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The Chamber (Pt 2)

"LET GO OF MY MIND!"

"What d'you mean, I won't be –?"

"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Voldemort. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you and your sister."

"My sister has been petrified," said Harry, turning stiff.

"Oh, I know... I've already spoken with her."

"Look," said Harry, losing patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later –"

"We're going to talk now," said Voldemort, and he pocketed Harry's wand.

Harry stared at him, confused. "How did Ginny get like this?" he asked slowly.

"Well, that's an interesting question," said Voldemort pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Harry.

"The diary," said Voldemort. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes – how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how" – Voldemort's eyes glinted – "how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her...."

Everything began to click. Voldemort wanted this diary so bad because it was his! That means that Tom Riddle is Voldemort. When he was at Hogwarts... That's why his memory was preserved.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom.... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in.... It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket..." He laughed. A high, cold laugh, that didn't fit his current form.

"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted.... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her..."

"What d'you mean?" said Harry.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, your sister, and the Squib's cat."

"No," Harry whispered.

"Yes. At first, I wanted your sister to do my work instead of Ginny. Your sister is a Slytherin after all. She's too smart to manipulate — but I could've convinced her to join the right side — my side." He paused for a moment, taking in Harry's horrid expression. "It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Voldemort. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. 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, who seemed to be growing angrier by the second.

"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you and your sister, Harry," said Voldemort. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "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 – your sister had been extremely difficult to persuade, but no matter... I had you."