Tom Riddle stepped fully into the torchlight, his form clear now—familiar yet wrong. His eyes were calm, cold. Too composed for someone his age.
Snape stepped forward, shielding the students behind him. His wand never wavered.
"You," he said, voice sharper than a blade. "You shouldn't exist."
Tom tilted his head. "But I do."
Harry's heart pounded. He recognized the boy from the diary. From the visions.
"You're Riddle."
"I am."
"Why are you here?"
Tom ignored Harry and instead turned to Ginny's motionless body.
"She gave me life. Her secrets. Her pain. Her soul."
Ron lunged forward, but Snape held him back again with a firm hand.
"She's dying," Tom said casually. "The more she gave me, the stronger I became. The more of her I took."
"You're the Heir of Slytherin," Hermione whispered.
Tom smiled. "Very good."
"And the Basilisk?" Snape demanded.
"Resting," Tom said softly. "But ready. Always ready."
---
The Truth Revealed
Tom paced slowly, dragging his fingers along the statue's cracked base.
"You should understand this, Professor Snape," he said coolly. "I'm just doing what Salazar intended—cleansing Hogwarts of those who don't belong."
"I was once one of them," Snape said icily. "And I'm still here."
"For now," Tom murmured.
Then his gaze flicked to Harry.
"You've been an amusing mystery, Potter. The diary was meant for the girl. But you? You're something else entirely."
"I've heard your voice in the walls," Harry said. "I followed it here."
"That's because the Basilisk and I are bound," Tom said, smiling. "Through blood and language. It speaks, and you listen. You're close enough to it to hear, but not to control. Curious, isn't it?"
"Let her go," Harry growled. "Let Ginny go."
Tom just watched him. "Why do you care?"
"Because she's my friend."
Something flickered in Tom's eyes—confusion, maybe. Or something else.
Draco stepped up beside Harry, wand shaking slightly. "You're not even real."
Tom's expression hardened.
"I'm real enough to kill you."
---
The Basilisk Awakens
With a sharp command in Parseltongue, the chamber rumbled.
Stone shifted. Cracked.
A terrible hiss echoed through the pillars.
Snape pushed the students back as the giant serpent slithered into view, scales gleaming like armor, eyes covered by a thin white membrane—it had been sleeping.
Now it was awake.
"Don't look into its eyes!" Hermione shouted.
"Scatter!" Snape barked, drawing fire across the floor with his wand to redirect the Basilisk's path.
Ron dragged Ginny out of the chamber's center while Hermione threw up defensive charms. Draco ducked behind a pillar, stunned and pale.
Harry turned to Snape. "I have to fight it."
Snape narrowed his eyes. "You are not dying here, Potter."
"I'm not letting it kill anyone else!"
Before Snape could respond, Harry dashed to the statue's base—where he saw something glinting in the serpent's coils.
The Sorting Hat.
It had been dropped there—how? Why?
He grabbed it, thrust his hand inside.
And something solid met his fingers.
A sword.
---
The Duel
The Basilisk lunged.
Snape cast a blinding light to throw it off course.
Harry raised the sword—Godric Gryffindor's blade, gleaming even in the green firelight—and rolled just as the serpent struck.
It hissed in rage.
Draco, from behind his pillar, hurled a spell to distract it. "Potter! Do something!"
Harry ran. Slashed.
The blade bit into the serpent's side, shallow but real. The Basilisk screamed.
It whipped around.
This time, it came for Harry full force.
But Snape was faster.
He sent a barrage of hexes at the creature's eyes, forcing it to recoil. The combination of their attacks drove the serpent back—until Harry leapt, sword raised—
And struck true.
The creature collapsed with a ground-shaking thud.
Breathing heavy, Harry stumbled backward, covered in blood—not his.
The Basilisk was dead.
---
The End of Tom Riddle
Tom screamed.
His form flickered—shimmered—twisted.
"You… ruined everything—"
Snape raised his wand and sent a powerful spell straight at the diary still clutched in Ginny's hand.
It exploded into flames.
Tom let out a hollow cry—
And vanished.
Silence fell.
---
Aftermath
Ginny stirred, weak but alive.
Ron let out a cry and pulled her close, tears in his eyes.
Hermione slumped in relief.
Draco just stared at Harry—bloody, shaking, and holding a sword.
And Snape…
Snape stood motionless, eyes on the ruins of the chamber.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then finally, he whispered, "It's over."