I Hate Him

Chapter 20

Year 2

1993

//Tom Marvolo Riddle and The Basilisk//

An endless scream came from Robyn's lips a she fell down the tunnel with her cloak and hair flowing behind her. She slid down twists and turns as she was taken under the school, deeper and deeper. Her wand was clutched tightly wind and against her chest with the wind pushing against her face. Then, light reached her eyes as the tunnel came to a stop. Robyn let out a gasp as she flew out the tunnel and landed with a hard thump on the ground, then let out a low groan of pain. She sat up and brushed herself off and looked down at the ground and let out a yelp and jumped up to her feet.

The flood was bones of fish and other bits of bone that was around an inch thick. She shivered in disgust and grimaced as she ran her eyes over the place around her. There was multiple tunnels leading upward like the one she'd just come from. That would explain how the creature was able to get around the school so easily. She then let out a breath of air then flexed her hand around her wand,

"Okay. I'm coming Ginny."

Robyn walked down one of the channels with the bone crunching under foot. She felt a shiver run down her spine and couldn't help but wish she had her brother and best friend here - both Ron and Hermione. She bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder as she contemplated going back up and getting her brother but then shook her head. Ginny was priority and by the time that she found away to get up and get Harry then return, Ginny could be dead. She looked forward and rounded a corner and her breath hitched as she saw a massive snake. She pull out her wand and pointed at it fearfully, with her eyes wide. She then relaxed when she saw that it was a snake skin and not the creature and lowered her wand. She walked over to it and gulped nervously when she realized it around 30 - 40 feet long, this was going to be harder than she thought.

Robyn then walked past it and over to a chamber that had a large circular door with 8 large snakes in the center. She had a feeling that this would work the same way that the bathroom had. She spoke in pastletongue softly and a loud click echoed loudly and each snake moved inward as another one ran along the rim of the door. Robyn bit her lip as the door slowly swung open to reveal a large tunnel and Robyn stepped inside and walked down the tunnel with her eyes staring at a large stone face that was at the end of the large tunnel. She turned and ascended down a ladder and landed on the damp floor. Robyn turned around and ran her eyes over large snake heads around 10 feet tall and lining either side of the stretch of path that had puddles of water along it.

She tightened her grip on her wand and walked down the pathway with her footsteps echoing and splashing in the puddles. Then, as she reached the half way point, she saw a body lying, motionless, infront of the lake like water infront of the statue of the old man. The figure was in the black school uniform and they had bright red hair that was fanned out. Robyn recognized it and her breath hitched,

"Ginny...Oh my god." She broke out into a run, "Ginny! Ginny!" She dashed down the path and dropped beside Ginny Weasley and shook her worriedly, "Please be ok. Please." She checked over Ginny and looked at her face and noticed that her face was pure white and Robyn whimpered nervously. Before, Robyn could check anymore there was the sound of footsteps and she snapped her head up to see a figure walking down the tunnel from where she'd come. She lifted up her wand and stood and glared with her hand shaking from nerves and anger. Robyn stood up and stood infront of Ginny protectively as the figure ascended the steps then turned around and she stiffened as she felt as though she recognised them. Her eyes slowly widened in shock as the person started to walk toward her and Ginny, "Harry...?"

He's eyes widened, "Robyn!" He ran forward to her with his feet splashing in the water. Robyn took a few steps forward as Harry engufled her in a tight hug,"You're ok. We tried to find you in the Common Room but...Wait, how did you get here? Did you figure it out yourself?" Robyn nodded slightly and Harry smiled softly, "We had to have help from Hermione, she left a few clues."

"Yeah." Robyn nodded, "Wait, we? Is Ron here too?"

"I came with Ron and Lockhart but we got separated. Also, Lockhart lost his memory." Robyn raised an eyebrow and Harry shook his head,

"Don't ask." She nodded and Harry looked down and his eyes widened, "Ginny!" Robyn gulped nervously,

"She was like this when I arrived." She told him as they knelt beside her "She won't wake up."

“And she won’t wake up ever.” A cool voice commented from behind them. Harry and Robyn spun around to see a handsome boy around the age of sixteen walking toward them. She furrowed her brow as she noticed that something was off about him, he was almost a parchment colour.

Though Robyn didn't recgonise him, it seemed Harry did as addressed the man, “Tom…Tom Riddle?” Harry addressed shocked, Robyn looked between the two boys. She realised that it was the diary owner that Harry had told her about and furrowed her brow in confusion...but the Tom Riddle was at school fifty years ago, how was he here? Harry asked, “What d’you mean ‘she won’t wake’? She’s not…?”

“She’s still alive.” Tom Riddle answered with a blank expression, “But only just.”

Robyn frowned as she asked, “Are you a ghost?”

“A memory.” Corrected Tom Riddle leisurely, “Preserved in a diary for fifty years.” Robyn kept her gaze on Tom Riddle, she still didn’t trust him whilst Harry seemed not to feel the same as her.

