Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Horcruxes

Daphne woke up, stretched, and realized she wasn't wearing anything. She checked under the covers and saw that Harry and Ginny were similarly clothing-deficient. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was forgetting something very important, but for the life of her she couldn't really remember what.

Harry stirred and sat up as well. "Morning," he said with a yawn. He felt around on the nightstand for his glasses and put them on, still bleary-eyed.

Now Ginny woke up too. Unlike Harry and Daphne, who were both just staring into space, Ginny took one look around and then asked, "What time is it?!"

"I dunno," Daphne said. "My watch is…somewhere in my robes over there…who cares, anyway? It's Sunday."

"No it isn't, you idiots, it's Thursday!"

Harry and Daphne exchanged a glance, both suddenly wide awake.

"Bollocks!"

They leapt out of bed, quickly gathering their stuff and asking the Room to create some extra showers so they wouldn't lose any time.

"Oh God, Snape's our first teacher today," Daphne said, stepping into one of the shower cabins.

"I know," Harry said from the one next to her. "He's going to subtract a million points from us…well, from me. You're probably fine."

"I wouldn't bet on that…" Daphne muttered. "Ginny, what's your first class?"

"Herbology, so Gryffindor's starting this day with a lot of points subtracted…We'd better ask the Room for an alarm clock next time we do this…"

"We can at least ask the Room for exits near where we want to be," Harry said.

"Yeah, that's great, but class started fifteen minutes ago," Ginny said.

"Fifteen bloody minutes?!" Daphne said.

The Room of Requirements was filled with a lot of swearing over the next minutes, and by the time they were all ready and had reached the classroom, half an hour of the class had already passed. Daphne and Harry stared at the door for a moment and then looked at each other.

"Well…it's been nice knowing you," Harry said wryly.

"Yeah, likewise…I'll go first, then…" Daphne said, and without waiting for a response she opened the door and stepped in.

Everyone stared at her and Harry.

"Ah, and they finally deign to show up," Snape said with a sneer. "Let's see, that'll be ten points from Slytherin and fifty points from Gryffindor, I think, and detention for both of you…and I think we would all like to hear where you've been."

"I'm pretty sure you really don't, sir," Daphne said uneasily.

Most people in class laughed, but Snape's face remained expressionless.

"Sit down, both of you," he said after a moment.

Daphne and Harry took their seats, well aware that everyone was still staring at them. Still, that had gone relatively well…depending on what Snape would have them do in detention, anyway.

Fortunately, the subject of the lesson was one they'd covered with the Order before, and while the lesson was, of course, more theoretical than what they'd been doing, Daphne had no problem following along despite missing the first half of it.

At the end of the lesson, Snape said, "Potter, Miss Greengrass, be at my office at eight for your detention. Dismissed."

Once they were out in the hallway, Hermione asked, "Didn't you have a clock?"

"Not one that we cared to look at. We usually do this on the weekend," Daphne said. "If Ginny hadn't told us it was Thursday we'd still be in the Room."

"Wonder how many points Sprout took off her. Probably not bloody fifty," Harry said sourly.

"Snape was never going to be fair…I wonder what kind of menial task he'll set us for detention," Daphne said.

"He'll probably have you polishing trophies or cleaning out bedpans without magic," Ron said.

"I'm used to stuff like that at the Dursleys, so I doubt he'll be that lenient on me," Harry said.

"This is the first time he's ever given me detention, come to think of it, so I have no idea," Daphne said. "I'm kind of curious now…"

That evening, Daphne and Harry reported to Snape's office as instructed.

"So," Snape said, looking between each of them. "You decided you had more important things to do than attend class, did you?"

"We, er, lost track of time, sir," Daphne said.

"Evidently. Potter, you shall go to the trophy room and polish every single trophy there…"

"Yes, sir," Harry said. He sounded relieved. Snape, however, wasn't done yet. "And afterwards, you shall manually clean out all the bedpans in the hospital wing."

"…Yes, sir," Harry said, a lot more grumpy this time.

Daphne masked her chuckle as a cough. Perhaps Ron had some Seer potential as well; his prediction had been spot on. Harry glared at her, but that only made it funnier to Daphne.

"Dismissed, Potter. I will check up on your progress later. Should you be unable to finish tonight, you'll simply continue tomorrow."

Harry said nothing and left the office.

"As for you, Miss Greengrass…" Snape said, and Daphne's lingering grin faded away instantly. "I've been given to understand that you have had a premonition of the Headmaster dying."

Daphne blinked. She hadn't expected Snape to bring that up at all. "Er, yes, sir, I have," she said.

