Chapter Sixteen: Enemies of Young and of Old

They stood outside Lockhart's door, waiting for their knocks to be answered. The door slowly opened. "Oh, Harry and, er, well, please…be quick. I'm rather busy."

"Professor, we have some information for you. Perhaps you could-" Harry broke off, looking around suspiciously. "Are you going somewhere?" Gohan jumped. It seemed that Lockhart had been packing. He pointed accusingly.

"I knew it! You're running away. You are just like Hercule Satan! You didn't really do what those books said, did you? You were just taking credit for what other people did! No, hang on…you're actually worse! At least Hercule didn't run away! At least he helped a little!" Gohan fumed in increasing hysterics.

Harry turned his head away from Gohan to glare at Lockhart. "Is that true? You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done?"

Lockhart was still staring at Gohan blankly. "Hercule Satan…isn't he the muggle who defeated Cell?"

Harry snorted in disgust. "No…he's the guy who took credit for defeating Cell. Sound familiar?"

Lockhart glared at Harry. "For your information, it isn't as easy as it sounds! It's really hard work. First, I had to track down the witches and wizards who did those things. Then, I had to extract the information from them. And then, I had to modify their memory," He smiled suddenly, reaching inside his robes. "Actually, I am quite gifted at memory charms. It's a shame, really, that I have to do the same to you."

He raised his wand, but Harry bellowed, "Expelliarmus!" Lockhart's wand sailed through the air, caught by Ron. He threw it out the window.

Gohan nudged him. "Why didn't you keep it? You could've used it temporarily."

Ron's face fell. "Didn't think of that."

Lockhart was stammering. "What do you want me to do? I don't even know where the chamber is-"

Harry smirked. "We think we know. Let's go, Mr. Satan…I mean Lockhart."

Gohan and Ron grinned appreciatively.

"Uh, Myrtle?" Harry said tentatively.

"Huh? Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Well, to ask you how you died."

Myrtle suddenly looked flattered. "Ohhh…well, it was dreadful. It happened right here in this very stall. I had hidden here because Olive Hornby teased me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying. Suddenly, I heard someone come in…he said something funny…a different language. I unlocked my stall to tell him to go away…and I died."

"How come?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is see some great big yellow eyes over there. Then I felt myself falling away…but I came back, though. I was going to haunt Olive Hornby."

"Where did you see it?"

She pointed toward the sink closest to her stall. Harry and Ron hurried toward the sink. Lockhart was standing against the wall, clutching his chest fearfully as Gohan glared at him.

"Open up," Harry said at the tap inscribed with a snake, looking at Ron.

"English," he said.

Harry stared at the tap. "Open up," he said. Gohan flinched. The tap began to glow brightly and spin. The sink sank from view.

After a pause, Harry nodded. "I'm going down there."

Ron and Gohan nodded. "Me too," Ron said.

Lockhart moved toward the door, "Well, since you don't need me anymore-"

Ron grabbed his jacket and hurled him toward the exposed pipe. "You first," Harry said, pointing his wand at him.

"Now, boys, what good would it do?"

Ron glared, wrinkling his nose. "Better you than us."

Lockhart turned slowly toward the pipe, glancing down. "Are you sure you don't want to test-" Harry pushed him with his foot; with a cry, Lockhart toppled into the pipe. Harry and Ron both jumped, and Gohan flew down.

Gohan flew over the three at the bottom and landed neatly. Lockhart pointed at him with his mouth open.

"He flew! Did you see that?"

"Never mind!" Harry spat in agitation."Remember, any movement at all, close your eyes immediately. Gohan," he nodded at the half Saiyan.

"I will deal with it when it comes," Gohan said firmly.

"Harry," Ron said hoarsely, tugging on Harry's sleeve. "There's something up there."

Gohan looked. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "That snakeskin's huge!"

Harry raised his eyebrows at his exuberant friend. "Blimey," Ron said wondrously.

Lockhart fell to his knees. Ron pointed his wand. "Get up," Lockhart seeming stumbled clumsily as he got to his feet. He bowled over Ron and seized his wand.

He flashed a triumphant smile as he held Ron's wand. "The adventure ends here, boys! I'll take the skin up to the schools. I'll tell them that it was too late to save the girl, and how you three tragically lost your minds." He pointed his wand at Harry. In a flash Gohan had moved in front of Harry.

"No!" Harry cried.

Lockhart smiled. "If that's the way you want it…Obliviate!"

Gohan launched himself over Harry's body as the spell exploded through the tunnel. Gohan stood, pulled Harry up by his waist and sped away as the tunnel ceiling collapsed. As the dust cleared, Harry and Gohan approached the fallen stone.

"Ron!" Harry called. "Ron, are you okay?"

Silence. Then, "I'm here. I'm okay…but this git's not. He got hit by my wand."