“She’s cold as ice.” Harry observed after touching Ginny's hand, “You’ve got to help us, Tom. There’s a basilisk – “

“It won’t come until it’s called.” Tom told Harry quickly and Robyn saw something catch her eye. He was holding her and Harry's wand in his grasp and fiddled with them. Robyn narrowed her eyes as she stood slowly and gazed at him accusingly,

“Give us our wands, Tom.” Harry glanced at Robyn then followed her gaze to the wand as he stood.

Tom shrugged casually as he commented, “You won’t be needing them."

“Listen,” Harry began, “we’ve got to go! We’ve got to save her!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Harry.” Riddle said calmly, “You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker…I grow stronger. Yes, Harry and Robyn, t was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

“No…” Robyn shook her head quickly as she glanced down at her red-haired friend, “Ginny couldn’t – she wouldn’t.”

“It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and that Squib’s cat." Tom sneered with a smirk on his face, “Ginny who wrote threatening messages on the walls.”

“But…why?” Harry whispered with a glance at Robyn.

“Because I told her to." Riddle shrugged simply, “You’ll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was going. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girl’s bathroom. But then, who should find it...One of the very people I was most anxious to meet.” Robyn saw his gaze flick to Harry and he smirked a looked at her brother and she glared at him. Riddle then shifted his gaze to Robyn and his grin widened before he moved around them, pointing their own wands at their masters,

“And why did you want to meet us?” Robyn asked strongly,

“I knew I had to talk to you, meet the two of you if I could.” Riddle answered, “So I decided to show you, Harry, my capture of the brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."

“Hagrid’s our friend." Harry snarled angrily, “And you framed him, didn’t you?”

“It was my word against Hagrid’s." Riddled told them with a small shrug, “Only Dumbledore seemed to think Hagrid was innocent."

“I’ll bet Dumbledore saw right through you.” Harry said as Robyn glared at Tom.

“He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn’t be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. So I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in it’s pages, so that one day…I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin’s noble work.”

“Well, you haven’t finished it this time.” Harry said lowly, “In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be read and everyone who was petrified will be all right again.” Robyn saw Tom Riddle smirk at Harrys words,

“Haven’t I told you?” Riddle said with a glaring grin, “Killing Mudbloods doesn’t matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been…” he looked at Robyn and Harry sharply “…you two. How is it that two babies with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you both escape with nothing but a scar each, while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?”

“Why do you care how we escaped?” Robyn shot at him quickly, “Voldemort was after your time.”

“Voldemort is my past, present and future.” Riddle walked backward slightly and turned his back on the two and pulled out Harry’s wand and began to trace through the air:

T O M M A R V O L O R I D D L E

Then, he flicked his wand and the letter’s re-arranged themselves to:

I A M L O R D V O L D E M O R T

“You.” gasped Harry, Robyn took a step back in shock, “You’re the heir of Slytherin. You’re Voldemort?”

“Surely, you didn’t think I would keep my filthy Muggle father’s name?” Riddle’s face curled into disgust as he spoke, “No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world.” Robyn moved forward so that she was only a few inches from his face and glared at him as she challenged,

“Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world.”

“Dumbledore’s been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me.” Riddle commented with a malicious grin on his handsome face,

“He’ll never be gone!” Harry shouted, “Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!” Robyn removed her cold eyes off Riddle to the other end of the tunnel where a loud squawk sounded and Dumbledore’s Phoenix came flying toward them.

“Fawkes.” Robyn whispered a small smile on her face, the bird flew over them and dropped something into Harry’s hand, the bird soared around the room before flying back the way he came. Harry quickly unreveled the material and Robyn’s heart plummeted it was the sorting hat. Her hopes dampened, what where they going to do with a hat?

“So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders!” Tom remarked, “A songbird and an old hat.” He smirked before walking to stand in front of the stone statue of Salazar Slytherin, Robyn turned and watched as he raised his hand and spoke,

“Speak to me, Slytherin.” He hissed it in Pareltongue and Robyn felt her heart start to beat rapidly then it stopped completely. The mouth of the statue opened and a loud rumbling sounded in the room and Robyn shared at look of shock with Harry then looked back at Riddle, “Let’s match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the face Harry and Robyn Potter."

A low hissing sound made Robyn’s eyes widen as the mouth of the statue opened wider before it was completely open like a door. Robyn stared at the opening and saw something move within it and she bolted, beside her brother, as fast as they could. She had no idea how they were going to fight the thing if they couldn't look at it. She heard a loud hiss and felt her stomach drop and forced herself not to look back. From behind them, Riddle spoke to the Basilisk in Parseltongue, “Kill them!” Robyn hear the monster snarl and slither forward and her pace quickened as he began to taunt, “Parseltongue won’t save you now, Potters. The Basilisk only obeys me." Robyn ran as fast as her legs would carry her, with her Gryffindor cloak whipping at her ankles, as the Basilisk let out a roar and shriek and it began to slither faster after them. Then, Harry tripped and grabbed Robyn's hand, pulling her down with him. The two landed on their stomach and slid forward, Harry’s glasses toppling off, as Robyn gasped in pain. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to look back at the creature as much as the desire gripped her. An arm covered her head and pulled her to a chest and she gripped Harry's shirt as they both lay with their eyes tight waiting for the serpent to strike them. All fell silent as Robyn waited with her body trembling for the inevitable death and her mind drifted to the horror of their bodies being left to rot here for years with no one ever finding them.

