Chapter Nineteen

Built and Broken

"The whole place…it's been torn down!" Ron exclaimed.

Indeed, all that was left of the orphanage was a mass of rubble, steel beams and bricks, quartered off by yellow tape.

Hermione saw a torn dilapidated sign with the name of the orphanage on the edge of the rubble.

"Well…I suppose you can't expect these places to stand forever."

Harry and Ron tore through the tape and surveyed the wreckage.

"Great. Then a Horcrux is probably not here," Harry said. "There's another option down the drain. OW!" Harry rubbed his hand. "Gah! It's hurting."

"What? It's not supposed to hurt, St. Mungo's healed it!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hey…I see something." Ron pointed to the far end of the rubble. "What's that package doing there?"

The three of them scrambled over to the wrapped yellow package, mysteriously untouched by the demolition.

"Weird," Harry picked it up carefully and opened it.

"What the-?" Ron cried as a locket with a snake carved on it fell out, only saved from crashing to the ground by Harry's quick reflexes.

"Oh my God!" Hermione gasped.

"No way," Harry said wonderingly. "I don't believe it." He held it up by the chain. "It's…the real…locket."

"Just in a package?" Hermione said. "Lying on the ground?"

"R.A.B.," Harry muttered. "Who…?"

"There's a note," Ron pointed out. "A novel, I should say. Not more reading!"

"Give me that!" Hermione snapped, grabbing the papers. She unfolded them carefully and began to read them aloud.

Last Will and Testament of R.A.B.

As I write this, my mind feels wonderfully clear. For once in my life I can see everything sharp and unmuddled. I have never been on such a high since before he robbed me of my mind. And I know it will wear off, just as I know he will come for me, just as I know I am mad.

I have hidden this object in the best way I know. Hopefully whoever finds it will use it for good or something, I don't really care. I got my revenge. Finally.

My name is Rachel Amy Benson. I grew up in an orphanage. At our orphanage, we had a bully. A small boy called Tom Riddle. But Tom Riddle was no ordinary bully. He had strange powers. You may not believe me, nobody else has, but he did. I was a plucky little girl, and often contested Tom, despite the fact everyone else was afraid of him. One day, Tom had enough. On a class picnic, he took a boy and me up to the cave…and showed us…things. I'm not quite sure what he did to us, and I don't like to talk about it. But I was robbed of my pluckiness; I was robbed of my mind. I was plagued by phantoms, terrified of everything around me and when I told Ms. Cole he had cursed me, she thought I had gone mad. But I knew that this was true…Tom Riddle was a demon, a devil, and a witch! He was pure evil, sent to torment us all. He went off to some sort of school, with some old man. I knew it was a school for devilry. Whenever he came for summers, strange things happened to us. Finally he left us forever, thank God. But I was still cursed, still terrified. Oh, how I hated him for doing this to me. Oh, how I wished him dead.

Some distant family found me, and pitied me. They got me a doctor. I knew he could not help me, I was cursed. He was a strange man, seemed to be…extraordinary. And…he helped me. I do not know how, but he did. I got a little better under his care. One day, he took me back to the cave where the boy had tormented me so long ago. He said it would help me get through my fears.

I fought him hard on that, but he got me there…and seemed just as disturbed as I was at the place. He ran his fingers across the wall, his brow furrowed.

"Amy," he said (for I go by my middle name). "Tell me again what happened here?"

I told him of the boy cursing me. He sat down next to me, silent for quite a while, muttering the boy's name over and over again. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. Tom Marvolo Riddle."

For some reason, I decided to confide in him. "One summer, when I was fourteen, he came back to the orphanage for the break. He was brooding and I was babbling…on…he pulled out a stick and waved it at me. It scared me. He said something to me…taunting me…and he mentioned his…true name…was Voldemort."

At this, my doctor's face turned white. "Oh my God, Amy. Don't say the name."

And…he was in shock for a while…then he whispered. "Amy, I don't think you're mad."

I was completely shocked by this. "What?"

And he explained to me that he was not a mere doctor, that he was wizard. He said he was "Muggle born" (Tom called me a Muggle a few times. (Apparently it means non magic) and wanted to help regular people. He went into mental care, and would always take on cases of people saying they had been cursed. Half the time, it turned out they really had been, and he was able to undo the damage with his magic. He had been interested in me and come to help. He said the curse on me was the rare curse that didn't have a countercurse…but that therapy would help work it out of my system.

He said Tom had taken on the name "Voldemort' (though he refused to speak it) and had committed horrible crimes- murder and the like. He was still at large.

I believed him. It fit with everything I knew.

