𝐀 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞

Chapter 6: Good or Bad

I'll be the one to say that this place was not the most hospitable. What is this place? I thought. I felt the familiar pain on my hand as the mystery writer answered my question: The Chamber of Secrets

My eyes widened when I read the message. If the mystery writer wanted to show me this... am I the heir of Slytherin?

Bones cracking under my feet, I proceeded deeper into the chamber. I stepped into a room that had a large, translucent coil of skin. Snake skin, I thought.

This proved my theory. When I read about the Chamber of Secrets and heard about the monster, I took it upon myself to learn what the monster was. My research led me to the conclusion that it had to be some serpentine creature. With the proportions of this skin, I immediately came to the conclusion that it was a basilisk.

After traversing the snake skin room, I was met with another door. "Open," I said in Parseltongue. The door unlocked.

I walked into a large chamber that had snake heads lining the head of the walkway. When I looked farther down the chamber, I saw the face of a man sprawled across the wall in stone. Salazar Slytherin, I thought.

The damp floor was covered with puddles as I proceeded slowly. I approached the large statue of Slytherin. "Open," I said once more in Parseltongue. The mouth of the statue dropped dramatically and I heard a very distinctive hiss.

I large, scaly, green basilisk came slithering out of the statue towards me. The basilisk paused right before me. "Who are you, child?" the basilisk asked in Parseltongue.

"Y/N Riddle," I replied cautiously. Then the basilisk did something I didn't expect. It bowed. I looked deep into the large yellow eyes of the serpent, wondering why it wasn't killing me.

"Heir of Slytherin like your father before you," the basilisk said. "Welcome home."

I was taken aback at the sudden mention of my father. "Look, Bas—"

"That is not my name!" Bas hissed.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" I hissed back. I calmed myself down. "Who was my father?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Bas replied. "Or, more commonly known as, Voldemort."

I felt like my very essence was just stabbed at hearing my parentage. Bas didn't stop, though. "Young Tom was very ambitious and brilliant. Much like yourself."

"I'm nothing like that monster!" I hissed. Bas almost had a playful look in her eyes as she looked down at me.

"We'll see about that," Bas replied.

I wasn't an idiot. I was aware that my father is still out there, too weak to form a solid being. I realized how vulnerable this made me. If anyone found out that I was Voldemort's son... let's just say it wouldn't be a friendly visit.

"Hello?" I heard another voice say in English. I whipped my head towards an opening in the chamber as a teenage boy walked out.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, getting up and dusting my robes off. The boy had a pale complexion and black hair. In a way, he looked similar to me.

"I am Voldemort," he said.

"Tom Riddle," I breathed. Tom scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Don't call me but that filthy Muggle name!" Tom yelled. Then his eyes narrowed. "Who are you and what are you doing in my chamber?"

"I'm Y/N Riddle," I said. Tom's angry gaze immediately softened as he looked at me. He looked at Bas.

"The basilisk told me my son was attending the school," he said. "H-how are you?"