At first, Harry didn’t take any notice of us, instead running straight to Ginny. He examined her pale face and, right then, I just wanted to go and help him.

But I had a job to do right now, and I couldn’t abandon it.

“Ginny! Don’t be dead! Please don’t be dead! Ginny, please wake up,” Harry muttered.

“She won’t wake,” Tom said, and Harry looked up.

He clearly hadn’t noticed either of us, but now he fixed me witha penetrating glare and then turned to Tom.

“Tom – Tom Riddle?”

How did Harry know Tom?

Then I recalled Tom saying that he had gained Harry’s trust. Had Tom done it by showing Harry something about himself, and therefore showing his appearance?

There were so many questions to ask.

I turned my attention back to the conversation. Tom was just telling Harry that he was only a memory.

He clearly didn’t understand that Tom was the ‘bad guy’, and wanted to kill him.

That wasn’t very smart. Generally speaking, the whole point of being inside the Chamber of Secrets was so that you could access the monster and therefore kill a bunch of Muggle-borns.

Tom had now taken Harry’s wand and was twirling it idly between his fingers.

“Look, give me my wand, I might need it,” Harry said.

“You won’t be needing it,” Tom replied.

Harry stared at him.

“What d’you mean, I won’t be –”

“I’ve waited a long time for this, Harry Potter,” Tom told Harry. I didn’t understand all that much of what was going on anymore. “For the chance to see you. To speak to you.”

“Look, I don’t think you get it.We’re in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later.”

“We’re going to talk now,” Tom informed Harry, putting his wand in his pocket.

Harry frowned. I think it was then that he realised that maybe Tom wasn’t good news.

“How did Ginny get like this?” he asked slowly.

Tom then proceeded to tell Harry everything he had told me – how he essentially lived off Ginny.

“I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin’s noble work,” Tom explained calmly.

“Well, you haven’t finished it,” Harry said 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.”

“Haven’t I already told you that killing Mudbloods doesn’t matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been – you.”

He told Harry about bringing Ginny down here.

“I knew you’d come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter.”

“Like what?” Harry spat.

“Well, how is it that a baby with no extraordinary talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?” he asked.

I had an idea where this was going…

“Why do you care how I escaped?” Harry questioned slowly. “Voldemort was after your time.”

“Voldemort,” Tom said softly, “is my past, present and future, Harry Potter…”

He took Harry’s wand out of his pocket and began to trace it through the air, and words appeared:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

He waved the wand and the letters rearranged themselves:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Uh-oh.

This was not going to go well.

Harry had evaded Voldemort last year, but to do it again would be extremely difficult.

“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 for ever? 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? 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!”

Oddly enough, I was reminded of my conversation with Harry last year, when I had told him that Dumbledore was the greatest wizard in the world, not Voldemort.

It seemed like ages ago.

“You’re not,” Harry said, his voice filled with hatred.

“Not what?” Tom snapped.

“Not the greatest sorcerer in the world. 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 right through you when you were at school, and he still frightens you, wherever you’re hiding these days.”

Tom looked extremely angry now.

“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.

Where did he get that comment from?

It almost certainly wasn’t true, so –

I could hear music. It was strange music. Very strange.

That wasn’t all. A large crimson-coloured bird appeared. It had a very long tail and gleaming golden talons.

It was carrying something, I noticed. It looked rather ragged, and was black. The bird dropped it at Harry’s feet.

The bird landed on Harry’s shoulder.

“That’s a phoenix…” Tom commented.

“Fawkes?” Harry breathed.

The name was unfamiliar to me.

“And that – ” Tom said, looking at the thing that Fawkes had dropped, “that’s the old Sorting Hat.”

Tom laughed. Extremely loudly.

It was quite annoying, actually.

“This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?”

Then Tom asked him how he had managed to beat him, and Harry explained.

“Now, Harry, I’m going to teach you a little lesson,” Tom told Harry. “Let’s match the powers of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him.”

What was I meant to do now? Let Harry die? I couldn’t do that!

I felt my feet moving forward of their own accord.

“Tom, how are you going to explain his disappearance?” I heard myself ask.

“Oh, I won’t,” he said coolly.

“Well, you know they’ll suspect that he went to the Chamber, after what happened last year,” I commented.

He frowned. “What happened last year?”

“Well, someone was trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone. It turned out to be a teacher we had at the time, Quirrell, on Voldemort’s orders. Anyway, Harry worked out what was going on, and ended up getting the Stone instead. Voldemort was defeated,” I explained. “But people will think he’s gone to the Chamber because that is where all the ‘trouble’ is coming from.”

I turned to Harry and mouthed, I’m buying you time. Don’t waste it.

Tom frowned. “How do you know?”

“I was there,” I said. “I watched the whole thing.”

Harry began backing off slowly. Tom didn’t notice, his attention now wholly focussed on me.

“And what part did you play?” he asked.

“Well, I watched most of the action without doing anything, but then Quirrell started dying, so I went to help. And then he hit me with the Killing Curse,” I told him.

Tom looked confused. “Why did he do that?”

“Because,” I explained very slowly, “Voldemort told him to.”

