Chapter IX – The last Horcrux
At nine, Bill, Ron, and Harry were in the Shrieking Shack; at ten, they came from the tunnel's mouth, froze the Whomping Willow, and crawled out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Harry said, "Bill, remember what we discussed. If we run into anyone, let me or Ron take them out, silently with a blade. Lights and sounds from a spell will just alert anyone else around and then we might as well forget our objective.
In fifteen minutes, still under disillusionment spells, they were in greenhouse number 3 near the door into the castle. Harry said, "Bill, check the door for spells and alarms; if it's safe, open it."
As Bill moved toward the door, it opened from the inside. Alecto Carrow came through talking to herself. She said, "Greasy git Snape, thinks he's the bloody Dark Lord, giving orders to everyone. Check the bleeding greenhouse for intruders he says; like he expects the bloomin Venomous Tentacula is going to attack the castle."
The three men froze in place knowing if they moved, she might see ripples in their disillusionment charms. Unfortunately, Alecto continued forward walking rapidly, and before Ron could move out of her path, she bumped right into him. Ron grunted and stumbled back; Alecto yelled, "What the bloody hell" and pulled her wand.
Before she could do anything else, Harry stepped forward and pierced her heart with his knife. After nearly a year of training with swords and knives, it was the first time he used one in actual combat; the first time he killed with a blade.
He was amazed that there was no blood at first; then, because her heart had already stopped, only a small amount of blood came from her chest when he pulled his knife out. It took him a few seconds before his brain cleared, and he said, "Bill, check the door and see if there is an alarm charm set to go off if we enter.
Ron, we don't want them finding her body and know we're here. I'll levitate that pile of dragon dung fertilizer and you hide her body under it. I remember Professor Sprout saying dragon dung is so acidic it will eat away the normal limestone floor, so the greenhouses have to have granite floors. She said it will dissolve a body in less than 48 hours, bones and all; unless Sprout digs into that pile in the next 2 days, they'll never know what happened to Alecto."
As he was moving the body, Ron asked, "You know who she is? You called her Alecto."
Harry said, "Alecto Carrow, Death Eater; she was one of them with Snape when he killed Dumbledore."
Bill called, "Harry, the door alarm is frozen, she must have done it before she came out. It's safe for us to go in."
Harry did a silent Scourgify to clean up the few spots of blood left on the floor before entering the castle proper. The door opened to a small room next to the great hall. They quietly went through the dining hall to the doors leading to the entrance hall on the first floor; Harry who was in front, stopped dead. Near the enormous front doors stood three men in their mid to late twenties.
Harry put his arms out to stop Ron and Bill; then pushed them back into the dining hall. He whispered, "Three guards; between them and Alecto roaming about, we must be expected. We'll have to take them out before they can sound an alarm. Bill, do you feel adequate with a knife or a sword?"
Bill whispered, "In Egypt, I got some practice with swords; I can take one of them, that is if we can get close enough without them seeing or hearing us."
Harry handed Bill his sword and said, "Okay, here's what we do."
Harry snuck across the entrance hall and up a flight of stairs. Then, out of sight of the men, he ended his disillusionment charm and started down the steps. It was fairly gloomy in the room with light from only a few torches; Harry was hoping the men couldn't see him well enough to recognize him. When the men heard his footsteps and turned, Harry said aloud, "Hey guys, are you headed down to the kitchen for a snack, revising for exams always makes me hungry."
Taking him for a student, one of the men asked, "What are you doing out of your dorm; no students are to be in the halls after eight."
Harry continued down the steps toward the men saying, "I told you, I was revising for exams and got hungry. Usually there's nobody in the halls this late and kids go down to the kitchen all the time."
Harry got about ten feet from the nearest man when Bill and Ron, still under their disillusionment charms, snuck in from behind and killed the two men farthest back. One of the men grunted as Bill's sword struck him, and the man talking to Harry turned to see what the noise was.
In less than a second, Harry leaped forward and ran his knife into the man's back.
