Here it is fans, the Half Blood Prince related chapter I promised. Sorry it took so long.
BTW, I don't own the note that Regulus Black wrote, J.K. Rowling does. I just thought it would be appropriate to present it in my fanfiction the way it was presented in the book. 'Harry Potter' and 'Tom and Jerry' belong to J.K. Rowling and Hanna Barbera, respectively. I own nothing.
"I can't believe that so many people we knew are now dead" said Jerry in a tearful voice as he flicked through the photo album. "Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks...
"Dumbledore" added Tom, a few tears trickling down his face. At the mention of Dumbledore's name, Jerry burst into louder, more hysterical tears.
"Oh Dumbledore!" he howled. "I thought I'd gotten over that!"
"There, there" said Tom as he used his index finger to pat his friend on the back. "It was all for a good cause, it would have been worse for him if he hadn't died when he did"
"I know, I know" sniffed Jerry. "But you never forget it when you actually see someone die for yourself."
Tom and Jerry were hurrying up the stairs to the astronomy tower.
Things had been getting steadily worse since Voldemort's return had been made public. First of all, the dementors had left Azkaban and sided with the Dark Lord (which was not in the least bit surprising to Tom and Jerry). Then, last July, Mr. Ollivander had been reported missing and Death Eaters had brought down two bridges in London, killing hundreds of Muggles. A few months later, Harry's fellow quidditch player, Katie Bell, had been almost died from wearing a cursed necklace and then in March, Ron had drunk poisoned mead and had only just been saved by Harry with a bezoar. In addition to all of this, Draco Malfoy had been acting very strangely and there were rumours going around that he had been indoctrinated into the Death Eaters.
Right now though, Tom and Jerry were being summoned to the astronomy tower by Dumbledore on urgent business. As the reached the topmost point, where Dumbledore had asked them to meet him, they saw the headmaster of Hogwarts looking out across the grounds with his back to them. Harry stood by his side holding a piece of paper in his hand.
"Sir, Tom and Jerry are here." Dumbledore turned to face the newcomers.
"Thomas, Jerry, there is something very important I must say to you" he said gravely. "Harry and I have just discovered the key to Voldemort's undoing."
"You have? But that's great news!" cried Jerry.
"Let me finish, Jerry" said Dumbledore. "Years ago, Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces, and hid each one in an item of importance to him. These items are now known as horcruxes."
"Why would he split his soul into seven pieces?" asked Tom.
"Because he is terrified of death, Thomas" said Dumbledore. "It is one of the only things he truly fears. The splitting of his soul means that even if his body is destroyed, he will not die because parts of his soul are still intact. That is how he escaped death after his original body was destroyed, when he tried to kill Harry as a baby. If we destroy all of these horcruxes, then his own destruction will be final."
"But why have you asked us to come here?"
"Because Harry and I must journey to the place where one of his horcruxes is hidden. And I may not come back alive." "But whatever happens," he added, seeing Tom and Jerry's shocked faces, "I need you two to watch over Hogwarts while Harry and I are gone. As I said in my speech at the start of the year, every day, every hour, dark forces are attempting to penetrate the school. And for much of tonight at the very least, I will not be here to stop them. That is why I need you."
"But how can we watch over all of Hogwarts?" said Tom. Harry went up to him and handed him the paper in his hand. He took out his wand and placed its tip on the paper.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." As the blank piece of paper began to reveal the grounds and castle of Hogwarts, Tom understood exactly how he and Jerry were meant to watch over the school.
"The Marauder's Map" he said understandingly.
"Precisely" said Dumbledore. He turned to Harry. "Are you ready to depart, Harry?"
"Yes, sir." Harry went up to Dumbledore and took him by the hand. Before they apparated out, he turned to Tom and Jerry.
"Good luck, you two."
"Same to you" said Tom and Jerry in unision. And then Harry and Dumbledore were gone.
Hours had passed since Harry and Dumbledore had apparated out of Hogwarts. Jerry paced up and down anxiously, while Tom studied the map for any signs of suspicous going-ons.
"How much longer?" moaned Jerry for the umpteenth time. "I can't stand this tension no more!"
"Well here's something to take your mind of Harry and Dumbledore for a while" said Tom. "Come have a look at this."
Jerry went over to the map, Tom was pointing at the Room of Requirement, Draco Malfoy's name was there, he was alone.
"What could that creep want in the Room of Requirement?" Jerry wondered out loud. Then, both his and Tom's jaws dropped as a second name appeared in the room of requirement: Bellatrix Lestrange.
"What's she doing here?" screamed Jerry. Bellatrix's name was followed by several others: Thorffinn Rowle, Yaxley, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, and someone called Fenrir Greyback.
