The Awakening Power

Sib

Story Summary:
Complete! Challenges fill Harry's busy sixth year: growing powers, Snape becomes defense teacher (and Harry's not in the mood for abuse), a new Potions teacher, a girl with a new crush on him, Quidditch, Voldemort, and a certain redheaded girl named Ginny who may help him through all of it. What are the goblins up to? Will Ron win Hermione back? And what exactly is Voldemort's diabolical plan to kill Harry and plunge magical society into anarchy? Lots of romance, drama, action and humor! Voted Phoenix Song's Best Novel-Length Story (along with Best Harry and Best Kiss).

Chapter 30

Chapter Summary:
Harry’s powers are growing very strong, and Dumbledore is worried about his control. Meanwhile, Snape has become the new Defense teacher, and Harry resolves not to take his abuse this year… Will Harry notice Ginny? Will Ron win Hermione back? Who has a new crush on Harry? Who is the new Potions teacher? And what exactly is Voldemort’s diabolical plan to kill Harry and plunge magical society into anarchy? Lots of humor, drama, action and romance as all these questions are answered and much more in Harry’s busy sixth year.
Posted:
09/10/2004
Hits:
4,766
Author's Note:
Harry’s sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

Chapter 30: Sirius's Diary

* * *

Harry couldn't believe he hadn't remembered it before. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that he knew where to find Sirius's diary.

Ginny turned to him. "Where do you think it is?" she asked curiously.

He paused, just relishing the thought, turning it over in his head. "When Remus had me sign the inheritance documents for Sirius's estate, he told me that a vault had been set up with my share of the assets. In fact, I received an owl earlier this year with some documents and a key. I bet that that a lot of Sirius's private items were stored in his vault during his stay at Azkaban. I mean, where else would they go? It must have been put in either my or Remus's vault."

Ginny appeared thoughtful as she considered the matter. "That makes sense. I think I've heard dad say that oftentimes when people are sent to Azkaban for a long stay, their belongings are picked up and put into the owner's vault, if they have one."

Harry sat up. "When can we go? You'll come with me, won't you?" he said excitedly.

"Of course, Harry," she said, smiling. "I suppose we'll have to talk to Professor McGonagall and see if we can get permission to leave the school."

"We'll have to talk to Remus, too... it might be in his vault," Harry said. "He didn't say whether he'd looked at all of Sirius's possessions in his own vault. Tomorrow's Sunday... how about tomorrow? Oh wait... banks aren't open on Sunday."

Ginny looked surprised. "Gringotts is open all the time. Aren't Muggle banks?"

"No... Gringotts is always open?" Harry asked.

"You know goblins... always obsessed with money," Ginny said with a grin. "Anyway, I don't see why we can't go tomorrow."

"I know it's there. It has to be there," Harry said fervently.

"I think it might be there, too, Harry, but don't set yourself up for a big disappointment if it's not," Ginny said gently.

Harry looked at her and nodded. "You're right. Best not to get myself worked up about it. But..."

"I know. We'll just have to see how it goes," she said, squeezing his hand. Suddenly she laughed. "Quite the big day, today, isn't it? Big love confessions, big diary revelations, big lunches..."

Harry laughed in response. "Come to think of it, I haven't eaten anything yet. I'm starving. I suppose big confessions build up my appetite." He eyed the wide variety of food, trying to decide what he wanted.

"And don't think you're going to get away with saying - it - once and then never again, Mr. Potter," Ginny said teasingly.

"Saying what?" Harry said innocently, taking a bite of a chicken leg.

Ginny's eyes narrowed and then she punched his arm. "Harry..." she said threateningly.

"I'm just kidding!" he said quickly.

"Hmph," she said, turning away and crossing her arms.

Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry..." he said, chuckling.

"I need a more sincere apology than that," she said, trying to be cold, but her face was fighting a smile.

Harry grinned as he was reminded of when he'd teased her about the romance book last summer. That seemed so long ago... "Okay, how about this..." he said into her ear.

He put down his food and then moved around in front of her, taking both of her hands in his. He leaned in, looked straight into her eyes, and said in a low, sincere voice, "Ginny, I am very, very sorry I teased you about saying..." He paused, and then whispered, "I love you."

Ginny's breath hitched as she gazed back at him.

"Was that good enough, Miss Weasley?" he whispered, with a smile.

"Um, yes. That was much better," she said, swallowing. "That... that will hold me for quite some time, I think."

Harry started to turn back to lunch, but suddenly Ginny pulled her hands back from his, threw her arms around him, and began kissing him passionately. As they fell back on the blanket, thoughts of lunch left his head as he vaguely made a mental note to tell Ginny how he felt more often if this was going to be the reaction.

* * *

As they walked back to the castle, Harry couldn't help hurrying a bit. He felt extremely excited about the possibility of finding Sirius's diary, and couldn't wait to start making plans.

"My goodness, Harry, it's been there for over a decade, it'll stay a few hours more," Ginny said, as they ran up the castle steps.

"Come on, let's find Ron and Hermione," Harry said, grinning at her.

They burst into the Gryffindor common room, Harry spotting Ron and Hermione playing chess in a corner.

"Ron! Hermione! I think I know where Sirius's diary is," he said, a bit out of breath.

"What? Where?" Ron said, looking surprised. Even the chess pieces looked up with an expression of shock.

"Gringotts. Sirius's assets were divided between Remus and me. The diary has to be in one of our vaults," he said.

"I suppose it's possible," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Ginny and I were talking about going tomorrow, if we can get permission from McGonagall. Will you come with me?"

"Trip to Diagon Alley?" Ron said, growing excited. "Are you kidding?"

"Ron," Hermione said warningly. "I think we'll be more likely to get permission if it doesn't sound as though we're going on some holiday excursion."

