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“Chapter Seventeen: The Heir of Slytherin” Madame Bones read and after quickly glancing at one another, both Harry and Ginny paled, shivered, and squeezed their hands reassuringly.

He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny?

“It could but wasn’t, and she was in the middle of the Chamber,” Harry said, his voice rough.

He pulled out his wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach, he thought he saw one stir.

“You know Harry that level of paranoia really isn’t good,” Fred tried to joke to cover up how shaken he was, but no one laughed.

Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.
Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes,

“Slytherin definitely wasn’t the handsome one out of the Founders,” Harry said and there were a few weak chuckles, though Luna full out laughed, either not grasping the seriousness of the situation or choosing to ignore it.

where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair.

At this point, Mrs. Weasley couldn’t contain herself any longer and, with a choked sob, sprang out of her seat and went to go stand by her daughter.

"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny - don't be dead - please don't be dead -" He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be...

“You have no idea how scared I was…” Harry said softly. “I thought that you were…” he swallowed, unable to say the word.

"Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

“Great description,” Ginny tried to joke but the tremor in her voice ruined the light tone she was aiming for.

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

“What?” Remus said, looking over at Harry. “Who else was there?”

“You’ll see.” Harry responded shortly.

Harry jumped and spun around on his knees.
A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him.
"Tom - Tom Riddle?"

“Riddle? But Tom Riddle hasn’t existed for almost fifty years…” Remus trailed off.

Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face.
"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "She's not - she's not -?"

“There’s someone from fifty years ago, that is slightly blurred, standing over the top of you and your first question is to make sure that I am alive,” Ginny said shaking her head.

“Of course it was,” Harry said, softly yet indignantly. “I always look out for the people I love.” The blush on his face as he words dawned could only be matched by the one on Ginny’s.

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."
Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen.

“That’s impossible.” Remus said, frowning as he tried to understand.

"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

“Impossible.” Remus repeated. “A memory couldn’t do anything that it didn’t do at the time it was created. Only a personality charm could impart an actual response, but even then, actions couldn’t be taken without a predetermined activation.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The only other option…” He looked sharply up at Dumbledore, who fixed him with a gaze that clearly said ‘We will talk afterwards’.

He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there - but there were more pressing matters to deal with.

“Like getting you out of there.”

"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk... I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment... Please, help me."

“Somehow I don’t think he will.” Neville said, his face ashen.

Riddle didn't move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand again.

“But you threw it aside,” Hermione moaned.

But his wand had gone.
"Did you see -?"
He looked up. Riddle was still watching him - twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers.

“And now you are defenseless and at his mercy,” Remus said in a low tone, mentally wincing as he thought about how Lily would have reacted to this...he definitely would have been deaf for weeks.

"Thanks," said Harry, stretching out his hand for it.
A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly.
"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes--"
"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle calmly.

“What does that mean?” George piped up.

Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer.
"What d'you mean?" he said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it--"
Riddle's smile broadened.

“It was weird seeing him smile, especially later, knowing that…” Harry trailed off but Remus nodded in understanding.

"You won't be needing it," he said.
Harry stared at him.
"What d'you mean, I won't be -?"
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

“Why though? Why would he want to speak to you?” Fred frowned. Except for his parents, Ron, and Ginny of course, no one in his family really knew what happened down in the Chamber.

"Look," said Harry, losing patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later--"
"We're going to talk now," said Riddle, still smiling broadly, and he pocketed Harry's wand.
Harry stared at him. There was something very funny going on here ...

“Gee, you think?” Ron said sarcastically, earning him several glares from around the room. “Oh come on! How come when one of the twin’s joke, its all right, but when I do it…” he began to rant under his breath.

"How did Ginny get like this?" he asked slowly.
"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

“An invisible stranger…” Remus mused, then he suddenly snapped his fingers. “The diary! It was you who tried to get rid of it!”

"What are you talking about?" said Harry.
"The diary," said Riddle. `My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how -" Riddle's eyes glinted "- how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her..."

“That’s not true you know,” Harry told her softly. “I do like you, quite a lot in fact.” Ginny blushed deeply at his words.

