A/N: Honestly, this chapter is a little boring but all of the information is important to the rest of the story. I hope that you enjoy it anyway. Happy New Year! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the fantastic world or characters created by J.K. Rowling but I will use some of her words and ideas to further my plot. :)
Chapter 28 – The Second Task
Harry was spending yet another holiday at the Weasleys and he loved it. Easter wasn't quite as festive and gluttonous as Christmas, but it was still a welcome break from all of the pressures that he faced at Hogwarts. He certainly couldn't complain about his company, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were kind enough to always take him in, and Harry knew that his good mood had a lot to do with Ginny and the recent, frequent bickering that she engaged in with her boyfriend, Dean Thomas. Hermione figured that it was only a matter of time before they broke up. Harry just wished that his best friend was in a better mood.
Ron hadn't been fit to talk to since his breakup with Lavender Brown and he had no idea why. Ron still refused to talk about it. The subject was taboo apparently.
And teasing from two of his older brothers certainly wasn't helping him open up. Since Easter break had started, Fred and George couldn't stop asking about what had happened between "Lav and Won-Won". Ron usually refused to respond to their teasing but that didn't make them back off. The twins had always been rather relentless in their pursuits, professional or personal.
Fred and George Apparated, without warning, from their bedroom to the room in the attic, like they always did when everyone was supposed to be in bed asleep. They both landed on the bed that Harry slept in and he greeted them with a small grin.
"'Night Harry," Fred greeted him pleasantly.
Harry responded with a nod while Ron rolled his eyes and fell back onto his bed with a groan. He pulled the bed covers over his face, probably in the hope of blocking out his brothers.
Harry knew, as well as Fred and George, that that wasn't going to work.
"Save yourself months of misery, Ron," George began persuasively, "and just tell us. Then the shaming can begin and we can all move on with our lives."
"There's nothing to tell," Ron muttered defiantly.
Fred and George prodded for several more minutes before they gave up with a sigh. "We'll try again tomorrow," Fred stated in parting before they Disapparated with a 'pop'.
Harry pursed his lips in thought before he spoke. "Ya know they're not the only ones who think that you should just get it over with."
Ron flung the bedcovers down to his knees and looked at him angrily. "Whattaya mean?"
"I mean," he responded evenly. "That you should just tell people why you broke up, then everybody will stop nagging you about it."
"I can't, Harry," Ron replied shakily. "It's too embarrassing."
Harry furrowed his brow in thought. Surely it couldn't be that embarrassing. His and Cho's entire relationship had been fairly embarrassing with the awkward dates and all of the crying. Surely it couldn't be worse than that, could it?
"It can't be that bad," he finally offered.
Ron retorted quickly, "Oh yes, it can."
There was a long silence and Harry had resigned himself to trying to fall asleep when Ron spoke again.
"If I tell you, you have to swear you won't tell anyone," he stated sternly.
Harry swallowed before eagerly replying, "I swear."
"Swear on your Firebolt!"
Harry chuckled but easily complied, "I swear on my Firebolt!" It was one of his most prized possessions but he knew that everything about Quidditch was a little more sacred to Ron than it was to him.
Ron took a shaky breath before he dived into the story. "The day we broke up, we were in a classroom…snogging and doing other stuff…"
Harry grimaced as he realized where this story was headed. Maybe he didn't want to know after all.
"And well…ya know," Ron continued awkwardly, "we were…doing stuff…and I…said the wrong name."
The dark-haired boy looked at him in confusion. "Said the wrong name?"
"Yup," Ron gulped. "Not hers."
Harry's eyes widened in realization and his mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh." He wasn't the most experienced bloke either but he knew that was a bad sign. A really bad sign, a solid do not. "So what happened then?"
"She didn't take it well, as you can imagine," Ron explained rather calmly. "We fought and then that was that."
Harry nodded in understanding. He could completely understand how they had broken up after something like that, and why he wouldn't talk about it. It sounded dreadful. He definitely didn't envy his friend, and for a moment, it made him glad that he was uninvolved. When you were single, you didn't have to worry about things like that happening. But it still didn't erase an annoying pang of longing from deep within his chest. It also didn't stop him from pondering the one question that Ron had left unanswered.
After a long, slightly uncomfortable silence, he decided to voice the question aloud. "So, whose name was it?"
"What?" Ron squeaked.
"The name," Harry clarified. "You said that you said the wrong name, so whose name did you say? Madam Rosmerta?" He added as a joke to break the tension.
Ron retreated back under the covers of his bed but Harry knew that he didn't really need an answer. It was pretty clear to him whose name it had been. There was only one real possibility.
*~()-()-()~*-*~()-()-()~*
The first two days of Draco's Easter break had gone so smoothly, and so peacefully, that he should have felt something dreadful approaching. He had been in the library, searching for something about the topic of Horcruxes, when his mother came looking for him.