Harry whispered, "Just to the left of the doors there's a closet that Filch uses for mops to clean up when it's raining; move the bodies in there and I'll clean up the blood. Hurry, this is getting too risky with all these guards around; we have to get into the room of requirement where they can't get to us."
With the blood cleaned up and the bodies hidden, Harry put a disillusionment charm back on and they headed up to the third floor. None of the staircases were moving at this time of night so they were able to go up quickly and Harry led them into a hidden shortcut behind a tapestry. That took them directly up to the sixth floor on the Ravenclaw tower side of the castle.
If they went up the nearest flight of steps they would be at the Ravenclaw entrance; but they needed to go out into the open hall again and move to the stairs on Gryffindor tower side of the castle close to the where the room of requirement was located.
Harry was about to push the tapestry aside and step out into the hall when he heard a voice say, "What's up Yaxley, I'm sitting at home one minute and the next, Lucius is ordering me to flue to Hogwarts.
For Merlin's sake, can't Snape and the Carrows handle a bunch of kids by themselves; there have been rumors all year about disruptions, messages left on the walls, and kids talking back in class."
Another voice answered, "Yeah Selwyn, I heard the rumors too. You should know the Carrows are both idiots; they can't handle wiping their own backsides without help.
Snape has been complaining all year that their brutality is just making the kids more stubborn. Punishing troublemakers is one thing; but most of the kids aren't stupid. When the Carrows keep cruciating innocent kids at random, the kids eventually figure what's the use of obeying if I'm getting punished anyway. I might as well fight back."
But what the Carrows do is the Dark Lords business; when Lucius flued me, he told me Snape asked for help tonight because about an hour ago his alarm charms showed three intruders crossed the boundary onto the grounds. Lucius said besides me, he would send you, and those three young blokes that got the mark last month; what's their names?"
Selwyn said, "Harrison is the one with black hair, the real tall one is Smithson, but I can't remember the third bloke, it's one of those foreigner names."
Yaxley said, "Something ending in 'vitch' wasn't it? He said he was from Poland or somewhere in East Europe."
They had stopped walking and Harry could tell they were within a few feet, just on the other side of the tapestry concealing the exit from the secret passage.
Selwyn said, "Yeah, its Russian; Brenovitch, Bronovitch, …"
Yaxley said, "It's Brenzovitch, Ivan Brenzovitch."
Selwyn asked, "Did they ever get here; I haven't seen them."
Yaxley answered, "Don't know, Snape just told me to watch the upper floors near Ravenclaw tower. When I saw you arrive, I figured, if there are three intruders, it was best to pair up to even the odds. Let's go back up to the seventh floor and look around there."
Harry peeked out the edge of the tapestry figuring in the dark hall, a tiny motion at the edge of the tapestry would go unnoticed. He was right, he saw the back of one of the Death Eaters only three feet from him; the other man had turned to move down the hall and Harry made a quick decision.
He stepped out behind the nearest man, put his left hand over the man's mouth, and with the knife in his right hand, slit the man's throat. There was no noise and Harry was able to move three steps toward the second Death Eater before the body fell.
At the sound of the falling body, the second Death Eater turned with wand in hand, but Harry had his saber ready and ran him through with just the slightest gasp escaping the man's lips. They moved the bodies into the secret passage and a silent charm cleaned up the blood on the floor.
When they reached the spot on the seventh floor where the room of requirement is located, Harry took out his coin and sent a message to Luna, "come out".
Seconds later the door opened and Luna looked out. She said, "Harry, are you here?"
Harry forgot they were still disillusioned and Luna couldn't see them. He tapped his head to stop the charm and as he reappeared he whispered, "Sorry Luna, we have to be quiet. Come out here while I call the version of the room we need.
Ron and Bill also broke the charms on themselves and as they appeared, Luna said, "Hello Ronald, hello William, I didn't know you were coming with Harry."
Bill whispered, "Quiet Luna, there could be Death Eaters around looking for us."
Luna said, "Yes, I know. When I tried sneaking out from Ravenclaw tower, I ran straight into Amycus Carrow on the steps. I think he was trying to get into the Ravenclaw common room but couldn't answer the knocker's riddle. The Carrows aren't very smart."
