The Book of Morgan Le Fey

Chapter Thirty: Whereabouts

Ron entered the Room of Requirement to find it empty; it was configured in the fashion it had been back in fifth year, for the secret D.A. meetings. Books lined the shelves.

Something about the emptiness of the room struck him, and he pulled his wand from his robes. There was no one else in the room, and yet it was as if the air itself was pulsating with...something.

Ron glanced over at the bookshelves, and saw everything neatly stored and stacked there. Except for one book, which was out and resting on a nearby console table. The book was shut.

Ron walked slowly over to the book, his eyes scanning the room as he went. As he drew nearer to the book, he heard it. Whispering. He whirled round, pointing his wand out.

'Who's there?' he snapped, and his voice was so loud it echoed in his ears. The whispers went on. Ron couldn't understand what they were saying; perhaps the Hogwarts' ghosts were playing a trick on him, trying to scare him. He scowled and chose to ignore them.

He turned back to the book and walked slowly toward it, compelled by some unseen force to look at it. The whispers grew louder with each step he took toward the book.

At last his eyes came to rest on the book. And then he heard something else. A faint humming. It was coming from the book.

He reached out a hand and made to touch the book, but as his hand drew nearer, the book began to vibrate. He pulled his hand away sharply.

'Blimey,' he heard himself whisper, and yet his voice echoed as though he'd shouted.

The whispers intensified, and he caught two words: Fata Morgana...

Latin, he thought. Or Greek, maybe? He never could really tell the difference. But it was an old language. A dead language. He wasn't sure how he knew this, but he did. The book was still humming and vibrating.

Apertum...apertum...

Open. Somehow, Ron knew what the Latin or Greek or whatever it was word meant. He didn't know if he wanted to open it. But he couldn't stop himself; his hand, as though of its own will, reached out for the book again. As it hovered above the book the whispers became loud and jumbled, but he still heard one word: Apertum.

He lowered his hand to the cover of the book, and the whispering became one long hiss. He didn't want to open the book, but he couldn't stop himself. He pulled back the cover...

Light flashed in his eyes and suddenly he was face to face with Luna Lovegood.

'You should not have done that, Ronald,' she said, but her voice was not hers, and her blue eyes were dark, almost black, and they glittered with malice.

Ron backed away, shaking his head; he tried to speak but he couldn't. His wand was in his hand but it was useless to him. The room began to shift and change and Ron stumbled, and then he heard a banging noise. He stumbled again and looked up to see Dobby the house elf smacking his head against the side of the bookshelf, muttering 'bad Dobby!' to himself all the while. His head bounced off the wooden shelf, back and forth.

Knock...knock...knock...

Ron blinked and opened his eyes.

Knock knock knock.

Someone was knocking on the door. He sat up slowly, getting his bearings. He was in his room. Hermione was fast asleep next to him, curled up tightly. Ron shook his head to clear it and pulled open the drapes of his four poster. It was just before dawn. All the other beds' curtains were pulled shut.

He shook his head again, trying to remember the bizarre dream. Something about him being in the Room of Requirement, and Luna. He'd seen Luna. She's scolded him about something.

Knock, knock.

'Coming,' Ron called, as quietly as he could. He pulled on his pyjama shirt and padded to the door, opening it.

'H-hi,' said a small voice.

Ron looked down and saw Lizzie Towler looking up at him fearfully. He'd promised he would walk her to Bill's office.

'Hey,' he said. 'You shouldn't really be up here, you know.' He was exhausted but somehow he managed not to make it sound like he was really rebuking her.

'I know,' she said, her lower lip trembling. 'But I couldn't sleep. Can we--'

'Sure, sure,' said Ron, forcing his eyes to fully focus. 'Just give me a second...'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron dropped Lizzie off at Bill's office twenty minutes later. They'd been escorted the whole way there and back by an Auror, a young witch who walked with slight limp but whose expression betrayed nothing of the horrors she'd lived through. She held herself with an almost military discipline.

Ron came back to the common room, again accompanied by the Auror--who revealed when he asked her that her name was Alexa Webberly. Somehow, learning her name had been very important to him. He never wanted to take for granted the people who were risking their lives to guard the school.

