AN: I do not own Harry Potter, that honor goes to J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 11: Riddles In A Diary
Kingsley escorted Harry back to the common room in silence. Professor McGonagall passed them in the corridor and stopped to thank Harry for potentially saving Ginny's life and let him off the hook for escaping from the Aurors' protection. She told him that the other Weasley boys now knew what happened and may question him.
"Harry, tell us everything," Fred, George, and Percy demanded as soon as he stepped into the portrait hole.
"We'll go down to the dormitory so the entire tower doesn't know," Harry suggested and looked at Hermione who was waiting by the fire.
"I'll need your help in a little bit, please," he said as the Weasley boys dragged him toward the boy's stairwell.
It took ten minutes to explain what he knew and Ginny's condition. "She's obviously so stressed," Percy said with a sigh. "She would never hurt someone… well, like that anyway," he muttered with a small grin.
"She would if you stole her diary," Fred said with a nervous laugh. "She cursed George when she thought he was getting too close."
The mention of the diary again made Harry start thinking. "Guys, let me go tell Hermione what's up and figure out if Ron wants to know."
"Sure and thank you again for saving our sister," George said with a grin.
"She's my sister too," Harry answered with a shrug.
Hermione waited for him by the common room fire. "Can you help me with one last thing?" he asked as he took a seat.
"After this, just let me know what you need," Hermione answered in a shaky voice. "Would she really have killed herself?"
"I wasn't kidding when I said that I'd seen it before," Harry answered with a sigh. "Can you go through her things and look for anything that might stand out? I know she wrote in a black book, maybe that was her diary."
"I'm not letting you read her diary!" Hermione said in a strong, harsh tone. "There is no way you'd even have that right."
"Then glance through it yourself. She warned me herself about her diary possibly causing her problems. It could be cursed or… I don't know. Please, I'd like to get to the bottom of this. Remember it isn't just about Ginny. A boy died and a monster is still on the loose," he hissed when two students looked toward them.
"Fine, but I'm going to look at it first. You said a black book?" she questioned with a huff.
"I've seen her writing in it a lot. I think it may be her diary. Thank you, it could be important," Harry said with a sigh.
Hermione muttered something and disappeared up the girl's dormitory stairs. Harry wanted to follow but had seen an older male student slide back down when he chased after his angry girlfriend. Ten minutes later, Hermione reappeared with a black book in her hands and two familiar boxes. She sat down again and passed Harry the book. "It's blank so whatever she wrote was torn out or she wasn't writing anything at all. I've used every spell I know to try and uncover any invisible ink. She may have written with the quill but not used any ink."
Harry nodded and gestured to the two boxes in her hand. "Are those what I think they are?" he questioned as he took the book, opening it and flipping through the pages. All of them were blank.
"Our flashcards from last year, all of them unless I'm mistaken," Hermione said with a sigh. "I wonder how she got them."
"All mine are in my trunk so it must be Ron's or yours," Harry said with a shrug. "I'll hold onto this to see if I can uncover anything. You have my word that if I see anything she wrote that I'll close the book and let you read it before anything else. She trusts you so it shouldn't be too bad."
Contrary to his words, it took Harry until Sunday to start messing with the diary. The news Ginny Weasley had been removed from the school circulated through the Gryffindor students. Many were angry at the Aurors for causing the poor girl to have a breakdown because she couldn't go out and play. It was a weak, ill-informed assumption as none of the Weasley boys would tell them what happened. However, the Gryffindors hurled insults at the Aurors all through the next day.
Harry dipped his quill in his inkpot and wrote on one of the last pages in the black book. "My name is Robert Asprin and I am an aspiring writer," he wrote and waited. Nothing happened so he continued. "My greatest dream is to be the most influential writer and maybe take over the Daily Prophet," he continued the fake persona. If the book was cursed, he didn't want to give it any information on himself for someone to use later. The idea Ginny was blackmailed through the diary hovered in the back of his mind.
The words faded and disappeared into the page. Harry froze and watched words appear in the dark ink he'd used a moment ago. "Hello, Robert Asprin. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"
Warning bells went off in Harry's mind as he stared at the words on the page disappear a moment later. He debated if using the diary would be detrimental to his health and realized he'd waited too long. "Do not fear me, I am but a small memory saved in a few pages. Many would not want my story to be told, the real story of the Chamber of Secrets. A good story but a dangerous one," the diary temped.
Harry thought back to Ginny's gradual descent to where she was now and decided it was safe to at least converse with the diary, for now. "Stories are good! Who would want to suppress the story of the Chamber of Secrets?" he wrote back.
"Things were covered up, the death of a poor Muggle-born girl in a bathroom for one."
Harry was intrigued but wary. "Someone died that time too?" he wrote back, making sure to scrawl out his handwriting so it looked like he wrote faster and more excitedly.
"Indeed, she died and the Ministry paid off a lot of people to keep quiet about it. We, those who were in school at the time, learned much about the Chamber before and after the tragic events," the ghostwriter wrote back.
"You know about the Chamber of Secrets? Is it really Salazar Slytherin's beast attacking the school?" Harry wrote back and tried to pay attention to anything odd happening to his body.
"The professors told us about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again, as it has now. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned."
Harry saw startling correlations between the story the memory told and the current events. He wondered if the Ministry or Hogwarts dealt with the Chamber of Secrets many times over the centuries and buried the stories. "That sounds familiar to what has happened this time. They arrested someone for the crime but I don't believe he was the murderer," he wrote and sat back.
"If I may ask, who did they arrest? Last time it was Rubeus Hagrid, a fellow student, and half-giant."
"It's who they arrested this time, but he has no reason to attack anyone," Harry wrote back faster this time.
