Disclaimer: Not mine. Burrowed only from the great JK Rowling – not that you didn't already know.
Through the Furnace
Previously in Through the Furnace theme song plays
The snake founder held out his hand for the cup, which Harry immediately relinquished. For a moment Slytherin stared at the golden object. Then Harry felt something stir in the air. A loud clap followed in which he clamped his hands over his ears. A strange black mist dripped from the cup which was now cracked in half in Salazar's hand. A flourished hand gesture and the small mist disappeared.
"My cup," Helga murmured sadly her joyous eyes filling with tears as she took her artefact from Slytherin. "My precious cup!"
Chapter Fourteen Owls and Great Evil
"What is that?"
Harry craned his neck to glare into the direction Godric was pointing. It was nearing dark, 'Mercury' the messenger had long abandoned them and they had since made a rudimentary camp against one of the crumbling walls of Hufflepuff's ancestral home.
"It is only a speck on the horizon: naught to fear." It was the first time Salazar had spoken since they made came. He had been subdued since finding Helga's cup. True to his nature he had huddled himself in the darkest corner of the camp. Harry had the uneasy feeling he was being closely scrutinised from the shadows.
"'tis moving fast," Rowena murmured. Helga agreed with a noncommittal shrug of her petite shoulders.
Harry stood it was difficult to see at night, despite the spell Godric had used to correct his eyesight. However, it soon became apparent what the shadowy shape was. "It's an owl," Harry informed the founders.
A few long drawn out minutes passed until the shape, which Harry discerned as an owl, came into sharper focus.
"Hedwig!"
"What is Hedwig?" Helga asked. "Animal, mineral or vegetable."
"Animal," Harry answered without thinking. "She's my owl."
Sure enough Hedwig swooped down and landed by Harry's head and gave him a hard nip on his earlobes. "Ow," Harry protested. "What was that for?"
Hedwig's only answer was to nip Harry harder yet again before sticking out her leg for her master to take the letter.
Harry did take the letter with shaking hands and unfolded the parchment. Even though he could not read the contents in the dark he immediately recognised Ron's untidy handwriting. It was unmistakeable.
"Lumos!" Harry held his wand to the parchment illuminating the brown paper with a soft white light.
"Merlin, Ron actually wrote me an essay!" Harry cried in shock. Ron was not known for his letter writing ability and to see how much his friend had committed to paper was a surprised indeed.
"Well read it boy," Salazar murmured.
Harry scanned the letter quickly and started to blush furiously. "It's private."
Salazar sniffed as Harry's head bowed over the parchment again: a moment later Salazar darted over and ripped the parchment out of Harry's lax grip.
"Hey!" Harry cried indigently. "Give that back. It's private."
"Indeed you have stated as much already," Salazar said smoothing the paper.
Harry looked pleadingly to Godric who only looked bemused and shook his head. Rowena looked like she would rather not argue with Salazar and dear old Helga seemed too interested in a blade of grass to realise what was happening about her.
"Dear Harry,
Wherever you are I hope this finds you. I've already written a million letters in hope that you will get the message. But Hedwig always comes back with the letter unopened. I know how much smarter your owl is than Pig…
… Dear me this boy sends letters by swine post?"
Salazar and the other three founders seemed amused by this thought. Harry could not restrain the roll of his eyes as Salazar continued to read with relish.
"Pig being an unintelligently little fluff ball it's not hard for Hedwig to out smart him. The point is Hedwig can't find you, which means we have very little hope of finding you.
Please don't be dead. Look mate, you're already in heaps of trouble with Lupin and Mum for disappearing like that. But please escape the Death Eaters, and kick the greasy git in the shins for me, and get your backside back to Grimmauld Place.
It's not the same without you here. If you are reading this come back home. NOW!
Ron Weasley."
Harry sighed and snatched the letter out of Salazar's hands. "Enjoyed yourself?" he snarled folding the letter violently.
"Immensely," Salazar drawled in response stretching his legs.
"Are you going to make a reply, Harry?" Godric asked stroking his short trimmed beard thoughtfully. "He sounds like he cares deeply for you."
Harry nodded and sighed in resignation. He knew he could not keep his friends in suspense. It would not be fair on them. But he didn't have any ink or a quill.
Harry lazily transfigured to leaves into the writing implements he need and slowly unfolded the parchment to make his careful reply to his friends.
Thirty minutes later Harry had finished the letter and folded it back up slowly. "I'll send it in the morning," Harry said to no one in particular. "Hedwig needs a rest."
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Harry woke with a start. He swiped his hand over his brow trying to remember the dream that had woken him. It was important, he knew it. His mind raced quickly remembering Grimmauld Place and the mysterious locket that they had found the pervious summer.
Rolling over to his side he wrote an appending message to the letter with a flourished scrawl. Hedwig hooted from above and swooped down on her graceful snowy wings as if she understood Harry intentions. He gave her the letter and with one last hard nip Hedwig took to the skies.
