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Chapter 35
June 8th 1992
Hogwarts
Harry jumped into the pipe and went down and it felt like he was rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as the one he was currently going down, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school
than even the dungeons.
Worried about what would happen when he hit the ground and he saw the pipe leveling out Harry used a little bit of Airbending to slow his speed and cushion his fall when he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.
He stood and saw Daphne punching Lockhart hard in the face.
"Asshole,"She said.
Harry decided to not do anything to Lockhart seeing how he had already gotten payback from his girlfriend and now he was just covered in slime and white as a ghost .
He just looked plainly pathetic.
Not worth the effort.
Harry went up to Daphne while looking around.
"We must be miles under the school," said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.
"Under the lake, probably," said Daphne, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls.
All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.
"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand "C'mon," he said to Daphne and
Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows
on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight.
"Remember," Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of
movement, close your eyes right away…"
But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a
loud crunch as Daphne stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Harry lowered his
wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying
very hard not to vomit Harry led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.
"Harry — there's something up there —" said Daphne hoarsely, grabbing Harry's hand.
They froze, watching. Harry could just see the outline of something huge and curved,
lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.
"Maybe it's asleep," he breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were
pressed over his eyes. Harry turned back to look at the thing, his heart beating so fast it
hurt.
Very slowly, his eyes as narrow as he could make them and still see, Harry edged
forward, his wand held high.
The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and
empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet
long at least.
"Wow" said Daphne weakly.
There was then a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way.
"Get up," said Daphne sharply, pointing her wand at Lockhart.
Lockhart got to his feet — then he dived at Daphne, knocking her to the ground.
Harry jumped forward, but Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Daphne's
wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.
"The adventure ends here you two!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the
school, tell them I was too late to save Mrs Murdock, and that you two tragically lost your
minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!"
As if it was happening in slow motion then Harry channeled his chi without thinking superheating the surrounding air and producing a beam of explosive energy that came out of his hand and that exploded upon contact with Lockhart with the force of a small bomb.
. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were then thundering to the floor.
In the next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.
"Daph,Daph!" he shouted. "Are you okay? Daph!"
"I'm here!" came Daphne's muffled voice from behind the rockfall. "I'm okay — this idiots not, though — he got blasted by you as he was trying to do the Memory Charm —"
"What now?" Daphne's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through — it'll take
Ages…"
Harry looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. He had never
tried to break apart anything as large as these rocks by magic or with Earthbending, and now didn't seem a good moment to try for the first time— what if the whole tunnel caved in?
"I dont know"He said "I could try Earthbending on the rocks but ive never worked with rocks so big and i dont want the tunnel to collapse".
"Then dont use Earthbending ''Daphne said "A Collapsed tunnel would be much worse than this but something needs to be done about the Monster ".
"Wait there," he called to Daphne. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on… If I'm not back in an
Hour go get help…"
There was a very pregnant pause, "I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Daphne, who
seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can — can get back through. And,
Harry —"
"I love you".
"I love you to Daph,See you in a bit," said Harry, trying to inject some confidence into his shaking voice.
And he set off alone past the giant snake skin.
Soon the distant noise of Daphne straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned
and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the
tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept
around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents
were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes
were real; their eyes looked strangely alive.
He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed
to flicker.
"Open," said Harry, in a low, faint hiss.
The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and
Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside.
He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars
entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting
long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. His heart
beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking
in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Layla?
He pulled out his wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every
careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready
to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the
stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach,
he thought he saw one stir.
Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself
loomed into view, standing against the back wall.
Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and
monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's
sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber
floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay black-robed figure.
It was the missing student, his fellow Slytherin Layla Murdock.
He didint know much about Murdock; she was Third Year who Daphne had been talking with a lot recently and who she had described as a kindred soul.
Someone who did not deserve this.
Harry knew that he and Daphne were probably crazy for going into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue someone that he was not even friends or related to but he knew that he would never turn his back on someone who needed him and when he was able to help.
"Layla!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "don't be
dead — please don't be dead —" He grabbed Layla's shoulders,
and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were
closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be…
"Layla, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her but her head just lolled
hopelessly from side to side.
"She won't wake," said a soft voice.
Harry jumped and spun around on his knees.
A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was
strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a
misted window. But there was no mistaking him.
"Tom — Tom Riddle?"
Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face.
"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "She's not?"
"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."
Harry stared at him confused. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he
stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen.
