For the next few hours, the four of them began devising a plan to attempt the theft of the know horcrux. This lady they knew to be locked up in Azkaban so they shouldn't have to worry about her finding out anytime soon.

"So how do we even begin? We are wanted by the wizarding world, we are all fifteen and sixteen and we have no way of destroying anything we find!" Ron asked.

"Well if we can find them then we're halfway there! All that's left then is finding something to destroy them with and if we find the right thing, we should be able to destroy all of them with one weapon." Hermione explained.

"Do you have any idea of what we could use?" Holly asked and Hermione slowly shook her head.

"You must have something on horcruxes in one of those books you insist on carrying around with you!" Ron said and Hermione did a mental tally of all her books.

"Maybe..." She exclaimed, eagerly peering into her bag. "Accio!" A book came flying out of the back pack and landed on the floor next to her.

Dark arts and it's importance was typed onto the front cover. Hermione flicked to one of the front pages and scanned her finger down the page. She took a mental note of a page number and flicked somewhere to the back of the book.

"There! Basic information on horcruxes!" She exclaimed proudly, slamming the book onto the little table.

Horcrux

A horcrux is the splitting of one's soul. Many witches and wizards have attempted this but have been sent to Azkaban since the process in which to make one involves the murder of another. In order to destroy a horcrux, you must have something either poisonous/ venomous or something made by a powerful creature and has it's magic laced into it. An example would be a goblin made weapon or the fang of a venomous creature. A simple blasing spell would not be efficient enough to destroy a peice of dark magic like this.

"So we need to find something suitable like a goblin made blade or something!" Holly summarised.

"Yeah because they're easy to come by aren't they?" Ron asked, hints of sarcasm in his voice.

"That is the overall problem." Hermione said. "There is one item that springs yo mind though."

"What is it?" Holly asked, scanning her memory for a goblin made object.

"The Sword of Gryffindor! The only issue is that it's gone missing!" Hermione pointed out.

"Where was the last time anyone saw it?" Ron asked.

"Well Holly killed the Basilisk with it three years ago- I haven't been keeping track of it though!" Hermione replied awkwardly.

"Not much to go off 'Mione!" Holly said and Hermione looked down at the ground.

"I know but it's something we can build on over time!" Hermione said optimistically.

"So how do we get the horcrux?" Ron asked.

"Well we can't go as ourselves and there isn't anyone who can go with us so the best bet we've got is polyjuice potion." Hermione suggested.

"And where are we going to get the ingredients for that?" Holly asked, knowing that lacewing flies were not very common at all, nor were they cheap! Hermione didn't reply, she just looked at her bag shyly.

"You have all the ingredients for polyjuice potion in your bag?" Ron asked and Hermione slowly nodded. "You're brilliant you know- a little strange but brilliant!"

"How is carrying ingredients for a potion that disguises yourself when we are technically wanted strange?" She asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I think what Ron is trying to say is that not many people carry round shredded boomslang skin!" Holly said, practically saving Ron from Hermione's wrath.

"Yeah!" Ron wimpered as Hermione relaxed her face.

"Next you're going to tell us that you have a cauldron in there aren't you?" Holly asked, sighing into her hands.

"I don't actually, I didn't have the chance to steal one since Snape was always in his classroom." She replied.

"Well I guess we're going to Diagon Alley!" Ron said, glancing over to the window that he could see all the ice cream coloured shops from.

Since Holly was the smallest and easiest to hide under the invisibility cloak, she was the one who volunteered to go and steal a cauldron. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to carry it while still hiding it under her cloak but she would manage somehow.

As Holly draped the invisibility cloak over herself and slipped out of the Leaky Cauldron and into the streets, the whole place seemed practically silent. There were a few old witches and wizards roaming the streets but almost all of them were either going to one of the various book shops or to a cafe of some description. A few were going into Gringotts but there were none entering the cauldron shop.

After around five minutes of standing around, wondering if anyone would go in, Holly knew that she would just have to try her best- if she got caught then at least no one would be able to see her. As she opened the shop door as little as she possibly could but still allowing herself to slip through, the little bell rung to alert whoever was on duty that there was someone in the shop.

Holly winced as she rushed into a corner of the shop, making sure to stay away from the door. A grumpy middle aged man hobbled through from the storage area.