He entered the dormitory to find it as quiet as when he'd left it. The sun was starting to appear on the horizon. Ron decided he'd try and get a little more sleep before facing the day.

He gently pulled back the curtains of his four poster to find Hermione sitting up in bed. She was crying.

'Wha--?' he began. He quickly pulled his curtains shut as he climbed onto the bed.

She looked up at him with her tear-stained face. Ron sat down quickly beside her.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

Her response was to smack him on the shoulder, hard.

'Ow!' Ron hissed. 'What was that for--'

'Ron Weasley, don't you ever do that again!' she hissed back.

'Do what?' he asked, flabbergasted, as he rubbed at his sore shoulder.

'Leave without telling me,' she said. 'I woke up and you weren't here and I looked everywhere up here for you and I went back to my room and you weren't there and--and I checked the common room and I couldn't find you--and when I tried to go out there was only one Auror and he wouldn't leave his post and come with me to look for you...'

'Hermione, I just went to Bill's office,' said Ron quickly. 'To drop off that little girl, Lizzie. Remember? I told her I'd take her to see Bill so she could use his fireplace.'

'At five o'clock in the morning?' said Hermione tearfully.

'Yeah, well, it was a bit earlier than I would have liked,' said Ron, shaking his head. 'But that's when she showed up here, banging on the door. Hermione, I'm fine. I was escorted the whole way there and back by an Auror. I had my wand. Everything's okay.' He put an arm round her and pulled her close.

She nodded and looked up at him, her face sheepish.

'I'm sorry,' she sniffed. 'I shouldn't have lost my head like that. Everything was so awful yesterday and I suppose I just overreacted...'

'It's okay,' said Ron, and he kissed her on the forehead. 'It's nice, actually. Knowing that my girl is all worried over me.'

She gave him a gentle shove and wiped her eyes. 'Nice for you, maybe.' Then she put her arms round him and sank against him, and they held each other for a few minutes, without speaking.

'Ron,' she said at last, 'I know...I know it's mother hen-ish of me but...but will you promise to always tell me where you're going, at least for a while?'

Ron looked down at her. 'Yeah,' he said. 'But you have to do the same for me.'

'Okay,' she said. They moved beneath the covers, wrapped up in each other, and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, they awoke again, with sunlight pouring into the room. Ron blinked and pulled back his bed curtains and looked outside. The day was glorious: a bright blue sky with only the occasional white, fluffy cloud. Everything was in bloom. The lake shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight.

The irony of the beautiful weather struck Ron hard. The school was in mourning, and everyone was trapped indoors, as this bright, beautiful day beckoned everyone out. After just a minute of gazing out the window, Ron remembered Sirius, and wondered what it must have been like for him, to be stuck in a house he hated, without even the benefit of stepping outdoors for a few minutes.

Gradually, the sixth-year boys' dormitory awoke in full. Lavender, Susan and Hermione all left together to go and change; Hermione announced that Susan could borrow something of hers to wear until she had a chance to get back to Hufflepuff. With security so tight it would be difficult to get an Auror to escort Susan back to her own house.

Ron washed and brushed his teeth. As he was splashing water on his face he felt it: stubble.

He came back into the bedroom to pull on jeans and a t-shirt (no need for uniforms today, not if they were all going to be helping out in the hospital wing or cleaning up the mess just inside the entrance hall). Harry was up and his whole body was crackling with energy.

'Hey,' he said, lacing up his shoes.

Ron looked at him for a moment and felt unease begin in the pit of his stomach.

'Hey,' he said back.

'Sleep okay?' said Harry.

'Okay, I guess,' said Ron, and he thought about his dream, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing to bring up at the moment.

'Me, too,' said Harry. 'I thought Voldemort might try to get into me but he didn't.'

'That's good, isn't it?' said Ron.

'No, it's not,' said Harry.

'Harry, why aren't you dressed?'

'I have to go after him,' said Harry. 'Today.'

'No,' said Ron at once.

'Ron, I HAVE to,' said Harry. 'It's the only way. If he's not getting in my head it means he doesn't want me to know what's happening. At least not yet--not until it's too late.'

'Shit, Harry,' said Ron. 'I don't like that at all.'