Tom wasted no time. He pointed his wand at himself.
"Sonoros."
Then he crouched down by the stairwell leading to the astronomy tower and, in his new amplified voice, said the following:
"Students of Hogwarts, Members of Dumbledore's army, Death Eaters are in the school. They're coming out of the Room of Requirement. Fight them, fend them off, do what you must to protect our school!"
At that moment, there was bang and Harry and Dumbledore were back at the astronomy tower, Dumbledore looked very weak. While Tom cast the 'quietus' charm on himself, Jerry explained the situation to Harry.
"H.P, there are Death Eaters in Hogwarts. They came in through the Room of Requirement, I don't know how. Tom's let the whole school know, so Ron, Hermione and the others should be taking care of it."
"Very good" wheezed Dumbledore. '"Now, get under the invisibility cloak, all of you!"
Harry tossed the invisibility cloak on to Tom and Jerry, but did not get under himself, instead turning to Dumbledore.
"Harry, get under as well. Go and wake Severus and bring him here. I shall wait."
"But sir-"began Harry.
"You swore to obey me when we set out on our mission" said Dumbledore, his voice a wheezy croak. "Get under the cloak and go, all of you!"
Reluctantly Harry put the cloak on and he, Tom and Jerry began to make their way to the staircase. But as they neared it they heard footsteps, and panting, someone was coming. Suddenly, Harry became all rigid and fell to the floor, almost pulling the invisibility cloak off Tom and Jerry. Turning around, they saw Dumbledore pointing his wand in their direction and knew that for some reason, he had immobolised him. Then another spell was cast, but this time the caster spoke it.
"Expelliarmus." Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand and out of the Astronomy tower window. Tom and Jerry turned back to see who had disarmed him.
It was Malfoy.
"Good evening, Draco" said Dumbledore calmly.
"Who else is here?" demanded Malfoy. "I heard you talking to someone."
"There's nobody here but you and me" replied Dumbledore. "I often talk to myself. Though some may call it a sign of madness, I find it very useful for clearing the mind. But Draco, might I ask, are you alone?"
For a while, Malfoy was silent, then he spoke.
"No, I've got Death Eaters with me tonight. I smuggled them into your school, and you never realised, you stupid old man" he spat. Tom and Jerry glared at Malfoy from underneath the invisibility cloak. He never could resist boasting and showing off.
"Ingenious" said Dumbledore. "But if that is so then why have you come alone? Where is your Praetorian guard?"
"They're fighting downstairs" said Malfoy. "That Dumbledore's Army bunch are putting up a fight. But I've got a job to do, that's why I came on ahead."
"Well then, if you have a job to do you'd best get on and do it, hadn't you?" said Dumbledore. "I have no wand on me."
Malfoy pointed his own wand at Dumbledore. Tom and Jerry couldn't help but notice that his arm was shaking a lot.
"Draco, Draco" said Dumbledore, as if he were comforting a frightened child. "You are no killer."
"You don't know that!" said Malfoy. "You don't know half of the things I've done this year."
"Oh but I do, Draco" said Dumbledore, with a hint of slyness in his voice. Tom turned to see Dumbledore putting up his fingers one by one as he spoke. "Giving a cursed necklace to Katie Bell and hoping that she would in turn pass it on to me. Sending me the bottle of poisoned mead that almost killed Ronald Weasley. Forgive me for saying this, Draco, but these have been such weak and feeble assasination attempts that I can't help but wonder if your heart has actually been in them."
"It has been in them! The Dark Lord trusts me, I was chosen for this!" said Malfoy pathetically. He rolled up his left sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark tattooed on his inner forearm.
So Malfoy was the one behind the necklace and the poison, and now Tom and Jerry knew why. Voldemort had planted an agent at Hogwarts.
"Well then" said Dumbledore in the calm tone he had been using ever since Malfoy had disarmed him. "If the Dark Lord has indeed chosen you to kill me, you'd best do it, and fulfill his wishes. Or would you prefer to wait for your fellow Death Eaters?"
Malfoy did not rely, but his wand bearing arm began to shake even more vigorously.
"Since the others are taking their time, why don't we clarify a few issues?" said Dumbledore. "How exactly did you manage to smuggle Death Eaters into this school, Draco?"
"The vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirment" replied Malfoy. "It was broken, but I've been mending it all year, and tonight I finally did it."
"But that still doesn't explain how Death Eater's got into Hogwarts. Unless of course...there is another cabinet of its make elsewhere."
Malfoy nodded."The cabinet in Borgin and Burkes. It forms a passage with the one in the Room of Requirement."
