Harry Potter and the Seven Split Soul
By: Krystal Lily Potter
Chapter Fourteen: The Road to Winning
Rating: T
Summary: My continuation to the canon Half-Blood Prince. Now that Dumbledore is gone the wizarding world has fallen into a place of fear with only one beacon of hope left: Harry Potter. Facing evils that he'd never thought he'd have to endure; Harry sets out with Hermione and Ron to find the four remaining items that Voldemort placed pieces of his soul into. But the demons that Voldemort forces upon Harry are the least of his problems that he must face. Can he bring back light to the wizarding world or will the darkness be too great for even the Boy-Who-Lived to escape?
Warning: There will be physical violence, this might include gory images, I'm not sure yet. There might be some cursing and will be more mature themes like death, angst, and many…depressing inner thoughts and disturbing images later on.

"Blood hell! Harry you—"

"Ronald!"

Ron's mouth snapped shut at Hermione's warning voice, his eyes never once leaving the grinning face of Harry Potter.

"You ok Ron?" Harry asked with a smug grin.

"You're a bloody prick Potter."

Hermione sighed at the two boys as she put her hands in her face. They were impossible to deal with at times but she loved them to death anyways.

The October air was cool, especially just off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Hermione almost wished that her grandmother had bought one of the cottages a little more inland, but when those thoughts would creep into her head she would push them aside. She had so much fun at the cottage when she was only a little girl with her family. Gazing at the two boys (Ron was now trying to cast silent spells at Harry who was silently blocking them) she realized that she was still at her old cottage with her family, just a different one.

"Stop," she said to them suddenly, causing both boys to look at her. "I want to give it a go."

"You can go against Harry, I'd rather not have one of your hexes coming at me, especially when I don't know what it is," Ron said as he flopped to the side to watch. Harry proved to be a natural with occlumency once he got the hang of it, it hadn't taken Hermione very long to help him get a solid wall around his mind (he was still working on it, of course, but he was progressing much better then when it was Snape probing his mind). Both Harry and Ron had struggled with non-verbal magic at first, but soon they got the hang of it and were firing spells and blocking curses sent from one another.

"You know that I'm not going to go easy on you, right?" Hermione said, almost playfully as she held out her wand.

"Wouldn't expect it," Harry said back and dodged to the side as she sent a quick jinx at him, a jelly-legs jinx if he sensed it right. That was another thing that he had gotten better at since he had sat down to actually learn, his ability to sense magic. He could even identify some of the more complex spells.

Ron watched at his two friends shot and blocked more advanced curses than he and Harry had been earlier. Part of him, recently, was beginning to feel jealous of Harry once again. His power seemed to be growing without much effort of Potter's part, where Ron had to struggle to keep up.

Then there were his current issues with Hermione. He had talked to her while Harry was asleep a few days prior, wondering what they were and where everything was going with them.

"Ron, I can't…not now," she had said with a sigh. "I just can't be in a relationship. Maybe if last year, maybe if we hadn't been so foolish then maybe…but I can't do that now Ronald. There are more important things."

"Like Harry?" he had asked.

She met his eyes with surprise and said, "Ron, Harry's just Harry and yes, the fact that he needs our help is more important than dating, but we are in a war now Ron, we have to concentrate on winning, not when the next snog is going to be or where."

"So all of last year was pretty much for nothing then?" Ron said angrily. "All that arguing! That's not bloody fair! Just because Harry dumped Ginny for noble reasons doesn't mean you have to follow in his footsteps."

"We are not having this conversation Ronald Bilius Weasley," Hermione growled at him with narrowed eyes. "Harry doesn't have anything to do with my decisions but your immaturity does." With that she had simple turned on her heel and stormed into her room.

That was another reason Ron didn't want to be on the receiving end of Hermione's wand. Although she was becoming a little warmer to him again, her temper was more likely to flare up at him now.

Harry's wand suddenly flew out of his hands and Hermione gave him a smug look.

