On Halloween that day, Tom took a sick leave.
Taking sick leave at a magical school was difficult because most non-lethal and non-permanent injuries could be cured instantly.
So, for a much-needed day off, Tom used Ginny's excuse of her first-period cramps to secure a rare one-day pass finally.
He was even allowed to return to his dormitory instead of lying in the cold, impersonal infirmary where curious classmates might drop by to gossip about his "illness."
But Tom had far too much planned for today to rest.
Instead of heading to the dormitory, he found a secluded corner and attempted an Animagus transformation.
At first, Tom thought his spell had failed.
Animagus forms usually reflected a wizard's innermost favourite creature, and Tom’s was a "beautiful" young basilisk.
However, Ginny was a cat lover — and this was Ginny's body.
When Tom looked down at his fluffy paws and caught his reflection in a glass pane, Ginny cheered in his mind: "Meow!"
The reflection showed a long-haired black Maine Coon cat. Its vivid green eyes increasingly resembled Ginny’s crush…
Tom sighed in relief that, at least, the pupils remained narrow and slit — sharp and menacing, just as he preferred.
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A trail of cat paw prints soon led through the snow to Hagrid’s chicken coop near the greenhouse.
Tom planned to kill two or three roosters to gather blood for writing messages on the walls — a clue tied to the basilisk's existence.
Although Tom found the logic questionable — a basilisk couldn’t possibly wander out of the castle, so killing roosters outside the grounds was not wise...
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Though, Dumbledore had mentioned that Harry often sought clues from Hagrid.
So, Tom filled a large glass vial with rooster blood, enchanted them with a powerful anti-cleaning Dark charm, and moved on to his next task.
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Ginny mocked Tom’s cozying up to Mrs. Norris.
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The mouse eventually "vanished" mysteriously, leaving the two cats meowing in disappointment.
Tom then pretended to be lost. Mrs. Norris, sensing his plight, offered to guide him. Tom acted skeptical and hesitant to bother another cat.
Feeling responsible as the castle’s de facto feline staff member, Mrs. Norris blocked his way and insisted on escorting him back to the Great Hall, where it would be easier to locate his "owner."
When Tom reluctantly followed, he lowered his head in an obedient gesture. (Ginny rolled her eyes internally.)
Mrs. Norris returned the affection, calming him like a mother comforting a kitten. If Tom hadn't been so large cause of the Maine Coon gene, she might have bit the scruff of his neck to carry him herself. (She smells him as a young female cat, despite his size.)
Ginny was bewildered. What kind of world was this?! Even as a cat, Tom had cheat-level charm!
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"Petrificus Totalus!"
As Mrs. Norris led the way back to the Great Hall, Tom, walking behind her, suddenly shifted back into his human form.
The spell was silently cast in his mind — no wand required.
Mrs. Norris remained mid-stride, eyes staring ahead as she was instantly petrified.
Ordinary students or creatures could never manage such a feat; cats are far too alert.
Even Professor McGonagall wouldn’t have been able to pull it off, for she certainly didn’t possess Tom’s unmatched ability to feign innocence after and before transforming into a cat.
Tom muttered a low, dark incantation, strengthening the Petrification Curse with a layer of Dark Magic.
He carefully lifted Mrs. Norris by the tail and hung her on a wall sconce.
Her tail was pierced by the metal sconce, but she wouldn’t feel pain or even be aware of it.
Like all who would later fall victim to petrification, she was simply in a long, dreamless sleep. All injuries would heal naturally during her enchanted slumber.
Tom slipped a glove onto his left hand, dipped his forefinger into the vial of rooster blood, and began scrawling words on the wall — in large, terrifying letters.
Ginny asked in his mind, "Why a cat? Wouldn’t it be better to use a student?"
Like someone who had mocked her, perhaps. The ones who still joked about her as the "Gryffindor Princess" and blamed her for driving away fellow classmates...
Tom replied, "Because I need my Animagus form to do many things. She poses a serious threat to me."
"But won’t she hold a grudge to you when she wakes up?" Ginny pressed.
Tom paused. "...If she wakes up, I’ll stick to being a proper student ever after, hopefully." If Dumbledore allowed him to graduate without incident...
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When he finished writing, he stepped back to admire his work.
He thickened a few strokes for extra menace and added several dramatic splashes of chicken blood.
Finally, he removed his glove and incinerated it with a spell.
"Wow, that looks intense!" Ginny praised. "Happy Halloween!"
"Thanks," Tom muttered.
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He conjured a puddle of water on the floor, leading it in a trail that disappeared into Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.
He muttered to himself, Isn’t this a bit too obvious? But he stuck to Dumbledore’s suggested strategy.
