HARRY POTTER AND THE FINAL WAR

Summary: Harry Potter has returned from Hogwarts and has wasted no time in his search for Voldemort's Horcruxes. Against the wishes of his friends, he goes off alone. Will Harry win the fight against Voldemort?

Rated: M for violence, language, and sex

Disclaimer: Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I don't own Harry Potter,
And neither do you.

Chapter 6: The Explosion Above

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He had seen this cup before, because it was Hufflepuff's cup! Harry's eyes widened in shock. Here was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, right in his hand. But wait, Harry thought. Why can I touch it? When Dumbledore touched Voldemort's ring, he go that huge burn on his arm.

Harry checked his arms and hands, looking for any signs of magical effects. His heart was racing. As he looked around at Hermione and Ron, he saw that they hadn't noticed his reaction to the cup. Quickly, Harry stood up. He dumped out the remaining contents of the cup onto the floor, carelessly. As he did so, Ernie shot up from his seat.

"Watch it!" he said loudly.

Harry proceeded to knock the cup hard against the side of the bedpost. Hermione and Ron shot up, just as Ernie had. Ginny, who had been resting her head on Harry's shoulder until he had stood up, was now looking strangely at Harry. She had been very close to falling asleep, and then had been rudely awakened.

Harry took a great stride away from the bed and turned back to Ernie and his friends. "I'll be right back" he mumbled, then started walking very quickly to the back of the bus. Hermione, Ron, and a very tired Ginny had followed suit, though Ernie had been left back screaming for Harry to return his cup, as it was his favorite.

When Harry reached the wooden staircase in the back, he whipped around to face his friends. "Don't follow me!" he snapped. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny merely inched closer to him.

"Harry…?" Ginny trailed off yawning. Hermione decided to finish her question.

"What the hell are you doing, Harry?" she asked. Harry didn't have time to answer her. The Horcrux needed to be destroyed immediately. It couldn't wait. Harry merely turned back to the stairs and began running up them.

"DON'T FOLOW ME!" he shouted back at his friends. They ignored his command and followed him nonetheless. As Harry ran up the stairs, he rapped the delicate cup against any hard surface he could find. The cup, however, refused to shatter. This definitely was some sort of magic, even if it wasn't a Horcrux, though Harry was sure it was.

Harry continued to run up the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor, he whipped out his wand from his pocket. Continuing up the stairs, Harry began trying to break the Horcrux by firing spells at it. "Impedimenta!", "Stupefy!", "Diffindo!" Harry shouted. As he shouted the different spells, they would bounce off the teacup and shoot in different directions. Harry had finally reached the third floor when he remembered that the cup was gold.

"INCENDIO!" Harry screamed. A shot of fire sprouted from Harry's wand. Remembering that he was still holding the cup, Harry threw it on the ground and pointed his wand at it. Harry shook his wand slightly after a minute of steady flames and the beam of fire ceased to exist. Harry looked down on the floor at where the cup had been before. Now, a small puddle of gold bubbled in the center of a large burn mark in the carpet.

Suddenly, and without any warning, the bubbling gold erupted into large flames. Harry stared at the flames for a moment, but then felt a huge blast of hot, burning energy pass over him. He shut his eyes quickly to shield them from the light. The bubbling gold had exploded when the Horcrux magic was released. Harry assumed he was so badly burned that he couldn't feel very well anymore, because he couldn't feel what he had landed on.

As he felt the surroundings around him cool, Harry opened his eyes. As he looked up, he was staring at the night sky, which was littered with stars, the moon, and a few purple bits. Purple bits? Harry asked himself, confused. As he turned his head with some difficulty, Harry noticed there were purple bits everywhere, in all different shapes and sizes. Behind him, Harry heard Ginny shriek in horror. He tried to turn around, but couldn't. His head was all he could move.

Turning his head around as much as it could go, Harry looked at Ginny out of the corner of his eye. He could barely see her, but he could definitely notice that she wasn't standing or sitting on anything. Actually, she was falling. Harry panicked.

"Ginny!" he called out after her. He continued to stare after her, though she didn't seem to be falling anymore. She looked as if she were hanging, suspended in midair. It was then that Harry realized he, too, was suspended in midair. And Ginny wasn't behind him, she was under him. Harry's eyes widened in shock.

Those purple bits and blocks were bits of the Knight Bus! Harry turned to his left and saw Hermione was only a few feet away from him. She had her hands cupped over her eyes and her body was half-contracted into a ball.

"Hermione?" Harry said shakily. Hermione mumbled incoherently in reply. Harry turned his head in every which was possible, but couldn't find Ron.

"Ron? Ron where are you?" Harry shouted. Ginny answered instead of Ron.

"Harry, he's back here by me. He looks knocked out!" Ginny sounded scared. Harry couldn't think of anything to do. Was this part of the Horcrux magic? Is this some kind of effect that happens when you tried to destroy it?

As Harry turned his head around even more, he saw more of the Knight Bus passengers. The wizard in green robes was frozen in a position that looked like he was pouring himself a drink. The witch in orange pajamas remained in her reclined position in bed. Harry wasn't even sure if the blast had woken her up. Harry continued to look around and saw a bit of the wooden stairs. Though it was unfocused, Harry thought he could make someone out that seemed to still be climbing the stairs, though frozen. He also noticed some metal poles and bed sheets floating near the witch in orange.

Harry looked around the bus, sighing. Harry then noticed that the purple bits seemed to be moving slowly. Harry then looked over at Hermione. She was moving too! As Harry turned his head, he saw Ginny moving as well, though they were all still frozen and suspended in the dead, silent air. As Harry looked back up at the purple bits, they had begun moving extremely fast. Within the blink of an eye, the entire bus had been pieced back together and its passengers were back in their original positions.

Unluckily, Harry had been mid-fall when the bus froze itself, which led to his immediate collapse onto Ron. Harry rolled over and found himself on Ginny before he continued rolling until he reached the floor. When he finally did so, he rubbed his back and stood up. As he began helping Ginny up, Ernie came bursting through the opening by the stairs and looked angry.

"What the bloody hell did you do, Potter!"

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A/N: Yes, I know it's short, but you've just had your first glimpse of Horcruxes and some of their power! Nora and I spent a while on this chapter, since we wanted to have the writing follow the flow of the events in the chapter. Another update will be up VERY soon, so bookmark us and check back soon! R&R!

UPDATE NOTE: This chapter originally contained some extra information that Nora managed to convince me was superfluous. Of course, the chapter had been up for almsot 10 mintues by that point. If you managed to read that info that is now cut out, please don't share it! I'll be important later! Thanks!

-Nora and Sean