"Keep going Granger, just because your opponent doesn't have a wand doesn't mean they're not dangerous," he said with a grin. Harry liked to attempt to dodge curses, it was helpful to be able to escape magic when a wand wasn't an option.

Once again Hermione started firing hexes at Harry and he began to dodge them. His seeker reflexes were very handy when it came to moving quickly and making split second decisions on how to move, but still even he wasn't all powerful. He stumbled when one spells missed him by an inch, landing on the floor with a loud thumb. There was another Jelly-Legs Jinx coming at him, one Hermione had fired before she realized he was down for the count for now.

Harry wished desperately that he could stop the jinx, it was harmless really but still not that pleasant. He held up his hand out of reflex to block it.

And it stopped in mid air.

Ron appeared transfixed, his eyes never leaving the stopped jinx; Hermione had a surprised look on her face and appeared to be petrified from shock.

Harry stared at it for a moment then, after thinking over what he did in his mind, he concentrated on banishing the jinx and with a tiny wave of his hand it vanished.

"Bloody hell," Hermione whispered at she and Ron continued to stare at Harry with wide eyes.

"What?" he asked quickly, but he already had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Wandless magic is nearly impossible to use mate," Ron said with awe.

"Only a few people have ever used it, let alone mastered it. It's normal for young witches and wizards to show small signs of magic using wandless magic, but nothing huge like that," Hermione explained. "The only ones I've ever heard to actually control wandless magic were Merlin, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Albus Dumbledore."

"But that doesn't make sense," Harry said as he stood up. "Everyone uses wandless magic. Apparation, occlumency, legitimacy…it's all wandless."

"Well yes, but those are things that nearly everyone can do if they try hard enough. The reason I'm…we are so surprised is because of what you did. You stopped a spell with wandless magic Harry. I've never heard of that being done before," Hermione explained.

"It's true," Ron said suddenly, "that an every day witch or wizard can use it, mum and dad told me this, but only for limited things. The rest…really no one can do. Mum wishes every day that she could just wave her hand and the dishes would be done but she can't."

"So why can I use it?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said. "I really don't know."

"The road to winning is not always an easy one," Dumbledore said. "It's one that must be followed by instinct, and one cannot be traveled alone. You understand that the mission you're trying to pursue is a dangerous one."


The person sitting opposite from him looked up and said, "Yes, but I can do it. Or at least help."

Dumbledore looked down at his desk with a sigh before looking up and asking, "Why do you want to do this? Those notes you found, the ones I thought I had burned, they might not mean anything. There is no proof for my theories yet."

"He seems so unstoppable, so immortal, there has to be a reason behind it. I looked up Tom Riddle, I saw pictures of him when he was in school, and comparing him then to what he looks like now…the only reason I could see in such a transformation is the splitting of his soul."

"This will be dangerous, at any cost, you do know that right? And there is also a possibility that this theory is nothing more then that: a theory," Dumbledore warned.

"I have no doubt about that, and I'm not afraid to do this. I believe I can find proof that Voldemort split his soul. It's the type of thing I want to do when I graduate; searching the past."

"You will do well; you have researched this long and hard before approaching me, something I must congratulate you for. You're potions marks are excellent, something important for clearing, and rescuing ancient documents, and your charms marks are splendid, something that many people over look as important," Dumbledore commented.

"I can do this," the young adult said while looking down at their hands.

"And your relationship with Mr. Potter?"

She looked up quickly, emerald green eyes looking surprised. "I don't think that will affect this. You can't hate a person for not telling you about their day at work if they're an unspeakable working on the past."

Dumbledore smiled at her, seeing the strength and willing to do her best glinting in her eyes. He nodded his head and said, "Let us hope your research proves wrong, and Riddle has not split his soul. Otherwise it could be the end of all hope…"

Lily Evans nodded while looking back down at her hands; the promise ring that James Potter had given her glittered in the light of the Headmaster's office. She had to find out the truth, she had to know if Riddle really was only a fraction of a person.

Harry's eyes snapped open and he stared at the darkened ceiling. After a moment of just staring he sat up, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. He shivered as his bare feet touched the cold floor, but aside from that ignored the cool air against him as he walked over to the window.

