Chapter 16: Battle with the Heir of Slytherin
I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter
Daisuke and Harry gasped and ran the rest towards Ginny's motionless form. "Ginny, oh Ginny, please don't be dead!" Daisuke pleaded, falling to her knees, and she began shaking the young girl praying for a response. Harry was beside her, his wand laying on the floor beside him.
"Please don't be dead; come on, Ginny, wake up." Harry pleaded. He noticed the girl had Riddle's diary in one arm and her eyes were shut, so she hadn't been petrified.
"She's cold as ice," Daisuke whispered, holding her hand to Ginny's cheek.
"She won't wake." A soft voice told them from nearby. They both turned and saw a tall, dark-haired boy walk out of the shadows towards them, but they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Tom Riddle?" Daisuke whispered. "B…but how is this possible?" Tom Riddle had been a student fifty years ago when she and Harry saw him in the vision from the diary, but here he was, not having aged a single day.
"What do you mean she won't wake?" Harry asked, dread filling his stomach. "She's not…"
"She's still alive, if only just," Riddle told them.
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked, noticing the older male's body looked rough around the edges as if he was being looked at through a mist.
"A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years," Riddle said, kneeling to pick up Harry's wand when both he and Daisuke weren't looking, still trying to wake Ginny up.
"Tom, you have to help us. There's a Basilisk down here…" Daisuke began.
"It won't come until it is called," Riddle said with a faint smirk beginning to form at the edges of his mouth.
Harry saw Riddle holding his wand, and he stood up with a frown. "Give me my wand, Tom."
"You won't be needing it."
"What do you mean I won't be needing it?"
"You see, Harry Potter, Lady Ainsworth, I've longed to speak to you both for a very long time."
"We don't have time to talk; give Harry back his wand. We can talk later once we've gotten out of this place!" Daisuke told him, clenching her wand tightly in her hand, something didn't sit right with her, and it all centred around how Riddle was grinning at them both.
"How did Ginny get like this?" Harry asked.
"Now that's a long story and a very interesting one. I suppose it is because she opened her heart to an invisible stranger." Riddle said pleasantly.
"The diary…" Daisuke whispered, looking back at the black book.
"Yes. My diary, she's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all about her pitiful worries and woes. How her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand books." Riddle's eyes glinted. "How she didn't think that the famous, great and amazing Harry Potter would ever like her." As he spoke, his eyes never left Harry and Daisuke's faces.
"It's rather boring, listening to all that tripe. So, I wrote back; I was kind, understanding, I was the friend she needed me to be." He continued.
"You manipulated her." Daisuke hissed.
Riddle's smirk widened. "You'll find I can be rather persuasive. A talent of mine, one of many, I assure you. As young Ginny wrote in the diary, she poured her soul into it, just what I needed. Over time, I grew far more powerful than her and I began to pour a little of my soul back into her."
"No…" Daisuke whispered.
"I see your line of thinking is going right where I anticipated, Daisuke. It was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets; she was the one who wrote the threatening messages on the walls; she is the one who set the Basilisk on those Mudbloods and Filch's cat." Riddle said. "I wish you could have been there for those diary entries; they were far more interesting."
He cleared his throat, and in a high-pitched voice, he began reciting Ginny's diary entries, much to the horror of Harry and Daisuke. "Dear Tom, I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers on my robes, and I don't know how I got there. Dear Tom, I don't know what I did on Halloween, but a cat was attacked, and blood was all over my robes. Dear Tom…"
"Expelliarmus!" Daisuke shouted, firing a spell at Riddle, but it went right through his body, and the male smirked.
"Seems I've touched a nerve." He said. "But soon, the power of the Diary grew too much for her; she tried to get rid of it in the girl's bathroom. But who should find it but you." He pointed Harry's wand at Harry. "The very one I was so anxious to meet."
"And why did you want to meet me, Tom?" Harry said, anger beginning to burn hot inside him.
"I knew I had to speak to you, meet you if I could. I needed to know more about you. So, I showed you my famous capture of that oaf Hagrid to earn your trust."
"Hagrid is our friend. You betrayed him!" Daisuke shouted.
"It was my word against Hagrid's. You can see how Armando Dippet saw it, on the one hand, Tom Riddle, model student, Prefect, poor but brilliant, orphaned but so brace and on the other hand, Hagrid, the blundering oaf who got in trouble every other week trying to raise Werewolf cubs under his bed or sneaking off into the Forbidden Forest at night to wrestle trolls."
