“Ah! Help! Help! I’m so scared!” Tom cried dramatically, playing the role of Villager A in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
This was Lockhart’s grading method for his lessons.
Each class, he would pick a student to act alongside him, reenacting scenes from his books to imprint them more vividly in students’ minds.
Usually, he chose obedient fanboys and fangirls, but perhaps due to the recent rumors of Ginny standing up to Snape, he decided to challenge Ginny this time.
When Tom was chosen, he had a strong urge to bolt from the classroom.
But then he recalled Professor McGonagall’s question: “Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?”
Tom thought he had it all figured out.
But that day, he received a letter from Dumbledore reminding him: Lucius Malfoy knew Ginny had the diary.
If he vanished without warning, Voldemort would eventually find out.
Voldemort would surely suspect him, see him as a hidden threat, and do everything to hunt him down.
The Chamber of Secrets and the diary needed a convincing resolution.
Not only to groom Harry as the Chosen One but also to rationalize the "death" of this Horcrux version of himself.
Tom reasoned that for the sake of his future safety, even if he hated school, he had to at least endure this semester.
So, with newfound resolve, he stood up and went full “village idiot.”
“Oh, Sir Lockhart! Handsome Sir Lockhart! You’ve finally come to save me!”
Tom’s performance was anything but half-hearted, so much so that even Lockhart was momentarily stunned, suspecting Tom might secretly be a shy admirer.
“Ten points to Gryffindor!” Lockhart announced generously after class, rewarding the “adorable and cooperative” Tom.
“Remember, today’s a rare opportunity. Confess to your crush before graduation—it only gets harder to find true love later!”
Today was February 14th, Valentine’s Day. Lockhart had hired a squad of dwarfs dressed as “Cupids” and decked the Great Hall in pink.
To add fuel to the fire, Dumbledore allowed these ridiculous confession activities to disrupt classes at will.
“Ah-choo!” Tom sneezed. At the end of the play, he had been showered with golden glitter.
The crowded corridor made it hard to brush off the glitter stuck in his hair, which kept falling as he walked.
“You were amazing,” Daisy approached Tom, speaking with newfound warmth.
Since the Potions incident, she had been trying to make amends with Ginny by being overly kind to Tom.
Tom remained perpetually indifferent.
Ahead, a commotion broke out.
“Let me go!” Harry shouted.
A dwarf dressed in a ridiculous angel costume, with a face as grim as a debt collector, had grabbed Harry’s legs and yanked him to the ground.
Pinning Harry’s feet with his full weight, the dwarf let loose a rough, off-key voice:
“This is your Valentine’s Day gift:
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His hair is as dark as a blackboard.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsepJcJr4S
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPpTaTXmqX
the hero who conquered the Dark Lord.
”
Tom, like everyone else, burst out laughing but quickly reminded himself of Ginny’s “secret crush on Harry” persona.
“What’s all this racket?” Draco Malfoy’s drawl echoed through the corridor.
Tom realized instantly—this whole stunt was orchestrated by Draco.
After all, who else would pull such a disruptive prank on someone they didn’t actually like?
The already disheveled Harry scrambled to pick up his scattered belongings. Tom noticed the diary had fallen out of Harry’s bag and into Draco’s hands.
Fortunately, Percy was nearby. He sternly told Draco, “Hand it over.”
Draco ignored him and loudly said, “Anyone curious about what Potter’s been scribbling in his diary?”
Percy tried to intervene, but before Draco could open it, Harry shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
It was Harry’s first time using the spell, and it worked perfectly.
The diary flew from Draco’s hands and landed on Ron’s head, who jumped up to catch it.
Draco fumed, while Harry looked triumphant.
No one paid attention to Percy, who started lecturing about how magic wasn’t allowed in the corridors.
Tom exhaled in relief.
He wanted to escape to the next classroom quickly, away from this chaotic mess.
But Draco deliberately bumped into him and whispered loudly, “I don’t think Potter appreciated your Valentine’s gift!”
Draco’s jab was a wild guess, yet it exposed Ginny’s “secret.”
