Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry Potter: Focused – Chapter 8 – Godric's Hollow
"Get a room, you two!" insisted Ron. For the past five minutes, since they'd safely arrived at headquarters, Harry and Ginny had been making out. "Don't you at least need to breathe?"
"Maybe we should get a room," agreed Ginny seductively, finally ending their kiss. "Let's go, Harry."
"Oi! I didn't mean…shouldn't we talk about what's been happening in Hogwarts?"
Neville added, "I don't know about Luna and Ginny, but I'd like to know what you three have been up to as well."
"Fine," agreed Harry, pulling up a chair. As soon as he sat down, Ginny sat in his lap, earning a glare from Ron. She stuck her tongue out at him, which caused him to look away.
Ginny started. "As soon as I got to the Entrance Hall from the train, Amycus Carrow, who was the Dark Arts professor – not defense of, mind you – took me aside. He's had me locked alone in a room, only letting me leave to attend classes. Someone was always watching me in those classes to make sure I'm not talking to my friends – usually a Slytherin prefect. Food would appear in my room at mealtimes." She sighed. "It could've been much worse. I think Riddle didn't want me hurt so that if Harry started to turn himself in…"
"He'd take one look at you and start fighting if you were injured," completed Hermione.
"He did mention how much he was looking forward to getting to know me better after Harry died." She felt Harry tense up at this proclamation and looked at her boyfriend. "Relax. It never happened and you made sure that it never can happen."
Neville said, "As far as what's been happening inside Hogwarts goes, not much. You already know the changes in staff. Snape made a big speech at the opening feast, saying if anyone has any knowledge of Harry's movements, we should come forward. Amycus was teaching different dark arts spells, working his way up to teaching unforgivables. Alecto was teaching muggle studies, saying muggles are no smarter than apes."
"That'll get magic exposed really fast," commented Hermione. "If they don't even try to hide magic because they think muggles are stupid."
"In order to become a Death Eater," added Luna, "you have to already have an infestation of Wrackspirts in your head."
Ginny said, "I think that pretty much covers what's been happening at Hogwarts, so what have you lot been up to besides hunting Horcruxes?"
"We freed one of the muggle-born concentration camps," answered Ron.
"Wow!" replied Neville. "How did you do that?"
"We'll tell you everything, but first we've got to destroy Ravenclaw's tiara," replied Hermione.
"Right," agreed Harry, pulling it out of his pocket while Ron went to retrieve a basilisk fang.
"That's a pity," commented Luna, "to destroy such a priceless artifact."
"Yeah. Riddle doesn't care. He thinks he's more important than any historical artifact. Anyway, that leaves Hufflepuff's cup, which we don't know the location of, and Tom's snake Nagini."
At that point, Ron reentered the room with a fang and asked, "Ginny, would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure," she agreed, getting off Harry's lap. Her boyfriend placed the Horcrux on a nearby table. She took the fang from her brother and slammed the point into the diadem before it could do anything to defend itself. They heard a soft scream from it.
Luna commented, "I suppose that it could be repaired to look all right, but it'll never make the wearer wise again."
"So," inquired Neville, "do you have any ideas of where that cup is?"
"I think Tom would put one of them in either Gringotts or Godric's Hollow," declared Harry.
"That makes sense," replied Ginny, silencing Hermione, who seemed to want to object. "The things the version of Tom in the diary were obsessed with were Hogwarts and belonging in the Wizarding world. He wanted a vault at Gringotts to prove he belonged. He didn't talk much about death, but his Horcruxes prove his obsession with it, so it makes sense that the place he nearly died is important to him."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione conceded. "I suppose it also helps that it was Godric Gryffindor's birthplace, not just some random village."
"So we're going there?" asked Neville.
"Yes," replied Harry with satisfied expression on his face.
"Good," replied Luna. "Several different rare creatures have been spotted in that area."
-HPF-
It was a cold Autumn night when four short pops interrupted the night in Godric's Hollow. The six friends appeared in a deserted alley not far from the cemetery, where they were going to stop at first. The first thing Harry saw was the old church.
"Don't forget to look at the monument," suggested Neville, pointing out the war monument that changed appearance as he got close to it. He saw a statue depicting his parents and himself as a baby, along with several messages of encouragement written on it. While he stood there reading those messages, he felt Ginny's hand take his.
After a few minutes, they moved on to the cemetery. Harry and Ginny quickly found the Potter gravestone while the others gave them some space. After a few moments of standing in front of the stone, Harry began to speak.
"Mum, Dad, it's Harry. I'm sorry I haven't come here before, but I...well, I couldn't have come before I was eleven, but probably could've...and should've asked someone like the Weasleys to take me here. This is Ginny Weasley. She's my girlfriend. I'm sure you'd like her..."
