More than once, they had to stop, so that Harry could crouch down and find the spiders in the wandlight.They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever. Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Harry and Ron jump out of their skins. What? said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Harry's elbow very hard. There's something moving over there, Harry breathed. Listen sounds like something bigThey listened. Some distance to their right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees. Oh, no, said Ron. Oh, no, oh, no, oh-Shut up, said Harry frantically. It'll hear you. Hear me? said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. It's already heard Fang! The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence. What d'you think it's doing? said Harry. Probably getting ready to pounce, said Ron. They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move. D'you think it's gone? Harry whispered. Dunno-Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light, so bright in the darkness that both of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder. Harry! Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief Harry, it's our car! What? Come on! Harry blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged into a clearing. Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked, open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner. It's been here all the time! said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. Look at it. The forest's turned it wildThe sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he kept close to Harry, who could feel him quivering. His breathing slowing down again, Harry stuffed his wand back into his robes. And we thought it was going to attack us! said Ron, leaning against the car and patting it. I wondered where it had gone! Harry squinted around on the floodlit ground for signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights. We've lost the trail, he said. C'mon, let's go and find them. Ron didn't speak. He didn't move. His eyes were fixed on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right behind Harry. His face was livid with terror. Harry didn't even have time to turn around. There was a loud clicking noise and suddenly he felt something long and hairy seize him around the middle and lift him off the ground, so that he was hanging facedown. Struggling, terrified, he heard more clicking, and saw Ron's legs leave the ground, too, heard Fang whimpering and howling - next moment, he was being swept away into the dark trees. Head hanging, Harry saw that what had hold of him was marching on six immensely long, hairy legs, the front two clutching him tightly below a pair of shining black pincers. Behind him, he could hear another of the creatures, no doubt carrying Ron. They were moving into the very heart of the forest. Harry could hear Fang fighting to free himself from a third monster, whining loudly, but Harry couldn't have yelled even if he had wanted to; he seemed to have left his voice back with the car in the clearing. He never knew how long he was in the creature's clutches; he only knew that the darkness suddenly lifted enough for him to see that the leaf-strewn ground was now swarming with spiders. Craning his neck sideways, he realized that they had reached the ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene he had ever laid eyes on. Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic. The massive specimen that was carrying Harry made its way down the steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very center of the hollow, while its fellows closed in all around it, clicking their pincers excitedly at the sight of its load. Harry fell to the ground on all fours as the spider released him. Ron and Fang thudded down next to him. Fang wasn't howling anymore, but cowering silently on the spot. Ron looked exactly like Harry felt. His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent scream and his eyes were popping. Harry suddenly realized that the spider that had dropped him was saying something. It had been hard to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word he spoke. Aragog! it called. Aragog! And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind. What is it? he said, clicking his pincers rapidly. Men, clicked the spider who had caught Harry. Is it Hagrid? said Aragog, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely. Strangers, clicked the spider who had brought Ron. Kill them, clicked Aragog fretfully. I was sleepingWe're friends of Hagrid's, Harry shouted. His heart seemed to have left his chest to pound in his throat. Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all around the hollow. Aragog paused. Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before, he said slowly. Hagrid's in trouble, said Harry, breathing very fast. That's why we've come. In trouble? said the aged spider, and Harry thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. But why has he sent you? Harry thought of getting to his feet but decided against it; he didn't think his legs would support him. So he spoke from the ground, as calmly as he could. They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a - a - something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban. Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders; it was like applause, except applause didn't usually make Harry feel sick with fear. But that was years ago, said Aragog fretfully. Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free. And you you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets? said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his forehead. I! said Aragog, clicking angrily. I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodnessHarry summoned what remained of his courage. So you never - never attacked anyone? Never, croaked the old spider. It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quietBut then Do you know what did kill that girl? said Harry. Because whatever it is, it's back and attaking people again-His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around him. The thing that lives in the castle, said Aragog, is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school. What is it? said Harry urgently. More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in. We do not speak of it! said Aragog fiercely. We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times. Harry didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly toward Harry and Ron. We'll just go, then, Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him. Go? said Aragog slowly. I think notBut - but-My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid. Harry spun around. Feet away, towering above him, was a solid wall of spiders, clicking, their many eyes gleaming in their ugly black heads. Even as he reached for his wand, Harry knew it was no good, there were too many of them, but as he tried to stand, ready to die fighting, a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow. Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope, headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Harry and Ron and the doors flew open. Get Fang! Harry yelled, diving into the front seat; Ron seized the boarhound around the middle and threw him, yelping, into the back of the car - the doors slammed shut - Ron didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him; the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders. They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as the car wound its way cleverly through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously knew. Harry looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping anymore. Are you okay? Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak. They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Harry saw the side mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and Harry could again see patches of sky. The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Harry opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs. Harry got out too, and after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view. Harry went back into Hagrid's cabin to get the Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a blanket in his basket. When Harry got outside again, he found Ron being violent sick in the pumpkin patch. Follow the spiders, said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive. I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his, said Harry. That's exactly Hagrid's problem! said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban! He was shivering uncontrollably now. What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know? That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets, said Harry, throwing the cloak over Ron and prodding him in the arm to make him walk. He was innocent. Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in a cupboard wasn't his idea of being innocent. As the castle loomed nearer Harry twitched the cloak to make sure their feet were hidden, then pushed the creaking front doors ajar. They walked carefully back across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, holding their breath as they passed corridors where watchful sentries were walking. At last they reached the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the fire had burned itself into glowing ash. They took off the cloak and climbed the winding stair to their dormitory. Ron fell onto his bed without bothering to get undressed. Harry, however, didn't feel very sleepy. He sat on the edge of his fourposter, thinking hard about everything Aragog had said. The creature that was lurking somewhere in the castle, he thought, sounded like a sort of monster Voldemort -even other monsters didn't want to name it. But he and Ron were no closer to finding out what it was, or how it petrified its victims. Even Hagrid had never known what was in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry swung his legs up onto his bed and leaned back against his pillows, watching the moon glinting at him through the tower window. He couldn't see what else they could do. They had hit dead ends everywhere. Riddle had caught the wrong person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one could tell whether it was the same person, or a different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. There was nobody else to ask. Harry lay down, still thinking about what Aragog had said. He was becoming drowsy when what seemed like their very last hope occurred to him, and he suddenly sat bolt upright. Ron, he hissed through the dark, Ron-Ron woke with a yelp like Fang's, stared wildly around, and saw Harry. Ron - that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom, said Harry, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there? Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too. You don't think - not Moaning Myrtle? J. K. RowlingHarry Potter&The Chamber of Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lionfish 11/Nov/2007 Chapter Seventeen The Heir of SlytherinContents Prev Chapter Next Chapter . He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny? He pulled out his wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach, he thought he saw one stir. Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair. Ginny! Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. Ginny - don't be dead - please don't be dead - He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Her face was white asmarble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must beGinny, please wake up, Harry muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side. She won't wake, said a soft voice. Harry jumped and spun around on his knees. A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him. Tom - Tom Riddle? Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face. What d'you mean, she won't wake? Harry said desperately. She's not - she's not -? She's still alive, said Riddle. But only just. Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen. Are you a ghost? Harry said uncertainly. A memory, said Riddle quietly. Preserved in a diary for fifty years. He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there - but there were more pressing matters to deal with. You've got to help me, Tom, Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment Please, help me. Riddle didn't move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand again. But his wand had gone. Did you see -? He looked up. Riddle was still watching him - twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers. Thanks, said Harry, stretching out his hand for it. A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly. Listen, said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. We've got to go! If the basilisk comes-It won't come until it is called, said Riddle calmly. Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer. What d'you mean? he said. Look, give me my wand, I might need it-Riddle's smile broadened. You won't be needing it, he said. Harry stared at him. What d'you mean, I won't be -? I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter, said Riddle. For the chance to see you. To speak to you. Look, said Harry, losing patience, I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later-We're going to talk now, said Riddle, still smiling broadly, and he pocketed Harry's wand. Harry stared at him. There was something very funny going on here How did Ginny get like this? he asked slowly. Well, that's an interesting question, said Riddle pleasantly. And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger. What are you talking about? said Harry. The diary, said Riddle. `My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how - Riddle's eyes glinted - how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like herAll the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them.It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl, he went on. But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck. If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into herWhat d'you mean? said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry. Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter? said Riddle softly. Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat. No, Harry whispered. Yes, said Riddle, calmly. Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries far more interesting, they became Dear Tom, he recited, watching Harry's horrified face, `I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and 1 don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, l can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me There was another attack today and I don't know where I was.Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom! Harry's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms. It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary, said Riddle. But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meetAnd why did you want to meet me? said Harry. Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort to keep his voice steady. Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry, said Riddle. Your whole fascinating history. His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust-Hagrid's my friend, said Harry, his voice now shaking. And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but-Riddle laughed his high laugh again. It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet.On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippetto keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did I bet Dumbledore saw right through you, said Harry, his teeth gritted. Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled, said Riddle carelessly.I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its page, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work. Well, you haven't finished it, said Harry triumphantly. No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again-Haven't I already told you, said Riddle quietly, that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been - you. Harry stared at him. Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters?So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir.