W: This story can drink now!! I wonder if that's going to affect the plot…

POC2: Hi Guys! I'm back! That wasn't so bad, was it? I mean, the absence that I warned you about was significantly shorter than the absence when I just kind of disappeared…

Though I'm not sure that's a good thing…

Besides, this is a pretty long chapter. Anyhoo, Randomly?

Disclaimer: People, this is chapter twenty-one. If you still haven't realized that POC2 doesn't own Harry Potter, there's something wrong with you.

POC2: Randomly! No insulting the reader's intelligence!

R: Hey, do you want me to go on strike again?

POC2: Oh god no.

R: Then I'll do what I want.

POC2: But… but… grr.

So, I'm not sure how long that horizontal ruler thing has been there (probably a really long time) but I just noticed it. From now on, that's what I'm using.

Preparations

"It's been three days, Ron," Harry said, "are you almost ready?"

"You gave me a week," Ron reminded him. "I still have four days left, and I plan to use them."

"I still don't understand why you need this week," Hermione noted. "We are being careful even without it. Besides, you haven't explained why you think one of our enemies would give us the information we need to find the Horcrux."

"There are too many coincidences," Ron insisted, "starting with the first scroll we found from RAB.

"Seriously: Fawny just happens to be at Grimmauld Place at the same time as Snape is. Snape searches Regulus Black's room, and tears everything to pieces, but he just happens to miss exactly what we're looking for, and he just happens to destroy the floorboards concealing it. If I was playing chess against an opponent as intelligent as Snape, and he handed me exactly what I needed like this, I'd immediately know that he was trapping me.

"And the coincidences don't end there. The scroll just happens to be in Regulus's room, even though he isn't RAB. Then, when we run out of clues about the cup, that scroll, which just happens to have been where no one but a Death Eater could possibly collect it, just happens to turn up on our doorstep!

"It's working out too well."

"Ron," Hermione said, "I think you're overthinking this. Yes, it was a coincidence that Fawny and Snape were at Grimmauld Place at the same time, but everything else?

"Snape didn't find the scroll because he saw or heard Fawny and fled, and because the picture was on top of it. He destroyed nearly everything in the room, not just that floorboard."

"But wouldn't he hear the floorboard break? And why didn't he look under the picture after it fell?"

"Perhaps his search was making too much noise," Hermione suggested, "and perhaps he intended to check under the floorboard, but he ran out of time because he heard or saw Fawny.

"Besides," she continued, "you seem to be assuming that Snape was looking for the Horcrux. How do you know that? According to RAB, no true Death Eater should even be able to read the scroll."

"He'd probably recognize the locket," Ron pointed out, "wouldn't he?"

"Maybe," Hermione conceded, "If he was looking for a Horcrux. But how would he know that Voldemort made Horcruxes? I doubt Voldemort publicized the fact, even among his Death Eaters."

"Especially among his Death Eaters," Harry agreed. "He doesn't exactly trust any of them."

"Why else would Snape be at Grimmauld place?" Ron countered.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "He was in and out a lot last year and the year before," she pointed out. "Maybe he forgot something during one of his visits."

"Or," Hermione added, "maybe he was looking for any powerful Dark Objects that we may have missed."

"I still think that there are too many coincidences," Ron insisted. "This has all been too easy."

"Coincidences do happen," Neville said. "Just because we've been lucky, that doesn't mean we're being manipulated."

"Besides," Luna said, "remember the robes Harry wore to your brother's wedding? The twinkletellers have probably been following him around ever since." (1)

Ron chose to ignore her. "Fine," he conceded, "It's possible that we just got really, really lucky, but I don't think so. I'm not taking any chances."

"Fine," Harry said. "Whatever. You have four more days."

Ron only needed two.

"Okay," he said once all the members of the Skifflemont Six had gathered, "if this isn't a trap, and we do manage to destroy the Horcrux, I think it would be best to go after Voldemort immediately, so that if he realizes what we've done, he won't have time to react. So I contacted everyone in the DA, and I had Fred and George contact the Order, and they'll be standing by. We can call them if something goes wrong or, if we don't have any trouble, we'll call them after we destroy the Horcrux and they'll meet us at Salazar's Stronghold.

"If we run into any Death Eaters—if Voldemort put any guards around the Horcrux or something—and we don't have time to call for help, to here's what we'll do…"

"This is Smith's house?" Ron asked. "I thought she was rich."

Harry could understand why Ron was confused; the building in question looked more like a haunted house than anything, though at some point it had probably been an impressive mansion.

"She was rich," Hermione said, "but she died fifty years ago. Apparently her family didn't put a great deal of effort into taking care of her house after her death."

"Her House Elf was framed for her murder," Ginny pointed out, "so she probably wouldn't have worked after that. The family may have decided that taking care of the house without an Elf was too much trouble."

Hermione muttered something about lazy wizards who are far too dependant on their slaves, then she said, "That's possible, but it doesn't really matter why they abandoned the house, only that they did."

"So," Neville said, "where do you think we should start looking?"

"It should be below the house, right?" Harry said. "Isn't that what RAB wrote? Maybe there's a basement?"

Ron shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Harry took a deep breath and led the others as, wands drawn and ready, they approached the front door.

"You know," Ron joked, "this could be great practice for when we're all Aurors someday."