Typically, an eleven-year-old girl in such a situation would avoid the subject of the rumor entirely or make it clear they disliked the other person to prove the gossip false.
Either way, Harry would end up hurt—a childish and petty scenario.
Tom wanted to retort: “It’s your awful song that’s the problem. Own up to your actions, you scumbag!”
But—“Ah-choo!”
Draco’s bump sent a cloud of glitter flying.
Before Tom could say another word, Daisy “rescued” him, pulling him into the classroom.
From the outside, it looked like he had fled, overwhelmed and in tears, unwillingly confirming the rumor.
“You—cough—why did you drag me in here?” Tom snapped at Daisy.
Daisy, startled, had only meant well. She thought Ginny would feel embarrassed and wanted to shield her from more humiliation.
Tom spent the rest of the day simmering with anger.
Fred and George kept singing the dreadful song, while others alternated between pitying and mocking looks.
Ginny’s brothers’ reactions inadvertently confirmed the rumor—that Ginny had a crush on Harry.
After all, her teenage brothers were easily goaded, and their silences gave away the “truth.”
Tom reconsidered whether he should drop out.
He didn’t want to spend the next six and a half years constantly dealing with Harry.
If Harry could act normally around him, the rumor would naturally die out.
But Harry Potter was, after all, a twelve-year-old Gryffindor kid.
“Hey!”
Tom stormed through the common room, cutting through the crowd to confront Harry. “That stupid song wasn’t mine.”
Caught off guard by the attention, Harry whispered, “I know…”
His sheepish expression made Tom feel awkward, too.
Tom said, “I didn’t hate you or particularly like you before. Understand?”
He’d looked it up—Muggle psychologists called it selective mutism.
Harry nodded, whispering, “I understand.”
His pitiful expression made him even harder to dislike.
Despite his “hero” title, he was just a vulnerable boy everyone poked fun at to bask in his fame.
Tom softened. “From now on, pretend you’re my brother. Okay?”
He extended his hand, trying to be mature.
Harry took a deep breath. “Okay.”
He lightly shook Tom’s hand before withdrawing like he’d touched lightning.
Fred and George chimed in with a playful, “Ooh~”
Percy added sarcastically, “Think you two can get girlfriends? I wouldn’t want my brothers marrying each other.”
Ron, unusually supportive of Percy, added, “If they get girlfriends, they won’t even know who’s who. How sad that is.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Can you all stop? It’s better not to meddle in people’s personal matters to show respect.”
She knew Ginny didn’t like Harry anymore long ago —or maybe she never did. Ginny just wasn’t used to strangers.
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Back in the room, Hermione took the initiative to check on Tom.
"You've had a tough time."
Carrying such a rumor meant that people would start gossiping about the individuals involved, judging who was a good match and who wasn’t.
Ever since that day when Tom had said he hated Hermione, she had never approached him again.
They had been sharing a room all this time, yet neither had suggested leaving.
After two weeks of deadlock, this was the first time they spoke.
Tom thought for a moment before responding, "I didn’t run away. Daisy pulled me, and I happened to sneeze because the powder on me got stirred up."
He spoke earnestly, hoping that Hermione, who had been there at the time, would believe him.
Hermione sighed. "So… does that mean you’ve forgiven me?"
Tom hesitated. "Wasn’t I the one who lost my temper for no reason?"
Hermione, moved, said, "I don’t know what you went through in Snape’s class. I shouldn’t have acted like I understood everything and tried to comfort you."
Tom sighed. "You were just trying to help. I understand."
No one could truly understand him, and he had no way of explaining it properly.
It seemed like an unsolvable knot.
But then again, isn’t that the case for everyone?
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"So… how have you been lately?"
Dumbledore had called him for another late-night meeting.
Tom coldly reported, "Harry finally wrote in the diary and asked the right question."
Thanks to Draco’s dwarf accidentally breaking an ink bottle, Harry had finally noticed that the diary absorbed ink.
Tom continued, "I showed him my memory of framing Hagrid. Now it’s up to him."
