Chapter 29
Harry hummed cheerfully as he skipped down the corridor. It was two in the morning. The entire castle was silent and dark, but Harry had never felt so wide awake before. His sickly green eyes glowed sinisterly in the dark as he made his way to the seventh floor.
There was a soft meow. Harry looked down. Hedwig's golden eyes stared back up at him.
"Ah Hedwig, there you are," Harry said, careful to keep his voice low.
He scooped the cat into his arms. Hedwig purred in content as she settled in Harry's arms.
"Lazy cat," Harry muttered.
He continued up the stairs in silence. Finally, he reached the seventh floor.
"If I remember correctly, Helena said the entrance is the tapestry of a man teaching ballet to trolls," Harry muttered to himself.
He saw the tapestry soon enough and a satisfied smirk found its way onto Harry's face.
"Perfect," he said.
He walked past the tapestry three times, thinking about the diadem and how much he needed it for the sake of his life. A few seconds later, a doorway appeared. Harry giggled slightly and opened the doors.
"The Room of Requirement," he said. "Such a fascinating room, only appearing when you are in great need of it."
His pupils slit when he saw the diadem on a pedestal at the far end of the room. He dropped Hedwig. The cat meowed in surprise, but landed on her feet easily. Harry crossed the room quickly, eager to get to the diadem. He could already sense the dark magic surrounding the diadem, calling out to him. His smirk turned twisted and cruel as his eyes glowed even more. Hedwig backed into a corner, afraid of the bloodlust she could sense coming from her master.
Harry reached out to touch the diadem.
"Stop!" a voice shouted.
Harry didn't jump. He turned slightly to see Helena hovering to his right. He turned around fully to see that Helena wasn't alone. Several other ghosts were with her.
"Helena, what are you doing here?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
Helena clenched her fists.
"I know I told you where the diadem was two years ago, but..." she trailed off, unable to say anymore.
"But what?" Harry asked.
"Tell me child, why do you seek that dark object?" another ghost asked. "Surely you can feel the darkness radiating from it's very being?"
"Yes, I can feel it," Harry said.
"Then why? Why seek it out?"
"The Room of Requirement only shows itself to those who are in desperate need of something. For me, I guess you could say it was desperate need to get the diadem...but not for what you think," Harry said.
Harry chuckled darkly.
"It is either the diadem or my life," he said quietly.
"Your life? What are you talking about?" another ghost asked, alarmed.
"My father gave me this mission, but he knows I am keeping many things from me. He is satisfied with one of the secrets I told him, but I only have one more chance. If I disappoint him again, he'll kill me without a second thought," Harry said.
Harry looked at the diadem.
"Of course, that isn't the only reason," he said.
Harry giggled, smiling an innocent smile.
"But nobody needs to know that," he said.
"Please, just stop!" Helena pleaded. "Just give up on the diadem! It will only corrupt you further!"
"Don't you see, Helena? I've come too far," Harry said, his eyes gleaming in insanity. "There's no turning back for me. There is no saving for me."
"You don't know what that thing is!" Helena exclaimed. "It is dark magic, the worst of it all!"
"I know exactly what it is," Harry said.
Harry reached forward and touched the diadem, ignoring the gasps of horror from the ghosts behind him. The dark magic curled around his fingers gently and almost tenderly, tickling his pale white skin. Harry could hear soft sinister whispering but paid it no mind for now.
Harry grinned almost psychotically, stroking the diadem with his fingers.
"Such sweet whispering," he muttered.
Harry turned back to the ghosts.
"A Horcrux, created by my own father and placed into this diadem," he said. "Horrific magic...yet it calls out to me."
"You can't mean-
"I don't plan to make a Horcrux of my own," Harry cut the ghost off.
Harry stroked the diadem, fingers playing over the dark colored jewels.
"I rather like myself the way I am," he muttered. "But I wonder why father would do this to himself. First the diary...and then splitting his souls into six other pieces. It is rather fascinating. Why would he go this far to ensure his immortality? And why would he pick such infamous objects? That is the biggest question of them all."
Harry shrugged, lowering the diadem.