"Ow," Lockhart cried as the sound of Ron kicking him echoed off the tunnel walls.

"What do we do now? It'll take forever to move this rock-"

Thud. "Ow!"

Gohan found a small hole and nudged Harry. Harry yelled,"Wait here. We'll go find Ginny. If we're not back in an hour…"

A silence filled the air. Ron broke it. "I'll try to shift some of this so you can get back through. Git."

Thud. "Ow!"

Gohan frowned. He pulled his wand from his pocket. He held it to his face, whispering, "Help him…protect him." The wand vibrated reassuringly. Gohan thrust his wanded hand through the hole. "Here. Take this."

"Don't you need it?"

"I can protect myself in other ways. I can't leave you here defenseless. Take it." Gohan felt his wand slip through his fingers.

"Thanks, Gohan."

Gohan nodded at Harry. The two of them followed the tunnel's winding passages. The tunnel ended abruptly at a solid wall. The wall had two entwined serpents hewn into its stony surface. Their eyes glinted emeralds.

"Open," Harry commanded as Gohan winced. The serpents parted, the wall cracked in half, and the two halves slid from view. Trembling, Harry walked inside; Gohan followed behind.

It was a long, dimly lit chamber. Tall stone pillars decorated with entwined serpents supported a ceiling hidden in the dark. Hearing Harry's loud footsteps, Gohan levitated and hovered after. At the end of the chamber, a giant statue of a wizard loomed over the rest of the chamber. At the foot of the statue lay a small pale figure with long, red hair, face down on the chamber floor.

"Ginny!" Both boys rushed to the girl's side. Gohan landed neatly by her body and knelt. Harry had tossed his wand aside and flung himself at her motionless body. "Ginny, don't be dead. Wake up, please!"

"She won't wake," a voice said softly. Harry and Gohan both jumped and stood from the sound. Harry jolted from recognition; Gohan glared.

Balling his fist, Gohan growled angrily. "What did you do to her?"

Harry winced, looking from Gohan to Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle, completely ignoring the outburst, approached them, his strange misty appearance slightly illuminating the area around him.

"Tom…Tom Riddle," Harry voiced. Riddle nodded as he stared at Harry. "What do you mean, she won't wake? Is she-"

"She's alive, but only just."

Gohan shook violently. "Let her go!" Riddle ignored him.

Harry looked from Riddle to Gohan in confusion."Are you…are you a ghost?"

"A memory…preserved in a diary for fifty years." He pointed at a small, black, rectangular object lying near the feet of the statue.

"You've got to help me, Tom. We've got to get Ginny out of here. There's a basilisk-"

"It won't come until it's called," Riddle said lazily.

"He's not going to help you, Harry!" Gohan said, barely restraining himself. "He's the Heir of Slytherin!"

Both Harry and Riddle flinched for entirely different reason. Then, Riddle smiled, twirling Harry's wand between his fingers.

Harry stood, staring at Riddle in confusion. "Give me my wand, Tom."

"You won't be needing it."

Gohan growled angrily. "If you don't give Harry's wand, I'll-"

Riddle laughed a soft, cold laugh. "What can a wandless, fool mudblood possibly do to me?"

"I don't need a wand to defeat you," he spat. "I'm a Super Saiyan!"

Riddle smirked. "I don't think you understand-"

"No more talking! Fight!"

Riddle scoffed. "Oh, we're going to talk…" Gohan growled angrily.

Harry stared at Riddle in growing confusion and fear. "I don't understand. How did Ginny get like this?"

"Good question. It's an interesting story, actually," Riddle said pleasantly. "I suppose the reason Ginny Weasley is "like this" because she opened her heart and spilled her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curtly.

"The diary…my diary. The one she has been writing in for months and months…telling all about her pathetic, pitiable woes. How her brothers tease her…how she had to come to school with second-hand everything…heh heh…how she thought good, great, famous Harry Potter would never like her…"

Harry shifted uncomfortably as Riddle stared at him hungrily.

"It was sooo boring, listening to the incessant ramblings of a pathetic eleven-year-old. But I was patient. Mmm. Sympathetic…sooo kind, that it made me feel nauseous. But it paid off. Ginny simply adored me. No one understands me better than you, Tom…I'm so happy I can confide in you…It's like having your own friend to carry around in your pocket." Tom laughed again. Gohan shivered from the sound of it.

"I'm such a charmer. Charm is a highly efficient means to get what you need from people. Anyways, Ginny poured her soul out to me, and it just so happens that her soul was exactly what I needed. I fed off her worries and doubts, her fears and anxiety...I grew stronger from her deepest, darkest secrets. But what a fighter she was…just when I thought I had completely drained her, the poor fool came back with more energy."

Gohan gasped loudly. "The sensu beans! All this time I've been feeding you!"