"Draco!" She called from the doorway.
Draco placed the book in his hand back in its rightful place on the bookshelf and walked towards the front of the library. "Yes, mother?"
"Bella and someone from the Ministry are here to see you." He furrowed his brow in confusion so she continued, "Just come downstairs, you'll see."
Draco did as he was told and followed his mother out of the library, down the long hallway, and then down the marble staircase. Waiting for him in the foyer was his Aunt Bellatrix and Yaxley, a Death Eater who had done a very good job of convincing most people that he no longer showed the Dark Lord any loyalties. He had been forgiven by the public after the First Wizarding War and had managed to somehow score a position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Maybe he actually wasn't as good of an actor as everyone thought and his position within the Ministry was just so other people, like Kingsley Shacklebolt, could keep an eye on him.
Draco wasn't sure how anyone at the Ministry could believe a word that came out of his mouth with his hard, blunt features and unpleasant smile.
"Draco," Bellatrix cooed as he stopped in front of her. She kissed his cheek before she spoke again. "We have a special job for you."
He swallowed but didn't allow his anxiety to show. He was much more disciplined than that now. If the Dark Lord had assigned another job to him then rest assured it wasn't going to be fun or enjoyable by any means. "What is it?" He questioned calmly.
Bellatrix grinned maliciously before she practically squealed, "We found the Mudblood!"
Draco's throat constricted and he could feel his palms begin to sweat. He knew that the Death Eaters above ground had been searching for Granger's family, but he hadn't imagined that they would find them so soon. Their whereabouts didn't really matter at this stage in the war, at least not to any Death Eater but him.
"Yaxley is going to take you, and you'll do a preliminary sweep of the home," his aunt continued.
"Just to get a feel for it?" He asked. "Gain knowledge?"
Aunt Bella nodded as she stroked his forearm. "Yes, exactly, smart boy."
After a few more words from Aunt Bella, he and Yaxley Apparated to a part of London that Draco was unfamiliar with and they walked from there. The walk was long and silent and Draco wished that he was completing this task with any Death Eater besides Yaxley, even the crazier ones.
He found Yaxley to be extremely arrogant, haughty, and self-righteous. Even the way that the man walked signified his perceived superiority. He realized that if he voiced these thoughts aloud most people would call him a hypocrite. He was sure that people often used those very same words to describe him. But there was something about Yaxley that was almost subhuman. Draco was convinced that he would kill his own mother if it furthered the cause or his own personal ambitions.
Also, Yaxley had very interesting opinions on blood purity, even for a Death Eater. He despised even half-bloods. A smirk crossed Draco's face as he imagined Yaxley's reaction to the revelation that the Dark Lord was no more than a half-blood.
Draco was interrupted from his rather amusing thought by Yaxley's gravelly voice. "This is the street."
He looked down the quiet, empty street and spotted Granger's house, her lovely, middle-class, normal house. Even from a distance he recognized it. He quickly noticed that the driveway was empty and that would pose a problem.
An idea occurred to him and he turned to Yaxley to speak quietly. "We should hop that fence," he stated as he gestured towards the closest house and the fence surrounding it. The older man looked at him in bewilderment and he couldn't stop a laugh from escaping. "You don't know much about Muggles, do you? The neighbors will be suspicious if they see the front door magically open. Let's cast Disillusionment Charms, hop the fence, and go around back."
Yaxley replied grumpily, "Watch your mouth, boy."
But he cast the Disillusionment Charm without any further argument and followed Draco to the fence. Draco realized that working with him was probably not Yaxley's idea of a good time either. The older, more practiced wizard probably resented the fact that Snape was currently the Dark Lord's favourite and that he was essentially Snape's protégée. Draco was young and reckless but still a more valuable asset than the man with him. That wouldn't sit well with anyone. It was hard to take orders from someone half your age.
Draco gracefully scaled the fence but it took Yaxley a few more minutes to clamber over the structure. Draco finally heard his feet hit the ground with a 'thud' and a curse. They quietly proceeded to the back door of Granger's house and Yaxley unlocked the door with a flick of his wand.
Yaxley cast a spell to determine if any other human life was present in the home and once it was determined to be negative, they removed the charms that they had cast over themselves. Yaxley motioned him to look upstairs and he obliged without a word.
He walked up the stairs quietly and headed towards the bedroom that he knew all too well on instinct. He looked down at her bed and swallowed harshly. He wondered where she and her parents were right now. He wanted to leave her a note telling her never to come back here but he knew that would be too risky. He stepped further into the room and looked around intently. He had no idea what exactly the Death Eaters wanted him to report back but he figured it was important to take note of something. There were a pair of Muggle jeans lying haphazardly in the armchair and there was a sketchpad lying open on her desk beneath the window. Her bed was made and everything else in the room was perfectly in order, like he had expected.
