A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, follows and faves - they are much appreciated. For all those who asked me to continue, yes, this will eventually be completed, no idea when :-) Here's a healthy chapter to reward your patience. This story will run well over 100k words before I'm done.
Warning: A reminder that this story carries a PG-13/Teen rating, containing content that may not be suitable for younger readers. Details have been added to the opening chapter.
More trivia: When interviewed about this song, Ray Thomas once said the first line "Hark, listen, hear he comes" was actually words he heard spoken by his grandmother and their neighbors while they were huddling in air raid shelters during the Luftwaffe attacks on London in 1941.
Ch 11 in which Harry visits Hogsmeade and he extends his research…
– 11 –
Eternity Road
Speeding through a charcoal sky
Observe the truth, we cannot lie
Travelling eternity road
What will you find there?
Carrying your heavy load
Searching to find
Your peace of mind
- The Moody Blues
o o
o
"Damn, Potter," said Mad-Eye with a chuckle, "did Albus give you a second wand?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," Harry said, grinning, remembering the Weasley twins using that same line when asked about the source of funding for their shop in Diagon Alley.
"Fine, you should keep some things to yourself." Mad-Eye returned to the headmaster's chair. "And a perfect illustration of why you never turn your back to your enemy. Now, since I can't fight you without my wand, this is probably a good time to chat."
"Yes, sir," Harry said, sitting as well.
Mad-Eye studied the teen across from him, his real eye fixed upon his face, the magical eye roving, surveying him top to bottom. Harry shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the scrutiny.
"How do you see this war playing out, Potter?"
Harry shifted again. "I've only heard stories about how the Death Eaters operated in the first war, causing panic with the Imperius Curse among others -"
"I've heard you can beat the Imperius - is that true?"
"Well, yes, I did it in class -"
"A good strength to have, especially if your opponent is unaware of it. Go on…"
"They have already been using terror tactics, random killings - Hannah Abbott lost her mum this week - and everyone is afraid their family will be targeted next. And just today Hagrid told us Aragog is sick and dying."
"Aragog, eh? Explain."
"Did you know there's a huge acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest?"
"I've heard something like that," replied Mad-Eye.
"The colony was started by this one spider named Aragog, who was raised as a pet of Hagrid's. I met him once -"
"Don't tell me you were fool enough to wander into an acromantula nest?"
"Okay, I won't tell you that."
Mad-Eye huffed in amusement.
"The point is," Harry continued, "that the colony leaves us alone because of Aragog's loyalty to Hagrid. When Aragog dies, there's nothing preventing the rest of the colony to look at us as food, and if the Death Eaters get wind of it -"
"Aye, they could use them as a weapon against us. I'll have to gather some help on that one. Good you brought it up."
Mad-Eye leaned closer. "And what about yourself, Potter?"
"I reckon Voldemort wants me dead - and he seems to want to kill me himself."
"Hmm, you might get some benefit from that if you're fighting one of his followers - they might hold back, but don't count too much on it. So what do you do if you meet up with a few Death Eaters?"
"If it's just me, get away however I can," said Harry. "That's what I did after the third task in the graveyard. If there are others with me, it would depend on whether they could defend themselves or not, and whether we had an advantage or not. My first priority would be the defenseless, protect them until they can be taken to safety or rescued, like what happened at the Ministry -"
"Aye, you did well that night, better than myself anyways. Dolohov got the drop on me, but you took him out. I have only one criticism about what you did. Can you guess?"
"I think I used the body-bind curse on him."
"And was that the first time you had cursed him that evening?"
"Erm, no - I used it on him earlier, right after he cursed Hermione."
"So why was he back in action?"
"I reckon my curse was easy to remove by one of the other Death Eaters."
"Exactly! You don't want to have to fight the same guys over and over. Put them out of the fight once so they stay out. I'm gonna teach you some battle curses to do just that. Albus told me you have a place where you trained those others. Care to take me there?"
"Yeah, I can do that. It's not far from here."
Harry led Mad-Eye out of the headmaster's office and along the seventh floor corridor until he stopped at a certain location and began to pace back and forth..
"Always thought this was one of the stranger things hanging in this place," Mad-Eye mused as he studied the tapestry with the trolls clubbing the wizard who tried teaching them ballet. "What exactly are you… Now how did you make that door appear?"
"A secret one of the house-elves told me," smirked Harry. "Walk by this place three times thinking about what you need, and the Room of Requirement will appear. The headmaster once found a room full of chamber pots here."
