Harry Potter and the Horcrux Quest

Chapter 11: Godric's Hollow

Harry was up his normal time the next day. He did his Occlumecy exercises and went towards the kitchen. Fritz was already up and preparing breakfast. He insisted on serving Harry in the dining room. While Harry was eating his eggs, Neville came in. He greeted Harry and stepped into the kitchen for a moment to order his breakfast, then sat down with Harry.

"Harry, according to Great Uncle Algie, I'm needed here for awhile. Hopefully, I'll be able to join you in a couple of weeks. Of course, you're welcome to stay here. I've asked Algie to hire someone to teach me dueling. You can join with that, too."

Harry looked around. Given the choice between here and Grimmauld Place, he'd rather be here. He smiled, and looked at his friend.

"Neville, I'd love to spend some time here. Unless Ron and Hermione have reasonable objections, we'll stay here at least until our birthdays."

"That's great, Harry.

"Uh, Harry, can I ask you a personal question?"

Harry wasn't sure what was coming, but he trusted Neville. "Sure, I guess. I'll answer if I can."

"What's going on between you and Ginny? She was upset yesterday about a lot of things, which is understandable considering what happened. But some of what bothered her was you."

Harry sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen between us. We broke up because I thought it was too dangerous for her to be with me during this fight. At least that's what I told her and myself. But that's not the whole truth. I don't know if I feel right with her. You know Ron really enjoyed his time with Lavender, but eventually decided that she wasn't what he really wanted? Well, I'm feeling that way with Ginny. I like her, but I don't think I like her that way, if you know what I mean."

Neville nodded. "I think I understand. She did say something about you and Luna."

Harry looked at the ceiling, and shook his head. "Why is everyone pairing me up with Luna? Luna's a friend. And Ginny asked me to make sure she didn't make a scene at the wedding. I'm sorry she didn't like me enjoying myself when I was with Luna or Gabrielle, but they're my friends, and I can't see giving up friends for a girlfriend. I sometimes think Ginny's rather immature."

"Her and Ron, both," Neville said quietly. "I think he'll have to mature if he wants to keep Hermione." Both boys nodded at this.

Shortly there after, Ron and Hermione showed up for breakfast. Hermione had awakened Ron and waited for him so they would come down together. They talked about plans and agreed to spend the next week and a half with Neville. The trio would be gone for the next day, however, because Harry wanted to visit Godric's Hollow. They would spend the night in Wales and return the next day. They packed a picnic lunch, and left soon after breakfast. Neville was busy as they left, hearing stories about his grandmother from her friends.

They drove across England on the A47. Harry thought it ironic that Ron, who had a loving family raising him, was as amazed at the size, diversity, and beauty of the country they were driving through as he was, a boy who had spent his life outside of Hogwarts a virtual prisoner in Little Whinging.

Teaching Ron how to navigate was interesting, too. Reading signs while traveling 80 kph was not something he picked up quickly. And it seemed that every time he looked away from the map, he lost his place. He just was not used to maps.

They had a light lunch in Birmingham (despite Ron's insistence that he was going to drop from hunger). Ron and Harry were amazed at the size of the city, and the sheer number of people. While Harry had seen large numbers of people on the TV, he hadn't encountered them in person. And even though Diagon Alley was crowded, it was finite. This seemed to go on for kilometers in every direction.

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Meanwhile, in Ottery-St. Catchpole, two young witches were cleaning up after lunch. At the Burrow, Ginny was working with Charlie on dishes. Ginny was still upset, but the immediate shock of the loss of two members of the family was past. At this point all they could do was wait for Arthur and Fred to die. Their bodies didn't even know how to feed themselves, and were slowly dying. Most Wizarding families, though, considered them already dead and just waited for the bodies to catch up. While they worked quietly, Ginny was trying to figure out some way to join Harry on his summer adventure. She had an idea and had run it past Charlie. If Molly were to go live with Percy for a while, Ginny might be able to get away. She had suggested that she could mend fences with Percy, make sure he was eating right, get Molly into a new environment for a little while, and give her something to do beside brood. Charlie thought the idea had merit, and would speak to Percy the next time he was at the Burrow. Ginny smiled inwardly, looking forward to getting Harry alone.