"I caught him myself. The memory is preserved here for those who wish to know the truth. You don't have to take my word for it, I can show you like what is displayed in a Pensieve. The magic is similar," Tom wrote back.
Harry froze and wondered if this was the trap the book used to lure Ginny in. He couldn't figure out how a book would depress a normally happy and vibrant young girl. It was obvious something lived in the book's pages but it was like talking to a portrait. Tom answered his unwritten question.
"It will be safe as I am nothing more than a memory, a fragment, of myself captured shortly after the attacks to prove to the world one day of my achievements. Rubeus was a friend and he didn't do it on purpose. The attacks and death was an accident, but he caused it. I created this diary to show the world, nothing more."
Harry debated for a moment before writing. "Are you like one of the portraits?" he wrote and tried to think of how much he knew about the magic behind the portraits in Hogwarts.
"The magic I used is more complex than the magic used to capture a still moment in time. Magical Portraits like you find at Hogwarts and all over the magical community is but a tiny fraction of the real witch or wizard. It takes a piece of their magic and combines it with the painter's magic and a Wardstone. You will learn about Wardstones in Ancient Runes if you haven't already."
"I haven't even though I'm in my fourth-year," Harry wrote back and thought things over. "How could I see your memory then?"
It took longer for Riddle to reply. "The painting in all portraits is the foundation the witch or wizard's magic latches on to. My diary is a portrait of my life to this point, forming the foundation necessary to hold this memory. As a memory, I have a little more freedom and knowledge as I know myself more than any painter could. It allows me to paint pictures of my own, similar to the Pensieves."
Harry didn't know enough about the way portraits were made to know if Tom told the truth. He wasn't sure the diary could lie, but something changed Ginny and it wasn't for the better. While he thought about what to do, Tom wrote more.
"Are you ready to sit your O.W.L.s next year? I have no sense of time outside my diary. I was rather accomplished in my day and can assist you if you'd like. A good magical career will make it easier to gain admittance into the Daily Prophet or the Ministry of Magic. Both require a powerful wizard and excellent recommendations."
Harry noticed that Tom was trying to tempt him into writing more. He didn't want to write anything out of character and felt a little giddy imagining himself as a British spy in the Cold War. "I'm not very powerful," he wrote slowly. "I get bullied because of it."
"Which House were you sorted into? Maybe you are more powerful than you think. Sometimes it takes confidence and a good teacher."
"Professor Snape says I'm terrible at Potions and Professor Lockhart says I'm never going to be as good as him at Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm sorted into Hufflepuff but at least they are nice… mostly," Harry wrote, trying to come up with a believable persona on the fly.
"The mighty and powerful Badger. I was sorted into Hufflepuff as well. We look after our own. No one has come to your defense? We would go to war if necessary in my day for even a first-year."
"That is one of my mates. It was nice talking to someone who understands. I'll write later!" he wrote with a smirk. Closing the book, Harry lay back on the bed and looked at the book in his hands. He now knew it was the key to getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Hogwarts. Getting off the bed, he locked the diary in his trunk and took out a parchment. He scribbled in the corner to make sure the ink wouldn't disappear after a few seconds. Once he was sure everything hadn't been a hallucination, he wrote the facts he'd learned.
Rubeus Hagrid was expelled for opening the Chamber of Secrets while he was in school. It explained why the Ministry arrested Hagrid with Harry. It was something that had bothered him for a while. The thought of the gentle giant in Azkaban angered him. There was no way, now or back then, Hagrid would ever get a student killed. It meant Tom Riddle either told him a lie, Hagrid was framed, or Riddle was the perpetrator. An image of two blank-faced boys appeared in his mind. Could the diary somehow Imperious people to do its will? Tom told him that his memory was better than that of the paintings on the walls.
He wrote all his speculations down before laying back in bed and trying to work it all out. His primary concern was finding the culprit or if it really was the diary, getting it to someone he trusted. Professor McGonagall proved to be useful when there were problems with concrete proof. He didn't know how to contact Professor Dumbledore except through Hedwig. It was an option he considered. Alastor Moody's grizzled face appeared in his mind. He was an ally to Dumbledore and had already praised Harry on his methods of deduction.
With a plan in place, he rolled over and tried to find sleep. His dreams of late were flashes of his time at Azkaban. He realized not everything was the repeating nightmares and a female Auror stayed with him much of the time, ignoring food sometimes in lieu of protecting Harry from the floating evil outside the cell. The Dementors' called to Harry in his dreams, sucking the happiness out of his body and making a horrible chill set into his bones.
Professor Lockhart did the unthinkable on Monday, the day after Valentine's Day. He hired singing dwarfs, dressed in golden wings and carried harps. They belted out out-of-tune songs in gruff, singsong voices. The experience was reminiscent of the opening ceremony where all the students sang the school song the previous year. Harry wanted to curse Lockhart for subjecting them to the horrible experience.
Angry with everything going on at Hogwarts, Harry decided to relieve his stress with a little pranking. Fred and George seemed of the same mind and sent cringe-worthy poems to all their favorite people. Draco Malfoy received his Valentine song in the middle of Potions. Harry suppressed a grin when the dwarf kicked open the door.
"To Mr. Malfoy," the dwarf said aloud in the shocked silence. His gravelly voice pitched higher he sang:
"With skin so pale it makes me fly,
Falling from high like a blonde ponce's sigh,
He can spend Galleons to buy my place,
The hero who can never win a race."
The whole room burst into laughter as Malfoy's face turned bright red. Harry wished he had thought of sending more than one singing dwarf. The only good thing that came from the singing dwarfs was that the students seemed a little happier for a short time. His letter to Moody left with Hedwig the next morning, having forgotten to ask ahead of time to use the owlry.
