Winter descended over Hogwarts with an unforgiving chill, coating the castle grounds in heavy snow and freezing the Great Lake into brittle ice. Yet inside the stone corridors, the atmosphere was far colder.
What had been uneasy speculation after Colin's petrification became open certainty for many students. Harry Potter had spoken to a snake in front of half the school.
The word Parseltongue travelled the corridors faster than any prefect could stop it. By breakfast, entire tables were watching the Gryffindor side of the Great Hall with barely concealed hostility or fear.
Ethan observed the shift through Ginny's eyes and found it satisfactory. The public exposure had done exactly what he needed, and there was no reason to exaggerate anything further when the students were already doing the work for him.
A few days after the disastrous Duelling Club, Ethan waited until late afternoon.
The library was quiet, bathed in the pale, grey light of an overcast December sky. Ginny sat at a rear study table, mechanically flipping through a copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration while Ethan watched the students around her.
The library had been unusually quiet until the argument broke out.
Harry stood near one of the long wooden tables, his expression tense as he tried to explain himself to Justin.
"Justin, listen to me. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I was trying to stop the snake."
Justin took a nervous step backward, his eyes never leaving Harry.
"You expect me to believe that?" he whispered. "You spoke to it, Harry. You actually spoke to it."
"I know what it looked like, but I wasn't controlling it!"
Harry's frustration was beginning to show, his voice rising despite Madam Pince's increasingly irritated looks from across the room.
"I'm telling you, I was trying to help you!"
Justin shook his head.
"No. Stay away from me."
Harry stared at him for several seconds, his expression shifting from frustration to disbelief.
"Fine."
He turned sharply and stormed away between the shelves, his footsteps echoing through the otherwise silent library.
Justin remained where he was, visibly shaken.
The other students nearby had stopped pretending to study. Several were watching Justin nervously, while others kept glancing in the direction Harry had disappeared.
Even the normally quiet atmosphere of the library felt different now.
Justin was already frightened of Harry, and several other students had witnessed the confrontation. If Justin were attacked now, the connection would be almost impossible for them to ignore.
Ethan's attention shifted toward the corridor outside the library.
'Now I just need the Basilisk to do its part.'
At night, Ethan decided to implement the next part of his plan.
Ginny fell asleep easily after a short, worried exchange in the diary. Ethan waited until the dormitory was silent, then took control with the same careful precision he had used before.
The route to the Chamber was familiar now. He avoided the main corridors, used the transfigured stairs, and gave the Basilisk its instructions in clear, limited terms.
<One student only.> He projected the image of Justin through magic. <Find him when he is alone. Reflection only. No death. After the attack, return immediately.>
The Basilisk gave a low hiss.
<I underssstand, Massster.>
Ethan repeated the most important instruction once more, making certain there would be no misunderstanding.
Ethan returned Ginny to her bed. He did not need to watch the attack itself. The instructions were precise; the Basilisk had already proven it would follow them.
Justin Finch-Fletchley was discovered three days later, petrified in a quiet side corridor on the first floor with a mirror positioned in front of him.
He had been on his way to the library, taking a quieter corridor to avoid the main staircases. He had looked at the mirror in front of him. The last thing he saw was his own reflection and, behind it, a pair of enormous yellow eyes.
He simply collapsed onto the cold stone floor, his body becoming rigid almost instantly.
The reaction was immediate and far sharper than after Colin.
Students who had still been willing to give Harry the benefit of the doubt fell silent. Those who had already decided he was responsible became louder.
By the end of the day, the common rooms were full of the same conclusion: the Heir of Slytherin was attacking people who crossed him, and Harry Potter was the only student who was connected to both attacks.
Ethan listened to the reports through Ginny's conversations and found the results acceptable. Two petrifications. No deaths.
The fear was now constant rather than episodic.
More importantly, the pressure on Hogwarts was beginning to build.
Parents would complain. Governors would demand answers. The Ministry would eventually have to take notice.
