The Chamber of Secrets
Celestia was unable to say anything for a moment, her eyes moving from Tom's crimson ones towards Ginerva Weasleys'............
The girl's eyes were unfocused, the light that would reflect within their depth if she were truly alive blurred and flickering between a dull blue and glazed-over grey....
She continued to search and look for any hint of what may have happened to her, the pendant of her necklace glowing a deep green as she felt for the usual traces left behind by a living soul.
The traces were still there....... Yet Celestia could taste and smell the barrier keeping the girl out of her own body, fear clinging onto her very Core and threatening to burst out of her and lash out at any given moment.
,, What did you do to the girl, Tom ?" she calmly asked, not all too fazed about the fact that the Horcrux had a Wand pointed at her throat.
It wouldn't be the first nor the last time someone tried to threaten her life in one way or another.
,, Nothing that she didn't willingly agree to, my dear.." He told her, lips curling up into a smirk as he watched her eyes flicker from their normal Bi-colored state to gold....
Her own body was perceiving him as dangerous to her, even if she refused to let it show on her face.... Good.
,, I'm quite sure that a twelve-year-old's consent to such things came with a lot less effort than it would have taken you had it been someone more mature and aware of the dark arts.." She said, noting that this wasn't the effect of the Imperius Curse
,, You know me all too well...." He said, bringing an arm around her waist, making sure that she couldn't escape while at the same time making her walk in front of him. ,, Now, my dear, it's time I show you something.."
She let herself be taken, unable to fight at the moment because she knew that as soon as she took ahold of her Wand, Tom would kill Ginerva without sparing the girl another glance, before taking his rage out on her.
And while she did have confidence in herself and her ability to fight, this was not a beast or human holding them captive. The one thing Esmeralda had taught her about corporal Soul-pieces was not to mess with them or better yet not be in the same area as it, because neither Maman Brigitte nor any other gods in ruling the underworldly domain were kind to those that tried to trick them.
With every step they took, the chance of her getting out of this situation alive got slimmer and slimmer....
It was quiet the whole way, only their footsteps making any kind of noise.
And before long they had arrived at the second-floor girl's bathroom.
,, You know... I'm quite surprised about the fact that you haven't figured out where the Chamber was, even after stepping foot in here and talking to the Ghost." Tom said, slightly disappointed when Celestia did not reply to him, and instead kept her gaze forward.
Oh, she had her suspicions about where the Chamber laid... but she had expected something with a pipe system big enough for the Basilisk to comfortably travel through, like the Prefect bathroom.
She had difficulties imagining a gigantic snake weighing several tons squeezing itself through the pipes.....
Perhaps the pipe system was magical as well? She would have to ask Klinge if she got out of here alive-
They stopped right before a snake-engraved sink tap...
,, Open ~! " Hissed Tom, and Celestia watched as one of the Snakes twisted, which made the other Snakes go back and the sink began moving, revealing a passage which they entered.
The passage was directly connected to a hidden Corridor, and of course, Tom had something to say about it as well.
,, This passage was the doing of one of our Ancestors - Corvinus Gaunt - as the proposal of the new girls' bathroom threatened to expose the original entrance — a concealed trapdoor and a series of magical tunnels — so he secretly ensured the passage would be adapted to the new washroom's creation without compromising its hidden nature, and that those who knew how could still access the Chamber. Brilliant isn't it ?" He looked down towards Celestia watching her reaction...
He had expected fear, hatred...anything really... But he did not expect to see such indifference in the girl's Golden eyes.
She looked like she didn't care about the fact that she was being taken to the Chamber against her will, nor did she seem all that bothered about the fact that she had in fact not found it herself, even after all her work ensuring that no one would come in harm's way because of the Basilisk.
Something about her expression felt wrong in Tom's mind.....
Celestia all the while was busy tracing the long cobwebs stuck to the moss on the walls with her eyes.
, I wonder how long it would have taken them to cover most of the chamber.... Probably a few decades, until they noticed the Basilisk....' she inwardly slapped herself, shaking her head. This was not the bloody time to get distracted.
Deciding to ignore it for now, Tom led her further into the Chamber and stopped right in the middle, where he made Ginerva lay down.
