The tunnel seemed dark and silent. The huge snake skin was already left behind by them, and the spider corpses on the ground gradually became sparse.

After they turned another corner, they finally found the solid wall standing in front of them.

Harry hissed at the two tangled snakes on the wall and said "Open". As the stone wall cracked, they finally walked into the real secret room, and the huge statue of Slytherin stood in the deepest part of the room.

A figure stood alone at the bottom of the statue, as if admiring the statue.

"Fred?" Ron recognized the figure and called out in disbelief.

The figure turned around, with a playful smile on his pale face, his eyes not paying attention to others, but just looking up and down at Harry Potter.

"Fred? Are you awake?" Harry pursed his lips and said hoarsely.

Tom did not answer, his eyes did not leave Harry's face, and there was a nearly greedy look hidden in it.

"Get out of here with us, Fred." Ron called, "It's very dangerous here. There's a basilisk that can come at any time!"

"It won't come without being summoned." A strange smile appeared on the corner of Tom's mouth, and he continued to stare at Harry, looking careless. He played with a wand he had gotten from somewhere between his fingers.

Harry and Ron suddenly felt cold in their hearts, and Harry said with a stern voice: "Are you that heir?"

Ron let out a low whimper in his throat, his pale lips and said weakly: "Fred, now is not the time to joke..." Then he stopped even further.

The smile on Tom's face became more and more obvious. He looked straight at Harry without giving anyone else a look.

"Yes, I'm the heir..." Tom said, "It's very interesting." He let out a sharp and harsh laugh.

Brian gently pushed his glasses and looked around quietly. He found no trace of his diary.

Ron almost collapsed aside, his face seemed to be about to cry. Ha pointed at Tom with his wand and gritted his teeth and said, "No, you are not Fred! You are the ghost who controls him!"

Tom played with the wand in his hand and said with interest: "So what? This body is his. You can call me Fred Weasley or I Tom Riddle. Of course, I don't like this name... I hope you call me..."

He paused and said, "Do you know? I'm very curious about you, Harry Potter, I've been waiting for you here..."

"Why do you want to see me?" Harry's voice trembled a little in anger.

"Oh, that's right, Harry, someone told me about your situation." Tom said playfully, "Your thrilling past."

His eyes passed through the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, and his expression became even more hungry.

"I have many questions waiting to ask you, Potter," Tom said.

"What's the problem?" Harry's fists clenched tightly.

"For example," Tom smiled happily, "How can a baby, without any magical magic, defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How can you escape safely and leave only a scar while Voldemort's power is destroyed?"

"Why do you care about this?" Harry said coldly, "The incident of Voldemort happened many years after your death."

"Voldemort." Tom whispered, "It's my past, present and future, Harry Potter."

Brian seemed to see Tom's eyes glanced at him. He narrowed his eyes.

Ron took a breath, took a few steps back, staring at Tom with a pale face.

Tom drew a few strokes in the air with his wand and wrote out three shiny names: Tom Marvoro Riddle.

Then he waved his wand, and the letters were arranged automatically into a sentence: I am Voldemort.

"See?" Tom whispered, "I used this name when I was in school at Hogwarts, of course, but for my closest friends. I know that one day, when I became the greatest wizard in the world, no one dared to say this name easily!"

Harry's mind seemed to froze, and he looked at Tom Riddle cumbersomely. It was this man who killed his parents, and so many others...

After a long time, Harry finally forced himself to speak, his voice calm but full of hatred: "You are not the greatest wizard in the world."

"What did you say?" Tom asked sternly.

"The greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore!" Harry said breathing rapidly, "Even when you are the most powerful, you dare not try to control Hogwarts! Dumbledore makes you scared."

The smile on Tom's face disappeared, becoming gloomy and cold.

Ron finally plucked up the courage and stood beside Harry, shaking his broken wand that was almost broken in two pieces in his hand, pointing to Tom and said, "Give Fred back to us!"

"Hahaha..." Tom let out a cold and violent laugh again, and he whispered: "You can find a way to get it, try to kill me, and see if he will die with me?"

Harry and Ron were so angry that their faces turned pale.

"Or, how about you exchange it for the equivalent?" Tom's words were extremely gentle. "Great Harry Potter, you must be willing to exchange it yourself. I get you, and you..."

He pointed at himself, and a strange red light appeared in his eyes: "Get him."

Harry's breathing became rapid, and he stared at Tom tightly, his wand trembling slightly.

"Don't listen to him, Harry," Ron said in a trembling voice, "He is lying to you..."

Brian calmly admired the drama performance, his eyes wandering around, wondering whether Dumbledore was here.

"Why do you want me?" Harry said hoarsely.

"I'm very curious about the power in you, Harry Potter." Tom smiled, "We have encountered you twice in your past and my future, and I haven't killed you twice. How did you survive?"

"Because my mother died for saving me," Harry shivered from desperately suppressing his anger, and he said stiffly, "My ordinary muggy mother, she stopped you from killing me, and turned you into a hiding, disgusting mouse!"

Tom's face twisted, and then he squeezed out a hideous smile: "So that's it, your mother died to save you. Yes, I remember it. It was a very effective protection spell, the 'love' that Dumbledore has always claimed."

He seemed a little ridiculed and disgusted, and said, "After all, there is nothing special about you. I have never figured it out. You know, we had many strange similarities before, all of which are mixed blood, all of them are orphans, raised by muggles, and they are all snake-like. We even look a little similar... But after all, you are just lucky..."

"So, that's all I want to know." Tom's grin on his face became more obvious, and his tone was extremely sarcastic, "So, should we devote ourselves to me and save this friend of yours? Our great heroes full of 'love'?"

"Harry, don't listen to him!" Ron grabbed Harry's arm tightly and gritted his teeth.

Harry took a deep breath. Just as he was about to speak, an ethereal and mysterious song floated over, and the song became higher and higher, making people's blood rush.

Flames emerged from the top of a stone pillar, and a big golden bird flew out of the fire. The golden tail was as long as the tail of a peacock, and a broken package was grabbed on the golden claws.

It played magical music in the air, flew towards Harry, threw the ragged thing in his claws at Harry's feet, and then perched heavily on Harry's shoulders.

It closed its two huge wings, stopped singing, closed its sharp golden beak, and its two shiny black eyes looked straight at Tom Riddle.

"Fox?" Harry said in surprise, feeling the big bird's golden claws gently grab his shoulders.

"A phoenix..." Tom stared at it viciously, and then looked at the thing on the ground, which was the dirty branch hat. He began to laugh wildly.

"Is this what Dumbledore gave you? A singing bird and a broken hat!" Tom's laughter made the secret room tremble slightly.

"Okay, now, tell me your choice, Harry Potter." Tom's laughter came to an abrupt end, and he said coldly.

"I won't let you slaughter!" Phoenix gave Harry the courage and confidence, and he said firmly, "I will take it back from you by myself!"

"Very good, let's compete." Tom glanced at Fox and the Sorting Hat, and seemed very funny. "Look at the best weapon Dumbledore gave you, and the heirs left by Slytherin..."

"Tell me, Slytherin - the greatest of the four Hogwarts!"
Chapter completed!