Across town, Luna was cleaning up from lunch, too. She had eaten alone, but her father had been there at breakfast, and those dishes had needed cleaning, too. Their relationship was still strained. She could admit that her father really wanted to help people by getting the information out first, but the way he abandoned her still hurt. While she worked, she wondered how she could help Harry in his quest for the Horcruxes. As she finished, she realized what she could do. She took some floo powder and tossed it in the fireplace.

"The Quibbler," she said, serenely, as she stepped into the green flame.

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As they were leaving, Hermione complained that they didn't have time to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, which led to a discussion of Shakespeare. "Discussion" would probably be too generous for what was said. Harry had read some of the Bard's plays -- an unused gift given to Dudley once upon a time -- but Ron had no idea who he was and why he was important. Harry had to tell an unbelieving Hermione to watch the road. She had turned around and was staring at Ron. Harry, while not a Shakespearian scholar, at least knew Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Hermione did most of the talking, and they had reached the boarder to Wales by the time she finished.

They drove most of the way to Rhayader before heading away from the Wye River into the Cambrian Mountains. The roads were smaller and slower here. They eventually reached the the little village of Godwic's Hollow in the mid afternoon.

While they stopped to fill the car, they could see most of the town. It consisted of a grocers right across the street from the petrol station, a pub, a couple of other stores, a restaurant, and a church. The attendant had never heard of the Potters, so they parked the car and walked on. Harry led them to the pub.

The pub was cleaner, darker, and smaller than the Leaky Cauldron. The serving girl was too young, just a few years older than Harry, to know anything about events 15 years ago. But when she learned that Harry was looking for his family's graves, she went to apartment above the pub and got her father. After a history of the pub (in his family for three generations, thank you very much) and the local area (which didn't seem to have anything historical about it) he finally got around to addressing Harry's question. He did remember the Potters. Terrible business, it was, the explosion and fire. Harry found out that they were buried on the property. But when Harry asked for directions, the barkeep became vague. He did the best he could, but for some reason, he couldn't think of where exactly they lived. The house was within sight of a pond, and he gave Harry directions to the pond.

"But I wouldn't go there, if I were you," he said, ominously.

"Why not?"

"There's been some who's gone up that way. About ten years ago, a couple went up there and never returned. Never found them, either. People say there's some lingering evil about the place. No offense, but some even whisper..." and his voice dropped to a whisper, "about witchcraft. Stuff and nonsense. He were a policeman, not around here, mind you, and she were studying to be a teacher, but then you can along. He were going to get a job in the area so as to be able to spend more time with you and yer mum. Met them a few times, the month or so they lived here before the accident. If accident it were."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, a little suspiciously. He knew it wasn't an accident, but Muggles weren't supposed to know.

"Yer dad never told me where he worked. You don't get that secretive just by working for the police. Nor do you leave a job and move to a place like Godric's Hollow without having a new job. Not if you have a choice. No, I think in his job he ticked off some people who don't like policemen, if you know what I mean. Could 'ave been the IRA, or the UDF, or one of them damn German Red groups. No one never said, but then the way things seemed to be hushed up, you know it was something like that."

Harry thanked him for the information, and promised to stop by on their way back. The trio got back into Hermione's car, and drove further into the hills. A quarter mile out of town, they turned, and continued a further mile. They found the mailbox, the letters "ter" still visible and overgrown path leading into the woods. They parked the car, took the picnic basket, and headed up the path. The woods only lasted a hundred meters or so, and then they found themselves in a large, overgrown field of wildflowers, with a pond off to one side. Not far the edge of the woods they came to the graves.

There was a little brass rail most of the way around it. Two rectangular markers said simply James Raymond Potter and Lily Teresa Potter along with their birthdays, and the day of their death. Harry didn't know what he was supposed to feel, nor did he know what he was actually feeling. Ron said that they'd set up the picnic by the pond.

