Chapter Eleven
Nagini and the Revelation
Harry was soon out of breath. Nagini traveled fast and was able to take corners without slowing down. He skidded and slid around the damp corridors as they made their way past the dungeon and down to the bowels of the school. His heart jumped as he soon realized exactly where they were headed: to the room of snakes where he fought the basilisk his second year.
Of course, this made sense. Nagini probably lived there while at Hogwarts. The room was a shrine to the creatures: a long stone corridor was lined by snake heads, all culminating in a large face of Salazar Slytherin, sculpted like it was on Mount Rushmore in the Muggle world.
"Hesshaaah Seliahhh….?" Harry asked, hoping she would tell him they were truly going to the right place.
"Siahhsheh."
Harry skidded to a halt when the snake did and then jumped when Nagini doubled back at him. She wove up and down and side to side as if to introduce him to all corners of the room.
"I know. I've been here before." He said in Parseltongue.
Turning in a circle, he wondered to what she could possibly be gesturing. The torches on the walls made the stone look silver and it seemed as if the snakes along the walls were blinking at him. He shivered.
Nagini turned frontward again and slowly slithered through the tunnel just to the right of Slytherin. Before long,Harry was in an open room. A circle of black-hooded figures stood in the center. Death Eaters, he thought…
"Shallaahhiethhh, ssalensaaa." Nagini motioned to the center of the circle.
"Is this where the horcrux is? I thought it was you."
The snake sounded as though she were laughing. Two of the figures moved aside to let Harry in. Slowly, he walked, trying to see under the hoods, to see who these particular Death Eaters were.
"Harry…" Came a raspy voice.
"Are you going to show yourself or fight through these cowards, Lord Voldemort!"
One Death Eater took a menacing step toward Harry and instinctively, Harry stepped back. He knew it was the wrong thing to do,knew he hadshown a sign of weakness, when he heard the Dark Lord laugh, "Did you think I would give you Nagini, Potter?"
So Dumbledore was right, Harry thought. But of course, it would be another dead end."I killed one of your snakes before, Riddle."
"Don't call me that! Remember, I know where your girlfriend is."
"She isn't my girlfriend. And yes, I'm sure you do."
One of the hooded beings stepped forward, so surely, so suddenly, Harry jumped. The rest completed the circle again and it was just Harry and the Death Eater inside. Was it Voldemort, Harry wondered?
Slowly, the hood was removed and Harry stared into the sunken eyes of Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. His face was pale, gaunt, his skin pallid, nothing like when he was rich and powerful; nothing like before his time in Azkaban.
"I thought you were in prison!" Harry hissed.
The older Malfoy sneered, and it was obvious where his son had learned the facial gesture. "Did you truly think that I wouldn't escape? You foolish boy, I only stayed in that place as long as I did to give everyone a sense of false security."
Harry patted his pocket to be sure his wand was there, "Do you really believe that anyone was worried about your getting out? No one cared!"
"I have longed for the day that you and I would meet like this, Potter! My son was right: you are a meddlesome, arrogant, ridiculous boy. From the day you took Dobby from me, shamed me in the halls of Hogwarts, I swore that I would have my day."
"And so with all of these people here as back up in case you lose, you are going to try and fight me?" Harry didn't know where this hatred was coming from. In his heart, he wasn't frightened. He longed for the chance to kill these people.
Malfoy didn't answer, but instead pointed his wand at Harry with lightning speed. His reflexes certainly hadn't suffered in Azkaban. Harry felt a searing pain in the middle of his chest and looked down, gasping. A scorch mark appeared there, going through his shirt and burning his skin.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted and Malfoy's wand went flying into the air.
Malfoy moved stealthily around the circle and Harry followed, trying to keep alert, trying to ignore the pain. He couldn't let himself become distracted again.
The Death Eater summoned his wand back into his hand and smiled. "You disappoint me! I thought you were a powerful wizard!"
Still moving around the circle, Harry found he had nothing to say to that, except, "Stup-!"
"Protego!" Malfoy yelled, then countered, "Stupefy!"
Harry sailed through the air as he was stunned by the light from the Death Eater's wand. He lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He heard the hooded figures murmuring and pushed himself to his feet.
"Oh, that's enough Lucius! Let the rest of us have a turn!"
Harry knew the high pitched, raving voice anywhere. He turned to see the ravishing face of Bellatrix Black Lestrange, his godfather's cousin and killer. As most purebloods were, she was also related to the Malfoys by marriage. A long time ago, she was one of the most beautiful witches alive, but time and madness had diluted her looks. Still,her long hair and perfectly sculptured face were distinctive.
Harry raised his wand to her, "How dare you show yourself to me!"
She cackled a maniacal laugh. "Me? I have more of a right to be here than you, Potter. By all rights, you should be dead, but Snape can't seem to do that job!"
"Silence!" came the voice of another Death Eater, but Harry knew the Potions Master was in the room.
"I will finish you! Here! Now!" She yelled.
"Bellatrix, you will do as I command!" said Voldemort, slowly and carefully.
