Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 24

The Hufflepuff Horcrux

Harry allowed Ron to get dressed the next morning without disturbing him, but when he emerged from his area, he stood and faced Ron.

"What's with you?" Ron asked.

"Listen," Harry began. "I'm not good with stuff like this, but I did go talk to Hermione."

Ron's face reddened. "I told her-"

"No, it's what I told her," Harry said. "I told her I had a friend better than I once thought I'd ever deserve. You were willing to die to save me, Ron. I can't believe what you did."

"Well don't get weird on me when I say this," Ron said awkwardly. "But I love you like you're my own brother, mate. If I can't beat this infection, it's okay because I did it for you, you know?"

"Thanks," Harry said, realizing immediately how stupid that sounded. "But we will beat it. You're gonna be fine."

"Let's get to class," Ron said. "If I've only got a few more weeks to live, I don't want to spend them with Hermione mad at me for missing class."

"Be there in a minute," Harry said. When the boys' dorm had emptied, Harry sat on his bed and hissed, "Dobby! Dobby I've got to talk to you!"

He instantly heard a popping sound as Dobby appeared before him. "Dobby is so glad to see Harry Potter is okay. Dobby was so worried."

"Do you know about Ron's leg?" Harry asked.

"Yes. But we house elves can't fix it. We don't know about those things."

"It's okay. Listen though, I want you to get a message to Professor Snape. Ask him if he knows anything that will help."

"Snape is Harry Potter's friend?"

Harry smiled. "No. But he's not my enemy either. Will you find him?"

"Dobby will, sir. Dobby will do it for Harry Potter." Dobby bowed and with another pop, he disappeared.

Harry caught up with Ron and Hermione when DADA class was nearly halfway through. Bill eyed him carefully when he walked in but said nothing until class was dismissed, then said, "Harry? A word please?"

Harry exchanged glances with Ron, then walked up front. Bill studied him for a moment. Harry still had a swollen cheek and several cuts on his face and he knew Bill was working on the exact words to properly scold him.

"The Inferi have left the lake," Bill said. "Did you know?"

Harry shook his head.

"They left not long after you disappeared last week. Why do you suppose that is?"

Harry shrugged. "When I was in there, the lake seemed pretty crowded. I reckon they've gone off to look for more comfortable lodgings."

Bill laughed. "I've heard every rumor there is about you this week. You know which one I agree with? That you've gone mental. Because no matter what made you dive into that water, that's the most believable possibility."

"If you listened to the rumors, then you'd know I went mental a long time ago," Harry said, smiling.

"Well I did think you were crazy to ever start dating Ginny and even crazier to stop," Bill's smile turned serious. "But Inferi - Harry, that's Gryffindor courage in its truest form. I'm sure you had a good reason to go down there and I know if you were free to talk about it you would, so I won't ask. But let me say this. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to bring them to me."

"Thanks, Bill. I will."

In Potions class, Harry quickly became grateful for Bill's lack of prying. Slughorn completely dismissed the Memory Replenishing Potion he had planned to have everyone make today so he could dedicate the time to asking Harry questions.

"How did you put off the Inferi?" "Where did you go after the lake?" "How did you escape?" "Why did you go into the lake in the first place?"

At the last question, Harry looked up at Slughorn, ignoring the rest of the students in the class. "I reckon you could guess, Professor. We've talked about it before."

Slughorn paled, and for the first time, when potions class ended that day, he did not invite Harry to tea.

At the end of the week, Harry sent word to Lupin that he was going to attempt to "do you know what." Lupin was there to share supper with the Gryffindor table and afterwards, said, "Where do we do this?"

Harry muttered, "Snape's office."

They returned to the office and Lupin let out a low whistle when he saw how destroyed the room was.

"Did you do this or have giants stormed through here?" Lupin asked.

"Giants. Now find a seat if you can."

Lupin walked over to the fireplace and found a note that had been sealed to the mantle. He plucked it off then said, "Harry, I think this is for you."

