Chapter Four:- The Tent-Hunt

Harry Potter was sitting on a rock right in the middle of a dense forest. Ron was sprawled on the grass besides him, while Hermione was patiently talking to a frustrated Tom Riddle.

They hadn't been able to find much to eat. Just some fruits and berries growing on nearby trees. How they were going to survive this Horcrux hunt, Harry had no idea. Neither did he had any idea of where they might find the next Horcrux, or how to destroy the one which he was currently wearing.

The Horcrux around his neck twitched a little, as though it had heard Harry's thoughts about wanting to destroy it and was responding to it.

Harry was feeling like a failure. He hadn't managed to do anything besides finding the locket. In fact, he had only increased their problems by helping Tom Riddle. Now they were stuck with him and Harry couldn't see him leaving their group anytime soon.

The only good thing that had came out of all of this was a small feeling inside Harry which told him that somehow he had became more powerful than before. Harry's thoughts kept going back to the ball of light which had hit him in the previous forest, right before his encounter with the dementors.

He glanced at a small twig fallen on the ground in front of him. Something told Harry that he would be able to move it even without his wand. Harry decided to give it a try.

He thought the spell 'Wingardium Leviosa' in his mind and concentrated on the twig. Slowly, the twig rose from the ground and started floating in the air. Harry couldn't believe it. He had done both non-verbal and wandless magic at the same time. He was thrilled.

"How are you doing that?" Ron asked, staring at Harry's feat.

"Dunno. Got lucky I guess," Harry replied.

Ron shot him a look which made Harry flinch. He wasn't sure, but he felt as though Ron looked jealous of what he'd just done.

Harry didn't wanted to answer any more questions by him, so he quickly went to where Hermione and Riddle sat beneath a tree.

"Do you remember anything about your home? Maybe just a tiny detail? Something that can work as a lead?" Hermione was asking Riddle.

"No. Nothing. I don't remember anything," Riddle muttered, angrily tearing a fistful of grass from the ground.

"Maybe some details about your parents? How do they look? Do you remember that?" Hermione tried again.

Riddle just shook his head.

"Isn't there any spell that can help him?" Harry asked her.

"There are some spells Harry, but I don't feel confident enough to use them. What if I accidentally get them wrong and do more damage to him?" Hermione said.

"Speaking of these spells, why am I not able to do magic? If I have a wand then I must be a magician like you all, right?" Riddle asked.

"The term is 'wizard'. And yeah, since you possess a wand and are wearing Hogwarts robes you must be one," Harry answered.

"What is Hogwarts?" Riddle asked.

"It's a school where magic is taught. You are wearing green and silver robes so you must be in Slytherin-" Hermione began, but just then Ron's loud voice came from behind them,

"Oi! When you have finished teaching everything about our world to him, could you please find something to eat? And maybe some place to sleep as well since we have lost our tent?"

"Ron, there isn't much to eat in this forest. We will have to wait till we find a river or something. Then we can summon fish from there-" but Ron once again interrupted her.

"I have a much better idea. There is a wizarding village called Upper Flagley not far away from here. We can go over there and buy some food and a tent," he suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Harry said slowly, "But we will have to decide how to disguise ourselves."

"Why do we need to disguise?" Riddle asked.

"Because there are people who want to kill us. And now that you are with us, they would be after you as well," Harry told him.

"Then maybe I'll just leave. I don't want to put myself in danger by being with you people," Riddle said and stood up to leave.

He hadn't even walked two steps when Harry dashed towards him and grabbed him by his collar, "And where exactly are you going to go after leaving us?" he growled, "The death-eaters have seen your face. If they find you, they will torture you into telling my location to them. And there's no guarantee that they will let you live even after that. You don't even have any magic left in you, how are you going to defend yourself again?"

Riddle's face flushed. He clearly didn't liked being reminded of how defenseless and pathetic he had become. He stared at Harry, who had suddenly became very much aware of how close their faces were, literally inches apart.

