Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six: Preparatory Interlude

The next morning at breakfast, Daphne idly wondered if the Fidelius Charm that hid Number Twelve from the rest of the world also blocked out sounds. If it didn't, the neighbors would probably have had a very bad night's sleep due to mysterious noises.

Ron and Hermione, at any rate, suspiciously avoided the eyes of the others while they ate. They clearly hadn't appreciated being kept awake in that particular way. Harry and Ginny, meanwhile, seemed completely at ease. Harry even looked a bit smug.

"So what're we doing today?" Daphne asked. "I mean, there isn't much we can do about the locket until Kreacher returns, but do we have any leads at all as to the location of the other Horcruxes?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Honestly, my own plan was to go to Godric's Hollow soon. You read that bit about Dumbledore in the Prophet, right? And my parents lived there as well. I mean…it might not be a place where we'll find a Horcrux, but I was hoping…maybe the sword, or something."

Daphne nodded slowly. "That could be, I suppose," she said.

"But we're afraid the Death Eaters might be keeping an eye on it, too, simply because it's a likely place for Harry to go to," Hermione said. "So we're not too sure if we should go there."

At that moment, there was a loud crack, and a tangle of limbs appeared in the dining room. It took Daphne a few moments to realize that it was Kreacher, struggling to subdue Mundungus.

"Kreacher has found the thief, Master Harry. He had many hidey-holes, but Kreacher found him in the end," he croaked, glaring angrily at Mundungus all the while.

"Very well done, Kreacher," Harry said excitedly.

Kreacher bowed low, and Daphne was astonished at how much his demeanor had changed since the last time she'd seen him. Of course, Harry had told her he'd given Kreacher the fake locket, but even then she hadn't expected the change to be this profound.

"What the 'ell is that, then, settin' a bleedin' 'ouse-Elf on me?" Mundungus demanded. "I told Mad-Eye from the start I didn' want anythin' to do with 'is stupid plan, I–"

"Shut up and listen," Harry said. "We don't care you fled when the Death Eaters attacked us. We simply want to know if your sticky fingers took a medallion from here at any point. Heavy, golden locket, inlaid with green gems?"

"I might 'ave done," Mundungus said, and Kreacher immediately attacked him with a saucepan.

"The thief touches Master's possessions with his filthy hands, he must be punished," he croaked.

"No, Kreacher!" Harry said.

"Perhaps once more, Master Harry, for luck?" Kreacher asked.

Daphne giggled.

"We need him conscious, Kreacher, but if he needs persuading we'll let you do the honors," Harry said, also with a faint grin.

"What did you do with the medallion?" Harry asked Mundungus. "Do you still have it?"

"Why? Is it valuable?" Mundungus asked.

"Does that mean you have it?" Ron asked sharply.

"Of course not. He's wondering if he should've asked more for it," Hermione said scathingly.

"Well, that wouldn' have been effin' difficult, would it? Bleedin' gave it away, didn' I?" Mundungus said.

"What happened?" Harry asked flatly.

"I was sellin' in Diagon Alley and this hag shows up, askin' if I've got a license for sellin' there," Mundungus said. "She was gonna fine me, but she took a likin' to that medallion and let me off if I gave it to her, so I did. Small Ministry hag, wearin' a stupid bow. Looked like a toad."

"You've got to be kidding me," Daphne said.

"Not her again," Ginny said angrily.

"Look, if you've got what you want from me, can I go now?" Mundungus asked, warily eyeing Kreacher, who still seemed to be considering hitting him over the head.

Harry glared at him disdainfully, but then he said, "Yeah, sure. Make sure to Disapparate from the top step outside. We don't want to alert the Death Eaters in the square outside."

Mundungus got up and left the kitchen, muttering angrily.

Harry turned to Kreacher and said, "You've done a great job, Kreacher. Thanks to you, we'll be able to finish the job Regulus started."

Kreacher bowed low again. "Thank you, Master Harry."

With a crack, he disappeared again. "He almost seems happy," Ginny said. "He still doesn't like Sirius, but he does like us these days," Harry said. "And that's made all the difference, I suppose. But he and Sirius will probably never see eye to eye. Maybe I should ask Sirius if he could transfer his ownership to me completely. That way, Kreacher will be free of a master he dislikes, and Sirius will have one less connection to his parents." He looked at Hermione. "And maybe in due time, we'll be able to make him a bit friendlier in general."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I guess that's the most we can do for him, yes."

Harry's face darkened. "But Umbridge having the locket can't be good. I wonder if she'd keep it with her or leave it at home," he said.

"If she keeps it with her we'll need to break into the Ministry," Ron said.

"Which is basically Death Eater central right now," Daphne said.

