I took back the diary a few days later. After our Quidditch practice was over, I took advantage of the fact Harry would still be away from the castle for an hour by the time I got back to Gryffindor Tower. I therefore went up to his dormitory, cast a locking and silencing charm on the door, and tore apart Harry's bed and the area around it. I went through his trunk, throwing everything aside, his bedside cabinet, even all the clothes in his wardrobe, until eventually I found it. I then left the room and removed the silencing and locking spells. Pocketing the diary, I sped back downstairs.

It was only once I was back in my chair by the fire that I realised I hadn't cleaned up after myself. I bit my lip and smacked the arm of my chair in frustration at this stupid mistake. It seemed I was lucky though, as the occupants of the common room were too immersed in conversation or studying for anyone to have noticed where I'd come from. Even Hermione was too immersed in Ancient Runes Made Easy to have seen me.

Demelza and Amy walked over to me and sat down opposite.

"So, ready for the match tommorow?" said Demelza

"Definitely, we should destroy Hufflepuff, our team is far too good!" I replied. It was nice of Demelza to bring up something morale boosting.

"I think you could say that about both our teams, barring anything ridiculous happening, we should comfortably win both cups this year. The same can't be said of the Harpies though, can it?" added Amy cheekily.

"Says the girl who's team lost to us on Boxing Day" shot back Demelza

"Look, all three of us know how bullshit that was"

"It wasn't bullshit, we just have an amazingly talented keeper, and the league agrees" I said. "Just like I said in my letter, they dismissed your complaint right away"

"The table wouldn't suggest that though would it? You've conceded the most goals in the league by far since that day, and if you're not careful, you could go down you know".

"Mate, we all know Chudley will go down, there's only one relegation spot, and it's gonna be theirs, we may be shit this year, but we're not like them" said Demelza

"Plus, Elanor has still been on form, if it wasn't for her, we'd have conceded bucketloads more goals than we have anyway. Also, the defeat to us hasn't impacted you much, you're top now anyway. I think you'll win the title to be honest" I said

"Boy do I hope so" said Amy "It's been far too long since we last did"

"We have Newcastle next. Hopefully we can beat them and move back towards mid table"

"Yeah that'll be interesting, you 2 have the second and third worst defensive records this year"

We continued this discussion for another hour or so, before we headed up to bed, excited to thrash Hufflepuff the next day. I wish I could say that's what happened. Instead, that night, I committed the worst attack yet, involving someone so close to me. The worst part about it all was that Tom made sure I could see everything I was doing this time, yet I had no control over it.

I got up out of bed, and walked up to Hermione's dormitory. I walked to her bed, and pointed my finger at her face. She stood up, as if sleepwalking. I took hold of her arm and pulled her along with me. We walked to Myrtle's bathroom, and I pointed to the bench in the corner. Hermione sat down, still blissfully unaware of what was going on.

I then headed to the Ravenclaw common room.

"Where do vanished objects go?" asked the door.

Normally I would have no idea how to answer this question, but Tom was in control.

"Into non being, which is to say, everything" I said, but it wasn't my voice that came out. It was Tom's.

"Well reasoned" said the door, and it swung open.

I walked up to the domitory marked "sixth years" and bought out a curly haired girl. I then bought her to the bathroom and sat her down next to Hermione. I had no idea how I wasn't being seen doing this. Next, I headed to one of the sinks, and looked at a small engraving of a snake. I then began speaking in Parseltongue to the sink, which opened. Out emerged the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my life. A basilisk, the biggest species of snake. I was in total control of it. Suddenly Hermione and the girl's eyes flew open, but they still didn't seem awake, just in a trance. The basilisk turned it's head towards them, and then it hit me! Their looks could kill, literally! But to the biggest relief of my life, it looked straight into one of the sink mirrors, and not right at them. They saw the reflection of it's eyes though, and they both froze and slammed to the ground, petrified. The snake then retreated back into the chamber, and it sealed.

I pointed my hand at their bodies, and they flew up into the air, I controlled them so they landed together at a random point along a corridor close to the library. That was when Tom let me regain control of myself.

I burst into tears right away! I'd attacked Hermione, one of my best friends! I'd attacked several innocent people, it was all just becoming too much for me!

Then an idea came to me, one which calmed me down right away! I knew how this could be solved, and I could do it without telling a teacher! Tom had made a big mistake, he had let me see what the monster was, and how it was getting around! The plumbing! So before I headed back to Gryffindor Tower, I went into the library and found parchment and a quill. I wrote down the word "Pipes" scrunched the parchment up into a ball, and stuffed it into Hermione's hand.

I could tell by the scream of rage from Tom at the back of my mind, that he had not forseen my actions here, and smirking, feeling as though I'd got the last laugh, I headed back upstairs.

The next morning at breakfast, Professor Dumbledore stood up to give an announcement.

"I must inform you all, that today's Quidditch matches have been cancelled"

Outrage burst around the hall, but Dumbledore made some purple fireworks appear from the end of his wand, and there was immediate silence.

"This is due to another double attack taking place last night. I do not wish to make the identities of the victims public just yet, until their closest friends have seen them, but it has now gotten to the point where we do not feel like it is safe or appropriate for us to continue extra curricular activities. It is far too dangerous and safety is the number one priority. Therefore, the following conditions will apply to all students until further notice.

All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave their common room after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

My heart sank at this news, though I couldn't be surprised or annoyed about it. I was really passionate about Quidditch, I'd loved leading the reserve team over the year, and I felt so confident that we were going to secure a double cup win for Gryffindor. All that hard work would now go to waste. Obviously though, as Dumbledore said, safety was the priority, so as disappointing as it was, the right call had been made.

I looked around and could see Demelza gnawing on her lip, perhaps thinking the same way as me. Eventually she met my gaze, and she nodded, as did Amy. We all knew this was what had to happen. I just hoped my last action of the previous night had begun to turn the tide against Tom.

As everyone headed upstairs back to their common rooms, as it was a Saturday, Demelza, Amy, Harry, Ron and I, as well as a couple Ravenclaws, were held back. Of course, none of us were supposed to know Hermione had been attacked yet. McGonagall and Percy were escorting the Gryffindors, so Dumbledore took us to the hospital wing.

"This will be a bit of a shock," he said as we neared the doors. He pushed them open and we entered.

"Hermione" Ron groaned

"Penelope!" the Ravenclaws exclaimed.

I had to pretend to look shocked, but of course the shock from the rest of us was legitimate. Dumbledore allowed us to remain for a few moments before we were taken back to our common rooms.