It took them seven days, but the group reached Hogsmeade virtually unscathed and not having encountered Voldemort or any of his Death Eaters on the way; their path seemed undisturbed. But upon entering the small, but usually bustling village, they could tell that things had changed there. It was nine-o'clock and The Three Broomsticks, which should have been full of laughter and conversation, was closed. The curtains were drawn in all of the inn windows, there was not a lit candle in sight, and the colourful banners that always adorned the shop windows had been replaced ministry posters and grey newspaper articles.

"Cheery," Ron commented.

"Certainly not how it used to be."

"When did it get like this?" Harry had not seen Hogmeade since the previous school year.

"People are afraid. When they closed Hogwarts it probably made people realize just how dire the situation is. Everyone's probably left. I don't blame them really. I mean without Dumbledore…" Hermione was getting emotional now. "Well, let's go up to the castle." She led the way brushing a tear from her cheek.

As the group walked up the road leading to Hogwarts—one that they had walked up so often in the past—the castle loomed up in front of them, looking ominous and more lonely than it ever had before. Hogwarts actually looking foreboding rather than welcoming was a drastic, very difficult change for all for of them to accept. The windows—like those in Hogsmeade—were dark and clouded with dust, the snow covered grounds remained unkempt and the plants that were still alive had taken over the green houses. Even Hagrid's cabin was empty and the usual magic the seemed to emanate from everything on the grounds seemed to have vanished in the short time that it had been uninhabited.

"Wow…" Harry said gazing at the old stone school.

"Harry, how will we get in? Surely it's been locked and protected with some very complex spells." Harry was, for once, way ahead of Hermione.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," Harry said as the answer to her question. He unfurled the yellowing parchment revealing the only map ever made of Hogwarts castle and its grounds. It was eerie not to see anyone moving about the castle, it seemed that even peeves and the other ghostly residents of the castle had left. "Well, I know there are six secret passages we could use to get into the school by. Two of them are caved in, I'm not sure exactly where the others are or how to get into them and one we'd have to go through Honeydukes' which we can't get into either. Looks like, since Filch isn't here, we'll be able to go through the one that lets out at Gregory the Smarmy—that's the simplest."

The rest followed Harry as he made his way through the snow towards the green houses, cutting a path to the farthest one from the castle. "I've never used this passage. Fred and George used it in their first year, until they got caught."

"I think I remember that, mum was livid. Their first week."

"It seems it's at the back…"

"Oh, look here!" Hermione had discovered a different stone toward the bottom at the back corner of greenhouse number seven. "It says something. 'Oririendum'," she said tapping on the stone. The stone and several around it vanished to reveal a small door.

Hermione pushed it open and crawled inside fairly easily. The boys, however, had more trouble. Harry managed to squeeze through next, then Neville who had to squeeze himself through. Ron's height caused him the most trouble, he had to throw his bag through and then lie down and have the others pull him. Luckily, though once inside they were able to stand almost, if not completely upright. They lit their wands and began to climb the narrow, twisting staircase. The passage itself smelled of mold and a sort of stale smoke, so they were glad to finally see the door at the other end but dismayed to find that it was once again a tiny door.

Harry pushed the door open; the four clambered out through the legs of Gregory the Smarmy into the dark deserted doorway. From there they made their way down the dark corridors, following Harry; no one spoke. Despite the six years they had spent in the school, the corridors were admittedly much more difficult to navigate by wand light alone. They had reached the gargoyles that marked the entrance to the headmaster's office when Harry stopped suddenly causing the others to run into him. Harry took a deep breath and walked up to the gargoyle on the left seeming not to have notice the impact.

"Lemon dr—" Harry began but the gargoyles jumped aside to allow him entrance immediately. "Well alright then." He disappeared up the stairs followed closely by Ron, Hermione and Neville.

The touches on the walls lit magically as they entered, bathing the room in their soft golden glow. The office had definitely changed, but it was not as empty as they had expected it to be: The furniture was still there, books and some shinning objects still lined the walls, and the old headmasters slept in their frames—now with the addition of Dumbledore. Most of the valuables, however, were gone the swirling sputtering objects, the pensive, and Fawk's perch were all absent.

Harry sat at the chair in front of the desk, the chair where he'd sat many times before and stared blankly at the seat where Dumbledore had sat. He did not blink and he did not turn away, but looked at the grand Headmasters chair as though Dumbledore still occupied it. A silent tear fell down Harry's cheek which he wiped hastily away. Hermione, beginning to tear up herself, came to Harry's side at once and held on firmly to his shoulder. Ron came from the other side, trying very hard not to cry as well. Harry sprung up from the chair suddenly. Hermione jumped slightly, "What's wrong?"

"Look!" said Harry, walking to the corner. There was something tall in one corner covered in a delicate red, silk cloth. He pulled it off slowly. "The Mirror of Erised!"

