Author's notes: I re-uploaded this chapter because there were a few mistakes, and a note I wanted to add at the end. That, and I forgot to thank Flummox for beta reading, along with VMorticia.
The Snake-who-lived
"Voldemort is my past, my present and my future, Harry Potter…"
Tom Marvolo Riddle, Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets, page 330
Chapter 23: The Chamber of Secrets (part IV)
Harry was starting to miss being called a nut. At least being annoyed by Draco's constant whining had distracted him and Ron from the reality of what lay ahead of them, made only more tangible by their previous discovery. Now, with nothing but the sound of their footsteps against the stones, the ethereal shadows dancing around them and the oppressing sound of their stressed breathing, Harry was starting to wish he was back in the common room, with a cup of hot chocolate in his hands.
"Look."
The word seemed thunderous and almost startled Harry into screaming. Ron, as well, seemed surprised at the volume of his voice, the problem lying in the fact that he had uttered but a mere whisper.
Ahead of them was a dimly lit natural stone wall where there seemed to be twice as many dancing shadows than elsewhere. He knew it was an optical illusion, but it still brought chills to his spine.
Carved into the wall was a large, ornate stone door adorned with dozens of emerald-eyed snake designs. On each side stood ancient slate statues of majestic coiled snakes ready to strike, fangs poised, green stone eyes glaring at them…
Harry could have sworn their heads moved to glare at them.
And so, it was easy for him to look at them and utter a single word in Parseltongue:
"Open."
And the doors did in a sudden, thunderous explosion of rumbling sounds. Slowly, the enormous rock sculptures moved aside, revealing a large room behind.
The room was decently lit by burning torches, attached to the two rows of columns that appeared to be made to resemble hundreds of twirled and knotted snakes in a large mass coming out of twin pools of inches deep, crystal-clear water, on each side of a brick walkway in front of them. At the end of the room stood a statue of someone Harry recognized at first sight, seeing as his picture hung in the Slytherin common room, just above the doors to the dormitories.
"Salazar Slytherin." Harry whispered, in awe.
His voice was weaker here; though imposing, the room was filled with plenty of natural noise; the crackling of the burning torches, the trickling of the small jets of water causing ripples in the pools and the slight sound of an unnatural breeze circling the room were gentle, almost soothing. He felt himself relax as he admired the intertwined snakes design covering the pillars…
Roughly, he pulled himself back to attention; this was no time to admire the scenery, as breathtakingly beautiful as it was. The heir and the Basilisk could be anywhere, ready to surge. With the noise the doors had made when they had opened, Harry seriously doubted the effect of surprise was on their side.
With the way the chamber was built, the only covers against the Basilisk or against the heir's spells would put them feet-deep in water – no chance of hiding properly whatsoever. The walkway was bare and straight, so no hiding there either. For a second, he wished he had brought his cloak, or even Nemesis with him. The snake could have distracted the heir or something…
Ok. What did they have?
Surprise? One word: doors. The only surprise he could pull off was with his dark magic, but he didn't want Ron to know he had learned some of it: too many questions, too many risks, too many difficultly predictable things… no. He wouldn't dare, unless things were really bad. A trump card, of sort.
Strength? He doubted it. So, Blaise had showed him dueling techniques and he had learned a few from Mrs Zabini's books, but that, in no way, made him an expert. On the other hand, the heir commanded a Basilisk, and, seeing as he had found the chamber, was probably a great deal older than them and, therefore, more powerful.
Numbers? Hardly – it was the heir, older and more experienced than he and Ron, with his Basilisk, who could kill with a glance. In this case, being of equal number didn't really matter.
…Draco had been right, this was crazy.
The only chance they did have to survive was to get Ginny and get out as quickly as possible.
It did not take him long to find her; at the end of the walkway, near the enormous feet of the statue of his house's founder, a familiar-looking figure with mid-back, orange-red hair was sprawled. She was not moving.
And the heir?
He couldn't see anyone else.
The whole situation reeked of a trap.
"Ginny!" Ron gasped as he spotted his sister and broke into a run.
"Ron, wait!"
