The Very Secret Diary
"The very secret diary," George read. Ginny shuddered violently and immediately buried her face in her mother's shoulder.
"Maybe you shouldn't be here for this," Molly suggested. She glanced over at her husband for support. He looked pained.
"Ginny?" He asked softly. "You don't have to listen. Nobody will blame you if you go and read in our rooms while we finish this book."
"No," Ginny said softly. "I want to do this." Molly looked about to protest once more but Arthur stopped her. It was Ginny's choice. She'd be brought here for a reason and if she felt able to read about what had happened then maybe it would help her heal.
Everyone else who didn't know what had happened watched on with concern, wondering what about a secret diary could have upset Ginny Weasley. Bill and Charlie were particularly concerned about their sister. She wasn't one to get upset easily, but their parents had told them nothing about what had happened this year. The twins and Percy were all aware of Ginny's end of year encounter, although they all believed she had been taken to the Chamber, rather than the full truth that she was possessed and had been the one opening it by way of Tom Riddle. It was all strange and suspicious to them. They's all begun to suspect that Ginny was more involved than they knew, and it concerned them deeply.
Still, George decided to take attention away from his sister and began reading.
Hermione was in the hospital wing for several weeks. There were plenty of rumours about her disappearance when the rest of the school arrived back from their Christmas holidays, because of course everyone thought that she had been attacked. So many students filed past the hospital wing trying to catch a glimpse of her that Madam Pomfrey took out her curtains again to spare her the shame of being seen with a furry face.
"Thank goodness," Hermione muttered. "I was sick of diving under the covers anytime anyone entered."
"But at least nobody found out," Ron pointed out.
"I'm honestly surprised Moaning Myrtle didn't tell anyone. The story would have gotten out quickly enough even with just one person," Tonks said.
"I forgot she had seen me. I didn't even think about that, but I'm fairly certain nobody knew because Malfoy made no comment about it."
"Which I would have done, if I'd known," Draco admitted quietly.
Harry and Ron visited her every evening. When the new term started, they brought her each day's homework. Ron commented that he'd take a break from work if he had sprouted whiskers.
"You'd take any excuse to take a break from work, Ronnie," Bill laughed.
Ron shrugged, not denying it. It was true after all.
Hermione stated she needed to keep up.
"You're likely already miles ahead of everyone else," Tonks pointed out.
"There is nothing wrong with keeping up with her assignments," Minerva stated. "Do you honestly believe Poppy would have allowed Miss Granger to overwork herself?"
"Good point," Charlie nodded.
Her spirits were greatly improved by the fact that all the hair had gone from her face and her eyes were turning slowly back to brown. She asked about new leads, but Harry said they had nothing. Ron stated he had been certain it was Malfoy for about the hundredth time.
"I think we got that, Ronniekins," Fred rolled his eyes.
"That was a lot of effort to go to if you didn't think it was him," George added with a grin. Ron glared at the duo.
Harry spotted something gold sticking out from under Hermione's pillow and asked about it.
"You and your ability to see gold things," Hermione grumbled. Harry laughed.
"You really should have hidden it better if you didn't want us to see," he told her.
"I didn't have time. I'd only just gotten it right before you got there."
"Right, and you hadn't been busy drooling over his signature," Ron snorted. Hermione shot him a filthy look and he winced.
She hastily said it was a get well card while trying to put it out of sight. However, Ron was quicker and snatched it, opening it and reading aloud.
"Ron, that isn't yours. You shouldn't just take it and read it out loud. You wouldn't like it if someone did that to you," Percy sighed before Molly could start yelling.
"Sorry, Hermione," Ron muttered.
It was from Lockhart, wishing her a speedy recover.
"Seriously? About ten words of that was actually about Hermione," George scoffed.
"It doesn't surprise me, but I still hate that he put all of his so-called achievements in a get-well card sign off," Emmeline sighed.
"Yeah. I think they know by now; he recites them every single time his name comes up," Sirius scoffed.
"And even when it doesn't," Remus added bitterly.
Ron looked up at Hermione, disgusted, and asked if she slept with it under her pillow.
"Of course not!" Hermione said defensively. Ron raised an eyebrow in obvious disbelief but said nothing.
Hermione was spared answering by Madam Pomfrey sweeping over with her evening dose of medicine. As they walked back to the tower, Ron commented that Lockhart was the smarmiest bloke ever.
Everyone nodded.
"I'm impressed he can fit his fat head around the school," Sirius muttered.
"Rich coming from you, but he does put even your ego to shame," Remus laughed. Sirius stuck his tongue out.
Harry's mind was on the amount of potions homework he had. Harry thought he was likely to be in the sixth year before he finished it. Ron was just saying he wished he had asked Hermione how many rat tails you were supposed to add to a Hair-Raising Potion when an angry outburst from the floor above reached their ears. Harry identified Filch as the culprit and they hurried closer to listen.
"Of course you did," Charlie said in amusement.
Ron wondered if someone had been attacked.
"I hope not," Kingsley said in concern.
"You two shouldn't be getting any closer," Molly said anxiously.
"Well, if Filch is shouting he isn't petrified," Tonks pointed out. "And I honestly doubt he'd be that worked up about a student being petrified. He doesn't exactly like any of them."
"Horrible, but true," Charlie agreed.
They stood still, their heads inclined toward Flich's voice, which sounded quite hysterical. He was complaining about more mopping for him and his intention to complain to Dumbledore.
"Ah, complaining about doing his job. That sounds like Filch," Fred said, relaxing slightly.
"At least it's not something terrible," Ted agreed.
"He was pretty touchy after Mrs Norris was petrified, so I'm not really he was making such a noise about nothing," Percy sighed.
His footsteps receded along the out of sight corridor and they heard a distant door slam. The boys looked around the corner and saw it was the second-floor corridor where Mrs Norris had been attacked. Filch had obviously been at his usual lookout post.
"I still want to know how, if that's his usual lookout post, you guys managed to visit enough to brew Polyjuice in their without being seen once," Neville frowned.
"Polyjuice doesn't actually require much attention except for the addition of ingredients. It was a bit tricky to make sure the corridor was clear at the exact times we needed, but Filch is fairly easily distracted," Hermione informed him. Several adults raised their eyebrows, wondering what exactly Hermione meant by 'easily distracted'. The girl in question offered no insight to this puzzle.
They saw at a glance what Filch had been shouting about. A great flood of water stretched over half the corridor.
