Harry Potter and the Seven Split Soul
By:
Krystal Lily Potter
Chapter Seven: A Place Long Forgotten
Rating: T
Summary: My continuation to the canon Half-Blood Prince. Now that Dumbledore is gone the wizarding world has fallen into a place of fear with only one beacon of hope left: Harry Potter. Facing evils that he'd never thought he'd have to endure; Harry sets out with Hermione and Ron to find the four remaining items that Voldemort placed pieces of his soul into. But the demons that Voldemort forces upon Harry are the least dangerous ones of all that he must face. Can he bring back the light to the wizarding world or will the darkness be too great for even the Boy-Who-Lived to escape?
Warning: There will be physical violence, this might include gory images, I'm not sure yet. There might be some cursing and will be more mature themes such as death (no this story does not contain any sex so if people are looking for that then I'm sorry to disappoint you)

Just so you know there are no "couples" in this story, no major romance or anything else…possibly a little flirting and so on but nothing huge so no one has to worry about H/Hr or H/G and all that nice stuff because I don't care about it…


"It's your life…and it's ending one minute at a time."

V


The people of Godric's Hallow all knew how to keep a secret, it was something every one of them, even down to the smallest child, was proud of. Of course there was no reason to keeps secrets from one another, but when outsiders came all of the residences of this small village became tight lipped and refused to give much information.

One time, a few years before, a young business man came into the village, looking for a place to build a cottage on for him family to come and live in during the summer. He had found the perfect lot; the backyard was large and ran down to the crystal clear river that ran though Godric's Hallow. It was close to the woods, but had a nice fence around it, and the house itself was beautiful, except for a couple small flaws: the windows were all broken; the door looked like, if hit hard enough, it would crumble to dust, and the house itself was a mess.

Still, the young man had been interested enough to attempt to seek out the owners of the lot to purchase him. He was surprised to be met with coldness from all of the village people. No one spoke of the house, but no one told him why he couldn't have it. It almost seemed like a touchy subject for them. He kept persisting though and finally he got the answer he didn't want to here. He had been right; the house was a touchy subject for many of the people, because two of their own had been murdered in it years before. The property still belonged to their family, so it was impossible to sell unless the man wanted to search for the ones who owned it, but he didn't even consider it. After learning that two people had been murdered in there the business man began to despise the house, it gave him the creeps.

He had been gone the next day and never came back.

Yes they were all very proud of their secret keeping abilities. Out of choice they had told the business man half of the truth about that old house to make him leave, but there was nothing wrong with that, they didn't tell the darkest secret they harbored. All of the people knew (even the children) that the man and woman who used to live in that house with their infant son were anything but normal. They had been magical people, literally. They had been murdered by an evil wizard that was terrorizing their world for some reason. No one was quite sure what happened to their young son though.

Yes in Godric's Hallow the people knew how to keep secrets and it was prove time and time again. Every single soul that lived there knew about the wizarding world, even if they didn't have a drop of magical blood running through their veins. All of them were careful with this secret; rarely anyone moved into or left Godric's Hallow. So when a new comer came everyone knew about it, and everyone would watch them and see if they were worthy enough to stay, but no one knew what to do when a teenage boy and his two friends stumbled out of the woods one night. Not because they had come out of the woods, no they had all seen the magical disappearance and reappearance of people before.

The reason they were all surprised was because the boy looked exceptionally like the late James William Potter.


"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled as the three of them hit the ground. All of them stumbled to their knees, clearly dizzy from what they had just done.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, "do you realize how dangerous that was?" She pushed herself off of the ground and glared at the raven haired young man. "Apparating with one person is extremely difficult but two? What if we had splinched? Some people's legs and arms get mixed up with each other you know! That was a very bad idea."

By now Ron had stood up and took a step away from the fuming Hermione, his blue eyes looking from her to Harry, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Her eyes started to soften as she said, "Are you alright Harry?"

"Yeah, just really tired," he replied while looking up at her with glazed over eyes.

She knelt down next to him and said, "You strained yourself in doing that, you shouldn't have."

"She would have heard if I told you were to go," Harry said and attempted to stand up. He swayed a bit but Ron grabbed his shoulder and managed to keep up upright.

"Well this proves that even the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't have limitless power," Ron joked.

Harry grinned weakly at his friend as he attempted to move forward but stumbled again, this time both Ron and Hermione grabbed him.

"Where are we?" the only female of the group asked while looking around. They were in a small clearing surrounded by woods. The sky overhead was pitch black and sprinkled with stars, reminding Harry of the skies over Hogwarts. He suddenly felt very homesick, even though that was where he was going: home.

"I'm not sure of the exact location," Harry said after a pause, "but I aimed for Godric's Hallow."

