When Harry confronts Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle has almost developed into a corporeal form. Riddle steals Harry's wand and reveals that he is a preserved memory of Voldemort from before his rise to power: his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is an anagram of ‘I am Lord Voldemort’. He is also the heir of Slytherin; he tells Harry that he controlled Ginny through his diary and forced her to open the Chamber and attack Muggle-borns.
Riddle orders the Basilisk to kill Harry, speaking to it in Parseltongue.
Riddle thinks that the venom from the Basilisk fang in Harry's arm will kill him, but Harry is cured by Fawkes' tears. Harry uses the Basilisk fang to pierce Riddle's diary, causing ink to spurt out of it in torrents. After writhing, twisting, screaming and flailing in agony, Riddle vanishes.
According to Dumbledore, Riddle was one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts had ever seen. Few people connect Riddle with the adult Voldemort; by the time he resurfaced as the latter, he had undergone so many magical transformations that he no longer resembled the sixteen-year-old who opened the Chamber of Secrets.