"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you, though." Daisuke said with a smirk. "We saw how he reacted when you asked him what would happen if the one behind the attacks was caught."
"Yes, and he kept an annoyingly close eye on me ever since. He even persuaded Dippet to allow Hagrid to remain on the school grounds to become the gamekeeper!" Riddle replied. "It became too dangerous to open the Chamber of Secrets again while I was at school. So, I left behind a diary with my sixteen-year-old self preserved inside it to lead another in my footsteps to help complete Salazar Slytherin's most noble work."
"I don't think Salazar wanted to purge the school of muggle-born students. He may have disagreed with the other founders, but nothing about what we've read makes him out to be a monster." Daisuke said.
"It matters not what you think, girl. You could hardly understand the greatness of Salazar Slytherin, let alone the ancient and noble blood running through your veins. You waste all your time befriending filthy Mudbloods when you could be so much greater than even I." Riddle told her in a silky tone.
Daisuke growled, and she and Harry stood side by side as Riddle continued. "Imagine my anger when it was Ginny who wrote in my diary once again, how she took the diary back thinking you both were onto her that you might have discovered how to make the diary work. And that I might have told you all her secrets and that she was the one behind everything. I knew then what I had to do, I knew you both were close to solving the mystery, and I knew that you'd both go to any lengths to save a friend."
"You targeted Hermione and Jun?" Harry asked.
"No, but their attacks were fortunate. It drove you further along, pursuing the truth you so desperately craved. And it led you to me."
"Why? Why go to all this trouble just to meet us?" Harry asked.
"I wished to meet the famous Harry Potter, the one who vanquished the Dark Lord Voldemort when he was merely a baby. How was it that you with no magical ability whatsoever were able to escape with nothing more than a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed!?" he brushed Harry's hair aside with his wand to look at the scar on his forehead.
"Why do you care how I escaped?" Harry asked. "Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemort is and always will be my past, present and future," Riddle answered. He turned around and began flicking Harry's wand in the air, and fiery letters formed slowly, reading Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle snapped his fingers, and the letters shifted about in the air to form new words.
"I am Lord Voldemort…" Daisuke whispered in horror. "You're the Heir of Slytherin?"
"You're Voldemort?" Harry gulped, stepping back as Riddle turned around.
"Did you really think I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No, I created myself a new name, one all would fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world, not you!" Harry retorted. "Even when you were at full power, you never dared attack Hogwarts. Dumbledore always was more powerful than you!"
"Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
"He's not gone. Not when those who are loyal to him remain!" Daisuke said, remembering Dumbledore's words from the night in Hagrid's hut. Suddenly, beautiful music echoed through the chamber, and they all turned to see a magnificent crimson and gold phoenix fly into the chamber from the ceiling above.
"Fawkes?" Daisuke whispered, seeing the creature head directly for her; in his claws, they saw him holding something he dropped, and Daisuke caught it and watched the Phoenix fly away and perch itself on one of the statues nearby.
"The Sorting Hat?" Riddle asked with a laugh. "This is what Albus Dumbledore sends his defenders? A songbird and an old, worn-down hat, well then, let us see how well placed your faith truly is."
He walked away from them towards the great carved face and held out his hand, and he began to speak in Parseltongue. "Speak to me, Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" Harry heard exactly what he said.
The mouth of the face slowly slid open, and Riddle turned to them. "Let us now test the strength of the Heir of Salazar Slytherin and the Famous Harry Potter and his poor friend Daisuke Ainsworth." He said.
"The basilisk?" Daisuke whispered, hearing something slithering around inside the statue.
"Run," Harry said, grabbing her hand, and both took off running away as a massive sixty-foot long poisonous green serpent emerged from the statue's mouth, and it let out a terrible hiss. Riddle said something else to it in Parseltongue, and it slithered off after them. "Parseltongue won't save you or your friend now, Potter, it only obeys me!"
"Oh, great!" Daisuke grunted as she ran only to slip on the wet floor, the Sorting Hat flying from her hand, she yelped when she landed. She covered her face and looked down at the floor as the Basilisk grew closer. Harry kneeled beside her and tried to help her stand without looking the serpent in the eye.
