Harry Potter was puzzled by how Gilderoy Lockhart, usually so timid, suddenly seemed brave. Still, if Professor Lockhart was willing to help save someone, that could only be a good thing.
After the two of them passed through another heavy iron door, they finally arrived at the Chamber of Secrets.
The snake heads on either side added to the eerie atmosphere. In the distance, near the old stone statue, a figure lay motionless.
"Ron! Ron, you mustn't die. Wake up, please wake up… I beg you, wake up."
Harry Potter rushed over to Ron's side. Just like in the original story, he threw his wand aside and reached out to check on Ron's condition.
Gilderoy Lockhart followed behind, but before he could reach them, another figure appeared. Regulus Black had also arrived at Harry's side and gestured for silence.
Regulus Black picked up Harry's wand and slowly stroked it in his hand. Though he stood right next to them, Harry didn't notice him at all.
"He's still alive, but he won't wake up. And he's already close to death."
Regulus Black had no choice but to remind Harry: his friend Ron was dying.
"Who are you? What do you mean he won't wake up?"
Harry turned to look at Regulus Black. A flash of silver crossed his eyes, as though he had never seen this person before. In fact, what Harry saw in that moment was the 16-year-old version of Tom Riddle.
"I am Tom Riddle, a memory left behind here. No one has visited this place in fifty years."
Regulus Black continued to play the role of Tom Riddle and gave Gilderoy Lockhart a subtle glance.
Lockhart stood to the side, watching the scene with a strange look in his eyes but said nothing. Meanwhile, Harry seemed to have completely forgotten about Lockhart's presence and was focused entirely on Ron.
Seeing the so-called "Chosen One" perform so poorly made Lockhart frown—this was truly disappointing.
"He's as cold as ice... Ron, please don't die. We have to save him. There's a monster here."
Harry pleaded with "Tom Riddle," which made Lockhart roll his eyes behind him.
"Of course there's a monster in the Chamber. It's the Basilisk—it only appears when summoned."
Regulus Black couldn't help but wave the wand in his hand—Harry's wand.
At last, the so-called Chosen One noticed that his wand had ended up in the hands of this mysterious person.
"Give me my wand. We must save him and get out of here."
Harry was beginning to sense that something was wrong. His tone was anxious, but he still didn't understand what exactly was going on.
"You won't be needing it. As for your request—I'm afraid I can't help. You see, as poor Ron grows weaker, I grow stronger. That's right! I'm the one draining Ron's life. I'm the one who had the Basilisk bring him here to the Chamber."
Regulus Black fully confessed everything—about the Chamber, the monster, and all the things Harry wanted to know.
"Who exactly are you?"
At last, Harry began to panic. It was clear that the Tom Riddle before him had some sort of plan, but Harry didn't know who he really was or why he was doing this.
"Actually, you are my target. For months I've been trying to find a way to contact you, because you're the person I've been most desperate to meet. I had to see you. I had to speak with you. So I released the Basilisk, causing some Hogwarts students to be petrified. That way, that fool Hagrid would be thrown back into Azkaban."
Regulus Black spoke proudly, as if it had all gone exactly as he intended.
"Hagrid is my friend. Fifty years ago, it was you who opened the Chamber, wasn't it?"
When Harry heard that Hagrid had been imprisoned again because of this person's scheme, his fear was replaced by courage. For the sake of his friends—for Ron, for Hagrid—Harry wanted to… stay calm! His wand was still in the enemy's hand.
"My views differ from Hagrid's, but Dumbledore always believed in him. After I opened the Chamber, Dumbledore kept me under close watch. Summoning the Basilisk again while I was still in school would have been too risky, so I left behind this memory. I stored the memories of my sixteen-year-old self here. One day, I will return to life, reopen the Chamber, and release the Basilisk again... to fulfill the great mission of Salazar Slytherin."
Regulus Black gradually revealed parts of the original story to Harry Potter.
"In just a few hours, the Mandrake will mature. You won't be able to complete any of your missions."
Although he couldn't physically attack the other person with magic, Harry Potter refused to back down in terms of momentum, and immediately fired back with words.
"Is that so? Actually, killing those Muggle-borns is no longer that important to me. My new target is you. I don't understand—how could a newborn with no magical talent possibly defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you survive? How did you come out unscathed with only a scar, while Voldemort's power was destroyed?"
Regulus Black brushed Harry Potter's hair with his wand and gently tapped the scar.
"Why are you so eager to know how I survived? Voldemort wasn't even from your time."
With the wand pointed at him, Harry Potter could only retaliate verbally.
"Voldemort—he is my past, my present, and my future."
Regulus Black turned around and used Harry Potter's wand to draw lines of flame in the air.
Tom Riddle—after rearranging the letters of his name—became something new: I am Lord Voldemort.
"So it was you all along. You're Voldemort. You're the true heir of Slytherin."
Harry Potter was shocked, and even Gilderoy Lockhart behind him was astonished. He never expected Regulus Black to know this secret. After all, Voldemort had already adopted that name when he raised the banner of revolution. As a high-ranking official in the Department of Magical Intelligence, Lockhart only learned this secret much later—when the Death Eaters fell and were purged, from fragments of evidence left behind.
"Of course. Did you think I'd keep the filthy surname of my Muggle father? Of course not. That's why I gave myself a new name. I knew that once I became the greatest wizard in the world, the entire wizarding world would fear to speak it."
What Regulus Black said was true. But the real reason behind the name "Voldemort" was to prevent anyone from cursing him by his real name. It allowed the Death Eaters to attack anyone who dared utter it, so people would only refer to him as the Dark Lord. That way, no one would know his true name, and curses based on it would be impossible.
"Professor Dumbledore—he's the greatest wizard in the world."
At the mention of who was the strongest, Harry Potter couldn't help but argue with Voldemort again.
"I drove Dumbledore out of Hogwarts with nothing but fragments of memory."
Regulus Black interrupted with a sneer of disdain.
"He won't leave, because we still remain loyal to him."
As Harry Potter said these words, a silver light flashed in his eyes, clearly showing that he meant them from the heart.
A series of cries rang out. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, had arrived in the Chamber of Secrets with a gift.
But if Fawkes could enter the Chamber of Secrets, then why didn't Dumbledore know where it was? The truth is, it doesn't work that way. Just like owls delivering letters for wizards—even though they don't consciously know where they're going, they can still find their target. It's a kind of innate magic—something that can be sensed, not explained.
The gift for Harry Potter turned out to be the folded Sorting Hat.
"So this is the great gift Dumbledore gives to his followers—a ragged old hat."
Regulus Black scoffed, signaling it was time to proceed with the next act of the script.
Facing the statue of Salazar Slytherin, Regulus Black began chanting in Parseltongue.
Hisss… Speak to me, greatest of the four founders of Hogwarts.
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09