"I see" said Dumbledore. A loud bang sounded from below and someone screamed.
"I sense your friends are getting closer, perhaps it would be best now to discuss the options available to you, Draco."
"Options! I haven't got any options, I haven't got any choice. I need to kill you, otherwise..." he stopped for a moment and to Tom and Jerry, he looked like he was fighting the urge to cry. "Otherwise he's gonna kill me, kill my whole family. That's why I need to kill you."
In all the time they had known Malfoy, Tom and Jerry had felt only contempt and disdain for him. But now they felt something else for him, pity. Pity for what he was being forced to do by Voldemort. They knew that Malfoy had never liked Dumbledore, but his increasingly paling face and the way in which his wand arm was shaking showed that he didn't really want to kill him. He was just doing what he had to to save his own life, and that of his family.
At that moment, the rest of the Death Eaters appeared in the room, led by Bellatrix. Her hair was all askew and she was panting a little. She had clearly been in the wars. But now, seeing Dumbeldore cornered, a wicked smile appeared on her face.
"Well, well, well" she sneered. "I never thought I'd see this. Dumbledore wandless, friendless, and alone." She strode up to Malfoy, followed by the other Death Eaters. "Well done, Draco, nephew." she whispered.
"Good evening, Bellatrix, Amycus, Alecto, Rowle, and Fenrir too I see" said Dumbledore, as if he were addressing old friends.
"Dumbledore" snarled the man who had been addressed as Fenrir. He had an extarordinary amount of hair on both his face and his arms, as well as brown pointed teeth and yellow, claw like nails. "Still as sickneningly polite as ever."
"And what about you, Fenrir? Still stationing yourself near children at the full moon so you can infect them with lycanthropy?" retorted Dumbledore.
"I can do that without being in my wolf form" said Fenrir. "And when Draco has killed you, I think I'll help myself to a few of the juicy Hogwarts kids you've got in this here school" he added, licking his lips. Tom and Jerry had to fight back the urge to vomit at the werewolf's savagery.
"Come on, Draco" said Bellatrix. "You have him here, at your mercy. You know the spell. Do it!" But Malfoy was silent.
"He doesn't have the stomach. He's Lucius' son alright" sneered a squat wizard.
"Shut up, Carrow!" snapped Bellatrix. "Do it, Draco, and win the Dark Lord's favour!"
But still Malfoy said and did nothing. His wand arm was shaking violently.
"This is a waste of time" snarled the werewolf. "Let me do it." He started towards Dumbledore.
"Oh, no you don't, Fenrir Greyback!" shouted Bellatrix. There was a loud bang and Greyback was thrown against the wall near the stairs.
"Come on, Draco. Do the deed" said a squat witch who looked strikingly like the squat wizard. "Or step aside so one of us...
"No!" came a new voice from the stairwell. Underneath the invisibility cloak, Tom and Jerry turned to see Snape enter the Astronomy Tower. At last, someone who could help had arrived. He held out his wand and strode up next to Draco and Bellatrix. Tom silently prayed that he was going to take the latter prisoner.
"Severus...Severus" said Dumbledore in the weakest voice that Tom and Jerry had ever heard him speak in. "Severus, please." Dumbledore was pleading.
"Avada Kedavra" said Snape quickly. The green spell shot out of his wand and hit Dumbledore right in the chest, almost too fast for Tom and Jerry to see. Dumbledore's body tumbled out of the Astronomy Tower window like a bundle of old laundry. While Bellatrix cackled wildly, Snape grabbed Malfoy by the arm.
"Out, out, quick. The Order will be here soon."
As the rest of the Death Eaters ran down the stairs, Bellatrix went over to the window and pointed her wand up at the sky.
"Mosmorde" she cried before bolting down the stairs after her companions. Tom and Jerry felt the cloak being pulled off them. Harry had regained the ability to move and was now running down the stairs as well. Jerry headed straight after him but Tom briefly went over to the window and looked up. To his horror, hovering above the Astronomy tower was the infamous Dark Mark, the sign that the Death Eaters used when they had killed someone, according to Hermione.
As Tom left the Astronomy tower, he heard the sounds of battle raging throughout the castle. Every now and then he passed a member of Dumbledore's Army who was attempting an attack on a Death Eater. Eventually he found Jerry duelling Bellatrix.
"Expelliarmus" shouted Bellatrix. Jerry's wand flew out of his hand.
"Not again" he cried. Bellatrix raised her wand purposefully.
"Leave him alone!" bellowed Tom. Bellatrix looked in his direction and smiled.
"Ah, another animal who thinks he can do magic for me to toy with."
