The inside of the Chamber was vast and sinister, an enormous, windowless room with a stone floor flooded with puddles of stagnant grey water. It was lit with dark green which reflected off the puddles and gave Hari’s tawny skin a ghostly glow. High, serpentine pillars lined the walls in a great arch and, at the very end, Hari saw a towering stone statue of Salazar Slytherin out of the rough grey stone. At the bottom of the statue’s feet, Hari could see a small figure in black lying in front of it. The snake was nowhere to be seen.

“Ginny!” he breathed, walking in a straight line towards her, careful not to look out of the corner of his eye in case the snake was lurking out of a corner and he caught its deadly glare.

Ginny Weasley lay sprawled on the ground, head lulling to the side. Her fiery red hair was wet from the puddles and her skin had a sickly greenish-grey tinge to it. Hari dropped to his knees beside her, leaving his wand aside as he shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up desperately. She stayed unconscious, head bobbing with the movement of being shaken.

“Ginny! Ginny, come on, wake up! Wake up, Ginny!” Hari cried, shaking her shoulders.

“She won’t wake, you know,” spoke a soft voice from behind.

Hari jumped and whipped around on the floor.

He was looking up at a tall, handsome boy with jet blak hair, pale skin and sharp features. Hari recognised him as Tom Riddle, dressed in his usual Slytherin uniform as he tilted his head down at Hari. His dark eyes glinted in the green light, unreadable, cold, calculating. There was something off about him that Hari couldn’t quite put his finger on, as though the boy were a painting that had smudged and blurred at the edges.

“What do you mean she won’t wake?” asked Hari fearfully, “She’s not… dead, is she?”

Tom Riddle shook his head, still wearing the same unreadable, stony look. “She’s not dead. But she will be,” he drawled, voice as clear and unassuming as a puddle of water. “Soon.”

Hari inspected Riddle through narrowed eyes, lips tightening. How could Riddle still be so young, standing before him, looking exactly the same as he had in the diary from fifty years ago? Was he a ghost? He didn’t look like any of the other ghosts he had seen, which were transparent and white. Riddle looked both human and not quite human, not quite alive.

“Are you a ghost, Tom?” Hari asked, not sure what else he could ask.

“I am a memory,” Riddle replied, tilting his chin up proudly. “I preserved myself in my diary fifty years ago so that I could live on.”

Hari looked back at Ginny again. She was still unconscious and her skin was freezing to the touch, sending a chill up Hari’s spine. The entire atmosphere of this place made Hari’s skin crawl.

“You have to help me, Tom. We have to save her before she dies!” Hari said, pleading. Tom said nothing, merely gazing dully at Hari like he was just a crack in the stone floor. Hari looked around for his wand. “Have you seen my—?” he began, but stopped when his eyes fell onto Riddle’s hands. He was rolling Hari’s wand in between his fingers idly.

He reached out. “Can I please have my wand, Tom?” he asked, frowning at Riddle. Riddle didn’t move. He continued to inspect Hari’s wand in his hands, running his nimble white fingers over the dark wood. “Look, we’ve got to get out of here, nowor the basilisk could come any second!”

“The basilisk will only come if it’s called,” said Tom casually.

“What? What do you mean?” Hari asked, getting up from the floor and reaching for his wand. “Give me back my wand, Tom.”

Tom moved away from Hari’s reach, keeping his eyes on him. “Tell me, Hari Potter…” he said, tilting his head, “How is it that you were able to defeat the great Lord Voldemort when you were only a baby?”

“Why do you care?”

Tom sneered. “I find your story very captivating, Hari.” He looked down at Ginny lying on the ground. “Little Ginny here told me all about you and your defeat of the greatest wizard to ever live, Lord Voldemort. I had to listen to all her boring little girl problems, but what really fascinated me was learning about you. How could you, who does not show any special talent, defeat such a great wizard?”

“I don’t know. But why do you care so much about him? He was after your time, wasn’t he?” replied Hari, crossing his arms and frowning suspiciously.

