Note from the author:

This story began with just this first chapter intended to be the entire story due to an ingenious idea I got one night. I posted it on a Harry Potter forum, and when I got the slightest bit of positive feedback, I cracked like an eggshell and wrote more, giving it the new altogether title of The Wrath of the Horcruxes (which I know is corny, and went with entirely as a joke).

This story is developing far better than I expected, and I plan on going the whole way now. Enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Wrath of the Horcruxes

Chapter 1: The Mystery of Neville

Harry Potter, determined to visit Godric's Hollow - the site of his parents' murder - and not one to waste any time, departed immediately from the wedding between Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, from the very moment the "I do"s had been spoken. He had been hoping to shake off Bill's younger brother Ron and Hermione Granger, who were just as determined to accompany him. But it was no use. Despite his constant warnings of the impending danger, and the doom Harry seemed to be tied to, Ron and Hermione, now a couple, felt it their duty to be with Harry through thick and thin.

The trio first had to find a secluded enough area so that they could Apparate. In the end, they were forced to walk all the way to Stoatshead Hill, and then up the steep incline. Once at the top, they were preparing themselves to perform the magical spell of teleportation, when Hermione stopped short.

"Wait-"

"Oh what, Hermione?" snapped Ron. "Did you forget your copy of Hogwarts, a History?"

"No!" Hermione replied with a scowl. "I just had this feeling we ought to bring Neville along."

"Neville!" Ron and Harry shouted in unison, both so taken aback that their faces were contorted in a most hilarious manner. "Whatever for?" Ron elaborated. "He can't walk three feet without tripping over himself."

"Yeah, Hermione!" Harry now cut in. "It's bad enough you two are endangering yourselves by coming along; why should Neville be added to the casualties? Or should we bring the whole of Gryffindor House, just to make sure you haven't forgotten anyone more?"

Hermione was not amused. "It's just... I had this feeling we ought to bring him..."

"Oh wow, you could really give Trelawney a run for her money," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

Grudgingly, Harry complied, and the three were soon to be seen at the Longbottom home, and Neville's grandmother was more than happy to let them take him along (though Harry concocted a crafty lie that the four of them were going to go and try to further convince the Hogwarts teachers to indeed let the school remain open for the following year). So together they set back out, and as they prepared to Apparate again, Harry stopped his companions.

"Oh, what now!" Ron said, disgusted.

"I just had an idea," Harry said matter-of-factly, though shooting Ron a dirty look. "I'm not the only one allowed to have ideas, y'know... but where did your mother get that clock that keeps track of every member of your family?"

"Diagon Alley, ages ago, why?"

But Harry had already disappeared without answering. He returned with a small, portable clock with four unlabeled hands on the face, and words such as "Prison" and "Traveling" where the numbers would be on a Muggle clock. His intentions now clear without a spoken explanation, Harry now performed a complicated spell on each of his friends including himself, and their four faces appeared on the hands.

At last, they set their sights for Godric's Hollow, though Neville had to hang on to Ron's arm. As soon as they found themselves in the shadow of the town cemetery, Harry turned to the others and with a deep breath, told them this was something he had to do alone. Hermione, Ron, and Neville understood, and Harry slowly began to walk among the headstones, looking for any that said "JAMES AND LILY POTTER, died 1981", and absentmindedly taking the clock with him.

At last, he found it, below a large marble angel and in the shadow of a great willow-tree. He knelt down and began to place the clock aside, but even as he did so, he noticed that the hand with Neville's face was pointing to "Mortal Peril".

Without another thought, Harry re-tightened his grip on the clock and hightailed it back to his friends... only to find that all of them seemed to be perfectly okay, including Neville. For a moment, Harry wondered if perhaps this was not the real Neville, that it was an imposter masquerading as him by way of Polyjuice Potion... but that didn't seem to be it.

"What's up, Harry?" Neville asked, and the others appeared bewildered as well. "You don't look too good." Harry was sure from Neville's words that he must have been as pale-faced as he was fearful for his friend's safety.

"I'm... I'm all right," Harry panted. "Let's... save my visit to my mum and dad's grave for another day. I wouldn't mind seeing the place where my parents lived."

"But Harry," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow, "wasn't their house destroyed when Voldemort... broke in?" Ron and Neville winced at the name.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean there won't be remains under the house of whoever re-built over it."

So Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville ventured through the town, asking around about where exactly it was that Lily and James Potter used to live... which, naturally, led to some awkward looks from the Muggles they asked, seeing as how it was no secret to them that the young couple had mysteriously vanished or died, however weird Harry's parents had seemed to them. Eventually, they got enough information to go on, and on the way to the old site, Ron and Hermione were mentioning in passing how Luna Lovegood had been rumored to be developing a sudden interest in Seamus Finnigan. Harry had a fleeting sense of nostalgia as he thought back to his first year at Hogwarts, and how much more grown-up he and the three teens accompanying him had become since then.

