Author: Magiquill9
Chapter 11: The End of the CircleShips: Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron, Bill and Fleur, and Lupin and Tonks.
Chapter Synopsis: The locket has finally been found, it's identity revealed, and then Harry and the gang make a startling discovery.
Story Summary: HBP raised as many questions as it answered. How can Harry find a horcrux? How can he destroy the horcruxes? Everything was laid out, and we were about to jump off the cliff. Here's where the cliffhanger ends and the adventure begins. Join Harry and friends as they struggle to lead the wizarding world out of despair, fight the good fight, and put an end to the evil that is Tom Riddle.
Disclaimer: Ok guys, I'm back. It's been longer than normal and for that I apologize. Glad to see we hit 50 reviews, that's just awesome. We had our first game Friday, we won 2-1, I was hurt for a day or two, so I thought up the rest of the story fairly well, actually wrote one of the chapters towards the end. We then tied 2-2, and our now currently tied in first place in a 2-day tournament. But I digress. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far, and I'm glad to see you've stayed with me. School has started now, so it will be slower updating, but I'll try and up the quality. I'll see what I can do. Hope you all enjoy it, here it is, Chapter 11, The End of the Circle. (Bit of a paradox, but I like the title of this chapter. )
Harry's triumphant scream brought the rest of his friends running. Out of breath, Hermione stared at him, as did the rest, but not as tiredly.
"Well? Let's see it?" Harry, holding the locket by the chain, allowed it to dangle in the air, suspended by his hand. The wind caught it twirled it, and the distinctive Slytherin mark was easily noticed. Hermione gave a squeal, and Ginny tackled him ferociously.
"We did it!" Harry nodded gingerly, as he helped Ginny off of him and stared at the locket. Something didn't feel…right.
"I don't think it's a horcrux you guys."
"What?" they exclaimed almost simultaneously.
"I can't explain it, I just don't sense Voldemort there. Unless…" Harry tried to pry open the locket, and it opened at his touch.
"Maybe… it's not a horcrux… anymore," Harry mused.
"You think?" asked Ron eagerly.
"I think someone destroyed it, there's the jagged line that says it is a horcrux, like the one on the ring. But who would have destroyed it? Aberforth?"
"It's possible."
"But we need to talk to him then, I haven't a clue where he is. I can't really send him a message can I?"
"Well, regardless Harry, that's one less horcrux. That leaves us something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, the cup, and Nagini. Voldemort himself too of course."
"Well, Dumbledore said that he collects trophies… and that it would be in a place of significance to him. I can think of three important places. The Chamber of Secrets, the Riddle House, and maybe the orphanage."
"I don't think the orphanage Harry, he had the cave already as it is," stated Hermione.
"Yeah… you're right. We should probably check out the Chamber." As Harry said this, he felt Ginny give an involuntary shudder next to him. He comforted her while he thought about what they should do.
"It'll be ok Gin, we'll all be there this time." Ginny looked into Harry's eyes and nodded, but then sobbed into his shirt. 'Why do I always have to deal with crying girls?' Harry asked to the air. He patted her back awkwardly, but that seemed to be acceptable, so that was fine for now.
"Well, we still don't know how to destroy a horcrux do we? We haven't talked to Aberforth. Dumbledore couldn't really explain. Regulus is dead, so even if he did know how to destroy it, it would all be useless. Really, only Voldemort could help us, or else maybe Snape. But," Hermione looked at Harry expectantly, and saw his glare at the mention of Snape. "That's what I though," she muttered.
"Well mate, I guess we have to go back to the chamber."
"Yeah, that's what it looks like. Except the death eaters still have Hogwarts under control. We have to sneak back in. Sounds like we'll have to take the tunnel from Hogsmeade. We'll have to get the cloaks and map, but otherwise, I don't really see anything else we can do. We have to check the Riddle house too though."
"Hey Harry?"
"Yeah Ron?"
"How do you know if you find a horcrux?"
"I'll know."
"You sound pretty sure of yourself," commented Ginny.
"I'll know."
"Well, back to Grimmauld for a quick stop then huh?"
"Yeah." The group exited the Hog's Head, apparating into Grimmauld Place. Harry walked upstairs, grabbing both his prized cloak and his map. He also grabbed the knife from his birthday, and the ring that the twins had given him, which was supposed to portkey him to their shop. He slipped it on, remembering the password was, oddly enough, 'mischief managed.' He had to just touch it with his wand, like he had done with the snitch, and it would send him there. They could use it from the Chamber once they got inside. Harry headed back downstairs, map and cloak in hand, and saw Ginny holding the other cloak. He smiled grimly.
"Let's go." They returned to Hogsmeade again and headed to Honeydukes. Ron grabbed a chocolate frog that they paid for, and then they slipped on the cloaks and snuck into the cellar. Harry opened the trap door and they walked inside, Ron closing it behind them. Harry heard Ron stuffing the frog in his mouth as he said "Lumos." Harry held his wand like a sword and lead the way in. He heard Ron laughing and turned around to silence him.
