Chapter 31
No Buyer's Remorse
Lord Voldemort and a band of thirty death eaters rushed into Hogwarts Castle unimpeded. Arriving shortly before midnight, they found the castle and grounds completely abandoned. Rushing as fast as he could up the corridor to the trophy room, Voldemort flicked his wand occasionally, lighting the lamps on the walls to provide illumination.
Previously, shortly before nightfall, he had returned to the lake, entering it cautiously to determine whether Hufflepuff's cup remained where he secreted it years before. He found a pile of rubble on the lake bottom. Panic momentarily overcame him. Though he recognized from questioning his followers that Potter possessed significant magical power, he knew that a normal wizard could not have destroyed the hardened boulder containing Hufflepuff's Cup. Even more concerning, how did Potter even know about the cup. Voldemort had never informed anyone about his horcruxes, and he was quite sure that he was completely alone when he placed the cup in its hiding spot. If Potter knew about the cup, Voldemort had to assume that the young wizard knew about the trophy too.
Which led to the next question. Does Potter know how to destroy them?
Though the dark lord knew as much about Horcruxes as anyone alive, much about them remained a mystery. What happens to the horcrux when its container is destroyed was largely a matter of conjecture, as it was not a matter that had been studied scientifically. Presumably the horcrux would seek to inhabit a living body and then seek to wrest control of that body's soul. Voldemort never intended for anyone other than himself to destroy a horcrux, and he would take that action only in extreme circumstances, such as those that necessitated his recent killing of Nagini. What would happen if the partial soul released from the horcrux invaded a different body? Voldemort did not know.
"Stay here," he ordered those behind him. As usual, he provided no explanation as he turned around and entered the trophy alcove. He walked up and down the aisle between the cabinets and shelves which held the hundreds of plaques, trophies, medals and awards issued by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry over the past centuries. He did not bother looking for the trophy awarded to him a half century before, knowing that he would feel its presence.
After five minutes, he convinced himself that the trophy had been removed. Potter again. He must feel it too. But does he know how to destroy them? Was the boy simply gathering the horcruxes together to keep Voldemort from safeguarding them, trusting that he would be able to determine how to destroy them later?
Or had he already destroyed them?
Losing his temper, Voldemort waved his wand violently, smashing all of the cabinets in the alcove. He would need to decide what to do, but clearly he needed to do one thing above all others.
Find and kill Harry Potter.
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Draco lay on the bed in his small windowless room, having reread his mother's note several times. Guilt mixed with hopelessness as he realized that his spur-of-the-moment decision to leave the dark lord's service directly led to the death of his mother and his own permanent incarceration.
Why didn't I just stay. I could have remained in the background, doing what I was told. Now I'm stuck.
When finally, shortly past midnight, Remus and Kingsley returned to his room, Draco remained on his bed, refusing to acknowledge his captors. Remus pulled a chair up to the side of his bed while Kingsley remained standing, towering over Draco.
"We may be able to help you, Draco," the werewolf informed him quietly, "I can't promise you anything, but if you help us, we can make your situation a little better. We have a few ideas that we are working on, and possibly you can be a part of it. We won't force you."
Draco continued to direct his eyes above him, but he already had made his decision.
"I'll do anything you want. I don't care if I never get out of here. I want him dead. I want Lord Voldemort dead. Just tell me what you want me to do."
Draco's use of the name, "Lord Voldemort," surprised both men and helped to convince them of the boy's resolve.
"OK, Draco. We'll be back when our plans are complete. They could be dangerous. Are you willing to risk your life?" Finally turning his head towards Remus, Draco's lips formed a defeated smile.
"My life is over. There's nothing left to risk."
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Harry also lay in his bed in the magically expanded guest room of the Granger home, allowing the previous day's events to replay themselves in his mind, like a sped-up slide show. Despite the momentous confrontation with Lord Voldemort, he found himself focusing more often on the spontaneous kiss with his new girlfriend in the middle of the lake.
