"at first, when i see you cry it makes me smile. yeah, it makes me smile."
-
"All students are to return to house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately." We heard McGonagall's voice through the long halls. We gave each other a knowing look before running off to the second floor. He turned a corner and saw the teachers running up the hall and stopping all of a sudden to look at something.
"As you can see the heir of Slytherin has left another message." McGonagall said. Harry, Ron and I peeked around the corner to see all the teachers standing there with their backs turned to us.
"Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster, into the chamber itself. Students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts." McGonagall said with saddened expression. Who did it take? Another muggle? Suddenly we see Lockhart walk up to the group with a grin on his face.
"So sorry, dozin' off. What have I missed?" Lockhart said.
"A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart, your moment has come at last." Snape said. I almost chuckled at what the Professor said. "My m-moment?" Lockhart stuttered nervously.
"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chambers of Secrets is?" Snape asked. Wait, he knew? Lockhart looked bewildered.
"That's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend." McGonagall said. Oh please. "Very well. I'll just be in my office getting, um, getting ready." Lockhart said before walking away from the teachers. I wouldn't count on him to do anything if I were them. He's a coward, what could he do?
"Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" Madame Pomfrey said. McGonagall's expression drops.
"Ginny Weasley." She said. Oh no, not Ron's little sister! But, she's pureblooded. So it wouldn't hurt her, would it? The teachers walk away from the wall so I can finally see what was on it. Written in blood in read:
Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.
A chill went up my spine. If we didn't save Ginny she was going to die. We all ran to Lockhart's classroom so we could follow him to the chamber. "Lockhart's useless, why do we need him?" I say as we storm into his classroom.
"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try and get in the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know!" Harry said. We went up some stairs to his office. We slammed open the door to see Lockhart... packing his things? He immediately closed a suitcase and looked at us nervously.
"Professor, we have some information for you." Harry said. I gave him an angry expression. "Are you really leaving like a coward? You're not even going to try to save Ginny?" I yelled at the man. He chuckled nervously.
"Uh, urgent call. Unavoidable, uh... go to go." He said stuttering.
"What about my sister?" Ron yelled with widened eyes. "Well... um... As to that, most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I." Lockhart scrambled around the room packing things.
"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You can't go now." Ron says with a blaze of anger. And he has a right to be. "Well, I must say, when I took the job, there was nothing in the job description about—." Lockhart suddenly scrambled around his desk but I immediately whipped out my wand and held it to his chest.
"So your just going to run away? After everything you've said and done in those books you would be a COWARD?!" I yelled angrily at the man. I was not playing around, especially with someone's life.
"Books can be misleading." He said with his hands on his hips.
"You bloody wrote them!" Harry yelled as well. Lockhart suddenly put down the books he was holding and walked up to Harry. "My dear boy, do you use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done those things!" Lockhart blustered out. I growled. He was lying!
"You're a fraud! You've been lying about everything! You take credit from other wizards just so you can get a little fame!" I said now digging my wand in his chest.
"Is there anything you can do?" Ron asked.
"Yes. Now you mention it." Lockhart said before pushing away my wand. He walked paced forward a bit in thought.
"I'm rather gifted with memory charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbering, and I'd never sold another book. In fact, uh, I'm uh... I'm going to have to do the same to you." Lockhart said before pulling out his hand from his suit pocket. Before he could cast the spell or even mutter a word Harry and Ron pull out their wands.
"Don't even think about it." Harry said sternly.
*
We went into the abandoned girls laboratory, holding Lockhart hostage, to find out about Moaning Myrtle's death. She said that she was in a cubicle crying until she heard a boy saying a strange language outside her stall. She opened the door to tell the boy to sod off, until she just... died. She said the last thing she saw was big bright yellow eyes over by the sinks.
So here we were standing in-front of the sinks with Lockhart. Harry knelt down and look at it for a while before his eyes widened.
"This is it. This is it, guys. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said. Well, all we needed to do was step inside. I think that means me and Harry needed to say something in Parseltongue.
"We need to say something in Parseltongue." I said to Harry. He glanced at me nervously. I closed my eyes and focused on my beating heart. Suddenly my mouth guided me along the way. Me and Harry both say things in Parseltongue before the sinks began to open up, it revealed a giant hole into the sewers. Oh Merlin, not another endless hole.
Lockhart looked into the hole before his breathing became unsteady. He smiled and chuckled to hide his fear.