Ron's face fell. "Er, I was just thinking... maybe lunch... and, er, dropping into Quality Quidditch Supplies..." Ron's voice faded as Hermione glared at him. "Um, but maybe we should play it by ear after taking care of business at Gringotts."

Harry and Ginny sneaked an amused glance at each other. "Come on, let's go see McGonagall," Harry said.

They all got up and exited out the portrait hole, Harry hoping that McGonagall would allow them to travel there. He felt a knot of nervousness as they approached her office door. He hoped she was there; it was Saturday, so there was no guarantee.

Harry glanced at everyone, then knocked softly on the door.

"Enter," came a crisp reply. Harry pushed open the door, and saw Professor McGonagall at her desk, surrounded by a large pile of paper.

"Mr. Potter," she said, slightly surprised. "And Miss Granger, Miss Weasley and Mr. Weasley as well. From your expression, Mr. Potter, I would expect this is a matter of some urgency."

Harry smiled nervously. "Erm, not... that sort of urgency, Professor."

McGonagall's mouth twitched slightly. "Good. Well, then, what can I do for you?"

Suddenly the whole thing felt like a very trivial request, that McGonagall wouldn't possibly be able to understand. "Well, you see, Professor..." he began nervously. "Over... over Christmas, when I stayed at Grimmauld Place, I found a letter that mentioned a diary - a diary that Sirius used to keep."

"I see," McGonagall said, lacing her fingers together on the desk.

"We searched the house, but never found it. But - I remembered today - there is a vault at Gringotts that has my share of the inheritance. I think the diary might be there," Harry finished.

McGonagall looked at him with something like compassion. "And you wish permission to leave the school and check, is that the rub?" she said.

"Yes, Professor," Harry said.

She frowned. "I'm afraid that's a bit more difficult these days, Mr. Potter."

Harry's heart sank. "Difficult?" he said.

"We have some... reports... of increased Death Eater activity over the last few months. Travel is becoming increasingly dangerous," she said.

"I forgot!" Harry said abruptly. "We need Remus - erm, I mean, Professor Lupin... he has a vault as well. The diary may be there, too... what if he was willing to come with us?"

McGonagall appeared very hesitant. "Let me speak to Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Potter. Please wait outside."

They all got up and exited the office, closing the door. Harry stood nervously, wondering what they were discussing. After what seemed like an eternity, McGonagall called them back into the office.

"Well, Mr. Potter, both of us have our reservations about this, but we recognize that this is important to you," she said. "If Professor Lupin agrees to escort you and your friends, then you may go."

"Thank you, Professor! May I use your floo to ask him right now?" asked Harry.

McGonagall looked amused. "Be my guest," she said, gesturing toward her fireplace.

Harry got up from his chair and moved to the fireplace where he saw a small box on the mantle. He picked up the container and pulled out some floo powder, then stuck his head into the grate. He threw the powder onto the logs, which immediately ignited into emerald green flames.

"Number twelve, Grimmauld Place," Harry said clearly and loudly.

He had a sensation of his head flying through the flames, and then found himself gazing out the kitchen fireplace at Grimmauld Place. The kitchen was empty, so he called out.

"Hello?" a voice said. Remus came strolling into the kitchen and then appeared surprised as he saw Harry poking out.

"Harry! What a surprise," he said, then an expression of worry crossed his face. "Is anything wrong?"

"No! Everything is fine," Harry said. "I just... have a favor to ask."

"Of course, Harry. What can I do for you?" Lupin said, much more relaxed as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Sirius's diary... I think I know where it is. I think it might be in one of our vaults at Gringotts," Harry said.

Lupin looked thoughtful. "An interesting thought, Harry. I have to tell you that I'm certain that it's not in my vault; my share of the inheritance was only currency. But your vault is Sirius's old vault. The assets were divided by the goblins; I would assume they would have only divided valuables and left anything else. So it's very possible his diary is there. I should have thought of that myself over Christmas."

Harry nodded. "Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore are willing to allow Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I to go to Gringotts to check... if you were willing to escort us..." said Harry.

"Of course, Harry. When would you like to go?" said Lupin, smiling.

"I know it's short notice, but perhaps... tomorrow?" Harry said tentatively.

Lupin chuckled. "I understand. I think I can arrange that. Shall I pick you up at Hogwarts, and we can all travel via Knight Bus? Perhaps we can even have lunch."

"That would be fantastic!" Harry said excitedly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Harry. I'll be at the castle around ten," Lupin said.

"That sounds fine," Harry said. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks again, Remus."

"Not at all. A trip to Diagon Alley sounds like a pleasant diversion, actually."

Harry said goodbye and pulled his head out of the fireplace. Professor McGonagall and the others looked at him expectantly. "He'll be here tomorrow at ten o'clock," Harry said, feeling very excited. "Thank you, Professor."

"Just be careful, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall sternly as they all got up to leave.

* * *

It was gray and overcast the next day as Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione waited on the steps of Hogwarts. Harry had been watching the clock all morning; the hands seeming to move agonizingly slowly. Ginny had been sneaking in some revision before they left, so Harry played chess with Ron while they waited, but his mind wasn't on the game at all. Finally the time had arrived, and they went down to wait for Lupin.

At a few minutes after ten, Harry searched down the road impatiently.

"Relax, Harry," Ginny said soothingly. "He'll be here soon."

"Yeah, you're right," Harry said glumly as he sat down on the steps, resting his head on his hands.

"Can't wait," Ron said excitedly. "I'm certain he'll let us swing by the broom shop."

"Ron..." Hermione said warningly.

"What? McGonagall already said we can go," Ron said happily. "No reason we can't have a few side excursions."

"It's up to Professor Lupin. Let's not plan on using up more of his time than we have to," Hermione said.