Bill asked, "What happened; you didn't let him go so he could warn Snape?"
Luna answered, "I think I surprised him; because he was very slow pulling his wand. By the time he cast a spell at me, I was able to open an alternate dimension and his spell just disappeared into it.
The same thing happened to his next spell and he started cursing at me; then he ran at me and disappeared into the open dimension. He wasn't a nice person and I thought the school would be better off if I just left him there, so I closed it and came here like Ginny asked me to do."
Bill asked Harry, "What does that mean if he was left in a closed dimension?"
Harry said, "James told us it means Amycus is dead. Remember, Ginny did it to two of those Death Eaters that attacked us in Diagon Alley two summers ago.
You know that feeling of being squeezed when you Apparate; well Apparating opens an alternate dimension and you go through to another spot. You only stay in that dimension a few seconds so it doesn't have time to collapse completely and you don't get squeezed to death.
If a person stays in a closed dimension too long, it keeps squeezing you smaller and smaller until it kills you. That's why there's a limit to how far you can Apparate; if you try and go too far, you're in the alternate dimension too long and you get squeezed to death.
The more powerful you are, the wider you can open a dimension and the farther you can go before it collapses. Hermione could explain it better than I can; she said the dimension squeezing you to death is called spaghettification.
Harry walked back and forth three times asking the room, "Show us the room of hidden things and make it so no one that wants to harm us can get in."
The door appeared and Harry opened it. He looked in with his mouth hanging open. The room was larger than the Quidditch Pitch with twenty-foot high piles of discarded and broken objects. Aisles snaked through the piles of junk, twisting and turning through the refuse.
Harry stepped in and the others followed. Ron closed the door; now that they were safe. Harry turned to Luna and said, "Luna, just like at Camelot and Stonehenge, we need you to look for a Horcrux."
She said, "You should have brought Ginny and your cousin James; this would have gone a lot faster."
Harry answered her, "Luna, you know that Ginny is pregnant; she could have the baby at any time. We didn't know how dangerous this would be and she's getting so big, she's having trouble moving around; we couldn't chance bringing her here.
We tried to reach James, but he doesn't answer our calls; we don't know if he's even alive."
Luna got more dreamy looking than normal and seemed to be gazing off into the distance. She said, "James is alive, I can feel him; he is safe, but I can' tell where he is.
I thought Ginny put the baby in suspended animation until the war is over and you didn't know about it. Did she decide to tell you and have the baby now?"
Harry said, "It's a long story Luna. Right now we need you to start searching for the Horcrux. When we find it, you'll come out with us and Ginny can tell you all about it."
Luna answered, "Okay, I'll search, but I don't want to leave school after we find it; I need to finish out the year."
Luna began walking slowly through the aisles stopping every few feet going over the pile of junk on each side of her. Harry said, "Ron, Bill, somehow mark the aisles she's covered; with them twisting around between piles, we don't want to waste time having her go over the same places twice."
To Luna, he said, "Luna, take your time; like James explained last time, we don't want you to miss something because you hurried."
When Voldemort learned there were intruders at Hogwarts, he expected his followers to carry out his plan and have the intruders captured and waiting for him, that or dead. So, when Voldemort arrived just after midnight and learned that, not only weren't the intruders in custody, but five of his Death Eaters were dead and two others missing, he was not happy.
And when Lord Voldemort wasn't happy, none of his followers were happy; in this case, particularly Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy were unhappy. Both were on the floor after being hit with the Cruciatus curse.
"Severus," Voldemort said, "explain why my orders to capture the intruders were not carried out."
Snape pulled himself up from the floor still shaking; but he knew if he didn't answer immediately, Voldemort would curse him again. He forced himself to stand still and said, "My Lord, I followed your instructions exactly.
Just after nine, when the alarm charm showed three intruders crossing the boundary I immediately flue called Lucius and informed him. Then I ordered Alecto to guard the door from the greenhouses and I ordered Amycus to Ravenclaw tower as your intruder defense plan called for."
Voldemort asked, "And where are the Carrows now?"
Snape said, "I don't know my Lord, they left here and never reported back; nobody has seen them since."