Once again the two started looking around. A nervous look passed over Ron's face, illuminated only by moonlight, as he said, "But where exactly are we?"

Harry, once he regained his balance, took a step forward but Hermione grabbed his arm and held him back, "Harry we don't know exactly where we are! For all we know we could walk into a lake or go off the side of a cliff. We should wait until morning to move."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. Spending the night in the woods? For all we know there could be werewolves running around in here," Ron pointed out.

"Or very large spiders," Harry added with a grin as he saw Ron's face pale in the light of the moon.

"Don't be stupid," Hermione scowled at them, "the full moon already passed."

"—But there could still giant spiders in here?" Ron asked nervously, his blue eyes darting around the space they were in, as if he could see though the darkness that surrounded them.

Both Harry and Hermione ignored him and concentrated on the task at hand. "Ron's right, I think it is too dangerous to just stay here. We need to at least try to get close to the town."

She bit her lip before saying, "Alright, but which way is it?"

Harry looked around for a moment before saying, "This way." He started east, but after a couple steps he realized that neither of his friends was following him, "coming?"

"How do you know that's the right way?" Ron questioned.

Harry shrugged and said, "I just do, now let's go."


"What?"

That was the only sentence the normally collected Minerva McGonagall could get out when she heard the news. Her stern grey eyes held shock and her hands curled themselves around the books she was holding violently.

"They're gone," Arthur Weasley repeated, "I don't know where they went but they left last night."

Minerva set her books down on the desk beside her and stared at him warily before asking, "Did they show any signs of planning this in advanced?"

"I guess we didn't really notice," Arthur replied while looking at the ground with shame, "we were all so excited for Bill's wedding."

Minerva stared at him for a few moments before turning her eyes to the portrait that hung behind her desk. The old wizard in it snored softly and she knew that he had something to do with this.

"Last year, before the Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts Potter wasn't in the school and neither was Albus. I asked Potter where they went and what they were doing but he said…he said 'I can't tell you that, Professor.' I tried to get more information out of him, pointing out that it must have been important, what they were doing, and he said 'It is, very, but he didn't want me to tell anyone.' Potter refused to tell me anything. I pointed out that with Albus dead that everything was different, and he said 'I don't think so, Professor Dumbledore told me to never stop following his orders if he died.' And I heard later that he refused to tell the Minister anything as well…"

For the first time in a long time tears of frustration appeared in Minerva McGonagall's eyes and she angrily hit her hand on the desk in front of her. Arthur looked surprised at her reaction and said, "You couldn't have known."

"I should have guessed Potter would do something like this. I should have seen if he knew anything," she said while waving to the sleeping portrait behind her, "I'm positive Albus updated his portrait with memories just before he left with Harry. He would have known something."

"Would he have told you though?"

Minerva remained silent, it was true, she had asked the portrait of Albus Dumbledore a few questions in his awake periods but she had never gotten many answers from her. His favorite response was "Nitwit", "Oddment", "Blubber" and "Tweak." Even after his death Dumbledore was still a curious figure, even if only as a portrait.

She stood up again and went to look out the window at the Hogwarts grounds. It wasn't decided yet whether or not the school would be reopened, but something in her mind and her heart told her that it should. Something in her now realized there was an importance behind everything that was happening…

"I don't know why Potter and his friends left, and I'm not sure if we'll ever find out," Minerva said while staring off into the distance, "but we'll do our best to try and find them even though I doubt we'll be able to keep track of them for long."

"We want our son home," Arthur muttered to himself.

"I know…Arthur," she said in a monotone voice.


Harry laid in his sleeping bad on the floor of the hotel room they had managed to get. The owner had insisted that they needed more then one room but they had argued that they only need it for the night and Ron and Harry had agreed that Hermione would get the bed and they would sleep on the floor. The attendant hadn't liked the idea but since it was only for a few hours he had agreed to it.

He could hear Hermione's soft breathing above him on the bed and Ron's loud snores from his other side, they were sounds he had become accustom to during the beginning of the summer and even though Ron's snores could be quite terrifying the sounds gave him a sense of peace. It let him know that both his friends were alive and well.

When Harry closed his eyes to sleep though even the breathing of his friends couldn't sooth he storm of questions and memories that raged through his mind. One in particular was bugging him recently, the last time he had seen Snape…

"Fight back!" Harry screamed at him. "Fight back you cowardly–"

"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape, "Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"

"Stupe—"

"Blocked again, and again, and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter" sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more.

Harry thought about that over and over again. Lately it had been almost maddening to him. At first he had thought that memory was only there, mocking him, but now he thought something different, it was almost if Snape had been warning him…

"Blocked again, and again, and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed," he muttered to himself. It was almost as if Snape was telling him he had to learn Occlumancy and silent spell casting.

