Harry Potter and the Secret Horcrux

Chapter Nine: Unknown Unexpected

The swings danced in the wind as Harry passed the park near Magnolia Crescent. It was a late hour and anybody who was of good intentions would surely be tucked away in bed. Sleep was a privilege only allowed the innocent.

The moon burned brightly in the sky and lit Harry's way. Discretion wasn't something that was a concern since he had no Put Outer to darken his approach. If a neighbor had glanced at the window, they might have let out a scream. Everybody knew Harry had attended St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys.

Harry's hand grazed his pocket as if he needed proof that his wand was still tucked inside. He had made the others promise not to interfere with what he had to do. They could follow, but they could not be seen.

Harry slowly approached Number Four Privet Drive, unsure what he would actually say or do. All he knew was that the answers were there. The letter Tilly, the house-elf, had shown him had led him to this location, but there was something far more valuable in the small house.

The Dursleys would most likely be asleep and he knew they didn't like wizarding disturbing them in the middle of the night. Without any hesitation, Harry rang the doorbell. The ring sounded throughout the house, piercing the still of the evening.

Harry took a step back and glanced up at the windows. Dudley was home by now, but he could sleep through a freight train plowing over him. It was his aunt's and uncle's window he watched. Several minutes passed, but no light came on.

Harry rang the doorbell again but nothing. The blood rushing past his eardrums was the only sound that he heard. Against reason, he reached out and tried the doorknob, and to his great surprise it was unlocked.

The Durlseys never left their door unlocked. Some miscreant might decide to rob their house or worse, Harry might come back. With a single motion, he pushed the door completely open and revealed Petunia's pristine living room.

Nothing looked out of place, but something felt off. Harry took once glance back outside to make certain he saw Uncle Vernon's car. It sat in the drive, shimmering under the bright moon.

Experience had taught him to leave the door open behind him as he entered. The room was silent except for a small ticking coming from the clock on the mantel. Harry subconsciously reached for his wand and drew it out of his pocket. He resisted the urge to call out as he looked nervously up the stairs towards the bedroom.

He kept expecting to hear the word 'Morsmordre' called out to summon the Dark Mark. With a beat of indecision, he made his way past his cupboard and into the kitchen.

"Lumos," Harry whispered, as the tip of his wand suddenly lit. Ordinarily, he would have been concerned about using magic while underage, but he had already decided he wasn't returning to school. Besides, the Ministry had other worries these days besides underage wizards and witches using magic outside of Hogwarts.

Like the living room, everything in the kitchen was tidy. It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps his aunt and uncle were upstairs sleeping and had merely forgotten to lock the door. While it seemed outlandish to even consider such a possibility, he had seen stranger things in his lifetime.

He now found himself in a dilemma. He could venture upstairs and wake his aunt and uncle, but he sincerely doubted they'd be too keen on talking after being awoken at wand point. The other option was to go back outside and ring the doorbell until somebody woke up, assuming anybody was even there to wake up.

After a minute of deliberation, Harry followed the stairs. Again, nothing looked disturbed and the house almost gave off a sense of safety. The first door was Harry's former bedroom, now Dudley's second bedroom again. Harry reached out to open the door, but ironically it was locked.

He proceeded down the hallway and reached Dudley's room. He knew if he opened the door and Dudley was flat on his fat back snoring, then everything was fine, and the unlocked door and odd feelings were just a fluke. However, if Dudley wasn't there...

As slowly as humanly possible, Harry pushed open the door and peered in. At first his ears focused on listening for Dudley's loud snores. When he didn't hear any snores, his eyes focused on Dudley's bed in hopes to find his cousin waddling in his sheets, but the moon blazing through the window revealed that Dudley was nowhere to be found.

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as a rasping sound seemed to emanate through the walls. It was then he noticed the thick fog gathering outside the windows and a putrid stench of death.

His grasp on his wand grew tighter as he pushed the door completely open, as if he needed a clear picture for verification of his worst fears. There was no time to waste as he raced into Dudley's empty room and threw open the window.

"Expecto Patronum."

A wispy stag erupted from his wand and seemed to canter in midair. Harry knew that the Order used Patronuses to communicate, but he wasn't sure exactly how it worked.

"I need backup," Harry told the cloud like stag, as he pointed. "Over there."

His Patronus simply stood there and it dawned on Harry how it couldn't possibly be that easy. Then in one dramatic moment, the stag raced off in the direction he had pointed. As the bright light of the Patronus dimmed, Harry made his way back into the hallway.

"There wasn't a Dark Mark-- they're not dead," Harry said quietly to himself.

He knew that Dementors didn't leave Dark Marks, but he didn't want to remind himself of that thought.

Although he loathed the Dursleys, he didn't want them to have their souls sucked out. Then another thought crossed Harry's mind. What if the Death Eaters were waiting for him? What if he was walking into a trap?