Smooth, he thought with a chuckle, recalling Evan's description, Right, I'm about as smooth as Dumbledore's face.
Dumbledore. He realized that he had not even once thought of his mentor over the past few days. What would he think about all this? he wondered, What would he think about me? He slowly drifted off to sleep.
"You have accomplished much in a short period of time, Harry," the ancient wizard with the long white beard declared. He sat on a large rocking chair, seemingly twice as large as it should be. Though the words seemed complimentary, Harry heard something else in the old man's tone.
"But what?" Harry asked sharply, "What don't you like? What have I done wrong that you would have done better?"
"I would not have absorbed the horcruxes. I would have destroyed them."
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME HOW?" Harry yelled, "YOU DESTROYED THE RING. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? IT WOULD HAVE MADE IT ALL SO MUCH EASIER!"
As usual, Dumbledore did not lose his calm, serene expression, merely answering, "I had my reasons. And I do not mean to imply that my methods are superior to yours. I merely stated that I would not have absorbed them."
"Your reasons," Harry chuckled sarcastically, "Just like your reasons to hide every piece of important information from me. You still don't trust me. Why should I trust you?"
"You don't need to trust me, Harry. I am dead. You are on your own now. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
"No. I just wanted some help. I wanted to be trusted, and just when you began to trust me, you died. When you didn't have to. You LET yourself be killed, and you wouldn't let me help you. Together we could have taken Draco and the others. You could have done it alone."
Dumbledore did not answer, but merely leaned back in the oversized rocking chair. He did not appear the least bit disturbed by Harry's rants.
The reaction of the headmaster enraged Harry, who stood and walked away from the seated figure towards an empty void. Spinning around, he pointed an angry finger at the ancient wizard.
"I don't need you! I don't want your help! I can do this myself! I'm succeeding where you failed." Harry whirled around again and walked into a restless sleep.
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The Order of the Phoenix moved Peter Pettigrew from the cell in Hogwarts' dungeon to the same manor in which Draco resided as the Order's prisoner. Members of the Order quickly modified another room to serve as a cell, where Peter passed a sleepless night.
Even before the shock of the failure of the wards and the presumed arrival of Lord Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, the Order already knew that the castle must be evacuated. Though Cho Chang's theft of top secret information had been ill advised, the document she copied in fact proved to be invaluable. The Ministry intended to occupy Hogwarts Castle, and neither the Order nor Headmistress McGonagall possessed any means to resist. Better to cede the castle to Scrimgeour than to provide him with prisoners to boot.
Given that she intended to abandon the castle in any event, McGonagall informed the Minister of Magic by floo of the disaster. She requested that the Ministry send a force of aurors as soon as possible. Naturally, the Minister agreed.
Despite his protests, even Hagrid left the castle's grounds, as did the caretaker, Mr. Filch, leaving nary a house elf inside the huge medieval structure. He joined Kingsley in the Order's hideout in an abandoned old manor house in Scotland, only some fifty miles from Hogsmeade.
Shortly after the brief discussion with Draco, an urgent meeting of leaders of the Order of the Phoenix convened. Arthur Weasley chaired the meeting, while Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Molly Weasley and Hagrid also sat around a large table. Remus conjured an especially large chair for the half giant. Normally Hagrid would not have attended, but since he had to flee his cabin, the others decided to include him, especially since he had the most first-hand knowledge of the predictions of the centaurs and the capture of Peter Pettigrew. At the moment, none of them knew that Voldemort already was attacking the castle.
After the initial reports of gloom and doom, the group moved beyond self-pity to consider their options.
"Harrington seemed upbeat, strangely enough," McGonagall reported of her brief meeting with the auror in the Gryffindor common room when she collected Cho Chang, "He said that progress was being made, but he would not be more specific. Naturally, I lacked the time to question him further. They left word for me that they have left the castle for an undisclosed secret location. He assured the safety of Ronald and Ginny," she added, nodding to Molly.
