"I was left out."
"Ginny!" Harry and I called at the same time. We dashed towards her dropping to our knees.
"Don't be dead," Harry muttered. "Please don't be dead!"
I grabbed her shoulders and shook.
"She won't wake," said a voice behind us. We turned to see a silhouette of a tall boy. I squinted my eyes focusing on him. He was — Wow... He was hot stuff.
Did the temperature just rise even more? I'm boiling.
"Tom — Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Harry asked surprised.
He did look like Tom, but a few years older. I seem to have lost my voice.
"What do you mean she won't wake?" Harry said desperatly. "She's not—"
"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."
I stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago — wait — that means he's over fifty years old. Gross! I mentally slapped myself for finding him attractive.
But if the Tom in my year grows up to look like this...
Oh, shut up, will you? I said to myself.
There was a misty glow around him and he didn't look a day older than sixteen.
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked.
"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
Harry touched Ginny's hand. "She's cold as ice. You've got to help us, Tom. There's a basilisk—"
"It won't come until it's called."
That's suspicious...
I realized he was holding our wands in his hands. Harry stood up cautiously and stretched his hand. "Give me our wands, Tom."
"You want be needing them."
Oh, yes we will, Sir Hottie.
"Listen," said Harry. "We've got to go — We've got to save her!"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny gets weaker, I grow stronger."
Harry's face went pale in realization.
"Yes, Harry. It was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."
Wait a minute—
"No." Harry shook his head. "She couldn't. She wouldn't—"
"It was Ginny who sent the basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."
"Why?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"Because I told her to. You'll find I can be very... persuasive," said Riddle.
You're not wrong.
"Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in some sort of trance. Soon, 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? The very person I was most anxious to meet. Of courses your sister too... but I was fine with one."
"Why were you anxious to meet us?" Harry said.
"I knew I had ho talk to one of you. Reach you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of the of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust—"
That's when I snapped. "Hagrid's our friend!" I yelled. This was the first time I spoke since Tom entered because I was too tongue-tied and in awe of his looks. But speaking about Hagrid like that? He was the devil himself, that's for sure. I got to my feet, fists balled in anger.
"You framed him, didn't you?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.
"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent."
"I bet Dumbledore saws right through you."
"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 a diary preserving my sixteen-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," I sneered and Harry continued, "In a few hours, the Mandrake draught will be ready and everyone who was petrified will be all right again."
"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me any more? For many months now, my new targets have been the you two.
"How is it that two babies with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?"
Since when did we ever defeat Dumbledore?
"How did you escape with nothing but a scar each, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
Oh, he meant Voldemort.
Hang on—
"Why do you care how we escaped?" said Harry. "Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemert," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present and future." He pulled out Harry's wand and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words that looked fiery:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
He waved the wand once, and the letters of the name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
I needed a minute to think. Does that mean Mattheo and Tom are related to... to Voldemort?
"You..." Harry stuttered. "You're the Heir of Slytherin. You're Voldemort."
"Surely, you didn't think I was going to use my filthy muggle father's name for ever? No. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" I shrieked.
Tom turned to face me and I barely stopped myself from shrinking back, because damn those eyes.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
"He'll never be gone!" Harry yelled. "Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!"
"BOOM BABY!" someone yelled, and we all turned to see Fawks fly into the Chamber.
"Fawks?" Harry whispered. The phoenix dropped something into Harry's hands. It was the Sorting Hat. I felt in need to tear at Dumbledore's beard.
"So this is what Dumbledore sends his greatest defenders. A songbird and an old hat."
I heard Fawks say, "Me? An old hat? You blind, man?" as Tom turned towards the large statue of a man's face behind him.
He stretched his hand towards it and hissed, "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
You bet.
The statue's mouth started moving, opening wider and wider.
"Get the boy. Leave the girl to me."
I felt something invisible tug me back. I fell to the ground on my butt.
"You flattened it!" I yelled, then quickly shut my eyes remembering Harry's instruction.
"Harry, run!" I called. Wish I cauld say he yelled "NO! I will never leave you, sis!" but nope. I heared his footsteps take off. Really, dude?
Something big slithered across the ground after him. The basilisk. I heard Fawks' wings flap as he hummed the song Fireworks by Katy Perry.
I dared not to open my eyes.
"No!" Tom yelled angrily from beside me. "Your bird might have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you!"
I opened my eyes to find Harry facing the basilisk. Where it's eyes should be were bloody eye sockets.
Harry took a step back. Wrong move. The basilisk heard it. Harry started running away, dodging the snake as it snapped its jaws at Harry. They entered an open tunnel and then silence.
I stood up, ready to run after them, then realized that would be no good without my wand.
I turned to Riddle.
"What do you want with me?"
"I wanted to make you an offer, seeing as youre a Slytherin and all. Join me, pledge your loyalty to me, and you will get everything you want—"
"Stop," I said. "I declined the same offer from you last year already. But I want to ask... about the Riddle twins."
"Oh, yes, them," said Tom. I tried to ignore Fawks' horrible singing. "They are my children. Or at least, I think so. They will join me once they're older. When I return, I shall make them join my side.
"It was a horrid thing I wasn't there to name them, or I would have stopped their mother of naming one of them Tom."
You should have heard their middle names.
"They both have my blood which is also the blood of Salazar Slytherin. Not only is it an honor to carry it, but it also protects them from looking straight into the basilisk's eyes."
"Our eyes shut by themselves" is what Tom — my classmate — said. But it happened to me once before, when I was with Colin. Does that make me anather one of Slytherin's descendants? Am I secretly related to the Riddle twins? That can't be it. My jaw dropped in realization.