The note read, "If you hadn't destroyed my entire store of supplies, I might have had an antidote for Weasley by now. Here is the potion. DO NOT attempt it yourself, you'll likely kill your friend. Get it to Madam Pomfrey."

"What's this?" Lupin asked.

"Ron's injured," Harry said, pocketing the note. "I hope this will cure him."

"Is that note from Snape?"

Harry paused. "I think he's on our side, Remus."

Lupin nodded slowly. "I hope you're right, for our sakes and for his. Time will tell, though. Now, what's the spell to destroy this cup?"

"Stand back." Harry extended his wand, then said, "Eradico Totalus. Eradico Totalus. Eradico Totalus." He tapped the cup with the wand. And as with the locket, nothing happened. "Let me try it this way," he said, then repeated the spell in parselmouth, but with the same result. "I didn't think it'd work. It's a Hufflepuff item."

Lupin stood on the opposite side of the desk and examined the cup. "One way to think of this is that it's a cursed object."

"Yeah, I suppose." He looked over at Lupin. "You want to tell Bill, don't you?"

"He was a curse breaker. There's nobody in the Order more capable of handling this than him."

"The more people who know about this, the more chance there is of word getting back to Voldemort," Harry said.

"I'll tell him as little as possible. If he can help, then we have to try."

"Yeah, you're right." Harry picked up the cup. "Let's go have a talk."

Lupin reached over and took the cup. "I'll talk to Bill. You get that potion to Madam Pomfrey. We'll try this again tomorrow."

The next day in DADA class, Bill asked Harry to stay afterwards. "This is getting to be a habit," Bill said. He reached into a bag and pulled out the Hufflepuff cup. "Remus was called back for a mission with the Order. He wanted me to give this to you."

"Did he talk to you about it?" Harry asked.

"He said this was a cursed object and asked if I knew a spell to destroy it. I looked it over pretty carefully last night. I think I have a suggestion for you."

"Have you ever seen a curse like this before?"

Bill smiled. "I've seen something similar once. An old Egyptian wizard tried it. He was five thousand years old when we finally got him and his - his cursed object destroyed."

Harry found the smile contagious. "You know what this cup is, don't you?"

Bill shrugged. "If I did, I'd deny it. All I know is a possible way to destroy the cup. Are you going to do it tonight?"

"I thought I would, yeah."

"There's a spell you have to repeat three times. It'll destroy the object completely."

"Eradico Totalus, yes. I tried that but it didn't work."

Bill grinned. "It didn't work before. Have you ever encountered a layered curse?"

"No."

"If there was an object I really wanted to protect, and I wanted to harm anyone who tried to get it, I'd layer curses upon it. You already discovered the outer one, a portkey that should have been your one-way ticket to death. But just in case, there are other curses below it. Lupin and I broke three last night."

Harry fingered the cup. "Three curses?"

"Luckily, we weren't hurt badly, although it did destroy a rather valuable sneakoscope in my office."

"Badly?" Harry interrupted.

Bill smiled and lifted his pants leg, revealing a long gash that ran up his calf. "It defended itself. Remus got a similar cut across his chest, though so I don't have much to complain about, and besides, we'll both heal." Bill lowered his pants leg and nodded at the cup. "There's one curse that remains upon this cup, though. Lupin suggested you should be the one to destroy it. That sounded reasonable to me, considering that he and I both tried to destroy it and failed."

"Okay." Harry put the cup in his pocket. "Thanks, Bill."

"You might want someone with you there tonight. I expect you'll take a hit when this one goes."

Harry nodded and waved at Bill as he left the classroom. He planned to ask Ron, on the idea that if he were seriously hurt, Ron could best help him out of any jam. But then again, Hermione's wand was generally stronger than Ron's arms. And then still again, if he were seriously hurt, he'd want Ginny there to care for him.

Whoever he saw first, Harry decided that's who he'd ask.

"Harry!" Neville came running up from behind him. "I was looking for you. Professor McGonagall said there's somebody waiting to talk to you in her office."

"Who?"

"Dunno."

