When Harry spoke the fateful word in Parseltongue, the massive circular door slid open noiselessly. Before them stretched an infinitely long and high hall. Its floor was flooded with a ghostly emerald light, reflecting in the dark water of the pools that ran along the walls. Stone serpent heads towered on either side of the passage.
At the very end of this eerie corridor, between the last two serpent heads, stood the statue of Salazar Slytherin himself—an ancient, stern face with a long beard reaching down to the floor. And right at the foot of this statue, a tiny bright spot against the gray stone, lay Ginny Weasley.
Harry, forgetting everything, rushed to her.
— Ginny! Wake up! — he fell to his knees beside the girl.
Luna wanted to run forward too, but Adele grabbed her by the elbow just in time, holding her back.
— Adele, what happened? — Luna blinked in surprise.
— Something isn't right here... — Adele peered tensely into the shadows between the columns.
Harry turned to her, clutching Ginny's lifeless hand.
— What are you talking about? What's wrong?
Adele narrowed her eyes, slowly shifting her gaze from one dark corner to another.
— Victor isn't here. And there isn't even a trace of a dead snake, — she cautiously moved Luna behind her back.
— And what makes you think your brother should be here? — a tall, dark-haired youth stepped smoothly out of the shadows behind the effigy.
— Tom... Tom Riddle! — Harry recognized him instantly. — Tom, what's wrong with Ginny? Is she... is she dead?
— Not yet, — Riddle smiled carelessly, looking at Ginny. — But it won't be long now.
Tom reached out to pick up the wand Harry had dropped in his haste, but it suddenly flew aside as if kicked. He turned his gaze to Adele, who was already aiming at him.
— Unlike my brother, I have an excellent memory for faces, — she said in an icy tone. — And I don't remember you studying at Hogwarts this year.
— He's a former student, Adele! He's a ghost from the diary! — Harry shouted. — Tom, help me, we need to carry Ginny out of here before the basilisk returns!
Riddle cast a look of undisguised contempt at Harry.
— Harry, be careful, — Adele warned, her eyes fixed on the stranger. — I think the Heir of Slytherin is standing right in front of you.
Harry froze as a wave of icy realization washed over him. He lunged for his wand, which Adele had blasted further away from Tom with a spell.
— You truly are the smartest in your year, Miss Moss. This little fool Ginny often envied you in her entries, — Tom smirked. — You know, when I was a student, I was the best too. Even Dumbledore himself...
— Confringo! — Adele didn't wait to hear the rest. The spell passed through Tom's head, exploding behind him.
Adele clicked her tongue in annoyance, noticing that Riddle hadn't even flinched. Tom slowly turned around, looked at the smoking hole in the wall, and unhurriedly began to applaud.
— I must admit, I didn't know that spell at your age, — Tom examined the dent in the stone with interest. — Since when did the school start teaching children such destructive charms?
— He's just stalling! Harry, grab Weasley and let's get out of here! — Adele shouted, her wand still aimed at Riddle.
— Just try to move, — Tom narrowed his eyes predatorily, and at that moment, the mouth of Salazar's giant statue began to open slowly with a heavy stone grind. — One command from me, and the basilisk will turn you into breathless statues.
— What do you want, Riddle? — Harry pleaded, shielding Ginny. — Please, let us go, or she'll die!
— Harry Potter... The Boy Who Lived to defeat the greatest Dark Lord. When I first heard about it from the diary, I thought it was a stupid joke. But it turned out to be true, — Tom laughed a cold, heatless laugh. — You defeated him. Tell me—how? How did an ordinary infant manage to crush the one before whom the whole world trembled?
Harry frowned, his voice trembling with tension:
— I don't know! I really don't know, Tom! Just let us go!
— No. Answer the question first, — Riddle insisted harshly.
— Why is it so important to you?!
— Why? — Riddle smirked. He raised his hand and began to quickly trace glowing letters in the air:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he swept his palm, and the letters began to move rapidly, rearranging themselves until the phrase flared before the eyes of the terrified children:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
— Because I don't understand how my adult, powerful self could fall so low! — he hissed. — Killed by an infant? Ha-ha-ha! Not by a great wizard, not by a powerful curse, but by an INFANT?! It's insulting, Harry!
— You... You are Voldemort... — Harry looked at the youth with hatred, the wand in his hand shaking slightly. — You killed my parents!
— Harry, now is not the time for revenge! Luna, take Weasley and go! — Adele said again.
— Alright, — Luna nodded obediently and walked toward Ginny with a steady step.
— Stay where you are, girl! Or you and your friend will be the first snacks for the basilisk! — Tom threatened. Luna stopped and looked questioningly at Adele.
— Go, Luna, don't worry, — Adele suddenly smiled and touched the pendant on her chest. — If he calls the snake, I'll call someone who will cook that beast into something very tasty.
Riddle raised an eyebrow mockingly.
— If you mean your brother, I'm afraid he won't be coming. He's already dead. You overestimated his strength—the basilisk took care of him long ago.
— Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! — Luna suddenly laughed brightly and sincerely, as if she had heard the best joke of her life.
Adele only shook her head regretfully. She slowly lowered her wand and, no longer paying any attention to the "Dark Lord," walked calmly toward Ginny.
Tom stared at the girls in complete bewilderment. His grandeur had cracked: he didn't understand what had made Luna laugh so hard or why Adele was acting so confidently.
— She's ice cold. She needs to be taken to the hospital wing immediately, — Adele was quickly checking Ginny's pulse, ignoring the presence of the Dark Lord.
Harry, who still hadn't grasped the meaning of their recent laughter, turned his gaze to Tom. The latter was staring gloomily at the notebook lying on the floor. Looking closer, Potter flinched: it was the very diary through which he had first "met" Riddle.
— The diary! We need to destroy the diary! — Harry lunged forward and kicked the notebook away from Ginny.
Adele understood the plan instantly. She raised her wand, its tip sparking dangerously:
— Incendio!
A powerful jet of flame hit the black cover, but when the fire died out, the diary remained completely intact, not even singed.
— Ha-ha-ha! You cannot destroy it! — Tom bared his teeth predatorily. — I don't know how you guessed I lost my connection with the basilisk, but it doesn't matter now. Soon I will finally drain her soul, gain flesh, and finish you all off myself.
Adele grew nervous for a second and touched her pendant, ready to call her brother, but suddenly she froze. A triumphant smile bloomed on her face. The ring on her finger glowed faintly, and an ancient amulet appeared in her palm. With a slow, steady gesture, she placed it around Ginny's neck.
— Harry, take her. I'll take the diary.
Tom only snorted disdainfully. He closed his eyes, anticipating the moment of his triumphant return. But instead of a surge of power, he suddenly felt the energy flowing from Ginny begin to decrease rapidly.
— What?! No... that's impossible! No-no-no... NO-O-O! What did you put on her?! — Riddle screamed, his ghostly silhouette beginning to twitch and fade.
— M-m-m? This? It was just lying around the house, — Adele replied innocently. — I just liked it, and grandmother let me take it, saying it's a powerful artifact that protects the soul itself.
— Soul protection?.. — Tom choked with rage. He had heard of such things: there were barely a hundred of them in the entire world, and they cost a fortune, for they could save one even from Avada Kedavra. And this girl spoke of the artifact as if it were cheap costume jewelry!
Gaining control of himself, he suddenly calmed down and smiled sinisterly.
— Well, finally! Where have you been? Ha-ha-ha! — he pointed at the gaping maw of Salazar's statue. — Take off the amulet quickly, Moss! The basilisk is here. Be a good girl, and perhaps I'll leave you alive.
Luna, who was helping Harry lift Ginny, turned at his dramatic gesture and smiled softly.
— Liar, — she said succinctly.
Tom stared at their backs with a frozen, stony face. He saw Adele carelessly clutching his diary and couldn't understand: where exactly had he miscalculated? At what point had it all gone to ruin? Looking at his hand, which had become almost transparent, Riddle sighed heavily, and a second later, his silhouette finally dissolved into the cold air.
Harry, seeing that the ghost had vanished, looked at Luna in confusion.
— Why... why didn't the basilisk ever show up?