"Obvious what he needed right then," chuckled Mad-Eye.
Harry opened the door and ushered in the old auror. "We needed a place to practice defense, and this is what the room provided."
"Not bad," Mad-Eye said, eyeing the shelves loaded with defense books of all sorts, the pillows on the floor, and the dark detectors in the back. "Huh, I wondered what happened to this."
Harry had assumed correctly that the broken foe glass had once been in Mad-Eye's office.
"However, these books won't last long with some of the spells I'm gonna teach you. Better to have a shielded room with blank walls."
Harry closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. The shelves, pillows and fixtures all vanished, only torches remained on the walls.
"Much better," said Mad-Eye with a nod. "First, we're going to work on cutting spells that will cause significant damage to flesh without necessarily killing your target. The sight of their own blood makes it useful against bullies who need to think twice about harassing you. After that, we'll move into some nastier stuff like Dolohov uses."
Thus began the process of turning young Harry Potter into a warrior.
o o o
Harry was so covered up with classwork, training, and quidditch practice for the next few weeks that he had little time to consider anything else. He did make the effort to meet on irregular occasions with Ginny in their favorite spot, the transfigured settee in the fourth floor room where years earlier Harry had found the Mirror of Erised.
Harry found that wrapping his troubles around Ginny's warm, lithe form helped ease them to the back of consciousness. The things she did with her hands, lips and tongue were so much better to concentrate on.
They took a moment to relax after another intense snogging session, stroking each other's cheeks and hair.
"First Hogsmeade weekend is coming up," said Ginny. "How do you want to handle it?"
"As much as I wish we could go as a couple," Harry said, frowning, "I think we need to go in separate groups. I usually go with Ron and Hermione -"
"And I'll go with my roomies," Ginny said with a sigh. "Will we ever be able to just be ourselves?"
"I certainly hope so," said Harry. "It gives me a reason to continue on, learning to fight so we can win. So we can have a future together."
Ginny gave him a warm smile. "You mean that?"
"Of course I do. I love you and I want to be with you properly - go on dates where I can hold your hand and all that -"
"I'll hold you to that, Potter."
"Yes, ma'am," he returned, and they wrapped themselves together once again.
o o o
It was a cold and blustery October Saturday as Harry made his way down to Hogsmeade village as Ron kept complaining about Filch's use and abuse of his Secrecy Sensor. Harry and Hermione said little, trying to avoid the bitter biting wind. Eventually they found respite in Honeydukes Sweet Shop, which was blissfully warm but dominated by the imposing figure of Professor Horace Slughorn, augmented with a furry collared coat and an enormous hat that looked as if the animal had crawled atop his head and fallen asleep.
"Harry, m'boy!" he boomed, "I haven't seen you at any of my suppers - this won't do!"
Harry had been scheduling Quidditch practices purposefully to conflict with the professor's social gatherings to avoid attendance. He successfully managed to excuse himself out of the next meeting as well before they left the shop.
"They're not as bad as all that," said Hermione.
"Even if McLaggen is still coming?" Harry said, leaning into the wind whipping down the street.
"He's been avoiding me ever since Quidditch tryouts," she said. "But you know the Christmas party is not that far away and we can invite guests."
"Who'd you want to invite?" said Ron, acting nonchalant.
Hermione turned towards him. "I was thinking of inviting you, if you don't think it's too far beneath you."
As the three headed to the warmth of the Three Broomsticks Inn, Harry chuckled to himself as his two friends continued their little dance, pretending that no one else noticed they fancied each other. He would have to share the details with Ginny later.
As they approached the old inn, Harry spotted a bandy-legged wizard with long scraggly ginger hair propped against the outside wall, as if awaiting someone. Harry loped ahead and clamped one hand on the man's cloaked shoulder, palming his wand with the other.
"Mundungus!" he cried, feigning a happy greeting. "I've been wanting to see you!"
"Wha - Harry? That you?" blustered the raggedly dressed man. He gathered an ancient suitcase close to his chest. "Whachoo wanna see me for?"
"Oh, I've been hearing interesting stories about your business ventures, Dung. What sort of wares are you peddling today?"
"Oh, just bits and bobs, y'know, nuthin' sure you'd be a-fancyin…"
"I'll be the judge of that," Harry said without humor, making sure Mundungus saw his wand. He grabbed the bag and opened it wide, revealing a veritable junk shop of merchandise. He withdrew a silver goblet.
