Cassia's POV

After dinner, we walked out of the hall and set the cakes down. Then we hid behind a statue.

Ron took out his wand and cleared his throat, but before he could even utter a syllable, Harry and I both put a hand up to stop him. Two wand malfunctions was enough. We did not need a third one.

"Uh...Ron, m-maybe I should do it," Harry suggested.

"Okay," Ron agreed, stepping back.

Harry did the swish-and-flick wrist movement we'd learned last year in Charms and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa." The cakes floated in midair.

Crabbe and Goyle, who had an armful of sweets each, took the cakes and bit into them. I rolled my eyes. Those two were such pigs- I didn't know who was worse, them or Ron. 10 seconds later, we heard a loud thud. Harry, Ron, and I looked over at Malfoy's two goons and saw they were out cold.

"How thick could you get?" Ron asked.

"Come on. Let's get 'em," Harry urged us. We dragged their bodies into a broomstick cupboard and pulled out their hairs. Then we made a break for Myrtle's bathroom.

Hermione looked up from the cauldron once she saw us. "Did you get the hairs?" she asked. In response, we held out the hairs.

"What are those?" Ron asked, pointing to a pile of robes right by our feet. The Invisibility Cloak lay very neatly folded on top of it all.

"Slytherin robes. I had to sneak them from the laundry," Hermione explained.

"Are we going to drink that?" Harry asked, pointing to the cauldron. The potion looked disgusting, to say the least.

Hermione nodded. "We'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves." She ladled it out into three glasses. "Add the hairs," she instructed the boys. They complied.

Ron was trying so hard not to gag. "Eugh...essence of Crabbe."

"Cheers," Hermione sarcastically said.

The three of them clinked glasses and drank only one sip each. And apparently, that was all it took.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Ron muttered. He dropped his glass and ran into a cubicle.

"Me, too," Hermione followed suit.

Harry dropped his glass and clung to the sink. He started to metamorphose into Goyle. In a matter of seconds, he was completely transformed.

A cubicle door opened and out came Ron. His eyes went wide when he saw Harry. "Harry?"

"Ron," Harry breathed.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered.

"You still sound like yourselves. Ron, you need to sound more like Crabbe," I told him.

"Uh...bloody hell," Ron said in a deeper voice.

"Much better," I remarked.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I...I don't think I'm going. You go on without me," Hermione stuttered.
We looked over at the cubicles to see one of them was still occupied.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Just go. You're wasting time," Hermione urged.

She didn't have to tell us twice. I threw on the Invisibility Cloak and followed my brother and Ron out of the bathroom.

"I think the Slytherin common room's this way," Harry guessed, leading us down a random corridor. We wound up getting lost very quickly.

"Excuse me," someone called out from behind us. I turned to see it was Percy.

"What are you do-" Ron started to ask before Harry nudged him in the ribs. He cleared his throat and asked, "I mean, what are you doing down here?" in his Crabbe voice.

Percy didn't even flinch.

"I happen to be a school Prefect. You, on the other hand, have no business wandering around the corridors this time of night," he snapped. He narrowed his eyes at Harry and Ron. "What are your names again?"

Before either of them could answer, Malfoy appeared around the corner.

"Crabbe, Goyle, where've you two been? Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?" he spat, coming over to us. He eyed Harry. "Why are you wearing glasses?"

Harry quickly put them away. "Uh...reading," he fibbed.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Reading?" he repeated, "I didn't know you could read." When he looked over at Percy, I saw his gaze harden. "And what are you doing down here, Weasley?" he asked, with venom in every word.

"Mind your attitude, Malfoy," Percy warned Malfoy, standing his ground.

<><><><><>

I followed Malfoy as he dragged Harry and Ron -- by their ears -- to the Slytherin Common room and sat down on the couch, propping his feet up. "Well, sit down," he said.

Harry and Ron obeyed, while I stood right behind the chairs they were sitting on.

"You'd never know the Weasleys were Purebloods, the way they behave. They're an embarrassment to the Wizarding World. All of them," Malfoy remarked. I could hear Ron's knuckles popping as his hands balled into fists. And apparently, Malfoy noticed as well. "What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" he asked, scrutinizingly.

