We have some questions about when Tom Riddle first entered the Chamber of Secrets
By Joseph Hayes
Looking back in wonder at the world of Harry Potter, we have some questions about when Tom Riddle first entered the Chamber of Secrets
The Chamber of Secrets is the key theme of the second Harry Potter book and film. However, audiences are not really shown Tom Riddle’s perspective upon opening the Chamber for the first time in 1943.
It took a fanatical search that finally led Riddle, during his fifth year at Hogwarts, to open the Chamber of Secrets. It had been centuries when it was last opened. Although as Pottermore notes the Chamber was known to a select few like 18th-century wizard Corvinus Gaunt, the Basilisk had never been fully deployed.
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Riddle may have been at first overwhelmed by the Chamber of Secrets. Not only is it a vast chamber but its fearsome sculpting snakes make the Chamber highly ominous. However, Riddle knew he was safe for only he could command the Basilisk.
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What is not particularly clear, is how Riddle excused himself while in those hours? Riddle had the advantage that he was a prefect, and could, unlike many others, wander the school without fear of punishment. Although there may have been some suspicions about Riddle, there was nothing concrete that could be proven. Dumbledore himself was not an heir of Slytherin and so could not access the Chamber to confront Riddle.
Another question left unanswered is how the Basilisk could so easily navigate the plumbing in order to begin the attacks? Hogwarts pipes had changed considerably since the Basilisk had first hibernated. Perhaps Riddle went through a trial run and navigated the plumbing while on his prefect duties. This would make sense as although Riddle could communicate telepathically with the Basilisk, he had to ensure he was not in the area where the Basilisk could get struck.
It is possible that Riddle had help from his gang of Slytherin thugs with preparing the attacks? However, this would seem unlikely. First of all, Riddle liked to know hidden secrets about Hogwarts and would have been reluctant to share these. Secondly, the relationship Riddle had with the Basilisk was quite close unlike his cronies. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Basilisk followed Riddle alone and would have just as easily attacked other Slytherin students as anyone else.
It seems that the Chamber attacks were a solo-effort by Riddle, and of course the Basilisk! Nonetheless, they had much of an impact on the Hogwarts community. Riddle was forced to stop the attacks eventually because of the fear that Hogwarts would close, which would send him back to the Orphanage.
The question is, with this in mind, why Riddle carried out the attacks? One possibility is that he was short minded or simply wanted to wield his new power so desperately that he didn’t think of the long-term consequences. However, this wouldn’t seem to fit Riddle’s personality given that he planned for years if not centuries ahead.
An alternative and one which is perhaps more sinister, is that Riddle perhaps hoped that the Basilisk rampage might set off a chain of events whereby other members of the Hogwarts student and staff body joined in on attacks against muggle borns. Riddle perhaps thought that some of the teachers may have resented muggles as much as himself but needed a push in this direction with the Basilisk being the catalyst.
While Riddle was friends with no-one he certainly wished to inspire others into dark acts. This was why he left instructions in the Diary to encourage others driven by a hatred of muggle borns to one day open the Chamber themselves.
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Thankfully, Riddle did not succeed in this. Had he opened the Chamber of Secrets in past centuries he may have had been able to incite a full scale attack against Muggle-borns, but under the watchful eye of Dumbledore, as summed up by his policy that ‘help will always be given to those who need it most,’ it never came to be.