Hi fellow readers,

I apologise for taking so long before posting another chapter but I have been quite busy lately :/

Things are more stable now and I have been able to write again. I will try to be more regular.

Have a good read!

Awakening a Horcrux

He entered the cathedral-like room where objects belonging to all ages have been hidden and forgotten. His gaze immediately fell on the pile of old notebooks and he was relieved to see that the precious jewel was still standing on it. He took it delicately and cleaned the dust off it with his sleeves. How could he not have recognised the diadem after all the pictures and sculptures he had seen of it?

'Well first of all you weren't seeking it at that time, and then who cares about Ravenclaw?'

Merlin could his conscience by cynical sometimes. He contemplated the main stone set on the silver jewellery. It was translucent and Harry was certain its origin was magic. He could feel it. He put the diadem in a hidden pocket of his robe and wrapped himself in his Invisibility Cloak. He had slipped out of his dormitory during the night again to go look for the Horcrux himself. He would need to hide somewhere while waiting for Dumbledore to return. And he knew the perfect place for this.

He headed towards the second floor and reached the snake-engraved sink tap on the second-floor girls' lavatory. Myrtle was nowhere to be seen. As silently as possible, he pronounced the strangled hissing noise that opened the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He looked at the black hole. This time Fawkes wouldn't be here to help him get back, but he figured the Ascendio Charm would get him out, just as it had freed him for the lake during the Second Task last year. With this in mind, he jumped muttering the order to close the entrance behind him.

While he was walking through the pipes, he heard drops of water echoing and he felt a chill run through his spine.

He emerged in the giant room in the middle of which was a path leading to a monkish white statue representing the head of Salazar Slytherin. The fire from each side of the path were still lit and the snake statues shadows were dancing on the black walls. Harry approached the remains of the basilisk. The were still in good condition. Near the head of the monster, on the edge of the fountain, was a black streak. Harry remembered that it was where he had pierced Riddle's diary with a basilisk fang. The water in the fountain was transparent. He sat on its edge and put the diadem on the cold stone, contemplating it.

How old was Tom when he had created this one? Was he still at Hogwarts then? Harry couldn't figure out why and how a Hogwarts student could have come to this. Even he, who had gotten through dark times at this school, had never seriously imagined killing anyone.

'Why are you asking yourself those questions?' Asked the voice annoyed. 'Just destroy it already and move on!'

He didn't really need to keep it intact before Dumbledore's return and yet, something was stopping him to destroy the Horcrux. An idea born from a three-year-old memory. An idea that could maybe bring him the answers he needed.

If he had been able to talk to Tom in his second year, it was because his diary had been an Horcrux. He had destroyed it, but now he had another one. Salazar had explained to him that for each Horcrux created, a fraction of your soul was ripped apart. The diary had been made while Tom was around Harry's age. He had tried to kill him, but before that, he had wanted to know more about Harry. That meant that if the diadem had been turned into a Horcrux not long after, there was still a chance for Harry to talk with the Horcrux and get the information he was lacking.

He sighed and stood in front of the Horcrux. Only one question remained, how to pull a Horcrux out of its vessel?

He knew he had a connection with the Dark Lord, though its precise nature was still a mystery, and the Horcruxes contained fragments from his soul. Could he use that connection to get to the part of Voldemort's soul residing in the diadem?

He took a deep breath and focused on the jewel. While staring at it, he started to notice strange shadows that were dancing under the surface of the main stone. He pictured the Chamber inside his head as well as the diadem placed before him. He then proceeded to eliminate everything that was useless. The statues, the water, the remains of the basilisk. He projected his mind on these shadows. Trying to pull them out of the jewel. But they were like a stream of water. Every time he was about to catch them, they were slipping away out of reach.

He didn't know how long he tried, but he finally turned his eyes away, feeling the need to stretch and walk a bit. Standing still had made his legs tingle and he started to pace in the Chamber, trying to get his blood to flow again. He was about to give up and go back to bed when he heard a soft noise like a piece of cloth being rubbed against the floor and opened his eyes. A young boy about his age was stumbling to get back on his feet. His features were fine and his bearing haughty. He quickly assessed his surroundings before putting a superior look on his face. When he saw Harry, a cruel smile drew on his lips.

