Chapter 9: Getting a locket in a cave filled with inferius can't be that hard, can it?

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me.

AN: Sorry about the slow updates. Life usually tends to have plans of its own. So just want to say thanks to all readers, followers, favourites and reviewers.

I am considering upping the rating to T, since battle scenes tends to have violence and possible gore.

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The cold air was cutting at his skin while his memories played back towards the first time he had come to this beach, the night of Dumbledore's death. Back when he was still a diligent Auror. He and a team had returned to the cave, he hadn't been very rapturous, but you can't just leave a horde of inferius unchecked. It certainly had not been pleasant, no, to be frank it was utterly terrifying, but it needed to be done. All he could do now, is pray it would be the last time.

"Well, this certainly is a cheerful place" Sirius said as he surveyed his surroundings, the place never seemed to change, most likely due to the difficulty to reach the beach.

"Yeah, been planning our family vacation the moment I saw it" James said as he gave the area a quick glance, before he studied the group, especially the two new additions. He had anticipated Regulus, but never did he imagine that Snape would rebel against Voldemort, he just could not grasp the situation. He did not trust him, and he sincerely doubt that he ever will.

"What are you staring at, Potter" Snape sneered at the messy haired man.

"Oh, nothing, just was wondering why someone would place a heap of seaweed on their head, then I realised it was your hair" James said the first thing that entered his mind.

"Potter, someone who has a rat's nest for hair should not give comments on hair in general" Regulus said dryly before turning to look at Harry, the time traveller. Snape had revealed his true identity before they had arrived. He had so much questions to ask Harry, to find out about the future, about the war. Looking between James and Harry, he could see the semblance clearly, but there was something about Harry that made him certain of one thing, that Harry did not have an easy life.

Two cracks signalled the arrival of the final members of the group. Harry was pleased that Fabian and Gideon could respond so quickly. He now had experienced Aurors that dealt in Dark magic, Snape who is a skilled potions master, James and Sirius, who he had learned had a very big arsenal of spells and Regulus. Truthfully Regulus was an unknown, he normally would not have chosen him for this mission, but he understood that Regulus had to do this.

"Alright, since you all here, let's get started. You all are aware who I am and where I come from, so don't ask stupid questions. The first thing that I want to make crystal clear is that we, this group is a team from this moment on and any rivalry's that hinder this mission will not only ban you from future missions, but also endanger everyone" Harry said looking directly at James, Sirius and Snape.

"The second is that you will follow my orders to the letter, I know what I am doing, so please to not question me and do not hesitate. The mission tonight has two directives, retrieve the Horcrux and destroy the inferius that infests the cave."

"Hold on, did you say inferius, as in rotting corpses controlled by evil wizards?" Fabian asked as he stared at Harry with a horror filled expression that was not out of place on the rest of the group. Harry knew that although they all knew about them, only the twins were likely to encountered them.

"Yes," He said as he started drawing a glowing blueprint of the cave in the cliff wall, "this is a rough layout of the cave. The water is touch sensitive, and disturbing it will set loose an army of inferius, I estimate around a thirty at least, so be careful not to act too hasty. Now I trust you all know how to destroy one?".

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Walking down the street, he could not help the smile that crept over his face. The Cat pendant was sold and he now had a hefty amount of galleon's snug in his pocket. He pulled out one of his cigars, and lit it with a prod of his wand, taking a deep drag, he was starting to feel excited. He felt like a wolf in an unguarded fat flock of sheep, how he had missed England. He almost felt like sending this Voldemort fellow a thank you card for keeping the Auror's well and truly busy. Yes, with the war going on, he really had a whole verity of possible targets, and what more could a hunter have asked. It felt like christmas. The excitement burned through him as he walked further down the street, he knew who his next target will be and he knew it was going to be a fun hunt. The Unknown, but to get him he would need to get the half breed kid first. There was something strange about the Unknown and half-breed, they had just appeared out of nowhere. The half-breed was Edward Remus Lupin, but there was another Remus Lupin, though he was a full werewolf, he thought at first that they could be related, but the connections did not make sense, it made even less sense with this Harry Potter, the Unknown, there are two of them, except one is a toddler. The strangeness of these two made it even more enticing.

Well tonight he is going to relax and tomorrow he is going to gather information. But for now, a bottle of fire whiskey will do nicely.