He went on to say that he felt magic in this cave- despite his chosen profession, Dr. Collins was a very powerful wizard. He said he thought Tom must have been hiding something in there- he pointed to a wall and said behind there. He started saying something about calling the "awroars" but I felt a madness grip me. So much hate, so much hurt…I began clawing madly at the wall that separated me from Tom's secret. Collins tried to force me back, but I fought viciously, pounding my fists against the wall until they bled.

Then…the door began to glow…Collins pulled me back, my blood was streaked on the stone wall. The door opened.

Collins forgot all about the "awroars" as he dragged me through the archway, awestruck.

We came to a lake- greenish and wild. I recognized the lake- remembered that the cave had been bigger before. Somehow, he had sealed the lake off from the rest of the cave. He took me to the lake. That was where he tortured Dennis and myself.

The Island at the middle of the lake-that had not been there before. Collins muttered something about how we shouldn't go in the water-that it was probably cursed-but like a zombie I found myself drawn to one spot on the coast.

"This is where he did it," I whispered. "This is where he cursed me…"

Collins looked surprised. "Something's here…" he said, and he reached out his hand and grasped thin air…then a boat appeared.

We went on the boat, across the lake, and I looked down and saw dead bodies in the water. Collins was deeply disturbed by this, said they were probably "In-fer-eye"- zombies- but I was unmoved. Dead bodies do not scare me. They have been in my dreams too long.

At the island we found a cauldron. Collins pulled out a stick like Tom's- wand- and murmured strange words for ages. He tried to poke it with his wand- his hands- but it was like there was a forcefeild there. Finally he said "the only way to empty the cauldron is to drink the potion-and it's most likely a horrible poison. We need to get the awroars. This would be an important secret of the Dark Lord's (that is what he called Tom) and dangerous. After they wipe your memory, they'll-"

"Wipe my memory?" I cried.

He stopped, realizing he had said too much. "Well…maybe…I can convince them…er, not to."

I knew he was lying.

"I don't want my memory wiped. I don't want to forget. I want to discover Tom's secret. I want revenge on the boy who made my life hell."

"Amy-"

"And how don't I know this charm will not make me go mad?"

"It won't…"

"I don't trust your magic. I refuse to have my knowledge robbed from me."

"Amy, we will discuss this later."

"NO! I WILL NOT HAVE MY MIND MUDDLED AGAIN!" And with that, I picked up a goblet he had conjured in his musings, scooped the potion up, and forced it into his mouth. In my anger, in my madness, I did not care what happened to him. He screamed and jerked, and the poison had a horrible effect on him, but I felt no sympathy. Like everybody else, he wanted to poison my mind. I forced the poison on him again and again, and he seemed to take it quietly after a while, though he screamed when it took effect. Eventually, I emptied the cauldron. And as Collins lay there, twitching and dying, he screamed for water. But I did not feel moved to help him. And Collins had said, anyway, if I touched the water, the dead bodies would most likely attack me.

So I watched him suffer. I watched, without remorse, without pity.

And at the bottom of the cauldron was a locket. It was heavy, and marked with snake. It had something inside it. Something I could break.

I cracked the locket open on the stone. And…shiny wisp of smoke escape…and Collins though he was barely alive, spoke in shock at this.

"H-Horcrux…it's…his…soul…he's…immortal…"

And he died.

I had a locket around my neck too. It had pictures of my mother and father in it. I ripped them out, and using strange paper in Collins bag wrote a note, telling Tom I had found his secret, I, a lowly Muggle had gotten my revenge. I was cryptic…I wondered how long he would take to guess it was me. I used the word "Horcrux", making me sound oh so knowledgeable…the locket had held his soul. Now it was gone. He was mortal. Everything felt so clear…my brain working like a machine. I placed the note in my own locket and left it in the cauldron. I took the snake one.

I left Collins body on the island, and rowed away. And standing placidly on the shore, I watched the dead bodies finally awake, and pull Collins to the water with them…and I shuddered, for I knew what I must do. I had become like Tom…I had not just been robbed of my mind by his curse, but my heart. I was dead inside. Tom. The last thing on earth I wanted was to be like him.

Dead.

Inside.

So might as well be dead on the outside as well.

I now know with out doubt that this "Horcrux" has been completely destroyed. I planned to incinerate the locket, get rid of it completely, just in case. But now, I think I will leave it here…as proof.

Once he finds the Horcrux is destroyed, he will surely wish to kill me. But I shall play one last trick.

I will beat him too it.

Tom, if you are reading this, damn you.

There is nothing you can do now. I am dead, the Horcrux is destroyed.

And I, a silly girl, a lowly Muggle, have outsmarted you.

Goodbye.

-RACHEL AMY BENSON

Hermione finished reading. Ron and Harry looked at her in shock. Then Harry slowly held up the locket. Though they had not noticed it before, it was cracked down the middle.

And stained with blood.

"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees"- Delores Ibarruri