"Griphook, you are being ridiculous," came the voice of Bladetooth. "Let us have the Potter boy, and we'll let you go. Be sensible about this. The boy won't defeat the You-Know-Who, so just hand him over."
"Bladetooth, you are the one being ridiculous," Griphook shot back, as Harry pulled on the Invisibility Cloak. "The Dark Lord will simply kill you once you hand the boy over. He hates all non-wizardkind, and goblins are no exception. His promises are empty. Why can't you see that?"
"We are too precious, and too powerful, for him to betray us!" cried Bladetooth in reply. "He values the goblins, unlike the current government! For too long we have been subservient to the humans!"
"At least we have been free, Bladetooth. Under You-Know-Who, we will be treated as little more than house elves!"
"He can't!" cried Bladetooth, and Griphook looked worried as he heard the grunts of agreement of what sounded like five or so other goblins. "We are too powerful, too old a species to be treated so badly. The Dark Lord has promised us riches and freedom!"
"And in case you haven't noticed, Bladetooth," Griphook spat, "it is the Dark Lord's wont to lie, and cheat, and go back on his promises. That may be hard for you to understand, but it is fact. He is a human, and that is their flaw!"
"Griphook, I tire from this," said Bladetooth, his voice taking a menacing tone. "We take it the Potter boy is in there with you, else you would have let us in. Well, if you won't open, we'll just have to force our way in."
At this, Griphook looked worried. He knew his door wouldn't stay shut against the combined magic of so many other goblins.
"Alright, you want in? I'll open the door," said Griphook. Waving his hand like a wand at Harry, he stepped towards the door. Harry got the message, and drew his wand from his holster, gripping it tightly.
The door opened, and four goblins streamed into the room, looking around aggressively. Harry had retreated to a corner, across the room from Griphook's desk. He noticed the relieved look on Griphook's face; he clearly expected more opponents.
"Just hand the boy over, and nobody will get hurt," said Bladetooth slowly, scanning the room as if trying to see through Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
"You know I'm not going to do that, Bladetooth," replied Griphook grimly, backing towards his desk. "I made a promise to Dumbledore, and unlike the Dark Lord, I don't go back on my promises." With this, Griphook leapt backwards onto the desk and fired some brand of goblin magic at Bladetooth, who slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Taking this as his cue, Harry fired three consecutive stunners at the remaining goblins. Two hit their mark, but the third flew wide, and the last remaining goblin fired a quick bolt of magic at Griphook as he spun around, trying to figure out where the stunners had come from. The bolt missed Griphook, and as Harry fired a stunner at the last goblin, Griphook fired his own spell. As the two curses struck, the goblin fell to the floor in a heap.
"Go!" hissed Griphook, and Harry needed no further encouragement.
"Thanks, Griphook," he whispered as he exited the room, Pensieve in hand and phials in pockets. Hurrying down the corridor, he found himself once again in the large marble entrance hall. Not willing to risk running, given the sound his feet would make on the hard floor, not to mention the echoes off the marble walls, he walked as briskly as he could across the room. As he reached the front doors, he turned and noticed Bladetooth and the other goblins hurrying into the hall. Deciding it would take too long to wait to follow somebody through the doors, he figured he just had to go barge through and hope he could get away before the Death Eaters stationed outside realised.
Gathering his breath, Harry pushed the doors open and sprinted across Diagon Alley. Hearing the confused grunts of the goblins that guarded the door, and the curse of one of the Death Eaters stationed to watch the entrance, he ran towards a street that branched off Diagon Alley. He was hoping to lose the Death Eaters in the backstreets, before heading back to the Leaky Cauldron, where he'd organised to meet Ron and Hermione. However, he got a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as he heard the unmistakeable sounds of Apparition. Once he'd reached the small street, he turned to see about twenty Death Eaters spreading across the main alley. Hoping that Ron and Hermione were back at the Leaky Cauldron, he sprinted along the street, before turning right into a small lane, heading towards the pub.
Coming towards an intersection between the lane he was running along and another, heading back out to Diagon Alley, Harry saw a Death Eater round the corner and head his way. Looking back, he saw another one coming up behind him.
"Amycus, you seen anything?" asked the Death Eater behind Harry.
"Of course I aint seen nothing, Rudolphus!" replied the other Death Eater testily. "He's got his bloody cloak on!"
The two Death Eaters were both walking towards Harry as they spoke, and to his terror, Harry found that there was nowhere he could hide. The lane was very narrow, and he didn't think he'd be able to avoid the Death Eaters if either of them walked past him. Deciding his only option was to fight, Harry found a small, loose cobblestone, and, perhaps inspired by his desperate situation, managed to wordlessly Banish it over Amycus' head, to land with a crack just around the corner of the intersection. Amycus turned, and Lestrange immediately began running in the direction of the noise. As he passed Harry, Harry stuck out his foot and shoulder bumped Lestrange to the ground, before Stunning him. Amycus, hearing the racket, turned around again, before Harry hit him with another Stunner. As an afterthought, Harry picked up Lestrange's wand, and summoned Amycus'. He figured that when they came to, it would help to have two less people with wands after him.
He began sprinting down the laneway. He could hear other Death Eaters searching nearby lanes, and he wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible. He ran into some more Death Eaters along the way, but managed to avoid getting cornered again. Eventually, he turned back into Diagon Alley. There was the wall that led to the Leaky Cauldron. Looking back over his shoulder, he could just see the first of the Death Eaters coming down from the top of the Alley, firing curses randomly, trying to hit Harry with blind luck, since they couldn't see him. Tapping the wall quickly with his wand, he ducked through the archway, and watched with relief as it closed up behind him before any of the Death Eaters saw him.