"Very nice, looks antique," mused Harry, "and look, it has the Black family crest engraved on it. That must increase its value, wouldn't you say, Dung?"
"Now see here, Harry -"
"No, Dung," growled Harry, squeezing him against the wall, Elder Wand at his throat. "What I see here is Sirius' stuff, nicked from headquarters. Now I reckon you're gonna tell me times are hard and Sirius didn't want it anyway, which all may be true, but you still nicked it without asking. In case you hadn't heard, the house and everything that was in it is mine. So if you don't want to deal with DMLE, you're going to make a complete inventory of everything you took from the house and how much you sold it for, and I'm gonna be generous and let you keep twenty percent for your trouble."
"Harry, that's urk hardly fair, we should go fifty-fifty - I'm doin all the work -"
"No deal. You stole it. I want that list by Monday. And Kreacher will know if you leave anything out."
Mundungus was sweating, despite the knifing wind and the sleet catching in his scraggly locks. "But, Harry… after all I've done fer ya?"
Harry leaned in even closer. "For me?" he said in a fierce whisper. "You mean like leaving me to the dementors on your watch?"
"But urk I dint know that was gonna happen! I was gone for just a mo' -"
"Eighty percent, Dung, back to me. Understood?"
"Yeah, sure. Sorry. urk Can I go now?"
Harry stepped back and glowered at the wheezing wizard until he managed to apparate away. Harry continued to stare at the spot as if the very air offended him.
"Wow, mate," said Ron with a chuckle, "that was scary. He probably went home to change his pants."
"I didn't know you cared about anything at… that place," said Hermione.
"I don't," Harry said, still scowling. "And I don't care about the money either."
"Then what -"
"Hermione, people are dying out there and this guy - who claims to be on our side - is pilfering our junk right under our noses. But we know one thing that Dung didn't steal," he said, thinking about Regulus' locket, "and there may be more things like that."
"But you let him carry off that whole case -"
He patted his arm. "This wand tells me if there's any serious curses on the stuff he was carrying. There wasn't, but we don't know what else he might pick up if we don't stop him now. We have no idea the damage that might be caused nor if any of this stuff is important or not. I don't think we can afford the risk."
Ron and Hermione nodded with Harry's logic. They turned and shuffled into the noise and warmth of the inn. Harry had to charm the fog off his glasses to see where he was going. They squirmed around several crowded tables to find one that had just been vacated. They were pulling off scarves and hats when Harry froze.
The Elder Wand had been a maddening but muted chorus since they entered the building, yet now several bitter and angry notes were rising above the background and Harry was forced to listen. He held his arm against his chest and made a slow spin, surveying the room.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione said.
"Something's wrong back there," Harry said, indicating the passage to the bathrooms.
They watched as Harry's Quidditch teammate Katie Bell came out of the passage carrying a small bundle and walked straight for the front door. Her roommate Leanne Lochlin was startled that Katie passed her by.
"Katie?" she called.
"I have to get back to the castle," they heard her say woodenly before she made her way outside, despite the protests of Leanne.
Harry started after them, following the screeching signals he was receiving from the Elder Wand. "Katie's in trouble," he muttered with urgency, "but there's still something back towards the loo."
Alarmed, Hermione and Ron worked their way back to the door, moving as quickly as they could behind Harry.
Outside on the High Street, they saw Leanne getting more desperate in her attempts to communicate with Katie.
"Katie? What is that? Why won't you talk to me?"
Katie ignored her friend and continued toward the road up to the castle.
Harry could discern at least two separate curses on Katie, and he would bet his Firebolt the package Katie held was at least part of the problem. Wand out, he took careful aim.
"Accio package!"
He knew better than to try and catch the little wrapped parcel that came flying his way so he threw up a shield to protect himself.
Losing her grip as the parcel flew away, Katie turned and screamed at Harry, firing a curse as well. The curse flashed across Harry's shield and hit Leanne instead, who fell to the ground in agony as blood spurted from a large gash in her leg.
Firing a stunner at Katie, Harry attempted a healing spell on Leanne. Hermione was by his side in a moment.
"Harry! Get the Aurors!" Hermione said between passes on Leanne's open gash. "I've got this!"