Voldemort asked, "Did you search for them?"
Snape said, "Not personally my Lord, your orders in case of intruders were for me to remain in this office so I would be available to receive further orders from you and so I could pass those orders on to the Carrows and the five extra guards Lucius sent.
When the Carrows and the others did not report back after two hours, I again flue called Lucius and told him to send additional guards. Then I sent a message to Slytherin dorms for Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, and Pansy Parkinson.
I ordered the four students to stay together and search the area around the greenhouses for Alecto, and also to go to Ravenclaw tower to find Amycus. I told them of the others guards, and said they were to bring a report from the guards back to me within half an hour. I emphasized that their duty was to bring back the reports and they should avoid a fight if they met the intruders.
When they returned and reported they couldn't find any of our people, I flue called Lucius again and told him to notify you. He came through with six more guards that I ordered to search all the halls, rooms, and closets to find the missing people. It was these new guards that found the other five dead.
We just got their report when you arrived."
Voldemort turned to Malfoy and said, "You only sent five guards after Severus informed you there were three intruders?
Crucio."
This time, Voldemort held the curse on Malfoy for nearly a minute. As he released Malfoy, he turned back to Snape and asked, "What of the intruders?"
Snape responded, "There has been no direct sighting of the intruders my Lord; but it seems they went to Ravenclaw tower and met a student; the Lovegood girl is missing and we assume she joined the intruders. Perhaps that is why they came; to get her out of the school."
Voldemort asked, "How do you know they went to Ravenclaw tower? What is special about this girl that someone would risk coming to get her?"
Malfoy pulled himself up off the floor and answered, "My Lord, Yaxley and Selwyn's bodies were found in a passage near the stairs to the entrance of Ravenclaw dorms. The Lovegood girl is the daughter of the editor of the Quibbler. He had been publishing pro Potter editorials and a few months ago, I suggested we take her as a hostage to force him to stop."
Voldemort said, "Yes, I remember; but Bella suggested it would be more effective to simply destroy his shop and kill him. That was what I decided."
Malfoy said, "The shop was destroyed my Lord; but Lovegood's body was never found by our people. I have heard reports that he was only injured and was taken by the Order of the Phoenix for treatment.
Perhaps he is recovering and the order wants his daughter taken to safety before he begins printing his rag again. In addition, she is a friend of Potter and fought with him at the Hall of Prophecies. "
Voldemort considered this; it made sense. Maybe the intruders weren't after and didn't know of the Horcrux hidden in the castle. In fact, he was sure nobody but he knew about the Room of Hidden Things; only elves ever went in there.
Voldemort asked, "Severus, is there any way they could have already left the grounds with the girl?"
Snape said, "No my Lord, the alarms would have sounded again if they crossed the boundaries; they must be hiding somewhere in the castle or on the grounds."
Voldemort said, "I am returning to Malfoy Manor; Lucius, you will bring ten more people and search the castle and grounds for the intruders."
In the room of requirement, as Luna started her search, Harry was constantly checking the Marauders' Map. When they first got into the room, it showed Snape as their only enemy, he was sitting in the Headmaster's office. Then the map showed Draco, Goyle, Crabbe, and Parkinson leave Slytherin dorms and joining Snape in the office for a few minutes
The next time Harry checked, the four Slytherins were walking through the building; half an hour later, they were back with Snape. Harry guessed Snape had them searching for the missing Death eaters.
Suddenly the map showed Lucius Malfoy and six others with Snape; they must have come in through the flue network. The six new Death Eaters left Snape's office and started patrolling the castle.
Harry watched the map as they went into the mop closet near the main doors; he knew they found the three bodies left there.
One went back to Snape's office, obviously to report the bodies. The others continued to search and Harry hoped they wouldn't know about and search the secret passage behind the tapestry; but they did and another one hurried back to Snape to report.
Then on the map, the name Tom Riddle appeared inside Snape's office. Harry was sure Voldemort came because he thought Harry was after his Horcrux; and that made Harry worry. Even though he knew Voldemort couldn't get in the room of requirement; Harry figured Voldemort would just wait outside the room until they were forced to come out for food.
