The Hidden Hero

Chapter-9 Tom Riddle

Harry slid down the pipe for a long time. He judged he was miles under the school, most probably under the lake. When he finally slid out of the end of the pipe, his feet crunched dead rat skulls. He could only pray that he wouldn't find Ginny like this.

After walking down a long corridor, Harry came to a solid wall, into which intertwining stone serpents had been carved. Again, imagining them to be alive, Harry whispered "Open" in parseltongue. The wall parted and Harry walked into a huge chamber.

Expecting at any minute to be confronting a basilisk, Harry was shaking as he entered the chamber. At the far end, he saw a small, robed figure lying on the ground, at the feet of a large stone statue of a wizard. The red hair spilling onto the ground identified the unconscious form as Ginny before Harry was able to even see her face. Harry ran to her side and, falling to his knees, placed his wand on the ground so he could turn her over. He didn't notice the wand rolling away. He was focused entirely on the young girl at his side.

Harry searched frantically for a pulse. "Ginny, please wake up!"

"She won't wake," said a soft voice.

Harry jumped and turned around. Tom Riddle was leaning against a column. It was strange, but Harry felt as if he were seeing Tom through a haze. "Tom? Tom Riddle? How can you be here?"

"I am a memory."

"I don't understand." But, without waiting for an answer, Harry continued, "Please help me. The basilisk may come at any minute and I've got to get Ginny out of here."

"The basilisk won't come until I call it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been wanting to speak with you, Mark Twist. Ginny told me all about how you killed Quirrell and defeated the Dark Lord last year. She admires you greatly. She poured her soul into my diary and I, in turn, poured my soul back into her. The soul of my sixteen year old self that I had preserved in the diary I had created while at Hogwarts, in order to protect the secret of how to open the Chamber of Secrets."

Tom smirked. "Have you not guessed, Mark Twist? Ginny was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, I was controlling her at the time. I made her write her farewell message on the wall. What a silly girl. How tiresome listening to her cry."

Harry felt his temper rise but he held his tongue, knowing that he should learn as much as he could. He was all too aware that Tom was holding his wand. He should have been more careful – he had let his guard down for a brief moment and had lost his wand. If he and Ginny were to have any chance of escaping, he would need to be smarter from now on.

Tom continued, "She told me that you have been concerned about her all year; that you've been watching her. I brought Ginny here because I knew that you would follow her and I wanted to speak with you."

"Why did you want to speak with me?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"A muggleborn! Yet, you speak parseltongue. Ginny told me how the whole school was buzzing with the news. She is angry that they think you might be the next Dark Lord. The powerful Mark Twist who defeated Voldemort last year. How did you do it?" Suddenly, Tom's voice sharpened. He leaned forward and his eyes pierced Harry's. "How did a muggleborn defeat the great Lord Voldemort?"

"Why do you care?" asked Harry. "Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort is my past, present and future," said Tom. He waved Harry's wand and the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle" appeared, floating in the air. With another wave of the wand, the letters changed positions and formed the words "I am Lord Voldemort."