Author's Note:
And a few more changes here as well. Some little things, like Harry did not find Riddle's mysterious diary on Valentine's Day as I'm sure you've noticed, and he already knows that it talks back. But I still think it's important here.
Reviews and Comments: To Steelcode: Thank you! To alix33: Nah, teasing Harry is fun because he knows they don't mean it in a bad way. To Lost: Thank you! It's nice to know it's your favourite story. To Claire Fraser: It was very hot and very naughty of Tonks. Did McGonagall suspect? I think she did, but we won't know for sure. Sirius is very adorable and very protective over his boy. Thanks for finding Harry research Riddle be an interesting twist. To Shamelessnweird: Thank you! Happy to keep you laughing at poor Remus' predicament. To coloredwords: Yes, let's hope no one checks Lupin out too closely after Lockhart and force him to leave. I could split up this story, but I won't. I'm on a mission now, it's going until the end LOL. To geekymom: Thank you!
To WoodE: Thank you. There will be a lot more sex scenes and I do think they add to the plot as exploring the relationships of my characters is just as important in my opinion. To love reading20613: Thank you for saying you think this story is moving at the perfect pace. I know there's a lot of detail, but I think it's important. Thank you! To Donna Rae Diamond: Thank you! To Sleepyhawk502: Remus definitely enjoyed himself so I don't know if poor Remus is the right term LOL. To Jen: Glad two days o reading was worth it, thank you!
Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWO:
The One Where Harry Writes in the Diary
Life at Hogwarts seemed to balance out and for the first time in longer than Harry could even remember, it felt like a regular school year. There had been no sign of Slytherin's Heir since the attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick before Christmas and people had stopped being scared. The school work load was getting heavier, but having Remus as a teacher helped quite a bit and Harry honestly loved having him at the school. It felt like a part of home was with there him and it relaxed him in ways that he hadn't felt since the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.
He continued to search for information on Tom Riddle, but what he found didn't tell him much.
Riddle had been part of Slytherin House, Head Boy, and a prefect. To be honest he sounded a bit like Percy Weasley, very dedicated to his studies and not fond of rule breakers. But there wasn't any other information on him.
Harry was convinced that he had hit a dead end when he, Ron, Hermione, and Neville finally decided that it was time to go down to Hagrid's hut to talk to him about why he had been expelled. They were surprised to find him not home and Harry was starting to worry a bit about what that meant. He felt like Hagrid was avoiding him and he didn't like the thought of that either.
He and his friends headed to Remus' office to ask him what he thought, but as no one else had been attacked nor any mention of the Chamber of Secrets had taken place since before Christmas, Remus didn't have anything new on the subject either. He kept the name Tom Riddle to himself, not even sharing the knowledge with Hermione or Neville. He didn't want to say anything to Sirius or Remus either because he couldn't really explain his reasoning himself. Instead, he wrote about what he had learned in his own journal and tried to come to terms with his own thoughts.
Harry began to spend time looking closely at the map before he went to bed each night as well, but the twins had been right, there was no sign of the Chamber anywhere on it. And if he was honest, he didn't really know what he was looking for anyway.
When he showed the map to his friends, they had all delighted in it and applauded the hard work that the Marauders had made going into it. Even Hermione was quite impressed and wanted to know more about how they had made it and how long it had taken them to do so. Ron was a little bitter his brothers had never shared it with him to begin with, but he agreed that it should belong to Harry, considering his fathers were the ones who had created it.
It was around the middle of April, when Harry went to toss some old parchment into the trashcan in the Gryffindor common room, that he found the familiar black diary sitting at the bottom of the can.
Harry couldn't understand why Ginny would have decided to chuck her diary. She had been nothing but possessive of it for months. Seeing it there, thrown on top of the rubbish bin, unnerved him and he found himself reaching for it and tucking the book into his pocket before anyone could see what he had done.
He spent all morning walking around with it in his possession and he felt strange to have it; like he was hiding a deep secret of some kind, but he also felt like telling anyone that he had it would be betraying Ginny in some way.
It wasn't until lunch time that he was able to sneak back to his dorm room and sit at his desk to examine it.
The worn black leather looked the same as it had the last time that Ginny had shown it to him. The faded etched gold writing on the bottom still bore the name Tom Marvolo Riddle and every page was still pristinely blank.
He glanced around his dorm uneasily, but he was alone. He pulled out his quill and ink and carefully wrote on the first page.
My name is Harry Potter.
