Chapter Twenty
Sliding down the pipe wasn't unlike going down a long slide. A very long and slimy slide, that Harry didn't want to think about what he was sitting in.
He could see many other smaller pipes connecting to the one he was in ranging from finger sized to not much smaller than the pipe he was in. At last he reached the bottom with a thud and stood up. They were in a large tunnel, that lead off into the darkness in front of him.
"Is everyone all right?" Harry asked lighting his wand.
"We're OK." Pansy said, her wand also lit.
"Yes, but look what the idiot did to my wand!" Draco spat.
Lockhart was cowering in the corner of the tunnel as Draco held up his wand. It was snapped in half, only joined by a few splinters of wood and the shining silver unicorn hair at it's centre.
"He landed on it!" Draco fumed, "He tried to take it off me while I was the only one here then the idiot fell and landed on it!"
"We've got two wands." Harry said, "Don't worry, not sure how much use they're going to be anyway. You first!" he pointed to Lockhart who whimpered and refused to move.
Harry huffed loudly and pulled him to his feet, "Fine me first. Remember, any sign of movement close your eyes at once."
Pansy and Draco nodded and took hold of Lockhart on either side and pulled him forward through the tunnel. Harry heard something crunch under foot and looked down.
"Bones." he said, a lump in his throat, "Rats I think. At least mostly. Just be careful."
They kept their ears open, listening for any noise that could spell death but nothing came, only the sound of their own footsteps and breathing echoing ghostly in the tunnel. Then up ahead there was the sign of giant coils.
"Eyes shut!" Draco ordered.
They clamped their eyes closed until they hurt, but there was no noise. Harry slowly opened one eye, the shape hadn't moved.
"Maybe it's asleep." Pansy suggested moving forward slightly.
Harry moved forward and reached out a hand, "It's...it's just skin. A huge shedded snake's skin. The thing must be, at least, twenty foot long." he looked at the skin stretching down the small side tunnels either side of the pipe they were walking through.
"It's huge." Pansy said moving forward and running her hand over the rough scales, "And they were right, it's clearly using the pipes."
"Well isn't this convenient!" Lockhart beamed.
Draco felt a sharp smack on his head and he fell backwards slightly letting out a moan of pain. Lockhart had grabbed Draco's wand as he fell and was pointing it between the three children.
"I'll take a bit of this back up to the castle, show the teachers. Tell them how I was to late to save the poor girl, how you three lost your minds at the sight of her young, broken, bleeding, mangled body lying in the filth! That I didn't take the body back because I had to save you three. Let someone from the ministry come down here to sort out the monster. Or I could say it was Potter who attacked you as he was really behind it all. Being a parselmouth he must be evil." Lockhart let out an unhinged laugh, "I'll sort out the details later. Ladies first, say goodbye to your memories Miss Parkinson!" Lockhart beamed. He waved Draco's wand in a complex pattern and there was a huge explosion.
Harry felt himself be thrown backwards and crashed onto the floor as the ceiling in front of him caved in. He coughed as his mouth filled with dust and he struggled to catch his breath. Nothing was broken thankfully and he still had his wand.
"Draco! Pansy! Can you hear me?! Are you OK?!" Harry shouted. There was a few moments of quiet that seemed to last a lifetime before he heard Draco reply.
"I'm here. So is useless! He's even worse now you'll be happy to hear!" Draco shouted, Harry could hear the eye roll, "The spell backfired. He doesn't know who he is or anything! Is Pansy with you?"
Harry felt his panic rise, "No! Is she not with you!?"
"No." Draco called back sounding just as panicked, "I...Harry you don't think?"
Harry looked at the large pile of rumble where Pansy had been standing, the spell had been aimed at her, and took a deep breath, the roof was cracked and he thought that another spell would bring the whole thing caving in burying them all for sure, "We need to clear some of this rubble. So I can get out."
"Agreed. I don't have a wand, not that it would be a good idea to use one anyway. We'll have to do it by hand. I'll try getting Lockhart to help." Draco said.
"Who's Lockhart? Are they coming to see us?" Harry heard Lockhart's annoyingly happy voice ask, followed by a loud groan from Draco.
"I'm going to go on." Harry said looking at the pipe leading away before him, "If I'm not back in an hour get help."
"I'm not leaving!" Draco shouted.
"You have to. Pansy could be under all this and… and if I'm not back in an hour I'm likely to be… just get as much of this cleared as you can, so we can get back through when I get back." Harry nodded to himself, "Wish me luck."
"Harry..." Draco called, "Good luck."
"Draco… I know it's not what you want to hear but… the box of stuff from James? Give it to Danica if I don't make it back."
