𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                   CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
                       ─── THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN & THE BASILISK

Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps, and hurried footsteps.

Alistair knocked twice and suddenly, there was nothing to be heard on the other side of the door. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and they saw one of Lockhart's eyes peering through it.

"Oh — Black— Potters — Weasley —" he said and shook his head slightly as he opened the door a bit wider, "I'm rather busy at the moment. If you would be quick . . ."

"It'll only take a minute, Professor," Harry explained as the author tried to close the door, "We've got some information for you. We think it'll help you."

"Er - well - it's not terribly -" The side of Lockhart's face that Charlus could see looked very uncomfortable, "I mean - well - all right--"

Professor Lockhart opened the door completely, and Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron walked in reluctantly.

His office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade-green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jumbled untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk.

Charlus raised his eyebrow as he took in the sight. "What are you. . . wait, are you going somewhere?" he asked. "Er, well, yes," Lockhart said, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke, and starting to roll it up. "Urgent call . . . unavoidable . . . got to go .

"What about my sister?!" Ron asked jerkily. "Well, as to that—most unfortunate," Lockhart said, avoiding their eyes as he wrenched open a drawer and started emptying the contents into a bag. "No one regrets more than I . . ."

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron yelled angrily, "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!" "Well — I must say — when I took the job — " Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "-there was nothing in the job description about―︎"

"You mean you're running away?" Alistair said disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books — " "Books can be misleading," Lockhart said delicately. "You wrote them!" Harry shouted.

"My dear boy," Lockhart said, straightening up and frowning at Harry. "Do use your common sense? My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things."

The two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins stared at each other in utter disbelief as the reality slowly sank in. They all knew that Gilderoy Lockhart was a cocky prat ,  who cared more about his image than his actual abilities. But they didn't believe he would leave them —not in a situation like this, when they needed him the most. Lockhart was still their teacher, after all.

"You're a fraud," Charlus spat, "You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done. And you're about to let the girl who mean the world to Ron die! All because you wanted people to believe you were this great wizard. You're pathetic, Lockhart! "

"Is there anything you can do?" Alistair asked angry. "Yes," Lockhart said with a newfound confidence, "Now that you mention it,  I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, all those wizards would have gone blabbing and I'd never had sold another book —"

He then banged his lids of his trunks shut and locked them. "— In fact, I'm going to have to do the same to you." he said before he pulled out his wand and turned to the four of them.

 Charlus reached his wand  just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Charlus  bellowed, "Expelliarmus! "

Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window.

"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," Charlus said with anger  and kicked Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at  him, feeble once more. 

Charlus was still pointing his wand at him, while Harry,Alistair and Ron stood next to him and now pointed their wands at him as well.

"What d'you want me to do?" Lockhart said weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."  "Yeah, obviously." Charlus and Alistair said at the same time.

 "You're in luck," Harry said as he forced Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint, "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Now, let's go save Ginny."

                                    ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He was going to confront the monster in the Chamber whether he liked it or not.

As the five of them arrived, Myrtle flew around the bathroom and cried to herself. When she heard the door open, she turned in their direction. "Who's there?" she asked softly.

Harry, Alistair and Ron kept their wands pointed at Lockhart while the light brown-haired boy moved to reveal himself to the ghost.  When Myrtle caught sight of Charlus, she quickly shrugged and smiled coquettishly, "Oh, hello Charlus. What do you want?"

Charlus remained silent for a moment and tried to find the right words, "Myrtle, I actually was w-wondering about h-how you died..."

Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such flattering question.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish as she flew closer to him, "It happened right in here. I died in this very cubicle. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard someone come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —"

Charlus urged her to continue but she just shook her head. Her eyes swelling up with tears, "I died." "Just like that? " Harry asked from the other side of the room," How?"

"No idea," she replied in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away . . ." she looked at Harry. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" Alistair asked the ghost. "Somewhere there," Myrtle said and pointed vaguely at the sink in front of her toilet.

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron hurried over to the sink that Myrtle mentioned. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face.

It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below.  And when the Potter twins saw it. Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake.

"This is it,"  Harry said, "This is it,Charlus, Alistair,Ron. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." "Say something," Ron suggested quickly as he admired the sink, "One of you, say something in Parseltongue."

