I know Riddle was the only one who could "use" the Chamber of Secrets, being Slytherin's heir and all, but how did he even know to go looking for it (ie that it even existed)? Is it mentioned in Hogwarts: A History? I can't remember Hermoine finding anything about it in the library or anywhere else (as she evntually had to ask Prof. Binns (or Prof McGonigal in the films - I guess they couldn't be bothered with the CG to create Binns at that time), and surely it would have raised suspicion if young Riddle went around asking about it (especially as it had not ever been opened before his time at Hogwarts)?

(I am sure once he knew about it j he would have worked out pretty quickly how to open it etc, but parseltoungue doesn't explain how he knew it existed. Did Gaunt Jnr tell him? was it documented elsewhere?

Would love to hear your ideas.. even if it is just that I have missed something obvious

Well I would jut like to add about [yo]ur part that hermione couldnt find anything in the library or hogwarts:a history is because everyone else had taken it out of the library to read about the chamber of secrets and she had left her copy at home, and she can forget some things from that book.

Mod Edit: Netspeak is not allowed, it doesn't take that long to type in two extra letters.

THanks.. yeah, I remember that she had left her copy at home, and that soe couldn't find any info about it in any other books in the library.. from memory it wasn't mentioned in any other books... which is why she had to ask Binns..

DD explained this in CoS, I think. Once Riddle found out he was a wizard, and got to Hogwarts, he was interested in finding out all he could about his ancestry. This would be natural for a boy who grew up without parents. He already knew that he could talk to snakes, and once he found out that Salazar Slytherin had this gift too, he became even more determined to find out about his background. He eventually discovered he was the heir of Slytherin, then investigated the whole Chamber thing.

Why he knew about the CoS?
The most likely answer is, in my opinion, that he read about it in Hogwarts: a history, because he was so interested in Hogwarts (because it was much more to him than a school), that he wanted to find out everything.
But as we know, all his teachers loved him (except for DD) so maybe one of them (what about Slughorn?) told him about the mystery of the secret chamber which was built by Slytherin?

Yes, and Lord voldemort also liked to collect things of special meaning, so i think he tried to find out what SS had and he found the COS. it had to be in some newspapers right? The Daily Prophit must have reported the Muggle borns were dying at Hoigwarts so their had to be some record of it.

Well like all the others said he was a boy who grew up with nothing so he wanted his magical world to be his, his advantage. He looked in H:AH, and most likely looked it up and knew he could speak snake.

I dont think that the Chamber of Secrets was in Hogwarts, A History... Hermione couldnt find it and they were forced to fall back on Professor Binns for the information. I think before he went to look for the Chamber of Secrets he had to have found out he was the Heir of Salazar Slytherin... otherwise what would the point of opening the Chamber be... I think that the Sorting Hat told him he was the Heir of Slytherin... for who better than the Hat to tell him that he is Salazar's ancestor.... he knew him!! Perhaps Slughorn told him about the Chamber.....

~Albus

Since I reread CoS just a few days ago, I may correct my previous post.
Tom himself says that he heard the legend when he went to school. We don't get to know if he looked it up in Hogwarts: A History or if he asked one of his teachers about it to get more information, but I think this is very likely.

To Albus Dumbledore: Hermione didn't take her book with her (because it wouldn't fit into her trunk with all the Lockhart-books) and all the copies of Hogwarts: A History had been taken out. That's why she had to ask Professor Binns.
But you're right, Tom Riddle must've known that he was Slytherin's heir, or he wouldn't have been searching for the CoS. Maybe the Sorting Hat told him or he found out himself. He was a parselmouth and he felt like something special in the orphanage. Thus he must've realized that he was more talented than others in Hogwarts and he may have thought that this was a sign of having a very powerful ancestor or something like that. His arrogance likely supported these thoughts.

Thanks DoubleD... the last time I read Chamber of Secrets was two days before Book Six came out... because of the plot similarities that we were told of... owell.. thanks for clearing that up..!

~Albus

This might seem odd, but I think that Riddle found out by someone telling him. I read the sixth book, and Slughorn told him about horcruxes. He could also have asked about the Chamber of Secrets, and then he knew about it. It is a possibility.

I dont think he knew about it. I think that he was just so facinated and excited to be at Hogwarts, that he explored the castle looking for anything he could find. Almost like fred and george, and while he was exploring the castle somehow he found the chamber, and Riddle being as "popular" as he was was probually able to coax infromation about the chamber out of some of his teachers...perphaps Slughorn?

I think I know the answer to that, but at the moment this iz only assumption. I think because he was Slytherin's heir and he could speak parsltongue he talked to the basilisk while he was in skool and gleened from it the location to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

If you find yourself asking, "But why would the basilisk listen to Riddle?" Then you aren't paying attention. That reason would be that Slytherin left the Chamber and the basilisk to his heir to control. So the basilisk recognising and speaking parsltongue followed Riddles orders.

Yes, but Harry could speak parseltounge to, and The basilsk didnt tell him to come and opent he chamber, or tell him what is was...he had to ask the teachers for more inforamtion. So why would the basilsik only respond to parseltounge from riddle.

Wait.. I just thought of something. How old was Voldemort when he opened the CoS? I know it was in Hagrid's third year.. and I *think* Voldemort was 16 at the time. Now, also when Tom was 16 (during the summer holidays), he went to the Riddle house. I don't know when his birthday is meant to be.. but he would have turned 16 at some point during his fifth year, and turned 17 during his sixth year.

Is there, then, any chance that Tom opened the CoS after he'd visited the Riddle house, and met Morfin? Just a thought.. but I don't think Tom would've ignored the opportunity to grill Morfin about his heritage (before he used the memory charm on him), so perhaps that's how Tom found out about the CoS?

By his own account, Tom Riddle opened the Chamber in his fifth year. The year between his fifth and sixth (he would still be 16) he visited his Uncle. Even if there was information in Hogwarts, A History it would have been very scant. Binns stated that it was a legend not grounded in fact and scores of headmasters and headmistresses had searched in vain for it.
Perhaps Tom had help from outside Hogwarts, a "dark" mentor who pointed him in the right direction.

Exactly. He did that in his fifth year, but most likely would have heard about the chamber from the rumour mills as soon as he joined Hogwarts, considering that he was in Slytherin house. It took him five years to finally locate the chamber. Dumbledore told Harry that as a student Tom penetrated more secrets of Hogwarts than any other student and it is possible that as soon as he heard about the chamber he would have started looking for it and ended up finally locating it in his fifth year. He may have searched many places before stumbling across the bathroom entrance

interesting question! maybe that is another one of slytherine's magic. maybe the knowledge flows in the genes at birth, so riddle knew about it probably after straining about it or after hearing about it for the first time. it was already deep inside his mind.

J.K. Rowling said one time that Harrys grandparents were dead because they had to be dead for the plot, nothing special, they just had to be killed off. I think its one of those things with Riddle finding the Chamber.

What's really strange is that he found it in a girls' bathroom of all places! If I were to search the school for the entrance, I don't think I'd even consider Moaning Myrtle's bathroom! Weird.

I'm sure that he found something about it in his studies of Salazar Slytherin, then after finding out about his ancestry, began to search for it. Didn't Riddle say so to Harry when they were in the Chamber? In Chapter 17, Pg. 312 he said "It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance..."

So my guess is that he, after finding out about his ancestry, heard rumors or read something about it, then began his search, finally finding it in his fifth year.

Why couldn't anyone else find it? If the castle had been searched by several people, why didn't anyone else find it? I'm still puzzled by his search leading him to a girls' bathroom. Doesn't anyone else find that odd?