"Yes, Master, but I must be allowed a chance, just as Malfoy here did." She held up her wand and with a swish, sent Harry flying again. He hit the wall hard, heard a crack and felt the bone in his wand arm break. The pain was excruciating and hefell tothe ground, motionless.
------------
They had been running forever, it seemed. They could hear Harry talking to Nagini every once in awhile and would adjust their route accordingly. Both Ron and Hermione were out of breath, but feared breathing in case they lost their best friend's tracks.
Hermione was worried. Why would Harry be so eager to go without back-up? Why did he seem to want to get away from them? In her heart, she knew that Harry was growing up radically different from them. Ron and Hermione were as normal as they could be for people their age, only they could cast spells and ride brooms (well, Ron rode a broom anyway). But Harry was moving in circles to which they would never belong: being courted by the Ministry of Magic, being offered a spot in the Order of the Phoenix, being photographed and written about everywhere he went. It had to have been difficult to separate himself from the notoriety.
Another part of her believed Jordan had a lot to do with it. Hermione still believed Jordan had something to do with the Dark Lord. Maybe she wasn't working for him, but they were connected somehow. It was just too coincidental that she appeared in England when she did. A piece of the puzzle was still missing and no matter how hard she thought about it, Hermione couldn't figure out what it was. Something about Jordan seemed familiar, yet dangerous.
Ron and Hermione heard the laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and hurried their already fast pace.
"We're getting closer. Down this way!" Ron yelled, able to finally see the shadows of the group around a corner.
"Do you think we're too late?" Hermione took his arm as they stopped quickly before turning the bend.
"I don't think so. It sounds like they're playing with him. Before the…before the…" he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Before the kill, as they say." Hermione whispered, fearfully.
Just as they both took the first step into the tunnel, they were halted by a maze of green light. Hermione yelped and Ron covered their heads. Lines criss-crossed around them and as the green brilliantly reflected off the water, the pair were momentarily blinded. Both were forced to close their eyes tightly. Finally, when it was through, the design had made a neatly squared cage and both were caught inside.
"What the bloody hell…?" Ron said, angrily.
"He knows we're here."
"Great! This is just great! How are we going to get out?" He grabbed the bars and pulled back as the lights burned into his palms. Ron cried out in agony.
Hermione pulled him back. His fists were curled and sweat beaded on his face. "Open your hands, Ron."
"I—can't." He said through gritted teeth. "I can't look. This is gonna be bad."
"I can fix it."
She gently pried them open. His palms had two black lines and smelled like scorched flesh. She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat and gently touched her wand to him. "Obliterate!"
The marks disappeared and Ron flexed his hands. "Thank you."
She kissed him, "You're welcome. Just don't touch anything."
"Well, I know that now. So what are we going to do?"
Hermione sat cross-legged on the ground. "Nothing. Voldemort created this. I don't know the first thing about undoing his spells."
"We can't just let Harry die."
"He isn't going to kill Harry. He wants him to get the horcrux, remember? We'll be allowed to go in again, at the right moment. Hopefully, we'll be quick enough to help."
Ron couldn't argue with her logic, so he also sat down, being very careful to avoid touching any part of the cage. He looked at her and smiled. Even with her face smudged with dirt and her hair frizzier than normal because of the moisture in the tunnel, she was pretty. It amazed him that he hadn't seen it years earlier.
"What?" She asked, looking down with embarrassment at the way he was staring at her.
"Nothing, just looking."
Hermione decided to change the subject. "I'm worried about Harry."
"He's got to fight on his own sometime. He hates being babied."
"No, it's not that. About what he said, remember, back at your house?"
"No, what?"
"About feeling dark things, and taking Jordan. That makes me nervous."
Ron laughed, a little too confidently. "Oh, that's nothing. He's just frustrated. You know how he hates living with his aunt and uncle. He's getting over Dumbledore dying, too. I expect he'd be a little angry."
"But I'm afraid…he used his wand on us, Ron. When I looked at his face, I didn't even recognize him."
Ron didn't respond. He couldn't. The truth was Harry's behavior had made him nervous too. Each summer seemed to take his friend a little farther away from him. The few times Ron was able to reach Harry during holiday, he seemed distant, above them all somehow. The only time Harryacted like his old self was when Jordan came into the picture.
Hermione continued, "He has so much power, power he doesn't even know he has. Think of all the things he did during the Tri-Wizard Tournament and all the spells he taught us when the D.A. was in session. If Voldemort got hold of him, and trained him right, he could be…"
"Don't say it." Ron whispered, sternly. "Just don't say it!"
"I'm sorry."
"Are you losing faith in him? He the best friend we have. He's saved our lives I don't know how many…"
"I know, Ron. I won't say anymore. I just can't help what I feel."
"Look, he's just growing up, too. We have each other, let him have Jordan—or Ginny—or whoever."
"Don't get me started on Jordan." Hermione said, ruefully.
He turned away from her. It was just too disturbing to think about. What would Ron do if he lost Harry to the Dark Side? What would the wizarding world do? He could see the Daily Prophet headline now: Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort—Together at Last!
