The Potter Timeline

Chapter 33 - Memories from a Dark Mind

Harry and Hermione stared at Tom's words with trepidation. Exchanging a look of worry, their attention was quickly returned to the diary when the words vanished.

Harry thought for a moment, then put his quill to the page.

What can you tell me about the Chamber of Secrets?

This shortly disappeared, replaced by other words.

In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened, and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned.

Harry wrote again.

Who opened the Chamber and what monster was released?

I can't tell you.

The pair exchanged puzzled looks. Harry continued.

Why not?

These words vanished and more appeared.

I can't tell you who opened the Chamber...

...but I can show you.

Neither Hermione nor Harry understood.

What do you mean?

Mere seconds passed.

This diary contains memories, my memories of things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Things which were covered up.

What things?

Let me show you.

The pages of the diary suddenly flipped of their own accord as though a wind blew them. The second-years sat back in surprise and Hermione pointed her wand at it. But the diary stopped midway on a page marked "13th, June". Then, a small square formed beneath the month and something inside the square moved. Harry looked at Hermione who stared at the diary with concern. Harry then glanced back down at the square. To his astonishment, it appeared to be a moving picture, like a miniature telly screen. When he leaned closer to it, the boy suddenly found himself falling. The tiny screen enveloped him, and Harry discovered he was now...inside of it!

He stood in a corridor in Hogwarts castle, though at first he didn't recognize precisely where. Everything had a strange sepia tone to it, but looking at his clothes and hands, he found them in normal color. Confused, he turned and nearly jumped out of his skin to find Tom Riddle standing right behind him! Harry stepped back out of reflex. The teenage Slytherin looked exactly the way Harry saw him in the Great Hall and on the Quidditch pitch.

"Hello, Tom," Harry said with trepidation.

But the young man didn't respond and didn't look at him. He was staring up at something with a grim expression. Harry was puzzled.

"Um...hello?" he asked.

But Tom either ignored him or didn't know he was there. Then, to Harry's surprise, Riddle walked...right through him! Harry spun around.

The Slytherin moved toward the main staircase to the first floor of the castle. He stopped as a group of wizards in all black carried something on a draped stretcher down the steps. As the men passed, a chill ran down Harry's spine at the sight of an arm hanging from the side of the stretcher from underneath the cloth. Tom glanced at this casually before gazing at a man moving down the stairs behind the wizards.

He wore elegant robes, and his thin white hair was draped to one side of his mostly bald head. Harry recalled one of the headmaster portraits in Dumbledore's office containing a likeness similar to this man. He must be the headmaster Tom spoke of. The old wizard approached Tom and stopped.

"Riddle," he said.

"Headmaster Dippet," Tom replied.

The old man glanced at the group of wizards carrying the body through the castle entranceway.

"A dreadful business, this is. Most dreadful," he muttered with a sad look. He then threw the Slytherin a curious expression.

"What are you doing up, Tom? You know it's dangerous to be wandering the halls at this time of night, especially alone."

"Yes, sir, I know. But...I was wondering if you'd considered my request."

"Your request?" the headmaster said while pondering these words, "ah! Yes! Your request."

The old man placed a hand on Tom's shoulder and the pair slowly walked away from the staircase.

"I'm afraid the answer is 'no', Tom."

"'No', sir?"

"No. With everything that's been happening, it would be too dangerous for you to remain at Hogwarts for the summer holidays."

As Riddle's expression turned to disappointment, Harry noticed something dark appear in his gaze at the old man. Tom was seething.

"But headmaster, I really don't want to go back...there," he muttered.

"To the orphanage?"

"Yes, sir. Besides, I'd be more useful here, studying, and practicing my lessons."

These words struck Harry. He'd told Dumbledore nearly the same thing when they discussed the possibility of his remaining at Hogwarts during the summer holidays. Dippet frowned at Tom.

"Well, I'm very sorry. But under the circumstances, with these attacks and now this unfortunate girl's death, it would be irresponsible of me to allow you to stay. I'm afraid I can't allow it."

"Yes, sir. I understand," Riddle replied somberly, still seething. The headmaster smiled.

"Now then, Tom, go back to your dorm. This present scene is too disagreeable."

"Yes, sir."

The headmaster walked toward the entrance to catch up with the wizards carrying the stretcher. But before he disappeared beyond the threshold, Riddle looked at him once more.

"Headmaster?" he asked with a brightened expression. The man turned.

"Yes, Tom?" Dippet responded.