"Confringius!" shouted Tom. There was a loud explosion and Bellatrix was sent flying along the corridor by the blasting charm. She landed on her back, as she picked herself up and looked daggers at Tom. She opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it and ran. Tom looked down at Jerry.
"You ok, little buddy?"
Jerry did not give a proper answer. He looked up at Tom with a look of horror.
"B...b...behind you."
Tom turned around and almost screamed out loud at what he saw. Fenrir Greyback was standing behind him and licking his lips.
"A cat and a mouse" he slobbered. "Not as tasty as human kids, but good for a light snack." He reached out with one filthy paw towards Tom.
"No!" came a new voice from behind Greyback. All present turned and saw a large red haired man charging down the corridor towards Greyback. As the man came closer, Tom and Jerry recognised it as Ron's brother, Bill Weasley, who they had met earlier that year.
"Tom, Jerry, get after Harry. I'll hold off Greyback. Go, now!"
Tom and Jerry were reluctant to leave Bill to face something as savage and brutal as Greyback, but they had seen Snape kill Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in history. What chance did Harry stand if he went up against him. So they ran down the corridor, resisting the urge to go back and help Bill fight Greyback.
As they exited the castle and entered the grounds, they saw at a distance, Harry and Snape battling it out. Worse still, Harry seemed to be losing, with Snape blocking every spell his opponent threw at him.
"Sectusempra!" shouted Harry, using a spell that neither Tom nor Jerry had ever heard of before.
"Protego" said Snape, blocking the spell. "Expelliarmus!" Tom and Jerry increased their pace, without a wand, Harry was as defenceless against Snape as Dumbledore was not ten minutes ago.
As it turned out, they needn't have hurried. From above their heads there came the flapping of wings. Looking up, they saw Buckbeak, the hippogriff they had last seen living with Sirius in a cave near Hogsmeade. He was heading in the same direction as they were, talons aimed at Snape. Folding in his wings, he sped ahead of them and collided head on with Snape, who tumbled backwards and rolled a little way. Buckbeak landed in front of Harry and screeched at Snape. The Potions Master picked himself up and ran for the gates, Buckbeak in hot pursuit. But the hippogriff's chase was futile. As Snape cleared the gates, he disappeared. Buckbeak took to the air and circled around looking for him but Tom and Jerry knew it was hopeless. Snape has disappareted and nobody knew where he had gone.
A few minutes later, Tom and Jerry were helping Hagrid escort Harry back to the castle. Hagrid had not believed Harry's story that Snape had killed Dumbledore, insisting that everything was alright and that Dumbledore had only sent Snape to chase after the Death Eaters. Tom and Jerry knew better than to offer such words to Harry. They knew that nothing anyone could say or do would make him feel better, and they wished that Hagrid would stop insisting that everything was fine.
As they neared the base of the Astronomy tower, they saw that a crowd had gathered. At the front of it was Professor McGonagall looking down at Dumbledore's body and dabbing her red eyes. Tom and Jerry could tell that she had been crying for a long time now, and was just dealing with the last of her tears.
But as McGonagall's tears ended, Harry's started. He knelt by the body of his headmaster and wept loudly. Ginny came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. But it did little to soften the universal feelings of shock, grief and despair that were felt by every Hogwarts student and staff member present. Even Hagrid had abandoned his optimism and was blubbering loudly into a frilly handkerchief. As for Tom and Jerry, they stared at their owner and at Dumbledore's body. They were both thinking the same thing: 'Why didn't we do something to stop it?'. Aside from shock, grief and despair, Tom and Jerry were both having to deal with guilt as their mental burden.
At last, Harry wiped his eyes, reached out and picked something attached to a chain off Dumbledore's body. Looking closely, Jerry saw it was a gold locket the size of a chicken's egg with a green S etched into it. As Harry fiddled about with it, it came open, there was a note inside. Harry held it up to his face for a few moments, then his tears resumed. Jerry, unable to stand by and watch his master suffer, went up to him .
"Harry, what's wrong?"
"A waste" wept Harry. "He drank that terrible potion, weakened himself, all for nothing. The whole thing was a waste" wept Harry. He handed Jerry the open locket. Jerry took it in his arms and read it the way one may read a particularly large and heavy book.
"To the Dark Lord" Jerry read out loud to himself. "I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R.A.B"
"What does R.A.B stand for?" asked Tom, who had read the note over Jerry's shoulder.
'Never mind that" said Jerry dejectedly. "The point is that this isn't the real horcrux. We're no closer to destroying You-Know-Who. Dumbledore made himself weak and died for nothing."
He let the fake locket slip to the floor and together with Tom and the rest of Hogwarts, cried long, mournful tears. But no one there cried louder than Harry Potter.