Dinner came relatively soon, and Blake managed to put the remaining pieces of the puzzle into play before it.
He finished his food quickly, left the Great Hall, and waited patiently for the Gryffindors - and soon, they came.
"Hello, Ginny," Blake said with a small smile. Ginny immediately averted her gaze and turned even redder than she already was. Poor girl, Blake thought. She probably already thinks she's been attacking her friends all this time, and now she thinks we're here to get revenge or turn her in.
"Gin, I told you, no one's here to get you in trouble, so stop worrying!" Ron chided her.
"Let's go somewhere more private?" Harry asked, seeing curious onlookers seeming very interested in the crying of a first year girl.
"Good call."
The four of them walked outside the castle, into the area between it and the Forest. Blake was idly aware of the presences of 2 Professors to either side of them. Snape and McGonagall. Now that I've got the fangs and the money, there's no reason not to use them. I told McGonagall everything that happened, and asked for her and Snape to cover us - it makes sense to them as well. There's no way Ginny would give up as much information to them compared to us.
"So, Ginny, you can probably imagine why we want to talk to you, right?" Blake asked her, trying his best to sound kind.
The girl burst out crying.
Oops.
"I - I didn't mean to!" she wailed. "It was Riddle - Riddle made me-"
At least she's not denying it.
"We know, Ginny, don't worry, we know," Harry quickly assured her. "Don't worry - all the Professors already know too, and they've said you won't be punished."
"But - but I got all those people petrified! If I'd never picked-"
"Don't be silly, Gin, everyone knows you'd never hurt muggleborns on purpose!" Ron said like it was obvious, placing his arm on her shoulder.
Ginny's crying got louder, but she flung her arms around Ron and sobbed into his shoulder. Blake and Harry stood there awkwardly as the siblings hugged, but there was a smile on both of their faces. Hopefully she'll calm down a bit soon.
"Anyway, Ginny," Blake began after the sobbing had stopped (mostly), "what we really need to know is how the diary works. We've got the diary-"
"What?" Ginny screeched, all sadness apparently turned to panic. "Where? Did you read it?"
"No, no! Relax!" Ron grunted, holding her from flying at Blake (to do what, Blake had no clue). "The stupid thing's empty!"
"Don't worry, we didn't see anything you wrote in it, Ginny," Blake grinned. "But we're cautious to write in it - you told Ron and your brothers you wrote in it, right? What happened after that?"
Ginny sniffed. "I- I wrote some things - y'know, personal things - it's a diary, isn't it? But Riddle would write back - I don't know how, but he was so… nice? Charming? A good listener? I told him everything, from the second I got the diary. But then, at some point…"
Ginny's tears began to swell with tears again. "At some point, I started losing my memory. I found myself in random places that I didn't remember coming to - and then, one time, I found myself covered in rooster feathers, and blood, and- I was going to get rid of the diary, I swear!" she pleaded. "Today! But you guys took the diary before I could!"
The three second years were quiet for a few seconds, before Blake nodded.
"Thanks, Ginny. That information is priceless, really." He turned to Ron and Harry. "So, we know it's an over time thing - the control's not instantaneous. The more Ginny wrote, the more possessed she was. And also, writing in the diary is what lets it possess you - that's why Ginny's herself now, and all the other times she's not writing in the diary or possessed - it wears off."
Harry and Ron both nodded. "That makes sense," Harry said.
"So, now what?" Ron asked. "Should we do what we were talking about doing before?"
"I think we should," Harry said eagerly.
"I agree," Blake smirked.
"What? What?" Ginny asked frantically, her eyes widening as Harry took out a Quill and the diary.
"No!" she shrieked. "Harry, you can't!"
"Relax, Gin!" Ron said, holding her back once more. "The monster's dead - they killed it yesterday! Even if he gets possessed, there's nothing he can do!"
"And if it helps, Ginny," Blake inputted," behind each of those trees is McGonagall and Snape. If me and Ron can't handle anything that happens, they definitely can. Dumbledore chose them, after all."
"What?" Ron, Ginny and Harry all said at the same time after registering what he had just said.
"Snape's here?" Ron gaped. Ginny started wailing again, mumbling incoherently about 'my life is over' and Harry just looked confused.
"I knew we could handle the Basilisk, so I said we didn't need any help. But that diary," Blake said, "that seems a little above our abilities, don't you think? Dumbledore's not here, so I got the next best. Don't worry, Ginny, they know everything, you're not in trouble. They're here in case something goes wrong."
Harry and Ron grumbled for a bit, mainly about Snape's presence, but they eventually refocused.
"So, who's writing?" Ron asked tentatively. The three looked at each other, Ginny momentarily forgotten.
"Not me, obviously," Blake said. "I don't want to take the risk of it figuring out I'm a muggleborn."
"So, me then?" Ron asked.
Blake shook his head. "You're a Weasley. Ginny's brother - if the diary has memory-"
"It does!" Ginny confirmed.
"-then that is a bad idea - Riddle's smart. Ginny, did Riddle know stuff about you before you told him, or did he only know stuff about you that you told him?"
"Um… I had to tell him stuff, but he remembered everything."
"Good - so he can't mind read. His only source of information is what we write - technically, we could just lie to him, so it doesn't matter who writes. We can all contribute and discuss stuff, but it probably needs to be quick answers so he doesn't realise something's off. We can't mention our names though, Ron - in fact, the safest and best bet is probably Harry."
"What? Why?"
"Two reasons: firstly, Ginny definitely spoke to Riddle about all 3 of us, right Ginny?"
The girl blushed but nodded.
"If she spoke about me, chances are that she mentioned I'm a muggleborn in Slytherin - Riddle would've definitely tried to target me, but he couldn't get me because I was being very cautious, and I pretty much spent all my time in my room." Or in the Forest. "He wouldn't open up to me."
"As for you, Ron, it's relatively simple - you're her brother, so if you write in it, he'll get suspicious and think you're investigating."
"And the second reason?" Harry asked.
Blake grinned.
"Because I'm about 99% sure now that Tom Riddle is someone that would take a very, very special interest in the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry and Ron's faces fell at the same time.
"So… you think it's certain now?" Harry asked.
"It does sound like him, to be fair," Ron admitted slowly.
"Yeah," Blake sighed. "Tom Marvolo Riddle is Lord Voldemort."
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