Chapter 29: Localite

"Harry! What's the matter, Harry?"

Ron leapt off his bed and scrambled towards Harry. Neville, Seamus, Dean and Ginny had also gathered around Harry, all looking both worried and puzzled.

"I saw Jan… and Hermione! Voldemort… Oh god!" Harry exclaimed. He scrambled out of bed and towards the exit.

"Harry, wait! Where are you going?"

Harry heard his friends yelling after him but he continued towards the door.

Oh god, I'll be too late, Harry realised with a sick feeling, I'll be too late by the time I reach them. Voldemort could have killed her already.

"Harry, did you see Hermione again?" Ron cried desperately after him, "Please say something."

"Yes I saw them. And I – no, Voldemort was going to kill her," Harry finally replied. However, his feet never ceased to move. He was practically jumping down three steps at once down the Gryffindor tower. He heard Ginny gasped from behind.

Ron pounced on Harry and hooked his neck by the nook of his elbow. "What do you mean? Voldemort was going to kill Hermione?" Ron demanded.

Harry had no choice but to stop and turn to face Ron. "No. Jan was there with Hermione and Voldemort was going to kill Jan," Harry answered impatiently.

Ron's worried face was replaced by relief. He began to snort. "Right," he said.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry demanded.

"Don't you see it Harry? Voldemort is trying to lure you to him again!" Ron declared happily. He was looking very pleased with himself.

"No, Ron. I felt it in him. He IS going to kill her!" Harry cried. Then he corrected himself in a soft whisper, "that is if he hadn't already. I need to find them."

"Harry, remember you thought Voldemort was going to kill Sirius last year but it turned out to be a ploy?" Neville reminded.

"Yeah," added Ginny, "Besides, how are you going to look for them? Do you know where they are?"

Harry would have jinxed them all if not for the sensibility in their words. Ginny was right, how was he going to find them? He had no idea where they are. He stood there quietly with his eyes squeezed shut. Concentrate, he ordered himself.

The place in his dreams looked vaguely familiar. But he was darn sure he had never been there before. Where was it!

"You're right. I need to find Dumbledore," Harry decided finally.

Ginny smiled in relief. "I'm coming with you," she said.

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Harry reached the gargoyle guarding Professor Dumbledore's office. He turned to the rest. "Does anyone know the password?" he asked.

They looked around at each other.

"Er…" Neville began, "Cashew nuts?"

The gargoyle remained unmoved.

"Jelly Beans?"

"Pock Pie!"

"Rotten eggs!"

"Chocolate mudpie!"

Bam!

Harry kicked the gargoyle in frustration. "Why won't you open, you ugly fiend!"

The gargoyle immediately sprang to life to the disbelief of everyone.

"I can't believe it," breathed Ron.

"Quick," Harry said as he led the way into the spiral stairways that lead to their headmaster's office. Harry knocked once with the brass knocker on the office door.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry called.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Ginny echoed.

"Could he be out?" Dean asked.

Harry gave the door a push and surprisingly, it gave way. The six of them spill into the room.

"Wow…" commented Seamus.

The room as suspected was void of any sign of life other than the six new occupants. Harry walked around and surveyed the dim room. He stopped in front of a portrait of a man sleeping in his chair.

"Phineas, where's Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked the man. "Phineas!"

The man remained in the same position and as if to prove that he indeed was sound asleep, he began to snore.

"Bloody hell!" Harry cursed angrily.

"What's this?" asked Neville. He picked up a silver chain and pendant embedded with a white opaque stone from Dumbledore's desk.

Ginny snatched the object from his hand and began to examine it. She then looked down at the desk and a look of comprehension dawned on her face.

"It's a Localite!" she exclaimed, her fingers tracing a piece of parchment on the table. As Harry moved closer to her, he realised that the piece of parchment was actually a map of England.

Ginny closed her eyes and held out the necklace in front of her. The necklace started swinging, slowly at first, in wide circles. Then it swung faster and faster in tight loops.

"Why isn't it working?" Ginny muttered after it oscillated for a few minutes. Finally, she slammed the necklace down.

"What is not working Gin?" asked Dean.

"This is a Localite. I read about them in The 101 Magical Items. It helps the bearer to locate a person that the bearer's heart wished for. I was thinking about Hermione when I held the Localite," Ginny explained.

"Let me give it a try," Harry said. He took the Localite from Ginny, held it out and concentrated hard.

The Localite started spinning again and the speed picked up within a few seconds. Harry's eyes furrowed in seriousness as he thought hard. Suddenly, he felt a downward tug on the Localite and his hand moved down with it. The white gem landed, but not fully resting, on top of the map.

Ginny leaned in closer to the map. "Little Hangleton?" Ginny murmured. The remaining five crowded around her.

"Where's Little Hangleton?" Seamus asked. "In sixteen years of my life in England, I've never heard of such a place."

"It's okay. We can navigate using the map," Dean suggested.

"Wait, Harry," Ginny asked, "how come it worked when you used it when it failed on me?"

"I was thinking about Janieve," Harry replied.

Everyone fell silent.

"It's okay. I'll look for her myself. I intended to do it alone anyway," Harry said.

"No Harry, we're coming with you no matter what," said Nevilled firmly, which astounded Harry.

"I can't let you do that. What if I'm wrong again? What if this is another of Voldemort's trick?" Harry cried.

"Then we'll fight him together," answered Ginny, "We fought together last year. We'll do it together this year."

Harry turned to Dean and Seamus. There was a flicker of hesitation but it was gone quickly.

"We're coming," they asserted.

"Alright," Harry conceded. "But we better hurry. We've wasted a lot of time already," he said.

"Are we going to use the Thestrals again?" Neville asked.

"We can't. That would mean going into the Forbidden Forest," Ginny reminded.

"We'll fly with our brooms," Harry said.

"No," Ron interjected, "We can use the magic carpet."