"Harry, look." His anger forgotten, Harry snatched the chocolate frog card out of Ron's hand and stared at it in shock.
"Harry Potter, Boy-who-lived.
Mr. Potter is currently in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Many accomplishments are attached to his name, beginning with the defeat of you-know-who, when he was merely at the age of one. He has also helped to save the Sorcerer's Stone, defeated a Basilisk, winner of the Tri-Wizard cup, and has been rumored to be, the Chosen One, that is, the person whose destiny it is to defeat you-know-who. He is also the youngest seeker in a century at Hogwarts, is in Gryffindor House, and was captain of his Quidditch team."
Harry stared at the card in shock. Waving back at him was a picture of himself on his Firebolt, racing it through the air, a smile on his face, and his scar conspicuously hidden beneath his bangs. The air would move it and his scar would momentarily appear, then picture Harry would fly out of the picture altogether.
Harry waited for his friends' reaction.
"So you have a chocolate frog card eh mate?" asked Ron, grinning widely. Not that Harry noticed, since he was pointedly ignoring the fact.
"I think you look kind of cute Harry, I mean your hair is all ruffled up, and you're concentrating, look, look at the face you're making," squealed Ginny. It was all Harry could do to not just incendio the bloody card.
"We are going to the Chamber of Secrets. End of story. Now quit messing around," Harry growled. He was not in the mood.
"You know Harry-"
"I said I'm not in the mood."
"I was just going to say we made it to the statue and you should check the map, but don't listen to me, it's not like I know what I'm talking about," huffed Ginny.
"Oh," relented Harry lightly. He was still trying to focus. They didn't understand how important this was. The last time he had gone to fetch a horcrux, someone had died, the greatest wizard of the time: Dumbledore.
"You remember what you agreed on right?" Looking like they thought he had forgotten, they looked up at Harry, shocked, and nodded solemnly. That was the quickest way to sober them up. He opened up the map, activated it with the password, and searched it for the death eaters. There didn't look like anything was on the map. There were a few names here and there, but no question mark, signifying Voldemort. Harry shook his head happily and handed the map to Ron. Ron turned it off and they headed out, Harry in the lead, Ginny grabbing onto his hand, Hermione following her, and Ron bringing up the rear. Under the two cloaks, they were able to make it to Myrtle's bathroom undetected, at least, until they made it to the bathroom that is.
"Harry! You've come back to see me," exclaimed Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that had died in a bathroom, and was always depressed. Harry let out a groan.
"Hi Myrtle."
"Have you come to share my toilet with me?"
"Errr- I hope not. Although I'm thankful you offered," Harry added before she took off wailing. He needed her calm and he might need her help.
"Listen, Myrtle. I have to go down there again, do you think you could keep an eye out for anyone coming in here, maybe let me know if someone does. I don't fancy getting caught."
"You, you're going down, there?"
"Right," Harry said slowly.
"And you want, you want me, to stay, stay here?"
"Yup."
"And go, go down, down there, if anyone, anyone comes."
"That's about it."
"Only because it's you Harry," she said, and then giggled.
"Err- right. Thanks." Harry smiled briefly, and then searched for the right pipe to open the Chamber.
"Found it. Watch out." Harry stared at the snake engraved on the pipe. "Open." Only, he didn't say open, at least, not in English. Harry heard the distinct hiss that told him he had used parseltongue correctly and watched as the entrance to Salazar Slytherin's infamous Chamber of Secrets revealed itself to him once more.
"Well, this is it. I'll go first." And so, Harry dove in. Ginny quickly slid down after him, and Harry was fast enough to prevent her from hitting the ground. Well, she landed on top of him anyway. It was close enough: until Hermione came. And she landed on Ginny, who was still on Harry. Harry began to groan under the weight, and made to get out of Ron's way, but he wasn't fast enough. The four of them collapsed back onto the floor.
"Ughhh. That hurt guys. Ahhh, there we go. Up you get Ginny." Ginny was starting to shudder again, and Harry didn't want her to be scared. He held her hand reassuringly and she walked so close to Harry, holding onto him so tight, Harry thought he might as well be carrying her.
"Oh, that's just sick," proclaimed Hermione. They had come upon the basilisk skin.
"And there's the hole you went through, wow we were small," chided in Ron.
"Well… yeah. I was a scrawny little kid wasn't I?" muttered Harry. They levitated the rocks aside until they could get through, and then they went on their merry little way.
"Are you going to be ok Gin? You can handle this?" She looked up at Harry.
"I'm fine."
"You sure?" he asked, tracing a circle on her cheek.
"No," she admitted.
"You'll be ok?"
"How do you know?"
"You're with me," said Harry simply.
Ginny looked up at Harry in awe. Harry turned in on himself as well. He was becoming more like Dumbledore every day. It was true though. Ginny would be safe. They came upon the entrance to the main chamber. Harry looked at the snakes and hissed at them for them to open, which they complied to readily.
The stench that reached them was overwhelming. Harry grabbed at his nostrils, as did Ginny and Ron. Hermione just pointed her wand at herself.
