Title: The Very Secret Diary
Author: Arabella
Rating: T
Genre: Horror/Suspense
DLP Category: General
Pairing: N/A
Chapters: 10
Updated: November 12, 2002
Status: Complete
Summary: 'His d-diary!' Ginny sobbed. 'I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year -' This story was written prior to the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

Link: Here - Author

Recommended by Stalin's Pipe Organs in the Almost Average thread, which I think is completely wrong. It's a story detailing the conversations between Ginny and the diary during The Chamber of Secrets and follows the canon storyline to its very end. It doesn't go into any other detail than what was written in the diary though, so keep that in mind while reading through the first chapters of it being essentially the Diary of Ginny Weasley.

Tom is awesomely creepy in this in the way he manipulates her and at times you can see just how he was able to charm his way through his school years. It's amazing how well his character has been captured and, once it gets towards the end of the year, you see exactly how cruel he can be. I recommend this to everyone, no matter your opinion on Ginny herself.

Spoiler

My favourite bits are the point where Ginny begins to suspect something about Tom's first attempts at directly possessing her; where he crumples up the book on how Harry defeated him in a rage, through Ginny. It's simply fantastic how he manipulates Ginny into believing that her dorm mate is the one responsible and shows how Tom is able to twist events to fit the world-view of a naive 11 year old girl.

All in all it's a wonderful story that I highly recommend to everyone and give it a 5/5 in every way.


Checked by Minion, July 28, 2013

 

I've not yet finished it and I'm not sure I will. Everything I read is brilliantly done but it gets a bit tiring to read about stuff that you already know about.

Nonetheless it's clear that this belongs in the library. The last update dates back to 2002, which makes it strange that this isn't already here.

 

That's not particularly the point of the story. It's like the tale of Oedipus in a way, since you are told at the beginning what happens at the end; it's the journey to get there that's important and this is definitely one of the better examples of the trope.

 

I know it's not the point of the story but that doesn't change it. I think this would have worked better in a long oneshot than in a story with a chapter for every month.

 

Did someone just give this story a 1/5?



Anyway yeah this is 5/5 material. It's really a pity that this fic isn't an AU where Tom wins and we see more of him.

 

This story is amazing, but I'm kinda upset that the author doesn't seem to be anywhere these days(was written in 2002, right?). Whatever.
5/5

 

This was excellent. Ginny's eleven-year-old whining is done to perfection, so much so that towards the end one can almost sympathise with Tom. Riddle's manipulation is quite brilliant, and exceptionally cruel in places. A much more satisfying insight into his character than what CoS provided. 5/5

 

I didn't sympathize with Tom in the least, but I definitely could see his brilliance in his manipulation. The last month, May, is crazy creepy.

 

The author has at least one other high-quality story authored by her alone, titled Not as a Last Resort. It's a character piece between Hermione and Ron, and definitely not to the tastes of a lot of DLP, but the writing and characterization are simply superb.

Along with another author by the name of Zsenya, Arabella co-authored the first fanfic I ever read, and still my favorite: After the End. It's Harry/Ginny, like everything at The Sugar Quill, but you can also find it on FF.net and probably at SIYE. It's a post-Voldemort fic written between GoF and OotP, and I've recced it here many times. There are a few very well-fleshed-out OCs, and the fic suffers from a few bad assumptions about characters just glimpsed at the end of GoF, but it's seriously one of the best pieces of fan fiction writing you're ever likely to come across. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

 

@Portus-Thanks for the rec. I'm off to read it.

 

This is an old one from Arabella over at Sugarquill which, during its day, was an excellent source for good fics. Not so sure about nowdays however, I haven't logged in there since sometime after the last book was released I think...

To the fic, I remember reading this way back when... its good but just not what I really wanted to read at the time or now. Still worth 4/5 tho.

 

I'm new(a year or so) to HP fanfiction, but I read an article at Scribd that told a history of Sugarquill. It was pretty cool and it told of the start of HP fanfiction. It was also kinda sad for me, probably because it took me so long to figure out what fanfiction was.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14661553/Literary-Journalism
Anyways, from the few stories that I've read and what I've heard SugarQuill has a ton of really good, really old fics. They're all Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, so they might not be for everyone.

I just finished some classes and a ton of friends are away so I'm probably go on a reading binge there for a bit. I'll try and find some fics that fit a bit more in DLP's taste in fanfiction. I know it's changed from rabid anti-Ginny and anti-slash to much more focused on quality fiction, so if I can work up the courage I might rec some HP/GW fanfiction, if it's very good.

 

Oh there are some very good fics on Sugarquill, and I'm not anti-H/G or R/Hr really... its fine in canon. Its just when I read fanfiction I like to read non-canon pairings. Also, a majority of H/G & R/Hr fics are just too sappy/clichéd/terrible. And, well... come on. Harry deserves more then just Ginny Weasley for the next 20 odd years. Not getting with any girl if you're that famous and at least semi-good looking between age 13-17 is just not possible if you have a pair. I know, its a childrens story... but that's why there's fanfiction

For a small rec, St Margarets has a number of good stories, mind you they're all very heavy on fluffyness.

Magic Within, Magic Without can be found here:
http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=2329&chapno=1

This is so not DLP material considering content, but it is if you base it on quality...

Right, no more OT posting in this thread for me.

 

This story has a one-shot sequel (though it stands on it own too) from Dumbledore's POV that hasn't been mentioned here. I just found it just now looking through old HG fics on sugarquill - I can't believe I missed it before, considering its the sequel to one of my all time favorite fics.

As for the story itself, it is an all-time classic and probably the best canon compliant fic ever. I find it quite incredible that Ginny spent the better part of the year struggling against Voldemort's possession and there is so little fanfare made of the fact in either canon or fanfiction. This story really makes you feel the desperation of having your body controlled by a psychopath, and your mind trapped, completely helpless, unable to do anything. 10 year old Ginny's naivety and delusions in the first half of the story make you want to slap some sense into her and almost make Tom a sympathetic character for putting up with her whining. The second half first makes you admire Tom for his perfect manipulations, and then make you despise him, because fuck, nobody deserves that, not even such an annoying pre-teen girl.

I would vote this story for best Tom Riddle characterization (so many stories either whitewash him or make him comically evil), best characterization of a ten year old girl (so rarely do children act their age in fiction) and the creepiest and most terrifying experience in fanfiction. The last few chapters are truly a work of art. 5/5.

Now I'm off to read After the End by the same author. Its quite long, but if it is anywhere near as good as this, I'll consider my week well spent.

 

I never had the pleasure of coming across this fic before now, but I am immensely glad to have found it.

This is a perfect characterization of Riddle/Voldemort, and manages to take him from the almost comically evil character he appeared, and turn him into the horror of a person he really is. Arabella only enhances his character by crafting Ginny into such an innocent target for his manipulations. Ginny is a ten year old, and it shows. She is annoying, flighty, and most importantly, innocent. We are treated to the almost hideous spectacle of a sociopath systematically demolishing her innocence and self worth, and without first seeing her naïveté, the contrast wouldn't be nearly so evocative.

5/5