"Perhaps we should inform them of the capture of Draco and Peter," Remus suggested, "They may want to question them too. The questions we want to ask may not be the questions they want."
Arthur nodded his agreement, "We'll send them an owl first thing in the morning. What are we going to do with the two of them? We can't keep them from the Ministry forever, but they may be of use to us."
"I'll question Pettigrew," Kingsley announced, "I think Remus is too emotionally involved, understandably." Remus reluctantly nodded his agreement.
After a silence, McGonagall added, "If the centaurs are to be believed, a final confrontation may be upon us." Everyone turned to Hagrid.
"Tha's wha' the centaur was tellin' Harry; I heard 'em. He said Yer Know Who was in the fores' and that the stars were clear. A final confrontation is comin' in the next couple o' days." Another silence.
Finally Arthur concluded with a nod to Molly, "Contact all of our agents. Everyone needs to be on the highest alert, ready to leave at any time. If this is it, then it no longer matters that we retain our covers."
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Voldemort and his forces tarried at Hogwarts Castle in the early morning hours, in no hurry to leave since they met no opposition. McGonagall and the house elves managed to move most of the most valuable or sensitive items, and as far as she was concerned, the death eaters could take all of the ancient desks they cared to have. About time Hogwarts purchased new furniture anyway.
A small group of a half dozen death eaters left the castle and made their way to Hagrid's cabin. After rifling through the hut for a few minutes, finding little of value, they set fire to the wooden structure. Unknown to them, the fire caught the eyes of a force of one hundred fifty aurors entering the castle grounds in three groups of fifty. Dressed all in black, the aurors slipped the notice of the distracted death eaters who loudly and carelessly observed the burning of the cabin.
Ten aurors broke off from their group, which entered from the forest, and divided again into groups of five, silently surrounding the flaming cabin from both sides. Between the noise of the crackling blaze and their own boisterous laughter, the death eaters heard nothing. Seconds later, the six death eaters fell to the ground unconscious, stuck by ten stunners silently cast by the aurors. The group leader left two young aurors behind to deal with transportation of the unconscious death eaters back to the Ministry for processing and incarceration. Immediately the two followed standard procedure, casting ropes from their wands to bind the prisoners and collecting their wands. The other eight rushed back to rejoin their squad.
The castle remained almost entirely dark, but dim light escaped through a few windows on the ground floor. When the three squads reached fifty yards of the castle, from three different directions, they stopped, and the officer in charge briefly formulated a plan. He waved his wand for several seconds, barely seen in the darkness.
"Expecto patronum," he muttered, sending the message off to the squad leader to the left. Repeating the process, he sent the same message to the right.
Waiting five minutes to allow the flanking squad again to divide their forces, he whispered orders to his own group. Half of them retreated a few yards and fanned out, seeking cover. Several hid behind the structures of Dumbledore's grave site. The remaining aurors crept slowly toward several different entry points.
Consumed with his thoughts about the horcruxes, Voldemort let down his guard, failing to take even basic precautions. His undisciplined force of rogues and criminals happily moved from room to room, looting whatever they could, though they complained loudly that they found little of value. In frustration at the slim pickings, many took to firing reducto curses at desks and furniture, such that every few seconds the echo of an explosion could be heard throughout the bottom floor, followed by laughter. Only a few more committed death eaters kept their wits about them, keeping their eyes open.
"AURORS," shouted one a moment before a silent stunner felled him. The shout alerted others, however, and they quickly turned around. In the first volley of spells, several more death eaters fell while others had to erect shields frantically. The aurors pressed the attack room by room, and the disorganized death eaters ran in disarray. Finally word reached Lord Voldemort, who had been silently strolling along a corridor, deep in thought.
"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED, MY LORD," a young death eater frantically reported, "AURORS. LOTS OF THEM. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?"
