar Slytherin.
"Ssslliyagg angathass selethehin." Tom spoke in Parseltongue as he held out one hand towards the statue.
To my horror, the mouth began to open, wider and wider, creating a black hole opening.
"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter." He spoke with hatred at Harry and turned to the creature who I have been avoiding for two weeks, as he emerged from the mouth of the statue.
Harry made the right choice to turn on his heel and to run the other way, away from Tom and the creature.
"Saa-iii hethess!" Riddle spoke to the snake and stared at Harry. "Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter! It only obeys me!"
The snake charged at Harry and Harry, running as fast as he could, tripped on an uneven piece of cement tile and fell hard on the ground, hitting his chin and losing his glasses in the process. I winced and bit my lip of the impact.
Harry quickly grabbed his glasses and put them on, and held his hands against his ears to block out the horrible sounds of the snake. Suddenly, Fawkes took off beside me and went to attack the monster snake. I watched in horror as the Phoenix clawed out the snake's eyes.
I looked at Harry to see him staring at the shadows of the snake and the bird. I frown. "What are you waiting for, Harry? Run!" I yell, making him snap his head in my direction. He frowned back at me and I waved, still frowning. I gave him a 'what the hell are you doing?' look and motioned him to stand up.
"No!" Tom barked in anger. "Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you!"
Harry quickly got to his feet and turned around to face the creature. He quietly shuffled backwards. It all went well until he stepped into a puddle. The snake stopped squirming and stared blindly into Harry's direction. He stood frozen in place.
"Run!" I howled, snapping him back to life and he ran into the tunnel across from him on the right. The snake followed shortly after, leaving the chamber in an uncomfortable silence.
I decided to climb down the ladder. I jumped the last step, making my appearance known when Tom Riddle looked sharply at me, breaking his gaze from the tunnel Harry and the serpent disappeared to.
Feeling unsure about the basilisk's whereabouts, I cautiously peered into the tunnel.
"You don't have to worry about the basilisk, for now."
I turned my head to Tom. "Meaning?"
"It will only attack you when I tell him to." He simply said.
I did not reply. I just gave a side-glance into the tunnel again and then stared at Riddle as he stared right back at me. I begin to walk up to him and stopped four meters away from him. We had a small stare-down when I suddenly took out my wand and went in to cast a spell but he beat me to it by zapping my hand, making me drop my wand. I went to pick it up but he kicked it away with his foot. I stared at him in disbelief. "Really?"
"We don't want any casualties." He replied calmly.
Why is this guy so boring right now?
I raised an eyebrow. "You don't care if someone dies, Riddle."
"Why do you think that?" He asks dumbly, smirking.
I roll my eyes and glare at him. "Because you just sent a bloody Basilisk after Harry!" I hissed through my teeth.
Tom had a mischief smile on his face as he twirled Harry's wand between his fingers. "He is the key for me to regain power."
"So you're just going to kill him?" I fume.
"Yes." He replied flatly.
Startling Tom by my screaming, I lift him up in the air and just when I was about to throw him to the ground, he suddenly vanished. I put my arm down and looked around me, not seeing Riddle anywhere. I looked back in front of me and looked into the cold eyes of Tom. He cast a spell my way and I quickly ducked, the spell just missing me by a hair. I stood up straight and electrocuted him. He reacted in a very ugly way. He seemed to be having pain, but stood still, refraining it, making me confused. I stopped what I was doing, which was a big mistake. He recovered and as fast as lightning, he was right in front of me. He grabbed me by the neck and lift me up in the air. I gasp in shock and grabbed his hand, trying to pry his fingers off me.
"The Goddess of Earth." Riddle whispered in shock, tracing every little detail of my face with his eyes.
"What?" I choke.
Before he could answer, Harry came out of one of the tunnels near the statue. Riddle let go of me, but held my robes with one hand, while the other one aims the wand at me. I cough and rubbed my sore throat, giving Tom a glare. Harry ran straight to Ginny and went down on all four next to her.
Tom smirked. "Yes, Potter. The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead and I will ceased to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very. Much. Alive!" He said with so much power.
"Ginny." Harry spoke softly.
A sudden appearance of the basilisk startled us as the snake got out of the water. The snake gave out a loud hissing-growl sound.
I stared at the monster with tears in my eyes. I saw Harry launching towards the Sorting Hat and...pulled out a sword?