“Voldemort,” replied Riddle slowly, “is my past, present and future.” He pointed Hari’s wand in the air and began writing letters through the air with shimmering, fiery letters:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

He peered at Hari, watching curiously and then flicked his wand again. The letters in the air rearranged themselves instantly:

I am Lord Voldemort

Hari’s eyes bulged and his mouth fell open. He was standing right in front of the younger version of his greatest enemy, Lord Voldemort, before he became the most dangerous wizard on Earth. Goosebumps prickled along Hari’s arms with shock and fear.

¤¤¤

“Do you think they’re okay?” Ron asked Draco from where he was working on shifting aside rocks. There was now a sizable gap in the pile of rocks, just enough to fit a person’s head through. He could see down the end of the tunnel if he squinted.

“I hope so,” replied Draco, grunting as he dropped another heavy bit of rock to the side. He peered at Minerva, sprawled over the ground on her side with dried blood on her temple. “I don’t even want to think about what could be happening right now.”

Ron said nothing. He continued moving the rocks aside, occasionally dodging away from a loose rock tumbling down, avoiding getting hit in the head. They worked with ease, one by one, moving the rocks aside carefully without having to speak about it. It was difficult, heavy lifting, but the repetition of the movement worked in their favour.

Behind them, Minerva began stirring on the floor and both boys paused their work, turning over their shoulders to look as their professor came to, sitting up. She blinked for a few seconds, adjusting to the light and fixing her crooked glasses.

“Where has Hari gone?” she asked, getting to her feet and brushing off her long, navy blue dress and bending down to pick up her wand.

Ron and Draco shared a look. “He was on the other side of this wall when the ceiling collapsed. He went ahead to help Ginny,” Ron explained.

“He’s in the Chambers? Alone?” Ron and Draco both nodded. She released a heavy sigh, wiping her brow. “Good gracious, of course he is.” She ignored Draco and Ron and turned away, pointing her wand in front of her and saying, “Expecto Patronum!” Her voice echoed around the tunnel and a bright silvery light burst out of her wand in the shape of two tabby cats with perked up tails and spectacle markings around their eyes. Ron and Draco stared as she said, “Send to Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape: I am stuck outside the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets with Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Hari has gone ahead by himself to save Ginny Weasley because I was knocked out.”

The two cats made out of shimmering silver light nodded and then ran up the tunnel, disappearing together.

“That was wicked, Professor,” said Ron, slightly breathless with shock.

Minerva’s lips quirked. “Why thank you, Mr. Weasley,” she said, “That was the Patronus charm. Do you know what they are?”

“I know they can get rid of dementors, my dad told me,” Ron replied, nodding, “But I didn’t know it could do that, too!”

“So will they get your message then? The patronuses will find them and tell them what you just said?” Draco clarified, trying to work it out in his head.

“They will indeed. It hopefully will not take too long to wait.” She looked at the hole in the stones. “I presume it would help to move aside the rubble?” She pulled out her wand again, cleared her throat and pointed it at the rocks. “Locomotor rocks.” At once, the piles of rocks began shifting themselves out of the way, piling off to the side with the rest of the pile until there was a large clearing in the rocks.

“Well, that certainly worked better than our method,” said Ron, staring at the pile of rocks that were now cleared aside.

Minerva huffed a laugh. She was about to say something else when there was a whooshing sound coming from the tunnel. A moment later, Fawkes the phoenix flew towards them, carrying a hat in its beak. He landed on one of the rocks, blinking up at the three people in the tunnel.

“Well, you better get going, Fawkes,” said Minerva, gesturing down the tunnel. Fawkes blinked again and then took off through the tunnel. She turned to Ron and Draco again. “Now. How to get you two out of the tunnel, now…”

¤¤¤

Back inside the Chamber of Secrets, Hari was standing in front of Tom Riddle as the older boy talked about listening to Ginny Weasley’s problems and whether or not he was the greatest wizard of all time.

“Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me and you think he is more powerful than I am?” Riddle hissed angrily.

