Bloodlines || Hogwarts Era

CHAPTER 13 || A TRUE SLYTHERIN (YEAR ONE)

Fawkes led the way down the corridor and up a hidden staircase Sophia had never seen before. Even though it was her first time climbing the staircase, when Harry raised his fist to knock and push open the door Sophia's stomach flipped.

It was the same room from before — large and circular, filled with those same whirring silver instruments and the great carved wooden desk in front of the bookshelf where the Sorting Hat had been. The only difference was that this time it was no longer empty.

For a moment there was silence as she, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in blood and ink. Professor McGonagall gasped and brought a hand to her chest, but it wasn't until a scream sounded that the room surged into action.

"Ginny!"

A short, middle-aged redheaded woman Sophia recognized from the platform leapt forward, followed closely by a man she assumed must have been Ginny's father. Sophia sucked in a nervous breath when she saw that Dumbledore was there too, looking at her curiously through his half-moon spectacles as Fawkes soared past them to settle on his shoulder. Just then, Ginny's mother turned to sweep Sophia, Ron, Lockhart, and Harry into hugs as well.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.

They exchanged a look before Harry placed the silver sword and the remains of Tom Riddle's diary on the desk, Sophia laying down the torn, dusty old hat. Harry was the first to speak, explaining everything about how he'd heard a disembodied voice that Hermione realized must belong to the basilisk, how Harry and Ron had figured out where the last victim had died, how Lockhart had lost his memory, and how he'd entered the Chamber to find Sophia and Ginny inside.

"Very well," said Professor McGonagall when Harry paused. "So you found out where the entrance was — breaking about a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add — but this still doesn't explain how Miss Labonair and Miss Weasley wound up down there in the first place."

Harry turned to look at Sophia, and then back at the ruined diary. He faltered, opening his mouth, and then closing it again. It wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking — he had so far avoided mentioning the diary or who was opening the Chamber to begin with.

Dumbledore spoke for them with a gentle smile. "What interests me most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Miss Weasley and Miss Labonair, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

"W-what's that?" said Ginny's father. "You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not... Ginny hasn't been... has she?"

"It was Tom's diary," Sophia said, feeling very small as everyone turned to look at her. "I thought it was Ginny's — the night Mrs. Norris was attacked, I found her in Myrtle's bathroom, holding the diary. It was like she couldn't remember anything. And then, when Harry's bag ripped open on Valentine's day —" both Ginny and Harry flinched at the memory, " — I saw it with the rest of his things, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought maybe... I thought maybe it would help me figure out what was going on."

Harry was staring at her. "So, Riddle was telling the truth? When my room was broken into, and the diary had gone missing —"

"I didn't steal it!" She interrupted, cheeks burning. "I was borrowing it, just until I figured out what was going on! Besides, if it hadn't been for me taking it when I did, Riddle would have figured out a way to try and get you killed much sooner!"