Hermione was almost dragged away by Ron. She hissed angrily at him about not being able to wait just a little while before eating. He responded in a whisper, without any anger at all, that he thought Harry would want some time alone. They followed the path a little farther -- it seemed to be winding around the pond -- looking for a lunch spot. There was no sign of the house, and the path seemed to disappear into a profusion of wildflowers. They moved towards the pond, and set out a blanket. They could see Harry from where they were, and they kept an eye on him while setting up the food. At one time, when Hermione looked Harry's way, she was sure he was crying. Again, Ron stopped her, giving Harry his privacy. After a while, he joined them, and expressed surprise that Ron hadn't eaten everything yet. Ron just snorted. In truth, he hadn't eaten anything while waiting.

They had a rather pleasant meal. Nothing strange happened, but Ron seemed to be taking his job as body guard seriously, today, and kept looking around. If the house had ever been here, it was gone now - they didn't even see the foundations. After their late lunch/early dinner they headed back to the car. After a quick stop at the pub to thank the owner, and let him know they were fine, they left town. Harry was quiet as they drove back to Rhayader, where they got some hotel rooms. They relaxed that evening, sitting around one of the rooms, but Harry was still quiet. After another attempted discussion died quietly, he explained what he was feeling.

"That was where it all started for me -- where my parents were murdered, where I got my scar, where Voldemort marked me his equal. For some reason I just expected something there. Some clue, or omen, something that would point me along the next step. I guess I feel let down, even though it's my own fault for expecting something unrealistic. Sorry guys.

"Let's get an early start, so we can get back to Neville's as soon as possible. Maybe his tutor will be there." They agreed to this, and went to bed. As they were heading towards their rooms, Harry stopped Ron.

"Ron, you like Hermione, right?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? You know we're a couple."

"It's just that if you want to keep being a couple, you have to learn to like what she likes. Or at least act interested in it."

Ron stared at him blankly.

"For instance, in the car when she was talking about Shakespeare, did you pay attention?"

"Well, no, but you know how she goes on. . . ."

"But if you want to keep her, you have to listen to what she says, and remember it, or some of it."

"Why is it me? Why doesn't she have to learn the things I like?"

"You do know that she's read Quidditch Through the Ages?"

"Yes. . . ."

"See, she is taking an interest in what you like. I'm just saying it has to be a two way street. If you want to keep her."

"What about you and Ginny? Do you take an interest in what she's doing?"

"No, not really."

"Then what are you on about me for?"

"With Ginny, I really wasn't interested until this year. Then, after we got together, we really didn't do much except snog and talk about Quidditch. I'm not sure if we have anything in common outside that."

"You were both you-know, by You-Know-Who," Ron said quietly.

"There's a good starting point -- being possessed," Harry answered sarcastically.

"Well, what about you and Luna? Seems to me you've gone on a couple of dates with her."

"Huh? We went to Slughorn's Christmas party, but only as friends. Unless you're calling our trip to the Department of Mysteries a date."

"No, the wedding. You were with her most of the time."

"We're just friends. Why can't people accept that we're friends!"

"Alright! Alright. It just seems you're friendlier with Luna than you are with Ginny."

"That could be because Luna isn't trying to be my girlfriend, and Ginny is. Personally, I don't want a girlfriend now. I can use all the friends I can get, but a girlfriend is something I don't want to get into now.

"Goodnight, Ron. You know I only brought it up because I like both of you, and I'd like to see this work out for both of you."

"Yeah, I know. Good night, Harry."

Before she went to bed Hermione turned on the TV and watched the news. One item caught her attention. The government was warning about a new terrorist group. They were invading out-of-the-way houses, killing the inhabitants, and living in the houses for up to a week at a time. They were extremely dangerous, and if someone noticed that friends or family were missing normal activities, they were to contact the police. The danger couldn't be underestimated, and approaching the terrorists would only get you killed. She went to bed after that.

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While Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having a quiet day, others were busy. At the ministry it was decided that they had extracted all the information they could out of Malfoy. He was transferred to Azkaban, and put in a cell with his father. The older Malfoy hated the fact that he would have to take care of Draco. Draco couldn't really answer his father back, because he was totally dependent on Lucius until his guards decided to heal him. The situation gnawed at both of them.