A week and a half later, he was getting worried when he didn't receive a reply. Hedwig returned and confirmed in her own way that she delivered the letter. Harry went back to the common room with the others to figure out his next plan. His next plan was to send a letter to Dumbledore. The next day, a student ruined any chance his letter might go unread by the Aurors.
"Starting tomorrow, all post will be searched as a Love Potion was confiscated from a student. These are dangerous and highly illegal potions. We are being nice and warning you now, but know everyone who is found responsible for purchasing and using banned and illegal substances will be fined or arrested," Kingsley announced at breakfast. A young Ravenclaw cried in the corner of the room before being led out of the Great Hall to stunned silence.
The diary became is dangerous but interesting project. Ginny hadn't returned from St. Mungo's and the Weasley boys weren't allowed to go see her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wrote that she was on the mend but didn't give any details. Hermione told him that the Aurors went through her belongings three weeks after being taken to the hospital. It lowered his trust in the Aurors more to see them slacking off. The alert and tense Aurors disappeared after some time to be replaced with bored and argumentative wizards. It was clear all the Aurors believed they were wasting time by babysitting the students.
Ginny returned after Easter Break with a bright smile and a vibrant outlook despite her occasional bouts of sadness about Luna. Ron demanded Ginny be added to their Study Club, since playing Quidditch was a distant dream for him. It took a while for the youngest Weasley to warm up to Harry and Neville, but when they both treated her like a sister she finally did. One of her first questions to Harry was about the diary.
"It has been handled and I never saw anything you wrote. You know as well as I do that Tom wouldn't tell someone's secrets," Harry lied with a smile. Ginny's eyes went wide but nodded a moment later. The diary sat at the bottom of his trunk until he could find someone he trusted to pass it off to.
Ginny seemed mollified and continued trying to catch up on the subjects she missed. Harry was convinced she played dumb for Ron's sake because she talked to Hermione about a few second-year topics when she thought no one was paying attention.
Hermione found it amusing and wouldn't tell Harry what the two of them talked about. His and Hermione's many intense discussions roused the Aurors one day, thinking the two friends were seconds away from cursing each other.
"Break it up, break it up! There is no need for a lover's spat in the Study Room. Children," Langarm grumbled and walked away.
Harry and Hermione blushed under the scrutiny of the other students. "That wasn't a lover's spat," he grumbled and took his seat again. "I'm just saying the Cheering Charm could be enchanted or bewitched into an object. I know you said it will lose its effect but it wouldn't matter! The whole point of the spell is to make someone happier. You could make Galleons hand over fist if you could perfect it! A mint that makes you confident and happier for an exam or something like that."
"I said I know you could do it! You aren't listening. I'm saying you shouldn't do it because it enables someone. It is like the Love Potion. You are altering someone's mind for personal gain," Hermione said in a patient but annoyed voice.
"Isn't that what prescription drugs do? They make you feel something your body can't or won't produce? Why would a Cheering Charm on a sweet be as bad as a Love Potion?"
"Why can't you see my point!" Hermione raged and tugged at her hair.
Ron, Ginny, and Neville watched on, bemused at their argument of the day. Harry's lack of sleep increased his irritability and not being able to spend any alone time worsened his mood. The Aurors became a constant blight on his happiness at Hogwarts. He realized something was wrong one morning as he put the diary back in the trunk. The sudden realization that he'd fallen into the same trap Ginny had struck him like a Bludger. He needed to be rid of the diary, that day and had to stop trying to out-think the memory trapped in the diary.
"Professor, do you have a moment?" Harry asked after class.
"Come to accept me as your mentor?" Lockhart beamed and puffed out his chest.
"I've come on another matter, sir. There may be something odd about this book," he said and opened his bag. He passed the black book to the Defense Instructor and immediately regretted his decision.
"Oh? Something you've enchanted to show off your skill?" Lockhart said with a bright smile.
"Uh, actually," Harry tried to say but was cut off.
"No, no my boy. I will look at your hard work and give you a grade on it. You must see how dedicated I am to my protege's projects. Run along now, I'll give you a grade tomorrow."
Harry cursed himself a muppet for giving anything important to the moronic professor. He felt it would have been better to give it to Professor Snape but it never occurred to him until the moment he handed over the book. Angry with himself, he fumed in silence during Charms. Hermione asked him what was wrong but he didn't want to tell his friend about his possible major blunder. The only comfort he had was the professor might know or understand that the book was dangerous.
He decided to tell Lockhart how dangerous the book was the next day. The professors were pushing the students hard to prepare for exams, making it hard for Harry and Hermione to work on more advanced topics because of the sheer number of essays they had to complete every week. The Aurors relented after three were attacked in the halls when a student just wanted to go outside. They allowed the students to go outside for short periods of time after class to blow off steam. The first day, four fights broke out over who would ride the school brooms, most of them caused by Gryffindors.
Gilderoy smiled at Harry when he told him his fears and how dangerous the book was. "My boy this is an ingenious book! I will figure out how you did it and provide all of my fans with similar copies. The ingenious character you made, Tom and his subordinate Robert, are intelligent and know their way around a few spells," the professor said with a beaming smile. "I didn't realize how advanced you were. Well done! Take twenty, no thirty points for Gryffindor!"
Harry sat at the lunch table with his head in his hands. He knew he'd messed up but didn't know how to fix it. If he told the Aurors what he knew, they might send him to Azkaban again but if he didn't more people could die. He agonized over the potential problems and tried to find a solution. The day flew by in a blur as he tried to come up with some way to get the book back, short of stealing it.
"Harry, you've been distracted today," Hermione asked as they sat on the lawn under the bright sun under the watchful eyes of three Aurors.
"I've been thinking over our conversation the other day. The one about the Cheering Charm. Would it be right if I bewitched a vitamin pill or something healthy? Would that make it okay to tamper with their psyche," he asked, not caring about the answer. He knew it would rile his friend up and distract her from his current mood.
