What If Part 2

What If? Part 2

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"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books mum got me. I th-thought someone had left it in there and forgotten about it-"

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Hello. Thanks for visiting again. We all remember this scene from Harry's second year. Ginny had been possessed by Tom Riddle through his diary. We also know that it was Lucious Malfoy that supplied her with this diary, due to a run in at Flourish and Blotts. What if Lucious had placed the diary in the wrong cauldron? One of the reasons for choosing Ginny was because of her father, and the fact that she was a pureblood. So, what would have happened if the diary had ended up in the possession of a Muggle born? As The Sorting Hat, I can show you a reality in which just this thing did occur. So, sit back, relax, and travel with me to another realm, where lives are changed with every possible decision.

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Dear Diary: I must confess that I don't even remember buying this! I can't remember even shopping on Vauxhall Road. I guess mum or dad must have picked it up for me. Oh well, it'll be nice having a journal to record my thoughts and feelings. I hope they didn't pay much for this; it's dated back nearly fifty years! Anyway, today is our first day back here. I had been so frightened when I couldn't find Harry or Ron on the train, but they apparently wanted to make a complete fool of themselves and arrived by Mr. Weasley's flying car. I think they were a little ashamed of themselves when they finally did show up, though. I can't believe that they didn't get expelled! I'll have to have a stern talking to them when I can get them away from everyone. The worst part of it is, and I'll never tell them this, but I kind of wish I could have gone with them. It would have been nice to fly through the clouds, just the two of us...I mean three of us. I'll go into that later. Good night!

Dear Diary: I must admit that I did feel sorry for Ron this morning. Mrs. Weasley had a powerful enough voice as it is, let alone amplified a hundred times its normal strength. I'd always wondered what a Howler was. I'm just glad my parents are Muggles! I saw Professor Lockhart today! He's ever so handsome. I must find out what he uses on his hair. Not that there's any hope for mine. Sigh. In Herbology today, we learned how to repot Mandrakes. It was all quite fascinating. I was able to earn Gryffindor twenty points! That will help get back some of the points Harry and Ron lost us yesterday. I was able to tell Professor Sprout what I knew about the Mandrake's ability to return people that have been transfigured or cursed to their original state. They're absolutely foul looking creatures! I hope I never need anything made from them! I met a rather nice boy today. His name is Justin Finch-Fletchley. He's a Muggle born as well! Apart from his rather grand sounding name, he was really nice. Ron didn't seem to care much for him, but I think he mostly came over to meet Harry. We've all gotten used to that, though. I remember being starry eyed myself when I first met him. It's hard to believe that it's only been a little over a year ago that I met him. How can you get so close to someone in so short of an amount of time? God, I'm sounding like Ginny now. Anyway, we then had our first class with Lockhart. I got another ten points, and he called me by name! The three of us had to round up some pixies at the end of class. Harry and Ron seemed to think it was a bad class, but I thought it was fascinating. Oh well, genius is rarely appreciated in its own time.

Dear Diary: There are now a total of three people that I know of that have a crush on Harry: Ginny, myself, and Colin Creevy. I first thought that he was just in awe of Harry being famous, but Oliver Wood told Percy that he's seen Colin kissing the picture he took of Harry. I nearly gagged when Ginny told me. She also mentioned that she got a copy of it from him. I must remember to talk to Colin myself when I get the chance. I was planning on showing him my bra strap to get one out of him, but apparently that won't work. I may try to nick a pair of Harry's boxers. I should be able to get anything out of him with those. Since Colin is a Muggle born, I may use that to persuade him as well. With Quidditch season starting, I won't be able to see Harry as much anymore. Alicia, Katie, and Angelina will, though. Those sluts had better keep their hands off him! Wait, I didn't mean that. I wonder what got me so upset just now. I seem to be getting more irritated lately. I mentioned this to Madam Pomfrey, and she just gave me a stupid pamphlet called, "Becoming a Woman." I don't think it's because of that. There are also gaps of time I don't remember. Maybe it's the stress I put on myself. I don't know.