He noted a few photographs pinned to the noticeboard that he hadn't before, ones of her with her parents when she had been much younger and some more recent pictures of her, Potter, and Weasley. He let a small smile grace his face before he walked towards the desk in intrigue. He flipped through the sketchbook and saw that most of her more recent attempts had been at perfecting the view from the top of the Astronomy Tower.
The fact that it was that view, and not one of the other incredible views and landscapes that Hogwarts had to offer, caused a comforting warmth to spread throughout his chest. He had been an idiot to think that he could stay away from her; everything that she did made him happier. Even being in her home, amongst her possessions, calmed him.
The sound of footsteps made him turn around and he faced Yaxley standing in the doorway. Draco tried not to sneer at him in disgust; it was as if this man's presence tainted everything good about the Granger home.
"Is this the Mudblood's room?"
"I presume," Draco answered smoothly.
"Find anything interesting?" Yaxley continued.
The blonde shook his head. "No, just typical teenage girl stuff."
"Well at least we know where she lives now, that's bound to come in handy. Let's get out of here; this place gives me the creeps. Muggles," he shuddered in derision.
Draco followed Yaxley down the staircase, but before they could escape through the backdoor they were cornered in the kitchen by Crookshanks. The large, ginger cat arched his back and hissed aggressively. He clearly was not a fan of Yaxley. Crookshanks had good instincts.
The older man reflexively pointed his wand at the cat and Draco grabbed his wrist before he could do anything stupid. "What are you doing? If you kill the cat, you don't think that'll be a little suspicious?" He asked sarcastically.
Yaxley shook off Draco's hold and stared at the feline in disdain. "Fine," he growled. "Let's get out of this Merlin forsaken house!" He shouted in frustration.
Draco gently pushed Crookshanks aside with his foot to let Yaxley pass. He didn't miss the faint purring sound that emitted from the animal. Crookshanks clearly trusted him wholeheartedly now. He shot the cat a small smile before he cast another Disillusionment Charm and fled the house.
*~()-()-()~*-*~()-()-()~*
After returning from his brief mission with Yaxley, Draco ate supper with his mother and took a quick swim in the pool before he retreated to the library with determination. Now that he had the time and the resources available to him, he needed to find out everything there is to know about Horcruxes. He had to come up with something before he had to return to school. If the books didn't hold any answers then he would be forced to ask his mother.
He made himself comfortable at a table, with his dogs lying at his feet and a plate of sweets that a house elf had brought him. He shifted through book after book, and it was the middle of the night before he came across a book entitled Secrets of the Darkest Art. He had been fighting sleep for the past twenty minutes and he was only into the book's second chapter when a single word caught his attention.
There it was.
Horcrux.
This is what he had been searching for.
He sat up straighter in his chair and refocused. The content of these pages could change everything, he just knew it.
*~()-()-()~*-*~()-()-()~*
Once all of the students had returned to Hogwarts, Draco took the very first opportunity that presented itself to call Potter, Granger, and Weasley to the Room of Requirement for a meeting. It had taken all of his energy not to let them in on his little secret on the train.
He stood in front of the fireplace and once he heard three pairs of footsteps, he spun around enthusiastically. "I know what a Horcrux is," he blurted out.
Granger looked at him with a proud smile while the other two Gryffindors stared at him in disbelief.
He pulled a few folded pieces of parchment out of his trousers with a grin. He had taken meticulous notes. "I found it in a book in the Malfoy library, took me a bloody long time to find it though."
"Well, what are they?" Potter inquired impatiently.
"A Horcrux is an object that conceals a fragment of your soul," Draco sighed. The trio stared at him in astonishment and he merely nodded. He understood the expressions on their faces; he hadn't believed the information either. He had needed to read the passage of information five times before it finally sunk in. He motioned towards the nearby chairs and the four of them slowly sat down. "So that when you die, when your body is destroyed," he explained slowly, "your soul lives on, or at least a part of it."
"That sounds horrible," Weasley uttered after a moment.
"Yeah, the description in the book I read is not pleasant," Draco responded. It was common knowledge in the wizarding world that the soul is supposed to remain intact and with you throughout your life, splitting it is unnatural. It defied the first law of magic: tamper with the deepest mysteries – the source of life, the essence of self – only if prepared for consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind. And the book had clearly stated that Horcruxes could produce consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind, creating a Horcrux made your soul unstable. "It seems as if very few witches or wizards have even tried it."
"Except Voldemort," Harry managed to choke out.
Again, Draco managed a nod. Clearly the Dark Lord had created a Horcrux, or even multiple Horcruxes, otherwise why would it be important for four teenagers to learn about them.
"How do you do it?" Granger inquired curiously. "How do you create a Horcrux?"