Harry and Ron both sent up red sparks, then Harry turned back to Katie. She lay sprawled out in the cold street, his teammate and friend - why would she attack him with such viscousness? The Elder Wand still recognized two curses - one was definitely on the parcel at his feet but Katie had one as well. Moody's lessons on putting down an opponent came to mind and Harry grabbed her wand.
A few moments later Tonks apparated nearby and strode over to them, wand held ready.
"Wotcher, Harry," she said warily, surveying the scene. "Talk to me."
He explained what had transpired in the Three Broomsticks and how both Katie and Leanne ended up on the ground. "This package is cursed, something is wrong with Katie, and someone back in the inn has the same curse she does."
"We need assistance," she said, sending a signal to the Ministry's Department of Law Enforcement. "We need to get these girls to St. Mungo's. How do you know someone else is cursed?"
"I can sense different types of magic," Harry said, avoiding details of the Elder Wand. "It's something I picked up recently."
"Useful, that," she said. She turned to Hermione and Ron. "You guys participate in any of this?"
"No," Hermione said. "But Harry was just trying to help Katie."
"I believe you," Tonks replied, "but I've still got to follow procedures. Harry, I need to check your wand."
o o o
"So what did they find at the inn?" Harry asked impatiently, finally secure in the echoing silence of the Room of Requirement.
"You were right, Potter," said Mad-Eye Moody, watching his reaction. "Madame Rosmerta was imperiused."
Harry gasped. "So Katie was imperiused, too?"
Mad-Eye nodded. "Tonks said you can detect curse magic."
"Yeah, it's kind of a new thing I've learned recently. I can tell when something is cursed, but I don't know exactly what it is if I've never seen it before. At least now I know how to identify the Imperius."
"Is this something you can teach to others?"
"Erm, no… it's apparently one of those weird things unique to me. What about Leanne and that package?" he asked, once again steering the conversation away from revealing the Elder Wand.
"Both girls should be back by Monday, right as rain. Good thing the Bell girl didn't overpower her spell or her friend would've lost that leg. You and your friends helped by getting on that right away."
Harry nodded in relief; they had all been wondering if they had done enough.
"The package had a necklace with a nasty dark curse - a very painful death in minutes with skin contact, something like the Cruciatus."
Harry stared back, horrified. "Was it from Draco Malfoy?" he hissed.
Mad-Eye took a few steps around the room. "Possibly," he said. "That necklace was in Borgin & Burke's the day we chased him through there, but we have no evidence to connect it to him. It was still in the shop when he left and he was with McGonagall in detention all day today."
"But he could have gone back and gotten it? And got to Rosmerta earlier?"
"Yes to both. But possibilities and suspicions aren't enough to bring him in. You might want to keep a closer eye on him, see if you can catch him at something."
Harry nodded, knowing that this was yet another task to cram into his already full schedule.
"Enough chat," groused Mad-Eye. "How big can you make this room?"
"No idea," said Harry. "What did you have in mind?"
"I hear you're good on a broom, so we should learn aerial combat techniques."
Harry closed his eyes in thought. He reopened them to the sight of the Hogwarts quidditch pitch and a mentor that was beaming in anticipation.
"Mount up, Potter!" Mad-Eye exclaimed. "This is gonna be fun."
o o o
"We're gonna have to take turns watching him on the Marauders' Map," Harry said quietly, outlining his new strategy the next morning as they huddled together during breakfast in the Great Hall.
"Harry, I know you think Malfoy's responsible for what happened to Katie…"
"I know he is, Hermione," said Harry, "and we've got to stop whatever it is he's trying to do before he kills someone."
"Maybe that's the point, innit?" mumbled Ron.
"All the more reason to keep watch. We can't let him know that we're on to him though - we need to let him get careless -"
His thought was interrupted by the flurry of owls delivering the morning mail. A rolled newspaper landed in front of Hermione, who still kept a subscription to the Daily Prophet in spite of its questionable reporting practices.
"Oh, no," she groaned after seeing the headline. "I suspected they might try this."
She slid the paper over in front of Harry. He blinked at the front page and read.
The Chosen One - Hero, Bully, or Thief?
By Jonathan Twist
After a series of incidents in Hogsmeade yesterday, questions have arisen about the Boy Who Lived - does he have our interests at heart? Can he be trusted?
