Chapter Seventeen: The Heir of Slytherin

Everything was still grey.

Through the grey came a snowy white owl with peculiar spectacles. It opened its mouth to speak.

You figured it out, Hermione! You saved us all. That piece of paper Ron and I found in your hand? That was the key. It was everything. And as soon as Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout get the mandrakes ready, you'll be awake.

Everyone thinks I'm the hero, but it's really you. Without you and that paper, we wouldn't have been able to figure out it was a basilisk or that it was traveling through the pipes. And I definitely would be dead right now if it weren't for you figuring out that looking at a basilisk could kill you.

But let me start at the beginning. I know you're probably dying to know what happened - oy, that was kind of in bad form, wasn't it. I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it like that.

Ron said he told you about Aragog and all that. I've never seen him so pale, even when he was throwing up slugs. He was utterly terrified.

I guess I'll start when we visited you and found your note in your hand. Ginny had been acting really weird, but she had been acting weird around me all year, so I didn't really pay much attention. I mean, I know she fancies me, but it doesn't really bother me as much as everyone thinks. Honestly, I kind of fancy her too, but don't you dare tell Ron that. I just wish she could act herself around me. She's always so nervous. Maybe that will change now with everything that happened.

So the morning when we found the paper in your hand, we actually weren't coming to visit you. Madam Pomfrey had already shut down the hospital wing to visitors, but we were out in the corridor where all of the attacks happened because we were on our way to talk to Moaning Myrtle about what we heard from Aragog. McGonagall found us, and we used you as an excuse, and she let us in to see you.

As soon as I saw that in your hand, it seemed to all click in my head. I was like, "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk — a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue… The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin … Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again … and you and the Ravenclaw prefect were looking through that mirror you had in your hand... And then the whole thing about how the crowing of a rooster was fatal: Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fit!

And then I saw that you had written 'pipes' on the paper, and it all made perfect sense: the basilisk was moving around the castle in the pipes, and the Chamber opening was probably Moaning Myrtle's bathroom since that's where she was probably killed. She just stayed there, for the most part.

So we were going to tell McGonagall. We really were. We weren't going to try to do it on our own. We were on our way to the staff room when an announcement filled the entire school telling everyone to report back to the Common Rooms immediately. We waited around, though, just to hear what was going on. That's when we found out Ginny had been taken into the Chamber. Another message was written on the wall: "Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever."

Of course, Ron and I were horrified. They asked all of the Weasleys to get together so they could tell them too. I was there. And then they expected us all to just sit there in the Common Room doing nothing. I knew we had to do something, and so did Ron. He suggested going to tell Lockhart since we had heard him talking about going to fight Slytherin's monster. I agreed, only because I couldn't really think of anything else.

When we got to his office, though, we caught him packing all of his stuff, the git. He was running away! He was just going to leave us there to deal with everything. Turns out, he's not as great as you or anyone else thought he was. I'm sorry, Hermione - I know you liked him, but Lockhart is nothing but a big fraud.

Ron and I cornered him and forced him at wand-point to go with us to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. I used Parseltongue to open it, and then we forced him in first. It was a huge drop. We all fell down, and Ron dropped his wand, and Lockhart took it from him.

It turns out Lockhart hasn't done any of what he has said he had. People would tell him the stories, and then he'd erase their memories and act like the story was his own. The only thing Lockhart is good at is memory charms. He tried to wipe our memories, but Ron's wand backfired, and he completely zapped his own brain. Can't remember a thing. Probably the best thing to come out of this whole thing if you ask me. Sorry, but it's true, Hermione.

When he tried to wipe our memories, the tunnel we were in collapsed with the rebounding spell, so Ron and I were split up. I told him to go get help, and I went further into the very long, dimly lit chamber.

