Harry Potter and the Hunt for Horcruxes

The Riddle

Harry, Hermione and Ron sat mutely by the Gryffindor hearth and mulled over the Horcruxes. Hermione's eyebrows were knitted in contemplation as she stared vacantly at the fire. Ron rested his chin on his hands, the sombre, thoughtful expression looking out of place on his freckled face, his eyes glazed over as ideas whirled through his mind. Harry, on the other hand, clutched the fake Slytherin Locket tightly in his left hand, leaving indentations in his Quidditch-calloused palm. In his other hand, he held the note left by the mysterious R.A.B., tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. Professor Dumbledore's death had come as a blow he had yet to get over. The twinkle-eyed headmaster had been more than just his Headmaster and Professor; he had been a mentor and a friend.

After a good five minutes, something clicked in Hermione's brain. Suddenly animated, she whipped her head around to face her friends, eyes bright with excitement. "Harry, quick – pass me the false Locket!"

Harry and Ron were simultaneously jerked out of their thoughts and had identical looks of dazed surprise on their faces. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes and seized the Locket from Harry's grasp.

She dug around for her wand in her robes while explaining, "I figured that the fake Locket has to hold some important information because Mr R.A.B. could simply have placed a note there instead of putting it in the fake Locket, so if I try a revealing charm on the fake Locket, we might find out something important," she clarified briskly with a triumphant smile on her face as she tugged her wand out of her pocket. "That is to say," she added, blushing faintly, "if it really works like that – it's just a guess."

Closing her eyes and rooting quickly around her mind for the right charm, she cast the spell on the fake Locket while making complicated jabbing and swishing motions with her wand. The Locket glowed a dazzling blue before words began to take shape on the gleaming surface.

My frail hands are old and weak,

They have hidden what you seek.

Never trust in everything you see,

Search for the shadow of a lost key.

Obscured in shadows, the Slytherin Locket,

Hidden in a secret pocket.

In hallowed halls, when darkness falls,

Make no sound inside these walls.

Beware the monsters that lurk within –

Do not be forced down their path of sin.

Choose the right one and you shall live,

Choose the wrong one and you must give.

Without delay, Ron and Harry tore their curious eyes from the flowing script and in unison demanded, "What's that supposed to mean?" The intelligent boys had long ago learnt that asking Hermione anything would guarantee an immediate (and very lengthy) answer.

This time, though, Hermione was nearly as baffled as they were, her mind still preoccupied with the mysterious words of the rhyming riddle. "Essentially, I've absolutely no idea of any importance," she sighed, brushing a thumb carefully over the engraved words, "yet I do know that we should be looking for the 'shadow of a lost key', whatever that means." Biting her lip, she raised her gaze to meet theirs. "Well – do either of you have any clue about it?"

Harry and Ron gawked blankly at Hermione, their jaws unhinged in astonishment.

Flustered and self-conscious, Hermione demanded hotly, "Boys, am I supposed to know everything?"

Harry and Ron shot each other a look and chorused, "Yes."

Hermione flushed with both pleasure and annoyance. "I get a couple of Os on my OWLs and I'm expected to know everything?" she complained.

"Well, no," Ron pointed out, "Memorise just about every single book in the Hogwarts Library, then you're expected to know everything, and – I'm guessing – you've just about done that. So," Ron smiled affectionately at Hermione, "yes, Hermione, you are expected to know a great deal more than we do."

The trio shared a fond smile and basked for a while in the warm blaze of the fire and the tenderness of friendship between the three of them, before Harry, realising that they were digressing, steered them back to the subject at hand: "If that's the case… does anyone have any suggestions on where to start?"