Trinity

Chapter 11

A week later, Harry was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom, adjusting the collar of his new duelling robes and making sure his Trinity symbol was securely fastened. Madam Malkin had sent an owl the previous day saying they were ready and Harry felt that was all the omen he needed to set up their trip to Little Hangleton. The robes were black and consisted of a black silk shirt, black dragonhide trousers with the black robe over the top. The robe fastened snugly over their stomach and chest to provide extra protection. Dragonhide gloves and boots finished off the outfit. All parts of the robes had been impregnated with protective spells and they'd tested them the previous evening. They would get a reasonable amount of protection against most of the lesser spells and at least some protection against the more powerful hexes.

"We look good," Ron said with a grin as he walked into the room, his Trinity symbol gleaming at his throat.

Harry looked over at his friend and grinned. For once Ron was wearing something that was tailored to him and him alone rather than being a hand-me-down or second-hand and he did look good in the new clothes.

"Yeah, we do," he said in reply, quite prepared to keep the light atmosphere going.

Ron stood beside him in front of the mirror and the two boys admired themselves. "We definitely look good."

"Would you two like to get a room?" Hermione said dryly as she walked in, pulling on her gloves and adjusting the Trinity symbol at her throat.

Harry and Ron turned to look at her and their eyes widened.

"Bloody hell," Ron said with a low whistle. "If we look good, you look great!"

Hermione blushed though a small, pleased smile lingered on her lips. "I don't think that's the point, Ron," she said almost primly. "Just as long as the robes work."

"Yeah, okay," Ron said innocently though his eyes still hadn't left Hermione.

Harry snickered and smacked Ron on the shoulder. "Concentrate, Ron," he said with amusement. "We've got work to do tonight."

Ron pulled himself together. "Yeah, right! Of course. How are we getting there?"

"We're portkeying to Little Hangleton," Harry explained, pulling an old mitten out of his pocket. "Kingsley organised the portkey for us. It'll land us on the other side of Little Hangleton to the manor and Gaunt's house and it'll portkey us back to the courtyard out the back of the Leaky Cauldron."

"Do we need to tell anyone we're going?" Hermione asked.

"They already know," Harry replied. "Remus and Mrs Weasley will be waiting for us."

The three teens stared at each other for a moment then Ron reached out and placed a finger on the mitten.

"Let's get this show on the road," he muttered.

Hermione nodded jerkily and also placed a finger on the mitten. Harry stared down for a moment, making sure within himself he wanted to commit them to this action then he looked up and said, "Trinity."

The three students felt the familiar fishhook-in-the-navel feeling of the portkey as they were pulled to their destination. They came to a crashing halt in a small copse and got to their feet. Harry tucked the mitten back into his robes and looked around to get his bearings. He found the small mark on the tree that Moody had said would indicate the direction they needed to take.

"This way," he said quietly to the others and they started walking.

They quickly found the trail that Moody had told them about and followed it as it circled the village of Little Hangleton. As they walked, the sun set and they finished their journey in the early evening gloom. Finally the trail came to an end as the woods they had been walking through also came to an end. Harry paused and surveyed what was in front of them. To their right and slightly behind them lay the village of Little Hangleton and directly in front of them, perhaps three hundred feet away, was the collection of trees that hid the remains of a small cottage. Harry looked beyond the cottage and saw the Riddle manor house looming black and intimidating through the gloom. He glanced around again but saw nothing moving. He pulled out his wand and gestured for Ron and Hermione to follow him. Their trip down to the cottage was trouble-free but they still walked very warily between the trees.

"Creepy looking place," Ron muttered as they got closer.

Harry looked the cottage over and compared it to what he remembered. The place had looked run down and decrepit in Bob Ogden's memory but looked even worse now. The roof was entirely bare of shingles and the windows were all empty of glass. The nettles had all but over taken the walls and the moss looked grimy and dank.

"Only looked a bit better in Ogden's memory," Harry muttered back.

"And people actually lived here," Hermione asked as they used magic to clear the nettles away from the door.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "If you want to call it living."

"What is that?" Hermione said with disgust, pointing at the door.

Harry and Ron leaned forward then Ron recoiled back making a disgusted noise at the sight of the snakeskin and bones that hung from a nail on the door.

