Updated as of 2/10/19
The trio ran into the DADA classroom and to the stairs to the professor's office.
"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try and get into the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know," Harry said as he entered the room. "Professor, we have some information for you!" Harry said. He stopped as Lockhart closed a trunk. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Uh, ah- well, yes- um, urgent call- unavoidable- got to go," Lockhart said.
"What about my sister?!" Ron shouted.
"Well, um- as to that, most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I," Lockhart said as he continued packing.
"You can't leave now!" Fiona shouted.
"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron exclaimed.
"Well- I must say- when I took the job there was nothing in the job description about a-"
"You're running away? After all that stuff you did in your books?" Harry asked.
"Books can be misleading!"
"You wrote them!" Harry shouted.
"My dear boy, do use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things!"
"You're a fraud! You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done!" Harry shouted.
"Is there anything you can do?" Ron asked.
"Yes, now you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbing. And I'd never have sold another book. In fact, ah...I'm ah..." He headed over to one of the trunks. "going to have to do the same to you." He turned with his wand to see three wands pointed at him.
"Don't even think about it," Harry warned before motioning for him to drop his wand.
…
The four went to the girl's bathroom.
"Oh! Who's there?" Myrtle asked. "Oh! Hello, Harry! Ron, Fiona. What do you want?"
"To ask you how you died," Harry said.
"Blunt," Fiona muttered.
"Oh! It was dreadful. It happened right here in this very cubicle." She pointed to the stall she was hovering over. "I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in," Myrtle said.
"Who was it Myrtle?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. I was distraught! Huhh-huh...But they said something funny, a kind of made up language. And I realized it was a boy speaking, so I unlocked the door to tell him to go away and... I died."
"Just like that? How?"
"I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes...over there, by that sink." She pointed before flying away. "Ohhhhooo..." Harry touched the sink. He turned the tap but it wouldn't turn on. He noticed a picture of a snake on the side of it.
"This is it. This is it, guys. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said.
"Say something," Ron said. "One of you, say something in Parseltongue!"
"Hesha- Hassah." The sink's top lifted and the sinks all came apart to show a hole.
"Open up? That's all it takes?" Fiona asked as the four backed up. One of the sinks, the one with the snake, went down to provide an entrance before a grate moved over it.
"Excellent, Harry," Lockhart said. "Haa! Good work! Well then, I'll just be, ah... There's no need for me to stay." He tried to run but the two boys grabbed him and threw him back. He almost fell into the hole.
"Oh, yes there is! You first," Harry said.
"Now, boys what good will it do?"
"Better you than us," Ron said.
"Um...but...obviously, yes," Lockhart muttered. "Sure you don't want to test it first?" Ron poked him in the back with his wand and he fell forward. "No! Aaaah!" There was a thud. "It's really quite filthy down here." His voice echoed back up.
"All right. Let's go," Harry said.
"Oh, Harry? If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet. Hee, hee," Myrtle told him.
"Uh...thanks Myrtle," Harry said. The three jumped down, screaming as they slid down a long pipe. They reached the bottom and quickly got up.
"Ugh!" Ron groaned when he saw they'd landed on bones.
"Oh ew…" Fiona moaned.
"Now remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straightaway," Harry said. He climbed up into a pipe.
"Go on," Ron said to Lockhart. He climbed up after Harry then Ron and Fiona followed him.
"This way," Harry said.
The group followed Harry until they found a giant snakeskin.
"What's this?" Ron asked.
"It looks like a... snake," Lockhart said.
"It's a snakeskin," Harry said. Fiona grimaced as she walked along it to stand beside Harry.
"Bloody hell. Whatever shed this must be sixty feet long- or more!" Lockhart suddenly fainted. "Heart of a lion, this one," Ron said. Suddenly Lockhart grabbed his wand and pointed it at them as he stood.
"The adventure ends here, children. But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl. How you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So, you first, Mr. Potter. Say good-bye to your memories. Obliviate!" Since he'd taken Ron's wand the spell backfired and he went flying before hitting the ceiling. Soon the area shook and rocks started falling. Harry grabbed Fiona and the two got down. A few rocks bounced just over their heads.
