Dumbledore

"There really is such a thing as the Chamber of Secrets."

After a brief moment of thought, Cyrus decided that now was not the time. The Chamber of Secrets affair had yet to escalate, and the only victim was a cat. If he showed Ginny that memory now and she went to confront Hagrid, he could easily expose himself.

But withholding the truth required a little finesse, too.

The best approach was to tell her only part of it.

"Really? Mr. Riddle, do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is?" Ginny was overjoyed.

"Not exactly. Something similar actually happened fifty years ago. You must have wondered why I received the Special Award for Services to the School when the plaque never said what I had done to earn it."

Ginny nodded instinctively, then remembered that Mr. Riddle could not see her and pressed her quill firmly against the Diary to write, "Yes!"

"It was because I exposed the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets. By then, one poor student had already died at the hands of the monster inside. I discovered some clues and decided I couldn't cover for him, so I reported him to the headmaster at the time. Since a student had died, the headmaster wanted me to keep the matter quiet. But the monster in the chamber was driven out. As for the person who opened it-fifty years have passed. Perhaps he's already dead."

Cyrus mixed truth with lies.

The last sentence sounded like a lie, but was actually true.

"As for whether the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again, I don't think so. Would someone reopen the Chamber of Secrets and unleash a terrifying monster just to attack a cat? I admit that cat is certainly irritating, but she hardly deserves that. Perhaps it was a prank? I took a walk around the castle in your body tonight and thought I saw someone, though I didn't get a clear look."

"Is that so?" Hearing that the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets might already be dead, Ginny did not ask any more questions about his identity. By now, she trusted Cyrus completely, but she was very interested in the chamber itself.

"Mr. Riddle, could you take me to see that chamber from fifty years ago?"

"Of course." Drawing on his memories, Cyrus marked the location of the secret room where Hagrid had once kept Aragog.

Honestly, keeping an Acromantula in the castle was little different from keeping a basilisk there. The two fantastic beasts were about equally dangerous. If Tom had not already killed someone, resulting in Aragog being driven out, Hagrid would have run into trouble sooner or later.

With her answer in hand, Ginny had already formed a plan.

That night, at around midnight, Ginny slipped out of her room, intending to take a look at the secret chamber.

There was no one else in the common room by then. She walked carefully and climbed out beneath the Fat Lady's portrait. As she passed a classroom on the fifth floor, she suddenly heard several familiar voices. Ginny immediately crouched beneath the corner of the window.

"Do you think I should tell them about that voice I heard?"

"Don't," Ron said without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

He was worried that if Harry mentioned it, people might really take him for the attacker.

Harry caught something in Ron's voice and asked, "You do believe me, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Ron said quickly. "But-you have to admit it's bizarre..."

"I know it's bizarre," Harry said. "The whole thing is bizarre. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber of Secrets has been opened... what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, that does remind me of something," Ron said slowly. "I think someone once told me about a secret chamber at Hogwarts... probably Bill..."

"What's a Squib, anyway?" Harry asked.

Ginny heard Harry's puzzled question, then Ron began to laugh. She rather wanted to laugh herself.

Almost every young wizard who had yet to start school worried about whether they might be a Squib.

"Well-it isn't actually funny-but when it's Filch..." Ron said. "A Squib is someone born into a wizarding family who hasn't got any magical powers. Squibs are the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but they're very rare. If Filch is trying to learn magic through a Kwikspell correspondence course, he must be a Squib. That explains a lot, like why he hates the students so much-he's jealous."

Besides, from the sound of things, they were not going to be expelled?

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, then heard Harry say, "Let's get to bed before Snape comes along again to pick on us and accuse us of something."

She immediately moved away from beneath the window and hid around the corner. Only after Harry and the other two had left did she emerge again.

For now, she did not want anyone else to know about the chamber-at least, not until she was certain that tonight's incident had something to do with it.

It should be this way-

She hurried through the corridors, and it took quite a while before she reached the secret chamber Cyrus had marked for her. It was certainly well hidden, but there was nothing inside. Just as "Mr. Riddle" had said, the monster in the chamber had already been driven out.

All that remained was a thick layer of dust and some old cobwebs.

Ginny felt both relieved and a little disappointed.

But she soon rallied. Since the monster in the chamber had not done it, the most important thing now was to catch the person behind the prank.

-Draco Malfoy!

He was Ginny's prime suspect. After what had happened over the summer, she had long since decided that Draco was an innately evil little Malfoy brat, not to mention that the timing of his appearance tonight had been suspicious enough.

She wanted to return to her dormitory at once and tell "Mr. Riddle" her theory, but the moment she turned around, she saw an unexpected figure.

"H-Headmaster Dumbledore?" Ginny all but froze on the spot.

"Good evening, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore stood at the turn of the staircase. He was already a tall man, but now he looked taller still. His blue eyes shone like gemstones in the night.

"Headmaster, what are you doing here...?" Ginny grew nervous. Getting caught wandering around at night by the headmaster was no laughing matter.

Dumbledore, however, had clearly misunderstood the reason for her nerves. He looked straight into Ginny's eyes, as though trying to see into her heart, though his expression remained kindly.

"I should be the one asking you that question, Miss Weasley," he said. "After such a terrible attack, and at this late hour, you ought to be in your Gryffindor dormitory rather than wandering outside the castle, wouldn't you agree?"

Ginny quickly lowered her head, avoiding Dumbledore's gaze.

That would not do.

Dumbledore immediately continued, "Of course, I won't punish you for this. I came here because someone is trying to spread panic by claiming that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again! As it happens, fifty years ago, a student reported another student here and had a monster driven out of the school-I must admit, it was indeed a dangerous monster."

His words made Ginny look up again in surprise.

The moment she heard about Riddle's deeds, she wanted to share what she knew with Dumbledore. But then she remembered that this was a secret between her and Mr. Riddle, and swallowed her words.

Dumbledore noticed her hesitation and naturally realized that Ginny probably had a secret on her mind.

"Well, you should go back to bed."

"Yes, sir." Ginny nodded and walked past Dumbledore. When she reached the upper half of the staircase, she heard his voice behind her again.

"Wait-"

"What is it?" Ginny turned her head, meeting Dumbledore's gaze.

"Before you leave, I would like to make sure of something. Miss Weasley, is there anything else you would like to tell me?" Those blue eyes seemed a little forceful.

A series of things flashed through Ginny's mind. After a moment, she slowly spoke.

"No, sir."

At that, Dumbledore nodded, seemingly lost in thought, then said softly, "In that case, good night, Miss Weasley. At a time like this, it would be best not to wander around at night."