Dear Diary: Today was really something. Ron and I went down to watch Harry practice, and the Slytherin team came down and said they had been granted special permission to train their new Seeker. As it turned out, Draco Malfoy was their new Seeker, which made Ron mad. Everyone seemed impressed that Draco's father had bought the whole team some kind of new broom, so I managed to get a dig in, since Draco had made his own comment about Ron's family being poor. Draco called me something called a Mudblood, but I didn't know what it meant at the time. This seemed to set Ron off even more, and he tried to hex Draco. Unfortunately, Ron's wand has been broken since his run-in with the whomping willow, and thus he hexed himself, instead. Ron was throwing up slugs all over the place, while Colin ran around slobbering all over Harry. It was positively disgusting. We took Ron over to Hagrid's to recover. Come to think of it, make it four people that have feelings for Harry. Well, three people and one animal. Fang, Hagrid's dog, also seems completely enamored by him. Ron explained what Mudblood meant to us, between throwing up slugs. It didn't bother me much, but I was glad to see it bothered Harry and Ron. A girl needs some protection. One odd thing, though. Hagrid claimed to have seen me near his cabin yesterday, by myself. I told him I don't remember being down here, but to be honest, I don't remember parts of yesterday. I remember heading to the library to study, and then I must have decided to collect some potion ingredients, because I remember being out in the courtyard with a knife. It must just be the stress of a new school year. Harry and Ron found out what their detentions are. Ron has to polish the trophy room with Filch, and Harry gets to spend the evening with Lockhart. I'd love to spend the evening with both of them. Sigh.

Dear Diary: Harry was asked by Nick to attend his Deathday party, and all three of us can come! I'm quite looking forward to it. I don't imagine there are many living people that have ever been to one. I hope I'm feeling better by then, I'm still having funny turns lately. I'll miss going to the Halloween feast, but without Harry there, it wouldn't have been as much fun anyway. The party itself wasn't much fun, and they certainly didn't have any food we could eat. On top of everything else, Moaning Myrtle was there. I wonder how she died. She isn't very old. I wonder if she was killed in some sort of accident. Anyway, we all managed to sneak out after a while. I think Myrtle may like Harry as well. Does everyone in this whole damn school want him? He's mine! If any of those bitches lay a hand on him, I swear I'm going to...wait, no; I'm getting upset again for no reason. I was upset earlier today and had one of my blackouts. When I came around I was on the grand staircase with wet shoes and what looked like red paint on my fingers. I don't know what that was about. It seems that I'm not the only one having problems, though. Harry keeps saying that he's hearing voices. I can't help but wonder of what he's going through is related to what I am. I was going to ask him about what the voices were saying to him, when he took off at a run. When Ron and I caught up with him, he was looking at Filch's cat who was hanging from one of the torch brackets on the wall. Written in what looked like blood above it was a message about the Chamber of Secrets being opened. Harry wanted to try and help Mrs. Norris, but Ron wanted to run for it. Before we could do anything, what seemed like the entire school turned up. I never did get a chance to talk to Harry about the voices after that. The thing that bothers me is that the floor under Mrs. Norris was wet, and the paint on my fingers was the same color as the writing on the wall. What does all of this mean? Could I be involved in all of this somehow? I just don't know what to do. Books don't seem to be helping me much right now. I wish you could tell me what to do.

Dear Diary: I can't believe that every copy of Hogwarts, A History is checked out. I was hoping to find something about the Chamber of Secrets in there, or at least something about Harry and my problem. Instead, I just got into another stupid fight with Ron. I swear I'll end up killing him by the time we graduate. I tried to ask Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets, and he did give some interesting facts about it. He seems to think that it couldn't possibly exist, but I firmly believe that it does. There's also something else, when we went back to the place where we had found Mrs. Norris hanging there was a bunch of spiders crawling around. It almost seemed like they were hurrying to get out of the castle. I must remember to look for something in the library that would explain that kind of behavior from them. It's almost as if they were fleeing from something. I also found out hat Ron is deathly afraid of spiders. That knowledge may come in handy in the future. We then all ended up going into Moaning Myrtle's toilet. She really is something. When we left we ran into Percy. He got really upset about us all hanging around the scene of the attack. I got really nervous for some reason. I wonder if he suspected me. In the end, he and Ron got into an argument and we all went back to the common room. I brought up the subject to Ron and Harry when we got there. Ron thinks its Malfoy doing the attacks, which isn't too much of a surprise. Harry seems to think it's possible too, so I feel a lot better. I had been worried that one of them might suspect me. I then suggested that we could brew up a polyjuice potion to find out. This will be extremely difficult, but if it is Malfoy that means that it isn't me. I have to find out.

Dear Diary: I managed to get Professor Lockhart to sign the permission form so that I could get the book out of the restricted section that I need to brew the potion. I have to admit, it was pretty easy to get him to sign the form. I must remember to finish my poem for his class later; I just need something that rhymes with beatific. I was hoping to talk to him some more, but he always seems to be more interested in talking to Harry. I'm starting to think again that everyone in the school must be in love with him. It just makes me so sad. I think you're right, Tom, he'll never look at me, not when he could have any girl he wants. I know that I'm not pretty, and I know she only spends time with me because he feels sorry for me. The boys both seemed apprehensive about the polyjuice potion when I explained it to them. I managed to guilt trip them, though. My greatest hope is that it does turn out to be Draco, since that will mean it can't be me. I'm still having the blackouts, but I don't want to say anything before I know for sure if it's important. Besides, Harry hasn't told anyone about the voices he's hearing, so it's not like I'm doing anything worse, right?