The moon was out, in all its full glory. He watched it with interest, wondering where Remus was at the moment, and if he had gotten any wolf's bane to keep him calm as he transformed. Harry looked over the rolling waves and across the shore. There was no one outside.

He moved around his room again, grabbing a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Afterwards he pulled a sweater over his head and put his trainers on his feet after sliding on a pair of old socks. Making sure to keep quite Harry cast a silencing charm on his feet so he wouldn't wake Ron or Hermione up. He grabbed his jacket and went outside.

Harry looked around for a moment before running at the edge of the shore, enjoying the bitter cold feeling of the wind against his face for once. As he ran his mind went over his dream again and again.

It wasn't an unpleasant one, that was for sure, but it confused him. Harry understood that Dumbledore wasn't positive at the time, that Riddle had split his soul, he only came to the definite conclusion of that after Voldemort attacked the Potters. He also understood that his mother would go on to become a historian for the Department of Mysteries, hence the reason she had known so many old rituals and had so many old books.

But Lily Potter had been on Voldemort's trail since she had been in her seventh year at Hogwarts. Perhaps that's where Harry's destiny had unknowingly been started, rather then on October 31, 1981, but he would never really know for sure. What he was positive about was that she had done her research, and she had known more about Voldemort then anyone else in the Order had, aside from Dumbledore, of course.

He thought back to the book of horcrux that they had found in the Black library. They had read over how to create a horcrux, and it disgusted all of them. First the person had to murder someone in order to make their soul split inside of their bodies, and then a ritual with the flesh and blood of the caster had to be done to force the soul into the object. The images and stories about that in the book had sickened Harry, and even Hermione didn't want to read the book.

It did nothing to help them figure out how to destroy one. Whoever wrote the book had never found out, Harry knew this because at the very end of the book a note from the publisher was there, saying that the person had died before finishing that part of the book. Whoever had murdered the author didn't want anyone finding out how to destroy a horcrux.

Harry continued running, staring up at the stars in the clear sky. He liked this place and decided it was the type of place he'd like to live if he survived the final battle with Voldemort. The sky was so clear, there weren't many people, and the air was fresh, it seemed to be the perfect spot in his mind. He was thankful every day for Hermione thinking of this place. He had thought their only option was to sleep in a cave or out in the woods, but this proved to be much better.

He circled back, heading towards the cottage again. The past few nights he had gotten up in the dead of night and went for a run, he wasn't sure why, he just knew that he did it. It made him feel good, perhaps because it was calming, or maybe it was because he knew he'd have a hard day of training and thinking ahead of him, he would never really know the answer.

There was some tension between the three of them again, he knew why Ron was a little angry at him, jealousy had never been something the youngest male Weasley had ever been able to hide, and Hermione had a spat with Ron a few nights before about something, so their cold attitudes to one another were understandable, and Harry just had the feeling that Hermione was annoyed at him for something.

He yawned widely as he approached the cottage and quietly walked in. He stretched his arms and glanced towards the kitchen, only to jump backwards from shock.

"Hermione, what are you doing awake?" he asked while calming himself.

"I could ask you the same thing," she said as she took a drink from the cup in her hand.

"I was restless, I needed to run," he replied while taking off his sneakers. "And you didn't answer my question."

Hermione frowned before walking back into the kitchen and sitting at the table. She looked at him with her tired brown eyes for a moment before saying, "I just keep thinking about my conversation with Ron. It bugs me really, I was so furious for him ignoring me last year and now that he really does have his attention on me I just…don't feel right about it."

Harry stared at her for a moment before asking, "This doesn't just have to do with war, does it?"

She shook her head no before saying, "I just don't think it's right…I just don't want to be with him anymore. It's terrible, I know…but…"

"You waited too long for the person to notice, and at first when they did you were excited, then it just…faded…it wasn't like you'd thought it'd be," he finished for her. "Story of my life Hermione. It was like that with both Cho and Ginny."

"We're just defects I think," Hermione said with a grin.