"I'm guessing that's Moaning Myrtle striking once more. Filch really should be used to that," Tonks pointed out.
"Yes, but he is obviously more easily upset this year because Mrs Norris still isn't back. He has been missing his beloved pet for several months now, simply because the school will not order Mandrake Restorative Draught instead of growing their own mandrakes from scratch," Amelia said scathingly.
"Not to mention the amount of schooling the students are missing. Mr. Creevey has been petrified for months as well by now, and in his first year as well. It's a miracle he didn't have to repeat his first year given how much he missed, especially as a muggleborn," Kingsley frowned. He wondered how on earth Mr. Creevey had caught up.
"Mr. Creevey was given special permission to perform magic during the summer holidays that year due to the extenuating circumstances, although only under supervision. The professors made several home visits and gave him a larger amount of summer work to help him catch up," Minerva explained. "Mr. Finch-Fletchley was also given the same opportunity."
"Both boys did very well and passed their respective end of year exams at the end of the holidays," Filius added.
Amelia frowned. She hadn't heard anything about two students being given an exemption, and those were incredibly rare so would be big news. She assumed Dumbledore had pulled yet more strings to keep quiet the fact that two students had missed so much schooling that they needed the exemptions.
The water was still seeping from under the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Now that Filch had stopped shouting, they could hear Myrtle's wails echoing off the bathroom walls.
"Nothing unusual there," Hermione told them.
"We'd been in and out of her bathroom for a couple of months and we'd never heard her sound like that," Harry said. "We thought it was worth checking out."
"I'm sure this will go so well. Myrtle already upset and you two with all of your tact," Tonks giggled. Both boys looked affronted but couldn't exactly argue with her either.
Ron wondered what was up with her and Harry suggested they find out. They had to hold their robes over their ankles as they made their way through the water and into the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle was crying, if possible, louder and harder than ever before. She seemed to be hiding down her usual toilet. It was dark in the bathroom because the candles had been extinguished in the great rush of water that had left both walls and floor soaking wet.
"No wonder Filch was upset. A little bit of mopping isn't going to fix that in a hurry," Emmeline muttered.
"Yeah, I think the house-elves had better take that on," Kingsley agreed. "They'd have it done in moments."
"Something must have set her off. She floods the place on a regular basis, but not this badly," Tonks frowned.
"Maybe Peeves was in there," suggested Charlie with a shrug.
Harry asked what was up. Myrtle asked who it was and if they had come to throw something else at her.
Ginny felt bad, not knowing she had hit Myrtle.
"Why would someone throw something at Myrtle?" Neville wondered.
"Maybe they caught her spying on them," Bill muttered grimly.
Harry waded over and asked why he would throw something at her. Myrtle shouted for him not to ask her. She emerged, splashing yet more water everywhere and declared she had been minding her own business when someone thought it funny to throw a book at her.
"Well, I guess that'll be the secret diary. Seems weird though. If it's so secret, why throw it at Myrtle?" Tonks frowned.
"And why throw it at her anyway? Whoever did it must have known they'd set Mrytle off," Emmeline pointed out curiously. Everyone shrugged.
Harry pointed out it couldn't have hurt her as it would just go right through.
"Honestly Harry," Remus laughed. "You might be correct but surely you'd learnt by then Mrytle wouldn't take that well?"
"Yeah," Harry sighed.
That's also not the point. Whether it can hurt her or not, it's pretty rude to throw stuff at her," Bill said. Ginny frowned.
Myrtle didn't take it well, scoffing that it would be a lovely game, getting various points for throwing books at Myrtle because she can't feel it.
"I don't think anyone would bother making a game out of that," Ted stated.
Harry asked who threw it at her. She said she didn't know. She had been sitting in the U bend thinking about death and it fell through the top of her head.
"So, nobody threw it at her," Charlie rolled his eyes. "They threw it down the toilet and it accidentally hit her."
"All that for absolutely nothing?" Fred rolled his eyes.
"It's Myrtle," Tonks shrugged, like that explained everything.
"Why was anybody throwing a secret diary down a toilet?" George wondered. Ginny flinched and everyone who knew about the diary looked grave.
Myrtle told them the book was over there as it got washed out. The boys looked where she was pointing and saw a thin, black book with a shabby cover. Harry went to pick it up, but Ron stopped him.
Arthur nodded approvingly.
"Someone disposed of it for a reason, don't just go picking up things for no reason," Moody grunted at Harry.
"Yeah," Harry grimaced. "I didn't know how dangerous books could be then."
"Even when I explained you still picked the stupid thing up," Ron grumbled.
"Well, all the stories you told were pretty obvious. If someone had been jinxed like that at Hogwarts we would have known," Harry pointed out fairly.
"Those were just some examples," Ron reminded him. "It could have done anything. It did…" he trailed off, glancing at his sister guiltily.
"Anyway, I know better now," Harry assured the room.
Harry was surprised but Ron asked if he was crazy as it could be dangerous. Harry scoffed and Ron explained what his dad had told him about some books that had burned people's eyes out; caused them to speak in limericks for the rest of their lives or a book that you cannot stop reading.
Hermione looked horrified that books could do that to people.
Harry told him he got the point.
"Clearly not," Ron scowled. He hated that stupid book. It had almost killed his sister and Harry, not to mention caused Hermione to be petrified.
The little book lay on the floor, nondescript and soggy. Harry then stated they wouldn't find out unless they looked at it. He ducked around Ron and picked it up.
"Harry!" Several people groaned.
"I know. I know," Harry sighed. Still, honestly, he was kind of glad that he had picked up the book. Despite everything, it hadn't possessed him, so the attacks had stopped for a while. If he hadn't, would Ginny have gone back for the book sooner? Would someone else, some other innocent person, have found it and been subjected to the same thing as Ginny?
Harry saw at once that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told him it was fifty years old.
"Fifty years old?" Bill asked immediately. "So, from around the time this happened the first time."
"How could a book be linked to opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Neville wondered.
"It could contain secret instructions on how to do so," Kingsley suggested.
He opened it and saw the name T.M. Riddle in smudged ink.
Everyone who knew whose name that was, and didn't know what had happened that year, inhaled sharply.
Ginny flinched.
"Wait, didn't Harry say Voldemort's real name was Riddle?" Tonks recalled suddenly. Everyone gasped at that. Harry nodded.
"So, Voldemort kept a diary?" Sirius snorted. Everyone stared at him and the burst into surprised laughter.