"Excellent, you two. Ah, good work. Well, then, I'll just be... there's no need for me to stay." Lockhart said before trying to push through. Nope, he was not going to just leave. Harry and Ron block him from leaving with their bodies.
"You're not going anywhere." I say before pushing him away from the boys. I point my wand at Gilderoy's neck and he stumbles back a bit.
"You first." Harry said.
"Now, children, what good will it do?" Lockhart asked.
"Better you than us." Ron said. I smirked.
"Um, but... Obviously, yes." Lockhart mumbled before looking at the hole again. "Sure you don't want to test it out first." Before Lockhart could say another thing Ron kicked the man down the wall. A yell filled our ears. Nice one.
A crash had sounded. The teacher stopped yelling. "It's really filthy down here." We could here the Professor say. Okay at least we won't die from impact.
"All right. Let's go." Harry gulped.
"Oh Harry." We heard a sweet voice come from Myrtle. She was hovering above a cubicle with a sweet and charming grin. "If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet." She chuckles sweetly.
Well that wasn't creepy at all. Harry thanks Myrtle awkwardly before jumping into the hole. Ron and me follow suit. We zoom down the pipes and our scared yells could be heard from the heavens above. We slid down and down until we landed inside of a cavern. Bones were littered around the place. Gross. Lockhart was there as well. Dirt was smudged on all of our faces. I definitely needed a bath.
We immediately pointed our wands at Lockhart.
"Now remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." Harry says before climbing into another part of the sewer. I followed behind him and could hear Lockhart and Ron tagging along. We followed him into this cave of some sorts and something mysterious was on the ground before us. What was this?
"What's this?" Ron asked.
"It looks like... a snake." Lockhart said.
"It's a snake's skin." Harry said walking over it. I follow him closely behind.
"Bloody hell. Whatever shed this thing must be 60 feet long. Or more." Ron said. Suddenly Lockhart passes out on the ground with a thud. Pathetic.
"Heart of a lion, this one." Ron said. Before I could turn my head back to Harry, Lockhart suddenly jumps up and grabs Ron's wand. He pointed it at Ron, then at me and Harry. He was serious, right? One wrong movement and he's going to be barfing slugs like Ron.
"The adventure ends here, children, but don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So... you first, Ms. Goldhorn." He said now pointing Ron's wand directly at me. I wasn't counting on the spell to work with a broken wand.
"Say goodbye to your memories." He said confidently. Well this was going to be a sight to see.
"Obliviate!" The man yelled. Suddenly sparks came out of the end and hit him instead, knocking him into a wall. He falls on the ground, still. Well that was anticlimactic.
But suddenly everything around us began to shake. Tons upon tons of rocks fell, creating a barrier between me and Ron. Harry was on the other side with me. We ducked and dodge the debris. Oh no this was bad.
"Harry! Violet!" I hear Ron yell from the other side.
"Ron are you okay? Are you hurt?" I yelled. My voice echoed through the cavern.
"I'm fine." He said. I heard some mumbling and talking before I heard Ron yell:
"Lockhart's memory charm backfired! He hasn't got a clue who he is!" Ron yelled. Well could have seen that one coming. "It's an odd sort of place, this, isn't it?" Lockhart chuckles. "Do you live here?"
"No." Ron says. Suddenly heard something being hit against something else. I heard a thud. Ron must have knocked out Lockhart, nice one.
"What do I do now?" Ron asked.
"You wait here and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through." Harry says. His breathing was heavy. How was Ron going to shift at least 50 pounds of rock without a wand?
"We'll go on and find Ginny." Harry said before walking deeper in the sewer. I follow him closely behind. We pulled out our wands when we were met with a door with snake engravings on it.
"That must be the entrance." I said before walking closer to the door. I then began speaking in Parseltongue. I didn't know what I was saying, just that it would most likely open it. Suddenly the sewer door opened with a loud creak.
We slowly walked inside to see a beautiful sculpture of who I assumed to be Salazar on the cave walls. Snake head status littered all around the place.
It was captivating to see... until we saw Ginny's unconscious body on the ground. My eyes widened.
"Ginny." Harry said. We immediately run up to her body and kneeled.
"Please don't be dead. Come on, Ginny. Wake up." I said in a panic. I touched her wrist to feel that she was as cold as ice. What had they done to her?
"She's cold as ice." I said to Harry.
