IN THE BEGINNING
It's sitting on the desk.
Ginny threw it over there earlier after it said hello to her.
She wonders if she's gone mad. After all, what kind of diary says hello after someone very vehemently writes I hate my brothers in it?
She can't remember buying it. But there it was in her cauldron, along with "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Maybe Mum dropped it in. Does Mum know that it's possessed?
No, it's not actually possessed. She remembers Dad's dinnertime stories and something's not possessed unless it's being occupied by someone or something else. There doesn't seem to be anything controlling the diary. Maybe it's just a diary that writes back. Some new type of toy.
It doesn't look new, though. It looks old.
Still, it's not actually alive. It probably just writes hello whenever it's written in. It doesn't actually understand what she's writing.
Who are you?
My name is Tom Riddle. What's yours?
She's thrown it across the room again. It makes her feel a bit better. It might talk back to her, it might have a name, but it's still smaller than she is and she knows where Dad keeps the Muggle hedge shears.
What are you?
What do you mean?
I mean how can a diary understand what I'm writing?
I'm not a diary. I'm a person.
That's funny. You look very rectangular to me.
No, no, I'm a person inside a diary.
Are you trapped?
I can't get out, but I don't want to anyway. I like it in here. Where are you?
In my house. In my room. At my desk.
What's your name?
Gi- how do I know you're not possessed or trying to suck the life force out of me?
Because I don't need to. I told you, I like it in here. But I do get a bit lonely with no one to talk to.
Me too. Well, I've got people to talk to, but they're all idiots.
You can talk to me.
She's hidden it under the mattress. She's not quite sure why she feels like she's doing something she shouldn't be doing. It's just writing, isn't it?