Harry turned and hurried up to McGonagall's office, where the revolving door was opened. He ran up the stairs and found Percy standing beside McGonagall's desk, looking his normal pompous self, but at least this time he was looking Harry in the eyes.

"Professor McGonagall, if I could discuss this matter alone with Harry," he began.

"Most certainly not," she replied, placing her hands on her desk as if she dared Percy to remove her.

"This is Ministry business-"

"And Harry is my business. Whatever you've got to say will be said in front of me."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Very well. Harry, the Minister of Magic received a message this morning that concerns you. We believe it has come from he-who-must-not-be-named."

Harry glanced at McGonagall. If she knew what this message was, she wasn't revealing anything to him.

"What does it say?" he asked.

Percy pulled a parchment from his robes. "We don't know. We haven't been able to gather anything more than that on our own. Finally, it was decided that the message must be unreadable, except by you. I offered to deliver it to you directly."

"Why?" Harry snarled. "You want to be the first to find out what Voldemort is saying to me?"

Percy's eyes widened at Harry's use of His name, but he only cleared his throat and said, "I thought of anyone who might deliver this to you, it was at least better coming from me."

It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes. Percy's first loyalty was to himself and his second was to the Ministry's every beck and call. There was no room for anything else. Nonetheless, he took the parchment from Percy and began to look it over.

"I recommend against you opening it," McGonagall said. "Anything He wrote is meant to hurt you in some way. There cannot be any use in that."

Harry nodded as he continued looking at the parchment. "You're right," he finally said, handing it back to Percy. "I don't want it."

But Percy held up his hands and backed away. "The Minister was correct. Look, there's writing on it now."

Harry turned the parchment back toward himself. It was opened enough that he too could see the writing, but he didn't want to see the rest of it. He didn't want the responsibility of knowing what it said. He turned to McGonagall, silently seeking her advice.

She held out her hand. "Let me see it." When he handed it to her she opened the parchment, and although it appeared she was making a great effort to maintain her composure, there was a brief moment when she looked as if she'd been petrified and her mouth was frozen in the shape of a small "o." She folded the paper again, dropped it on her desk, then with her wand said, "Evanesco," and the paper vanished.

"What did it say?" Percy asked.

McGonagall looked at Harry who nodded at her to answer him. She pursed her lips together then said simply, "Voldemort wants Harry to turn himself over to Him to answer for charges of murder against Bellatrix LeStrange."

Harry couldn't help but burst out a small laugh. "You're kidding?"

But McGonagall turned to Percy with a very serious frown on her face. "You can tell Minster Scrimgeour that Harry will never comply with Voldemort's request, no matter what the consequences."

"What consequences?" Harry began to ask, but he knew the answer before he finished. "There's going to be more deaths."

"There will be deaths whether you turn yourself over to Him or not," McGonagall said simply. "Never fool yourself into thinking that your death would be the last one." She turned to Percy. "I assume that is all."

Percy faced Harry. "I didn't know what the message would be, honest."

"Good-bye, Percy."

He started for the door then said, "Listen, Harry. I won't tell anyone but the Minister about this. This should be your secret."

"Yeah. Good-bye."

McGonagall stood and shut her office door behind her. "From Percy's mouth to the Minister to the entire wizarding world. Harry, prepare yourself for when this comes out. But until then, I urge you to say nothing of this to anyone. We don't want to create a panic."

"No, ma'am."

As he began to leave, she said, "Harry, there is one point of the message I did not reveal to Percy. The full message indicated His wish that with Bellatrix's murder, you have proven your ability to stand at His side. He only requires you to answer for her death if you refuse to join Him."

"Professor, I didn't kill Bellatrix LeStrange."

"I know that, but I don't think He does. Harry, has Voldemort made this offer to you before?"

Harry stared at her for a moment. He didn't want to say the truth, because it would only worsen the terror already hiding behind her eyes. All he said before leaving was, "It doesn't matter. I'll never join Him."