Too late. The instant Ron came close to his sister, a brilliant dome of white light appeared around her, shoving the red-head boy away. With a dull thud, the boy hit a nearby pillar and slid down the intertwined stone snakes in a boneless heap to land in the shallow water.
He didn't have time to check up on his friend that a sound reverberated around the chamber. A rumbling, sinister sound that made Harry pull his wand out of his wrist-held holster.
Chuckling.
"That's the reason why I like to mess around with Gryffindors, most are so easily predictable it's simple to use them, like pawns."
Walking out of the shadows behind the statue of Salazar Slytherin, a tall, green-eyed, black-haired, translucent boy smirked at Harry. The younger boy didn't need to be told his name; he knew it already.
"Tom Riddle?"
With a nod, the boy from the past's sinister grin grew wider. "Harry Potter."
Harry did not react. Instead, his eyes found Ginny's sprawled shape, where the small, leather-bound book could be seen peeking from under her arm.
"It was you all along, wasn't it." It was not a question; Harry was certain of his accusation. "And you've been using Ginny to go around."
"You are, indeed, much sharper than I thought you'd be, Potter." Tom said in confirmation. "Oh, believe me, I did not have an easy year, at all… Little Ginny was far from cooperative, at times…"
Harry did not reply. Instead, he furtively shot looks around the room while listening with one ear. Where could the basilisk be hiding?
"Where did she find you?" Harry asked, if only to keep the conversation going. It gave him more time to find the bigger problem.
"She said she found my diary in one of her books; with all the problems she had, she decided it would be a good idea to use it. After all, she wound up with a brand new diary that nobody had used before! Quite unusual, for her…"
Harry absentmindedly nodded. Perhaps the basilisk hid among the pillars?
"I became her friend, her confident. She would tell me anything she didn't want anyone else to know, for a reason or another…
"I was patient, very patient… it was very boring to listen to the woes and sadness of an idiot eleven years old girl, even though she had more problems than most. But she confided in me, she trusted me… oh, not completely, no, but close. She was certain that I could simply never reveal everything she told me; her woes with her brothers, he misadventures in classes and, most important of all, would the great and so incredibly nice Harry Potter ever love her?
"It was, at times, entertaining, but most of it was very tiring… But eventually, she had told enough of herself and put enough of her soul in my diary for me to put some of mine in her…"
"And you started attacking people." Harry turned his attention back at Tom. Wherever the basilisk was, it was too well hidden.
Tom nodded. "If only to make sure everyone stayed on edge… I didn't want her to get less problems and talk to me less, after all.
"You see, any good or happy thing she wanted to say, she told you or those friends of hers, but if anything went wrong and she didn't want you to worry, she went to me. The solution was easy – I only had to make sure to keep her worried and unsure. Accomplishing it, with you, Zabini and her friends around, was a bit harder, though.
"Yet, after that stupid girl brought the Jusenkyo powder in the school, Ginny started to get in a better mood… that little episode of chaotic insanity had lifted her spirits a bit too much.
"I decided she was getting too happy, so I did my best to give her wrong advice, such as helping her compose that valentine."
"That was her?!" Harry gasped, blinking. He vaguely remembered shoving Ginny out of his way in his anger. Now that he remembered, he felt quite ashamed.
"Unfortunately for me," Riddle continued as if Harry had never interrupted him, "that idea backfired; she became furious at me and I was sure that, when she got rid of my diary and threw it down the toilet, it would be a longer time still before I could enact my revenge and finish Slytherin's noble work… until you came and wrote in me. Oh, I did my best to convince you that I was trustworthy, and I even showed you my capture of that big oaf, Hagrid—"
"But you messed up. I never believed for one second Hagrid was guilty. I knew you framed him." Harry interrupted, taking a bit of pleasure in twisting the knife.
"But you were much cleverer than I had put you for," Tom corrected forcefully, glaring at him angrily. "Ginny's description of you wouldn't have been out of place in an old Greek legend. I had made the mistake of thinking she had exaggerated – quite a bit rightly, but apparently not enough – because of her sizable crush on you. After all, an eleven years old lovestruck girl would believe even the lowest thief to be a hero in the right light.
