Chapter Sixteen, Pre-Writing Outline
Characterization Note: The bulk of what Riddle feels for Delphi is entitlement, ownership, and rage. He hates that she has chosen Harry Potter over him, and he intends to punish her for it, just as he punished his father for having chosen freedom without him over slavery with him (and further rape from Merope). But how Delphi treated him as Ginny has put an uncomfortable edge on things. Tom is incredibly hungry for Delphi's affection, and though he's content to scare her with the threat of murder (or worse) his actual goal is to win her over long-term. In true narcissistic fashion, he wants to replace everyone for her; he's going to drain the life of Ginny Weasley to escape the diary, and then he and Delphi will escape the school. If he can manage it, he'll imperius someone to kill Harry on the way out.
(Offscreen: Myrtle [REDACTED]. Harry, Ron, & Hermione descend into the Chamber while [REDACTED].)
scene one
Delphi wakes in the Chamber of Secrets and has a very illuminating (and ominous) chat with Tom Riddle.
canonical Chamber of Secrets details
- an endless, slimy, dark slide which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward
- more pipes branching off in all directions (none as large)
- deeper below the school than even the dungeons
- the pipe leveled out [at the end]
- the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in
- miles under the school
- under the lake, probably
- the tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead
- quiet as the grave
- the floor [...] was littered with small animal bones
- a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor
- a solid wall [...] on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes [...] great, glinting emeralds
- their eyes looked strangely alive
- serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight
- a very long, dimly lit chamber
- towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness
- long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place
- a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall
- crane his neck to look up into the giant face above
- a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard’s sweeping stone robes
- between the feet, face-down, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair
scene two
By the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione reach Tom, Ginny, and Delphi, Ginny's nearly dead. The chase is on! Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Delphi try to survive the basilisk, stop Tom, and save Ginny. Delphi realizes that her magic won't work against either Tom's memory or the basilisk, and so she calls for Dobby to help. He gets them to a safe distance from the basilisk and buys them enough time to come up with a semblance of a plan: Harry and Delphi are the ones Tom actually wants, so they'll be the distraction. They'll get his attention while Dobby, Ron, and Hermione take Ginny to safety and get help.
scene three a
It sort of works? Harry and Delphi face off against Tom and the basilisk, and then Fawkes swoops in with the Sorting Hat, and Harry pulls out the sword of Gryffindor. He can't use it against Riddle, though, and using it against the basilisk would mean getting lethally close... but then Delphi has a brainwave.
scene three b
Delphi has quite suddenly realized something extraordinarily important: SHE is the real Heir of Slytherin, not this fucking memory dork. She challenges Tom's control over the basilisk... and its allegiance turns. Young Tom Riddle is scared for perhaps the very first time as the basilisk's attention turns to him; he turns Harry's wand on the basilisk and successfully chases it away for the moment, then turns his attention to Delphi & Harry.
scene three c
Delphi and Fawkes fight Riddle while Harry tries to get the diary; Dumbledore and Snape come running in just as the basilisk returns and, on Delphi's orders, pierces the diary. The memory of Tom Riddle is very dramatically destroyed.
scene five
All in all, it's quite a triumph. Harry and Delphi are pretty much fairy tale heroes right in that moment, with Harry holding the destroyed horcrux and the sword of Gryffindor while Delphi lingers awkwardly with Fawkes on her shoulder and a basilisk at her heels. As Fawkes returns to Dumbledore's side, Delphi panics, realizing that the professors will likely kill the basilisk that just saved her life; she orders it to hide. Snape's pissed, but Dumbledore orders him to let it go for now, and the four of them are about to depart the Chamber... when Delphi has one last realization. She calls Dobby back to her and frees him; as far as the rest of the world is concerned, she says, he died saving her from the basilisk—and she hints that he might be able to find a wizard who would be willing to properly hire a house elf.