I stared in astonishment as Harry aimed the sword at the snake, ready to attack.
He ran to the statue and began to climb it, the snake blindly attacking him every now and then.
"You know," I sniff, talking directly to Riddle. "you are a messed up sixteen-year-old boy who will kill a twelve-year-old for what? So that your present-self can rise again with power?" I hissed at him.
"It's the only way." He stiffly said.
"There has to be another way." I whimpered, gasping as the snake knocked Harry over, at the top of the statue.
"There's not!" Tom barked furiously at me.
The snake's sudden screaming stole our attention. I smiled happily through my tears as Harry pierced the sword into the roof of the serpent's mouth. When he pulled it out, he gave out a bloody scream, holding his right arm, making me lose my smile.
The snake fought around for a moment until it finally fell dead on the floor. A little dramatically, of course.
Tom gave Harry a cold glare after he stared at the dead basilisk.
Harry climbed down the statue and slowly walked to Ginny. He looked in pain.
"Harry?" I ask shakily and he gave me a tired smile. That's when I saw the fang in his left hand. "No..." I whisper, tears swelling up in my eyes again. A basilisk has poisonous venom and one bite can kill you.
He dropped to the floor, losing his grip on the sword and crawled to Ginny.
"Remarkable, isn't it? How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body. I guess you have a little more than a minute to live." Tom snarled as he looked at Harry. "You'd be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry."
"Go to hell, Riddle!" I spat at him.
Tom harshly pushed me towards Harry, and I painfully landed on the floor. I winced when my shoulder made contact with the ground and I yelped when pain shot through my body from my shoulder blade. Harry helped me up the best that he could. "Are you okay?" He asks me.
I nod with a pained expression. "I'll be fine. Harry, you -"
"Don't worry about me." He cut me off softly and grabbed Ginny's hand.
"Funny." Riddle muse. "The damage a silly little book could do. Especially in the hands of a silly, little girl."
Harry went straight to the book in Ginny's grasp and pulled it out, setting it out in front of him.
"What are you doing?" Tom asks, looking at Harry in alarm.
I leaned forward and scraped my nails hard on the page. Through the marks that I made on the page, black ink seeped out. Harry saw it too. He lift up the fang and looked at Tom.
"Stop! No!" Tom lunged forward when Harry stabbed the fang into the pages. Tom stopped abruptly and stared at his chest. A hole, the outline shone like the sun's light behind a cloud, appeared. Harry pushed harder on the page, ink spilling everywhere, creating a bigger hole in Tom's chest. Tom released a growl and went forward again to grab Harry. Harry quickly stabbed the other page, this time creating a hole in Riddle's face. His growls turned into screams as he held his face in pain.
I looked as Harry stopped for a moment, looking at Riddle. Then he closed the book and stabbed the front cover, creating a bunch of holes on Tom and Tom screamed in agony. I watched in horror as the lights went brighter and his screams went louder until it all stopped when he exploded, leaving of what looked like pixie dust.
Suddenly, Ginny woke up with wide eyes. She slowly sat up and looked around her.
"Ginny." Harry whispered.
Ginny's gaze landed on Harry and I. "Harry. Leila."
"It was me." She confessed. "I swear, I didn't mean to. Riddle made me. And -" She stopped when she saw Harry's arm. "Harry, you're hurt."
Harry covered his wound. "Don't worry. Ginny, Leila." He looked at us. "You need to get yourselves out. Follow the chamber, you'll find Ron. Leila can guide you." Before he could continue, the sound of Fawkes echoed again through the chamber. We looked at where the sound came from and saw the beautiful bird flying in and soared to us. He swooped down and landed next to Harry. He walked closer to him and stared him in the eye.
"You were brilliant, Fawkes." Harry compliment. "I just wasn't quick enough."
I sniffed as I watched the interaction.
Fawkes bent down where Harry's wound was. I watched closer and saw tears dripping out of the Phoenix's eyes and onto the wound. The wound slowly started to heal.
"Of course," Harry said in surprise. "Phoenix tears have healing powers." He looked at his savior. "Thanks."
He gave Ginny and I a cheesy smile. "It's alright, Ginny. I am better than okay now, Leila. It's over. It's just a memory."
A happy sob escaped me and I giggled with tears running down my cheeks.