"I'll consider it if you tell me what is really going on," Hermione said in a firm voice.
Harry looked up to see Ginny and Hermione staring at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm just not feeling great, all right? Hogwarts isn't the same and I've been debating leaving next term."
Hermione pursed her lips and Ginny peered at him closer. "It has changed for the worse in a short amount of time," Hermione answered with a small sigh. "To answer your question, no it might not be deemed immoral if you condition people to eat helpful things," she said with a smirk.
Harry started in surprise. "Wait, so I can do it for healthy things but can't if I use candies? Double standards much!"
Ginny grinned and went back to her flashcards as Hermione sat up with a glare. "How would you explain it then! You know and acknowledge the Cheering Charm may be addictive but you'd happily put it on an unhealthy substance. What would the Wizengamot say if they pulled you in for unsafe practices! How would you defend yourself."
The argument helped Harry blow off steam as he debated with his friend. They argued the hows, whys, and means consumable objects could be bewitched and remain so for long periods of time. Harry spotted one twin getting closer and listening in during the argument and fought to keep from smiling. He knew the twin's plans for a joke shop would have bewitched food as they were trying to make a Shrinking Custard.
Harry watched Lockhart in every class and even harder when the professor started to use magic in the classroom. Lockhart avoided using any magic if possible during his classes, it was something he noticed from the start. However, every class now went over a different spell, as if Lockhart himself was relearning it over again. A cold shiver ran down Harry's neck and his anxiety skyrocketed as he realized Riddle must be tutoring the professor.
He tried to warn Lockhart again to no avail. The buffoon professor became confident and boisterous in his classes and wouldn't listen to Harry. He stopped using Harry as his prop and started to teach the class real spells. Hermione couldn't understand why he was horrified and he debated with himself about telling her everything.
The number of Aurors dropped from fifteen to seven on Monday of the next week. Harry's worry ate at him night and day. "We are passing out red tokens for each student. Since everyone has been accommodating and understanding, we have decided to let you return to your normal school experience. Now the perpetrator has been charged and convicted, any threat to the school has passed. Five Aurors will stay for the remainder of the year to ensure everyone feels safe and secure," Kingsley announced one morning to tumultuous cheers.
Harry did not cheer as he stared, horrified at his worst fears coming true. The only thing that was missing was the Basilisk's voice coming from the walls again. While he hated the Auror's presence, they gave him a sense of protection for himself and the other students. He stared at the token in his hand and made a decision he hated himself for. "Hermione, we need to talk," he said and looked up at his friends. "Ron, Neville, you need to hear this too."
"You aren't happy," Ron said in a quiet voice. "You think the danger hasn't passed."
"Oh, no… it hasn't passed at all," Harry muttered with a sigh. The truth ate at his stomach as he stared at his empty plate. "After class, the storeroom. We'll wait until tomorrow to show Ginny. She can't know, not yet."
"You're starting to scare me," Hermione said in a low voice.
"Good, you most of all, need to be scared."
Harry felt oddly calm with his decision as the day flashed by for him. He didn't eat, scared he would get sick from his queasy stomach. The storeroom felt like a welcome relief when he used the password to open the secret door in the broken wardrobe. He half expected Moody to be waiting on the transfigured couch for them. His eyes fell on the two practice dummies and felt a familiar itch he hadn't had for months.
They took seats near the fire that Harry started and looked at him with questioning eyes. "Let me finish before asking any questions. For now, I'd like to keep this quiet but I need input from each of you, badly."
"What could be so bad you need our help?" Neville asked with a frown. "Harry, we come to you with problems," he joked with a strained smile.
"This time I need your help and… forgiveness."
"What happened? Forgiveness? Harry, what do you mean?" Hermione questioned as she sat forward in her chair.
"The Diary is more than either of us realized," Harry said with a sigh.
"Mate, that sounded like a capital D in the word diary. Is it something to do with Ginny? I heard mum and dad whisper about her being possibly possessed by something dark," Ron said with an angry tone.
"Diary as in capital D. Tom Riddle owned the Diary at some point and made it like a portrait except somehow he made it more. If I'm right, it came into Ginny's possession through Mr. Malfoy. I don't know if it was from the confrontation in the second-hand shop or if more-likely it was Dobby that slipped her the Diary. Either way, Ginny has been writing in the cursed object for months. I had Hermione search her things when Ginny fretted it may have been Tom doing the attacks through her. It could have been she was possessed," Harry said as his stomach folded over on itself in worry at Ron's reaction.
"You knew this? For how long?" Ron questioned in a dark voice.
"A month or so after Ginny was taken to St. Mungo's," Harry answered. "I didn't trust the Aurors and tried to reach Moody or Dumbledore. I chose Moody, not knowing if Dumbledore would even be in the country. My gamble didn't pay off as Moody never responded. The next day Penelope was caught with the Love Potion and all our mail was going to be searched. I made my second mistake by not getting some message to Dumbledore even if it wasn't coded. During this time, I used a fake name and persona to talk to Tom, to try and understand what caused Ginny's depression. I didn't know then it was possession until I put all the clues together recently."
"Professor Lockhart, you gave the book to Professor Lockhart," Hermione said with a startled gasp, jumping ahead in the story. She stared at him with wide, scared eyes.
"I should have handed it over to the Aurors, to Kingsley who seems to be the more serious and competent Auror but… we have some history that is hard to look past. I made my third mistake by asking Lockhart to look at the book to see if he thought it might be dark. He took the book, thinking it was of my own creation and promised to grade me on my work. I realized then how bad I'd messed up. I should have gone to the Aurors then but I didn't, fearing and hating what might come next." Harry paused and sighed. "My last mistake is waiting so long to do anything about it. Even if Kingsley knows about the Diary now, and believes me, the support and protection surrounding the school has been reduced to almost nothing. I am asking you now, what should we do for ourselves and the other students. Remember, Hermione is Muggle-born and the Basilisk will target her first."