And if the attacks continued, Lucius Malfoy might finally have enough political leverage to push the Board of Governors into taking action against Dumbledore.
'One more attack might be enough.' Ethan thought to himself in the void.
That night Ginny wrote in the diary with shaking hands.
*They found Justin. He's petrified too. Everyone is saying Harry did it. Even some of the Gryffindors won't look at him. Ron punched a boy who called Harry the Heir. I don't know what to do.*
Ethan answered carefully.
*You don't have to do anything. The professors will handle it. Harry has people who believe him. That matters.*
*But what if they're right? What if he really is…*
*Do you believe he is?*
A long pause.
*No. I don't. He can't be. I know what I saw, and I think he was trying to help Justin.*
*Then trust what you saw, not what frightened people are saying.*
Ginny's next words came slowly.
*Will you still talk to me? Even if things get worse?*
*Yes.*
Ginny stared at the single word for a long moment before closing the Diary.
She placed it beneath her pillow and eventually drifted into an uneasy sleep.
The winter holidays arrived, but there was little festive cheer in the castle.
Most students chose to go home, desperate to get away from the attacks and the whispers. Only a handful remained behind, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys and a few from the other houses.
Ethan used this quiet period to plan his next move.
Now was a good time to get Harry somewhat connected to the Diary. For that, Ethan needed Harry to find the Diary and, more importantly, to actually write in it.
So Ethan spent some time thinking about how to make that happen.
In canon, everything had fallen into place almost absurdly conveniently. The Diary had somehow ended up in Harry's hands at exactly the right moment, and Harry had been curious enough to write in it without much hesitation.
Ethan didn't trust that things would be nearly as convenient for him.
The attacks had left Hogwarts in a state of constant unease, but the students had gradually settled into a strange routine.
The professors continued their lessons, the teachers patrolled the corridors more frequently, and students rarely travelled through the castle alone anymore.
One morning, while Ginny was having breakfast in the Great Hall, Ethan decided it was time to start pushing things in the direction he wanted.
He waited until Hermione was sitting nearby before briefly taking control of Ginny.
"Hey, Hermione," Ginny said casually, turning toward her. "Can I ask you something?"
Hermione looked up from her breakfast.
"Sure."
"How did they solve the Chamber of Secrets the last time it was opened?"
Hermione's expression immediately became more interested.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean fifty years ago," Ginny clarified. "Everyone keeps talking about what happened, but I don't think I've ever heard how they actually stopped it."
Hermione frowned thoughtfully.
"It is weird that there is a certain level of secrecy around that whole incident. I couldn't find much about it in the books."
"I was in the trophy room, and I saw a trophy awarded to some T.M Riddle; the date also places the event as 50 years old. Do you think that could be related?" Ginny said, as if trying to be a detective.
Hermione shook her head with an amused smile. "Maybe, Ginny, I didn't actually think that it could be a student who has solved that incident before, so you may be onto something. I will be sure to check it out."
Ethan shifted Ginny back to eating with a smile on her face as if she had contributed to the cause and slowly released control over her.
Hermione started to eat her food too, but her focus remained elsewhere. Her thoughts roamed about how the Chamber incident was solved in the past.
A few days later, news about Hermione being in the Hospital Wing started to spread in Hogwarts, and most students thought she was attacked as well. But the professors clarified that was not the case.
Ethan remembered this being a result of a botched polyjuice potion.
It was nice to know that some events were happening even with his presence. This meant that they were hard at work trying to solve the mystery of the Chamber.
There was another thing Ethan noticed during this period. His control over Ginny was becoming weaker.
It wasn't a sudden change, nor was it serious enough to interfere with his plans yet, but the difference was noticeable.
Where controlling Ginny had once been effortless, Ethan now had to exert slightly more concentration to maintain complete control for extended periods.
It wasn't particularly surprising. He had known from the beginning that his influence over Ginny wouldn't remain at its original strength forever.
That was why he was trying to get an actual body for himself rather than just controlling someone through the diary, since it was just a temporary solution and it would become harder and harder with time.
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