Chapter 10 Hogwarts Heist

Getting onto the grounds was not as hard as Harry had expected. Dumbledore either was lax on security, or he actually did want visitors. The entrance to the passage to the Shrieking Shack was an easy point of entry, provided one already knew where it was. The willow didn't give Harry much grief. He knew the knot to press to calm it. The easy part was over. Harry stared up at the castle, it's lights winking merrily in the night sky. It made Harry stop and smile in spite of himself. He finally felt the familiar feeling of home.

Hearing a sound, Harry cursed under his breath. He had already lingered in the open for too long. He cast a mediocre disillusionment spell and made his way to the lake. The marauders were meticulous with their map. They put all of the secret passages that they knew of into it, save one. They didn't want their fun to stop should their map be discovered. Unfortunately the entrance was under water. His father had told him about it on the other side, much to his mother's chagrin.

The map would have been a great help. Like the cloak, he felt it was almost essential to navigate the school unseen. As it stood, he had a mediocre grasp of the disillusionment spell that would fail close examination, and no idea where people would be and when. For this reason, he had to act on the day of the sorting ceremony when everyone was at the feast. He liked his chances getting from the dungeons to the seventh floor while they were all occupied, and the room of requirement was nearby if he got into a tough spot.

Thankfully, it was a new moon out, and the first years had just entered the boathouse across the lake. Harry had become much more proficient in the bubble head charm, so gillyweed wouldn't be necessary this time. He cast it on himself and slowly eased into the water. He swam down to a point where he felt safe lighting his wand. He hoped he was far enough down that no one would be able to see it on the surface.

"Lumos" he said.

Harry scrambled away in surprise as he saw in front of him an eye the size of a plate in front of him. It seemed interested in him, but it seemed to decided he wasn't a threat. The giant squid used it's powerful tentacles to shoot out into the water, engulfing Harry in it's wake. Harry was tossed about, and he saw what he was looking for. There was a cave headed down in the dark. He swam in. His ears hurt from the change of depth. It made him nervous to swim under water with a rock ceiling above him. Stalactites and stalagmites covered both ceiling and floor like an open maw. He understood why his mother didn't like this passage, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He swam a good distance more and came to a point where he could resurface. He emerged slowly. This was much more difficult without the map, not that he had ever seen this room on it. He dried himself off and found just walls. He tapped the wall in just the place his father had suggested. The bricks moved back in unison and slid over. He walked into one of the corridors in the dungeon. It seemed to be fate that it was just outside Snape's office. If things went down the way he thought, he would have to find another exit. The passage vanished behind him. He moved slowly. His disillusionment charm would only work if he was slow. It took him over half an hour to make it to the seventh floor. He had foolishly chosen to take a look at the great hall. He longed to be with them.

He made it to the gargoyle that sat in front of Dumbledore's office. He named every sweet he could think of, both wizard and muggle. He didn't have time for this. How long had he been here. As if on cue, down the hall zoomed the bane of every student at Hogwarts, Peeves.

"Whose Lurking?" He said with a mad glee.

Harry was still and silent. Peeves seemed to know there was someone in Harry's general area, because he began to pelt it with erasers. One hit Harry on the nose. Peeve's noticed this.

"Who is it, my Pretty? A student skipping the feast, a Voldy soldier? Oooooh, should tell Filch, I should." Peeves said.

Harry was panicking. This was not how it was suppose to go. He remembered a spell that Professor Lupin had used.

"Waddiwasi." Harry said.

The erasers all shoved themselves up Peeves' nose. He crashed down the hall and out of sight cursing all the way. Harry had bought time, but nothing more. He would tell the world when he got those out of his nose. Harry had to hurry. He named off a few more sweets, and kicked the gargoyle in frustration. He hopped on one foot silently cursing. Suddenly he stopped, turned and said. "The Chosen One."

It leaped out of the way. Harry had read the term in the Daily Prophet. It was supposedly his destiny, and the article had "proven" why that wasn't the case.

Harry bounded up the staircase before pausing at the door. It was open. He had forgotten the portraits. He would have to move slowly. Fawkes seemed to be out. That was going to make this easier. Harry looked at the various instruments along the walls. He saw a bookshelf on the far wall. He set to work. He found some promising titles and replaced them with some books he had stolen from a muggle shop. Harry wasn't without a sense of humor after all. He had the suspicion Dumbledore would even like them, once he got over the fact someone had broken into his office to steal books about dark magic.

Harry found the books he needed and set about to look for his cloak and the map. It would make getting out of here much simpler. He checked a few chests, but he found nothing useful. He even found one full of muggle magazines. He looked up at the sword of Gryfindor. It filled him with pride for a moment that it was there because of him. He heard a noise beyond the snoring of the portraits and decided that he had what was necessary. He needed to leave. The feast was likely out. He left to find an empty corridor. He suspected it wouldn't last. He was near Gryfindor tower.

He laughed to himself to think about what the reaction would be if he just walked in like nothing was wrong, just to mess with them. He missed Ron and Hermione more than they probably would have realized. But he couldn't do it yet. He wandered forward only to be confronted by a hoard of first years. At the front were Ron and Hermione. They were Prefects, he remembered.

"You will find that your belongings have been brought up. This was done by house elves. If you ever see one, be sure to thank them. They do everything you think is magic around here." Hermione said.

She had not felt the way she had previous years at the feast. It felt empty, like the magic was gone. It didn't help that Ron was having her do all of the work and Ron was messing with the first years. She had not wanted to leave without Hedwig, but she hadn't come back. Hermione was hopeful she would return and brought her cage. She was worried for the owl. One of the first years was not paying attention. The first year was looking at something down the hall.

"Come on, it's almost curfew. You don't want to be left out here." Hermione called.

"I thought I saw something." the first year squeaked.

Harry tensed up against the wall. The boy had caught him moving. Harry held his breath. If there was a witch that could see through a bad disillusionment charm, it was Hermione. She seemed to be preoccupied with something else and simply ushered the boy into the portrait hole. Harry tore himself away from her. It was so good to see her. For some reason it made him nervous, though he reminded himself that he was on a stealth mission. He ran down the hall.

The sound made Hermione look up. She saw something out of place.

"Hey!" Hermione said.

Harry froze. It was alarming, but it was nice to hear her voice. He hadn't realized how much he had missed it.

"Is someone there?" Hermione called.

Harry didn't know what to do. He needed a place to hide. He thought about where he could get rid of her. He heard her take out her wand and cast a revealing spell. Now she knew there was something there. He had to act fast. He sent a spell far away at a far wall well out of her range, but it offered the distraction he needed. He dove into a door on his right. He had hoped he was right. It was the Room of Requirement. The door slammed behind him, and she couldn't gain entry. Harry immediately began protections against entry. True, Hermione would tell the staff, but this room could let out wherever Harry wanted. A part of him longed to open the door. She was right there. He could stop her from blaming herself for everything. He could end some of the pain she was going through.

But he couldn't. He had a purpose, and he had to fight the impulse. Harry stared at a mountain of trash and hidden treasures. While Hermione pounded on where the door had been moments before. Harry thought it best to wait until the school had calmed down a little before venturing further. He picked a slightly moth eaten squashy chair and began reading. No one could find him in hear. He began the chapter regarding 'Horcruxes'.