"Harry! Fiona!" Ron called. Harry and Fiona got up and rushed to where the rocks had separated the group. They could see Ron and Lockhart through a small hole.
"Ron!" Fiona shouted.
"Ron, are you ok?" Harry called.
"I'm fine!" he called back.
"Uhh... Hello. Who are you?" Lockhart asked.
"Um... Ron Weasley," Ron answered.
"Really? And uh, who- who am I?"
"Lockhart's memory charm backfired. He hasn't got a clue who he is!"
"It's an odd sort of place this, isn't it? Do you live here?" Lockhart asked as he held a rock.
"No!" Ron said as he took the rock from him.
"Really? Well-" Ron hit him over the head, knocking him out.
"What'd I do now?" Ron asked.
"You wait here and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through. Fiona and I'll go on and find Ginny!"
"OK," Ron said.
"Come on." Harry and Fiona climbed down. They walked only a few feet before seeing a round door with a bunch of snakes on it.
"Hesha- Hassah," Harry said. Suddenly a snake slithered around the door making the other snakes pull their heads in and unlock the door. The door opened and the two approached with their wands out, cautiously. They climbed down a short ladder before they started walking down the walkway. On either side were statues of snakes with their mouths open and at the very end a statue of Salazar Slytherin. In front of it was Ginny, lying on the ground. "Ginny..." The two started running. They got to the girl and kneeled beside her. She was holding the black diary. Fiona touched Ginny's face.
"Ginny…"
"Ginny! Oh, Ginny, please don't be dead," Harry said.
"She's breathing," Fiona assured him.
"Wake up. Wake up! Please, wake up!"
"She won't wake." The two looked to see a 16-year-old boy on the other side of the room. Fiona's eyes widened and grabbed Harry's sleeve. Harry looked up at her briefly before looking back at Tom.
"Tom. Tom Riddle!" Harry exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'she won't wake?' She's not...?"
"She's still alive, but only just."
"Are you a ghost?"
"A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years."
"She's cold as ice. Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up!" Tom picked up Harry's wand. "You've got to help me, Tom. There's a basilisk."
"It won't come until it's called," Tom said. Harry looked up to see Tom holding his and Fiona's wands.
"Give me my wand, Tom."
"You won't be needing it," Tom said. Harry looked to Fiona who hadn't moved, he didn't notice her hands were shaking or that she was staring at Tom.
"Listen, we've got to go! We've got to save her!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger. Yes Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."
"No. She couldn't. She wouldn't!"
"It was Ginny who set the basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat, Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."
"But why?"
"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her. And she tried to dispose of it in the girl's bathroom. And then, who should find it, but you? The very person I was most anxious to meet."
"But, why did you want to meet me?"
"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."
"Hagrid's my friend! And you framed him, didn't you?"
"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent."
"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Harry said with a smirk.
"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready, and everyone who was petrified will be all right again."
"Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target... has been you. How is it that a baby, with no extraordinary magical talent, was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar," he used Harry's wand to move aside some of his bangs. "while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemort is my past, present, and future." He wrote his whole name in the air. TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. It rearranged itself. I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"You! You're the Heir of Slytherin. You're Voldemort."
"Surely, you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" Harry shouted. The two stared each other down for a moment before Tom's eyes flicked to Fiona. Harry turned to her. "Fiona?" Fiona let out a small gasp and looked at Harry before looking back at Tom.
"I-I-I…" Tom looked at her and she swallowed. "He's…" Fiona said. Tom frowned. "I've seen him before…" Harry frowned.
"You even look like her," he growled. "Fifty years…You'd be… my great niece, then?" he asked looking a bit annoyed. "I guess she had children after all…" he muttered. "I heard from Ginny about you… The blood of Salazar Slytherin in your veins… Yet you're in Gryffindor." He shook his head. "Don't look so scared, Fee… we're family after all," he said with a smile that was just as terrifying. Harry looked between the two; he'd never seen Fiona look so scared in his life. He honestly thought she was going to faint. Suddenly there was a cawing sound.