"But -" Harry thought hard. The only times he, his brother and his friend had managed to speak Parseltongue were when they had faced with a real snake. 

He stared hard at the tiny engraving, trying to imagine it was real. "Open up," he said before he looked at Ron, who shook his head. "Nope, that was English. Charlus , you try." he said.

Charlus looked at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving. "Open up." he said.

Except that the words weren't what they heard; a strange hissing had escaped the oldest Potter, and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.

Charlus heard Ron gasp and looked up again. He had made up his mind what he was going to do.

 "I'm going down there," Charlus said.

He couldn't not go, not now they had found the entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might be alive.

Harry didn't have to say anything. Everyone knew he was going.

 "Me too," Ron said as he stepped forward.

 It was obvious that he wanted to go. His little sister was down there, and there was no chance in hell that he wasn't going to do everything in his power to save her.

"I'm coming with you." Alistair said quickly, as he wasn't going to let his best friends go down there alone.

There was a pause. "Well, you hardly seem to need me," Lockhart said with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just — " He turned to leave, but Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Ron pointed their wands at him. "You can go first," Ron snarled.

White faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening. "Boys," he said, his voice feeble. "Boys, what good will it do?" "Better you than us," Harry said with a smirk.

As Lockhart went to plead for mercy, Charlus jabbed him in the back with his wand. Just like that, Gilderoy slid his legs into the pipe. "I really don't think — " he started to say, but Charlus was beyond annoyed at his stalling so he gave him another push, and he slid out of sight.

" That's for my arm." Charlus said before he followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the pipe, then let go. Harry followed straight after him, followed by Alistair and then Ron, who brought up the rear.

The pipe seemed to go on forever. It was like rushing down an endless, dirty, and dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Behind him he could hear Harry,Alistair and Ron, thudding slightly at the curves.

And then, just as Charlus had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.

In the distance, Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Harry rushed to help his friend to his feet. As Charlus stood up,Harry,Alistair and Ron came whizzing out of the pipe, too.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry said and stood up, his voice echoing the black tunnel. "Probably under the lake," Alistair said and squinted around at the dark, slimy walls.

The light brown -haired boy narrowed his eyes as much as as he could, but all he could see was a very dark tunnel. "Lumos! " Charlus muttered to his wand and it lit again. "C'mon," he said to Harry, Alistair, Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.

The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight. "Remember," Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "If you see any sign of movement, close your eyes."

But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound that they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Charlus lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones.

Trying very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if they found her, Charlus led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel. "Charlus," he could hear Alistair say, "there's something up there . . ."

They froze, watching. Charlus could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.

"Maybe it's asleep."  he breathed and glanced back at the  four. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes.  Charlus turned back to ook at the thing, his heart beating so fast it hurt.

Suddenly, the light from the wand slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been sixty feet long at least.

"Blimey," Ron said from behind him.

There was a sudden movement behind them, which startled the four boys. They turned to see Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way.

"Get up," Ron said sharply and pointed his wand at Lockhart. Lockhart got to his feet—then dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground. Charlus,Harry and Alistair jumped forward, but were too late — Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that the three of you lost tragically your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say goodbye to your memories!"

He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate! "

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Charlus grabbed Harry and pulled him over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling which were thundering to the floor. Next moment, they were standing alone on a random corner of the room.

"Alistair! Ron!" they shouted. "Are you okay? Alistair! Ron!" "All good," Alistair said relieved, as he approached the Potter twins. It didn't take long to realize the solid wall of broken rock that now blocked Charlus,Harry and Alistair's way back.

"I'm here!" Ron's muffled voice came from behind to rockfall, to which Charlie sighed in relief, "I'm okay. This git's not, though—he got blasted by the wand."

There was a dull thud and a loud ow! It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins. "What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through — it'll take ages..."

They were wasting time. Ginny had already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours... Charlus,Harry and Alistair looked at each other. They knew there was only one thing to do. They had to see this through. For Ginny. For Hagrid. For Dumbledore. For Hermione...

"Wait there," Charlus called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. Charlus,Alistair and I will go on... If we're not back in an hour..."

There was a very hesitant pause. Charlus didn't even want to think about what would happen if they weren't back in an hour...