Harry let go off his collar and turned his back on Riddle. He couldn't understand why he had to stop Riddle from leaving. But something about sending a young defenseless boy straight into the arms of waiting death-eaters didn't felt right to him.

'He is Tom Riddle. He hasn't yet became Voldemort,' a voice inside his head told him. Harry tried to push away that thought, but somewhere deep down he knew it was right.

"So, how do we disguise ourselves?" Ron asked impatiently, "Polyjuice potion?"

"There isn't enough for all four of us Ron," Hermione told him, "I think Harry should drink it because the death-eaters would be mainly searching for him."

"Yeah, I know, you are only worried about Harry, right? What about me? If the death-eaters see me my whole family could get in danger. And you are supposed to be on the list of muggle-borns who didn't went for questioning!" Ron retorted.

"I think all three of us should drink polyjuice," Harry said hurriedly as he didn't wanted any fight. Hermione did looked like she wanted to argue with Ron, but fortunately decided not to say anything to him.

Harry took out his cloak and said, "Here, come under this all of you."

Ron and Hermione quickly obeyed. Riddle followed them and let out a huge gasp once he was under it. "We are invisible, right?" he asked.

"You aren't as dumb as you look," Ron commented.

"So, now what?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Now we apparate to a the outskirts of this wizarding village which Ron just mentioned, and try to stun a few muggles and get their hair. Then we'll use the polyjuice potion," Hermione told him.

"And what about him?" Harry gestured towards Riddle.

"I'll transfigure his features. No one will recognize him," Hermione answered.

Riddle backed behind hastily when Hermione pointed her wand at him.

"Don't worry, I am just altering your features. And it's temporary!" she hissed.

Harry watched amazed as Hermione did spells on Riddle which changed his eye-color and the shape of his nose, cheek-bones and jaw-line, and made his hair shoulder-length.

Something didn't felt right to Harry though. He didn't liked seeing Tom Riddle like this. He was used to him looking all handsome and charismatic. He faintly wondered whether he was missing Riddle's pretty face or something.

Then Ron said, "Good work Hermione! Should we disapparate now?"

"Yeah, I think we should," Hermione answered.

The three of them turned on the spot, firmly dragging a confused looking Riddle along with them. Harry felt the familiar sensation of being dragged through a tube until it finally ended and he was standing on the outskirts of Upper Flagley.

"You did the same thing which you had done while moving from one forest to another, right?" Riddle asked.

"Yeah, you are smart. You learn fast," Ron said.

Hermione and Ron asked Harry to stay under the cloak with Riddle. They then went and discreetly stunned three different people and brought a few hairs of each of them.

"They are killing people and cutting their hair," Riddle observed.

"Not killing, just stunning them for a little while," Harry corrected him.

Hermione divided their polyjuice potion into three separate bottles and handed one each to Harry and Ron. Harry put the hair in his potion and downed it in one go. His body started changing shape the very next second. Ron and Hermione were changing as well. Riddle was staring at the three of them in horror.

Harry couldn't tell how he looked, but he realized that he had became taller and more muscled. Ron and Hermione had turned into identical looking blond girl and boy.

"I think we got the hairs of twins," Hermione told him in a squeaky voice.

"So this potion changes appearances? Now no one would be able to recognize you?" Riddle asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"But why couldn't you just do spells on yourselves the way you did on me?" he asked.

"Because we need thicker disguises. Otherwise the death-eaters would recognize us," Hermione told him.

"So apparently I don't need a thicker disguise?" Riddle asked with a sneer.

"We didn't had enough potion for four people," Harry snapped, "And I think we should hurry. How long will this last?"

"Three hours at best," Hermione told him.

Harry stuffed his invisibility cloak in his jacket pocket and all four of them started walking towards the village. They saw that there were two paths at the entrance to the village. One was labeled 'Upper Flagley Left' and another was 'Upper Flagley Right'.

"Um, okay, looks like this village is divided in two parts. Maybe we'll find things faster if we split up-" Hermione started, but Ron immediately interrupted and said,

"I and Hermione will go to the right and you go with him to the left Harry."

"What? But-" Harry began.