"Fawkes?" Harry turned to see the Phoenix flying towards them. The bird dropped the sorting hat wrapped up.
"So, this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender, a songbird and an old hat." Tom turned to the stone face and held out his hand. "Shearhas- Samnathas- Sélithaeine." The mouth started to open and Tom faced Harry. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter." They could hear the basilisk before they could see it.
"Fiona, cover your eyes!" Harry shouted before he threw the hat down and started running. Fiona took a step back and slipped on the water. She fell back, landing on her shoulder but quickly covered her eyes.
"Sethae- He- This." The basilisk slithered out the rest of the way and looked at Tom then went after Harry. "Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter. It only obeys me!" The basilisk slithered after Harry ran down the walkway, not looking back.
"Psā!" Fiona shouted without looking. The basilisk slowed, but only for a moment.
"Stop that," Tom hissed at her. "It listens to me." She uncovered her eyes and looked at him before turning to see Harry trip up and hit the ground. Harry put his hands over his head. Suddenly Fawkes came back and pecked out the basilisk's eyes. Harry watched the shadow above.
"No! Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you!" Tom shouted. Harry stood and watched the basilisk thrash its head around in pain as Fawkes flew away. He took a step back and it stopped, having heard him. Harry took off running into a pipe. Fiona stood.
"Harry!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "Harry!"
"Shut up!" Tom shouted at her. A few moments later she heard the basilisk slither away then Harry ran out of a pipe and over to Ginny. "Yes, Potter, the process is nearly complete. In a few minutes Ginny will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory." Harry looked up at him. "Lord Voldemort will return- very... much... alive!"
"Ginny-" Harry said. Suddenly the basilisk shot out from the water behind him. He looked to the sorting hat just as a sword appeared. He grabbed it and faced the basilisk before running up to the stone face and climbing up it. He swung at the snake as it growled.
"Harry, look out!" Fiona screamed. It dove at him, smashing its face against the stone when Harry moved to the side. He dodged again and was hanging off by one hand. He managed to climb up and narrowly avoid another strike as he stood atop the stone face. He swung at it until it knocked him back then down. The sword started sliding down but Harry grabbed it just in time to stab the basilisk through the top of its head. He pulled out the sword with a cry before pulling one of the fangs out of his arm. The basilisk thrashed, screaming in pain before collapsing half in the water half out. Tom looked up as Harry approached with a fang in hand. He was clearly in pain and fell to his knees by Ginny. "Harry…no…" Fiona hurried to him to look at the wound.
"Remarkable isn't it, how quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body? I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry." Harry took Ginny's hand. "Funny, the damage a silly little book can do... especially in the hands of a silly, little girl." Harry picked up the book and opened it. "What are you doing?" Harry raised the fang. "Stop. No!" Harry stabbed the pages and there was suddenly a light in Tom's middle as ink bubbled up from the pages. "Ahhhh!" Harry stabbed the other side. "Ahhhh!" He finally closed the book and stabbed it. "Ahhhh!" Tom was completely engulfed in light before he blew apart. Ginny suddenly woke, breathing heavily and sat up.
"Ginny..." Harry said. She turned to see him and Fiona
"Harry… Fiona. It was me- but I swear, I didn't mean to! Riddle made me, and..." She noticed his arm. "Harry, you're hurt!"
"Don't worry. Ginny, you need to get yourself out. Fiona will help you-"
"Harry no…" Fiona whimpered as she shook her head.
"Follow the Chamber, and you'll find Ron," Harry said. Fawkes cawed and flew down beside him. He looked at Harry. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. I just wasn't quick enough..." Fawkes lowered his head and a few tears fell on Harry's wound. "Of course! Phoenix tears have healing powers. Thanks! It's alright, Ginny. It's over. It's just a memory." Fiona suddenly hugged him. "I'm okay, Fiona. We're okay." She pulled back and he smiled at her.
