10. The Locket and The Cup

"My goodness! I thought you were dead!" Mrs. Weasley stuttered. Sirius smiled feebly.

"Well, Harry saved me. Didn't you Harry?" Harry nodded. Hermione looked dumbstruck. "I can't believe it... It can't be... Can it?"

Harry knew Hermione would push him for details, because everything that wasn't explained in a book, would have to make perfect sense before she would admit it was true.

Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen offering Sirius some food, but for some reason, he looked perfectly healthy.

"Where's Ron and Ginny? I need to explain what happened, and I don't want to more than once," he muttered.

Hermione turned around, and a split second later was coming back, followed by Ron and Ginny, who both looked confused.

"What's going on? How did you get out?" they asked simultaneously. In hushed voices, Harry explained what had happened after walking through the curtain.

The three of them had their mouths half open the entire time. Harry repeated everything Dumbledore had told him about the Fortress of Shadow, and all about R.A.B.

"Bellatrix has the locket?" Ginny asked. "How on earth are you supposed to get it from her?"

Harry was almost finished when he got to the part about the founders giving him advice. Hermione's eyes bulged. She was at a loss for words.

"No means to be rude Harry, but I think I'll go say hi to Sirius," Ron said, getting up after nearly an hour of discussing every angle of the matter. Ron could be heard telling Sirius about their new teacher, and how awful she was.

"It's 'bout ten o'clock H-h-harry," Ginny said through a yawn. "I s'pose we should be off to bed." Harry had to admit, he was exhausted.

He awoke to the sound of loud music coming from the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was, as usual, cooking a delicious breakfast.

"Harry, wake up! It's snowing!" said Ron. Harry went downstairs and found Sirius in the kitchen, waiting anxiously for breakfast. The strange effects of the Fortress had worn off, and he looked to be extremely hungry.

"Morning Harry! I can't wait until Remus gets here. You did invite him, didn't you?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, yes yes. Invited him and Tonks. Oh, and Mad-Eye," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"You know," came the voice of Fleur, as she twirled into the kitchen, "she should really go by Nymphadora. Eet sounds much nicer." It looked like Mrs. Weasley was trying very hard not to make a retort.

"So, as I was saying Sirius, that miserable old bat canceled Quidditch, and the House Cup. I would've been great you know," Ron told Sirius.

"Yeah, that's pretty awful. I wonder why she did that? You should try to do your best; maybe you'll get an award from the school or something," he replied.

When Lupin arrived, and saw Sirius, he nearly passed out.

"Sirius-but I thought-didn't you die-?" Harry knew it would be the greatest shock to him, because they had been best friends.

They days crept by, and no one left the Burrow, because it was snowing harder than ever. It was now the eve of Christmas.

The fire was crackling, and everybody seemed happy and cheerful, even though the days grew steadily darker, and it wasn't just the sky that was dark. Everyone was talking to someone, but Harry was alone.

He looked out the window, as the snow fell from the black sky. Jovial laughter could be heard throughout the house. Harry sighed. I wish I had real family to share my Christmases with.

"Did you hear me Harry? Time for bed," Hermione said, looking concernedly at him. "Wait a minute, something is different about you. Where's your scar?" Hermione asked, looking bewildered.

Harry felt his forehead, and indeed, his scar was gone. Something is wrong. Something weird is going on. This is creeping me out.

Harry sidled up the stairs, and was in bed before he knew what he was doing. He had terrible sleep, and was tossing and turning all night. He couldn't help but wonder why his scar was gone. Why would it be gone? It was unthinkable. How can something like this happen? Why is it gone? Harry's mind was in a circus.

"Harry! Wake up; it's Christmas!" came the ecstatic voice of Ron, as he hurtled into the room.

Harry saw that on the foot of his bed was a small pile of gifts. Ron himself was enjoying some chocolate frogs. After sitting up, and putting on his glasses, Harry tore open the first one. It was all sorts of candy sent by Hagrid and, and gingerbread from Madam Maxime.

