Notage: Two chapters in one night… back to horcruxes.

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Harry fell onto a cold, hard ground. Which memory is this? He thought. I don't remember this… maybe we entered at a different time. Hermione and Ron plunked down next to him.

"Ow…" Ron said. "Not a very comfy place, is it?"

"Where are we, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I have no clue. This must be the extra one you two got."

"Either that or she was so flustered that she poured two memories in at once." Ron mumbled. Hermione glared at him. "Well, you did have two in your hands…"

Harry stood up, wondering what would happen if you poured two in at once. He knew that this was only one memory (he had watched her pour it), but still… Harry spotted a light up ahead and started walking toward it.

It didn't take him long to realize where they were. "The Chamber of Secrets…" Ron said from behind him. "Whose memory is this?"

Harry walked toward the light. Sure enough, down near one of the snake statues was Voldemort himself. "This isn't his memory, is it?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not." Harry said absently. He watched Voldemort put a large book into the statue and mumble a few words. Well that clears that up…

"So he did put it in here himself." Ron said. "But why was he here?"

"The job application." Harry said. "D'you think he's gone already?"

"Maybe he had to wait for Dumbledore to talk with him."

"Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster then, you idiot." Hermione said.

"Well sorry miss intelligence."

"You are such a -"

"Shut it!" Harry said, spinning around. "Can't you two stop arguing for three minutes?" He could hear Voldemort leaving. "Come on, before we lose him." They followed Voldemort up to the entrance to the chamber, and then the memory became foggy.

"What's happening?" Hermione asked.

"An unclear part of the memory." Harry said. "It'll be back to normal in a second."

When the memory cleared, they were outside of Hogwarts. It was a very dark night. Ron shifted his weight often, apparently getting impatient. "Will you hold still?" Hermione scolded.

"You try to stand for long periods of time with two bad legs."

"You can go back."

"Quiet!" Harry said. The doors to the main entrance had opened up, and someone was coming out. Voldemort… Harry watched him walk across the lawn of Hogwarts. Then the memory ended, and the three of them were thrown back out.

"That was useless." Harry said. "It only confirmed what we already knew."

"Didn't you see what he was carrying?" Hermione asked.

"He was carrying something?"

"Yeah. He pulled it out just as we left. I guess he had it in his cloak."

"Well, what was it?" Ron asked, reclining on Harry's bed.

"I couldn't tell. Something big though."

"That narrows it down." Ron said.

"Oh, you little -"

"Don't start again." Harry said, replacing the memory in its bottle. "You think he stole something from Hogwarts?"

"Sure. Why not? But what would he steal?"

"Well, we know it wasn't any of the other horcruxes." Ron said. "Cause they're not that big."

"It was shaped like…" Hermione said, thinking out loud. "A weird diamond. It had to be at least as wide as him and half as tall."

Harry pulled some parchment from his trunk and handed it to Hermione. "Draw it." She took the parchment from him and scratched a very oddly shaped upside down triangle. Harry held it up in front of him, and then turned it sideways. It didn't look like anything significant…

Hermione took it back. "Maybe I was seeing things…"

"Let me see it." Ron said, reaching for the parchment. She handed it to him. He squinted at it and turned his head sideways. "Hmm…"

"It was dark." Hermione said quickly. "It might just have been his cloak." She tried to grab the parchment back from Ron.

"No, wait." He pulled it away. "You know what? This kind of looks like… like…"

"A backward triangle?" Harry said sarcastically.

"No… it's like… a shield."

"A shield?" Hermione asked. "Honestly Ron. Sometimes I think you have no brains at all."

"Seriously! It looks like a shield."

"What would he want with a shield?"

"How should I know?"

"And you say I'm not very helpful."

"I never said that!"

Harry ignored them. He was trying to think. What would Voldemort want with a shield? Not like he needed protection. No one could beat him. Maybe it wasn't for normal protection… maybe it was for protection against dying…

" – But I didn't mean it."

"Then you shouldn't say it."

"Honestly, Hermione! Can't you take a joke?"