"Who's there?" He barked and Holly placed her hand over her mouth to hide the sound of her breath. "Come out now!" Holly stayed completely silent- this man wasn't the same person who had sold her the Pewter cauldron when she was eleven! "Stupid kids. Should be kept in school for longer." He grumbled as he hobbled over to the door and flipped over the sign that now read closed before waving his wand and locking the shop up.

Shit! Holly wondered how she was going to get the cauldron, open the door and run away with it without being seen or heard.

"Alohamora." She whispered under her breath and the lock on the door clicked. She flinched and looked over to the storage area where the miserable man had disappeared to- nothing. Holly scanned the shelves for a suitable cauldron- she saw the one that they used in 2nd year to brew polyjuice. It was on the top shelf so she poked the tip of her wand out of the invisibility cloak.

"Accio." She whispered and the cauldron came flying towards her, making a slight scraping noise as it was dragged across the wooden shelf. As Holly caught it, she let her wand drop on the floor which made a small noise- like if you were to drop a giant pencil on the floor in the middle of an exam. She ducked down onto the floor and wrapped herself around the cauldron so the shopkeeper wouldn't be able to see it.

"Who's in..." He growled but stopped when he saw nothing. Holly almost felt sorry for the man- he must think he's turning insane or skitsophrenic! "What's this?" He asked himself, ducking down next to Holly and picking up the wand on the floor that wasn't covered by the cloak. Holly was half tempted to expose herself and grab her wand back but didn't- if she was caught now then she, along with Ron and Hermione, could potentially be expelled. The man pocketed the wand and muttered something to himself. Holly couldn't tell what he was saying until she heard "Ollivander." The man exited the shop and made his way down the street. As soon as he was out of sight, Holly picked up the cauldron and ran back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Let me in!" She whispered as she knocked lightly on the door of the room they were staying in. Hermione opened the door and as she did, Holly rushed inside and dropped the cauldron onto the sofa.

"You got it!" Ron exclaimed. "Now we just need to brew it for the next month!" He added, his exitement fading a little.

"I need to go to Ollivanders." Holly said inbetween breaths. "He's got my wand!"

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why don't you have it?"

"I dropped it, the shopkeeper picked it up and took it to Ollivanders." Holly explained. Ron and Hermione tucked their wands into their pockets and squeezed under the invisibility cloak with Holly. They made sure to lock the door before leaving for the wand shop.

When they arrived, Ollivander was sat sifting through boxes of wands. The little bell above the door rung as they entered. When Ollivander looked up he saw no one.

"James, Sirius I know you're there!" He said, chuckling to himself. Holly whipped the cloak off and looked at the old wand maker.

"My dad is dead!" She whispered as Ron and Hermione tried to pull her back under the cloak.

"Merlin's beard! I do apologise Holly! Your dad used to do that to me. All these years have gone by- I tend to forget some things!" He exclaimed rushing over to Holly. "Hang on- you should be in school!"

"What are you on about- I shouldn't be in school!" Holly said in her most convincing voice.

"Yes you should! There are posters up everywhere!" He exclaimed.

"But I'm helping the wizarding world- I'm destroying Vol..."

"Don't say his name!" Ollivander snapped.

"I'm destroying you- know- who's horcruxes." She said and the old wand maker gave her a stern look.

"How do you know of such dark magic?" He asked in a very serious voice.

"Dumbledore wanted me to..."

"Very wise man Dumbledore was. Very wise yet very foolish!" Ollivander said. "You're far too young to know of such things- I have to hand you in!"

"No! Please don't!" Holly exclaimed. "Ever since Dumbledore died everythings gone wrong! I need to defeat You- know- who. To do that I need my wand."

"Of course! Your wand! Now I know what you are doing in Diagon Alley." Ollivander said softly, immediately ignoring that just moments previously he was going to turn Holly in.

"Can I have it back please?" She asked innocently.

"Absolutely Miss Potter!" He said, picking the wand up from his desk and passing it to Holly. "Just promise me something!"

"Depends what is is." Holly replied.

"Don't go looking for trouble!" He said with no joy or sparkle in his eye, telling Holly that he was deadly serious.

"I'll try my best." Holly said. She knew she couldn't promise since it seemed whatever she did she would get into trouble!

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, Holly, Ron and Hermione began collecting all the ingredients and weighing them out. If they had any chance of getting that horcrux by Christmas then they would need to get the potion started very soon!

"Are we going home for Christmas?" Ron asked while measuring out the lacewing flies.

"We should have a horcrux by then if everything goes to plan." Holly said.