Also at the Ministry a large group of Aurors were collected and briefed on their new assignment. After outfitting them they left the government offices and spread out to various places around Britain. One group set up watch outside Malfoy Manner. They settled in for a long stake-out.

Later, as darkness fell, Death Eaters from the secret barracks beneath the Manor congregated in the ballroom. They were mostly newer recruits. The Death Eater mask couldn't stop most of the people there from recognizing the voice of their former Potions professor as he gave them their instructions. They left the house, and headed towards the limits of the anti-apparition wards. As they walked, talking excitedly amongst themselves, the Disillusionment charmed Aurors closed in. When they were in range, Tonks whispered to the other Aurors to wait. She removed a snitch sized ball from a pocket of her robe, winced at the bas-relief image of a scantily clad girl on it, and tossed the latest experimental Wease of the the Weasley twins at the Death Eaters. The "Supifying Sue" landed in the middle of the masked figures and exploded with a bright light. More than half of the Death Eaters went down immediately. Meanwhile the Aurors let loose with a barrage of normal Stun spells, quickly taking out the rest. In all, fourteen Death Eaters were captured.

Events at other houses of known Death Eaters didn't go as smoothly. Three other firefights broke out, with a final tally of twenty nine Death Eaters captured (wounded or whole), seven killed, and eight Aurors killed. The houses involved were soon secured by the Aurors, and a thorough search started on each of them.

Snape escaped because he wasn't part of the group that walked out. He was supposed to wait and take their reports when they returned. He Disillusioned himself and walked out the back door. He Apparated away once he was past the wards.

Death Eaters from two hideouts that were unknown to the Aurors were not stopped, and there were almost sixty Muggle families that never saw the sun rise. One of those Death Eaters was killed during an attack by a teenager with a cricket bat.

The next morning the media was filled with stories of the terrorist attacks. To the public, this was a continuation of a news report that Hermione saw before she went to bed. The murders were being attributed to this group. They even used the name "Death Eaters" for the terrorist group.

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Harry woke earlier than even he was used to, because of the pain in his scar. Voldemort was angry, but not as much as the other day, and wasn't using the pain curse on anyone. Harry relaxed, and did his Occlumency exercises, and the pain went away. As he was drifting off to sleep, he thought that Voldemort wasn't keeping his mind as shielded as he used to.

After that, Harry actually slept in late. Hermione had to wake both Ron and him up. They ate a quick breakfast and were on their way out of Wales by midmorning. As she drove, Hermione tried to revive the conversation that Luna started after the wedding. Harry felt that given his upbringing, he really didn't know what love was. Even the "love" that his aunt and uncle gave Dudley didn't seem right -- there had to be more to it than giving in to every whim of the one loved. That was something that Ron could agree with. His parents certainly didn't give in to their children's every need, but did love them. He joked about love being equated with feeding.

Hermione got some laughs from Ron and a very red Harry when she described Luna's analysis of Harry in light of St. Paul's definition. Ron especially liked the "brooding" part. Her explanation of being responsible for feelings quieted the car, though. In the end, they felt it was interesting, but not helpful in solving the riddle of Harry's "power."

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At Ottery-St. Catchpole various people were heading to different places. Mrs. Weasley had fed the household,and was preparing to go to St. Mungo's with George. There wasn't anything they could do to help, but they wanted to be there. Charlie and Ginny cleaned up after breakfast, and sat down to a cup of tea.

"How long will this go on?" Ginny asked.

"They could last a week. I suppose if they were force-fed they could live longer."

"Then what happens? To us, I mean."

"We go on. We have to. We'll be sad, and hurting, and angry, and full of self pity, and survivor guilt, and maybe depressed, and every morning we'll wake up, and still have to get out of bed, and do the things we have to do to get through the day. And the pain doesn't really go away. It's still there, but you layer it over with new memories and you sooth it with good memories of the one you lost. And you go on."

Ginny looked at her older brother with suspicion. "How do you know this? You sound like you're speaking from experience!"

