Chapter Summaries

Cyrus used Malfoy’s appearance to help Harry and Ron investigate the attacks, while Hermione’s Polyjuice transformation went wrong after she accidentally used cat hair. After Christmas, Cyrus discovered he could no longer contact Ginny because someone else had opened the Diary.

• Cyrus sent Harry and Ron to continue their plan, then used the Marauder’s Map to track Malfoy and sent a letter using Malfoy’s owl.
• Harry and Ron told Cyrus that Malfoy was not the Heir, and Ron planned to ask his father to search beneath the Malfoys’ drawing room.
• Hermione emerged from the stall with catlike features after the Polyjuice Potion transformed her using cat hair, and Cyrus took her to the Hospital Wing.
• Cyrus returned Ginny’s body to her for the Christmas holidays and told her that Malfoy was not the Heir and that Percy was courting a Ravenclaw Prefect.
• After the holidays, Cyrus discovered that he could no longer contact Ginny because someone else had opened the Diary.

Draco tried to use T. M. Riddle’s Diary, while Ginny’s friends confronted her after the Diary was stolen from her dormitory. Ginny revealed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that it was Tom Riddle’s Diary, leaving them to learn what it could do.

• Draco examined T. M. Riddle’s Diary and wrote in it, asking it to show him its secrets.
• Ginny’s brothers, Harry, and Hermione questioned her after someone searched her dormitory and stole the Diary.
• Fred and George mistook Ginny’s distress for concern about the Marauder’s Map, while Ginny thought they meant Riddle’s Diary.
• Ginny stopped Percy from telling their mother by threatening to reveal his secret.
• After Harry, Ron, and Hermione promised to keep quiet, Ginny led them to an abandoned chamber and revealed that the stolen object was Tom Riddle’s Diary.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned that Ginny had trusted the thinking Diary of Tom Riddle, who had helped her with magic and schoolwork before it was stolen. The Diary ended up with Draco Malfoy, and Cyrus began trying to win his trust.

• Ginny told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Tom Riddle had received an award for catching the last person who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years earlier.
• Ginny explained that Riddle’s memories lived inside the Diary and that he had taught her spells, school subjects, and counter-curses.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny considered who might have stolen the Diary but could not identify the culprit.
• Cyrus wondered whether Dumbledore had taken the Diary, then received a message from someone asking him to reveal his secrets.
• Draco Malfoy introduced himself to the Diary and said his father had told him it could help open the Chamber of Secrets.
• Cyrus realized Lucius Malfoy had sent Draco to the Diary and decided to gain Draco’s trust.

Cyrus learned how Lucius Malfoy had mistaken his forged letter for a message from Voldemort and, fearing for Draco, tried to carry out its demand to remove Dumbledore. The story left Lucius sending Dobby to retrieve the Diary from Ginny Weasley and deliver it to Draco.

• Cyrus learned that he had sent a letter to Lucius while disguised as Draco, warning that Draco's fate depended on Lucius's cooperation.
• At Malfoy Manor, Lucius and Narcissa discussed the Ministry's searches and worried about Draco remaining at Hogwarts amid the attacks.
• Narcissa opened a letter that appeared to be from Voldemort, and Lucius believed Voldemort had returned and ordered him to remove Dumbledore.
• Lucius decided to use his authority as a school governor to force Dumbledore out and planned to make Draco prove himself to Voldemort.
• Lucius ordered Dobby to steal the black Diary from Ginny Weasley and deliver it, along with a new letter, to Draco.

Cyrus possessed Draco Malfoy and took him to the Chamber of Secrets, where he let Draco see the chamber but refused to summon its monster. Draco asked who could speak Parseltongue, and Cyrus answered, “Me!”

• Draco Malfoy became excited at the thought of being Slytherin’s heir and agreed to let Cyrus use his body.
• Cyrus possessed Draco, absorbed a small amount of his life force, and retrieved the Marauder’s Map.
• Cyrus used Draco to open the passage beneath the third-floor bathroom and brought him into the Chamber of Secrets.
• Draco saw the chamber and asked Cyrus to summon its monster, but Cyrus said only someone speaking Parseltongue could summon it.
• Draco wondered whether Harry Potter was behind the attacks and asked who else spoke Parseltongue, and Cyrus answered, “Me!”