He watched in fascination as the words disappeared into the page as if absorbed by something and leaving no trace that he had written anything and then his eyes widened as cursive script appeared at the top of the page.
Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come across my diary?
It was chucked in the trash bin.
How terribly sad that she would treat me so horribly.
Who are you?
I am merely a memory preserved in the pages of my old diary.
A memory?
Yes. I was a student at Hogwarts once.
Do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?
Yes.
Can you tell me? I'm at Hogwarts now and someone has opened the Chamber of Secrets and people are being attacked. We don't know who is behind it.
Harry watched as the book made no sign to write back so he quickly dipped his quill again just as writing flashed once more across the page.
A girl died when I was a student, but the culprit was caught and expelled. I can show you my memory of that day…
How could he show him a memory through a diary? Harry dipped his quill and quickly scribbled a response back.
I already know that Hagrid was accused. I don't need to see the memory. He never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was WRONGFULLY accused.
Maybe so, but once he was expelled, the attacks stopped. If it wasn't him — who was it?
"Harry?"
Harry quickly shut the diary and turned to see Neville standing in the doorway to the dormitory. "Yeah?"
"Are you coming to lunch?"
He nodded, shoving the diary back into his robes. "Yes, let's go."
But the thought of the diary and why Ginny had tossed it away was still heavy on his mind.
~ ASC ~
After lunch that day, McGonagall passed around booklets on course selection to the second years at the Gryffindor table.
"In third year, you're to choose a few extra classes to help broaden your knowledge and education. These are course selection booklets to help you decide. You have until the end of next week to make your choices."
"Oooh," Hermione said in excitement as she opened up the booklet.
"Does that mean we can drop a class or two?" Ron asked eagerly.
McGonagall only pursed her lips. "No, Mr Weasley, you will still maintain all of your current classes."
Ron shrugged good naturally and grinned at Harry. "Getting rid of Snape's class would be fun."
Harry had to agree. If Sirius found out how mean Snape actually was to him he knew there would be war so he chose it put up with it. But poor Neville was still having a hard time. The other day Snape had told him his perfectly sliced ingredients looked like a five-year-old had done them, scooped them off the desk and threw them away —demanding that he start over. This resulted in an already nervous Neville not having enough time to complete his potion so Snape gave him an automatic zero for stupidity. Neville had simply trembled in response. He wished there was something that he could do for his friend in terms of dealing with Snape.
He looked down at the booklet in his hand in interest. "It says that we have to pick two new classes to add to our timetable plus an extra curricular. Oh no, scratch that, the extra-curricular is optional, but we must add two new classes."
"What do you reckon?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know."
"I definitely want to take the Study of Ancient Runes," Hermione said with a smile. "It sounds absolutely fascinating! It says: 'The study of runic scriptures or Runology to learn the art of translating the ancient runic scripts of magic.'"
Ron scratched his nose with his thumb. "Bill took that one. He liked it and I know it's something that's important for curse breaking. Percy takes it, too. Charlie chose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination."
"Divination sounds like rubbish to me," Hermione said in annoyance. "No one can actually predict the future, it's too unstable, and ever changing."
Harry nodded. "Maybe. What about Arithmancy?" He wrinkled his nose as he read the description. "'Predicting the future using numbers with a bit of numerology.' Sounds incredibly complicated."
"Bill took that one, too. He needed it for curse-breaking. He said that it was cool, but hard. I don't think it's for me," Ron said as he skimmed the list. "I think Care of Magical Creatures could be fun. It was Charlie's favourite class. Fred and George both take it as well and they think it's great."
"How come it says Muggle Studies is no longer being offered as an elective? Are they removing it from the subject list?" Hermione asked, frowning as she looked down at her booklet. "Fred and George both take it."
Harry shook his head. "Nah, it's going to be a new mandatory course."
Hermione looked to Harry in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, Uncle Sirius is working on it. It was his idea and he got the Hogwarts Board of Governors to pass a vote on it. He said that they are still working out the kinks for next year."
"So, we'll actually have three new classes next year on top of Transfiguration, History of Magic, Potions, Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Flying, and Astronomy. Bloody hell," Ron muttered under his breath. "And the work just keeps coming!"
Harry laughed. "Well, Flying isn't mandatory after second year, Ron. I stopped taking it halfway through last year."
"That's because you were the youngest Seeker in over a century!" Ron exclaimed. "But true, I can drop Flying class — I just like it. Merlin knows Hermione did as soon as possible. It was just fun."
Hermione blushed. "Flying is barbaric!"