Just then, Hari heard a beautiful, melodic whistle from the other end of the tunnel. Both Hari and Riddle turned towards the sound as a large fiery red bird soared through the air in their direction, dropping something into Hari’s hands.

“Fawkes!” Hari exclaimed at the bird. He looked down at the fabric in his hand and recognised it as the old Sorting Hat.

“A phoenix and an old hat,” said Riddle, staring shrewdly between the hat and the singing bird. “Thank goodness for that or else you’d really be in trouble! Do you feel brave now, Hari Potter?”

Riddle continued. “So, Hari Potter. I will ask you again,” said Riddle. “How exactly did you manage to survive my curse and make me lose my powers?”

Hari straightened, feeling slightly more confident with the new presence of Dumbledore’s phoenix. “My mother died to save me. My Muggle-born mother stepped in front of me,” said Hari. “And now you are hardly anything. You are weak and powerless. You fell on your own sword at the hands of a one year old and a Muggle-born, Tom. That’s where you are now.”

Riddle’s face contorted in a creepy smile. “So, your mother died to save you. That is it. There is nothing more special about you than the protection of ancient blood magic. Two half-bloods whose parents died when we were young, who were raised by Muggles and can talk to snakes. But that is all, Hari Potter. No spectacular powers, just mere chance.”

Hari frowned, eyeing his wand in Riddle’s hands. “Now, let us see just how much power you have against the heir of Salazar Slytherin and his basilisk with your silly little gifts from Dumbledore,” said Riddle, sneering. He began speaking Parseltongue, hissing loudly, “Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the four founders!”

Hari gaped at the stone statue of the bearded Salazar Slytherin. His mouth opened, wider and wider to reveal a large black hole. A moment later, Hari heard a hissing and the sound of a snake slithering from inside the statue. He shut his eyes and backed into one of the large pillars to the side, listening to the ghostly slide of the snake getting louder and louder.

¤¤¤

Having sent Draco and Ron back up through the pipe, Minerva began trekking through the gaping tunnel in the direction Hari had gone. She hoped it was not too late, gripping her wand tighter as she hurried her pace. An idea popped into her head then and she searched around the darkness with her glowing wand tip and picked up a bit of rubble. Pointing her wand at the rock, she transfigured it into a large hand mirror. For a moment, her own reflection blinked back at her in the dim beam of her wand and then she continued on, using the mirror to check around corners and over her shoulder.

At the end of the tunnel, she came across the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, marked by two serpents etched into the side of the open entryway.

She composed herself and made her way through into the Chamber. Once inside, she was met with a most horrible sight.

At the very end of the massive hall was the largest snake she had ever seen with emerald green scales and long white fangs, bared as it slid around the Chamber. Hari was straddling its neck from behind, gripping a sword in one hand as it thrashed violently, trying to buck him off.

She blinked and Harry dug the sword into one of its eye sockets. The great snake shrieked and thrashed in pain, knocking Hari off onto the stone floor. Before Minerva could move to help in any way, Hari stumbled over his feet and staggered over to the snake. In one jolting blow, Hari thrust the sword through the top of the basilimo's mouth, right through the skull.

The basilisk gave one last mewling shriek, swaying side to side before thudding back down in a heap. It lay on its side, blood pouring out of its head. She saw Hari, sliding against the wall beside the dead snake, drenched in blood and she saw a teenage boy with dark hair and light skin standing in the centre of the chamber. She recognised Ginny Weasley sprawled out on the floor feet away.

No one appeared to have noticed her entrance.

Hari was clutching something against his arm, which he pulled out, wincing and throwing it to the side. Fawkes the phoenix landed next to Hari, who said something to the bird, reaching out with his unharmed hand to stroke his sleek feathers.

“Get away from him, bird!” shouted the dark haired boy.

Minerva sprinted over to Hari as he slid down the side of the wall, clutching his arm. “Hari! Oh, Hari,” Minerva exclaimed, crouching beside Hari. Blood was soaking through his torn sleeve, revealing a deep cut.