"Why didn't you talk to us? We're your friends," Neville asked into the silence.
"I didn't know at first, then I got caught up in my own plan and it spiraled from there. I debated it multiple times, but… in the end, I decided I could handle it alone. It was another mistake and I'm sorry," Harry answered with a sigh.
"I thought you said you would talk to me if you found anything?" Hermione questioned with a hurt look.
"I meant if I found anything Ginny wrote but that doesn't excuse not at least telling you what was going on. I just thought I could handle the problem alone until I had proof to hand over to Moody or Dumbledore," Harry replied, sinking lower in the chair.
"Mate, you mean to tell me you took my sister's diary and knew it might be one of the reasons she was so depressed?" Ron asked in a calm voice.
"Suspected but didn't know. It was clear I needed hard proof for anyone to act on my hunches, not that I blame you. I'd think she was just acting weird too except I'd seen her symptoms before. I don't blame you for not taking my word for something I wasn't even sure of. I'm still not sure I have all the pieces to the puzzle."
"She isn't a puzzle! She is my sister!" Ron bellowed and jumped to his feet.
"Oi, take a seat," Neville yelled over Ron's outburst. "He explained his reasoning and Ginny was all right. He did say he didn't know it was possession until a little bit ago. Take a deep breath and think." Everyone looked at the normally quiet round-faced boy. He blushed under their stares. "I'm just saying to think of it from the other person's perspective. Ginny isn't my sister but I respect her and don't want something bad to happen to her either. She is okay now so let's work to keep it that way."
Chastised, Ron sat down and shot Neville a wry grin. "You should speak up more, Neville. Sorry, Harry, I just lost my cool."
"You have every right too," Harry answered with a nod. "I messed up and wasn't thinking about other people. I'd like to make sure we do the right thing now though."
"I think, we need to know everything you now know from start to finish," Hermione prompted into the silence. "Four heads are better than one and, Ron, I'm not sure letting Ginny know about this is a good idea yet. She is still recovering and while she would forgive Harry, I don't think she needs the added stress."
"I agree she doesn't need to know, yet… but, you owe her an apology too when the time is right," Ron growled and glared at Harry.
Harry knew his friends were angry or disappointed in him, but he knew in his heart he would make the same decision again. "Okay, so I'll go over everything from the beginning again," he said as he pulled out two folded and crumpled parchments from his robes. He waved his wand and wrote the information with the dwindling supply of chalk on the small tray at the bottom of the blackboard.
"You need to bring this to Kingsley," Neville said after a little bit. "This is hard to ignore evidence for anyone with half a brain. He'll be peeved but I think he will understand too."
"I agree with Neville, we need to bring an adult into this. Aurors are trained and have more experience and knowledge than all of us put together," Hermione said with a strained smile.
"I don't know what to think after hearing all this. This Diary is dark, darker than anything Dad has ever told me about. If a book can think, feel, and corrupt someone by just writing in it… I can't imagine how dark it is. You have scar pain written on the board twice. I'm almost afraid to ask, are you serious about what that might mean?" Ron asked in a quiet voice.
"I told you a lot over the summer and it was my warning with Quirrell, although I didn't realize it at the time. I don't know if it is a coincidence and I don't know the timeline for Voldemort's rise, but somehow, someway, he is involved," Harry said with certainty.
"That might make sense because Lucius and the Malfoy family were all staunch supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Ron answered with a slow sigh. The room was quiet as everyone stared at the blackboard filled from corner to corner with information.
"When are you going to tell Kingsley? We can't leave this for any longer," Hermione asked and wrung her hands.
"Tomorrow or the next day, I promise," Harry answered after a minute. "I really don't want him to find this place, sorry. I might use the old classroom we used or find somewhere else and make it look lived in."
"You really don't trust them," Ron said with a frown.
"Sorry but I don't. I know they mean well but I can't ensure even Kingsley is on my side or will believe me," Harry answered with a shrug. "I think we need to work harder on those charms to prepare if the Basilisk is called out again."
Ron and Hermione paled while Neville gave a firm nod. "I can't be of much help when it comes to creating the charms but I could help in other ways… I just don't know what," Neville said in a small voice.
"Four heads are better than two," Hermione said again with a smile. "We can show you how to formulate your own spells, well, easy spells is all we can manage at the moment. Kingsley will have more experience at this than us," she tempted with a glance at Harry.
"We'll see how receptive he is," Harry answered, not voicing the fear the Auror may try to take him in for withholding vital information. He'd learned enough about dictatorships, which the Ministry of Magic resembled in many ways, to fear being silenced by them to keep a secret. Tom may have lied or twisted the truth about some things, but his information on the Chamber of Secrets turned out to be true from an old Daily Prophet article.
The next morning, a gray owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped down in front of Harry. The letter in its beak dropped into Harry's lap before the owl took off again. Another brown owl dropped off Harry's copy of the Daily Prophet a moment later. One word on the front of the letter made his heart beat faster. He tucked the letter into the Prophet and tucked it under his arm. Hermione shot him a quizzical look when he said he needed to go to the bathroom before class.
Moody finally wrote him back. The ex-Auror apologized for taking so long to answer but he'd been out of the country trying to track down a lead on the Malfoy family in France. He impressed upon the dangers of cursed books and the importance of getting it to Kingsley specifically. It made Harry feel worse. Moody was on his way back to Hogwarts, but he expressed a need to get in the school as quietly as Harry could manage. The wording in the letter struck Harry as odd, but he ignored it, happy to have the ex-Auror as an extra level of protection.