"Don't you think it would be suspicious if we don't?" Hermione asked. "What would your parents do?"

"School probably already told them." Ron said sheepishly. "And dad most likely knows from the Ministry."

"So do we want to go back?" Holly asked, trying to weigh out the pros and cons.

"If we go home then Molly will have someone looking after us 24/7." Hermione sighed.

"So are we staying?" Ron asked.

"We might have to- let's just get this horcrux then decide." Holly suggested.

The trio planned to start the polyjuice that day but the next issue was getting a hair from someone. It would likely have to be a Ministry official since Lestrange was locked up in Azkaban and no one would be getting anywhere near her, nevermind three wanted and underage students! Also, Ministry officials should be allowed access to people's vaults. That is if they were high up such as the Minister for magic. But what were the chances of them getting one of his hairs?

"So we now need to go back to the Ministry?" Ron asked skeptically.

"I guess we do. If there were another way then I'd never go near that place again because now they'll have extra security and everything." Hermione sighed. "But what other choice do we have?"

"We go to Azkaban." Holly said and Ron and Hermione laughed at her. "I'm serious. We won't be able to break into the Ministry again and even if we do then how will we get someone's hair? And there's no guarantee that we'll be let into the vault if we do get the hair." Holly explained.

"Yeah but we're even less likely to get into Azkaban. The place is packed with Dementors!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron's right. You've got more of a chance of getting through the Ministry than into Azkaban." Hermione agreed. "Anyway the only person who's escaped is Sirius and he's an anima..."

"Then we become animagi!" Holly exclaimed.

"As much as I want to say yes, this is getting way out of hand." Ron said. "I'm not saying you shouldn't- but maybe just not right now."

"We can do it though. Hermione will probably have ingredients that we need to do it and for how we can just ask Sirius." Holly said.

"Holly do you know how long it took Sirius to do it?" Hermione asked.

"No but I know the basics. Anyway if McGonagall could both teach and become an animagus then it can't be too hard." Holly exclaimed.

"But teaching some eleven year olds how to turn a matchstick into a needle and visa versa isn't the same as hunting horcruxes and defeating the Dark Lord." Ron sighed.

"Holly we're best off just becoming someone from the Ministry. Then after all this you can try." Hermione suggested. "Just now isn't the time."

"Well what's the harm in trying?" Holly asked. She didn't see what was wrong with trying to become an animagus because they couldn't do anything for a month since they wouldn't have the polyjuice potion. Hermione and Ron shared a concerned look.

"It's just another thing to think about." Hermione said. "And you need very specific requirements."

"But what else have we got to do this month?" Holly asked.

"We need to figure out where the sword of Gryffindor is." Ron pointed out. "Because without it then we have no hope of destroying any of these things."

"Fine. Where's it likely to be then?" Holly asked, backing down from her idea that she stored in the back of her mind.

"Well wasn't it put in Dumbledore's office?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think it's there anymore. I can't remember seeing it when I went in there around the time of my hearing." Holly replied. "So at least we know it's not there."

"Well doesn't it appear to any deserving Gryffindor?" Ron asked.

"You're right Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "It does. But how do we know we deserve it?"

"Well we need to do something deserving of it. Last time I needed to fight a basalisk but we don't have one of them." Holly said.

"Well it's got to be somewhere. Swords don't grow on trees or fester in lakes." Ron moaned. Just as he did, many pairs of heavy footsteps came down the corridor. They seemed to be running. Just outside the door, the noise stopped. Holly, Ron and Hermione scrambled to hide under the invisibility cloak and conceal all of their belongings with them. The door burst open and several people wearing long cloaks came in along with the innkeeper.

Two of these people Holly could recognise. They were extremely hard not to spot. Mad- eye Moody pushed through the door followed by the much smaller Nymphadora Tonks who still sported bubblegum pink hair.

"No one in here. If there was they've gone now!" Moody barked as his false eye swivelled to look at the trio.

"Are you sure you were told that someone was on this room Sir?" Someone asked the Innkeeper.

"Yes. Well the maid said she went around doing the housekeeping round and someone replied from this room even though there was no one booked in." The Innkeeper stuttered nervously.

"Well obviously if there was someone in here they've gone now so there isn't much point in staying and talking." Tonks sighed. "Anyway we don't even know if it was Potter, Weasley and Granger. It could have been anyone who didn't have a place to stay for the night."