"What if...the culprit of these attacks was caught? What if the attacks ceased? Would I be able to stay then?"

The old wizard gazed at him squinty-eyed.

"Well, I would certainly consider that possibility. However, we're no closer to solving this mystery than we were at its beginning."

Riddle nodded.

"I understand, sir."

"But if you or any of your fellow students sees or hears anything that might help, please let me know. I'm eager to see this terrible business ended."

"I will, headmaster," Tom replied.

Dippet smiled at him, then disappeared beyond the entranceway. Tom stared at the man's fleeting figure, then turned and headed for the castle's interior. Harry followed him.

The Slytherin made his way through several corridors before descending into the dungeons. A couple of halls later and Harry followed Tom as he quietly moved toward a doorway just ahead. Harry recognized the door as the one leading to the potions classroom where Snape taught. The door was ajar and faint light poured from the room into the darkened corridor. Tom stepped to the doorway and listened to a low voice coming from inside.

"Now then, get on in there. It's best I carry yeh out this way. Don't want no one seein' yeh, 'specially with all the happenins 'round here..."

Harry's eyes went wide as he recognized that voice.

Hagrid!

But Harry's attention was drawn to Tom who pulled his wand and held it at the ready. Out of instinct, Harry stepped forward to warn Hagrid, but remembered he was simply an observer of this...memory of Tom's, or whatever it was - he was helpless to do anything but watch. Nevertheless, Harry's heart hammered as he wondered what Riddle was going to do.

In the next moment, the Slytherin pulled back the door and leapt inside. The unmistakable, bulky form of Hagrid stood in the center of the room, candlelight on the walls behind him throwing his form into silhouette. The giant did seem a bit smaller and his hair shorter in this much younger version, however. But no sooner had Tom bolted inside, with Harry behind him, than Hagrid shut the lid of a large, wooden chest next to him. And something inside of this chest was moving.

"Tom! What 'er you doin' here?!" the giant asked in surprise.

Riddle stepped forward, his wand pointed at Hagrid.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid, but I'm going to have to turn you in. I know you didn't mean to kill anyone. But it's time your monster was dealt with. There needn't be any further deaths. Step aside!"

"But...Aragog never hurt no one! He didn't do it, Tom!"

"I'm afraid the circumstances prove otherwise. Stand aside!"

Riddle leaned forward and directed his wand at the chest.

"CISTEM APERIO!" Tom shouted.

A bolt of light from the wand blew the lid off the chest. Hagrid fell back with his arm across his face to shield himself from the brightness. The chest itself fell back to the floor from the blast and in the next moment, Harry gasped as something horrific leapt out of it.

An enormous spider the size of a small table landed on the stone floor in front of Tom. Eight hairy legs, a black hairy body, several beady eyes, and two razor-sharp pincers gave the creature a horrible, fearsome appearance - the stuff of nightmares. Harry had never seen a spider so big and frightening in his life. But before Tom could lower his wand at the thing, it took off at him, knocking him over, then passing right through Harry's body, giving him a shudder.

"Aragog!" Hagrid yelled after it.

Tom rolled onto his stomach and directed his wand at the spider.

"ARANIA EXUMAI!"

Another flash of light burst from the wand. But the spider had already reached the end of the corridor, climbed up the wall, and fled around the corner. The spell hit nothing and faded away.

"Aragog!" Hagrid repeated and started to run after the thing. But Tom spun back around and pointed his wand at the giant, bolting him in place.

"They'll have your wand for this, Hagrid!" he said nearly breathless while rising from the floor, "you'll be expelled!"

"But Tom! I didn't..."

"IMMOBULUS!" Riddle uttered and the spell hit Hagrid square in the chest. His body seized up and he fell backwards, his head landing against the wall, his body stiff as a board.

"HAGRID!" Harry yelled out, stepping forward in desperation but unable to do anything.

Tom pocketed his wand, staring at the immobilized giant before turning and moving out of the room. He gazed one last time at Hagrid then closed the door and left. Harry, still distressed over his big friend, followed the Slytherin. But as he moved behind the teenager toward the upper floors, the memory around him suddenly blurred and changed.

The next thing Harry knew, he was standing in the main corridor at daytime. Glancing around, students were hurrying toward the Great Hall for some important reason. By the concerned and frightened looks on their faces, it was something bad. And just ahead of Harry stood Headmaster Dippet talking to...Professor Dumbledore! He looked exactly the way Harry remembered him, in his younger version inside the Hall of Reflection the previous Christmas.

