Farewell Aragog

The next day, a letter came from Hagrid. It had tear stains on it which made the ink slightly runny and the writing hard to read, but still somewhat legible.

Dear Helena, Ron, Cedric and Hermione,

Aragog died last night. I'm burying him at dusk as it was his favorite time of day. If any of you could come, I would appreciate it. I know it's a risk, especially at that hour, and I wouldn't ask you normally, but I just can't face this alone. I need someone with me. Please.

Hagrid.

"He's mental!" said Ron, after reading it. "How can he think we'd want to attend that thing's funeral after it let its family try to eat us? Count yourself lucky to have never met him, Hermione."

"It's not just that, but he's asking us to take a huge risk to sneak in and out after dark, especially with all the new security," said Hermione.

"Could you be just a tad sympathetic?" asked Cedric.

"I don't like this either, but maybe we should do something," I said. "Aragog was a monster, yes, but it was Hagrid's friend for, what, sixty years? It'd mean a lot to him if we could do something, for Hagrid's sake."

"But what could we possibly do?" asked Hermione. "Besides, what about your job? You need to get the memory from Slughorn."

"I'd need a lucky break for that, I've tried everything," I said.

"Luck," said Ron. "Helena, that's it! You need to use your Lucky Potion!"

"Ron, that's it!" said Hermione. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Do you still have it, Helena?" asked Cedric.

"Sure do." I took the potion out of my pocket. "I'll just take a little. I don't think I'll need a full day's worth."

I poured a little into a cup and drank it. The effects were astounding. I felt like nothing could go wrong and I could do anything.

"How do you feel?" asked Hermione.

"Really, really lucky," I said, smiling. "I'm going to head to Hagrid's."

"Hagrid's?" said Cedric, looking surprised.

"Helena, you're supposed to be going to Slughorn's," said Hermione.

"No, I need to go to Hagrid's. I've got a really good feeling about Hagrid's. See you later," I said, as I got up.

"Is that Felix talking?" asked Cedric.

"I think so."

"Alright then, go for it."

"That was Lucky Potion you drank, wasn't it?" asked Hermione. "I don't suppose you have something like…"

"Essence of Insanity?" said Ron.

I ignored them and snuck out down to the grounds. I found Professor Slughorn outside the greenhouse.

"Hello, Professor," I said, making him jump.

"Ah! Oh, Helena, it's just you," he said, clutching his chest. "You gave me a fright."

"Sorry, Professor."

"Quite alright, but what are you doing out here?"

"I'm going down to Hagrid's, Professor. You see, for the past, like, sixty years or so, he's had this pet Acromulanta, called Aragog, and it meant a lot to him. Aragog's passed away and Hagrid asked me to be with him during the funeral," I explained.

"Oh, I see," said Professor Slughorn, softly. "Well, I'll accompany you. It'd be amazing to see such a creature, and better if you were with a teacher if you were caught and I might be able to collect a bit of the spider's venom, and it would kind if Hagrid had some company."

"Well then, shall we go? Hagrid's waiting."

We went down to Hagrid's hut where a huge hole was dug and Aragog's body was resting beside it.

Hagrid looked utterly miserable and I felt a wave of sorrow for him. I slipped my small hand into Hagrid's giant one. He squeezed it and smiled softly.

"Thanks for coming, Helena," he murmured.

"Anything for a friend," I said. "I'm sorry the others couldn't come. But Professor Slughorn offered to come."

"It's alright. You're with me, at least. Thank you for coming, Professor."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Hagrid," said Professor Slughorn. "Aragog was truly an amazing creature and you were lucky to have been able to raise him all this time."

"Thank you," said Hagrid, sniffling. "He was one of my best friends. I raised him from an egg! He's only been gone one day and I already miss him so much."

"I'm sorry, Hagrid," I murmured.

"Hagrid, would you like us to say a few words for you?" asked Professor Slughorn.

"Yes," said Hagrid, sobbing.

"Farewell dear Aragog. True King of the Arachnids and all Spiders alike," said Professor Slughorn, as we all bowed our heads in respect. "Your memory shall live on in your kin and in our hearts forevermore."

