It was getting near to the term and there had been no more attacks, luckily.

In Transfiguration one day, Professor McGonagall told us that our exams would start a week from today.

We were still having exams? I had thought that with all this going on, we wouldn’t be having exams – but according to McGonagall, that was the whole point of keeping the school open. 

The Gryffindors complained loudly, but we Slytherins kept our thoughts as thoughts, left in our heads.

***

Three days before our first exam, Professor McGonagall made an announcement at breakfast. “I have good news,” she began.

But instead of falling silent to hear the good news, everyone began suggesting what the good news was.

“They’ve killed Slytherin’s monster!” Blaise shouted. I shook my head.

“Trust me, it’s tough to kill.”

“Exams have been cancelled!” Evangeline exclaimed from where she was sitting a few seats away.

That seemed a lot more likely, but neither was correct.

“Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with us catching the culprit.”

Everyone began cheering. A few Slytherins, including Draco, didn’t join in, but most were looking very pleased.

I didn’t join in with the cheering. If someone had managed to work out that it was me, I would be expelled and probably sent to Azkaban, and no-one in their right mind would believe that a voice in my head told me to do it, or that I only did it because a boy named Tom Riddle who was possessing Ginny Weasley told me to.

Later on that day, we were in Charms when a voice echoed through the classroom.

It was a message from Professor McGonagall.

“All students to return to their house dormitories. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please.”

Professor Flitwick jumped. “I shall escort you back to your dormitories. Now please follow me.”

But right then, I heard a voice.

Great timing, Tom.

So as all the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs followed Flitwick down the corridor, without a word, I stepped back and walked to the bathroom.

Myrtle ignored me, which was just fine by me, because there was somewhere I needed to be.

When I got to the Chamber, an unfamiliar-looking boy with black hair and pale skin was waiting for me.

“Hello, Jade,” he said, and grinned. “I am Tom Riddle.”

I tried not to gasp. “Why…why don’t you need to possess Ginny anymore?”

Was Ginny Weasley dead?

“Oh, it’s a rather long story. But we have time, I suppose. When I was sixteen, fifty years ago, I opened the Chamber of Secrets. A girl was killed – Myrtle, the girl who now resides in the bathroom that is the entrance to the Chamber. The school was going to be closed, so I pretended to catch the person who had done it – by blaming it on Rubeus Hagrid. Everyone believed me, he was expelled, and I was given a Special Services to the School Award. I knew that I could not open the Chamber of Secrets while still at school, so I preserved my 16-year-old self inside a diary.

‘50 years later, dear Ginny Weasley found my diary somehow. She began writing in it. I wrote back to her. She loved me, and so trusted me and told me all her secrets. I lived off these secrets. After some time, I began to feed her some of my secrets, and so was able to effectively possess her. Therefore, she opened the Chamber and did a great number of other things – under my command, of course.

‘She worked out that it was me – via her – that was Petrifying all the Mudbloods. She threw away the diary, and that was when it was found by none other than Harry Potter. We had a short conversation and I gained his trust. Unfortunately, Ginny took the diary back. However, by this point, she had put a lot of her life into me. I brought her down here and then I was strong enough to appear in this form.”

I stared. “So…where’s Ginny?”

“Oh, just over there.” He carelessly indicated where she was lying over to the side, the he Levitated her into better view. “She hasn’t got much life left. When she, dies, I will return to proper life. At the moment, I am still not much more than a memory.”

I nodded, my thoughts tumbling over each other in an attempt to be heard.

Could I save Ginny?

Could I kill Tom Riddle?

What should I do about the diary? Stab it? That would kill him, wouldn’t it?

Suddenly, I realised that Tom hadn’t mentioned why I was actually here. He hadn’t called the basilisk yet, I assumed.

“Uh, Tom?” I asked. He nodded and motioned for me to continue. “What am I actually doing here? As I, why did you call me here?”

“Ah,” he said, and smiled pleasantly. “Well, I do have a target for the basilisk to kill, but he isn’t here yet. In other words, I am expecting a visitor who will be here very soon. Ah, here he is now.”

In unison, we turned to face the entranceway to the Chamber. The door was opening and through it I could see a boy approaching.

He came closer and closer until I could finally who he was.

And I almost yelled out when I realised that the boy was none other than Harry Potter.