Harry grinned. "You're only saying that because you're afraid of heights."
Hermione glared at him and slammed her Charms textbook closed. "Come on, we're going to be late for Charms class."
Harry only chuckled to himself as he shoved the booklet into his book bag and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall and to Charms class. He would write to Sirius later and see what he thought about his class options.
~ ASC ~
Harry was just finishing dinner that night when he caught Ginny laughing with Luna on her way out of the Great Hall. He hurried over to say hi.
"Hi, Ginny, Luna, how are you?"
"All right," Luna said dreamily. "I can't find my shoes."
Harry looked down at her feet, surprised to see her just in her stockinged feet. "Where did you put them last?"
Ginny shook her head. "Someone keeps stealing them from her, Harry. They think it's funny."
Harry frowned at that. "Well, it's absolutely not. I'll help you find them, Luna."
She smiled. "Thanks, Harry."
"Ginny, can I have a moment?"
Ginny nodded and said goodbye to Luna, following him out in the hallway. "What's going on?"
He pulled out the diary from his robes. "I was studying in the common room this morning and saw this in the trash bin. I took it without thinking."
Her eyes widened and fear flicked across them before she masked it. "I threw it away."
"I noticed that," he said with a smile. "I wrote in it, to try to see the appeal."
"You wrote in it?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide. "You spoke to Tom?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, today at lunch and he — hey!" he exclaimed, startled when she stole the book back.
"What if he tells you all of my secrets?"
Harry laughed. "Ginny, he didn't say anything about you."
She looked panicked, but held the diary close to her chest, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I can't —"
And then she ran from him, the diary clutched tightly in her grasp.
Harry watched her go, his brow furrowed in confusion. He didn't understand why she needed the diary back when she had thrown it out to begin with.
But the absolute panic in her eyes made him frown.
There was something fishy about that diary and he was determined to find out what it was. He made his way up to the Gryffindor common room thinking maybe he could try to explain to her that he hadn't read her diary, but she had gone up to her dormitory.
He wrote his letter to Sirius instead still brooding over Ginny's strange reaction.
Uncle Sirius,
Auntie Minnie passed out the new course selection booklets today. I don't really know what I should take. I thought maybe you could help me out, give me some opinions on the classes. I have to choose two new classes. Here our my options:
Arithmancy
Care of Magical Creatures
Divination
Study of Ancient Runes
They all sound like they could be interesting. Plus there is the option to choose an extra-curricular:
Art
Frog Choir
Ghoul Studies
Magical Theory
Non-Magic Studies
Music
Orchestra
Xylomancy
I'm not sure if any of the above even remotely interest me. Ghoul Studies sounds appealing just because it's the study of ghouls and ghosts and poltergeists and the why and how of them and how to defend yourself against them if necessary, but I think Uncle Remus will cover most of that in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I am most DEFINITELY not artistically or musically inclined. I think I'm going to pass on the extra curricular options all together as I do already have Quidditch four nights a week.
Hermione asked why Muggle Studies was crossed out and I told her that it's going to be a new class next year or at least that's the plan. She seems excited. I didn't tell her about the other class that she herself will be attending. I don't know why she would want to take Muggle Studies anyway since she's Muggleborn, but she's a constant mystery to me.
In other news, Ginny has been acting strange lately. She threw her diary away and I found it, but when I tried to explain how I found it, she freaked out, and was worried that I would have read all of her secrets. I tried to tell her that of course I wouldn't do that, but she took off. And the diary didn't bother me, that one time must have been a strange fluke of some kind. My scar was perfectly normal as it always is. I can't explain why it hurt so much that one day.
Anyway, write back and help me choose classes please. Thanks.
Love,
Harry
PS — say hi to Zee for me. I'd like to know what she thinks about my class options too — and yes, I know that she will insist on me taking Care of Magical Creatures.
He sent it off with Hedwig, stroking her wing affectionately and giving her a snack before sending her off to Devon with his letter.
~ ASC ~
The next few days passed in a blur for Harry and he didn't see Ginny at all. He found himself bogged down with schoolwork and was pleased to hear so many of the students talking about how great Defence Against the Dark Arts class had become now that Lockhart was gone. He had even heard a seventh year mention in passing that it was about time that Dumbledore had hired a competent teacher and it made him grin.