"Harry please be careful." Draco called back, "I will though." Harry had rarely heard so much emotion in his friends voice.
Harry nodded to himself, he could hear the sound of moving rocks and the mumbling of Draco trying to get Lockhart to be useful. He took several deep breaths before turning his back on the pile of rubble and heading off.
He continued along the dark corridor, it seemed painfully dark even with his wand lit. The cold stone pipes made the air freezing cold on his skin even though it was summer and the evenings were warm normally. There was moss and some sort of green sludge everywhere and Harry had to fight not to throw up from the rancid smell that filled the air.
It wasn't long before he came to another door, this time with two large intertwining snakes holding it shut. Their glittering emerald eyes seemed to dance in his wand light.
Harry had no trouble pretending they were real.
"Open." he commanded, a strange hissing noise leaving his mouth.
The snakes slid away and the door swung open. Harry walked past the towering snake statues trying not to look at them because every time he did he could see them move in the corner of his eye.
Harry noticed that it was dry in here, and warmer. There was no moss or slime covering the paved stone floor and even the smell had left the air. This room was clearly better kept, patches of it scrubbed clean recently.
At the end of the huge room Harry saw a towering statue of an old wizard, his large square face, his beard nearly long enough to be tucked into his belt. He recognised the face as that of Salazar Slytherin.
And between the statues huge feet lay a small robed figure with a flash of red hair. Harry ran forward and knelt by Ginny. She was white as a sheet and frozen cold.
"Ginny wake up." Harry told her, he waved his wand over he muttering a heating charm, he put his wand down but she was still as cold as ice, "Ginny! Ginny please wake up!"
She flopped around lifelessly as he gently shook her shoulders.
"She wont wake up." A voice said behind Harry.
Harry spun round and saw Tom Riddle, not quite solid standing behind him, rolling Harry's wand between his fingers.
"Give me my wand please." Harry asked, holding his hand out.
Riddle smirked, "As I said she wont wake up."
"She's alive." Harry shrugged, he stood up slowly, his hand still out.
"Not for long."
Harry looked down and saw the diary at Ginny's feet, he let out a small laugh and shook his head, acting a lot braver than he felt, "I should have known. Mum always told me to stay away from things that can think without a brain."
"Ah your dear mother." Riddle smiled, "How is she? One of the few brave souls who walked away from Voldermort. And you the boy who lived. How I have wished to meet you."
"Why?" Harry asked, not taking his eyes off his wand, "What are you? Ghost? Boggart?"
Riddle smiled and looked down as if controlling a laugh, "No. I'm not either of those things. I'm a memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years."
"I was wondering why you looked so young." Harry was wondering how he was able to stay so sarcastic with his heart hammering in his ears so loudly.
"Yes. I'm still my sixteen year old self." Riddle smiled, "Join me Harry. You must find it strange, how similar we both are? Both Slytherin, possibly the only two Parslemouths in a hundred years to come to Hogwarts. With broken families. We even look a like. I can show you how to reach your full potential."
"Why is that?" Harry asked, giving into his curiosity, "Why do we look alike?"
Riddle shrugged, "Random coincidence. I, like you, take after my father in looks, with my mothers eyes. I would think we were related but my father was a muggle, a nothing." he said bitterly, "Join me Harry."
"I'll pass thanks." Harry gave a tight smile, "Don't really think we're that similar and never really been a 'follower'. As for being in the same house well I mean, Draco's bitchy Aunt Bellatrix was a Slytherin and I feel more connection to a pair of socks than her."
Riddle smirked and raised his eye brows, "Now I have a question for you Harry Potter. How was it a boy of just a year old, with no extraordinary magical ability was able to defeat the great Lord Voldermort?"
Harry looked between the diary, Tom and Ginny. He wanted his wand back but there was no chance of that right now as Riddle had a tight grip on it.
"My mother." Harry said with a shrug, "She was willing to die for me so I didn't."
"Yes that would be a powerful counter-curse." Riddle mused.
"Why do you care?" Harry asked, "Voldermort was after your time surely?" he had a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.
Riddle sneered, "Haven't you worked it out yet? You never trusted me after all. Even after I showed you my brave and heroic capturer of that fool Hagrid."
Riddle turned around and used Harry's wand to write the words
Tom Marvolo Riddle
In glowing, fiery letters in the air, he waved the wand over them with a dramatic flick and Harry watched as the letters rearranged themselves into new words.
I am Lord Voldermort
Harry dug his nails into his palms to stop himself saying something stupid. He needed to keep Riddle busy or he'd be fighting a giant snake with death vision and that was something he'd much rather put off for as long as possible.