"But... but he said he wanted to go, right, Harry?" Ron said, looking for support.

Harry chuckled. "He said it sounded like a 'pleasant diversion' and that he wanted to go to lunch. That's all I know."

"Maybe he could leave us there, and we could head back later on this afternoon, so he wouldn't have to wait... around... for... us," Ron said, trailing off at Hermione's glare.

Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, snickering at the two of them.

"Ron, what did Professor McGonagall say? Death Eater activity? Do the words 'be careful' ring any bells?" Hermione said, crossing her arms at him

Ron cleared his throat. "Er, on the other hand, McGonagall might not be too pleased if we went wandering off, I suppose."

Hermione nodded at him and smiled, uncrossing her arms. She kissed his cheek. "That's better. Well, perhaps we can ask Professor Lupin politely, and if he has time, we can visit the broom shop."

Ron appeared happy at that. Harry couldn't help but notice with amusement how much Ron resembled Mr. Weasley under Mrs. Weasley's glare.

Harry glanced back up the road, and saw a lone figure walking toward the castle. "There he is!"

They all stood up, squinting into the distance, and then began marching down the steps to meet him. At about halfway up the road, they met and greeted each other, and began striding the other way up the road.

"Well, Harry, I have to admit I'm intrigued as well about what's in that vault," Lupin said conversationally.

"Do you think there might be other things in there?" asked Harry.

"One never knows with Sirius," Lupin said, chuckling. "He was the sort that might hang onto something trivial forever, yet give away something valuable. I wouldn't be surprised to find some odd bric-a-brac lurking in the vault."

They finally reached the outer limits of the Hogwarts grounds. Lupin raised his wand, and not long afterward the Knight Bus appeared, just in time as some drizzle began coming down.

They climbed aboard and the bus immediately took off, causing the five of them to dive toward some untaken chairs, trying to hold on to anything in reach. After what seemed like an even more frightening ride than usual, they finally arrived at Gringotts.

"I doubt even a trip to Diagon Alley is worth riding on that thing," Ron said with a shudder as they exited the bus.

They all laughed as they walked up the white stone steps toward the main entrance. They went through the bronze doors, the usual uniformed goblin giving them a formal bow. Entering through the silver doors into the grand marble hall, Harry felt very jumpy, just wanting to get inside and see what they would find in the vault. As they moved through the lobby, there appeared to be even more security than last time. Very tough-looking goblins were stationed every few feet with suspicious glares pasted on all their faces.

Harry picked the nearest unoccupied goblin, working at a desk. "Hello, I'd like to access my vault, please," he said politely.

The goblin glanced up at him, his eyes drawn up to Harry's forehead before moving back down. "Do you have your key, sir?" he said

Harry dug through his pockets, finally finding the key to the vault, and then handed it to the goblin.

He seemed to make a show of inspecting the key, as if it was some sort of forgery created to rob the place. Finally he appeared to be satisfied and nodded reluctantly. He turned around and called to another goblin. "Millrack!"

The goblin came over and eyed the four. "Come this way," Millrack said.

They all followed him over to a strange podium that Harry had never seen before, which had a green, glowing box on it. "Please surrender your wands for measurement," he said.

"What is this about?" asked Lupin.

The goblin glared at Lupin rudely. He paused, appearing to decide whether to kick them all out. Finally, he said, "New security regulations. All wand signatures must be measured and recorded."

Harry looked at Lupin, who shrugged as he pulled out his wand. They all followed his lead and placed their wands on the strange podium. Millrack picked up Harry's wand and held it over the box. He peered into the glow, which seemed to indicate something to him as he nodded.

"Holly, eleven inches, phoenix feather core," he said, writing down the measurements in a journal on the podium. He measured each of the wands in turn, handing each one back as he completed his task.

Millrack led them to a door off the great hall. They traveled down a stone corridor lit with torches to a small cart, used for accessing the vaults. As they started to climb on board, another goblin with a long gray beard came up and spoke to Millrack in a strange language that Harry didn't understand. They appeared to reach an agreement as the gray bearded goblin took over the rail car.

They took off down the tracks, the cart seeming to fly through the tight tunnels. Harry glanced over at Ginny, who smiled at him and took his hand. He felt incredibly thrilled that they were almost there, he could almost smell the diary somehow... he knew it just had to be in there...

As they flew over a deep, apparently bottomless canyon, Hermione gazed around in wonderment. "This is amazing! I mean, I'd heard that they had this huge underground vault system, but I haven't seen it before."

Deeper and deeper into the earth they went. The trip seemed to be taking much longer than was usual for Harry's vault. He glanced at Lupin, who appeared slightly confused.

"Pardon me, but are you certain this is the correct way?" asked Lupin. "The vault in question is one that belonged previously to Sirius Black. It's been some time since I've seen it, but I'm convinced the way was different than this."

"Yes, quite certain," the goblin said, not bothering to look at Lupin. "The vault has been moved."

Lupin didn't appear quite satisfied at this explanation, but sat back, waiting patiently. Harry wondered exactly what was going on; apparently Lupin had been in Sirius's vault in the past, and knew this wasn't the way. Harry supposed that it was possible the goblins had moved everything...

Abruptly they lurched off the regular railway and the car appeared to roll along an invisible track, suspended above an immense cavern. Lupin looked at the goblin with furrowed eyebrows. The goblin glanced back, apparently noticing Lupin questioning his path once again.

"We're almost there," he said brusquely.

Harry noticed that there were traveling toward a rock face. "We're going to hit the wall of the cavern!" he said, in a panic.

They flew through the rock face, just like platform nine and three-quarters, as they went plummeting into a dimly lit tunnel in the rock.

