"So now what?" Hermione asked as they left the house the next morning.
"Well, I think that it's a possibility that at least one of the Horcruxes are in Little Hangleton. There are two places there that I want to search. The first place is the Riddle house. The other place is where Voldemort's mother lived. But I don't know where Little Hangleton is. I think the best thing to do would be to take the Knights Bus." Harry answered. He looked around and the others nodded in agreement.
Harry lifted his wand and a few seconds later, the bus appeared. As he boarded, Ernie McMillian, the driver grinned.
"Arry Potter! Back again, eh? And I see you brought your friends!" Ernie greeted. "Where can I take you today?"
"Well, we'd like to go to Little Hangleton. Can you take us there?" Harry asked.
"Little Hangleton, eh?" Ernie replied. "Don't get many requests to go there." he added. "Sure, 11 sickles per person."
Harry dropped the necessary gold into the meter and gestured for his friends to follow him up. They made their way to the last compartment and sat down. Not wanting to be overheard talking about the horcruxes, Harry and Ginny decided to make up for lost time and slipped into the compartment behind Ron and Hermione.
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"Ron, I'm really glad you're here." Hermione said suddenly. "I mean, Harry and Ginny are together, and I've really enjoyed being able to talk to you this summer."
Ron wore a surprised look on his face, but immediately replaced it with a happy one. "I've loved spending time with you too." he replied. Suddenly, all the feelings that he'd ever felt for Hermione were all he could think of. "Actually, I have a confession to make." Ron said shyly. "You've always been very special to me, Hermione. You've always been one of my best friends…but I wish we could be…more than that." Ron said awkwardly, fumbling for words.
Hermione smiled. "I guess I have a confession to make as well." she replied. "You have no idea how jealous I was of Lavender last year. Every time I saw you two together, it was like…like someone was performing the Cruciatus curse on me." she said tentatively.
Ron widened his eyes. He gently touched her cheek with his hand. He searched her eyes for an answer to his unspoken question and she smiled and gave a slight nod. Ron leaned forward and kissed her lips gently. Hermione returned the kiss with one of her own that she had been waiting to give for the longest time.
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"I hope we're not interrupting anything." Ginny said innocently as she and Harry looked in on Ron and Hermione.
"Is there something that you need to tell us?" Harry asked his two friends with a grin.
"As a matter of fact, there is." Ron said, blushing. "Hermione has agreed to be my girlfriend."
"That's great, mate." Harry replied as he hugged his two friends. "It's about time you two did something about this." he teased.
Ron started to fire back a retort to Harry when Ernie announced that they had arrived at Little Hangleton. The gang thanked Ernie and stepped off the bus to continue their search.
"I think the house will be pretty easy to find." Harry commented. "I have an idea." Harry looked around the town and saw a few teenagers hanging around by a store front. Harry walked up to the guys. "Hey, we're visiting some lame relatives of mine with my parents and we're bored to death. I heard there's supposed to be this house that is haunted or something. Thought we'd go check it out." Harry said casually. "Know where it is?"
"Sure, dude, everyone does. Just keep going down this road and when it ends, go left all the way down and it's at the end of the road." the guy said.
"Thanks, dude. Take it easy." Harry said in reply. Rejoining his friends, he said. "It's down the road and to the left. Let's go."
"Sure, dude." Ron replied, mimicking Harry as they walked toward the Riddle house.
"Hey, they all look like Dudley. I figure if he talks like that, the rest of them do too." Harry said laughing. "Seriously though, I don't know what we'll find here, so in the words of Moody, 'Constant vigilance!'."
The group had been walking for about ten minutes when Hermione froze. "I thought I saw a flash of something." she said in a whisper.
Ginny gave a little shiver. "It's getting cold, isn't it?" she said, whispering.
Harry replied. "It's summertime. How could it be-" He stopped himself. The realization bore down on him like a freight train. "Dementors are here!" he whispered fiercely. "That's what you saw, Hermione! Wands out, they have to be guarding something. As soon as we see them, we have to send the patronus." Harry instructed. "Put on the invisibility cloaks. The dementors will still be able to sense us, but maybe it'll let us get in without being seen by anyone else."
The group donned their invisibility cloaks and grasped their wands, ready to defend themselves. They resolutely advanced toward the house. A gloomy atmosphere surrounded it and the temperature was colder than ever.