"Why would anyone in the school have a young Voldemort's diary?" Emmeline asked.
"Well, it seems obvious that a teenaged Voldemort opened the chamber previously. So the diary might have instructions on how to do so," Kingsley suggested.
Ron recognised the name as someone who had been given an award for special services to the school fifty years ago.
"How did you know that?" Fred asked in astonishment.
"Detention," Ron grimaced. "I scrubbed that stupid trophy about fifty times."
Harry asked how he knew and Ron explained he'd thrown up slugs on it in detention.
Everyone winced.
Harry peeled the wet pages apart. They were completely blank. There wasn't the faintest trace of writing on any of them, not even Auntie Mabel's birthday, or dentist, half past three.
"Well, that makes sense. If it contains instructions on how to open the Chamber, they would be hidden in some fashion," Amelia stated.
Harry was disappointed Riddle had never written in it. Ron wondered why someone would want to flush it.
"That is a good question. If they've been using it to open the chamber, then why get rid of it? And why now?" Kingsley wondered. Ginny shuddered once more.
"Getting rid of evidence? Although it's a terrible way of doing that," Tonks suggested, pulling a face.
Harry turned to the back cover of the book and saw the printed name of a variety store on Vauxhall Road, London. Harry commented he must have been muggle-born.
"Not necessarily," Ted shook his head. "He could have been a half-blood. Or muggle-raised, such as yourself." Harry grimaced. He still hated just how similar he and Tom Riddle were.
"Yeah, he's a half-blood. But muggle-raised," Harry admitted.
Narcissa and Draco both stared at him in astonishment.
"Does that mean a teenaged Voldemort went into Muggle London and bought himself a diary?" Sirius snorted with laughter. It didn't take long for most people to join him.
"It could have been a gift," Ted suggested.
Ron stated it wasn't much use to him and then suggested fifty points if he threw it through Myrtle's nose.
"Ronald!" Molly scolded disapprovingly.
"Sorry," Ron muttered, not sounding sorry at all.
Harry, however, pocketed it. Hermione was released from the hospital wing at the beginning of February. The evening she was released, Harry showed her the diary. Hermione enthusiastically suggested it could have hidden powers.
"You didn't hand the thing in?" Bill asked with a frown.
"No," Harry admitted.
"You have a diary of someone who just happened to have been at the school when the chamber first opened, and didn't tell anyone?" Remus said disapprovingly. He didn't add that it was Voldemort's diary, as much as that fact freaked him about, because Book-Harry clearly didn't know that.
"You didn't need to trust adults for that. You didn't break any rules, except being in a girl's bathroom I suppose, but you wouldn't need to say that. Just say you found it and Ron recognised the name from the trophy," Sirius told them.
"I didn't really think it might be linked to the attacks or the chamber," Harry said with a grimace. He didn't want to admit how much the diary had affected him, making him feel like he had a friend. It felt creepy.
Ron commented that if it did, it is hiding them well.
"That would be the point of secret powers, Ronnie," George rolled his eyes. Ron flushed.
Ron asked why Harry didn't chuck it. Harry wanted to know why someone did chuck it and he also wondered how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts.
"I take it back," Harry muttered.
"So, Riddle opened the chamber, and somehow got an award at roughly the same time?" Kingsley said with narrowed eyes.
"Well obviously he wasn't caught. So, given the attacks stopped after someone died, I'm guessing he blamed someone else and got the award for 'catching' them," Amelia sighed.
"And then he couldn't keep opening the chamber, or it would be obvious it wasn't whoever he blamed," Tonks nodded. "So, he somehow smuggled instructions on how to do so to someone in the school, fifty years later?"
"Well, he was possessing a member of staff the previous year. He's clearly strong enough to find ways to do that if he wanted to," Bill reasoned. Molly, Arthur and Ginny and tried to hide their winces at that.
Ron suggested it could have been anything, saying maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s
Everyone laughed at that.
"That's impossible, Ron," Bill told him, amused.
"Nor would it be special services to the school. He would have gotten an academic award," Percy added.
He continued that he might have saved a teacher from the squid. Or maybe he murdered Myrtle as that would have done everyone a favour.
"Ronald!" Molly screeched. "It would not do anyone a favour for someone to be murdered." Ron wasn't paying attention. He was busy exchanging astonished looks with Harry.
"Seriously, Ron. Are you sure you don't have seer blood?" Harry whispered urgently.
"Dunno. But that's…wow. That's weird," Ron muttered back, looking uneasy.
"Maybe there's a test or something. Not Trelawny, but a proper one?" Harry suggested.
"I don't…I mean, it's not like I get visions or anything. Or do whatever it was you said she did when she gave you that prophecy at the end of this year. I was joking," Ron whispered furiously. Harry shrugged.
"I don't know how it works. But I swear, from now on I'm taking your jokes seriously." Ron grimaced.
But Harry could tell from the arrested look on Hermione's face that she was thinking what he was thinking. Ron was confused and Harry reminded him that the chamber was opened fifty years ago. Ron still didn't get it, so Hermione pointed out the diary was fifty years old.
"So, you did think it might be connected?" Remus turned to look at Harry who winced.
"Well…for a bit, but then Hermione checked it over and I just…I dunno. I didn't think it belonged to the one who opened the chamber. I couldn't get rid of it, either by throwing it away or handing it in." Several people frowned at that.
Ron still didn't understand.
"Really, Ronniekins?" Fred asked, shaking his head. Ron flushed once more.
Hermione snapped at him to wake up. She explained the connection, suggesting Riddle might have gotten the award for catching the Heir of Slytherin and the diary might tell them everything. The person behind the attacks wouldn't want it lying around. Ron agreed, except there was nothing written in the diary.
"Magic," Charlie pointed out with a laugh. Ron scowled at the floor.
Hermione pulled her wand out, suggesting it could be invisible ink.
"Given whose diary that is, I doubt it's that simple," Kingsley said. "And it's not something you three should be investigating."
"We didn't know it was Voldemort's or I would definitely have handed it in!" Harry exclaimed.
"But you thought there was the possibility it could hold the information of where the chamber was and how to open it, yet you still didn't hand it in," Remus pointed out sharply. "I feel the teachers would be better position to find out the secrets of that book over three second-years." Harry shrugged.
She tapped the diary three times and said, "Aparecium!" Nothing happened. Undaunted, Hermione shoved her hand back into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be a bright red eraser which she told them was a Revealer.
