Cyclic Desperation of the Soul

Inside the Maelstrom: It Begins to Worsen:

"Just when you think that you're alright

I'm crawling out from the inside

I never hurt anyone

I never listen at all

Just stay away from the white light

I'd say you're worst side's your best side

I never hurt anyone

I never listen at all..." **Breaking Benjamin: "Polyamorous"

*******************

Ron woke up first in front of the dead embers of the fire in the common room. Hermione was curled up like a cat in the chair opposite him. It was 2 a.m.

He wondered if he should wake her, but decided not to. She had enough to think about, and so did he.

McGonagall didn't know exactly where Harry was...or Professor Dumbledore, for that matter.

It would be apparent by the next morning to the rest of the school that something was wrong if Dumbledore wasn't at his customary place at the teacher's table in the Great Hall, but one could only hope that at least Dumbledore would be back with some word of Harry.

Ron couldn't think of anything worse than knowing he was probably the last person to see Harry and that he probably should have offered to walk with him to the hospital wing. He didn't, and now no one knew where he was...alive? Dead?

He knew that Hermione, in the depths of her mind, was dreaming of that very same question: where is Harry? What happened to him?

Towards 5:30 a.m., the questions he had been asking himself were beginning to eat away at him.

He began to believe that it was all his fault, if only he had gone with Harry!!

With a start, Hermione woke.

Ron noticed, with some surprise that tears had sprung into her eyes. "What's wrong?? Other than the obvious," he added as an afterthought.

"I kept having these awful dreams all of last night...Harry was calling out to us and we were running down this long stone staircase, but no matter how far we went, we never reached the bottom or found Harry."

It was 6 a.m.

Ron and Hermione made their way nervously down the staircase to the Great Hall for breakfast, not because they were hungry but because they wanted to see if Dumbledore was back. Usually Dumbledore was the first to breakfast, last to leave.

Only Hagrid and Snape were there to greet them, along with some fourth year Ravenclaws that were busy finishing what looked like a History of Magic essay.

Snape was staring into his bowl of porridge with the customary scowl on his face, almost as if he was staring down his breakfast like it was going to jump out at him.

Hagrid, on the other hand, was worried looking and pale. He wasn't eating but kept playing with his bacon. Ron and Hermione started walking in his direction, but when he saw them, he got up abruptly and started to walk out of the Hall. Ron and Hermione looked at each other curiously and followed him out. He was walking towards his cabin, and when he reached it he reached down and picked up a hoe and began to half-heartedly dig at the cabbages.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Hagrid? Do you know where..." she trailed off as Hagrid turned around. He looked like someone who had witnessed a horrific event and was the only survivor.

He didn't say anything as he pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. There were two sheets of parchment inside. She noticed the Hogwarts seal on the envelope, and Dumbledore's spidery script on the front. When she pulled out the first sheet of paper, the second fell out. Before she could reach it, Hagrid swept it off the ground.

"Not till you've read the firs' one." he said.

She read the letter, with Ron peeking over her shoulder.

Hagrid:

Informed Ministry of Magic of the present situation. Received word of his whereabouts today in the enclosed letter. We should have all known this was coming. Rallying the Order, await further instructions from Minerva. I will send Fawkes with any other messages to her. Tell Ron and Hermione only what they need to know.

-Albus

As they finished, Hagrid held out the other piece of parchment. The message was almost as long as Dumbledore's, but not as vague:

I have your savior locked in my cage. Since I'd rather kill all of you meddlers en masse I'll give you only 3 clues:

The place of eternal night is easy enough to climb into; in the land of the speechless, the one that can scream the loudest is king; pages speak volumes:8 days and 8 nights until the caged bird loses it's voice

Happy hunting. If you do find your bird, remember that the kitties like to play.

Yours affectionately,

Lord Voldemort

"I can't believe Voldemort wrote this...because he didn't," Hermione said emphatically.

"I don't know, Hermione, if you're as batty as he is..." Ron began, but Hagrid cut him off. "No, you're right, Hermione, He didn't write it. That much Dumbledore knows. But someone close to him did, with his instructions."

"I sounds more like a woman wrote it...and since the only Death Eater I know of to be a woman is Bellatrix Lestrange, I'm going to guess it was her who penned this letter," Hermione said.

"But what exactly does all of this mean? Come on, this isn't exactly laid out for us all convenient like! Where the hell is Harry and where is Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"Dumbledore has an idea where this "place of eternal darkness" is, but the rest of it is tough to understand," Hagrid said simply. "I don't know where either of them are exactly, but I do know that I'm not supposed to be discussing this with either of you two. I can't tell you what I don't know...I've probably told you too much. Only Minerva and me know about this letter."

"But Hagrid why now? Why and how did Harry even get taken out of the school?" Ron asked.

"Ron, I really don't have an answer for you," Hagrid said sadly.