Witnesses outside the Three Broomsticks Inn told this reporter that Harry Potter and his friends approached a poor man in the High Street who was not bothering anyone. Potter began to harass him over the contents of a case he was carrying, including threats to his person. The man was able to escape Potter's clutches, causing visible anger in the Boy Who Lived. He and his friends then entered the Inn, but were outside again after just a couple of minutes. Potter chased down a pair of Hogwarts students and summoned part of their village shopping away from them. When one tried to retaliate, Potter cursed both of them. Both students were sent to St. Mungo's for treatment. Their condition was unknown at press time. Potter was being held for questioning by Aurors who arrived on the scene promptly after the incident.
Assaults on three separate individuals within just a few minutes. Attempted robbery in the middle of Hogsmeade during the peak crowds. What does Harry Potter get up to when no one is watching? How can he be the savior that some claim him to be? These are questions that our readers desperately need to know, and your Daily Prophet reporting team will keep you updated as events unfold.
Harry snorted. "What a load of tosh. They took every grain of truth and twisted it into some unrecognizable pile of nonsense."
"That reporter Twist must be trying to live up to his name," said Ron.
"I always knew you were a fraud, Potter," came a sneering voice across the Great Hall. The general buzz of the room immediately became a general intake of breath in anticipation of what would surely be a confrontation for the history books.
Harry groaned as he ran his hands through his messy locks. "And the real fraud wants to throw more tosh on the heap."
"Harry," warned Hermione, "you mustn't -"
Whatever her warning, Harry was not listening. He rose to his feet as a snake uncoiling to better strike its prey.
The voice from the Slytherin table continued, ignoring the rising danger it faced. "Who's your next victim, Potter? Another Gryffindor? And everyone thought you were going to protect them? That's a laugh!"
As Harry stood, he quickly thought about all the possible retorts he could use - defense of his actions, the duplicity of the newspaper, the irony of a pureblood swearing allegiance to a half-blood pretender, and several others - but none of those suited his purposes that morning. Instead, he dug in his pocket for a small bronze coin and casually flipped it across the aisle to the owner of the offending voice.
For all his faults, Draco Malfoy was still a seeker and caught the coin easily. "What the hell is this, Potter?"
Harry barely glanced his way as he walked towards the rear of the hall, but his voice carried to every corner.
"It's a knut, Malfoy. Go floo somebody who cares."
The snickering began before Harry was out the door, erupting into cheers and applause from the muggle-borns familiar with the original phrase.
Even a few Slytherins were trying to hide their mirth at the stormy face of one of their own.
o o o
Ron, Hermione and Ginny caught up with Harry pacing outside the Room of Requirement. The door appeared and he marched inside. They gathered in the middle of the familiar sitting room.
"Malfoy reminded me of something," Harry said in obvious frustration. "Dumbledore's been gone for weeks, and I've done nothing to follow up on his lessons."
"Was he expecting you to do that?" asked Hermione.
"I can't sit idly by and watch people get cursed or die," said Harry. "I need to use the tools I have to do what Dumbledore can't."
"What do you mean?" said Ron.
"I can talk to people who have passed beyond," said Harry. "I'm just not sure who I should bring back."
"Who were you studying?" Ginny asked.
"Well, Tom's family," Harry said, thinking aloud. "But none of them were around to see Tom grow up. He told me he lived in an orphanage."
"How did he end up there?" Hermione said. "That might be one place to start."
"Good thinking, Hermione," said Harry. "I know just who to ask."
"How d'you know they'll be straight with us?" asked Ron.
"It's part of the magic," Harry said. "Whoever is called by the stone must state the truth as they know it. Everyone sit down and I'll give this a shot."
He brought out the ring with the Resurrection Stone and slowly turned it three times while he thought about who he wanted to see.
A silvery wisp of a woman appeared before them, looking around anxiously.
"What is this place? Why was I called here?"
Harry noticed that she still had the same eyes that looked in different directions, but that it no longer appeared as a deformity, like she had grown into it somehow.
"Hello, Merope," he said, "I'm Harry, and I called you here. We won't keep you long - we just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes, if that's okay. These are my friends Ron, Ginny, and Hermione."
The young woman wrung her hands as she looked at each one in turn before returning her gaze to Harry. She gasped and pointed at him.
"You have my father's ring!"
"Yes," Harry said, "that's what is allowing you to be here now. Can I ask you about your marriage?"
"Oh," she said, seeming to relax somewhat, "I suppose. My Tom was the most handsome man in the village, and we were so happy together. I thought we would always be together - he loved me so much! He didn't pay anyone else any mind, because we were so in love. And when I was finally expecting, my heart was so filled with joy - part of him had joined part of me forever, and that proved our love was real. I didn't need the potions anymore!"