All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them.
"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in... It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket ..."
Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him.

Harry, Ginny, and Remus, all having heard that same laugh, shivered.

It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck.
"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed.

“Yes,” Dumbledore sighed regretfully. “He was always good at getting people to believe what he wanted them to.”

So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her..."

“Not a memory,” Remus breathed. “It was a –”

“Perhaps that would be a conversation best saved until after this book Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore said, gently but firmly and Remus nodded absently, his mind racing.

"What d'you mean?" said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.
"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

“No you didn’t.” Harry said. When Ginny said nothing he pulled away and looked at her. “It wasn’t you Ginny. It might have been your body, but it was Riddle’s soul and his mind. You did nothing. It was all him.”

Ginny bit her lower lip for a moment before sighing. “You’re right but still…”

“No buts.” Harry said firmly. “Repeat after me: It wasn’t me.”

“It wasn’t me.” Ginny repeated dutifully, though in a whisper.

“Good.” Harry said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"No," Harry whispered.
"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries... far more interesting, they became... Dear Tom," he recited, watching Harry's horrified face, `I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and 1 don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, l can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me... There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad... I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!"

Ginny shivered. Merlin, she had been so stupid then…she wasn’t even quick enough to realize that she was the one attacking everyone! A firm squeeze on her shoulders reminded her that that was in the past.

Harry's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms.
"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet..."

“But why?” Neville spoke up. “I mean, why should he care about some twelve year old? It’s not like he was connected to Harry in anyway.”

"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry. Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort to keep his voice steady.
"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid,

“Hagrid is not an oaf!” The children burst out and Hagrid smiled down at them gratefully.

to gain your trust--"
"Hagrid's my friend," said Harry, his voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but--"
Riddle laughed his high laugh again.
"It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student... on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed,

Remus just shook his head and chuckled slightly. If these books were foreshadowing, then they were doing a good job about making everyone fear werewolves even more.

sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls... but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance... as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power!

“And the fact that he was in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin,” Harry added. “Honestly, how anyone could have believed that still amazes me.” Fudge shifted uncomfortably at the indirect accusation.

"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed... Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did ..."

“Did you know about him then sir?” Harry asked the old wizard.

“Did I know what he was to become?” Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded. He shook his head. “No, I did not know what his future held exactly, but I had my suspicions. Dare I say it, he has gone far past what I thought him capable of.”

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry, his teeth gritted.
"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages,

“Through some very dark and dangerous magic,” Remus said under his breath.

so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again--"

“For some reason, I don’t think that he cares so much about killing people anymore.” Hermione said in a disgusted tone.

"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been - you."
Harry stared at him.

“Really no reaction? No surprising comments or exclamations?” George pressed.

Harry shook his head.

“Well that’s disappointing,” Fred sighed heavily.

"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat

There was a loud exclamation of “Oi!”, composed of mostly Weasleys, though Harry, Neville, and Hermione voiced their opinions quite loudly as well.

waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery –

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Hermione said and Harry gave her a small grin.

“But Hermione, I thought you liked cats!” He teased lightly.

particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue ...
"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her...

“What?” Mrs. Weasley whispered, her hands fluttering about her daughter, as though checking to make sure that she was really there.

She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last... I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

“I agree with Neville,” Luna said suddenly. “Why would this man be so curious to talk to someone from his future?”

"Like what?" Harry spat, fists still clenched.
"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you - a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent

“Well, he’s right about the skinny part,” Ron commented and Harry mock glared at him.

“Skinny specky git,” the twins sang as loudly (and as off key) as possible.

- managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.

Harry shivered. “That was so weird. It was like his eyes kept switching colors. From red to black and back again.”

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time..."
"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..."
He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

“It’s an anagram?” Hermione said curiously. “He kept his old name instead of completely giving himself a new one? But why?”

“But to most people ‘Mione,” Harry said. “It was a whole new name. And I doubt that he looked like little Tom Riddle by the time Voldemort rose to power.”

“True I suppose,” she agreed.

"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever?