,, What is it that you plan to achieve with this Tom ?" Celestia asked, eyes on the small Gryffindor girl lying before her.
The girl had been naive....
Trusting a memory in a Diary and letting herself be controlled by it, not once deciding to ask for help from anyone.....
Wouldn't she at least have gotten somewhat suspicious when the thing bloody began having conversations with her?
Celestia didn't know if she should blame the girl's age or her upbringing for it...
Though it was hilarious to imagine a younger version of none other than Lord Voldemort talking about teenage girl gossip.
, No-! Focus!' she reminded herself. , I have to try something at least.... There has to be a way I can manipulate him into letting his guard down enough to take control over him.....'
Being a born Legilimens meant she could enter someone else's mind without breaking into a sweat. The only problem though was that Tom himself had also become a Legilimens, at least in his adulthood, and she for a fact knew that his mind shields were some of the best she had ever interacted with, a fortress compared to the useless huts and mansions she could easily slip past.....
So this only left one option, she had to distract him while simultaneously entering his mind and altering it before he noticed something was off and tried to stop her.
,, To finish the noble work of Salazar Slytherin, my dear." He answered her, but unlike what he expected she gave him an utterly unlady-like snort, raising one of her eyebrows.
,, The noble work of Salazar Slytherin? Good Rowena, how did you come up with that one Tom ?" She asked, crossing her arms.
,, You want power? Fair enough. Do you want to finish our Ancestor's cause? Fine with me. But what in the name of Morgan's Wand were you thinking by letting Basilisk attack students ?" She asked, looking at him.
He laughed. ,, My dear.. Don't be naive... You saw the destruction Muggles can cause with your own eyes didn't you ?"
She nodded. ,, I did."
,, Muggleborns are the same, my dear Celestia. They may have Magic in them, but there's too much Muggle within them to balance it out. Muggles are vile-"
,, I don't need a long dedicated speech, Tom." She interrupted, looking rather unimpressed.
,, I know the repulsive things Muggles can do, I've had my fair share of encounters with them after all....... You may think that you've lived horribly in that Orphanage of yours, and I won't deny that it was indeed, but I survived being tortured each day of my existence at the hands of those excuses of humans." She said, her Golden eyes meeting his Scarlet ones, delivering the perfect opportunity to dig into his mind unnoticed.
,, I survived all of my teachers, the people that I cared about and saw as somewhat of my family..... And I won't deny it, I made sure that those Muggles suffered a gruesome and painful death at my hands, for every Injury they dared to inflict on us I gave them the double.............." She showed him her wrist, eyes staying on the number on it.
85131
,, They branded me like cattle, and refused to call me by anything but that God-awful number engraved onto my wrist.... I sometimes feared that I would someday forget my own name because of it." Memories from her childhood appeared back in the front of her mind.........
The next thing she did though, shocked him.
She looked up at him, smiling, and said. ,, Yet I can't bring myself to hate Muggleborns or Muggles."
He stared, wide-eyed at her declaration. ,, ... Why....?... They did this to you....... to us....!...... How could you possibly not hate them !?"
Her smile turned soft, like a mother comforting her child......... ,, It's because I have decided to move on with my life, Tom...... What happened in the past will never leave us, even if we wish for it................. My Scars and this branding are forever reminding me about my upbringing, and there won't be a day I won't remember the faces of the people that sacrificed their lives for mine........."
,, ...Celestia......... You have to survive..... Even if it takes years...... One day you must break free from these chains and live...."
,, I killed the people that did this-"
,, GggaHhHahahHH!!!!!!!!!" Screams echoed in the Underground Laboratory, blood soaking the formerly white walls and ground....
One of the men crawled forward, grasping the hem of a little girl's skirt, slowly raising his head, his face showing nothing but blood and his own muscles as his skin began to decay, bones already able to be seen.....
,, .......Pl...ea...se....!........... H...a..ve....... M....e..r...c...y.....!............" He begged, his whole body feeling like it had been dunked into Acid and then set on fire.
Cold Golden eyes stared down at him, her face leaning in closer as she said. ,, You didn't show us any, so why should I ?.."
She raised her hand, where she had cut into her palm, and squeezed, letting a few droplets hit his decaying skin.