Cyrus used Draco Malfoy to leave the Chamber of Secrets and find a room of dark-magic books, while he studied alchemy texts and began to seek a path to a more perfect form of life. He remained dependent on Malfoy as he considered powers beyond resurrection.

• Draco learned that Cyrus was a Parselmouth and a descendant of Slytherin, and that the Chamber's monster was a basilisk.
• Cyrus warned Draco that the basilisk would attack him without Cyrus's control, so Draco gave up on seeing it.
• Cyrus persuaded Draco to let him take over and used the Marauder's Map to check that the way out was clear.
• Cyrus went to the Room of Requirement, created a dark-magic classroom, and left Draco with a selection of simple jinxes.
• Cyrus returned to the Diary and studied alchemy texts describing the Tree of Life, wondering whether its twenty-two paths could grant power beyond a Philosopher's Stone.
• Cyrus decided that merely coming back to life in Tom Riddle's body would not satisfy him, and aspired to become a perfect life-form.

Draco Malfoy grew closer to Cyrus through lessons in jinxes and alchemy, while Harry and his friends failed to recover Riddle's Diary and the attacks stopped. Cyrus suggested that Draco use Lockhart's Valentine's Day event to embarrass Harry, and Draco planned to send him a mocking card during Snape's Potions class.

• Cyrus discovered Draco's talent for alchemy, taught him to repair magical objects, and advised him to take Runes Writing in third year.
• Dobby worried that Voldemort was still alive and decided Harry Potter had to leave Hogwarts.
• Harry, Ron, and their friends failed to find Riddle's Diary, and Ginny became so upset that she used Levicorpus to hang Ron from the ceiling.
• Lockhart organized a Valentine's Day event, while Harry's Quidditch training and Lockhart's antics left him with little time to search for the Diary.
• Draco complained to Cyrus about the event, and Cyrus suggested sending Harry an unsigned card mocking his green eyes.
• Draco decided to have the card read aloud during Snape's Potions class, expecting Harry to be embarrassed.

During Charms, Malfoy humiliated Harry with a singing Valentine, then met Cyrus in the Chamber of Secrets and balked at killing a student. Cyrus pressured Draco by telling him his conflicted nature caused his suffering and asked to take control of his body.

• Malfoy arranged for a dwarf to deliver Harry a mocking singing Valentine during Flitwick's lesson, and Harry blamed Malfoy for the prank.
• Cyrus and Malfoy exchanged messages through the black Diary as Harry watched Malfoy write in it.
• Cyrus appeared before Malfoy in the Chamber of Secrets and urged him to kill a student, but Draco argued that petrifying victims was enough.
• Cyrus examined Draco's hawthorn wand and told him that neither his good nor his evil was pure enough.
• Cyrus placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and asked him to give up his body.

Cyrus took control of Draco’s body and was confronted by Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron, who had tracked down Ginny’s stolen Diary. He revealed himself as Tom Riddle and agreed to let them help, then prepared to alter their memories of the Diary.

• Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron disarmed Cyrus in Draco’s body and demanded Ginny’s Diary back.
• Cyrus revealed that he was Tom Riddle and explained how Draco had stolen the Diary before Cyrus took control of him.
• Cyrus told the group he had stayed away from Ginny because the heir might be searching for him, and Hermione persuaded him to accept their help.
• Cyrus asked Ginny whether she had told anyone else about the Diary, and she said she had only told Hermione and the others.
• Cyrus took his wand back and promised Ginny that he would alter only their memories of the Diary.

Cyrus brought Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron into his memory to show them what happened when the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years earlier. They watched young Tom Riddle learn that Hogwarts might close, and the memory ended as Cyrus explained why he had to turn over the culprit.

• Cyrus used a Pensieve to take Harry and the others into his memory of the night he caught the person who opened the Chamber fifty years earlier.
• The group saw Professor Dippet reading Riddle's letter in his office and then summoning the young prefect.
• Dippet told Riddle he could not stay at Hogwarts for the summer and explained that the attacks and a student's death made the school unsafe.
• Riddle revealed that he was a half-blood orphan whose mother had died after naming him Tom Marvolo.
• Cyrus explained that Riddle had been upset at the prospect of Hogwarts closing and that he had to hand over the culprit, even though the culprit had not intended to hurt anyone.

