Chapter One

Ron Weasley vs. the Lava Lamp

The Dursleys hadn't been gone for an hour before the trouble started. The trio sat in Harry's room, trying to decide where the four remaining Horcruxes would most likely be found, what protections were likely to be surrounding them, and, most importantly, how in the world they were supposed to destroy them. So far, they hadn't had much luck.

"Well, the diary was at Hogwarts, so maybe there's more hidden there." Harry was starting to get frustrated. They had been at the Dursley's for just over a week, and they were still no closer to destroying Voldemort and his Horcruxes.

"The diary was only at Hogwarts because Mr. Malfoy put it in Ginny's book," Hermione pointed out. "I doubt that he would willingly put a piece of his soul in the one place he never dared to take over in the first war."

"But the Death Eaters have already gotten into Hogwarts once, right? Who's to say they haven't moved some of the Horcruxes there?"

"But Ron, there's got to be loads of protection on all of them. I doubt Voldemort- oh, for heaven's sake, stop flinching, Ron! I doubt he'd want to go to the trouble of moving something that's already so well protected." Ron slumped back against the cushion he was sitting against. Why did Hermione always have to be right?

Draining the last of his glass of water, Ron stood up. "Be back in a minute." He left the room and went down the hall to the bathroom. On his way back, he saw a strange light coming from Harry's cousin's room. He paused, with his hand on the doorknob. Was it really right to go into someone's room without permission? Then, remembering all Harry had told him and Hermione about how horrible his cousin was to him, he opened the door and went in.

Ron located the source of the strange glow right away. It was emanating from a rounded glass tube, with bits of plastic at the top and bottom, and a long, black cord connecting it to the wall. Ron knew enough from his Dad's muggle-themed rants to know that this was a lamp of some sort, but he had never seen anything like this before. Blobs of different sizes traveled up the cylinder at different speeds and slowly drifted back down to the base, where they merged with the other blobs. They then broke apart to form new blobs, each of which then rose to the top in the same ritual dance.

Ron didn't know how long he sat there watching the strange lamp before he realized something was wrong. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look away. The mesmerizing movements of the blobs had him spellbound. He tried to call for help, but found he had no voice. He was clearly being held captive by this strange lamp.

And then, he heard, as if from a great distance, someone calling his name. Ron snapped out of his trance, and, knowing he had only seconds to make his move before the lamp reclaimed him, grabbed it and threw it out the open window. The lamp made a satisfying crash as it hit the driveway, and the blobs and the weird liquid that suspended them splashed out in a magnificent starburst in and around the shattered glass.

Harry and Hermione ran in through the door. "Ron, are you OK? We were trying to call you and then we heard the crash…" Harry then looked out the window. There was a long pause.

"Ron? Why did you throw Dudley's lava lamp out the window?"

"It was hypnotizing me!" Ron protested.

Harry sighed, knowing that there would be some serious explaining to do when the Dursleys got home. "Why did Dudley have a lava lamp in the first place?" Hermione wondered.

"Dudley is a very strange boy," was all Harry said by way of a reply.

AN: Two chapters in one day! A new record! I was sitting at the computer desk wondering what to write and I spent ten minutes staring at my sister's lava lamp. Thus, chapter one was born! So anyways, the score is now at Ron: 1, Technology: 0. Yay Ron!

Thanks very very very much to the people who have reviewed already! I'm sorry the first chapter was so short, but it really was just a prologue. The chapters will probably all be around this length, give or take a bit. I'm sorry if you think that's way too short, but I don't want to stretch it out too much, or else it won't be as good. Which would be bad.

So, anyways, review please!