The tunnel was as silent as a tomb.

Suddenly, they heard an unexpected voice.

"Click"

It turns out that it was Ron who stepped on a rat skull.

Harry looked down at the ground and saw the bones of small animals everywhere. He desperately restrained himself from imagining what it would be like for Ginny to be found by them.

Lockhart walked in front of him, his stride small but his leg movements unchanged, and he led Harry and Ron around a dark bend in the tunnel.

"Harry, there's something there......" Ron said hoarsely as he grabbed Harry's shoulder.

The two of them stood still, staring nervously.

Harry saw the silhouette of a coiled behemoth, lying motionless on the other side of the tunnel.

"That's the skin of a snake, a basilisk."

Lockhart raised his wand in his hand, allowing the light to shine farther away.

The light shone on a huge snakeskin, green and bright, and it looked like the skin of a poisonous snake. It lay coiled on the floor of the tunnel, and it was empty inside.

Apparently, the animal that had just shed this layer of skin was at least twenty feet long.

"Oh my God!" Ron sighed feebly.

"Stay vigilant and keep going." Lockhart was calm.

The three of them took turns and turns in the deep, dark tunnel.

Every nerve in Harry was shaking uncomfortably, and he wanted to get to the end of the tunnel as soon as possible, but at the same time he was a little afraid that the tunnel would actually come to an end.

At last, he cautiously turned another corner, and at last found a sturdy wall in front of him, carved with two intertwined snakes, their eyes studded with large, shining emeralds.

"Potter clues, it's time for you to play again." Lockhart said.

Needless to say, Harry had already guessed what he had to do.

He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.

He didn't need to assume that the two stone snakes were real now, because their eyes looked exactly like they were alive.

"Open." Harry said in a low, hoarse hiss.

The two snakes separated, and the stone wall cracked in the middle and slowly slid to both sides and disappeared.

It was one side of a long, dimly lit room.

There are many thick stone pillars, carved with various coiled snakes, towering to support the ceiling that melts into the darkness of the heights, casting a long and eerie shadow over the mysterious room.

Lockhart half-raised his wand, and without saying a word, slowly made his way between the stone pillars where the serpent coiled.

At this point, Harry and Ron each drew their wands and cautiously followed him.

Each light step they took created a hollow, dull echo between the four walls of the ghostly buildings.

In the silence of the environment, any unnecessary noise was unsettling.

As they reached the place between the last pair of stone pillars, a huge statue as tall as the room itself appeared, clinging to the dark wall behind it.

The slightly greenish stone gave it an eerie aura.

They had to crane their necks to see the statue's face—an old, monkey-like face, a long beard that dragged almost all the way to the hem of the stone-carved wizard's robes, and two large feet standing firmly on the smooth floor of the room.

“…… Salazar Slytherin. Lockhart looked at the statue and muttered.

Between the statue's feet, face down lies a tiny figure in a black robe, her hair red like flames.

"Ginny!"

Harry and Ron screamed, and then hurried to her and crouched down.

"Ginny! Oh - you don't want to die! Please—"

Ron dropped his wand and grabbed Ginny by the shoulder, trying to flip her over. Harry also put his wand aside and came to his aid.

Ginny's face was as cold as marble, but her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified.

"Ginny, wake up—please—" Ron shook her desperately, pleading in a low voice.

Ginny's head drooped lifelessly.

"She's not going to wake up." A voice said softly.

Ron ignored the voice, he just shook Ginny's body as hard as he could, as if nothing else could be heard.

Harry jerked his head back.

A tall, dark-haired boy was leaning against the nearest stone pillar and was watching him. The boy's silhouette was blurry and strange, as if he were looking at him through a foggy window.

"Who are you? What does that mean? You say she won't wake up? Harry asked angrily, "She didn't—she didn't—"

"She's still alive," said the boy in the blur, "but not long." ”

Harry froze in place, and Lockhart just stood silently, not saying a word.