"You were always loved by us all and now you shall always be missed by us all," I said, softly. "Farewell dear Aragog."

"Aragog, I'll miss you always," said Hagrid, sniffling.

I hugged Hagrid until he let go and then let out a mournful sigh. "Thank you."

We helped Hagrid bury Aragog and make a grave marker, and then went in his house for a few drinks. Hagrid cheered up the tiniest bit by talking about his best memories with Aragog until he finally fell asleep.

"I think we'd better go," said Professor Slughorn.

"Yes, I think so," I whispered.

We walked back up to the castle.

"Something on your mind, Helena?" he asked.

"Aragog's funeral made me think of my parents' deaths," I said, softly. "It's been fifteen years, but I've never even been to their graves. I think about them a lot, particularly during times like this. Because of the Dementors, I remember bits and pieces of what happened that night."

"Oh, my dear girl, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm used to it. When Pettigrew betrayed them, Voldemort didn't hesitate to come for us the first chance he got. He killed my father first that night. Dad wasn't even armed, but he told Mum to take me and run while he'd fight him off."

Professor Slughorn looked shocked. "I had no idea."

"Then he came for me and my mother. Mum tried to stop him, she barricaded us in my bedroom, but he got through. She refused to give me up to him, she begged him to spare me, told him to kill her instead, but he just laughed and pushed her aside and then when he tried to kill me, she took the blow meant for me. She sacrificed herself for me. That was why I survived that night, because my mother's love was stronger than Voldemort's hate."

"Please, stop it! Stop it!" said Professor Slughorn, crying a bit. "Lily Evans was my best and favorite student. She was so kind and loving and such a wonderful girl. I don't want to hear this. I'd have done anything to prevent her fate!"

"Then why won't you help her daughter stop her murderer?" I asked, gazing at him. "My mother was willing to die for me, but you won't even give me the memory I need. Do you know that what they say about me is true, that I am the Chosen One?"

"You—I—But—"

"One day soon, I'll have to fight Voldemort and it'll be to the death. One of us will die and the other will survive. But in order to defeat him, I need that memory. It's the key to all of this."

Professor Slughorn stopped walking and looked ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, Helena. I'm so sorry," he said. "What I did that day, what I told him…I can't forgive myself. If only I hadn't said anything, things might've been different. If only I hadn't be so foolish, Lily would be here right now."

"There are millions of 'if only' situations, but we cannot dwell on our past mistakes, Professor. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on and try to make a better future," I said, gently. "If you help me now, you could play a part in his downfall and redeem yourself instantly. Please sir, don't let my mother's sacrifice be in vain. Don't dishonor her memory."

He sighed. "If it will help, then I'll give it to you, for your sake and to honor your mother's memory," he murmured. He took out a flask and placed his wand at his temple. Silvery liquid flowed and was placed in the flask and he tightly sealed it with a cork. "Good luck, Helena."

"Thank you sir."

When we were inside, I ran to Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked surprised to see me at such a late hour. "Helena, what brings you here at this hour?"

"Professor, I got it! I've got the memory," I said, holding it up. "I got it!"

Professor Dumbledore's face brightened. "Oh, well done, Helena! Well done!"

I unsealed the memories and poured it into the Pensieve and then we entered the memory. We were in Professor Slughorn's office again. He was a great deal younger. Voldemort was with his gang and he looked incredibly handsome and relaxed and wearing his grandfather's ring.

"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?" he asked.

"Tom, if I knew, I couldn't tell you," said Professor Slughorn, wagging a sugar-coated finger at him as one would a naughty child. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are."

Tom smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter—thank you for the pineapple by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite—" Then a small golden clock on the desk chimed eleven o'clock.

"Good gracious, is that the time already?" said Professor Slughorn. "You'd better be going boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."

The boys filed out, except for Tom, who lingered. "Sir, there's something I want to ask you before I go to my common room."

"Ask away then, my boy, ask away."

"Sir, I wondered what you knew about…about Horcruxes?"

Professor Slughorn stared. "Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?"

"Not exactly, sir. I came across the term while reading and didn't fully understand."

"No…well…you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes. That's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed."