"Let's get out of here."
…
Fawkes carried everyone up out of the chamber. Ron held onto Lockhart's foot while Fiona held onto him and Harry held onto her foot while he held onto Ginny.
"Amazing! This is just like magic!" Lockhart shouted.
"You all realize, of course, that in the past few hours you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules?" Dumbledore asked. Harry, Ron and Fiona stood in his office in front of his desk.
"Yes, sir," the three said quietly in unison.
"And there is sufficient evidence to have you all expelled."
"Yes, sir."
"Therefore, it is only fitting… that you all receive Special Awards for Services to the School."
"Thanks, sir!" Ron exclaimed in a gasp.
"And now, Mr. Weasley, if you would, have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban?" he handed Ron a letter. "I believe we- we want our gamekeeper back. Harry... first, I want to thank you, Harry. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you. And, um... second, I sense that something is troubling you. Am I right, Harry?"
"It's just... You see, sir I- I couldn't help but notice certain things, certain- certain similarities, between Tom Riddle and me."
"I see. Well, you can speak Parseltongue, Harry. Why? Because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue. If I'm not mistaken, Harry, he transferred some of his powers to you the night he gave you that scar."
"Voldemort transferred some of his powers... to me?"
"Not intentionally, but yes," Dumbledore said going back behind his desk and sitting down.
"Sir," Fiona started. "It's true then… I'm…"
"Tom Riddle had an older half-sister," Dumbledore said with a slow nod. "Your father's mother. Child of Merope Gaunt but not to Tom Riddle Sr."
"So the Sorting Hat was right! We should be in Slytherin," Harry said.
"It's true. You both possess many of the qualities that Voldemort himself prizes. Determination, resourcefulness, and if I may say so, a certain disregard for the rules. Why then did the Sorting Hat place you in Gryffindor?"
"Because I asked it to," Harry answered while Fiona nodded in agreement.
"Exactly, Harry! Exactly! Which makes you different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices." Harry nodded. "If you want proof why you belong in Gryffindor, then I suggest that you look more closely at this." He picked up the sword. "Be careful," he said when Harry took it and read the name etched on the blade.
"Godric Gryffindor."
"Ah- it would take a true Gryffindor to pull that out of the hat," Dumbledore said. "Now, Fiona-" The door opened and Lucius walked in, with a little house elf by his side.
"Dobby! So this is your master! The family you serve is the Malfoy's," Harry said once he saw him.
"Um-humm..." Dobby hummed as he looked up at Lucius who looked down at him.
"I'll deal with you later," he growled quietly to him. Dobby flinched.
"That's Dobby?" Fiona asked Harry who nodded. The two walked up to the desk and Lucius pushed Harry out of the way with his cane.
"Out of my way, Potter! So, it's true- you have returned!" he said to Dumbledore.
"When the governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the Chamber, they saw fit to summon me back," Dumbledore said.
"Ridiculous!"
"Curiously, Lucius, several of them were under the impression that you would curse their families, if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."
"How dare you?!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"My sole concern has always been, and will always be, the welfare of this school and, of course, its students." He looked over at Harry and Fiona. "The culprit has been identified, I presume?"
"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said quietly with a nod.
"And?" Lucius asked expectantly. "Who was it?"
"Voldemort."
"Ah."
"Only, this time, he chose to act through somebody else, by means of this." Dumbledore held up the black diary.
"I see," Lucius said. Dobby tugged on Harry's sleeve and hummed quietly as he nodded towards Lucius.
"Fortunately, our young Mr. Potter and Miss Gaunt discovered it. One hopes that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school things should find their way into innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible would be severe."
"Well, let us hope that Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day."
"Don't worry. I will be," Harry said without hesitation.
"Dumbledore," Lucius said with a nod. "Come, Dobby. We're leaving." He pushed the elf down the stairs.
"Ahh! Oow!"