Draco looked down at his parchment and grimaced. He had been exposed to a lot of dark magic in his young life, but this was definitely the darkest. "There's a spell that you cast once you've…once you've committed murder, that's how you spilt your soul, and then you use the spell to encase that fragment into whatever object you've chosen."
There was a silence while the others digested the heavy information before Potter spoke again. "So it can be any object?"
"Seems so," Draco replied affirmatively.
Potter seemed to stare off into the distance and Granger turned to him in concern. "What is it, Harry? What are you thinking?"
"We need to know how many he made," Potter replied in determination. "I bet that's what's in Slughorn's memory." He got to his feet and, with a look of resolve that Draco had never seen, he left the room with Weasley trailing after him.
Their disappearance left him alone with Granger. He got up out of his chair and walked towards her with the pieces of parchment extended towards her. "Take these," he encouraged. "It's more stuff about Horcruxes, what they can do and how to destroy them."
"Thanks," she smiled as she touched his hand for a prolonged period of time.
"No problem," he tried to smile back. He desperately wanted to tell her that the Death Eaters had found her parents, but he knew that now wasn't the right time. Right now her parents were still safe and their sudden, mysterious disappearance would only raise suspicion.
Granger slowly got to her feet as well and placed her hands on his chest. "Did you have a good Easter break?"
He shrugged, "It wasn't terrible. You?"
"It was nice," she sighed. She pushed herself up onto the tips of her toes and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I should go and see what Harry's up to. I'll see you later?" She asked hopefully.
He nodded before he kissed her back. "Yes, we'll meet soon," he promised.
*~()-()-()~*-*~()-()-()~*
Malfoy's new information lit a fire in Harry that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He needed to get that memory from Slughorn so that they could have even more information about Voldemort and Horcruxes. After an accidental stroke of genius from Ron, Harry realized what he had needed all this time to persuade Slughorn to open up to him.
All that he needed was a little luck!
Harry took a tiny gulp of his Felix Felicis, just enough for a few hours, he didn't want to waste the whole thing, and left the castle to head towards Hagrid's, under the guidance of the potion. After burying Hagrid's deceased spider-friend Aragog, Slughorn, drunk and moved by memories of Lily Evans, gave Harry the memory that he had been ordered to retrieve.
The one that he had longed for.
The one that could help them destroy Voldemort.
Harry went straight to Dumbledore's office with the memory and they watched it together in the Pensieve. A young Lord Voldemort asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes and he replied, using much of the same content that Harry had heard hours ago from Draco Malfoy. The most interesting portion, to Harry, was when Voldemort asked: "Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces?"
He specifically mentioned the number seven, the most magically powerful number.
They left the memory and Harry felt deep sympathy for Slughorn. He had been duped by a very clever young man, and it was clear now that the old man still regretted the conversation that he had had years ago. Harry really couldn't blame him but it was clear that Voldemort had used the information in a very dangerous way.
"Well, Harry," Dumbledore began. "I am sure you understood the significance of what we just heard. At the same age as you are now, give or take a few months, Tom Riddle was doing all he could to find out how to make himself immortal."
"You think he succeeded then, sir? In making a Horcrux?" That's certainly what he thought.
"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore answered slowly. "More than one Horcrux I believe."
Dumbledore then proceeded to tell him that he was certain that Tom Riddle's diary, which he had destroyed in the Chamber of Secrets, had been a Horcrux. The more that Dumbledore talked about Voldemort's almost careless treatment of the diary, his comments about immortality, and his deteriorating physical appearance over the years, the more that the pieces fell into place for Harry. He had created multiple Horcruxes. Voldemort had divided his soul into seven pieces. He had made six Horcruxes.
"How are we supposed to find them?" Harry asked. Like Malfoy had said, they could be any objects and they could be hidden anywhere. Even with Malfoy's information and Slughorn's real memory, the task seemed impossible.
"You have already destroyed one of them," the Headmaster answered steadily. "And I have destroyed another."
Tom Riddle's diary and Marvolo Gaunt's ring, which Dumbledore explained he had found hidden in the ruins of the Gaunts' house, were already destroyed. It was amazing and a relief that they had already destroyed two pieces of Voldemort's soul, but in Harry's mind it still left them at square one.
They talked and they talked and Harry's brain began to hurt. This was far more complicated than he had even imagined. The remaining four Horcruxes would be objects important to Voldemort, Malfoy had been right to be intrigued by the idea of trophies. They deduced that the Horcruxes were most likely Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, something of Ravenclaw's, and his snake, Nagini.
The one thing that Harry processed very clearly was that if all of the Horcruxes were destroyed then Voldemort himself could be killed. And that caused Harry to feel a sense of delight that he never had before.
Like he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
A/N: A lot of big stuff is going to happen in the next chapter. I won't give much away but I will tell you the title: Sectumsempra.
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