Professor McGonagall was eventually persuaded by Dumbledore.
After she left the office, Mrs. Weasley began asking about the details of what had happened.
"Hagrid's roosters were killed. I think I did it, but I don't know... I... I can't remember, but there was chicken blood and feathers on my clothes..."
Ginny threw herself into Mrs. Weasley's arms and sobbed.
"It was Ri... Riddle who made me do it. He... he controlled me."
"Who? Who's Riddle? How did you meet that awful boy named Riddle, dear?"
Mrs. Weasley patted Ginny's back, her heart aching for her.
Dumbledore said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I only learned about this after questioning Miss Weasley just now. It was an old diary, Riddle's Diary. Miss Weasley was bewitched by it."
"A diary?" Mrs. Weasley stared at Ginny. "What happened, Ginny?"
Ginny sobbed a few times, then said hoarsely, "After I got the diary, I kept writing in it. For the past two months, he... Riddle kept writing back to me..."
"Riddle... Who was he, exactly?" Mrs. Weasley furrowed her brow.
"Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said softly. "He was probably the most outstanding student Hogwarts had ever had."
He explained to the others, who looked confused, "Few people know that Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle."
"Oh! Merlin!"
When Mrs. Weasley heard that forbidden name, she let out a scream and clutched Ginny tightly, shaken with fear.
Dumbledore continued, "Fifty years ago, at Hogwarts, I taught him myself: Tom Riddle."
"Afterward, he disappeared when he left school... He traveled far and wide, journeying to the ends of the earth..."
"He sank deeper and deeper into the mire of the Dark Arts, mixing with the most evil people in the wizarding world and undergoing many dangerous magical transformations."
"By the time he finally reappeared as Voldemort, people could hardly