"I demand to know where we are," Lupin said sharply, clearly unnerved by the path they had taken. His wand seemed to snap into his hand of its own accord.

An oily smile grew across the goblin's face as they slowed and stopped at a station. "Of course, sir. The vault is right over here. We're in a new section of Gringotts that you may not have been to previously. I apologize for not making that clear up front."

Lupin looked around the cavern. "This doesn't look like any sort of vault storage," he said. Harry tensed up, sensing trouble as he began to reach for his own wand...

Suddenly the goblin pulled out a white, glowing ball...

"Run!" Lupin shouted, but the five were still in the cart and had nowhere to go. The goblin threw himself out of the car as he tossed the ball into the passenger area. Lupin began to shout a spell, but it was too late. Harry saw a flash of white light...

* * *

Harry slowly awoke, trying to remember where he was. He was lying on a dirt floor in a very dim, dank room. He rolled over onto his back, looking up at a rough, rocky ceiling. Abruptly it all came back to him... the goblin had stunned them...

He quickly sat up, but grew very dizzy and flopped back to the ground, letting out a moan. He heard some feet shuffle... somewhere. He laid still until the dizziness went away.

A thrill of fear went through him as reached for his wand... and found that it was missing. He closed his eyes tightly. What was going on? Clearly the goblin had led them into a trap... was he in league with the goblin cult that had attacked the Burrow? Was Voldemort involved in this somehow?

He tried to sit up again, much more slowly this time. He staggered to his feet, stumbling around and finally stabilizing himself by leaning against the wall. Harry looked around the room; he was in some sort of holding cell about ten feet by fifteen feet, with a thick wooden door continaing a small one foot-by-one foot barred window. The only illumination was the light coming in through the door. He wondered how long he had been unconscious.

He moved to the door, peering out the window. He saw a goblin outside, apparently his guard. "Hey! Why are you holding me here?" Harry asked.

The goblin laughed at him contemptuously. "Why do you think, scarhead? Go sit and be silent. You will learn more soon enough."

"Where are my friends?" Harry asked more aggressively, but the guard turned his back to him, obviously done with the conversation. Harry rattled the door, but it had a large lock that obviously wasn't about to be broken. He moved away from the door, inspecting the room, wondering if there was a way out. That idea was quickly squashed as he noticed that the room appeared to be carved out of rock.

Having a thought, he walked back to the door. "I have to go to the bathroom," he said, in as innocent a voice as he could muster.

The goblin smirked at him. "Nice try. Look at the back of the cell. You'll see a hole. Do your business into that."

Harry glanced back into the dim cell, barely making out a small hole with a grate over it. He stalked back into the cell and sat down angrily, trying to figure out what he could do, but feeling helpless. How could he have let himself be captured so easily? Granted, they weren't exactly expecting something to happen in the middle of Gringotts... but he couldn't help thinking that he should have known somehow.

His anger at his situation abruptly turned to fear for his friends. Where were they? Were they still alive? Please, please, let them be alive, Harry thought anxiously. He didn't know what he would do if they got killed because of him.

He climbed back to his feet, feeling too anxious and worried to sit down. He paced the cell, trying to will his brain to think of something...

Hearing footsteps outside his cell, he hurried over to the window. A goblin was walking down the stone corridor, his footsteps echoing ominously. He was followed by two other goblins, all of them smiling with an expression that appeared all too pleased. Harry peered closely at the first goblin, who seemed to be the leader of the group. In fact, he looked familiar... he looked like...

"Garnak!" Harry said, utterly stunned.

"Well, Mr. Potter. I see that you're awake. I hope your stay has been... comfortable?" he said with a sneer. The other goblins laughed riotously at this.

"But... you took me to Ragnok..." Harry said.

More laughter greeted this statement. "Shocked, are you?" said Garnak, amused. "Minister Ragnok's right hand man, capturing Harry Potter? Ragnok is a fool. He would have us kiss the arse of the wizarding community, but some of us have greater plans for the goblins to take our rightful place."

"You believe what Voldemort tells you?" Harry said coldly. "And you call Ragnok a fool?"

Harry expected this to annoy Garnak, but he just laughed instead. "Goblins trust no one. We have several thousands of years of history demonstrating the treachery of wizards."

"You're planning on betraying Voldemort?" Harry asked incredulously.

Garnak didn't answer, but said instead, "At this particular moment, we are doing the Dark Lord a favor. Giving him a little gift, shall we say." High pitched goblin laughter echoed down the stone corridor.

"Professor Dumbledore knows that we're here," Harry said, feeling a little desperate.

"Please, credit us with some intelligence," Garnak said arrogantly. "The Dark Lord supplied us with Polyjuice potion. It was a simple matter to take samples of each one of you. Many, many witnesses saw you leave Gringotts, and then, amusingly enough, saw you get attacked and captured. Dumbledore knows that you are missing, but believes you have been taken far away."

Harry fell silent, wanting to argue further, but running out of arguments.

"Now then, the Dark Lord is on his way. He is dying to see you again," Garnak said with a smirk. Loud laughter again greeted his statement. "And just to make certain you know there is no hope..."

Garnak's face twisted into a toothy smile as he pulled out five wands. Harry sucked in a breath as his heart began thudding... if he could just get his wand...

Harry's heart then felt like it came to a dead halt as Garnak suddenly snapped all five wands in half.

* * *

Ginny glanced over at Lupin, annoyed at how calm he seemed to be with the whole situation. She and Ron were pacing like caged tigers, while Hermione stood against the wall, looking lost in thought.

After they had awoken in the cell, Lupin had immediately tried to Disapparate, but not surprisingly, it hadn't worked. He had then tried to talk to the guard, but the goblin may as well have been deaf for all the reaction he made. Finally, Lupin had sighed and sat against the wall.

