Destruction of Tom Riddle's diary

The destruction of Tom Riddle's diary is the decisive act that ends the Chamber of Secrets crisis. The diary, a seemingly blank fifty-year-old journal, is revealed to be a vessel containing a memory of Tom Riddle, preserved to continue Salazar Slytherin's work. Its destruction by a basilisk fang not only defeats Riddle's memory but also frees Ginny Weasley from his control, exposing the diary as a dark magical object of immense power.

Nature and Origin of the Diary

The diary was a small, thin book with a shabby black cover, found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after being thrown there. It was fifty years old, with the name "T. M. Riddle" written in smudged ink on the first page. Tom Riddle, as a sixteen-year-old student, had recorded his memories in the diary, creating a lasting and interactive record. He explained that he had "recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink," knowing that some would not want the diary read. The diary contained memories of "terrible things" that happened at Hogwarts, including the opening of the Chamber of Secrets and the death of a girl. Riddle's memory, preserved in the diary, could interact with anyone who wrote in it, and it could even draw the writer into his memories, as Harry experienced when he was pulled into a scene from fifty years earlier.

The Diary's Role in the Attacks

The diary was the instrument through which the Heir of Slytherin operated. Ginny Weasley had been writing in it for months, pouring out her heart to the "invisible stranger" within. Riddle's memory fed on her fears and secrets, growing stronger and eventually taking control of her. He revealed that Ginny, under his influence, opened the Chamber of Secrets, strangled the school roosters, daubed threatening messages on the walls, and set the basilisk on four Muggle-borns and the caretaker's cat. Ginny, unaware of her actions, began to suspect she was going mad, writing in the diary, "I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!" The diary was also the means by which Riddle sought to meet Harry, as he had learned about Harry from Ginny and was eager to understand how Harry had survived Voldemort's attack.

The Destruction of the Diary

In the Chamber of Secrets, after the basilisk had been killed and Harry was wounded, Fawkes the phoenix dropped the diary into Harry's lap. Riddle, distracted, was momentarily stunned. Harry, without thinking, seized the basilisk fang lying nearby and plunged it into the heart of the diary. The act caused a long, dreadful, piercing scream, and ink spurted from the diary in torrents, flooding the floor. Riddle's form writhed and twisted, then vanished. The diary was left with a sizzling hole burned through it by the basilisk venom. This destruction was the only way to stop Riddle, as the diary was the container of his memory and the source of his power over Ginny.

Consequences and Significance

The diary's destruction had immediate and far-reaching consequences. Ginny, who had been lying lifeless, began to stir and woke, freed from Riddle's possession. She was terrified of being expelled, but Dumbledore assured her there would be no punishment, noting that "older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." The diary's destruction also proved that the attacks were not the work of Hagrid, who was exonerated and brought back from Azkaban. Furthermore, it exposed Lucius Malfoy's role, as Harry realized that Malfoy had slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts. Dumbledore warned Malfoy against giving out more of Voldemort's old school things, and Malfoy was later sacked as a school governor. The diary's destruction also revealed a deeper truth: that Voldemort had created a Horcrux, a piece of his soul, which would be a key element in the ongoing struggle against him. The diary was a dark artifact that embodied the danger of trusting objects that can think for themselves, a lesson Mr. Weasley had taught his children: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."