"I must admit doing two mistakes like that was almost my undoing. Fortunately, by then, I had enough of a grip on Ginny to talk to her in her dreams… After being told that I would reveal all her secrets to you, she was awfully cooperative. She fished the diary out of your trunk while you were busy plowing that Hufflepuff to the ground. Excellent performance, by the way, I would have loved to see it."
Harry almost felt ill at being complimented for that by him.
"Since I was closer to her then," Tom continued, "I could control her body more completely than before. I made sure she carried the diary in her backpack and never took it far away from her.
"I made Ginny unleash the monster again, this time to leave you a parting message by targeting that Mudblood friend of yours, Granger. Zabini was in the way, but she was just another Mudblood, she was expandable as well. She put up a great act of bravado, but no amount of courage can stand up to the deadly gaze of the basilisk."
"You've been targeting me." That wasn't a question either.
Tom nodded. "Indeed. You see, Ginny told me everything of you… including your fascinating story, the one where you, a one year old little brat, not even strong enough to lift a storybook by yourself, defeated the greatest, most powerful dark lord of the century and escaped with nothing but a tiny scratch on your forehead."
Taken aback, Harry blinked. Why would he care about that?
"You see," Tom continued, "I'm quite interested in knowing how that happened… what, exactly, is so special about you to have caused the fall of the most powerful dark lord of the century… You wouldn't happen to know, by any chance?"
"I don't know," Harry replied truthfully and as calmly as he could force himself to sound, "maybe you should ask Dumbledore… If you don't mind, I can go and get him for you."
It was a bluff, or perhaps more of a joke for his frazzled nerves. Or, perhaps, it was a simple act to test Riddle's reaction. To his surprise, the other boy burst out laughing. A high-pitched, sinister, cold laugh that sounded oddly… familiar.
"Don't you know? Dumbledore has left the school, boy!" Riddle chortled. "As we are speaking, my loyal servant is driving him away!"
'Loyal servant?'
"You have servants?" Harry blurted without thinking.
Tom chortled again. "Of course I do… and the reason why is the same reason why I want to know how you got rid of Lord Voldemort. You see, his destiny is quite closely intertwined with mine… in fact-"
With a wave of his wand, Tom made the letters of his name appear in mid-air, just over his head.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then, with another wave, he moved them. With every letter that placed itself, Harry felt his throat tighten.
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"You could even say we are one and the same." Riddle finished victoriously.
"N…No…" Harry mumbled, disbelieving.
Tom Riddle… was Voldemort?
Once more, Tom burst out laughing just as Harry's scar tinged painfully. Now that Harry knew, he could easily identify where he had heard that laugh before – in his nightmares, along with a terrified scream and a brilliant, blinding flash of green…
"Everything is going perfectly according to my plan… Dumbledore is gone, you are helpless and soon to be dead, the school is terrified and cowering away in their common rooms, ready to be picked, one by one, until there is no filth left… Soon, I'll be able to get out and, using the Basilisk left behind by my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, I will rise once more, using the list of my most loyal servants given to me by my outside help…
"And, the world will once again fear and tremble before the name of Voldemort…"
Tom Riddle… was Voldemort.
Tom Riddle had manipulated Ginny and controlled her during the whole year, making her miserable on purpose…
Tom Riddle had petrified Norris, Percy Weasley, Creevey, Finch-Fletchley and the bloody baron…
Tom Riddle had killed his parents…
Tom Riddle had tried to kill Hermione and Blaise…
The paralyzing grip of fear that had clutched at his heart was replaced by intense, cold fury at the thought. His forehead burst into flaming heat in response, while his wand turned icy cold and was surrounded by an aura of malevolent dark blue light.
"You've made another mistake, Riddle…" Harry hissed in anger, glaring directly into the startled emerald eyes on his nemesis' face. "NEVER GLOAT! STUPEFY!"
He couldn't exactly remember if he had ever cast a spell this powerful – it seemed that his entire fury and anger were powering it; the ray of light shot out of his wand with not the usual gunfire-like detonation, but a powerful, deafening roar of thunder, and went toward Riddle with excellent accuracy at a speed he doubted even a golden snitch could reach.