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," Ron said, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can—can get back through. And, Charlus,Harry, Alistair. . ." "See you in a bit," Harry said and tried to inject some confidence into his shaking voice.

Charlus smiled nervously before turning and continuing down the tunnel with Harry and Alistair. Every single nerve in Charlus' body tingled unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what they'd find when it did. And then, at last, as they crept around yet another bend, Charlus saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

"I got this." Alistair said before he approached the stone snakes reluctantly.  There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real, their eyes looked strangely alive.

He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. "Open." he said in a low voice which  sounded like a faint hiss.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight. Charlus and Harry stepped forward beside to their best friend. The three looked at each other and shook from head to foot, but still nodded reassuringly to each other  before they walked inside together.

                              ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.

Charlus' heard was beating very fast, as he stood listening to the chill silence. Could the Basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny?

The three of them pulled out their wands and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footsteps echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. They kept their eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement.

Then, as they drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. They had to crane their necks to look up into the giant face above: it was ancient and monkey-like, with a long thin beard that fell almost on the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth chamber floor. And between the feet, face down, lay a small, black-robed-figure with flaming red hair.

"Ginny!" Charlus exclaimed, sprinting towards her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny! Don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" He grabbed her shoulders and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be . . .

Harry and Alistair ran after him, kneeled down  and flung their wands aside. "Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately as Alistair shook her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

"She won't wake," a soft voice said in the distance. The three boys jumped and spun around on their knees.

A tall, black-haired boy in Slytherin robes was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though they were  looking at him through a misted window. But there was no way Harry could mistake him.

"Tom—Tom Riddle?" Harry asked in disbelief. Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Charlus,Harry and Alistair's faces.   "What do you mean, she won't wake?" Alistair said desperately, "She's not — she's not — ?"  "She's still alive," Riddle said. "But only just."

The three boys stared at him with so much curiosity. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet there he stood, a handsome lad that was not a day older than sixteen.

"Are you a ghost?" Charlus asked uncertainty. "A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years," Riddle said quietly and pointed towards the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary they had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"You've got to help us, Tom," Harry said, as Alistair raised Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk... we don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment... Please, help me."

Charlus narrowed his eyes at the dark haired boy as he walked ahead and picked up Harry and Alistair's wands from the ground. This can't be good.

"It won't come until it is called," Riddle said calmly. "What do you mean?" Alistair spoke, puzzled, "Look, give us our wands, we might need it — "

Riddle's smile broadened. Suddenly, everything started to fall together like a puzzle in Charlus' head. This whole thing seemed way too easy, way too convenient. Almost like it was some sort of trap... oh my —

"You won't be needing it," Riddle said. "What d'you mean, we won't be-?" Harry asked while he stared at him. "I've waited a long time for this, Charlus and Harry Potter," Riddle said, "For the chance to see you both. To speak to you both. The three of you."

"Look," Harry said and started to lose his patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later." "Harry," Charlus whispered, "I think you're the one who doesn't get it..." "Yes."   Riddle said with a devilish grin, " So I see one of you has inherited your mum's brains."

The light brown-haired boy felt anger rising up inside him. Without hesitating for long, he raised his wand,"Stup-" "Expelliarmus!" Tom countered and let Charlus' wand fly into his hand. "Now, now, Charlus," he laughed lightly, "where are your manners? All I want to do is talk."

Charlus stared at Riddle, while Harry and Alistair stood there completely dumbfounded. They had no idea what was going on. "You want to talk?" Charlus spat out angrily, "Tell Harry and Alistair what  happened to Ginny. Tell them who you really are!"

Tom Riddle let out a stifled laugh, which caused Harry and Alistair to take a step back, but Charlus didn't move. He kept his eyes fixed on him with rage.

"Well, that's an interesting question," Riddle said 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?" Alistair asked.

"The diary," Riddle replied. "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 second-hand robes and books, how . . ." Riddle's eyes glinted ". . . how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her . . ."

All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left the faces of the three boys in front of him. There was an almost hungry look in them.

"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...'"

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry and Alistair's neck. Charlus was completely furious.

"What d'you mean?" Harry said, whose mouth had gone very dry.

 "Haven't you guessed yet, Harry,Alistair? Charlus has," Riddle said 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," Alistair whispered in disbelief, "It can't be..."

