YMMV / The Very Secret Diary

• Awesome Moments:
  • The entry on December 19th. When Ginny finally finds an inconsistency in Tom's story that he can't explain away. She bluntly calls Tom a liar, and when he tries his usual Terms of Endangerment shtick on her, she snaps, "My name is Ginny." Even though things really go to Hell shortly thereafter, it's impossible not to grin when Ginny begins to toughen up.
  • When it becomes clear Ginny's not going down without a fight.
    Ginny: Yes, Riddle.
    Tom: I called you yesterday. You were to slip away from your classmates and go to the first floor toilet. I suppose you did not have a chance?
    Ginny I had two chances.
    Pause
    Tom: What?
    Ginny: I had two chances.
    Tom: I am not blind, girl. What do you mean you had two chances?
    Ginny: I had two chances to slip away.
    Tom: And you did not take them?
    Ginny: No.
    Tom: You… you dare fight me… when you know that I control you, that I own you - when we are so close to the end of the school year and when the victims may wake at any time - you dare disobey?
    Ginny: Yes.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • After reaching the end of The Very Secret Diary , you can pick up Chamber of Secrets and follow Harry into the Chamber, and watch Harry utterly destroy that bastard Tom Riddle (Or even better, play the game and defeat ole Tommy himself). Then, when Harry takes Ginny up to Dumbledore's office, Ginny is comforted by her family and assured by Dumbledore that there will be no punishment.
  • The moment Ginny catches Tom in a lie and stops trusting him, as well as any moment Ginny gets one over on Tom, is sweet to enjoy, just because a little girl is making The Dark Lord squirm for a change.
  • Hell, read the next five Potter books and watch Ginny grow up into a loving, happy, and courageous young woman.
• Fridge Horror: Part of the reason this story works so well is because something along the lines of this must have happened in canon.
• Funny Moments:
  • Despite this being a very dark story, there are some moments of humor here and there. Tom's utter bafflement that Professor Binns is still teaching in particular is funny. You can practically see him thinking, "What."
  • This one is funny in a very dark way, but still — a couple readers have admitted to snickering when Ginny cheerfully tells Tom all about how Voldemort was defeated. By a baby. And how he was forced to share a body for over a year... and how even after that, he was defeated by three eleven-year-olds. "Greatest Dark wizard to ever live," eh, Tommy?
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: All of the things Ginny said about wanting to be closer to Harry becomes this when you realize what happens at the end of the series. Really, knowing what happens in Chamber of Secrets takes the edge of what's otherwise a Downer Ending, since you know Ginny will eventually be saved from her torment.
• Heartwarming Moments: Not in the fic proper, but the followup Disenchanted, linked to on the main page. Did this fic leave you wishing you could go to Ginny, console her after everything Tom put her through, and assure her that everything will be okay? Well, now you can see Dumbledore do just that. It's just a couple pages of Dumbledore talking to and comforting Ginny, assuring her that what she went through was not her fault. Reading that fic immediately after this one is a breath of fresh air.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: One of the students in Potions is named Helen Prince. This fic was written a few years before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so the name has no meaning yet.
• Mind Game Ship: The basis of Tom and Ginny's relationship, if you can call it that, is Tom manipulating her and molding her into the servant he needs. It's suggested that Ginny had a crush on him, but how true it is depends on how you view things.
• Moral Event Horizon: Riddle was already over the horizon, but when he starts making horrific threats to Ginny, and later torturing her with sleep-deprivation, you know you're supposed to hate him.
• Nightmare Fuel: The thing reads like an internet predator going after an eleven year old and slowly revealing himself to be a sadist. By the time Ginny figures out what's going on, there's nothing she can do.
• No Yay: The fic is dripping in horrifying implications for Tom/Ginny. Ginny appears to have a crush on him, and Tom seems to be exploiting it and outright encouraging her feelings for him. Ewww. Very much the intended reaction.
• Paranoia Fuel: Okay, so the fear of being possessed and forced to commit murder-via-Basilisk is a bit far-fetched. But the fear of befriending and growing to trust an unseen stranger, only to find out they're not who they said they were? You could be forgiven for looking at your internet friends sideways for a bit after reading this...
• Squick:
  • The hints that Ginny is falling for Tom, and Tom encouraging it. Quite a few of the scenes where he possesses her read almost like rape or molestation.
  • Tom's creepy flirting with Ginny is also nauseating to read. For example, he comments on her attractiveness and occasionally calls her pet names that are sexually charged or possessive, like "good girl" or "my sweet girl" - the worst part is that while those undertones are obvious to the reader, it is painfully easy to see how an 11-year-old would be incapable of comprehending how creepy it is and would, instead, feel special and close to this person and flattered by the attention.
• Tear Jerker: The final chapter is just gut-wrenching: Ginny is slowly Dying Alone in a horrible chamber. Her only company is Tom, who keeps mocking her over her failure and how he's going to hurt everyone she cares about. Ginny starts crying, begging for her mother, and begging Harry for forgiveness.

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