Chapter 10
The vault was huge, much bigger than any other Harry had ever seen. The walls were covered with treasures and other aisles filled the room and covered with all sorts of gold. All five of them stood there, dumbfounded at the challenge that now lay ahead of them.
"So what are we looking for?" Malfoy asked.
"I'm not sure," Harry said as he and Ron emerged from the invisibility cloak. "It could be anything. Look for something with either Hufflepuff's or Ravenclaw's crest on it." Malfoy nodded. "Lets split up," Harry said, "Search everywhere but avoid touching anything. There could be curses." They all nodded and split up throughout the large vault. Hermione, or Bellatrix stuck close to Ron while Ginny, or Narcissa stuck close to Harry and Malfoy wondered off alone. "Stay within earshot," Harry said suddenly, "In case something happens."
"What could happen?" Ginny hissed at him.
"I don't know," Harry said, "I just want to be sure." Ginny didn't say anything and followed Harry through the aisles of treasure. After a while, Harry began to get frustrated. "I don't even know what we're looking for," he said to Ginny, "I have no idea what we're doing here. It could be anything!"
"Harry calm down," Ginny said, "We've barely looked for anything yet. Give it a little more time."
"We don't have time," he yelled, "You and Hermione are going to turn back to yourselves in less than a half an hour and we still have to compensate for time to get out of here."
"We can just apparate out if necessary," Ginny said, "Seriously Harry. We'll find something." Harry didn't believe her and turned away, continuing down the aisle.
"I think I found something," Malfoy shouted from a few aisles over. "Get over here quick!" Harry ran as fast as he could through the aisles to meet Malfoy a few aisles over. He was standing near a large pedestal that held a golden cup with Hufflepuff's crest engraved on the side.
'That's got to be it," Harry said excitedly. "Dumbledore showed me a memory of an old woman who Voldemort visited and she was showing him this cup. That woman was dead less than a week later."
"Sounds right to me," Ron said, "Lets take it." Ron reached out but Malfoy pushed his hands down.
"Careful," Malfoy said, "Like Harry said, it could be cursed."
"How can we tell?" Ron asked.
"I don't think there is a way to tell," Hermione said.
"We'll just have to touch it and see," Harry said and reached out to pick it up and dropped it instantly, yelling in pain. Ginny gasped at the sight of his hand, which was blistered and burnt.
"You don't have any magic gloves are anything in that bag of yours," Ron asked.
"I have regular dragon hide gloves," she said and pulled out five pairs, "We're just going to have to toss it back and forth if it burns through the gloves."
"Or we could destroy it now," Ginny said, "You still have the basilisk fang right?" Hermione reached into her bag and pulled it out and handed it to Harry.
"Okay," Harry said, "You guys better stand back a little. I don't know what's going to happen when this thing breaks open." The other four backed up away from the cup as Harry held the fang above his head. He plunged it down into the cup and it broke in half. A large amount of smoke burst out, throwing all five back. Harry felt as if he was being suffocated as he and the others coughed and gagged on the air.
"What is this stuff?" Ron managed to get out before coughing more.
"I don't know," Hermione said, "How do we make it go away?"
"Break the horcrux more Harry," Ginny said, "Maybe it's not broken enough and will stop once its completely destroyed. Harry struggled to get up and make his way to the cup. He smashed the two pieces into more tiny pieces and after a few more suffocating seconds, the smoke cleared and to Harry's horror, instead of Bellatrix and Narcissa, Ginny and Hermione stood before him.
"Oh no," Malfoy said when he also realized this, "How are we going to get out of here?"
"Can we not apparate inside the vaults?" Harry asked.
"I think it sets off security alerts," Hermione said.
"Okay," Harry said as he picked up the pieces of the horcrux and put them in his pocket, "I think we have to risk it. We can't just go walk out the front door and past that goblin! Four of us aren't going to fit under the invisibility cloak either."
"Okay where are we going?" Ron asked.
"The Black Manor," Harry said, "If other things happen, that's where we'll try to meet." The four of them nodded and linked hands and spun on the spot.
A loud piercing sound rang through the vault, faltering all them and making them fall. "Oh no," Malfoy said as he jumped up. "Security's been triggered! They're going to be sending something and the doors are going to be locked! We're trapped!" Ron and Hermione ran to the vault doors and Malfoy was right, they were now bolted shut.
Suddenly there was a loud noise from the ceiling and dragon came crashing through the ceiling. The five of them jumped out the way and attempted to hide.
"Oh my god, what are we going to do?" Ginny screamed and the others scrambled over to them.
"I don't know I don't know," Harry yelled, "We need to get out of here somehow." The dragon roared and stamped around the vault, sending debris everywhere.
"Lets ride the dragon out," Malfoy said.
"Are you serious?" Ron asked, "How are we even going to do that?"
"You just jump on and ride it out," Malfoy answered and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"And how are we supposed to control where it goes and when?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Malfoy yelled, "Do you have a better idea?" No one said anything and Harry jumped up.
"Lets do it," he said and started running toward the dragon with the other four close behind him. Running at the dragon was more difficult than he had thought. They dodged his fire breath and his flailing arms and tail which were sending many items of Bellatrix's golden treasures at them as well. Harry was first to reach him and jumped onto his back. He pulled Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy up after him. "Okay what now?" Harry screamed when the others lined up behind him.
"I don't know," Ginny yelled, "kick him!" Harry nudged the dragon's sides with his legs and the dragon took off into the air. "I can't believe that worked," Ginny yelled and Harry laughed. The dragon crashed through the ceiling of the bank and took off over London.
"What now?" Ron yelled from behind them.
"Apparate to the black manor," Harry yelled. A few moments later, he met the other four on the step leading to the black manor. Harry opened the door quickly and the others filed in. Hermione immediately checked the house for others and then set the protective spells up.
"Alright," Ron said more excitedly than before, "One horcrux down, three to go!"
"Okay," Harry said, "Where are we going to look for the next one?"
"Harry calm down," Hermione said, "We need to rest and recuperate. I need to get more supplies and catch up on some reading."
"Fine," Harry said, "I'll talk to the others about it."
"Harry," Ginny said, "Just go to sleep for awhile. We'll all think better if we can get some sleep."
"Fine," Harry said and wondered upstairs to Sirius's bedroom. He rummaged through the papers in his room before settling into the bed. He could feel the pieces of the horcrux in his pocket. A he rolled over and tried to sleep all he could think of was the fact that he had no clue where the other three horcruxes were.