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"This is it" Harry said as he ran his hand over the concealed entrance. He had wondered how he could have missed it all those years ago. The magic. The sheer darkness of it was suffocating him, though he could not see magic as clearly, he could sense it, feel it.

It was after he started to sort through the Black's hidden library that he found a notebook studying wizards actual magic and that everyone experience magic differently. It generally fell in 5 categories. Sight, hearing, touch, scent and awareness. He fell into the awareness group, while people like Hermione fell into the touch group and others like Ron was more likely the scent group. Then there is people who possess more than one, like Luna, she had actually helped him with his research, and she turned out to be strong in all the categories. She still insisted that he has the potential be the same, but that he was blocked. It was quite shocking when it turned out most of the things Luna and her father printed had an actual base in truth to it.

"So do we knock?" Gideon said as he studied the cave wall intently.

"No, more like an arm wrestling contest" Harry said with light amusement as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at wall, the opposing force that met him was quite something. Though invisible to the naked eye, Harry felt like he was swimming up a strong current, pushing his magic against the force, Harry inches it back until it collided with the wall, making an arch glow brightly for a few seconds before disappearing again.

"What is the payment?" Snapes voice echoed in the cave loudly, making everyone look at him.

"What payment are you talking about?" James asked in confusion.

"Cavern doors that a sealed like this, tend to ask a price for admittance, just like some of the tombs in Egypt, though there are ways around it, but if the cost is reasonable than it is best to just pay it" Gideon said as he studied the wall, he had enough experience with such walls when he and Fabian where studying under the curse-breakers. Still a bunch of nutters, if you asked him.

"Oh, so what's the price?" James asked looking at Harry, who was pulling up his shirt's sleeve of his left arm. He was surprised when he saw a large runic circle tattooed on his arm, he recognised some of the runes from one of Remus's book, but he didn't know what the purpose was. Wondering how he could ask Harry about them, the trail of thought ended swiftly when Harry pointed him wand at his exposed arm and with a slash, sliced a big gash in the exposed flesh.

"What the bloody hell are you doing!" James yelled as Harry pressed his fingers to the wound and then spread it over the wall.

"Just paying the toll" Harry said and with a quick spell healed the cut. James was angry, Harry seemed so careless with his life and health. Biting back the anger he watched the arch glow brightly again and the rock within disappear, leaving the entrance to the darkness beyond.

A chill settled in his stomach as Harry entered the cave, the groups lit wands being the only warmth in such a forsaken place. His eyes focused on the green glow in the centre of the lake, the resting place of the Horcrux. His eyes drifted to the watery darkness that held the horrifying inferius. Of all dark creatures, even dementors, inferius was the one he would rank as the darkest, and not because of the inferius, but more about the act of making them. Each and every one of the inferius, was a person once, someone who had a life, a family. It had disgusted him that Riddle had not only tormented his victims in life, but defiled their bodies in death.

"Be careful not to touch the water, and use only the basic spells until I give the order. James and Fabian, stay here, Sirius, Regulus and Gideon, follow me until we reach the boat, Snape, stick by me" Harry said before turning away from the group and walking deeper into the cave, James and Fabian stood ready, as they watched the others move away from them. The walk towards the boat was slow and unnerving, Harry focused on the cave wall, trying to sense where the boat is located, the cave reeked of Dark Magic, it covered the cave like a snow. He knew he was getting close. Where is it? He concentrated, opened his senses.

"Got you, you little bugger" Harry said as his hand closed around the chain, a relieved smile on his face. He lifted the chain and with a quick spell the chain pulled itself out, the ghostly boat emerging from the depth of the lake.

"The boat is charmed to only carry a certain amount of magical energy, Riddle is an ego maniac so the power level is high" Harry said as he studied the boat intently.

"Why does that have to do with his ego, doesn't it just shows him to have a high magic level?" Gideon asked curiously.

"There is classes of magic users, Lowest ranks E, which is usually small kids and squibs, to A, which is your Exceedingly powerful magic users. Then you get an S class which is normally reserved for people like Dumbledore. Riddle on the other hand, thinks he falls in the S class, but I estimate him to be a really powerful A class, this gives us an advantage. I am an B class wizard and Snape on the other hand is a A class wizard and together our magic will be just high enough to slip into the S class, meaning all in all, Safe passage across the lake. Are you getting this?"