,, GYAAAAaaaaahghhghuuuu......" And with that his body started melting away, leaving nothing but a crumbling skeleton and a puddle of blood behind.
,, - and I found my peace at their Deathbeds..." She said, taking a step closer to the Horcrux.
,, Muggles may be horrible, but their children, who carry the Gift of Mother Magic in them are not at fault for their origin...... And your Pureblood beliefs will do nothing but ensure that one day the Olde Ways will forever be forgotten."
,, How would you know !?" He asked, feeling threatened...
Something about her calm and composed self unnerved him.......... it made shivers crawl down his spine and shoot straight down to his toes........and weirdly enough it didn't bother him as much as it should......... It was like she was subtly tugging at his brain to fit his thoughts to match her own beliefs......
Her gaze turned serious, her smile disappearing. ,, It is rather simple, Tom. Almost too simple to be honest....... I'm not that surprised that the Wizarding community hasn't figured it out yet, but I had higher hopes when it came to you." She shrugged. ,, But I guess I'll have to give you credit for having made it this far, with how Mentally unstable your actual body was."
She looked directly at him, tilting her head. ,, Tell me, Tom, have you ever heard of the "Habsburg jaw" ?"
The Horcrux blinked. ,, Habsburg jaw...?.." He repeated, confused by the sudden shift in conversation.
,, The family tree of the Habsburgs, a German-Austrian ruling family whose domain stretched from Portugal to Transylvania. Like many royal families, the Habsburgs made strategic marriages to consolidate their power, often to close relatives........ They're most famous though for their appearances... sharply jutting jaws, bulbous lower lips, and long noses.... Can you guess what caused this ?" She asked.
Tom thought for a moment, the gears in his brain beginning to turn........ ,, Perhaps because of the Inbreeding ?"
Celestia's lips curled up into a smirk, Chrome who was still sitting on her shoulder nodded in approval. ,, Correct.. Fifty points to you."
,, Inbreeding can cause much more damage than it would ever cause well. Inbred children commonly display decreased cognitive abilities and muscular function, reduced height and lung function, and are at greater risk of diseases in general. Inbred children are also at higher risk of rare recessive genetic disorders....... Not to mention the Mental disorders that come with it." She explained, snapping her fingers.
Light-based, blue sparks formed the Illustration of the human body, Tom watching in great fascination as the Sparks moved at Celestia's wish, no Spell or Wand was needed for them to take the image of what she had in mind.....He could actually feel the warmth they gave off....
, What is this type of Magic..?....' He asked himself, only snapping out of his train of thoughts when Celestia began speaking once more.
,, The Genetic Code has been researched by Muggles for many years, each and every study proving itself to be more knowledgeable than the last..... One of Humankind's greatest accomplishments was finding out the works of our own body and because of it, we now know that inbreeding has caused great misfortune for most." She let the Sparks form two bodies, an example of a genetic code between them.
,, If we now apply the newfound knowledge to the Wizarding World, where inbreeding is such a common occurrence that most of us share at least one relative with the other, we find out that the Purer the blood is, the more realistic it is to one day end up with a family filled with Disorders and so little amount of Magic that the children most likely end up being Squibs."
Tom balled his hands into fists, unable to say anything........
He wanted to scream at her that she was wrong.....
Wanted to take his Wand and Crucio her until she was screaming, telling him that this was a lie....................
But he couldn't.
Because he knew, even if his mind battled with his ego, he knew that Celestia was right.....
One look at the Blacks was all it'd take for even the most Moronic and Pureblood Supremacy-believing Wizard to realize that she was right.
Walburga Black had been one of the most Mentally unstable Witches he had ever seen, the inbreeding in the Black family had caused her mind to turn into that of a true shipwreck.... It was a wonder her grandson had turned out as sane as he was. Or at least as sane as any Black could get....
Not to mention Bellatrix, whose crazed behavior was now also making a lot more sense.......
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose...................
Whatever the witch in front of him was doing to render him useless was unfortunately working in her favor......
The Horcrux could feel his will bend and be snapped, almost as if his entire existence was being carefully rewritten by her hands.
,, Came to a realization, did we ?" She asked, receiving an irritated look in return, both now aware that she had done something to him without him being able to stop it. She had won.