"Fight it! Think of happy memories!" Harry instructed. Just then, at least a dozen dementors stepped out of the forest surrounding the house. They glided toward Harry and his friends, their robed arms reaching out for them. Harry raised his wand. "EXPECTO PATRONUS!" he yelled. A silvery stag erupted out of the tip of Harry's wand. The stag ran at the first of the dementors. The stag trampled the dementor and knocked it back into the iciness swirling around the other dementors.
As Harry directed the stag to other dementors, Hermione and Ron had conjured theirs as well. As Hermione's otter and Ron's bear advanced , Ginny was having a bit of trouble conjuring hers. "Expecto patronus!" she yelled aiming her wand at the oncoming dementors. A silvery vapor floated out of her wand. "Happy memories!" she muttered to herself. A picture of her and Harry immediately came to mind. She smiled in the midst of the fight and determined to try again. "EXPECTO PATRONUS!" she yelled again, louder than before. A silver phoenix came flying out of her wand. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny directed their patronuses from dementor to dementor and soon, the battle was over.
"Let's sit for a minute." Hermione said shakily. The foursome stopped to rest on the side of the road.
"Ron, where's the chocolate?" Harry asked his friend. Ron his duffel bag and brought out some chocolate frogs. The group wasted no time in tearing open the packages. Harry pulled out the chocolate and stared at the face on the collectible card he had just revealed. Harry was looking into the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore.
"Hello, Harry." Dumbledore greeted.
Hearing Dumbledore's voice, the others moved toward the card Harry was holding. Harry was thoroughly shocked. "But how can you-" Harry faltered for words.
"How can I speak to you?" Dumbledore "Is that what you are trying to ask?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. "It's a good question. I'm sure you know that the characters on the cards can only smile and wave. But you also know that people in photos can speak as you have witnessed in my office at Hogwarts. Think of this card as a type of photo. The fact is, the people on the cards could speak to you if they so choose, but as they don't know you, they tend to keep silent. I kept waiting for you to come speak to the portrait of me in the office at Hogwarts, but I can see you had quite forgotten about that." Dumbledore chuckled as realization dawned in Harry's eyes. "It's quite alright, I assure you. I assumed that your affinity for chocolate frogs would lead you to me soon enough."
"It is good to see you again, sir." Harry said as he found his voice. "Now that we know how to contact you, you can still lead us on the search for the Horcruxes!" Harry said excitedly.
"I am sorry, Harry, but I am afraid that is not possible. The living must be able to make their own decisions in life. I may be able to offer advice occasionally, but I can not be with you every step of the way. That is what your friends are for." Dumbledore said smiling at Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. "Friends such as these, Harry, you are lucky to have."
"I know, sir." Harry replied. "I couldn't do this without them. You should know that the locket we found in the cave wasn't the real horcrux. Sirius's younger brother had stolen it. It's a long story, but the important part is that we found it and were able to destroy it by melting it down. Hermione's idea." Harry said with a smile.
Dumbledore replied. "Ingenious. But there is a way to destroy the soul without destroying the object. Unfortunately, I was not able to teach you the spell in time. It's very powerful, ancient magic. The spell is 'horcux absentia'. "
"Thank you, sir. We're in Little Hangleton now. We were going to search both houses here for horcruxes. Can you tell us-" Dumbledore cut Harry off.
"I am sorry, Harry, but I've told you all I can. I must go now, but I know you all will be successful in completing the mission. You have all you need to do it." Dumbledore said.
"But sir we've only-!" Harry protested.
"Goodbye, Harry. Ron, Hermione, Ginny- I am glad to see you again. Goodbye." Dumbledore said with a smile at the group. Instantly, he resumed the smiling and waving of the other characters on his friends cards.
"He's gone again. How could he just leave like that!" Harry asked a little angrily.
"Harry, you can't forget that he isn't with us anymore." Ginny said gently. "The dead can't lead the living. It just can't work that way. But as he said, he can give us inspiration and advice from time to time."
"Yeah, you're right." Harry said. "It's just hard to let him go…again." Harry said a little sadly.
"Don't worry, mate. We're here with you. And like Dumbledore said, you're lucky to have us!" Ron said with a grin. And with that, they set off for the Riddle house hand in hand, ready for anything.