Michael Brown

"Where are you, little snakey?" I whispered softly, looking around myself in search of my target. Well, calling it a target was a little too harsh. I was just looking for my friend's pet. "You can come out now. Uncle Michael won't hurt you, I promise. I just want you to lead me to your caretaker"

Deciding to tentatively trust my artificial memories, I decided to try finding Hydra during its second attack. That was why I was currently walking through the castle with Kenny in my hand, looking for a Slytherin monster that was most likely punishing some evildoers at that very moment.

Although it was a late evening, so most of the students were already in the dorms, some would still travel through the school for one reason or another. So far, the monster's only victim had been a cat, not a particularly well-liked one at that, so people weren't too worried about being attacked yet. It was a perfect opportunity for the monster to strike, coincidentally making it easier for me to find it and regroup with Tom. There was however one problem.

I spent the last two hours walking around the castle and I still hadn't managed to stumble upon Hydra. I wasn't even able to find a sign of it.

Maybe I was doing something wrong? Okay, let's think. If I was a gargantuan, nine-headed snake, whose poison is strong enough to petrify people and destroy horcruxes, where would I be? Well, in Greece, obviously. But it wasn't really the answer I was looking for. Let's approach it from another direction. Where did the mythical hydra live? In the lake. Hmm…

Wait, was it possible that Slytherin's monster was living in the Hogwarts lake? It certainly made some sense. The Chamber of Secrets had a lot of water inside it, so it was actually quite probable it was connected to the lake in some manner and took water from there. It would mean that Hydra was living in the depths of the lake, most likely in deep slumber, waiting for Tom to summon it to the chamber! Damn it! I wasted so much time trying to find the monster in school, while there was a much better option available!

I just had to dive into the Hogwarts lake and look for Hydra! I would probably be even able to find some back entrance to the chamber if I was lucky!

Okay, I should definitely try that. Of course I would need some preparations first, like acquiring something that would allow me to breathe underwater or…

I snapped out of my musings when something quite peculiar had happened. I was about to turn around and return to the Undercroft, finally finding a sure way to reach Tom, when I heard a sound of rustling paper. I looked at the direction of the sound, finding nothing. I was about to investigate when countless paper pages started appearing from behind the corner, floating into the corridor I was currently in. They were moving slowly through the air, as if guided by some unseen hand, travelling through the corridor in my direction.

Soon they reached me, though instead of reacting to my presence they just passed me by and continued their journey in silence. Once a while one of these pages would fall into the ground motionless, as if left there for someone to find it.

Confused by this bizarre development I picked up the closest page and read it, hoping to find the reason for this. The content of the page was…unexpected.

Brothers and sisters!

The time has come for us to stand up and fight against injustice!

Too long have we suffered from the oppression of the Old Blood.

Too long have we been humiliated for our origins.

Too long have we been attacked just for being different.

No more!

We deserve the same treatment as those supposedly more noble than us!

This so-called 'blood purity' is just a convenient lie, created by nobles to divide us! Falsehood meant to weaken us! We are all equal by the virtue of magic flowing through our veins!

I write to you as the heir of Slytherin, but such a title doesn't belong to me only. It belongs to everyone in Hogwarts, who continues the four founders' work. It belongs to everyone working towards a better world!

So join me, heirs of Slytherin! Join me in destroying the greatest lie in the wizarding world! Join me in purging the corruption consuming our society!

We are heirs of Slytherin and we shall fight for the better world!

I blinked, before reading the page once more. It was some sort of…muggle-born manifesto, requesting others to join the author in battle against the Ministry…

…that was probably a sign Tom was nearby, wasn't it?

Of course it was. Such a heartful and passionate speech wouldn't be created by anyone else. I could practically feel the benevolence and good intentions of the writer and there was no one more benevolent than Tom Marvolo Riddle! But how to find him?
I raised my eyes at the cloud of pages around me.

Noticing that the papers were still from the direction of the corner, I decided that the most reasonable move would be to follow the trail of papers to their point of origin and find the person responsible for sending them. Of course Tom wouldn't be careless enough to just stay there, but maybe I would be able to find some sort of clue there.