“Wait a minute.” Fred interrupted. “Are you telling me that You-Know-Who –”

“Who hates Muggles and anyone not Pureblood –”

“Is a half-blood? How in –”

“Merlin’s name does that work?” George finished.

Harry shrugged. “Beats me. I never really got around to asking him that,” he said dryly.

I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch?

“Actually, that’s probably why he hated Muggles so much,” Hermione mused. “It’s never good for Muggles to suddenly learn about magic, especially if the person they married is a witch or wizard. It could be that his father leaving was better than any alternative.”

Too true. Snape thought bitterly as he thought about his own father.

No, Harry - I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

“But you’re not.” Harry said stubbornly. “Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world.” There were nods of approval all around.

Harry's brain seemed to have jammed. He stared numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to murder Harry's own parents, and so many others... At last he forced himself to speak.
"You're not," he said, his quiet voice full of hatred.
"Not what?" snapped Riddle.
"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry, breathing fast. "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days--"

“Well said Harry!” The twins echoed and Dumbledore nodded appreciatively, his blue eyes twinkling.

The smile had gone from Riddle's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed.
"He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true.
Riddle opened his mouth, but froze.
Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry's scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.
A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.

“Fawkes.” Remus breathed, feeling somewhat comforted that Harry had at least one powerful ally in the fight that was sure to come. He just hoped it would be enough.

A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Harry looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye.
The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Harry's cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle.
"That's a phoenix." said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.

“Brilliant observation.” Harry snapped.

“Er mate? You’re talking to a book.” Ron pointed out and Harry blushed while Ginny chuckled.

“Think its funny do you?” He mock glared at her but she just smiled up at him.

“Yes I do.” She simply said, laughing again and Harry found himself thinking that she had a beautiful laugh.

"Fawkes?" Harry breathed, and he felt the bird's golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently.
"And that -" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat--"
So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet.
Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once.
"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?"

“He does have a point though,” Neville said somewhat shyly. “I mean, how’s the hat going to help you? The Phoenix yes, but a hat?”

“You’d be surprised to find out what that hat can do,” Harry replied mysteriously.

Harry didn't answer. He might not see what use Fawkes or the Sorting Hat were, but he was no longer alone, and he waited for Riddle to stop laughing with his courage mounting.
"To business, Harry," said Riddle, still smiling broadly. "Twice - in your past, in my future - we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you stay alive."

Snuffles made a noise between a whimper and a growl, as though he couldn’t decide whether to be angry at the book or scared for Harry.

Harry was thinking fast, weighing his chances. Riddle had the wand. He, Harry, had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, neither of which would be much good in a duel. It looked bad, all right... but the longer Riddle stood there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny... and in the meantime, Harry noticed suddenly, Riddle's outline was becoming clearer, more solid... If it had to be a fight between him and Riddle, better sooner than later.
"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added,

Now two growls erupted from Snuffles and Remus. “Lily was anything but common,” he said lowly, speaking the words that Snuffles couldn’t. “She was the brightest and kindest witch you could ever hope to meet.” Snape found himself half nodding in agreement with Lupin, before he caught himself.

shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul--"
Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now... there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself We even look something alike...

“There is nothing similar between Harry and you!” Ron spat out.

“Ron? Talking to a book remember?” George laughed as Ron reddened. Harry meanwhile, said nothing. After the dreams and feelings he’d been having all year, he found less comfort in Ron’s words than he normally would have.

but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."
Harry stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise his wand. But Riddle's twisted smile was widening again.
"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him..."
He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, then walked away. Harry, fear spreading up his numb legs, watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed - but Harry understood what he was saying ...

“Is he calling the basilisk?” Remus asked fearfully.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
Harry wheeled around to look up at the statue, Fawkes swaying on his shoulder.
Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horrorstruck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole.
And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.
Harry backed away until he hit the dark Chamber wall, and as he shut his eyes tight he felt Fawkes' wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. Harry wanted to shout, "Don't leave me!" but what chance did a phoenix have against the king of serpents?

“Quite a good one actually,” Harry said lightly.

Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Harry felt it shudder - he knew what was happening, he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice:
"Kill him."
The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his way - Voldemort was laughing.
Harry tripped. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood the serpent was barely feet from him, he could hear it coming.
There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above him, and then something heavy hit Harry so hard that he was smashed into the wall. Waiting for fangs to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, something thrashing wildly off the pillars.

“What is it?” Hermione asked fearfully.

“Relax Hermione, its fine,” Harry tried to reassure her.

He couldn't help it - he opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on.
The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake.
Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing Harry, and before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned - Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

“Now you can look at it,” Remus breathed. “Now you can fight it.”

“Are you actually encouraging me to fight a giant snake?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Well I’ve come to the conclusion that whatever idiotic things and choices you’ve made, nothing can be done about them now.” SNuffles whimpered at that.

“None of my choices have been idiotic!”

“How about not well planned out?” Remus suggested innocently and Harry opened his mouth to argue before realizing that in a way, Remus did have a slight point.

"NO!" Harry heard Riddle screaming. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM. KILL HIM!"
The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.
"Help me, help me," Harry muttered wildly, "someone - anyone..."
The snake's tail whipped across the floor again. Harry ducked. Something soft hit his face.
The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry's arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only chance - he rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over him again.
Help me - help me - Harry thought, his eyes screwed tight under the hat. Please help me .
There was no answering voice. Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.
Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it.
A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

“The sword of Gryffindor!” Remus exclaimed. “Since its Goblin made, it should be able to pierce the basilisk’s skin!”

"KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. SNIFF - SMELL HIM."
Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous—

“Too descriptive,” Ginny mumbled.

It lunged blindly - Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed Harry's side.

“Too close,” Hermione said, gripping the nearest thing, in this case, Remus’ arm, rather hard as her fear increased. Harry felt slight sympathy for the man. He knew how strong Hermione’s death grip was when she was scared.

He raised the sword in both his hands--
The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true - Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth--
But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm

“No!” Hermione half whimpered, half yelled. Snuffles practically jumped into Harry’s lap, and Harry stroked his fur absently. The twins, Ron, McGonagall and a few of the other teachers were paper white as they stared at him.

and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.
Harry slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy.

“Basilisk venom is one of the fastest acting poisons in the world,” Remus whispered. “If you don’t get professional help in a few minutes…” he trailed off with that happy thought.

The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color.
A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him.
"Fawkes," said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes..."
He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him.
He could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of him.
"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle's voice above him. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

“Crying…Phoenix tears!” Remus exclaimed and people were looking at him like he’d gone mad. “Don’t you see? Dumbledore said it himself a few chapters back, Phoenix tears have healing powers! Fawkes is healing Harry!”

Harry blinked. Fawke's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers.
"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."
Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning.
"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother

Sharp growls punctured the eerie silence that had fallen.

soon, Harry... She bought you twelve years of borrowed time... but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must..."
If this is dying, thought Harry, it's not so bad.*]
[* Even the pain was leaving him...
But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound - except that there was no wound.

“Thank goodness,” Ginny sighed in relief, moving just a bit closer into Harry’s chest when he made no move to stop her.

"Get away, bird," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him - I said, get away--"
Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet.
"Phoenix tears..." said Riddle quietly, staring at Harry's arm. "Of course... healing powers... I forgot..."

“Not so smart now are you Riddle?” George taunted and Fred shook his head.

“Honestly Forge, Ron talking to books I can understand, but I always had high hopes for you…”

He looked into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter... you and me..."
He raised the wand ...
Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Harry’s lap - the diary.
For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along,

“That seems to be how most of your plans work,” Luna commented.

“You have no idea,” Hermione said after loosening her grip on Remus’ arm, who winced slightly.

“Hey my plans work out fine thank you very much!”

Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book.
There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then—

“The basilisk venom…it destroys dark magic…of course,” Remus muttered unintelligibly.

He had gone. Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.
Shaking all over, Harry pulled himself up. His head was spinning as though he'd just traveled miles by Floo powder. Slowly, he gathered together his wand and the Sorting Hat, and, with a huge tug, retrieved the glittering sword from the roof of the basilisk's mouth.
Then came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Harry hurried toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Harry, in his blood-soaked robes, then to the diary in his hand.

