Chapter 19 - Chamber of Secrets

        As quick as we could, Eric, Ron, Harry, and I sprinted down the halls and through the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to Lockhart's office.

"Professor, we've got some information for you..." I started but trailed off when we saw that Lockhart seemed to be packing his things into two large trunks. As soon as the man turned to us, he slammed one of the trunks closed and looked like a deer in headlights.

"Are you going somewhere?" Harry narrowed his eyes with an infuriated tone. Lockhart looked very guilty as he tried to explain,

"Um, well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable. Got to go..."

"What about my sister?" Ron demanded, distressed.

"Well...um... as to that... most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I."

Eric exclaimed angrily,

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! You can't go now!"

"Well, I must say," Lockhart said, "When I took the job, nothing in the job description-- "

"You're running away?" Harry questioned as he and I stopped Lockhart in his path to the door, and I continued,

"After all that stuff you did in your books?"

"Books can be misleading," Lockhart opposed before Harry and I simultaneously shouted,

"You wrote them!"

"My dear twins, do use your common sense!" Lockhart blurted, "My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly, old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all..."

"You're a fraud!" my brother angrily stated, "You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done!"

"Harry, Harry, Harry. There was work involved. I had to track these people down and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. No, it's not all book signings and publicity photos. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long, hard slog."

Ron demanded,

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Yes, now that you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would've gone blabbing, and I'd never have sold another book. In fact... uh..." Lockhart turned away back to his trunk. "I'm going to have to do the same to you."

Lockhart lifted his wand, but the four of us were quicker with our own as we pointed them at the man.

"Don't even think about it," I said, narrowing my eyes and gesturing for Lockhart to put his wand down. The fraud did as I said and dropped his wand before Harry demanded,

"We're going to save Ginny, and you're coming with us."

"Absolutely n-" Lockhart tried, but the boys pointed their wands more purposefully, causing Lockhart to give in, "Absolutely I will. Lead the way."

With that, Ron gestured for Lockhart to walk ahead of him and Eric while Harry and I led the way to the girls' bathroom, where we knew we'd find Myrtle. Eventually, Lockhart walked ahead of the four of us while our wands were pointed at his back. As we entered the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle was floating above the stalls and looked up at the sound of our footsteps,

"Oh! Who's there? Oh...Hello, Harry," the ghost girl then smiled flirtatiously toward my brother before she frowned, "What do you want?"

Gently, Harry answered,

"To ask you... how you died."

Myrtle seemed flattered at the question as she smiled​​​,

"Oooooh, it was dreadful. It happened right here. In this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Oliver Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in."

"Who was it, Myrtle?" I asked, but the girl shouted,

"I don't know! I was distraught!" Myrtle lowered her voice again as she came toward us, "But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language. And I realized it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door to tell him to go away, and... I died."

"Just like that? How?"

"I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. Over there by that sink." Myrtle pointed to the bank of sinks before floating back over to the stalls to continue crying. Harry, Eric, Ron and I all turned to the sink Myrtle had specified and examined it, wondering if there could be something special about it. After a moment, Harry pointed at a snake engraved into the tap,

"This is it, guys. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Say something," Ron suggested as he kept his wand pointed at Lockhart before Eric nodded and urged,

"Ella and Harry, say something in Parseltongue."

Sharing a glance with Harry, my twin took my hand in his, and the two of us closed our eyes and concentrated on trying to speak Parseltongue,

"Open up."

When we opened our eyes, the sink had started to open up to reveal a hole in the centre of the bank of sinks.

"Excellent, Harry and Ella. Good work. Well then. I'll just be... uh. There's no need for me to stay," Lockhart tried as he started turning to leave, but the boys blocked his path.

"Oh, yes, there is," Harry strained as the boys shoved Lockhart toward the hole. As Eric, Harry and Ron pointed their wands at Lockhart again, Harry narrowed his eyes at the man, "You first."

"Now, boys. What good will it do?"

"Better you than us," Ron noted.

"Um, but... Obviously. Yes."

Grimly, Lockhart turned to face the dark hole, nervously looking down before he looked back at us, "Sure you don't want to test it first?"

But Ron suddenly pushed the blond man, causing him to topple into the hole and out of sight, screaming. There was a crash, and then, after a moment, Lockhart yelled up at us,

"It's really quite filthy down here."

Harry nodded,

"All right. Let's go."

"Oh, Harry..." Myrtle called out and gave a flirty smile, "If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."

"Uh... Thanks, Myrtle."