Inside his heart, he knew it wasn't enough. Even if the spell did have the desired effect, it wouldn't be enough to satisfy him…
Only proper (murder) vengeance would be enough… He wanted Riddle (dead) gone…
He wasn't too surprised when the spell harmlessly passed through Riddle's translucent head and impacted against the statue's leg with enough strength to send a foot-wide chip flying off against the back wall, from where it fell into a snake-mouth fountain, shattering it and causing a powerful jet of water to splash all over the walkway.
For a few seconds, Tom stared at the smoking hole in Slytherin's stone knee, his eyes thinning in deep thought.
"Well, I must admit I'm impressed," he said after a while. "You're quite powerful for your age." Then, with a careless shrug, he turned his eyes back at Harry, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Well, it doesn't matter… as you have noticed, or at least I hope you have, you can't hurt me…"
(Hurt)
Harry, still sneering in pure fury, did not reply, instead concentrating on a way – any way – to hurt Riddle.
"Now, I think we've talked enough… it's time for the main event…"
The anger vanished instantly, once again replaced by fear. He wouldn't…
Tom turned his face toward the statue, grinning ferally. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!"
And, slowly, the statue's mouth slid open in a thunderous rumble, reverberating across the chamber.
"FFFinally fffreee…" He heard the same malevolent voice he had heard two times before hiss. He managed to see, for an instant, a dark green… something… slither out of the statue's mouth, before he reminded himself of the extreme danger of actually looking at that thing. Forcefully, he closed his eyes.
"Ah, so you know about my ancestor's… parting present, don't you?" Tom asked, his voice filled with cold confidence. "You are, indeed, quite a bit sharper than I had taken you for. If things had been different, I might even have been tempted to ask you to join me, but seeing as you could become a problem, I'll just deal with you now." A pause. "Kill him."
Harry felt more than heard the approach of the snake. The crackling of the fires suddenly seemed a hundred times louder, if only to put a hamper on his ability to find the enormous snake.
'If only I could look at it…'
Then look…
'No, I'll get killed if I do…'
With no hope of facing the monster and come out alive, Harry did the next best thing. He ran, his eyes tightly shut, hoping he wouldn't…
His foot suddenly found itself landing in something wet.
…get off the walkway. Crap. So much for hopeful thinking. Now, if only he could manage to get to the end of the chamber without hitting his face on a pillar—
To his credit, he didn't. Instead, his foot found an obstacle… A quite fleshy one, covered with wet cloth…
RON!!
Just his luck, he had run the exact direction where he friend had fallen!
And hearing Tom Riddle's sudden laugh, which Harry found to sound quite a bit scarier in the darkness behind his eyelids, he had guessed correctly.
"Friends getting in your way, Potter?" Tom asked with a snigger.
"Sssso close…I can sssmell blood," he heard the Basilisk's gleeful voice hiss – it sounded like it came from barely a few yards away!
Panicking, Harry tried to stand back up, but tripped into Ron's robes again, it seemed like they had ensnared his ankle. His fall was harmlessly broken by his hands, but caused his glasses to slide off his nose and land with a loud splash in the shallow water.
Now truly terrified, Harry didn't think – he opened his eyes to look at his stuck ankle…
The basilisk was a single yard behind him…
Reflexively, Harry looked up with a blurry vision at his foe's face…
Only to stare directly into a pair of cruel, globular yellow eyes…
Author's notes:
Ok, admit it, I'm evil.
Come on, I know you're thinking it… ah, you didn't need me to ask you to admit it, eh?
That's what I thought… ^_-
Seriously, after about five days of writer's block, the entire chamber scene wrote itself down in about an hour. Gah. I would like to apologize for putting a cliffhanger like that, but since, being the evil, cold hearted self-proclaimed demon lord that I am, I don't apologize, I won't.
A bit of a shortie on my standards again, that's the only thing bugging me.
Oh well, at least I like it.
Added note: Next chapter will be up at Christmas. Consider it a present from me ^_-.