Suddenly a loud squawk caused Robyn to snap her eyes open and look at the ground a little infront of them and her eyes widened. There was a shadow of the massive serpant with a bird clawing and nipping at its eyes and a ghost of a smile formed on Robyn's face when she realised that Fawks was blinding the creature so it couldn't harm them. From behind them, Riddle shouted fearfully, “No! Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk but it can still hear you!”

Robyn looked back at the monster and looked at it for the first time. Robyn felt like she was going to faint. The Basilisk was massive and was green and black in colour with thick scales covering its body. There were massive fags hanging from the creature’s mouth that were bared as it thrashed its massive head in an attempt to get rid of the bright red bird. She scrambled to her feet along with Harry as Fawkes flew away with a squwark and she watched it leave with a small whimper escaping her lips. She didn't want him to leave. Robyn then snapped her head to look at the Basilisk as it snarled angrily and screeched loudly from the pain. A small frown formed on Robyn's face as saw that its eyes had been ripped and scratched out by Fawkes which meant it was now was completely blind. Suddenly, there was a loud splash to her left and she snapped her gaze to her brother and saw he'd slipped backward and stepped into a puddle. She then snapped her gaze to the creature and saw that it stopped and snapped his head in the direction of them.

Harry grabbed Robyn's hand and dragged her away from the creature before Robyn snapped out of it and broke out into a run with her brother as the creature began to chase them. She ran down the pathway as fast as she could then took a sharp left into one of pipes that lead away from the Chamber, narrowly avoiding the jaws of the creature. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they dashed down the tunnels with the creature following them, hissing and spitting. Harry yanked her around the corner into another tunnel but they skidded into a halt when they realized that the tunnel was blocked by bars. Her eyes widened in fear and she grabbed the bars and pulled, hoping they were so rusted that she break them but that was not the case as the metal remained sturdy. At the sound of a low snarl, Robyn slowly turned around so her back was against the bars, like her brothers, and looked at the end tunnel as the shadow of the creature as it neared and she grasped her brothers hand in fear. Its head appeared from the corner, giving the twins a close up view of its head. It was scaly and different shades of green and black with its eyes covered in blood and showing the insides of its eye. Her heart thumped heavily against her chest and she almost sure that it could hear it. The creature turned its ugly head toward them and opened its large mouth with its large teeth mere inches from their faces. Robyn turned her head away from it and she trembled as it let out a low growl, and locked eyes with Harry who breathed softly then lowered his gaze then picked up a rock. She watched as he threw the rock down the tunnel, making a loud clanking as it kit the metal of the tube. The Basilisk stopped and turned its head to the sound of the other tunnel and slid away.

She let out a small breath of relief then she and Harry ran in the opposite direction of the creature and out and found themselves coming out beside the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Robyn immediately ran to Ginny and dropped beside her, with Harry at her heals. She gulped as she looked at Ginny and stroked her hair nervously when she saw that her skin was even whiter, as Riddle walked over to them and murmured, “Yes, Potters. The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead. And I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very much…alive.”

Robyn shook her friend worriedly and whimpered, “Ginny, please wake up." She then quietened as she heard a loud splash behind her and spun around to see the Basilisk shoot up from the water. Robyn's eyes widened then looked around before landing on a the sorting hat where the hilt of the sword magically began to appear. It was completely silver with red jewels encrusted into the handle and she glanced at Harry and nodded. Harry reached over and pulled the handle and out came a sword and her jaw dropped when she recognized it.

That was the sword of Gryffindor. Hermione had told her about it and she had also read it in ‘Hogwarts’s A History'- of course. Harry stood, with his hand wrapped the hilt, and pointed the sword up at the Basilisk and ran around the edge of the water away from Robyn and Ginny. “Harry!” Robyn shouted fearfully as she started to get up.

“Stay with Ginny!” Her brother shouted back, whislt keeping his eyes on the Basilisk. Robyn looked down at Ginny and brushed her pail face and pressed her fingers to her pulse. It was faint, but there. She looked back at her brother to see him standing on the statue fighting with the creature, it dived toward him and Robyn placed a hand over her mouth. She knew that any sound could distract Harry and be dangerous. She looked down at Ginny then at Riddle who looked down at her with a blank expression, Robyn narrowed her eyes as he spoke,

“Such a silly little girl. Trusting her thoughts, hopes and dreams into the pages of a book that she didn’t know. Goes to show how stupid blood traitors are.” Robyn shook her head, her ears nearly fuming in anger as she said, coldly,

“The Weasley’s are not stupid or blood traitors. They’re better than any Slytherin pureblood." Riddle raised an eyebrow and glanced over her shoulder and a smirk formed on her face.

"It seems I'll only have one Potter to worry about." She furrowed her brows and turned around just as she watched the creature bite down on Harry's arm as a sword broke through the creatures head as it screeched loudly in pain and Harry let out a yell of pain. Her eyes widened in fear and she screamed,

"HARRY!"