"Merope's brother, Morfin, did that," Harry explained grimly as he pushed the door open, avoiding the grisly decoration. "He wasn't exactly what you'd call sane. Neither was his father for that matter."

Ron grunted as they walked into the ruin of a house and the three of them used the Lumos spell to light their way. The inside was a mess; wrecked furniture combined with a thick layer of dirt and grime obscured most details. The stove had been overturned at some point and coal lay spilled onto the floor. It also looked like the fire had overrun the fireplace at some point. It was blackened and burned along with much of the wall around and above the fireplace. They picked their way through the mess until they stood in the middle of the house.

"What a mess," Ron said with a grimace.

"It can't always have been like this," Hermione said, sounding unconvinced.

"It was cleaner when Marvolo Gaunt and his children lived here but not by much," Harry said with distaste. "The furniture was intact anyway."

"So what are we looking for?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Let's just look around."

Ron and Hermione nodded and the three friends split up. Harry stayed in the main room while Ron went through the door that led to the single bedroom and Hermione went through the door that led to the tatty bathroom. Harry looked around the ruined room for a moment then stepped over the remains of the furniture until he got to the blackened fireplace. He crouched down beside it and played the light from his wand over the bricks. He sifted through the soot and charred pieces of wood for a moment then brushed his hand off on his robes and stood. He was just picking his way over to the kitchen area when he heard Ron's yell from the bedrooms.

He leapt over pieces of wrecked furniture as he ran towards the bedroom, just avoiding running into Hermione when she darted out of the bathroom. Hermione came to a teetering stop and allowed Harry to go first. Harry ran into the bedroom and found Ron standing backed up against one wall, the light from his wand trained onto the floor.

"Ron! What wrong?" Harry gasped.

Ron beckoned him over. "That thing damned nearly took my hand off!" he said with indignation.

Harry walked around the two sagging and dust-ridden beds and looked down on the floor. Curled up in the corner of the room and hissing savagely was a small black adder. Harry blinked down at it then the hissing began to make sense.

"Stay away, nasty, nasty, stay away, leave me, leave me," the little snake was hissing over and over again, its tongue flickered out constantly to taste the air.

"Shh, it's alright. No one is going to hurt you," Harry hissed back in Parseltongue.

The snake curled around again then looked up at Harry. That was when the light from his and Ron's wands reflected off the snake's white eyes and Harry realised the little snake must be very old to have actually gone blind.

"You speak?" the snake hissed querulously.

"Yes," Harry replied patiently.

"You stay?" Harry could plainly hear the loneliness in the snake's plaintive hiss.

Harry paused. "No, we cannot stay. Perhaps you could come with us. You would be warm and well-fed."

The little snake hissed nervously and its head waved back and forth indecisively for a while then it steadied. "Take me. Hungry. Cold."

Harry stepped forward carefully and reached out to the snake.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"It's alright," Harry replied as he crouched down next to the snake. "He's just lonely...and cold and hungry. And frightened. He's blind, I think."

"I am about to pick you up," Harry hissed gently. "Do not be afraid."

He gently picked up the little snake and allowed it to wind around his hand and wrist, smiling slightly at the tickle of the snake's flickering tongue. He then walked over and joined his friends. In the light from all three wands they could see that the adder's black scales glistened with green and yellow highlights and the contrast with its blind white eyes was marked.

"It's very pretty," said Hermione, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself.

Ron gave her a look of disbelief. "How has it survived?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "I'll ask."

He held the snake up a bit and caressed it with his thumb. "How have you survived here alone, little one?"

The snake hissed in pleasure and leaned into his caresses. "The big one comes here. She brings food but not often."

Harry frowned then his eyes widened. "Does the big one have a name?"

"Nagini," the little adder hissed contentedly.

"Merlin!" Harry breathed. "Nagini comes here. She brings him food." He turned and hissed to the little snake, "When was she last here?"

"Long time," the snake said grumpily. "Many suns."

"But she hasn't been here for a while," Harry continued to Ron and Hermione.

"Do you think Nagini's nearby?" Ron asked.

The three of them turned and looked out the window, where they could see the vague hulk of the manor house against the starry sky.

"Didn't Moody say the house was empty?" Hermione objected.

"That was two years ago," Harry replied.