He sat up and stared out the small window, thinking. He reached over and grabbed his wand, staring at it for a moment. It was the same as Voldemort's, but it was different.

"I think we can expect great things from you Mr. Potter," that was what Ollivander had said. For a brief moment Harry wondered where the man had vanished to, but soon realized that it would be better to keep his mind as focused as he could on the situation in his mind: Snape.

"I don't understand," he muttered, "Why would Snape warn me? Why would he want me to becoming stronger…"

The questions continued to plague his mind until he fell back to an unsettled sleep, reliving that moment over and over again.


Whispers circulated around the town that there were three young new comers: two boys and a girl. When Harry, Ron and Hermione left the hotel the next morning they noticed that people seemed to be giving them odd looks. One older woman had even stopped walking, stared at them for a moment, then started sobbing as she rushed away, it confused all of them greatly.

Harry slowly led the way through the small village, his emerald eyes taking in everything as if he was revisiting it. Technically he was, but after an absence of sixteen years he shouldn't remember anything about this place, but as he passed different shops and houses he just knew that he had been there before.

Suddenly Harry stopped walking, causing Ron and Hermione to run into him (they had been looking around and hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing) and all of them nearly stumbled to the ground.

"Bloody hell mate," Ron groaned angrily, "what was that for?"

"This road, the house is down this road," Harry said in a barely audible voice. He began walking down the road in a quicker pace than before.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked as she jogged to keep up with him. Harry nodded as he turned a corner and stopped. He was standing in front of a house that looked like it had once been magnificent but had started to die over the years, much like the old Riddle house Harry had seen in his dreams. He could hear the clear river running behind the house and admired the large grounds around it.

"This is it isn't it?" Ron muttered in awe as he stared at the house. All the windows were broken, and the door and siding looking like it was starting to rot, but for being abandoned for sixteen years it was in fairly good condition.

"That's the old Potter place," a voice said suddenly, causing all three of them to turn around. There was a middle aged man stared at the house behind them, beside him stood the old lady that they had seen crying earlier, "it holds a special place in all of our hearts."

"Did you know the people who lived here?" Hermione asked after a moment.

"Oh yes, they were nice people, but they were secretive," the man replied while glancing at Hermione, "and if ye wanted to buy the lot yeh'll have to get in touch with the owners."

Ron and Hermione glanced around to Harry who shrugged and Ron asked, "Does the Potter family still own it?"

"Yeah, I think I heard something that the wife's friend is in custody of the property until someone becomes of age…something like that," the man said.

The old woman stared at Harry with wide brown eyes. She took a step forward and said, "You look just like him. Just like James…"

It was only at her words that the man looked at Harry curiously before a look of awe appeared on his face and he said, "Lord…he does!"

"James and Lily Potter were my parents," Harry said after a moment, "my name's—"

"Little Harry Potter!" the old woman cried, "the last time I saw you was when you were a month old."

Harry stared at the teary eyed woman before asking, "Who has the deed to the house now?"

"Ye can go in, it is yers after all," the man said with a moment, "the door opens on its own, the lock doesn't work."

"Who's the one who owned it before I became of age?" Harry asked again.

"One of yer mother's old friends, Alice Bones er something like that," the man said after a moment.

"Alyssa Bones?" he asked.

"That's it."

"Well thank you, but I think we're going to take a look around," Harry said with a forced smile.

"Of course," the old woman said suddenly, "come Brian, we'll leave them alone."

"Yes ma'am," Brian said and followed the old woman away.

There was a pause before Hermione said, "That was awkward."

"Let's go inside," Harry said after a moment and walked towards the house. He carefully climbed the steps, not sure if they would hold his weight. Fortunately they did hold his mass and he slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

He stepped into the foyer and suddenly an overwhelming sense of sadness passed through him and he said, "I'm home…"


Author's Note

I am SO sorry! I know it's been months since I've update but yeah, grade twelve is pretty hetic. When I'm not at school I'm either at work, participating in some activity after school, occasionally hanging out with my friends when I'm not busy, doing homework or sleeping. And right now I've been extra busy helping with decorations for our formal coming up too.

Once again I'm sorry and apologies in advanced if the next chapter isn't up for awhile.

First of all I'd like to say I DO NOT OWN THE LINES THAT ARE IN ITALICS! Those were taken directly from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (at the end of page 562). I don't want people to think I'm plagiarizing, because I think that's wrong.

I was reading through the book again and those lines just struck me, Snape was warning Harry that Voldemort would be able to block the spells just as easily if Harry didn't learn to cast spells silently and if he didn't learn to hide his thoughts. At least that's how I see it. Lets see what JK makes of the situation though.

Maybe I'm just reading way to deep between the lines, but we'll see!

Anyways please review! And if you have any suggestions I'm open to them!

Krystal Lily Potter