I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, and they are the copyright property of their owner(s).
Thank you to Russian Flower, who pointed out that in chapter 3, Hermione said Voldemort's name twice. That was my mistake. Please let me know if there are any other technical errors like that!
Chapter 4 - A Mind-Changing Epiphany
The front of Gringotts looked different than Harry had remembered; there was still the large, decorated 'G' on each one of the support pillars, and the sign still read GRINGOTTS BANK very clearly. However, under each of the G's, there were a slew of posters with Harry's face on them, all emblazoned with 'undesirable number one'. They covered the entire pillar, so that nobody could even see the white brick underneath.
Harry, Hermione and Gallahad moved very slowly under cloak, walking straight in and ducking into a side room, so they could talk.
The room was a mid-sized square room with a table and chairs, probably used for meetings. It was currently empty besides the three of them.
"Okay, now what?" Asked Harry.
"Now, we wait for worker to come in." Began Gallahad. "Then you will cast the imperius curse."
They waited for about fifteen minutes before a goblin came in.
"Imperio." Said Harry, and the goblin froze in its tracks.
It was at this point that Harry realized he had no clue how to use it. Hermione, seeming to have read his mind, said in a whisper "Just think an order, he'll go!"
Harry collected himself, and thought 'What's your name?'
"Gurn." said the goblin.
'Fetch the key to the Lestrange's vault and then bring it back here.' Harry thought again.
Gurn had done Harry's bidding relatively quickly, returning in a matter of minutes. Harry took the key.
"Is this the right one?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, that's it. Have him take us." Said Gallahad.
'Guide us to the Lestrange's vault.' Harry thought.
Gurn turned and left the room, walking slowly and away from the crowd so that they could follow. He led them past the reception desks, into the tunnel where the carriages were.
As soon as the carriage had taken them far enough away from the lobby, they took off the cloak.
"It could take about ten minutes; the Lestrange's vault is very deep." Said Gallahad.
"That's okay!" Harry had to yell; the sound of the carriage moving so quickly drowned them out.
"Do you have the wand?"
"Yes!" Said Harry. Harry and Hermione each had a wand hidden in their sleeves, in case they got caught and there wands were taken, they had backups.
The carriage stopped at the entrance to a small, round tunnel, no more than seven feet high. "This way." Said Gallahad, leading the way.
On the other side of the tunnel, there was a large, circular room, with hallways of vaults splitting off into several directions. In the centre of the room, was a massive silver dragon. Gallahad picked up the clankers and started then noise, and the dragon backed away immediately.
"That's horrible." Hermione said, just quiet enough so that Gallahad couldn't here. "Absolutely cruel."
They followed Gallahad down one of the hallways, and Harry told Gurn to come with them.
"Key? Said Gallahad. Harry handed him the key. "Before I open it, just know that whatever interior defences there are, you will not be able to disable them. Do not touch anything until you have tested them, and located what you are seeking. And remember – you are doing this to defeat the Dark Lord, not for personal gain."
They both nodded. Gallahad twisted the key.
Both Harry and Hermione were expecting something to happen, and were surprised when nothing did.
"I don't see any defences." Said Hermione. "Try picking something up, but be careful."
Harry stepped into the vault, and picked up a small, gold dagger. He dropped it immediately, as it was searing hot, and as it left his hand, a bunch of exact copies bursted out of it.
"Geminio and Flagrante curses." Said Hermione. "Just look for the cup."
It took them a while to find it, but eventually, Harry spotted it on a high shelf. "There!" he exclaimed.
"Accio cup!" Said Hermione, but it didn't move.
"Nice try." Said Harry. "Lift me."
"What?" She replied, surprised.
"Use levicorpus. I'll get it."
Hermione pointed her wand at him, and whispered "Levicorpus."
Harry felt a giant, invisible hand grab him by the ankle and hoist him upwards. He pulled his sleeve over his hand, and grabbed the cup.
Dozens more came flying out of it, soaring in all directions, and smashing into more treasure which triggered them to duplicate as well. Hermione lifted him all the way out of the doorway before letting Harry drop. Much of the Lestrange's gold was now falling out of the door, growing at an incredible rate, but Gallahad swung the door shut.
Harry took a second to examine the cup. It had stopped duplicating and flaming as soon as it left the vault, so he could now touch it with his bare skin.
"Let's go, quickly." Said Gallahad.
The four of them turned and left the hall as quick as they could, re-boarding their carriage and replacing the invisibility cloak.