Also, Celestia couldn't exactly take him seriously when he held the appearance of his sixteen-year-old self, so his glares did little to nothing in her presence.
,, Yes......... I did..." He admitted, sitting down on the steps of the Chamber, where he had a direct view of Ginerva lying unconscious in the middle of the floor, her robes clinging onto her shivering form because of the water covering the entirety of the chamber.
The half-Veela was now in enough control of the Horcrux to at least cross out the possibility of her dying here at its hands, which was good, but she still needed to get out of there.
Celestia quietly watched him, before sharing a look with Chrome, the Niffler shrugging as he basically told her that he didn't know what to do.
Sometimes having a sassy Niffler as your only turn point for advice, proved itself to be truly useless.
Not that she would ever say that to Chrome's face, the Niffler would definitely be cross with her if he heard her say such things out loud. And nobody wanted to deal with a pouting Chrome searching for the perfect timing to get his revenge. He could get rather creative with his punishments.
Trying to remember what people were usually supposed to do in situations like these she walked up the stairs and sat down next to him, fixing up her skirt as she patted her lap.
Tom inwardly raised an eyebrow, questioning what she was doing.
,, Lay your head on my lap." He almost choked on thin air, ears turning red as he turned to look at her.
,, Pardon ?" he thought he misheard.
,, Lay your head on my lap." She repeated, looking at him. ,, I may be a little behind on the emotional aspect of quite a few things, but this is supposed to bring comfort isn't it ?"
,, I don't know.." He replied, honestly.
Being raised in a Muggle Orphanege he had never received any kind of emotional support or even been given a hug.......
So he was pretty much on the same page as Celestia when it came to certain emotions.
This translates into both of them being clueless about how to behave around others unless they were meant to torture them.
Still, he let himself be dragged down, his head resting on her thighs as the rest of his tall frame lay on the cold stairs, facing the ceiling.............
Celestia brought her hand up, letting her fingers run through Tom's hair.
, ......... Huh........... That... actually feels quite nice........' He thought, unintentionally leaning into her touch while his eyes fluttered close, his body relaxing....
It was only ruined when he remembered a certain little detail.....
,, Do I have to give the girl her Soul back or can I let her die ?"
Chrome face-palmed, shaking his head at his sweat-dropping human and her weird companion.
They were as hopeless as the other.
----------------------
After a few hours spent in silence, where Tom concentrated on returning some fragments of Ginerva's Soul to her body and Celestia helping him in the process, both once again found themselves side by side on top of the stairs.
,, The only thing left is dealing with the Basilisk..." He said, looking at the once majestic Chamber that was now nothing but a ghost of its former glory and his own failure.
,, By how long it has been left here alone with not only your command but also Salazars tearing its mind and clouding its judgment.... It would be too mentally unstable for me to safely transport it toward Pendragon Castle...... " Celestia sadly admitted..
She would have gladly taken the creature in and let it roam around Pendragon castle's forest to let it live the rest of its life in peace, but it had spent over a millennia alone and now had two commands of its Masters clashing against each other in its mind.
The only thing she could do now was free it out of its misery. Sometimes death was simply the kindest mercy to be offered.
,, There is no other choice ?" Tom asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.
Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, answering his question wordlessly.
Killing the Basilisk would break her heart, but letting it live was not an option unless they wanted to risk the entire castle being attacked. And if that happened, the Basilisk would not stop at merely petrifying the students and professors residing inside the ancient walls of the castle.
,, I'll be sure to make it quick and painless..... She won't feel a single thing." She promised, gently grasping his hand with her smaller one.
He gave her hand a squeeze, thankful for her comfort........
,, Let's call her...."
,, Together ?"
,, Together." Celestia assured, feeling like Tom's oldest Horcrux was more like a child than he would ever admit.
,, Speak to us, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four ~"
BAAAANNNGGGG!!!!!!!!
Tom grabbed Celestia, bringing her close to him as the Chamber shook.
,, What was that ?" Celestia asked, moving her head in the direction of the explosion.
,, The passage must have collapsed..." He replied, both of them furrowing their brows.
How could a passage that was perfectly capable of holding itself up mere hours before suddenly collapse..?...
Faintly hearing frantic footsteps the both of them froze in the other's hold.
This could not be happening.......