The first thing I saw was Ginny. She was on the ground and not moving. I thought she was dead. And then I noticed Tom. He seemed to appear out of nowhere and just standing there, not doing anything. Something seemed off, but I didn't care. I ran over to Ginny to see if I could help her. She was barely breathing. I tried to lift her up but couldn't. I asked Tom to help but… but then I realized he had my wand. I must have put it down when I tried to lift her up. I asked him for my wand back, but I still knew something wasn't right. Tom just seemed… different.

And then he got this strange look on his face and started saying all kinds of crazy things about Ginny and the diary and how it was Ginny who opened the Chamber of Secrets… and then… then he told me...

Tom Riddle is Voldemort! Tom - or Voldemort, I guess - was controlling her. I was really scared, but he gave me, like, ten minutes to think of what to do because he was intent on telling me his whole plan. I kept trying to stall him while I tried to figure out what I could do. I decided that I'd do whatever it took to save Ginny, even if that meant having the Basilisk follow me. I figured if I could keep the snake preoccupied with running around the pipes long enough, Ron may have time to go get help or something. I was desperate, Hermione. I'm sure you would have had a better plan, but that's all I could think of.

I was just about to start running around when Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, flew into the chamber and dropped the Sorting Hat right next to me. I was really confused, but I couldn't really think too much about it because Tom was suddenly summoning the Basilisk. I could hear it slithering through the pipes. I shut my eyes and just started to run blindly. I thought Fawkes had flown away, but then I heard this awful noise. I tripped and felt something heavy hit me. I couldn't help it. I had to open my eyes and see what had happened.

It was Fawkes! He was attacking the Basilisk's eyes! The Basilisk was blinded! I could finally look at it without being petrified or killed!

But it was trying to attack me. It couldn't see me, but it could still smell me. I kept dodging it and running, but I was getting tired. I thought I was a goner, to be honest. I kept wishing and hoping something or someone would help me. If I could just hold on a little longer, maybe Ron would have had time to go get help.

The snake was moving all over the place. At one point, his tail hit the Sorting Hat, and it slid across the Chamber to my feet. I was about to kick it out of my way when I realized it looked a little misshapen. I reached down to grab it - it was way heavier than it was before. I looked inside… and there was the Sword of Gryffindor!

I pulled it out of the Sorting Hat just as the Basilisk tried to strike. I jumped out of the way just in time. The snake swiped at me again and smacked into the columns in the chamber. I knew it was going to strike again, so I got the sword ready. As soon as the Basilisk attacked, I held up the sword as tightly as I could.

It worked! I stabbed the Basilisk straight through the top of its head! Unfortunately, one of the fangs got me in the arm. It hurt so bad. I knew I was dying, but the Basilisk was dead, so it didn't really matter. No one else was going to be hurt by it again. I pulled out the fang, but I could feel the poison running up my arm. It burned, but I was kind of ok with it. I dunno. I didn't want to die, but I figured maybe I'd get to see my parents or something.

But then everything felt… better. I looked down, and Fawkes was there, crying over my arm. You probably already know this, but Phoenix tears have healing properties. Fawkes healed my arm! For a few seconds, I was just so happy that I forgot where I was!

But then I remembered Tom was still there and I didn't want him and his stupid diary to trick anyone again. I picked up the Basilisk fang and stabbed the diary with it. It was crazy, Hermione! The diary started to bleed and scream, and Tom started to bleed and scream. Then, all of a sudden, Tom was gone. The diary was still there, bleeding, but it wasn't moving anymore.

It was around that time that Ginny woke up, and we were able to escape back through the way I had come. Ron had moved some of the rocks so we could get through. It was brilliant, Hermione! I wish you were there to see it.

But I know that you're going to get better really soon. Professor Sprout is done with the Mandrake Juice, and you and everyone else are going to wake up as soon as she can pass it out. I still have loads to tell you about what Dumbledore said to me and about Malfoy and Dobby, but that all can wait until when you wake up. I'm going to make sure everyone knows that it was you who figured everything out. You're a hero, Hermione!