"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little
black diary Harry and Daphne had looked through before. For a second, Harry
wondered how it had got there and why it wasnt with Daphne— but there were more pressing matters to deal with.
Harry reached for his wand in his pocket only to find it gone
"Did you see —?"
He looked up. Riddle was still watching him — twirling Harry's wand between his long
fingers though.
"Give me my wand, I might need it if the Basilisk comes—"
Riddle's smile broadened.
"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle calmly.
"What do you mean?" he said.
"You won't be needing this," Riddle said.
Harry stared at him.
"What d'you mean, I won't be —?"
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you.
To speak to you."
"We're going to talk now," said Riddle, smiling broadly, and he pocketed Harry's
wand.
Harry stared at him. There was something very wrong here…
"How did Layla get like this?" he asked slowly.
"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I
suppose the real reason Layla Murdock's like this is because she opened her heart and
spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."
"What are you talking about?" said Harry.
"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. She's been writing in it for months and
months,
Riddle's eyes fixed onto Harry's face with a hungry look in them.
"Why though?"Harry asked.
Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the
back of Harry's neck.
"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Mrs Murdock poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted… I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew
powerful, far more powerful than her. Powerful enough to start feeding Layla a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"
"What d'you mean?" said Harry.
"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Layla Murdock opened the
Chamber of Secrets and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on the Mudbloods and traitors, and the Squib's cat."
"Why would she have listened to a diary though"Harry said "She is third year and a Slytherin and i would think she would have shyed away from that".
"She did not" said Riddle, calmly. "She came from a troubled family and was glad to have someone to talk to".
"Daphne said that she had been talking with Layla quite a bit recently,"Harry said.
"Indeed"Riddle said "Not a lot though with you and her always off doing who knows what and even though she was friendly with Mrs Greengrass i was her best friend".
"And she didint do anything when she started to have memory lapses, ''Harry asked.
"Of course she wanted to but didn't know what she was doing at first so she was not sure on what to do"Riddle said "It was very amusing to watch. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries…they were far more interesting,they became… Dear Tom," he recited "' I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad… I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"
"But she did end up losing the diary eventually"Harry said.
"Yes"Riddle said "It took a very long time for the stupid bint to stop trusting her diary," he said "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where Mrs Greengrass came in, Harry. She found it and shared it with you, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was her and she shared it with you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…"
"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry "And earlier you said Traitors but I'm pretty sure Purebloods got petrified too".
Riddle laughed.
"Both those answers are quite simple Harry"He said "you see, Layla told me all about you, Harry,Your whole fascinating history of how you where cast away by your parents and became a consummate Slytherin conquering the pack in ways not often seen and yet not willing to use that power".
"What do you mean?"Harry asked.
"You dealt with that Mr Fawley in such a wonderful fashion"Riddle said "And you have none in Slytherin willing to stand against you old or young and yet you do not gather that power and gain followers"He said "You are only seen in public with Mrs Greengrass and sometimes Mr Spiers despite that you could be surrounded by much more".
"You intrigue me Harry,"Riddle said.
"I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to work to gain your trust".
"Ive always had trouble believing that that"Harry said "I dont see Hagrid much but he does not seem like the mass murdering type of person".
Riddle laughed his high laugh "Your perceptive indeed"He said "And correct It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to the old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student… on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls… but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance… as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power!
"We found the entrance in less than a year,"Harry said a bit smugly.
"Yes"Riddle said "You are smart indeed".
"You framed Hagrid then,"Harry said.
"Right again my boy,"Riddle replied.
"Why is he still working then"Harry asked.
"The Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent and he persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think
Dumbledore might have guessed… Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as
the other teachers did…"
"I bet Dumbledore was quite suspicious of you," said Harry.
"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled,"
said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was
still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I
decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that
one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar
Slytherin's noble work."
"Slytherin would not have wanted people to die"Harry said "And even if he did you haven't finished the work no one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be alright again —"
"Killing Mudbloods and Blood Traitors doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been — you." Riddle said quietly,
Harry stared at him.
" I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."Riddle said.
"Like what?" Harry spat.
"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How were Lord Voldemort's powers destroyed?"
There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.
"Allright first of all youve got the Potters wrong Micheal Potter is the Boy-Who-Lived ?" said Harry slowly. "And why do you care after all Voldemort was after your time…"
"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter…"
He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing
three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Harry froze
Oh fuck.