A few days later I opened the book to find a message:

HELLO LOUISA, I HAVE A MISSION FOR YOU

What sort of mission?

ONE THAT WILL MAKE YOU POPULAR.

I don’t want to be popular.

WHY?

Others are popular. Not me.

DOES IT DO THEM NO GOOD?

None

I NEED YOU TO SPEAK TO A SNAKE

Parseltongue? Why? That just makes me unpopular.

A PARSELMOUTH? IN GRYFFINDOR?

So?

ARE YOU A DECENDANT OF SALAZAR SLYTHERIN?

I would not know what to say to this.

AS YOU ARE SILENT, I EXPECT THIS MEANS YES.

Again, I wouldn’t know what to say.

AS HEIR, DO YOU KNOW HOW TO ENTER THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS?

No

DID YOUR PARENTS NOT TELL YOU?

My parents are both dead, I live with my uncle.

I CAN SHOW YOU

No, I know the dungeons fine. I don’t need help.

REALLY?

Yes. Why do you want me down there?

The problem is, perhaps the great thing is, that to protect me, my father made sure that I was unable to be touched by dark magic. In particular dark magic from himself and his followers. This means that no matter how hard the sixteen-year-old version of himself tried, he would never have hurt me in the way that he hurt Ginny. I would never be cursed, or harmed, and I would never have let him know that.