But since Fate seemed especially cruel to them in particular, no other than Harry Potter came running into the Chamber, panting.
,, Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny - don't be dead - please don't be dead -" He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over.
, By all Gods... you can't be serious....' Celestia thought, suddenly feeling Tom's hand move from her waist to the back of her head.
,, What are you doing ?" She muttered.
,, Trying to make sure Dumbledore can't push the blame onto you when he digs through the boy's memories... Just play along with me, my dear." He muttered back, making sure her head was secured against his chest.
"Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her, having yet to notice the two figures on top of the stairs. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side, the girl still unconscious. It would probably take quite some time until she woke up...
And no one could be sure if when that time came she would be her former self. A mind healer would be needed to access her within minutes to make sure.
"She won't wake." Said Tom.
Harry jumped and spun around on his knees.
"Tom - Tom Riddle?"
Tom nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face.
"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "She's not - she's not -?"
"She's still alive," said Tom. "But only just."
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there - but there were more pressing matters to deal with.
"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk... I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment... Please, help me."
Tom didn't move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand again.
But his wand had gone.
"Did you see -?"
He looked up. Tom was still watching him - twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers.
Celestia was silently watching him do so from the corner of her eyes, prepared to intervene if things got out of hand.
"Thanks," said Harry, stretching out his hand for it.
A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly.
"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes--"
That's when he noticed a limp white-haired figure in Tom's embrace, her face turned away from him....
"It won't come until it is called," said Tom calmly.
Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer.
"What d'you mean?" he said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it.. and what are you doing with Grindelwald--"
Tom's smile broadened.
"You won't be needing it," he said, ignoring his question about Celestia.
Harry stared at him.
"What d'you mean, I won't be -?"
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Tom. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."
"Look," said Harry, losing patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later--"
"We're going to talk now," said Tom, still smiling broadly, and he pocketed Harry's wand, careful to not move Celestia all too much since the girl was pretending to be as out of it as a bat.
Harry stared at him. There was something very wrong going on here.... Especially when it was Grindelwald who was rendered unconscious...
"How did Ginny get like this? And why do you have Grindelwald with you...." he asked slowly.
"Well, that's an interesting question," said Tom pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."
"What are you talking about?" said Harry.
"The diary," said Tom. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how -" Tom's eyes glinted "- how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her..."
All the time he spoke, Tom's eyes never left Harry's face.
"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in... It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket ..."
Tom laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck, though Celestia tried her best to suppress a roll of her eyes.
Tom had truly always been one for dramatics.
"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her..."
"What d'you mean?" said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.
"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Tom softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."
"No," Harry whispered.
"Yes," said Tom, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries... far more interesting, they became... Dear Tom," he recited, watching Harry's horrified face, 'I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and 1 don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, l can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me... There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad... I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!"
Harry's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms.
"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Tom. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet...second to lovely Celestia here..."
"And why did you want to meet us ?" asked Harry. Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort to keep his voice steady.
"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Tom. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust--"
"Hagrid's my friend," said Harry, his voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but--"
Tom laughed his high laugh again.
"It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student... on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls... but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance... as though Hagrid had the brains or the power!
"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as a gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed... Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did ..."
"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry through gritted teeth.
"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Tom carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. 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."
"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry 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," said Tom quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been - you. The both of you."
Harry stared at him, glancing at Celestia...
"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you, nor Celestia. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery - particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue ...and then she mentioned a certain Ravenclaw girl who was feared by many, her past unknown besides the fact that she had grown up in an Orphanage for Muggles where her dear relatives left her."
"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall, bringing Celestia with her at Wand Point and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very bored. But there isn't much life left in her... She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last... I have been waiting for you two to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come, though Celestia needed slightly more persuasion. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."
"Like what?" Harry spat, fists still clenched.
"Well," said Tom, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you - a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent - managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.
"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time..."
"Voldemort," said Tom softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..."
He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. Do you think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? 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!"
Celestia pinched his side lightly, knowing that if he continued on with it his emotions would definitely take over...
Harry's brain seemed to have jammed. He stared numbly at Tom, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to almost murder Harry's own parents, and killing so many others... At last, he forced himself to speak.
"You're not," he said, his quiet voice full of hatred.
