Raven's POV - Sunday May 1, 2005
Another Horcrux was destroyed as I watched a black mist flow up out of and away from Harry before evaporating with a faint scream coming from the very air around it. I quickly used my powers to remove the fang and toss it aside.
What I wouldn't give to have a basilisk fang antidote right now. Lacking one, I had to get Harry to the infirmary before the poison killed him and hope Madam Pomfrey could cure this. Failing that, hope that either Snape or Slughorn had an immediate antidote to basilisk poison venom handy. Turns out it wasn't needed though. A screeching sound from a nearby tunnel had me looking over to see what had caused it. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, emerged and flew straight over to where Harry lay. A moment later, tears leaked from his eyes and into the wound in Harry's back. A puff of smoke floated up out of the wound followed by several more before the wound closed up. Harry was still breathing and would live but be out for several hours. Enough time to get him to the infirmary and make up a decent story about how he ended up unconscious
A story that Madam Pomfrey seemed to accept. A Bludger catching him off guard during Quidditch practice.
"Again" she muttered. "What is it with this one and bludgers"
Dumbledore, who showed up a few minutes after I arrived, didn't believe it if the look he gave me was any indication though he didn't say anything. Madam Pomfrey assured me and him that Harry was fine and would be allowed to rest there until he regained conscious. Then he would be checked over and, if nothing else was wrong, quickly released. With that, Dumbledore and I left and, without speaking, went straight to his office where I told him the full story about Harry's latest infirmary visit.
A few minutes later, it was Robin plus Ron and Hermoine who were all sent owl's calling them to see the Headmaster. They arrived and Dumbledore told them the whole story which upset them greatly. An hour later, we left Dumbledore's office to stop and see Harry again. Something that Ron seemed opposed to me doing until Hermoine calmed him down a bit. Not that he stopped glaring at me. Richard understood even though I could sense he didn't like the solution. Hermoine accepted it after speaking with the Headmaster but she also was very upset by her friend nearly dying and me being the cause. I had a feeling she was waiting till later to talk about it however.
The day would end with Harry awakening and being told everything in the privacy of the Gryffendor dorm. He would say he understood and was okay with it all. He even thanked me for ridding him of the horcrux before saying he needed to rest before he and Ron went to their room. Robin returned to the Shrieking Shack. Hermoine and I went to the girl's dorm and our own room. Hermoine's mouth opened as soon as the door closed and she checked to ensure we were alone. Although she wasn't as upset as I thought, she did ask quite a few questions. When she was done, I elected to ask whether she or Ron would murder me in my sleep, which prompted a brief smile at least.
"I'm sure Harry will explain to Ron so that he can get over it in a day or two"
"And you" I asked.
"I'm not happy about it but I get that it had to be done some kind of way. I just wish you had mentioned it and we could have planned out how to save Harry ahead of time"
"So we are somewhat okay then, because it's been a day and I would like to get some sleep"
"Yeah, we are okay and sleep sounds good since we will no doubt have a lot of school work to get done this week with the end of the year coming on fast"
"You don't have to sound too cheerful about having lots of school work and sad about the end of the school year. Night, Hermoine and thanks for understanding"
"Your welcome. Good night, Raven"
Given what had taken place on Sunday, it didn't occur to me that I hadn't recast the locator spell until Monday afternoon, which prompted another trip to the Chamber with Harry. All in all, the following week was decidedly uneventful though there was a great deal of school work to get through as Hermoine had rather gleefully predicted. Not to mention the copious amount of homework which on a couple of nights kept me and Hermoine up till close to midnight before we could finish. I could all but imagine Harry and Ron staying up even longer before deciding to get some sleep and then copy Hermoine's work in the morning at breakfast.
Voldemort's POV- Thursday May 5th
Voldemort knew he had a problem. His horcruxes were being destroyed. By and large, things were going well. The Ministry had fallen so quietly that practically no one knew it had even happened. They were all his puppets anyway. Both the ones that had been loyal to him before and new followers who decide that opposing him was simply going to get them killed. Others were also returning or being convinced to join him. Giants, trolls, Dementors. Grayback had convinced many werewolves to pledge their support. Even Goblin clans were approached but none had decided to join his side or oppose him. His army was still growing none the less. Yet, now he discovers his horcruxes are being destroyed.
Malfoy has foolishly let his diary fall right into Dumbledore's hands and later confessed to seeing it after it had been destroyed. It was a pity Malfoy still had some use to him. The hiding place for the ring had been breached and the ring destroyed right there in the house. The breach of Gringotts had been a surprise but the destruction of the Cup tipped off Voldemort. Perhaps the killing all the Goblins there hadn't been a good idea if he intended to win the support of the clans but that's what useless idiot followers were for. They could be framed and turned over to appease the clan leaders. No great loss. Truthfully, he didn't even remember the name of the person who had been sacrificed to the clans as the person responsible for the killings. He certainly had much greater concerns.
Since the Gringotts breach, Voldemort had determined that the Diadem had also been found and destroyed. Just a few days ago, another one had been destroyed but Voldemort couldn't determine which one it was of those that were left. Clearly, it hadn't been Nagini so it must have been the locket. The fake locket with the message was in the cave but the real one had vanished before Voldemort's resurrection. It didn't take long to determine that R.A.B. was his former death eater Regalus Black. Black was dead and inhabiting the bottom of the cave pond but the mystery was what he had done with the real locket. Somehow, Dumbledore must have found it and destroyed it also.
Clearly, there was only one choice here. Voldemort had to gather his forces and attack Hogwarts as soon as they could be moved into place to preserve his remaining horcrux. Nagini had to be protected at all costs. Also, the last remaining obstacle to Voldemort's control of the Wizarding community in the entire United Kingdom was Dumbledore and Hogwarts. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
With that decided, Voldemort activated the dark mark to summon his Death Eaters and began making plans for the destruction of Hogwarts.
Monday, May 16th- Raven's POV
The end of the day was on hand and I made my way to the Chamber to find out the next horcrux location. After arriving, it didn't take long for a paper to emerge. The next horcrux was located in the Ministry of Magic.
A/N: It's taken a while to tell this story. I am thankful to everyone still reading it. I am expecting there will be two more chapters to go till the end.