"Yeah they sent me some of those too," said Ron, peering over Harry's shoulder.

They walked downstairs, and everyone else was already sitting down for an excellent breakfast. Mad-Eye Moody was there, along with Lupin and Tonks. They were all talking to Sirius.

"Hello there Harry," growled Moody. "I've been doing some research on this new professor of yours. No one's heard of her. I wouldn't trust her if I were you."

Harry knew that Moody had a reputation of hardly trusting anyone. But maybe there was some truth to this. Next, Moody spoke so everyone could hear him.

"I think everyone has something to hide every now and then." Everything went silent. Harry noticed people eying each other suspiciously. He glanced at Hermione, and when she realized he was giving her a penetrating stare, she quickly looked away. She must be hiding something.

The rest of the day, Harry felt slightly better. Perhaps this was just because it was Christmas. Christmas break went by very quickly, and it would soon be time to go back to Hogwarts.

"Harry, you all packed?" Sirius asked at breakfast, on the day they were to depart. He nodded. "I'm going to miss you Harry. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for saving my life."

It was now time to go. They went back to Kings Cross Station, through the barrier, aboard the train, and back to Hogwarts. The trip back was uneventful.

"Harry," said Hermione, as they sat down in the common room after dinner, "you should try and find out what happened to the locket and cup. You'll have to find those before Voldemort finds you."

"I suppose you're right. But how will books help me? Is it likely one will tell me what happened to the founder's heirlooms?" Hermione shrugged.

"It's worth a try isn't it?" She's probably right. It's better to at least try. Early the next morning, after another sleepless night, Harry groggily found his way to the library.

"Hello 'Arry," came the voice of Madam Maxime.

"Hello Madam Maxime. Do you happen to know where I can find a book that will tell me about heirlooms, passed down from the founders of Hogwarts?" Harry asked, knowing she wouldn't have a clue. She thought for a moment.

"Actually, eet would probably be over here. I theenk I saw some books like that the other day. Someone else was asking about that." To Harry's great surprise, Madam Maxime pulled a book from the shelf that looked to be exactly what he needed.

He sat down at a table in a somewhat secluded corner of the library."Let's see, A History of the Four Founders, this might have something good," Harry said aloud. The book was very dusty and old, with a ragged brown cover. It was about five inches thick, and was probably the most boring book Harry had ever laid eyes upon.

Even Hermione wouldn't be able to read the whole thing. Then again, she probably never knew it existed, because you would need someone as tall as Madam Maxime to be able to reach it. It had been on the highest shelf. Harry's eyes started to close, and his head swayed. Before he knew it, he was in a deep sleep.

"Kill me then," Harry panted, "kill me like you killed him, you coward -"

"DON'T -" screamed Snape, "CALL ME COWARD!" I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill you Snape, you filthy coward, Harry thought, in his dream. Snape's infuriated face quickly transformed into that of the Slytherin emblem.

It was right in front of Harry's face. It was shining bright as gold. It was so incredibly bright, it woke Harry up. Directly in front of his nose, was indeed the Slytherin emblem. A vast, gold snake was carved neatly into a locket, that was dangling on a chain. Harry's eyes followed the chain.

It was clenched in the white hand of Priscilla. Harry's eyes met her face. She looked tense, and frightened.

"There's a reason I was put in Slytherin," she whispered. "I have the locket. Slytherin's locket. I knew that's where I was supposed to go." Harry was just starting to comprehend what was going on. His eyes widened.

"But... How did you get...? But, I thought that..." he trailed off. His mind started to race. This doesn't make sense at all. How on earth did Priscilla get Slytherin's locket? Is she related...

"Harry, you were muttering in your sleep." Harry was suddenly alert. Had she heard...? "Who – who are you going to kill?" she asked tensely.

"Well isn't that obvious?" That was a stupid question. Harry was proud of himself for not letting slip that he wasn't thinking about Voldemort, but Snape.

"You weren't muttering about the Dark Lord. You're planning on killing someone else."

