Harry Potter and the Fifth Soul
Hi erveryone, and many many thanks for your reviews. Morriganscrow has given me a friendly slap on the back of my head for being sloppy with spellchecking and proofreading, so I've worked over this chapter a few times. I've also started to translate the whole story into German, which helps me discover more mistakes in the English version, so I will be replacing the earlier chapters with corrected ones over time.
Big thanks also to animefreak85, cmtaylor531 and IrishEyesAreSmiling. Your positive reviews make it a lot easier for me to go on with the story.
Chantelle: I'm happy you like the story. But I have to disappoint you. I believe the fifth soul is someone else. After all, it's the one unthought of ;) It will be quite some chapters until his/her identity is confirmed, but it seems this will give not only our four heroes a bit of a headache smiles.
Greetings also to everyone else who read and enjoyed this story. Maybe you find time after this chapter to leave a little comment.
Have fun!
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 12 - Goodbye
Harry awoke to the stirring of Ginny on his chest, and sleepily he blinked in the bright sunlight. He felt peaceful and rested like he hadn't in ages. Remembering how they had fallen asleep, a big smile spread across his face. He stroked her cheek gently with his thumb. "Hi there, beautiful. Slept well, Gin?"
Ginny yawned. "Never better. I could just stay like that forever."
"Mhmmm." He murmured, agreeing with her.
"How long have we been sleeping?"
"Don't know, but guessing by looking at the sun, maybe two or three hours." He was once again aware that he didn't have a watch. He should really go and buy one.
"Think Ron and Hermione have finished snogging their way around the lake?" They both giggled.
Deciding they should go back and look for their friends before Ron came running up there, Harry fixed his clothes, and holding each others hand they went back to Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione and Ron were already there. Hermione was writing a letter, and Ron had himself propped lazily over a chair with a copy of 'Quidditch for the Millennium' on his lap, and was sound asleep.
Hermione gave them a funny look, then pointed her eyes at Ron and rolled them around. Ginny held a finger over her mouth to silence them and, with a mischievous grin, crept silently up to Ron. When she was no more than a foot away she yelled "Dinner is ready!"
In the blink of an eye Ron had jumped to his feet, sending the book to the floor with a loud thud. "Thank Merlin, I'm..." Taking a look around and seeing the amused faces of his friends, he fell back onto the chair with a sigh and a scowl. "Don't ever do this to me again!"
The three of them laughed aloud. If one thing could get Ron on his toes, it was the possibility of getting something to eat. Finally, he also managed a smile.
They chattered a little about what they would do next, and after Hermione and Ginny proclaimed that they had to do some girl's talk, Ron and Harry opted for visiting Hagrid. Ron was curious if his hut, which had been burnt down at the battle, had already been rebuilt.
So the girls stayed behind at the Common Room, while the two boys strolled over the grounds to Hagrid's hut. Harry hadn't thought about it, but halfway they passed by the white chapel where Dumbledore had been laid to rest. Harry stood before the entrance, unsure if he should go on.
Ron put a hand on his shoulder. "Just go in, mate. I'll be down at Hagrid's hut."
With that, he walked on, leaving Harry there with a big lump in his throat. Slowly, he entered the white marble chapel. He had to admit, it was beautiful. Minimalistic, but still somehow impressing. On a big, black, square piece of marble in the middle of the wall was a writing in golden letters:
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
born 1840
died 1997
Grand Sorcerer
Order of Merlin (First Class)
Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot
Supreme Mugwump
Member of the International Confederation of Wizards
Headmaster of Hogwarts 1946 – 1997
May his soul fly with the Phoenixes
into the next big adventure.
Harry blinked away a tear that was sitting in the corner of his eye. The funeral had gone by in somewhat of a blur for him, and he hadn't really paid attention to his surroundings then. It was appropriate, he thought, the white stone shining in the sunlight, just like Dumbledore had always in a metphorical way as a defender of the light side. And the interior fit as well, simple, but beautiful. Next to the golden letters an image of a Phoenix was engraved, his wings spread as if in flight, and his neck stretched so that his eyes were looking at the sky.
Harry's hand traced the outlines of the magical bird. "I hope you did really make it to the next big adventure. I miss you, Professor. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it."
Just when he had said "I'm sorry" a faint glow flickered over the image of the Phoenix, and an envelope tumbled to the ground in front of it. Harry was startled, but he bent down and picked it up. It was made of the typical Hogwarts parchment, with Dumbledore's seal on the back. On the front, written in neat letters, was Harry's name.
He gulped a few times and tore it open. After reading a few lines, he had to sit down on the stone floor.
