The Long Journey

Callidus ran back through the forest as fast as he could, trying to reach Hogsmeade before morning came. He could finally see a faint glow coming from the lights of the wizarding city just before two in the morning. Callidus slowly walked through the alleys of the town trying to avoid the eyes of everyone, even his friends. He reached the alley behind Honeyduke's and transformed back to Harry.

Harry found a window into Honeyduke's in the alley that was slightly opened and he quietly opened it all the way. Harry then quickly climbed through the window and returned it to the position it was in before he opened it. He made his way down into the basement and found the trap door leading to Hogwarts. Harry ran through the tunnel and emerged from behind the statue of the humpbacked witch. Harry knew that he couldn't be caught by any of the professors this late at night when he wasn't even supposed to be in Hogwarts, especially after what he did. He cursed himself for not having his invisibility cloak or Marauders Map.

Harry spent the next hour slowly making his way through the corridors and towards Professor Dumbledore's office, he hoped Dumbledore would be out of Hogwarts for the time being. Harry stood in front of the stone gargoyles and said the password.

"Disappearing Drops." Instantly the two gargoyles slid aside and revealed the spiral staircase up to the Headmasters office. Harry made his way up the stairs and entered the office without knocking. Harry saw Fawkes sleeping on his perch and the Sorting Hat was sitting up on its shelf. Harry walked over and picked up the Sorting Hat.

"Ah, hello, Potter. What have you got on your mind?" The hat asked Harry.

"Quiet, don't wake up Fawkes. Will you come with me?" Harry asked looking at the hat.

"I really haven't got much choice do I?" The hat replied. Harry then walked back out of the office and shut the door and stood against the wall.

"Where is the Riddle house located?" Harry asked.

"What makes you think I know that?" The Sorting Hat answered.

"Yes or no? I don't have much time." Harry snapped back.

"No, I don't know where it is. But, you have been close to there. The graveyard where the Dark Lord returned, is very near to the Riddle House." The hat told Harry.

"Does Professor Dumbledore have a file that would say where the Riddle house is?" Harry asked.

"Why are you so interested in the Riddle house, Potter?" The hat again answered with another question.

"Just answer me!" Harry shouted.

"There is a file of all students, past and present in the back of the office." The hat told Harry before returning back to its sleeping state. Harry walked back into the office and saw that Fawkes was still asleep. He put the Sorting Hat back on the shelf and began looking for a cabinet that might have student files in it. Finally he found what he was looking for and saw that there was a drawer for every letter of the alphabet. He went to the drawer with the letter R on the front of it and pulled on the handle. Harry expected the drawer to be unlocked but to his surprise it slid open easily.

He quickly went through the files and found Tom Riddle's file. Harry opened the larger than average file and began reading the first page. It was a copy of his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. The next page was his certificate of award for services to the school. Harry went through three more pages before he found the information he desperately needed.

"Little Hangleton." Harry spoke out loud. He put the file back and began to leave the room. Harry stopped halfway across the room and returned to the files. He went to the drawer with a P on the front of it and tried to open it. The drawer was locked, he then tried the E drawer it was also locked. Harry began to try all of the drawers and every one of them were locked, he finally tried the "R" drawer again and this time it too was locked. Harry suddenly got the feeling that Professor Dumbledore was much closer than he originally thought.

"Fawkes." Harry said quietly as he walked to the perch. "Fawkes, wake up. Will you take me to the edge of the grounds?"

The Phoenix nodded its head up and down and lifted its body off of the perch. Harry took hold of Fawkes' tail and instantly was surrounded by flame. Before they vanished Harry could see his Headmaster sitting at his desk with a small, sad smile on his face. The next instant Harry found himself standing at the main gates to Hogwarts and he let go of Fawkes and thanked him. Then Fawkes vanished in a burst of flame. Harry then transformed back into Callidus and began running down the road that led back into Hogsmeade. The sun had begun to creep up over the distant hills and Callidus could feel that sleep was trying to overtake him. Callidus knew he needed to be rested when he met with Voldemort but couldn't risk taking longer than absolutely necessary to find Ginny.

Callidus told himself that he could sleep for an hour and he quickly curled up under a tree. Instantly, Callidus was asleep and dreaming of being with his three friends in the Marauder's Meadow. After what seemed to be only five minutes Ginger told Callidus that it was time to wake up and continue his journey. Callidus woke up in a panic thinking he had slept for too long but could see that the sun was only slightly higher in the sky than it was when he fell asleep.

Callidus began making his way around the edge of town until he came to Hogsmeade Station where he transformed into Harry and did his best to hide his face and walked through the front doors. He had hoped that he would be able to find a fireplace that was connected to the Floo Network. He was lucky and saw that there were two fireplaces one for incoming wizards and one for outgoing. There was no line so Harry took a pinch of Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley." Harry spoke and through the Floo Powder down. He began twisting and turning as he zipped past the fireplace openings until he stopped in the Leaky Cauldron and stepped out before being seen. Harry quickly made his way through Diagon Alley and to Fred and George's shop. Luckily, Fred was there getting the store ready for the day.

"Fred." Harry spoke quickly. "Let me in."