Reaching the origin point of the papers took me a few minutes, though most of that time was spent having to avoid pages flying into my face. The trail took me to the west wing of the castle, where in one of the corridors I found a small piece of paper lying on the ground. It was quite unique, as it would self-replicate every two seconds, creating a perfect copy every time. That copy would immediately fly into the air and join the trail, floating in the unknown direction. It was quite an interesting sight to be sure, though not as interesting as the one behind it.

Before the unusual page, right in the middle of the corridor, stood an unmoving student. I couldn't see his face from my position, as his head was lowered, looking at the puddle of water located right in front of him. Already suspecting what was happening I approached the figure and looked at his face from below. I saw…!

…someone I didn't recognize. The victim was a teenage boy with blond hair and glasses, around fifteen years old. He was wearing a Slytherin robe and was looking at the puddle with a terrified expression, most likely afraid of whatever he saw there. The fact that he was petrified meant he was most likely some oppressive, evil pureblood, who was planning to poison Hogwarts' water supply only to be stopped by Tom, but unfortunately I didn't recognize him.

To be honest, it wasn't like I knew any Slytherins other than some of the first years I attended classes with and the Slytherin trio. And even then I couldn't really be sure, as at least one member of the trio somehow managed to change his race during the course of his education.

Still, it was solid proof that Hydra was fairly close, which was quite good news for me. I started to look around the corridor, hoping to find some clues, like slithering marks or hissing sounds, but I wasn't able to find anything important. To be fair, Hydra would most likely leave immediately after petrifying the boy, so it would probably be better to investigate some of the adjacent corridors. Maybe it left some skin during its journey?

I was about to turn around the corner, eager to continue my investigation, but something horrifying happened. I was reaching the corner, when I noticed that someone was coming out of the adjacent corridor, about to see me. That person didn't notice me yet, my small posture and countless pages in the air working to my advantage, but it would change in a few seconds! Time seemed to halt, as my mind was trying to assess the situation I found myself in.

Petrified pureblood, self-replicating anti-noble manifesto and me, all in one place. My honest assessment was that my situation was quite bad. Shit.

Panicking, unable to come up with any plan, my adrenaline-spiked mind went to the simplest solution available.

Without any thought process on my part, I clenched my fingers into the fist and threw a full-powered punch at the mysterious person, using the element of surprise and the lack of visibility to my advantage. My fist collided with their crotch, making the person scream in pain and anguish. Blond-haired man fell onto his knees, unable to withstand the terrible pain. His eyes were firmly shut in pain, as he was holding his crotch with his hands, whimpering softly to himself. I distantly recognized I was looking at Gilderoy Lockhart, but adrenaline in my veins stopped me from focusing on that. Knowing I had no time, I crouched down to his ear and whispered, using the deepest voice I was able to achieve.

"I was never here" I declared, running away before he would be able to open his eyes and see my face.

In a mad rush I travelled through five corridors and four sets of stairs before finally deciding I was far enough to risk stopping. After I looked around, making sure I wasn't followed by anyone, I collapsed on the floor exhausted, gasping for breath.

That was close. While I knew looking for Slytherin's monster would be risky, I didn't expect Lockhart to appear. If not for my quick thinking I would be…

Wait, what was Lockhart even doing there?

He couldn't have been just investigating the source of the mysterious pages, right? But if he wasn't doing that, then what…

God damn it! It was so obvious that I felt stupid for not realizing it earlier!

A master performer, capable of erasing memories of his enemies, just decided to accept the position of DADA teacher in the very same year the Diary found its way into the school? And that performer was pretending to be a bumbling idiot, far beneath any suspicion? Whose act was so good that in canon he was able to trick Harry into opening the chamber for him, using his idiot mask to fool Harry into taking him there?
It all made sense!

Lockhart came to Hogwarts looking for Tom! He wanted to join his former master, one who trained him in the first place! Lockhart wasn't a rogue agent, he was Voldemort's agent! He came to Hogwarts to serve Voldemort again by helping his master regain his body!

Lockhart was Diary's current owner!