The House of Gaunt

Harry didn't go all the way to the village. Tom had explained him how to get to the House of Gaunt. He had to take a trail that he found quite easily and he followed it through the woods. The forest was silent and the snow on the ground was muffling the sound of his steps. After a few minutes, he found the glade in which should have stand the house. But it was empty. He blinked, thinking that his tiredness was playing tricks on his mind, but nothing appeared. He carefully tried to step in the glade but oddly enough, he only managed to make a few steps before a strange force stopped him, like an invisible wall. There definitely was something hidden in the glade, but to reveal it, Harry would need to find a way to overcome the strength of its protection.

He took a few steps back and silently casted the Revelio Charm. Nothing happened. Harry frowned and drew his wand.

'Revelio,' he said while motioning it. But that didn't help either.

Whoever had protected the glade was obviously more powerful than a Hogwarts student. Basic spells would achieve nothing. He grabbed some snow in his hand and rubbed it on his face. The cold scorch helped him to focus. He needed to investigate the magic at work here to overcome the wards. He was about to start with the Specialis Revelio Charm when he heard voices coming from the trail he had just left. He quickly put his Invisibility Cloak on and rushed behind a bush.

Holding firmly his wand, he scanned the path until he saw a small group of three Muggles. They were wrapped up in warm coats and it seemed that one of them had just told a funny story as they were all laughing. He patiently waited for them to pass before going back in the glade.

At first, he thought he had become crazy. The house he had been looking for was standing peacefully in the middle of the glade. The same glade that was empty a few minutes ago. He took off his cloak to have a better look, but the house disappeared again. Thinking quickly, Harry got under the cloak a second time and the House appeared again. Puzzled he looked at it absently. Invisibility Cloaks provided constant and impenetrable concealment, that he already knew. But he had never thought that those artefacts could make their owner invisible from magic itself. With a small smile he wrapped himself in his Cloak for the third and last time. A little help from Fate was more than welcome.

With a renewed vigour, he entered the House to seek the ring of Gaunt.

The rising sun over the snowy forest was carrying the promise of a bright and joyful day of December. The mood this morning was conveying was, in reality, quite the opposite of the one felt by the shadow rushing through Hogwarts corridors. Snape should have already been on his way for a mission at the other end of the country, but rather alarming news had arrived, canceling his plans.

Harry Potter was missing and no one knew about his whereabouts. There seemed to be no end to the trouble this child could create, he thought darkly.

'Headmaster,' he greeted as soon as he entered Dumbledore's office. The man was sitting in his chair, his eyes fixed on the door he had just pushed.

'You read my letter,' said Dumbledore quickly, 'there is no time to lose.'

'Who knows?'

'Far too many people,' replied the older wizard. 'I managed to calm the occupant of Grimmauld Place by taking the matter in my own hands, but this won't last long.'

Snape nodded stiffly. The mutt was under control, for now…

'Severus, I don't I need to stress the importance of keeping Harry's disappearance secret,' added the Headmaster with a focused gaze. 'I hope I can trust you with this.'

'You can,' replied the Potion Master who didn't even wanted to think about the upheaval such news would cause. As far as he was concerned, he was ready to bet anything it would precipitate the beginning of the war.

'What can I do, Headmaster?'

'There are no clues as to where he might have gone,' said Dumbledore while standing up. 'Which means he left with his Invisibility Cloak on.'

For Snape it was both good and bad news. Harry would be difficult to locate for them and their enemies.

'Severus, I want you to get in contact with your network. This mission will require finesse. Since we cannot spot Harry's magical trail, we need to be on the lookout for any strange or unusual information.' The tone the Headmaster employed was firm but Snape was no fool. He was genuinely worried. The Potions Master of Hogwarts found himself wondering if the old wizard was more concerned about the boy's safety or the success of his plan.

'It's just you and I,' added Dumbledore while turning his piercing blue eyes towards Snape. The professor didn't flinch. 'We must find the boy, whatever it takes.'

Snape ran down the stairs towards his office, playing the conversation back in his head. He knew about the Prophecy hidden in the Department of Mysteries. A Prophecy issued months before Harry Potter's birth about a child who would grow with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. He knew it all too well as he had been the one who had warned Voldemort about it. This memory was always so painful for him as it had led to the loss of what he had cherished the most in this World.

He slammed his office door behind him and pulled himself together. He had made mistakes but had vowed his life to make amend for it. Protecting Lily's son would never been enough to redeem himself, he knew it, but he'd rather die than breaking the promise he had made fifteen years ago.

As soon as Snape left, Dumbledore leapt into action. He hadn't expected how wide the rift between Harry and him had grow through the year, and now the boy was gone. It was entirely his fault. He should have never forsaken Harry no matter how good he thought his intentions were. He should have fought alongside Harry against the threat crawling in the boy's mind.

He approached the crackling flames in the fireplace, thinking about his destination. His Phoenix seems to perceive his hesitation as he let a gentle note fill the room.

'I failed him, Fawkes,' replied Dumbledore with an unconcealed sadness. 'I failed and I may have lost him forever.'

Fawkes set his golden eyes on him, and Dumbledore turned his gaze from the fire to look at the legendary bird.

'The truth is that I never dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands,' he added pensively. 'I didn't know I would be able to care like this again.' He breathed deeply. 'But here we are, and I know what I must do now.'

Armed with his resolve, the Headmaster of Hogwarts disapparated from his office in a scarlet swirl. Fawkes raised his head towards the first rays of the rising Sun and, closing his eyes, he basked in their subtle but gentle warmth. He unfolded his wings and gracefully took flight through a window which he magically opened. Soon the sun-drenched office was quiet again.

When Harry emerged from the dark depths of the house, he was almost blinded by the sun's rays bathing the clearing. He was clutching a small black wooden box in his hand which he had found exactly where Tom had told him. He had opened it to reveal the ring of Gaunt placed on a green velvet. He slipped the box into the secret pocket he had created in his robe with the help of Tom and left. Though this small victory had cheered him up, he was exhausted and needed to sleep. He couldn't go to the Leaky Cauldron as he would be far to easily recognised and he knew that Privet Drive was under close surveillance. From both sides.

An idea rose in his mind. He didn't like it at all, but it's not like he had a choice anyway. If the Cloak was able to conceal him from magic, surely it would be able to hide his own magic, right? That was the theory, let's see what the practice would give. He pulled two pieces of parchment from his bag. His plan was to sleep in a muggle inn but for that he would need muggle money, which he didn't have. But how hard would it be to transfigurate the parchment into muggle banknotes? For Harry it shouldn't be more difficult than changing an owl in a glass. Focused, he pictured the steps required for the magic to work and motioned his wand above the paper.

An hour later, he was handing his magically crafted money to the inn keeper in exchange for a room for one night. The man had been suspicious at first, but Harry had prepared his lie. He was a student in visit of his family but had arrived a day early by mistake. His parent had told him to spend the night here while waiting for them until tomorrow. He wasn't proud of his deceit, but his shame vanished as soon as his head touched the pillow of his bed.