-------------------------------

That evening, Harry asked Ron to accompany him to Snape's office to complete the destruction of the Hufflepuff cup. Ron eagerly agreed, but Harry noticed as they began walking down together that Ron's slight limp from before had turned into more of dragging his leg behind him.

"The Inferi bite. Your leg is worse, isn't it?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged. "It's probably the kind of thing that gets worse before it gets better."

"I gave a potion to Madam Pomfrey. It's supposed to heal that."

"Yeah. She's having trouble getting all the ingredients though. Some of them are quite rare."

Harry nodded and felt a lump in his throat. "You know you were almost the second person who died to save me, don't you?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I think my mum knew she may have to sacrifice herself to keep me alive. I think she was prepared for that."

Ron was looking down at the ground. "Well what was I supposed to do when you didn't come back up with the squid? Wish you luck and go to lunch?"

Harry smiled. "In hindsight, I think that might've been the better idea."

Ron laughed. "In hindsight, I never should've let you sit by me that first year on the train."

They continued laughing. Harry put his arm around Ron to better help him down into the dungeon. When they got inside Snape's office, Ron's eyes widened. "Did you do all this damage? Snape's not going to like this!"

"I did, and Snape wasn't too happy." Harry set the cup on the desk. "I have to be the one to do this, but if I blow up or something, find a piece of me to bury, okay?"

"Too gross, so you'd better not blow up."

Harry pulled out his wand and said, "Evanesco Totalus. Evanesco Totalus. Evanesco Totalus." He tapped the cup and with a loud "bang" there was an explosion that pushed Harry into the air and back against the wall. He fell to the ground and the images around him went gray for a moment, but since he had already destroyed everything else along the wall, it seems there was nothing left to crash down upon him.

"That's it?" Ron asked. "It didn't seem too hard."

"Right." Harry stood and rubbed the edge of his back. "Maybe you and I already paid more than enough of a price for this horcrux."

"There's only one more, right?"

"Yeah, Gryffindor's sword, I reckon. But I don't know where to go after it." He thought about the offer Voldemort had made him earlier that day. Was it possible he could confront Voldemort personally and try to find the sword that way? Harry rolled his eyes and laughed at himself. Voldemort would see through his plan like he was invisible.

"Let's ask Hermione about it," Ron said firmly. "If there's a way to find it, she'll know."

And sure enough, back in the common room late that night, Hermione only mulled their question around for a few seconds before she promptly answered, "The Mirror of Erised."

"What?" Harry and Ron asked almost simultaneously.

Hermione sighed. "It shows your deepest desire, doesn't it? Well what could you want more right now than to find that sword?"

"I know what it would show me," Ron said, reaching for Hermione but she only slapped his hand away.

"Not now, Ronald. Seriously Harry, if it worked for you before, it should work again."

"It's worth a try." Harry leaned back in his chair. "Where do you suppose it is?"

"Dumbledore probably got rid of it after our first year, I'd guess," Ron said. "It's too dangerous to just keep laying around."

Hermione jumped up. "No, I know where it is. C'mon."

Ron sat up straight. "You've known all this time? Why didn't you tell us?'

"I happened upon it once while Umbridge was here. I didn't say anything because I didn't want her to find it." Hermione looked from Ron to Harry. "Nobody will say anything if Harry and I are out, but it's past curfew for you, Ron."

Harry grinned. "We'll say we caught him and we've already assigned him detention, but we're bringing him back to the common room to make sure he doesn't run off again."

Ron shook his head. "That's just great. I've got you two babysitting me now."

Hermione laughed and pulled Ron out of the portrait hole with her as Harry followed behind. The halls were empty as she led them up another flight of stairs to a room Harry had barely ever noticed, and if he had noticed it, he only assumed it was a spare classroom. Hermione swung open the heavy oak door and used her wand to set the lights on. There, at the end of the bare room, was the Mirror of Erised.

Harry remembered the mirror well. In his first year, he had seen his parents in it, then later saw himself putting the Sorceror's Stone into his pocket. And it was true that there was nothing he wanted more right now than to find the last horcrux. The mirror was sure to work.

