Chapter 1 - The Boy In The Chamber

Harry trembled. Maybe in fear, maybe in exhaustion. He wasn't very sure. He wasn't very sure about a great many things, really. He wasn't sure if Spurs would finally win a championship that year. He was also not very sure if he had closed his trunk before he left. He definitely wasn't sure if the wetness he felt on his underwear was just sweat or something else entirely. But most of all, he wasn't very sure he could take on the giant snake screeching something or other just behind his hiding spot. He was way over his head on this one, all right. He could admit it. Maybe he and Ron could have found some of the other staff members before deciding to jump inside that pipe. What was the purpose of bringing Lockhart, anyway? Did he subconsciously decide to use him as bait or something? Well, whatever his ever illusive mind had planned for the fake professor, it didn't work out. Both Lockhart and Ron had stayed behind after a cave-in. Which left Harry to deal with Ginny Weasley, Tom Riddle…

Screeeeeeech!

… And the basilisk all by himself. Now, Harry had a very good record of thinking up solutions as he went about life, but for some reason dealing with a giant snake didn't inspire him very much. Go figure. Still, he was running out of time. Ginny grew weaker by the second, and if he didn't start to move soon, she could very well die. Which was… A bummer, to be honest. He assumed dying wasn't exactly a good experience for one to have. Realistically, though, what could he do? Riddle had taken his wand. He could scream and drag the basilisk into a wild chase, but that would serve only to mildly annoy the snake. And probably confuse the hell out of Tom, too. He blinked. Well. That was a nice possibility. If you can't beat your enemies, confuse and annoy them. That's how the saying went, right? Right. Well, no one ever could ever say Harry Potter didn't take philosophy seriously. He steeled himself, summoning his Gryffindorish courage. Wood would be pissed about losing his seeker, but whatever. He could do this!

"Hey, dude. What's cooking?" Said a boyish voice immediately to his left. It was a blessing that the basilisk didn't shut its trap for a second, because the scream that left Harry's lips could probably wake Neville from slumber. Turning around faster than Hermione could read a book, he found himself face to face with a well-built teenager, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What… Who are you?" Asked Harry, before shaking his head furiously. "Nevermind. Look, there is a basilisk! You need to get out of here!" He exclaimed. It came within reason that this stranger had found another way in. No way Ron and that husk of a man had cleared off that cave-in so quickly.

The boy merely tilted his head, as if he wasn't about to become snake food. "What about you? Shouldn't you leave too?" He asked, his tone of voice curious, unafraid.

Harry denied. "My friend's sister needs help. I'm not going to abandon her here!" Even if the most he could do was to scream in fright, he wasn't about to turn around. Harry Potter didn't leave his friends behind! Well… Ginny wasn't really his friend. She was more of a weird, kind of awkward girl who had a crush on him. Like, a huge crush. A really unhealthy one. He was pretty sure she messed around with his trash. Still, he wasn't leaving without her!

Narrowing his eyes, the teenager studied him for a few moments. His sea-green eyes seemed to stare deep inside Harry's soul, analyzing both his sins and his virtues in equal measure. Huh, thought Harry, so that's what it feels like. If he got out of this chamber, Harry would sincerely apologize to everyone he had put his eyeballs on before. It's not like he did it on purpose! It's just that his attention span wasn't the best. Sometimes he would just drift out and scare everyone to death. It was only a little bit funny.

Suddenly, the boy in front of him smiled. "Great! Finally, I was sent to help out someone cool!" His voice boomed out in such a way that even the basilisk seemed to shrink. He slapped Harry in the shoulder with enough strength to kill a baby elephant, before stepping around him and jumping out of their hiding spot. Harry felt his heart stop as the boy seemed to lock eyes with the snake. Great. Another death to add to the toll. The funerary houses around the school sure would make a killing that night. Only… The boy didn't die. Harry's confusion was seemingly matched by Tom's, who screamed in anger.