Dear Harry,
if you are reading this letter, you have obviously come back to Hogwarts to complete what we have started. It is the right decision you made. Fawkes has followed my wish and brought this letter, together with the charm to activate it, to my tomb. I have all the faith in you a wizard of my age can bring up, and that is a lot. I hope you have brought your friends with you, all three of them. You will have to rely on them, but be assured, you could have no better allies in your fight.
Speaking of allies. As this letter has been opened by you, this means that I'm dead now. Most probably it has been Severus who has put an end to my current form of existence. Don't blame him, no matter how things look, as I have insisted that when worst came to worst, he must do it, and in a way Tom will believe his motives. He is still on our, now your, side. The powers from Marvolo's ring have weakened me to a point I don't think I will recover, and if what I expected to be in the cave under the sea was there, I couldn't have had any hope of surviving.
I know it will be hard, but you have to trust him. No one else has as much insight into Tom's plans as he has. You can contact him by leaving a letter under the loose floorboard next to the entrance of the Shrieking Shack.
You are surely looking for the remaining two Horcruxes. As it would have been too much of a risk to leave my findings in my office, I had to put them in a place where only you were able to retrieve it. I hope that not too much time has passed, but knowing you I don't think it did. I am certain now that Helga Hufflepuff's Cup was made a Horcrux, and a friend of mine has just recently found its trail. Tell Ms. Granger that you have to visit Tenzin Gyatso, she will know how to find him. And bring him my very best greetings. He has always been a big source of inspiration.
The other one, seeing that Tom could not get his hands on Gryffindor's Sword, must be Rovenna Ravenclaw's dagger. I am not completely certain there, but I may be hidden somewhere in a very prominent location. Tom has always admired Grindelwald's reign of war, and maybe tracking his footsteps will also lead you to the dagger's location.
I am sorry that I can not offer you any advice on how to destroy the Horcruxes. Each of them is a unique piece of Magic that has to be carefully analyzed, and only then one can find the correct means to destroy it. But your friends will certainly help you to come up with ideas, and I am sure you can think of a very experienced course breaker who would love to assist you there.
I wish you well on your journey, Harry, and it has been an honour to walk along with you part of your way. You can do great things, and I do believe you will. With you here as a leader for the side of the light, an old man can lay himself to rest without worrying.
Have faith and trust
Albus Dumbledore
Harry sat for some minutes, contemplating what he had just read. The letter brought them closer to their first aim of destroying all of the Horcruxes, and he couldn't help himself, for the first time he did indeed feel faithful. With a wet-eyed smile he got up and put his flat hand against the cool marble stone of the wall.
"Goodbye, Professor. I hope that I won't let you down. I'll do my best. Thank you, for everything."
A boy with stirred up emotions nocked on the door of Hagrid's hut, which looked almost the same as it had before the events of the end of the year. A few spots of charred grass were the only reminders of what had happened.
The similing face of the Half Giant opened the door, and instantly Harry was lying with his back on the floor, the slippery tongue of Hagrid's dog leaving its trail on his face.
"Oh gerroff, Fang!" Hagrid thundered, and the animal reluctantly let go of Harry. "Good ta see yeh, Harry. The Headmistress tol' me you'd be stayin' here, so I made some cakes. Din't expect yeh so soon, though."
"Hi Hagrid, good to see you, too. How are you doing?"
"Oh, fine, li'le Harry, but it ain't the same with him gone."
He could hear the sadness in Hagrids voice, and not wanting to get him into one of his crying fits, which always ended in Harry nearly being crushed to death in a hug from the Half Giant, he asked for a cup of tea. While Hagrid fetched a cup from the board he sat on the bench next to Ron.
"You OK, mate?" The redhead wanted to know.
"Yeah, Dumbledore wrote me a letter, I'll show all of you when we are back."
"He wrote you..."
"Shhhh!" He didn't want to mention Dumbledore to Hagrid just now. So they talked for a while about the animals in the Forbidden Forest, how his Giant half brother Grawp was doing, and which dangerous creatures Hagrid was planning to show to his pupils over the next year. Both Ron and Harry managed to slip Fang a good amount of the unbreakable rock cakes, without the Half Giant noticing it.
An hour later they left, not before promising to visit every now and then, and to bring the two girls with them the next time. They marched silently up to the castle and through the corridors, each in his own thoughts.
Ginny and Hermione were still in the Common Room, and after giving a short explanation of their visit to Hagrid, Harry silently fished Dumbledore's letter from his pocket and handed it to them.