Voldemort failed to reply, instead striding as fast as he could past the messenger, towards the noise that he could now hear. He quickly calculated that his forces were greatly out numbered and had been taken by surprise. In any event, Voldemort saw no benefit in engaging the Minstry's forces. He never intended to remain in the castle, having no use for it. Unfortunately, the antiapparation wards remained, and he would need time to determine how to remove them.
"Spread the word," he calmly informed his follower, "Return to headquarters immediately. We have no need to do battle today. The time to fight will come another day."
The young death eater quickly nodded and ran, spreading the order to those closest to him, who in turn ran in different directions to inform the others.
By the time word reached the rest of Voldemort's small force, they had been fully engaged by the aurors whether the dark lord wished for it or not. Having recovered from their shock, the death eaters fought back viciously and managed to seriously injure several aurors. Nevertheless, they could see the hopelessness of their situation. Finally they attempted to flee.
In accordance with the plan, the aurors allowed them to escape the confines of the castle by casting stunners and other spells which intentionally missed their target. The death eaters streamed outdoors, sprinting towards the far end of the lake to the forest beyond Hagrid's still-blazing cabin where they would be able to apparate. After allowing them to run fifty yards from the castle to prevent them from returning, the head officer stood and called out.
"FIRE!"
"STUPEFY' responded a choir of voices, and jets of light streaked across the darkness from some seventy wands, many of them striking their targets, others missing and bouncing off the side of the castle. From the illumination of the spells, the next round increased in accuracy, and within a matter of one minute, almost every death eater who exited the castle lay unconscious on the dirt and grass surrounding Hogwarts Castle. Only a few of the more capable death eaters on the margins escaped though the use of shield and disillusionment charms.
Voldemort had remained in the castle and viewed the debacle from a window. He had not anticipated an attack of this nature by the Ministry. He assumed that a force would already be placed in the castle in an attempt to defend it, and he had strategies in place for such an occurrence. When he found the castle abandoned, he assumed, reasonably enough, that the Hogwarts administration and the Ministry strategically decided that the castle could not be defended. From this massive miscalculation, he now lost the vast majority of his force. All he could do now was to manage his own escape.
In this respect, he did not worry in the least. Moving away from the window, he walked quickly and confidently down the center of a corridor.
"THERE HE IS! VOLDEMORT!" shouted an auror. The fear in the auror's voice caused Voldemort to smile.
Several stunners streaked in his direction, but with a mere flick of his wand, the spells bounced off to the side, never coming near him.
"AVADA KEDAVRA," shouted another auror, realizing that they had to authority to kill Voldemort on sight.
A shield cannot protect one from the killing curse, according to the textbooks, but Lord Voldemort was not bound by such limits, and with another flick of his wand, Voldemort countered the green streak of light, causing it to evaporate into the darkness of the corridor.
"Move back," one auror ordered, realizing that they could not hope to best the dark lord without much greater numbers. They ran to seek reinforcements.
This allowed Voldemort the time he needed. He knew every inch of the castle intimately from his years as a student, and his excellent memory recalled every detail. If need be, he probably could have walked right through the middle of the auror forces without suffering a scratch, but why take the risk. Instead, he soon entered the underground passage to Honeyduke's in Hogsmeade. He simply walked ten minutes towards the wizarding town until he felt sure that he had passed by the edge of the antiapparation wards. He then apparated back to his current hideout, but he arrived short of close to thirty men.
Though upset that the dark lord himself escaped, the aurors could hardly have felt more excited. For the first time in months, they had an utterly complete victory over the forces of evil. Happy as nifflers digging in soft dirt, some aurors wrapped up their catch and transported them to the Ministry, while other took possession of the castle.
When word reached Scrimgeour, who remained late in his office, he danced a little jig.
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After a few restless hours of sleep, Harry left his bed early in the morning, shortly after five. Quickly changing into old black jeans and an older black t-shirt, he walked by the dresser where he set Hufflepuff's cup the night before. Though he could not see the cup in the shaded room, he felt it and reached out for it as if the lights had been turned on. Quietly opening and closing the door, he tip-toed down the carpeted stairs to the sitting room of the house.