'Harry Potter…' Whispered the young man

'Do you know me?' Asked Harry, still impressed he had succeeded.

'I don't.' Smiled the older. 'But I know what you represent, and I know exactly what I must do with you.'

'Which is?' Asked Harry in a provocative tone.

Tom didn't answer.

'Why do you want to kill me?' Asked Harry again, trying a more direct approach.

'Isn't that obvious?' Replied Tom. 'Your mere existence bars my access to my full power. You are in my way. '

'How could a newborn be in your way? Why does my existence frighten you?'

'I'm not scared of you!'

'Says the one who tried to kill me before I could even speak,' replied Harry with a sly smile. 'It didn't turn out so well, did it?'

As soon as Harry finished his sentence, memories from a distant past flashed before Tom's eyes. A house concealed in a dark forest. A man lying dead before him, a woman who had begged him to spare her baby and take her instead, a green beam and then… nothing. Memories that were both familiar and foreign.

'What do you mean you couldn't even speak?'

Harry was about to answer when he realised that Tom didn't know what he was talking about. In his second year, Ginny had told his story to the Horcrux from the diary, but this one didn't know anything about him.

'You tried to kill me while I was a baby,' replied Harry.

The revelation seemed to struck Tom. Had he really tried to murder a baby? For a moment he felt disgusted with himself.

'You said it yourself,' pushed Harry, 'I am in the way. Why does trying to kill me surprises you?'

'I don't kill innocents!'

'Is that a joke?!' Scoffed Harry. 'What about the lives you stole for your Horcruxes?' Tom gave him a wary look. 'Yeah, I know about your secret, Tom Riddle! And I know that you killed at least one person, maybe two, before creating this one!' He finished while pointing towards the diadem.

'They weren't all innocents,' replied Tom with disgust. 'I could regret killing Myrtle. But my father…'

'You killed your own father?' Harry was horrified.

'I forbid you to judge me!' Replied Tom aggressively. 'You know nothing about me! You know nothing about this filthy Muggle who abandoned my mother and I!'

In another life, Harry would have maybe been blinded by his grief and anger and he wouldn't have been able to register what he had just heard. He would have been unable to understand how much what Tom had just said had changed things. Because Harry had always thought that whether he had been raised by a dark wizard family or had been born evil, Voldemort's nature was inherently wicked. He had never imagined that maybe Tom had gone through a youth so horrible it had shaped him to become Voldemort. A youth maybe like his own.

'So, you used your father's life to create this Horcrux?' Asked Harry while pointing towards the diadem.

'Not this one,' replied Tom with contempt, 'he deserved to die, but he also deserved to be humiliated in his death!' He spat. 'He should have known better than to abandon my mother.'

'At least you grew up with one!' Blurted Harry.

'What do you mean?'

'In case you forgot, a Dark Lord on rampage murdered my parents.' Sorrow pointed in his voice. 'I was then delivered to the cruelty of a Muggle family who hated me for who I was. They tried to get my "freakness" out of my system in every possible way.' He ended in a bitter chuckle.

'I… I killed your parents too?' Asked Tom surprised.

'They were in the way,' replied Harry sarcastically.

'How is that possible?' Asked Tom who seemed stunned.

'Let me help you on this. It has two words and is an Unforgivable Curse.'

'Not this! How did you survive if I was able to kill a wizard and a witch just before? How is that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?'

'Ah you see, it is not the first time I hear you asking me this question Tom,' replied Harry with a mischievous smile. He gestured towards the black streak near the edge of the fountain where he had struck the diary three years ago. 'And I already explained to you that Voldemort is not the greatest wizard of all times, Dumbledore is.'

His answer seemed to greatly annoy Tom and the older boy would have maybe not been able to keep his self-control if he hadn't caught a detail.

'What do you mean you already explained it to me?'