She bent her head and began to sob. "But I was wrong - Tom was blind, like all the rest of them. I couldn't convince him to stay, not even for the baby! I was cut adrift - I was so alone, I was lost without my love - I didn't know what to do, I was so tired you see - I was so hungry, I didn't care anymore what became of me - I was nothing without my love -"
"What did you do?" Harry asked, trying to sound sympathetic.
"I couldn't do anything!" she cried. "I went to the city and sold everything I had, just to make it a little further. I must have fallen asleep in the streets there. When I woke up I felt like I was being ripped apart - the baby was coming and some people helped me with him, and when it was over I told them his name, for his father and my father, and I just couldn't - "
She collapsed into tears once more. The teens stared at her, trying to imagine the devastation she must have felt.
"I'm so sorry," Harry soothed. "Do you know what happened to your baby?"
The woman lifted her head but wrapped her arms around herself. "My sweet baby boy - he was beautiful - like my Tom, you know? Those people - they took him in and cared for him. But they didn't love him like what he needed - and the other children weren't kind. When he showed them he was special, they became even more cruel - my baby didn't like having to deal with them, but they forced him - it wasn't his fault! And when they sent him to the school in the castle, they didn't understand him there either! They didn't acknowledge he was special, nor would they give him what he really needed, somewhere to belong!
"They forced him to prove himself, to get what he needed on his own, and they were going to punish him for setting loose the monster that got that girl killed - but it wasn't his fault! He was only doing what he had to do to survive, to learn secrets that would help him - and then the worst of all -"
She took several deep wracking breaths before continuing, almost in a wail, "They forced him to sever himself asunder, my baby boy, just to protect himself, because they would try to destroy him if they had a chance, and he left pieces of himself scattered about in trinkets so that no one could ever find them all - seven times! My baby boy - mutilated beyond recognition, that he could never bleed from more than one piece, seven pieces, just to protect himself from those who would not listen, who would not understand, who would not give him the love he needed and now can never have -"
She curled in upon herself as she recalled his terrible struggle. "And I fear he is lost - my baby boy will never see me again - he will never be whole again -"
Harry stepped closer. "You say he divided himself? Is that why he can't die?"
"Of course! He had to defeat those who would bring about his destruction! They even tried to end him through a mere child! A child that carries one of his pieces even now!"
Harry stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you see?" she cried. "They will stop at nothing! They tried to kill my baby with another child! But they didn't understand - now that child carries a piece of him and is sought by him - they can only be separated at death, and I fear for my baby, my only son…"
"Death?" Harry said hollowly. The other teens could only gape in growing horror.
"Yes, death," Merope sobbed forlornly, shoulders heaving. "Can you send me back? I was at peace, and you have stripped that away and bared my soul, the only one I have… send me back, please…"
She fell to her knees, her moaning cries too pitiful for the others to bear.
Harry muttered a strangled, "Yes, thank you," to the ghostly figure.
He waved his hand and she was gone.
He stood for a long moment, staring out in space at nothing - at his future that lay in shreds before him, at the dawning recognition that his task was beyond impossible to complete.
He didn't turn around - he couldn't face them now, he didn't want to see the revulsion and pity he knew would find there.
Ron was the first to break the silence. "That bint was well round the twist - a nutter for sure."
"She certainly had a strange slant to Tom's behavior," Ginny said.
"She's his mother," said Hermione. "She's sure to reinterpret everything in an attempt to justify his actions with some kind of perverse logic that made sense to her. But, Ron, I agree, she is totally unbalanced. Did you notice how many times she denied he had any responsibility for the things he's done?"
"And what the bloody hell was that, anyway?" Ron said.
"Pieces, she said." Harry turned around, his face giving little hint of the anger and hopelessness swirling behind it. "Hidden in trinkets. I think we have some."
Hermione gasped, "The locket that Kreature took from his cave!"
Harry nodded. "And the tiara has the same magic."
"And you said your scar - " Hermione stopped, suddenly realizing what Harry had already concluded, that one of those pieces of Voldemort resided there as well.
But Harry's eyes were on Ginny's. "And we may have seen one of these pieces before," he said lowly, almost as if it pained him to make the words.
Ginny's eyes widened. "That bastard," she breathed.
