I didn't hear anything else as he explained more. Why had he wanted to target me? I wasn't very special at all. In fact, I am basically nothing compared to Harry popularity wise.

"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. 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."

"You have questions to ask, don't you, Voldemort?"

"How is he-"

I cut Harry off by writing his name in the air. Then, using my wand, I moved the letters around and pointed at it. "Voldemort never liked his name so he made an anagram of his full name. Tom Marvolo Riddle can be rewritten as I am Lord Voldemort," I say, making Harry go pale.

"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 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!"

"Aw hate to break it to you but Dumbledore is greater than you because you can't bring your sorry arse over to Hogwarts," I say, cutting off Harry before he can say anything.

Tom glared at me as I smirked. I had done what I did best. "Well he couldn't chase my memory away," he said, his smile gone and now darkened.

Suddenly Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, came and dropped the Sorting Hat. Dumbledore had sent the Sorting Hat. Was he crazy? Was he that much into his grief that he didn't care about Harry's wellbeing? Either way, Tom laughed and mocked him.

Then I remembered that Elsie was muttering something about how a Basilisk fang would protect me when I got it for Christmas. I felt it in my pocket and tried making a break for the diary. Suddenly, Tom grabbed my arm. I tried wrestling out of his grip as he said while holding tight, "I don't think I'll let you touch my diary."

He spoke with Harry and so he asked how he survived, the stupidest question to be asked.

"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 died 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!"

I snickered as Tom forced a smile and held me tighter. At least Haribo Bear was able to insult him. "And I also wanted to ask you some things too," Tom said, pushing me onto my knees.

"That's great, I've always wanted a psychopathic killer to be my fan," I say sarcastically.

"How are you immune to many things?"

"Out of all the questions you ask, you ask that. I bloody don't know. Not even Dumbledore can answer that."

"And you're Parseltongue. Sad that you can't do much."

I was about to say something in defense but he sent the Basilisk upon Harry. "Ah, now that he's busy I can ask you to join Voldemort," Tom said as he watched my horrified face with joy.

"Fat chance," I say, recovering from my shock.

"Very well, I hope it won't take long to convince you like this."

I was confused at that until he said the one word that changed everything. "Crucio."

Pain filled my body. I tried to get up and I said, "Why couldn't I be Crucio protected?"

Tom kept doing it, pausing to see how Harry was doing. I was losing the will to fight. I wasn't going to join but I was willing to die for my decision.

"Keep on going!"

I looked to my right and saw a ghost-like version of Elsie. She looked at me with determination. "You've got this, Ruby! You're so brave!" Lyn said, joining Elsie.

"I believe in you, Ruby," Astrid said, joining them.

"Ruby, my body is the Petrified person right there, I need you to stay strong for me," a girl I didn't recognize said.

Suddenly I saw a man with longish brown hair and a beard. He looked at me with joy. "My girl, my baby girl has grown. She looks exactly like Winny."

"Dad?" I managed to croak, tears running down my face.

"You've become so brave, just like me. My darling, I along with your friends are memory spirits but you are all I've ever wanted of a daughter. Finish off this family stealer for me."

I nodded slightly and then played dead. Tom then looked at me and assumed I was dead. "Finally, she got killed. Such a shame, she could've been useful."

He focused on Harry so I crawled, using up the strength that I had, until I had the diary. I pulled out the fang and stabbed it into the diary. Then everything went black. Suddenly I woke up to my friends all looking like they cried.

"Man, the next thing I'll want to do is never come across a snake again," I groaned, joking weakly.

Everyone hugged me and I hugged them back. Suddenly a girl with shoulder length brunette hair and pretty blue eyes stepped in. She was very pretty in a light blue dress with dark cerulean blue flats. "Tom, what happened to him?" she asked, "Dumbledore refuses to tell me."

I look up with pity. "He got more into the Dark Arts. He's deformed and now plotting to kill Harry."

Her eyes turned into despair. "Tom, he never used to be so full of hate. The Tom I knew would die rather than do a single bit of dark magic."

After that, a few days passed and I was able to be back on my feet. Elsie filled me in on how the girl, Rosalind, is related to Voldemort. "Damn, you've gotta be thick to leave a girl two times. I hate your dad," I said to Rosalind as she giggled.

"I do too," she said, "But I'll be fourteen the day after we get to Hogwarts, so I'll screw him, as people nowadays say."

We laughed at that and then me, Lyn, and Elsie got ready to go onto the train. Dumbledore decided that it would be safe if Rosalind stayed at Hogwarts with Astrid for safety reasons, since Morfin apparently had died. We went onto the train and then I met my mum again.

"What was it this time?" she sighed.

"Defeating a memory of Voldemort."

With that, my mum sighed. Guess she knew I would be a trouble magnet. "Can't you go one year without any trouble?"

Before I could answer, Elsie's mum came over and she said, "Winny, is that you?"

"Eli?" she replied back.

"How do you guys know each other?" I asked.

"We were elementary school friends. Don't look at me like that Rubina Scarlett Black," my mum said as I looked at her suspiciously.

I rolled my eyes as she dragged me away. Next year would be no different.