"Once everyone has arrived, I'll make the announcement, Albus," Dippet said with a forlorn expression.

"Of course, Armando," Dumbledore replied, "I'm sure the students will be most disappointed. But it's for the best."

"Well, as long as the monster is on the loose, we..."

"Headmaster! Professor Dumbledore!"

Harry spun around to find Tom appear and rush right through him. The Slytherin stepped up to the professors while trying to catch his breath.

"What is it, Tom?" Dippet asked in concern.

"I found him! I found the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets!"

The two wizards stared at one another in astonishment.

"Who is it?" the chief administrator asked desperately.

"Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed and he threw Tom a look of suspicion.

"Are you certain of this, Tom?" he asked pointedly.

Riddle seemed unable to look him in the eye at first and he swallowed hard. But then his countenance changed to one of confidence and he gazed right at Dumbledore.

"Most certain, professor. When I confronted him, his monster tried to attack me, but I was unharmed. I was able to immobilize Hagrid, however. He's in the dungeons as we speak."

"And what of his monster?" Dippet inquired with a furrowed brow.

"Gone! But without his master controlling him, he should be easy to find and eliminate."

Dippet showed immense relief and gave Riddle a pat on the arm.

"Excellent work, Riddle!" he uttered, "now, go on into the Hall and join your fellow pupils. We'll handle it from here."

"Yes, sir," Tom answered with another glance at Dumbledore who still seemed suspicious. The headmaster continued.

"If you don't mind delaying the meeting, Albus, I'll fetch the Aurors and apprehend Rubeus."

"Armando, it isn't certain yet the student is guilty," Dumbledore replied in defiance of what Tom said, "perhaps we should question him before doing anything rash."

"There isn't time to waste! Leonard will be here any moment. If the guilty party has been caught, it will no longer be necessary to inform him of what's been occurring. Besides, Tom is one of our most upstanding students. I trust his word implicitly."

Riddle grinned at these words. Dumbledore tried to reason with Dippet.

"But headmaster, I feel strongly that..."

"We need to arrest the culprit of these heinous attacks before the minister arrives, Albus!" the man interrupted him sharply, "I am insisting on this! Please! Go in and address the students for me!"

Dumbledore frowned and threw one more suspicious gaze at Tom.

"Very well," he replied in defeat, turning and heading for the Great Hall.

Just then, a shockwave rippled across the memory before Harry's eyes and everyone, the students, Headmaster Dippet, and Professor Dumbledore froze in place. Harry wondered what happened and he glanced around in puzzlement.

"Now you see, Harry Potter, what happened all those years ago," the voice of Tom Riddle spoke to Harry's astonishment.

The figure of the teenager, which at first appeared frozen before the headmaster and Dumbledore, turned and faced Harry right in the corridor, interrupting his own memory, it seemed.

Harry stared at Tom.

"You're saying Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets!"

"You saw it for yourself," Riddle said casually while walking slowly to gaze over some of the frozen students in the corridor.

"I don't believe it. Hagrid would never do something like that!" Harry countered in anger.

Tom turned to face Harry with that grim look.

"Believe what you wish. The deed was done and the selfish, incompetent staff at Hogwarts went on to lie and cover everything up."

Harry was still trying to get his head around what he just witnessed, trying to discern the truth. But one thing he knew - he could not trust Tom Riddle.

"These may be your memories, Tom, but that doesn't make it true," Harry told the Slytherin, "you told Ginny Weasley that Hermione was an evil hag. That was a lie! You also lied to Ginny and had her open a door inside the castle for you. I'd hazard a guess that it was to the Chamber of Secrets. You're the one who opened the Chamber, aren't you?!"

Tom stared hard at Harry.

"Clever boy. You're smarter than I took you for. Perhaps that stupid, gullible girl's pining for you wasn't unfounded after all."

Riddle now stepped toward Harry.

"Let me show you another memory, Harry. One I recall quite well..."

The main corridor blurred, and the next thing Harry knew, he was standing somewhere else inside Hogwarts. Disoriented at first, Harry looked around and suddenly realized he was standing in...the Hall of Reflection! The mirrored surfaces were clean and uncracked. The pyres on either side of the room were illuminated as were the ones on the gargoyle statues. The corridor looked just like Harry remembered it right after cleaning it for Filch. Memories of the harrowing experiences he and Hermione had in that hall briefly flashed through his mind, especially the terrifying confrontation with Voldemort.

