The Horcruxes

Over the course of the next several days Harry spent his mornings working out with the rest of the students, his afternoons reviewing Tom Riddle's life, paying special attention to his horcruxes and the creation of the dark mark, and his evenings in the Chamber of Secrets, learning to work with the castle's energies. After revealing some of his findings, concerning the items Tom had chosen as his horcruxes to the castle, Hogwarts was understandably upset and everyone noticed a change. Whereas before the castle's atmosphere had been one of urgency, concentration and focus, after Harry's discoveries the indescribable elements of anger and outrage were added to the mix and even though only Harry and Hogwarts knew the true source and reason behind these additions almost everyone could sense that the school had somehow chosen to throw all of its energies behind their efforts. On one of her visits, Madam Bones had even commented that the atmosphere around Hogwarts was more intimidating than the ten most haunted castles in all of Europe combined.

After their Order meeting that Thursday Albus took Harry aside and asked him what had happened to bring about this change.

After everyone had left and Harry was sure they were alone he leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and wrung his hands together for several seconds, debating how much to tell his friend and mentor. "Hogwarts is upset," he said after a silent consultation with the castle. "The castle never really liked Tom because he was a bit too ambitious for its liking, but when Hogwarts discovered that Tom used Slytherin's locket, Huffelpuff's goblet and Ravenclaw's diadem as horcruxes, which means that they will have to be destroyed if we are to stop Tom … Well, let's just say that the school is royally ticked. It will not submit to Tom's rule and what Tom has done has guaranteed the destruction of three priceless heirlooms that rightfully belong to the school."

Albus' eyebrows shot up at the mention of the founders' relics. "So Hogwarts is on our side, then?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, and he is very upset."

"He?"

Harry smiled. "I don't know how to explain this, Albus but Hogwarts' main voice is most definitely masculine – I would almost be tempted to say that it is the voice of Godric Gryffindor himself – but when it found out about those three horcruxes I could swear I heard at least two women's voices voicing their outrage.

Albus sat with his fingers quietly steepled for several seconds, watching Harry as he seemed to consider the possible ramifications of what he had just learned. "Tell me about your relationship with the castle, Harry," he requested. "When did it begin and how does it work?"

Harry massaged his temples for several seconds before responding. He would be walking a very thin line with what he was about to say and did not want to either insult or offend anyone. "The way Ethrindell explained to me," he began cautiously, "is that we … humans are not native to this world." As Albus' eyes flew open wide Harry hastened to continue. "Neither are we aliens," he added quickly.

"We are unique to this planet in that our genetic core is native to this world. At the same time, however, a number of genetic structures were added several hundred thousand years ago that were designed to provide an evolutionary component to our sensitivities to the forces and energies of creation. Over the years and through the centuries and millennia a number of highly advanced cultures have risen, only to fall because their spirituality was not able to keep up with their physical sensitivities and technological prowess.

"Every time this happened, some – those whose spiritual evolution had kept pace with their sensitivities – moved on while those for whom spirituality was never really much of a concern, no matter how outspoken they may have been on the subject, were devolved back to that level of development that was most in keeping with their spiritual maturity.

"Apparently our planet is approaching a critical mass of sorts and will soon be passing through the galactic plain. When this happens, those who have evolved, spiritually, will experience a genetic upgrade of sorts that will give them access to a whole new class of forces and energies – to use a muggle metaphor would be to say that it will be like going from the stone age to the computer age overnight – while those who have refused to grow, preferring their baser, more animalistic, instincts to will continue on as they were, gradually digressing, physically, to resemble the animals they are. From there they will begin the long, slow journey back.

"Apparently, before each major transition a number of children are born into each culture to help prepare the people for the coming transition. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and I are six of several dozen in the magical world. The turning point for me – the thing that triggered the activation of my abilities – was Sirius' death. I guess you could say that it was a bit of accidental magic except that it was internally directed."

Albus frowned. Apparently he had forgotten that this kind of accidental magic could go either way. It could either kill a person, destroying them from the inside out or, if the witch or wizard was fortunate enough, provide them with the tools they need to move forward.

"The training you provided Neville and me last summer helped me begin to harness and direct these new abilities. This somehow helped Neville begin to realize his true potential. My maturo auctus provided me with additional training as well as a great deal of perspective so that I could choose which path to follow. This past year you helped me learn how to use those abilities you could and helped guide me through the mental and emotional minefields that come with increased power. For this I am eternally grateful."

Albus' softened slightly and Harry was thankful that his words had somehow diffused a potentially crushing blow to Albus' ego. He was telling the truth but not the whole truth. If Albus new how upset Ethrindell was about his treatment at the hands of the Dursleys it would have created an emotional wound Albus would not have easily overcome.

"The reason I am now being trained, by both Ethrindell and Hogwarts, is because I am going to need this training to defeat Tom and to defend the rights of the people.

"When I started working with the crystal ball last year I took the first steps towards making contact and working with Hogwarts. After we returned from the elven ream Hogwarts took the initiative. The castle initially contacted me when I was getting ready to contact Ethrindell because it felt I was ready. Since then Hogwarts has been teaching me things that have never been recorded in any book."

