Cyrus's resurrection plan

Cyrus could neither see anything outside nor hear a single sound, but he could feel the diary being snapped shut. It made him anxious.

Had Ginny been caught?

He did not know when Tom Riddle had first begun communicating with Ginny Weasley in the original story. But he was certain that the moment Ginny wrote so much as a single word in the diary, Tom Riddle would never pass up the opportunity to communicate with her.

Since the original Tom Riddle had not been discovered, he probably would not be exposed so quickly either. As for why she had suddenly shut the book and disappeared, perhaps there was another reason. All he could do now was wait.

Ever since Cyrus had transmigrated into the diary, he had been waiting for this opportunity. For the sake of resurrection, he could afford a little more patience. In fact, he had initially devised two plans, depending on who opened the diary.

If Lucius Malfoy opened it, Cyrus would simply demand that he find a few Dark wizards and use their life force to resurrect himself. But now it seemed that when Voldemort gave Malfoy the diary, he might only have told him that it could open the Chamber of Secrets, without mentioning anything about Horcruxes.

Now Cyrus could only continue with Tom Riddle's original resurrection plan-drain a young witch's life force, use it to begin affecting the physical world, and finally come back to life!

Of course, he was not Tom Riddle, so he could skip the duel with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets altogether. Instead, he could use that window to make his escape before the school governors summoned Dumbledore back to the school.

All in all, it was a decent plan. More importantly, no one would die in the process. Even Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, had been perfectly fine in the end. Apart from the roosters Ginny strangled, of course.

All Cyrus could say to that was, Sorry, Kunkun.

Of course, the plan did carry risks, the greatest of which was naturally Dumbledore. But Cyrus had no better option. It was not as though he had legs. If Ginny did not take him into Hogwarts, he had nowhere else to go. Besides, how could the adult wizards outside possibly be as easy to fool as those dimwits at Hogwarts?

Once he had a physical body, leaving Hogwarts with the powerful basilisk would be no difficult task. After he left, he would be much safer. Even if Dumbledore knew he was behind it all, he probably would not be able to find a trace of him.

As for coming clean with Dumbledore, Cyrus rejected the idea as soon as it occurred to him.

Dumbledore would probably never trust someone wearing Tom Riddle's face. He would only think Voldemort was trying to trick him, especially after failing to steal the Philosopher's Stone the previous school year. Perhaps he was plotting something else now.

Ginny hurried downstairs. When she saw Harry laughing and chatting with Ron at the dining table, she immediately blushed and lowered her head, sitting quietly in her chair like a proper young lady.

The other members of the Weasley family were already used to this. Ever since Fred and George had secretly taken the enchanted car to fetch Harry, Ginny had been acting this way. Harry did not know Ginny well. He simply thought Ron's little sister was rather odd and not very talkative.

Harry greeted her briefly, then immediately turned his full attention to the food on the table. He ate far better at the Burrow than he ever had with the Dursleys. He stuffed himself at almost every meal, to the point that he could not help worrying he might gain several pounds before term started. Would the Quidditch team refuse to let him keep playing Seeker if he grew too big?

Still, over the past few days, he had occasionally joined the other members of the Weasley family for games of family Quidditch.

Clearly, his skills had not deteriorated, which put Harry considerably more at ease. After dinner, Ginny hurried back to her room and latched the door from the inside. Only after making sure no one could come in did she approach her desk and carefully place a hand on the diary. She had not paid much attention before, but now she noticed that the book really did look quite old. Its black cover was a little faded, yet perfectly smooth. Old as it was, it was not damaged at all.

A date and some other name were printed on the cover. The name looked like it might belong to a publisher.

"A diary from fifty years ago?"

Fifty years was a very long time, especially since the book's owner had lived through such a terrifying era.

Perhaps this Mr. Tom Riddle was already dead?

Ginny could not help wondering.

She opened the book again. The sentence she had not had time to read earlier had disappeared. She waited a moment, but not a single letter appeared on the pages.

Perhaps he couldn't tell what was happening outside the book.

That thought eased Ginny's concerns about the diary a little more. At least for now, it did not seem harmful.

So she picked up her quill again, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

Inside the diary, Cyrus waited restlessly for Ginny to respond again. There was nothing he could do now. It felt as though a fluffy kitten were gently scratching at his heart. The mysterious spells, profound potions, and brilliant feats of Transfiguration that had once fascinated him could no longer hold his attention.

He was like a husband and father waiting anxiously in the corridor outside a delivery room for his wife and child.

Now, the "child" he had been waiting for had finally arrived, crying its first cries.

"Hello, Mr. Riddle. Are you still there? My mother came over just now. I don't know whether I should tell her about you."

Cyrus's excitement cooled in an instant. This was clearly the most crucial moment. Would he win Ginny's trust and allow his plan to continue, or would his deception be exposed, setting him on the path to destruction?

If I tell her not to outright, she might get suspicious. That would only backfire.

He did not dare think for too long. After a moment, he replied:

"Of course you can. In fact, you should. Every wizard should be wary of magical objects unless they are truly certain they can be trusted. To be honest, I thought you had already checked before you began talking to me. Fortunately, you found my diary. If it had been the Wizard's Sonnets, you might have been in danger."

"You're right, Mr. Riddle. I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life speaking only in limericks. Of course, I think you can be trusted."

At his reply, Ginny immediately began to giggle. She remembered how she had deliberately recited Harry Potter's name earlier to check whether she had been cursed. But that very fact made the diary seem unlike those evil magical objects.

He cares about me!

Ginny's eyes sparkled.

"Of course I wouldn't do anything as cruel as those Dark wizards. In fact, when I was at Hogwarts, I was one of its best students. I was a prefect, and later Head Boy. I even received an award for special services to the school while I was there. I imagine that medal is still in the Trophy Room!" Cyrus hinted that he was trustworthy while steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Really? You sound just like Percy," Ginny replied in surprise. "Though he hasn't become Head Boy yet, and he's never won an award for special services."

"Who is Percy?"

"My brother. He became a Gryffindor prefect last year. He also got twelve O.W.L.s, but he's a bit boring."

By now, Ginny was almost convinced that the diary was harmless.

"I don't think I need to tell Mum about you. What do you think?"

"Just this once-" Suppressing his delight, Cyrus said earnestly, "sometimes having a little secret of your own can be fun."