He had known having Uncle Remus around would be the best decision ever and he was pleased to see that most of his fellow students were agreeing with him. Classes were good as Remus taught them about curses and jinxes and began to discuss some of the magical creatures as well with an emphasis that they would spend more time on creatures in third year. Not to mention that they had an entire unit on Ghoul Studies, assuring Harry he had been right in knowing his father would teach that. He also gave Harry some of his own advice on third year class choices and he suggested taking the Study of Ancient Runes because he thought Harry would find it fascinating.
After Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry found a pair of Luna's shoes hanging from the rafters and he carefully climbed up the wall with the help of Ron to get them down, frowning. He didn't like that people were bullying his friend and he made it his next state of business to find a Ravenclaw prefect and put an immediate stop to it.
After speaking to a few of the Ravenclaws and demanding that they leave Luna alone, Harry decided that he was going to confront Ginny once and for all about what was going on with her. He had noticed that Ginny had started to keep to herself again and every time he approached her about the diary she changed the subject and wouldn't give him a straight answer. He even tried to talk to Luna about her while he was attempting to help her find her things, but Luna told him what he already knew, Ginny wasn't acting like herself this year. Luna also told him that Ginny was avoiding him since she had sent that Valentine which only made Harry blush. He had forgotten about the singing Valentine if he was honest and still unsure about why Ginny had sent it to him in the first place.
But he still wanted to talk to her about what was going on with her.
Something about that diary made him uncomfortable and maybe it was time that he asked Remus about it. As the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, he would know if something was wrong with it.
At least that had been the plan, but the letter from Sirius distracted him from his thoughts as Hedwig greeted him affectionately and he gave her an owl treat for her fast delivery.
Harry,
Third year already? Where did the time go?
Of course, I would love to help you choose some new classes. Let's start with the obvious — Divination is absolutely rubbish. Do not take it. You will hate it. You will find it to be a complete waste of your time. And I mean this in the nicest way possible, Prongslet — you do not have the inner eye. I was stupid enough to take this class and dropped it in sixth year faster than you can say: 'Divination'.
As to the other classes, Zee definitely says take Care of Magical Creatures as animals are the best and the most fun to work with. I happen to agree with her choice. Kettleburn is a little funny, but he's a great teacher and he really loves animals and beasts. I think that you'd enjoy getting to learn about different magical creatures.
The Study of Ancient Runes is a pretty great course from what I remember of Remus' homework. He loved it and he said that it was fascinating to learn how to read these ancient tablets and artefacts. I know that it's something that would be important if you decide to be a curse-breaker like Bill Weasley or a historian or even an Auror, but I can't imagine it being something you would use otherwise.
Arithmancy is numerology at it's finest. Jamie took that one and excelled at it. He always loved numbers and the way that it could connect and chart together to form patterns. You always did like mathematics and it is quite similar, but on a more intense and magical level. It could be a great option for you.
Anything you choose I will support you obviously — except Divination that is, you'll be grounded. I'm just kidding, if you really want to take Divination you are more than welcome to, just know that I will tease you mercilessly for the rest of your life when you complain about it (if for some unknown reason you actually enjoy it, I will eat crow).
As to what you told Hermione, we are finalizing the last of the new educational curriculum this week and yes, Muggle Studies will be a mandatory class starting next year for ALL students years one through five. We will also be introducing a new class to the students who come from a Muggle home or environment called: Life in the Magical World which your friend Hermione will be taking instead of Muggle Studies. We are still working out the kinks and the details, however, so let's keep this between us for now.
I know that you're going to ask me, so I'll tell you. I chose Divination and Muggle Studies to spite my parents who wanted me in Arithmancy and the Study of Ancient Runes; James chose Arithmancy and Muggle Studies, he also took music as an extra-curricular and taught some of the first through third years to play the guitar and he was also on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Remus took Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as well as Music Studies and taught piano; Peter chose Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies; Lily chose the Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. Choose wisely.
As for Ginny and the diary, I'm sure that she was just embarrassed that you might have read her diary even if you didn't. It is her private thoughts that she writes in there after all. You're keeping your own journal, if someone you knew stumbled upon it, wouldn't you be worried that they might know your secrets? Cut her some slack.
As for me, life here has been pretty uneventful as of late. I've been helping build the curriculum for the two new classes for Hogwarts and I officially finished the Ducati and have been working on the Adler and yes, I broke down and decided to charm it to fly as well (the Ducati, not the Adler). I can't sell it, Prongslet, it's too gorgeous and riding it is absolute freedom like I can't explain. I've been keeping busy with that as of late and Zee's parents are coming back home to Scotland for the next three weeks. She has been bugging me to meet them. I've been too busy to do it. I don't know why exactly, but the idea of meeting her parents seems like a big deal and I don't know if I'm ready for that. I've never done the meet the girlfriend's parents thing before. But she's pretty amazing and I love her and I don't want to let her down. I'll let you know how that meet goes — I imagine they will be thrilled to learn that I spent time in Azkaban Prison.
