Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 19

The Slytherin Horcrux

As he prepared to leave St. Mungo's the next morning, Harry left Tonks with a message she promised to get to Grimmauld Place, letting everyone know he had changed his mind and decided to spend the holiday at Hogwarts.

How ironic, he thought as he entered the Hogwarts grounds sometime later, that for as many weeks as he spent planning to be away from here in his search for the horcruxes, that the answers he needed would be right here. And there was no better time to conduct his search than the next several days when the school seemed all but deserted.

There were only two Gryffindors who stayed, a pair of second year girls who seemed to prefer keeping their distance from him and so made certain they were out whenever he was in.

On his first free day he went into the Room of Requirements, having concentrated on needing a place to hide something. Just as had happened last spring, he was admitted into the very large room with the cathedral ceilings, and with the rows of shelves full of things past students had wished to hide.

He went directly to the row where he had so casually passed the vanishing cabinet before. Why didn't he notice it before? He had been right there and could have destroyed it. If he had figured things out earlier and discovered what Malfoy was up to, he could have saved Dumbledore.

But as he reached the place where the cabinet had been, he saw only a bare wall. Someone had already been here and taken the cabinet away - McGonagall perhaps?

He opened the cupboard beside it. The bust, wig, and tiara were still on top, but the spells book belonging to the half-blood prince - to Snape - was gone as well. Harry was suddenly very uncomfortable. Now knowing the history of the book, and the dark potential within it, he was concerned about who might possess the book now.

Again, he felt drenched with a guilt for not having gotten rid of something dangerous when he had the chance. How things might be different right now if he had destroyed that cabinet. And what things might still happen in the future if the wrong person has that spells book?

It would be different with the horcruxes. He would not let one get past him or miss his chance to destroy them, at any cost. He would not let the future grow darker while he had the chance to stop it.

He began to wander the rows, making a careful search for anything that could be a horcrux. But he hadn't gotten very far before he realized how futile this was. Anything here could be a horcrux, or nothing. Apparently there was a way to detect them, but he hadn't the faintest idea how that was done.

Finally he gave up, but was surprised to see after he left the room that it was already getting dark. He'd spent most of the day inside the room and had nothing better to show for it than a new weight of guilt on his shoulders.

He spent the next two days almost entirely in the library, studying offensive and defensive spells. When he did meet up with Voldemort again, he was going to be as prepared as possible. He also found a book on ancient magic that he read more carefully that he'd ever read anything before.

The book said that in the days of the Hogwarts Founders, magic was viewed somewhat differently than the way it was now. Magic was drawn from the elements of the earth, a supernatural extraction of the basic units of survival. There was earth, air, fire, and water. But there was also a great deal of writing on what was modernly termed as a "life debt." This was what Snape had owed to his father, Harry thought, and what Snape subsequently owed to him, Harry. Through his reading, Harry began to understand that while nothing forced Snape to protect him, he would never be able to truly rest until the debt was repaid. And Harry read about love, a force the book said had powers modern wizardry was still trying to understand.

By Christmas Eve morning, Harry felt his head was going to explode with everything he'd been trying to run through his brain. It was a cool, crisp day and he grabbed his broom and walked out to the Quidditch pitch. He flew alone for a long time, enjoying the beautiful winter views from so high up. From here, he could see the long icicles hanging from the turrets of the castle and the far off, snow-capped mountains. He flew over the lake and again pondered how he was going to get past the Inferi. It was impossible, really. But there was no choice. He had to find a way.

When he flew back to the pitch, he noticed immediately that there was someone else down there. As he got closer, he recognized the figure as Viktor Krum, who was standing next to his broom, staring up at the goalposts.

Harry only got his attention when he landed beside him. From Krum's expression, he didn't appear to realize Harry had been here.

"You are her friend still - Herm-own-ninny?" Krum said after a long silence.

Harry kicked at the snow. "Er, yeah."

"She loves someone else?"

"Yeah."

Krum nodded, then stood again in silence.

"Well, I'd better go," Harry said and began to walk away. "Good luck teaching."

"I go back to Quidditch next year. You come."

Harry stopped and turned, not sure if he had heard Krum correctly. "Come where?"

Krum smiled. "You play Quidditch. With me."

