Chapter 4 - The Locket
"What's Harry going on about up there?" Ron said while looking at the ceiling.
The sound of Harry's muffled voice could be heard downstairs.
"I don't know, but I think we should go check." Hermione said.
They both headed upstairs and heard a door open. As they rounded the corner, they saw Brooklyn emerging from her room. Before they could even ask what was going on she simply shrugged her shoulders. They all went to Harry's door and Hermione knocked on it. Harry's voice came from behind.
"Yes, it needs to be done." Harry said.
Hermione opened the unlocked door and found Harry sitting straight up on the edge of his bed with a huge smile on his face. He looked absolutely manic. His eyes had a strange yellowish glow to them and it made for an odd shade of green. The locket around his neck emanated with the same yellowish glow.
Harry removed the locket from around his neck. "I have to give this back to him."
"WHAT!" Ron and Hermione said in unison.
"I'll be right back!" He said way too happily.
"Accio locket!" Brooklyn yelled. The locket flew into her hand before Harry apparated.
When he reappeared, he was standing right in front of her with a huge grin on his face. "That wasn't very nice."
"Harry, fight it!" Hermione yelled. "You have to get it out of your head!"
Harry shook his head and was silent for a moment. "I…he…" The smile was fading with his realization of what was going on, but then he turned to Brooklyn. "Can I have that, please?"
Without waiting for an answer, Harry grabbed the locket and placed it back around his neck. An odd sensation that resembled pure serenity swept over him and it was accompanied by another manic smile.
"It needs to be returned." Harry proclaimed. Everyone stared at him in horror.
The yellowish glow coming from the locket turned to orange and it was the same for Harry's eyes. Smoke began emitting from the locket and then burst into flames. A red glow was now coming from his eyes. There was a hissing sound that had the effect of nails on a chalkboard. As the fire grew more intense, Harry started to shake. He could now feel the fire going in and out of his chest, growing in intensity with each passing second. He was shaking so much he almost lost his balance. The feeling of being burned alive had taken over.
"HARRY!" Ron grabbed his shoulders. "FIGHT IT!"
Harry suddenly felt random memories coming forward. No. He couldn't let the memory of the plan to destroy the locket come forward. He closed his eyes tightly, Ron still holding his shoulders, and concentrated as hard as he could on letting go of his emotions. Visions of Snape's Occlumency lesson's flashed through his mind, quickly followed by the spiders in the cupboard under the stairs. No! No emotions, come on. The lifeless form of Cedric lying on the ground, the green light coming from the end of the wand, the pain of being burned alive. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing….
Suddenly, the terrible shock of his prior melancholic state was upon him again and he looked straight ahead at Ron. The red glow in his eyes subsided from red, to orange, then to yellow. Harry's eyes rolled back into his head before the glow completely diminished and he no longer could support his own weight.
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When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in bed. Snape had once told him that people who live in their own sorrow are particularly vulnerable to Voldemort's powers. It was proving true. Voldemort was actually speaking to Harry, preying on him. Snape was right…Harry was weak.
But Harry couldn't be weak. He had gotten Voldemort out of his mind. It might have taken awhile and it had to be pointed out to him, but he was still able to do it. That had to count for something, right? He was Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. The Chosen One. He was not weak. He couldn't allow himself to be. He knew he had to perfect Occlumency or he would meet his doom.
Harry looked up. Those same bright yellow eyes stared down at him. He turned his head and found three more pairs of eyes staring back at him. When his eyes locked with the deep brown ones, he began to feel the guilt he should have felt after his outburst.
"Brooklyn, I'm sorry about earlier." He said, ashamed of his earlier behavior. He was confused by the look in her eyes. She looked concerned. Suddenly, he felt ill.
"Harry," Hermione began. "About the locket..."
Harry's hand immediately went for the locket only to realize it wasn't there and neither was his shirt. In their place were imprints in his skin where the locket had been. It was a deep, scabbing, not to mention infected looking wound, almost as if the locket had been burned into him and the area around the wound had been completely charred. That was in fact exactly what it had been doing.
"When you put the locket back around your neck, it started to burn into your skin." Hermione said. "You started shaking terribly and Ron tried to hold you still. It…it was on fire Harry and all you could do was smile."
"But then you started screaming 'no'." Ron said.
"Harry…you destroyed it. I don't know what you did, but all of a sudden it burst into a giant flame of a snake and then it disintegrated." Hermione said.
Harry stared at her in shock. "It…i-it's gone?" Everyone nodded. Harry looked back down at his chest where the locket had been. "I think I should go to St. Mungo's. This really doesn't look good."
"About that mate," Ron said. "Tonks came right away and took you to St. Mungo's. That wound is loads better than what it looked like before. It's probably about time for your mediwitch to put the dressing back on it."
Harry looked around. He was not in his own room, but in a hospital room. "How long have I been out?"
"All day. Night. Two days later."
An image of Dumbledore's blackened hand came to his mind. "It's never going to heal, is it?"
"I'm sorry, Harry. They said it will never heal completely." Hermione said dejectedly. "They said it's extremely rare to see something of this caliber."
The wound lay right in the center of his chest. Though he vaguely remembered pain during the ordeal itself, the after effects were harsh. The healing of the wound felt as though someone was lighting his chest on fire. He would not be able to go on the search for the remaining Horcruxes until he was completely healed. It would be too much of a risk. It hurt worse than his scar ever had.
His scar had stopped hurting and prickling though. Harry assumed that it must have had to do with the locket. He could only hope that it wouldn't happen when he came in contact with the other Horcruxes, whatever and wherever they might be.
Voldemort had never been talking to Harry during the incident with the locket. Everything was a host of spells set to attack when wore around a person's neck. It turned out Harry really wasn't weak. In fact he was the polar opposite.
Harry had had his fill of drinking disgusting tasting potions that made the wound heal at a quicker pace. After everyone had been kicked out of the room thirty minutes after he had woken up, he made a request to his tending mediwitch that he did not want any visitors for the remainder of his stay at St. Mungo's. His request was fulfilled…that is until Tonks showed up looking like his assigned mediwitch.
"Harry Potter, how selfish are you!" His mediwitch, with Tonks voice, said. "Do you have any idea how horrible you are being to your friends!" She was now physically herself. "Now for Merlin's sake lift that daft request of yours!"
Harry said nothing, but her stern gaze prompted a response. "Fine."
Her face softened. "Why don't you want to see anyone?"
"I don't even know anymore."
She took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. "It will pass. I promise. You're the strongest person I know."
He could only hope she was right.
The next day, Ron and Hermione were arguing. Harry kept his eyes closed, maybe they would eventually leave if he didn't wake up. They were arguing about something completely pointless as usual. He opened his eyes just enough so he could see. They were standing at the foot of his bed, Ron's hands up in exasperation and Hermione's hands on her hips. He shifted his eyes and saw Brooklyn and Tonks sitting at the table by the window. Tonks was glaring at them while Brooklyn was rubbing her temples.
He closed his eyes again while his hand fumbled for his mediwitch summoner. She was there in an instant and immediately escorted the arguing wannabe couple out of the room. He however didn't plan for having them banned from his room because of it. Now they had something new to argue about and they wasted no time in starting. Their old married couple-like bickering was really getting old.
The mediwitch came back in. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, Harry. They won't be disturbing you any more."
She came over to Harry's side and started to remove his bandages. Harry cringed slightly at the pull, but his attention was diverted by her gasp. He looked down at the wound and his mouth opened in shock. The healing wound was turning into the shape of the Dark Mark.