Darwinism | hp

023: The Chamber of Secrets

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The Chamber was long, and somehow lit. There were eight open mouthed snake head statues on either side of the walkway down the centre of the chamber. And at the end of the Chamber, it opened up to a huge open space, a giant statue of Salazar Slytherin's head, hair flowing around him, on the wall at the very end of the Chamber.

Harry made his way through the centre, which was coated in thin water. Harry walked slowly, but when he caught sight of Ginny below Slytherin's head, he ran ahead of her.

The girl watched, as Harry tried to shake Ginny awake, but she simply shook lifelessly. Her face was white as paper, her lips slightly blue, her eyes closed. She wasn't petrified, but that then-

"She won't wake."

Harry looked up, taking a moment to realize who he was looking at.

Standing, watching them, was a thin faced, black haired tall boy, in Hogwarts robes. Literally. He was wearing a Slytherin house tie, but a Hogwarts Crest on the breast his robe. His hair was jet black, skin pale as he walked towards them. Now, fully coloured and in the light, Harry could see the resemblance to his grandson.

"Tom. Tom Riddle." Harry stayed crouched by Ginny as Tom approached. "What do you mean she won't wake? She's  not-"

"She's still alive - but only just."

Harry looked at him, puzzled. "Are you a ghost?"

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for almost fifty years."

Since Tom Riddle seemed rather distracted, Harry turned to Ginny again, touching her hand. "She's as cold as ice. Come on, Ginny, don't die. You've got to help me, Tom, there's a basilisk."

"It won't come until it's called."

Harry noticed his wand, which he had left on the ground, was now in Riddle's hand. Harry outstretched his hand. "Thank you. Give me my wand, Tom."

"You won't be needing it."

"What do you mean? We have to go, we have to save her!"

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Harry Potter. For a chance to see you. To talk to you."

"Look, I don't think you understand! We're in the Chamber of Secrets! We need to go - there's a basilisk-" Then Harry froze, as his original theory of the heir came back to him. "How did Ginny get like this?"

"What a good question." Tom Riddle's smile broadened. "But, I guess, the real reason why Ginny's like this is because she spilled her heart and soul to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?"

"My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months.  So long, that her little Mudblood friend found it, too. Ginny told me of how her brother's tease her, how Harry Potter could never truly like her, and how wonderful her brother's best friend Marilyn was." He smiled. "Then little Sandy - she had much more . . . . interesting things to share, as it's all very boring, listening to the silly troubles of an eleven year old girl. But the Locke family were different. The only attention she got all year was when her sister wasn't there. When her sister was busy at home protecting the family. Sandy had no love or respect for that - she wished her sister never came back to Hogwarts. Oh, the stories she told. The ways in which she dreamed her brother would finish the job and kill her big, protective sister, but she only returned with the cuts from him, which gave her more attention . . . 

"While Ginny Weasley found the sister she never had in Marilyn, Sandy Locke despised her sister. When Marilyn arrived at school, covered in bruises and cuts, the attention went from asking sandy where she was to trying to get answers out of Marilyn. No one cared for poor, little, pathetic Sandy.  All of this just brews, Harry. Until they find someone to listen to them. Until they find someone to confide in. 'Oh, I'm so thankful to have met you, Tom . . . It's like carrying your best friend in your pocket . . . I'm so lucky to have found you . . . '"