"What's wrong, Harry?" Fred asked as he opened the door.

"Nothing." Harry answered quickly as he shut the door behind him. "I need your help though."

"Is this about Ginny? You know everyone is looking for you don't you?"

"Yes, I'm sure everyone is looking for me after what has happened. Will you help me?" Harry asked as he sat down behind the counter.

"You know I will mate. What can I do?"

"First I need a map, or at least I need to know how to get to Little Hangleton. Then I need something to disguise my appearance so I can move around a little easier."

"Sure thing, Harry. Anything else?"

"Yeah, don't tell anyone you saw me. Here, take this and get me some different clothes too, please." Harry answered as he handed Fred a handful of Galleons.

"I'll be right back, Harry." Fred spoke as he headed for the door.

With nothing else to do but wait, Harry once again laid down on the floor and went to sleep. He didn't have any dreams this time as he slept. A short thirty minutes later Harry was awoke by the sound of the bell on the door ringing. Harry looked over the counter and saw Fred walking towards him with a bag in his hands.

"Ok, mate." Fred said holding the bag up. "Here are some clothes for you. And here is a map. Looks like Little Hangleton is about 200 miles north of here in Yorkshire. That could take a while on foot, Harry. You have your broom near by?"

"No, I don't and I don't know anywhere I can Floo to or Apparate to up there." Harry answered as he looked at the map Fred put on the counter. "Damn, I was closer when I was in Hogsmeade." Harry then took the bag of clothes and went into the back of the store to change. He came back out wearing nondescript clothes, they were dark blue pants and a blue shirt. Harry cleaned his face and walked back to the front and looked at the map.

"Here, Harry." Fred said as he handed Harry a couple boxes of candy. "These ones will change your hair color, and these will disguise your face even more. Your hair will change to the color of the candy you eat. To change it back just eat one of the clear candies. This is how these ones work, eat a blue one and it will change your eye color, a red one changes the size of your nose. Yellow will change your chin, brown changes the length of your hair. And again clear changes everything back."

"Wicked, thanks, Fred." Harry said as he put the items in his pocket.

"You know, Harry. Now that you have a disguise you can travel a little easier." Fred suggested.

"I know, Fred. But I can't risk being caught, and I need to get there as quick as possible." Harry answered.

"Where is your Firebolt?" Fred asked. "Is it in Grimmauld Place?"

Harry nodded his head and instantly Fred had Disapperated. A minute later Fred reappeared with a pop and was holding Harry's Firebolt.

"Here you are, mate. You can cover the distance in just over an hour on this." Fred smiled.

"But what about the muggles?" Harry asked.

"Fly high enough and fast enough and we shouldn't have to worry too much, especially if you eat a Disappearing Drop before you leave the ground so you can get high enough not to be seen." Fred said handing Harry one of the silver candies.

"Thanks, Fred. Might want to give me a few more just in case." Harry said as he put a couple more in his pocket. Then he began to eat the different colored candies until all of his facial features were changed and he no longer looked like himself. Finally he ate a light brown candy and his hair changed from black to light brown, Fred smiled when he told Harry that Ginny wouldn't even recognize him now.

Fred opened the front door and reminded Harry he only had fifteen seconds of invisibility until the candy wore off. Harry nodded as he mounted his Firebolt, he then began chewing the Disappearing Drop and once he vanished he kicked off the ground and climbed straight up until the people on the ground were barely visible. The air was cold this high but he knew he couldn't go any lower. Harry concentrated on his flying trying to ignore his muscles that were shivering from the cold. After about an hour and fifteen minutes of flying Harry ate another Disappearing Drop and dove down to the ground where he landed before becoming visible again. Harry found a place to hide his Firebolt and headed into town, hoping that he had stopped in the correct area.

Harry walked into a muggle petrol station and waited in line. When he got up to the clerks counter he asked how far Little Hangleton was and learned that he had just missed it by about ten miles to the east. Harry thanked the clerk and returned to his Firebolt, then he got his bearings and found that east led him through a small wooded area so that he could fly low on his Firebolt. Harry covered the distance quickly and landed once more, he again hid his Firebolt and began walking through the small town. That was when Harry saw the Graveyard that Cedric had been killed in after the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry walked past the graveyard and could see an old house on top of the hill. The house looked as if it were falling apart and he knew that it had to be the Riddle house. Harry went behind some bushes and took two of the clear candies and turned back to his normal self. Then he took his last Disappearing Drop and Apparated next to the house. He looked through the window nearest him and saw that the room was empty and Apparated into the room. Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he quietly began walking out of the room and down the hall to the next room. So far every room Harry had searched was empty. Harry saw the stairs and headed for them to go upstairs. When he reached the foot of the stairs he heard a familiar voice.

"Welcome, Harry."

A/N: Yes, I know, it was a long wait. I am sorry for that, many things going on in my life right now, I apologize. I also apologize for this chapter being so long with nothing much happening, I needed away to get Harry information without too many people knowing where he is. So yes you waited like two or three weeks for a filler chapter. One other thing, my story has been nominated for two awards at http/www.magical-worlds.us/multifaceted under the Intelligence and Endurance categories, so if you feel I deserve it please vote once the voting opens. Thanks.