The shore of the Black Lake fell silent.
All six of them were lost in their own thoughts, except for Garlon, who, not understanding human speech, continued happily chasing butterflies along the water's edge.
Learning that Tom Riddle was actually Voldemort left Harry completely dazed. The memory fragments he had seen before, his past misunderstanding of Hagrid—all of it now seemed laughable.
Harry felt like a fool, completely played around by Voldemort's diary. He was sunk deep in self-doubt; it felt as though a troll had eaten his brain, and he couldn't bring himself to answer Eda's question.
Ron and Hermione stepped in, explaining together the whole story behind the diary—how it came into Harry's possession, what he had seen within it, and how Voldemort had framed Hagrid fifty years ago.
It was, in a way, a public execution. Harry felt so embarrassed he wished he could disappear; his earlier actions now seemed utterly thoughtless.
After hearing all this, Fred and George exchanged a look and sighed in unison. Eda, meanwhile, covered her face with one hand—she was truly speechless.
To think Harry had picked up such an important diary, and in such special circumstances, yet had kept it secret from everyone.
If the diary hadn't been stolen the day before, he probably would have continued hiding it.
If Harry had told Dumbledore about the diary, the Headmaster might have already opened the Chamber of Secrets and come up with a solution. Even if he hadn't told Dumbledore, telling Eda would have worked too—she could have locked onto the culprit early and avoided letting things drag out.
"Harry, you can't keep this a secret any longer," Eda said firmly. "You're coming with me to see Dumbledore. I don't know exactly how Voldemort managed to seal a fragment of his memory inside that diary, but one thing's certain—it's the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets."
Eda didn't blame Harry, even though his actions had made things much more complicated. She was just the sister of Harry's friend—not a professor, not someone with authority over him, and not one of the victims of the Chamber. She felt she didn't have the right to reproach him.
Harry remained silent, but Hermione spoke up: "The monster in the Chamber… it's a basilisk, isn't it? All those mirrors in the corridors were to keep students from looking directly at it, right?"
"That's right. And Dumbledore has already found the entrance to the Chamber," Eda replied. She didn't take any pride in her role and continued calmly, "So the most urgent thing now is to meet Dumbledore and hear what he thinks about this diary."
If before they had only understood the diary's importance because of the strange memories and the theft, it was only after hearing Eda's words that Harry, Ron, and Hermione truly realized just how crucial Voldemort's old diary was.
A wave of regret washed over Harry. He deeply regretted not telling Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall about the diary from the start, instead keeping it secret to investigate on his own.
If, as he feared, another attack were to happen soon, he would never forgive himself.
The later attacks could have been completely avoided—if not for his own recklessness. Because of him, Voldemort's diary had been stolen again, and now the Heir of Slytherin might stir up trouble once more, putting Hogwarts in danger all over again.
The group hurried away from the Black Lake and rushed back toward the castle—faster than they had come.
They didn't go to Professor McGonagall first but headed straight to the 7th floor, where the Headmaster's office was. Eda knew the password—Dumbledore had told her when they'd parted ways after investigating the abandoned girls' bathroom.
On the 7th floor, the six students stopped in front of an extremely ugly stone gargoyle. Eda looked up at it and spoke the password: "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans!"
Up until now, the password to the Headmaster's office had always been the name of a toffee, so when it suddenly changed to "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans," Eda thought for a moment that Dumbledore might have changed his tastes—or maybe taken the wrong potion. But on second thought, that didn't seem to be the case.
The hideous stone gargoyle came to life and leapt aside. The wall behind it split into two, revealing a spiral staircase. The group ascended step by step until they reached a shining oak door waiting for them at the top.
Eda gently knocked on the brass knocker shaped like a griffin. No voice answered from within, but the oak door slowly opened on its own.
The six of them stepped into the spacious, beautiful circular office, filled with strange silver instruments that spun and puffed out tiny clouds of smoke. Dumbledore sat behind his enormous desk, reading an old, thick book.
Lifting his head, Dumbledore looked at Eda and said, "I didn't expect to see you here—and with so many companions. Is there something you don't understand?"
Eda didn't answer. Instead, she nudged Harry forward, signaling him to recount everything about Tom Riddle's diary.
As Harry spoke, Dumbledore's expression grew thoughtful. It seemed that even the wise headmaster was drawing deeper connections from what he heard. When Harry mentioned that the diary had been stolen the previous night, Dumbledore's brows furrowed.
Time was running short—Dumbledore knew he had to act quickly. The "Heir of Slytherin," hiding in the shadows, was likely preparing to strike again. He couldn't allow his students to be harmed once more.
Dumbledore took out a piece of parchment and wrote something on it, though no one could see what. Then he handed the note to Fawkes. With a flash of fire, the phoenix and the parchment both vanished from sight.
Seeing that Dumbledore didn't speak and instead calmly sent out some sort of message, Harry grew anxious.
"Professor, what should we do? Was the diary taken by the Heir of Slytherin?" he asked urgently.
Everyone in the office knew what could happen if the diary containing Voldemort's memory had fallen into the hands of the Heir of Slytherin. But no one had any idea what to do—they could only pin their hopes on Dumbledore.
"What do you think about this, Eda?" Dumbledore asked. He needed to reorganize his thoughts—his mind was already turning over something else. As for explaining the diary, that was something he was willing to leave to the younger generation.
"I'm not sure," Eda said, shaking her head. "That fragment of memory shouldn't be able to leave the diary for now. He must have relied on someone else's help to open the Chamber."
She paused before continuing, "Just like how he once tricked Harry into thinking Hagrid was the culprit, he's probably bewitched someone else into opening the Chamber for him—releasing the basilisk and letting it attack the students."
From all the clues they had gathered, it was clear that Voldemort himself had been the last true heir of Slytherin. The so-called 'Heir of Slytherin' currently at Hogwarts was nothing but a false lead—an innocent person manipulated by Voldemort.
That was why Eda had never been able to find out who the Heir was—because such a person didn't actually exist, and might not even have any real connection to Slytherin at all.
"Yes," Dumbledore said slowly. "He was one of the most brilliant students I've ever seen—and also the one most skilled at manipulating others."
His voice grew quieter, but firmer. "It seems we must act quickly. We can't let him continue any longer."
The office fell silent. Everyone's thoughts about the diary might have differed slightly, but they all felt the same heavy weight pressing down on their hearts.
About half an hour later, Fawkes the phoenix still hadn't returned — instead, Professor McGonagall entered the room, with a distraught Percy following behind her.
Professor McGonagall spoke first. "The students have all returned to their common rooms. However… one student is missing."
"Who?" asked Dumbledore, though from his tone, it was clear he already knew the answer.
Eda and the twins, seeing the tear stains on Percy's face, felt a bad premonition immediately. Eda tightened her grip on Fred and George's hands, hoping to give the brothers a little comfort.
"Ginny Weasley," McGonagall continued. "The last time anyone saw her was before bed last night. Since then, no one has seen her."
After receiving Dumbledore's note, McGonagall had ordered all students to return to their dormitories and not leave. But when taking roll, she discovered that Ginny from Gryffindor was missing. None of the Gryffindor students had seen her all day, and even the ghosts sent out to search had found no trace of her.
At this point, the meaning of a missing student was obvious — the Chamber of Secrets had been opened once again.
When Fred and George heard that Ginny was missing, their faces instantly turned pale. The usually talkative twins were struck speechless, unable to form a single word.
Ron, too, was stunned. He stood there dumbly, staring at Professor McGonagall as if he couldn't believe what she had just said. His sister Ginny was a pure-blood witch — how could she have been attacked?
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