Grimmauld Place, another Surprise.
Back in Remus' house, Remus was lying down on the couch, his head resting on Tonks' lap. Suddenly, a brown unfamiliar owl pecked on the window, begging to be let in; Remus wondered who the letter might be from; after all, Harry's owl was white, and besides, he was picking Harry up tonight. Everyone else he kept in touch with was from the Order, and they usually used Patronuses to communicate (this was Dumbledore's clever way of communication in a method that prevented the message from reaching the wrong people).
He got up and opened the window, letting the owl inside; he took the parchment from the owl's leg, sat down on the couch, and began reading. The further he read, the wider his eyes became, full of fear and shock. He could not believe his eyes. He leapt up, and began conjuring Patronuses to communicate with the Weasleys and Minerva, and quickly wrote a letter to Petunia.
He swore to himself that he would not rest until he found Harry. He could not let Harry go through this alone. He let Tonks read the letter as she searched him with curious looks, and watched her expression become worried and shocked.
'He's much too young; I don't know what he was thinking, taking off like that! He could get himself killed!' Remus complained to himself
Remus did not know that as this thought crossed his mind, Harry nearly got killed.
When Remus received Petunia's letter, Harry long ago left for Grimmauld Place. When Harry finally arrived at Grimmauld Place, he was shocked. Kreacher was no where to be seen, and the place was a mess. It smelled horribly, probably of dead mice; there were still dishes in the sink, and quite a big pile of them; furniture was all over the place and turned upside down as if someone had put up a fight, and the living room was damp and sickeningly dusty. Harry shuddered in disgust and started to search for anything and everything. Suddenly, he spotted something sparkling behind a vase on a shelf. He pulled out his wand and drew nearer, careful not to make any noise as to not wake up the Portrait of Mrs. Black. As he drew nearer, he lowered his wand.
"Dumbledore's Pensieve!" he let out a low whistle.
He soon found a note, written by no other than Albus Dumbledore.
Dear Harry,
If you are reading this, then you must be on your search for the horcruxes. And, as I expect, you are not here with your friends. I expected this from you, and I was prepared. I am leaving my Pensieve, with thoughts of mine that might be useful to you. I am also leaving Fawkes in your possession. I ask you to remember: not everything is the way it seems. There is more than meets the eye, and sometimes our eyes mislead us. Take that into consideration whenever you assume something. Consider this carefully, and maybe, with the help of this note, we will meet again during your quest for the horcruxes. I also leave you my house, you are free to enter it and take whatever you might find useful. I love you, Harry. Always remember that. Take care, be very careful, and, in the words of Alastor Moody- constant vigilance!
Love,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Harry was very confused by this letter. Though he doubted he would ever meet Dumbledore again (that is, unless he died), and he did not know what Dumbledore meant by 'our eyes sometimes mislead us', he was touched by this letter and did not pay much attention to that part. Suddenly, as if someone ordered the bird to do so, Fawkes came to Harry out of nowhere.
"Fawkes! I'm so glad to see you! Have you been here all this time?"
Though Harry wasn't expecting an answer, Fawkes nodded.
"Wow," Harry whispered. Fawkes just smiled, his eyes twinkling. Somehow, those eyes reminded him of Dumbledore, and tears began running down Harry's face.
Harry spent the rest of the day examining Dumbledore's memories, some of which turned out to be very useful, as Dumbledore said they would be. This made him think of R.A.B., and he decided to search the house. And then, something clicked in his mind. 'The locket!'
Harry suddenly remembered spotting a heavy locket that no one could open, back in the summer previous to his 5th year. He also remembered Sirius mentioning his brother being a Death Eater, so he pulled out this memory and put it in the Pensieve. He then examined it, and gathered that Sirius thought Regulus was killed by Death Eaters on Voldemort's orders and that he got in too far and then panicked and tried to back out.
Though Harry did not know Regulus' middle name, everything fit together. The locket, Regulus' death being some 17 years previously, him being a Death Eater and trying to back out; it all fit, and Harry decided to go look for the locket right a way. Before he could head up the stairs, several loud cracks were heard outside, and about a dozen death eaters appeared in view. Harry immediately grabbed his wand, cast a nonverbal spell (Lumos—Harry was getting better at those), covered himself with his invisibility cloak, and went outside, taking Fawkes with him.
He spotted Lucius and Bellatrix outside, and silently walked up to them, relieving himself of his cloak. He stunned them both, and heard many other 'cracks' of apparating Death Eaters. Thinking all the other Death Eaters apparated, he began to send a Patronus to the ministry to come and arrest those two. Before he could do anything else, someone hit him from behind with a spell Harry did not recognize, and apparated away; Harry immediately dropped to the ground, unconscious.
