Last time our three Aurors sought the help of Parvarti Patill and Lavender Brown in the location of the Homunculus. The creature was tracked to the London Underground where Harry, Ron and Hermione confronted it. The confrontation ended in near disaster, as magic was proven ineffective against the Homunculus. Our heroes barely survived the encounter with the creature. On with the show!

Chapter 5: A Whole New Angle

DREAM SEQUENCE

Once again Harry found himself walking down the corridors of a castle that wasn't Hogwarts. He entered a round chamber where he found a familiar character, a man in a blue cloak with his face covered. What could be seen of his face was a pair of glowing blue eyes. This man is Allen Shockley, also known as The Stranger.

"We meet again, Harry Potter," said The Stranger, "And the timing couldn't be better."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, "I just got my rear end handed to me by that Homunculus. How can this be good?"

"I told you once that I can interact on your level of existence for a limited amount of time," said Allen Shockley, "In this world of dreams we can talk to our leisure, at least until you wake up."

"Then say what you brought me here to say," said Harry. He knew that The Stranger had a habit of manipulating people. He called it 'tweaking the circumstances,' or 'pushing things along in the correct direction.' He also had a habit of leaving Harry with more questions than answers. While Allen Shockley did help Harry locate and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, as well in the destruction of Voldemort, still, Harry didn't trust Allen Shockley all the way.

"This Homunculus you and your friends face," said The Stranger, "It is a being of utmost malice that has no regard for human life. It despises all things not like itself and will destroy anyone and anything that gets in its way."

"I know that already," said Harry who was starting to lose his patience, "I also know that magic cannot harm it, so get to the point."

"My point," said Allen Shockley, "Is that in order to destroy the Homunculus, you need to think outside the box."

"Excuse me?" asked Harry, "But what do you mean by that?"

"You need to approach this problem from a different angle," replied The Stranger.

"And from what angle should I approach the problem?" asked Harry.

""I'm afraid you'll have to figure that out for yourself," replied Allen Shockley, "But with your friends I'm sure you'll find the answer soon enough. One more thing before I leave you to return to the waking world; keep your eyes open for The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"The 'who'?" asked Harry.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist," said The Stranger, "Him and his brother. That is all."

"Now wait just a damn minute here!" exclaimed Harry as his vision began to cloud, for he was waking up. Once again, Allen Shockley left Harry with a riddle, along with more questions than answers.

END DREAM SEQUENCE

I am really sick of waking up in hospital, thought Harry as he regained consciousness. He was in St. Mungos, with Hermione in the bed to his right and Ron to his left. Ginny was sitting at the foot of his bed.

"It's about time you woke up," said Ginny, "You almost made me worry." "How long was I unconscious?" asked Harry.

"About seven hours," said Ginny, "You, Hermione and my idiot brother were really banged up this time, what were you doing in the underground?"

"We were looking for a Homunculus," said Harry as he reached for his glasses from a nearby table, "One that has killed at least six people and will kill again if it isn't stopped." He sat up and made to get out of bed.

"I don't think so," said Ginny as she pushed Harry back into bed, "You've been through a rough time. The healers say you shouldn't move for at least a day."

"And in that time," said Harry, "The Homunculus can find a less easy to locate hiding place and kill at it's leisure. We have to stop it now!"

"I'm with you, mate!" said Ron as he tried to get out of bed, yet he barely had the strength to sit up, let alone stand.

"Like I said," said Ginny, "You're not going anywhere for a day, so just sit and spin." "Whatever you say," said Harry, "Just don't get to comfortable alone at home."

"Oh don't worry," said Ginny in a sly tone as she got up to leave, "I'll be waiting for you most eagerly." "Whoa!" exclaimed Ron, "Way too much information!"

"There's one good thing about us being stuck here for a day," said Hermione, "We can go over what happened with the Homunculus and figure out what went wrong."

"I can tell you what went wrong," said Ron, "We got our asses kicked and handed to us!"

"I mean why our magic couldn't harm the creature," said Hermione, "It must be impervious to normal curses, jinxes and hexes. There's got to be a way to get around its defenses."

"I just remembered," said Harry, "While I was out cold, I had a vision of The Stranger."

"Him again," said Ron, "What kind of bloody riddle did he leave you with this time?"

"Only that we need to approach this problem from a different angle," said Harry, "That we need to think outside the box if we're going to stop the Homunculus. And there was something about a Fullmetal Alchemist, whoever that guy is."

The next day our three Aurors left St. Mungos and headed back to The Ministry of Magic. Back at headquarters they ran into Amos Diggory, Cedric's Father. "I heard the rumors," said Mr. Diggory, "Tell me the truth, Harry, this creature that's killing people, does it have my boy's face?"

"I'm afraid it's true, Mr. Diggory," said Harry, "There's a Homunculus somewhere in London that is the exact image of Cedric. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Harry," said Amos Diggory, "You were the one who brought my son's body back from the clutches of V-Voldemort. But now there's this Homunculus that looks like my Cedric, and it's on a killing spree. Promise me that you'll stop this creature."

"You have my word," said Harry, "That Homunculus will be stopped, one way or another."

"And just how are we going to stop the Homunculus?" asked Ron as he, Harry and Hermione entered their office, "Magic doesn't work on it, remember?"

"I remember," said Harry, "Which is why we're going to do what Allen Shockley said we should do; think about this problem from a different angle."

"I already have," said Hermione, "The Homunculus was created by Alchemy, so it's logical to believe that Alchemy can destroy it."

"Then that's just what we're going to do," said Harry, "We need to figure out how to destroy the Homunculus with Alchemy, hopefully before it kills again." Just then a report came in, stating that the Homunculus had indeed killed again, four muggles this time. "I spoke too soon," said Harry.

The end of chapter 5. Next chapter our heroes plan out how to destroy the Homunculus, while we meet up again with Neville and Luna Lovegood. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!