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Harry Potter and the Unbreakable Circle Chapter 14: Discovery

Hogwarts was filled beyond capacity, at least three of the dormitories that is. Gryffindor Tower had been reserved exclusively for Lord Voldemort. The common room had been stripped bare. The only decoration was Godric Gryffindor's sword, which he had placed above the mantle.

The porthole stood open. The painting had been ripped down. Snape entered and stood silently as Nagini wound around his feet. Voldemort, who had been staring out the window, lifted his head, and without turning around, said, "Yes, Severus- what do you have to report?"

Stepping carefully over the snake, he approached, "It would appear that you have effectively shut down the Ministry. However, the squads of Death Eaters that have been sent out have found much resistance. Most of the targets seemed prepared for our arrival, and are ready to defend themselves."

"No doubt," The Dark Lord replied. "They have not given up, they have simply changed tactics. Having chosen not to confront us at their headquarters, I would assume they are planning to battle us at ours. This will be their downfall."

He swept across the room and placed a hand on Snape's shoulder. "We are nearing our greatest victory. Keep up the attacks, and let the muggles know we are on the way. Disrupt their lives. Soon enough they will know the full extent of our control. "

Snape bowed and started to exit. Before leaving he spoke again. "Pardon me, my Lord, do you have any special instructions to your followers to prepare for this battle?"

Slight annoyance was evident in his reply. "They will need none. By bringing the fight here, I will be able to project my strength to them across the battlefield. Our warriors will make a circle around me, and together we will be invincible." His eyes seemed to burn into Snape. Voldemort grabbed him by the shoulder. "Why do you hide your thoughts from me? I have trusted you beyond all others."

Remaining calm, Snape replied, "There is one more factor in the equation. I was not sure you wanted me to bring it to your attention."

The Dark Lord released his grip. "Do not think I have forgotten Potter. He will come to me. As soon as they attack, he will be here, and I will end this, once and for all."

The next few days at the Ministry were a little confusing. Most of the staff had been told not to come in, but to alert everyone they knew to Voldemort's plan. Those that still needed to report were given a spell that allowed them to apparate in the lunchroom.

Hermione had four others working with her, digging through piles of old documents for clues. Reports were coming in of wizards ready to take up wands against the Dark Lord.

Scrimgeour made the trip he dreaded, visiting the muggle Prime Minister to warn him of problems ahead. Before long, a quarter of London had lost power and half the trains in Wales were no longer running. The available aurors were trying to set things right as quickly as possible.

Hagrid had been recalled from dragon duty, and was asked to go to the Forbidden Forest outside Hogwarts and enlist any of the magical creatures. Harry rushed to the Ministry to see him before he left.

"How was life with the dragons?" Just seeing his giant friend's face cheered him up. For a few minutes it felt like a weight was lifted.

"Things is alright. Charlie's got a handle on 'em." Hagrid tugged at his hair. "Got singed a bit by a lively ridgeback." His expression darkened, "How ya' holdin' up, Harry? Yeh must feel like the world is on yer shoulders."

"Everyone kind of feels that way right now. Do you think we'll get any help from the creatures in the forest?"

"Can't really say. Some might feel different now that the fight is on their doorstep. I just want to make sure they're safe. I'm most worried about the unicorns. As soon as I find Firenze, I'll ask him to get them as far away as possible."

Harry thought he had a thousand things to talk to Hagrid about. The only thing that came to mind was, "Stay safe, and keep out of sight."

"Remember when I picked ya up from the Dursley's your first year?" Tears started to come to Hagrid's eyes. "Never thought then, we'd be in a situation like this." He cleared his throat. "Right then. We've both got our jobs to do. See ya soon."

After Hagrid left Harry started to wander through the ministry. What if they couldn't find the missing horcrux? At some point their hand would be forced and they would have to attack. As he rounded the corner, Hermione almost knocked him down.

"This could be it!" she shouted, as she waved an old newspaper in her hand. "Look at this. It's from almost forty years ago. Look!" He started to take it from her and she grabbed it back. "It's about Rowena Ravenclaw. Her telescope was stolen from one of her descendants. That could be the missing horcrux!"

After she caught her breath, they headed for Scrimgeour's office. "Makes sense," The Minister nodded. "Now, how do we find it to make sure?"

"I don't know!" Hermione's emotions spilled over and tears started to flow.