I jumped first, followed by Harry, then Ron, then Eric. When I jumped, I wasn't expecting the slide that was waiting for us, and we all screamed the whole way down. When we finally slid out, we landed on a dirty floor. Quickly, Eric, Ron, Harry and I stood and raised our wands back at Lockhart to make sure he didn't try anything. Just then, Ron cringed,

"Ugh."

Looking over at my red-headed friend, I noticed he was looking at the floor. I followed his gaze and glanced at what I was standing on, only to see a bunch of small bones. My eyes widened, but Harry calmly brushed it off and instructed,

"Now, remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away."

The rest of us nodded before Harry climbed up to start down the tunnel. I followed after him while Eric and Ron ordered Lockhart,

"Go on."

Lockhart quickly followed behind me as we walked.

"This way," Harry instructed once we came to a fork in the tunnel. Following Harry with my hand in his, we kept going and avoided whatever was stretched along the cave floor until Eric asked,

"What's this?"

"It looks like a... snake," Lockhart remarked when Harry corrected,

"It's a snakeskin."

"Bloody hell! Whatever shed this must be sixty feet long. Or more," Ron guessed. Suddenly, I heard a thud as Harry was looking at the head of the snakeskin. Glancing over to Eric, Ron and Lockhart, I saw that Lockhart had apparently passed out

"Heart of a lion, this one," Eric joked, looking over at me and Harry. Then, out of nowhere, Lockhart snatched Ron's wand as he stood up before pointing it at all of us.

"The adventure ends here, children!" Lockhart smiled, "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl. How you four tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snakeskin. So... you first, Mr Potter. Say goodbye to your memories."

Lockhart raised Ron's wand toward Harry, "Obliviate!"

However, rather than doing what he wanted, the wand exploded like a small bomb, blasting Lockhart into the rock above. All of a sudden, there was a loud rumble, and rocks started falling between where Harry and I stood and where Ron, Eric and Lockhart were. Quickly, Harry pushed me down with him, and we covered our heads until the sounds of falling rocks stopped.

"Harry? Ella?" Eric asked in a shout as Harry and I stood to our feet again. "Harry! Ella!"

Quickly, my twin and I rushed over to the now solid wall of broken rock to see if we could try and get through to our two friends.

"Ron! Eric!" Harry yelled, and I asked, looking through the small hole,

"Are you both okay?"

Ron replied,

"We're fine!"

I heard a groan and then the quiet voice of Lockhart,

"Hello. Who are you?"

"Um... Ron Weasley and Eric Underwood," I heard Eric answer.

"Really? And, uh... wh-who am I?"

"Lockhart's memory charm backfired!" Ron yelled for me and Harry to hear. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!"

"It's an odd sort of place, this, isn't it?" Lockhart chuckled, "Do you live here?"

"No."

"Really?"

I watched as Ron smacked Lockhart on the side of the head with a rock that the man had picked up.

"What do we do now?" Eric questioned, and Harry suggested,

"You two, wait here and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through. We'll go on and find Ginny. If we're not back in an hour..."

My brother trailed off as we shared a mildly worried glance before Ron shouted,

"Ok."

"See you in a bit," I tried to smile through the small hole. My brother and I both took out our wands and continued toward a strange door carved with serpents. As we got closer, I felt like I was in a sort of daze as Harry and I spoke in what I thought was Parseltongue,

"Open."

On command, the serpent parts started moving until the door finally opened. Raising our wands once again, I grabbed Harry's hand and followed slightly behind him as we started walking toward and through the door. Once we jumped down to the other side, there was a giant chamber. Along the wet path were rows of stone snake heads resting in a pool of black water. Ahead, there was an enormous statue of who I assumed was Salazar Slytherin. As Harry and I slowly walked closer to the statue, we saw that lying in front of it was Ginny.

"Ginny..." Harry said before we both started running down the path toward her. Once we were close enough, we both knelt beside the youngest Weasley. "Ginny! Oh, Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up!" Harry pleaded as I begged,

"Wake up, Ginny! Please wake up!"

"She won't wake," a voice said, and the two of us turned our heads to see an older boy walking toward us.

"Tom..." my brother declared, "Tom Riddle. What do you mean she won't wake? She's not..."

"She's still alive. But only just," Tom clarified, and I questioned,

"Are you a ghost?"

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

Harry and I looked at the diary in Ginny's grasp, then Harry placed his fingers gently on Ginny's hand before he frowned,

"She's cold as ice. Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up."

