The Other Daughter- A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 4- The Diary

Shadow sat in her dorm. The bed curtains were drawn shut around her bed, but she wasn't asleep. Shadow was examining a diary that she had found in with her school books. After she found nothing other then the name Tom Riddle on the back, she decided it was safe to use. She dipped her quill in ink and started writing by wand light. She decided to work on a letter to her mother.

Dear Mum,

It's the start of my second year at Hogwarts.

But before she could write anymore, the words vanished. A sudden thought hit Shadow. She had read something about objects being used to send messages. Maybe it was a method of communication.

Is there anyone there?

The words vanished, and new words appeared.

Yes.

The message vanished. Shadow quickly wrote another message.

Who are you?

They called me Tom.

Called? Are you dead?

In a way.

What does that mean?

Enough questions. You were writing to your mother, were you not?

Why do you want to know that?

You did write Dear Mum. It's a bit obvious.

All right, fine.

Who is your mother?

I actually don't know. I thought it was Narcissa Malfoy for the longest time, but it turns out she's adopted me.

How dramatic. Do you have any idea who your parents might be?

Well, the sorting hat told me last year that I was descended from Slytherin himself.

That's certainly something. I'll have to think about that.

What do you mean?

This time there was no response.

Are you still there?

Again, there was no response. Shadow thought about what had just happened. She decided against telling her friends. What harm could this little secret do?

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A week later, Shadow was writing in the diary again.

Dear Tom,

I don't think the professors trust me. They seem to know something I don't. I think it's something to do with my parents. Maybe they know why my mother is in Azkaban. I wish I knew who they were. I wish I was like my friends. Sometimes I even envy Harry, at least he knows who his parents are. This year has been so hard.

It was Halloween, and Shadow knew she should be heading down to the feast. But before she could close the diary, something happened. She seemed to be pulled inside her head. It was like she was trapped in blackness, and all she could do was think. The next thing she remembered, she was standing in a corridor. Her heart began to race. What had just happened? Had she fallen asleep and sleepwalked to this corridor? Everyone was leaving the feast, and Shadow walked with them. As she walked, she noticed something on her robes. It looked like red paint. It was so strange. Where had that come from? First she seemingly fell asleep without even knowing it, and now her robe was covered in paint? As they neared a new corridor, Shadow noticed that the floor was covered in water. She saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione and ran to join them, but before she got there, she saw what they were looking at. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hung from a spike on the wall, seemingly lifeless and a message was written on the wall in blood.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.

It would have been scary enough if it weren't for the fact that the blood on the walls was the same color as the paint on Shadow's robes. She wanted to run straight to her dorm and hide there for the rest of her life. She started shaking. She barely heard the conversation between the professors. When all of the students were told to go to bed, she walked as fast as she could without running.

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Shadow's eyes snapped open. She looked around. She had no idea where she was, but Harry was next to her and his arm was bleeding. The floor was wet and freezing cold. She immediately began to shake.

"Harry, it was me!" Shadow gasped.

"I know." Harry said weakly. Before they could say anything else, Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flew from nowhere and rested his head against Harry's wound. Shadow saw tears dripping from Fawkes's eyes. When the tears landed on Harry's arm, the wound vanished. Harry's eyes widened.

"What happened? How did you get hurt?" Shadow asked. Harry sighed.

"I'm sure you'll get the story later when Dumbledore asks me. For now, we should just get you upstairs." Harry stood up and helped Shadow stand. As they walked, Shadow took a moment to take in her appearance in a puddle. Her unruly curls were everywhere. They were stuck to her face and sticking out every which way. She also looked very pale. When they arrived at Dumbledore's office, she saw Narcissa and Lucius sitting in the office. Lucius looked condescending as usual, but Narcissa looked panicked and anxious. She jumped up when she saw Shadow.

"Shadow! You're all right!" she threw her arms around Shadow so tightly that she could barely breathe.

"I'm all right, Mother." Shadow said, sounding very squashed. Narcissa loosened her grip, but didn't let go.

"We thought you were dead! When they said you were in the Chamber, I thought Slytherin's monster had taken you!" As Narcissa hugged her, a thought came to Shadow. If her real Mother knew about what had happened, would she be reacting like Narcissa was now, or would she even care?