He walked forward, feeling a pressure in his chest. Wouldn't it be a great thing if the sword appeared in his pocket just as easily as the Stone had? He could have it destroyed tonight.

He stared at the mirror for only a moment before a picture began to form. But as the images appeared, he squinted tightly, almost as if the problem with what he saw was only a lack of focus.

He wasn't seeing Voldemort's destruction or the Gryffindor horcrux, or even a battle with the Death Eaters.

It was an older Ginny standing beside him. She was holding a baby - his baby - up to him. They were laughing and as perfectly happy as if they hadn't a care in the world.

"Do you see it, Harry?" Ron asked from the back of the room.

"Huh?" He didn't want to answer, for fear the images would collapse and it would be nothing more than a mirror again.

"Harry, what do you see?" Hermione's voice snapped him back.

"Er, I can't see the horcrux. It didn't help me at all." He backed away. "C'mon, let's go."

Ron turned to Hermione. "What do you see when you look in there?"

Hermione shrugged. "I've never looked."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "Two years you've known about this mirror and you never looked?"

"What's the point? It doesn't tell the future, only your deepest desires."

"And now that you're Head Girl, what's left of your desires?"

"Okay, Ronald, let's see." She marched up to the mirror, paused briefly, then said, "Fine, let's go."

"What was it?" Ron asked.

Hermione ignored him and walked from the room as Harry put his arm around Ron to help him back to the common room. Ron was little help in walking, however. All his attention was focused on getting Hermione to reveal what she'd seen, which of course, she never did.

-------------------------------

The next morning, Harry knew there was something in The Daily Prophet about him even before Hermione opened her copy. People holding theirs were staring at him and whispering.

"It's all about him, isn't it?" he heard someone say at the table behind them.

With a pinched face, Hermione unrolled her Daily Prophet and almost instantly her eyes widened. "Harry, this is bad."

"What?"

She turned and showed him. On the front page, beside a photo of him looking somewhat bothered, read the headline, "Voldemort Offers Deal Potter Shouldn't Refuse."

Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour today confirmed a report that

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself has offered a compromise to

end the war that has raged across the Wizarding World.

"Harry Potter has something I want," a message to the Minster said.

"When he surrenders it to me, this war will end. But until he does, there

will be at least one death per day."

Ron looked up at Harry. "What does he want from you?"

Harry felt as though something the size of a watermelon had become lodged in his throat. "I - I don't know," he stammered.

"He must know about the horcruxes," Hermione said. "That's the only thing that would make sense."

It made as much sense as the truth, Harry thought, and decided it was better to let them believe that than to have any conversation about Voldemort wanting Harry himself.

"This is an impossible situation and He knows it," Hermione continued. "He knows you can't tell anyone about the horcruxes, and so people won't understand. They'll only see the killings and turn on you because of it."

"Why should they?" Ron asked. "Harry's not doing the killings and any fool has to know this war will end only after Voldemort's won."

Harry tossed a glance behind him. "Look at everyone, though. That's not what they're thinking."

Hermione frowned. "There's usually a difference between how things should be and how they are." She shut the paper and slapped it on the table. "For example, we should be talking over last minute notes for DADA class. Bill promised an exciting one today."

"I'll meet you there," Harry said, standing. People were still staring at him as if he was leaking fungus from his ears. He had to get out of there.

Harry kept his eyes down as he walked from the Great Hall. He looked up only to see Ginny watching him. Her copy of The Daily Prophet was still in her hands. He thought about stopping to talk to her, but he couldn't. Not with the expression on her face, and not in front of everyone.

He had been tempted not to go to DADA class at all, but was quickly glad he did. Class began when he was approached by Theodore Nott, who hadn't been to school since his father's death during Christmas holidays.

"Er, listen Harry," he said, refusing to look Harry in the face. "My mum wanted me to tell you that things are okay for our family and we don't blame you." He finally looked up, although he still had trouble looking directly at Harry. "My dad wasn't a very nice man, in or out of the home."