Albus was silent for several seconds as he seemed to absorb this information and frame his questions. "Where have you been keeping yourself?" he finally asked.

Harry blushed slightly. He had told his closest friends about the time he was spending in the Chamber of Secrets but had forgotten to tell Albus or any of the other members of The Order of the Phoenix. "At Ethrindell's urging, I have been spending a lot of time in the chamber of secrets. Hogwarts and I have been converting it into an underground emergency shelter of sorts. It has its own dormitories, potions lab, hospital wing, dining hall, common areas and storerooms for food, clothing and potions ingredients. It isn't fancy but it is functional. As soon as it is finished I will be using my own money to stock its shelves. This way, the next time we have to evacuate Hogsmeade we will more room to work with."

"And what of the horcruxes," Albus asked. "You've mentioned a ring, Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, Helga Huffelpuff's goblet and Salizar Slytherin's locket. With the diary that makes five. Do you know what the sixth one is; and do you know where they are?"

Harry sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose he let out a sigh. "Yes," he said. "I know where they are and I know what the sixth horcrux is."

"What is it? Are they going to be difficult to get to or …"

Harry shook his head. "No. Two of them are not going to be hard to get to. One of those might be a bit tricky because we will be going into Tom's territory to get it but if we do it right that shouldn't be much of a problem. We are going to have to talk to Ragnok about breaking into a couple of vaults at Gringotts to get two of them and I am not looking forward to negotiating with the goblins. As for the sixth one, Tom seems to have taken the extraordinary measure, more out of desperation than anything else, of making his snake, Nagini, a horcrux and he is keeping her with him at all times. That is going to be the difficult one. I don't know how we are going to do it but Nagini is going to have to die in the final battle before I confront him."

Albus' twinkle dimmed at the news about Nagini. "This is not good," he said. Then, after glancing down at a sheet of paper on his desk, said, "We will deal with the issue of Nagini later, but what of the other four?"

"The ring," Harry said, "is located under a loose floorboard in the Gaunt's cabin in the woods outside of Little Hangleton. The difficulty with this one lies in the fact that Tom is currently using Riddle Manor as his base of operations. He is essentially standing guard over this one because he assumes the others are safe.

"Slytherin's locket was in a cave by the sea but Regulus Black discovered it and, with Kreacher's help, stole it. It was at Grimauld Place until about two years ago when we tried to throw it out. Fortunately, Dung stole it and later sold it to Dolores Umbridge. If he hadn't I don't know where it would be now. As it is, however, it is in Umbridge's vault, which could prove tricky because we are going to have to negotiate with the goblins to let us into he vault. Helga's goblet doesn't have as interesting a history as the locket, but it is in the Lestrange vault, which could be slightly more problematic because it is in one of the high security vaults. Rowena's diadem should be fairly easy because it is here at Hogwarts."

Albus looked up, surprise evident on his face.

"It is in the room of requirement. I could have gotten it yesterday but I would kind of like to destroy them in the order they were created, which means ring, diadem, locket, goblet and then snake. Since I was an unintentional horcrux, and since I am the only one who can cast the purgatory charm on him, I am going to have to be the last …"

Harry intentionally left that thought hanging because, even though he was working with both Ethrindell and Hogwarts to combine the modified rebounding charm and the purgatory charm into one 'superspell' and linking the power behind it to Hogwarts they had no idea if it would work or not. The spell was, by his own admission, one of the most complicated combinations Ethrindell had ever sculpted; and with complication came risk: The more complicated the spell the more could go wrong in its execution; and even if it worked as designed there was the possibility that the sheer amounts of energy Harry would be channeling could kill him.

To better their odds, Ethrindell and Harry had begun a course of subliminal programming so that, when the time came, his subconscious mind would perform the spell correctly no matter how nervous Harry was consciously. In addition, with Hogwarts' help, he was beginning to channel and work with increasingly large amounts of energy in the hope that, when the time came, his body would be able to tolerate the strain. To say that they – Harry, Hogwarts and Ethrindell – were nervous would be an understatement.

Apparently sensing at least some small portion of the uncertainties involved, Albus changed the subject. "What are your thoughts on next year's head boy and head girl?" he asked.

Startled out of his brooding Harry said, "Ron and Hermione? I think they will make excellent heads. They have already earned the respect of most of the students and with what Tom is planning the kinds of leadership they can provide is going to be crucial."

Albus frowned slightly. "Is there nothing I can do to get your mind off of the war for even a few minutes, Harry?" he asked.

Harry slumped forward in his seat. Shaking his head he said, "No, sir. I'm sorry but until Tom is utterly and completely defeated I really can't afford to think about much else."

"What would you like to do for your birthday, Harry?"

"My what?"

"Your birthday. You will be seventeen in a few days and will be coming of age in the wizarding world."

Harry sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. "I don't mean to be a party pooper, sir, but what I would really like to do is get started on the horcruxes and I would like to start with the ring."