Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The three people dashed up the stairs and went to the closet that Crabbe and Goyle were in and threw the shoes in it. They left and rushed to the third floor while only wearing socks.

They then saw Ron.

“Ron what are you doing here?” asked Hermione who was surprised.

“Madam Pomfrey said I could leave and she suggested that I should join the Christmas party but I wanted to see you first.”

“Then what did you see?” asked Evan eagerly, Justin had been attacked when they weren’t in the bathroom.

“I just came in, when you came back.” stuttered Ron, “How did the plan go?”

“Everything went well, we even beat up Malfoy but when we were leaving Snape’s office, we saw that Justin had been petrified. He was lying in front of the big mirror in the dungeon,” said Harry while being dejected.

“Another attack?!” gasped Ron, he looked more frightened than the three of them, “Was it not Malfoy….”

“My guess would be no,” said Harry, “He was with us in Slytherin’s common room when the attack happened” Harry shook his head, “But it wasn’t a complete waste of time, we got an important clue from him.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione whispered amongst each other while Evan saw a ragged black book underneath a cracked mirror behind Ron.

His heart suddenly tightened, his pupils dilated, and he clenched his hands.

God this is Tom Riddle’s diary!

He had been looking for it for half a year at school but now it suddenly appears in front of him just as he was getting nowhere.

Evan stepped forward and tried to pick it up but Ron suddenly stretched out his hand to stop him.

“Evan don’t touch it!” said Ron who looked pale and frightened.

“What is it?” asked Harry who also saw what was in the sink, “Don’t be silly, a book can’t be dangerous.”

“There are countless books that are dangerous!” said Ron while he looked at the diary, “My father told me that some of the books confiscated by the Ministry of Magic would burn your eyes and there are also books that once you pick them up you can never put them down and so on.”

“Well I understand what you mean,” said Evan while trying to pick up the diary.

“No, you don’t understand!” shouted Ron while the other three looked at him in surprise, he then lowered his voice, “Believe me, Evan, it’s dangerous so let’s not touch it.”

“Being careful is an excellent trait but we have to read it to know what it is don’t we?” said Evan as he took the diary.

As soon as he opened it, he could be sure if it is really Tom Riddle’s diary.

He opened it and saw a name written in it ‘Tom Riddle’

“Tom Riddle, who is that? I never heard of anyone by that name at Hogwarts but I feel like I have seen it somewhere before.”

“Tom Riddle won the special award for service to the school fifty years ago,” whispered Evan.

“I remember, I read about it before but it didn’t say why he won it,” said Hermione

“Anything is possible, maybe he saved thirty owls or rescued a teacher from a giant squid,” whispered Ron, “Why don’t we just throw this thing away, it looks dirty,”

“Fifty years ago, was the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, perhaps this diary has something to do with it,” said Evan as he carefully studied the diary in his hand.

“Really let me see!” said Harry as he hastily took the diary and looked through it, “There isn’t a single word written in it,”

He turned the diary to the back and saw that it was from a Muggle shop called Vauxhall Road in London.

“He must have been a muggle-born,” he mused, “So he bought diary’s from there.”

“Well it isn’t very useful to us anyway,” said Ron hurriedly, “Let’s just leave it here,”

“No I think Evan is right,” said Hermione as she narrowed her eyes which made her look like Professor McGonagall, “Think about it since Riddle went to school here fifty years ago, he must not be at Hogwarts anymore but why is the diary here and who threw it away?”

“We know from Malfoy the person who opened the chamber last time was expelled and Tom Riddle won a special contribution to the school at the same time so could he have won it for catching the heir? His diary is our best bet for us to find out the things we want to know. The man who orchestrated these attacks wouldn’t want this diary to wander around would he?”

“Excellent reasoning,” said Ron while slightly cringing, “But he didn’t write anything in his diary.”

“Maybe he wrote in invisible ink!” said Hermione as she pulled out her wand and uttered the phrase, “Aparecium”

But nothing happened, Hermione wasn’t discouraged though, she then pulled out a bright red eraser.

“It a magical eraser that I got in Diagon Alley.” she then rubbed in on the first page’s date January 1st but nothing happened.

“Anything else”

“This Riddle,” said Ron, “Maybe he just didn’t spend time writing things in it.”

“But….” Hermione was unwilling to give up

“I feel like he was a friend of mine that I forgot about, it must seem absurd since I never had a friend before I came to Hogwarts and this Tom Riddle is a person who went to Hogwarts fifty years ago,” said Harry

“That is just your mind playing tricks on you so let’s just leave it here and go to the Christmas party instead of staying in a girl’s bathroom with a ragged diary that has nothing written in it.”

“There must be something hidden in it that we haven’t discovered yet,” said Evan as he took the diary back.

“Well since you all think so, I have an idea,” said Ron as he lowered his voice, “Evan, give it to me, and I’ll mail it to my father who is an expert in dealing with this stuff,”

“No, Ron!” said Evan as he shook his head and put the diary in his bag, “I think it is better for me to hold on to it since I recently saw a potion in a book that may make it reveal its secrets.”

I don’t know if it’s an illusion or just the dim candlelight in the bathroom but Ron’s face seemed to become paler.