"Why did you get one of those?" Tonks wondered. Hermione shrugged.
"It sounded useful and interesting."
She rubbed hard on January first. Nothing happened. Ron stated there was nothing to find in there, suggesting he'd been given it for Christmas and couldn't be bothered filling it in.
"If that was the case, there would be no reason for it to still be in Hogwarts, or for someone to throw it at Myrtle," Emmeline pointed out.
Harry couldn't explain, even to himself, why he didn't just throw Riddle's diary away. The fact was that even though he knew the diary was blank, he kept absentmindedly picking it up and turning the pages, as though it were a story he wanted to finish. And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T. M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to him, almost as though Riddle was a friend he'd had when he was very small, and had half forgotten. But this was absurd. He'd never had friends before Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that.
"That doesn't sound good," Bill frowned. "It sounds like the diary might be enchanting you, making you trust it. And if something has been enchanted to make you trust it, it's probably no good."
"What if it does more than just enchant you to trust it? Could it enchant someone to open the chamber?" Tonks wondered. Ginny cringed.
"Hmm, maybe?" Bill said thoughtfully. "It would take some serious dark magic to make someone do something like that though, but given that this Voldemort's, dark magic is probably a given. It would also explain why someone waited until now to flush it, maybe they were only just able to fight off the enchantment."
"But that doesn't explain about how they opened the chamber. Or controlled the snake that's inside. They'd have to be a parselmouth, and the book surely can't have given someone that ability?" Charlie frowned.
"Well, someone at the school could just be keeping the ability quiet. Especially after how they all reacted to Harry," Ted mused.
"But, if that is the case, it is rather coincidental that the book just found its way into the hands of a parselmouth. Even if people keep the ability quiet, it can't be that common," Andromeda noted grimly.
"Well, Voldemort was in the school the previous year, maybe he overheard of someone able to speak it," Charlie suggested.
Nevertheless, Harry was determined to find out more about Riddle, so next day at break, he headed for the trophy room to examine Riddle's special award, accompanied by an interested Hermione and a thoroughly unconvinced Ron, who told them he'd seen enough of the trophy room to last him a lifetime.
"I don't blame you," Fred grimaced. "A regular detention cleaning in there is bad enough, let alone with puking slugs."
Riddle's burnished gold shield was tucked away in a corner cabinet. It didn't carry details of why it had been given to him. Ron pointed out this was a good thing, or he'd still be cleaning it.
A few people chuckled at that.
However, they did find Riddle's name on an old Medal for Magical Merit, and on a list of old Head Boys. Ron said he sounded like Percy, being Prefect, Head Boy and probably top of every class.
"Sorry!" Ron blurted out in horror as Percy pulled a face. No matter how much he wasn't fond of his brother, he knew Percy was nothing like him.
"It's ok, I guess. You didn't know. If I didn't know who he really was, I'd be pleased," Percy admitted in disgust.
Hermione sounded slightly hurt as she commented he made it sound like a bad thing.
"It is a bad thing!" Fred stated.
"Yeah," George agreed. "Absolutely terrible." Percy rolled his eyes. As did Bill.
The sun had now begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood. She told Filch that it won't be long until he has Mrs Norris back.
"About time too," Emmeline muttered.
"I guess that's even more of a clue that the book is they key. Harry now has it so it's not being used to open the chamber. Or enchanting anyone to do so," Bill put in.
"Although, I'm pleased, but I wonder why not. Clearly it has some sort of power over Harry, making him trust it. So why hasn't it attempted to make him open the chamber?" Moody wondered. Everyone shrugged, not having the answer.
Perhaps the Heir of Slytherin had lost his or her nerve, thought Harry. It must be getting riskier and riskier to open the Chamber of Secrets, with the school so alert and suspicious. Perhaps the monster, whatever it was, was even now settling itself down to hibernate for another fifty years…
"If only," Harry muttered to himself.
Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff didn't take this cheerful view. He was still convinced that Harry was the guilty one, that he had "given himself away" at the Dueling Club.
Everyone rolled their eyes at this. "He really is trying to make himself a target, isn't he?" Charlie muttered.
"Maybe he thinks he's safe? If he's attacked, it would well and truly point the blame to Harry, even without evidence. It's still stupid, but he doesn't sound like the brightest kid." Pomona opened her mouth to defend Ernie but closed it again. He had behaved foolishly that year, although she had cut him some slack considering Justin was his best friend and had been attacked.
Peeves wasn't helping matters; he kept popping up in the crowded corridors singing "Oh, Potter, you rotter…" now with a dance routine to match.
Sirius snorted, unable to help himself.
"Did you guys teach him the dance routine?" Harry asked, eyes narrowed at the twins. They gave him identical smirks.
"Us?" Fred asked with a faux innocent expression.
"Never," George grinned.
"We didn't need to," Fred told him. "He came up with one before we could."
Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop.
"Of course he did," Remus scoffed in disgust.
Harry overheard him telling Professor McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration. He said the chamber has been locked for good as the culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before he caught them.
"They could dance up and down in front of him, starkers, and he still wouldn't catch them," George snorted.
"He'd probably run away," Harry said disdainfully.
He added it was sensible of them to stop before he came down hard on them.
There was a round of snorting at this.
He then suggested the school needed a morale booster.
All of the staff groaned at the reminder of what had happened. All of the students pulled disgusted faces.
"Do I want to know?" Remus asked warily.
"No!" Several people replied at once.
"But you're going to," Harry muttered darkly.
On February 14th, Lockhart's morale booster appeared.
"Oh dear. That's mot a promising start, given the date," Kingsley said, looking both concerned and amused.
When Harry got to the Great Hall, he thought he'd walked into the wrong room. The walls were covered in lurid pink flowers and heart shaped confetti was falling from the ceiling.
"Oh, yuck!" Charlie wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"It was awful," Fred complained.
"And the confetti didn't disappear, either. It just sat there, on the food," Ron grumbled.
Ron and Hermione were already there, with Ron looking sickened and Hermione giggling.
"None of that sounds funny," Bill said in confusion.
"The expression on Ron's face was," Hermione chuckled.
"I think most of the guys looked like that," Neville said.
"It was hideous," Draco muttered.
Harry asked what was going on. Ron pointed at the teacher's table, too disgusted to speak. Lockhart was wearing pink robes to match the decorations, and waving for silence. The teachers nearby were looking unimpressed. From where he sat, Harry could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele Gro.
