Harry Potter and the Revelation of the Horcruxes

By schizophrenic genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, although I wish I did.

Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione know what is coming, and they are ready for it. The trio is setting off to a quest beyond Hogwarts with a goal beyond banishing Voldemort and the Horcruxes, and to see to a new age. Post HBP. Discoveries, mysteries, Dursley torture, romance, powers, Horcruxes, R.A.B., the Hogwarts four, Greek Gods, Merlin and suspense galore! HarryGinny, RonHermione.

Author's Note: I'm now on to my fourth chapter! I can't believe it! I hope you enjoyed reading the third chapter. I really enjoyed writing it. Anyway, read this chapter and tell me what you think. I seriously need reviews, or else I won't continue writing this story! Thanks to all those who reviewed in the last chapter, and enjoy!

Brought to Light

Harry concluded that it was the best birthday he could ever have, or anyone else could have. They stood there for a while, slowly revolving at the dance floor. Harry certainly improved his dancing since last time. Then the song ended. It changed and they stayed on the dance floor.

This song would be quite simple but…

Now that it's done…

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind

What I put down in words…

How wonderful life is now you're in the world…

Life for Harry was plain perfect at the moment…

Then the dance ended. Harry sighed. It was too good to be true. Harry and Ginny went back to their seats, both smiling in peace.

Harry entertained a lot of chatter, with the help of Ginny, Hermione and Ron. When they reached the teachers' table, Professor Slughorn pulled them near.

"Here's the birthday boy! You're seventeen now, eh? Happy birthday! What are your plans this year?"

"Er, I'm not really sure yet," said Harry, half-lying.

"I have heard that you wanted to be an Auror. Well, I could never have thought of a better career for you. That is an excellent choice, excellent. There's just one little problem, as you all know," said Slughorn dramatically, as everyone suddenly hushed.

McGonagall said, "Horace, even though Hogwarts might be closing, children can still learn. This is not the end for any of us." She turned to the quartet, "I would like to meet you four sometime this week. Please find the time to come to the HQ. I have a proposal for you that might interest you. I am sorry, but this is not the time nor the place to talk about it."

All four heads nodded in unison. Hermione smiled fondly of the old strictness of McGonagall. The conversation turned to that of the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour.

"Tha' goat's got it in fer everyone! It's like the Reign of Terror all over 'gain! People arrested left, right and center…" said Hagrid loudly.

"Really, Hagrid? He hasn't changed, has he? Who's been arrested?" asked Harry.

"There's Madam Malkin and Rita Skeeter. Quite the unlikely ones, eh?"

"Rita Skeeter's an annoying cow, but it's hard to imagine those two being Death Eaters!" said Ginny quietly.

"And they haven't even been tried! They were just chucked into Azkaban!" piped in Slughorn.

"Though there's one good catch too, that's Macnair. His left forearm sleeve slipped up and he was sentenced to Azkaban for life," said McGonagall.

"But that's just one catch compared to a whole lot of innocent others!" said Hagrid.

"Rita Skeeter isn't exactly innocent. She's an illegal Animagus. A beetle," said Hermione.

Remus Lupin approached and said, "Now that's something I don't hear everyday. At least I didn't hear it since my time."

"Ah, Remus! How nice to see you!" said Slughorn.

"Thank you, Horace."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows in questioning, though slightly amused. "I take it that you were in the company of illegal Animagi? Namely Potter, Black and Pettigrew?"

Remus shifted his feet guiltily. "Yes. They used to accompany me on the full moon."

"You should have told me, Remus. No wonder you four have been playing around in my classes. I should have taken you to the advanced level."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, as if saying, "Now that is weird…"

"My, look at the time!" said Slughorn. "I don't think we should barge in to your hospitality any longer. I better go."

"Thank you for coming, Professor Slughorn," said Harry.

"You're welcome, my boy, and happy birthday."

Hagrid got up and said his thanks, "I hope yer had a great time, Harry, eh? I did. Thanks a lot."

"No problem, Hagrid."

People said their goodbyes afterwards, with Neville nearly bringing his glass along with him. Some things never change. Soon, they were alone again.

"That was great," said Ron. "We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah. I think Bill and Fleur's wedding will do the trick," said Harry

"Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot. Me being her sister-in-law is gonna be real now, isn't it?" said Ginny.