Dear Tom: The big Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match was today. Harry managed to catch the snitch, but it was a very strange game. One of the bludgers must have been bewitched, because it kept trying to kill him! He managed to survive, but ended up with a broken arm. I have a confession to make. While Harry was putting on his pajamas in the hospital wing, I took a little peek behind the curtain. I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it. Yes, you're right; I do feel ashamed of myself. I don't have any brothers, so I was just curious. I was hoping to get some time to talk to him, but the entire damn team came in. Naturally, all the girls on the team were hovering around him, the sluts. They will pay soon enough.

Dear Tom: Harry is a Parseltongue! I don't think he ever knew it before, but the whole school knows now. I'm still concerned about my situation, but now I'm even more worried about him. I know that you keep telling me that the whole school is against me, but now they're also against him. You have to help me, Tom. What am I supposed to do now? I had another blackout last night. I had left the Gryffindor common room to check on the polyjuice potion, and the next thing I knew I was kneeling in the snow next to the clock tower with feathers all over my robes, and a knife in my hand again. What is happening to me, Tom? You keep telling me not to worry, but there's something definitely wrong. The blackouts are becoming more and more frequent, and more and more people are being attacked. Tom, please, you have to help me!

Dear Tom: The polyjuice potion is ready now. After the last attack, most of the school is going home for the holidays, so there shouldn't be any distractions. Today is Christmas, but I don't feel at all joyful. By this time tomorrow, I'll know one way or the other about the attacks. I pray that Malfoy is the one responsible for all of this. If not, I can only concede that it's me, and I'll have to talk to Dumbledore. I know that you keep telling me to avoid him, but I'll have to say something. I bought Harry a luxury quill for Christmas. My purpose for buying it for him was so that he'll think of me whenever he uses it. I only hope that he won't need to use it to write me in Azkaban.

Dear Tom: Things have fallen apart. I wasn't able to go with Harry and Ron, owing to the fact that I had added cat hairs to my potion and ended up turning into one. I'm currently in the hospital wing while Madam Pomfrey looks up a cure. There's even worse news. Harry and Ron were able to talk to Malfoy, and he claims that it isn't him that's been doing the attacks. This proves that it must be me. When I get out of here, I am going straight to Dumbledore. Maybe you're right, maybe he will expel me, but I have to tell someone. I feel so alone now. How will Harry react to this? Will he ever speak to me again? Oh Tom, what have I done?

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Shortly after Hermione wrote this final entry into the diary, Tom Riddle made his first attempt at her total possession. Hermione, like Ginny, was able to resist, and also attempted to rid herself of the diary. Unlike Ginny, Hermione knew that trying to dispose of the diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom would not be a good choice. Instead, Hermione drew upon her experience from the previous year and knew that she must alert Dumbledore, even if he did expel her, as Tom told her he would.

At this time, Tom had been able to absorb a large amount of Hermione's life force through her emotions, but not quite enough to return to his body. Instead of the final standoff occurring in the Chamber of Secrets, the battle takes place in Dumbledore's office. Knowing that he would need his help, Dumbledore sent for Harry to assist him. The three of them-Dumbledore, Harry, and Hermione-all were involved in the fight. Without his basilisk to assist him, and since he was unable to extract as much power out of Hermione as she had with Ginny in our own reality, the fight was concluded in fairly short order. The diary was finally consumed totally by a ball of water-proof fire, something of a specialty of Hermione's.

The battle over, Hermione's life force was returned to her. Her fear of expulsion left her as Dumbledore assured her that she would not be punished for anything she had done. The Mandrakes were made into their potions, and all of those that had been petrified were returned to normal.

In our reality, Harry went through his first battle with Voldemort with Ron and Hermione. In his second encounter, he faced Voldemort alone, in his attempt to save Ginny. However, in this reality, Harry has now faced Voldemort twice with Hermione. In their third year, the two of them were responsible for the rescue of Sirius Black. In their fourth year, Hermione suffers through the very near death of Harry at the TriWizard tournament. In fifth year, Harry holds himself responsible for the near death of Hermione in the Department of Mysteries. By the time of their graduation, the two friends had become something more. The two of them entered Auror training, along with Ron, and became members of the Order of the Phoenix. In what became the most well known battle of all time, Harry and Hermione, along with the rest of the Order, managed to finally achieve the defeat of Voldemort once and for all.

As Lucious Malfoy lay dying after his final battle with his own son, his mind retuned to that fateful day at Flourish and Blotts when he had intended to place his master's old diary in the Weasley girl's cauldron, but had accidentally placed it in Granger's. How had she been able to survive? As the last of his energy escaped him, his last thought was of the shame that a pureblood like himself had been outdone by a filthy little Mudblood, and that damned Harry Potter.