Disclaimer: Please make sure you have read the winning round one entry BEFORE reading this chapter.

Myrtle had been closer to the truth than Tom was comfortable with-spot on actually. That, more than anything else, irked him constantly. For a person like her to realise his greatest fear, it was unforgivable. Tom frowned deeply, clutching ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ tighter to his chest. She’d seen the title, that incessant excuse for life had seen the title. Perhaps she would not put two and two together. If she did, Tom was confident that she would come to gloat before she told on him. Then she would be sorry.

Tom flitted into an empty classroom off the sixth floor corridor. He settled into a desk at the back and opened the wondrous book again. Myrtle had been right; Tom hated the idea of his death. Even his witch mother died. Tom’s upper lip curled away from his teeth in disgust. She was weak; but he wouldn’t be. He would never die. Tom would make sure of that. He absently stroked a page of the book, not concentrating on what was in front of him. Death-it was pointless...it was weak.

It was this hatred of death that had led Tom to the Restricted Section of the library. He had been searching for something to save him, and he now knew that it would be the Dark Arts; normal magic was too weak to attempt immortality. When Tom had found the ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ he could feel his greatest hopes were within his grasp. His latest piece of ‘art’ had been more truthful than he had intended. The broken splinters of wood in him would be healed by the blackness.

Tom let his eyes wonder over the page lazily until three words caught his eye: immortality, granted and murder. His interest was captured instantly; Tom leaned over the book, a hungry glint in his eyes.

A fortnight ago, Tom had hesitantly asked Professor Slughorn about horcruxes. The look of terror on the old man’s face had been a satisfactory reaction, and Tom had been able to glean from him that murder was involved. So he had found it then.

His eyes sped over the words on the page, the glint in them glowing almost red in the dim light. Tom threw composure to the wind; his features twisted into a longing, almost terrifying expression. It didn’t suit him. He gripped the book; the black stone in his ring seemed to pulse against his skin.
It was all here! All that he had ever wanted was right here! Immortality was within his reach-within Voldemort’s reach- for Tom no longer accepted the name of his filthy mudblood father. Now he could create true art, against the canvas of the world, with his own soul. Tom’s lips curved upwards in an unpleasant grin.

He formed the incantation with his lips, whispering it to the empty classroom. The air seemed to cool. Slytherin’s last heir would live forever. All he needed now was a soul to take and a place to keep it. Tom shut ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ with a snap and left the room, a red glint in his eyes.

*


“Ooooh! I found the strangest thing today!” Myrtle said cheerily, taking the seat opposite Tom before he could destroy it.

The library was almost empty today; Tom had expected to be left alone. How wrong he was.
“Oh?” he said in a monotone, not even glancing up from his book.

“Studying again? Transfiguration, I expect? The homework was quite tricky but I got it quickly enough.”

Tom didn’t reply. He glared at Myrtle, obviously wanting to be by himself.
“I finished it in an hour,” he said.

“Oh! Well, I thought so!” Myrtle gave Tom a smug look.

She seemed to think he was interested in what she thought. He didn’t, and he said so.

“I really do not care what you think and I would appreciate it if you left.”

“Oh, Tom! You’re very snappy today!” She grinned at him. “If I left you wouldn’t hear what I’ve found! It’s so very strange! I bet even Olive Hornby has never noticed it.”

“-I assure you-“

“-well, I’ve just been in the Second Floor girls’ bathroom...oh don’t make that face! I was washing up when my glasses fell off. Happens all the time, I’ve fixed them at least twenty times now. Well, anyway, I was trying to find them, and of course I was blind so I was leaning in real close.”

Myrtle screwed up her chubby face and leaned closer to Tom. He immediately pushed his chair farther away from the desk, his lips pursing together in distaste. The nerve! How Tom would like to kill her! He gripped the book tighter, an idea forming quickly in his mind. He could literally kill two birds with one stone. Tom smiled, imagining life without her. Myrtle mistook his expression for interest and immediately became more animated.

“That’s when I saw something poking out from the side of the tap. It looked very strange- blurry and all- so when I found my glasses I looked again. Guess what I found!” Myrtle demanded, beaming at knowing something Tom didn’t.

Tom decided to humour her, for once, “I don’t know. Please, tell me.”

Myrtle grinned, overjoyed that he’d asked. She would have told him anyway, but it was nice all the same. Tom marvelled at how pig-like she looked when she smiled. Another reason to kill her...the ugly hag.

“There was this little bitty snake scratched into the side of the tap. It looked fantastically real!”

Tom leaned forwards, suddenly interested. Of course, the snake was Slytherin’s symbol. Could this...bathroom really be the entrance to the infamous Chamber of Secrets? Tom had carried out a so far fruitless five-year search for the Chamber, and now...could it possibly be this?
“Which tap was it, again?” he asked, interrupting Myrtle as she droned on about the detail of the snake.

She pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose, “The end one. Why would you want to know that? “ Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Tom, “You’re not planning to check are you?”

“Of course not!” Tom said as though that was the most ludicrous thing in the world.

Myrtle seemed satisfied.
“Oh, no! There’s Olive!” she exclaimed suddenly.

Tom was pleased by the look of horror on her face.

“See you soon Tom!” Myrtle said before hurrying out to the exit.

Tom didn’t reply; he was thinking-plotting really. If he could get into the Second Floor Girls’ Bathroom without being noticed, his search for the Chamber of Secrets may finally be over. Tom walked out of the library, his book under his arm.

*


Tom stealthily slipped into the Girls’ Bathroom. If he was caught, he could talk himself out of trouble. It had been a mere five minutes since Myrtle had told him about the snake. Tom simply couldn’t let this chance slip by. He was a prefect; anyone would believe that he’d gotten a tip off about stink bombs. Yes...everyone except that imbecile Dumbledore. No matter, Tom had old Armando Dippet eating out of his palm.

He made for the end sink, running over the conversation he had had with Myrtle. She was more useful than he gave her credit for. Now...where was that snake? Tom touched the copper taps gently. Could this really be the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?

Tom pursed his lips together slightly in his concentration. He leaned over the sink and examined the knobs on the ancient taps. Nothing there. His fingers caressed the copper, searching silently along the sides of the taps. Tom suddenly became aware of something engraved in the copper of the tap. Excellent.

He scrutinized the tiny engraving, a glint of red in his eyes. It almost looked real. It was a light scratching on the surface of the copper, the snake was barely visible in the dim light of the bathroom.
“I am the heir of Slytherin.” Tom whispered, excitement causing his voice to break.
Nothing happened. Tom’s nostrils flared; he jerked his head to the side. The movement made the snake appear to have moved. It made the snake seem real.
“Open!” Tom cried in agitation. The word came out as a strange hissing noise, as though the snake itself was speaking to him.

Suddenly, the copper tap began to glow with a brilliant white light and started to spin. A second later, the sink itself had dropped out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed on the floor of the bathroom. This was it. It had to be the Chamber of Secrets! Without another thought, Tom slid down into the pipe.