"Sir, I wonder if I could have that?" Harry asked nodding to the book. Dumbledore nodded and handed the book to Harry. Harry looked to Fiona and the two said a quick goodbye to Dumbledore before hurrying from the room.
The two quickly headed down the turning stairs and after Lucius who was walking down the hall with Dobby.
"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Malfoy! I have something of yours," Harry said before handing the book to him.
"Mine? I don't know what you're talking about," Lucius said.
"Oh, I think you do, sir. I think you slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron, that day at Diagon Alley."
"You do, do you?" He handed the book to Dobby. "Why don't you prove it? Come, Dobby!" He started to head down the hall.
"Open it," Harry whispered to Dobby.
"Dobby?" Lucius asked when the elf didn't follow.
"Master has given Dobby a sock!" Dobby exclaimed.
"What? I didn't give-" Lucius turned and stopped.
"Master has presented Dobby with clothes!" Dobby said picking up a sock that was in the pages. "Dobby is free!" Harry smugly lifted his pant leg to show he was missing a sock.
"You've lost me my servant!" Lucius shouted before pulling his wand out of his cane. He started coming at Harry but both Fiona and Dobby moved in front of him.
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Dobby said.
"Advada-" Dobby suddenly blasted Lucius down the hall. Dobby crossed his arms with satisfaction. Lucius stood.
"Your parents were meddlesome fools, too. You mark my words, Potter, one day soon you are going to meet the same sticky end!" he threatened before leaving.
"He was going to-…" Fiona gasped as she stared after Lucius. Dobby turned to Harry.
"Harry Potter freed Dobby! How can Dobby ever repay him?"
"Just promise me something," Harry said.
"Anything, sir!" Dobby said. Harry smiled.
"Never try to save my life again," he said. Dobby hummed.
"Harry," Fiona said giving him a look.
"Oh, Dobby this is Fiona, my best friend. Fiona, this is Dobby."
"It's a pleasure to meat you, Dobby," Fiona said before holding out her hand for him to shake. Dobby stared at her hand before looking up at her. Tears welled up in his eyes and he took her hand, shaking it as he started sobbing. "Oh, please don't cry, Dobby."
"You'll get used to that," Harry muttered.
"Oh, come here." Fiona pulled Dobby into a hug and the house elf sobbed even harder.
The night of the last feast of the year, everyone who had been paralyzed was woken up.
"Welcome back, Sir Nicholas!" a student said.
"Thank you!" the ghost said.
"Good evening, Sir Nicholas!"
"Good evening!"
"Good to see you, Sir Nicholas!"
"Thank you! Hello! Hermione! Welcome back!"
"Thanks, Sir Nicholas!" she said.
"Harry- it's Hermione!" Neville said. The three looked to see her and stood as she ran over. She hugged Harry and Fiona before going to Ron.
"Uhh-um... Welcome back, Hermione," Ron said shaking her hand.
"It's good to be back! Congratulations! I can't believe you solved it!" she said.
"Well, we had loads of help from you. We couldn't have done it without you," Harry said.
"Thanks," she said. McGonagall clinked her glass.
"Could I have your attention, please?" she asked. Dumbledore stood.
"Before we begin the feast, let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who had been petrified." The room erupted in applause. "Also, in light of the recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been canceled." Everyone cheered and Fiona noticed only Hermione looked sad. Suddenly the doors opened and Hagrid walked in.
"Sorry I'm late!" he said. "The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused. Some ruddy bird called Errol." Ron looked sheepishly up at Dumbledore. Hagrid stopped at the four. "And I'd just like to say that a- if it hadn't been for you, Harry, and Ron, and Fiona, and Hermione, o' course, I would- uh- I'd still be you-know-where, so I- I'd just like to say 'Thanks.'" Harry stood.
"Well, there's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid," Harry said before hugging him.
"Oh!" Hagrid hugged him back. Dumbledore started clapping. Harry stepped back and clapped too. Soon the whole room was clapping for Hagrid, even some of the Slytherins.
A/N: Like last time I'm excited to start the third book/movie.