"Not what?" snapped Tom.
"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry, breathing fast. "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 through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days--"
The smile had gone from Tom's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look.
Dumbledore of all people... More Powerful than him?
"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. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Tom, wishing rather than believing it to be true.
Riddle opened his mouth but froze.
Music was coming from somewhere. Tom whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, and unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry's scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.
A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.
A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Harry looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye.
The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Harry's cheek, gazing steadily at Tom and Celestia.
"That's a phoenix," said Tom, staring shrewdly back at it.
"Fawkes?" Harry breathed, and he felt the bird's golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently.
"And that -" said Tom, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat--"
So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet.
Tom began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Toms were laughing at once.
"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?"
"To business, Harry," said Tom, still smiling broadly. "Twice - in your past, in my future - we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you stay alive."
"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother was ready to sacrifice herself to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you from killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul--"
Tom's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So. Your mother was ready to sacrifice herself to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now... there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered you see. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike... but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."
Both he and Celestia could hear the Basilisk slither towards them, waiting to be released...
"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him..."
He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, then walked away, carrying Celestia with him. Harry, fear spreading up his numb legs, watched Tom stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness.
,, Do you think it will listen to my commands ?" Tom quietly asked Celestia, finding the fact that Harry had completely ignored her presence rather amusing.
By how dense the boy could get Tom thought he and Ginerva would make quite a good pair.
Both Idiotic Gryffindors, with more Brawns than Brains. A perfect match for each other in his books.
,, At this point, with the both of us already having called her here..?... No.. As soon as she is released she will try to kill Harry since he and Ginerva are the only ones in the Chamber who do not have Salazar's blood running through their veins." She muttered back, letting him know that he could continue.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving.
Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Harry felt it shudder - he knew what was happening, he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then he heard Tom :
"Kill him."
The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his way - Voldemort was laughing.
Harry tripped. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood the serpent was barely feet from him, and he could hear it coming..... his breathing fell heavy and seconds later he blacked out.
Celestia and Tom blinked, Chrome looking like he'd just been dunked into a bucket of ice-cold water...
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,, ..... Did he just faint ?..." Tom asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't the only one seeing this.
,, He did.." Celestia replied, moving away from him and running towards the Gryffindor.
Harry may have fainted, but the Basilisk sure wasn't going to let that little detail stop her.
While running she got rid of her heavy black school robes, leaving herself in her Ravenclaw uniform, which made moving easier.
,, Chrome!" She called out. The Niffler jumped in the air and reached into his pockets from which he extracted two swords that she caught....
Celestia gently petted Jade, letting the Owl nuzzle her beak against her cheeks before flying off, a letter with the Pendragon Crest in her clutches.......
King Ragnok of the Goblin Nation......
I have written you in Urgency to ask a favor of you.... Many years ago a Basilisk was Sealed into a Chamber by Salazar Slytherin and it has remained there for the past millenia. Albus Dumbledore knows of its existence but refuses to act, which is why I find myself in a position where I must take charge before it is too late.
Because of this, I plead for you to grant me my request to take King Arthur and King Xaviers Swords Excalibur and Nightshade out of their representative Vaults. In exchange for your cooperation, you and your kin may lay claim to any part of the corpse you wish.........
, May Magic flow from my body and let me use these swords as my weapons of War....' prayed the half-Veela, letting her magic flow into the two blades at which they began glowing a brilliant blue and gold.....
With another swift step, she had arrived directly in front of Harry and Ginerva, crossing both swords while kneeling down.
The Basilisk had tried to bite her but was instead met by a Barrier of Blue Sparks, making Celestia's lips curl up into a smirk.
Fawkes the Phoenix flew up in the air and circled the basilisk head trying to get its attention away from her, but with little success.
The rainbow Pendant of her necklace glowed brightly, even more Magic swirling around them, appearing as blue and golden Sparks....
Tom watched with wide eyes, having to cover half of his face because the swirling motion of the sparks created an enormous Wind wave.
,, How is she doing that..?.." He asked, snapping his head down towards Chrome who was tugging on his pants leg with one of his hands, the other dragging the diary behind him.
Pushing the swords further ahead of herself, Celestia inwardly winced, a small trickle of blood running down the side of her mouth and her left ear.....