Ron looked back and forth between them. "Surely you're not saying…"
"Yeah, I am," Harry said. "If anything ever looked like a piece of Tom, it was what came out of that diary. But at least it's gone now, so we know that these pieces can be destroyed." He paused for a moment, looking down at the Peverell ring he wore.
"Dumbledore may have been cursed trying to get this one," he mused. "We need to talk to someone who has a better idea what these things are exactly."
"Who besides Dumbledore?" said Ron.
"What about Sirius' brother?" said Ginny. "The one that Kreacher took to that cave?"
"That's right," agreed Hermione. "Regulus discovered what You Know Who had done."
Harry nodded and turned the ring once again, calling for Sirius' younger brother.
A young man with a remarkable resemblance to Harry's godfather but with softer features appeared before them.
"Hello," he said, sporting a wry grin, "you must be Harry. I'm Regulus Black. My brother told me to expect your call."
"Erm, hi," said Harry. "You've talked to Sirius since I called him here?"
"Oh, yes, and he's told me many incredible things about you - and your friends."
They took turns introducing each other but Regulus seemed to know each one of them already. After several minutes of getting acquainted, they got to their reason for meeting.
"The locket you had Kreacher retrieve," said Harry, "we know it once belonged to Voldemort's mother, probably an heirloom of Slytherin. What do you know about the magics that Voldemort did to it?"
"Well, I didn't know any of its history," Regulus said, "but I was able to use some old books we had in the Black family library to discover that he had turned it into something called a horcrux - a very dark and despicable thing. It uses a vile ritual to split one's very soul and store it in the object, preventing one from leaving that plane of existence if something happens to your physical body."
Harry's eyes widened. "That's why he didn't die after he tried to kill me."
"How is that even possible?" cried Hermione after she recovered from the hideous revelation.
"Magic can do terrible things," said Regulus sadly, "just as it can do wonderful things. The horcrux ritual is one of the most evil, requiring the murder of an innocent as a key step. When I discovered what it was, I ordered Kreacher to destroy it, hoping that would make the Dark Lord mortal once again. Harry, I cannot tell you how sorry I am - of the failure of my plan and the ultimate sacrifice of your family to succeed where I could not."
"No," said Harry, "you did what you could with what you knew. That wasn't the only one he made. We've discovered others."
"So I have heard. Do you have any idea how many?"
"We just had a visit with his mother, who passed beyond just after giving birth. She said something about him severing himself seven times, and I guess now we know what she was referring to."
"Seven times?" Regulus said, incredulous. "But that would leave eight pieces of his soul in existence at the time of the ritual. Eight is an unstable number in magic - it should not have been possible."
Harry glanced back at Ginny. "We… erm… eliminated one of them a couple of years before his rebirth. I stabbed it with a basilisk fang."
"My brother said something about that, but he didn't know the full story. I admit that I found it hard to believe."
"Believe it," Ginny said, scowling. "I was there. That stupid diary of Tom's had possessed me and was trying to steal my soul. Harry had to kill the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor brought to him by the headmaster's phoenix and the Sorting Hat. He was bit in the process by the ruddy huge beast and Fawkes saved him with phoenix tears. That's not the kind of stuff you can just make up."
"My apologies," Regulus said, bowing towards Ginny, "I did not mean to offend. Sirius told me several things that beggared belief -"
Ron broke in. "If they included jumping on a troll's back to save Hermione, carrying off a baby dragon to save Hagrid, and killing a possessed professor to save the Philosopher's Stone, it's all true, and that was just his first year."
Regulus held up his hands. "I understand! Though, you must admit, Harry, if someone were to read your life story in a book, they would automatically determine it as fantasy, a fiction, because so many seemingly impossible events happen to you and around you."
Harry snorted. "Welcome to my so-called life."
"So how many of his horcruxes have you found?"
Harry looked up and started down the list he had formed in his mind. "We only know about six so far. The locket from the cave, the tiara from Hogwarts, the diary I stabbed -"
"You said the ring Dumbledore retrieved might be one," Hermione reminded him.
"And the snake in Godric's Hollow -," began Ginny.
"Was the same snake in the graveyard," Harry finished. "I've been able to see through its eyes, just like I can feel Tom when he's especially emotional."
"But to connect with them on that level must mean -"
Harry nodded and explained, to Regulus' growing horror, what Merope had hinted about his scar.
o o o
Harry slept fitfully that night; his dreams bore visions of a dark and gruesome future.