Ginny felt like strangling someone as she worried about what had happened to Harry. Why had they put him into a separate cell? There didn't seem to be any answers.

"How you can you just sit there?" she asked Lupin angrily.

Lupin looked up at her. "There is nothing more we can do at the moment."

"What about Harry? What are we going to do?" she demanded.

"Ginny, take it easy..." Ron started.

"What? He was supposed to protect us! And look what happened!" Ginny shouted, her frustration with the situation and her worry about Harry spilling over.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, shocked at her behavior. "It's not his fault! How could he know that the goblins were going to capture us?

"It's all right, Hermione," Lupin said quietly. "She's right. I was supposed to protect all of you. And believe me, after this is over, I will feel terrible. But at the moment, I think it's best that we keep our wits about us if we want to survive."

Ginny suddenly felt very guilty. Lupin was right; it didn't help to start throwing around accusations. "I'm... I'm sorry. It's just..." she said, fighting back tears of worry about Harry.

Hermione went over and embraced her. "I know," Hermione said quietly. "I'm afraid for him, too."

Ron walked over to the door, looking frustrated. He peered out the window, glaring at the goblin guard. "Hey, ugly. You can't be stupid enough to think no one is going to come for us."

Ginny and Hermione released each other, Ginny feeling a little better. She moved over next to Ron and peeked out the window. The goblin was sitting on a chair, continuing to ignore them.

"Can't you at least tell us why you're doing this?" Ron asked, aggravated. "Goblins are supposed to be on good terms with wizards."

The goblin made a tiny snorting sound. Lupin glanced up, hearing the sound. He rose to his feet and moved over to the window as well. Hermione curiously followed, as Ginny moved away a bit so Lupin could look out.

"I assume you're a rogue bunch, separate from the legitimate government under Ragnok," Lupin said. It wasn't a question.

The goblin appeared very irritated at this, but continued to stay silent.

"Are you not concerned that you'll be seen as traitors to your fellow goblins?" Lupin asked.

The goblin's long fingers opened and closed into fists, as if he was struggling with himself. Finally, he spat, "Keep silent or you will regret it. We are not traitors."

"Pardon me," Lupin said politely. "I asked if you would be seen as traitors by other goblins."

"They will see us as heroes... eventually," the goblin replied, looking extremely reluctant to be talking at all.

"Am I to assume that you are in league with Voldemort, then?" Lupin asked.

The goblin chuckled. "You will soon find out. Along with your precious Potter."

Good, Harry must be alive, then, Ginny thought with great relief.

"Voldemort will not give you what you want," Lupin said quietly.

"What do you know of what we want?" the goblin asked contemptuously, growing angry. "You're a wizard. Need I remind you that the Dark Lord is one of you? And you dare to presume to understand..." The goblin stopped abruptly.

"You don't have to do this," Lupin said. "Whatever it is you want, the Ministry..."

The goblin cut him off. "Do not lecture me about what you know little about. Do you think this is about changing a few laws? This is about the fall of wizarding society. This is about the fall of human society. The world is changing, and it all begins here with the death of Harry Potter."

The goblin abruptly turned away fiercely and would say no more.

* * *

Harry sat against the wall in his cell, feeling as though he was already dead. Some world saver I am, he thought despondently. He had just thrown away everything because he had wanted a stupid diary. He had no chance to survive without a wand against Voldemort. The only question was how painful he would make his death.

His friends were probably already dead, and he would soon join them. Images of Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Lupin rose in his head as a terrible pain filled him over their death.

But somehow an even bigger emotion filled him than even the pain of losing them... he felt an awful shame. The prophecy said that he was 'the one' with the power to defeat Voldemort, so he had just doomed everyone. The Weasleys, Dumbledore... everyone, really... he had let them all down. All of his studying, all of his practicing, it all meant absolutely nothing.

Harry brooded over these gloomy thoughts until some time later, when he heard footsteps again echoing down the corridor. He didn't rise; they were probably just there to take him to Voldemort. He considered some sort of plan, to try and fight back... but what chance did he have without a wand? But it was his only shot... he considered his options...

He heard two goblins talking outside in low voices. There was a pause, then a loud thump came from outside. Harry looked up... it almost sounded like a body hitting the ground...

The door unlocked and opened with a creaking sound. Garnak hurried into the room, looking very worried.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," he said. "Please get up, we haven't much time."

Harry scrambled to his feet. Peering out the door, he noticed that his other guard was on the ground. "What's going on?" he asked, very confused.

"Listen closely. I am a spy. I infiltrated this organization in order to learn more about Voldemort's plans. We are currently under Gringotts in a network of caverns, but no one knows exactly where it is," said Garnak.

"But... how did we get here in the first place?" Harry asked.

"Voldemort set up a magic gateway. It's a bit like a Portkey, but you pass through a large bay and appear elsewhere. It's useful for moving large amounts of material. These caverns themselves have been shielded with unplottable spells. Fortunately, the space is too big for a Fidelius Charm, or it would have been impossible to find. Ragnok has been searching for the last year to attempt to find them," he explained.

"But why... what's here..." Harry started, but Garnak cut him off.

"Do not ask questions! There's no time to explain, and even if there was time, I cannot tell you. I am under a secrecy spell, which is why I cannot even tell Minister Ragnok. The secrets must be found by an outsider.

"What's important is that you must escape this place. If you can find a path back to the regular chambers, while invoking a mapping charm, that will break the unplottable spell and Ragnok can send help," he finished.

Harry ran his hands through his hair, trying to keep up. Suddenly a feeling of hope surged through him... "My friends! They're still alive?" he asked, barely daring to ask.

"Yes, yes, they are unharmed," Garnak said impatiently.