“For a moment, I thought I was dreaming,” she told him. “You looked slightly ridiculous and I couldn’t believe that you were actually there, that you actually came for me…”

“Always.” Harry said, looking right into her eyes and blushing as red as her hair when he realized what he was doing.

Hermione, Fred, George, and even Mrs. Weasley all exchanged knowing glances while Ron was frowning slightly.

She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.
"Harry - oh, Harry - I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy - 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 - how did you kill that - that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary--"

“You missed quite the show,” Harry informed her and she rolled her eyes.

“After hearing it, I think I’m almost glad I did.”

"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here--"
"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and - w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"
Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Harry urged Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Harry heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.

“And they are going to stay closed.” He said firmly.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Harry's ears.

“Did you manage to make a large gap?” Hermione asked Ron.

“A fair sized hole,” he shrugged.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"
He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rock fall.
"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened?" How - what - where did that bird come from?"

“Well, Harry killed a giant snake, stabbed a diary, and the bird suddenly appeared.” Fred answered.

Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.
"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself.
"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand.

“Because he’s awesome like that,” George said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry with a sideways glance at Ginny, who was crying harder than ever.
"But--"
"Later," Harry said shortly. He didn't think it was a good idea to tell Ron yet who'd been opening the Chamber, not in front of Ginny, anyway. "Where's Lockhart?"
"Back there," said Ron, still looking puzzled but jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."
Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself.
"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

“Well better than to the rest of the population,” McGonagall snorted.

"Did Minnie just insult a Professor?" Remus whispered to Snuffles who looked just as shocked.

Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all.
"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

“Huh, he’s even thicker when he doesn’t have his memory,” Neville mused and Harry laughed.

"No," said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Harry.
Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.
"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron.
Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. Harry looked uncertainly at him.
"He looks like he wants you to grab hold..." said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there--"
"Fawkes," said Harry, "isn't an ordinary bird." He turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand. Professor Lockhart--"
"He means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.
"You hold Ginny's other hand--"
Harry tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat into his belt, Ron took hold of the back of Harry's robes, and Harry reached out and took hold of Fawkes's strangely hot tail feathers.

“Sir, I have a question,” Remus turned to Dumbledore. “When you told Harry about all of Fawkes’ abilities, did you know that he would be using them later in the year?”

Dumbledore shrugged, though his eyes were twinkling like mad.

An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through his whole body and the next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. Harry could hear Lockhart dangling below him, saying, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" The chill air was whipping through Harry's hair, and before he'd stopped enjoying the ride,

“Of course you would,” Ginny said fondly.

it was over - all four of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.

“Evidently not much changed,” Remus stated, shaking his head in wonder.

Myrtle goggled at them.
"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Fred joked.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly,

“Hey I think like Harry!”

wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses.

“Charming.” Hermione told him, her nose slightly wrinkled.

"Oh, well... I'd just been thinking... if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

Fred and George spluttered. “Did she just?”

“I think she did!”

“You’ve got competition Ginny!”

"Urgh!" said Ron as they left the bathroom for the dark, deserted corridor outside. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! You've got competition, Ginny!"

“Oh great, why’d I have to be the one to think like Ronnikins?” George moaned.

But tears were still flooding silently down Ginny's face.
"Where now?" said Ron, with an anxious look at Ginny. Harry pointed.
Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. They strode after him, and moments later, found themselves outside Professor McGonagall's office.
Harry knocked and pushed the door open.

“Something tells me you gave everyone a heart attack,” Remus said with a slight smile.

“You try seeing your pupils covered in blood and slime and we shall see how you fare Mr. Lupin!” McGonagall retorted.

“You saw us covered in slime and blood a fair few times,” he pointed out genially.

“Yes, but there also wasn’t a monster on the loose in the castle at the time!”

“Fair point,” he conceded.

Amelia cleared her throat. “That was the end of the chapter, and there is only one left. Minister, would you care to read?” Between her tone and stern gaze, Fudge really had no choice but to take the book from her.

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