"But that's not the whole story," Charlus interjected,"I bet you made Ginny do it. You're very persuasive, aren't you? She probably didn't even know what she was doing... She was, shall we say, in a sort of trance. But my guess is she finally became suspicious of you and that's why she tried to dispose of the diary in the girl's bathroom. " — Charlus shifted his gaze back to his brother and his friend — "He set her up, Harry,Alistair! He used her to do his dirty work! He is the heir of Slytherin we have been looking for!"

Harry and Alistair's mouths dropped to the floor at Charlus' accusation, they hadn't expected that.

"Right you are, Charlus!" Tom spoke, amused, "It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary, but when she did, she tried to dispose of it. And that's where you three came in. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you three, the very people I was most anxious to meet..."

"And why did you want to meet us?" Harry said. Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort to keep his voice steady. "Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Charlus, Harry." Riddle replied. "Your whole fascinating history."

His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Charlus and Harry's forehead, and his expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find 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 was our friend,"Charlus said, his voice now shaking with anger, "And you framed him, didn't you?" "That I did," Riddle said, "It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent." "I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Alistair said and gritted his teeth.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that," Riddle said carelessly. , "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. So I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in it's pages, so that one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it," Charlus said 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," Riddle said quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me any more? For many months now, my new target has been—you three." "Why is that?" Alistair spat and clenched his fists.

"I'll be with you Alistair in a moment," Tom said. Charlus and Harry gulped as he  approached them, getting more and more angry as he spoke, "How is it that two babies with no extraordinary magical talent were able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you two escape with nothing but scars, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how we escaped?" Harry asked, slowly. "Voldemort was after your time." "Voldemort," Riddle began softly, "is my past, present and future..."

He turned around before he pulled out a wand from his pocket  and began to trace it  through the air to write three shimmering words:

                                                TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE                                           

As he finished writing , he waved the wand once, and the letters of his full name rearranged themselves:

                                                I AM LORD VOLDEMORT                                         

The three boys  gasped as the Dark Lord  turned back to them. His eyes glittered menacingly and a devilish grin played around his lips. They were truly astonished and could hardly believe it.  

Charlus didn't even have to think hard to guess that Tom Riddle was the heir of Slytherin, but he didn't even think of the possibility that he was Lord Voldemort, who had murdered his parents and so many other innocent people.

Charlus stared numbly at Riddle. "You're not just the Heir of Slytherin-" he began to say in shock, "you're Voldemort as well."

"Surely, you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy muggle father's name?" Riddle spat out angrily, "No,Charlus. I fashioned myself a new name! A name  I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak ,when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!" 

"You're not the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Alistair rebuttals with utter confidence. "Sorry to disappoint you, and all that, but the greatest sorcerer in the world is Albus Dumbledore!"

The grin had gone from Riddle's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look. "Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed.

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true.  Clearly it seemed to work, as Riddle opened his mouth, but froze. "What do you want with me?" Alistair asked him. "Why are you so interested in me?"

Riddle turned his attention to the older boy, "Surely your adoptive parents have told you about this." "What do you mean?" Alistair asked suspiciously. Riddle chuckled as he stepped closer , "They didn't, did they? I suppose you've heard about Lucian Riddle?" "What's he got to do with all this?" Alistair asked in confusion.

"Everything." Riddle began to say, " My brother was the complete opposite of me. He hated the family tradition, the purity of the blood, and I hated him for it. His girlfriend was Venus White, a Muggle-born. My brother had run off with this worthless Gryffindor woman, only to have two children of his own, two children he kept secret from me and his family. And now, here's the part that might be of interest to you: one of those children was your biological mother."

Alistair was taken aback as he realized what it meant. "That means......" he began to say, but was interrupted by Riddle. "That's right, Alistair," he said and smirked, "You are my grand-nephew."

Alistair stood there in shock. He couldn't believe that he was the grand-nephew of  Vodemort. Thus, Salazar Slytherin's blood ran through his veins as well. That's why he could speak with snakes. The black-haired boy turned to Harry and Charlus,.  "I'm nothing like him." Alistair began to say, " Believe me, Harry,Charlus. Please!" 

Charlus and Harry didn't even get the chance to answer as music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Charlus' 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 Charlus 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 towards the three young boys. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at their feet, then landed heavily on Charlus' shoulder. The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to his cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle.