"But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you—sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously—I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could—so, I just thought I'd ask—"

Gracious. Voldemort certainly was charismatic and certainly knew what he was doing. He was certainly better than a lot of people when it came to wheedling out information from others.

Professor Slughorn looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term. A Horcrux is the world used for an object in which a persona has concealed part of their soul."

"I don't quite understand how that works, sir," said Tom. His voice was controlled, but any fool could see he was practically bursting with excitement.

"Well, you split your soul, you see. And hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, once cannot die for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form is quite unnatural. Few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable."

"How do you split your soul?" he asked.

"Well," said Professor Slughorn, "You must understand, that the soul is supposed to stay intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature."

"But how do you do it?"

"By an act of evil—the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage. He would encase the torn portion—"

"Encase it? But how do you—?"

"There is a spell, do not ask me, I do not know!" said Professor Slughorn, shaking his head. "Do I look as though I've tried it? Do I look like a killer?"

"No, sir, of course not," said Tom, quickly. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense, sir."

"No, it's quite alright, Tom. I'm not offended," said Professor Slughorn, gruffly. "It's natural to feel some curiosity about these things…wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic."

"Yes, sir, naturally," said Tom. "But what I don't understand is—just out of curiosity—I mean, would only one Horcrux be of much use? Can you only split your soul once? Would it not be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number? Wouldn't seven be better?"

"Merlin's beard, Tom, seven!" Professor Slughorn yelped. "Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case, it's bad enough to divide the soul, but to rip it into seven pieces…the very thought of such a thing's beyond horrific!"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Idle curiosity, that's all."

Professor Slughorn, if possible, looked even more uncomfortable than before, as though he sorely regretted entering this conversation. "This is, after all, purely hypothetical? All academic questioning?"

"Yes, sir," said Tom. "And you can rest easy. The subject's banned of course, so I shan't speak of this to anyone. It'll be our little secret."

I inhaled sharply when we were back in Professor Dumbledore's office.

"He succeeded in making the Horcruxes, didn't he? That's why he's survived all this time?" I asked.

"Yes, Helena," said Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh, gall," I whispered. "He could've made them out of anything and heaven alone knows how many there are!"

"On the contrary, we know exactly how many he made," said Professor Dumbledore. "Remember, he said to Horace, 'Isn't seven the most powerfully magic number?'"

"He made seven Horcruxes?" I said, horrified.

"Yes. But only a few remain." He held up an ugly gold ring with a cracked black stone. "This was Morfin's ring. It was one of the Horcruxes. I destroyed it."

"Is that what happened to your hand, sir?"

"Yes. Destroying the ring took a bit of me with it. Another Horcrux was this," he held up Riddle's diary, still punctured from the basilisk's fang. "When you brought this to me after saving Cedric Diggory from the Chamber of Secrets, I knew something was amiss. It failed to make sense how a mere memory could take possession of a young boy, cause blackouts and drain a life. Soon I realized this was a Horcrux."

"Oh my…" then I remembered something. "Back in the graveyard, Voldemort said that Cedric was a huge help in unsealing the Chamber of Secrets. I always wondered how he knew about that, and now I know. So, that diary was one of the Horcruxes all along? Why didn't you say something?"

"I was never sure until now and I wanted to be before I said anything," said Professor Dumbledore.

"What else did he use besides the ring and diary?" I asked. Then I realized it. "He used Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup, didn't he?"

"Yes, as well as his snake, Nagini."

"He used a snake? Good grief. So, there's the snake, the locket, the cup, the diary, and the ring, but what's the last one? What other relic of the Founders does he have?"

"That I do not know. Most likely something of Ravenclaw's as Gryffindor's sword, his only known relic, has remained safely locked in here for the last four years," said Professor Dumbledore.

"And that's where you've been going, sir? To find and destroy the Horcruxes?"

"Yes, and I believe I've found where Slytherin's locket is," said Professor Dumbledore. "Helena, what I'm going to ask of you is great. But will you come with me to destroy the locket?"

"Yes, sir," I said, without hesitation.

There was no need to deliberate. I had a job to do. I had to end this and soon. My decision was crucial as there was no guarantee I'd return, but what choice did I have if this war was ever to end?