Who would have a shield? Harry thought. Why would anyone need one? The only time he had ever thought about non-magical shields was for knights. Slaying dragons and saving the princess, that kind of thing. But if you had a shield, you'd need a – Harry stood up quickly.

"Ron, you need to learn when to be serious."

"I am being serious!"

"A shield? Come on -"

"He's right." Harry mumbled.

"What?" Hermione said, shocked that she might be wrong.

"I am?" said Ron, surprised.

"Yes." Said Harry, sill stunned at his discovery.

"How do you figure that?" Hermione said with her hands on her hips.

"If you have a shield, what else would you need?"

"A sword!" Hermione said, understanding immediately. It took Ron a couple of seconds to figure it out. "Well what do you know? Every once in a while something intelligent comes out of his mouth."

"Thank you." Ron said.

"Gryffindor's shield." Hermione said excitedly. "Yes, it fits perfectly!"

"This is the last one, isn't it?" Ron asked, also very excited.

"No. There's still the snake, but that'll be easy." Harry said, just as excited as they were. It was the next to last one, which meant he was almost through with Voldemort, which meant that he was one step closer to a normal life and Ginny…

"D'you really think it'll be easy?" Hermione asked. "Getting the snake? She's around Voldemort all the time, isn't she?"

"I'll take care of her when I go to take care of Voldemort." Harry said absently, still thinking about the shield.

"I wouldn't be so sure Harry."

"Why? It's just a snake."

"So is a hexed basilisk just a snake?"

"There's a big difference between a basilisk and that snake."

"For one, Nagini won't kill you when you look at her." Ron said. "Duh!"

"Ronald!"

"Enough of the arguing." Harry said. "We need to think. Where would he hide the shield, if it were a horcrux?"

"We can rule out the Chamber." Hermione said.

"And that little hut of a house we found the cup in." Ron added.

"And the cave." Harry said.

"Cave?"

"Never mind." Harry said, thinking too fast to talk. Suddenly he had another thought. Then he shook his head.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"It's a stupid idea."

"Nothing is stupid." Ron said. "Just tell us."

"The Riddle house." Harry said. "Where his father lived. Where he murdered his father and his grandparents."

"Why would you think that?" Hermione said. "Apparently he doesn't like the place at all…"

"It's old and unused. He uses it as a hideout."

"Really? How do you know?" Ron asked.

"I -" Harry paused. "I – ummm – saw it in a dream." He immediately felt stupid for saying it.

"Good enough for me." Ron said.

"You saw it in a dream?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, a few years ago. I think it was the first time I read his mind, actually."

"You saw him hiding out in the Riddle house?"

"Yeah, with our old buddy Wormtail." Ron flinched as if he had said Voldemort.

"Do you think it's wise to go there, then?" Hermione asked "If he uses it as a hideout… you might have to deal with more than you bargained for."

"If you can think of anywhere else, feel free too suggest it." Harry said, a bit annoyed. Hermione was silent. "Well go there as soon as this storm blows over."

"Yes. Finally some action." Ron said.

"You're not going." Harry said.

"What! Why?"

"You can barely walk." Hermione said. "Duh!"

"So?"

Hermione sighed and turned to Harry. "No, he doesn't have a brain." she decided. "They switched it with packing peanuts when he was in the hospital."

"We could do without the insults, thank you." Ron said heatedly.

"For the last time," Harry said, "stop fancying each other so much."

"Harry, don't start that again…" Hermione said.

"Like I said, it's payback."

"Payback for what?" Ron asked.

"All last year she pestered me about Ginny. Now it's my turn."

"You both need to get over yourselves." Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"You're one to talk." Ron muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing queen of perfect-ville."

"Ronald -"

Harry stood up to leave the room. "Just kiss him already and get it over with."

"Harry!"

"Look, I'll leave. No one will ever have to know." He went into the hall and walked very slowly toward the stairs.

"Harry Potter!" Hermione shrieked.

"Come on Hermy." Ron said. "Give me a smooch."

Hermione stormed out of the room, past Harry, and downstairs. Harry went back into the room with Ron. "She's crazy about me." Ron said, leaning back.