In this chapter, Ginny will meet Tom Marvolo Riddle!

He is handsome and charming. One would probably consider him to be a model student. Even Argus Filch. Though perhaps Argus Filch wasn't around when Tom Riddle was.

But is there more to him than meets the eye?

Not everyone is who they say they are. Though I can assure you that Dumbledore is a good guy, at least. Though he has made mistakes in the past, I can say that much.

You probably already know that people aren't always who they say they are based on Professor Quirrell. Who might as well be known as Professor Stutter.

Chapter 24: Riddle Me This

It was now February, and there was still no sign of the monster.

Perhaps it had decided to abandon Hogwarts.

There were teachers hunting it, after all. Chances are it wouldn't feel safe. Though it was anyone's guess as to where they could find it. Maybe it could camouflage itself like a chameleon? It was likely a reptile after all.

However, Mary wondered if this was the monster's plan…to have Muggle-borns take the peace for granted.

They did seem rather calm, though Hermione decided not to give up on figuring out who the heir of Slytherin was.

Also, she had been visiting the library a lot lately.

Perhaps she was studying monsters that caused petrification.

Since she had accidentally gotten ink on her face while writing down notes with a quill, Ginny asked McGonagall if she could be excused to the restroom.

She decided to use the one on the second floor, unaware that it was haunted. She was a first year, after all. So she didn't know that much about Hogwarts. McGonagall had been very helpful, though. She could say that much.

Suddenly, she noticed that one of the toilets was overflowing.

As Ginny discovered, there was a diary inside that toilet.

"Huh. The diary is soggy, but the ink is remarkably intact." noted Ginny.

It was rather odd.

She also noticed a ghost girl crying. But one probably already know who she was.

Ginny didn't though.

"Who are you?" asked the redhead.

"I'm Moaning Myrtle. Why do people always say I moan?" questioned the ghost girl.

"You are a ghost…" noted Ginny.

"So what?!" exclaimed the girl who had passed on.

"Whoa! Is something the matter?" asked the girl.

"Somebody threw a book at me!" exclaimed Moaning Myrtle.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You weren't hurt though, right? I imagine it would go through you…" noted Ginny.

"That doesn't give people the right to throw books at me!" shouted the ghost.

"Of course not." nodded the girl.

"Finally, somebody who understands me!" exclaimed Myrtle.

Seeing as the ink did not come off the diary, Ginny wondered if the diary was magical somehow.

She decided that she would try writing in it.

"Can you help me find out who this Heir of Slytherin is?" asked Ginny.

It was the question that everyone was dying to know.

And she was sure Ron and Mary would be happy to find out.

And of course, Hermione was investigating what the monster attacking the Muggle-borns was.

The diary wrote back.

"I could tell you that, but you probably wouldn't believe me. Not without proof, anyway." noted the diary.

"I understand." noted the redhead.

"How about I show you instead?" asked the magical artifact.

"Huh?" asked Ginny.

Suddenly, she was sucked inside a diary.

When she once again became aware of her surroundings, she found herself in a familiar castle.

"Am I still in Hogwarts?" questioned the redheaded girl.

It looked the same, yet somehow different.

There was a newspaper lying around saying the date was 1942.

"Did I get transported back in time fifty years ago?" asked Ginny.

If so, she wanted to get back.

On the lighter side of things, she discovered a familiar face.

That being Headmaster Dumbledore.

Or, as he was known at the time, transfiguration teacher Dumbledore.

Now she knew part of the reason why he and McGonagall were friends. They had certain things in common.

Seemed the two of them practiced transfiguration together. And they had both been Gryffindor students.

"I'm not going to meddle with the time stream by talking to him, am I?" questioned Ginny. You could never be too careful when you decided to go back in time.

She didn't want to create a school in which Dumbledore was frequently naked and yelled out "Naked time!" whenever he wished to dance in the nude.

It would haunt her for weeks. And she had the other first-years to think about as well. Especially the other Gryffindors, and her family.

"Don't worry. This is just a flashback. No need to worry about changing history." explained the diary.

There was no need to be concerned about causing a time paradox.

Ginny sighed in relief. Now her brother Ron wouldn't end up with tourettes and swear the house down…the Gryffindor house.