"But didn't he also say that the Aurors checked here after Scrimgeour became Minister?" Hermione continued.

"And that was a year ago," Ron said. "I suppose he could have moved back in since then. Should we check?"

Hermione looked like she was about to object when Harry shook his head.

"No, we're not ready," Harry said firmly. "We need to destroy the Horcruxes before we confront Voldemort."

Ron nodded and Hermione looked relieved. "What do you want to do now?" she asked a little shakily.

Harry opened his mouth to answer then he looked down at the little snake curiously.

"Did you belong to Morfin?" he hissed.

"Master Morfin," the snake hissed with distaste. "Don't like."

Harry gave a wry grin. "He wasn't very nice."

"No, not nice. Nasty, nasty," the snake hissed. "Mean."

"What's your name, little one?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Master Morfin called me Snake," the adder hissed in reply. "I don't like that name. I am more than Snake."

Harry gave a small laugh. "It isn't very original." He tilted his head back in thought for a moment. "How about Asmodeus?"

The little snake hissed and swayed from side to side. "Asssmodeussss," it hissed, drawing the sibilants out happily. "Yes!"

Harry chuckled as the newly named Asmodeus curled himself comfortably around his wrist.

"Asmodeus? Has there been anyone else here like me since Master Morfin left?" he asked carefully, unsure of how much the elderly and blind snake actually understood.

"Master Marvolo was here," Asmodeus hissed contentedly.

"And after him?" Harry hissed patiently.

Asmodeus hissed lightly as he considered the question. "Two before you," he hissed, sounding pleased with himself. "A speaker and an man with white hair."

Harry frowned as he thought that through then his eyes widened. A speaker and a man with white hair - surely that meant Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"What did the speaker do?" he asked.

"Searched," Asmodeus replied. "Searched then left. Then he came back and laughed."

"Was that all?" Harry asked, trying not to get frustrated with the snake.

"Left something," Asmodeus hissed, shifting around Harry's wrist. "I went and looked. Nasty, nasty. Not food. Round and cold. Black and gold." Once again the snake sounded pleased with itself.

"And the man with white hair?" Harry asked.

"He came and found. Took the nasty, nasty with him. Good," Asmodeus replied.

Harry gently stroked the snake's head. "Thank you, Asmodeus. You've been very helpful. I will take you somewhere warm and you will be fed well."

Asmodeus hissed lazily. "Good. Warm. Food. Good...Name?" The voice became slightly querulous at the end.

"Harry. My name is Harry."

"Good Harry," Asmodeus hissed before curling himself around Harry's wrist and tucking his head amongst his own coils.

Harry looked up at his friends. "If I've understood Asmodeus correctly, this is where Voldemort found his grandfather's ring. He took it then came back and hid it here. Dumbledore found it and took it with him."

"Asmodeus?" Hermione said dubiously.

"He wanted a name," Harry replied. "It sounded like a good one and he seems to like it."

Hermione shook her head and looked around. "Do we need to stay here any longer? It's really creepy."

"I don't think there's anything left here to find," Harry said. "Let's go."

"Is...Asmodeus coming with us?" Ron asked, looking at Harry with surprise.

"I promised him I'd take him somewhere warm and where he'd be well-fed," Harry replied. "I think he deserves that much. It can't have been easy putting up with Morfin and Marvolo and then being left here all alone." He rolled his eyes at Ron's expression. "He's old, Ron, and blind. I'm not even sure he'd have any venom left. He's harmless...and lonely."

Ron muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Parselmouths" and led them out of the bedroom. They picked their way through the wreckage of the living room and walked out the door.

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Severus Snape drew his cloak around him more tightly and walked along the path that led away from Riddle Manor. He'd brought another potion that would appear to treat Nagini while hurrying her along the path to death. A flash of light caught his eye and his head turned sharply to find it. There were lights in the ruined house on the other hilltop. He stopped and stared at the lights for a moment then veered off the path, heading directly across the fields.

He came to the house just in time to see three figures leave and in the light from their wands he could see exactly who it was. Potter, Weasley and Granger. Just as he identified them, Potter stopped and stiffened, glancing around suspiciously.

"Harry?" he heard Granger say softly.

"Asmodeus says there's someone else here," Potter replied pushing them into the shadows of the ruined house and dousing the light from his wand.