Harry laughed at her and said, "Yeah. That's not all that's been bugging you has it?"

"You know me to well. I was just thinking over the past couple of nights, trying to figure out where a horcrux could be, and I don't know why, but I keep looking at a map in this exact place," she said while pulling out one of the maps they always used and pointing to a small town that Harry wouldn't notice right off.

"It's stupid of me, but I just keep feeling that something's here," she explained to him. "The feeling's been driving me crazy."

"What's the town called?"

"Little Hangleton," she replied.

Harry, who had been getting himself a glass of milk, stopped suddenly and looked up at her quickly with a surprised look on his face. "What is it called?"

"Little Hangleton, why, do you know it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"The Riddle house is there," Harry said after a moment. "The place where Voldemort's father lived. It's not very far from the Gaunt house."

"Then maybe there isn't anything there. Dumbledore went to the Gaunt house, you told us that yourself, he most likely would have stopped there too, the Riddle house," Hermione said.

Harry sat down again, staring at his cup of white liquid before saying, "We should check anyways. I've come to realize that hunches aren't as off as people claim them to be. But I guess we should both get back to bed, do a few exercises with occlumency tomorrow, and non-verbal magic before heading off."

"And wandless in your case," she added. "I really think that'll help you Harry, it'll give you an edge over Voldemort because he won't be expecting that at all."

Harry stared at her for a moment before saying, "We can try." He gulped down the rest of his drink before saying, "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Harry," she said as she watched him walk out of the room. She glanced back down at the map on the table before folding it again and hiding it amongst the books, just in case someone came into the house. After making sure that Harry locked the door tightly she walked back to her room and fell into a restless sleep.

"So we're going to search the Riddle house?" Ron said as he gulped down his orange juice the next morning.

"Yes, it makes sense, Voldemort hides these things in places important to him," Hermione said as she nibbled at her toast.

Harry nodded in agreement and said, "The cave was one of the places he first realized he had power over people. He made the kids he brought with him terrified to be there. The Riddle house is also where he committed his first murders, at least that'd where Dumbledore believed that Voldemort killed first. It would make sense for something to be there."

"That was the place where you saw him in your dream, before fourth year right? Wormtail was there and he killed a muggle?" Ron asked.

"Yes?" Harry said, not sure where Ron was going with this.

"So there's a good chance that when he was there that time he would have ordered Wormtail to move it," Ron said.

"That's definitely possible," Hermione agreed. "But the Riddle house as good a starting place as anything."

"So we're heading over there now?" Ron asked.

"Practice went decently this morning," Hermione said in a serious 'Hermione' tone. "So I don't think we need to hesitate in going any longer."

"We also need to find out how to destroy these things," Harry said. "Preferably without having one of our hands destroyed on us."

"Good point," Ron said with a wince, remembering Dumbledore's shriveled, black hand and how destroying the ring had done it to him.

"Should we bring it with us?" Hermione asked after a moment. "The locket? Or leave it here?"

They stared at each other before Harry said, "I'll wear it under my clothes so no one sees it, in case we run into someone. The chain's pretty durable so it shouldn't break."

Harry quickly moved around the table, picking up the dirty dishes and placing them into the sink, making a mental note to wash them upon their return. The three of them then moved around the house, putting on their sneakers, coats and making sure they had their wands on them.

"Little Hangleton?" Hermione voiced to them.

"Little Hangleton," they both replied before all three of them apparated out of the wardless cottage.

The three of them landed with various degrees of cracks at the outskirts of Little Hangleton. Harry blinked a few times and suddenly had a strong feeling of déjà vu. With dread hanging over him he walked a few paces forwards in the thick fog, only to run into a tomb stone. This one had damage on it, damage from a curse hitting it.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked as she grasped Ron's arm while looking around.

"It's pretty eerie, isn't it?" Ron said.

"The graveyard," Harry muttered before walking towards a tomb stone. "This is Thomas Riddle's grave…Voldemort's father."