'Put the key back where you took it from.' Harry commanded Gurn from under the cloak, as they returned into the lobby. Harry, Hermione and Gallahad left the building as quickly as they could, disapparating with the regular crack as quick as they could.
"Well that was easy." Said Harry. "When's the last time our plan went so smoothly?"
"I can't remember." Said Hermione.
"I half-expected us to have to escape riding the dragon or something." He said, watching Hermione laugh.
She turned to the goblin. "Thank you very much, Gallahad." she said, as her and Harry took out their extra wands.
He took the one in Hermione's hand, which was a longer, springier wand made of what Harry guessed was oak. He gave it a light wave, and green sparks flew out of the end. He gave an approving nod. "Thank you, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. I wish you luck on your quest. Maybe I shall see you again, one day."
He turned and disapparated.
"Why don't you get the tent set up," Said Hermione, "And I'll put up the charms."
Harry did as he was told, using his wand to put up the tent, before going in to sit on the bed and examine the cup. He removed the locket from his neck, and looked at the two together.
"Two pieces of his soul." Said Harry. "Scary thought."
"We still have no way of destroying them."
He lay down on the bed, still amazed that the plan went so smoothly, and Hermione came and sat on the edge of the bed. She held the cup.
"We still need to kill the snake, and we need to find out what the last one is and destroy that too." Said Hermione. "But we don't know what or where it is."
"It has to be in Hogwarts. I'm sure of it."
Hermione pondered the thought, as she had done so many times before. "You might be right."
"Think about it. He loved Hogwarts, it was his home. He was almost as attached to it as Dumbledore. Why wouldn't he hide it there?" Harry said, now sitting up next to her. "Plus, Dumbledore told me that Hogwarts is the about the most secure place there is to hide something."
"It would make sense," she said, "But I find it hard to believe that he could have hid one there without Dumbledore knowing."
"But Dumbledore didn't even know what it was!" He argued. "All we know is that is belonged to either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but Gryffindor is unlikely, because the only two things that remain that belonged to him are the sword and the sorting hat."
Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out A History of Magic and Hogwarts: A History. "Here," she said, tossing the second to Harry. "Try and find something about Ravenclaw."
"Haven't you looked through these books about a thousand times?"
"Yes, but it won't hurt to look again."
"I doubt I'll find anything if you haven't." Sensing her evil eye without even seeing it, Harry looked anyway. To Harry's delight, she gave up after only a couple of minutes.
"You're right." She said. "We won't find anything about their possessions in here, it doesn't even mention the sword."
Harry changed the subject. "When do you want to go see Xenophilius?"
"I'm kind of tired. Maybe tomorrow?" She said, flopping down onto their bed.
"Sounds good to me." Harry said. "I'll go keep watch." He grabbed his wand and left the tent.
He pondered for a minute these things that they wanted to ask Xenophilius about. The cloak that he already, potentially owned, the wand the Voldemort was desperately seeking, and then the stone that was still entirely shrouded in mystery...
Suddenly, Hermione burst from the tent.
"Harry, I just had a thought." She began, taking a deep breath. "What exactly did Dumbledore tell you about the ring? Guant's ring, I mean?"
"He told me he went and found it in the Guant's old house, and that you-know-who had made it a horcrux, and it held a curse that afflicted him while he was trying to destroy it. That's why his hand looked like it did."
"What did he tell you about the curse?"
"Nothing really, he just said that had it not been for his skill and for Snape's timely help, he likely would have been killed instantly, but they managed to contain the curse in his hand. Why?"
She took another deep breath. "What if Dumbledore failed to contain the curse? What if the curse's effects were only delayed?"
"So what? Snape finished him off before the curse could have either way!"
"Well, what if Dumbledore asked him to? If he knew the curse was killing him, he may have asked Snape to murder him, to assure his post with you-know-who?"
"Are you saying Snape's innocent?"
"Well, it's not exactly unthinkable! Look, Snape was the one who managed to contain the curse in the one hand, effectively postponing Dumbledore's death, and Dumbledore may not have wanted to simply drop dead, having Snape do it would spare him all the pain of slowly being eaten at by the curse! And another thing; you told me you overheard Draco telling Dumbledore that he was meant to be the killer! Wouldn't it be exactly the type of thing for Dumbledore to do, to protect Draco's innocence, or whatever other way he would justify it? Snape could kill him, and then Draco could be spared the trauma of murder."
Harry looked long and hard at her, rendered entirely speechless. He had come to hate Snape just as much as he hated Voldemort himself, and she was turning that hatred around on him.
Hermione returned to her bed in the tent, before adding, "Like it or not, Harry; Snape's on our side."