Harry smiled as well. "Yeah, that'd be cool. I'll think about it."

He did think about it as he walked back to the castle. He'd always planned on being an Auror after graduation. Could he really be good enough to try out for the professional Quidditch leagues? But as quickly as he had begun to entertain the idea, he let it go. He wasn't even playing this year and his last year as Captain didn't go very well. Besides, what team would take him on when he had the greatest villain of the Wizarding World after him? Grawp had a better chance for a Quidditch team than he did.

Harry spent Christmas Eve reading and rereading his mother's diary, hoping for further clues as to where her work was leading her, but there was little to be found.

"The baby has finally come. We've named him Harry because he looks like a Harry. James says Harry looks like him, but those are definitely my eyes I see looking back at me. It's too bad he has to be brought up in such dark times."

Then on the very next page, he read, "Dumbledore came to us tonight. He says there is a prophecy, and that it could apply either to Harry or to the Longbottom's baby. He believes the prophecy but I'm terrified for what this might mean for Harry. I don't know what we are to do. I'm afraid."

A few pages later, Harry read, "My work at the Ministry has increased, naturally this is now the most personal quest for me. I believe I have finally begun to make progress. There is a spell, one that invokes the Greatest Love. But it has never been tried before."

The Greatest Love, Harry wondered. Lupin had referenced this same spell but claimed to know nothing more about it. He made a point to ask Hermione about it.

In another few pages, Harry read, "Dumbledore sent the most unusual messenger to talk to us, Severus Snape from back at Hogwarts. Severus has convinced us that we must go into hiding. It seems Voldemort has now turned His sights upon Harry and may try to come for him at any time. We will not let that happen. James and I must decide upon a Secret Keeper. Sirius is the obvious choice, but then He would know that. James is going to work it out tonight."

On the very last page of the diary, Harry read, "James did not choose Sirius as our secret keeper after all. I hope we can trust his choice. But whatever happens now, we have decided that Harry must survive. Whether he is the object of the prophecy or not, he is our son. Nothing matters except that our boy must live."

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On Christmas Day, Harry received a single letter from Hedwig. He was somewhat disappointed at first. After all, he had sent presents for everyone at Grimmauld Place. But his attitude changed when he read the note.

Harry -

We miss you and hope you're doing well. Your Christmas gift from us will be rather unusual, but I think you'll understand when you see it.

Our last Hogsmeade visit came after you left for St. Mungo's or we could have done this together. But I had a long talk with the Hog's Head Barman. He is not what I expected, but I'll let him explain that to you personally.

It took everyone going in together to buy this for you, but if you go to the Hog's Head, he'll give it to you.

Happy Christmas.

Love,

Ginny

p.s. Don't worry. Nobody but Ron and Hermione know what this gift is. Everyone else thinks they went in on new dress robes.

Harry set off for the Hog's Head immediately. The last he had seen of the Hog's Head barman was when he showed up at Dumbledore's funeral. Before that, Harry had seen him in the company of Mundungus Fletcher after Dung had been caught with items stolen from Grimmauld Place.

When he walked into the Hog's Head, Harry thought it was exactly the same as when he had first seen it on the day they had formed Dumbledore's Army, although it was a good deal dirtier than before, if that was possible.

It appeared that many of the dodgier wizards in Hogsmeade did not celebrate Christmas, for the bar was full today and the mood was anything but cheery. The barman looked up as Harry entered and apparently knew exactly why he had come, for he nodded at Harry, motioning very subtly for him to walk to the back of the bar.

Harry followed at some distance as the barman opened a rear door. Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to go in or not, but decided to take his chances. He opened the door and found the barman closing a small window's shutters then sealing it with some sort of charm that prevented any light whatsoever from getting in.

"Er, my friend, Ginny Weasley, she said-"

"I know why you're here," the barman said testily. "Just shut up and wait." He pushed past Harry and used the same charm to seal the cracks around the door Harry had just come through. Harry began to feel a bit nervous, as if he were being locked inside, but he had his wand in his back pocket and figured he could blast through the seal if necessary.

When he felt satisfied that they were as alone as they could possibly be, the barman turned to a bare and dusty corner, leaned down, and then grabbed something mid-air and pulled it out, revealing a grimy metal box.

"That was under an invisibility cloak," Harry said.

