The news about the capture of the Horcrux in Helga Hufflepuff's cup should have been the cue for celebration. Harry was not celebrating. He sat at the Slytherin table for breakfast, watching the Ravenclaw table. Ginny Weasley kept her back to him. Luna sat opposite her and focused on Ginny’s face. Only once during breakfast did Luna glance at Harry. She gave the tiniest shake of her head.
Tracey was watching. “What is going on, Harry? This is the first month, and already you are being mysterious. Who are you watching like a hawk?”
Harry murmured without looking around, “I’ll write a journal page for you. There is some heavy stuff happening.”
-ooOOoo-
The lectures given by Lockhart were a joke. He was a complete narcissist. Every second was devoted to the promotion of him and his books.
The Slytherins were combined with the Gryffindors again for Defence. Lockhart gave a pop quiz which was entirely focused on him. Then he set loose a cage of Cornish Pixies for the students to round up. Most of the Slytherins and Gryffindors wisely ran away. Harry and his gang subdued the blue pests before they demolished the classroom. Lockhart was useless. He tried to cast a spell that sounded like the ones he claimed to use in his books. It wasn’t a real spell. Lockhart seemed to be living under the delusion that all he had to do was be positive and confident, and anything he said would work for him.
For Harry, the most annoying part of the unpleasant experience was the girls' behaviour. They were silly, simpering and obviously enraptured to be in the presence of this wizarding world celebrity. The most surprising girlish giggler was Hermione Granger. She sat with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel. She whispered and giggled with them while not giving Lockhart doe-eyed looks. Neville observed this odd behaviour, turned to Harry and gave him the ‘What gives?’ look. Harry shook his head and shrugged. At least Hermione did most of the pixie round-up work. Her silliness, when confronted by a dazzling smile, didn’t diminish her magical power.
-ooOOoo-
Harry finally composed the message he needed to get to his gang. He had to be careful. They had to be aware that Ginny Weasley had a very dangerous dark object in her possession. They also had to understand that it was most likely already influencing her.
To: All
From: Harry Potter
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 1992
Time: 8:15 pm
Message: This is very secret.
A dangerous dark object has turned up at school.
How do I know this? You know I have a history of connections with some high-ranked servants of the Dark Lord. I won’t tell you how much of the Dark Lord’s business they told me. I will say that they were not always careful about what they said in their conversations, and I remember all of it.
The artefact is a book Miss Ginevra Weasley (Ravenclaw) uses as her diary.
The diary has been in Ginny Weasley’s possession for weeks, and she has been writing in it. The magic in the diary will be influencing her, and she may not be fully in control of her actions.
If you have any contact with her, do not mention the diary. Do not try to take it from her. Do not mention the diary to a teacher, as that will result in an official move to confiscate it.
Ginny will be damaged in her mind and magic if this thing is forcibly taken from her.
I will not tell you what my actions will be, but I will act.
Ginny must be persuaded to voluntarily give the diary up. When she does, I will turn it over to our experts so they can deal with it.
If Ginny asks for help, please tell me as quickly as possible. I will try to work out what to do. Don’t touch or open the diary yourself.
Don’t tell a teacher anything; they will report it to the headmaster. He is not a person to be trusted with objects like this.
The headmaster is a powerful wizard with many years of learning and experience. Sadly, this does not make him a sensible person.
I will be trying to watch you all. If you are tainted by this thing, you may not be able to escape from it without help.
Harry
-ooOOoo-
Life at Hogwarts resumed its normal rhythm; Quidditch tryouts and practice began. Malfoy revealed one of the reasons for his annoying smugness this year. Lucius had bought new Nimbus Two Thousand and One brooms for the Slytherin Quidditch team on the condition that Draco was given the seeker position. Draco was a living example of the deluded traditional view of the Wizarding World. He believed that Hogwarts Quidditch team members were elevated to the most exalted levels of society.
Harry expanded his new social abilities by laughing in Malfoy’s face when he paraded in the Common Room wearing his new Slytherin Quidditch robes.
“Really, Malfoy, there’s an old muggle saying that applies here; ‘A pig in a silk waistcoat is still a pig.’ “
Malfoy snarled, “You’ll get what’s coming to you, Potter. My father will crush you.”
Harry laughed and pointed to the broom Draco was carrying. “I also have a Nimbus broom, but I’m willing to bet that any Hogwarts house team flying the new Cleansweep brooms will beat any house team flying this new Nimbus.”
Theodore Nott, a well-known Quidditch fanatic, asked, “Why do you say that, Potter?”
“Because the Cleansweep broom can turn inside a Nimbus. The Nimbus brooms are made for speed. They are high-performance brooms for professional riders. Cleansweep brooms have enough speed for Quidditch, but they have better manoeuvrability in the hands of Hogwarts Quidditch players. If chasers want to intercept a pass, they can stop and turn on their Cleansweep broom, while the Nimbus rider will always overshoot. Any Nimbus rider will need a lot more skill than any Hogwarts student has to make full use of it. “
Nott tried again, “Why don’t you try out for Quidditch if you are such an expert? You are light enough to be a seeker.”