Scrimgeour put a hand on her shoulder. "You've done a good job. I'll notify my staff and we'll see what we can come up with. You two take a break."

As they sat in the lunchroom Ron joined them. Seeing Hermione's face, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Harry stood up, "Our friend here may have just figured out what the missing horcrux is."

"So why do you look so upset?" Ron sat down next to her and took her hand.

"I was just so excited, then I realized we still have to find it. I just got a little overwhelmed."

"Well, what is it?" Ron asked

Answering for her Harry said, "A telescope."

"I wonder if it's anything like that old telescope up in storage?" Ron added

Sitting up straight Hermione stared at her boyfriend. "What old telescope?"

"Up with all the stuff the Ministry has confiscated over the years. I saw it over the summer." Shaking his head, "No, can't be. That one must have been a muggle telescope. It had a crest on it like those expensive muggle cars."

"What muggle cars?" she asked sounding interested.

"Oh you know…what are they called…Rolling Royce?"

"What?" she jumped up. "You mean a Rolls Royce? A crest with a double R?" she shouted.

"Yeah, why?"

Jumping up and down Hermione shrieked, "Yes!" She leaped into his arms and started kissing him.

Afraid she had lost her mind, Ron yelled back, "What?"

Hermione kept repeating, "I love you." And continued to kiss him

With a congratulatory slap on the back Harry explained, "The RR, it's not Rolls Royce. It's Rowena Ravenclaw. That's the one we're looking for."

After a minute of celebrating Ron looked at his friends, "Let's go get it."

"No, wait." Hermione was catching her breath. "We've got to tell the Minister first. Let's get as much help as we can. We are not in this alone any more."

For the second time that day they entered Scrimgeour's office with good news. "You people work fast." He laughed. "Okay, lets see if you're right."

After summoning Moody they followed Ron to the telescope. When Ron saw it, a look of disappointment came over him. "I just remembered. I picked it up and tried looking through it. Nothing happened to me. It didn't even work. I couldn't see anything. If it is the horcrux, wouldn't I be dead, or at least injured?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Moody whispered as he circled the telescope. "Let's think. How did it end up here? By accident? I think not. Voldemort plans too carefully for that. He must have had it placed here." His eye rolled wildly. "He might have imagined fighting a battle at the Ministry. Think of the effect if he was killed in that fight then immediately reappeared." He walked around it. "He would make it so it couldn't be triggered or discovered by accident. He turned to Ron. "You said you couldn't see through it. What happened when you took off the lens cap?"

"The what?" asked Ron.

"Never mind." Moody shook his head. A wave of his wand and golden sparks appeared around the telescope. Harry and his friends knew what that spell was. The sparks were suddenly pulled into the telescope. Immediately after that it started to draw in Moody's wand, with him in tow. As he got closer Scrimgeour yelled, "For goodness sake, let go of the wand!"

"I can't!" Mad-Eye yelled back. Rufus quickly pulled out his wand and shot the tip off from Moody's. The telescope quieted down. "That was my favorite wand!" Mad-Eye yelled.

"You're welcome." Scrimgeour snapped.

After looking at his damaged wand, he tossed it to the side and took another out of his robe. "Okay, thanks." Moody continued his analysis. "Clearly, it's been made to absorb any spell cast on it, as well as the wizard who cast it. Pretty good trick. We may have to destroy it without magic. I'm not exactly sure where to start."

"Oh, muggles destroy things all the time. That's why they have to dig huge holes in the ground. They fill them up with all their old destroyed things and cover them over." Hermione seemed quite the expert, having muggle parents.

"Really? How strange," commented Scrimgeour. "What do they use to destroy things?"

"All sorts of stuff," she said.

"My dad's got all sorts of muggle stuff in his department, let's ask him," Ron added.

"Good idea. I think I'll find the nearest muggle hardware store, and pick up a few things." Harry said as images of the unused items in Mr. Dursley's tool box came to mind. "Anywhere I can get some muggle money here at the Ministry?"

"I'll take care of that. We always keep some around." Scrimgeour said. "Let's all see what we can find and meet back here in an hour."

Harry was the last to arrive when they reconvened. With him he brought a hammer, a propane torch, a razor knife and a pair of tin snips. Hermione had quickly apparated home and brought back a hatchet, a handsaw and another hammer. Ron and Mr. Weasley had an interesting assortment; a cheese grater, an electric can opener, a Tommy gun, a push broom, barrel hoops, a tennis racket, a flashlight, a riding crop, a garden hose and yet another hammer.