Those of you who had reviewed last chapter signed on will not be able to do it again – I removed the apologies note I wrote a while ago, and FF.net apparently didn't correct the reviews with it. *kicks Fido*
ANSWERS TO THE BLONDE EGOCENTRIC HERMAPHRODITES RUNNING AWAY FROM THE ARMY OF AXE-TOTING MIDGETS JUST OUTISDE THE REVIEWERS' BATHROOM WINDOW:
Shadow Adams: Heh… you'll see ^_-
Jedi Buttercup: Thanks!
Risty: Go you, then ^_- how I deal with it? Well… you'll see. I seem to be saying that a lot…
Athenakitty: *twitch*
Simply Myself: Meep, eh? Tell him hi for me, and "meep" too. Who says Elmira isn't the grab-someone-by-the-throat-and-slam-them-against-the-wall-with-their-feet-one-foot-above-the-ground-despite-the-fact-that-said-person-is-quite-a-bit-taller type? Hmm… although she's more the I-don't-use-bullets-,-throwing-cars-around-is-more-satisfying type. I do wonder what Slyth!Harry would do in front of Cannon!Harry… oh, interesting idea… ^-^
RaistlinofMetallica: Strange, I barely liked that scene… Indeed, Snape just isn't paid enough to handle the responsibility of trying to protect Harry 'I-sleep-with-trouble' Potter. Oh, and here, to help you with the guy, *Hands you a manticore*
Flummox: Woooo! New chapter! Er… wait, I'm the author. Erm. Yes, Draco still hasn't forgiven Ron and Harry, even though it was in the script and they had to… I just hope he doesn't figure out I'm the one who writes the script. Oh boy, I can see it too: the almighty Ryuuken. Whenever he sees a dragon, his phobia starts and he's reduced to a spineless heap… but if he cannot escape the fear, the true horror of the Ryuuken arises… he growls.' Yup. Scary. I agree: Gilderoy Lockhart, congratulations, you are among the 1% of humanity that has a negative IQ. (Other notable people in this category: Bush, most world leaders, Chrétien, Gates and whoever invented the concept of French classes.) I agree, poor Basilisk. It's cute. Even if you can't look at it in the eyes. I laughed when I wrote professor Sprout's line, too ^_-. Actually… I have no idea how Draco came up the pipe, lol. Plot convenience, let's say ^_- Gah, long answer.
Nathan-chan: Gah. The point is, I'm French, and writing in English. Sue me if it's not that great.
Blackheart Syaoran: "I'm no bastard." "He didn't deny being heartless" indeed ^_-
ZeonReborn: I'm afraid Lockhart's woes are just starting… he's as good as squibbed, now ^_- And the rest… well, that's a secret ^_-
Szihuoko: that's all very kept secrets. Not telling! ^_^
Dragonsprincess: (Draco: "HEY!!! I'm not a coward! I'm just… self-concerned." Hermione: "Semantics…") Something painful and humiliating, yes indeed… perhaps in more than one sense.
Nathan Neal: Letting Harry be a kid? Blasphemy! Lol, jk ^_-. Seriously, I know what I'm doing. Have no worry, I'll pace it down a bit ^_-. Wrathful, eh? Thanks ^_^
Hikari-kage: Light shadow? Interesting name. Glad you liked it!
Watcher Tale Neith: Yes, and we've never seen the tarantula again from then on… McGonagall or someone else probably confiscated it. By the way, you inspired me to write a little one shot-fic idea, it's on my yahoo group ^_-.
Big D: That seems to be changing, I mean… look at the number of replies I've made for last chapter ^_^
BF110C4: Wow, you are feeling poetic right there… I don't mind at all, actually. Go right ahead and review to tell me just about whatever you want ^_-. Well, not everything, but…
Milamber: *blushes* that's the sweetest compliment anyone's ever told me! Thank you for saying I'm completely mad. ^_-
Kate Lynn: Heh, thanks ^_-
Nadalya: Let's put it down on his personality – he's too much of a coward for that ^_-
Dumbledore: I couldn't really do anything with the Weasleys in this book – it was intentional. This one was especially around Harry. Next one will feature a lot of Weasleys, though.