"Yeah. I guess we'll just have to put up with her," said Hermione.

Ginny started, "Harry, you still have to open your presents!"

"Can we do it in the morning?

"Come on! We can always sleep until late, anyway!"

"Oh, alright."

Harry got towards an enormous pile of gifts. It was the largest pile he ever had in his entire life. His gaping mouth was the proof of this.

"Harry, you do realize that you look like a goldfish, don't you?" said Ron.

"Very funny, Ron. Hahaha."

He started on the first present. It was Hagrid's. A crossbow just like the giant owned, except that it was perfect for his size. Harry had a vague idea on how he would use it. Then there was Slughorn's gift of a complete potions kit. It had a lot of bezoars, in it, Harry noticed gratefully. Neville Longbottom's foe glass was next, and it was fortunately unclear at the moment. Harry got a lot of items from Fred and George from the Defense Against the Dark Arts range, such as Shield Rings, Decoy Detonators, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and some other things like Patented Daydream Charms, Charmed Quills, and a lot more. There was even a bottle of – champagne? Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave him a large box full of pastries, but it had a refilling charm on it, so Harry was pretty amazed too. Charlie gave him an amazing full outfit made out of red dragon skin, while Bill sent him a large globe with three-dimensional features that also showed the location of people that he wanted to look for. Luna Lovegood surprised him with an elegant robe that he could change the design and color. Tonks gave him a wand holster that also had pockets with more than enough capacity, much like the charm on Moody's magical trunk.

While all these really made Harry's day more than ecstatically happy, several gifts left him even more amazed. Remus Lupin gave him a ring. Not just any ring, but his father's ring. It said in the letter,

Dearest Harry,

A very happy birthday to you! In this box, you will find a ring. This ring once belonged to your father, and he told me to give it to you when you were of age. He treasured this ring greatly, and I hope that you will too. Please note that this is no ordinary ring, but it helps you track down the location of people around you within a three hundred and fifty miles. And you can talk to them too. It's sort of like the map and the mirror combined, only much different. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use it. Besides, it will help if you know where we all are anyway. Remember though, that's the only thing I know about the ring. There might be some other things that I don't know about it.

I hope you have a good seventeenth year. Make the best out of it.

Always,

Remus

Harry picked up the ring. It was made of thick and pure 24 karat gold, with a largely cut ruby on top. There were not supposed to be any precious stones on pure gold, but he supposed the stone was held by magic. How was he supposed to use it if Remus didn't tell him how to do it? But anyway, his father owned it, so it was a better gift than he could ask for. He set the ring aside and went to the other gifts.

He went to Ron and Hermione's gift. They probably shared it between them. It was enormous. Tearing off the wrapper, he found a magnificent wooden trunk carved with magical creatures. Opening it, he found its depths even more wonderful to behold. There was a sitting room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom within the fathoms below. Ron said, "Hermione charmed the kitchen to have a Fantasy-Reality spell too, so you can have all the Hogwarts treacle tart you'll ever want."

They all laughed. The foursome explored the depths for a while, with Harry's mouth wide open in awe and gratitude. He was so in debt to his friends for being with him, even more so when they did so much good for him like this.

When Harry reached for another gift, he was astounded to see another gift from Ron and Hermione, which was an elaborately decorated silver box. Hermione reached out her hand as if to help him open it. She ran her finger across the top edges and the top side lifted, and a bright white smoke rose to eventually form colored images, each of which depicting the times Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had together ever since first year. Here Harry was torn between joy and sorrow. One of the pictures showed that of the foursome throwing snowballs at each other during Christmas at Hogwarts. Harry looked at it closely and felt as if the memory was more vivid than ever before. He saw the snowball from Ron smack himself hard in the face. He retaliated, but it got sent to Ginny, who was just an innocent bystander. Harry apologized profusely but Ginny sent another snowball. Soon it was a full-scale snowball fight. A stray snowball hit Hermione. Thirsty for revenge, she joined the fray.

Harry's eyes watered as he remembered it. He was laughing and almost crying at the same time. Those were good times, Harry thought. He wondered if he would experience those good times again in troubled days like this. Then he went back to reality. When he saw the other's faces, they all had the same expressions.

Stopping his sentiments, he thanked Hermione and Ron for such a wonderful gift.

Then Ginny spoke, "Now I guess it's my turn to see my gift opened. It's gonna be hard to top Ron and Hermione's gifts, but hey, I try my best."

