The next day, when Dudley took Voldemort's diary out from the Mirror of Erised and opened it, Voldemort's handwriting immediately appeared on the page.
"Harry, where did you put the diary? Why can I hear strange whispers? It's terrifying!"
"Those sounds are causing great damage to my memories. If the diary is damaged, you'll never be able to open the Chamber."
Voldemort's words appeared in succession. You could tell he was anxious—truly anxious.
He was afraid Dudley would put him in that place to suffer again.
"Hmm?"
Seeing Voldemort's words, Dudley tensed.
He hadn't expected Voldemort could actually sense the Trunsoest Brass Book's presence and hear the whispers.
If I keep the diary and the Trunsoest Brass Book together for a long time, will the Voldemort in the diary go mad and lose control?
Dudley suddenly thought of this question.
What would happen after a wraith lost control—Dudley really couldn't say.
However, given Voldemort's destructive power, if he truly lost control and went mad, he probably wouldn't be easy to deal with.
"It's just a dark magical object. I'll be more careful in the future," Dudley wrote in the diary.
"Don't ever do that again," Voldemort warned.
"Where'd you get that diary from? And it's so old," Ron looked somewhat curiously at the black diary in Dudley's hands. The cover was already damaged—it looked at least decades old.
Harry also came over.
"You keep a diary? How come I didn't know?"
"It's a diary I found. It records many secrets," Dudley said to them in a low voice.
"What secrets?" Hearing this, Harry and Ron immediately became interested.
"When Hermione gets here, I'll tell you all together," Dudley said mysteriously.
After breakfast, they had no first class, so Dudley brought them to an empty classroom.
"What's going on, being so mysterious?" Hermione asked curiously.
Dudley placed Voldemort's diary before the group.
He'd already cast magic on the diary, isolating Voldemort's ability to spy on the outside world.
"This is Tom Riddle's diary," Dudley said.
"Who?" Hermione and Harry both frowned and asked simultaneously.
"That name sounds familiar. Oh right, I remember! The Special Services Award from fifty years ago—when I was in detention last time, I polished that medal," Ron said in surprise.
"This is a diary from an upperclassman from fifty years ago. Does it record anything?" Hermione asked in confusion. "Wait, fifty years ago, Special Services Award—he couldn't be the person who framed Hagrid for opening the Chamber, could he? Only that event could get a student the Special Services Award from Hogwarts!"
Hermione quickly connected the two matters. She really was very clever.
"Exactly," Dudley nodded.
"What did his diary say? Was it about the Chamber?" Harry asked quickly.
"The Chamber matter isn't important. What's important is that Tom Riddle has another name that's more well-known!" Dudley paused, looked at Harry, and continued, "Voldemort!"
Ron shuddered, showing a terrified expression.
Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock.
Harry froze in place.
"Tom Riddle is Voldemort. Fifty years ago, he was the one who opened the Chamber and framed Hagrid."
"Not long after leaving Hogwarts, he changed his name."
"Which became the Voldemort we all know!"
Dudley raised his right hand and used a spell to write in the air: Tom Marvolo Riddle.
"This is Voldemort's true name."
Then with a wave of his right hand, these letters rearranged themselves to form "I am Lord Voldemort!"
This was what Dudley had discovered yesterday whilst thinking about Voldemort's name.
Ordinary people would have difficulty connecting these unless they knew Voldemort's middle name was Marvolo.
"This... this is a diary Voldemort wrote when he was at Hogwarts?" Hermione instinctively moved away from the diary.
This was the Dark Lord's diary—who knew if there was some terrible dark magic on it?
"My God! Voldemort actually attended Hogwarts," Ron was still in shock.
Harry stared blankly at the diary on the table, expressionless and silent.
"This diary is somewhat special. It may contain part of Voldemort's soul. This diary was what lured a student to open the Chamber before."
"Voldemort is the true heir of Slytherin."
Dudley continued.
"I already communicated with the Voldemort in the diary yesterday. He led me to find the Chamber entrance and wanted to lure me inside, but I temporarily refused."
"Oh!" Hermione covered her mouth in fright.
Ron's face turned deathly pale.
"We should give this diary to Professor McGonagall right away. She'll definitely know how to handle it," Hermione said after calming down.
Dudley glanced at Hermione without speaking.
"You want to handle it yourself, don't you?" Harry finally spoke.
The fact that Dudley hadn't immediately turned in the diary but instead brought them here to discuss it already indicated many things.
"That's right. I want to hunt that basilisk. There are things on it that I need," Dudley said simply and directly.
"Dudley, are you crazy?" Hermione looked at Dudley in shock.
That was a basilisk—an extremely terrifying ancient magical creature.
"I have the strength to do this, Hermione! The question now is, do you three want to go?" Dudley said bluntly.
"It's your choice, but even if you ultimately decide not to go, please don't tell anyone. Understand what I mean?"
"I'll go!" Harry said almost without hesitation.
"I'll go too," Ron nodded after a brief pause.
"You two..." Hermione looked at them in disbelief, eyes wide.
"All right, then I'm definitely going too!"
"I can't trust you two idiots not to drag Dudley down."
Hermione's tone suddenly changed as she spoke to Harry and Ron.
"I thought you were going to report us," Ron said.
"Just kidding," Hermione smiled.
"The basilisk's corpse should sell for quite a bit of money, right?" Hermione asked.
Selling the spiders last time had given everyone a taste of profit. This time, the basilisk had become a moving golden snake in their eyes.
"Very valuable!"
"Additionally, to ensure safety, I'll also ask someone to help us. A very skilled wizard," Dudley said seriously.