62. Climbing

Harry jostled the locket in his hands. It was almost a shame that he had promised to rid the world of said item. Despite his personal feelings, it was still the appropriate decision. This was one of the single most foul magical objects he had ever glanced at, so very interestingly foul.

He rubbed his thumb over the cracks, mesmerized by the magic contained within. The locket was an anchor of some kind. Great amounts of magic pulsed through the locket, forcing something to cling onto the physical plane.

It would've been more expedient if he could figure out what was being contained. Still, the object was deplorable even as an anchor. While it was strong, unbelievably so, the locket would rip and damage whatever was being stored.

During his observations, Ron had walked behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, what's got your eye?" When he saw the locket, he smirked, "Got a gift for a certain someone?"

Harry chuckled, "No. I wouldn't give her something like this. Look, it's cracked and probably dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Ron stared at the locket with an intense gaze. "Why do you have it then?"

"I promised to destroy it. Dumbledore should be coming soon, if anyone knows esoteric magic, it's him."

Ron further questioned him on the matter of the locket, no doubt in the hopes of alerting the more intellectually minded Hermione. Harry answered as many questions as he could.

"Excuse my interruption boys, I require Mr. Potter's presence." Standing in front of the two was Headmaster Dumbledore. His robes flowing lightly and a amused chuckle on his lips.

Ron nodded firmly and said his goodbyes to the two and excused himself.

Dumbledore gestured Harry to follow him and strolled past the stairs. Harry was led to the kitchen where he and Dumbledore sat across from one another.

"Thanks for coming down here. I know you're busy."

Dumbledore laughed softly, "You'll find that with time you grow busy with the most menial of tasks. It does these old bones good to get off that comfortable chair of my mine."

Harry's tension eased. Dumbledore typically had that affect on him. He stood up straighter as he spoke, "Before we get to that, I want to thank you, for your advice that is. Moving forward with Teleute has been a good learning experience."

"Yes, Ms. Teleute seemed like a lovely lady. I would even dare say that she was the apple of the ball that day. She left a lot of the males in hot water with their own dates. Though, I should scold you for bringing an unknown into the castle." Dumbledore took a reprieve to give Harry a look.

There was the faintest feelings of guilt within his mind, but far too much pleasure interfered. Even now he could feel the tingle of her fingers tips brushing the sides of his face. A smile parted his lips.

Dumbledore saw all of this and seemed pleased by it. "Still I am joyous of your progression. I feel that your experiences will be far more pleasant than I. Even should this lead to heartache, take solace in the fact that for one moment the feelings were mutual." A brief grimace passed his features.

Harry took in the words as though they held some grand answer to some long lost secret. Grand as he was, Dumbledore was nearly ethereal to those around him, visible to all but intangible to most. "I will."

"I fear we've digressed quite enough. What prompted you to call for this meeting?" Dumbledore redirected the focus of the conversation as his chuckling died down. Hints of merriment lingered in his eyes even as his expression was schooled.

Harry dug into his pocket and presented the locket before the headmaster.

A look of alarm, surprise, and awe flashed through the man's face, his eyes wider. "Where did you come about this object? It is a terrible thing."

His reaction were partly expected and partly surprising. Dumbledore didn't seem nearly as astonished by the things existence as Harry expected, though this could simply be a tell of his elder's experience. Sitting straighter still, he clearly explained how he had gained the locket.

Dumbledore listened aptly with a tinge of sadness to his features. Who that sadness was directed at, Harry knew not. The man sat in silence, merely thinking.

Harry could no longer rein his curiosity and broke Dumbledore's thoughts, "What is the locket, sir? I never seen such a strong anchor. The magic is overly dense and a bit foreboding." There was clear excitement in his voice. If he hadn't been so unsure about the repercussions, he would have tinkered more with the mysterious anchor.

The unabashed excitement brought Dumbledore's lips down into a stern frown. His aged hands shook the contents held within in front of Harry, "This is not a toy, Harry. This is a vastly dark magical item forged from a terrible ritual. There is nothing good about this cursed item." There was no room for compromise in his tone.

This caused Harry to grimace and say his apologies. Even as horrible as locket sounded, he wished to find out what it actually was.

It was not lost to Dumbledore for he began to explain, "This locket is a Horcrux. You are correct in your claim of it being an anchor. It anchors half of the caster's soul into a particular item. This in turns prevents their death until such a time that the item in question is destroyed. Horcruxes are notorious for their durability. It would take the likes of high level spells such as Fiendfrye or poisons of incredible toxicity and power. This Horcrux, I believe, belonged to Tom. I tell you this in the expectation that you do not experiment in the creation of such an item. Do you understand me Mr. Potter?"

Harry couldn't say he was completely satisfied with the explanation, but he could tell this was a pressing concern for the headmaster. Besides, there was plenty of other things for him to experience and discover in his venture into magic. "I understand sir."

Pleased with his answer, Dumbledore then began discussing about the means of the item's destruction.