At least the doors and stairs don't squeak like at the Burrow, he thought as he sat on a padded armchair. Holding the cup up to the early morning light streaming through the window, he examined it closely. Other than the fact that it purportedly belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four original founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he would not have considered it a notable artifact. Etched into the outside of the small silver cup was a badger, even now emblematic of Hufflepuff House. Yet event the badger did not appear especially well done, in Harry's amateur opinion.
Couldn't you have picked something a little more impressive, Tom. This is really quite disappointing.
Turning the cup in his hands, examining both the bottom and inside, Harry could not avoid the obvious question: How am I going to destroy this one? One conclusion he had reached: Each horcrux had to be destroyed differently. That meant no hammers or fire.
His dream of Professor Dumbledore suddenly came back to him, and his eyes squinted in irritation. Why didn't he just tell me? He must have know how to do it. After all, he destroyed the ring. Why wouldn't he tell me? Despite his internal frustration with the man, Harry realized that he missed Dumbledore more than ever. For better or worse, it would all be over within a couple of days. He intended to stay with the Grangers only for as long as it took him to destroy the cup and absorb the horcrux. Then he would track Voldemort down to deal once and for all both with him and the snake.
Not completely rested from the previous day's events, Harry leaned his head back on the comfortable chair and fell asleep. He did not know that Evan Harrington saw him leave his room several minutes before. Always a light sleeper, a trait developed by almost all aurors, Evan woke the moment Harry left his bed. After brief consideration, he decided to allow the young man to leave on his own. Probably he needed some time to himself.
He did not mention to Harry or the others that he received an owl the previous evening instructing him to return to the Ministry this morning for further instructions. Further instructions. Evan had served as an auror long enough to know that the words "further instructions" carried more meaning than the words themselves. Had the Ministry finally put two and two together?
Who was the auror who "failed" to bring in Harry Potter? Who was one of the aurors guarding Kingsley Shacklebolt when the tall black auror escaped? Who was one of the aurors charged with locating the Daily Prophet? Who had been acting strangely lately, often excusing himself for an hour here or there with little or no explanation? Any one of these questions alone would not be especially problematic, but Evan knew that sooner or later someone would make the connection. Had the connection already been made?
He decided he could not risk it. Harry had the penultimate horcrux in his hand. They would deal with it today, and then they would make plans to locate Lord Voldemort and the snake. At the moment, he had no bright ideas on the matter, but he knew that Harry needed his advice and expertise. Thus he decided to remain with the others in the Granger residence, even though he felt out of place.
Hermione also slept lightly, and despite Harry's attempt to exit his room quietly, she heard the click of the door. It has to be Harry, she thought, even though theoretically Ron or Evan could have left the room too. She almost jumped out of bed right then and there, but she wondered if perhaps Harry wanted some time alone.
After Ginny's poor humor when they each went to their beds, Hermione pondered all that had happened over the past few days. Unfortunately, Ginny did not seem to be taking Harry and Hermione's new relationship well, which made sleeping all the harder, since Ginny lay only a few feet away. Yet, Hermione felt more certain than ever about her feelings for Harry. Seeing him battling Lord Voldemort at the bottom of the lake, knowing that he could be killed, made it all crystal clear. When their eyes locked that first time above the surface, they both knew. That first kiss would live with her forever.
Ginny would just have to get used to it!
Gradually the house began to stir. Hermione decided after half an hour that she had given Harry enough time, and she quietly descended the stairs only to find her boyfriend asleep on the chair, both hands tightly clutching Hufflepuff's cup to his chest. His hair had grown some since he had it cut short and bleached a few weeks earlier, but it remained shorter than usual. Still slender, she thought that he may have gained a pound or two over the last week, which made sense given the quantity of food he consumed each day. She always thought him handsome, but seeing him asleep on the chair, she thought he may be the most handsome boy she had ever set eyes on. The thought caused her to smile, as she knew that in objective terms, Harry would be considered moderately attractive, but certainly no Cedric Diggory. Of course, she knew that she would not top the list of attractive witches either, and in fact of Harry's three girlfriends, she considered both Cho and Ginny prettier than she. Melissa Montgomery too, most likely, from the little Harry divulged about her.