"And who are you? Is it a ghost? Harry asked, uncertain.

"It's a memory," Riddle said calmly, "for fifty years in a diary." ”

He reached out and pointed to the statue's big toe, where lay the journal Harry had picked up in the weeping myrtle's bathroom.

Harry couldn't figure out how it got there, he had left it in his dorm - but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Harry stopped talking to him, but made great efforts to help Ron half-pick Ginny up from the ground.

Then he leaned down again to pick up his magic skills, but the wand was gone.

"Did you see—"

"For every wizard, a wand is a lifelong companion...... Take it well. ”

At Harry's side, Lockhart handed Harry's wand over, but his eyes remained fixed on the blurred figure.

"Oh-Professor, thanks-but, what's wrong?"

"He wants to take your wand." Lockhart looked up and pointed with his chin to the other side.

The tall boy stared at Lockhart for a moment, but then at Harry.

"Harry Potter, I've been waiting a long time," he said, "and I'd love to have a chance to see you and talk to you." ”

"Well," said Harry, who had lost his patience, "you probably haven't understood what I mean, we're in the Chamber of Secrets right now, and we might as well talk about it later." ”

"It has to be talked about now." The boy said, still with a distinct smile on his face.

"What is there to talk about! We must go back now, we have to save Ginny! ”

Ron erupted, his angry shouts echoing through the large room, echoes overlapping each other, and the sound was even more irritating.

"Let's talk," Lockhart said suddenly, "I think we must know, how did Ginny come to be like this?" ”

"yes, why did Ginny become like this?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

Ron, who was half-hugging Ginny with Harry, couldn't help but calm down, after all, this issue was indeed critical.

"Oh, that's an interesting question," said the boy pleasantly, "and that's a long story! The real reason why Ginny Weasley is like this is that she opened up to an invisible stranger and confided all her secrets. ”

"What are you talking about?" Harry said.

"Diary," said the boy, "my diary." For months, little Ginny had been writing her heartfelt words to me, telling me about her distressing troubles and sorrows—how she had been made fun of by her brothers, how she had to come to school in old robes and books...... Also, she thinks—"

The boy's eyes twinkled slyly, "She thought that the famous, kind, great Harry Potter would never like her......"

As he spoke, his gaze never took off Harry's face, as if he had no interest in the presence of the others.

There was a look of greed hidden in his eyes.

"It's so tedious to listen to an eleven-year-old girl talk about her childish troubles," he continued, "but I have the patience to write something in reply to her, and I am kind and understanding—Ginny is in love with me." Oh Tom, no one understands me like you...... I'm so glad I got this diary, and I can tell you my heart, it's like having a friend that I can carry in my pocket! ”

The boy let out a cold, shrill laugh that didn't look like it came from a sixteen-year-old boy at all - it made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end.

"It's not me boasting about it...... Harry, I've always been able to confuse people at will. So, Ginny opened her whole soul to me. "And her soul happens to be exactly what I need—I devour her deepest fears, her deepest secrets, and my appetite grows...... I'm getting stronger, much stronger than little Miss Weasley. Strong enough to reveal a few of my secrets to Miss Weasley, and begin to open up a small part of my soul to her......"

"What did you say!" Ron couldn't help but yell, but the other party didn't even bother to glance at him.

"Can't you guess? Harry Potter? He whispered, "It was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets; It was she who strangled the in the school and scribbled those scary words on the walls; It was she who unleashed the Slytherin basilisk and attacked the four Mudbloods, as well as the skinny cat of the Squib. ”

"Oh-no! No way! The expression on Ron's face distorted, "This can't be!" You're lying! It's Maca who opens the secret room! Macka McKellen! ”

“…… Macka McLean. At the sound of the name, the smile on the boy's face immediately disappeared, and there was a clear look of annoyance in his eyes.

"Don't mention that name to me!" His voice suddenly became muffled.