Ginny snorted. "I don't know about you," she said, "but when this is over I think I'll have had enough of hunting down Dark objects to last a lifetime."

When they reached the door, Harry grabbed the doorknob. It turned easily, and the door creaked open.

"Here goes nothing," Harry muttered, and the Skifflemont Six walked into the house.

"We're looking for a staircase going down," Ginny said, "right? Do you think we should split up and search?"

"No," Ron said, "we definitely want to stay together."

"Well," Hermione said, "I suppose we should start to. Don't forget to check behind the doors; the staircase may not be in plain sight."

"Right," Harry muttered. He began to walk carefully down the hallway, opening each door, flanked on either side by his friends.

The first door led to a closet. Harry closed it and moved on.

The next door opened to reveal a bathroom.

The next led to a cupboard, then a small bedroom. There were no other doors leading out of the bedroom, so they moved on.

The next door was concealing a staircase.

"I suppose this is it," Harry said. "Down we go."

The Skifflemont Six walked slowly and carefully down the staircase, expecting at any moment to face the first trap. Every step they took without facing opposition, they became more nervous. Surely this couldn't last forever. Surely there would be a trap coming… some trick soon… but they reached the bottom of the stairs without any trouble.

"This can't be right," Ginny said, half to herself.

Harry half-turned to look at her. "Huh?"

"This place," Ginny elaborated. "This path. There's no was Voldemort would hide part of his soul here without any protection."

"Unless that's what he wants us to think," Hermione suggested.

"Will you please stop talking in riddles?" Ron requested tersely.

"Sorry," Hermione said. The Skifflemont Six had reached the bottom of the stairs and were standing in front of yet another door. "What I meant," she elaborated, "is that Voldemort may have not wanted to draw attention to all this. If a wizard or witch were to enter this house without knowing anything about the Horcruxes and to run into several traps, he or she would probably become suspicious. This way, no one will find the Horcrux who doesn't already know it's here. (2)

"Besides, we have no idea how large this basement is. It's entirely possible that there's room for a great many traps behind this door."

"Well," Harry muttered, "that's a cheery thought." He glanced at the others. "Are you ready?" His friends nodded, so he reached out and grabbed the doorknob. It did not turn.

"It's locked," Harry announced.

"Well," Ginny said, "at least we know we're on the right track."

"Alohamora!" Ron said. The door remained locked.

"There was a door by the other Horcrux," Harry suggested hesitantly, "that only opened when blood was smeared on it."

Ginny shrugged. "It's worth a try." She took off the pin she was wearing and, before Harry could stop her, she deliberately stabbed herself in the finger. She waited a few seconds for the blood to well up, then wiped her finger off on the door. Nothing happened.

"Could it need more blood?" Luna asked.

"No," Hermione said. "If it required a larger blood sacrifice, there would have been some reaction to Ginny's blood."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "Hermione, are there any other spells for opening locked doors?"

"There are," Hermione said doubtfully, "but Voldemort probably countered them all."

"Well, try them anyway while we think of something else."

Hermione shrugged. "I suppose it couldn't hurt… teftah!" she muttered, and a blue light hit the doorknob. Nothing happened. (3)

She began to mutter various spells and beams of multicolored light hit the door one after another, but it did not unlock.

"Can I try?" Ginny asked.

Hermione groaned. "Please do."

"Stand back," Ginny warned. She waved her wand, and the air in front of the door exploded. When the smoke cleared, the door was undamaged. Ginny groaned. "Arrg! Will you please just open?" she asked the door, and it did.

Ginny blinked. "What did I just do?"

Hermione gasped. "That's brilliant!" she said.

"Uh, thanks," said Ginny, "but I still don't know how I did it."

Hermione shook her head. "That's not what I meant." She looked at the other's uncomprehending faces and elaborated. "Voldemort knows that only a very powerful witch or wizard could find his Horcrux, and he doesn't respect the power of anyone who would humble himself enough to beg for anything, so he made a door that will only open if you beg."

"Okay…" Ron said, "I guess that is sort of brilliant… can we get this over with?"

"Ron, wait—" Harry said, but Ron had already stepped through the doorway. As soon as he passed the threshold, the doorway began to glow green, to red. Ron shuddered, stopped walking, and lowered his wand.

"Ron?" Harry called. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." Ron said. He sounded confused, but unharmed.

"Do you see the Horcrux?" Harry asked.

"Horcrux?" Ron repeated. "What's a Horcrux?"

1: Luna told us about twinkletellers back in chapter seven. Ah, Luna.

2: The house does, after all, still officially belong to the Smiths. One of them may decide to come look at it someday, or some kid could enter on a dare…

3: Teftah: Hebrew. Literally, "Open!"

R: Yes, cliffies are evil. Yes, they're cruel. They're also a lot of fun. Seriously, I laughed at the end of POTC 2.

POC2: She really did. Of course, she was more laughing at people's reactions to the ending itself, but still…

R: Oh, come on. You should have seen the looks on people's faces! When Barbossa came back, and to it just ended?! It was priceless!

POC2: Right…

W: Does anyone else find it amusing that POC2's alter-ego had a different reaction to a movie than she did?

POC2: I don't really know what you're talking about, but okay…

Next: What the cheese do I do to Ron? How can he destroy the Horcrux when he doesn't seem to remember what a Horcrux is? And what other traps did Voldemort leave? All this and more, in two weeks.