Harry elbowed Ron, as if to say "Make something up." Ron unclenched his hands and cleared his throat. "Stomachache," he fibbed.

Malfoy looked suspicious, but he didn't question it. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all these attacks," he ranted, "S'pose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that happened to this school."

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from lashing out right then and there. But Harry just couldn't restrain himself. "You're wrong!" he basically shouted. I thanked my lucky stars that he didn't attract the attention of everyone in the Slytherin dormitories.

Malfoy shot straight up out of his seat. "What?!" he exclaimed, "You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?" He glared at Harry. "Well, do you?"

"Harry Potter," Harry choked out.

Malfoy looked at him silently, before a smirk formed on his face. "Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right," he agreed. He rolled his eyes. "Saint Potter...His sister's even worse. She'll pay for embarrassing me, many times, if I may add. And people actually think that they're the heirs of Slytherin?" He shook his head. Clearly, he doesn't believe the rumors either.

"You must have some idea of who's behind it all," Harry pressed.

"You know I don't, Goyle. I told you yesterday," Malfoy denied. He crossed over to a side table and picked up a small package resting upon it. "How many times to I have to tell you?" he asked, shaking the package lightly before looking at Harry. "Is this yours?"

Harry shook his head in response.

Malfoy sat back down on the couch. "But my father did say this: It's been fifty years since the chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died," he told us, "So it's only a matter of time before another is killed this time. As for me, I hope it's Granger."

At this, Ron jumped out of his chair and Harry had to restrain him from trying to strangle or hex Malfoy.

"What's the matter with you two?" Malfoy asked. Yep, he's getting suspicious now. "You're acting very...odd."

"It's his stomachache," Harry lied. He faced Ron, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down..."

Ron looked at him and his eyes widened. "S-Scar..." he whispered. I squinted to get a closer look, and I saw that Harry's scar was returning. Oh, no!

Harry's eyes widened as well. "Hair..." he whispered as he and I noticed Ron's hair was starting to turn red again. All three of us ran out of the common room as fast as our legs would go.

"That was close!" Ron panted once we'd reached Myrtle's bathroom.

I threw off the cloak. "No kidding! If you guys had stuck around for even a second longer, our cover would've been blown!"

"Hermione, come out! We've got loads to tell you," Harry called out.

"Go away!" Hermione snapped.

"Wait till you see. It's awful," I heard Myrtle snigger.

Harry slowly pushed open the door. "Hermione?" he asked.

"Do you remember me telling you, the Polyjuice Potion is only for human transformations? It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes," Hermione said, turning to face us. That's when I noticed she had a cat's face, cat eyes, and a cat tail. "Look at my face..."

Harry just looked at her, shocked, while Myrtle laughed hysterically.

"Look at your tail," Ron joked, making me roll my eyes and smack him upside the head.

<><><><><>

"Any more word from Hermione?" Ron asked. We were walking through the halls, heading back to the common room from dinner one night. Hermione had to go see Madam Pomfrey to get rid of her cat appearance, and let me tell you, coming up with an explanation that didn't reveal what we'd done? Not easy. I highly doubt she believed us saying that Hermione had been hexed accidentally. We were just lucky she didn't press the subject further.

"She should be out of the Hospital Wing in a few days...as soon as she stops coughing up furballs," Harry answered.

As soon as we rounded the corner, I saw a ton of water on the floor ahead of us. "What's this?" I asked. We ran down the hallway, looking for the source of the sudden flooding.

"Yuck!" Ron complained.

"Looks like Moaning Myrtle's flooded the bathroom," Harry guessed. We headed to the abandoned girls' lavatory. Sure enough, my brother was right; the floor was soaked, water pouring out nonstop from the sinks.

Myrtle was crying, but it sounded more like a moan. She stopped once she saw us come in. "C-Come t-to throw something else at me?" she stuttered.

"Why would we throw something at you?" Harry asked.

"Don't ask me," Myrtle replied, "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"Well, it can't hurt if they threw it at you. I mean...it'll just go right through you," Ron commented.

"Ron!" I snapped, nudging him in the arm.