"An old gift from my brother. It's come in handy more than once. But it's not the cloak you're after, it's what's inside this box." He knelt down and after a silent incantation, the lock popped open. "Your friends who came were very insistent that I get this for you. You're either very lucky or very cursed to have one friend in particular who will always get her way."

"I'm sure it's a bit of both," Harry said.

The barman reached inside and pulled out a heavy gold locket. On its face was a rather ornate S designed as a snake. The barman began to hand it to Harry, then drew his hand back. "Before I hand this over, I think I deserve an explanation of why you want it."

Harry shook his head. "My friends bought and paid for that. I don't need to explain anything else."

"I know who you are," the barman said. "You're no ordinary boy and this is no ordinary Christmas gift. If you want it, then there must be something important about it."

"It was stolen from me," Harry explained. "Mundungus Fletcher took it from a home I own and I want it back."

The barman laughed. "Dung told me he had inherited the items from a dead aunt. That foul git. That's what I get for letting him sneak back in here after banning him."

Harry held out his hand. "Can I have that, please?"

The barman pulled it closer to himself, then said, "I'll give it to you if you tell me just one thing. I understand you were with Albus Dumbledore the night he was killed. I want to know, did he die well, with honor?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"He always was the honorable one, and I need to know that's how his life ended."

"I saw you at the funeral," Harry said. "I didn't realize you knew Professor Dumbledore that well."

"I knew him better than anyone." The barman stroked his beard. "Albus was my brother."

Harry crouched down and for the first time ever, looked through the barman's long beard and shaggy head. Even with the grime on his face, the resemblance was unmistakable. "You're Aberforth," he said.

"The lesser of the brothers."

"Professor Dumbledore spoke of you once or twice. I don't think he ever considered you as less than him."

"I don't need to be patronized," Aberforth said gruffly. "Just tell me, did he die well?"

"Yes. He died a hero, just as he lived."

The answer seemed to satisfy Aberforth. "Even us lesser wizards still have a lot of hope for you," he said, handing the locket to Harry. "So whatever you need this for, use it well."

Aberforth unsealed the door while Harry tucked the locket deep into his pocket. He thanked him, then hurried out of the Hog's Head and back to Hogwarts as quickly as he could get there. He had another horcrux! He couldn't believe Ginny was able to manage that for him, but promised himself to find an appropriate way to thank her.

He took the locket directly into Snape's office and shut and locked the door behind him. Just as he had done with the wand before, he set the locket on the desk. This time, however, he moved some of the books behind him, figuring when it blasted him back, he wasn't going to get himself hurt any more than he had to.

He faced the locket, said, "Eradico Totalus, Eradico Totalus, Eradico Totalus," then tapped the locket with his wand. He closed his eyes for the blast, but none came. He waited a few moments, then repeated the incantation, but still nothing happened.

Harry slumped into Snape's chair and picked up the locket. This couldn't be another fake, it had to be the real thing. It was exactly as Dumbledore had said it would be.

He put the locket back on the desk then tried it a third time. Still nothing happened. He considered jumping into the fireplace and flooing himself to Snape's home. Maybe Snape would know something else he could try. But then, if Snape was still spying for the Order, he couldn't be sure who he'd find when he got to the other end. No, he had to think this through on his own.

Snape had said Evanesco would do no good since the object only reappeared somewhere else, and that was the last thing Harry wanted. Could he perhaps use a Reducto spell? It would doubtless destroy Snape's desk, but maybe it would do the same to the locket.

It was worth a try. "Reducto!" Harry aimed his blast directly at the locket then shielded his face against the small explosion in front of him. When he opened his eyes, Snape's desk was left as nothing but dust and small bits of wood. However, right on top was the gold locket. The S shaped snake seemed to leer up at him, defying him to try again.

Out of spite more than anything else, Harry tried the Eradico Totalus spell again, but this time he realized halfway through that he was speaking not in English, but in Parseltongue. As he tapped the locket, he felt the air in the room begin to swirl forcefully around him. His instinct was to grab the desk to brace himself, but the desk and everything else around it had been exploded. Harry felt himself being thrown high up and against the wall. There was an explosion in the room that didn't even begin to compare with what the Reducto spell had done. Harry fell to the ground and everything went black.