We'll see how that goes.
I love you and try not to get into too much trouble these last two months. When you come home, we'll talk about you learning how to ride the bike.
Love,
Uncle Sirius
The writing at the bottom was different, more loopy and slanted and he found himself smiling when he realized that it was from Zee.
Harry,
Thanks for thinking of me when choosing your course selection. You're right, I do think Care of Magical Creatures is a wonderful choice and I do think that you would enjoy it if you want the opportunity to learn more about animals and magical creatures. But it looks like you have some great selections to choose from. Sirius keeps telling me how incredible your flying skills are and I look forward to attending the upcoming match with him to watch you in action. See you at the match.
Love,
Zee
PS — Feel free to write to me any time you wish. I would love it.
Harry was pleased that she wanted him to write to her and a little surprised that he was excited for her to come to his next match. He wondered how his father was going to fair when it came to meeting her parents and he grinned to himself as he put the letter away. He had a feeling that would be a fun story to hear.
~ ASC ~
As May swept in, the second years submitted their new class choices and Harry heard the voice again for the first time since before the Christmas holidays, making him stop dead in his tracks.
Hermione had been walking in front of him and she turned to stare at him, her brow crinkled in confusion. "What is it, Harry?"
"That voice…" he whispered, his eyes searching the corridor.
"Rip… tear…"
Neville looked pale as he glanced around in fear. "You can hear it again?"
"You guys still can't hear it?"
Ron shook his head, his eyes on Harry. "No, mate. There's… I can hear something, but it's not a voice. It's more like…"
"Movement? Sliding?" Neville asked, following Harry to the wall and putting his ear to the stone. "But I don't hear a voice either?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry!"
"What?" he asked, turning away from the wall to look at his friend.
Hermione simply bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "I have to go to the library!"
And then she was running down the corridor, her bushy brown curls bouncing behind her.
"Why does she always have to go to the library?" Harry asked, looking at his friends.
Neville shrugged.
Ron grinned. "Because that's what Hermione does: When in doubt, go to the library."
Neville was still staring at Harry, his worried eyes on his friend. "Do you still hear the voice, Harry?"
"No," he said sadly. "It's gone." He pointed to the line of spiders moving in a line by the window. "But look, there's a line of spiders again, running like they need to get away. You do have to admit — that's strange? And it's not the first time that we've seen it either!"
Ron nodded, swallowing slowly and keeping his eyes on the spiders as if worried they might spin around and attack him at any given moment. "It is, yes, but spiders aren't important right now, Harry. Come on — you're going to be late for the Quidditch game and Oliver will have our heads!"
Harry nodded and hurried after his friends up to Gryffindor Tower to get his broomstick. By the time he made it down to the pitch, he only had five minutes to spare and Oliver was ranting about how important the match was going to be. He changed quickly into his kit, his mind going a mile a minute.
Why had he heard the voice again?
What had Neville meant by hearing movement in the wall?
Did the monster live in the wall?
How did it get out?
How did it attack people?
How come no one ever saw it?
Why could he hear a voice that no one else could?
Why were there always spiders moving away after he heard the voice?
What was so terrible that it scared spiders?
He didn't have any of the answers and he was starting to wonder if it was even worth worrying about. After all, the attacks had stopped. But then again, he also hadn't heard that mysterious disembodied voice since before Christmas — and to hear it today out of the blue rather unnerved him as well.
His fears were alleviated when he walked out onto the Quidditch pitch and Professor McGonagall was marching towards them, her face grim.
"This game has been cancelled."
"What?" Wood exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You can't cancel Quidditch!" At her look of exasperation he grimaced. "But Professor, it's for the Cup!"
"I know, Wood, but it's out of my hands."
Wood made to protest this, but the look McGonagall sent him silenced him immediately.
McGonagall turned to Harry. "Potter, I think that you better come with me." She looked up as Ron hurried down from the stands to see what was going on and came up next to Harry. "You too, Mr Weasley."
The last thing either of them had expected was to find themselves in the hospital wing.
And even more shocking, to find themselves looking down upon the petrified frame of Hermione Granger, eyes wide in shock and fright, body frozen and unmoving.