Staring over the assortment, Moody questioned, "What do they do with all these things?"

"Since we have the most of these," said Harry picking up a hammer, "Let's try this first." He pulled out his Koeda and made a shield.

"What the devil is that?" Moody shouted in surprise.

"I'll explain later," Harry said. "Right now I would like you all to have your wands ready if I need help." He walked over and swung the hammer through his Tate no Shizen, hitting the telescope. The head of the hammer sunk in and started to pull Harry with it. Quickly Scrimgeour shot with his wand and shattered the handle. The telescope swelled a little and started to vibrate, then quieted down. "Thank you, Minister." Harry sighed.

"Let me try something." Hermione stepped forward. As she reached out and touched it, at once everyone yelled for her to stop. She removed the lens cap…nothing happened. "Just as I thought. It only reacts if it is being attacked. That's why Ron wasn't hurt. She took her flashlight and shined the beam into the lens. Nothing.

"That's good to know, but it doesn't help us destroy the bloody thing." Ron's tone surprised everyone a bit.

"I wonder," Moody said with both eyes firmly fixed on the telescope, "Just how much it can absorb. I'm sure Voldemort planned on it being able to take on any possible spells, but he may not have planned on too many of these." He picked up another hammer and threw it, hitting the telescope with a dull thud. It sank in, expanding the sides. After a moment of shuddering it returned to normal. "Hmmm, it took longer to regain its shape that time." Grabbing the electric can opener he winged that. The swelling and shaking repeated, but this time it gave a burst of energy, almost like a burp, that was strong enough to knock the wizards down.

As they all got to their feet Arthur commented, "Appears we gave it a case of indigestion." After a moments pause he continued, "I say we give it all we've got and see if we can make it really sick."

Harry turned to face the others and held up a hand. "Wait, before we try, let's protect ourselves. Professor Moody, that shield was something we learned from a member of the Matomari." Addressing the three older wizards, he added, "If Ron, Hermione and I set up a shield, the three of you could take your best shots with…" he looked with uncertainty at the pile of objects they had, "Our arsenal."

"Worth a try." Moody agreed. The three younger wizards produced their shields. After a few minutes of adjusting they joined them into one.

"Okay, now!" Harry yelled. The three senior wizards started pitching the odd assortment of objects as hard as they could at the telescope. Each one made it swell bigger, and shake harder. As Scrimgeour picked up the tommy gun he asked Arthur, "Does this thing still work?"

"I don't even know what it is." He replied.

Rufus pointed it at the telescope and shouted, "I saw this in a muggle movie once." He pulled the trigger and bullets went flying. The ones that hit their target made a dull thud as if they were sinking into clay. After he had emptied all the rounds into the telescope it was three or four times its normal size and convulsing uncontrollably. The pile had run out so Rufus threw the empty gun. It hit its mark.

The next few moments were chaos. The telescope exploded leaving the room nothing but rubble. The wizards had been flattened. Harry was the first to his feet. Where the telescope had been, wisps of smoke hung in the air. A smell similar to burnt hair filled what was left of the room. There was a moaning sound so deep he could feel it more than hear it. Harry's scar burned intensely for just a second then stopped. Slowly he said, "He's gone. It worked."

Moody pulled himself up and grabbed Harry's shoulder. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." He touched his forehead. A wave of fatigue washed over him. Turning around Harry saw Arthur and Rufus standing up. Fear started to grip him. Hermione and Ron were both lying on the floor unconscious.

Moody quickly touched the tip of his wand to each of them and their eyes opened. "Don't move!" he barked. "You might need medical attention. We're going to take you to St. Mungo's." While Moody picked Hermione up in his arms, Arthur helped Ron to his feet. All four apparated.

The few people left in the building were starting to run down the hall. As they approached the destroyed room, Rufus held up his hand. "We're alright. See if you can get a few extra people in here to clean this up." Then to Harry, he added, "Follow me."

Once they were in his office and dusted off, Scrimgeour poured out some pumpkin juice for both of them. "That's it, then." He said. "Time to plan our attack."

"Not quite." Harry answered, "I've got one more thing to do."

Johanna's Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been procrastinating.