Charlie sighed, and nodded. "Two years ago a woman I was going out with was killed by a dragon in an accident. We were getting serious, I think, even though we hadn't talked about it. I admit to being shook up by the return of You-Know-Who. But then when Erin died. . . ." He came back to the present. "But there's nothing that can be done about it. I'm here now, and You-Know-Who is out there, and I've got to do something to help stop him."

"Me too! What are we going to do?"

Charlie smiled. "We are not going to do anything. I am going to Headquarters to see what's happening; and see if there are any assignments. You. . . ." and he thought for a moment. "Can you find out what Harry's up to, and see if there's anything the Order can do for him?"

Ginny sighed. It wasn't much, but she could do it. And it allowed her to check up on Harry. "Alright. I'll try and find out." It would only take her a few minutes to send Pig to Harry. Then she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

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On the other side of town, Luna and her Father were eating breakfast. Of the two, Luna was the better cook, but that wasn't saying too much. Cooking was a skill that she felt was one of those mysteries passed down from mother to daughter, which she missed out on. In keeping with her resolve to be responsible for her emotions, she felt the sense of loss, and let it go. Breakfast was one of those meals that either of them could make equally well. It just happened that this breakfast, like most, was made by Luna.

"Daddy, I noticed something while looking through the morgue yesterday. The Quibbler in the '70's was much more like Witches Weekly is today. A lot more gossip and fashion. The news was more Prophet-like, too. I'm only up to '76. When did it change?"

Larry Lovegood gave a self-satisfied grin. "It changed after I took over. After Potter defeated the Dark Lord as a child, Fudge fired about half the Aurors, including me. I needed to do something, and the Quibbler was up for sale - it wasn't different enough from Witches Weekly or the Prophet, and wasn't making any money. I revamped it, putting in a lot more "man on the street" interviews, which led to a lot of the more popular theories that we publish -- the Goblin Pies, the magical creatures, the Rotfang Conspiracy. I didn't make them up - these were reported by people."

Luna felt that the bottom had fallen out of her world. "What about the truth? Did you ever try to get to the truth of these reports?"

"What is the truth? Can we even know it? If someone reports that Sirius Black was really the lead singer for the Hobgoblins, if they believe it, isn't that the truth as they know it? And they weren't totally wrong, you say. So he wasn't in the band; he was still innocent. Maybe Fudge didn't eat Goblins. He still hated them, and he was still a rotten Minister of Magic. So there's some enhancement to the stories. The truth still gets out."

He wasn't really looking at Luna. He wasn't looking at anything, Luna thought. Or maybe he was looking at the past.

"So if someone said that Voldemort ran an orphanage and took good care of children, you'd print that because someone said it was true? And comfort yourself with the knowledge that Voldemort really lived in an orphanage where he was neglected, and terrorized the other children?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"Harry. He knows a lot about Voldemort, because he and Dumbledore researched it. Don't you do any research?"

"We're on a deadline. If someone refutes what we print, we usually print that, too."

Something else she had to ask about, although she was sure she wasn't going to like the answer. "And the creatures you report on? Nargils, and Crumple Horned Snorkacks, and Side Hill Winders, and Purple Mountain Jackalopes? Do they really exist? Or are they someone's truth that has nothing to do with the world as we know it?"

Lovegood noticed the tears in his daughter's eyes. That brought him up. None of this was supposed to hurt anyone. Very few people took the Quibbler seriously. Most of the rest took the sentiment as true, and the rest for what it was -- entertainment. He took a breath, and felt he should try to salvage something. This wasn't that different from what he did with the Quibbler. Some truth, mixed in.

"The magical creatures -- I got an O in my Care of Magical Creatures NEWT. That's something I know about. I admit I don't know if everything we've printed is true, but a lot of it is. The major researches in the field think that Crumpled Horn Snorkacks are extinct, but every story that we report has to match up with what I do know about them. For example, that report on the Jub-Jub bird -- we printed explicitly that we doubted the existence of them, because I know I've never heard of them before."

Luna looked at her father with her silver, protruding eyes. He squirmed under that gaze, but didn't look away.

"I have more research to do. Could you clean up the breakfast dishes? If you need me, I'll be in the morgue." She got up from the table and went to the fireplace.

"Luna?" She turned to look at him. "I'm sorry."