To Harry's surprise, by the time he stopped Luna so she could rest, Voldemort left the castle. Though ten more Death Eaters arrived, they didn't come up to the seventh floor near the room of requirement; instead, the map showed them searching the castle and grounds. It seems they didn't know where the intruders were.
It was nearly three in the morning, and Harry saw Luna was tired. He told her, "Luna, stop and get some sleep, you can't do a proper search if you're exhausted."
She answered, "I have class in a few hours; I'll go back to my dorm and return here tomorrow night."
Harry said, "No Luna, you can't leave the room. We had to kill some guards on the way in; their bodies were found and there are Death Eaters searching for us.
Also, they must know you're missing by now and it won't be hard for Snape to figure you are with us. If you leave this room, Snape will question you about where we are and what we're after, probably with Veritas serum or maybe by torturing you.
That's also why you can't stay in school after we find the Horcrux; you have to leave with us or they'll kill you.
Bill and Ron have conjured some cots for us, the room will provide a loo, and we brought enough food for nearly a week. We all have to stay here until we find the Horcrux."
Luna said, "I suppose you're right; James always said we couldn't let Voldemort learn that we were destroying his Horcruxes."
They each picked a cot, and Harry finally drifted off into a restless sleep. Bill took the first watch for four hours while Luna, Ron, and Harry slept.
Ron took over the watch from Bill at seven; minutes later, everyone woke to Snape's voice sounding throughout the entire castle, "All students will report to the great hall immediately."
Harry checked the map; it showed the Death Eaters were still roaming about the castle and grounds searching.
In the great hall, the students were silent under Snape's glare from the head table. Finally he said, "Last night, three intruders entered the castle, and are still hiding somewhere in the castle or on the grounds.
Five guards were murdered and both Professors Carrow are missing. In addition, Miss Lovegood of Ravenclaw house is also missing.
If any student has knowledge of any of these events or people, you will come forward now and tell me what you know."
Nobody moved, and Snape continued, "All classes are cancelled, all students will return to their dorms. Every room, hall, and closet in every dorm will be searched; if I discover someone had knowledge and did not inform me, you will be treated as a traitor and be sent to Azkaban.
Return now to your dorms."
As the student moved they were silent until they were far enough from the great hall that Snape couldn't hear them; then they all began to discuss the news.
The Gryffindors reached the Fat Lady and, after someone gave the password, they all went in, except for one. Neville Longbottom headed to the room of requirement. As soon as he heard intruders were in the castle, Luna was missing, and they couldn't be found, he knew it had to be Harry, Ron, and Hermione; and they had to be in the room of requirement.
When he reached the spot in the hall, he saw the door already there, so he turned the knob and went in to find himself facing Ron and Bill Weasley with their wands pointed at him.
Neville yelled, "Don't, it's me; I came to help if I can."
Ron said, "Bloody hell Neville, you almost got yourself killed. How did you get in? Harry sealed the door."
By then, Harry and Luna had come over to see what all the noise was about. When he saw Harry, Neville said, "Hi Harry, I knew you would come eventually; where are Ginny and Hermione? What can I do to help?"
Harry repeated Ron's question, "How did you get in? I told the room not to let anyone in."
Bill asked, "What did you say exactly Harry? Word for word if you can remember."
Harry thought back and finally said, "I know now, I walked past three times thinking 'Show us the room of hidden things and make it so no one that wants to harm us can get in'.
I was thinking of Voldemort, Snape, and the other Death Eaters; Neville doesn't want to harm us, he wants to help, so the room let him in. I guess you really have to be careful when you tell the room what you need."
Harry and Luna went back to their search while Ron and Bill filled Neville in on what happened.
Luna took a lunch break at one, she had covered less than half the room by then, and she thought it would take two more days if the Horcrux happened to be in the last area she got too. Everyone was hoping it wasn't and that she would find it soon.
After eating, Luna continued with Harry guarding her; he told her he wanted her to stop again at six to rest and eat. He could see how tired she was; using her Legimency took a lot out of her and he didn't want her to miss the Horcrux because she was exhausted.