At the same time, Luna was showing Peverell graves to the others. "...You see, even their gravestones have the sign of the Deathly Hallows on them."
"Has that anything to do with the story of the Three Brothers?" asked Hermione. "That symbol was inked into the book Dumbledore left me on the first page of that story."
"Of course," answered Luna. "The Deathly Hallows are the three gifts that Death gave the Peverell brothers – the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone and Cloak of Invisibility."
Ron took a step backward. "No. You don't think? We have Dumbledore's wand that he said was special, as well as Harry's cloak that had been passed down from his father..."
"What if that Stone is hidden in that Snitch?" asked Hermione.
Luna looked like she was ready to either faint or shout for joy. This was, of course, very unusual for her. "Are you saying you might have all three Deathly Hallows? That Harry is the Master of Death?! I have to see them..."
"Someone's watching us," interrupted Neville, indicating a woman just outside the cemetery. She was looking at them and then at Harry and Ginny.
"That's the famous historian, Bathilda Bagshot. Her picture is on 'A History of Magic.'
About that time, Harry and Ginny walked over to the group. "Have you noticed that woman watching us?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Ron. "It's Bathilda Bagshot, the author."
"The woman who told Rita Skeeter all the secrets of the Dumbledore family?" replied Harry.
"Doesn't sound like a nice person to me," commented Ginny.
"We might as well walk up to her," suggested Hermione. "She's already seen us."
The brightest witch of her age walked up to the aged author while the others cautiously followed. Offering her hand, she said, "Hello, you're Bathilda Bagshot, aren't you? I love 'A History of Magic.' I'm Hermione Granger."
The woman looked at the young woman for a few seconds before reaching out her hand to shake the girl's. "It's nice to meet someone who appreciates history. Why don't you and your friends get warm in my house?" Looking beyond Hermione, she added, "Harry Potter, I haven't seen you since you were a baby, but I'd recognize you anywhere. You look just like your father."
Stepping forward, he asked, "How well did you know my parents?"
"Well enough to be one of your babysitters. Now, follow me."
She turned and began walking, with the group of six following behind her like a caravan. When they finally reached the house, she pulled her wand at it, cast a silent spell and the door opened. "Come on in," she called back as she entered. "Whoever comes in last, don't forget to close the door."
When Harry entered, he noticed a note from Rita Skeeter on top of a copy of 'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore,' and glared at it and then at her.
"Now, don't look at me like that, Harry. My goodness, you do still have your mother's eyes. But anyway, Miss Skeeter asked me some questions, and I answered truthfully! I know Albus built up a reputation as some kind of a saint, but he had his dark side, the same as everyone else! When you choose to become an important person, then you do fall under scrutiny! That is an historical fact! I can't stand those so-called biographies that glorify people without showing their flaws. You don't know how close Albus came to being a terrible dark lord himself!"
"What?" asked Harry.
"It's all in that book." She handed him the tome in question as she continued. "I told Rita all about him and my great-nephew, the infamous Gellert Grindelwald! They…"
CRASH! At that moment, the door, which had been shut by Luna, was exploded by a spell before a giant snake quickly crawled in to attack.
"It's Nagini!" shouted Harry as he pulled out his wand as the others did the same.
"Who blasted the door in?" asked Hermione before dodging the snake's head lunging at her.
"Reducto!" shouted Ginny, but her spell bounced off the great snake's skin. The others tried similar curses, but to no avail. Nagini kept lunging at one, then the other as they jumped backwards toward their attacker.
"Ow!" shouted Ginny as the serpent bit her in the shoulder. Harry managed to hit the snake in the mouth with a cutting hex, slowing it down a bit.
"Ginny!" shouted Harry.
"We've got to leave!" declared Hermione. After a moment of concentration, she added, "Someone's put up anti-apparition wards!"
"Neville, grab Bathilda. Ron, get Ginny! Hermione, blast a hole through the wall!" He then put the most powerful shield he could manage in between his group and the wounded Nagini.
"Bombardo maxima!" shouted the bookworm, creating an opening for them to run through, Harry helping the elderly woman while Ron practically dragged Ginny as they hurried along. "We're out of the ward!" announced Hermione just as the snake pushed through Harry's shield and started crawling toward them.
Neville and Ron popped away with Ginny and Luna, Bathilda grabbing Ron as well to follow him (providing her own apparition spell so he wasn't strained by taking two passengers) while Harry and Hermione both shot another spell at the serpent, who had gotten way too close for comfort, sending it several feet backwards and knocking it out. Harry commented, "I guess we should kill it," before Hermione fell forward unconscious. He turned just in time to see Belatrix Lestrange hit him with a silent stunning spell.
When he hit the floor, she commented, "Harry Potter and the Granger mudblood. I've got a lot of questions for you two before I call the Dark Lord."
-HPF-
End chapter