"We don't have much time Harry. If we split up we'll find things faster," Hermione said.

"Alright," he muttered. He would be spending the next three hours with Riddle. Great. Simply great.

"Come," he said shortly to Riddle and turned left. Tom Riddle followed him looking just as annoyed about the arrangement.

"We'll meet here after three hours! If you finish early just send me a patronus!" Hermione shouted behind him.

Harry nodded his head and continued walking. He knew what they were supposed to be searching for. Food and a new tent.

He looked around himself. Upper Flagley seemed to be an okay-ish wizarding village with rows of houses and a few shops here and there. The window-displays of the shops made it clear that they were mostly bookshops, something Harry wasn't particularly interested in at the moment.

It was only when he glanced behind that he realized that Riddle was missing. Harry stopped walking and started searching. Everywhere. He had no idea where to look for Riddle.

Just then his eyes fell on the window of a nearby bookshop. Riddle was sitting inside, reading a rather large book with interest. Harry sighed and entered the shop.

"What are you doing?" he asked Riddle.

"This book is so interesting! It talks about all sorts of magical things! Like giants and werewolves and thestrals. What are thestrals Harry?" he asked looking both curious and innocent.

Harry couldn't help but smile. He had never imagined he would see this look of childlike wonder in Riddle's eyes. He looked just as thrilled as Harry had been when he'd first discovered the magical world.

"They are horse-like creatures," he told Riddle. "And I think we should leave. We have work to do."

"Can I buy just one book? I really liked it," Riddle pleaded. He then put his hands in his pockets and his face fell.

"I don't have any money," he spoke sadly.

Harry couldn't take any more of his puppy-eyed look. He was feeling rather bad for the boy. Not only had he lost his memories and magical powers, but he also didn't had any money with him.

"I'll buy a book for you. But just one, okay?" he said. Riddle nodded.

Riddle looked curiously at the wizarding currency when Harry handed money to the shop-owner. He picked up one fat galleon to examine it closely and asked, "Is this real gold? Where do wizards get so much gold from?"

"Is your friend muggle? You really shouldn't be telling him about our world, you know?" the shop-owner chided Harry.

"He is a wizard too. He has just lost his memories," Harry replied.

"Oh, lost his memories you say?" the shop-owner asked interestedly, "The local healer lives just down this road. If you visit him he'll heal your friend."

"Oh, er, thanks," Harry said. He then took the address of the healer from the shop-keeper and dragged a reluctant Riddle down the road.

"Where are we going? I wanted to go through a few more books," Riddle said.

"We are going to get back your memories," Harry said firmly. Riddle looked happy upon hearing that.

They marched ahead and soon came before a board stating- Andrew Dennison, Healer. Deciding to give it a shot, Harry opened the door. It was a dirty and dingy little place. Harry saw an old, bearded man sitting inside.

"Yes?" he inquired.

"Er, my friend over here has lost his memories. Can you help him?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, definitely. Please sit down here," he indicated Riddle to sit in a chair directly opposite him. Riddle sat.

"You may wait outside," he said to Harry.

Harry thought it was a little suspicious of the healer to ask him to stay outside. But he complied nevertheless. It must have been about fifteen to twenty minutes, when all of a sudden he started hearing Riddle's loud yells from inside. Wondering about what was happening, Harry went inside.

He was shocked to see what was going on in there. The 'healer' had a knife in his hand which was covered with blood and there were huge gashes on Riddle's arms that were heavily bleeding.

Harry took out his wand and shouted, "You are not a healer! You are a fraud who uses people's blood for dark magic!"

The Dennison guy looked surprised to see Harry, as though he had forgotten that Harry was standing outside the whole time. Harry was wondering whether the guy would take out his wand and start a duel with him. He was ready to disarm him at the slightest movement.

But the guy just muttered something under his breath and the whole room turned dark. In the pitch black darkness Harry could hear Tom's shrieks grow louder and louder.

"Something is strangling me!" he shouted.

Harry quickly casted a lumos spell and realized that the man had disappeared. He also realized that the man must have used some non-verbal spell for making all the lights go out and used the distraction to escape.