It turned out to be unnecessary, fifteen minutes after she started, Luna began to shake as she neared an old dresser. On the dresser sat a bust of witch, and on its head sat the diadem of Ravenclaw. Harry recognized it at once since it looked just like the pictures Hermione had found in several reference books.
Harry yelled to the others as he helped Luna sit on the floor; she looked as if she would pass out from being so close to the Horcrux. Neville picked up Luna in his arms and carried her back to her cot while Harry and Ron waited for Bill to examine the Horcrux.
Bill cast several spells and finally said, "I found several dark curses on it; I recommend not touching it until I have time to go over it more carefully and remove them."
Harry said, "I agree."
He levitated the diadem into a small box Ron found nearby and sealed the box. Then they went to check on Luna. She was resting; but took part in the conversation about what they needed to do next.
They didn't want to take the chance at destroying the Horcrux there; because, it took Harry and Ginny thirty seconds of their most powerful lightning bolts to destroy Hufflepuff's cup. They were afraid if Harry and Ron shot lightning bolts for that long in the room with the piles of trash all around, a stray bolt could start the trash burning. If that happened, their only escape would be out into the hall where they could face ten or more Death Eaters patrolling the castle.
They had food for three more days, and collectively decided to watch the map to see if they could learn the Death Eaters patrol pattern. Then they would plot a path out of the castle and grounds avoiding a fight if possible.
It wouldn't be easy. Since the search of the dorms finished, the Death Eaters didn't seem to be patrolling the upper floors; but a fight to get out of the castle looked to be unavoidable. There were three guards at the main doors, three more at the greenhouse door, and three roving patrols of two guards each on the grounds at all times. Shifts changed every four hours so it was unlikely the guards could be caught sleeping.
It was decided they would have to go out the second night because by then, the guards might become lax thinking the intruders must have already escaped and nothing was going to happen. Also, the darkness would help them sneak up on the guards.
At eleven that second night, they all disillusioned themselves and Harry checked the map; there were no guards on the seventh or sixth floors. They crossed over to the Ravenclaw side and entered the passage where they had left the bodies of Yaxley and Selwyn three nights ago; thankfully, the bodies were gone.
When they got down to the third floor, Harry checked the map again, there were no guards on the third floor, so they went out into the hall. Now came the tricky part, they had to go down the main stairs to get to either door and the view of main stairs was open to the guards near the main doors.
Silencing charms on their feet would help, but if anyone tripped or sneezed or made any sound, they would have no place to hide. They moved slowly down to the second floor landing, then to the first floor at the base of the stairs.
The plan they worked out was similar to what they did on the way in; Bill had Harry's sword and he, Ron, and Harry would try and sneak close enough to the three guards to take them out silently all at the same time so no alarm could be sounded.
Neville and Luna stayed at the base of the stairs. The plan called for Bill to take the guard on the left, Harry the center guard, and Ron the one to the right.
With all of them disillusioned it was hard to tell where Ron and Bill were; so Harry kept his left hand on Bill's shoulder and Ron kept his left knife hand on Harry's shoulder. They slowly and silently moved toward the three guards. The guards were spread out about ten feet apart in front of the main doors.
When they were ten feet from the doors, they had to separate to get close to their target; that meant losing contact, so once they let go of each other, each of them were to silently count to ten and all take their target at the same time.
Harry must have counted more slowly than the others, because he was still five feet from his target when he heard Ron and Bill's targets grunt as they were struck. Harry jumped at his target and hit him in the chest with his knife, but not before the man used his wand to sounded the alarm.
Harry broke his disillusionment charm and yelled, "Bill, open the door, everyone else get outside; we can lose them more easily out on the grounds.
But Bill couldn't get the door open; several basic unlocking charms wouldn't work on whatever charm Snape used to lock it. They couldn't wait to try other charms because they could hear people running toward them.
Harry said, "Everyone break your disillusionment charms; we have to be able to see each other, we can't afford to be separated now. Get back to the room of requirement and we'll have to come up with a new plan.