Severus ducked into the shadows of a nearby tree as Granger and Weasley followed Potter's lead.

"Are you sure?" he heard Weasley whisper. "You did say the snake is old. Maybe it's senile too?"

Severus frowned. Snake?

"Ron, he's blind," Potter said quietly but firmly. "If there's one thing we can trust it's Asmodeus' sense of smell." Severus heard a sharp intake of breath from the boy and a low hissing noise. "He says he smells mandrake and nightshade and belladonna."

"Snape!" Ron hissed angrily and Severus moved a bit further around the tree away from the three teens.

"Harry!" That was Granger, sounding alarmed and almost frightened.

"He's here, Hermione." Severus closed his eyes and actually shivered at the rage and fury in Potter's quiet voice. "The murdering coward is here." Anger flared momentarily before Severus shoved it very firmly down.

"Harry, we're not ready," Granger said frantically, obviously groping for some reason to stop the boy.

Listen to the girl, Potter, Severus thought as calmly as he could. This is not the time or place to do this. If I have my way, we will not face each other until Albus can stand between us.

It was not fear that prompted Severus' thoughts; he did not fear Potter. He was wary of Potter's power and what he might do with it. Severus had no desire to die just yet and he knew that the boy was angry with him for what, if it were true, would be a very good reason. And that, he supposed, was the real answer. He knew Potter had power enough to kill him. He'd had the upper hand during that rolling fight as he and Draco fled Hogwarts. Potter had been distraught and that made his reactions slow enough for Severus to counter his attempts. He did not think Potter was aware of how much power he had been putting into his spells. He had worked hard to stop the boy's every attempt to cast a spell, knowing that with that much power behind them, he'd have been hard pressed to counter every one of them once cast.

And he'd succeeded though he'd been forced to attack the boy quite hard in the end, faking his anger at the use of his own spells, letting himself think it was James Potter using those spells to manufacture enough rage. In truth, the boy's name calling had jarred him. No one, not even Albus, knew how hard it had been for him to cast that Killing Curse. To strike down even a simulacrum of the man he thought of as a father. And he'd let something slip that he had not intended. His pride at the name he had called himself. His pride at being the Half-Blood Prince. Not even Voldemort knew who the Half-Blood Prince was and he'd made several attempts to find out.

"Mate, you said you didn't want to get involved in anything too deep just yet." That was Weasley's voice, reluctantly trying to turn back his friend.

"He's just one man," Potter ground out through what sounded like clenched teeth.

"But if your suspicions are right and Voldemort is using the manor house then he'd be close enough to hear it if we got into a fight with Snape," Granger said with desperate logic. "You said it yourself, we're not ready to face Voldemort. We need to destroy the Horcruxes and we might just get badly hurt if we try facing him now."

Severus could almost feel the rage flowing out from Potter. Then the feeling of rage suddenly ceased and he heard an inarticulate sound, something between a cry of fury, a howl of anguish and a choked laugh. It could only have come from Potter's throat.

"Run and hide, Snivellus!" came the frustrated cry from Potter and his anger flared momentarily at the old nickname. "One of these days it'll be the right time and you'll pay for what you've done!"

"Harry, come on!" It was Granger again and Severus risked looking out from behind his tree.

Potter was standing away from the house, clearly silhouetted against the starry night sky and Severus could tell from the boy's stance that this was deliberate. Potter was trying to provoke him into an attack. Granger and Weasley were still standing hidden in the shadows of the house though he could see one arm stretched out and thought it must belong to the girl. As he watched Potter stared into the dark then he turned and gestured sharply, angrily, to his companions, pulling something out of his robes. The two teens crept warily out from the shadows and each stretched out a hand towards Potter's hand.

As Severus watched, Potter looked around once more then he swore he heard the boy growl in frustration. Then he definitely heard Potter say, "Trinity" and the three teens disappeared.

Severus stepped out from behind his tree and stared at where the students had been standing. So they had worked out where the Dark Lord was hiding. He wondered how they'd come to that conclusion. He also wondered what they had been doing here. Obviously there was something about a snake but he couldn't imagine even a Parselmouth like Potter coming all this way for a snake. He shook his head, Albus would need to know about this, perhaps he would have some answers. With that final thought Severus apparated away.