CHAPTER 39: PERSUASIVE

Ginny managed to maintain consciousness for a while. Canada couldn't be sure exactly how long – his watch seemed to have been broken at some point, and there didn't seem to be any clocks in the ancient chamber of evil. She was trying to be brave, that much was clear. But even her best attempt at a stoic expression couldn't hide the tears falling from her eyes and her panicked breathing. Canada had checked her pulse what felt like every few minutes, and to his horror found that it was steadily growing slower. Eventually whatever was happening to her became too much, and she slumped into unconsciousness.

Canada wished he knew any sort of healing spells. Why was it that the school didn't seem to teach first and second years anything useful? But he suspected that even if he did know any, they wouldn't work on whatever was ailing Ginny. So in the end he slipped off his robes, bunched them under her head as a pillow, and cursed himself for his helplessness. Left in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt, within what felt like a few minutes he began to feel a chill spread through him. Which was ridiculous. He was used to temperatures far lower than this. But sometimes a chill had nothing to do with the temperature…

Some instinct made him turn his head to the right and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Something was standing there. At first he thought it was a ghost, since it was nearly transparent. But ghosts were pearly white. The being that had suddenly appeared had normal human colouration, if more transparent than the norm. Whatever the apparition truly was, it looked rather like a human teenager. A rather handsome one, tall with black hair and pale skin. Or maybe that was just his transparentness. Was that word? If it wasn't, it should have been.

"Eh… hello?" said Canada. He really wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in this situation.

The shadow chuckled. "Hello? My, my, but aren't you an interesting one."

"Um… thanks?" Canada was really at a loss here. What the hell was he supposed to be saying? "Who are you, eh?" That seemed like something he should ask. It was more polite than 'what are you'.

The apparition chuckled again. "That question is more complicated than you know. For the moment, I suppose you may call me Riddle."

"Riddle… As in Tom M. Riddle?" Maple leaf, this isn't good.

"Yes."

"As in Lord Voldemort?"

This seemed to take Riddle aback. "How do you know that?" he demanded.

Canada shrugged, trying not to let his shock at realizing he was facing the most feared Dark Wizard of all time show. "A little bird told me, eh."

Riddle's face was just opaque enough that his displeasure at this answer was discernible. "Well, now that you know who I am, I think it's only fair that you return the favour."

Feeling that he should really stop talking to this thing and break his way out of this Chamber with his bare hands if he had to, Canada said, "I'm Matthew Jones."

"Matthew Jones…" Riddle seemed unimpressed. "What an ordinary name for such a peculiar boy."

"So I should come up with a really pretentious one like you, eh?" The words came out of Canada's mouth before he could stop them. He felt like clapping his hand over his mouth to stop any more coming out, but decided against it. No need to show weakness to the enemy.

Riddle's nostrils flared, and for a moment Canada thought his eyes gained a reddish glint. "You should not be so insolent to your betters, boy."

Deciding to throw any semblance of politeness to the wind, Canada replied, "Oh, I know that. I just wasn't aware one of my betters was around. I didn't notice them, eh." He gave the chamber a mock once-over, making sure to let his eyes linger on Riddle. "Nope, still not seeing any." It was childish and immature, he knew, but he was physically twelve at the moment, he felt he was allowed to act his age.

"You will regret that," snarled Riddle. "Once I am again flesh and blood, I shall make sure to kill you first."

"Good luck with that," muttered Canada. Then first part of that sentence registered in his mind. "Wait, what do you mean, 'once I am again flesh and blood'?"

And suddenly Riddle went back to smirking. "Ah, yes. I feel that that explanation can wait until the… aha… guest of honour arrives. Right now, I feel our topic of conversation ought to be you. How did you survive my Basilisk's stare?" he suddenly demanded.

The question's suddenness took Canada by surprise, but its contents did not. He'd had plenty of time to ponder why he'd been dragged down here, and his miraculous survival seemed the most reasonable answer. Of course Voldemort would want to know how a child had survived an attack of his that should have been fatal. He'd probably been wondering about how Harry had done it for years. There's no way I can tell him the truth, and I doubt he'll buy the 'I didn't look it in the eyes' excuse. He probably saw it all go down through Ginny's eyes. "Like you said, I'm a peculiar boy," he eventually settled on.

Riddle was nonplussed. "A very peculiar boy, it would seem." He began to walk circles around Canada, and the nation noted, to his discomfort, that the shadow had become less shadowy over the course of their conversation. "Are you like me, I wonder? Refusing to accept the fabrication that all things must end? That all must die? No… you aren't quite like me, are you? Even for one as great as I, to meet the gaze of a Basilisk would reduce me to less than a ghost… for you it seemed a mere inconvenience. So tell me; how did you survive?"

Well, as long as he's being so cryptic, two can play at that game. "I'm not sure I did, eh," said Canada truthfully. He was fairly certain that he had been legitimately dead for a moment there. That couldn't be called surviving, could it?

This answer made Riddle even more displeased. "You are clearly alive, ergo you survived. It is simple logic. Nobody can fully return from true death," he said, though the slightest hint of doubt showed in that last sentence.

"What, never heard of CPR?" joked Canada.

Amazingly, Riddle seemed to take that remark seriously. "CPR?" he repeated. "What is this CPR?"

Canad rolled his eyes and said, "It's short for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It's a Muggle first aid technique used on people who has no pulse and has stopped breathing. It was a joke." And, because it was a bit of a pet peeve of his, he continued, "According to movies and TV, it can magically bring people back from the dead, but in reality it's just a method of buying time until the victim can get proper medical care. The point is to just keep circulating the blood and prevent brain damage from lack of oxygen. It works less than one in ten times, and even if the person does survive they'll likely have permanent brain damage, along with broken ribs." He noticed Riddle's blank expression. "Sorry. It just really annoys me when I see it portrayed so incorrectly in media."

Riddle seemed to be speechless for a few moments. Then, in a tone of voice that made it clear that as far as he was concerned the previous minute had not occurred, he said, "If someone truly dies, the closest they can come to life is to leave a ghost behind or be raised as an Inferius. Now, I shall ask only one more time; how did you survive?" Canada responded with only a glare and a shockingly uncharacteristic hand gesture. "Well, you are obviously determined to be uncooperative. We'll see how long that lasts when I am fully reborn. You'll find I can be quite…" He smiled in a way that sent a shiver entirely unrelated to the temperature down Canada's spine. "… persuasive."

A/N: I get annoyed by Hollywood's complete disregard for research, okay? I mean, really, would it kill them to Google stuff before they write it? It's not that difficult! NON RIB BREAKING HUGS! \(^-^)/ This chapter was a bit shorter than I'd hoped (I usually aim for 1500 words at least), but I couldn't really think of anything else to write. And only one real question for Q&A this time! Gasp! To SoulxMakaLover37: I would throw maple syrup at him and show him all the times I wrote about how awesome he is in this fic. Hopefully that would calm him down. Once again, thank you all for being so great! Pages Left: Same as last time. NEXT CHAPTER: Harry and Kumajiro arrive on the scene. See you all next time!