Harry stopped outside his aunt's and uncle's door. He could hear a faint whimpering sound from the opposite side, and he felt his heart beat faster and faster within his chest. With one quick motion he raised his wand and blasted open the door.

The whimpering exploded into a full blown cry as Dudley pushed himself further into a corner with his knees drawn into his chest. His eyes grew round as they rested on Harry and he looked as if he were attempting and failing to speak.

Uncle Vernon was sprawled in an unnatural position on the floor. His eyes were wide open and as white as egg shells. Harry immediately scanned the room.

"Where are they?" Harry snapped towards Dudley.

Dudley could only whimper in response.

Harry felt a sense of sickness sweep through him as he fought back the urge to heave up the remains of the meal Tilly had fed him. He slowly knelt down and touched his uncle's massive neck in search of a pulse.

"He's still alive," Harry said aloud, though more to himself than Dudley.

Harry stood and peered out the window through the thick fog. It didn't look like a Dementor's Kiss but spell damage of some sort. However, the thick fog and foul smell still lingering in the air told Harry the Dementors weren't far. Perhaps that was why Uncle Vernon and Dudley were left alive.

"Where's Aunt Petunia?" Harry spat at Dudley. "Snap out of it!"

"Harry."

Harry spun around to see Ron and Ginny standing in the doorway, both looking winded.

"He's up here," Ginny bellowed and Harry heard more footsteps thundering up the stairs.

Ron stared thunderstruck at Vernon Dursley then glanced at Harry's cousin. "What did you do to them?"

Harry reared. "Nothing; it wasn't me. I found them like this."

Hermione let out a loud gasp and she and the twins made their way into the room. Harry and Ron tried to pull Dudley to his feet as George examined Vernon Dursley.

"I've never seen anybody in this state. Looks like it was a nasty spell whatever it was," George said quickly.

Harry's eyes studied the fog outside and wondered when the Dementors would arrive. "Have you contacted the Order yet?"

Fred nodded. "I sent a message the minute we got your Patronus."

If Vernon and Dudley had been left for the Dementors, they never showed. The Order arrived in dramatic fashion, but there wasn't much left to do. No Dark Mark danced across the sky; in fact there wasn't any evidence to suggest it had even been a Death Eater attack. The spell damage to Vernon Dursley was severe and he was taken to St. Mungo's.

"I should hex you into next week," Charlie barked. "What were you all thinking?"

Ginny stood defiant, but Ron actually looked slightly guilty.

"We're not kids anymore," Ginny retorted.

Charlie sighed. "Yes--yes, you are kids. You could have been kidnapped or killed. Mum is beside herself with worry. I don't know what would have happened if Fred and George hadn't found you."

Fred and George were free of any suspicion. The story was that Fred and George had found them all at Privet Drive on a hunch. They all knew it was foolish to burn their only willing connection inside the Order of the Phoenix. Remus Lupin was the only one who didn't look fooled. He studied the twins questionably as Charlie continued his lecture and passed Harry a look that indicated he wanted to chat later.

"Ron, you're of age, but what were you thinking taking Ginny with you?" Charlie continued.

"I'm not that much younger than Ron," Ginny reminded him. "If everybody would stop treating us like children..."

"Charlie, I think we should send them back to headquarters," Lupin said patiently. "Harry shouldn't be here when the Ministry arrives. It will just cause unwanted questions." His voice emphasized the last word and his lip curled into a suspicious grin.

Muggle attacks were becoming more common and the Ministry wouldn't find it at all surprising that Harry's Muggle relatives had been attacked, but they might find it curious that Harry was the one to discover them. The more puzzling problem was, after a complete search of the area, there was no sign of Petunia Dursley.

Lupin assured Harry they would do everything to find his aunt and not to worry. For his part, Harry found it ironic that for the first time in his life he wanted to speak to his aunt and he couldn't.

They all returned to Grimmauld Place before the Ministry's Aurors arrived to process the scene. Harry suspected Rufus Scrimgeour would have loved another opportunity to question him and was thankful to avoid that potential situation.

Charlie's reprimand turned out to be much more pleasant than Molly Weasley's. Mrs. Weasley had merely given them all one glance when they arrived at headquarters and then with a heavy sob her turned her back on them. Harry would have rather spent a night in the Hogwart's Dungeons with Filch's thumbscrews.

None of them felt very hungry despite the fact they hadn't had much to eat since earlier that day. Instead, they trudged up the stairs and into bed. As the hours ticked by, Harry found that he couldn't sleep. The nightmare he had experienced on the train played over and over in his mind and he wondered if he'd ever slumber again.

"I think we should start looking for the Horcruxes," said Hermione at breakfast the next morning.

Harry blinked at her. Sometimes he had to wonder if perhaps Professor Trelawney was wrong about Hermione. She seemed quite in touch with her Inner Eye.

Ron frowned. "But we don't even know where to start. It wasn't like Dumbledore left us a map or anything to follow."