"That's a phoenix . . ." Riddle said as he stared shrewdly back at it. "Fawkes?" Harry breathed, and Charlus nodded as he felt the bird's golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently. "And that . . ." Riddle said, now eying 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. Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Charlus and Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now, Alistair Black? Well how about this —"

With that, Tom turned around to the giant portrait head of Salazar Slytherin. He raised his hand while he opened his mouth wide and hissed – but Charlus, Harry and Alistair understood what he was saying. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four. "

In an instant, the mouth of the statue opened and the three boys saw a giant basilisk come out and slither towards them while Tom turned back to them. "Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the  famous Charlus and Harry Potter and Alistair Black, the grand-nephew of Lord Voldemort, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give them..."

Charlus looked at Harry and Alistair before the three of them turned and ran the long way back while they spoke Parseltongue, but it was no help. The Basilisk obeyed only one and that was Lord Voldemort. Due to the movement, Fawkes had lifted from Charlus' shoulder and flew above them.

They could hear the hissing of the Basilisk, whose heavy body slithered heavily over the dusty ground behind them, and so the three boys ran as if their lives depended on it. Which ultimately, it did.

Charlus and Alistair ran slightly ahead and only came to a halt when they heard a thud behind them. When they turned around, they saw Harry lying on the floor. He managed to find his glasses and put them back on.

Charlus couldn't help but roll his eyes, and thought 'Are you kidding me?!'

As the selfless people they were, they ran back to try  to  help the boy to his feet, but the Basilisk was already right there. As soon as Charlus and Alistair reached Harry, the giant snake had reached him as well.

The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and extended its fangs. The three boys closed their eyes to prepare for the fangs to sink through  their bodies, but it never happened.

Instead, all that was heard was the sound of Fawkes' screeching and the scratching of his talons. Charlus couldn't help it. He opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on. Fawkes had somehow latched onto the basilisk's head and was currently scratching out it's eyes with his long talons.

The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing the three boys on the ground, and before they could shut their eyes, it turned — the three boys looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

"NO!" They heard Riddle screaming. "YOUR BIRD MAY HAVE BLINDED THE BASILISK,BUT IT CAN STILL HEAR YOU!"

Charlus and Alistair quickly helped Harry to his feet before they continued to run down the path.  But then Harry accidentally stepped on a puddle of water, which made a noise and caused the Basilisk to look at where the three boys were.

They quickly started sprinting towards the exit while the Basilisk charged after them once more. They managed to make a sharp left turn into one of the many pipes  around the chamber as the basilisk attempted to bite them again, only to crash into some rocks.

Running down the tunnel, they turned to their left, but the way was suddenly blocked by massive iron bars. They desperately tried to turn around to find another escape route,  but the Basilisk was really close to them.

The three boys sank lower to the ground as quietly as possible as the basilisk approached them with hisses and opened its mouth. At that moment, Charlus felt a small, hard stone under his palm, which caused an idea to form in his head. 

Quietly, he picked up the stone and threw it past the Basilisk with all the force he could muster. It landed with a noise that echoed loudly in the silent tunnel. This caused the Basilisk to stop abruptly and turn its head slightly. The giant snake listened before it backed away and began to slither in the direction the sound was coming from.

When the Basilisk was far enough away, the three boys followed it and saw it disappear further into another tunnel. They were safe now, but Ginny was still out there.

So, they run in the other tunnel next to it and found their way back to the main room within the Chamber. They crept up the pathway slowly towards Ginny and Tom. There was absolutely no sign of the Basilisk anywhere.

They kneeled down next to Ginny, who looked even more paler then earlier, and checked her pulse. She was still breathing, but barely.

"Yes, Black, Potters," Riddle spoke with a confident tone, "The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return- Very... Much... ALIVE!"

They didn't know what to do. Ginny was going to die and Tom had their wands. They had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, neither of which would be much good in a duel. They were completely helpless...

"Ginny-"Alistair was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the Basilisk, which came with a loud cry from the water that was right next to  the three boys.

Suddenly, the Sorting Hat on the floor next to Ginny began to radiate with a bright silver glow. Harry crawled over to it and pulled out a long gleaming silver sword with rubies on the handle the size of eggs.