"What exactly did you foresee?"

Daphne tried to recall the details, but there really weren't that many. "Er, well, his next attempt will apparently involve something with claws and teeth…but whatever creature that might be, it doesn't kill Dumbledore, nor does he…yet Dumbledore will die regardless," she said.

"And you have not seen who the real culprit is?" Snape asked.

Daphne shook her head. "No, sir. If I had, I would've told Dumbledore immediately."

Snape stared at her intently, but Daphne didn't feel any attempts at Legilimency, so she presumed he was just thinking hard about something.

"Do you…do you know what Malfoy might be planning?" she asked tentatively.

"That does not concern you," Snape said.

"It does, though, because I want to stop him," Daphne said. "Or do you think I want to sit idly by while he tries to kill Dumbledore and, apparently, succeeds somehow?"

"Miss Greengrass, there is more at stake here than you know. Recall our conversation about the danger of incomplete information. I have already told you everything you need to know and you will understand when the time comes, so it would be best if you let the matter rest. I repeat: the key information is already in your hands." He clenched his right fist to emphasize his words.

"It was planned," Daphne said uncertainly. She still didn't know what it meant, but Snape nodded curtly.

"Indeed. Now, your detention…"

"How were your detentions?" Ginny asked at breakfast.

"I'm not done," was Harry's only reply.

"It was fine. I had to scour the ingredient stores for expired ones and replace them, as well as properly organizing them again," Daphne said. "Yours?"

"Fertilize all of greenhouse four with special, extra-potent, horrifically rancid dragon dung," Ginny said, shuddering. "I don't think my nose will ever recover. Should've learned that Bubble-Head Charm with you guys two years ago…"

"Well, that'll teach you to keep track of time next time," Hermione said somewhat smugly.

Ginny proved she was Ron's sister by making one of his favorite gestures at her.

"I could give you another detention for that," Hermione said.

Ginny made the gesture again. "Try me," she said.

"Or maybe I should write your mum…"

Now Ginny made the gesture with both her hands. "I can do this all day, you know," she said.

Ron was torn between trying not to laugh and wondering if he should be supporting Hermione. Fortunately, Hermione decided not to press the issue any further.

"Did you see there's going to be an Apparition test soon?" Ron asked, eager to change the subject.

Daphne nodded sourly. "Yeah, I saw it. It's like two weeks before my birthday, though, so I'm not allowed to try. You and Hermione are going for it, I presume?"

Hermione nodded. "We're going to take the extra classes and then go for the test."

"Not like you need them, you've already done it," Ron said.

"It's always good to get more practice in, though," Hermione said.

"I wish I could come too," Daphne said. "But I'll just finish the lessons here and then take the test later, with Harry. At least I can sometimes do it, now…"

She'd indeed managed to Apparate inside her hoop during the previous session, this time without losing half an arm, but it still wasn't particularly reliable. Still, she wanted to get her license as soon as possible, because it would mean she wouldn't have to rely on Floo powder anymore, nor would she need a broomstick.

Sadly, for the time being she and Harry would have to wait, and Ginny, who'd have to wait for an entire year, at least, wasn't shy about rubbing it in their faces every time either Daphne or Harry complained about it.

Just as they were about to get up to get to their classes, Demelza Robins approached Harry with an envelope.

"Dumbledore's next lesson!" Harry said excitedly. "Good, now I can finally show him the memory…oh, and I found a spell in the Prince's book the other day, anyone want to head over to the Room of Requirement later to test it out? I wanted to do it after the last Order session, but, er, something else came up."

"It sure did," Ginny said, and Ron groaned loudly, Harry turned bright red, and Daphne laughed.

Harry's meeting with Dumbledore took place on Saturday night, and, knowing that it would be a pivotal conversation, given that Harry now had Slughorn's memory to show, Daphne spent the evening in Gryffindor's common room playing wizard chess against Ron and being handily beaten in most games they played.

Even though she'd gotten better over the years, so had Ron, and she still lost far more often than she won. Making matters worse was that her pieces were now very reluctant to play against Ron's pieces at all, and Daphne really had to coerce them into moving, much to Ron's amusement.

She was in the middle of yet another defeat when Harry returned, looking fairly grim. He waved his wand around the area where they were seated and said, "Muffliato!"

"What did Dumbledore say?" Daphne asked. Her chess pieces seemed very relieved that the game had been stopped for the time being.