"Bubblehead charm?" choked out Harry, as he was still pinching her nose. Hermione nodded, and cast it on the three of them. It was a whole lot easier to breathe. Harry was able to concentrate on other things now. Like looking for a horcrux. Harry remembered that there had been an opening in Slytherin's mouth; it was where the basilisk had come from. He thought long and hard on how Riddle had opened it, and then it came to him.
"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." The mouth opened, and nothing fortunately slid out. Harry visibly relaxed and approached the mouth of the statue.
"Lumos," he muttered. The others followed behind him. He searched around inside the Chamber but couldn't find anything. Then, the ground gave way, and Harry fell through, screaming all the way down.
"Harry!" Harry heard his name echoed all the way across the chamber. It reverberated around the walls. Harry landed with a splash. He stood up slowly, wincing all the while, and looked around. His wand firmly in hand, he waved it around, to try and see where exactly he was.
He tentatively put one foot in front of the other, not heeding the other's calls, and the lake slowly but surely led him into a small chamber. Inside, it was just a room. Harry looked around, but didn't really see anything interesting. He searched the table that was there in front of him, moving the chair out of the way, searched through the bookshelf, but found nothing of importance, until there was one book he tried to grab towards the end. It wouldn't move. Harry stared at the book, and an idea came into his head.
"Accio Horcrux," he said confidently. Nothing happened. Harry glared menacingly at the book. "Finite Incantatum." He tried to pick it up again, and found to his surprise that he could. Harry opened it, but it looked like a lot of gibberish. He tried to make sense of it, but he couldn't. Harry suddenly realized something; the book was written in parseltongue. Harry pocketed it, and after one more search of the room, headed back up to his friends.
"Hey Hermione, can you conjure up a rope or something?"
"Harry! Are you ok?" asked Hermione.
"Are you hurt?" shrieked Ginny almost instantaneously.
"Did you find anything?" inquired Ron.
"Yes, no, and maybe," Harry replied smoothly to the cries of his three friends. "How bout you get me out of here first?" Hermione conjured the rope and lowered it down to Harry. Harry grabbed it and together, they pulled him back to the surface. Harry lay down on the floor and sat there pensively for a while. Ginny abruptly pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Harry? What'd you find?"
"This." Harry pulled the notebook out of his pocket and tossed it at Ginny, whose chaser skills were on showcase as she deftly pulled it out of the air as she would a quaffle.
"Its just gibberish," Ginny complained. Hermione let out a gasp.
"Is this parseltongue Harry?"
"That's what I thought," Harry said as he nodded slowly. "We can work on it when we get out of here." Harry pulled Ginny close to him again, and noticed she was still a little bit nervous about being in the chamber.
"Everybody, grab my ring." Confused, they all complied, and Harry tapped it with his wand and said "Mischief Managed." They felt a pull behind their navel and were whisked away to Diagon Alley, and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Harry! If it isn't our financial backer in the flesh once again," exclaimed Fred. At least, Harry thought it was Fred. They looked identical to the last freckle today.
"To what do we owe the honor?" asked the other twin.
"Well, we were at Hogwarts and needed an easy way out, so I thought, why don't we use that beautiful portkey?" explained Harry.
Fred and George dropped into a bow.
"We are at-" 'George?' started.
"Your service-" continued the other one.
"Oh, great Chosen One," they concluded together.
"Knock it off guys. Well, it was good seeing you again. We need to get back to Grimmauld Place. Take care you all."
"So long Harry," they said with a wave. The four of them then apparated away to Grimmauld Place.
"What a day Harry, eh mate? Found the locket, and it's already long gone, found a notebook in the secret chamber of the dark lord, and now we have to still look for the bloody cup."
"I'd say that about sums it up Ron," said Harry thoughtfully.
"So where else did you want to check?" Harry had a sudden flashback to his kidnapping at the Riddle house. He remembered feeling something.
"I think we need to go to the Riddle house. I think I err, well, felt a horcrux there," Harry said sheepishly. He put his hand behind his head and scratched it thoughtfully.
Instead of looking at him nervously or confused, they all just nodded.
"Then that's where we need to go 'oh great chosen one,'" said Ron, grinning madly. Harry thought 'langlock' and returned Ron's grin as Ron's tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. Ron tried to exclaim something at Harry, but all that came out was 'mmmgrrr,' which didn't sound very threatening. Taking pity on him, Harry released the spell.
"We can go tomorrow to the Riddle place. We need to get some sleep. And food, food is also good too. Can't do nothing if your stomach don't have food." At that moment, Ron's profound statement was proven when Ron's stomach chose to make a particularly loud rumble, which caused them all to laugh.
"Then let's eat." Ron and Hermione went ahead, and Harry pulled Ginny aside.
"Are you ok? After going back down there and all."
"I think so. Thanks Harry, I really needed that." Harry kissed her forehead and pulled her close.
"Anything for my Ginny." Ginny beamed at him. Together, they went back to the kitchen and prepared to eat another one of the famous Weasley meals.
That's as good a place to stop as any. So go ahead and drop a line, let me hear your thoughts.