Cyrus showed Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione a memory of Tom Riddle confronting Hagrid after an acromantula escaped, making Hagrid appear responsible for the attacks. The group left the memory unsure what to believe and decided not to question Hagrid.

• Riddle left Dippet's office and encountered a much younger Dumbledore in the Entrance Hall.
• Riddle waited in a dark dungeon classroom until someone passed, then followed the person to Hagrid with a large box.
• Riddle accused Hagrid of keeping the monster that killed a girl and threatened to report him.
• Riddle's spell knocked Hagrid aside and opened the door, allowing an enormous acromantula to escape.
• Cyrus suggested the creature might have returned, while Harry and the others considered Hagrid's fondness for dangerous beasts.
• The group chose not to ask Hagrid about the memory.

Cyrus used wandless magic to disarm Marcus Flint and curse him after Marcus threatened him in the Slytherin Common Room. Snape arrived, heard Cyrus's account, and told him to bring any future problems to him.

• Cyrus returned to the Slytherin Common Room and planned to stay in closer contact with Lucius.
• Marcus Flint confronted Cyrus for skipping Quidditch practice and threatened to curse him after Cyrus slapped his pointing hand away.
• Cyrus cast Expelliarmus without a wand, took Marcus's wand, and cursed him with growing teeth and black spots.
• Snape arrived, sent Marcus to the Hospital Wing, and questioned Cyrus about the fight.
• Cyrus explained that Marcus had threatened him first, and Snape told him to report future problems directly to him.

After failing again to create the Philosopher’s Stone, Cyrus set alchemy aside and experimented with combining powerful fire magic. He created a cruel new spell called Blazing Hell, which raised the dead as Inferi, and left himself uneasy about its evil.

• Cyrus failed another attempt to create the Philosopher’s Stone and put away his alchemy equipment.
• Cyrus studied forbidden books and decided to develop a powerful, versatile flame spell.
• Cyrus recreated Protego Diabolica and added defensive magic and other enchantments to its flames.
• Cyrus combined dragon fire and hellfire with the spell for creating Inferi, producing a fire that killed enemies and made their corpses fight.
• Cyrus felt disturbed by the spell’s cruelty but named it Blazing Hell.

Dumbledore investigated Penelope Clearwater's petrification and concluded that Voldemort's Horcrux was targeting Harry Potter while trying to force him out of Hogwarts. He expected the confrontation to come soon, but trusted that Harry could handle the danger.

• Dumbledore arrived at the Hospital Wing and learned that Penelope Clearwater had been found petrified with a small mirror in her hand.
• McGonagall reported that this was the fourth attack, while Lockhart claimed he would personally find the culprit and Snape mocked his earlier boast.
• Snape told Dumbledore that Ginny Weasley had stayed with Harry and the others but had lost an object that neither she nor the others could remember.
• Dumbledore inferred that Voldemort's Horcrux had moved on from Ginny and was avoiding deaths to prevent Hogwarts from closing.
• Dumbledore concluded that the Horcrux wanted to meet Harry and was using the attacks to draw him into the mystery and drive Dumbledore away.
• Dumbledore anticipated being forced to leave Hogwarts but believed Voldemort had underestimated Harry.

After Penelope Clearwater was attacked, Harry, Hermione, and Cyrus discussed investigating the Chamber of Secrets, while Fred and George decided to report their connection to the Marauder's Map to Dumbledore. The twins reached the Headmaster's Office and began telling him they had information about the Heir.

• Ernie Macmillan spread rumors blaming Harry for the attacks, and Cyrus sat near Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Charms class.
• Hermione suggested asking Hagrid about the Chamber's monster, but Cyrus persuaded her and Harry to wait unless another student was attacked.
• Fred convinced George that they should tell Dumbledore about the Heir stealing the Marauder's Map, and George agreed partly to beat Ron to solving the mystery.
• Fred and George told Professor McGonagall they had important information, and she escorted them to the Headmaster's Office.
• The twins told Dumbledore they had something important to report about the Heir.

