I apologise, I know that it has been a while, BUT, I have finished this story, and will be uploading every Wednesday until it is completed. Please stick around, It has just got interesting.
Disclaimer: I own no rights to Harry Potter
Chapter Fifteen:
It did not take long once the poly juice potion had been brewed. The group had taken a large wall in the dining room, and has stuck up notes, newspaper articles, pages from books, clippings and other useful information. They had their 7 horcruxes.
1) Diary
2) Ring
3) Locket
4) Something from Hufflepuff
5) Something from Ravenclaw
6) The Snake
7) Voldemort himself.
Now, the Diary had been destroyed, however, they were uncertain of the ring, as to the last of their knowledge, Dumbledore had possession of, and no idea whether he had destroyed it or not.
As soon as the poly juice potion had been brewed, it was decided that only Harry and Hermione were to go. The less people the better, the more inconspicuous. Harry, to identify the horcrux, Hermione, for the brains.
The pair took the potion, and bid their goodbye's to the group. They caught a bus and 45 minutes later they arrived at the Ministry. Hermione calculated, from the amount of potion they had take, plus some spare she had brought with them, that they had 2 hours' worth in the first dose, and another 2 hours' worth in reserve.
That meant, with travelling, that they had to get into the ministry, find and retrieve the locket and be back on the return bus all within 25 minutes. It was a challenge, but not one that the pair was likely to shy away from.
Nerves racked their bodies, but they had no option.
They walked through the front doors of the ministry, luckily their chosen personas had ministry jobs. They arrived at lunch time, the ministry was busy, but quiet. As everyone was off having lunch.
Walking the deserted corridors, they quickly found the Muggle Registry. Once inside, the door, they found Umbridge, sat alone at her desk. Stamping papers and sipping her tea.
"Dolores" Hermione greeted
"Mafalda. You look well-" Umbridge greeted. But was quickly cut off by aloud THUMP.
She collapsed on the table. Unconscious.
"What did you do?" Hermione asked
"We can't use magic, so I gave her a good old-fashioned blow to the head" Harry said, showing the place where the plate used to be on the wall. It's spot now empty.
The pair grabbed the locket from around her neck and made their way back do the bus.
"That was almost too easy" Hermione commented as they sat on the bus.
"If only we could break it now" Harry said solemnly.
They arrived at Number 12, still under the influence of the poly juice potion, and Harry slammed the locket on the desk. The group was met with cheers and celebrations as they slowly changed back into themselves. That night, the ten celebrated with drinks and stale sandwiches. The choice of food had significantly reduced since leaving the safe house.
This did not however, dampen their celebration, and they played music on the old gramophone there, and celebrated and drank to their hearts content.
Until, at precisely 11:07pm all the oil lamps in the house went out, and a cold air rushed through. The music was shut off and the ten, cowered. Draco grabbing Hermione, Theo grabbing Ginny. The breeze only lasted about 30 seconds but it felt like hours.
Then, once it had passed, the lights came back on, the music played too, but no longer was it a joyous sound. No. Now it sounded eerie. Harry quickly shut the music off as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The only noticeable change in the room was a scrunched-up newspaper now sat on the table.
No one dared to move at first. Draco, was first to approach with caution. Picking up the paper, out fell a splintered ring.
"Dumbledore?" Fred asked quietly.
Draco glanced over the paper. There was another word, written on.
"Cup of Hufflepuff" Draco read aloud.
"What does that mean?" Neville asked
"I knew it! I knew it rang a bell somewhere" Draco added
"What?" Hermione asked
"Bella. She was given a goblet of some sort a while ago, by the Dark Lord to hide in her vault at Gringotts. I remember because she made an awful fuss of having Hufflepuff property in her vault. She was complaining to everyone, then one day, the Dark Lord pulled her in for a word, and it was never spoken again. I thought it was strange but I never dealt in Aunt Bella's affairs" Draco explained
"So" Harry said
"Looks like we're breaking in to Gringotts" Blaise added.
"It does. But I do not want to stay here. Now we have received this message, this place is no longer secure. I say we pack tonight, leave tomorrow morning, there's a bus at 5am, and find a muggle hotel in London" Hermione said. Everyone agreed, and they quickly went to bed. No one was able to sleep, they were all desperate to get away from this house.
The next morning, they met at 5am, no one getting more than a few hours slumber.
Draco looked up and started the conversation.
"Bella's house is just outside of London. I can guarantee she would be at Hogwarts. Probably running the torture there. So, her house is empty and as blood I can pass the threshold without alerting her. I can get some of her hair and then Hermione can pose as her, we get into Gringotts and get that cup" Draco explained
With some reluctance, they all agreed, had some breakfast. It was almost 1am, when their busses arrived. It was decided that Draco and Hermione ventured down to the outskirts of London, while the rest travelled further into the centre.
Harry's limited knowledge of Muggles was enough to get him by, and they found a quaint hotel. They had no way of knowing how Hermione and Draco would find the hotel, so instead agreed on meeting by the train station the following day at noon, and they would advance from there.
For the 8 travelling to the hotel, there was not much to say. A 45 minute bus ride in to the centre of London, and a further 30 minutes walking to find a hotel. Once inside they booked themselves into some rooms, and found a local pub for some dinner and drinks.
For Draco and Hermione, the journey was not quite so pleasant. The pair sat through a bumpy 2 hour bus journey. Draco silently thanked brooms for their service. Arriving on the outskirts they walked for almost 2 hours until they came across a small cottage. Hermione was instructed to wait in the park down the road, while Draco went in.
Draco was right. As suspected, Bella was not present, nor did her house show signs of her presence recently. He found a hairbrush regardless and joined Hermione not 20 minutes after leaving her. The pair knew they had an hour until their bus, so they found a local restaurant and had an afternoon snack.
They caught the bus, and at almost 6pm, they arrived back in London. The last stop. They had no option but to go back to number 12 for the night.
Despite the fear of being in an unsafe house, they made the most of having a night to themselves. Unsure as to when they would again.
That's Chapter 15. Please read and review.