"So what if I am?" Harry asked, growing worried that she might have heard everything he had been dreaming about. Was I actually saying all that stuff in my sleep?

"Look Harry, there's something I really want to tell you, but I can't. For now, you can keep this locket. It might prove useful. I'm alright if I don't get it back. Just don't tell – don't tell Professor Wilhelm," she said quietly, and rather quickly.

Harry gaped at her.

"What does she have to do with it?" he asked suspiciously.

"Like I said, there's something I really want to tell you, but you'd flip out. Not to mention, bombard me with questions. And, it would probably do more harm than good to tell you," she added.

Harry was very curious, but didn't push the subject. She left the library as quickly as she came. Harry looked down at the gleaming locket.

So many thoughts were going through his mind, he didn't know what to think. Something moved behind Harry, that diverted his attention. It was Draco Malfoy.

Harry tried to stuff the locket in his bag, but, too late. Draco's eyes bulged.

"So, Harry, you've got hold of Slytherin's locket. Now what would a Gryffindor like yourself, want with something like that?" Harry didn't know what to say. Draco continued.

"What were you doing with Priscilla?" he asked quickly.

"Why do you care, Draco?" Harry asked suspiciously. Draco flinched.

"No reason." He turned to leave.

"I'm gonna kill you," Harry muttered under his breath. Draco turned sharply.

"Why would you want to do something like that? Is it, perhaps, because of what happened last year, with Snape? If that's so, I assure you, Snape did what he had to. Did it ever occur to you to think about everything in reverse? Then again, maybe your mind isn't capable of doing something as complex as that. See you around, Scar head."

"What d'you mean, 'Scar head?' I haven't got a scar," Harry stated mockingly, as he pulled his hair out of the way for Draco to see. Draco's mouth fell open.

"What does he mean, reverse?" Hermione asked, in the Common Room the next morning.

"I have no idea," Harry replied.

"Hey, Ive got an idea," said Ron, "why don't we try to summon a Horcrux?" Harry had been contemplating what Draco said so much, that he had completely forgotten to tell Ron and Hermione about the locket.

It had been awfully late when he left the library the previous night; they were already asleep. Before Harry could object (it looked like Hermione was opposed to the idea as well), Ron had already, silently done the incantation.

Harry's bag burst open, and out came Slytherin's locket. Ron and Hermione looked shocked beyond belief. They both looked at Harry, at a loss for words.

"I forgot to tell you," he began. He then explained, in great detail, what had happened.

"So," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair, after a quarter of an hour discussing this new matter, "why don't we get a bite to eat, for lunch?" It was only then, that Harry realized how incredibly hungry he was.

They walked down to the noisy Great Hall, and had just sat down, when a joyous outburst erupted from the Hufflepuff table. Harry turned his head, as did many others.

Zacharias Smith was holding a small cup high over his head so everyone could see. Harry had to squint to see it clearly. There was an unmistakable "H" etched into it, and a badger.

"Is that a Hufflepuff heirloom?" Hermione asked incredulously. Harry was thinking along the same lines. Zacharias was talking very loudly.

"My grandmother died. This was hers; she's related to Helga Hufflepuff, and this belonged to her. Now it's mine!"

Harry already had a plan. He would do what Ron had done: summon a Horcrux.

That way he could find out if Dumbledore's suspicions were correct. Dumbledore thought that the Hufflepuff cup was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Accio Horcrux! Harry thought to himself, concentrating hard on the cup gleaming overhead.

This was tradition when summoning an object. You were to concentrate as hard as you possibly could on the thing in question. He, Harry, saw the cup slip out of Zacharias's greedy hands.

Harry immediately stopped thinking about the cup, and it dropped to the floor. No one need ever know that someone had just summoned it.

So, maybe the journey to destroy Voldemort wouldn't be so hard after all. The only question was, how to get the cup from Zacharias. At least Harry knew where both Horcruxes were.

They were both at Hogwarts.