Harry smiled at the group. “I’m not a Quidditch enthusiast. I’m not big enough to be a keeper. I’m not strong enough to be a beater. I’m too small to be a chaser. I could be a seeker, but I have an unfair advantage.”
“Advantage! What advantage do you have?” Tracey demanded.
Harry turned to the group that had assembled around them, “My magic is my advantage. I have watched Quidditch matches, and I always sense the magic. I can sense where the snitch is from the moment it is released. If I am a seeker, any match will last minutes, and I will always catch the snitch. It would quickly become obvious that I have an unfair magical advantage because I am still nearly blind.”
Something had to be done about the gloating Malfoy problem. Harry sent orders to the Cleansweep Broom Company for the newly released Cleansweep Eight brooms for the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams. The brooms were to be delivered as soon as possible. Within days, the advantage claimed by the Slytherin team disappeared.
Harry never told anyone what he had also done. He had arranged with his Gringotts account manager to sell his shares in other broom makers and buy shares in the Cleansweep company for the Potter investment fund. He was really making payments to his own investment fund.
-ooOOoo-
This year's birthday presents paid even more into his Trust Fund than he was spending. The Potter Fan Club also sprouted a Hogwarts branch, much to Harry’s dismay.
A day later, a Hufflepuff firstie girl nervously approached Harry at breakfast.
“Mister Potter!”
Harry turned to see a frightened girl nearly hiding behind Susan as she sat at the Hufflepuff table.
A smile came to Harry’s face. “When you said, ‘Mister Potter’, I thought another student's father was standing behind me. People call me ‘Harry’ or ‘Potter’. You can call me ‘Harry‘.”
“Oh! OK! Er! Harry! I wanted to thank you for sending your picture to my little brother. He is so excited that he got something back from you.”
Harry struggled to understand what was happening. Then he remembered. His mail was intercepted and answered by the Harry Potter Fan Club employees. So much was going on, and the club handled his mail so effectively that Harry forgot that he received hundreds of letters and cards each week. On his birthday, the mailbags had thousands of items.
“Oh! Yes!” Harry waffled as he tried to think of something to say. “Your brother got a photo from the fan club. I haven’t met anyone who said anything about that before. Do you know if anyone in your family sent a gift or something like that?”
The girl smiled, “Oh yes! My great-aunt always sends a gift on your birthday. She always tells us what it was. This year, it was a thousand galleons. She says it isn’t much of a reward after what you did for us, defeating You-Know-Who.”
Harry tried to get the girl to lower her voice. “Ssssh! Please! Not so loud! Not everyone knows about those gifts. I’ll get in trouble with people around here if they know how much money people send me.”
“Oh! Sorry, Harry! I won’t tell anyone else. I’ve only told a few.”
Harry tried not to look unhappy. The news was probably all over the castle by now.
“Look! Um! Can you tell those people that the money is being spent on things for Hogwarts? You know that the Quidditch teams all got new brooms this year.”
The girl nodded happily.
“Well! That was paid for by those gifts. The exception is the Slytherin Quidditch team; Draco Malfoy’s father paid for those. By sheer coincidence, Draco was made the Slytherin seeker this year.”
Harry touched his nose and pointed at the girl. The girl giggled at the conspiratorial gesture.
A hand touched Harry’s shoulder. He turned to find Luna standing next to him.
“I need your help, Harry.”
Harry stood and followed Luna out of the hall. The Escort and some of the Alliance gathered around to shield Luna and Harry.
Luna was nervous.
“It’s Ginny; she’s in trouble. We were ready for breakfast this morning, and Ginny asked me to wait. Ginny sat at her desk and opened the diary. She sat there and stared at it and didn’t do anything. I asked her what was wrong, and she didn’t answer. Then I noticed that she was holding onto the edge of the desk with both hands as though she was afraid to let go.”
Tracey touched Luna and asked, “Is she breathing normally? Can you tell if her breathing is deep or shallow?”
Luna shook her head. “Her breathing is harsh like she is wrestling with something. I tried to get her attention. I touched her shoulder and gave a push. She was stiff. Her whole body was rigid. I couldn’t move her. What can I do?”
Harry waited.
-ooOOoo-
“The diary is trying to control her. You must get it away from her. Someone strong must go with Luna and take it away from her.”
“Who, Tom? Who can do that?”
“Not you! Send Su Li, Tracey and Daphne with Luna. They have the best Occlumency. They should close the diary and bring it back to you. You must lock it up until you can get it to Lord Greengrass and Unspeakable Davis.”
“What do you think about Ginny? Will she be damaged by taking the diary from her?”
“The diary hasn’t got control of her yet. If it did get control, Luna might not have seen what she did see. Ginny is fighting against the diary. We must act now while she can still resist.”
-ooOOoo-
Harry looked around. Su Li had seen the Alliance and the Escort gathering around Harry, and she hurried up to them.
Harry reached out to Su Li and drew her into the group.
“Listen, please! We have a difficult situation. Luna, you must get back to your room. If Ginny is still there, you must get the diary away from her. This might be the only time that we can do this. Su Li, Daphne, and Tracey, I want you to go with Luna and back her up. Don’t hurt Ginny, but we must get that thing away from her. Off you go!”