But they didn't get the chance, half way up the first flight of stairs they heard more footsteps above them and five Death Eaters appeared on the third floor landing. They shot several spells down the steps, but Luna, who was farthest up the stairs and closest to the Death Eaters, opened an alternate dimension that absorbed all the spells. Then she fired lightning up the stairs hitting and killing three of the five Death Eaters; the other two retreated off the landing back into the third floor hall.
Harry was frantically trying to think of an escape route; but seeing Luna act so decisively made his mind shift to remember the first time he met her. When Ginny introduced them, he had no doubt that Luna was the most ditzy girl he had ever met and that the wind would have no trouble blowing from one of her ears straight through to the other ear. Now he saw her as a formidable fighter in the same class as him, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.
Harry's mind returned to their current problem. With Death Eaters on the first and third floors, he turned off the stairs at the landing into the second floor hall and the others followed. He found himself in front of Moaning Myrtle's loo when more Death Eaters appeared at the far end of the hall. With no other place to go, he went in the girl's loo and yelled, "Everyone guard the door, keep them out and give me a minute."
He went to the sink that led to the Chamber of Secrets and told it in Parseltongue to open. After it did, he yelled, "Ron, you've been down there so go first, I'll go last, everyone else down the chute after Ron."
As soon as Ron jumped, Luna, then Neville, then Bill followed him into the large pipe. Harry fired lightning bolts out the door to delay pursuit, followed by a blasting curse that caused the stone arch above the door to start falling. He hoped that would give him time to jump in and close the entrance before the Death Eaters could follow him.
As he jumped in, Harry told the sink in Parseltongue to close and as he slid down the chute, he saw the sink begin to move back into place. He knew once Voldemort arrived he would be able to open it again; but Harry was hoping it would take some time for Snape to call Voldemort and they would have a plan ready before then.
When Harry reached bottom he found everyone waiting; he said, "Follow me."
Voldemort was sitting on his throne in the big hall at Malfoy Manor when Bellatrix entered and said, "My Lord, Snape sends word that the intruders tried to escape through the main doors. Guards stopped them but couldn't capture them.
Snape claims, like the fight in Diagon Alley, no spell our people cast could reach the intruders and they shot lightning from their fingers killing some of our guards.
He said our people chased them into a girls' loo; but when the guards followed, the intruders were gone. They could not have Apparated away or used Portkeys because the wards are still in place; but no trace of them can be found."
Voldemort took in that information then asked, "Is this loo on the second floor."
Bellatrix answered, "I believe so my Lord, that's where most of the fighting occurred."
Voldemort said, "Then Potter is with them and they are trapped. He is the only Parselmouth besides me; only he could have opened the Chamber of Secrets and there is no other exit.
Order our guards to stay in that loo until I arrive; I want twenty of our best fighters ready to go with me. This will be the end of Potter and the start of my reign over all of Great Britain."
Harry led them through the tunnels and into the chamber proper; he said, "I don't know how long we have before they send for Voldemort so he can open the chute and come after us. We have to plan some defense strategy."
Luna asked, "Can't we go out another exit before they arrive?"
Harry said, "There is no other exit Luna; at least none that I know of."
She responded, "There has to be; the Basilisk lived here for a thousand years and it had to eat something during that time. If it didn't come up into the castle, it had to be able to go out and find food somewhere."
Ron said, "It ate rats and other small animals it found down here; didn't you see all the bones?"
Luna pointed at the carcass of the snake and answered, "It's huge, there couldn't possibly be enough small animals living down here to keep it fed. Either it could get out to find food, or lots of small animals had to come down here all the time. Whichever case, there has to be an opening to the surface somewhere."
Bill said, "She's right, there's no plants down here to feed the small animals so they or the snake must have been able to go up to the surface to eat."
Harry said, "Spread out and look around for a tunnel leading up."
Bill said, "Feel at the mouth of each opening for a draft, in the Egyptian tombs that's was often the way we discovered a hidden passage."
As the others looked around, Harry ordered the mouth on Slytherin's statue to open; that was where Riddle had called the snake from so he figured if the snake lived in there, maybe the passage to food was near the snake's lair.