Dumbledore nodded. "Well done. I’ve also prepared a way for Harry to make it out of the Forbidden Forest alive. Let’s begin the next step. Do you have a candidate in mind?"
Tom had initially thought of Hermione, but he hesitated.
Dumbledore asked, "What’s wrong?"
Tom said, "I noticed Hermione reading a book about magical creatures a few days ago. It mentioned about Basilisk. She’s close to figuring it out."
A flicker of guilt surfaced within him.
Dumbledore said, "Then she’s the right choice. Otherwise, Harry won’t have the courage to enter the Forbidden Forest."
Tom hesitated. "Are you sure this is safe?"
Dumbledore reassured him, "I’ll send Fawkes to follow them in secret."
Fawkes had grown back all his feathers by now, though he was still a bit small.
Tom scoffed, "That bird nearly got me killed once."
Dumbledore chuckled. "He’s more mature now. Or you could follow them yourself."
Tom countered, "Why not just let Hermione figure out the truth? You could even set up safety obstacles in the Chamber of Secrets beforehand, so when the three of them go down together…"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you say you wanted your own bedroom because you couldn’t sleep? Now you just find the mission annoying?"
It was true.
Tom didn’t want to keep manipulating Harry from the shadows anymore.
Dumbledore said, "Tom, your role is important.
How Harry deals with the Chamber of Secrets will eventually reach the other you. We can’t make this seem staged."
"Fine, fine, I get it." Tom adjusted his mindset.
After all, he wasn’t Ginny. No matter how frustrating social life at school was, it wasn’t his whole existence.
He had to think about his future self—the one who had killed Harry’s parents, who had thrown the wizarding world into chaos…
He had no real brothers.
Only in the eyes of Dumbledore and Mr. Grindelwald did his true self exist.
His everyday life was fake. Everything was fake.
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"Gone."
Harry stared at his corner that was rummaged by thieves and said to Ron.
Ron was still asking, "What’s gone?"
Harry couldn’t say it out loud with others around, but inside, he was panicking—Tom Riddle’s diary is gone.
A deep sense of loss settled in his chest.
Ever since he had seen that memory, he hadn’t dared to talk to Tom again.
He was afraid that if he tried to defend Hagrid, they would end up arguing.
But he still had so much he wanted to say to Tom…
He wanted to ask if they had met before.
If they were…why he couldn't remember him anymore?
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When Tom retrieved the diary,
he deliberately overturned all of Harry’s belongings, making it look as if a stranger had ransacked his things.
"I don’t blame you, Ginny."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5tyYe8pDZ
Tom wrote in the diary.
It turned out Ginny’s soul had disappeared too quickly not because Tom had miscalculated—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUYK2rYBe4
but because she had willingly hidden herself inside the diary.
"It’s useless. Your soul will always be drawn to your body. And I’m still absorbing your strength."
Hiding inside the dairy wouldn’t stop the process. It would only mean she’d spend her final moments unable to see the outside world.
Ginny: I just wanted to stay with him a little longer. I really like him.
Tom looked at her faint handwriting and felt a twinge of guilt.
Tom: Ginny, why don’t you make a Horcrux? Separate a part of your soul from your body completely—then I won’t be hurting you anymore.
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Dumbledore would never forgive him for that. But Tom still couldn’t help suggesting it.
Ginny: No, I just want to go back to Harry.
Tom: You can’t. If I hadn’t stopped you back then—what were you planning to tell Harry?
He didn’t report this to Dumbledore.
When Harry started writing in the diary, Tom could barely control its responses anymore.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncu8t4iyH7
That’s why he had directly pulled Harry into his memory instead.
Ginny: I just wanted to talk to him, please.
Tom: I can’t let secrets slip. You understand that, don’t you?
Tom recalled how Ginny had once told him to "be himself."
At the time, it had felt warm and comforting.
But looking back now…
He shut the diary.
He couldn’t bear to keep questioning her.
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He would rather kill for Ginny, to make up for what she had lost, than let her betray him.
Everyone was a liar—once they were trapped inside the diary.
Tom should have known that long ago.
Ginny was too good to be real.
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