A thrill of relief ran through him, but tempered with some fear. They weren't safe yet, for a very good reason. Harry began growing angry. "If you wanted me to escape, you might have not broken my bloody wand!"

"Gah!" Garnak said, blowing out an irritated breath. "You wizards have no subtlety. I'm not a fool, Potter." He reached into a hidden pocket along side of his trousers, pulled out a handful of wands, and handed them to a wide-eyed Harry. "I pulled the records of your wands that were recorded when you came into Gringotts and had fake wands quickly transfigured into the correct size and wood. I had to convince... others... that you would be no threat."

Harry quickly pulled his wand out from the batch, clutching at it tightly in both hands. He felt naked without it, and having it again made him feel much more confident about the situation.

"So how are we supposed to get out?" Harry asked.

"Have you been listening, Potter?" Garnak said, aggravated. "I have no idea. I use the main entrance. Do you think I've crawled these caverns?"

"What's going to happen to you? Won't they know it was you that let me out?" said Harry.

"I told the others that I was going to bring you personally to Voldemort. When you don't show up, he will be... angry," Garnak said, looking fearful for the first time. He fixed Harry with a steady look. "Either we all die, and nothing matters anyway, or you will succeed, and this place will be revealed, and I don't have to maintain this charade any longer. Either way, there was no reason to keep myself hidden any longer."

Harry nodded. "Right then. Where are my friends?"

"Come with me," Garnak said, leading him out the door. The cell was one of many along into a tunnel carved into the rock, with torches along the rough, craggy walls. "Down that direction, the tunnel will open to a larger cavern with many tunnels. Take the first tunnel on your right."

"Thanks," Harry said and began striding away, but Garnak stopped him.

"One more thing. The tunnel on the left leads to a large chamber. That is where I was to take you. That is where Voldemort will be waiting," he said warningly. "I don't believe that he has arrived yet. Once he arrives, I don't know how long he will wait until he grows suspicious and looks for you. Good luck, Potter."

Harry set off, cautiously holding his wand out in front him, looking for any sort of movement. He would feel much better when everyone was together once again. He reached the end of the tunnel, which opened into a large, circular chamber with rough walls and a high ceiling, about thirty feet high. Eight tunnels led away from the chamber, and along the base of the walls were small grates. Torches lined the walls, brightly lighting the chamber.

He warily eyed the tunnel to the left, then cautiously moved to the tunnel to the right, peeking around the corner. He saw a goblin far down the way, sitting in a chair and looking rather bored.

Taking careful aim, he cast, "Stupefy!" The spell hit the goblin dead center, and he fell over into a heap.

Harry ran down the corridor to the goblin, who was next to a cell. He peeked through the bars and his heart soared as he saw his friends. "Alohomora!" he cast, unlocking the door.

"Harry!" Ginny and Hermione screamed simultaneously, but Ginny beat her to him, running over and throwing herself into his arms. Harry embraced her tightly. Hermione hugged the two of them, and Ron ran over and started beating his back for all he was worth. Lupin climbed to his feet, watching the four of them with a broad smile.

"Good to see you, Harry," Lupin said.

Finally everyone released Harry, and he was so happy that he almost forgot for a second how much trouble they were all still in.

"Listen, we're not out of the woods yet," Harry said, and then gave them a quick rundown of what Garnak had told him, and handed back all their wands.

"How the bloody hell are we supposed to find a way out of here?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I suggest we start moving while we're figuring it out," said Lupin, and that sounded like a great idea to Harry as they moved out of the cell. The other end of the tunnel looked as though it opened into another chamber. "First, let's take Garnak's advice and invoke a mapping charm on each of our wands. That's a NEWT-level spell; is anyone familiar with it?"

Not surprisingly, Hermione was the only one who knew of the spell. Lupin invoked the charm on each of the other wands, which would track the movements of the wand. Upon invoking a different spell, it would show a three-dimensional illustration floating in the air of the path they had traveled. He taught everyone the spell to display the recorded map, which fortunately was much easier than the tracking spell itself.

Lupin dragged the unconscious goblin down the tunnel to a different cell and locked him in, casting a silencing charm on the door so that he couldn't signal to anyone.

"Well, Voldemort is back that way, maybe we should continue the other way and see what we can find," Harry said.

They moved cautiously down the tunnel and then broke out into a very large cavern. Along the edge of the walls were neat stacks of bluish-white lustrous metal bars. Several other tunnels led away from the chamber as well.

"This place is a maze," Ron grumbled.

"Shhh!" Hermione said, holding up her hand.

They all listened, and then Harry heard it. Odd noises were coming from the tunnels... familiar noises... groaning, gurgling, tapping... he couldn't quite place where he heard them before, however.

They were just starting to pick a random tunnel when they heard footsteps coming and suddenly four goblins emerged into the cavern, staring at them with wide eyes. They shouted something in goblin language and then began flinging hexes at them. The five humans dived behind one of the piles of metal bricks. In one motion, Harry ran backwards, pulling his wand and launching a stunning hex at the goblins, and then took cover behind the bricks. Peeking over, he saw that he had stunned one of the goblins, but the other five had apparently run back down the tunnel.

"I think we had better run before they bring more goblins. We need to find an exit, not battle everyone," said Lupin, starting to move, and then they took off down another tunnel. The entered another large chamber, but Harry's stomach flip-flopped as he realized they had come into a dead-end. There were a few wooden shelves set up with large piles of parchments.

They immediately turned to run back, but saw a large number of goblins filling the other chamber, peeking down the tunnel. Harry and Ginny threw themselves against one wall to the side of the door, and Lupin, Ron and Hermione went to the other side.

Hexes starting flying down the tunnel hitting the back wall harmlessly. They looked like the cutting hexes that Harry had seen during the Burrow attack; he definitely didn't want to get in front of those again, although he knew how to block them more effectively now. Goblin magic required much different methods.

