They all walked into the bathroom and found Moaning Myrtle mopping around.
"Oh, who's there?" When she saw the group she smiled. "Oh! Hello, Harry. What do you want?"
Hollyn wasn't entirely sure ghosts could blush, but it they could, Myrtle definitely was.
"To ask you how you died." Harry told her.
"Oh, it was dreadful. It happened right here in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying...and then I heard somebody come in." Myrtle explained.
"Who was it, Myrtle?" Harry asked.
Myrtle gasped. "I don't know. 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?" Harry asked.
"I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes...over there by that sink." She pointed towards a random sink that didn't stand out from the others.
Hollyn looked at the sink closely. She noticed a bump when she ran her fingers over the faucet. She looked down and saw a snake.
"This is it." She said, stepping back. "I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Say something." Ron said. "One of you, say something in Parseltongue."
Harry spoke a few short words and then the sinks all started to move. The top lifted and the sinks separated. The one in front of them sank into the floor, giving them an entrance.
"Excellent, Harry. Ah, good work. Well then, I'll just be... There's no need for me to stay." Lockhart tried to run away but the students stopped him once again.
"Oh, yes, there is." Ron pushed him towards the tunnel.
"You first." Harry told him.
"Now, children, what good will it do?" Lockhart asked, holding onto the sinks so he wouldn't fall.
"Better you than us." Hollyn said.
"Um, but... Obviously. Yes." He turned and faced the pit. "Sure you don't want to test it first?"
Ron poked him with his wand and he fell down the hole yelling.
"It's really quite filthy down here." Lockhart said.
"All right. Let's go." Harry said.
"Oh, Harry?" Myrtle said. "If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet." She giggled.
"Uh... Thanks, Myrtle." Harry jumped in.
"As if giant spiders weren't bad enough." Hollyn groaned.
Ron grabbed her arm, stopping her from jumping. "What if there are spiders down there?" He asked.
"Last one down has to kill them." Hollyn jumped in.
"No." Ron yelled as he jumped in behind her.
Hollyn jumped off the floor. "Oh, gross." She cringed as she found herself standing on a floor covered in bones.
"Ugh." Ron said.
"Now remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." Harry said and jumped into the first tunnel.
"Go on." Ron told Lockhart.
"This way." Harry led them down different tunnels. Hollyn was starting to think he didn't know where he was going.
"What's this?" Ron asked when they came across a long piece of white scales.
"It looks like a...snake." Lockhart said.
"it's a snakeskin." Hollyn said, climbing over a pile of rocks.
"Bloody hell. Whatever shed this must be 60 feet long. Or more."
They all turned their heads when they heard a loud thump and saw Lockhart on the ground.
"Heart of a lion, this one." Ron said.
Lockhart snatched his wand and stood up quickly. "The adventure ends here, lady and gentlemen, but don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you all tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So... You first, Mr. Potter. Say goodbye to your memories. Obliviate!"
Ron's wand backfired and threw Lockhart back against the stone ceiling. The entire cave began to rumble and Hollyn pulled Harry's arm to keep him from being crushed.
"Harry! Hollyn! Guys!" Ron yelled for the twins.
"Ron, are you okay?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine. Lockhart's memory charm backfired! He hasn't got a clue who he is! What do I do now?" Ron asked.
"You wait here and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through. We'll go on ahead and find Ginny." Harry told them.
"Okay."
Harry climbed down from the rock pile and looked at Hollyn. "You okay?" He asked.
"No. Another dark cave. Let's go." Hollyn shrugged. They both grabbed their wands and found a circular door with snakes covering it.
They both began to speak Parseltongue, watching a snake come around the edge of the door and push back all the heads of the other snakes. Hollyn thought it was a very dramatic design.
Inside it was extremely damp and moldy.
Snakes were lining the walls and all the way across the chamber was the head of a man.
"Ginny." Harry noticed her lifeless body and started running towards her. "Ginny. Oh, Ginny, please don't be dead." Harry said. "Wake up, wake up."
"Harry." Hollyn reached down and touched his shoulder, grabbing his attention. He followed her gaze to the strange man coming from the shadows.
"She won't wake." He walked closer.
"Tom. Tom Riddle." Harry said. "What do you mean she won't wake?"
"She can't be dead." Hollyn said, holding Ginny's arm.
"She's still alive, but only just." Tom said.
"Are you a ghost?" Hollyn asked.
"A memory preserved in a diary for 50 years." Tom told her.
"She's cold as ice." Harry touched Ginny's hand. "Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up. You've got to help me, Tom. There's a basilisk."
Hollyn turned and saw Tom Riddle grab their wands off the floor.
"Harry." Hollyn said.
"It won't come until it's called." Tom said.
Hollyn kicked Harry's arm and her brother finally saw Tom holding his wand.
"Give us our wands, Tom." Harry said.
"You won't be needing them." He ran his fingers along the thin pieces of wood.
