❝︎In a few minutes Evelyn Clermont will be dead❞︎

2-12: Diary of Tom Riddle

HARRY'S POV

he room was dark, in the very end was a statue of Salazar Slytherin. The floor was wet and statues of snakes surrounded the entrance. At the end, I saw Ginny unconscious, next to her was Evelyn who also unconscious. A man was standing above her with a hand on her chin closely examining her.

"Evelyn" I called out running towards her. The man backed off and watched from a distance as I knelt beside her dropping my wand.

"Evelyn! Please don't be dead, wake up! Wake up!" I stared at her lifeless body, her skin had lost the warmth and become pale.

"She won't wake," The man said. I looked up and took a closer look at his face. Tom Riddle.

"Tom, Tom Riddle! What do you mean she won't wake? Is she-"

"She's still alive, but only just"

"Are you a ghost?"

"A memory, preserved in a diary for many years."

I touched her lifeless hand, the one that would always squeeze my shoulder instantly calming my nerves.

"She's cold as ice. Evelyn, please don't be dead, wake up... You've got to help me Tom, this Basilisk-"

"Won't come until it's called," I looked up confused to see him holding my wand.

"Give me my wand Tom."

"You won't be needing it."

"Listen we've got to go we have to save them!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that Harry you see, as poor Evelyn grows weaker, I grow stronger. Ginny helped a lot on that part" What did he mean? Ginny helped him? Does that mean she had opened the chamber of secrets?

"Yes Harry, it was Ginny who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"No, she couldn't, she wouldn't."

"It was Ginny who sent the basilisk on the muggle borns and on to Filch's cat. Ginny who wrote those messages on the wall. Ginny who attacked Evelyn bringing her to me."

None of this was making sense. Ginny was Ron's sister and I know she wouldn't do any of these things. I know she wouldn't hurt Hermione or even attack Evelyn. I've seen her dueling Pansy, she wouldn't lose to Ginny.

"But why..?"

"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing, shall we say she was under some kind of trance? The power of the diary started to scare her and she tried to dispose of it but it landed in the hands of yours, the one I was most eager to meet. Evelyn on the other hand didn't even budge, chose a slow painful death over joining me. Pity."

"Why did you want to meet me"

"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to gain your trust by showing you a scene of the capture of Hagrid"

"Hagrid is my friend! And you framed him didn't you!"

"It was my words against Hagrid's. Dumbledore seemed to be the only one who thought he was innocent.

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you"

"He did keep an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wasn't safe to open the Chamber of Secrets again so I decided to leave behind a diary preserving my 16 year old self so one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the cure will be ready to un-petrify everyone"

"Haven't I told you? Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now my new target has been you. How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time. How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed!" he yelled examining the scar on my forehead.

"Why do you care I escaped? Voldemort was after your time!"

"Voldemort is my past, present, and future." He turned around writing something in mid air with my wand. I watched him as he finished, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He then motioned his arms to rearrange the letters into whole new writing, I am Lord Voldemort. I took a deep breath in, he was a memory of Voldemort.

"You.. You're the heir of Slytherin. You're Voldemort"

"Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy muggle father's name? No. I fashioned myself a new name. A name I knew wizards everywhere will fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world"

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" I shouted. I noticed his face shaking in anger, the ends of lips started to quiver.

"Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me"

"He'll never be gone. Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him" Suddenly, there was a loud screech. We both snapped our heads back to look at what was causing the noise. In the dark flew out a beautiful red Phoenix carrying an old hat.

"Fawks?" It flew over to me and dropping the hat into my hands before flying away back into the darkness. The hat was empty to my disappointment, nothing was in it.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender. A songbird, and an old hat" He walked away to face the statue of Salazar Slytherin. I examined the hat over and over again, what was Profesor Dumbledore trying to get me to do? Surely he didn't really send me an old useless hat. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by Voldemort muttering something in Parseltongue pointing at the statue.

"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin against the famous Harry Potter" He turned around to face me. Behind his shoulders, I saw the mouth of the statue open. I watched in fear as a monstrous head peered out, the Basilisk. I didn't have a wand, as of right now I needed to get out of here.

I took off back toward the entrance as I heard the monster slither and roar behind me. I ran as fast as I could but slipped because of the wet floor. I need to fight it like Evelyn and for Evelyn. I looked at the ground closing my eyes shut trying to think of something. Then I heard the piercing sound of Fawks again.

The next thing I heard was the groaning and roaring of the monster. I looked up to see a shadow of Fawks fighting the monster, taking out its eyes.

"NO!!" Tom shouted from behind me. "Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk but it can still hear you!" Thanks, Tom for the advice.

I looked back up towards the monster shrieking in pain as Fawkes disappeared into the darkness. The Basilisk eyes were now red with blood dripping down from it, now was my chance to run. The stomping of my feet on the wet floor made loud noises, the Basilisk bit down into the air barely missing me. It lunged forward biting again as I made my way into the tunnel I had entered from.

I continued to run until I ran into a dead end, the Basilisk now in front of me. It made it's way directly in front of my face showing it's sharp fangs. I backed up as close to the wall as possible and felt a rock on my hand. Quickly I grabbed it and threw it to the opposite side, thankfully the Basilisk followed the sound slowly. I made sure it slithered its way completely out before making my way back to Ginny and Evelyn, kneeling beside them.

"Yes Potter. The process is nearly completed. In a few minutes Evelyn Clermont will be dead and soon after Ginny will die to the Basilisk, and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very. Much. Alive." I looked back down at Evelyn, her skin was pale and ice cold.

"Evelyn" I called out one last time not knowing what to do. Suddenly, the Basilisk rose shooting up from the pool of water in front of the statue angrily roaring. I looked back at Evelyn and besides her was the old hat but this time with a beautiful sword in it. It had a red Gem decorating it. I pulled it out and made a run on to the state of Salazar Slytherin to be at eye level with the beast. I swung the sword at it missing, the basilisk lunged forward missing my body and destroying a part of the statue. It kept lunging as I continued to climb up and onto the very top of the statue.

I swung at it hitting its thick skin, it didn't seem to do any damage. I kept swinging over and over, it's thick skin not even bleeding. With just a slight movement of its head, the monster threw me off making me lose balance. I lunged at the sword falling off the edge of the statue and stood on my two feet again. The Basilisk made its way forward with its mouth open ready to strike again. This was it, I was going to die. Might as well make the most of it.

I stuck the sword upright and right through the Basilisk's mouth. In pierces through its thick skin but in the process one of its fangs stabbed my arm. I groaned out as I pulled the sword out watching the monster shriek before falling and meeting's its death. Grabbing onto my bleeding arm I made my way back down and knelt next to Ginny. My arm was in indescribable pain, my head started to spin and I was out of breath.

"Remarkable isn't it? How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body" Great, at least I really did make the most out of my death. "I guess you have a little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dead mudblood mother soon Harry" I looked down at Ginny who was unconscious with Tom Riddle's diary in her arms. If Tom was a memory preserved in this diary, that means without the diary he would be gone.

"Funny, a damage a silly little book can do especially in the hands of a silly little girl"

I grabbed the book out of Ginny's arms and opened it up on the floor. I looked up and Tom before stabbing the diary with the Basilisk fang I had pulled out from my arm. With a gush of wind, Tom's body began to glow creating a hole in his chest. He groaned in agony as the diary started to bleed. I stabbed the other page again watching Tom suffer as his body started to disappear. I closed up the Diary and stabbed it once more and with that Tom's body disappeared into ashes.

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