Harry frowned when he saw the letter sitting in the middle of his desk. No one had access to his private office besides his two best friends and perhaps the Weasley family, but the envelope he recognized as the fancy type that rich muggles sometimes used. He scanned the room to double check that no one was there and to see if anything had been disturbed but everything was as it should be. Harry pulled out his wand as he moved a bit closer to his desk and began to scan the envelope for anything that might indicate who had written it. Everything he did came back and informed him it was just a muggle envelope with muggle typewriting paper inside, and that nothing magical had ever been done to it. Harry did another scan of the room, this time with a few spells as well as his eyes, before sitting down at his desk and slowly reaching out and grabbing the envelope.
Harry hesitated in opening the envelope but then he took a deep breath and quickly sliced open the top to pull out the folded paper inside. He unfolded the paper to find perhaps the most elegant and perfect handwriting he had ever seen.
Dear Harry Potter,
I cannot tell you how much I have dreamed of writing you before, but before now I felt I had no reason, no purpose to speak to someone of such esteem, but as it is now, I currently have something, in my possession if you will, that I am certain one way or another you will want, either to destroy, or to cherish, although I am leaning towards the latter, either way you will want to follow my explicit directions to get to it, because someone's life is at stake here.
First, do not contact anyone or tell them about this letter or its directions, if you do the item and the person will be forever taken away from this world. If anyone so much as suspects that you are up to something I will know.
Second, tell your secretary that you will be going back out, that you forgot you had an appointment with your accountant, she is a pureblood and will think you have finally decided to take the initiative with the estates in your name and will do everything she can to be certain no one tries to contact you or disturb you for long enough for you to carry out the next step.
Harry stopped reading and grabbed his coat before tucking the envelope and letter under his coat and heading out of his office. Harry wasn't sure if it was the right course of action, but he felt compelled to follow the letters directions, perhaps because he truly believed someone's life hung on it. He told his Secretary, a young pureblood girl who was more efficient than perhaps even Hermione, and whom never asked questions about his personal life, exactly what the letter had suggested, and by the knowing smile on her face he assumed the author was correct. When he got on the first empty lift he could find he quickly opened the letter and read the next step.
Third, go to Diagon alley towards the end with Gringots bank. Hanging from the apothecary sign next door will be a key only you will be able to see. Grab the key, it is not magical beyond the intangibility charms, but feel free to double check that I am telling the truth. Put the key in your pocket and perhaps buy a few pastries or something from the stores nearing the entrance to knocturn alley. When you believe you can make your way into the alley discreetly do so.
Harry frowned, but even though he was worried where this all might lead him, he folded the letter back up, hid it once more under his coat, and followed the directions. He found it a bit difficult to hide the fact that he was grabbing a key from the passing crowds but eventually he had the key in his trouser pockets and was buying a delicious looking roll from a pleasant woman in the pastry shop across the road from diagon alley. He sat down to eat it and waited till the mid-day traffic had dispersed before heading slowly leaving the shop and taking a bit to the shadows. Soon he was in a hidden alcove in knocturn alley and he quickly pulled out the letter and scanned the next step.
Fourth, go almost to the end of Knocturn alley to the sign that reads Hidden Hotel. The blind man at the front desk will have another letter for you with the next few steps if you wish to receive your prize.
Harry frowned, there was no signature, the letter just ended there, still he followed the direction and kept his head down as he made his way through the shady crowds. Finally he found the sign, which was missing a few links and barely hanging up outside of what looked like an apartment building or some such. Harry entered and sure enough, right inside the door was a front desk with a man that had no eyes what-so-ever. The man did not smile, did not make any facial expression, just simply opened a drawer behind the desk and pulled out a letter, and placed it on the desk before Harry could think to say anything. Harry scanned the second letter but the results were the same, so he opened it.
You are not too far from you prize, but first a little musing on my part. It took me some time to try and find your prize, but it took me even longer to realize what sort of prize you would crave. I know so much about you, I've read everything I could, did so much research, we have even met a few times, although only in passing.
I had a dear friend who went to Hogwarts around the same time you did, they told me everything they could and finally together we realized something, something many suspected but no one spoke of. We realized what would be the perfect prize for the one who has it all, of course by the time we realized it the war was in full swing, and then the war was over and the prize we had sought disappeared. My dear friend was lost before we could find the prize, but I followed through with our laid plans.
Your prize is upstairs, the man behind the desk has the key to the room, but before you go up you should know this, once you enter that room, if you leave before midnight your prize and the life will be lost in a devastating fire. Take that time to decide whether you want to destroy it, or cherish it, decided quickly because if you want to cherish it, then you have to claim it or at the stroke of midnight it will perish, and if you want to destroy it, well the same could be said.
Harry frowned, that was all the letter said. Before he could read it a second time to be certain the man behind the counter pulled a key off a rack of multiple keys and set it down where he had set the envelope. Harry considered the man for a moment before doing another few spells, but the key had only a few spells to open a magical lock. Harry sighed and took the key, which read Room 222 on the face. The man did not speak and Harry decided that he had come this far, he needed to know what this was all about, so he headed towards the only doorway that did not lead outside and found himself in an impossibly long hallway, with hundreds of closed doors on each side with numbers on their faces. After a long walk he finally found the one with the number 222. The hall was silent but Harry ran a few more spells only to find he could not detect anything behind the door because of the magical wards in the place. Harry considered leaving, this suddenly seemed a bit dangerous, but something told him not to, so with a deep breath, he put the key in and opened the door.
AN: Evil little plot bunnies got me again, they are running rampant! I've tried to focus on the ones I've already touched on, but this one just really wanted my attention!