Tom Riddle's Diary

Tom Riddle's Diary
Date of invention	c. 1943
Purpose	Diary Horcrux Opening the Chamber of Secrets
Owner(s)	Tom Riddle (c. 1943 - ?) Lucius Malfoy (? - 1992) Ginevra Weasley (1992 - 1993) Harry Potter (1993) Albus Dumbledore (1993 - 1997)
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Last appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Tom Riddle's Diary was a book belonging to Tom Riddle who transformed it into his first Horcrux. It was able to communicate with whoever writes in it. It appears throughout the Harry Potter book series.

About

Pages of the book

The book is able to communicate in writing with the reader by responding to what they are writing in the book. Tom Riddle's handwriting gets untidier the longer he writes for like he is getting tired. It appears to have protective enchantments surrounding it because when ink is dropped on it, it is unaffected.

It can show events that have happened in the past through a minuscule TV screen. It will turn the pages to the correct date, and the screen gets wider and wider until the reader falls head-first into the book through a whirl of colour and shadow. In the scenes they land in, they are a phantom who cannot interact or be seen by anyone in the past. At the end of a story, it whirls and turns dark, then throws the reader out of the book.

A Horcrux is able to possess a person if they get dependent on it. The book encourages the reader to share their thoughts and feelings, their heart and soul, increasing its power and control over them until it is able to siphon their life force. The piece of Tom Riddle's soul in the Diary will get stronger and stronger until it is able to begin the process of building a physical body. To complete it, it will have take the reader's life. In the final stages, the physical appearance of the soul will get clearer until itnhas developed a solid appearance.

It can be destroyed with Basilisk venom. Ink spills out like blood when it is stabbed with a Basilisk fang, and the physical version of Tom writhes and screams until it fades completely for good. It has a huge hole in it after the attack.

History

Transformation into Horcrux

In the 1942-1943 school year, Tom located and opened the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts School. Eventually, a student was killed and Professor Dippet was going to close the school down. Professor Dumbledore suspected Tom was responsible for what was happening but he had no proof. Tom then framed Rubeus Hagrid and closed the Chamber of Secrets down.

Before graduating Hogwarts School, he researched Horcruxes and used the dead student's murder caused by the Basilisk to transform the book into a Horcrux. A piece of Tom's soul was put in it for insurance in case he was ever killed. Tom later found out he could transform several Horcruxes and turned the book into a weapon instead of insurance. A version of Tom at the age of 16 was preserved in the book, in the hope it would possess a reader into opening the Chamber of Secrets for a second time and purge the school of Muggle-borns.

Re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets

Before the end of the First Wizarding War, Tom gave the book to a Death Eater, Lucius. He was never told it had a fragment of Tom's soul in it and thought it was simply cleverly enchanted. The plan was to eventually open the Chamber of Secrets again but Tom was supposedly killed before it could happen. Not knowing what the book was, Lucius kept it but handled it carelessly.

In the summer of 1992, he gave it to Ginevra Weasley and she nearly forgot it at The Burrow and had to go back and get it before going to Hogwarts School. It took control of her and forced her to open the Chamber of Secrets again before she abandoned it in a rage. She had shared her thoughts and feelings, simply sharing her very soul, enabling it to siphon her life.

She told the soul in the Diary of Tom's future connection to Harry Potter and he was curious. He hoped he would soon be able speak to him. He was delighted when Harry found it due to Ginny's abandonment and he and Tom communicated. He asked Tom who originally opened the Chamber and the book opened at June 13. The box turned into a minuscule TV screen and showed Harry the events leading up to Rubeus Hagrid being held responsible.

Destruction

Harry kept it in a school bag and he later dropped it in front of Ginny. Having noticed he had the book, she panicked and stole it back because she was scared Tom would tell Harry about her.

Because Ginny had told Tom about how Harry was supposed to kill him in the future, the soul became less interested in purging the school and found a new target in Harry. He told the Basilisk to specifically target Hermione Granger to ensure he was encouraged to keep searching for the Chamber of Secrets where he would be vulnerable. In the final stages of her possession, Ginny staged a threat against her life on the walls of a hallway and sealed herself and the book inside the Chamber. Hogwarts School was again under threat of being closed down.

Harry confronts the manifestation of Tom Riddle,

The book was kept in the Chamber of Secrets by an unconscious Ginny who was slowly dying. The book version of Tom was gaining strength and a physical form by siphoning her life force. He told Harry who he was and then he unleashed the Basilisk. During the ensuing fight, Fawkes saved Harry by providing him the tools he needed to slay the serpent including the Sword of Gryffindor. However, Tom and the book were yet to be destroyed and he continued to siphon Ginny's life force.

Harry destroys the book

Harry no longer had the Sword of Gryffindor because it was in the Basilisk but he had a fang. Fawkes dropped the book into Harry's lap and for no good reason he could think of, he was compelled to stab it into the book in the hope of damaging it. Since Basilisk venom was one of the few things able to destroy a Horcrux, it was damaged beyond repair.

Later history

Harry told Professor Dumbledore about the true nature of the book. Dumbledore was privately concerned about it because he understood that no such book could simply have the power to possess a girl and take a physical form, and began to suspect it was a Horcrux. He noted how careless Tom was when he simply gave it to a Death Eater and even suspected he had several Horcruxes for insurance and it was probably how he survived a Killing Curse.

Tom had no clue what happened to the book until Lucius told him it was destroyed. He thought the reason he was unable to sense it was because he had a non-corporeal status at the time. However, he was furious at Lucius for using it carelessly for a personal reason and implementing their plan before he gave permission. He began to lose confidence in Lucius and it was a reason why he was eventually punished during the Second Wizarding War.

Trivia

Harry using the Diary

• It was purchased in a Muggle bookshop in London. It has the year 1943 on the cover and Tom writes on the first page: "T.M. Riddle".
• It's unknown if Tom ever wrote in the book or if he purchased it for the sole purpose of creating a Horcrux. Any words he has written in the book are not revealed using the spell Aparecium or a Revealer.