Everyone glanced at the two teachers and chuckled.
"Please tell me someone hexed him?" Remus asked, looking pained.
"More than one person," Minerva smirked.
He wished them a Happy Valentines Day and thanked the forty-six people who had sent him cards so far.
Forty-six? It's breakfast. How have that many people not realised he's an absolute fraud yet?" Sirius wondered in bemusement.
"He was still a good-looking fraud," Fred shrugged. "I guess that's all people cared about." Hermione blushed.
He said he'd taken the liberty of arranging a surprise and it didn't end there. He clapped his hands and a dozen surly dwarfs marched in wearing golden wings and carrying harps.
"What?" Kingsley asked in surprise.
"How did he convince the dwarfs to do that?" Amelia wondered.
"He must have paid them pretty well," Tonks said.
"Even so, it must have taken a lot for them to put away their pride and do that," Bill frowned.
"I think they just enjoyed the chaos," Ron grumbled. Harry pulled a face, thinking of the valentine he'd been sent. Then he glanced over at Ginny who had gone slightly red.
Lockhart called them his card-carrying cupids as they would be delivering valentines.
"That must have been so disruptive," Remus frowned.
"It was awful," Minerva agreed.
He added that the fun didn't stop there.
"The fun hasn't started," Remus muttered.
"How many valentines did you send to random people?" Harry asked George.
"A few," he smirked.
"It was great fun," Fred laughed.
He suggested his colleagues would enter the spirit of the occasion. He said they should ask Professor Snape to show them how to whip up a love potion.
Everyone burst out laughing.
"How many people were stupid enough to ask?" Charlie asked in amusement.
"None," Severus stated firmly.
"I'm kinda surprised. I thought at least one person would dare," Tonks laughed.
"I'm surprised the twins didn't," Harry grinned.
"Not even we're that brave," Fred told him, a serious expression on his face.
Lockhart continued that Flitwick knew more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard Lockhart had met.
Filius grimaced.
Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force fed poison.
Most people nodded at that. They wouldn't expect anything else from the potion's professor, and frankly, none of them blamed him. Anyone would be in a foul mood after Lockhart's 'morale booster'.
As they left the hall, Ron asked Hermione if she was one of the forty-six. She became very interested in looking for her schedule and didn't answer.
"Which is an answer in itself," George told her with a grin. Hermione blushed.
Dwarfs kept barging into classes to deliver valentines.
"That must have been annoying," Bill grimaced.
"It was terrible," Filius agreed.
"Nobody could focus at all," Pomona sighed.
In the afternoon, as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs caught up with Harry.
"Ooh, who sent you a valentine?" Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows. Ginny hid her face as she went scarlet. Harry fidgeted uncomfortably.
The dwarf elbowed people out of the way to get to Harry.
"That is rude," Andromeda frowned.
"It got worse," Harry scowled. Ron sniggered beside him.
Harry didn't appreciate the thought of being given a valentine in front of a bunch of first years, including Ginny.
Everyone turned to look at the youngest Weasley, who was still scarlet.
"You sent it, didn't you?" Charlie asked his sister. She glared at him and drew her wand. He held his hands up in the gesture of innocence while the twins howled.
"James did far more embarrassing things while trying to get Lily to go out with him," Remus assured Harry, who grimaced.
"Yeah, he didn't need a dwarf to deliver a singing valentine. He did it himself," Sirius guffawed. Harry grinned a little at that while Severus scowled. "More than once," Sirius added.
Harry tried to escape but the dwarf kicked people's shins to get through the crowd and reached him easily. Harry desperately tried to tell him not to deliver it there, but the dwarf grabbed hold of his bag, and ripped it causing all of Harry's things to spill onto the floor.
"Hey!" Sirius protested, losing his amusement. "There was no need to destroy his property."
"One of the older years fixed it for me," Harry told him.
Harry scrambled around, trying to pick it all up before the dwarf started singing, causing something of a holdup in the corridor. Malfoy arrived.
"Of course he did," Bill rolled his eyes.
"I swear you do stalk Harry," Charlie said, glaring at Draco.
"I was heading to class," Draco informed him coolly.
Percy then arrived as well. Harry tried to make a run for it but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor.
"Oi!" The twins and Sirius yelled.
"He could have been hurt, especially in a corridor so crowded," Molly fretted.
"I was fine. Just embarrassed," Harry admitted.
"It was hilarious," Draco smirked at him. He had found it hilarious for both Harry and the youngest Weasley to be so embarrassed by the event. But now, he found it funny that Ginny thought it had been a good idea. Despite spending the summer with him, she clearly knew nothing about the real Harry and that pleased him. Harry grimaced.
"Those dwarfs are a bit too determined. They shouldn't be injuring students and destroying their property just to deliver a valentine," Amelia frowned.
He sat on Harry's ankles and delivered the valentine.
All of the younger lot, except Ginny and Harry, roared with laughter.
Several of the older lot also chuckled. But Narcissa and Severus exchanged confused looks, as did Kingsley, Mad-Eye and Amelia. The verse had referred to Voldemort as 'the Dark Lord', and the only people they had ever heard call him that were Death Eaters. Ginny Weasley was clearly no Death eater, so what could possibly have caused her to use the phrase?
Harry would have given all the gold in Gringotts to evaporate on the spot.
Harry and Ginny both turned redder.
Trying valiantly to laugh along with everyone else,
"It was a good attempt, to be fair, but you still looked more like you were going to strangle someone," Ron grinned at him.
"It'll be you in a minute," Harry told him under his breath. Ron just smirked.
he got up, his feet numb from the weight of the dwarf, as Percy Weasley did his best to disperse the crowd, some of whom were crying with mirth.
"Were you one of the ones crying Draco?" Fred asked in a teasing voice.
"Yeah, crying that he didn't think of sending Harry a valentine's message," George added in amusement. Draco stopped grinning and glared at the duo.
"I would never send something so vulgar."
"But you would send him something?" Fred pressed. Draco's cheeks turned pink.
"Obviously not," he declared haughtily, but the twins just winked at him.
He told them the bell had rung five minutes ago. He turned to Malfoy who had snatched up the diary.
Narcissa went even paler than usual. She did not want her son messing with anything enchanted by the Dark Lord.
Harry told him to give it back. Malfoy asked what Harry could have written in it. Ginny spotted it, looking from the diary to Harry in terror.
