Overview

Tom Riddle’s Diary was a simple blank diary belonging to Tom Riddle. He got it from a Muggle shop called Winstanley’s Bookstore & Stationers on Vauxhall Road in London.

After Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets and murdered Myrtle Warren with the Basilisk in the Chamber, he transformed the diary into a Horcrux in 1943, when he was a fifth-year student at Hogwarts. The diary was supposed to record the way of opening the Chamber and also prove that he was the Heir of Slytherin. It was also his first Horcrux.

Before Lord Voldemort’s first defeat in 1981, the diary was passed to Lucius Malfoy, but Malfoy had no idea what it really was. Malfoy safeguarded it until 1992, when he slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley’s school supplies at Flourish and Blotts. Ginny soon found the way to communicate with Riddle’s soul fragment, and the fragment gained partial control of her mind. It possessed her to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, release the Basilisk and paint threats in the corridors. This led to a series of attacks and Petrifications, although fortunately no victim died.

When investigating the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter accidentally found Tom Riddle’s diary, and was misled to believe that Rubeus Hagrid opened the Chamber. But before he could find out more, Ginny stole it back. Soon, Ginny was taken down to the Chambers, where Riddle’s soul fragment attempted to drain her of her life force and regain strength.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Gilderoy Lockhart made their way to the Chamber to save Ginny, but only Harry made it to the Chamber. Riddle claimed to be a memory, concealing its true nature, and revealed his true identity as Voldemort. He attempted to kill Harry with the Basilisk, but Harry slayed the Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor pulled out of the Sorting Hat, which was brought by Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes. He then stabbed the diary with a Basilisk’s Fang, unintentionally destroying the Horcrux.

After Harry told Dumbledore what happened in the Chamber, Dumbledore began to suspect that the diary was a Horcrux, and that Riddle had made more than one Horcruxes.

Lord Voldemort was unaware of the destruction of the Horcrux because the soul fragment was separated from him for too long, until he forced the truth out of Malfoy after his return to power in 1995. This was one of the reasons that caused him to lose trust in the Malfoy family.

Magical Powers

The diary was a Horcrux that contained a piece of the owner’s soul and could keep the owner alive even after he died, as long as it wasn’t destroyed.

Besides, the diary could also be used as a weapon. It allowed the user to communicate with the memory of the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle by writing on the pages, and could transport the user into a realm of memories. It could possess the user to do things like opening the Chamber of Secrets, or siphon life force from the user so that the soul fragment could gain a physical body. The more emotionally attached the user was to Tom Riddle, the more power the diary would have over them.

The diary might also have some protective charms and enchantments, so that it was not easily damaged or gotten rid of.

Credits/References

Written by Erland Lundberg
Base code by Andrew Sutherland, edited by Iselin Merilä and Desmond Gray.