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Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat like three zombies at the kitchen at Grimmauld Place as Molly Weasley bustled about making breakfast. The three teenagers had been awake most of the night trying to understand what had happened to their best friend. The table covered in a forest of coffee mugs was testament to their activities. There wasn't another clean coffee mug in sight.
"'e cooold ov een unplutable," Ron murmured into his newest acquisition of caffeine.
Hermione glanced at Ron with large tired doleful eyes before turning to Ginny. "The sad thing is that I understood that."
Ginny nodded her head slightly before she swayed and her forehead met the table with a loud bang. Hermione regarded her for a moment before glancing back at Ron who was sniffing at his coffee cup like a kicked puppy.
"He should have got the letter if the place he was, was unplottable," Hermione said gently. Ron's head snapped up violent as she added with a sigh of defeat. "At least I think."
"Never mind my dears," Molly Weasley sighed with forced cheerfulness as she cleared away the coffee mug forest. "I'm sure Hedwig will be back soon and the riddle will soon be answered."
The three young wizards looked at the Weasley matriarch as if she had two head before slumping back into their chairs.
A moment later a Hedwig swooped in and landed comically on Ron's head. In Harry's absence she had become somewhat fond of the red head.
"She has a letter look!" Ginny cried pointing her finger and bouncing up and down on the chair. Hermione raised her eyebrows it looked like the caffine was finally having an effect on Ginny. "Open it. Open it. Openitopenitopenit!"
Ron tore the letter of Hedwig a little too violently before glancing down in despair. "It's my letter," he said before smacking the parchment down.
"Wait a minute," Hermione murmured picking up the letter. She was always observant like this.
"That's Harry's writing on the back!" Ginny cried her whole face lighting up.
"What?" Molly Weasley joined the three teenagers around the table.
Hermione opened the letter for all to see.
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Dear All,
First and foremost I should apologise for my rash actions and worrying you all. I know you are all mad at me and for good reason so I won't go into any detail trying to justify what happened to me.
All you should know is this. I did sneak out of Grimmauld Place and I'm sorry. (Fred I lost your cloak – I promise I will make it up to you.)
You would not have been able to contact me, for which I'm very sorry about, but really had no say. 'Gryffindor stupidity' strikes again. I ended up somewhere I least expected.
Good news. I'm on the trail. In Germany at the moment a place called "Schatten-Geheimnisse", the ancestral home of the Hufflepuffs. I'm endeavouring to find my way home.
Your Friend
HP
PS. The locket we found last summer. Very important find it and keep it somewhere safe. Will update you when I get there!
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"I was thinking," Harry announced slowly over breakfast the next morning. He pointedly ignored the sarcastic, 'Merlin help us all,' issued from Slytherin and continued. "How did we get here?"
Helga stood and brushed off her skirts. "Isn't it obvious? Ravenclaw made a mistake."
Rowena baulked and sniffed indifferently. "I most certainly did not!"
Harry sighed and glanced at the other two founders. "It's really immaterial whose fault it is but rather how. Obviously we are in the right time…"
"…only the wrong place…" Godric concluded.
"I would disagree," Harry murmured. "We found a horcrux. I saw the words Saarbruken and the ruins and the hills and the cup before I opened my eyes."
"Hah!" Rowena exclaimed. "It's the boy's fault. Not mine!"
"Yes. But how and can we do the same for the remain horcrux?"
"We can easily try!" Helga said offering her hands. Everyone followed suit.
Harry however took the extra precaution of clamping his eyes tightly shut as Godric and Salazar took his shaking hands. Rowena's voice was soon chanting nearby ebbing and flowing through Harry's senses.
He felt the serpentine feeling of the magic caressing its way through his body. The weak feeling at the knees and the giddy sensation that he was going to faint returned to him.
He saw a dark room boarded up. Very little light streamed through revealing a moth eaten carpet that seemed stained with something horrible. Harry sensed the great power of the place before it started choking him. Shivering he turned around and a shield came into view; glistening in red and gold. Harry wanted to reach out a touch the object, to feel the smooth lines of the lion emblazoned on the surface. He retreated however as soon as he felt the evil that lurked behind the wondrous object.
Harry drew in a sharp intake of breath. Evil was suffocating him drawing him to his knees. A dull ache in his lightening bolt scar pulsed in time with his racing heart beat. Harry reeled backwards gasping for air.
"Harry… Harry… are you alright?" A voice slice through his consciousness and Harry winced involuntarily. His hands were released and strong arms snaked around his middle as he was lowered to the cool floor.
"What's wrong with him?"
Harry opened one eye slowly. Pain laced through his scar and he clutched his forehead writhing but not screaming. Strong hands held him down.
"Great evil lurks here."
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A/N: A list of the horcruxes are in order I think to remind us all! Especially me!
7- Voldemort himself
6 – The snake or so Dumbledore assumes
5 – Something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's
4 – Helga's lovely cup
3 – Tom Riddle's Diary
2 – The locket
1 – That horrible ring Dumbledore wore