"Yeah, makes sense, though I would have though you to be an A class?" Sirius asked as he studied Harry with a frown.

"I suppose it probably would have been, but my core is damaged, so I have to repress my magic in order to keep accidental magic from happening" Harry said absent-minded as he carefully slipped into the boat, followed only by Snape a few minutes later. As the boat started to pull away, Harry looked back at the three on the bank, their wands ready and all of them watching silently.

"How is it possible for a magical core to get damaged?" Snape asked making Harry glance at the man, though he was watching the water's surface instead.

"Riddle used a very Dark curse on me, it did more damage than anyone realised, when he used the same spell a second time on me, the damage became quite extensive, so that my magic would leak when I feel any emotional up lift, not just when I get angry. Not only is it a major inconvenience, but also very dangerous to any surrounding person."

The boat bumped slightly on the small islands bank and the two wizards climbed out of the boat cautious not to touch the water. They slowly walked to the basin that stood on the pedestal the green glow glaring at them ominously.

"Alright, Mr. Potion expert, can you identify this potion?" Harry asked, but he could already see Snape Studying the potion intently.

"Can you get a sample?" Snape asked still staring at the emerald liquid.

"I think so, but there is a barrier spell, just over the liquid, so getting it will be a little unorthodox" Harry said as he pulled out his moleskin poach, after a quick summoning spell, he pulled out a old fashioned syringe.

"What the hell is that?"

"A syringe. Old one made mostly of brass and glass, which should be able to penetrate the barrier" Harry said as he slipped the needle effortlessly into the potion, he quickly sucked the potion in and passed it over to Snape, who was already setting up a small potions kit.

Snape immediately started working while Harry kept a close eye on the lake, thankful that it still have its glass like appearance.

"I have personally never made this potion before and have only come across it ones in my research, but I am certain that this is the 'Drink of Despair', created by none other that Herpo the foul. Contains traces of Basilisk venom, Dementor skin and unicorn blood. I pity the fool who actually drinks this concoction, the basilisk venom would usually kill them, but the unicorn blood prevents it. Though that in itself is nothing to be happy about since that in combination with the dementor skin might lead to serious dementia. Most cases of people who actually drink this commit suicide within days".

"What about house-elves, would they react the same as humans?" Harry asked as he watched Snape store the rest of the liquid an a crystal vile.

"Don't be ridiculous, house elves are immune to most poisons and are vastly different from humans, the potion would likely cause lingering pain, depression and maybe mild delirium" Snape sneered with irritation to such a degree that Harry felt like he was back in the potions classroom again.

"Alright, um, thanks, so let's get the locket, shall we?" Harry said awkwardly and started to dig into his moleskin pouch again, this time pulling out a long cord with a fish hook on the end.

"It can't be that easy" Snape said as he watch Harry lower the cord with hook into the basin, it slipping easily through the barrier and potion.

"Actually, it was a pain in the arse to get this made of Iron, especially since the goblins who made it had to do it without a shred of magic. Though they were more happy about the huge amount of galleons I paid for the damn stuff than they were annoyed about the effort it took" Harry grumbled as he carefully scraped the hook on the bottom so he can catch the locket, when he felt the resistance on the cord he slowly pulled it out.

"I am well aware that Iron is magic resistant, but this method feels just too simple, too easy, too..."

"Muggle?" Harry finished the sentence with a smile on his face and he pulled the locket through the potion.

"Well, yes, I just imagine this to be more challenging. This is the Dark Lord, after all" Snape said, his eyes focused on the chain of the locket that emerged from the potions green surface.

"I understand, but ask yourself one thing, how many wizards or witched would result to a method that is completely without the use of magic?" Harry said as he watched for any movements from the water as he extracted the locket.

"I see your point and with the Dark Lord's opinion on muggles and muggle-borns, he would never think one would reach the cave in the first place".

"Exactly" Harry said and with a plop sound pulled the locket free of the basin. Harry instantly knew that it was indeed the Horcrux, he could feel it reach within him and started to spread the poison within him. He took a deep breath and rammed the darkness out of him and surrounded the locket with its magic, so that it would know his intention to destroy the foul thing. Harry then felt dread settle in his stomach as the Horcrux let out an ear splitting screech, for a moment all was dead silent, and then the water started to ripple.

"Prepare yourself, things are going to get a lot less easy."

TBC