'I don't either,' said Harry sharply, then he took a deep breath. 'Sorry. But Ron, even though he didn't get inside my head last night, I can't help but feel that things are happening, wherever he is. Bill was right--Voldemort can't get what he wants from that book in a day, but he's working on it right now. I know it. I have to find out where he is and where he's got Luna. And I wanna know about Snape and Malfoy. We don't have much time.'

Ron shook his head. 'You shouldn't do this without someone there to keep an eye on you.'

Harry shook his head back. 'I can't connect as well if I'm under surveillance.'

'Harry--'

'Ron, please,' said Harry desperately. 'Don't you see? He attacked the Ministry and then he attacked Hogwarts and made this huge mess so he could buy himself some time. That means that whatever poison he's planning to make must require some time to, I dunno, develop. But if I don't find out where he is soon he'll have what he needs, and it'll all be for nothing.'

Ron started to speak, then stopped, and looked down. Harry was right. All the violence that had happened in the past several days, all the people who'd died or been hurt...if they couldn't find Voldemort in time, and stop him, all the people who'd fought so hard against his Death Eaters would have died for no reason at all. It was a lousy choice: Harry, or the whole damn world.

'Okay,' said Ron. 'What can I do?'

'You're going to the hospital wing, right?'

'Yeah,' said Ron. 'Figure I'll just keep doing what we started yesterday.'

'Okay,' said Harry. 'Tell anyone who asks that I'm not feeling well and that I'm sleeping.'

'Not everyone is going to buy that, Harry, and you know it,' said Ron at once. 'Hermione--'

'You have to convince her, Ron,' said Harry desperately. 'Tell her that I'm really worn out because of my scar hurting yesterday. Tell her I got some potion from Pomfrey to help with the pain and that I took it and I'm sleeping it off.'

Ron closed his eyes. 'I hate lying to Hermione.'

'I wouldn't ask if I didn't--'

'I know.' Ron ran a hand through his hair. 'I'll do it.'

Harry let out a breath. 'Thanks. And Bill, tell Bill--'

'Yeah,' said Ron, holding up his hands. 'Just...bloody hell, Harry. Be careful, okay?' He paused. 'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this.'

'You're a damn good mate, you know that?' said Harry, grinning weakly.

'Now you're just trying to butter me up,' said Ron, rolling his eyes.

'That's a disturbing mental image,' said Harry, and Ron swatted him on the back of the head. They laughed.

And then there was a long silence.

'I'd better get downstairs,' Ron said finally. 'You want me to bring you some breakfast? Maybe you should eat something.'

'I've got some leftover Honeydukes stuff,' said Harry.

'That's healthy,' said Ron.

'This from a bloke who eats his weight in chocolate,' said Harry. They laughed, and then there was another silence. Ron stood and crossed to the door. He put his hand on the knob and stopped. He didn't want to leave. He was scared to leave Harry alone.

'I'll be okay, Ron,' said Harry. Ron swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to look at the boy who'd become his sixth brother.

'You'd better be,' he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione was indeed dubious when, at breakfast, Ron told her the story about Harry, and as they left the Great Hall, she pressed him on it. But Ron held firm, and she backed down. Not because Ron's story was all that convincing, but because by then they had entered the hospital wing, and there were other things to do and think about.

The first thing Ron noticed was that the corner of the room that had been closed off--the corner of the room that held the bodies of the dead--had been emptied sometime in the night. He swallowed. Somehow, the absence of those bodies gave their deaths a finality that seeing them had not. He wondered briefly what Vicky Frobisher's parents must be feeling, and then shut his eyes and tried to think of something else.

Neville had arrived ahead of them. He was in a far corner of the wing, sitting quietly over a cauldron that was simmering gently over a blue flame. Next to him, perched on a table, were several plants, fungi, and powders.

He looked up and waved, then went right back to his cauldron, stirring whatever was inside it with a large silver ladle. Neville looked like almost an entirely different person right then; confident and patient and not at all nervous. Ron was surprised--Neville had never been good at Potions, but there he was, brewing something, and looking quite in command of the whole procedure. Ron watched as Neville reached up, snapped two leaves off a spiny looking plant, and crumbled them into the cauldron.