"So!" Myrtle snapped, whooshing over to us. She was very close to Ron now. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it?! Ten points if you get it through her stomach!" she snapped, punching Ron in the stomach. Her arm went right through Ron's gut. "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" she added, punching Ron in the head, only to have her hand go right through him.

"But...who threw it at you anyway?" Harry asked.

Myrtle calmed down immediately. "I don't know," she replied, "I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death...and it fell through the top of my head." She floated off, resuming her moaning.

That's when Harry and I noticed something on the floor. Harry went over and got it before walking back over to us. It was a black book.

We took it to the hospital wing, so Hermione could tell us more about it, since she's the smartest out of the four of us.

"Hermione, I think we have a new lead," I told her excitedly, handing the diary to her. We all gathered around her bed.

Hermione examined it. "There's a name in this diary. Tom...Marvolo...Riddle," she read the name aloud.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Ron repeated. Hermione handed him the diary and he looked it over. "Hang on...I know that name," he told us, tapping one of the pages as he said it. "Where do I know that name?" He thought for a moment. "Of course! That night I had detention, my job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember because I kept burping up slugs on Tom Riddle's trophy," he told us.

"What was the trophy for?" Harry asked.

"He won an award, fifty years ago...Special Services to the School or something," Ron answered. He handed the diary to Harry.

"Fifty years ago? Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Ron said.

"Don't you remember what Malfoy told us? The last time the Chamber was opened was-" Hermione started.

"fifty years ago, but that means-" Harry interrupted, realizing something.

"-Tom Riddle was here, at Hogwarts, when it happened," I finished, "He must've been a student during those times."

"What if he wrote about what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was, how to open it, even what sort of creature lives in it. If so, whoever is behind these attacks wouldn't want this diary lying around. Would they?" Hermione jumped in.

"It's a brilliant theory, Hermione, but there's just one flaw. There's nothing written in this diary," Harry said, showing us blank page after blank page in the diary.

<><><><><>

Later that night, in the common room, Harry and I flipped through the diary. It was STILL blank. Harry closed the diary and read the inscription on the bottom of the back cover, "Tom Marvolo Riddle." He opened the diary again and was about to write in it, before a drop of ink plopped onto the page. Instantly, it disappeared, making my eyes widen.

"Wow..." I whispered.

Harry wrote "My name is Harry Potter" and we both watched, amazed, as it slowly started to vanish. A new message appeared in its place: Hello, Harry and Cassia Potter. My name is Tom Riddle.

My eyes widened even more. "How did he know we were both here?" I asked.

"I dunno. Maybe it was just instinct or something," Harry replied. He wrote 'Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?'

Tom replied with a Yes.

This time, I wrote back. Can you tell us?

No.

I sighed in frustration but another message appeared. But I can show you. Let me take you back fifty years ago.

The pages of the diary flipped until we were about halfway through the book. A date appeared on the upper right corner. June thirteenth. A glowing light emitted from the book, gradually growing bigger and bigger until it swallowed Harry and I up into the book. We were now at Hogwarts, the way it would have looked fifty years ago. Looking ahead, we saw an older boy standing on the stairs.

"Excuse me," Harry started, coming towards the person. "Can you tell me what's going on?" No response. Then something seemed to click in his mind. "Are you Tom Riddle? Hello? Can you hear me?" he pressed. Once again, no response.

I was about to say something, but then I remembered that this was a memory. Nobody would be able to see or hear us. The boy who Harry addressed as Tom looked kind of handsome, to be honest. Not that it mattered to me- I'm twelve, for crying out loud! He had black, wavy hair, pale skin, and piercing, dark brown eyes, and I guessed he was maybe between fifteen and sixteen years old. I could tell by the snake crest on his robes that he was a Slytherin.

Tom looked up to see some teachers carrying what looked like a body on a stretcher, covered with a white sheet. He turned his head to the left as the teachers rounded a corner with the stretcher. Harry and I caught a glimpse of a stiff, uncovered hand dangling from the stretcher.

"Riddle, come," we heard a familiar voice call.

Tom turned in the direction of the voice."Professor Dumbledore," he said. He made his way up the stairs, to where a much younger Dumbledore awaited him.