But she did not feel inadequate. They would have a long life together, she felt certain, once the hurdle of Lord Voldemort and his horcruxes could be overcome. For now, that had to be their sole concern, yet she felt less nervous about the impending confrontation than ever before. Harry had changed; she saw it in the lake. With Evan, Ron and her to help, Harry would succeed. She decided not to wake him, so she moved quietly to the kitchen to start on breakfast.
Her mother arrived just a few seconds later, and the two women began to prepare a large meal, as Hermione warned her about the eating capacities of her two male friends. It felt odd to be tending to such routine domestic matters on a day like this. She knew that today would be a momentous one, for good or for evil. Yet a good breakfast is required even on momentous days.
In the Granger residence, none of the guests knew anything about the events at Hogwarts Castle. One by one they appeared, all acting on their best behavior in the presence of Hermione's parents. They enjoyed a home-cooked muggle breakfast and conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Granger about the latest happenings in the muggle world.
Harry awoke shortly after Hermione and her mother started work in the kitchen, and noticed that he still held the horcrux to his chest. Quickly he climbed the stairs to place the cup back in the guest room, finding Ron and Evan awake.
Throughout the breakfast, Harry and Hermione exchanged glances with each other, wordlessly communicating their desire to be alone together for a few moments. Harry found that the breakfast dragged on and on, and more than once he suppressed the inclination to stand up and grab Hermione's hand to drag her to another room. Instead, he acted as politely as he could. These were his girlfriend's parents, after all.
Ginny noticed each and every glance and smile between her two friends, exerting great effort to disguise her displeasure. Ron intentionally averted his eyes to what he knew was happening. Finally the morning ordeal ended, and the guests helped carry the dishes to the kitchen.
"Go on, Hermione," Mrs. Granger whispered to her daughter, "I'll take care of the dishes. I'm not blind. Go talk to Harry." Hermione grinned guiltily but took her up on the offer. She found Harry's eyes, not difficult since he had been observing her all the time, and walked down the hall of the bottom floor of the house. Harry followed, and they turned into a small room that served as a home office for her parents, where they kept many files and records of their dental practice as well as their personal finances. She closed the door.
Gently the two friends embraced, and nervously,.they kissed. Relieved that neither of them appeared to have changed their minds over night, they exchanged relaxed smiles and kissed quickly again.
"No buyer's remorse, Harry?" Hermione asked softly, as they embraced.
"Buyer's what?" Harry asked, clearly confused, "What's that?" He had never heard the term.
Hermione chuckled and tried to explain, "It's a muggle expression for when you buy something only to wish that you hadn't the next day." Harry scrunched his eyes, still confused.
"But I didn't buy anything," he asserted, "Why would I have any remorse?"
"No, Harry," Hermione laughed, "It's just an expression. I meant, you're not sorry about what happened yesterday."
"Oh," Harry replied with a laugh of his own, now understanding her, "No, I'm not sorry about it. Not for a second. What about you?"
Given the fact that they had just kissed lovingly, Harry hardly needed to ask the question, but he wanted to hear the answer regardless.
"Not at all, Harry. I'm so happy. I've never been so happy about anything in my life."
They kissed again, a little longer this time, but Harry broke it off, looking directly into her eyes.
"I'm happy too, but I'm worried. We have so much to do. I think we need to concentrate on the horcrux today. We need to go somewhere. I don't want to destroy it around your parents."
"You're right, Harry, I've already thought about it. We all can take a little walk up to the park so that we can discuss it there. Then we'll decide what to do."
Harry nodded his agreement, and they kissed one last time.