Riddle frowned, carefully considering Gohan. He nodded, smiling suddenly. "I'm also quite good at procuring the information I want. So, you're the sweet Gohan, the boy Ginny said gave her "magical" beans that returned her strength. I thank you for the extra nourishment, and for the name of these…sensu (Gohan winced). But don't feel too bad, you probably prolonged her life…however pathetic it was!"

Gohan glared angrily, but Riddle returned his gaze to Harry and continued, unaffected. "So I grew powerful, much more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to begin feeding Ginny some of my secrets."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny strangled the roosters and strung up Filch's cat. Ginny wrote the threatening messages on the walls and set the basilisk on the mudbloods."

"No," Harry whispered in horror as he locked eyes with Riddle. Both seemed completely oblivious to the cackling electricity that began licking Gohan's angry body.

"Yes. Of course, she didn't know she was doing it at first. It was quite amusing…her new diary entries," Harry's eyes widened with horror as Riddle recited the entries mockingly. "Dear Tom, I think I'm losing my memory. My robes' are full of chicken feathers, and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did Halloween night…a cat was attacked and I've got paint down my front. Dear Tom, People keep telling me I look sick and pale. I think Percy suspects me…there was another attack, and I don't know where I was. I think I'm going crazy…I think I'm attacking those people!" Tom laughed again.

Harry's fists were balled, his fingernails beginning to dig into his palms. Gohan's fists dripped blood; his nails had punctured his palms.

"Poor, stupid Ginny," Riddle said in mock concern. "After a while, she finally stopped trusting her diary. She tried to dispose of it by flushing it in the girl's bathroom. And that's where you come along. I couldn't have been more delighted that you found it. Of all the people that could have picked it up, it was you…the person I was most anxious to meet."

Harry glared at Riddle with intense dislike. "And why would you want to meet me?" He asked with a quavering voice.

"Ginny told me all about you. Your whole fascinating history. I wanted to learn everything about you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that insufferable oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust-"

"Hagrid's my friend," Harry said, his voice now shaking considerably. "And you framed him…all this time, I thought you had made a mistake-"

Riddle laughed a cold, high laugh as he continued. Gohan's hair was turning gold and back as he attempted to control his rage.

"-my word against Hagrid's…" Tom continued, so absorbed on Harry that he didn't notice as the floor shook with Gohan's increasing fury. Harry noticed, but never took his eyes off Riddle, hoping to keep Riddle's mind off Gohan as much as possible.

"Bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Harry sneered between his gritted teeth.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me afterwards. I knew I couldn't open the Chamber while I was still in school, so I decided to leave a diary-"

Gohan bit his lip to stifle his angry outcry. His hair changed from gold to black even quicker. Gohan's face screwed up as he tried not to lose control-

"-my new target…has been you-"

Black…gold…black…gold…black…gold…the floor beneath Gohan's feet began to crack. Gohan's knees were now bent as his mind struggled to control his body-

"-Voldemort is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter." He used Harry's wand to write his name:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Black…Gold…Black…Gold…

He waved the wand once, the letters rearranged themselves:

i aM loRd voldemorT

Black…Gold…Black…Gold… Gohan grimaced as he fought the transformation. He growled and grunted as he attempted to keep his power subdued. He was slowly failing-

"-greatest wizard of all time!"

"Dumbledore's the greatest wizard of all time!" Harry spat.

He felt his control slowly slipping away-

Riddle snorted. "He's been driven from this castle by the mere memory of me-"

"He's not as gone as you might think!"

Two things happened in succession: a large, beautiful, red bird flew to Harry's shoulder with a cry, and Gohan's power exploded with the force of a small bomb as he shouted his rage throughout the chamber, causing Riddle and Harry to stumble sideways ten feet and causing the diary to hit Ginny's limp, slowly sliding body.

Riddle's eyes widened with shock as Gohan's aura-licked body illuminated the entire chamber.

"What is he doing? What's that power?" Riddle asked fearfully.

Harry stroked Fawkes's plumage unconcernedly. "Oh, did I mention that Gohan defeated Cell? After a monster like that, an insignificant thing like you shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't underestimate him," Gohan said with his teeth bared.

Slowly, a small smile slowly crept on Riddle's face. "Cell, huh? You've got me a little curious, mudblood," He raised Harry's wand.

"Inferios mortem…" he began to chant. Gohan and Harry exchanged fearful, confused glances while he continued enunciating a long-winded incantation that ended with, "…kadavrim Cell."

Suddenly, a tall insect-looking silhouette appeared beside Riddle. Riddle grinned evilly as Gohan's expression changed from curiosity to one with horror.

Gohan's eyes widened in shock. "OH NOOOOOOOOOO!" His voice echoed through the chamber.