A Little Help from a Snake // Tomarry

15: The "Rescue"*

Revised: February 11, 2022

Finally.

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The plan was quite simple, in all honesty. Harry knew Ginny was trying to get the diary back; she was back at following Harry and didn't seem to care when Snape took points off her. She stopped when Harry pretended to drop the diary and proceeded to make a show of rummaging his bag during dinner when he realized it was gone.

"I'm back," was the first thing she wrote that night.

"Hello, Ginny," said Tom. "Are you all right?"

"Not really." But she didn't say anything about throwing the diary away, not that Tom really expected her to. "Professor Snape is being more harsh than usual."

"I'm sure he's just very anxious about the petrifications," said Tom.

There was a long pause, then Ginny said, "So am I."

Knowing that Dumbledore would be suspicious if the attacks stopped even with Ginny being in possession of the diary, Tom had Ginny open the Chamber and let Athanasia out to petrify another student. He didn't mean for two students to be caught up in it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

It wasn't long before Ginny opened the diary again and began writing frantically.

"Dumbledore is gone! And Hagrid's in Azkaban. What are we going to do?" Her writing, normally rather neat for an eleven-year-old, was nearly illegible in her panic.

"Hush, Ginny," Tom tried to assure her. "I'm sure it'll all be fine."

Ginny didn't reply, just sniffled and closed the diary. Then Tom was aware of the diary being thrown into her bag with a lot more force than necessary.

It was time. Harry knew it as soon as he heard Professor McGonagall announce for all students to return to their dorms. He waited until all the Slytherins were in the common room before standing up.

Donning his Invisibilty Cloak, he exited the dungeon and headed right for the Chamber.

Tom was waiting inside the chamber that led to the library. Ginny lay in front of him, unconscious.

"Will she be okay?" asked Harry.

"She should be. She has a strong spirit." Tom moved away to stand in front of the statue. 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.'

Athanasia came out of the tunnel eagerly, tongue flicking out as she tasted the air. 'You're back,' she said, nudging Harry affectionately.

Harry nearly fell over; it was like being poked by a mountain. 'I'm back,' he said as he regained his footing.

"We have to make it convincing." He reached into his robes and brought out a second diary. "Dobby managed to copy it in a way Dumbledore shouldn't notice. How do we destroy it?"

'Athanasia, bite the fake diary,' Tom commanded.

Athanasia did as she was told, and black ink spilled out of it.

'Thank you, Athanasia,' Harry said. 'I believe that is all for now.'

The basilisk looked at Tom, who nodded, then disappeared back through the mouth of the statue. "And now to face Dumbledore," Harry muttered.

"You'll do fine," Tom said. "Just be careful not to look him in the eye." With that, he was gone.

A moment later, Ginny's eyes flew open. When she saw Harry, she burst into tears. "Harry — oh, Harry — it was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over- and- where is that — that thing? The last thing I r-remember is feeling very tired and blacking out —"