I picked up the book and examined it closely. It was a diary. Several thoughts ran through my head. Who was Tom Riddle? Why and how had his diary ended up inside my transfiguration book? Was he still alive? Was he in Diagon Alley with us that day? Did he intend to give me his diary?

I opened it up. There was nothing written anywhere in the book, not a single word. I made to go downstairs and tell my parents. There was a lost and found area just outside Gringotts. We could leave it there perhaps. I was almost at my bedroom door however, when I had a different idea. Why not keep this diary as my own instead? My parents had always encouraged me to write one, in fact Mum had shown me several of hers from her school days. Fred and George also always told me finders keepers too. So, instead of going downstairs, I sat down at my desk and got out a quill and some ink. I then saw that the inside cover said that the diary was made in 1942, so it was fifty years old.

I bit my lip, carefully thinking about what to write. Obviously I wasn't going to start with "Dear Diary". That was cringeworthy. Instead, I decided to go with "Hello, my name is Ginny Weasley".

As soon as a wrote these words though, and was about to start another sentence, something very strange happened. They suddenly disappeared. Then, someone was writing back!

"Hello Ginny Weasley, my name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"

This caught me off guard completely. A diary that talked back? Was this Tom Riddle sat down elsewhere, writing back to me right now? Or was he simply fictional, a product of the maker's imagination, to give a name to the book itself? There was only one way to find out. I had to keep writing.

"It was inside my Hogwarts transfiguration book. I don't know why. Is this something that everyone gets in that manner? It's my first year at Hogwarts this year you see, I'm leaving in two days actually".

I don't know how I knew this, but I just somehow knew at that point that the diary, or whoever was writing back to me, was slightly hesitant, but the thought only occurred for a split second before the next response.

"No, Ginny, not everyone gets a diary for free with their transfiguration books. I chose you, that's how I work. The only people who find me are those who are meant to find me. I'm at Hogwarts myself, it's a wonderful place, the only place I've ever truly felt happy. The fact you're reading this now, means you are special, so you would be wise to hold on to me. You'd also be wise not to tell anyone about me either, as you will be greatly rewarded for keeping me secret. You should feel blessed, as very few people get to experience what I can do, and what I can show you."

"What can you do, and what can you show me?"

"Now, now Ginny, patience please. You will find out soon enough, but only if you tell me about yourself first. Then I will tell you about myself, and we shall become close companions. Only then, will you reap my rewards. I will help you with whatever you need".

I knew at this point that I had to do what he said. I was not going to tell anyone about this. This would be my secret, and one that I alone would experience the benefits of.

"I saw on the inside cover that this book is from 1942. Are you from 1942?"

"I am. What year is it for you?"

"1992"

"Wow, 50 years have passed between us. You must tell me more, I am intrigued, what is life like?"

And then I was off, I told him everything, about myself, my family, where I lived, how I'd dreamed of going to Hogwarts my whole life. I poured my heart out, telling him about the struggles I'd been through and how I overcame them. Somehow this just felt right, that I needed to do this. There was surely no danger in this, it was only a talking book after all.

"How old are you, if you don't mind saying?" asked Riddle

"11. As I said, I'm starting at Hogwarts in two days"

"I am 16. I remember my first day at Hogwarts very well. I grew up in a muggle orphanage. I always knew there was something different about me though, Professor Dumbledore came to visit me there, and he invited me to attend his school. I accepted, and it was the best decision I ever made. The school feels more like home than anywhere else ever did. Is Professor Dumbledore still there? He is my Transfiguration Professor."

"Yes, he is the headmaster now. Everyone knows him, he is the greatest wizard in the world, he's done so many amazing things".

"So I've heard. He must have done much more in the 50 extra years of his life he's lived between us."

"Of course-" but at this point I heard footsteps on the stairs. I quickly shut the diary and stuffed it underneath my bed. I heard the door opening, and there stood Dad.

"Oh, you've almost finished packing already, very keen aren't you Ginny? Anyway it's dinner time now".

"Ok" I said, going downstairs and completely forgetting about the diary.