The Ministry people all perked up at that.
"You know, I'm beginning to think Ginny Weasley may have been the one. I don't know how, I very much doubt she is a parselmouth, but she knows something about the diary. It makes sense," Kingsley said quietly.
"Yes. Given some of the things that have been said, how she has reacted to the retelling, her reaction in the book to the diary, it's all adding up," Amelia agreed. "Obviously it's enchanted her some way, she fought off the enchantment and tried to dispose of it. It's the parseltongue that's stumping me."
"But her father must have taught her about enchanted books. Why would she have interacted with it enough to let it get a hold on her?" Kingsley wondered.
"I don't know. Harry hasn't interacted with it much other than possessing it and flicking through the pages and he still can't bring himself to throw it away. Maybe it was enough to keep her from showing it to anyone. From there, I guess it depends how the enchantment works. Harry hasn't shown any signs of wanting to open the chamber."
Percy told him to hand it over and Malfoy declared that he would when he had had a look. Percy began to protest when Harry pulled out his wand and successfully disarmed Malfoy. Ron caught the diary.
"Wow. You pulled off that spell first time having only ever seen it demonstrated once?" Tonks whistled.
"That is pretty impressive," Remus told Harry with a smile.
Percy told him off for performing magic in the corridors and said he would have to report it.
"As long as you reported Malfoy for stealing Harry's property in the first place and refusing to return it," Bill told him. Percy nodded.
"I did."
Harry didn't care, thinking five points would be worth it for beating Malfoy. Malfoy looked furious, and as Ginny passed him to enter her classroom, he yelled spitefully after her that Harry hadn't liked her valentine much.
"Oi, just because you were deservedly embarrassed, doesn't mean you take it out on our sister," Charlie glared at Draco angrily.
Ginny covered her face with her hands and ran into class.
Ginny blushed and the rest of the Weasley children joined Charlie and glared at Draco.
Snarling, Ron pulled out his wand, too, but Harry pulled him away. Ron didn't need to spend the whole of Charms belching slugs.
Ron grimaced. "Thanks Harry."
"It was for my own safety as well," he grinned.
When they reached Professor Flitwick's class, Harry noticed something rather odd about Riddle's diary. All his other books were drenched in scarlet ink. The diary, however, was as clean as it had been before the ink bottle had smashed all over it.
"Well, it was Voldemort's. If it does have something to do with opening the chamber, I'd imagine it has some protective spells on it," Bill mused.
"An impervious charm at the least," Moody agreed.
He tried to point this out to Ron, but Ron was having trouble with his wand again. It was causing large purple bubbles to blossom out of the end, and he wasn't much interested in anything else.
"That was pretty distracting," Neville laughed.
Harry went to bed before anyone else in his dormitory that night. This was partly because he didn't think he could stand Fred and George singing his valentine anymore and partly because he wanted to examine Riddle's diary again, and knew that Ron thought he was wasting his time.
Everyone grimaced.
"Harry," Sirius groaned.
"I couldn't help it," Harry sighed. He hated that stupid diary.
"Yeah. We know, that doesn't make it easier to hear," Remus told him with a frown towards the book.
Harry sat on his four-poster and flicked through the blank pages, not one of which had a trace of scarlet ink on it. Then he pulled a new bottle out of his bedside cabinet, dipped his quill into it, and dropped a blot onto the first page of the diary. The ink was absorbed so Harry wrote his name.
"NO!" Yelled most of the adults, despite knowing it was futile. Harry winced.
"You really should have just stuck with 'hello' if you absolutely had to write in the thing. Even without it being Voldemort's it's a bad idea to give your name away," Sirius told him sternly. Harry nodded.
The words shone momentarily on the page and they, too, sank without trace. Then, at last, something happened. Then words appeared, saying hello and it's name was Tom Riddle.
Ginny flinched.
It asked how Harry had come by the diary.
"What?" Tonks asked sharply.
"It shouldn't be able to write back," Charlie frowned.
"Hmm, it's possible to charm something to reply to someone. If you imbue it with a bit of your magic, it can give a response based on the personality of the person that imbued it," Remus stated. Severus turned to stare at him, eyes narrowed.
"And how would you know that, Lupin?" He snarled. Remus grinned impishly and said nothing.
These words, too, faded away, but not before Harry had started to scribble back.
Arthur closed his eyes.
He replied that someone tried to flush it down the toilet. Riddle told him it was lucky he had recorded his memories in a more lasting way than ink as he knew there would be those who didn't want the diary read.
"Recorded his memories? The book shouldn't be able to hold memories," Amelia said slowly.
Harry asked what he meant, blotting the page in excitement.
Everyone exchanged worried glances at Harry's enthusiasm.
Catching some of the looks, Harry flushed. "I was excited to get answers. I was hoping for a way to stop everything."
Riddle replied that the diary held memories of terrible things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts.
"He's not even lying. It sounds like things were covered up," Kingsley sighed.
"They were still being covered up," Ameila said, glaring at Albus.
Harry told Riddle he was at Hogwarts.
"Name and location. Two things you should never give out to an unknown," Moody growled at him. "You might not have known enough about magic to know this book is unusual in a very bad way, but you should still never give that information away to a stranger." Harry nodded.
He asked about the chamber. Riddle replied that he had been told it was a legend but in his fifth year it was opened, causing several attacks which ended in one death. Riddle caught the person who opened the chamber, and they were expelled.
"Expelled? Hagrid," Charlie breathed. "He framed Hagrid."
"It adds up. I'm pretty sure Hagrid is the only person to have been expelled in the last hundred years or so," Percy agreed.
"And with Hagrid's love of dangerous creatures, it would probably have been an easy lie," Sirius said with a groan. "Even as a kid I'm willing to bet he had a fascination with them."
Riddle continued that the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, had been ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts and forbade me to tell the truth.
"That sounds about right," Amelia agreed with another glare at Dumbledore.
A story was given out that the girl had 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.
"I assume the cover up is the only reason Hagrid didn't go to Azkaban and was only expelled?" Charlie frowned.
"Most likely. If it had come out that he had caused the death of another student he would have been imprisoned," Amelia agreed gravely. Sirius scowled.
"Even if it hadn't been covered up, there wouldn't have been any evidence. Hagrid isn't a parselmouth so couldn't have opened the chamber. If an actual investigation had taken place, properly, he would have been proven innocent," Kingsley pointed out.