Ron's--who was standing in front of it—ears pinkened as he looked at the image he saw. He and Hermione, only much older, were staring back at him waving. Around them were children, five of them, all sporting bushy red hair and either blue or brown eyes. Farther back, were his entire family and all of his friends; an older Harry and Ginny were also waving with their dark haired children. Ron smiled in spite of himself.

The other three teenagers approached the mirror, staring longingly at the scenes they saw in the reflection. Everything they hoped for the future was displayed in front of them. Harry sat down on the floor and just stared, he knew the dangers of the mirror but now it almost seemed he'd rather waste away in front of these images. He saw a huge celebration; his family and friends, including his parents and Sirius, together—the war had ended. Neville saw himself a hero and his parents returned to full health. Hermione saw all the successes she'd longed for. "This—Is this? This cannot be real," Hermione said, almost whispering, as she touched the mirror's cold glass. Her answer came in a wise voice from across the room.

"No, you are very right Miss Granger. Harry, I hope you and your friends aren't wasting your time with that mirror again. I believe that I told you about it before; it is not the future that it shows, only your deepest desires. Don't waste away in front of the mirror waiting for things that will never be, as so many others have." The voice, they realized was Dumbledore's portrait.

Harry stood quickly. They all turned, surprised, to the wall where his portrait hung. "Sir?"

"I respected your decision not to return to school, while it was still open; realizing that you—as well as I—knew that you had a duty to fulfill. I rather hoped that you would be doing that job rather than breaking in to the school to visit an old mirror or an equally as old man in a wall hanging," there was a twinkle in his eye, the same as when he was alive.

"I am!" Harry got suddenly defensive. "We suspected there may be another horcrux in the school."

"Well, I'm sorry Harry, but I do believe that Tom never left a horcrux in Hogwarts. I've check thoroughly since I found out about their existence. You have been misled."

"But, sir, I'm running out of places—out of time. I don't know where they could possibly be hidden!"

"So you are saying then that you have exhausted all of your options?"

"Yes."

"You have not. I have given you all the information you need to find them. You will. There is still time," Dumbledore assured.

"So you know where they are? Can't you just tell us?" Ron spoke up.

"No, I am afraid I cannot, Mr. Weasley. You, as I've said have all you need you must just look harder." He turned his attention once again to Harry,"I am pleased to see that you have decided not to make this journey alone. Your friends will be your greatest asset, Harry. Oh," He seemed to have just remembered something, "Have you been through Godric's Hollow?"

"Err, no."

"Oh," Dumbledore smiled.

"Wh—" Harry began.

"Well, I really must be going, stay as long as you like, but I have an appointment with Lady Miriam on the fourth floor."

"Thank you, sir. We were just planning to stay in the Gryffindor dormitories, we'll be going tomorrow." Dumbledore nodded as they headed toward the door.

"Nice to—er—see you again sir," even Hermione didn't quite know what to say to a portrait. Dumbledore simply continued to nod with the twinkle in his eye. Harry was the last to nod back and head toward the door.

"Oh, and Harry, There's no need for a key; 1326—although I do think you may find that a little elfin assistance may be beneficial. I also think you'll find that Helga never placed much store in the school motto," He smiled before disappearing out of the portrait. "And please take Gryffindor's sword. It may come in handy. Harry hesitantly grabbed the ruby encrusted sword from the wall where is hung. He hadn't touched the sword since he'd pulled it out of the sorting hat in his second year of school.

"Thanks, sir."

---

"Err, Hello?" Harry said upon approaching the fat lady who was sleeping in her frame. She stirred but didn't respond.

"Oi, Let us in!" Ron yelled. She jumped.

"Ohh, what? Whose there?" She was startled but began to smile, seeing who it was. "Oh! I was beginning to think I would never see any children ever again! It's so lonely with no one rushing in and out all hours of the night." She spat the last part, obviously annoyed at being woken up.

"Can we please go in?" Hermione pressed.

"Password?" They all looked at the portrait incredulously. "Oh fine, fine," she swung open to reveal the passage to the common room, "Go on."

The Gryffindor common room looked virtually untouched; the old, perfectly broken in arm chairs were still clustered around the fireplace and the tables and floor were still littered with paper scraps and a few broken quills. They discarded their bags on the nearest chair and settled down in their favourites; Hermione started a fire and curled into the squishy maroon armchair closest to the fire.

The group, feeling exhausted, soon moved up into the boys dormitories, they would sleep there for the night and leave the next morning. Everyone was happy to at least be able to sleep inside for one night; everyone except Harry. Harry was just disappointed and perplexed. He felt like a failure. If there was no Horcrux in Hogwarts, then where would they go next? What had Dumbledore meant? There was only one choice; Harry hadn't told the others yet, but they'd be going to Godric's Hollow.