"She won't wake." I hear a familiar voice say. I turn my head to see Tom Riddle walking out from the shadows. How did he even get here? He paced towards us.
"Tom. Tom Riddle. What do you mean she won't wake?" Harry asked. "She's still alive. But only just." Tom said.
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked. That's what my question was as well.
"A memory, preserved in a diary for 50 years." Tom said. Maybe he was here to help us. Me and Harry try to get Ginny to wake up but it's no use.
"You've got to help us, Tom. There's a basilisk." Harry said.
"It won't come until it's called." Tom said. We looked up to see that Riddle had Harry's wand. What was he doing? We stand to our feet slowly. I looked at the man with confusion before pointing my wand at him.
"Give me my wand, Tom." Harry said, holding out his hand.
"You won't be needing it." Tom said. What is he talking about? Why was he being so odd?
"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. Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." Tom said. What? Did he force her to do it? Ugh, this scum!
Harry quickly denied the man's accusations. Ginny wouldn't do something like this.
"But why did she do it?" I asked. "Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very...persuasive." He said. He's sick! My face grew in anger. "Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a 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, Harry? And for Violet to tag along in your adventure? It was you two I was most anxious to meet." Tom said circling us before stopping.
"And why exactly did you want to meet us?" I asked, eyeing the man.
"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could, so I decided to show you my capture of the brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust." Tom said. I growled slightly in anger.
"Talk about him like that again and you will lose a limb." I say pointing my wand at his chest. He chuckled.
"Love to see you try." He says. There was a silence before he smirked. Even if I did hurt him he wouldn't feel any real pain.
"You framed him didn't you?" Harry said. Tom looked at him.
"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent." Tom said. I smirked, he knew Tom was up to something.
"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Harry said with a cheeky grin.
"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 it's pages, so that one day, I would be able to lead another, to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work." Tom spoke. Then it all hit me.
"Well, you haven't finished it this time." Harry said confidently walking up to the man. "In a few hours, the Mandrake drought will be ready. And everyone who was Petrified will be right again."
"Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now my new target... has been you." Tom's eyes drifted to look at me. I look at the man in confusion. Why was it me?
"I never thought that you would be the kind of person to do the things you've done, Goldhorn." Tom said.
"What is he talking about?" He whispered to me. Tom slowly walked up towards me. "Doing Dark Magic... with Draco Malfoy." Tom said. Oh crap, now Harry knew.
"You did Dark Magic with Malfoy?" Harry said. I glanced at him. "It wasn't like I could ask anyone else to do it." I said. And that was right, I only did the spell for revenge.
"And you... Potter. How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's power was destroyed?" Tom yelled. That was a question I asked myself since I met the boy.
"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time." Harry said.
"Voldemort is my past, present and future." Tom said before turning and writing something in the air. He wrote his full name. Tom Marvolo Riddle. The letters started to rearrange themselves to spell out...
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
A chill went up my spine. The letters began to disappear slowly.
"You... you're the heir of Slytherin." Harry said in wonder. I didn't expect him to be the heir... and to be Voldemort. But it made sense in a way. Tom turned to look at the two of us.
"But not just me.... Violet is the heir as well." He said looking at me. A pang went in my chest. No, impossible. Harry looked at me with widened eyes.
"You're lying!" I yelled.
"Am I? You come from a long line of powerful witches and wizards. Your descendant is Hecate and Merlin himself, if I were you... I wouldn't be so surprised." He said. I couldn't say anything. He could have been right. But I didn't want to believe him.
"You're Voldemort." Harry said. Tom looked at him.
"Surely you didn't think I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name? 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." Tom said with anger.
"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." Riddle said with venom.
"He'll never be gone, not as long as those remain, are loyal to him." Harry said back. That is true. Suddenly I hear bird caws behind me and I turn around. We all did. I see a phoenix flying towards us gracefully. WAIT A PHOENIX?
"Fawks?" Harry said with confusion. It looked like it had something in its claws. Suddenly the thing it had landed into Harry's hands.
"You know a phoenix?" I asked the boy. Harry opens the object up... it was an old hat?
"So this is what Dumbledore sends his two great defenders? A songbird and an old hat." Tom said with a bit of disgust before turning away from us. I see the phoenix exit the chamber. I turn my head to see Tom raising his left hand towards the large Salazar Slytherin statue.
"Hey what do you think your doing?" I asked but Tom didn't answer. Suddenly he began speaking in Parseltongue. What was he doing?