Suddenly, she noticed a male student roaming the halls.

He was part of Slytherin. Though considering his last name was Riddle, it was a bit surprising he wasn't in Ravenclaw. It was always a riddle trying to get inside the tower.

"Huh? Is that you?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, it's me." nodded the diary.

"Man, you are one handsome boy!" exclaimed the girl.

She was sure that all the Slytherin girls would want to be with him.

And maybe a few Slytherin boys. She wouldn't judge, though she didn't imagine her brother Ron hooking up with Draco Malfoy.

"You flatter me." remarked the enchanted object.

"Tom Riddle, you shouldn't be roaming the hallways this late. You do realize what's going on, don't you?" asked Albus Dumbledore.

"Yes, I do. Several students have been petrified." noted flashback Tom Riddle. The nurse was working on curing them.

It was starting to look like a paused movie in the infirmary.

"This all seems very familiar." remarked Ginny. Were they also Muggle-borns by any chance?

"But did you know a student had died? She was in the bathroom when it happened." noted the professor.

It was a nasty change in pace.

"She did? Oh dear." questioned Riddle.

Oddly, there was no sign of physical trauma. It appeared that the girl had died of cardiac arrest instead. Though it was anyone's guess as to what had frightened her to death.

"If this keeps up, we might have no choice but to close down the school. The parents of the Muggle-borns are deeply worried for their children's safety." explained Dumbledore. And to be honest with himself, he didn't blame them.

He wasn't sure where aspiring wizards and witches would go if Hogwarts was closed down…but he hoped that they could be successful even in the school's absence.

"Close down…the school?" asked Tom.

Ginny noticed Tom seemed upset about that.

Of course, she would be too.

Especially since this was her first year. Though if it was for the sake of Muggle-borns, she would understand.

Dumbledore nodded.

He could only hope that it didn't come to pass.

Armando Dippet showed up.

"Oh, hey, Tom Riddle! How are you? We sure are up late tonight, aren't we?" asked Armando. He was working overtime tonight. It helped him keep his mind at ease during what was happening at Hogwarts.

Ginny noted that Tom Riddle and the headmaster got along. Dumbledore seemed a tad suspicious of Riddle, however.

Not long after the conversation he had with Dumbledore, Tom Riddle entered the school dungeons.

A large boy was there.

"Is that Hagrid?" asked Ginny.

Though Hagrid was far younger than he was in the present, he was still rather big. Not as big as he was currently, of course, but still a tall guy.

"Yes. Though at the time, everyone referred to him as Rubeus." noted Tom Riddle.

Nowadays it seemed everyone referred to him by his last name.

But what could Tom say? This event took place fifty years ago. Lots of things had changed since then.

"Salutations, Rubeus." greeted flashback Tom Riddle.

"Tom? What are ye doing here?" questioned Rubeus.

"You were responsible for the death of that girl, weren't you?" asked the handsome student.

"What? No no no! I didn't kill her!" exclaimed Hagrid, shaking his head. He would never kill anybody…except maybe Grindelwald.

"I'm sure you didn't mean for it to happen, but don't you know how dangerous acromantulas are? You should know the Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason." noted Riddle.

"Yeh can't kill Aragog!" shouted the half giant in horror. He was his pal. And pals didn't let pals get killed.

"Yes, I can. It's for the good of the school. I'm sure that girl's parents would agree with me." explained the Slytherin.

"No! No!" bellowed Hagrid.

Fortunately for Aragog, he managed to escape before he ended up…being exterminated.

Hagrid had been carrying him in a bag.

"I hope you realize what you've done. Well, I'm going to make sure the headmaster knows about it." noted Riddle.

Rubeus went down on his knees and cried.

His acromantula would never attack anyone.

He swore it.

After witnessing the flashback, Ginny found herself back outside the diary.

"So, Hagrid was responsible for the attacks?" questioned the redheaded girl. She was under the impression that he had more control over his pets than that.

Though to be fair, this WAS fifty years ago.

"I've seen him playing with werewolf cubs." noted the diary. Which ironically weren't very much different from regular wolf cubs.

"That actually sounds like something he would do." remarked Ginny.

She wondered if Aragog was still alive.