"Guess we'll have to wait if there are any other signs of their whereabouts." Moody grunted.

"Yes let's just hope it wasn't Black. Nasty bit of work that would be because I still reckon it was him." Said one of the other Aurors.

"Didn't James Potter have a cloak of invisibility at one point. If Black stole that then we're in for a big job- it's been two years already!" Another sighed. It took all of Holly's willpower to not get caught to not burst out if the cloak right then and there and defend Sirius. Hermione and Ron could tell she had been put on edge by the comments about her Godfather since they had both rested a hand on one of her shoulders to try and calm her and also so they would be in prime position for grabbing her incase she tried to run after them.

"His name was cleared but he hasn't been seen since." Tonks explained. "Probably because some people in the Ministry won't announce to the public that he's innocent."

The small huddle of Aurors left the room, closing the door behind them but just before they did, Moody gave the trio a quick glare that said everything he wanted it to. He was trying to warn them- the Ministry was onto them and if they weren't careful they were going to be caught! Very quickly, the footsteps retreated away from the door and back down the corridor where they had originally come from. Holly whipped the cloak off the three of them and helped both Ron and Hermione up.

"He's innocent!" Holly snapped. "It's so obvious! He couldn't hurt anyone he cared about even if it meant something bad for him!"

"We know but he was locked up for twelve years then people were on the look for him for two and he's only just been proven innocent." Hermione explained softly.

"Exactly! He's been proven innocent!" Holly argued.

"It's just the same as with you- know- who. Everyone in the Ministry reckons he's not back. It's pretty corrupt if you ask me." Ron sighed.

"But Sirius shouldn't have to hide anymore! He's innocent, it's been proven but the Ministry is too lazy to do anything about it! Or maybe they don't want to be the people who had the wrong person locked up for twelve years!" She exclaimed, triumph in her voice.

"Holly there's nothing we can do about it now. We are just as wanted to the public as he is." Hermione explained.

"I know. I just want him to be able to go where he wants- like a normal human being!" Holly sighed, the triumph in her voice replacing itself with sadness.

"We all do but that's not how life works sometimes." Ron said, almost trailing his words off in defeat.

A light tapping on the window was heard behind the trio and a different owl was there. This time it wasn't Hedwig. Everyone was hesitant to let the bird in incase it was some sort of trap but eventually, the brown owl shifted on the small windowsill to reveal farmiliar handwriting.

Dear Holly, Ron and Hermione,

I don't know where you are but enclosed with this is the part of Dumbledore's will that applies to you. I haven't sent Hedwig since I couldn't find her in the owlery so maybe you have her but also she is quite easy to spot and anyone who knows what they're looking for would be able to get to you and I get the feeling you don't want that.

From Professor McGonagall.

Holly was astonished to read this from McGonagall. She had always enforced the rules into students with just a bit of leeway here and there. But now she was full on supporting three 'criminals' and helping them despite it possibly resulting in her losing her job. There were a few more sheets of parchment in the envelope that Holly pulled out and passed to Ron and Hermione.

Dear Miss H Potter,

Professor Albus Percivil Wolfric Brian Dumbledore has requested that you are to recieve three items. One of them you shall receive through Professor Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and two of which are unable to be presented to you at the current time.

The first item which you shall be able to receive is the Golden Snitch that you caught in your first ever quidditch game. Professor Minerva McGonagall shall give this to you at an appropriate time. The second item is the pensive that is in the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This will require special care whilst being transported and therefore cannot be sorted out at the current time. The third item is the Chamber of Secrets and all its contents. This is for obvious reasons an unsuitable thing to be given to you however you will own it.

Minister for Magic on behalf of Professor A Dumbledore.

Written 1st September 1995

"What did you get?" Ron asked as Holly looked up from her portion of the will.

"He's given me the first snitch I caught, his pensive and the Chamber of Secrets." Holly replied with a puzzled tone of voice that Ron and Hermione's faces reflected perfectly.

"I got his book collection and most prominently Advanced Charms, Jinxes and Hexes for those studying beyond NEWTs." Hermione said furrowing her brow a little more. "He also sent a note saying to not overlook any books based on the age group they are aimed at." She added, her, Holly and Ron's expression becoming even more puzzled by the second.

"Well the Sword of Gryffindor was left to my family and me. And so was this thing called a deluminator." Ron said. "But when are we going to get all this stuff?"

"Guess we'll have to go back to Hogwarts." Hermione sighed. "It's the only way..."