"How is that possible?! Who are you, who can match gazes with my basilisk?!" Questioned Riddle. Funnily enough, his voice cracked while doing so. He really was the memory of a teenager, huh? Tough luck. It was a shame Harry was half-hidden behind the wall because he missed whatever expression the Evil Lord had on his face. It must have been pretty funny because the stranger laughed deeply.

"Me? I'm no one special." He said, pulling up a sword from who-knows-where. Harry didn't know a lot about swords to say if it was a good one or not. It was big. It was bronze. Could probably kill. "I'm just the Guest Star." Trailed off the boy, striking up a pose as if waiting for applause. Was that… Was that a name drop? Should that mean something? Harry didn't see much of the snake, only its lower body, but even it seemed to indicate uncertainty. The boy pouted. "What? No recognition? Guess I must have not been around here before, then…" He sighed, before motioning with his sword, dejectedly. "Oi, snake! Impale yourself on my sword, please." He politely asked.

Tom gaped.

Harry googled.

The snake killed itself.

It must have had a pretty serious clinical case. How many young basilisks lose themselves to the depths of depression each year, Harry wondered. And he never knew about that. It was not talked about in class, or even spread around in the form of pamphlets. What a saddening thought. So distraught was Harry that he barely even saw when Riddle stumbled back, completely stunned.

"How?" He asked, his hands trembling so much he dropped Harry's wand. "The basilisk was supposed to listen only to me! Not even that cowering whelp over there could order it around!" He pointed toward Harry's vague direction, making him turn around and look behind him, searchingly. Whoever the whelp was, he was certainly well hidden.

"Eh." The… Well, the Guest Star shrugged, casually walking forward. He was a very tall teen, so in no time at all his long legs reached the Evil Lord. It also helped that Riddle had run out of platform, and was now stuck at the very edge of the pool. "I have a way with water animals. And horses." Harry personally didn't see the connection between one or the other, but whatever. "Now. Stabby stab." It wasn't the most threatening of sentences, but he had a huge sword. So. Tom yelped as it reached him… And completely bypassed his form. He slumped in relief as the Guest looked warily at his sword. "Really?" Turning to Tom yet again, he raised an eyebrow. "Are you a normal mortal?"

Tom seemed scandalized. "A… A normal… I am a memory!" There he went again. "Trapped in a diary for sixty years! When that stupid girl…" And on and on Tom rambled. Midway through, the Guest turned to Harry, who at that point had cautiously walked around the huge and very dead basilisk.

"Which diary is he talking about?" He asked, his voice seemingly unable to pierce through Tom's spiel. Harry quietly pointed at the black diary near Ginny's prone form. "That one?" He confirmed, to Harry's nod. The Guest shrugged, walking away from Riddle, who finally realized he had lost his audience.

"Wait!" He screamed, desperately crawling behind the stranger. "I can give you many things! Power, money, influence! My reach is vast, and my knowledge is unbeaten!"

The Guest Star didn't even dignify that with an answer, merely positioning himself before the diary. "Stabby stab stab." He prayed, almost like a ritual. It was a soul-touching moment, in Harry's opinion. In a flash of bronze, the diary was ripped in half, its foul magic unable to sustain itself any longer. The magic looked just like ink. Like, common ink. Still, the Evil Lord screamed in pain and anger, cradling his head, so it must have worked. Just like the diary, his power began to wane and in no time at all, he was once again merely a memory.

"You... You did it. You actually…" But when Harry turned back to where the stranger had stood, he saw no one and nothing, only a perfectly good floor ruined by a perfectly bad, evil diary. He blinked, stunned. "Hello? Guest? Guest Star, are you around?" He looked up and down the Chamber, his brow burning into his hairline.

"Harry?" Asked a weak voice from the floor. Oh, right. Ginny. She was… Still here. "What happened?" Oh, right, again. Harry had to explain everything. 'Everything' included a disappearing teenager - who called himself Guest Star -, a severely depressed basilisk, a cursed diary, and an obliviated professor. He looked at the dead snake enviously. Was it too late for it to kill him?