The Raven's Call

Into the Chamber

"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once." McGonagall's voice rings throughout the school. "All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately." That's where I just came from. The message on the wall.. We need to hurry. 

I stand in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, looking towards the bathroom taps. There was a snake etched into one of them, I remember that much. I hear footsteps run in behind me. "I got here as fast as I could..!" Asteria pants, walking up beside me before catching her breath. I stay quiet, examining the sinks. Until I spot it. "There.." I mumble softly, walking over to the snake etched tap, running my finger along it. I've never spoken Parseltongue before, but it's never too late to try. "Uh.. Open Sesame..?" I say, hopefully in Snake Language. I turn to Asteria, whose mouth was agape in shock. "What?" I ask, turning back around to see the sinks moving away from each other and lowering to reveal a tunnel. The Chamber? It has to be. "Who wants to do the honours?" Asteria asks, walking over next to me. I say nothing before jumping first.

D
    O
        W
            N

I slide into the great unknown. 

O o f..

I hit the bottom, the ground beneath me is hard, sharp and crunchy. Bones. Lots of them. I'm going to have the LONGEST shower once we're done here. "It's clear down here, Astra!" I call out to her before moving out of the way, brushing the dirt off my robes. I take a look around, seeing a few tunnels. That's how the Basilisk was getting around Hogwarts. The pipes. Behind me, I hear a winded scream as Asteria scrambles to her feet. "Yeah.." I say softly. "It's not very pleasant down here.." "Not very pleasant?" She asks, mocking me. "It's ghastly!" I roll my eyes with a sigh before climbing up onto the ledge of one of the pipe entrances, holding out a hand for her shortly after. "This way." She takes my hand after a big breath and I help her up, turning to see.. well.. I'm not sure what it is. We walk through the tunnel, jumping back down on some more bones, but also.. "A snakeskin?" Asteria spoke, shocked. "A Giant snakeskin.." I say, as we walk past, following what looked like, 100 foot long shed. And then... a door. A door laced with metal snakes. My time to shine once again. "..Abracadabra?" I say, a snake slithers around the door, forcing the other snakes back to unlock the door. If I'm going to speak Parseltongue, I may as well make it fun. I hear Asteria shudder beside me. "I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that.." She whispers.

Looking ahead, I can't even begin to describe what I'm seeing.. but I'll try; Another tunnel, followed by a ladder down into an open area. A platform, surrounded by water, giant busts of snake heads in a line, leading down to what looked like a large concrete head of one, Salazar Slytherin. Ahead of us, walking towards a tall male student in the shadows, with hair.. sort of like mine, but brown, was none other than first year Gryffindor, Ginny Weasley. I instinctively pull out my wand, readying myself for anything that might happen. We watch them chat for a moment before the male turns his head to us, signalling Ginny to be quiet. "Looks like we have visitors." The boy's voice echoes throughout the chamber. "Come on in, don't be shy." He beckons us. I don't know what it is.. but there's something about him that feels.. familiar? I look at Astra for a moment before beginning to walk towards the two of them, Asteria close behind me. The closer we get, the clearer I can see him. Our similar face shapes and hair.. This boy is related to me. "Tom Riddle?" I ask him, taking another step closer. He looked shocked, looking me up and down. I can tell he sees the similarities too. "And who are you?" He asks, turning up his nose at me, a Ravenclaw. "Atticus Grey. My mother.. was a Gaunt." He looks visibly shocked at this information. "The Gaunt bloodline ended when they produced a Squib." Tom scoffs. "And even if you are a Gaunt, why the hell are you in Ravenclaw?" He laughs a little at his question. I raise a brow. "It can be done." I spoke to him with a bit of an attitude. 

Suddenly the ground shakes, the cave seems to sound like it's crumbling. Does it usually sound like that? I look over to Tom, who's looking rather confused. So no, not usual. And a moment later, Ginny falls to the floor, clutching the diary in her hands. Tom's look of confusion turned into one of triumph. I hear Asteria gasp. "Ginny! What happened!?" She calls out, running over to the young ginger. "It's starting." Tom spoke with a grin. "Starting? What's starting?" Asteria asks, kneeling next to Ginny. Tom looks behind me, as the pitter-patter of feet head towards Ginny and Asteria. It was Harry Potter. He ignores Asteria almost entirely as he drops his wand, kneeling next to the girls. "Ginny..? Ginny, please don't be dead.. Wake up.. wake up!" Harry pleads, on his hands and knees. "She won't wake.." Tom spoke, walking past me out of the shadows and into the light. "Tom?" Harry asks. "Tom Riddle. What do you mean she won't wake? She's not..?" "She's still alive, but only just." Tom says, sauntering towards the three of them. 

"Are you a ghost?" Harry asks. "Does he look like a ghost to you, Harry?!" Asteria exclaims as if Harry was insane. Tom chuckles softly at her outburst. "I'm a memory. Preserved in a diary for 50 years." Harry touches her hand, "She's as cold as ice... Ginny.. please don't be dead.. Wake up.." I watch from the shadows, not ready to make my presence known, but I see Tom snatch Harry's wand from the wet floor. "You've got to help, Tom. There's a Basilisk." Harry says, before being interrupted. "It won't come until it's called." Tom smiled, toying the wand with his hands. Harry stands slowly, seeing the wand in Tom's hands. "Give me my wand, Tom." He says, holding out his hand. "You won't be needing it." Tom simply replies, continuing to play with the wand. "Listen, we've got to go, we've got to save her!" Harry pleads again. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." Tom explains, now I see where his intentions lie. "Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." "No." Harry protests. "She couldn't.. she wouldn't!"

"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mud bloods and Filch's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls." "But why?" Harry asks, dumbfounded.  "Because I told her to." Tom says with a shrug. "You'll find I can be very.. persuasive.. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance." That explains the look of possession she had on her that day in the bathroom. "Still, the power of the diary began to scare her. She tried to dispose of it, in the girls' bathroom.. and then, who should find it.. but you. The very person I was most anxious to meet." He says as he begins circling around Harry. "And why did you want to meet me?" Harry asks, them rather close to each other, now. "I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid to gain your trust." Tom was now speaking rather evilly. "Hagrid's my friend!" Harry yells. "And you framed him, didn't you?" Tom grins smugly before answering. "It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore to think he was innocent." 

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Harry speaking smugly, now. "He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day.. I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work." A horcrux.. Tom really made a horcrux? I may have read something about them in my search for the basilisk info. "Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was petrified will be all right again." Harry explains. "Haven't I told you? Killing Mud bloods doesn't matter to me any more. For many months now, my new target has been you. How is it, that a baby with no extraordinary magic talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape, with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" Tom speaks, growing angrier by the second. "Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time." "Voldemort is my past, present and future." Tom turns, using Harry's wand, he spells out his name 

T O M  
M A R V O L O 
R I D D L E

He waves the wand, the letters all now rearranging.

I  A M
L O R D
V O L D E M O R T