TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE "This is his full name." Harry told Ginny who was glaring in hatred at the name floating in front of her, "He made another name out of it. Watch." He flicked his wand and the letters rearranged themselves to form four different words that made Ginny gasp in horror. I AM LORD VOLDEMORT "He…he was You-Know-Who?!" she squeaked, her face becoming pale once again. "The sixteen year old version of the person who would become Voldemort, yes." Harry replied, "He said he was only called this by his 'most intimate of friends' while at Hogwarts…and please stop flinching at the made up name, it's ridiculous." "B-but…" Ginny was trembling, "He was in my head! He…" "Yes, that is something we need to talk about." Harry interrupted her before she could become hysterical, "Ginny, Madame Pomfrey gave you a clean bill of health, didn't she? Once I destroyed the diary, he was gone, along with any influence he had over you." "It feels like he could still be there…waiting to take over." Ginny confessed in a small voice, "I stay awake at night because I'm afraid of what could happen…what did happen when I fell asleep this year…and worst of all it was all my fault!" "You're talking about what your father said, aren't you?" Harry asked shrewdly, remembering Arthur Weasley's admonishment: 'Never trust anything that you can't see where it keeps its brains!' "If I'd only listened to him, none of this this would have happened!" Ginny wailed. "True." Harry acknowledged, shocking Ginny, "But you are an eleven year old girl who has grown up with magic as part of your daily life. A small thing such as a diary that can talk back wouldn't really register as something sinister or malicious to you, would it? It certainly didn't help that Tom Riddle was a very smooth talker and was probably able to sooth any suspicions you might have had, right?" "Y-Yes…"Ginny looked at Harry in surprise, "You talk like you have experience of him doing that." "Remember when I had the diary, before you stole it back?" Harry asked pointedly, making Ginny blush red as she nodded, "Well, Riddle told me exactly what I wanted to hear, then showed me his 'capture' of Hagrid, which was just him framing Hagrid for the death of Myrtle." "Hagrid? The Heir of Slytherin? Who the hell would believe that nonsense?" Ginny asked in disbelief. "The Headmaster before Dumbledore, Armando Dippet." Harry replied, "He was over three-hundred years old, so…?" He shrugged conveying that he personally thought the man had been senile. Ginny snorted in disgust at the man and the two shared a grin. "Now, some part of your guilt comes from the fact you were overpowered so easily by him." Harry continued after a moment, "But, as Riddle himself said, by the time you realised what was going on, he was far more powerful than you were. The fact that so few were attacked is a testament to your willpower, I'd say." "Wh…what do you mean?" Ginny asked. "Tom Riddle was one of the best students in Hogwarts history, Ginny." Harry replied, "Professor Dumbledore said so himself. He was also immensely strong willed presumably, as magic follows intent. Yet overall, there were only five attacks, if I include your abduction into the Chamber. Why? You must be very strong willed to hold off Riddle for almost the entire school year whilst being totally unaware of what he was doing." "Once I guessed that Tom…that the diary was making me do things, I tried to destroy it." Ginny admitted, "But instead, you found it." "Yeah…Myrtle really wasn't happy with you for doing that." Harry remarked dryly, "That's how I found it, she flooded the bathroom again. You should have tried burying it or something." "I was too desperate to think clearly." Ginny said irritably. "To return to my point, even after you got the diary back, the only attack made was against Hermione, which was part of Riddle's plan to get me to go down into the Chamber after he overpowered your will again. It worked." Harry continued. "I should apologise to Hermione." Ginny said, drooping in her seat. "No you don't." Harry said firmly, "The point of this entire talk is this: the person who did this to you was a memory doppelganger of a sixteen year old Lord Voldemort. No one could expect you to see through him or fully resist him successfully." "But…" Harry decided to take a leaf from Mrs Weasley's book this time. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, I can tell you how powerful Voldemort is." he said sharply, making her sit up straight, "He tried to steal the Philosophers Stone last year and it almost killed me to drive him off. The only reason I was able to do that was because of my mum's protection." Ginny paled again. "He…he's still…alive…?" she whispered in shock. "Define 'alive'." Harry snorted, "He's a pathetic little wraith-like spirit who can only possess people who allow him into themselves. Or animals, I suppose, and as Dumbledore said, he's floating about somewhere in darkest Albania right now, completely powerless and helpless." "How…how did he almost kill you then?" Ginny challenged him. "He didn't." Harry said, "Me driving him off almost killed me. My mother sacrificed herself to try to save me, which created a powerful counter-charm. According to Professor Dumbledore, it is imbued into my very skin. Neither he nor anyone possessed by him can touch me without suffering immense pain. The length of time my mother's protection was active for drained my reserves and the protection activating, causing me immense pain, both of these facts combined to almost kill me. I was unconscious in the Hospital Wing for three days." "I've never heard of such a spell like that." Ginny frowned in thought. "It's ancient magic, magic that he overlooked and ignored as insignificant." Harry explained, "At least, that's what I gathered from what both Professor Dumbledore and Riddle said about it."
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