I hoped there would be no reason for me to tell Tom that he’d wanted me dead because I refused to join him.

“And why in Merlin’s name would I want to kill the other Heir of Slytherin?” he asked.

I panicked.

Then I had an answer. “Voldemort wanted to kill me because I am only a half-blood, not a pure-blood.”

Tom looked at a loss as to what to say now. “Hmmm…but you didnot die?”

Oh, here we go. “No, Tom, I didn’t die. That was only because the Killing Curse bounced off someone else first, so the spell was weakened. However, the ‘someone else’ was not wholly human at this point; in fact, he was not much more than a ghost. This was, of course, Lord Voldemort.”

Casually, I glanced around me to see where Harry was. I couldn’t see him anywhere, which meant he had managed to get away silently.

If Tom realised what I had done, then I would probably be dead.

Tom grimaced. “Ah. I was killed by my own follower – accidentally, I assume?”

I nodded. “But even if it was on purpose, you would not be able to punish him in any way. He is dead. I saw him die myself.”

He frowned. “So all my followers are dead?”

I shrugged. “I was not raised in the wizarding world, so I don’t know as much about what happened, but I think that most of them are still alive, pretending they were forced to join you.”

Suddenly, I recalled what had happened the day Dumbledore came to tell me that I was a witch. He had told me that TMR, the name on my wall, was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He had told me that TMR was the child Voldemort, and I had forgotten!

He sighed. “Fear. They are probably all terrified that they will be imprisoned. I do not know who these followers are, but they sound like a large group of cowards to me.”

I nodded. He was right, even if he was the enemy.

“Oh, and Tom?” I asked. He nodded. “I know you grew up in an orphanage. I grew up there too. I was placed in the room you used to live in. Your initials are carved into the wall.”

“Oh, yes. I remember that. I lived there for all of my childhood years…but it was a horrible place. Packed with Muggles.” He made a face.

“Not anymore. The orphanage is going out of business. When I last went there, only 6 children were there, not including me, and one of them turned out to be a wizard,” I explained.

Tom looked pleased. “I’ll be glad if it goes out of business completely – it was an awful place to live. But, enough of the talking about our shared past, I have a boy I need to kill.”

He turned to the place where he had been talking to Harry before, and his eyes widened.

Harry was not there, nor was he anywhere to be seen.

“Harry Potter is gone…where is he?” Tom demanded.

“I…I do not know…” I said, my voice quavering.

“No matter,” Tom said dismissively. “The basilisk can find him.”

I had not thought of that. The basilisk might be able to smell him or hear him, even if we couldn’t.

He turned to face Slytherin. “Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.”

I watched silently as the basilisk slid out of Slytherin’s‘mouth’.

I couldn’t see Harry, but that didn’t worry Tom.

“Kill him,” he hissed.

The basilisk slid off to find Harry, but out of nowhere, it seemed, Fawkes flew straight towards the basilisk.

Fawkes didn’t hesitate. The phoenix attacked its eyes and punctured them – it was now unable to see or kill with its eyes.

“No!” Tom screamed. “Leave the bird! Leave the bird! The boy is behind you! You can still smell him! Kill him!”

Just then, Harry came into sight. He was sort of sliding across the floor.

The basilisk’s tail swept past Harry’s head, almost knocking into him, but it had unintentionally brushed the Sorting Hat into Harry’s arms.

There was nothing I could do now, I realised. Not unless I wanted to pointlessly get killed.

Harry put the Sorting Hat onto his head and I half expected it to shout out, “GRYFFINDOR!”

It didn’t make any sound at all, however, I saw Harry wince and pull off the Hat.

He slowly took something out of the Hat. A sword, glittering with huge rubies. I could faintly see the words ‘GODRIC GRYFFINDOR’ engraved on it.

“Kill the boy! Leave the bird! The boy is behind you! Sniff – smell him!”

Harry stepped forward and lifted his sword. The basilisk lunged at him and Harry stuck the sword into the top of the basilisk’s mouth.

The basilisk’s blood spurted out everywhere.

It looked disgusting, but at least Harry was killing the basilisk.

The basilisk fell to the floor. It was dead.

But as Harry approached us, I could see that something was wrong. He was clutching his arm, which was bleeding profusely.

In his other hand, he held a basilisk fang.

Their fangs were deadly, I knew. So, after all this, Harry was just going to die anyway?

It didn’t seem fair…

Fawkes flew down and lay his head on Harry’s wound and began to cry.

“You’re dead, Harry Potter. Dead,” Tom said coldly. “Even Dumbledore’s bird knows it. Do you see what he’s doing, Potter? He’s crying.”

Phoenix tears have healing powers! I remembered suddenly.

“So ends the famous Harry Potter. 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 soon, Harry…She bought you twelve years of borrowed time…but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must.”

I felt my feet move me forward of their own accord. “Don’t use that name!”

Tom glanced over at me, eyes narrowed. “What name?”

“Mudblood! How dare you call our mother that name?!” I shouted. Harry gave his head a little shake. His wound had disappeared.

“Our mother?” Tom asked curiously.

“Yes. Harry’s my half-brother. But that’s beside the point. You should never speak the way you do. It’ll get you killed one day, Voldemort.”