He stood before a lake inside a dark cavern, the water boiling with turbulence. Out of this maelstrom strode Albus Dumbledore, at least what used to be the headmaster. His dessicated flesh hung limply off his leaning frame as he made lumbering but determined steps towards Harry.
He's an Inferius! I've got to use fire!
As Harry's Incendio spell met the headmaster, it became a bludgeoning spell, and Dumbledore was suddenly falling backwards - not into the lake, but down, down into Courtroom Ten at the Ministry of Magic from a tremendous height. Dumbledore's body lost the decayed appearance of an Inferius, but his limbs all seemed bent at odd angles and a dark pool of blood was spreading across the stone floor underneath.
Delores Umbridge wobbled in, cackling in glee at the broken body before her, and promptly declared herself Head of the Undesirables Dispositions Department. Her first act was to drag a screaming Hermione into the courtroom and carve a large M on her forehead with a cursed knife, while Harry could only watch from the gallery, frozen in place.
"The whole world will know what you are now, you filthy Mudblood," she simpered happily. "Take her away!"
The next order of business was a new marriage law that paired up pureblood families to better enable line continuation of the old families. Ron and Ginny were magically and forever betrothed to Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy respectively, to no one's delight. Ron was stunned as soon as he started throwing punches at any official who got within the reach of his long arms. Ginny was also quite upset, but restrained herself to hurling vicious epithets at Umbridge before being bodily dragged from the courtroom.
Harry next found himself in front of Tom himself, his features even more snake-like, as if he had merged with Nagini since her demise at Godric's Hollow. Without seeing it, Harry knew they were before the arch supporting the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries - the whispering from the other side was insistent and beckoning.
"Neither can live while the other survives," hissed Voldemort, wand pointed at Harry's forehead. "It's time for you to stop surviving, Harry Potter, and I am making doubly sure of it. Avada Kedavra!"
Green light erupted before Harry, and pain - unlike he'd ever felt before - ripped through his scar. He flew backward through the veil and fell downward, downward for an eternity…
Harry awoke in a sweat, his stomach roiling through a fierce headache. Ginny's anguished sobs and Hermione's screams echoed through a green fog in his tormented mind.
He swore to himself that he would allow none of these things to come to pass.
o o o
Harry dragged himself through his classes the next day, not wanting to share the terrors of his dreams, even with his friends. They tried not to ask questions when he was surly with them, knowing what he had learned the day before.
He sat stonily at dinner that evening, pushing the food around his plate while Ron and Hermione tried to make small talk, unable to discuss what was on their minds around the other Gryffindors. Ginny looked on, concerned, yet maintained her conversation with her yearmates.
"Hey, Harry, it looks like your wrackspurts have returned."
Harry looked up into the face of Luna Lovegood, who stood behind him, head tilted to one side, studying him curiously.
"Hey, Luna," Harry said, trying to smile. "I think you may be right. Any suggestions on what I can do?"
She handed him a note. "This might help. If not, I can let you borrow my cork necklace."
She waved and skipped off down the aisle.
"I still say she's barmy," Ron murmured.
"Hush, Ronald," Hermione warned. "Who's the note from, Harry?"
He looked up, then glanced around for eavesdroppers.
"Dumbledore's back."
o o o
Albus Dumbledore vainly attempted to arrange the parchments on his desk into some kind of order of urgency. He had too many fingers in too many pies to keep up the trivial but necessary tasks of running a school. His deputy, Minerva, did an admiral job, but it also was one of three positions she held at Hogwarts and she was also stretched very thin.
He stepped over to one of the cabinets and withdrew his pensieve and a rack of memory vials. He had delayed this meeting long enough and needed Harry Potter to see Tom Riddle's history and gradually introduce the idea of the terrible lengths Tom would go to prolong his time on Earth.
There was also Harry's personal involvement - a subject he knew he must breach eventually, but he could think of no way to soften the blow he knew it would be to the young man, and it pained his heart.
"Come in!" he called as he sensed Harry's approach to his office. He was sure Harry would want to discuss the unfortunate events in Hogsmeade two days previous and how Katie Bell could possibly have acquired such a cursed object. It was quite fortunate that Harry was there, able to protect the girl from grievous injury - possibly death.
As Harry burst through the door, Albus noted he wore a thunderous expression indicating he had something much more serious on his mind. It shocked him to his core to discover just what that was.
"Headmaster, how long have you known I was a horcrux?"
o