Walking through the (thankfully open) door from the courtyard into the pub, Harry was relieved to see a worried Ron and Hermione sitting at the bar. There was loud chatter as people discussed the attacks, but this was mostly as people were leaving. Sure that there would be Death Eaters stationed at the pub, as it was the logical place for Harry to flee, he sidled up next to Ron and cast the muffliato charm.
"Ron, don't react. It's me," Harry whispered into his friend's ear. "We need to get out of here now. I'm sure there are Death Eaters here," and as he said that, he caught sight of the same, brutal-faced Death Eater that had been present when Dumbledore died, sitting in the corner. "Open the door for Hermione, I'll be right behind her and you follow after, OK?"
Ron didn't respond, instead tapping Hermione on the arm and repeating Harry's instructions. To Harry's friends' credit, they acted convincingly. They calmly paid Tom for the drinks they'd been sipping as they waited, Ron making a small deal about paying for Hermione's drink, an offer which Hermione politely accepted. They were just a young couple on a date, which had been unfortunately cut short by the attacks. Harry just hoped the Death Eater in the corner didn't recognise Ron's hair as Weasley hair, as it was common knowledge the Weasleys associated with Harry, but he didn't seem interested.
Ron held the door open for Hermione, and Harry followed closely behind, as they walked out into Muggle London. None of them daring to speak until they knew they were safe, they walked into a side street, and Apparated onto the front doorstep of Headquarters. They walked in and flopped down onto the living room couch, nerve-wracked and exhausted.
"So You-Know-Who is in control, then?" said Ron, sombre, after Harry finished reciting his story. "I guess he's more confident now that he's got Dumbledore out of his way," he continued bitterly.
"Oh, God, this is just horrible," added Hermione, a panicky edge to her voice. "If V-Voldemort is in control of the Ministry, he'll start passing laws that will make life for us impossible! We might have to go completely into hiding!"
"Don't worry, Hermione," said Harry, trying to calm her down, but happy to hear her use the name. "Dumbledore said that Voldemort will keep his cards fairly close to his chest for the time being. I think he may want to gain a bit more support before he reveals that he's in power. We just have to be quicker, and more careful, in our search for the Horcruxes. Speaking of which, how did you two go?"
"Dung didn't have it anymore," said Ron, and Harry's face fell.
"He sold it," added Hermione.
"SHIT!" cursed Harry, dropping his head into his hands. "Who to?" he asked, looking up.
"You're not going to like this, Harry," warned Ron, and Hermione shook her head gently in agreement.
"Who? Who was it?" asked Harry, agitated.
"He sold it to Snape," Hermione finally burst out. "I'm sorry."
Harry was quiet for a long time, pondering just what this meant.
"So not only does a Death Eater have the locket," Harry said slowly, refusing to use Snape's name, "but now Voldemort undoubtedly knows that somebody has become aware of his secret. This is bad. This is very bad."
"Mundungus said he sold it to Snape in June," Hermione said. "In fact, it was only the day before the night Dumbledore died. He said Snape had been very interested in the locket, and he didn't know why. Snape must have known it was a Horcrux!"
Harry sat in silence for a moment, trying to put his hatred of Snape aside and think clearly, but unable to do so.
Eventually, he said, "I think we should talk to Dumbledore about this."
The others agreed, and Harry called Dumbledore to the portrait hanging on the wall.
"Ah, Harry, Ron, Hermione, good to see you all made it back in one piece," said Dumbledore, a smile on his face but lacking the twinkle in his eye, which betrayed his true disposition.
"We know where the locket is," said Harry, his eyes downcast.
"Surely that is good news?" inquired Dumbledore, worried.
"Dung sold it to Snape," Harry spat bitterly. "Voldemort has it now."
Dumbledore looked down at the three friends, puzzlement written across his face.
"Are you sure?" he asked Ron and Hermione.
"Dung swears it," replied Ron. "We weren't gentle about it when we heard either. We made sure he was telling the truth."
"Did he say when he sold it to Severus?"
"It was only a day before you were killed," answered Hermione, wondering if this was significant. A look of dawning comprehension passed Dumbledore's face, before he again began to look puzzled. He wouldn't reveal what was puzzling him, though he had a distinctly happier look about him now, which in turn puzzled the three friends greatly.
"So now what do we do?" asked Harry, annoyed that Dumbledore didn't seem to think this news as bad as they did.
"I would give up on that Horcrux for the time being," suggested Dumbledore. 'The situation may change in the future, but for now, it is out of your grasp. Instead I would focus on Hufflepuff's Cup. Have a look at my memories that I left you. See if you can spot any clues I might have missed."
They spoke with Dumbledore a bit longer, Dumbledore describing the situation at the Ministry, and Harry, Ron and Hermione describing their days. Eventually, they decided it was time for lunch. Dumbledore excused himself, saying he needed to speak with Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts, as the three friends made themselves some sandwiches. They spent the rest of the day simply relaxing, having decided that they deserved it, after a stressful day. They briefly visited the Burrow, staying for dinner, and there they chatted about Dumbledore's news that Scrimgeour was under Voldemort's control. There was a deep sense of unease at the table as they spoke. Mrs Weasley was happy for Ron to stay at Grimmauld Place, as she figured it was among the best protected places there could be. In order to keep her feeling that way, they told her nothing of their activities that day.
Eventually, they Apparated back to Headquarters. Harry was feeling tired, depressed and disheartened after the day's events, and all he really wanted to do was sleep.