"You've got to help us, Tom," I pleaded, "There's a basilisk-"

Tom interrupted,

"It won't come until it's called."

My twin and I looked up to see Tom holding our wands in his hand.

"Give us our wands, Tom," Harry demanded.

"You won't be needing them."

"Listen, we've got to go!"

"We've got to save her!" I added, but Tom spoke calmly,

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ella and Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker... I grow stronger."

Harry and I furrowed our brows and shared a confused glance before I cried,

"But she's dying!"

"Yes. I'm afraid so. But then, she's been in so much pain, poor Ginny. She's been writing to me for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. Ginny poured her soul out to me. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Ginny a few secrets, to start pouring a bit of my soul back into her..."

My mind filled with realization as I looked at Tom with a worried expression. "Yes, Harry and Ella, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"No..." Harry denied, "She couldn't..."

"She wouldn't," I assured. Tom only continued,

"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. Ginny, who wrote threatening messages on the walls."

"But why?" I questioned.

"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her, and she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom. But then, who should find it... but you. One of the two very people I was most anxious to meet."

Harry angrily asked,

"And why did you want to meet us?"

"Ginny told me all about you. I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."

I then angrily blurted,

"Hagrid's our friend! And you framed him, didn't you?"

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think Hagrid was innocent."

I smirked with Harry as my brother mocked,

"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you."

"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. So I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that 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 Mandrake Draught will be ready, and everyone who was petrified will be all right again."

"Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target... has been you two."

Harry and my firm expressions dropped. "Imagine my disappointment when I learned Ginny had stolen the diary back from you."

"Ginny stole the diary from my room? But why?"

"She was afraid. Afraid you'd learn how to work the diary. Afraid I'd tell you just who it was that had been strangling all those roosters."

Horrified, Harry and I glanced at Ginny, who grew paler as time passed. Turning back to Tom, we listened as he explained more, "Come now, Ella and Harry. Don't look so disappointed. Had Ginny succeeded in destroying the diary, she would have destroyed me. And we couldn't be having this little talk. And I have so many questions for you."

"Like what?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at Tom.

"Well, how is it that two babies with no extraordinary magical talent were able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but scars while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how we escaped?" Harry questioned, "Voldemort was after your time."

Tom grinned evilly,

"Voldemort is my past, present and future."

Pulling out Harry's wand, Tom began to write through the air three words: Tom Marvolo Riddle. Then, with a wave, the letters rearranged to spell the sentence: I am Lord Voldemort.

"You..." I spoke in disbelief, "You're the heir of Slytherin? You're Voldemort..."

"Surely you didn't think I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry yelled as he stepped up to Tom.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"

Angry, I stepped up and shouted,

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!"

Suddenly, there was a bird's cry! Quickly, I turned with Harry to see Dumbledore's beautiful red phoenix swooping in, clutching something in his talons. "Fawkes?"

As Fawkes came over to me and Harry, he dropped what he was holding for Harry to catch. As we watched Fawkes fly out, Harry quickly unbundled what Fawkes had dropped to see that it was the Sorting Hat. Confused, I furrowed my brows as Tom mocked us,

"This is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders! A songbird and an old hat!"

As Harry and I checked the Hat to see if there was something we had missed, Tom turned away from us. I thought nothing of it until I heard Tom speak in Parseltongue,

"Speak to me, Slytherin."

Watching, Salazar's stone face started to open as Tom turned back to us,

"Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry and Ella Potter."

Just then, there was snarling, and I looked over to the opening mouth with wide eyes as I watched the snout of the basilisk start to come out. In a panic, Harry and I turned to start running away as Tom spoke again to the snake, "Kill them!"

I heard the body of the basilisk slither against the water-covered stone when Tom yelled at us, "Parseltongue won't save you now, Potters. It only obeys me."

As the two of us ran as fast as we could, Harry warned me and himself,

"Don't look. Don't look into its eyes."

I nodded, knowing my brother wasn't paying attention enough to notice as we kept running toward the exit. As I heard the basilisk getting closer, I suddenly slipped and bumped into Harry, causing us to fall over. As we quickly fixed our glasses, we heard the basilisk's growl almost right behind us. Knowing we wouldn't be able to get up in time, Harry and I merely covered our heads until we heard Fawkes' cry once again. Looking up, away from the great snake, we saw Fawkes fly over us and toward the basilisk. Harry and I could only watch the shadow on the wall of what looked like Fawkes clawing out the snake's eyes as it screeched and hissed in pain.

"NO!" Tom yelled in frustration.