Chapter 81

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Chapter 56- The Hor Radar.

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It was a few hours after the Quidditch match, and suffice it to say, I didn't think I would still be awake. And neither did I think I would be paying a visit to the Infirmary, but here I am. Having been awoken by the loud knocks of Professor Pomona Sprout, who seems to think very well of me for some reason. She informed me about another attack on a student, and then she waited there expectantly for me to go check it out. She did not leave until I did, and so I went to the Infirmary, arriving just as Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall did, with something in tow.

Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long, woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Making myself known, I move forward and hold the doors open for them. They said a quick word of thanks before, together, they heaved it onto a bed.

"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore for the benefit of the other people inside, and Professor McGonagall hurried out of sight as quickly as possible. I spotted Harry at the end of the room, who lay quite still, though I could tell he was awake given the tenseness in his shoulders. I heard urgent voices down the hall, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. And when she drew closer, I heard a sharp intake of breath.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed. I had yet to actually get a good luck at who the student was, and with Madam Pomfrey leaning over them, I still couldn't, only that they were wearing Gryffindor Robes. I am trying to remember exactly who this was supposed to be. "Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs." He sighs.

"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter." I heard a weird gurgling, and I looked over to see Harry slowly and carefully lift himself a few inches so he could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face. It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide, and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera. Then he saw me staring at him and then shut his eyes.

"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey. "Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think... If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate - who knows what might have -" The three of them stared down at Colin, and I decided to stop looking at Harry or for any signs of Dobby. Looking down at Colin Creevey's frozen form, I could see the look of shock on his face behind his camera. I am pretty sure this is how it went in the movie. Makes me think that if I hadn't sent Harry here, this kid wouldn't have been petrified. Oh well, it was past curfew, so he brought it on himself.

Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip. "You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly. "I don't think whoever did this would be as callous as to leave anything behind," I say because this young Tom Riddle is much more cautious and clever than the current Tom Riddle.

Dumbledore didn't say anything as he opened the back of the camera. "Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey as a jet of steam hissed out of the camera. We could all smell the acrid smell of burnt plastic. Obviously, a shoddy little camera isn't going to stand up to the might of a Basilisk's eyes. 

"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted..." Yes, it is. Which makes me wonder how the hell this happened. Colin Creevey had snuck out during curfew to see Harry. He got attacked, which means another student must have also snuck out of curfew to order the Basilisk. But that doesn't make sense since I had precautions in place. I should have known it was happening.

"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently. "It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again." Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth while Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore. Well, duh, what the hell did you think happened to Filch and his cat?

"But, Albus... surely... who?" Who is the heir? Who is opening the Chamber? Who is attacking these students? Well, I have the same questions. Well, I know who the heir is and therefore know half the party attacking the students. I just needed to figure out who the patsy was, and I thought I had a solid plan.

"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, how..." From what I could see of Professor McGonagall's shadowy face, she didn't understand what he meant, but I did. How is the culprit doing this? How is he attacking and petrifying? How is he managing to do so stealthily in this castle, right under Dumbledore's nose? How the hell did that Basilisk get out? That last one was my own question because, by all rights, according to the information I have on hand, it didn't.

"Well then, I don't think there is anything we can do about this at this moment in time. We will just have to wait for the Mandrakes to finish growing. But, we should really deal with this before the attacks go too far." I say, receiving a nod from Minerva while Dumbledore and Pomfrey stay silent. Nodding my head at them, I bid them goodbye and quickly go on my way. Once in the hall, I reach into my pocket and put on my pair of glasses, just in case the thing is still prowling around, and also because of my destination.

I move quickly, more confused than worried, because I thought I had a foolproof plan for this. Finally, I arrive at my destination, the haunted girl's bathroom. I actually have only been here a couple of times since Hermione was doing her little brew in here and hiding it in one of the toilet stalls, and I'd rather not come face to face with the three of them and have to answer some awkward questions as well as ask some. They can do their illegal potion. I'm not bothered.

Still, this place is the entrance to The Chamber of Secrets and the point where whoever has the diary will enter the Chamber to go and command the beast within. Which is why I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to find out who exactly had the goddamn thing. Which is why I put some wards down. It is not exactly my expertise, but I had a lot of motivation and all of Hogwarts books to help me. Plusa focused mind thanks to my mind magic, which all helped me to get down some of it.

And I went ahead and put some alert wards down on the entrance, which would ignore myself, the golden trio and moaning myrtle. I tried to be subtle with it, and it would only move when the sinks shifted around, shifting the floor, so not precisely the Chamber being opened, but the same thing at the end of the day. Which is why I am baffled as to how Colin Creevey was attacked when I was not alerted at all. 

I know my wards were not the best, but I thought I was subtle enough. And I would have thought since the possession was relatively early on that Riddle would be focusing his all on maintaining control of his victim and wouldn't notice it. But clearly, something has gone wrong. Something that I did not account for. Alright, let's think about the facts. The entrance to The Chamber of Secrets was not opened. Otherwise, my alert ward would have gone off or been tampered with, which it hasn't.

Colin Creevery was attacked and petrified by the Basilisk. The Basilisk can only be commanded by the heir of Slytherin, in this case being, Tom Riddle. Ergo, Tom Riddle had gotten into The Chamber of Secrets without using the entrance and commanded the beast to go and hunt. Which means there is more than one entrance to it, and he did not use this entrance. The Basilisk can move through the pipes in the school, and it does not exit the girl's bathroom every time, so it is obvious in hindsight that there are multiple entrances to it. Which could mean a number of things.