It had been quite a few years since she had put so many different types of magic into use......
, Hopefully, she will forgive me for this....' Celestia thought, gripping the handles of both blades, her Golden eyes directly meeting the ones of the Basilisk.
, This will definitely hurt......' With that thought she let the Barrier fall, thrusting her right arm forward, which was immediately used by the Basilisk to bite down on it. Celestia held back a scream of pain as she felt one of its teeth penetrate her arm and cleanly pierce through it only to come back out on the other side.
But unfortunately for the Basilisk, Celestia's bloodstream was filled with so much venom and poison from her years of drinking and digesting them that its deadly venom did not instantly kill her....
Instead, it had to realize that when it had bit down, Celestia still had Excalibur in her right hand.
,, Succumbed to madness, this creature has been left at the mercy of its lonesome for far too long... Chaos, protogenoi who builds the space between heaven and earth, I beg of thee, listen to this mortal's prayers and guide my hands so that I may bring balance back between its world and ours!" And with those final words, Celestia swung Nightshade down, while moving Excalibur up, effortlessly cutting the Basilisk's head sideways in two.
It fell with a loud and heavy thud, blood splattering across the ceiling and Celestia herself, as well as the two unconscious Gryffindors behind her.
She let her sword drop and carefully, pulled the tooth her arm was stuck to out of the creature's mouth, viewing the damage done.
The tooth was lodged right in the middle of her forearm, having entered one way and come out of the other...
She didn't need to be a genius to know that the tooth had not only crushed the bone but had effortlessly snapped off a good chunk of it and pretty much shredded her muscle tissue.
, Just great...' She thought, inwardly groaning in defeat.
Tom watched from the side, not knowing if he should be scared, worried, impressed, or maybe all of the above about the fact that Celestia was standing in front of the corpse of a Basilisk whose head she had cut in two, and an enormous poisonous tooth in her arm without having collapsed........
,, Would you mind giving me a hand ?" She asked him, snapping him out of his train of thought.
,, Yes..." He replied walking up to her..
But when he stood in front of her, he didn't know what to do.......
,, Just pull it out.. The damage is already done, and if you don't hurry I'll probably die from the venom it is continuously pumping into my bloodstream." She told him, not mentioning that pulling it out would mean a high chance of dying from blood loss.
An interesting fact about Basilisks, they can not only store their deadly venom in their fangs but also let it continuously pump said venom into their victims even after they have lost the tooth or died.
And Celestia would rather take her chances with rapidly losing blood than gamble with how much venom her body could handle before it shut down completely.
,, All right......" he said, grasping onto the fang. ,, One, Two-!" with that, he pulled it out.
,, Gh!" Celestia winced, muffling her scream by biting into the hem of her uniform shirt, and closing her eyes in pain.
That would have definitely been agonizing had she had a normal pain tolerance....
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,, How did you do that..?.." Tom asked her, carrying Harry and Ginny out of the Chamber, Celestia holding onto a replica of Tom's diary which had a Basilisk tooth pierced through it, the actual one hidden within Chrome's pockets, together with Excalibur and Nightshade.
,, Do what ?" She asked, tilting her head, which proved itself slightly difficult with both a Niffler and a Phoenix occupying her shoulders.
Her right arm was now in a makeshift cast Celestia had made from her discarded Robes, making sure to tie one of its sleeves as tightly as possible around her forearm, making sure to slow down her blood circulation as much as possible.
Thanks to the Phoenix, whose name she learned was Fawkes, the skin and nerves of her arms had been repaired by a lot of the creature's tears, the only damage left being her still broken bone and her torn muscle tissue, which could hopefully be fixed by a Healer.
She doubted the tears worked much against the venom already making its way through her bloodstream but at least she wouldn't lose her limb if she survived! Hopefully.
,, The Blue and Golden sparks." He said, keeping his gaze forward. ,, It was definitely some type of Magic...... but it was something I have never seen before......"
Celestia smiled the tiniest bit, now understanding.. ,, When I was very young I once accidentally Apparated somewhere I didn't recognize................ I was quite scared and my first instinct had been to cry, apologizing to Esmeralda in hopes that this was a bad joke of hers......"
