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A Change of Identity
Chapter 14: The Heir of Slytherin
Harry tried the library in an attempt to find out anything he could about the Chamber of Secrets. Unfortunately the rest of the school seemed to have had the same idea and any books which might have helped had already been taken out. Then Hermione Granger came to the rescue. She was an annoying little know-it-all whom nobody really liked other than Neville Longbottom who was always asking her for help. On this occasion she came in useful however. Granger always wanted to know everything about everything. Having evidently had the same trouble finding information about the chamber in the library as Harry had, she proceeded to do the unheard of and interrupted Professor Binns during their next History of Magic lesson. The ghostly professor had at first refused, saying it was just a legend but after further prodding from Granger told them what he knew.
It was interesting, thought Harry. If the Chamber of Secrets did indeed exist and had been opened fifty years ago as Malfoy had been heard to claim, then perhaps the present Heir of Slytherin was in the school now. Surely he could be of help to Harry in his quest for revenge. He could hardly go around asking people of course but Harry made a resolution to keep his eyes and ears open. In the meantime he would work hard at all his lessons. Salazar Slytherin had been famous for his ambition and Harry was sure that his heir would be more likely to help a student with good marks.
Unfortunately Harry's watchfulness yielded no results. Nothing else untoward happened and life at Hogwarts returned to normal except for Filch who seemed depressed without his beloved fiend of a cat. Quidditch matches took place which Harry didn't bother going to watch. It did cross his mind at one stage that he would make a much better seeker than the hopeless fifth year on the Gryffindor team but he wasn't going to suggest the idea when the whole of the house despised him. He couldn't have cared less if Gryffindor won anyway.
Then two weeks before Christmas Harry was once again the first on the scene after an attack. This time it was that little squirt Colin Creevy who was lying motionless outside the girls' toilet with a camera still clutched in his hands. Harry couldn't help but sneer in the manner he'd picked up from his days as Snape's son. Creevy ha been annoying the whole school ever since his arrival by flashing the stupid muggle contraption at anything that moved and many things that didn't. Harry stepped over his body, and picked up a notebook that was lying in the water which was once again oozing from under the bathroom door. Thinking there might be some sort of clue in it he left the scene and went to his dormitory, leaving Colin for others to discover.
Harry discovered to his disappointment that the notebook was completely unused save for the name written on the cover, T. M. Riddle. He tossed it on his bedside table in disgust and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. It was a long half hour before it struck him. The notebook had been lying in a pool of water. The ink on the cover should have been all smudged yet it had been completely clear and sharp. Harry grabbed a quill and the notebook and opened it up. He wrote his name, Harry Potter and stood up, intending to go to the bathroom and run the writing under the tap. But as he closed the book he saw the writing fade and disappear completely as though it were being sucked into the paper. Within seconds the page was as good as new. Strange, thought Harry and he started to experiment.
An hour later, Harry had a friend; a friend who understood what it was like to be rejected by a father... who understood the desire for revenge...who knew, furthermore just how to extract that revenge. All Harry had to do was be patient and follow a few simple orders and in the fullness of time Tom Riddle would help Harry get his own back on Professor Severus Snape. Harry carefully stashed the notebook in the lining of his robe. At some stage in the future he would have to carefully "lose" it to enable that fool of a girl Ginny Weasley to recover it. That was an essential part of the plan. But in the meantime Harry was to keep it safe and prove to the Heir of Slytherin that he was a worthy ally.
Harry was one of only a handful of students who stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas that year. Most parents, nervous about the attacks in the school wanted their children safely at home. Harry's father was staying at school in his capacity as depute headmaster and so Harry had to stay too- the full moon due to occur during the holiday period put paid to the possibility of Lupin looking after him for the two weeks. Not that Harry minded. He knew that he'd be perfectly safe and he intended to spend most of his time studying. In fact he knew that everyone would be safe since he had orders not to act until February. The one thing he did have to do without fail was write in the notebook every Friday night and at other times if anything of interest happened in the school.
Over the break Harry became aware that the Granger girl was attempting to discover the cause of the mysterious attacks, her attentions mainly focusing on the Slytherins, Draco Malfoy in particular. Indeed, Malfoy did seem rather gleeful and acted as if he did know something but Harry put that down to his normal arrogance. He dutifully reported these things to Riddle and got on with his own affairs. The holiday ended, the rest of the student population returned and lessons resumed. Working properly had its benefits, Harry found. Most of the teachers started praising the standard of his work and told him how much he had improved. Snape was still a git but with the prospect of revenge looming Harry could put up with him.
There was one slight problem for Harry. When the previous term had ended, so had the embargo on him receiving and sending owls. On Christmas morning Harry had got a letter from Lupin full of good advice on how to get on with people and reminding him of his promise. Well, Harry supposed. He wasn't antagonising his father and he was making the most of his new start- just not in the way Lupin had meant. But Harry pushed aside his vague feelings of guilt even though he knew that Lupin would certainly not approve of what he was planning. Snape deserved all he was going to get and Lupin would never know that Harry had anything to do with it. All the same, Harry couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt.
February arrived and with it came Harry's first assignment from Tom Riddle. He carried out his instructions to the letter with the result that the Hufflepuff ghost, The Fat Friar was found motionless in the same area as the previous victims. Naturally, Harry was nowhere near the scene when the attack was discovered. Panic started to seep through the school after that due to the fact that something had actually caused harm to a ghost. Harry still didn't know exactly what it was that had attacked but he was impressed at its effectiveness and he glowed at the few words of praise he received from Riddle. Strict rules were brought into force regarding wandering round corridors alone. Not having friends made it difficult for Harry to keep to them but most of the time he managed by tagging on to the end of a crowd. When necessary he ignored the rules and with a little advice from Riddle escaped detection.
Harry could have gone home at Easter since there was no full moon due over the break but on orders from Riddle he remained at school, telling his father that he wished to study and didn't want the attacker to think he scared him. This earned a rare word of approval from Professor Potter since it was the first real sign Harry had shown of a Gryffindor quality. All to the good, thought Harry. When Snape finally got his comeuppance it would be put down to just another attack by the Heir of Slytherin and Harry would never be suspected. Then once he had got what he wanted, Harry would get rid of the notebook somehow and the attacks would stop since Riddle was stuck in the book and could not act on his own. Harry could return to the normal routine of school, perhaps even making an effort to get on the good side of his housemates. The perfect plan.