'Weasley.'

Pomfrey's voice brought him back to reality.

'Yeah?' he said. 'Er, I mean, yes?'

'We've got some students who could stand to have their wounds cleaned and re-dressed,' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Can you and Miss Patil handle that?'

She was holding more bandages and salve. Padma Patil was standing behind her, looking exhausted.

'Sure,' said Ron, and he glanced at Padma, who nodded.

'Very good,' said Madam Pomfrey, and she handed Ron the bandages and salve. She turned to Hermione, Susan, and Ginny.

'Girls, I could use your assistance in brewing some Blood Replenishing Potion,' she said, and without another word, she headed off in the direction of her office.

'See you later, Ron,' said Hermione, and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

''Bye, love,' Ron said, as she hurried off. He turned to Padma, who blushed.

'You...you're quite happy with her, aren't you?' she said.

'Oh,' said Ron, and he blushed, too. 'Well, yeah. I am.'

They started toward the other end of the wing to set up their 'nurse's station.'

'You kept staring at her at the Yule Ball, you know,' said Padma, and her lips curled into a small smile.

Ron blushed even deeper. 'Is that right?'

'Yep,' said Padma. 'I'll bet you can't even remember what color robes I was wearing.'

'I can,' said Ron at once, but of course he couldn't. He decided to try, anyway. 'Uh, purple, right?'

Padma giggled and shook her head. 'Turquoise.'

'Right,' said Ron. 'I knew that.' He paused. 'You know, Padma, I...I'm sorry I was a bad date.'

'It's okay,' she said, as they began to spread out their bandages and salve. 'I wasn't all that nice to you, either.'

'That's okay,' said Ron, as he stacked up extra bandages. 'Uh, how's Parvati doing?'

'Parvati's going to be okay,' said Padma, and her voice shook slightly, but she sounded cheerful all the same. 'I stayed with her all night, and she finally woke up early this morning. That's why I look like death warmed over. She's got a few broken ribs. Madam Pomfrey still isn't sure what they hit her with, but...but she's going to be okay.'

'That's good,' said Ron. He started to say something else, but then students began to show up, and he became busy with cleaning and redressing wounds. Ernie MacMillan appeared and Ron was given the unpleasant task of cleaning the gash on his foot. The Hufflepuff prefect had his arm in a sling.

'Bones grow back, Ernie?' Ron said, trying not to hold his nose as he dabbed Wembly Wimbledon's Wound Repair on Ernie's foot.

'Just about,' said Ernie. 'Potter was right. Skele-Gro is foul, and it hurts like bloody hell.'

'I can imagine,' said Ron, as he wrapped Ernie's foot in fresh gauze.

'Hey, where is Potter, anyway?' said Ernie, looking around.

'Not feeling good,' said Ron, in a voice that clearly indicated that was all he was going to say. Ernie, for all his pomposity, seemed to get the hint. A few minutes later he hobbled away and Ron took a few deep breaths, trying to get the smell of Ernie's foot out of his olfactory memory.

It went on for another few hours, and Ron fell into it fairly easily. But at the back of his mind was a buzzing that wouldn't go away. Even as he cleaned yet another wound and wrapped it in clean gauze, he wondered about Harry. He was alone in Gryffindor tower, so far as Ron knew. If something went wrong, nobody would hear Harry if he tried to call for help.

Another hour passed and Ron felt his nerves stretch to the breaking point. It was taking way too long. Harry should have finished whatever he was doing by now. Something was wrong.

I should at least check on him, Ron thought, and when there was a lull in his activities, he stood up.

At that moment, Harry walked into the hospital wing. His eyes met Ron's.

'Ron?' said Padma, looking up from tending to Stuart Ackerley. 'What's the matter?'

'Nothing,' said Ron. 'Just going to have a stretch. I'll be right back. Are you okay here?'

'I'm fine,' she said.

'Good,' said Ron, still looking at Harry, whose eyes were bright. 'I'll be right back.'

He met Harry halfway, and was about to ask him what he'd seen, when Pomfrey interrupted them.

'Ah, you're up and about, Potter,' she said. 'Feeling better?'