But when Harry turned to stare at Tom all other thoughts left his mind. Tom was covered from head to foot in Devil's Snare. The vicious plant that strangles anyone who touches it.

"Relashio!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at the plant. It slowly released Tom, who started coughing and gasping for breath.

"What was that?" he asked Harry.

"We'll talk about it later. First, you are hurt, and I need to take care of it," he said. Luckily, this time he was carrying the Essence of Dittany in his pocket. He took it out and applied it on Tom's wounds which started healing instantly.

"We should leave this place immediately," he said as soon as Tom was completely healed.

Together, they left that dingy little place behind and started walking on the road again. The confrontation with the dark wizard had momentarily made Harry forget everything else. But as he glanced at the side of the road, and noticed a small café, he realized that one of the main things he and Tom were searching for, was food.

"Let's go inside and eat something. We'll buy extra food for Ron and Hermione too," Harry suggested.

"Good idea," Tom muttered. His mind still seemed to be on what had happened earlier. Harry couldn't blame him for being worried or scared by that incident.

They went inside the café and sat at a window-side table, facing each other. Harry ordered sandwiches and coffee for both of them. He turned to stare at Tom and couldn't remove the thought from his mind how this almost felt like a date. His mind started comparing it to his date with Cho at Madam Puddifoot's almost two years ago. The absurdity of comparing the two events almost made him laugh.

But then he noticed the way Tom was staring at him and it almost made him blush.

"Why are you staring at me?" he finally asked Tom.

"I just... wanted to say thank you," Tom answered in a low voice, "You have saved my life twice by now. You really must be a good person."

'Wish I could say the same about you', Harry thought to himself. But despite himself, he still smiled at Tom and said, "No problem. I like helping people."

"If you are so nice why did those people in black robes wanted to kill you?" Tom asked him, sounding a little confused.

"Well, you see, they are the bad guys in this situation," Harry answered a little awkwardly, "But I can understand if you don't believe me. It must be a little difficult to trust a complete stranger after all."

What Tom did upon hearing that just made Harry blush even harder. He reached across the table and took Harry's hand in his, giving it a light squueze.

"Like I said earlier, you have saved me twice now Harry. So I do trust you," he replied.

Harry blinked, feeling completely stupid. Part of him was shouting at him to stop this conversation immediately. The person in front of him was his enemy after all. But the other part was enjoying the conversation, mostly due to the irony of it. Who would have thought that such a situation could also happen with Harry Potter and Tom Riddle?

After they had finished eating, Harry paid the money, thankfully this time only sickles were required. And collected the extra parcel of food for his friends and left the café with Tom at his side.

Their three hours were almost going to get over so Harry decided to return to their meeting spot. Unfortunately, they had still not found a tent for themselves.

Ron and Hermione had already arrived at the meeting spot, carrying large bags with them.

"We got loads of food mate! There's bread, and meat, and some cheese. Also some chocolate, because Lupin says it helps against Dementors, right?" Ron was sounding quite cheerful again.

"What did you two got Harry?" Hermione asked him, eyeing the bag in his hand.

"Just some sandwiches and biscuits," Harry answered a little apologetically. His and Tom's shopping looked really bad compared to Hermione and Ron's.

"What is there in Tom's bag?" Ron asked.

" A book," Tom answered, sounding nervous. He too seemed to have realized that that was not the answer Ron was expecting to hear.

"What?! Harry you wasted money on getting some book, when Hermione already has dozens of them in her beaded bag? Why didn't you bought a tent instead?" Ron shouted.

"We didn't found any shop that sold tents Ron," Harry explained in a forced calm tone.

"Neither did we," Hermione told him.

Harry sighed. He wondered whether this was going to mean that from tonight onwards they would have to sleep on the cold and hard forest floor?

Note:- Hey everyone! Yes, I have sort of resurrected this old fanfic of mine. Although right now I have no idea whether I'll be able to continue with it or not. I just hope you all enjoyed reading it so far. :D