"Fred," Harry called out when he saw the twins at lunch.
One twin looked up from a long parchment and grinned at Harry. "What's up?" he asked as Harry slid onto the bench beside George.
"I've got to get someone into the castle without being seen," Harry whispered, keeping his eyes roaming the Gryffindor table for anyone who might try to listen in.
"I would guess it has something to do with whatever Ron was angry about this morning?" Fred asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We need this wizard's help in the future," Harry assured and shifted in his seat. He raised a goblet from the table and took a deep drink, keeping his eyes moving, watching.
"If you say so, meet us after classes in our usual place. We're much farther behind our goal than we wanted by this time of the year," George said after a moment. "You look shifty, stop looking around."
Harry laughed and set the goblet down. "Thanks, this is important and I realized I need to read you into what's going on. I'll bring you up to speed this afternoon."
"How important are we talking?" Fred asked, his eyes flicking between Harry and George.
"Deadly," Harry answered and got up from the bench. He sat back down with his friends and noticed two Gryffindor fourth-years eyeing him closely from up the table.
Harry gripped his wand hard as he steeled himself before knocking on the Chamber of Reception door the school used to welcome the first-year students before the Sorting Ceremony. The Aurors used the large room as a base and barracks while protecting the school. After a moment, the door opened to reveal Dawlish. "What do you need?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"Kingsley," Harry answered with as much force as he could muster. The Auror's eyebrows raised before looking Harry over. His eyes fell on where Harry clutched his wand beneath his robes but didn't say anything. "Wait," he muttered before closing the door again.
Two minutes later, Kingsley opened the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He froze when his eyes fell on Harry. "Potter, what can I do for you?" he asked in a deep, even voice.
"Have a moment to take a walk?" Harry asked with a jerk of his head toward the Grand Staircase.
"Give me a moment and put away your wand, you have nothing to fear from me," Kingsley ordered with a snort.
"I'll be the judge of that shortly," Harry muttered, his stomach churning as he watched the bald Auror turn. Kingsley paused and looked back at him with a serious expression.
"After you, Potter," Kingsley said five minutes later. He closed the door behind him and looked at Harry as if he were an interesting specimen in a zoo.
"A short walk to where I need to talk to you in private," Harry said in a low voice, looking around the mostly deserted Entrance Hall. Without another word, he turned and marched toward the Grand Staircase, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he imagined the Auror staring at his back.
Ten minutes and three secret passages later, Harry arrived where he wanted to talk. "In here, please," he said and tried not to feel satisfied when the Auror blinked at him when the door opened without him touching the handle. He strode into the room and waited by the three blackboards charmed to three wardrobes.
Kingsley entered the room and frowned when he looked at Harry. His eyes roamed around the room and Harry could see the Auror's hand brush against his robes, knowing the Auror was holding his wand in his right hand. "You led me here? To talk?" Kingsley asked as he stepped into the room, his back straight and eyes searching.
"I did," Harry confirmed and paused before moving his right hand a little under his robes. "I'm going to cast three spells, none of them are going to be directed at you," he announced. He waited for Kingsley's nod before revealing his wand in his left hand. A flicker of surprise flashed in Kingsley's eyes as Harry raised the wand.
"Colloportus… Muffliato… Lumos Maxima," he intoned as he cast the spells one by one. He pointed his wand at the door for the first two spells and the ceiling overhead for the last. The room was lit in bright light for an instant. Kingsley had his wand out and pointed at Harry while he shielded his eyes with the other hand. Harry waited with his wand in his non-dominant hand to see if the Auror would attack him.
"Apologies, the last spell caught me off-guard," Kingsley muttered and lowered his wand. "A bit much to have a conversation, Potter."
"Prudence and vigilance," Harry shot back with a wry smile. It felt good to get one over on the experienced Auror, even if it was a cheap trick. "The light is necessary. It's time to talk. A mutual acquaintance told me to inform you of everything I know regarding the Chamber of Secrets," he announced and watched as Kingsley's eyes narrowed.
"So talk," the Auror ordered with a frown.
"Behind me is everything I know, suspect, or think might be going on in and outside the castle. I don't trust you, but smarter minds than mine agree you are the best resource and possibly the only resource available to us now. This is done to protect the students and my friends, nothing more," Harry lied as he tried to emulate one of the instructors at Providence. The old man spoke in round-about ways that said little. He wasn't sure he did it right but Kingsley seemed to take him seriously so he chalked it up as a success.
"Why didn't you bring this to our attention earlier?" the Auror questioned as he looked toward the blackboards without moving. "You've had plenty of time… something has gone wrong, hasn't it? You've been worried and afraid of something for weeks now."
Harry tried to hide his shock, angry and afraid at how closely the experience Auror was watching him. He didn't answer, choosing silence over what he knew would be a flimsy answer. It occurred to him he still had his wand drawn. He made sure the Auror saw him slip it into his left dueling holster before covering it up with his robes.
"Have it your way," Kingsley said with a grunt and walked toward the blackboards. He kept his body angled so he could see Harry while reading the information.
Once Kingsley froze, his eyes roaming over the blackboard, Harry carefully moved his wand from the left holster and into his right hand. He didn't trust the Auror and wanted to be ready, to put up any fight he could, against the older, more experienced wizard.
Kingsley dropped all pretense of civility and turned on Harry but kept his wand low. "What is the meaning of this? How accurate is this information? Details, now! This is not what we were briefed on and I'm not going to lose people if a Basilisk is in the castle. Why is there a Basilisk in the castle?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing as he fired off each question.
"It may start with a Ministry and Hogwarts cover-up many years ago," Harry started and began to explain everything he knew. Kingsley's face contorted into a grimace as Harry explained more about the Diary and his speculation on Ginny's possession.
