The Heir of Slytherin (Elijah's POV)
Chapter 18: The Heir of Slytherin (Elijah’s POV)
More snakes intertwined around towering stone columns in a long room greeted the two boys. Harry and Elijah glanced at each other before slowly moving forward. Elijah’s eyes kept darting around the room, keeping an eye out for any sign of the deadly basilisk. As they came to the last two pillars, an enormous statue greeted them- along with the small body of a certain redheaded first year. “Ginny!” Harry rushed forward.
Elijah stared at the statue of the bearded wizard. “Whoa.”
“Please wake up.” Harry pleaded, gently turning her over as he discarded his wand.
“She won’t wake.”
Elijah whirled around, his wand pointed at the older boy who’d appeared in the room. For some reason, he seemed blurry, almost. “Tom Riddle?” Harry gasped.
“Holy shit.” Elijah stared at him. “That’s my grandfather.”
Tom’s attention turned from Harry and Ginny to Elijah and the dark haired boy moved closer. “What did you say?” His voice was quiet.
“You’re my grandfather.” Elijah repeated. He noticed that they both had the same long, thin fingers, and the same nose. “How are you-”
Tom’s lips curled into an unnerving smile. “Aurora Holmes, I’m assuming?”
“I, uh, yeah. She’s my grandmother.”
“Ginny’s not dead, is she?”
Tom turned back to Harry and Elijah moved closer to them, entranced. “She’s still alive. But only just.”
“Are you alive?” Elijah asked, still trying to wrap his head around what was happening. “Or a ghost?”
“I’m a memory, preserved in that diary for fifty years.”
Elijah knelt down, flipping through the blank pages of the leather bound book. “You’ve got to help us, Tom. There’s a basilisk somewhere-we’ve got to get her out of here.” Harry was panicking; Elijah could hear it in his voice.
“It won’t come until it’s called.” Tom’s voice had grown cold.
Elijah’s head snapped up. “Harry.” Tom was twirling Harry’s wand between his fingers. “I don’t think we should be here.”
“This is your legacy, too, Elijah.” Tom said. “You’ll stay.”
Something in Tom’s voice told Elijah they weren’t getting out of this room easily. He swallowed hard, not moving.
“I’ve waited a long time for this. To speak to you.” The wizard continued, turning back to Harry.
“Look, I don’t think you get it.” Harry got to his feet. “We’ve got to get out of here. That snake is dangerous-”
“We’re talking now.” Tom’s smile widened as he pocketed Harry’s wand.
Elijah also got to his feet to stand beside his friend. “What did you do to Ginny?” He asked, his wand hidden in his sleeve.
“I did nothing but listen to the poor girl. She shouldn’t have poured out all her secrets to an invisible stranger. She wrote for months and months about every single thing that could possibly trouble an eleven-year-old girl- how much her brothers teased her, how out of place she felt, coming to school with second-hand things, and how she never thought that famous Harry Potter would ever like her.” Tom’s outline was growing clearer and Elijah risked a glance at Ginny, who was becoming paler. “It’s very boring, but I was patient and wrote back.” His dark eyes flickered to Elijah again. “She reminded me so much of Aurora when we were in our first year, so dramatic and annoying.”
Elijah gripped his wand tighter. Something was very wrong in the chamber. “Ginny simply loved me.” Tom continued. “She poured out her soul to me, and that happened to be the very thing I needed. I grew powerful, more powerful than Miss Weasley, and soon, I was able to pour some of my soul into her.”
“What?” Harry asked, his head tilted in confusion.
“Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets. She set the basilisk on those five Mudbloods, and Filch’s cat. She wrote the messages on the wall.”
“One of those victims is a pure-blood.” Elijah interrupted. “And a Slytherin.”
“Well, I can’t be perfect when controlling someone else.” Tom said dismissively. “It’s not like she knew what she was doing. It was highly amusing for me. Her new diary entries became vastly more entertaining. But, of course, she soon became suspicious and threw me and the diary away. But then, you, Harry, happened upon it. The very person I’ve been so eager to meet.”
“Why?” Harry said evenly.
“Well, Ginny told me all about you. And your fascinating history. So I showed you my framing of that brainless oaf, Hagrid-”
“Hagrid’s my friend.”
“Well, it was my word against his, and of course, Dippet believed me over him. The only teacher who seemed to believe that he was innocent was Dumbledore.”
“I bet Dumbledore saw right through you.” Harry spat.
“He certainly kept an annoyingly close eye on me after that. I knew it wouldn’t be safe to open the Chamber again while I was in school. So I set about preserving my memory to lead another to finish what I’d started, purging the school of those unworthy to practice magic.”
“But no one died.” Elijah said finally. “All those who’ve been attacked will be revived soon.”
“Killing Mudbloods doesn’t matter to me anymore. For months now, my new target has been you, Harry Potter. How could you, a baby with no extraordinary magical talent, defeat the greatest wizard of all time?” Tom’s voice was cold again, his gaze calculating. “How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?”
“Voldemort was after your time. Why do you care?”
“Voldemort is my past, present and future.” He pulled Harry’s wand out of his pocket and began to write in the air. TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. With a wave of the wand, the letters rearranged themselves: I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
“Bloody hell.” Elijah sank to the floor, staring open mouthed at Riddle.
“It was a name I was already using to my most loyal followers at Hogwarts. I couldn’t wait to shed my filthy Muggle father’s name.” Tom spat, disgust in his voice. “I fashioned a new name, one I knew witches and wizards would fear to speak when I became the greatest wizard in the world!”
“You’re not.” Harry said. “You’re not the greatest wizard in the world. Dumbledore is.”
Tom’s unnerving smiled faded, replaced by an ugly scowl. “Dumbledore’s been driven out of this school by the mere memory of me.” He hissed.
“He’s not as gone as you might think!” Harry retorted.
Music coming from the chamber suddenly brought Elijah’s thoughts back to the present. A giant crimson bird was flying straight towards Harry, carrying something in its talons. It dropped the ratty thing at the feet of the boys, perching on Harry’s shoulder.
Elijah, still feeling paralyzed, was looking at the object. “Harry, that’s-”
“The Sorting Hat.” Tom finished. “And that’s a phoenix.”
“Fawkes?” Harry asked, getting affirmation from the bird, who nuzzled his cheek.
“This is what Dumbledore sends his great defender: a songbird and an old hat.” Tom let out a cold laugh, almost doubling over. “Do you feel brave now, Harry Potter?”
Harry just waited, stroking Fawkes’ feathers. Elijah managed to break free from whatever curse was binding him and started to run back towards the door. He felt something hit him and he fell, his head hitting the stone floor and the room went black.