Where was all this bravery coming from?

Tom glared at me. “I’ll deal with you after Potter’s dead. Which won’t be long.”

I shook my head, grinning foolishly. “He’s already healed!”

“Get away, bird,” Tom said suddenly, realising what had happened. “Get away from him. I said, get away!”

He pointed Harry’s wand at the phoenix, there was a bang and Fawkes took flight.

“Too late,” I added, smirking slightly.

“Phoenix tears…of course…healing powers…I forgot…but it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter…you and me…”

Tom raised Harry’s wand, but before he could do anything with it, Fawkes flew back overhead and dropped Tom Riddle’s diary into Harry’s lap.

For a moment, the three of us just stared at it, then I whispered, “Stab it.”

I just hoped Harry knew what I meant.

He grabbed the basilisk fang on the ground next to him and plunged it into the diary. Ink immediately began spurting out of it, all over the diary, Harry’s hands, the floor…

Meanwhile, Tom Marvolo Riddle was screaming and twisting about and then, just like that, he was gone.

The diary had a huge whole in the front of it now, and was covered in ink.

I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was shaking all over.

Harry picked up his wand, the diary, Gryffindor’s sword and the Sorting Hat, then together, we walked over to where Ginny was just waking up.

Ginny drew a deep breath and tears began pouring 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? And – and, J-Jade, what are y-you doing h-here? W-where’s Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary –”

“It’s alright,” Harry told her, showing her the diary. “Riddle’s finished. Look! Him and the basilisk, C’mon, Ginny, let’s get out of here.”

“We’ll explain what happened on the way back, if you want,” I added.

“I’m going to be expelled!” Ginny cried, getting to her feet with Harry’s help. “I’ve looked forward to coming here ever since B-Bill came and n-now I’ll have to leave and – w-what’ll Mum and Dad say?”

“It’s alright,” I said gently. “It’s not your fault.”

We walked slowly along the tunnel, and as we went, Harry and I explained what had happened.

I didn’t even know why I was trusting Harry.

As we went further along the tunnel, I could hear a noise, almost as if someone was shifting rock around.

“Ron!” Harry yelled, speeding up. “Ginny’s OK! I’ve got her!”

Ron?

I should have expected that Harry came here with a friend.

As we turned a corner, I saw Ron’s face peeping out from a gap in a large wall of collapsed rocks.

“Ginny!” He reached through and pulled Ginny through the gap. “You’re alive! I don’t believe it! What happened?”

He tried to hug her, but Ginny held him off.

“But you’re okay, Ginny. It’s over now, it’s – where did that bird come from?”

Fawkes had just flown through the gap.

“He’s Dumbledore’s,” Harry explained shortly, then squeezed through the gap himself.

“And how come you’ve got a sword?” Ron asked, gaping at it.

Quickly, I clambered through the narrow space and looked around. Ron’s face was covered in dust.

Ron stared at me. “And how did she get there?”

“I’ll explain when we get out of here,” Harry promised, glancing at Ginny.

“But –”

“Later. Where’s Lockhart?”

This was getting ridiculous.

I could understand Harry bringing his best friend…but bringing our imbecile of a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?

“Back there.” Ron grinned and jerked his head towards the way out. “He’s in a bad way. Come and see.”

Fawkes was glowing faintly, so he led us to the mouth of the pipe.

And there was Gilderoy Lockhart, humming away to himself and looking even more idiotic than usual.

“His memory’s gone,” Ron explained. “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.”

Lockhart peered up at us cheerfully. “Odd sort of place, this, isn’t it? Do you live here?”

“No,” said Ron.

Harry walked to the end of the pipe and looked up it. “Have you thought about how we’re going to get back up this?” he asked Ron.

I was about to explain that in fact there was another tunnel that allowed you to walk straight out into the bathroom, when Fawkes flew in front of Harry and waved his tail feathers.

“He looks like he wants you to grab hold,” Ron commented, “but you’re much too heavy for a bird to pull up there.”

“Fawkes isn’t an ordinary bird,” Harry replied, then turned to the rest of us. “We’ve got to hold onto each other. Ron, you hold onto me. Ginny, hold Ron’s hand. Jade, take her other hand. Professor Lockhart –”

“He means you,” Ron told Lockhart sharply.

“You hold Jade’s other hand.”

We followed Harry’s instructions and Harry took hold of Fawkes’s tail feathers.

The next second, with a whoosh, we were flying upwards. Lockhart cried out, “Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!”

We landed on the wet floor of Myrtle’s bathroom.

“You’re alive,” Myrtle said, staring at Harry.

“There’s no need to sound so disappointed,” he told her grimly, wiping his glasses.

“Oh, well…I’d just been thinking…if you’d died, you’d have been welcome to share my toilet,” Myrtle said shyly.

“Urgh!” Ron exclaimed, and I agreed with him. “Harry! I think Myrtle’s got fond of you! You’ve got competition, Ginny!”

But Ginny was still crying and didn’t answer.

“Where now?” Ron asked. Harry pointed to where, ahead of us, Fawkes was glowing. We followed him to outside Professor McGonagall’s office, and Harry pushed open the door.