Ginny Weasley

"Miss Weasley?" Professor McGonagall could not help crying out.

Ginny Weasley stood there somewhat helplessly, her wand in the hands of a House-elf beside her.

"What is going on?" Professor Sprout frowned. "Why would a first-year Gryffindor student try to break into the Hufflepuff common room?"

"I think you owe us an explanation, Miss Weasley!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Ginny Weasley stammered, "Professor McGonagall... I think... the Chamber of Secrets... I may have opened it..."

"What?" This time, all six professors turned their eyes on her.

"Professor McGonagall..." Ginny suddenly burst into tears. "I think I've lost some of my memories. So many times, my robes were covered in chicken feathers, and I didn't know how they got there..."

"...I don't remember what I did on Halloween night, but a cat was attacked, and my chest was covered in paint... On the day of the Quidditch match, Colin told me he was going to the Hospital Wing that night to visit Harry, and then he was attacked. I don't remember what I did either... The day before yesterday, Percy told me I looked pale and was acting strangely. I think he might have suspected me... Then he was attacked that night too, and I still can't remember where I was at the time..."

"I think I'm the murderer who attacked all those people, Professor McGonagall!"

The expressions on all the teachers' faces became exceedingly grave, even Gilderoy Lockhart's.

"Tell us slowly what happened, Ginny... I believe you!" Professor Lockhart walked over. His voice was not loud, but it was remarkably reassuring.

"The diary... I found it in a book Mum gave me... I thought someone had tucked it in there and forgotten about it... I wrote in it, and it could communicate with me. He said his name was 'Tom Riddle'..." Ginny said through her sobs.

When she heard the name "Tom Riddle," Professor McGonagall's body trembled slightly.

"I had already thrown it away, flushed it down the toilet... Zacharias said he found it. I was afraid someone would discover my secret, so I wanted to sneak into the Hufflepuff common room and steal it back... I heard Fred and George talking about how to get into the Hufflepuff common room, so I..."

"What happened, Minerva?" Ten minutes later, Hogwarts' former headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, returned to the office he had once occupied at Hogwarts. He held a letter in his hand.

A deep-red bird the size of a crane stood on Dumbledore's shoulder, making him look somewhat comical.

"Albus... Miss Weasley told us some useful information about the Chamber of Secrets. After discussing it, we felt we should ask you to come back and handle this matter!" Professor McGonagall said with a grave expression.

"I see!" Professor Dumbledore nodded with a smile, then greeted the terrified Ginny Weasley standing behind Professor McGonagall. "Good afternoon, Miss Weasley!"

Dumbledore looked directly into her eyes. His pale blue, gentle eyes gave people a sense of calm.

Their gaze remained locked for several full minutes.

At last, Professor Dumbledore turned back.

"Miss Weasley should go to the Hospital Wing immediately!" he said decisively. "Her past experiences must have been painful torture for her... The school will not punish her; many wizards older and more resourceful than she was were deceived by Voldemort..."

Professor McGonagall nodded and waved toward the door.

Madam Pomfrey had already been waiting outside the Headmaster's Office. Now, she hurried inside.

"Come with me to the Hospital Wing, dear... You'll be all right soon!" she said gently.

"As for us, it is time to find the Chamber of Secrets!" Dumbledore said with a smile, taking out his somewhat peculiar Elder Wand and carefully wiping it with a handkerchief.

"Miss Weasley's memories were altered!" Professor McGonagall hurriedly said. "She barely remembers anything she did..."

"One of Tom's little tricks..." Dumbledore said unhurriedly. "Without completely destroying Miss Weasley's mind, recovering the deleted memories is indeed somewhat troublesome... But he must have left some trace behind."

"What is it..."

But Dumbledore changed the subject. "What about the diary Miss Weasley mentioned? She said it was in the Hufflepuff common room?"

"It was not." Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Pomona found Mr. Smith and obtained the diary. Professor Snape examined it carefully, and he insisted that it was an ordinary Muggle item, with no Dark magic cast upon it."

"It's right over there!" As she spoke, Professor McGonagall pointed to a diary carefully sealed in glass on the Headmaster's desk. "Would you like to examine it again?"

"There's no need. I trust Severus!" Professor Dumbledore said with a wink and a smile. "Besides, it does not look like the one in Miss Weasley's memories... Perhaps it is merely an interesting coincidence?"

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Come, summon Severus, Pomona, and Filius. Let us go take a look at that abandoned bathroom between the first floor of the castle and the Dungeon!" Dumbledore suggested.

"Is there something wrong with that place?"

"Miss Weasley's memories passed through there many times... That is not something a first-year Gryffindor student should have done. Other than Potions class, she should have had little reason to appear there!"

"Professor Dumbledore, look over here!" The moment they entered the bathroom, they heard Professor Flitwick's shrill voice.

"Have you found something, Filius?"

Following the direction Flitwick pointed, Dumbledore bent down. Beneath a sink, he saw a line of writing:

"I am Ginny Weasley, I think I opened the Chamber of Secrets, and something is controlling my thoughts, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets seems to be beside the copper tap beneath the sink on the right, it can only be opened with Parseltongue, save me..."

"Just as I thought!" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened at once.

Dumbledore froze for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"What is it?" Professor Sprout asked in confusion.

"Interesting, very interesting..." Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet and shook his head with a smile. "From Pomona and Sylvanus discovering The Spider's Anomaly, to Miss Weasley being captured by accident, and then to this line of writing here... It is as though someone has been guiding us, telling us what to do!"

"Albus, are you saying this is a trap?" Professor Snape's cold voice came from the side.

"That's impossible... Tom would never devise such a foolish trap; nor would he have the nerve to set one for me!" Professor Dumbledore said confidently. "Now, to open the Chamber of Secrets, we may need a Parseltongue speaker!"

"Potter..." Snape muttered.

"Exactly!" Dumbledore ordered. "Minerva, perhaps you should bring Mr. Potter here!"

"Very well, Headmaster!"

Professor McGonagall turned and left, while Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout continued examining the line of writing above the pool.

"Albus, don't you think all of this is too much of a coincidence?" Snape asked quietly.

"Is that so?" Dumbledore nodded. "Perhaps it really is just that much of a coincidence."

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