Luna looked at him with mild surprise, as if he had asked why the sun shines during the day.
— Because it's dead, Harry.
Potter froze, waiting for some kind of explanation, but Luna didn't utter another word, continuing to carry Ginny carefully. When they reached the rubble where Lockhart had recently died, they gently lowered Ginny to the ground, leaning her against the wall.
— Well, how is she? — Adele asked, putting away her wand.
— Better. Her skin has become warm, but she hasn't woken up yet, — Luna replied, touching her friend's forehead.
— Here, pour this into her mouth. It should help, — Adele handed her a small vial of restorative potion.
Luna nodded obediently and began to slowly, drop by drop, pour the liquid into the younger Weasley's mouth.
Adele, standing by the rubble and listening to the rustling on the other side of the stones, felt Harry's intent gaze on her.
— What? — she turned sharply.
— Why is Luna so sure the basilisk is dead? — Harry asked bashfully, almost in a whisper.
— Because Riddle said the snake killed my brother, — Adele snapped and turned back to the rubble.
Harry's eye twitched nervously. They answered so simply, as if it were a matter of course, but he still didn't understand anything. Of course, Potter couldn't imagine that the blind Victor was capable of defeating an ancient monster alone. But for Adele and Luna, who often watched his training in the Room of Requirement, everything was obvious.
Having lost his sight, Victor had begun training with fanatical zeal, exhausting himself to the limit and forcing his body to work beyond human capabilities. They knew his true strength all too well. Therefore, hearing from Tom that the basilisk had "taken care" of Victor, the girls understood without a shadow of a doubt: the snake was either already dead or lay dying, hacked to pieces.
— Oh, Ginny's waking up! — Luna exclaimed happily.
The younger Weasley slowly opened her eyes, her gaze blurry and unfocused.
— What?.. Luna? Where am I... how did I get here? — Ginny came to her senses and began to look around in terror, trembling from cold and fear.
— Everything's fine, we saved you! Hurray! — Luna immediately began to lay out her treasures before her. — Look what beautiful scales I found!
— Saved?.. — Ginny saw Riddle's diary in Adele's hands and burst into tears of horror, covering her face with her hands. — I'm sorry... It was all me! Please, forgive me... he tricked me, he made me...
Luna hugged her tightly, and Ginny sobbed even harder from the warmth.
— What will happen to me now? Will I be expelled? Or sent to Azkaban? — She was already imagining her ruined future in vivid colors.
Adele knelt beside her and took her hand, forcing her to look at her.
— Calm down. Nothing will happen to you. You were just returning to the dormitory, lost consciousness, and woke up here with us. You don't know or remember anything else. Understood?
— That's right, it was all Tom Riddle's fault. Don't worry, Dumbledore will sort it all out, — Harry supported her, trying to smile encouragingly.
Adele helped Ginny to her feet.
— I think the Headmaster himself will ask us all to keep our mouths shut, so everything will be fine.
— What? Why? — Harry frowned. — We have to tell everything, it's...
— Shut up, Potter, — Adele cut him off. — First we talk to Dumbledore, then we'll decide what to say and to whom. Luna! What are you doing?
Luna, carefully aiming her wand at the pile of stones, turned and smiled innocently:
— I'm going to clear our way out.
— And how exactly are you going to do that, you dummy? — Adele couldn't help but smile, gently lowering her friend's hand.
— With Bombarda, — Luna replied meekly.
— You want to bury us all alive in this cavern? — Adele shook her head.
Luna looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
— I didn't think of that... Then maybe with Levioso?
— That's better. Let's make a passage quickly and get out of here—this snake skin stinks terribly.
Everyone set to work, slowly lifting and dragging stones aside. Adele reached for the heaviest boulder but suddenly froze. From the depths of the cavern, where they had just come from, a barely audible, painfully familiar melody reached her.
— Do you hear that? — Adele held her breath.
— What? — Harry froze and listened. — I don't hear anything.
— It was nothing... — Adele quickly looked away. — You go on, and I... I think I dropped something back there by the statue. I'll be right back.
Without another word, she turned and headed rapidly back into the darkness, guided by a sound that only she could hear.