Chapter 42

Harry told us everything he saw and what happened in Dumbeldore's office.

"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron asked.

I was rubbing my temples.

I don't know how to tell them without telling them.

"And he trusts Snape? He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

Hermione had sat with her head in hands, staring at her knees for the last ten minutes.

"Rita Skeeter." She finally said.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said. "I'm just thinking… remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember… 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Harry asked.

"No. He thinks everyone is his friend." I sighed.

"And Fudge reckons Madam Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron asked Harry.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."

"We never thought of her, did we?" Ron said slowly.

"Oh don't you go off about her now." I snapped at him.

"She won't admit she's got giant blood!" Ron defended.

"Hagrid didn't admit it! Skeeter overheard that conversation somehow. Of course she doesn't want to admit it with the backlash Hagrid got!" I snapped at him.

"And look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth." Hermione added.

"And why I waited to tell anyone who my dad was." I told Ron.

Hermione looked at her watch.

"We haven't done any practicing! We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, you need to get some sleep."

We all went to the bed and I couldn't sleep.

I didn't have the best feeling about the end of the year and it was coming closer and I didn't think I would get a whole lot of sleep.


The next couple of days, we all were taking turns. Hermione and I did most of the homework while Ron and Harry practiced different spells.

Eventually it got to the point where I was helping Harry with his spells while Ron and Hermione did the homework.

I wanted Harry to be prepared. He was going to need to know everything he can to make it out of the graveyard…


The week before June, I had a bad dream.

I was tied to a chair with seven pedestals. I couldn't see what all they were, but Harry was on one of them.

"I don't understand!" I shouted.

There was a shadowy figure pointing at each pedestal.

"Just tell me!" I shouted at the figure.

It pointed at Harry and then to a random pedestal.

The weird shadow tentacles revealed a book.

The Diary of Tom Riddle.

Then the figure pointed at Harry.

"Harry stabbed the diary with a basilisk fang, so what?" I asked the shadow.

It pointed at the rest of the pedestals.

"I don't understand!" I shouted again.

The shadow got angry and suddenly I was in a whirlwind of shadows.

"Stop!" I sat up.

'Horcrux.' Something whispered in the back of my head.

"What's wrong?" Lavender was rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Nothing, just a bad dream, Lavender." I said, also rubbing my eyes.

She nodded and fell right back to sleep.

I laid back down on my back, but I couldn't fall asleep.

When the room started to lighten up, I got up to take a shower.

I wasn't hungry, and that word was in my head again. But I remembered where I heard it.

Tom Riddle told me his diary was a horcrux, and I needed to know what that meant.


I left before Hermione woke up, and I knew she was going to worry but I had to see Dumbledore before the day started.

He was the only one who I could talk to about these kinds of things. My grandmother would just tell me to write it down and not worry about it. But since it involved Harry, I was going to worry about it.

Just as I reached Dumbledore's office, he was walking out.

"Professor." I greeted him.

"Ah! Good morning, Cassie!" He greeted me.

"Can we talk in your office, please?" I asked him.

He looked over his spectacles at me.

"Is everything alright?" He asked me.

"Please? In your office?" I asked again.

We stared at each other before he finally nodded.

"In my office," he nodded and led the way up.

"What is it, Cassie?" He asked when the door closed behind us.

"What is a horcrux?" I asked.

Dumbledore stopped walking around his desk and turned to look at me.

"I had a dream last night. There were seven pedestals, and only two of them were uncovered. The rest had shadowy tendrils on them, blocking the objects on top. But the two I could see? One was the diary of Tom Riddle." I told him.

He stared at me over his half-moon spectacles.

"Where did you hear the word, horcrux?" He asked me, walking to sit behind his desk.

I stood behind the chair that had popped into existence.

"When I was in the Diary with Tom." I told him.

"You haven't asked about it since, what reminded you of it?" He asked me again.

"When I woke up, it was the first thought I had, and I remembered when I heard it." I answered.

He nodded again.

He stared thoughtfully at me.

"Sit, please. Are you hungry?" He asked.

"I can eat." I nodded.

"Blinkus." Dumbledore spoke.

There was a crack and a house-elf appeared.

"Master Dumbledore!" He squeaked.

"Miss Zwart and I will be taking our breakfast in my office this morning. Will you bring up an assortment of breakfast items for us?" Dumbledore asked the elf.

"Right away, master!" He squeaked.

With another crack, he was gone.

"Thank you, Professor." I told Dumbledore.

"You're welcome. May I ask you one question before I answer yours?" He asked me.

"Of course." I nodded to him.

"What was the second thing uncovered?" Dumbledore asked.

I looked at him.

"I'm keeping that information to myself. I don't want to say unless I know what a horcrux is." I told him.

"I understand." He nodded.

"I will not tell you how to make one, for it is the darkest of dark magic and I do not wish to share that knowledge." Dumbledore spoke slowly as he sat back in his chair.

"I don't want to know how to make one. I just want to know what it is." I said to him.

"Very well." Dumbledore nodded.

"I don't want to tell my friends. They don't need to know." I added.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Very well."

At that moment, a breakfast spread appeared on a table next to Dumbledore's desk.

There was french toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and some fruits in a bowl.

"Would you like to eat first?" Dumbledore gestured to the table.

A pitcher full of orange juice appeared next to the bowl of fruit.

"Yes, thank you." I nodded.

We ate breakfast in silence.

I think we were both putting off the conversation.

Once we were done eating, I grabbed the bowl of fruit and put it on Dumbledore's desk.

"Okay, what is a horcrux?" I asked again.

Dumbledore pushed his plate away from him and stared at me.

"It is an object in which a piece of soul is kept."

I blinked at that.

I put my hand against my chest.

I couldn't feel my soul, but it was just the motion I made.

"Who would want -? Why would -? But -?" I didn't know which question to ask first.

Dumbledore waited for me.

"Is it possible to split one's soul?" I asked.

"It is." Dumbledore nodded.

I opened my mouth, but shook my head.

"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"I was going to ask how one splits their soul, but I don't want to know." I told him.

He nodded.

"Why would someone want to split their soul?" I asked.

"To live forever." Dumbledore answered simply.

I sat back and thought about it.

"Is it possible to split a soul multiple times?" I asked quietly.

"It is." Dumbledore answered.

I sat there some more.

"Whoever Tom Riddle is, or was, he had seven of them." I told Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded, but didn't say anything.

"And… Professor, I think Harry's one of them."


I'm still job hunting. You would think with the high school students going back to school would make job hunting easier, but you'd be surprised.

Also, bad news. My fiancé's grandma has contracted COVID-19, which my fiancé got from her. So for the safe side, I am in quarantine with him. 2021 might have started off badly, but we're hoping that it'll get better!

Shout out to Belle212 for following me!

Shout out to ross . mitchell2302, LaViolaViolaRose, RoannaBlack, mioneandgin, MarsUltor45 and Awritingbookworm for leaving a review!

ross . mitchel2302: I know your name doesn't have the spaces, but the website won't let it save because it thinks it's a link. But thank you!

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RoannaBlack: You'll just have to wait and see!

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Awritingbookworm: Thank you! And I'm glad you liked the chapter! As for Cassius, you'll have to wait and see!