She threw the floo powder into the fireplace and spun away to the Quibbler's offices to spend another day in the files of old copies. She didn't know what to do with her feelings, so she put them away, like she had so many others. She had a job to do.

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Snape woke up in his own bed. After the events of the evening and morning, he was a little surprised that he escaped without coming under the Crucio spell that morning. There was another knock on his door.

"Who is it?" he snarled.

Pettigrew stuck his head in and said, "Mrs. Malfoy is here to see you."

Snape glanced at the clock on the dresser: ten in the morning It had been a long night. He sighed. He guessed what it was about.

"Tell her I'll be right there."

He got up, dressed, and entered the front room of his house. Narcissa was waiting there for him. He sent Pettigrew away, and made sure he wasn't listening.

"Severus, our spies report that Draco is now at Azkaban."

Snape shook his head. Lately, all he had been getting was bad news. He looked at Narcissa, the pleading in her face, the tears in her eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Very well, I'll see what can be done. I have to, of course, since he was on our lord's business when this happened. But I am no longer a favorite to our master. After yesterday I am on thin ice. It may take a little while, but I assure you, if the vow isn't assurance enough, that I will work on rescuing him. If you see your sister, tell her that I'd like to speak with her."

Narcissa sniffed, and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Severus. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I'm sorry you are involved in this. The master is not sympathetic to mothers. How did it come to this?"

"Twenty five years ago a group of stupid children joined with a powerful psychopath, and in the immortality of youth thought that we couldn't lose. Those who considered such things thought we were protecting our way of life. Most, I think, saw him as the one who would win, so joined up in typical Slytherin fashion. Others saw an opportunity to practice their sadism. Now most of us are older, and we're not even sure if we would want the world that our master promises to give us. We're trapped. We can't escape him, any more than Karkaroff could. We're damned, and I no longer know if we'd be better off winning or losing."

"Don't let the master even guess that you're thinking like that."

She snorted, and straightened. "Of course not. Thank you. I'll tell Bella you want to see her." Then she left with her head held high.

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As they neared the turn off that would lead them towards Birmingham, Harry asked that they stay on the A44 and go to London. He explained that as much as he'd like to go to Neville's for a while, he was feeling anxious to get started on the search for Horcruxes. This brought up another discussion on how they were going to do that. Harry figured that the they could search for the orphanage that Riddle grew up in, and maybe try to find Hepzibah Smith's house. He still wasn't sure how to find the mysterious R.A.B.

The others agreed, and Hermione drove towards London.

Only two incidents occurred on the drive to Grimmauld Place. The first occurred as they reached the junction of the A46. Harry quietly nudged Ron and pointed out a sign. At first Ron had a blank look then he realized what Harry was suggesting.

"Hermione, can you tell me more about this Shakes guy, who lives in Stratford-upon-Avon?"

"His name is Shakespeare, and he's dead. He just happens to be the greatest poet and play write in the English Language!"

"Hey, don't bite my head off. I admit I'm ignorant. That's why I'm asking."

Hermione calmed down, and they actually had an interesting discussion. Whenever she started descending into "lecture mode," Ron would speak up, with a question, keeping it conversational. Harry was surprised on two accounts -- Ron seemed to be actually learning about Shakespeare (as was he), and Ron was subtly manipulating Hermione to help her avoid one of her annoying habits.

The other incidents occurred on the outskirts of London on the M40. A lorry cut them off, causing Hermione to slam on the breaks. The interesting thing was the stream of words that then issued from her mouth. Harry and Ron stared at her, dumbfounded. She blushed, and apologized.

They parked in front of Twelve Grimmauld Place, and went to the door. It was locked. Harry knocked, and they were let in by Charlie. He was surprised to see them. Harry explained that they had some things to do in Muggle London, and decided that this would be a good place to stay for a few days. Charlie offered to get them some guards when they went out, but they declined.

Inside they met Mad Eye. He had moved there after an attack on his home. His house was better warded now than it had been when he was captured several years ago, but he knew that the Black house was even better protected. He didn't like it here, but he literally couldn't go home. Harry, as owner, told him to stay as long as he liked.