It was past curfew, so maybe they took a different entrance as it was closer to their dormitory. The Golden Trio was always here during the days working on their potion, so the victim couldn't come during the daytime, which is likely why they struck after curfew. The more frightening possibility is that Tom Riddle did come here, and he did notice the alert ward before using a different entrance. This means he knows that somebody knows this is the entrance and knows somebody is after him. This means he will be a lot more cautious now, and he will go completely off-script. Why do I feel like it is this one? Shit.

I'm going to bed.

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So, the following day, after only a few hours of sleep, I managed to sit down and think through my plans going forward. So, not only have I been going through what I have done so far, but I have also been thinking about what to do going forward. I am at an advantage here. Tom Riddle and I are both aware of each other or, more accurately, aware that someone in the castle is trying to stop him. Except, neither of us knows who the other is. I don't know which student he is possessing, and he doesn't know who is aware of and after him. Though he is probably assuming it is a teacher, maybe Dumbledore. In fact, I could probably be at ease that Tom thinks he is contending with Dumbledore, and so I can continue to act without worry. Well, some worry.

Now, the only question is, how am I going to find this diary. Out of the hundreds of students in the castle, how am I supposed to narrow it down to just one? Tom knows his existence has been exposed at this point, so he isn't going to let his new host carry it around in the open or even mention it. Given how quickly Riddle acted after finding a new host and how he most likely saw through my ward, he is in complete control of the victim. This means either the host is incredibly mentally weak, or their mindset aligns with Riddle's, and they are voluntarily working together or something close to it. Which is hard to fathom, but I suppose if it is a Slytherin Pureblood, then it could be possible.

Damn it, how the hell do you find Horcruxes? I wish I had a radar or... something. Hold on a minute, in the books, wasn't it Harry that found all of them. He had a vision of them and saw all of the locations and, found them all and destroyed them through that. So if I could get him, and just mind whammy him and get him to lead me to them... but that wouldn't work. Not only because Dumbledore and everybody else have their eyes on him nearly all the time but because Harry can't sense the other Horcuruxes at this point in time.

In his first year, he could feel Voldemort on the back of Quirrel's head, but that is because that was the real Voldemort, even if in just spirit form. But Harry had been near Ginny a lot, especially as he was living with the Weasleys at one point, and yet he didn't feel the diary even once. The only thing I can surmise is that when Voldemort came back to full strength and got stronger, so too did all of his Horcruxes. Including Harry? And then he could get visions of them all. So that is a bust. But wait.

That does prove that all of the Horcruxes are connected in some way. Harry was able to see the other locations because he was a Horcrux as well. They are all linked in some way; they are all parts of Voldemort's cut-up janky soul. So if Harry could do it, then maybe I can. Ignoring the fact that the kid is a Horcux himself, it is possible to locate other Horcruxes through just one. Of course, there are probably a lot more steps to it than just that, but it is a starting point. And luckily enough, I know the location of another Horcrux that is actually in this castle with me, and so I can get it quite quickly.

The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumour and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone. I could see Ginny Weasley was very distraught since she knew exactly what was happening and why. Still, Fred and George were trying to cheer her up. I might need to pay her a visit before she blabs to someone and things start getting out of hand.

Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school. I had spotted Neville Longbottom purchasing a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail from an older student in the courtyard. At the Great Hall, the other Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger as he was a pureblood and, therefore, unlikely to be attacked. Neville didn't care. In his mind, he was closer to a squib than a pureblood.

And so after getting ready and attending breakfast, I made my way up to the seventh floor. I don't have class right now, and most of the students do, which is why I am taking this opportunity to head to The Room of Requirement. I had stayed away from there so far, as Tom Riddle was on the loose. I didn't know if, at the moment he made the Horcrux the diary, he was aware of the room, but I know he is aware of it at the present date. I couldn't take the risk that the diary knew of it and risk running into it, so I stayed away. But now, well, I needed to go in there to get the object that would help me survive this year. It's hunt or be hunted now.

Reaching the hallway, where I spot the tapestry of the dude teaching Trolls to dance, which looks quite funny and stupid, I turn and face the wall opposite it. I walk towards it, my hand touching the wall, but not feeling anything. Nevertheless, I am sure this is the location, and so I start walking. I walk to the right, and then back to the left, and then back to the right. The whole time, I am thinking of my need to find something specific, to find the object that I desire the most right now.

And then a door appears, and I stop. I look around, making sure no one is about, and then I walk towards it and open the door before stepping inside. What I was expecting was a small room with maybe a pedestal in the middle, upon which my desired object would be, waiting for me to take it away. But when has life ever been so easy? I stand in The Room of Hidden Things. Before me, stacked up in numerous piles, is a whole bunch of stuff. Most of it is junk, and the place looks like some kind of orderly dump. With a sigh, I draw my wand and point it forth, ready to bolt back out the door if this actually works. Since things would start falling, most likely.

"Accio Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem." I wait, but nothing happens. I guess this is going to take me a while.

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In the second week of December, that's right, I still need to find the thing. Professor McGonagall was going around the great hall, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed her list, and I saw that Malfoy was staying as well, so they would use the Polyjuice Potion soon and try to worm a confession out of him. Even though it isn't him. Well, it could be. Maybe these guys will actually dig something up. It could be anyone.

Anyway, I would be spending this time preparing myself for combat as well as searching for the Diadem in The Room of Requirement. And I was planning on chatting up some of the hot teachers as well, but my life comes first.

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