Looking at it, an idea hit him. Quickly, with the sword in hand, he got to his feet and ran over to the side of the statue. He secured the sword in his robes before he started to climb.

The giant snake paid no attention to Charlus and Alistair and moved towards Harry, who continued to climb until he was eye to eye with the Basilisk. He struck the Basilisk a few times, which caused it to push it back and become even angrier than it already was.

It rammed its large head into the statue and Harry was able to dodge just in time. The snake tried to strike again, but the boy skillfully dodged before he quickly began to climb again.

The Basilisk struck again, but this time further away from Harry. Nevertheless, the impact of its attack was so strong that the whole statue shook. The violent vibrations caused Harry to lose his footing and he fell.

At the last moment, he managed to hold on with one hand while he flailed around in mid air. With all his strength, he grabbed the rock and pulled himself up.  He finally stood on the head of the statue and got into a fighting position.

Harry then began to swing his sword at the basilisk as it tried to attack him again, while Charlus, Alistair and Riddle kept watching. Harry kept hitting the Basilisk while he backed away. Suddenly he tripped. He fell backwards and let go of the sword.

When he recovered and turned around, he saw that the sword, which was now hanging on the edge of the statue's head, started to slip. "Quick, the sword!" Charlus and Alistair shouted at the same time

Harry quickly crawled to the sword, and at that moment the Basilisk lunged at him to bite him. Just before the sword slipped, Harry caught it. Then he got to his feet and stabbed the sword to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth.

The Basilik let out a painful screetch, and Harry pulled the sword out. But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered.

The Basilisk shook the head in pain before it  keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor. Riddle looked shocked at the dead giant snake before he started to collect himself and looked at Harry.

As soon as Harry had climbed down the statue, Charlus and Alistair came rushing over to him to help the boy. They walked back to  Ginny before Harry collapsed beside her. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm.  But he knew it was too late.

White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from Harry's arm to the rest of his body. Even as he dropped the fang to the ground and watched his own blood soaking his robes, , his eyesight began to go foggy. He couldn't make out Charlus and Alistair's faces in front of him any longer. Nor could he hear his brother and his friend's cries for help.

A patch of scarlet swam past and  they heard a soft clatter of claws beside them. "Fawkes," Harry whispered. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. I just wasn't quick enough..."

He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him. The boy could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of them .

"The basilisk may be dead, but so are you, Harry Potter," Riddle's barely audible, angry voice said. "Dead! The venom from the basilisk fang will kill you slowly. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying. So,are Charlus and Alistair. "

Harry blinked. Charlus, Alistair and Fawkes' heads slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down glossy feathers while a single tear was falling down from Charlus and Alistair's faces.

"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. And then I'm going to kill your brother and best friend. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter ,"  Riddle's distant voice said. "Dead in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry . . . She brought you twelve year's of borrowed time . . . but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must,and it's a pity you won't be there when the same happens to Charlus and Alistair."

Harry simply ignored Riddle's clear heartfelt and touching eulogy. Instead, he looked at Charlus and Alistair, "It's o-okay. Th-thank y-you f-for b-being t-there... a-always."

Charlus shook his head as more tears began to fall from his face. None of this was okay. Charlus had already lost so many people to the hands of this monster, he didn't want to lose his twin brother as well.

Harry heard the cries of Charlus and Alistair get louder as he shut his eyes as he waited for death to overcome him. But to his surprise, it never did.

Instead, the pain was leaving him and as he opened his eyes,  the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus as well as Charlus and Alistair's shocked expressions looking down on him.

Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound — except that there was no wound.

"Get away, bird," Riddle's voice said suddenly. "Get away from him — I said, get away!"

But Fawkes remained still. Charlus gasped as he stared at Harry's arm "Of course ..." he said quietly.  "Phoenix tears have healing powers ... I forgot ..."

The boy with glasses was relieved. He surely thought he was dead. Thank god he wasn't. He smiled at Fawkes as a way of thanking him. The bird pushed it's head against Harry's cheek before he took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet.