They also met the portrait of Sirius' mother. She still screamed from behind a charm of silence. Harry stared at the picture for a few minutes. Even Mrs. Black stopped her silent noise and watched him. When Hermione finally got his attention, all he would do was smile and tell them that he had an idea. They gave up when they couldn't get anything out of him.

Harry tried to fire-talk with Neville, but he was unavailable. He did ask Fritz to send Hedwig to Harry (he didn't tell Fritz where he was, but knew that Hedwig would find him). He also arranged a time to try to talk to Neville again.

Hermione then put her plan into action to find the orphanage. They had considered trying to find it through the Muggle government records, but Hermione thought they'd have an easier time trying to get at the school's records. Consequently, she floo-ed Headmistress McGonagall at Hogwarts. Explaining that the Floo network wasn't secure, Hermione went through the fireplace to visit their former head of house. Ron and Harry took their trunks up to their rooms. They put Hermione's trunk in her room from the previous year. Then they took another room. Once again, they were unable to find the room they had used the previous summer.

Hermione came back in time for dinner. Harry and Ron had discovered that Remus was also living there. Until that day he had been bored. The Order was less active under Diggle, and the Werewolves no longer accepted him. He informed Harry that he had just started a new job that day -- Professor McGonagall had sent some work his way. Moody, who was eating with them, added that he had also been offered the job, but declined. The three teenagers were becoming more curious, as the adults appeared to be hiding something from them. The looks Moody and Remus kept giving each other only reinforced that perception among the teens.

The mystery was solved shortly after dinner, when Neville floo-ed Harry. He was excited about his new tutor, their old Defense instructor, Remus Lupin. Neville was disappointed that they weren't returning to his place, but accepted it with good graces. He did want to know if Harry was going to do something dangerous, and insisted that he be allowed to accompany them. Harry agreed.

Neville also explained that his lessons with Remus were in the morning, and he was tutored in the afternoon by his Uncle Algie to run the Manor. He complained about Hogwarts needing a class in arithmetic. He reiterated his invitation to Harry, Ron, and Hermione to join him for lessons, even if they weren't staying there. Harry said they would try, and suggested that Neville make the same offer to Luna and Ginny.

After they ended the connection, Harry found everyone in the parlor, waiting for him. Harry wasn't sure what was going on, until Hermione spoke.

"Harry, I'd like to tell you what I found, and I think we should include Remus and Mr. Moody."

"No need to be so formal, lass. You can call me Moody, or Alastor, if you want. Only people who called me "Mister" were my bosses, and then only when I was in trouble."

Hermione gave him a smile. "Very well, Alastor, thank you. Harry, I don't want to make your decision for you, but I think we could use the help."

Harry looked around the room, and nodded. "You're right, as usual, Hermione. I was going to bring you two in eventually. I'm going to let you in on something Dumbledore told me, but it's got to be kept secret. I need your word on this."

Moody cast a number of detection spells around the room, and for good measure put up some more protective spells. Once he was sure that the room was as private as magic could make it he gave Harry his word. Remus also gave his word.

Harry then told them about the Horcruxes. He stressed the importance of keeping the fact that they were searching for them from the Dark Lord, fearing he would make the Horcruxes impossible to find, make more of them, and set up traps for the searchers. He also described how the locket had been secured, and that Dumbledore's withered hand was probably the result of whatever protections the ring had.

Moody looked thoughtful. "Dark magic, that. But I guess we can't expect anything else from You-Know-Who. There are probably spells that could help in the search, but I don't know. They don't mention Horcruxes in Auror training."

Remus had to admit that he had never heard of them before.

Hermione spoke up, as the conversation seemed to die, "I wanted to tell you that I'm pretty sure that there's one at the Greater London City Orphanage."

"That's great, Hermione! Then we can go there tomorrow, get past all the fiendish traps, and get it!" Ron exclaimed, only half joking.

"Unfortunately not. Because the reason I'm so sure that it's there is because the address of the orphanage is not on Riddles' records at Hogwarts. It's a standard form, hasn't changed in a hundred years, but on his record there isn't even a place for his home address. I'm afraid it's under a Fidelius."