While waiting for Ron and Hermione, Harry decided to open the package McGonagall had given him. Inside he found the battered diary he remembered so well from five years previous. He thumbed through it before putting it back into his pocket. He shook the wrapping and out fell the ring he had seen on Dumbledore's hand and in the memories in the Pensieve. Harry held it up to the light and stared at it for a moment. Then he carefully placed it on the middle finger of his right hand. Finally, he looked inside the wrapping once more and found a rolled bit of parchment. As he unrolled the parchment, he recognized the long, narrow, slanted writing immediately. A note from Dumbledore!
Dear Harry,
Whether I personally gave you the Horcruxes that have been collected or they are given to you by Professor McGonagall, I want you to have them. They are to keep you focused and in remembrance of the price of freedom, for I believe there are still grave requirements in our war. Once the fight is fought, however, you are free to do with them as you please.
I wish to give you some brief instructions to help you get started on your journey. I trust that you will not go alone and that Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will be accompanying you. That is best. There are only a handful of tasks in life that should be attempted alone. Please remember that, Harry.
If I have gotten to know you at all, you will first be headed to Godric's Hollow. If, by some slip of my own, I do not know your mind, and Godric's Hollow is not your first choice of places, may I suggest that you change your agenda? I believe that there are yet many secrets hidden there, waiting for you alone to uncover them.
If you feel it necessary to seek counsel from my portrait, I will instruct Minerva to allow these interviews. There are many things that I would tell you when the time is prudent.
Yours most sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore