Chapter 13: An Inquisitive Toad

Riddle ran.

He clutched his precious diary tight to his chest – her chest – and the wand in the other hand, ready for anyone. The alarm raised when he'd cast the Unforgivable would likely have the staff flocking to the tower like flies. Wait. There were Aurors here now weren't there?

He ran faster.

Damn the boy! Why couldn't he keep his hands to himself? Why did little Miss Weasley have to have such a shoddy bag? He grinned, despite himself. He'd made them regret interfering though. Shame about blowing his cover, but there were plenty of other targets… Maybe the blood traitors would still fall from grace with his intrusion discovered as well.

He wasn't just running. Panicked as he was, he had someone else in mind. He might need to hide for a bit, let things die down, but he could do that easily enough. No-one would find him if he could just reach it. No-one could reach him there.

He reached his destination without discovery. It was empty. Annoying, but not crucial. He'd studied his target, and knew that they would return sooner or later. There was too much of a taste for the finer things in life there.

He retreated to the Chamber to recuperate. Ginny's magical core wasn't big enough to allow such casual spell casting, and he was tiring rapidly.

But Riddle was used to waiting…

Dumbledore burst into the Gryffindor common room, closely followed by McGonagall, Umbridge and two Aurors. He stared around in horror at the startled students. Some of the younger ones were sobbing. There was a groan from the other side of the room, and he finally saw Harry lying on the floor. He was twitching slightly. Dumbledore flicked his wand, sending a Patronus to the Hospital Wing. He crouched over his injured student, checking him for serious injuries. Behind him, Umbridge and McGonagall were starting to question students. Umbridge grabbed a girl by the shoulder, staring her straight in the face.

"What happened here? Who cast the Unforgivable?"

"I – it was that girl, Weasley, I don't know her first name. She just started screaming and then she was attacking her friends!"

Umbridge looked curiously at McGonagall.

"Weasley… Arthur Weasley's daughter?"

McGonagall nodded, her lips tight together. She looked even more confused than some of the students.

"She would never do something like this, I'm sure of it."

"I know what I saw Professor!"

There came another groan as Harry's friends began to come round. Ron sat up slowly, shaking his head to clear it, before bolting straight upright.

"Ginny! What happened, where did she go?"

"I was hoping that you could tell us that Mr Weasley."

"Professor? I – when did you get here?"

"Just now. The wards detected an Unforgivable curse being cast."

Ron frowned.

"Nothing like that happened. Not while I was conscious anyway."

The girl who had spoken previously piped up once more.

"She – she cast the Cruciatus curse on Potter."

"No way, Gin would never hurt him, certainly not like that!"

"Not of her own accord at least Mr Weasley."

The room fell silent at Dumbledore's statement. He stood up, a dark look on his face, and turned to Umbridge.

"You recall, I am sure, what I said about lingering enchantments Madame Umbridge?"

"You think the girl was enchanted by Y – I mean, by the Heir of Slytherin?"

"I think it more likely than her cursing Harry in such a fashion, yes. Tell us what happened Mr Weasley."

Ron gaped in anxiety, unnerved by speaking to the legendary Dumbledore.

"I dunno really Professor. She – she dropped her diary, I didn't even know she had one, but Harry picked it up and… And he started screaming, and it was burning. And then she started screaming as well, and her eyes… Her eyes turned red! Then she attacked us and, well, I don't know what happened after that."

Dumbledore's eyes gleamed.

"A diary you say? Certainly something worth investigating…"

Umbridge scowled, and waved at the two Aurors.

"Don't tell us how to do our jobs Dumbledore."

"Madame Umbridge, I assure you I am doing no such thing. I am merely attempting to offer helpful advice, as is the duty of all respectable citizens."

They stared at each other in silence, an innocent smile on Dumbledore's face and barely concealed fury on Umbridge's. Once again, she broke first, drawing herself up to her full height, which was not all that impressive an achievement.

"The castle must be searched. She could be anywhere."

"Madame Umbridge, if Ginny Weasley really has been possessed by the Heir, then she will not be anywhere that we can find her."

"What do you mean possessed?" Ron shouted.

They looked at him. Dumbledore sighed.

"I believe that your sister has acquired something that the Heir enchanted the last time the Chamber was open. In essence, she has been possessed by the spirit of the Heir of Slytherin. If I am right of course, that remains to be proven or otherwise" he said, with a nod to the Aurors.

Ron went pale.

"Will she be alright?"

"Oh, I would expect so, given time."

Dumbledore turned his back on them, and with a flick of his wand raised Harry into the air. The three friends stared at each other in confusion and fear as the staff left the common room.

Harry sat on the bed in the Hospital Wing, staring, unblinking, into Dumbledore's eyes. Given the shared reaction with Ginny when he had touched the diary, the Headmaster was worried about whether Harry had been possessed as well. As a result, Harry was letting Dumbledore rummage around inside his brain with Legilimency.

Dumbledore was humming under his breath as he read Harry's mind. It was a little disconcerting.

After about 15 minutes, Dumbledore lowered his wand, smiling brightly.

"Excellent news Harry! You are entirely free of malignant influences. The diary had no effect on you at all, other than the injuries to your hand obviously."

Harry smiled in relief. His hand had been badly burnt though. His fingertips had turned black, and he currently couldn't feel anything with them. Madame Pomfrey had applied a cream, but so far it had had little, if any effect. He was still far more concerned about Ginny. She had been missing now for a few hours, doing Merlin only knew what. And he knew she would be devastated by what she had been made to do. He burned with a desire to make whoever was behind pay; now not just because of the obligation he felt towards Zacharias Smith. He did have a few questions though.

"Why did the diary burn like that sir?"

"I am sad to say that I do not know Harry. Without a chance to examine the diary itself we may never know. Is there anything else you can say about it, other than it hurt?"

Harry hunched in on himself slightly. Quite apart from the pain, the diary had scared him more than anything else, even Quirrell. He had never felt anything so foul in his life. It had been worse even than the lingering taint of the Killing Curse near the Burrow. It made him shudder just to think about it. His initial reaction, he decided, had been rather mild.

"Harry?"

Dumbledore was looking at him in concern. He shook himself mentally, forcing himself to think about the diary calmly.

"It's difficult to explain sir… It felt – evil. No, not just evil, it felt wrong. Unnatural, like it shouldn't have been possible for it to exist. Does that sound stupid?"

"Not at all Harry. Not at all. It sounds very dangerous in fact. But tell me, what do you mean by how it 'felt'?"

"I don't know sir. It just really spooked me."

Dumbledore sat back, gazing into thin air, stroking his beard in puzzlement. Harry watched him hopefully, unable to suppress the belief that the Headmaster would suddenly smile and explain everything. However, Dumbledore said nothing.

The silence was suddenly interrupted by a quiet cough. Harry turned to the door and immediately tried to conceal his disgust at the toad-like woman standing there. Judging by the look on her face, he wasn't successful in the slightest. When she spoke, he nearly giggled at how girlish she sounded; Ginny had sounded more mature five years ago.

"Professor Dumbledore, I am sure I recollect instructing you that I wished to speak to Mr Potter first? I am sure that you wouldn't want me to put in a bad report with the Minister. He does take a very keen interest in your activities you know…"

Dumbledore didn't even blink at the hardly veiled at all threat, favouring her with a benign smile. The lack of reaction seemed to infuriate the witch, and she began to tap her wand against the clipboard she was holding.

"If Mr Potter and I might have some privacy Professor?"

At this, Dumbledore did frown.

"Harry is a minor Madame Umbridge. In the absence of his guardians, I am required to oversee official encounters by law. You are, I know, absolutely dedicated to the law Madame Umbridge."

Harry carefully didn't smirk as the witch flushed in embarrassment. He had to admire the way that she then just pretended that Dumbledore wasn't there, turning to Harry and fixing her gaze on him exclusively.

"Now Mr Potter, perhaps you could explain to me precisely what happened?"

Harry recounted the events of the afternoon, keeping one eye on Dumbledore as he did so. When he came to precisely how the diary had affected him, Dumbledore gave a minute shake of his head. Harry swiftly amended his story to include a theory about some sort of defensive curse. He wasn't sure how successful he had been; Umbridge frowned at this point, as if she had detected his lie. However, she said nothing. When he had finished his explanation, she scribbled a few notes before looking him in the eye again.

"Why do you think that Miss Weasley was chosen to be the bearer of the diary Mr Potter?"

"Excuse me?" Harry glanced at Dumbledore openly this time. The Headmaster looked extremely angry, and his beard was moving as if there was a wind blowing round his shoulders. His power was running close to wild, Harry realised. To his astonishment, Umbridge seemed genuinely unfazed by this, focussed more on the question than her surroundings.

"Would you say that Miss Weasley has the makings of a Dark witch Mr Potter?"

Harry looked at her in shock, and felt a ripple of disgust at the hungry look on her face. She wanted Ginny to be condemned. She was clearly a Light fanatic.

"Define 'Dark'" Harry said coldly.

"Harmful. Wild. Dangerous. Painful. Deceptive. Impure. It is all in the Ministry pamphlets Mr Potter, I suggest you read them at some point, or risk being denounced as a Dark wizard yourself. We wouldn't want any confusion."

Harry clenched his fists in anger. She had covered an incredible amount of magic in her 'definition', and he wondered how much influence she had over the Minister in this matter. He opened his mouth to retort, but stopped as Dumbledore cleared his throat and shook his head. Harry held his silence a moment longer, burying his anger deep before he replied.

"Ginny's one of the nicest people you could ever meet. She isn't a danger to anyone. She's a victim here, not a culprit."

Harry and Umbridge held each others gaze, Harry trying to convey precisely how he felt about the woman direct into her brain. Finally, she nodded and stood to leave.

"Thank you for your assistance. Rest assured my team will be doing everything they can to find Miss Weasley. May you be guided and protected by the light always Mr Potter. Lux Aeternam."

s.b

It was several hours after curfew. Almost silently, the sinks of the second floor bathroom slid apart, and Tom Riddle climbed out, still in full control of Ginny's body. Her magical core had recovered nicely, and he now had enough magic to overcome any obstacles he might meet. He would need to be quick though; it was only a matter of time before Dumbledore thought to raise enchantments to set off the wards whenever Ginny's magical signature became apparent. That was partly why he had caused so much havoc before leaving the common room earlier that day. Clearing it up should have kept them occupied while he recovered.

He met nobody on the way to his destination, which suggested that he had been right. There was no trace raised yet. He made himself comfortable behind a statue while he waited for his target to come past, as he knew they would. Sure enough, several minutes later, his target walked past, dark robes billowing. Riddle stepped out from behind the statue, his wand raised. Before his target could do anything, he had knocked them out. Stepping over to their fallen body, he carefully placed the diary in their hand.

Then he ripped himself out of Ginny's brain, back into the diary.

Her scream echoed round the corridors as her memories fractured. She collapsed, her body convulsing, and her nose started to bleed. By the time Riddle awakened inside his new hosts mind, her magic was starting to fight back; her nose was no longer bleeding, and the convulsions were less severe. But she was clearly no powerhouse, and he was glad that he had switched. His new host was not the most powerful wizard it was true, but he did have some useful skills. And of course, there was the sheer irony of it.

Riddle raised his wand again, tearing into Ginny's mind, checking that there was nothing left in there that could be used against him. He smiled at what he saw, a grim celebration of the damage he had left.

As he left her mind once more, she was beginning to show signs of magical exhaustion, and she was still twitching. He sneered; a Pureblood, and no more magical power than that Mudblood Granger that she liked to hang out with. She had been an unworthy vessel. He placed his wand back inside his new robes, still staring at her. Suddenly angered by the pitiful display, he lashed out, smashing her in the face with his boot, laughing harshly at the spray of blood. He drew his wand again, and used her blood to write a new message above her body. Then, with another kick for good measure, he walked away, plotting on how to best utilise his new disguise.

s.b

Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated. And thanks for the reviews on previous chapters by the way; I know I haven't been able to reply to the last few, but I'll do my best from now on.