"I suppose those questions will never be answered," he said, smiling slightly.
"There is no stopping you then," Helena said quietly. "You truly are a demonic being. You're no human."
Harry's smile turned sickly sweet as he looked at Helena.
"Perhaps you're right," he said.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her and glanced at the other ghosts. Helena gritted her teeth, knowing exactly what Harry was saying silently.
"I told them nothing," Helena said. "I kept my promise like I said I would. They worked it out on their own."
"Then the same goes for all of you," Harry said, glowing sickly green eyes sweeping over the other ghosts. "One word out of any of you, know I will kill you a second time."
The ghosts remained silent, only nodding reluctantly, knowing that Harry's words weren't an empty threat.
"You did WHAT?!" Lily yelled in anger and shock.
Eric sighed.
"We told Alex and Harry about the Order," he said again.
"That was very reckless of you! What if they're spies?!" James shouted.
"Calm down Lily, James," Dumbledore said. "They meant well."
"Haven't you forgotten, Albus?! You-Know-Who has two boys among his ranks! He could have sent them to Hogwarts to spy on us!" Lily shouted. "For all we know, those two are the spies!"
"We don't know that," Remus tried to reason.
"You haven't been here long enough to know those two boys!" Lily exclaimed.
"I know them well enough," Remus retorted. "I don't know Alex as well as I do Harry, but they are good students and people!"
"And I know Alex better than you," Hermione added. "He may seem emotionless, but that's only because he never left his home much; same with Harry!"
"If I may cut in," Snape suddenly spoke up.
Everyone looked at the Potions professor.
"I have been observing Alex and Harry Evans for the past three years," Snape said. "I assure you they are not with the Dark Lord."
"Snape, you said that those two children You-Know-Who has in his army of Death Eaters, one of them is a genius at Potions and even created a healing potion impossible to replicate," James said.
"Harry is very good at Potions, but he is not of that level of that boy the Dark Lord has recruited," Snape said. "Harry is very skilled; there's no denying that. But he is trustworthy; he has helped me several times in making the Wolfsbane potions for Lupin."
"He knows you're a werewolf?" Lily asked, looking at Remus with surprise.
Remus sighed and nodded.
"Yes, he knows," he said. "And he has not told anyone. The only person he could've told is Alex, but I know they wouldn't tell anyone else. He often comes by my office to have small chats with me."
"About what?" Dumbledore aske curiously.
"It varies," Remus said. "One time, he talked about theories he heard about werewolves accepting their inner wolf to make it easier on them on full moons."
"They certainly seem like good people," Dumbledore said. "I am glad to hear that such young students are willing to accept something like this. Not everyone is very open about someone being a werewolf. I believe it will be good to have them in the Order."
"Are you serious? We don't know anything about them," James protested.
"The others won't be happy about this," Sirius put in.
"We'll keep an eye on them," Dumbledore said. "Until we have determined they can be completely trusted, we won't tell them very sensitive information."
"Don't forget they are mere children still," Lily said.
"With the war coming up, everyone in the Order will need to know everything," Dumbledore said.
He looked at the trio.
"And that includes you three," he said.
The trio looked at each other excitedly.
"I will look further into the Evans twins," Dumbledore said.
"Evans... any relation, Lily?" James asked, looking at his wife.
"I don't know them," Lily shook her head. "I don't know of any relatives named Alex or Harry. Besides, Evans is a pretty common last name."
"I guess you're right," James said, shrugging.
Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes twinkling merrily. He looked at the trio again.
"Tell Alex and Harry they are invited into the Order," he said. "I will continue to investigate their past."
"Of course," Hermione said, smiling happily. "We'll tell them right away!"
The trio ran away. Dumbledore and the others watched them go.
"I hope we're going the right thing," James said. "Accepting those two boys into the Order just like that."
"I'm sure they're perfectly trustworthy," Dumbledore said. "Don't worry; we'll find out soon enough. Besides, they won't be members of the Order. They're too young still. They'll just be there in the house, but they won't be attending any meetings."
Nobody noticed Snape gritting his teeth in frustration and clenching his fists to the point of the skin breaking.