day 26, auction 3, fiendfyre
412 words by gdocs
They don't have the sword. They know that they need the sword, that the sword is probably their best chance of actually getting rid of the single Horcrux they have. They either need the sword, or they need a basilisk and unfortunately, Harry killed the only known basilisk. Even if they could use a fang from it's carcass or anything, the basilisk is in Hogwarts, and, well, that's the one place they're actively trying to avoid.
"There's no other solutions?" Harry asks, tugging at the golden chain around his neck.
"There are a few others," Hermione says, watching Harry pull at it. "Do you want me to wear the locket?" she offers. As soon as she does, Harry drops his hand, like he wasn't even aware he was fidgeting with it at all.
"It's fine," Harry insists, but Hermione knows that it's not fine. Still, Harry has been walking on eggshells, ever since Ron left. He's become much more secluded, and Hermione isn't sure if that's the locket or just Harry. "What are the other methods?" he asks, and Hermione sighs, thinking about the book she stole from Dumbledore's office.
"The killing curse works if your horcrux is something alive, but making something alive is a terrible risk, and the locket isn't, not really," she says. "A dementor sucking the soul out also works, but it's terribly difficult to make a dementor do something that specific."
"Also, we're short on our supply of dementors," Harry says, making Hermione breathe out a shaky laugh.
"And there's Fiendfyre," Hermione finishes.
"Fiendfyre?" Harry repeats, sounding confused, just like he does best. "What's that? Why can't we use it?"
"It's a terrible thing, Fiendfyre," Hermione says, trying to picture it from the books she's read, but she knows it's nothing like the real thing. "There's no real way to stop it, first of all, so we'd burn down the forest with us in it. It goes away by itself, but it takes a few hours to dissipate. And it eats things. It eats everything it can get its hands on. It would destroy the horcrux, but it would destroy everything else, too."
Harry hums and Hermione considers. What if there was a way to control the Fiendfyre? Then they would have a surefire way of getting rid of Horcruxes. They wouldn't have to worry about the sword, or finding a basilisk, or any of that. Maybe if she can just make some way to control it…