"Listen, we've got to go. We've got to save her." Harry said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." Hollyn looked at Harry, who seemed to have figured out what was happening. "Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."
"No. She couldn't. She wouldn't." Harry said.
"It was Ginny who set the basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls." Tom said.
"Why?" Hollyn asked.
"Because I told her to. You'll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. 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 girls' bathroom, and then, who should find it but you? One of the very people I was most anxious to meet."
Harry looked at Hollyn. "And why did you want to meet us?" Harry asked.
"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could, so I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."
"Hagrid's our friend. And you framed him, didn't you?"
"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent." Tom said with great bitterness.
"i'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Hollyn scoffed.
"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 16-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, I would be able to lead another, to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake draught will be ready, and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again."
"Haven't I told you?" Tom asked. "Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been you. How is it that two babies with no extraordinary magical talents were able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
"Why do you care how we escaped?" Hollyn demanded. "Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemort is my past, present and future." He turned and wrote his name using one of their wands.
Tom Marvello Riddle. And when he shifted the letters, it became the sentence, I am Lord Voldemort.
"You... You're the Heir of Slytherin. You're Voldemort." Harry said.
"Surely, you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name?" Tom asked, expecting no answer from the children. "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." Harry argued.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me." Tom said.
"He'll never be gone, not as long as those who remain are loyal to him." Hollyn grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him away from Tom, hoping he would stop arguing with the man who had their wands and meant to kill them.
A loud screech of a bird filled the Chamber and an orange bird flew in.
"Fawkes?" Harry said.
Something was dropped and Hollyn was quick to catch it. Hollyn unfolded it and found it was the sorting hat.
"What?" Hollyn held it.
"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders? A songbird and an old hat."
Harry looked over Hollyn's shoulder, wondering what they were supposed to do with it.
They turned their heads when they heard Tom speaking Parseltongue.
"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Potter twins."
Hollyn could hear the basilisk growling and screeching. She dropped the hat and they both ran away down the chamber.
"Parseltongue won't save you now, Potters. It only obeys me." They could hear Tom's taunting.
Harry slipped on the wet floor and fell down. Hollyn ran back, grabbing his glasses and lifting him by the arm. She refused to look up when she saw the scaly belly of the beast.
Fawkes flew in again and scratched out the eyes of the snake. While the songbird and snake were fighting, Harry pulled Harry to his feet and started running again.
"No! Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you."
They ran into a side tunnel, splashing water as they went. They followed rats to find a possible way out but reached a dead end. They tried to go back the way they came but the snake blocked their way.
Hollyn held her hand over her mouth to keep quiet. Harry picked up a rock and tossed it to the side, losing the basilisk's attention.
They waited to make sure it was gone then went running back the way they came.
Harry ran to Ginny's side and Hollyn grabbed the hat.
"Yes, Potter. The process is nearly complete. 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..."
The basilisk emerged from a pool of water, roaring and searching for the twins. Hollyn saw something shimmering in the hat and grabbed it. She pulled out a sword.
She had no idea how to use it or what to do, but she ran towards the statue and started climbing. When the snake came close she started waving the blade around. The basilisk rammed its head into the stone and Hollyn dropped the sword.
Hollyn climbed higher. The basilisk came toward Hollyn and she had no weapon or wand.
"Incendia." Hollyn hoped even the smallest spark would come out. Practicing her wnadless magic had paid off and she scared the basilisk away with a small flame.
Harry grabbed the sword and stabbed the basilisk, drawing its attention. He then stabbed it in the mouth.
"Harry!" Hollyn climbed down the statue as the basilisk fell dead on the ground. "Hold still." Hollyn pulled the basilisk fang out of Harry's arm.
"Aah!" He yelled when she pulled it out. They walked over to Ginny and Hollyn had to catch Harry as he started to fall.
"Remarkable, isn't it, how quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body? I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry. Funny...the damage a silly little book can do...especially in the hands of a silly, little girl."
Hollyn grabbed the book from under Ginny's arm and opened it on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Tom asked. "Stop! No!"
Hollyn grabbed the fang of the snake and stabbed the pages of the book. A hole appeared in Tom's chest and it got bigger as Hollyn stabbed the pages. She stabbed another page.
Ink poured over her hands as she shut the book and stabbed the cover.
Ginny suddenly opened her eyes and gasped for air.
"Ginny..."
"Harry...it was me. But I swear I didn't mean to. Riddle made me, and...Harry, you're hurt."
"Don't worry." Harry told her. "Hollyn, you need to get both of you out of here. Find Ron."
"Ron's here?" Ginny asked.
Fawkes cried out and flew in once more, landing next to Harry. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. I just wasn't quick enough."
Fawkes bowed his head and let a few tears drop on Harry's arm.
"Of course. Phoenix tears have healing powers. Thanks. It's all right, Ginny. It's over. It's just a memory."
Hollyn shoved his shoulder and rolled her eyes.