'Yes'm,' he said quickly. 'I can help out if you like.'

'Why don't you go with Mr. Weasley, then,' Pomfrey said, waving her hand.

Harry nodded without looking at her, and he and Ron moved back toward the back end of the hospital wing. They stopped several feet away from where Padma was re-organizing bandages.

'Tell me,' Ron demanded. 'Tell me you're normal Harry and you haven't gone barking or something.'

'I'm fine,' said Harry, but his eyes were so bright and glittering he looked almost feverish. 'I did it.'

Ron's jaw dropped. 'What?' He couldn't believe it.

'I found out where Voldemort is,' said Harry. 'And Luna.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lunch break came, and the students helping Madam Pomfrey filed out of the hospital wing and headed for the Great Hall, with Aurors flanking them all the way. Ron noticed that they all looked tired. Most were bruised, had cuts on their faces, and a few were walking with noticeable limps. But there was an almost military precision to their gait; they kept their eyes fixed ahead and clutched their wands tightly at their sides. They looked as if they had not slept at all the night before, and Ron realized they must be running purely on adrenaline. He hoped that some of them, at least, would have a chance to rest.

Hermione glanced up at Ron, then at Harry. Harry had not told Ron anything more, but the moment the lunch break hit, he approached Hermione, Susan and Ginny quietly and spoke to them for a few moments. Neville watched with interest, but didn't interfere.

Lunch was subdued. Several dozen students were absent; Ron wondered if they'd all gone home to their parents, or if some were simply skipping the afternoon meal.

Ron himself was not hungry, but he forced himself to eat. Mainly, his stomach was jumping because of what Harry had said. Now that they were all sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, Ron could tell that Harry was nearly bursting to tell them more, but he refrained. Near the end of the hour, he got up, and Ron, Ginny, Susan and Hermione followed him as he strode over to Bill, who was sitting at the staff table and had just finished up a conversation with Professor Vector.

'Bi--Professor Weasley,' said Harry.

Bill smiled tiredly. 'Call me Bill.'

'Bill,' said Harry, 'I have something to tell you. It's urgent.'

Bill studied Harry for a brief moment.

'Let's go to my office,' he said, and he led the group out of the Great Hall. They were just moving into the corridor when Neville came up behind them.

'What's going on?' he asked.

Ron and Harry turned to face Neville.

'Oh,' said Harry. 'Well...we just...'

Neville gave Harry a penetrating look, and Harry sighed. 'All right, come on, Neville.'

They trooped behind Bill and were followed by an Auror all the way to Bill's office. He unlocked the door with his wand, and walked in; the others came in closely behind him. Bill went to his desk and flopped into his chair. He looked entirely worn out.

'All right,' he said, looking at Harry. 'Tell me.'

'I know where Voldemort is,' said Harry firmly. 'Where he's taken Luna, and the book, and what he's doing.'

Bill sat up slowly in his chair. 'How--'

'I made contact today,' said Harry. 'This morning.'

'Funny,' said Bill coolly. 'Ron told me you weren't feeling well this morning--'

'Ron lied,' said Harry. 'Because I asked him to. I spent the morning trying to make contact with Voldemort, and I did.'

Bill sat back again, but not before shooting Ron a dirty look. Ron flushed and looked down at his shoes.

'Okay, Harry,' said Bill. 'What is it you think you've learned?'

'I don't "think" I've learned anything,' Harry said sharply. 'I know.'

'How can you be sure?' said Bill. 'He's messed with your head before--'

'I know,' said Harry again, more firmly. 'I know.'

'All right, Harry,' he said. 'I believe you. First you're going to tell me where Voldemort is, and what he's doing, and where Luna is, and then you're going to explain to me why I shouldn't think that he's playing with your head again.'

Harry gazed at him for a moment, then nodded.

'Go ahead,' said Bill.

'Right,' said Harry, and he took a deep breath. 'They're at the Riddle House. Tom Riddle's grandparents' house. It's in this burg called Little Hangleton.'