Harry peeked around the corner and saw a few goblins creeping down the tunnel. He launched a stunning spell, getting the one in the lead and the rest ran back down to safety.

"Time is not on our side," Lupin said. "Now that the goblins are onto us, it will make it much more difficult to find a way out before Voldemort arrives and gets suspicious. One thing in our favor; if I know goblins, they will not report that we are missing to Voldemort. They will try and capture us first so that Voldemort will not know that anything went wrong."

There was a long silence as they considered their options. Harry noticed that Hermione was staring at something oddly. He followed her eyes... she was looking at a grate in the base of the wall of the chamber. "What is it, Hermione?" he asked.

"I'm just wondering what that is... it's a way out, right? I'm not certain we can fit... but if I'm not mistaken, is that a ventilation duct?"

Lupin's head snapped over. "Cover me," he said. Harry raised his wand and peered down the tunnel, where the goblins appeared as if they were still considering their options. Lupin moved over to the grate, which was partially in the line of fire from the tunnel. A goblin cast a few pot-shot hexes, but Harry shot some back, keeping them at bay.

Lupin put his hand over the grate. "I think I feel air coming in..." He went over to the piles of parchment and ripped a few pieces off, creating a small pile of confetti. He dropped it in front of the grate, and the pieces flew away. "This is definitely for ventilation. I wonder if it leads to a larger ventilation shaft..." he said musingly. "This might be a way out of these caverns into the main Gringotts caverns. Unfortunately, it looks too small for any of us."

"It's not too small for me," Ginny said.

Harry looked at her, shocked, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be covering Lupin from the goblins in the tunnel. "No! You can't go by yourself!"

"Ginny... there has to be some other way..." Ron said, looking extremely worried.

Ginny's set her jaw firmly. "Do you have any other ideas?" she said, glancing between Harry and Ron. "You heard Professor Lupin, this might be a way out of here. And I'm the only one who can fit. We don't have time to argue about this!"

"But..." Harry said weakly. He didn't want to accept it, but he knew in his gut that they had to take this chance.

Ginny's face softened as she saw Harry's concern. "I'll be fine. Somehow, I'll find someone and bring them back."

"At least... at least let me teach you how to block goblin curses..." Harry said.

"I already know," Ginny said, smiling. "After your little adventure, did you think I wasn't going to be prepared if that ever happened again?"

Harry gazed at her, choking up a little, feeling extremely worried about her. But then, another thought came to mind... she might even be safer in there. Perhaps she would survive this, even if he and the others didn't... "Ginny... no matter what happens... don't come back, all right? Just... hide out in there."

"Don't talk like that! I will find a way out and bring back help," she said adamantly.

Lupin nodded and waved his wand at the grate, making it fly off and land on the floor with a loud clang. "Ginny, do you know the Rappelling Charm?"

"No," she said.

"I have a feeling you'd better learn that one," Lupin said. "It shoots a rope with a piton at the end that shoots up and inserts itself into rock. It's Apeler Spicum. You have to imagine the piton entering the rock as you cast it. The wand movement is a circle, followed by a quick thrust. Quickly give it a try."

Ginny concentrated, waving her wand in the proper motion. "Apeler Spicum!" A metal spike with a rope shot out of her wand, flying to the top of the chamber and embedding itself in the rock with a loud PING sound.

"Excellent!" Lupin said, looking very professorial, despite the circumstances.

Ginny turned to Harry, hesitating, looking like she wasn't quite certain what to say. Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione grew very attentive to peering down the tunnel, and Lupin turned away.

"I love you so much," Ginny whispered.

"I love you, too," Harry said emotionally, and pulled her into a tight embrace. They broke apart and gently kissed, then looked into each other's eyes.

"Harry, if you have to fight Voldemort... you'll win. I know you will," she said intently.

Harry swallowed and nodded. He couldn't help but have a sick feeling run through him that they were saying goodbye to each other for the last time. Ginny pulled away reluctantly, looking as though she was steeling herself to her task. She leaped hastily across the tunnel entrance, then gave Ron and Hermione tight, quick hugs.

Moving over to the grate, she hugged Lupin, then eyed the narrow, rectangular passage.

"Wait, I have an idea..." Lupin said, and then tapped his wand on Ginny's head, giving an incantation.

"Yikes! That felt weird. What was that spell?" Ginny asked.

"Slick charm. It'll make you almost frictionless, except for your hands and feet, when sliding through the shafts. I would recommend using a Tractum spell as well to pull yourself along more quickly."

Ginny glanced at Harry, causing him to remember that she had used Tractum at the lake to pull him into the water. He hoped that was a good omen.

She took a deep breath and lit up her wand. Kneeling down, she slid into the tight passage with her hands out in front of her. She wriggled along, her feet finally disappearing.

Harry heard a commotion in the tunnel. Looking around the corner, he saw goblins talking to each other animatedly, pointing to the ventilation grate. "Damn! The goblins saw Ginny go into the grate... we need to stop them before they tell anyone..."

Without thinking, Harry charged down the tunnel. The goblins began launching curses at him. Harry blocked most of them, but there were too many goblins, and he could feel some of them hitting him, causing painful stinging and blood flowing. He stunned several of them before they moved out of the line of fire. Harry burst into the chamber, quickly stunning five goblins.

He saw several goblins run down the tunnel where they had come out of originally, where the odd noises appeared to be coming from. Harry took off down the tunnel as Ron, Hermione and Lupin came up behind.

He spotted the goblins going through smoothly sliding stone door, which began to close behind them. "Pulvis!" he snapped, causing a bright beam of red light to leap from his wand. The stone door shattered and blew out backwards.