"Maybe. He is a half-giant. The Ministry would probably have been against him from the beginning," Sirius snorted bitterly. The Ministry workers all stared at him, but didn't argue the point.
Harry nearly upset his ink bottle in his hurry to write back. He stated the attacks were happening again and asked who had done it last time. Riddle offered to show him.
"NO!" Everyone yelled once more.
"I can't do anything about it now," Harry reminded them. Nobody looked happy, taking this as confirmation he had gone through with it.
"But how? How could a diary possibly show him a memory?" Moody wondered uneasily. "This is no ordinary magic." Nobody had an answer for that.
Albus eyed the room warily. He didn't think the information on exactly what the diary was should be given out to this many people, especially Narcissa or Draco who could easily let something slip once they left the room.
Harry hesitated, his quill suspended over the diary. He wondered what Riddle meant and how he could be taken inside someone's memory. He glanced nervously at the door to the dormitory, which was growing dark. When he looked back at the diary, he saw fresh words forming. It offered to show him, and Harry finally agreed.
Several people groaned.
The pages of the diary began to blow as though caught in a high wind, stopping halfway through the month of June. Mouth hanging open, Harry saw that the little square for June thirteenth seemed to have turned into a miniscule television screen. His hands trembling slightly, he raised the book to press his eye against the little window, and before he knew what was happening, he was tilting forward; the window was widening, he felt his body leave his bed, and he was pitched headfirst through the opening in the page, into a whirl of colour and shadow.
"That does sound exactly like a pensive," Tonks mused.
"Hmmm, none of this is right, and I wonder if this is how someone ended up so enchanted. The more the book is interacted with, the greater the hold over the person writing in it, I would imagine," Amelia said quietly to Kingsley and Moody. They both nodded.
"I also wonder if it can only show one memory, or all the memories of whatever age he was when he performed the magic on the diary," Kingsley said thoughtfully.
"Given that it shouldn't be able to show any memories, I'm not sure I want to know," Amelia muttered.
He felt his feet hit solid ground, and stood, shaking, as the blurred shapes around him came suddenly into focus. He knew immediately where he was. This circular room with the sleeping portraits was Dumbledore's office—but it wasn't Dumbledore who was sitting behind the desk. A wizened, frail looking wizard, bald except for a few wisps of white hair, was reading a letter by candlelight. Harry had never seen this man before.
"Professor Dippet," Minerva stated.
Harry apologized but the wizard didn't seem to hear him. He continued to read, frowning slightly. Harry said he should go but was still ignored.
"You can't be heard or seen in a memory," Neville told him quietly.
"Yeah. I worked it out eventually," Harry said with a smile.
He didn't seem even to have heard him. Thinking that the wizard might be deaf, Harry raised his voice, half shouting that he would go now.
Everyone chuckled.
The wizard folded up the letter with a sigh, stood up, walked past Harry without glancing at him, and went to draw the curtains at his window. The sky outside the window was ruby red; it seemed to be sunset. The wizard went back to the desk, sat down, and twiddled his thumbs, watching the door. Harry looked around the office. No Fawkes the phoenix—no whirring silver contraptions. This was Hogwarts as Riddle had known it, meaning that this unknown wizard was Headmaster, not Dumbledore, and he, Harry, was little more than a phantom, completely invisible to the people of fifty years ago.
"You worked it out pretty quickly," Remus praised.
"You've got a good mind, Potter. When you use it," Moody grunted. Harry laughed.
There was a knock on the office door. The wizard called for them to enter and a sixteen-year-old Riddle entered.
"Wait, Riddle wasn't there to begin with? Why would Harry end up there if this is supposed to be Riddle's memory?" Bill wondered, frowning. "Riddle wouldn't have known what Dippet was doing ro saying before he arrived."
"That is strange," Andromeda agreed uneasily. "But since we do not know exactly what magic creating this thing, it is impossible to say how this occurred."
The Headmaster greeted him. Riddle seemed nervous. The headmaster indicated for him to sit down as he'd just been reading the letter Riddle had sent him. He stated that he could not let Riddle stay at Hogwarts over the summer and surely he wanted to go home. Riddle denied this, and Dippet asked if he lived in a muggle orphanage. Riddle turned slightly red as he agreed. Dippet asked if he was Muggle-born. Riddle replied he was a Half-blood with a muggle father and witch mother.
Narcissa's eyes widened marginally. Of course, Potter had told them the Dark Lord was a half-blood, but this… She fully believed that this was the teenaged version of the Dark Lord, for it all made sense, it was well known among his followers, and therefore her husband, that he was the Heir of Slytherin and had opened the chamber. To hear him so casually state that he was indeed a half-blood was astonishing.
Dippet asked about his parents, and Riddle confirmed that his mother was dead, only living long enough to name him Tom Marvolo. Dippet sighed and said that special arrangements might have been made except for the current circumstances.
"Wait, so special circumstances could be made?" Harry asked, frowning at Dumbledore.
"Unfortunately, no students are permitted to remain at Hogwarts over the summer holidays," the headmaster told him. Nobody bothered to point out that suspected he wouldn't have allowed Harry to do so, even if it were possible.
Riddle asked if he meant the attacks. Dippet agreed and said it would be foolish of him to allow Riddle to stay, particularly given the recent death. The Ministry was talking about closing the school. Riddle's eyes widened and asked if the person was caught, if it all stopped.
"So, he stopped attacking people to keep the school open?" George asked in astonishment.
"It was his home," Dumbledore sighed heavily.
"Oh yes, I always attack and murder people in my home," Fred muttered.
"Well, you attack them at any rate," Percy joked. The twins grinned.
Dippet sat up, and asked if Riddle knew something about the attacks which he denied. Harry suspected it was a similar 'no' to the one he had given Dumbledore… a lie.
Harry grimaced at the comparison.
"Hey, you weren't lying because you were the one attacking people. You were being unfairly blamed and had no reason to believe they would believe you," Sirius reminded him gently. "It was unfortunate, but not unreasonable."
Dippet sank back, looking faintly disappointed. He dismissed Riddle who slouched out of the room, Harry following. Down the moving spiral staircase they went, emerging next to the gargoyle in the darkening corridor. Riddle stopped, and so did Harry, watching him. Harry could tell that Riddle was doing some serious thinking. He was biting his lip, his forehead furrowed. Then, as though he had suddenly reached a decision, he hurried off, Harry gliding noiselessly behind him. They didn't see another person until they reached the entrance hall, when a tall wizard with long, sweeping auburn hair and a beard called to Riddle from the marble staircase, asking what he was doing. Harry gaped at the wizard. He was none other than a fifty year younger Dumbledore.