"You knew most of this and still returned to the school?" Kingsley asked after Harry finished. At some point, the Auror put his wand away while Harry was talking.
"Enough to know the danger a Basilisk poses to everyone, yes," Harry answered with a sigh. "I won't apologize for not reading you in earlier, but I could have handled things differently if I were a little smarter."
"What do you expect me to do with this information," Kingsley said after a moment.
"Expect? I expect you to protect the students to the best of your ability. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't see any way to prove Malfoy was the one that planted the Diary on Ginny unless he confesses or Dobby is able to give evidence against his master. How do you go about killing a Basilisk? We know the crowing of a rooster will do it, but Hagrid's roosters were killed before Christmas."
"We don't have enough people to protect everyone," the Auror said in a quiet voice. "If what you say is true, and everything fits from what I know, then we need to evacuate the school."
"You think Fudge will allow it? I noticed there was a small blurb about the tragic accident that killed Rivers at Hogwarts. He said the school closed for a short mourning process and to ensure it would never happen again. If we evacuated the school, would Fudge agree or would he bury this like he did the boy's death?"
Kingsley ground his teeth but didn't answer. He looked over the blackboards again and removed the small purple cap from his head. "Lockhart then," he said after a minute. "If we can get the Diary away from Lockhart we might be able to head off any issue. You believe the Diary is the key in some way to opening the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Logically, the Chamber has been closed for years before now without issue, unless something happened and it was covered up. Dobby warns me of a plot to remove Dumbledore and the best way to do that is for the deaths of students under his care. It means something has to unlock or open the path to achieve that. I can't think of it any other way. Dumbledore and a guest searched the castle for days and couldn't come up with the answer to stopping the attacks. The Diary is the only logical conclusion. Ginny's possession is the second clue. She had the Diary and was diagnosed with a dark possession. The memory, Tom Riddle, must be the key as he said the Chamber was opened in his time. There is little for him to lie about it, especially because Hagrid was expelled, and his trophy for services rendered to the school is in the Trophy Room."
Kingsley grimaced and nodded. "I agree with your speculation with the information we have so far. Nothing else makes sense that I can think of. I understand why you didn't bring this to my attention earlier, but it might have saved lives if we had the Diary. If nothing else, nothing that dark should ever be in Hogwarts around children. If you'd brought it to one of us…" he said before trailing off.
Harry heard the accusation in the Aurors words and couldn't fault him for being angry. "I don't trust you," he answered in a flat voice.
"You understand it is our job to bring in dark witches and wizards? We handle dangerous situations for the wizarding community as a whole and protect those who cannot protect themselves. Aurors are the Muggle police and military at the same time. Handling this is in our job description and all of us want nothing more than to protect," Kingsley said in a weary voice. "What do you think you know about your imprisonment?" he asked in a deep voice as he turned to look at Harry.
"Little, no one explained why I was arrested, thrown in Azkaban when I should, by law, be sent to the holding cells in the Ministry," Harry shot back with a glare.
"You may have missed the amendment to that law that states all suspects involved in the death of a magical child is to be treated with extreme measures. We followed the letter of the law but never expected your intense reaction to the Dementors. I'll be honest and say they took an unhealthy interest in you… but, we couldn't get you out, not without signatures from three high-ranking Ministry Officials. Amelia Bones signed immediately but Fudge dragged his feet, not understanding the severity of your condition within the prison. Let me be clear, we did everything we could to ensure you did not die and championed for your release or execution. Yes, execution as it would have been a small mercy over the torment we watched. Why do you think so many healers poured over you for weeks after they took you out of there?"
"I don't remember much outside flashes and nightmares," Harry admitted through clenched teeth.
"I will be honest with you and tell you that we thought you'd killed the Rivers boy. Evidence was submitted of your dark reputation in the school minutes after your arrest within the castle. I will not tell you who submitted the evidence, but I will say it came from a less-than-reputable source. However, a dead boy was in the corridor and you'd last been seen near a petrified girl. I would and will follow the law while performing my duties as an Auror."
Harry remained silent as he digested the new information. It was sobering to realize the experienced wizard considered having him killed to put him out of his misery. He nodded to Kingsley, not trusting himself to speak. "You continued to watch me," he accused and immediately wanted to retract his statement.
"We watched everyone, but especially you. We were right to do so, considering how much you knew. Being found next to a petrified body first and one of the first ones the scene to every attack means you knew something the others didn't but wouldn't or couldn't share the information. You may not have been the attacker but you knew or could lead us to whoever it was. It is our job to sniff out dark wizards, Potter. I will not apologize for watching you. That and I still see you as an unstable child who has undergone multiple traumatic experiences in your short life. Quirrell's death did not go unnoticed by those who can read between the lines. I have a few questions regarding that, but that can wait until after this crisis has passed. The rumors about Quirrell are troubling, far more troubling than a Basilisk if true. However, it is not an immediate threat."
"I'm not in that much of a sharing mood," Harry replied in a frosty voice. Kingsley's frank opinion of him made him grind his teeth. He wasn't unstable. "There is a lot to fear about what happened last year though. Pretend it's your worst nightmare has come true and you might get close enough to the truth," he said after some thought. It would be good if people other than himself worried about Voldemort's attempted return.
"If that is true…" Kingsley said and narrowed his eyes at Harry. "A conversation for the future. Now that you've shared this, what is your next course of action?"
Harry tried not to frown at the Auror's tone. It sounded like he was being given a test question. "Roosters via Hogsmeade and experimental spells to simulate the rooster's crow. Also, maybe get a few more people on board," he answered after a minute. He tried to give a rough outline of his plan without giving anything away.
"What makes you qualified to do anything at all?" Kingsley questioned again, this time with an amused look in his eyes.