'How do you know about--'

'I've seen the house before,' said Harry. 'The summer before my fourth year, I had a dream. There was this big old house, and it was deserted, and there was somebody inside. It was Voldemort, and Wormtail, and a great big snake. Voldemort was talking about me, about killing me, about this big plan to kill me. He was telling Wormtail about...about what he'd do, what he DID do at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. And his snake, it was sort of slithering around, and then the snake went out, and came upon this old man. A Muggle. And the old man followed the snake into the room and found Voldemort there, and he killed the old man.'

'What does this have to do with--'

'In the room where the old man died,' Harry went on, 'there was a huge fireplace. And a chair. One single chair. It was a big room, like a master bedroom, only it had no furniture in it, but for this one big chair. And upstairs just now, I saw the same room, the same house.'

'How can you know this house is in Little Hangleton?' Bill asked.

'Because Tom Riddle murdered his father and grandparents there,' said Harry. 'I saw their graves, when I was in the graveyard.'

'I don't quite--' Bill began, clearly confused.

Harry gave a kind of exasperated snort that cut Bill off; Ron grimaced, but then Harry looked at him and bit his lip, and Ron understood. Harry had never really talked about what had happened at the end of the Triwizard Tournament.

'Look,' Harry said slowly. 'At the third task, in the Triwizard, Voldemort had Barty Crouch, Jr. jinx the trophy to be a Portkey.'

'I remember,' said Bill.

'So...so Cedric and me, we got pulled into this cemetery,' said Harry. 'And...and Wormtail shows up and k-killed Cedric and then he tied me up and he did this whole...ceremony thing. To give Voldemort his new body. I saw these graves that said Riddle. And then...later I found out that Voldemort had murdered his father and grandparents. They were found in the Riddle House, this...this big mansion...they were Muggles...nobody knew how they died...they didn't have a mark on them...and the house was in Little Hangleton, up the hill from the graveyard where...where they killed Cedric.'

Bill gazed at Harry for a long moment; Harry was breathing heavily and clutching Susan's hand.

'You're sure that's where Voldemort is now?' said Bill slowly.

'I'm positive,' said Harry. 'I saw that room again, in my mind, when I was upstairs. I know what he, what they're doing with Luna.'

At this Neville gave a kind of low moan.

'What are they doing?' said Bill, his eyes fixed on Harry.

'They're using her,' said Harry. 'Voldemort's using her, to make something. A potion. A poison. Something really deadly.'

'You saw Luna?' said Bill.

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'She looked weak, beat up. They're probably torturing her.'

'And the book?' said Bill. 'Does that figure in? Did you see it?'

'No,' said Harry, 'but Voldemort said that tomorrow night "things would be ready" and that "she" could complete the spell. So that must mean that whatever they're making won't be ready until tomorrow, and that there's some spell in the book that Luna has to cast over the stuff.'

Bill tented his fingers and looked carefully at Harry for a long moment.

'So?' said Harry.

'Harry,' said Bill, 'look. I want to believe you. I do. But...Voldemort knows you. How do you know he didn't plant this in your head deliberately, like he did last year?'

'He didn't!' Harry cried. 'Bill, I swear--'

'Peace, Harry,' said Bill tiredly, holding up his hands. 'Look, you have to consider it, okay? You're a damn good Legilimens at this point, but he's done it a lot longer than you. And he knows how to manipulate you.'

'I think I learned my lesson on that last year,' said Harry stiffly.

'I think you did, too,' said Bill. 'Okay, say Voldemort's not sending you false signal. Let's accept that. But then we have to consider whether he's deliberately sending you the truth. He could be showing you where he is in order to flush you out.'

Harry pursed his lips. 'I thought of that,' he said.

'And?' said Bill.

'I think that's exactly what he did,' said Harry.

This brought a gasp from everyone, including Ron.

'Harry, you can't--' Hermione began.

'It's me he wants,' said Harry. 'I mean, yes, he wants to go through with his world domination plans, of course, but he wants, no he needs to kill me. "Neither can live while the other survives."'

'Exactly,' said Bill. 'So you see why you can't--'

'No, I don't see,' Harry interrupted.

'What are you saying, Harry?' said Bill slowly, and Ron felt his stomach tighten with dread. He had a good feeling what Harry was about to say.

'I'm saying...maybe it's time I faced him,' said Harry. 'Once and for all.'