Running through the debris, he entered an enormous cavern with smooth walls, and a ceiling too high to see as it was lost in darkness. Large boulders taller than himself were strewn about, blocking the view of the entire chamber, but he could hear industrial noises echoing within. The goblins seemed to have disappeared.

Harry stopped, looking around, wondering which way he should go. Again, he had an odd feeling of deja-vu... then it came to him. This was the place in his dream. He was certain that Voldemort had been here before.

Ron, Hermione and Lupin came running in behind him, wands drawn. They stopped and scanned the area, looking at Harry for his lead.

"I'm not certain which way they went," Harry said, frustrated.

"There's something going on in here," Ron said, listening to the noise.

"Let's explore a bit further," Lupin said cautiously. "Perhaps we can find a way out in here."

They moved forward, walking cautiously through the maze of huge rocks. Harry couldn't tell what was lighting the place; it appeared to be getting brighter as they went, but there were no shadows.

They had walked at least a hundred yards when the view opened up into a huge hole in the center of the cavern. They four crept to the edge and peeked down. Enormous amounts of equipment were set up. Harry could see row upon row of bubbling cauldrons, each one a good ten feet in diameter and fifteen feet high. A stack of the odd bluish-white metal bricks were stacked neatly in one area, while another area held some very strange metal cages. Large bins, as big as railroad cars, held supplies of many sorts of materials; one had yellow crystals, another had some sort of fine black material. It was difficult to see the entire area.

Dozens of goblins were moving busily among all the equipment; moving supplies, checking indicators and occasionally writing in notebooks.

"What the bloody hell is going on down there?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I - I don't know," Hermione said, wide eyed.

"I would say that this is what Voldemort doesn't want anyone to find," Lupin said musingly.

Harry felt anger and frustration rising in him. "Who cares about this! The goblins know that Ginny is in the ventilation shaft. They'll tell Voldemort and she won't have a chance!"

There was a tense silence as no one had any response to that. Suddenly Ginny's words came back to him... 'if you have to fight Voldemort...' That was it. The only way. Harry took a deep breath.

"There's only one way to come out of this," he said grimly. "I have to fight Voldemort. I have to go to him - alone."

Hermione gasped. "Harry, what are you saying? We need to find a way out... we'll have a better chance with you! And anyway, we should stick together..."

"He's going to come for us eventually, but first he'll go for Ginny... she'll never make it!" Harry said vehemently.

"Well, then, we're coming with you! We're not going to let you go by yourself," Hermione said stubbornly.

"Not a bloody chance! I am going by myself, and that's the end of it," Harry said, growing very irritated.

Hermione looked as if she wanted to say something, but was hesitating.

"No, this is not a 'saving people thing,' " Harry said angrily. "This only makes sense! Look, he'll kill you as coldly as he killed Cedric! As easily as he killed my mother and father! Do you want to die?

"Which one of you dueled Dumbledore to a draw?" he demanded. "What can you do for me except die? Please just let me go... he may not know yet that Ginny is going up the ventilation shafts... let me hold him off, keep him busy... it's our only chance!"

Lupin closed his eyes tightly, then opened them, looking grim. "I'm afraid you're right, Harry."

"Professor Lupin! No!" Hermione said shrilly. "We can't... just leave him..."

"We can and we must, Hermione," Lupin said firmly. "You're a brilliant witch, but you are no match for Voldemort. No one is, except Dumbledore - and Harry. Do you really think it's going to make it easier to survive this by forcing Harry to watch us die at Voldemort's hand? Or worse than die...

"And just because we're not fighting him directly, doesn't mean we can't wreak some havoc and keep everyone else occupied while Harry keeps him busy," he said with a predatory smile. Harry thought he looked awfully like a werewolf at that moment.

"They're right, Hermione," Ron said, looking determined. "The Death Eaters are probably here somewhere, too. We should draw them away from Harry and... and..." Ron paused, taking a deep breath. "Voldemort," he said with gritted teeth. It was the first time Harry had ever heard Ron say the name.

Hermione's mouth opened and then closed, then she nodded with tears in her eyes. "You're both right."

"In fact," Ron continued thoughtfully. "Maybe we should have a way for Harry to signal us to start creating some chaos. We want to stall for time as much as possible, right? No sense tipping everyone off until we're ready. Voldemort might not even be here yet."

"I like the way you think, Weasley," Lupin said, giving him an appraising look. Ron flushed, looking pleased. "Everyone, hold out your wands. Harry, give the spell Nectere Signum, and then touch our wands at the same time."

Harry did so, causing all the wands to glow temporarily, then fade out. "What did that do?" he asked.

"Cast Invocarem, and see," Lupin said.

Harry did so, and all the wands glowed brightly once again for about ten seconds, then faded. He nodded, then reset the signaling charm. "All right, I'll signal you when I'm ready."

"Oh, Harry... please be careful..." Hermione said, hugging him tightly, then releasing him. Harry turned to Ron. They looked at each other for a second, then they embraced tightly as well. He finally embraced Lupin, then stepped back from the three of them. There didn't seem to be any words left as he stood before them, possibly for the last time.

Harry then turned and walked away, without looking back.


Author notes: Two more chapters + epilogue to go. Minor warning: I’m going to try, but the next chapter may not be out next week. Cruel, I know. But it’s a HUGE chapter, on the order of 17,000 words, and it’s not done, much less beta read and edited. I should split it, but I figured what the heck. Might as well make the climactic chapter a big blow-out megachapter. I guarantee no one will complain about a lack of action. :)

As usual, thanks to my beta readers Allie Kiwi and DM. And more thanks to all the reviewers, who make this all worthwhile.

New chapter notifications and sometimes even a little discussion are at my Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakening_power, or just send an e-mail to [email protected].