The next day was very enjoyable indeed. Our whole family made the final day of the holidays a special one. First, I was able to demonstrate my Quidditch skill even further, where I scored 10 goals to win a game single handedly against the twins, which left them in shock and even slightly jealous I think of my ability. That evening, Mum conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry's favourite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding, which became one of my new favourite foods too after that day. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

It took a long while to get started the next morning. We were up at dawn, but somehow I was the only one who didn't seem to still have a great deal to do. Mum dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Dad nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying my trunk to the car.

"Not a word to Molly," Dad whispered to Harry and I as he opened the boot and showed us how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily. When at last, most of us were in the car, Mum glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said,

"Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and I got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"

I caught Dad's eye, covering my mouth and turning away so that Mum didn't see me laughing. Dad started up the engine and we trundled out of the yard, Harry turning back for a last look at the house. I assumed he was wondering when he'd see it again, I was about to tell him not to worry and that he could come back again next summer when we were back — George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, we skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. We had almost reached the motorway when I suddenly remembered the diary! Shit! It was still under my bed! I forced Dad to turn the car around and return for it, despite Mum's protests that she would sent it to me by owl. I was not about to risk her finding out what it was though! I pretended that I wanted to write in it as a way of passing the time on the train, and that did the trick. My real plan was to share a compartment with Demelza, Hermione, Harry and Ron.

By the time we clambered back into the car, we were running very late, and tempers were running high. Dad glanced at his watch and then at Mum.

"Molly, dear —"

"No, Arthur —"

"No one would see — this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed — that'd get us up in the air — then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser —"

"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight —"

We reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Dad dashed across the road to get trolleys for our trunks and we hurried into the station.

I will take a moment here just to state that Muggles don't notice us vanishing through the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 because there is a Muggle Repelling Charm around the barrier, as well as the fact that when every magical person enters the station land, we automatically have a special version of a Disillusionment Charm placed on us until we are all through the barrier safely. These charms mean we are and our belongings are invisible to Muggles while we are inside the station and in the general area of it's exterior, but we can all see each other clearly. These charms only exist in the station though and can't be performed anywhere else. The only Muggles who also get placed under the charm are the family and friends of Muggle borns who have been made aware of the existence of magic by being told in person.

This means that despite what I've told you here, you won't also be affected by the charm when you enter the station. Also, yes, I have seen the Muggle platform 9 3/4 tourist attraction, with the trolley halfway through the wall, and the Harry Potter merch shop next to it. Yes, it is pretty amusing, I've even taken a picture with it myself, and had a muggle use my magical camera to take the picture, though I disguised it as a Muggle one obviously. Of course, they were none the wiser and it was funny to do so with them having no idea that I was one of the most famous witches in the world. I then went into the shop and bought a few Gryffindor items and a replica of my wand, which looks nothing like it by the way. I sent them all to Dad and he loved them of course. The picture of me with the trolley halfway through the wall now sits on the mantelpiece at the Burrow.

"Percy first," said Mum, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Dad went next; Fred and George followed. "I'll take Ginny and you two come right after us," Mum told Harry and Ron, grabbing my hand and setting off.

When we got on to the platform, I looked behind me, expecting to see Ron and Harry emerging, but they didn't. I started to voice my concerns to Mum, but she and Dad simply ushered me on to the train and told me to have a good term before it started to move. As I made my way towards the compartment Demelza had promised to save for us if we were hypothetically late, I was worried. What on earth had happened to Harry and Ron? They were right behind us, how did they not get through the barrier on time?

I entered the compartment where Demelza and Hermione were sitting.

"Oh Ginny thank god, you're here, we thought you were gonna miss the train!" said Demelza

"Yeah" added Hermione "how come you were so late?"

I sat down next to Demelza.

"Manic morning. We left in good time at first but then Fred, George and I forgot things so we had to go back three times. Then Mum wouldn't let Dad fly our car to King's Cross so we only got there with 15 minutes to spare. Harry and Ron aren't on the train though, I don't know what's happened to them!"

"WHAT?!" yelled Hermione "what do you mean, how come they didn't get on?"

"No idea. They were right behind us. I have no idea when, how or even if they'll make it up to Hogwarts".

Demelza stood up.

"I'm going to send Placy ahead, to tell them Harry and Ron never made it on to the train. Hopefully someone will be sent down to London to get them"

"Good idea" I said.