Neville piped up and said, "By the way, not that I'm not grateful, but why did you decide to bring me along?"

"Ask Hermione," Ron said smugly. "She was the one who was so keen to pick you up. I think you might be giving me a run for my money."

Hermione blushed. "It's nothing," she said. "Really, I just thought... you might like to join us." Neville gave a feeble smile.

Reminded of Neville's presence, Harry glanced down again at the clock he was holding. The Neville hand was still pointing to "Mortal Peril".

Finally, the four reached the site, and there was indeed a newer house built over it. They walked up to the doorstep and before he could stop himself, Harry knocked, realizing uncomfortably that he had no idea what he was going to say ("Umm... hi, this is the site of my parents' old house, and they're kinda dead, and I wanted to go under your house and see if some of their stuff is still here..."). However, nobody answered (to Harry's relief) and they were just getting ready to go back to the cemetery and kill time for the Muggles to get back home, when a glint of something coming from the basement window-well caught Harry's eye. He peered in at the window, the others following uncertainly. Harry could make out some old newspapers and something possibly metal just peeking out from underneath them. Unable to contain himself, he moved forward to lift the window up.

"Harry, just what are you doing!" Hermione snapped under her breath, her eyebrows furrowed. "I believe the Muggle term for this is breaking and entering!"

"You've been so reckless ever since our fifth year," Ron added. It was strange for Harry to hear him defending Hermione's always-follow-the-rules regime. "What has gotten into you?"

"Shut up and keep a look-out!" Harry growled. The others rolled their eyes and turned to make sure no Muggles, or anyone for that matter, were watching. Neville looked nothing short of terrified.

Finally, Harry succeeded in getting the window up, and he climbed into the basement, which was very dimly lit, and only by the thin sunlight coming in from the open window. Harry could not make out the far wall as anything further than a ten-foot radius around him was lost to the utter dark: as far as he knew, this basement could be the size of a cathedral. Considering the dust swirling around in every direction, this was clearly not a frequently-visited section of the house. Approaching the newspapers, he immediately took in a breath as he saw that the people in the photographs were moving: these were not Muggles living here, they were wizards. Saving this mystery for later, Harry slowly pulled the newspapers off from the object he had seen shining from the window. And there it was: a tiny, unlit, old-fashioned lamp. Why had it been glinting, which it certainly wasn't now, if it was so dirty and covered in dust? But that was when Harry noticed a miniscule inscription on the handle. He bent down, picked the lamp up in the hand that was not carrying the clock, and screwed his eyes up to read the inscription:

Godric Gryffindor.

Harry dropped the lamp and clock abruptly and backed away, clutching at his pounding heart: the sword had not been the last known relic of Godric Gryffindor after all! Which must mean... that this lamp was a...

"Harry?" Neville's voice came from behind him. Harry wheeled around and saw his round-faced schoolmate climbing in through the window after him. "I heard a loud noise... is anything wrong?" He glanced at the lamp and the clock on the basement floor, and Harry instinctively followed suit, peering back down at the objects he had dropped... and the Neville hand on the clock was still resolutely pointing to "Mortal Peril". Harry quickly turned back to Neville, who looked strangely unsurprised to have seen his own self pointing to this proclamation of doom. But Neville did narrow his eyes.

"So... you know then?" he muttered.

Harry suppressed a small cough from the dust. "Know... what?" he asked with hesitancy.

Neville gave a deep sigh and turned away from Harry, speaking to the floor. "In our fourth year, I thought I would have had a chance with Ginny when she said yes to the Yule Ball. I wanted to ask her out again after that, but something seemed to take the courage out of me. You can go on one date and still be considered acquaintances, but anything after that and she'll know you like her. Then, before I knew it, I had lost my chance and you and her had come together."

Harry's heart sank. The last thing he wanted in the world was to be the one to take a chance away from his dear friend Neville, but at the same time, he cared very deeply for Ginny and wanted more than anything to be with her... but in any case, they weren't really even together any more: Harry had parted ways with her at Dumbledore's funeral, though he hoped to get back together with her once Voldemort was vanquished.

"Neville..." Harry began, but Neville went on:

"So then I started to develop feelings toward Luna, and now Seamus tells me that he and Luna have a thing going."

"But what does this have to do with you being in Mortal Peril?" Harry asked.

"Haven't you guessed yet?" Neville choked, raising his head to look at Harry again, and Harry could see that his eyes were beginning to shine with tears. "All I've been able to think about for the past few days is suicide."