"Dumbledore?" Harry whispered.

"It definitely looks like him," I whispered back.

"It is not wise to wander around this late hour, Tom," Dumbledore admonished.

"Yes, sir. I suppose. I...I had to see for myself if the rumors were true," Tom replied.

"I'm afraid they are, Tom. They are true," Dumbledore said, in a grave tone.

"About the school as well? I don't have a home to go to. They wouldn't really close Hogwarts," Tom protested.

"I understand, Tom, but I'm afraid Headmaster Dippet may have no choice," Dumbledore told him.

"Sir, if it all stopped...if the person responsible was caught..." Tom started to say.

Dumbledore eyed him. "Is there something you wish to tell me?" he asked.

"No, sir. Nothing," Tom answered.

"Very well, then. Off you go," Dumbledore said.

Tom left, with Harry and I trailing close behind. Soon enough, Tom stopped at a door. He looked around to see if the coast was clear, and opened the door. Inside, there was a very tall young boy, bent over a trunk.

"Evening, Hagrid," Tom greeted, scaring the boy, who slammed the trunk shut and faced him. So Hagrid and Tom were both students at Hogwarts fifty years ago. "I'm going to have to turn you in. I know you never meant it to kill anyone, but-"

"You can't. You don't understand," Hagrid begged.

"The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure that thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered," Tom snapped.

"It wasn't him. Aragog never killed no one. Never!" Hagrid insisted.

"Monsters don't make good pets, Hagrid. Now stand aside," Tom ordered.

"No," Hagrid refused.

"Stand aside," Tom urged.

"No!" Hagrid refused a second time.

Tom waved his wand, using a spell Harry and I had never heard of before, "Cistum Aperio!" The crate behind Hagrid burst open, and a spider as big as Cricket scurried out, just as Tom cast another spell, "Aranea Exumai!"

"Aragog! Aragog!" Hagrid yelled.

Just as he was about to go after it, Tom blocked his way. "I can't let you go. They'll have your wand for this, Hagrid. You'll be expelled," he said.

Suddenly, I felt a tug, as if someone were pulling me from behind. I glanced at Harry to see he was experiencing the same thing. It didn't take me very long to process what was happening- Harry and I were being pulled away from the memory.

"Hagrid!" Harry yelled.

The door closed before we could see more.

"Hagrid!" both of us yelled as we were forced back out of the diary. Harry landed in his chair, while I landed on the floor, right net to him.

"Whoa," Harry and I said in unison. The memory had shown us that Hagrid, apparently, was also accused. Harry was now convinced that it was him, but I didn't think it was possible. This was all so confusing.

<><><><><>

The next day, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I went for a walk around the school, after classes. Harry was explaining how we had ventured into the diary and seen a memory of the last time the chamber was opened. Hagrid's his new suspect. "It was Hagrid. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago," he told us.

"It can't be Hagrid. It just...can't be," Hermione objected.

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle. He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me," Ron added.

"The monster had killed somebody, Ron. What would any of us have done?" Harry asked.

"Look, Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just go and ask him?" Hermione suggested.

"That'll be a cheerful visit," said Ron, "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

"Mad n' hairy?" a familiar voice said from behind us. It was Hagrid. "You wouldn't be talkin' about me, now, would you?"

"No," we all said at once, facing him.

"What's that you've got there, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it's uh...flesh-eatin' slug repellent. Fer the Mandrakes, yeh know. Now, according to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit o' growin' up to do. But once their acne's cleared up, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em, and then we'll get those people down at the hospital un-Petrified. In the meantime, you four had best be lookin' out fer yerselves," Hagrid explained. He walked away, saying a quick hello to Neville as he past him.

Neville rushed up to us "Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come," he said, panting. He led us up to the Gryffindor dormitory that he shared with Harry and Ron. It was totally trashed.

"It had to be a Gryffindor. Nobody else knows our password. Unless it wasn't a student," Hermione informed us whilst Harry looked around for something.

"Whoever it was, they must've been looking for something," Ron noted.

"And they found it," Harry said, panting a little bit. "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

I sighed, crossing my arms in frustration. There goes our lead...