"You were a red-head?" George asked the headmaster with interest. It was hard to picture him with anything other than white hair.
"Indeed, I was," Dumbledore chuckled.
Riddle explained he had to see the headmaster. Dumbledore told him to hurry to bed, before wishing him goodnight and leaving. Riddle watched him walk out of sight and then, moving quickly, headed straight down the stone steps to the dungeons, with Harry in hot pursuit. But to Harry's disappointment, Riddle led him not into a hidden passageway or a secret tunnel but to the very dungeon in which Harry had Potions with Snape. The torches hadn't been lit, and when Riddle pushed the door almost closed, Harry could only just see him, standing stock still by the door, watching the passage outside.
"I guess he's waiting for Hagrid, or whoever he plans to frame," Charlie frowned.
"But Hagrid was a Gryffindor, why would he be in the dungeons?" Tonks wondered.
"Probably nothing good," Ted stated grimly. Whatever his business in the dungeon, it had likely not done him any favours in regard to being considered the Heir of Slytherin.
It felt to Harry that they were there for at least an hour. All he could see was the figure of Riddle at the door, staring through the crack, waiting like a statue. And just when Harry had stopped feeling expectant and tense and started wishing he could return to the present, he heard something move beyond the door. Someone was creeping along the passage. He heard whoever it was pass the dungeon where he and Riddle were hidden. Riddle, quiet as a shadow, edged through the door and followed, Harry tiptoeing behind him, forgetting that he couldn't be heard. For perhaps five minutes they followed the footsteps, until Riddle stopped suddenly, his head inclined in the direction of new noises. Harry heard a door creak open, and then someone speaking in a hoarse whisper, saying they had to get someone out of there and encouraging them into a box. Harry noted the voice was familiar.
"Well, that seals it. Definitely Hagrid," Charlie nodded, sad and angry on his friend's behalf.
"It sounds like he does have some creature hidden down there," Amelia sighed.
"If it's anything like his other pets, I'm not entirely surprised they thought it was responsible for attacking or killing students," Tonks muttered.
"But death by looking a basilisk in the eyes wouldn't leave any marks. There aren't many creatures that could cause a similar death, not to mention the petrifications," Kingsley frowned.
"Yeah, well. They had their culprit. A half giant with a dangerous pet, turned in by a clearly well-thought of prefect. Hagrid didn't stand a chance. I'd be surprised if there was even an investigation at all," Sirius scoffed.
"It did say Dippet covered it up, so a full investigation in unlikely," Amelia sighed, hating the corruption that still ran rampant at the Ministry, even then.
There was something familiar about that voice. Riddle suddenly jumped around the corner. Harry stepped out behind him. He could see the dark outline of a huge boy who was crouching in front of an open door, a very large box next to it. Riddle greeted Rubeus who slammed the door shut and asked what he was doing there.
"Well, Hagrid's never been subtle, has he?" Remus grimaced.
Riddle stepped closer and said he would have to turn him in as they were talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop. He stated that he didn't think Hagrid meant to kill anyone, but monsters don't make good pets.
"As much as I hate agreeing with him, he does have a point on this occasion," Ted muttered grimly.
"Yeah," Charlie sighed.
Hagrid denied it had ever killed anyone. A rustling and clicking sounded from behind him. Riddle stated the dead girl's parents would be there the next day and the least Hogwarts could do is make sure the thing that killed their daughter was slaughtered.
"How dare he!" Molly seethed. "How dare he stand there and talk about that poor girl's parents who would never receive the actual truth about what happened to their little girl!"
"We know, he's vile," Arthur said, in an attempt at a soothing voice, but he looked equally angry.
Hagrid denied it was his pet. Riddle told him to stand aside, drawing his wand. He cast a spell, forcing the door behind Hagrid open. What emerged made Harry scream.
"What?" Sirius asked urgently.
"It's fine. It just…startled me," Harry assured him. Ron shuddered.
"If it made you scream, it can't have been good. Even Fluffy and the dragon didn't make you scream," Remus pointed out unhappily.
"You'll find out."
A large spider emerged.
"That's…is that a giant spider?" Tonks wondered.
"I think it's an acromantula," Charlie told her grimly. They both knew there was a colony in the forest. And he now had a suspicion as to how they got there.
"Why on earth would Hagrid…never mind. It's Hagrid. How did a, what, thirteen-year-old Hagrid get hold of an acromantula?" Amelia asked in astonishment.
"Good question," Kingsley said, frowning thoughtfully. "Surely he wouldn't have had the money to buy it? Maybe he was given it by someone? Someone who didn't know what it was?"
Riddle raised his wand again, but was too late. The creature bowled him over and scuttled away. Riddle scrambled to his feet, raising his wand again but Hagrid threw himself at Riddle, disarmed him and threw him back down.
"Teenaged You-Know-Who was tackled and disarmed by Hagrid? Wicked," Ron grinned. A few people gave disbelieving laughs at that.
The scene whirled, the darkness became complete; Harry felt himself falling and, with a crash, he landed spread eagled on his four-poster in the Gryffindor dormitory, Riddle's diary lying open on his stomach.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief that Harry was out of the dairy once more.
Before he had had time to regain his breath, the dormitory door opened, and Ron came in. Harry sat up. He was sweating and shaking. Ron asked him what was up, looking concerned. Harry told him Hagrid had opened the chamber.
"Wow. You really thought Hagrid did it? Without even talking to him?" Charlie asked, looking disappointed. Harry winced.
"I didn't think…I mean, that spider was huge, and I didn't think Hagrid would do it on purpose. I assume he'd lost control of it or something," Harry admitted.
"But if it was Hagrid, why would he somehow do the same thing fifty years later?" Tonks wondered. Harry shrugged.
"I wasn't exactly thinking clearly."
"Besides, not that you would know, Harry, but the professors at the time should have known that an acromantula doesn't petrify. Its poison could paralyze but that's not the same thing. Nor would it kill without leaving a single mark on the victim," Charlie pointed out.
"That's the end of the chapter," George stated.
"My turn," Ginny said in a small voice.
"I'll read," Molly offered immediately. George gave the book to his mother, reading over Ginny's weak protests.