He watched the expressions on their faces, first sadness, which when they came to the part about Snape changed to utter disbelieve, then to excitement over the whereabouts of the remaining Horcruxes, and finally to some mixture of grief and hope. Exactly the same emotions he had gone through reading the letter himself.
As usually, Ginny was the first one to recover from the news. Looking into Harry's eyes without blinking, she said: "I guess now things will be starting to get rough?"
"Yeahea, I guess so. Hermione, have you got any clue who this Tenzing is?"
Hermione already had an excited look in her eyes and had a hard time to sit still. "Of course I know who he is. Don't tell me you never heard of the Dalai Lama?"
Ron started at her wide eyed. "We have to talk to a lama?"
Hermione rolled her eyes while Ginny just shot them questioning looks, but Harry, having heard the name a few times in the Muggle news, recognized it and laughed, imagining Ron trying to talk to one of the spitting animals.
With an exasperated sigh Hermione explained. "No, we don't have to talk with an animal. It's his name, or rather his title. The Dalai Lama is the leader of the Tibetian buddhists, one of the highest authorities in the buddhistic world, just like the Pope is for the catholics. He's very famous throughout the world." From there on she went on a lengthy explanation of the root of the buddhist religion and the history of the acquisition of Tibet by China.
Soon all of them only listened halfheartedly. Harry thought about their next steps. If everything went smooth, they could be able to retrieve the last two missing Horcruxes before Bill and Fleur's wedding. That was more than he had hoped for. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Hermione, the other day you said you had figured out the runes on the Soul Stones?"
Like he had pulled a switched the room fell silent, and all eyes focused on a smiling Hermione. "Yes, I could figure out what the runes on the stones are. One means soul or determination, one means wind or force, the third one is spirit or thoughtfulness, and the last one means life. But I'm not a hundred percent sure to whom which stone belongs."
"The last two are easy." Ron claimed. "The spirit one can only be Hermione's, if anyone is good at thinking, then she is." At that she beamed at Ron, who seemed himself pleased with having made it sound like the compliment it was. "And the life stone must be Harry's, with all the deadly situations he has survived ."
Everyone agreed on that, so the two choices left were the soul and the wind stone. They had a lengthy discussion, but they didn't come to a conclusion. Determination and force were both typical Weasley traits and could apply to Ginny as well as Ron. So they decided to sleep over it and got back to the more urgent topics. Hermione and Ginny volunteered to write a letter to the Dalai Lama to ask for a meeting with him. Harry wanted to send Hedwig with the letter, but Hermione insisted in using an eagle owl from the Hogsmeade post station, which would only need half the time to get to Tibet, which would still be more than two days.
Then came the topic each of them had wanted to avoid. Ginny was the first to ask about it. "What do we do about Snape?"
"You seriously consider we should trust him? The first time we did, Sirius was killed, and the second time it cost Dumbledore's life!" Ron almost shouted, and crossing his arms he sat back, making clear his own position in this matter.
Harry could see the inner fight going on in Hermione's head. She didn't like the greasy Potions master any more than the others did, but reason told her that his knowledge would be invaluable.
"We have no choice." Harry stated, wrestling down the anger that still welled up at the mention of Snape. "Dumbledore trusted him, and even if I can't understand why he would let Snape kill him, it was what he had wanted. After all that has happened, he will certainly be Voldemort's most trusted follower. He should know almost everything that he's planning."
"You really think you'll contact him?" Ron asked wide-eyed. "You could just send him your head on a plate."
Now Ginny interfered. "Harry has a point. And Snape could have killed him easily after he had finished off Dumbledore. You said so yourself, Harry. But we shouldn't trust him blindly, there must be some way to proof his loyalty."
"And how do you want to do that?" Ron smirked. "He's one of the best Occlumens ever, he could fool even Voldemort."
Harry had an idea. "Hermione, how long does it take to brew Veritaserum?"
"You can't be serious!" Hermione jumped up. "Veritaserum is strictly regulated by the Ministry. You can't just go and brew some yourself!"
Now Harry couldn't keep from chuckling. "And who would stop us doing so?"
Hermione looked a little embarrassed. Relying on rules and authorities too much had always been her weak spot, and they boys had more than once rubbed it in. "If we can get some pre-made moon elixier, it should be finished in three days."
"So we'll have to ask Professor McGonagall for access to the Potions Lab. I think we should do that this evening, so we can see if we need to order anything."
Having settled this, they decided it was time for dinner, which was served by a still excited Dobby. The small elf bowed at least five times to each of the four, and seemd truly happy when everyone praised his cooking. After everyone had finished, or rather after everyone had waited for Ron to finish, they left to visit the Headmistress.