Fred and George told Dumbledore that Ginny’s stolen item was their Marauder’s Map, which could reveal everyone’s location in the Castle, and warned him that the Heir might use it and secret passages to aid further attacks. After the twins left, Dumbledore considered how the attacker might escape and whether he could defeat him.

• Fred and George told Dumbledore that a magical item had been stolen from Ginny’s dormitory and that they had discovered its secret.
• The twins explained that the item was the Marauder’s Map, which showed everyone’s location inside the Castle, and worried that the Heir had taken it.
• Fred and George described the map’s limits and listed secret passages that could let someone leave the Castle.
• Dumbledore promised to return the map to the twins if he recovered it and to keep their secret until they graduated.
• After the twins left, Dumbledore wondered which passage the attacker would choose and whether he could defeat him.

Cyrus remembered the Slytherin Quidditch match against Ravenclaw and took over as Seeker, despite the team's expectation that he would not play. He silenced Marcus Flint and set out to lead Slytherin to victory.

• Cyrus read Lucius Malfoy's letter over breakfast and reflected on his plans to pressure the Ministry into sending Hagrid to Azkaban.
• Ginny reminded Cyrus that the Slytherin Quidditch Team was playing Ravenclaw, and he decided to join the match.
• Cyrus entered the Slytherin changing room, where Terence Higgs and Marcus Flint were surprised and frightened to see him.
• Cyrus took Terence Higgs's Nimbus 2001 and announced that he would play this match and lead the team.
• Cyrus silenced Marcus Flint when he tried to claim he was still captain, then asked who played for Ravenclaw.

Ginny joined Hermione, Ron, and Harry in the stands as they prepared to watch Slytherin face Ravenclaw, and Harry admitted he was distracted by Cho Chang. Cyrus led Slytherin onto the pitch in place of Marcus Flint, and the match began.

• Ginny told Hermione, Ron, and Harry that she had been looking for Ri-Malfoy, who had forgotten about the match.
• Harry said Slytherin had little chance of winning and encouraged them to cheer Cyrus on, while Ginny and Hermione worried he might embarrass himself.
• Harry admired Cho Chang as Ravenclaw came out, and Ginny smacked him on the back of the head for simping.
• Roger Davies assigned Ravenclaw's players their roles and urged them to watch out for Slytherin's rough play and new brooms.
• The Ravenclaw team saw Cyrus at the head of Slytherin's line and Marcus Flint at the back, prompting speculation that Slytherin had changed captains.
• Madam Hooch warned both teams to play fairly, Cyrus insisted he was fair, and the whistle sent the players into the match.

Cyrus used a Super-Sense Charm to search for the Golden Snitch while Slytherin took an early lead over Ravenclaw. When Graham fell toward the ground after a Bludger struck his broom, Cyrus made a dangerous dive and rescued him, leaving the spectators cheering.

• Cyrus cast a Super-Sense Charm and flew high above the pitch as Slytherin began a strong attack.
• Adrian Pucey and Graham scored ten points each for Slytherin while Ravenclaw struggled to keep possession of the Quaffle.
• Roger sent three Ravenclaw Chasers after Adrian, while Jason and Duncan struck a Bludger that hit Graham's broom and sent him falling.
• Dumbledore began casting a Cushioning Charm, but Cyrus dove down on his Nimbus 2001 and caught Graham before he hit the ground.
• Cyrus pulled out of the dive, breaking the tip of his broom, and the spectators cheered as George and Fred shouted, “Malfoy, our king!”

Cyrus played an extraordinary Quidditch match for Slytherin, rescuing Graham and pursuing the Golden Snitch on a failing broom. He caught the Snitch but fell from the sky, and Dumbledore slowed his descent before the cheering crowd carried him to the Hospital Wing.

• Cyrus reassured Graham after saving him and returned to play on the damaged broom.
• Cyrus disrupted Cho Chang with an inverted flight and helped Slytherin extend its lead over Ravenclaw.
• Cyrus spotted the Golden Snitch and accelerated after it despite warnings that his broom was falling apart.
• Cyrus missed the Snitch at first, broke part of his broom, then caught the Snitch as he plunged from the clouds.
• Dumbledore cast Arresto Momentum to slow Cyrus's fall, and Madam Hooch brought him down as the crowd carried him to the Hospital Wing.