"Dumbledore told me what Horcruxes are," Harry said. "Basically, they're containers holding pieces of Voldemort's soul, which he tore from his main soul by killing people. The diary was one of them, but he's made more of them. According to Dumbledore's theory, he still has four of them left: Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Nagini, and a fourth, unknown item, possibly something belonging to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

"Until all of them have been destroyed, Voldemort cannot die. Obviously, Dumbledore doesn't want anyone to know that he knows this much. He was reluctant to allow me to even share it with all of you, though he gave me permission in the end, but we're not allowed to tell anyone else about it, even in the Order of the Phoenix or the Order of the Lightning Bolt."

"He ripped apart his soul?" Hermione asked, horrified.

Harry nodded. "Yes. According to Dumbledore, he reserved the Horcrux-making process for murders that were particularly significant to him, and his ultimate goal was to split his soul into seven parts. My death was to be the last one, except he never got the chance to do it. That's why he turned Nagini into one only recently."

"How do you know what all of them are?" Ginny asked.

"He hoards treasure that is significant to him, according to Dumbledore. The diary proved his status as the Heir of Slytherin. Objects belonging to the founders of Hogwarts tie him to the one place he ever felt at home. Nagini is probably another connection to Slytherin; she certainly emphasizes he's a Parselmouth, which he prides himself on," Harry said. "The remaining Horcrux was a ring bearing the Peverell coat of arms. Dumbledore destroyed it, but his hand was cursed in the process."

"Where did he even find that thing? I can't imagine You-Know-Who leaves them lying around like a Portkey, right?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, he doesn't. Dumbledore's been spending a lot of time trying to find them all; that's where he goes every time he leaves the school. The ring was hidden in the shack where his grandfather, uncle, and mother used to live. The diary, of course, was given to Lucius Malfoy, who jumped the gun when he slipped it into Ginny's cauldron. Nagini is with Voldemort most of the time, so she's not really a target at the moment, but the other ones…we don't know. Dumbledore did say that, if he finds another one, I get to come with him to destroy it."

He paused for a moment, looking conflicted. "And he said that, if he indeed dies as Daphne has predicted, it will be up to us to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes."

"Does Voldemort notice it? When one of them is destroyed?" Daphne asked.

"Dumbledore says he doesn't. So as long as he doesn't know we're hunting them at all, we should be relatively safe. Voldemort thinks that no one even knows he has Horcruxes, and Horcruxes themselves are already incredibly obscure. Keeping this secret is ridiculously important, so you should probably all begin to practice Occlumency, just to be sure," Harry said.

"So if Dumbledore dies…we'll need to drop out of school?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded slowly. "Yes. I mean, I'm going to, if I have to. If you don't want to come, then of course–"

"Oh, come off it," Ginny interrupted. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm coming with you. What the hell do you think I've been training for?"

Harry grinned at her and looked at the others.

"Mate, d'you really think I'll let you do this alone?" Ron asked, grinning as well.

"Some things are more important than education. Besides, I can always finish school afterward," Hermione said, smiling faintly.

"Ginny already said it," Daphne said. "I'm coming with you, no matter what."

"I figured all of you would say that," Harry said.

He looked at Daphne and grinned. "Would it be very hypocritical of me if I told you all not to come and to not endanger yourselves?"

"Yes, Harry, that would be very hypocritical, and precisely none of us would listen anyway," Daphne said, grinning as well.

"Though of course, if Dumbledore doesn't die, we can finish school, right?" Hermione asked hopefully. "I don't think we'll be quite that lucky," Daphne said softly, thinking back to her conversation with Snape.

Everyone's grins faded.

"No," Harry said. "I don't think so, either."

"Well," Ron said uncomfortably. "Daphne's feeling could be wrong, right?"

"It could be, but the way Dumbledore responded to us telling him about it…something's going on," Daphne said. She wished she could tell the others about Snape as well, but she'd promised she'd keep the secret, and it wasn't like she could really explain anything, anyway.

She looked at Harry. "So before everything goes wrong, you'd better ask Dumbledore how to destroy a Horcrux in the first place, and if he has any ideas where they could be, and anything else that might be relevant if we do end up fending for ourselves."

Harry nodded. "Oh, I will. We've got another session planned for next week, so he can instruct me in more detail. Hopefully, by the time Daphne's premonition comes to pass, we'll have a good idea of what we need to do."

A heavy silence fell over all of them as they processed the weight of the task ahead of them. But even though it would be daunting, Daphne couldn't help but feel a bit hopeful, and when she shot a glance at Ginny, she saw that she wasn't the only who felt like that. It seemed like they'd found a purpose for themselves.

Well, the stage is being set for things to hit the fan. I'm not entirely sure in which chapter it will end up happening, but it won't be long now.