Harry Potter and the Wrath of the Horcruxes
Chapter 4: The Owner of the House
"Neville
never entered our world," replied Cedric. "He must still be
alive."
"But how!" Harry wondered aloud. He
still held the mysterious fruit, but it was nearly forgotten in his
wonder. "I mean, his skull was cracked and everything!"
"Harry,"
said Dumbledore in a calming voice, "we need not repeat
ourselves on how short we are on time. We know about the Horcrux you
discovered, and that its respective Voldemort was released from it.
If this Voldemort joins forces with the original being, there will be
no need for the Death Eaters and their master to work in secret any
longer. They will be powerful enough to come out into the open and
declare their existence, and indeed far too powerful to eradicate,
which we could do comparitively easily if they remain apart. If we do
not act quickly, the two Voldemorts could find each other and wipe
out the Muggle and half-blood world as we know it. Eat the
fruit."
"Right!" And with that, Harry bit into
the most indescribably succulent (and yet somehow familiar) food he
had ever tasted. As the juice found its way down Harry's throat, and
he closed his eyes in sheer savor, he could feel himself coming back
to a world he knew he never really wanted to return to.
Upon
opening his eyes, he saw that he was back in the unknown wizard's
basement. It was just as dusty as ever, but to Harry's surprise, he
was fully alone. The people he had just been with were nowhere in
sight - at first he wondered if their plan hadn't worked for them,
but only for him, and then he realized that naturally, they would
return to their individual bodies scattered around the world - but
even Voldemort and Neville were missing. Suddenly, the dim window to
the side came open and in came Hermione and Ron, looking thoroughly
frantic.
"Goodness, where have you two been during all
of this?" Harry said with eyebrows furrowed and a blameful
expression in his tone. "You wouldn't believe what's been going
on!"
"And neither would you, Harry!" Hermione
gasped. "We have to get out of here, quick!"
"Why,
is Voldemort on the loose?" Harry asked.
"Why would he
be?" Ron asked as he coughed away some dust. "I
mean..."
"I'm only going to ask you one more time!"
Harry said with his voice slightly raised. "What have you two
been doing during all this?" And then comprehension
dawned on him. "Oh, never mind, I don't want to know..."
"Harry,
a paralysis spell was put on us! We only barely recovered!"
cried Hermione. "But we wanted to warn you, really! Harry...
this isn't a Muggle home!"
"I already know that!"
Harry said defiantly.
"Perhaps, mate," said Ron, "but
do you know who it belongs to!"
"Well met
indeed, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley," came a voice behind them
that Harry knew all too well and hated beyond anything... that
horrible, girlish, cutesy voice... sure enough, when the three
wheeled around, they faced in the dim light - Dolores Umbridge.
"I never would have guessed you two of all my former students to
be so quick in recovering from my paralysis spell."