Tom looked down at the three boys in disgust, "It doesn't matter, I guess I'll just have to kill you three myself." he said before he raised a wand towards the three boys. Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes soared back overhead and something fell  next to them – the diary

For a split second, Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Alistair seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to Harry and plunged it straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Alistair' hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then —

He had gone. Charlus,Harry and Alistair's wands has fallen to the floor with a clatter. The entire room had gone silent, except for the drips of the ink oozing from the diary. The Basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.

Charlus helped Harry to his feet. As he stood, the boy's head was spinning wildly as though he'd just travelled miles by Floo powder. He had lost quite a bit of blood.

Charlus  picked up their wands while Alistair  picked up the Sorting Hat, and Harry, with a strong tug,  retrieved the glittering sword from the roof of the Basilisk's mouth.

Then came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As they hurried towards her , she sat up. Her wandering eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over to Harry, in his blood soaked robes, then to the diary in Alistair's hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.

"Charlus — Harry — oh, Alistair — it was me, guys — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary — "

"It's all right," Alistair said calmly, holding up the diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, let's get the hell out of here — " "I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Charlus helped her to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and — w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

"They'll be glad you're safe, Ginny," Charlus said with a soft smile as the three boys lead her to the exit of this chamber, "Don't worry about the rest. You're safe now."

Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. They stepped over the motionless coils of the dead Basilisk, through the echoing gloom and back into the tunnel.  They heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached  their  ears. "Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! Charlus,Alistair and I've got her!"

They heard Ron give a strangled cheer and they turned the next
bend to see his eager face staring through the sizeable gap he had
managed to make in the rock fall.

"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? "

He tried to hug her but Ginny held him off, sobbing. "But you're okay, Ginny," Ron said, beaming at her. "It's over now, it's—" but he paused as Fawkes swooped through the gap after Ginny. "Where did that bird come from?"

"He's Dumbledore's," Charlus answered as he went through the grap too. "His name's Fawkes." "How come you've got a sword?" Ron said, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand as he and Alistair climbed through the gap, "And why are you covered in blood?! What the bloody hell happened in there?!"

"We'll explain when we get out of here," Harry replied, with a sideways glanced at Ginny. "But-" "Later," Alistair said shortly. He didn't think it was a good idea to tell Ron yet who'd been opening the Chamber, not in front of Ginny, anyway. "Where's Lockhart?"

"Back there," Ron said, grinning and jerking his head up the tunnel towards the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."

Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself.

"His memory's gone;" Ron began to explain. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself." "He kind of deserved that, after everything he did." Charlus said, somewhat proudly.

Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all. "Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?" "No," Ron said and raised his eyebrows at Charlus,Harry and Alistair.

Charlus bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe. "Any idea how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron. He shook his head, but Fawkes had swooped past Charlus and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long, golden tail feathers. Charlus looked uncertainly at him.

"He looks like he want you to grab hold . . ." Ron said, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there." "Fawkes, isn't an ordinary bird." Charlus said before he turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other."

Harry tucked the sword into his belt before he took Charlus and Ron's hand. Then Ron grabbed Ginny's hand. Charlus reached out and took hold of Fawkes tail feathers.

"Don't forget Professor Lockhart." Harry said. "No!" Charlus whined. "Can't we just leave him here?" "No,Charlus. Alistair, grab Ginny's other hand and Lockhart's." Harry replied. Alistair sighed and tucked the Sorting Hat into his belt before he took Ginny's other hand and then took Lockhart's.

An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through his whole body, and next second, with a whoosh, they were flying upwards through the pipe. Charlus could hear Lockhart dangling below him, saying, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!"

The chill air was whipping through Charlus' hair, and before he'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over – all six of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and  the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.

Myrtle goggled at them. "You're alive," she said blankly to Charlus. "Nice to see you too, Myrtle." Charlus said sarcastically,wiping flecks of slime off his robes.

"Oh, no, no ... I'd just been thinking... if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," Myrtle said, blushing silver. "Urgh!" Alistair said as they left the bathroom for the dark, deserted corridor outside. "Charlus! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you!"

But tears were still flooding silently down Ginny's face. "Where now?"  Ron asked with an anxious look at his sister. "Just follow Fawkes," Harry muttered. "He knows where he is going."

The phoenix was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. They strode after him, and moments later, found themselves out side Professor McGonagall's office. Harry knocked  twice before he pushed the door open.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE
Longest chapter yet! I hope you enjoyed it!

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