But he had no time to reminisce about the past as the sound of Riddle's voice got his attention. Harry turned to find the Slytherin kneeling on the floor in between the two gargoyle statues. He was muttering an incantation over and over. Next to him, a very old book lay open and as Harry moved around to see in front of Tom, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Harry saw the black cat writhing in agony under the Cruciatus curse Tom had hit it with. And between the cat and Riddle was the black diary. A chill ran down Harry's spine at seeing firsthand what Hermione had described to him after fleeing the hall that late evening their second term.

Harry's heart pounded as he watched Tom perform the ritual.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" he shouted. The green light struck the cat dead.

The pyres in the hall flickered, the green mist appeared around the young man, and the awful white light poured from his mouth as he tried to breathe it onto the diary. Harry then witnessed what Hermione described after. Failing to achieve what he was attempting, Riddle yelled out and swatted the diary away. He then gathered everything up and stood, blood dripping from his nose as he did. Riddle then started to walk toward the outer door but stopped. He turned and gazed into one of the mirrored surfaces. Harry followed his gaze and froze when he saw...Hermione!

It was bizarre to see the future image of his friend inside the mirrors. She stared at Tom pale-faced and frightened beyond measure. Harry then watched as she grabbed her book and his invisibility cloak, bolting out of the room after, no doubt heading for Gryffindor Tower and him. But before he could process this strange event further, the memory froze. Riddle, still holding the bag and book, his nose still dripping blood, turned to him.

"Yes, Harry Potter. I opened the Chamber of Secrets. I am the heir of the great Salazar Slytherin. And I unleashed his monster to continue his noble work. And before it's done, I'll make sure your mudblood friend from the mirror comes to a rather nasty end."

"No," Harry muttered confidently, his breathing intensifying, "we'll stop you. We'll stop your monster too. And when we're done here, I'm taking your diary straight to Dumbledore."

Riddle's expression became one of darkest evil as he gazed at Harry, seething. But then, to Harry's surprise, that expression relaxed.

"It no longer matters, Harry. I no longer need the diary nor that stupid Weasley girl anyway. And on that count, I must thank you."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked mystified.

Tom gave the boy a very wicked-looking smile.

"Quite simply, I now have...you. You, Harry, have given me the power to return and with a few more deaths, it will be complete. All I had to do was get your attention - the fire, the phantoms in the Great Hall, behind your girlfriend in the Quidditch stands, the strange occurrences in your room. All of that brought you here...to me."

A shock ran through Harry at this. Hermione was right - it was a trap! Riddle went on.

"You and I are connected, you know. We are both part of something bigger and greater than you can imagine."

"I have nothing to do with you!" Harry protested, "I know you're Voldemort, Tom!"

Riddle stared hard at him again.

"Voldemort is my past, present, and future. I am a part of him, and now...a part of you."

"NEVER!" Harry shouted desperately.

Riddle began laughing and those dark eyes seemed to shoot right through Harry's soul. Harry panicked. He had to get out of this memory, out of the diary.

"HERMIONE!" he shouted looking upward, having no idea whether he could get through to her or not.

"HERMIONE!"

The memory around him suddenly filled with tremendous light and Harry's vision went blank. The next thing he knew, he was falling over in the chair onto the floor of the Spellroom. At first, he glanced around in shock, wondering in a strange twist of irony if the room was real or was somehow another memory of Tom's. But then another shock ran through him when he saw Hermione's chair knocked over, the girl lying unconscious on the floor beside it.

"HERMIONE!" he yelled out, scrambling to her side as fast as possible. He reached down and gently raised her head.

"Hermione! Wake up!" he uttered desperately.

A moment later, she stirred. Letting out a groan, the girl looked up at Harry with those pretty brown eyes.

"Harry?"

Harry felt relief.

"Are you hurt?"

Hermione raised herself up to a sitting position, Harry helping her with an arm behind her back.

"No. But I feel...dizzy."

"What happened?" he asked pensively.

She shook her head and frowned.

"When you looked down at the diary, you went into a trance of some sort. I tried to move you away from it, but you wouldn't budge! You were frozen stiff! Then you said my name several times like you were stuck. I used a blasting spell to knock the diary away and the next thing I knew there was an explosion."

The pair both gazed up at the desk to find the diary still sitting on top, still intact, still open to the same page as though nothing had happened. The girl turned to face him.

"What happened to you?" she asked with worry.

He frowned.

"I'll explain it when we get to Dumbledore's office," he said while rising from the floor and helping her up, "we need to get that diary to the professor right away!"