As the Basilisk reared back to strike, Fawkes let out a shrill cry as he flew from his perch towards the great serpent. The Basilisk let out a hiss and tried to bite the phoenix, but Fawkes was far more agile and nimble than it was. "NO!" Riddle screeched when he saw the phoenix sink its talons into the bulbous yellow eyes of the Basilisk, causing blood to drip down the serpent's head.
The Basilisk screeched and howled in anguish, and Harry dared to glance back and saw the Basilisk's eyes had been gouged out by Fawkes, leaving it blind. "Leave the bird! Kill them; you can still smell them. Kill them!" Riddle shouted at the serpent.
Daisuke got to her feet, and she and Harry ran off, their footsteps echoing throughout the chamber, causing the Basilisk to hiss and chase after them.
"Not good, not good!" Daisuke whispered between pants as Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her off down a side tunnel.
"We've got to get away from that thing!" he told her as they ran further down the tunnel only to come to a stop at an old rusty grate blocking their way. Both tried to push it out of the way, but it was far too heavy for them on their own.
A heavy hissing noise made them spin around, and they saw the Basilisk slithering into the tunnel right behind them. It took several deep breaths as it sniffed the air, flicking its forked tongue around, searching for them. Daisuke covered her mouth and backed up against the grate, as did Harry, neither daring to make a sound as the great serpent inched closer and closer to them.
Harry glanced around before picking up a rock on the floor and throwing it over the snake's head down the other tunnel. The rock clanged when it hit the ground, and the Basilisk's head snapped away, and it growled before slowly moving down the other tunnel after the source of the noise.
The two waited a moment before moving to see if the serpent was gone. To their relief, they saw the end of its body moving down another tunnel. "Phew…" Daisuke sighed.
Harry nodded and grabbed her hand, and then they slowly ran off out of the tunnels back into the main chamber. They rushed over to Ginny's body and kneeled beside her while Riddle looked at his hand with a smirk. "The process is nearly complete, soon Ginny Weasley will be dead, and Lord Voldemort will return, very much alive!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Daisuke told him. Suddenly the Basilisk emerged from behind them, rising out of the pool of water that surrounded the stone face, it let out a loud shriek, and they both backed away.
Harry looked around for anything that might help them when he saw something forming out of the Sorting Hat, he rushed over and pulled it out. It was a long silver sword, the handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs. Behind him, he heard Riddle shouting at the Basilisk, ordering it to sniff him out.
He turned to the Basilisk, his new weapon in hand, and he ran around the pool of water towards the giant stone face and began climbing it. When he made it to a foothold, he turned around to face the snake and leaned to the side, barely avoiding the snake's face as it rammed into the stone, leaving an imprint of its nose behind. He swung the sword frantically, trying to keep the beast away, the blade glancing off its thick, scaly hide.
Daisuke watched on in worry. "What do I do? I…I have to help him." She thought, but she didn't know how to, she didn't know any powerful spells, and she doubted anything she did know would be able to injure the Basilisk.
Looking around, she spotted the Sorting Hat had produced another sword. She quickly pulled it out of the hat and held it aloft, it was a well-forged blade with golden engravings along the edge, almost like dragon fire, and the handle was wrapped in fine leather with a golden pommel and crossguard.
The moment she grabbed hold of the sword, her eyes glowed bright gold, and she heard a voice, wise and old, speak in her mind. "None of us know our true destiny, young Ainsworth; however, yours shall be revealed in time."
"Wh…who are…" she began before cutting herself off when she saw Harry atop the carved face battling the Basilisk. She frowned and rushed towards the serpent's lower body, the sword glowing as she took it in both hands. "Leave him alone!" she shouted, swinging the blade, and it cut deep into the flesh of the serpent who screeched in agony.
Harry steadied himself and gripped the sword he held with both hands. When the Basilisk lunged for him again, he thrust it upwards, and the blade went through the snake's upper jaw and pierced right through its skull, causing the creature to let out another agonising scream of pain. He ripped the sword free and screamed himself. One of the Basilisk's fangs had broken off and was now piercing his right arm just above the elbow.
In its final death throes, the snake writhed about before hitting the ground with a thud behind Riddle, who let out a scream of anger before the chamber fell silent.