When the mouth had opened, Harry went in. He immediately felt a breeze and yelled, "Everyone in here."
Neville and Luna arrived together, then Ron, then Bill. Bill said, "I feel it, there is definitely a draft through here; let's move forward and see where it leads."
Harry ordered the mouth to close after they entered the tunnel; he hoped when Voldemort and his Death Eaters got to the chamber, the closed mouth might delay them by forcing them to search the many side tunnels or at least make them split their forces before pursuing.
The tunnel led to a large chamber where it appeared the Basilisk slept. At the far end another tunnel slanting upward was the source of the draft. They started up with Bill in the lead and Harry guarding their rear.
Bill estimated it was more than a kilometer walk up the fairly steep slope before he found himself at the mouth of the tunnel; by the look of the trees, they were deep in the forbidden forest. Bill held everyone inside the tunnel mouth until Harry caught up.
Harry looked around and did the point me spell he learned for the Tri-Wizard Tournament to get his bearings; he said, "I think the Acromantulas valley is that way." He pointed, then swung his arm around and added, "And the Centaurs are in that general direction."
Bill said, "Well the Acromantula nest is definitely out; do we try the Centaurs or head into unknown territory?"
Harry pointed again and said, "If I'm right, the school is that way; we don't want to go back there, so that's out too. Last time we met the Centaurs they weren't pleased with us coming into the forest; I say we take the unknown path, but be very alert on all sides."
Voldemort entered Myrtle's loo and ordered the sink to move. He said, "Ten of you will go first and be sure the area at the bottom is free of intruders; then I will follow, and ten more will come after me."
The first ten Death Eaters slide down the pipe and spread out fifty feet in all directions checking for an ambush. No enemies were around and Voldemort arrived to show the way to the chamber. The guards preceding him were constantly alert for an ambush and the guards behind him ready to defend against a rear attack.
Voldemort opened the chamber proper and the all entered. He said, "In groups of two, check every side passage for a sign of the intruders, signal back immediately if you find anything."
He stayed in the chamber brooding over the carcass of the great snake he remembered loosing on the castle in his youth. Half an hour passed and one by one, the groups of Death Eaters returned to report no sign of the intruders.
Voldemort realized his error, when he had come down here at age sixteen, though he had called the Basilisk out many times, he had never gone into the snake's lair. With the snake long dead, Potter must have thought it would be a safe place to hide, or at least a place to delay his inevitable death.
He ordered Slytherin's mouth open and told his followers. They are in there, beware of ambush and remember, you may kill any others with Potter, but don't kill Potter, he's mine."
Fifteen minutes later, a Death Eater returned and said, "Master, there is no sign of Potter or the others; but the tunnel farther back slopes upward. Our people have continued on; I was ordered back to inform you."
Voldemort was furious, an up sloping tunnel most likely led to the surface; he couldn't allow Potter to escape again. Voldemort turned his body to smoke and he soared through the tunnel as quickly as he could in the hope of still catching Potter.
With Bill guarding their rear and obliterating their footprints, Harry estimated they walked another kilometer before he heard a noise and stopped. He put his finger to his lips, everyone stopped and remained silent.
A dark haired Centaur stepped out from behind a bush; Bane said, "Harry Potter, you were told not to come back into the forest."
Harry said, "We mean no harm; we were in the castle and followed a tunnel which led us here. We didn't know the tunnel came out in the forest. We're lost, but we will leave if you tell us which direction lead off of Hogwarts grounds."
Bane answered, "We Centaurs do not want to become involved in a Wizard fight. We know why you were in the castle and who is now there seeking you. Bane pointed and continued, "You will go before your pursuers arrive. You are already past the Wizarding wards that protect the castle and can escape; you must go now, the dark one comes quickly and is almost here.
Now hurry and do not come back Harry Potter; we Centaurs will accept no more excuses from you."
They were able to Apparate out. Bill took Neville side along and Harry took Luna since they hadn't learned to Apparate on their own. Snape, following Voldemort's orders, didn't want students to learn Apparation since it might give them a way to escape from the castle.
