A tunnel, a diary and a memory.....

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 113831

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Brent" <spoonmerlin at y...> 
wrote:

Brent:
> Why would have had it for 50 years.  I would assume LV had it until 
> he lost at GH.  So Most likely LM only had it for 12 years or so.  
It 
> might have been part of a stash of stuff LV left in whatever 
hideout 
> he was using at the time.

Geoff:

Bu what does canon say.....

'"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry, his teeth 
gritted.
"Well, he certainly kept an annoying close watch on me after Hagrid 
was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to 
open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't 
going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided 
to /leave behind/ a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old in its 
pages so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in 
my footsteps and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."'

(COS "The Heir of Slytherin" p.230 UK edition) - my emphasis.