"It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my closest friends only, of course. My stupid mother died when I was born, the only she ever gave me was my name and even that she ruined. The name of my useless grandfather and my filthy muggle father, who couldn't bare to even meet me because my mother was a witch! So I gave myself a new name, one I knew wizards everywhere would one day come to fear!"
"And where does little Ginny fit into all this?" Harry asked, "Voldermort is that pathetic now he can only attack little girls?"
Riddle laughed out loud at this. A cruel and heartless laugh, "Hardly. But that night I attacked you I was left so very weakened. Because of that I needed poor Ginny. Well, I needed someone disposable and stupid enough to use my diary. All year she's been pouring her heart and soul into that little book, my diary."
Harry shook his head, he didn't understand what Ginny had to do with any of this and his fear wasn't helping him think straight.
"Oh Tom my brothers are so mean. Oh Tom Harry is soooo cute but I don't feel I can talk to him. Oh Tom I'm so alone. Oh Tom you're my only friend!" Riddle whined mockingly, "It is really rather annoying to have to listen to the whining of a silly little girl. But it worked, little by little, me growing stronger and her growing weaker."
Harry thought back to all the times over the year he'd seen Ginny pale and ill, when he told himself she was just home sick or had a cold; now he knew why.
Harry licked his lips and cleared his throat, the words refusing to come out, "Was it her? Who attacked everyone?"
"Oh yes." Riddle grinned, "She didn't know of course, at least not to start with and she certainly couldn't stop herself. She killed all the chickens and attacked all those students. Poor little Ginny not so innocent really."
"Sounds like you didn't give her a choice." Harry spat.
"I let her remember enough so that she was crying when she was forced to write her own kidnap message." Riddle whispered nastily, "Then she climbed down here and cried and cried and then she didn't have the strength to cry but I had the strength to escape that little book."
"And all for nothing." This time Harry was able to force out a laugh, "You couldn't kill anyone. Hell, not even the cat is dead and in a matter of hours the mandrakes will be stewed enough to bring everyone back. I was right, the great lord Voldermort can only attack first year girls and sort of win. You're a failure!"
Tom smiled nastily and Harry's fear grew even further, "Didn't I tell you? Killing muggle borns doesn't matter to me any more. No, in fact for several months now, my new target has been you! Lets see how the famous Harry Potter does this time! You will die here today and I will once again be the greatest sorcerer whoever lived!"
"You will never be!" Harry spat back, realising that Riddle had grown bored of talking and refusing to go down without a fight, "You don't even come close. Dumbledore is far greater than you for a start."
Riddle laughed, but it was forced, Harry knew he'd struck a nerve, "Dumbledore has been driven from this school by the mere memory of me!"
"And yet you're still scared." Harry said softly, "You never could face him, even at the hight of your power, you still made sure to stay well away from him."
A strange song began to softly fill the room. It grew louder and louder until there was a flash of fire light and Fawks burst towards them, dropping something at Harry's feet and landing on his shoulder.
Riddle kicked the bit of fabric at Harry's feet and laughed, "So the great Dumbledore sends his champion a couple of great weapons! A songbird and the old school sorting hat. Well, lets see how you do against the last heir of Slytherin and his mighty beast!"
Riddle stepped forward and raised his hand to the huge stone statue, Harry could understand him but it was clear he was talking parsletongue.
"Speak to me, Slytherin! Greatest of the four houses!"
Harry knew that talking definitely wasn't going to save him any more and looked around for something, anything that would help. Riddle still had his wand and Harry felt completely defenceless.
He watched in horror as the mouth of the huge statue opened up to show a huge cavern hidden away in the statue. Harry could see movement inside and looked down. He could hear a splash and low hissing coming towards him.
"Kill him!" Riddle ordered.
Harry crouched down and backed away. He didn't dare look, even as he heard thrashing and groans of pain. He could feel air being pushed past him and risked a look up. He saw Fawks's brilliant crimson and gold feathers flying around the Basilisk's huge head.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he saw trails of blood dripping from the Basilisk's once golden eyes.
Riddle looked furious, "Don't think the little bird can save you!" he spat, "My Basilisk can still smell you! You'll just die slower by his fangs. Smell him! You can smell him!"
Harry moved away, feeling far less afraid now that he could keep his eyes open and darted backwards and forward across the cavern as fast as he could as the Basilisk lunged wildly at him, crashing into walls and hissing in anger at not being able to catch him.
"Smell him out! Kill him!"
Harry tripped, throwing out his arms to try and save himself, he crashed to the floor. He reached for his glasses and shoved them back on his nose. He could hear angry, wordless, hissing behind him and rolled over.
His fall had given the Basilisk time to pin point where he was, it towered over him, it's long sabre like teeth glinting in the strange green light. Harry closed his eyes and waited for the blow.