Black Soul- George Weasley

The One With The Truth: Part 2

"Astraea never stopped trusting her diary" said Tom. "But little nosy Ginny found out Astraea's secret, became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. She thought well. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet. . . ."

"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry. Anger was coursing through Astraea now.

"Well, you see, it wasn't just Astraea's words, Harry," said Tom. "I lived in her mind. Every time she visited my world, A little more of me would live inside her. Through her, I learned all about you. Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and his expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust —"

"Hagrid's my friend," said Harry, his voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but —"Tom laughed his high laugh again, it mad Astraea's insides twist. "It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student . . . On the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls . . . but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance . . . as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power!

"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed. . . . Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did. . . ."

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry, his teeth gritted.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Tom carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again —"

"Haven't I already told you," said Tom quietly, "that killing Mud-bloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been — you."

Harry stared at him.

"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Astraea who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and was relieved. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you she understood when you spoke Parseltongue? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything I saw through Astraea,  I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Astraea had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue. . . .

"So I made Astraea attack Ginny, slit her wrist, show him baby don't be shy, and write her own farewell on the wall and come down here, while dragging Ginny's body to wait. She cussed me and tried to wake Ginny. But there isn't much life left in her. . . . Poor Astraea, she put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last. . . . I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

Tom stroked Astraea's hair and she punched him. He just laughed.

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Editinggg!!!

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