83: Harry and Tom

Harry looked at the Special Services to the School medal, noticing Riddle's name in other places as well.

"He must have been very talented."

Staring at the list of Head Boys, Harry spoke these words, feeling that this person must have been as exceptional as John to have earned such accolades.

Suddenly, as if guided by something, he turned his gaze to a corner.

The old diary wasn't very noticeable, almost blending in with the floor.

"T.M. Riddle... Tom Riddle!"

Harry noticed the diary, opened the faded cover, and on the first page, saw a name.

As soon as he saw the name, Harry instantly recalled what John had mentioned.

He wasn't sure if this was the Riddle that John had been searching for, but he knew he needed to take the diary back.

The Great Hall.

Harry returned, and Hermione, seeing him, urged him to hurry up and finish his homework.

Harry nodded absentmindedly, and when most people had left, he mysteriously took out the diary.

"What's this? It looks really old," Ron commented when Harry revealed the item.

"You're right, Ron, it is very old—at least 50 years old."

Hermione noticed the faded date on the diary. She took it and flipped through, noticing the name written on it.

"T.M. Riddle? Who's that?"

"Wait, I know that name..." 

Ron, recalling the name from the countless times he'd polished that award, was about to speak when Harry, eager and impatient, interrupted him.

"That doesn't matter—John seems to be looking for it."

"What?" Hermione was startled. She assumed it was John's belonging and said, "We should return it to John."

"No, no, Hermione, listen to me."

Stopping Hermione, who was about to hand it over to John, Harry explained everything he had seen in the Trophy Room.

"Ron, remember, Malfoy mentioned that the Chamber of Secrets was opened 50 years ago."

He turned to Ron, who, after a moment, also recalled the event.

"Maybe Riddle discovered the Chamber was opened 50 years ago, and that's why he got the award."

Harry spoke in a low, excited voice.

Hermione hesitated, whispering, "If it's that important, why don't we give it to John?"

"Please, Hermione, stop with the 'John, John, John!'"

Hearing that name again, Harry felt an inexplicable irritation. He snatched the diary back, saying, "He's in Slytherin, we're in Gryffindor—why do we always have to listen to him?"

After speaking, Harry looked at the somewhat stunned Hermione and Ron, and added, "We can investigate on our own. If we discover something first, we'll be the heroes of Hogwarts."

Seeing that Hermione still wanted to say something, Harry impatiently said, "Don't forget, John could also be the heir of Slytherin."

This made Hermione close her mouth in annoyance but she nodded.

The three of them tried to uncover the diary's secrets, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to contain anything. It was as if someone had been given the diary as a Christmas present and had carelessly forgotten it in some corner.

They researched it for a while, and Hermione suggested that it might be under a concealment charm, but even using their wands to reveal it didn't work.

The next day, Harry kept flipping through the diary, page by page. It remained blank, showing nothing.

Hermione thought they should start investigating the medals instead, so the trio took another trip to the Trophy Room, but they found nothing.

A few days passed, and the diary remained in Harry's possession. One day, as he was idly flipping through it in the library, Hermione rushed over and questioned, "Harry, John has been looking for you several times."

"Sorry, Hermione, but I really don't feel like seeing John right now."

Harry nonchalantly propped his face up with one hand while flipping through the diary with the other. This behavior made Hermione think Harry had lost his mind. She burst out like an enraged lioness, shouting, "Stop messing with that thing!"

Angrily, Hermione grabbed the diary and threw it, causing it to hit an ink bottle on the table. Harry was shocked.

"I don't know why you act like you're under a spell," Hermione fumed, turning on her heel and storming out of the library.

Madam Pince opened her mouth, likely ready to yell at Hermione to leave, but Hermione had already gone on her own.

Harry didn't know whether he should go after Hermione or save the diary. After some hesitation, he chose to retrieve the diary. When he reached it, he noticed something unusual.

The ink that should have spread across the table was instead moving toward the diary. Harry's eyes lit up with realization. He opened the diary and saw the ink being absorbed into its pages.

This gave Harry an idea. He quickly took out a pen and wrote a line on one of the blank pages of the diary.

"My name is Harry Potter."

Feeling nervous, he watched the diary.

Within seconds, the words began to disappear, absorbed by the paper.

Then, some words that Harry had never written before began to seep through the paper.

"Hello, Harry Potter."

"My name is Tom Riddle. How did you find my diary?"

This magical occurrence made Harry's eyes widen in amazement. After the writing disappeared, Harry quickly scribbled a reply.

"Found it in the corner of the trophy room."

"Luckily, I recorded my memories in a way that lasts longer than ink. Someone has always wanted to find me."

Someone?

Harry's heart was racing; he felt as if he was on the verge of uncovering the truth.

"What do you mean?" he wrote, his hands trembling with excitement as he hastily scrawled the question on the page.

The ink was quickly absorbed, and another line of text appeared.

"This diary contains some terrible truths, truths that have been covered up. Some people don't want others to see them."

Harry took a deep breath, as if he had just finished a run.

He tried to calm his nerves, knowing deep down that this time, he was about to discover the truth behind the Chamber of Secrets.

He wrote on the paper: "Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"The Chamber? Has it been opened again? That terrible creature... The Chamber was opened when I was in my fifth year, and the monster inside attacked several students..."

The diary didn't hold back at all. Harry already knew about the basilisk, so he quickly wrote a response to Riddle on the paper.

It looked as though he was a diligent student, but the more he read, the more alarmed he became.

Tom Riddle knew about the Chamber of Secrets and was fully aware of its dangers.

Harry was just one step away from the 'truth'.

He wrote on the page, "Do you know who the culprit is?"

"Rubeus Hagrid. He's a half-giant, looked down upon by students. To gain attention, he deliberately released the monster."

These words made Harry feel as if he had been plunged into icy water.

He found it difficult to breathe. His left hand steadied his trembling right hand as he painstakingly wrote, "Even someone who's not pure-blooded?"

"The heir of Slytherin only chooses those who are exceptional and wicked."

It all made sense now....

Harry leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the diary.

John Wick, a Muggle-born wizard, the lowest in Slytherin's hierarchy.

To gain recognition, he opened Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, using the basilisk inside to establish his authority...

"..Why did you turn out like this, John..?"

Harry spoke sadly, feeling sorrow for his friend's descent into darkness. At the same time, a new thought began to form in his mind.

I must stop John. I can't let him continue down this path.

Just like Tom Riddle stopped Hagrid.

Harry didn't realize that he was even beginning to suspect Hagrid.

If it had been the old him, he would never have doubted Hagrid this way; at most, he might have thought Hagrid had accidentally opened the Chamber.

But now, not only did he not find anything wrong with this line of thought, he actually felt more certain about it.

Meanwhile, in the diary, the young Tom Riddle couldn't suppress a smile.

He held the same diary as Harry and took out a pen to write in it.

"I know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is. If it opens again, I hope you'll stop it."

Seeing the location of the Chamber, Harry's eyes lit up. It was as if he could already see himself stopping John, becoming a hero of the school, and shaking hands with Dumbledore.

Harry resolutely wrote, "I will."

...

"Where has Harry been these past few days?"

John tried to catch Harry after class, but Harry managed to slip away again.

John was a bit helpless and couldn't figure out what was going on with Harry. He hadn't noticed Harry being this busy before.

John didn't think Harry was deliberately avoiding him, considering their relationship was pretty good.

He heard Hermione's determined footsteps echoing on the floor and asked curiously, "Hey, Hermione, did you find Harry?"

________

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