After double-checking every detail, Tom transformed back into his feline form. He leaped onto a high perch and cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, blending into the shadows as an invisible cat.
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He closed his eyes and focused his senses through the Horcrux’s connection.
Reaching into Harry’s mind, he planted the illusion of the basilisk slithering through the pipes, whispering.
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"Did you hear it?" Harry suddenly turned to Hermione and Ron and said.
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After Halloween, whispers spread through the school — many believed Harry had attacked Filch’s cat.
Only Ricky and Luna thought otherwise because Tom had told them the truth.
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“Ginny and I have given up on healing.”
When Tom confessed to them, they fell silent.
He continued, “I’m preparing a story for the Weasleys to explain Ginny’s memory loss. Dumbledore wants me to open the Chamber of Secrets again — and train Harry to become a hero.”
“What?” Ricky was incredulous.
Luna, ever calm, remarked, “So the hero-training theory was true.”
Ricky frowned at her misplaced focus. “Why not just tell the truth about Ginny’s… death?”
Tom’s voice grew heavy. “Because Ginny agreed to give me her body and I want to live.”
Ricky could hardly believe it. In his mind, Ginny wasn’t gone — she had split personalities.
He had gradually become accustomed to Tom’s presence. He and Ginny had never been really close, and over time, the guilt and longing after the accident had faded.
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Luna, accepting reality faster, asked, “So, in the last time when the Chamber was opened… was it you who killed Myrtle?”
“No,” Tom denied. “That wasn’t me. But the creature that did it is dead now. I helped Dumbledore take care of it.” He didn’t want to burden Ginny’s friends with more dangerous truths.
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Ricky pressed on. “So, when you say you’ll open the Chamber again, what exactly do you mean?”
Tom explained, “I’ll stage a few terrifying events to push Harry Potter into action. I’ll make it seem as though Ginny was one of the victims, traumatized to the point of memory loss.”
Ricky’s eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous! No one will believe it!”
Luna countered serenely, “Love makes anything possible. The Weasleys would rather believe Tom is Ginny than accept losing her forever.”
Tom nodded. “Ginny and I agree.”
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Ricky, still skeptical, asked, “What about your own family?”
“I’m an orphan,” Tom replied.
“Friends?” Ricky pushed further.
Tom shrugged. “No idea. Maybe they’re all dead by now.”
Luna inquired softly, “How did you die?”
Tom went silent, his gaze sharp.
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Ricky let out an awkward laugh. “He’s alive now, isn’t he? More like cursed, I guess?”
Even as he spoke, his thoughts leaned toward the idea that Ginny had a mental illness. She fabricated a brilliant, powerful personality named Tom Riddle from an old student register.
After all, wasn’t it more likely that the real Tom had moved on to live among Muggles, rather than a diary becoming a living person?
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Tom only sighed deeply. “Goodnight.” He turned and left.
They remain in the same place.
Ricky whispered to Luna, “Don’t you think she is suspicious?”
Luna replied, “Should we go to Dumbledore to check?”
“But…” Ricky hesitated. Accusing the headmaster of harbouring a diary-possessed girl sounded absurd. If Ginny wasn’t mentally ill, then they must be.
Luna calmly concluded, “Then let’s not get in his way.”
Yet Ricky had his own plan.
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"Ginny.” Daisy knocked on her door.
Now that Stephanie is gone, she lives with two second-year roommates. Daisy couldn’t help but feel like an outsider in her room.
Tom opened the door and asked, “What is it?”
Gathering her courage, Daisy stammered, “I… um… I heard the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Colin and I․ We are both from Muggle families. We’re a little scared. If the two of us stick together all the time…”
She hoped to reconcile with Ginny and find an excuse to move into their room.
Tom observed Daisy’s sincerity, then glanced at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging nod from within the room. He said, “Shall we go downstairs to talk?”
In the common room, Colin had secured a spot near the fireplace. When he saw them, he waved enthusiastically, having already prepared three cups of hot cocoa. Tom couldn’t resist picking one up to warm his hands.
“I’m sure Harry didn’t do it!” Colin, ever the Harry Potter fanboy, declared passionately. “The Heir of Slytherin must be trying to frame him!” He looked to Ginny for affirmation.
To students from Muggle families, having someone like Ginny—a pure-blood Weasley—on their side provided a sense of security. Tom sipped his cocoa thoughtfully.
Daisy added nervously, “It has to be another plot by the Dark Lord, right?” Fear crept into her voice as she wondered if a full-scale wizarding war might erupt.
Tom wiped his mouth and calmly reassured her, “Dumbledore will take care of it.” He appeared completely untroubled.
Colin leaned forward eagerly. “Can you tell us the legend of the Chamber of Secrets? All the relevant books are gone from the library, and we only hear second-hand rumours. We want to know the full story.”