She must have been three if she remembered correctly..............
,, People passed by me, yet did not spare me a second glance, even as they noticed the Bandages around my arms and legs....... Until a woman finally stopped in front of me...........-"
,, Hello..... Who might you be, my child ?"
,, She introduced herself, The Ancient One ' and took me with her towards her home....... where she began explaining certain things to me."
,, You went somewhere with a mysterious woman that called herself, The Ancient One ' ?" Tom repeated, highly amused.
,, Magic was clinging to her, and she had the most powerful aura I've ever seen, which is why I believed her to be a fellow witch......." Celestia explained, the both of them trying their best to climb over the collapsed pieces of Stone, which was rather difficult with only one arm and two Unconscious people at their side.
,, She wasn't then ?"
Celestia's lips curled up into a smirk once more. ,, Not really no......... But she was able to use a certain form of Magic. The Mystic Arts."
Tom raised an eyebrow, never having heard of such a thing.......
,, A Magic of harnessing various forms of energy to manipulate one or more aspects of the infinite realities that are present within the Multiverse. From that day on, once a week I would discreetly Apparate towards the agreed Meeting Point, from where she would take me to her home, training me in the use of the Mystic Arts."
,, Keep your chin up, concentrate Celestia......"
,, She was a strict teacher, but thanks to her I was able to master it..... Though it got problematic whenever my Magic tried to mix itself with the one I was harnessing from the Multiverse, which is why she gifted me with this necklace." She said, gesturing towards the Rainbow colored stone which was now only giving off a soft glow.......
,, The Stone was crafted by her own hands, and essentially halts the many types of Magic in my body attempting to attack each other, which is the reason I never take it off."
Tom slowly proceeded with the information, both now out of the passage and slowly walking toward the hospital wing.
,, Why is it unheard of ?" He asked, at which she gave a small chuckle.
,, Do you really think that the British Ministry, which at this point is directly under Dumbledore's orders would allow the practice of Magic that functions on harnessing the power of another world? There are schools all over the world... maybe even some in Britain....... But they mostly stay hidden because most would consider this the practice of the Dark Arts..."
Tom wouldn't argue with that information........
In Magical Britain most Magical Practices were forbidden or listed under law as a dark Art.....
Even the Olde ways were categorized as such!
Not to mention what Dumbledore might scheme when he learned about a still mostly unidentified type of Magic existing.......
He did not want to witness the outcome of that scenario.....
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After a few minutes they had finally arrived at their destination, Celestia never having thought it possible that she would be so happy to see the bloody Hospital-Wing again.
,, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND MY GRANDDAUGHTER !?!!!?!?!?" Both Tom and Celestia flinched back at the sheer volume of Xavier's yells.
,, Xavier-"
,, Do not try to mend me, Amelia!! These people have had the nerve to get my Heiress into the hospital wing once before! And now they don't know where she is, and that with two other students missing as well!!"
,, Lord Lestrange.... I'm sure Harry, Ginny, and Ce-Ahem! Miss Grindelwald are all right..." The voice of Lord Potter said, trying to calm down the raging male.
But it coming from James Potter of all people probably had the opposite effect..........
,, I should go now.." Tom said, receiving a nod from Celestia in return.
Keeping silent for a short moment, Celestia was in great shock when he suddenly bent down, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, before disappearing into thin air, having returned to the diary..........
Celestia blinked in shock, but quickly shook herself out of it, wrapping Harry and Ginnys' arms around her shoulders, before opening the door with slight difficulty.
Immediately everyone in the room turned around, most of their expressions flooding with relief before they suddenly realized that all three were covered in great amounts of blood, Celestia's entire appearance disheveled, and her arm limply hanging in a makeshift cast..........
Xavier was staring at his Granddaughter, his mouth hung agape, Draco fainting from shock and Narcissa looking like she was about to follow her son's example, growing incredibly pale at the sight of her.......
The others were no better.............
Sadly though Celestia at that exact moment realized black spots appearing in her vision, making her blink rapidly, a buzzing sound filling her ears....
, Ahh....... The poison is finally showing its effects.....' She noted and mixed with the exhaustion her body had gone through....
Her body unwillingly moved forward and she was vaguely aware of a pair of familiar arms catching her before everything turned black.