Slytherin's blood protects.
Mattheo.
There was dried blood on my necklace from when Mattheo had cut his hand with my quill until the day after Colin was attacked.
Mattheo's blood had saved me that night from looking at the basilisk.
I should make people cut themselves with a quill more often.
"Y/n?" Riddle asked, looking at my dumbstruck face with puzzlement.
"It's Sherlock Holmes to you," I replied. "And no, I'm still refusing your offer."
I saw Harry walk out of the tunnel. He made his way towards us, eyes searching me for harm. When he found none, he turned to Ginny.
Oh, I totally forgat she was there.
"Yes, Potter," said Tom, completely ignoring our latest chat. "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," Harry whispered.
Splash!
The basilisk emerged from the waters near us. I backed away, my eyes kept darting back to the wand in Riddle's hand. Harry lunged for the Sorting Hat that lay on the ground, only to pull something out of it.
No it wasn't a rabbit. It was a sword. Harry lashed out with it and missed.
He ran towards the statue of Slytherin's face and climbed.
I grabbed the Hat and stuck my hand inside.
"That tickles," it said.
"Eugh!" I yelled in disgust, pulling my hand out. "Don't tell me this is your butthole!"
"I won't."
"Oh, that's so gross! Harry just pulled out a sword from your arse!"
"I'm a hat, I don't have an arse."
"Well, you're not supposed to have a mouth or be able to speak either!"
"Guess youll have to put up with it then."
I can never wear a hat or think of it the same way again.
I looked around, Harry was fighting the basilisk at the top of Slytherin's head, Tom was watching
them with the same look Dudley wears when Peppa Pig's on TV — that is to say, with interest, and Fawks was singing Milkshake by Kelis.
I turned to the Hat. "Do you have something that could help me?"
The Hat shat a rabbit. I bet you anything that you've never heard such a sentence.
"A dead bunny?" I asked.
"It's the only thing I've got."
I sighed then ran to help my brother who was still waving the sword around. I reached the top just as Harry slipped. I grabbed the sword that was sliding across Slytherin's head before it fell off.
"Kill her!" Tom hissed. What a gentleman.
Before the basilisk could close its jaws around me I drove the hilt of the sword into the roof of the serpent's mouth.
Urgh! Its breath stinks!
I quickly realized that I was inside the snake's mouth. Harry ran to help pull me out. If I let go of the sword, the snake will close its mouth with me in it. Harry grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him.
He yelled with pain and the basilisk fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Are you okay?" I asked alarmingly.
He shook his head no, then pulled out a large basilisk fang from his arm. I helped him down the statue (all we had to do was slide down) and towards Ginny's unconscious body. I bent down, allowing Harry to fall to his knees near her. I sat next to him.
This was it. It's too late to save him now. What do I do?
"Remarkable, isn't it?" said Riddle, his voice calm. "How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body. I guess you have little more than a minute. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry." He turned to me, holding up Harry's wand. "And you... shall die here as well. It would be cruel to let you live with all your family dead."
What happened to the offer? I'm kinda having second thoughts.
I saw Harry pull a book out of Ginny's hands. He opened it the middle and without thinking, I stabbed the page with the basilisk fang. I didn't even notice I still had it with me until now.
"NO!" Tom Riddle's voice screamed. Light tore through his chest. He's disappearing. I stabbed the other page. Tom's body jolted and more light ripped his chest open.
Finally, I closed the diary and plunged the fang straight into the heart of the book's cover.
Tom's body twisted and with a burst of light, he disappeared.
Ginny gasped awake. She sat up looking around, Her eyes landed on us.
"Ginny," said Harry.
"Harry," Ginny said, surprised.
"Y/n!"
They both turned to me.
"I was left out."
"It was me," Ginny quickly said. "But I swear, I didn't mean to. Riddle made me—" She stopped when she saw his arm. "Harry — you're hurt!"
"Don't worry," said Harry. He turned to me. "Get yourselves out of here—"
Fawks flew down and landed in front of us, singing a sad melody (but I can't be sure since he was sobbing and hiccuping a lot).
Harry smiled at the 'innocent' bird. "You did great, Fawks. I just wasn't fast enough."
We all watched as tears filled the phoenix's eyes.
"Thanks, Captain," he said and allowed the tears to fall into Harry's wound.
Slowly, the wound started to heal and after a few seconds, it was gone, not even a scar left.
"Of course," Harry exclaimed. "Phoenix tears have healing pawers. Thanks."
"No prob, bud," said Fawks.
Harry turned to us. "I'm all right. Everything's all right, Ginny. It's over. It's just a memory."
•••~⚡︎⚯⚡︎~•••
What happened after was a lot so I'll just tell you the important part, like how the heck did we leave the Chamber.
It's simple. Fawks flew us out, his claws carrying Lockhart from his shoulder. Ron was holding onto one of Lockhart's arms and Harry (who was carrying Ginny) in the other.
I was hanging onto Lockhart's right arm while Pansy was hugging my waist.
Fawks dropped us onto the bathroom floor and sighed. "I'm strong, but ya'll really need to lose some weight."
He lead us out of the bathroom (we all ignored Myrtle who was crying that we made it out safely) and towards a hallway.
We stopped infront of a golden statue of a bird with its wings spread.
Were going to Dumbledore's office.
A/n: I know I haven't published any chapters in more than a week, but none of u wished me a happy birthday (jk, I had a really long and annoying writer's block) That's right, my 16th birthday was on the 22nd of November. Sweet 16 to me ig