The teenage boy laughed, sneering down at Hari. “Don't you know the venom from a basilisk is fatal?” he mocked.

“M-Minnie,” Hari choked out, blinking slowly, heavy against her, “The… the diary…” He gestured vaguely across the room and she glanced over. She saw the black leather book sitting on the floor and Summoned it over.

“Hari, dear, hold still,” muttered Minerva, holding out Hari’s arm towards the phoenix. Fawkes shuffled over on his claws, bowing his head over Hari’s arm.

“Who are you?” asked the teenage boy with a cool glare.

Minerva ignored the boy. Hari was barely conscious now, slumping all his weight against her as she brushed aside his blood-drenched curls. She watched with wonder as tears dripped out of the phoenix’s eyes, landing on Hari’s arm wound and slowly, the deep gash in his arm faded away into nothing but smooth, brown skin.

Hari carefully moved away from Minerva again, on his hands and knees. He looked over at Tom Riddle with a defiant, fierce smile that sent a chill down even Minerva’s spine. “You can’t beat me, Riddle,” he said, picking up the splintered, bloody fang from the ground.

“What are you doing?” asked Riddle, unable to hide the fear from his voice.

“You said the basilisk venom is fatal, right?” said Hari, looking up at Tom Riddle with a dangerous smile.

Hari stabbed the fang into the leather. Immediately, thick black ink began oozing out of the book, mixing with the scarlet blood on the stone as it drenched the white pages. Riddle screamed, falling to the floor. He writhed and shrieked as Hari pressed the sharp tooth deeper into the book until Riddle faded out of existence.

Before Minerva or Hari could process what just happened, there was a groan from across the room as Ginny began stirring. Minerva leapt to her feet and hurried over to Ginny, bending over her.

Ginny gasped, sitting up. “P-Professor!” she cried in shock. She turned to Hari, crouching on her other side. “Hari! I tried to—I tried telling you at breakfast but—I c-couldn’t! What happened?” She looked around at the fallen snake and the blood covering Hari rather alarmingly and her professor crouched at her side.

“It’s okay, Ginny,” assured Hari softly. “Riddle’s finished! You’re safe, now!” He held up the ink stained book, grinning.

Hari and Minerva helped Ginny to her feet carefully and followed Fawkes out of the chamber, carrying the diary, the sword and the Sorting Hat out through the entrance and down the tunnel. The clearing where the ceiling had caved in was now completely cleared of rocks, allowing them to make their way through. They stopped at the bottom of the long pipe that led up to the girls’ toilets.

Minerva turned to Ginny. “Do you know how to ride a broomstick?” she asked.

Ginny smiled shyly, but nodded. “I used to steal my brothers’ brooms and go fly in the field near our house,” she replied. “Why?” Hari looked similarly puzzled.

Minerva pulled out her wand and called, “Accio broomsticks!” They waited a few moments before three broomsticks zoomed down the pipe, landing in front of them. They each took a broom and then Hari led the way up, up, up through the twisting and turning pipe, all the way back to the school.

They reached the top of the pipe in almost no time.

“Oh, you’re alive,” said Myrtle, hovering nearby.

Hari smirked at her. “Gee, thanks, Myrtle. You sound disappointed!” he teased.

“Well, that pretty blond boy didn’t die either and I thought, if one of you died, you could share my toilet! There’s plenty of room in the U-bend!” she replied, batting her eyelashes.

Minerva rolled her eyes and pushed Hari and Ginny ahead. “Let’s hurry, you two. We need to get to Dumbeldore’s office.”

They walked on in silence through the school, footsteps squeaking on the floor as they went. Hari saw the red and black footprint trail he was bringing with him and thought of poor Filch having to clean it up later.

Finally, they reached the stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore’s office.

“Custard creams!” said Minerva and the gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the spiral staircase once again. The three of them stepped onto the moving stairs and they brought them just outside the door to the Headmaster’s office.

Minerva knocked three times and opened the door for them.