Harry ripped the fang out and immediately began feeling lightheaded. He shook his head with a soft groan and began to climb back down off the stone face. Daisuke ran over to him, dropping her sword when she reached him. "Harry!" She gasped, grabbing him when he stumbled into her arms.
"I…I'm okay…" he whispered, letting Daisuke help him over to Ginny before he fell to his knees, bringing Daisuke down from his dead weight.
"The venom of the Basilisk is already killing you. You'll be dead soon, Potter; you'll be with your Mudblood mother soon enough." Riddle said without pity as he stared at the boy.
White-hot pain was spreading throughout Harry's entire body; his vision was blurring, blood was dripping from the wound on his arm. He knew at that moment he didn't have long left. "I…is this what dying feels like?" he thought, slumping into Daisuke, who shook him frantically.
"Harry! Harry, stay with me!" she begged as she helped the boy lie down on his back, and he saw her beginning to tear up. "Don't leave me…please…little brother…"
Fawkes trilled softly as he landed beside Harry, the magnificent bird bending over to look at the boy. "Y…you were brilliant Fawkes…I just wasn't quick enough…" he whispered. Fawkes softly began singing as he started crying, the teardrops slowly falling onto the open wound.
"Fawkes…" Daisuke whispered. Before her very eyes, she saw Harry's injury healing with every drop of the Phoenix's tears, Riddle saw this too, and he let out a curse.
"Phoenix tears…of course! How could I forget they had healing properties!?" he then aimed Harry's wand at Harry and Daisuke. "But this makes no difference. I prefer it this way. To kill you with my hands as I should have done twelve years ago."
Harry sat up and gave Riddle a glare of defiance before he saw the diary beside him. He grabbed it, and with the Basilisk fang still in his hand, he drove it down right through the front cover of the book. A long piercing yell followed it, Riddle clutching at his chest as a giant gaping hole of light began growing.
Seeing this, Harry opened the diary and began stabbing its pages with the fang; black ink began to gush from each hole like hot, thick, oily blood, staining Harry's hands as he continued stabbing the diary.
Riddle's screams grew louder and louder, echoing throughout the chamber; his entire body was breaking apart, he clutched his face, and with a final scream, he exploded in a shower of light.
"He's gone…" Daisuke said, relief filling her body as she rushed over to grab Harry's wand before running back over to Harry and hugging him tightly. "Don't you ever do something that stupid again! I thought I almost lost you!"
Harry smiled softly and returned the hug, just glad to be alive and hugging his adoptive sister. A moment later, Ginny let out a gasp as her eyes opened, and she sat up quickly and saw them both looking at her. "Harry…D…Daisuke…it was Riddle, he made me do it…all of it…I…I'm so sorry." She sniffled and began tearing up.
"It's alright, Ginny," Daisuke told her with a smile. "The nightmare is over now." Fawkes let out a happy trill, and she stroked his head. "Good boy."
"Come on. We need to get back to Ron and then find a way back to Hogwarts," Harry told them both. He helped Ginny to her feet while Daisuke grabbed the Sorting Hat, her sword, the Basilisk fang Harry had used along with Riddle's now ink-covered and destroyed diary, and Harry held the other sword in his free hand, and they walked out of the chamber together.
"Ginny!" Ron shouted once they made it back to the cavern, they had left him, Veemon and Lockhart in. Some of the rocks had been cleared away, allowing them to get through. Ron hugged his sister tightly, tears in his eyes. "Oh, thank Merlin…you're okay!"
"I…I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wailed into his chest. "What will mom and dad say?"
"But you're fine, Ginny; I think that matters more than if you are being expelled or not," Ron told her with a reassuring grin. He then saw Fawkes swoop in and land on Veemon's head. "Whose bird is that?"
"And where did you get those swords?" Veemon asked, pointing at the weapons Daisuke and Harry carried.
"We'll explain later; for now, let's get out of here," Daisuke told her friend with a smile, and they nodded.
A few minutes later, Fawkes was holding onto Lockhart's shoulders, lifting him up towards a large opening in the caverns; they could see Hogwarts Castle in the distance. "This is amazing; this is just like Magic!" the blonde man shouted joyfully.
Daisuke rolled her eyes as she sat on Ex-Veemon's back beside Harry, while Ex-Veemon carried Ron and Ginny in his arms, following the phoenix as he guided them out.
The End of the Chapter
Read and Review