------------
Jordan had decided to occupy her time by really looking through the books on the Gryffindor common room shelves. If anything, maybe she could take away some spells. She didn't want to let herself think about what was happening to Harry—or Ron and Hermione for that matter—especially since she had sent them after him.
Something drew her to the Magic Moste Evile book Harry had looked at their last trip to Hogwarts. She flipped to the index and looked up Voldemort. Who exactly was this monster that haunted Harry and had made her life miserable?
When her finger touched the word "Voldemort," the book took on a life of its own. Pages flipped with a frenzy to the right, bringing her to a page with the heading "Tom Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort."
Wondering if the book was enchanted or if she had done that, Jordan began to read:
"Riddle's mother was a witch, but his father was Muggle-born. When Tom Riddle, Sr. found out that his wife was a witch, he abandoned both of them. Riddle was born in 1927. Albus Dumbledore brought him to Hogwarts in 1938.
"During his rise to fame as the brightest wizard of his day at Hogwarts, he won a Service to the School award. Tom Riddle was also recognized as the heir of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"It was learned that while in his 5th year at the school, he had opened the Chamber of Secrets in an effort to kill all Muggle-borns. Riddle believed it was his destiny to complete the wishes of Slytherin, and make Hogwarts a pure-blood school. Riddle denied his own parentage, abandoning his father almost at the same time his father abandoned him."
Jordan became impatient. What about Voldemort? Again, pages began turning on their own, stopping on page 538. She scanned the paragraphs and continued to read.
"During the summer of 1944, Tom Riddle left Hogwarts, returned to his father's home in Little Hangleton and murdered his father and paternal grandparents. With each murder, Riddle became darker and more powerful. He rearranged his given name—Tom Marvolo Riddle—into I am Lord Voldemort and has since gone by the name, feared by many even to be spoken.
"Voldemort's following increased and the number and types of murders he committed were legendary. Those who spoke out about him or tried to fight him were killed. The only wizard Voldemort feared was Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the teacher who first brought him to Hogwarts."
She gasped. Now it was getting interesting. No wonder Harry thought the school was safe.
"A prophecy was declared that said a child born in July would threaten his power. Voldemort began a quest to rid himself of the child and his family. Somehow, the Dark Lord connected James and Lily Potter, known enemies of his, as the parents of this child, Harry, born July 31. Lily and James went into hiding, but when Harry was a little over a year old, Voldemort found them, killed both Lily and James.When he went to kill Harry,the curse was reversed, nearly destroying the evil wizard."
Jordan shut the book and stood, panic gripping her. Harry had spent his whole life escaping the clutches of this maniac and now they were trapped with him! It seemed Jordan had become the bait in this intricate game. How had this young man consistently been able to hold off the most powerful wizard in the world?
She went to the bookcase and took out Hogwarts: A History. Sheturned to the index and moved her finger until she found information on the school houses. The pages went wild and didn't stop until they reached page 221.
"Hogwarts: House Histories
"Gryffindor House—Founder: Godric Gryffindor. Anyone who is courageous and chivalrous will be sorted into this house.
"Hufflepuff House—Founder: Helga Hufflepuff. Anyone who is loyal and true to each other will be sorted into this house.
"Slytherin House—Founder: Salazar Slytherin. Anyone who is a pureblood witch or wizard and who is clever will be sorted into this house.
"Ravenclaw House—Founder: Rowena Ravenclaw. Anyone who is wise and loves to learn will be sorted into this house."
Ravenclaw…that name sounded familiar. Harry had mentioned it once before when he gave her the tour of Hogwarts and explained the Sorting Hat, but there was something else. She went to the index and looked up Rowena Ravenclaw.
"Rowena Ravenclaw was from the glen and hand-picked all of her students over a thousand years ago, when Hogwarts was founded. She has been credited with designing the school's intricate floorplan. Helga Hufflepuff and she were very close friends. In time, the Ravenclaw ancestors went over to America, beginning another line of witches there. The first Ravenclaw sighting in the U.S. was in 1820 with Galadriel in New England. The Ministry of Magic Hall of Records has the complete line ofRavenclaw witches and wizards through to the present age. Legend has it that the Dark Lord---"
Jordan slammed the book shut so hard, dust rose from the large table. "No!"
Blindly, she found her way out of the room and ran down the stairs, not stopping until the reached the bottom. Tears stung at her eyes, as she desperately tried to find the path that would lead to where Harry and then Ron and Hermione had gone. Luckily, all the entrances remained open so Jordan just followed them all until she heard voices.
Ron and Hermione stood when they saw Jordan, out of breath and tears in her eyes, panting before them.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Silently, Jordan looked at the cage, then held out her hand and said, "Finite."
It vanished and Hermione moved to Jordan quickly. She was crying harder now, almost ashamed she had been able to do it.
"But, I thought…" Ron was stunned. "That was one of Vold—…"
"It's you, isn't it?" Hermione said, her voice in awed respect.
Jordan nodded.
"I-I don't understand…" Ron was still looking around at the shadows of the electric cage that held them prisoner only moments ago.
Hermione had one arm around Jordan and was rubbing her back, "Ron, she's the horcrux."