"That is deep," Hermione said, staring down into the darkness. The hole seemed endless, swallowing the light from above, and there was no sign of where it might end.
She hesitated, clearly unsure.
"Are you sure this is the entrance?" Ron asked, taking a cautious step back. "Because if it is, we're not surviving that fall."
Victor didn't look concerned.
"Yes," he said. "You will."
Before either of them could react, he stepped forward and jumped.
"Victor!" Hermione and Harry shouted together, rushing toward the edge.
They reached the opening and looked down, but there was nothing to see except darkness stretching far below. For a moment, neither of them spoke, both trying to process what had just happened.
Ron swallowed hard.
"He just—jumped," he said, still staring into the hole. "That's it. No plan, no rope, just—gone."
Hermione's mind was already moving.
"If he went in like that, then he knows what he's doing," she said, though the tension in her voice hadn't quite faded. "He wouldn't risk it otherwise."
Then she moved.
Harry didn't hesitate. He followed her immediately, already climbing onto the edge, his expression set and determined.
"Harry, wait—!" Ron said, reaching out, but Harry had already made his decision.
He took a breath and jumped.
Ron stared after him, his face pale.
"This is a terrible idea," he muttered, pacing once near the edge. "Absolutely terrible."
But leaving them wasn't an option.
With a deep breath and one last look into the darkness, Ron forced himself forward and jumped after them.
They fell.
For a moment, it felt like dropping into endless darkness—then the fall turned into a violent slide.
The tunnel twisted sharply, and all four of them were thrown forward through the ancient pipes, slammed from side to side as the narrow stone passage curved unpredictably.
Cold, damp walls rushed past them while water splashed beneath, their voices echoing as they tried—and failed—to steady themselves.
Ron yelled something unintelligible as he hit a bend.
Hermione barely managed to brace before another sharp turn sent her spinning.
The entire descent felt chaotic and uncontrolled, the darkness rushing past them as they were dragged downward with no way to steady themselves.
Then, without warning, they were thrown out, all four crashing onto the hard stone floor of a large underground chamber.
Hermione pushed herself up slowly, wincing. "That… hurt."
Victor was already standing, completely steady, his gaze moving across the cavern.
Ron groaned as he got to his feet. "Where are we?"
Victor answered without looking at him.
"An underground chamber beneath Hogwarts," he said. "The outer section of the Chamber of Secrets."
"Move," Victor said.
They followed him through the dark passage ahead, their footsteps echoing faintly against the stone as the air grew colder and heavier with each step.
When they finally reached the end, a massive door stood before them, carved with intertwined serpents whose coiling forms seemed almost alive in the dim, flickering light.
Harry stepped forward without hesitation, his expression set as a low, unnatural hissing sound left his mouth, the Parseltongue slipping out in a cold, steady rhythm.
For a moment nothing happened, and then the serpents carved into the door shifted, their stone forms coming alive as a deep grinding sound echoed through the corridor and the door slowly split apart, opening inward.
Without a word, they moved ahead and stepped through the entrance, crossing into the Chamber of Secrets.
The space beyond was enormous, far larger than anything they had expected.
Hermione looked around, her voice low. "This is… disturbing."
Ron didn't answer.
Because he had already seen his sister, he didn't hesitate.
"Ginny."
She lay on the stone floor ahead, unmoving.
Ron ran forward immediately, dropping to his knees beside her. Harry followed, both of them reaching out at the same time.
Her hand was cut.
Blood stained the stone beneath it.
Ron grabbed her shoulders, his voice breaking slightly. "Ginny—!"
He froze.
"She's cold," he said, his voice tightening. "Harry… she's freezing."
Harry didn't know what to say.
Hermione knelt beside them, checking her pulse, her expression growing more serious by the second.
Then his eyes fell on something lying beside Ginny's hand, and he stilled for a fraction of a second as recognition hit instantly.
The diary.
It was the same book Lucius Malfoy had slipped into Ginny's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts, the memory snapping into place with unsettling clarity.
Victor's eyes had already moved to it.
He stepped forward without hesitation, picked it up, and turned it slightly in his hand, studying the worn cover as if he already understood more than he was letting on.
The air around them shifted.
At first it was subtle—a faint distortion, like heat rising from stone—but it didn't fade. Instead, it gathered, thickened, drawing their attention forward as something began to take shape in front of them.
A figure emerged.
Faint at first, like smoke curling into form, then steadily clearer until a boy stood there, solid enough to recognize.
Tom Riddle.
He looked calm, composed in a way that didn't belong in a place like this. There was even a trace of amusement in his expression, as though he had been expecting this moment.
"Hmph," he said, his voice smooth and controlled, carrying easily through the chamber. "It's no use. None of you can save her."
Ron's head snapped up, anger cutting through the fear that had been building inside him.
"What did you do to her?!" he demanded, his voice sharp.
Riddle didn't even look at him.
"Ginny Weasley," he said lightly, as if speaking about something trivial, "has been pouring her heart into that diary for days—her fears, her worries… all her little secrets."
Only then did his gaze shift, slow and deliberate.
"I found it all… very useful."
Victor's voice cut in, steady and sharp. "Then you manipulated her into opening the Chamber of Secrets and doing your bidding… am I right, Tom Riddle?"
Riddle's attention settled fully on him now.
"Hm… you seem different," he said.
Victor met his gaze without flinching, a cold edge settling into his voice. "Yeah, very different—and for you, that's a bad thing. Because I hate you to the core, Tom Marvolo Riddle… or should I call you Voldemort?"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron froze at the name, their eyes widening as they stared at Victor, the weight of what he had just said sinking in.
*****
A/N : 🔥 On Patreon🔥
⚡ A 15-chapter early access is available for those who want to read ahead ⚡
👉 patreon.com/JakeA30