Hufflepuff students had most attempted to share what they knew, but half of their explanations devolved into accusing Harry, leaving Colin fuming with frustration.
Tom considered the request. Deciding there was no harm in it, he put on a serious expression, setting a somber tone for the legend. “Ahem. A long, long time ago…”
“But my grandma said the Chamber was opened before!” Parvati Pati interrupted, cutting into Tom’s narrative.
Tom’s storytelling skills had drawn in the second-years as well. He refrained from contradicting Parvati, mindful of maintaining goodwill with Hermione’s former roommate.
Lavender Brown chimed in, “I heard someone died last time, and a student was expelled.”
Colin and Daisy turned pale. They had come to Hogwarts to learn magic, not to risk their lives.
Parvati added, “Dumbledore was teaching back then, too. But we have never found out who was expelled. Even Professor McGonagall won’t tell us.”
Tom silently acknowledged that they were ahead of Harry and his friends in uncovering details.
Harry and his friend are still suspecting Malfoy. Hermione was determined to brew Polyjuice Potion to spy on him—a venture Tom found more driven by her curiosity than necessity. She eagerly roped Harry and Ron into her plans.
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“Ginny, do you know anything?” Lavender and Parvati turned their attention back to Tom, who had been momentarily lost in thought. Four pairs of eyes stared expectantly.
“Let’s leave,” Ginny urged from within Tom’s mind. “Don’t bother with them.”
Tom stood and smiled faintly. “I just remembered I haven’t finished my homework. Bye!” He hurried back to his room.
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After he left, Lavender whispered to Parvati, loud enough for the first-years to hear, “The Weasleys must know something.”
“I heard they’re staying at Hogwarts for Christmas,” Parvati said. “They’re not scared at all.”
“Of course not,” Lavender scoffed. “They’re one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. What do they have to fear?”
Daisy asked timidly, “The Sacred Twenty-Eight?”
Parvati explained, “They’re the pure-blood families—twenty-eight of them—who have never mixed a single drop of blood with Muggles.”
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“You came back so soon?” Hermione, reading a book in the room, noticed Ginny had returned in less than half an hour.
Tom said, “Couldn’t make a connection.”
Hermione asked with concern, “You didn’t fight, did you?”
“Not yet,” Tom answered briefly.
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He was actually most afraid of clever Hermione noticing the differences between him and Ginny. But since they were roommates, avoiding her entirely wasn’t possible, so he tried to reduce the chances of conversation.
This time, Hermione closed her book.
“Why don’t you take the initiative and be friends with Daisy? She seems like a nice girl.” She was worried Ginny was becoming too withdrawn and wanted to know how things were going with the boy Ginny had mentioned before.
Tom rolled his eyes. He hated it when people tried to push him into making friends.
Ginny said in his mind giving him an example answer, “I think taking care of others is exhausting. When I’m with Daisy and the others, they always have so many questions, and I’m not sure how to answer them.”
She wasn’t like Ron—she couldn’t just blurt out whatever she was thinking. Every word was weighed carefully to avoid hurting anyone or sounding inappropriate.
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Tom gave a more tactful explanation: “They… Daisy and Colin… would do better to think more on their own. I don’t want to give them too many answers.”
Hermione, recalling how Colin had annoyed Harry to no end, found Ginny’s indifference understandable.
So, she shifted to another topic. “So… that boy you mentioned before…”
Tom took a deep breath and interrupted, “We haven’t talked anymore. He’s trash. Absolute trash.”
That was also exactly how he felt about himself.
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Hermione was doubtful. “Oh… right.” She didn’t press the subject. She reopened her book, her head sinking back into its pages.
Tom was just starting to relax when she suddenly looked up and asked, “Are you scared? Of the Chamber?”
Her sharp eyes pinned him, making Tom incredibly uncomfortable.
“Uh… I know it wasn’t you guys.”
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In Hermione’s eyes, Tom’s guilt about his real identity looked like fear of the Chamber.
She repeated the usual reassurance, “With Dumbledore here, they’ll catch the culprit soon enough.”
Tom sighed internally, thinking, It’s you who needs to work harder, but outwardly, he just mumbled, “Mmm-hmm.”
He was still thinking about whether he had left any obvious traces behind.
He hadn’t used any sanitary pads—Hermione would have noticed. If she also connected that to the day he took a sick leave…
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“Ginny is really worried about the Chamber of Secrets.”
When Percy asked Hermione about Ginny’s well-being, that was how she described it.
“She sleeps very lightly. Every time I turn over in bed, she immediately wakes up and grabs her wand.”
That was Tom’s habit. He wasn’t used to sharing a room with others.
