Phoenix of the Feather- Written by xXRisingHellXx
My name is Harry Potter. I am old as I write this, old as my subject of the story was, in fact. I am married to Ginny Weasely. I have 5 children. And I know a secret that the whole of the wizarding world has never found out. I have a story that must be told, and time to tell it.
It was nearly noon as they walked down to the grounds. The sweltering heat of a telltale summer had already arrived, and Hagrid was busily working, digging trenches for something of which was unknown for the trio.
"Hello, Hagrid."
"Alrigh' there Harry? I was wondering whenever you was gonna come visit me"
"We've been busy, but that's not the point, er, how is grawp?"
Hagrid shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "The centaurs aren' likin him Harry. Their temper has grown sorter ever since that… well, you know, went through the forest and called em a bunch o' half breeds."
"Listen, Hagrid… We are really sorry about not being able to come, we're just too busy, and…" Harry trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"Don' worry about it Harry. Shouldn' be askin' you to come out that late anyways, just keep your head down, focus on your work."
"Alright, we have things to do Hagrid; we may be around later today."
"Alright"
The three of them tromped out of the cabin and started back towards the castle.
"That went surprisingly well." Ron said, looking back at the pinprick lights of the cabin behind them.
"Yeah…" Harry said fervently. "I figured he would be a lot more angry with us over that."
"Will you lot hurry up?" Hermione had already reached the door, and in their conversation they hadn't realized all of the people who had moved past them. "The feast is going to start without us, damnit. I'm starving."
The great hall was magnificently prepared for them, and there was food piled high atop the silver ornated plates that were always set out for food. They sat down in their usual spots, and Hermione immediately began shoveling down food.
"You're not about to rush up to the library again are you?" Ron asked incredulously, piling potatoes onto his plate.
"As a matter of fact, I am. I'm going to have another go at finding out about Horcruxes. I might be able to get around Madam Pince and search the restricted section unnoticed."
Finishing the food, she got up and rushed out of the great hall, leaving Ron and Harry to stare after her. "She must really be intrigued, rushing out like that." Ron muttered, wiping his hands and staring at the doors that Hermione had just vanished through. "C'mon mate, lets head up to the dormitories and get the Cloak."
15 minutes later they were hurrying down the stairs to the library, where Hermione had not returned. "Damn its dark. Lumos." Harry muttered. The corridor that lead back to the restricted section was lit up by a brilliant ray of light, which showed a certain Hermione Granger hard at work over mounds of books. "Jesus… any luck?" Harry whispered, staring incredulously at the piles of books. "No, I've searched and searched, it's almost like someone came through here and… OH. Oh I'm stupid. Dumbledore probably has them all locked up!" She looked excitedly at them. "This means that Dumbledore KNOWS that V-Voldemort has horcruxes!" They exchanged glances.
"That might just be true… But why would Dumbledore want the memory then?" He sat, thinking. There must have been a separate reason for him wanting the memory, but why? And then it clicked.
"Maybe Voldemort created more than one… And Dumbledore has been looking for them! That's where he's been all this time!" He exclaimed excitedly. "He needs the memory to see how many Voldemort had. But why Slughorn?" He wondered aloud. "Come on guys, we've learned more than a book could teach us…"
The three of them returned to the dormitory and Harry climbed into his four poster bed, thinking. They had answered one question, and now had another. Why had Slughorn had anything to do with Voldemort? The words mulled over his mind as his blankets seemed to pull him into sleep.
Author's Note: This story will lead up to where Dumbledore dies, and will also lead to Voldemort's death. I will not put spoilers here, but this story is VERY much different to the original book. This contains the secret of Dumbledore's so-called "Death". Its good to be back everyone, and I will see you in the next chapter. :)