While Demelza wrote her letter, me and Hermione sat there nervously, me biting my lip, Hermione wringing her hands. How long would it take for Placy to reach Hogwarts? Would Harry and Ron simply wait for help? Would Harry try to send Hedwig up to Hogwarts? Would they take matters into their own hands? The uncertainty of it all made me feel horrible. I then realised Percy, Fred and George wouldn't know they hadn't made it on board, so I had to go and tell them. Once I returned, Demelza had sent Placy off and we all sat there in an awkward, tense, silence. This was certainly not how I had imagined that my first train ride to Hogwarts would go.

After a while, Hermione decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Look" she said, kicking off her shoes and pulling her feet up to sit cross-legged on her seat "we can't just sit here in silence, worrying all day. I know Harry very well, he will almost certainly find a way out of this situation. If anyone can, it's him".

I had to agree with her there. Harry had already escaped You Know Who twice, so this situation seemed trivial by comparison. At that moment though, all our thoughts of Harry and Ron were erased as the food trolley arrived.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" said the witch. I was excited for this, Chocolate Frogs have always been one of my favourite foods, not only because chocolate is delicious, but because of the famous witches and wizards cards designed for us kids to collect. It's always been a competition in our family as to who can have the biggest and most varied collection. Ron's was biggest at the time, with a total of 541 if I remember correctly, but he had a lot of duplicates. I only had 374 cards by that point, but mine was much more varied than his. One card I was desperately hoping for but never had managed to get until that point, was Gwenog Jones's card. Demelza, Hermione and I bought a handful each as well as some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Pumpkin Juice and Pasties, then we settled down to open them.

"How many cards do you have?" asked Hermione to both of us. "Obviously being Muggle born, I didn't know these existed until last year, so I only have about 30 myself. I'm guessing your collections are much bigger?"

"Yes, of course, I have nearly 400, but still no Gwenog Jones" I said "How many have you got Demelza?"

"252 at my last count, and I have about 20 of Gwenog! You can have one if you don't get her at some point this year"

"Cheers mate"

"I've got some catching up to do then" smirked Hermione.

We opened ours, and I ended up getting Dumbledore for the 15th time, Minister Fudge, Barty Crouch Senior, Alastor Moody, Nicholas Flamel (to which Hermione gave a hollow and ironic laugh), Madame Maxime (The headmistress of Beauxbatons), Shaun Baliff (A legend of Puddlemere United, whom I was going to throw out of the window before Hermione offered to take him) and Newt Scamander (the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, whom I had about eight of by that point). Still no Gwenog.

"Demelza, how come you've got so many of Gwenog, yet I still can't get her for the life of me?"

"No idea, guess I'm just lucky"

We then moved on to Bertie Botts every Flavour Beans, and I was rather unfortunate with some of mine. I got curry, baking powder, cleaning fluid, petrol, dirt, human excrement (yes really, I very nearly vomited after that one) monkey urine and coffee.

Hermione and Demelza both had much better luck than me, with the worst of theirs being Hermione's gravel flavoured one.

After we'd finished all the food, we started discussing the Hogwarts houses.

"So Hermione, we know you're in Gryffindor, but we've heard you're the best in the year by far, why aren't you in Ravenclaw?" asked Demelza.

"I'm not sure to be honest" replied Hermione. "When I read about all the houses before I arrived last year I felt for sure that I'd be a Ravenclaw, as they value academic achievement and intelligence above all else. The Sorting Hat felt like Gryffindor was right for me though".

"I know I'll be a Gryffindor, my entire family have been" I said.

"My dad was a Hufflepuff, but honestly my family have been all over the place, loads of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. The only house my family has never had a member in, I'm proud to say, is Slytherin!" said Demelza. "I pray I don't become the first!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll both be Gryffindors!"

The sky slowly darkened and Placy didn't return, which lead us to assume she had been sent straight to the Hogwarts Owlery. I checked my watch.

"Hermione, it's 6pm, what time did the train arrive last year?"

"About 7pm I think, we should probably get changed"

So we did, and the train slowly pulled in to and finally stopped at Hogsmeade Station.