"Well, maybe she'll throw it out because it won't open," Ginny said.

"Or she has opened it, and she's now possessed," Ron suggested.

"Wouldn't make a difference to someone who was evil to begin with," Harry said. He sighed. "We've got a lot of work to do, I guess."


From that moment on, they began to make plans to invade the Ministry in order to steal the locket back from Umbridge. They began by pooling together all the knowledge Daphne, Ginny, and Ron already had, and after that they began daily surveillance on the known Ministry entrances to learn the habits of the employees who used them.

The only exception was Ginny's birthday, which they spent together at Grimmauld Place. Sadly for Ginny, there wasn't much in the way of gifts; instead, everyone gave her slips on which they'd written the gifts they would give her, once they'd get a chance to buy them. They did, however, have a fantastic dinner, courtesy of Kreacher, who turned out to be a very good cook when he wanted to be.

As the days wore on, however, Daphne began to feel that what they were doing was counterproductive. All five of them sneaking into the Ministry would be far too dangerous, and even if they managed to get their hands on the locket, they had no clue at all as to the whereabouts of the other Horcruxes.

So, one night during dinner, she said, "Maybe some of us should be looking for the other Horcruxes while the rest plans the Ministry heist. They're not going to find themselves, after all."

"We just reunited," Harry said. "Should we really be splitting up again?"

Daphne sighed. "I don't really want to, either," she said. "But I don't mean 'staying away for days at a time'. I just mean during the day. We can still be here for dinner and the like."

Harry still didn't look convinced.

"I think it's a good idea," Ginny said. "We can't all go to the Ministry anyway, and the more leads we find now, the better it will be later on."

"So who do you suggest for searching for leads?" Hermione asked.

Daphne and Ginny exchanged look.

"I think it should be Ginny and me," Daphne said. Seeing that Harry was about to protest, she said, "You're the best fighter, so you need to be at the Ministry. Ginny and I would only distract you because you'd be worried about us, and you, Hermione, and Ron are a great team anyway."

"But you know more about the Ministry and I'd worry about you and Ginny anyway, whether you're with us or not," Harry countered.

"I think we need to look at practicality as well. Supposing we do split into two groups, which ones would make sense? We could put Harry, Daphne, and Ginny together, and then Ron and me. We could use the division Daphne just suggested. We could have the three Quidditch players together, and then Daphne and me. Any other division would be too unpracticed. Dividing up by relationships seems like the best option for everyone's mental sanity."

"But what about the things Dumbledore left us?" Ron asked. "If they're meant to be used together somehow, shouldn't Harry be with us instead? I mean, he's got the Snitch, I have the Deluminator, and you have the book. I don't know what they're all good for, but Dumbledore seems to have thought the three of us, at least, would be together."

"It makes sense that he would, too," Daphne said. "You're in the same House and classmates, and him giving anything to a Slytherin would probably have made Scrimgeour even more suspicious, regardless of the fact that he may have thought my Divination alone would be enough for me to figure things out. And Ginny simply wasn't a part of the group until our fifth year."

She looked at Harry pleadingly. "Again, I don't really want to split up again. And once the Ministry heist is over, we'll definitely work as a team of five again. But right now, it makes more sense to split up. Ginny and I work well together, we're both good fighters, and maybe we'll be able to find a lead on a second Horcrux while you're working on this. The sooner we find and destroy all of them, the better. With each passing day, Riddle will get stronger. He's got an iron grip on the country now and it's only going to get worse unless we stop him."

Harry made a frustrated sound. "I finally have you close to me again and now I have to let you go again? I hate that idea." He grinned wryly. "Did you enjoy your time without me that much?" he asked. He shook his head and sighed. "But I agree that we need to be efficient, too. Alright, fine. I guess you and Ginny should start looking for the other Horcruxes while we plan our Ministry operation." He sighed again. "At least you'll be here for dinner and the like, right?"

"Don't worry, Harry," Ginny said with a grin. "We'll make sure you can keep Ron and Hermione awake again."

"Please use Muffliato next time," Ron pleaded. "This mission is going to be mentally scarring enough without me having to listen to the stuff you get up to."

"Fine with me, if you and Hermione do the same," Ginny said. "Or did you think I enjoy hearing the things you get up to?"

"Let's all just agree to be considerate of people in other rooms when we…let's just be considerate," Hermione said.

Daphne grinned. "Fine with me."

Short and unpolished. That's the price I pay for wanting to upload a chapter a day even when I don't have time. Again, from Tuesday onward the chapters should be back to normal length and be slightly more thought-out. As it stands, I've been writing for six hours straight, so my mindset right now is 'that'll do'.