It seemed possible.

Though it also seemed likely that people would hunt down the spider, considering it had allegedly killed somebody.

There was a chance it had gone into the Forbidden Forest, however.

That way, people wouldn't be able to find it. It was dark in there, and people didn't want to enter the forest anyways.

Perhaps people would be content that Aragog was no longer at Hogwarts.

"I don't get it. Wasn't Hagrid a Gryffindor?" questioned the Gryffindor first year.

She could tell by the fact he was wearing the Gryffindor house emblem on his robe.

It seemed odd that he would be selected by the Sorting Hat to be in Gryffindor, assuming he really was the Heir of Slytherin.

And to her knowledge, Hagrid was not a parselmouth.

Though he could communicate with animals pretty well.

"Well, maybe the Sorting Hat made a mistake." noted the diary.

"I don't think he made a mistake when he placed me in Gryffindor, I can say that much." remarked the Weasley girl. She might be the oddball of the family due to her gender, but that didn't mean she lacked the qualities the rest of her family had.

The next day, she decided to talk to her brother about the dream she had.

"I don't think that was a dream." said Ron.

"It….wasn't?" asked Ginny.

"Dumbledore told us about the Chamber of Secrets. Mary and myself. He said that it was opened fifty years ago…does that sound like the time period you found yourself in?" questioned Ron.

Ron's sister nodded.

"It was Tom Riddle who implicated him." explained Ginny.

"Interesting." noted Ron. Perhaps he should ask Dumbledore about him.

Mary showed up.

"Gilderoy Lockhart is making it too easy for me to earn points. All I need to do is compliment him and boom! We're seriously in the running for the house cup." exclaimed Mary.

"Don't you want to win the house cup?" questioned Ron. He wouldn't mind winning it for the second time in a row. And Ginny would like it if she won the house cup as well.

"Yeah, but I'm hoping for a challenge." noted the girl with glasses.

"Can't other houses compliment him too?" asked Ginny. Chances are that would even the score.

"The Ravenclaws find him suspicious, the Slytherins are too arrogant, and the Hufflepuffs aren't taking his class because they feel like they won't be learning anything other than about him." noted the ginger boy.

Ron's sister nodded in understanding.

She then noticed that the diary belonged to Neville, so she decided to give it back to him. Though she wondered what it had been doing inside a toilet.

"You should take me back. You don't want people to know your darkest secrets, do you?" questioned the diary.

Neville noted that the diary had a point.

Though he had decided that Tom Riddle could be trusted with those secrets. Maybe because of how charming he was.

"I hope Vector doesn't mind me taking the diary back." noted Neville. He wanted his toad to be happy.

He didn't like him having the diary, but he imagined he wouldn't want people learning his deepest secrets either.

"The diary sucked me inside anyway. It was a crazy experience." explained Ginny.

"It…sucked you inside?" asked Neville.

That was a crazy story.

"Don't worry about, I was fine. Though I was scared for a moment." admitted the girl.

It did seem out of this world.

Perhaps Vector had a point.

Still, his secrets were in there.

"You're not planning to hurt me, are you?" asked Neville in his dorm room.

Vector seemed to think that.

Though he once thought a milk snake was going to hurt Longbottom. He had thought it was a coral snake.

"No no no. I assure you, you made the right choice. And I think Vector will be a big help to me." noted the magical diary.

"Vector will be happy to hear that." answered Neville.

Though he wondered what Tom Riddle needed help with.

Did Tom Riddle want Vector to catch a bothersome fly? Their buzzing was kind of annoying. Though it might be easier if Vector was a frog, given that they had longer legs.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Slytherin's monster was about to be roused from her slumber.

The peace was about to end. And the Muggle-borns were once again in danger.

Isn't Tom Riddle a hero for saving Hogwarts from Hagrid?

Although, something seems a bit off about that story, considering what Dumbledore told Mary and Ron.

What could Tom Riddle's diary want with Neville's toad?

Well, I think I already foreshadowed it.

But I won't spoil it.

And yes, Ginny was the one sucked inside the diary this time. I'm not always following the plot of the books. Though I don't think I'll change too much. I still want this fanfic to feel like a Harry Potter story.