When he returned to the orphanage during the summer, people with bad intentions could often sneak into his room in the middle of the night…
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“She’s become even more paranoid than before and refuses to tell me anything.”
Hermione noticed Tom’s avoidance and distance. Honestly, it hurt a little.
She couldn’t think of any other reason, so she attributed it to the Chamber of Secrets and the tense atmosphere of the entire school.
Percy said, “Thank you for telling me.”
He felt guilty about Ginny. As a prefect and her oldest sibling at Hogwarts, he should have been closer to her.
But she had become so secretive—it was almost impossible to reach her.
Hermione sighed, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe she would be happier studying at home.”
Percy responded, “I should have a proper talk with her instead of pushing her to go home.”
Hermione said gently, “We’re only human. One day, she’ll forgive you.”
“Maybe,” Percy murmured.
His mind was more focused on catching the Heir of Slytherin.
If he could be the one to solve that mystery and save the school…
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In the dark of the night, Tom made sure Hermione was sound asleep.
He quietly opened the window, transformed into a cat, and slipped out.
“Meow!” He tapped on the window of the Headmaster’s office.
Dumbledore was delighted to see a cat.
He quickly opened the window to let him in.
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“I must say, I prefer you as a cat,” Dumbledore remarked as Tom transformed back into a human.
Tom responded coldly, “What do you want from me?”
Dumbledore asked, “How have you been lately?”
Tom replied, “Harry and his friends haven’t made any progress.”
“I was asking how you are doing,” Dumbledore clarified.
Tom didn’t know what to say. It had been a very long time since Dumbledore had shown any interest in his life.
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Tom said, “Ginny likes cats too,” because he couldn’t think of anything else.
Dumbledore said, “But you prefer the basilisk, don’t you? Can you still transform into one?”
Tom replied, “Only the eyes seem fine—after all, they are the windows to the soul, aren’t they?”
He wondered if that meant Dumbledore could turn into a phoenix himself.
He glanced at Fawkes, noticing the bird was nearing the end of its life cycle.
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“He’s getting old,” Dumbledore shifted the conversation to his pet.
Tom said, “Your phoenix won’t die. It’s Ron’s rat that’s too old.”
Dumbledore frowned, “What do you mean?”
Tom answered, “That rat is a person. I’m certain of it.”
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It had started with a cat’s intuition—he had passed by and given it a second glance.
Then Ginny had told him the rat had been in their house since before she was born and warned him not to catch nor eat it.
Dumbledore sprang to his feet, visibly agitated. “This… this… no… no, that’s terrible.”
Tom asked, “What now?”
“Ah, nothing. I’ll tell you next year.” Dumbledore’s mind raced, trying to figure out how to rescue Sirius.
Tom sighed, “Next year? This one isn’t even over yet…”
Dumbledore steered the conversation back, “Do you have a next target in mind?”
“Colin, I suppose,” Tom suggested.
“Why Colin?”
“He follows Harry around constantly. If Harry actually discovers something, Colin will insist on tagging along…” It was only a suggestion.
Dumbledore agreed decisively, “Alright, let’s do that.”
Silence fell between them again.
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Ginny wondered if her presence was making it awkward, or if these two simply avoided talking unless absolutely necessary.
She asked Tom, “When do we act?”
Tom relayed her question.
“Do as you see fit. Just notify me beforehand,” Dumbledore said with a weary wave of his hand, still preoccupied with the rat situation.
Tom finally showed some concern for the Headmaster. “Are you going to visit Mr. Grindelwald for Christmas?”
Dumbledore sighed, “I don’t know. Depends on how I feel.”
Tom wanted to meet his idol, but he wasn’t sure if he still counted as Dumbledore’s enemy.
Uncertain about their dynamic, he simply said, “Good night, Professor.”
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He transformed back into a cat and leapt to the windowsill, waiting for Dumbledore to open the window.
Just as Dumbledore raised his hand to open it, he asked, “May I pet you?”
Tom stiffened, the entire cat form going rigid.
He shook his head, his tail unconsciously swaying in time with his refusal.
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Dumbledore, enchanted by his cuteness, reached out anyway.
His large hand enveloped the entire cat’s head.
Ginny let out a contented purr, but Tom hated it.
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He darted away, jumped to the floor, and transformed back into a human.
“Get your own cat if you want to pet one!” Tom snapped, storming out and slamming the door behind him.
He hoped no teachers were patrolling the halls—what a bothersome old man!
Ginny giggled silently to herself.
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After Tom had left, Dumbledore sighed. “What am I going to do with him?”
He spoke to the mirror on his desk.
Grindelwald, hiding on the other side of the mirror, raised an eyebrow in response.
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