"Nothing, other than to do nothing when my friends are in danger is cowardice."
The answer seemed to amuse the Auror. He drew his wand and wave it over the blackboards, making them disappear. "No sense in letting the whole school know the truth," he muttered.
"Vanishing Spell," Harry muttered with narrowed eyes. Kingsley performed the spell with a non-verbal wave of his wand. It was sobering for him to see how far he had to go if he wanted to survive and thrive in the wizarding world.
"Indeed, maybe after all this is done I'll show you how to cast it," the Auror said with a strained smile.
Harry left first without saying anything to the Auror. He unlocked the door and removed the spells on the door so others could use the classroom again. After walking the halls for a little bit to make sure Kingsley wasn't following him, he used the secret passages to go up to the disused girl's bathroom on the seventh floor. The twins bewitched the door to look battered and neglected. They also bewitched the other doors along the corridor to look disused and molding to help camouflage their workspace.
"Hey, mate!" one twin called out from deeper in the bathroom as he closed the door behind him.
"What's on the menu?" Harry asked as he popped his head in one of the small work-spaces the twins made. They gave up all pretense of hiding their testing room and transfigured multiple little rooms in the bathroom. The toilets and many sinks were removed with magic and piled into the back corner. They shuffled around the wooden stalls and transfigured them to make short walls around four small cubicles.
"We're trying to enchant a sweet to make your nose bleed. We've got an ingredient that may work, but finding the counter reagent to stop the bleeding has been difficult," one twin said as he pointed to a list of potential ingredients to try.
"Yarrow or Nettle stop bleeding and Murtlap Essence may soothe any pain caused," Harry suggested after thinking about it for a moment. "The yarrow needs to be dried and crushed but I suppose you could shove something up your nose to help stop the bleeding. Nettle would have to be powdered and could be ingested for internal or external bleeding."
The twins looked at each other and back to Harry. "Brilliant!" they chorused and scrambled to find ink and parchment.
"Fred said we could use Yarrow, but we weren't sure how to apply it. Nettle sounds like a clear winner," George muttered and started to scribble on the parchment.
"If you had two different candies, one to cause the bleeding and the other to stop it once you were out of class…" Fred muttered before trailing off.
"Maybe one on either end with a gelatin clear center to differentiate from the two. It would need to be small enough to hide the fix and obvious enough so no first-year eats the wrong ends. Red for blood and…"
"Blue or green for the healing! Green so they know they are in the clear for skiving off class. Bloody hell this will be wicked!" Fred cheered as he peered over his twin's shoulder.
Harry watched with some amusement as the twins tried to coax more information out of him by dropping hints about their many joke shop items they wanted to make. Most of their ideas impressed and concerned him a little. A seizure candy seemed like a bad idea no matter how many classes it might help you skip. "You realize some of those might kill you if left untreated, right? Even the nosebleed one could cause dizziness and eventual death by blood loss."
"We'll make sure to add a warning label like the Muggles do. They have to put it on hair irons so people don't take them in the baths with them. Poor Muggles, trying to iron their hair while washing it at the same time," Fred said in a sad voice before cracking a smile.
"For the more serious topic, first, pick up a copy of the Ingredient Encyclopedia from Flourish and Blotts or the library. It will save you a lot of time and the index has a lot of ingredients indexed into different categories. You could talk Hermione into making a flashcard with a bunch of the ingredients, but she may not go for it. Now, I have some information and need your help."
"You mentioned something deadly at lunch. Spill it, Potter," George said with a grin.
"A Basilisk is in the school," Harry said in a hard voice.
The room was silent as the twins digested his words. "You're joking," Fred said in a weak voice as he looked Harry in the eye.
"I wish I was. Everyone who has been petrified saw the reflection of the Basilisk and the ghosts can't die again. Rivers died because he looked it in the eyes. What's worse, I think I found the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets but was an idiot and gave it to Lockhart. My plan was for him to see if it was a dark object, but he took it, thinking it was something of my own creation. Now the memory in the Diary that possessed Ginny maybe possessing or going to possess Lockhart," Harry said in a quiet voice.
"How can we help?" George asked in an unusually serious tone for the prankster.
"Alastor Moody. I need to sneak him into the school without anyone, preferably the Aurors, knowing about it," Harry answered. "He is but one step toward adding more protection for the students and ourselves."
"You're serious? You know Mad-Eye Moody?" Fred asked with a wide grin. "Dad talks about him a lot and used to threaten us with him if we didn't go to bed on time. Of course, it never worked," he finished with a grin.
The twins shared a look before George nodded. Fred and George's silent communication made Harry a little jealous, knowing only close comrades could achieve that level of understanding of each other. "We have something to show you that will help you," George said after turning back to Harry.
Fred pulled out a long bit of folded parchment from his robes and laid it out on the table. He grinned and pulled out his wand. "I solemnly swear, I am up to no good!" he said in a strong voice and tapped the top of the parchment.
Thin lines of ink spider-webbed out from the point where Fred's wand touched the parchment. The lines crisscrossed and joined into discernible patterns as it made its way toward the corner of the parchment and onward around the corners of the yellowing paper. Harry realized he was looking at classrooms and corridors as words scrawled themselves over the top of the parchment:
Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Maker are proud to present:
The Marauder's Map
"Is this what I think it is?" Harry gasped and traced a finger over the Charms classroom off the third floor.
"We present The Marauder's Map, the greatest invention of all time. It shows a complete floor-plan of the entire castle and…" George said before trailing off. He flicked open the map with one hand and laid it back down on the table.
"It shows everyone in the castle on the map at all times. Makes for dodging Filch dead easy… well, before he got petrified."
"This is brilliant!" Harry gasped and watched two dots in the library with the names Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom written below them.