Harry smiled at her as she handed him a box that was big enough to carry a bottle of wine. The box was colored gold with some markings that he couldn't decipher. He opened the lid and reached in to find a statue of a small phoenix, magically suspended above what he recognized as a hawthorn tree. The statue looked so real, and Harry suspected that there was more to it than a statue. He looked at Ginny.

"I found it in an antique shop in Hogsmeade to get it for you. I don't really know why, but something was tugging at the back of my mind that you were the rightful owner of this statue," said Ginny.

Harry looked at the statue again, holding the base with his hands tightly. Just as he started to thank Ginny, a golden glow was emitted from the phoenix statue and it enveloped them in warmth, hope and joy. They could see nothing but the golden glow. Then the glow solidified to become a bird. A phoenix to be exact. The foursome watched with their mouths agape as the bird, which emitted the same golden glow as before, landed on Harry's shoulder and sang a joyful song that reverberated within the room, giving them hope.

"Wow." said Harry, positively astonished.

"I never knew that it would do that. I only thought it was a statue," said Ginny.

"Nevertheless, it is quite the best gift that anyone could give me," said Harry. Then he added, "Along with Ron and Hermione's gifts, of course."

Harry planted a swift kiss on Ginny's lips and smiled. The phoenix, with red and gold plumage, though it had more gold plumage than Fawkes, continued to sing its song. And now, he was sure, that he was perfectly safe and happy.

The next morning, Harry woke up to find the phoenix singing to him. They decided to name her, as it was a girl, Aviora. It was after a star in the constellation Carina. The name also happened to mean "flying". Bleary-eyed, he stood up and entered the common room. The place was as it was before the party, but it was full of gift wrappers that were left. Deciding to clean up, he picked up the wrappers and threw them into the wastebasket. When Harry was done, he noticed a circular box that went unnoticed underneath all the wrappers. He opened the card and read,

Dear Harry,

I cordially wish you a happy birthday. Within this box, you will find something that did not really come from me, but from former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. I came across this while clearing up the shelves, but I was not able to access the memories left within. Albus must have charmed it. Then Albus' painting told me that only you would be able to access the information held within, and that he freely gives it to you.

I know that there is a reason why he has trusted you with this information. Therefore, I will not demand it of you that you tell me about what it is. However, do tell me if it is necessary.

Use it well.

Minerva McGonagall Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He was shocked. But he had to open the wrapper to confirm his suspicion. Yes, it was a Pensieve. He didn't deserve to be Dumbledore's confidante; he knew that. But there might be something in there that he needed to know. And so he plunged his face into the misty silver of the Pensieve and felt the familiar abyss as he tumbled down to the memory.

At first, he thought that he was back in the Headmaster's office. It looked the same as before, even without Dumbledore's picture on the wall. And when he looked forward, he saw the headmaster smiling solemnly at him.

"Professor! Oh Professor Dumbledore! Is that really you? How can this be?"

The elderly headmaster smiled, "Harry, we are in a pensieve. Therefore, I am but a memory."

"But how is it that you can talk to me?"

"Ah, yes. I knew you would ask that. Well, this type of memory happens to be a recording, in Muggle terms. My memory self will answer to your most likely questions and will explain what you need to know."

Harry's face fell, "Oh, it was just… I was hoping it was really you."

"I know, Harry. But there is a Muggle saying, 'Death is not extinguishing the light, it is putting out the lamp, because the day, a new day has dawned.'"

Harry smiled sadly. Dumbledore continued, "Now I would like you to sit down. There is something that I need to tell you. Or show you, rather."

Dumbledore sighed and continued. "Within this pensieve, I will show you some rather shocking revelations that might eventually be something of use to you and to your friends. I will reveal them one by one; because there are some things that have to be taken slowly in order to be effective. To rush might be one of the greatest mistakes that one can ever make."

Harry nodded in understanding. Then Dumbledore said, "I know that you feel that you have to find the Horcruxes and defeat Voldemort. And here I am to show you how."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffy… I just can't help it! Don't worry, the next chapter's gonna come up soon. Thanks to, kikyou's-reincarnation, gonekrazy3000, KimKatNC1, X half blood prince x, Nlm2nd, tikzch and Lordheaven for reviewing, you are a great help for giving me more encouragement in writing this story.