"But didn't you say that Voldemort came—oh my," Hermione said when she realized where they were. She let go of Ron's arm and stepped up beside Harry, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"This is where it happened," Harry said. "This is where he came back. Right over there is where Cedric died."

Ron came up to Hermione's other side, noticing the smashed, abandoned cauldron, and the distinct stain of blood on the grave of Thomas Riddle.

"Your blood," Hermione said after a moment, this time gripping his arm tightly. "That's yours isn't it?"

Harry nodded before he started walking towards the town in the distance. The fog was beginning to lift and they could see the outline of a large house, looming in the distance.

"That's it, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"That's the Riddle house," Harry confirmed.

"Why is it that nearly every town we've gone to has been…death?" Ron asked.

"It's Voldemort's influence," Harry said. "His darkness destroys everything in one way or another."

"Everything, including hope," Hermione whispered as they continued to trek up to the old house.

Little Hangleton proved to be a little more populated than Rowena, or rather Forbidden City had been. As the three of them traveled up the old road they saw a drunkened man being thrown out of a pub, a tiny woman heading to the local convience store with her children, a few children playing and sights one would expect to see in a tiny village.

"What do you three think you're doing?" a shrill voice that reminded Harry strongly of his aunt yelled suddenly in their direction. They all turned around to find a woman in her sixties staring at them as if the had committed a crime.

"Umm…we were just…" Harry trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Sight seeing," Hermione said quickly. "We've been traveling to villages with interesting pasts, and mysteries to them."

"You three look young, you should be in school," the woman said. She had an angry, fiery spark in her eyes for someone of her age. "You skipping?"

"No ma'am," Ron lied quickly. "We graduated in June."

The woman's amber eyes looked at all of them in turn, stopping on Harry longer then Ron and Hermione before she said, "You were heading up to the Riddle house."

"Yes, we heard there was a murder in there," Hermione said.

"A few years ago, the gardener died for no reason, they weren't sure what to call it but it wasn't murder, believe me," the woman said. "Now you best be going home."

Ron opened his mouth to argue and suddenly Harry said, "Yes ma'am." He nudged roughly to move and grabbed Hermione's arm, going in the opposite direction.

"Harry," Hermione hissed at him.

"We're not wearing disguises," he growled back. "That woman, she stared at my scar for a while. She's a bloody witch, I just know it."

Ron's mouth opened in shock and he said, "Harry's right…so what do we do? Is she on our side or you-know-who's?"

"That's a good question," Hermione agreed. "She seemed to almost be protecting the Riddle house."

"What do we do?" Ron repeated, this time to Harry directly.

"We go back to the cottage," Harry said in a low voice. "And get out the invisibility cloak, then come back tonight."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a nervous glance before looking back at the foreboding house, neither of them wanted to enter it after dark, but it appeared they had no choice in the matter now.

Author's Note

Another chapter done. I'm on a roll! Let's hope I don't get writer's block. This is the greatest amount of chapters I've put up in a row without having a six month pause between them! This story is turning out longer then I expected it to be. Originally I had intended for them to travel to the Riddle house last chapter and explore it this chapter, but you all know how things end up changing with last minute ideas. Oh well. Hmm we see that they're getting stronger, and Harry has some odd and interesting abilities, so it's time to see what he can do with it.

No one's mentioned it yet but before any one suggests it, Harry will not be becoming an animagus in this story, I just don't find it believeable enough for them to be able to change in less then a year when it took the Marauders three years to learn how to do that, and James, Sirius and Remus (who probably helped them with that) were all apparently really smart too, so I just don't think it's possible.

I've decided to add a tinsy amount of hints towards romance but no actual couples or anything until the end. I'm not changing my mind about what I have planned anymore. Don't worry though, it won't take from the story because there will be less than there was in the canon Half-Blood Prince.

And as always thank you to everyone who reviewed, it really helps…knowing that people like what I write. I love writing, but what's a story if there's no one willing to read it.

Well see you all next time! It's going to get more exciting later, I've already written a couple chapters and believe me, this is going to get more confusing before everything is tired together!

Krystal Lily Potter