Neville, Susan, Hannah and Blaise stayed with Harry. “I’m going to wait here. If they aren’t back in time for the first class, try to make an excuse for them. Tell the teacher they will be along soon. Don’t tell fibs; just act dumb.”
Neville shook his head, “This is when we need Ron Weasley. He’s got acting dumb down to a fine art.”
The group broke up as Fred and George approached Harry.
Fred asked, “Have you seen Ginny?”
George said, “She didn’t come to breakfast yet.”
Harry stepped up to the twins, “Luna said she was still at her desk. Luna has gone to check on her.”
Harry looked around. “Have you seen Hermione?”
Fred frowned, “She was talking to Professor Lockhart. I didn’t see where she went after that.”
George looked back at the Gryffindor table. “Dean Thomas said he was going to get her. He needs help with an assignment. I don’t see him either.”
Neville joined the conversation. “Hermione has been talking a lot about Professor Lockhart. She’s trying to convince us that he’s an expert on his subject. It sounds like she’s trying to convince herself and failing at it.”
-ooOOoo-
The deputation hurried through the Ravenclaw Common Room. The Slytherin visitors got strange looks, but the girls rushed straight to Ginny’s room. They crowded in and stopped.
Ginny was still sitting, holding onto the edge of the desk. She was staring ahead at the bookshelf above the desk.
Su Li spoke. “Wait a minute!”
She took a silk scarf from her robe pocket and transfigured it into a book bag. It was big enough to hold the diary.
“Silk provides a barrier to some magic. Luna, hold the bag while I levitate the diary and put it in it.”
Su Li cast a Wingardium Leviosa, floated the diary from the desk, and dropped it into the open bag. Su Li tied the bag up.
Ginny was still gripping the edge of the desk until she suddenly took a deep breath and slumped down. Her arms fell at her sides, and she slowly collapsed onto the desk.
Daphne and Luna moved to each side of Ginny’s unconscious form.
Daphne checked her pulse. “She’s breathing. I think she has passed out.”
Luna said, “There are prefects still in the Common Room. I’ll tell them. We’ll take Ginny to the Infirmary.”
Su Li hurried from the room. Tracey moved after her. “You shouldn’t go anywhere with that thing on your own.”
-ooOOoo-
Su Li and Tracey hurried up to Harry, who was still waiting at the Great Hall doors.
“Here it is! Ginny fainted as soon as we got the diary into this bag. Luna and Daphne are taking her to the Infirmary.” Su Li handed over the bag.
Harry did not sense any magic in the book. He did not trust his own feelings. The book was Lord Voldemort’s first Horcrux. Tom was now hiding in his Hogwarts mindscape. The diary frightened him. Tom knew the diary was the most dangerous Horcrux Lord Voldemort had created. Harry was wary.
“Go to your classes; tell anyone who asks that Ginny was taken to the Infirmary. Don’t mention the diary.”
The group dispersed except for Fred and George.
“OK, Harry! What is going on.” George demanded.
Harry looked from George to Fred. They were not happy.
“Did you know that Ginny had something dangerous?” Fred asked.
“Ah! I strongly suspected that her diary was not what it seemed to be. I’m sorry, but I didn’t have proof. Not enough to convince anyone in authority that there was a problem. I had to wait until something happened. Ginny having a problem this morning was what I needed.”
Fred and George were still not happy.
George said, “You could have told us.”
Fred added, ”We need to know if our family is in danger, Harry. This isn’t good.”
“I’m sorry, guys, but like I said, I didn’t have proof. If my suspicions are right, the fewer people who know about this, the better. Right now, I have to get this thing to a safe place. I promise to tell you the whole story when this book is safe.”
Harry twisted his staff and flew to his room.
“Jules!”
After a short delay, Harry’s Bones house-elf popped into his room.
“Yes, Master Harry.”
“Take this to Greengrass Manor. Tell the Greengrass house elves to lock this in Lord Greengrass’ strongroom.”
Harry breathed a huge sigh of relief when Jules popped away with the bag.
He would have to reward the rescue team for a job well done. Harry went to his classes for the day.
-ooOOoo-
“That leaves the ring and the diadem. The Li family curse-breakers will get the ring. You know the diadem will be tricky.”
“Yes, Tom, we have been over this before. The diadem is in the Come and Go room. The house elves store every lost and unclaimed thing in there. They use it all the time. If they see us searching the room, they will report it to Dumbledore, and he will interfere.”
“I always ignored house elves until I had a use for them, which wasn’t often. Can we get one of them to change their loyalty to you?”
“No, not at all. Their loyalty is to Hogwarts. The fact that Dumbledore is the headmaster and hurting us by staying locked in his private war with Voldemort will not change their allegiance. I’m hoping we can still get permission for one of the Bones or Greengrass elves to search the room. Asking for permission is always tricky. That request could be passed on to Dumbledore, who can block it.”
“We have to wait, how dull. Still, I have waited for years. I can wait a bit more.”
“Thanks, Tom.”
ns 15.158.61.6da2