Harry wanted to explain that he hadn't killed Nott's father and was only in McGonagall's office in the first place because Nott and other death eaters were attacking her. But Theodore seemed to neither want nor require the explanation, and before Harry could say anything, he dismissed himself with a soft, "See you around," and hurried inside the classroom.

Bill had a copy of The Daily Prophet on his desk when Harry walked in. He was one of the last students to arrive, so class began almost immediately after he sat down.

Bill held up the copy of the news and said, "Voldemort claims He will end the war if Harry turns something over to Him. Everyone who believes this please stand up."

Harry didn't look around but he knew by the silence that no one had stood. However, there was the voice of a Slytherin boy in back who said, "There might not be so many killings, though."

"Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better," Bill said curtly. "It's a good thing you brought it up, though, because we're going to talk about preventing some of those killings. There is a protective spell you can place on your loved ones. It is not foolproof, and not without cost to the wizard who casts it, but in the most dire of circumstances, it may be worth the price. Can anybody name it?"

Hermione's hand shot up. "The Devotoro spell."

"Good. Five points to Gryffindor if you can tell me how it works."

Hermione smiled confidently. "Cast upon a loved one during an assault, it extends the caster's magical powers to that loved one. In other words, it has the potential to double the magical ability of the person being attacked, better allowing them to defend themselves."

"And the disadvantage of this spell?"

"While the loved one is borrowing your magic, you are without it. If you fall prey to attack as well, you will have no defense."

"Maybe that's what your mum did that night," Ron whispered to Harry.

Harry raised his hand. "Would it protect the person being attacked if they were incapable of defending themselves?" He chose his words carefully. "For example, if the person being attacked wasn't capable of initiating their own spells."

Bill shook his head. "No. If the person being attacked had no ability to defend themselves, casting the Devotoro spell upon them would be futile, and it would open the caster to greater danger."

"That wasn't your mum's spell then," Ron said to Harry.

Harry raised his hand again. "Are there any other spells beside the Devotoro that could protect a loved one in an attack?"

Bill sat on the corner of his desk and stared meaningfully at Harry. "There used to be talk of another spell that could protect a loved one incapable of defending themselves. It's a very old and forgotten spell and almost nothing is known about it. But if someone were to uncover its secrets, I suspect it could be very powerful indeed."

Bill very quickly went on to another topic, but Harry barely heard anything he said. That had to be the spell his mother had used, the one she referred to as relating to The Greatest Love. As soon as class had ended and everyone else had left, Harry went up to Bill.

"What was the name of that spell you were telling us about?" Harry asked. "The one with the old and forgotten magic."

Bill pressed his lips together. "I suspect you already know what it might be named."

"I don't know its name or how to cast it," Harry said. "But my mum once wrote about a spell she was working on that had to do with using The Greatest Love. Does that sound familiar at all?"

"If there is a name to that spell I was describing, I've never known it," Bill said. "But considering your story, it sounds as if your mother did know it. What does that mean to you, The Greatest Love?"

Harry shrugged. "I suppose it's whoever you love the most in the world. With the Devotoro, protection is given to someone who needs it. Maybe the Greatest Love pulls protection from those you love the most."

"I doubt it, Harry. Love doesn't take, it gives."

"Then what could she have meant?"

Bill's voice grew even more serious. "The day I was going to marry Fleur, I looked at her and thought I would never love anybody more than her. I always did love her, you know, but after I was bit by Greyback last summer, I didn't expect her to stay around. When she did, I realized how much she loved me too. I don't know about that spell, Harry, but for me, she was my greatest love. I'd have died that day if it meant I could save her."

"Yeah." Harry shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Has it been hard, these past few months?"

Bill stood and forced a smile to his face. "Of anyone, you know what it's like to lose someone you care about, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Okay," Bill said, his voice perking up. "You'd better be off to your next class. I keep getting in trouble for holding you late."

Harry picked up his book bag and left. He thought about the love Bill and Fleur had shared and the love he believed his parents had for each other, and promised himself that if he did survive, he would find a love like that someday.