Prologue

He stood by the bottom of the staircase, not really seeing anything. The things he did see, however, were not visible to everyone around him. A boy stood behind him. He was about the age of twelve with glasses and unruly black hair. The boy's green eyes were piercing into the stranger's back. The boy at the stairs was just a bit older; he was about sixteen. He had a handsome face filled with something someone once described as evil. It was a perfect description.

To everyone at Hogwarts he was known as Tom Riddle. But to the more intelligent personas such as his Transfiguration teacher he was known as Lord Voldemort as well. An all powerful being who would one day rule over the Muggles and pretty much the rest of the world - if he was lucky enough.

Tom considered himself to be impeccably lucky. He was liked by every girl in the castle (just about) and he was also feared by every soul in the castle. Tom could make everyone do anything he wanted, except for those knowledgeable superior personas. They were the only ones that made Tom back down. But one day, when he got powerful enough, he would get rid of them and then the world would truly be his own little playground.

Tom was completely unaware of the boy behind him. The boy was aware of him though. He eyed Tom curiously. This boy had spoken to him in a diary and was supposed to help him figure out the secret of the Chamber of Secrets.

To Tom Riddle this boy was nobody. But fifty years in the future this boy was known as Harry Potter. He was The Boy Who Lived - the sole survivor of the killing curse. To everyone else around him he was like a God or just the average savior. It annoyed him at times but on other occasions it did come in handy.

Harry was following Tom down a hallway. Then he spotted Professor Dumbledore, though much younger, at the top of the stairs. Tom climbed up and spoke to him about the killing of a muggleborn witch. Harry watched transfixed as this interaction took place. Then he hurried alongside Riddle and followed him to a closed door. Tom opened it. Harry recognized the game keeper Hagrid inside. Tom was accusing him of opening the chamber! Harry couldn't believe it. He stared in bewilderment at this transaction. He couldn't take it in. It was false. It was a complete gimmick. Tom was just bluffing. He couldn't be serious. But Harry knew he was and he was soon dragged back into the present time and out of Tom Riddle's diary.

"Wow," he said feeling every part of him shaking. He rushed out of the room. He went straight down to the Gryffindor common room. He found one of his friends sitting lazily by the fire with his brothers. The boy was rather tall and gangly with bright red hair. He looked up when he saw Harry running up to him.

"What's up ate?"

"Ron - where's Hermione?" Ron looked at him stupidly for a moment and then raised a hand to his forehead, leaning against it deep in thought.

"I'm not completely sure," Ron said slowly and deliberately. "Well, considering she has an odd liking for books and reading and, well, books, I think you might find her in the library. But that's just a guess and yeah, well I think it's a bloody educated one."

"Well you're just a bloody genius aren't you?" Harry said slapping his friend on the shoulder. "C'mon...there's something I need to tell you."

The two boys waved to Ron's twin brothers and then hastily left Gryffindor tower. They raced to the library where - sure enough - they found Hermione pouring over a book, reading each word intently. She looked up when she heard footsteps. She marked her place and looked at them expectantly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, getting up. Harry nodded towards the exit and Hermione walked out with them towards the courtyard outside.

"That's ridiculous!" Hermione cried when Harry finished his story. Hermione was a very intelligent girl; she usually relied on books but in this case she knew with her gut feeling that what Harry was telling her had a few loose ends.

"Hermione's right," Ron chimed in, right on cue. "Who is this Tom Riddle anyway? You don't know a thing about him."

"Tom Riddle?" The three of them jumped. Standing in front of them was their headmaster Professor Dumbledore. He was over six feet tall with a beard that was snowy white and went down to his waist. His hair was equally long and white. He wore half moon spectacles on a crooked nose. His eyes were a dazzling blue and now they stared intently down at the three young second year students.

"Yes sir," Hermione said a little timidly. She was not used to speaking to the Professor at all. Harry was the one he usually spoke to out of the three of them.

"How do you come to know about Tom Riddle?" Dumbledore asked calmly. He began to walk alongside the trio. Hermione was growing more uneasy by the minute. She was getting the feeling that Tom Riddle was a bad person and that they should not mess with...or even thought of. She could see it written all over Dumbledore's face. He was uneasy, though he was trying very desperately not to show it.

"We found a diary in Myrtle's bathroom Sir," Harry said. He was also noticing Dumbledore's weird emotions. It was normal enough for Dumbledore to act strangely but this was a little more than his usual abnormality.

"You did?" Dumbledore asked, his voice still casual. Hermione heard an edge in his voice. She caught all the important things in a conversation from the looks on a person's face to the tone of their voice. Harry and Ron did as well but they were not as good at the art. Hermione had also learned to read lips with a bit of practice. It wasn't something you learned from books, although many things Hermione knew were from books.

"Yes," Harry answered. He gave a sideways glance at Hermione and she shrugged.

"May I see this diary?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's in our dormitory," Ron said. "We can go get it now." Dumbledore nodded and stopped the three as they turned back into the castle.

"I'll be most interested in seeing it but I want to see Miss Granger in my office." Hermione gaped at the headmaster. Something was definitely up. He never asked her for anything. He never even spoke to her really. Harry was the prize; he was the one everyone looked at. She was on the sidelines but she was used to it by now. Ron wasn't really used to the lack of attention yet but she could see that he was realizing he'd have to live with it at some point anyway.

Harry and Ron waved to Hermione as she walked with the headmaster in the opposite direction. Once inside the castle Dumbledore led her down a corridor she had never been down. They stopped in front of a gargoyle. Hermione looked at it blankly. Dumbledore looked down at her and smiled. She couldn't help but smile back timidly, realizing that there was a faint blush rising up her cheeks.

"Chocolate Frogs," he said grandly to the gargoyle. Hermione jumped as the gargoyle leapt aside and let them pass. Dumbledore went in and waited for Hermione to follow. She did so hesitantly still not sure of why she was there. They climbed the stairs and Dumbledore opened a door that led into an oval office. She gazed around, slightly fixated. There were the strangest kinds of mechanisms in this room. She couldn't even begin to take all of it in. She did notice the Phoenix that stood on its perch by the door, though. She smiled as it looked curiously at her.

Dumbledore went to take a seat behind his desk and motioned for Hermione to sit as well. Hermione sat down, smoothing down her pleated skirt nervously. She folded her hands in her lap and started intently at Dumbledore and waited for him to speak.