Ron was wrong. Dumbledore had left a map of clues for Harry to follow. He knew many things about Voldemort. For one he had some idea of what the other Horcruxes were. He also knew that Voldemort liked to place them in places that were significant in his past. For the first time in weeks, Harry's mind suddenly thought of the locket.

R.A.B.

"Harry?" Hermione asked. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Harry responded.

Hermione frowned and rolled her eyes. "I for one hope they reopen Hogwarts. That would be the most logical place to continue the search for Horcruxes. Perhaps you could persuade Professor McGonagall to let you look back in..." She seemed to consider her words carefully. "The Pensieve."

"There isn't anything left at Hogwarts to find. The answers aren't there this time, Hermione," Harry said heavily.

"You know what we have to find," Ron said suddenly. "We have to find that orphanage that raised You-Know-Who."

Harry shook his head. "He wouldn't hide anything there. We aren't looking for places of Voldemort's past; we're looking for places that he would consider significant. Places where he committed his crimes or garnered his achievements."

"That really narrows it down," Ron grumbled.

Hermione sighed. "Like Hogwarts."

Harry was about to retort when suddenly he stopped. "Dumbledore was wrong. He wasn't searching for something that belonged to the founders. Voldemort wanted to teach at Hogwarts so he could stash one of his Horcruxes there undetected. Perhaps in the Chamber of Secrets itself."

"You mean..." Ron started.

"No," Harry interrupted. "I don't think he ever got the chance and we all know that Ginny was the first one to open the Chamber since Riddle."

Ron scrunched his face and let out a loud frustrated sound.

"You said Dumbledore thought the Horcruxes were possibly something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's?" Hermione recapped.

"But Dumbledore was pretty sure the sword I pulled out of the Sorting Hat was the only relic of Gryffindor's left," Harry added. "Remember, two of them have already been destroyed."

Harry's voice suddenly caught in his throat as the memory of Dumbledore's last foolheartyquest flooded him. There was still the problem of finding Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup. He knew one of the Horcruxes was Nagini, which left one Horcrux unaccounted for.

"Did Dumbledore show you or mention any other ideas of where Voldemort would have hidden a Horcrux?" Hermione asked in almost a casual voice.

Harry frowned. "I've already told you, no. It has to be someplace he considers important."

"Which brings us back to having no ideas whatsoever," Ron said sarcastically.

"Like Borgin & Burkes," Harry said almost to himself.

Hermione tutted. "We're going about this the wrong way. We need to learn how a Horcrux is made first."

"Why?" Ron asked looking aghast.

"Because it might tell us something about how to find them," Hermione said quickly.

Harry shook himself slightly. "Dumbledore told me he thought Voldemort was going to use my murder for a Horcrux. What if that medallion we found at Godric's Hollow was the trinket he was planning on using?"

"I don't think so, Harry," Hermione confessed.

"Why not?" Harry questioned.

"Well, because he would have come back for it. You said Kingsley said there were no noticeable Dark Magic traces. Voldemort would have realized the Ministry wouldn't have found it and when he regained his body he would have either retrieved it himself or sent somebody else. I think the medallion was placed there afterwards."

"But he could have thought the Ministry had found it," Ron pointed out.

"If the medallion was really important enough to use as a Horcrux, Voldemort would have returned to retrieve it," Hermione insisted. "Plus, why would there be two of them? Surely, Voldemort would have used something that wasn't paired."

"Why not? It would have made it more difficult for somebody who knew about them to find," Ron countered.

"Remember what Dumbledore told you, Harry? It would have to be something he would consider exceptional and most likely one-of-a-kind," Hermione continued, ignoring Ron.

"Voldemort didn't think anybody could discover his Horcrux ambition," Harry said quietly. He remembered the boat that he and Dumbledore had used to cross the lake of Inferi. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Hermione was probably right.

Hermione sighed. "We need to discover how a Horcrux is made before we try to figure out where they might be hidden."

"Can't we just order a book from Flourish & Blott's?" Ron asked.

Hermione let out an annoyed sound. "Horcruxes are a forbidden subject. There are some forms of magic that aren't even acknowledged. I seriously doubt there are any books on Horcruxes at Flourish & Blott's, and even if there were, it would raise too many eyebrows to order one."

"I've been wondering. Do you think it is a potion?" Harry asked, as he watched for Hermione's reaction.

Hermione scrunched her nose. "It's possible, but it could just be coincidence that he approached Slughorn on the subject."

"Hey, why don't you just ask Slughorn, Harry?" Ron interjected.

Harry refrained from laughing out loud. "Even if he knew, he wouldn't tell me. I don't even think another dose of Felix Felicis would get that job done."

"There is one person who might know," Hermione said slowly.

"Who?" Ron and Harry asked at the same time.

"Lupin," Hermione revealed.

"Lupin isn't experienced at Potions. He told me so back in third year," Harry argued.

Hermione shook her head. "We don't know for certain that it's a potion. We do know that it's Dark Magic, and Lupin knows more about Dark Magic than anybody else we know."