Happry Potter: The New Player

The three individuals ran up the stairs and headed to the closet where Crabbe and Goyle were, tossing the shoes inside. They exited and hurried to the third floor only in their socks.

Then they saw Ron.

"Ron, what are you doing here?" asked Hermione, surprised.

"Madam Pomfrey said I could leave and suggested I should join the Christmas party, but I wanted to see you first," Ron explained.

"So, what did you see?" Evan asked eagerly, as Justin was attacked when they weren't in the bathroom.

"I had just entered as you guys returned," Ron stammered, "How did the plan go?"

"Everything went well, we even hit Malfoy, but as we left Snape's office, we saw that Justin had been petrified. He was lying in front of the large mirror in the dungeon," Harry expressed, visibly disheartened.

"Another attack?!" Ron exclaimed, looking more frightened than the three, "Wasn't it Malfoy?"

"My guess is no," said Harry, "He was with us in the Slytherin common room when the attack happened." Harry shook his head, "But it wasn't a waste of time, we got an important lead from him."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione whispered among themselves, while Evan noticed a tattered black book under a cracked mirror behind Ron.

Suddenly, his heart tightened, his pupils dilated, and he clenched his hands.

God, this is Tom Riddle's diary!

He had been searching for it for half a year at school, but now it appeared before him just when it seemed he was getting nowhere.

Evan took a step forward and tried to pick it up, but Ron suddenly reached out to stop him.

"Don't touch it, Evan," Ron warned, pale and fearful.

"What is it?" asked Harry, who also saw what was in the sink, "Don't be foolish, a book can't be dangerous."

"There are countless dangerous books!" Ron exclaimed as he observed the diary, "My dad told me that some of the books confiscated by the Ministry of Magic could burn your eyes and there are also books that once you pick them up, you can never let go, and so on."

"I understand what you mean," said Evan as he tried to pick up the diary.

"No, you don't understand!" Ron exclaimed, as the other three looked at him in surprise, then he lowered his voice, "Believe me, Evan, it's dangerous, so let's not touch it."

"Being cautious is an excellent quality, but we have to read it to know what it is, don't we?" said Evan as he took the diary.

As soon as he opened it, he could confirm if it was indeed Tom Riddle's diary.

He opened it and saw a name written on it: "Tom Riddle."

"Tom Riddle, who is he? I've never heard of anyone with that name at Hogwarts, but I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."

"Tom Riddle won the special award for school service fifty years ago," Evan whispered.

"I remember, I read something about it before, but it didn't say why he had won it," Hermione mentioned.

"Anything is possible, maybe he saved thirty owls or rescued a teacher from a giant squid," Ron whispered, "Why don't we just throw this thing away? It looks dirty."

"Fifty years ago was the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened. Maybe this diary has something to do with that," Evan suggested as he carefully studied the diary in his hand.

"Really, let me see!" exclaimed Harry as he hastily took the diary and flipped through it, "There isn't a single word."

He turned the diary around and saw that it was from a muggle store called Vauxhall Road in London.

"He must have been a muggle-born," he reflected, "So he bought diaries from there."

"Well, it's not very useful to us anyway," said Ron hurriedly, "Let's leave it here."

"I think Evan is right," said Hermione as she narrowed her eyes, making her resemble Professor McGonagall, "Think about it, since Riddle went to school here fifty years ago, he surely isn't at Hogwarts anymore, but why is the diary here and who threw it away?"

"We know from Malfoy that the person who last opened the Chamber was expelled and Tom Riddle gained special recognition at the same time, could it have been for catching the Heir? His diary is our best bet to uncover the things we want to know. The man who orchestrated these attacks wouldn't want this diary out there, right?"

"Excellent reasoning," said Ron as he slightly shrank back, "But he didn't write anything in his diary."

"Perhaps he wrote with invisible ink!" said Hermione as she took out her wand and uttered the phrase "Aparecium."

But nothing happened, although Hermione wasn't discouraged, she then pulled out a bright red eraser.

"It's a magical eraser I got at Diagon Alley," then she rubbed the first pages with the date of January 1, but nothing happened.

"Anything else?"

"This Riddle," said Ron, "Maybe he simply didn't take the time to write in it."

"But..." Hermione was not willing to give up.

"I feel as if he's a forgotten friend of mine, it might sound absurd since I never had a friend before coming to Hogwarts and this Tom Riddle is someone who was at Hogwarts fifty years ago," said Harry.

"Your mind is playing tricks on you, so let's leave it here and go to the Christmas party instead of staying in a girls' bathroom with a tattered diary with nothing written in it."

"There must be something hidden in it that we haven't discovered yet," said Evan as he took the diary again.

"Well, since everyone thinks that way, I have an idea," said Ron lowering his voice, "Evan, give it to me and I'll send it to my father who is an expert in dealing with these things."

"No, Ron," said Evan shaking his head and putting the diary in his bag, "I think it's better if I keep it, as I recently saw a potion in a book that could make it reveal its secrets."

I don't know if it's an illusion or just the dim candlelight in the bathroom, but Ron's face seemed to grow paler.

.....

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