Voldemort's Despair

"Bellatrix! Yaxley! Malfoy!" Voldemort yelled. "Be ready to take over the Ministry! We need it to have a say on who will be appointed the new Headmaster of Hogwarts! Severus, get back there and keep an eye on Potter. Tell me if he finds anything that might have anything to do with you-know-what! You're dismissed from attending further meetings until I specifically call for you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, My Lord." Snape answered.

"Then you may leave." Voldemort replied.

"What was that, Father?" Draco whispered.

"You're better off not trying to know, son." Lucius replied.

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, Harry Potter had just returned from another trance-like state. "You-know-who's mind again, Harry?" Ron asks.

"Yes, Ron." Harry explained. "Snape told Voldemort about us knowing about their Horcruxes and is going to check his hiding spots. He doesn't know about the Diadem yet as he told Snape to check upon us for when we find it." Harry and Ron couldn't help but laugh at this.

"This is no laughing matter, kids." Acting Headmistress Minerva McGonagall sternly said. "I might have agreed with Professor Snape's plan but we still must work at some alternative plan."

"Bill!" Harry suddenly exclaimed.

"What does my brother have to do with this, Harry?" Ron asked.

"He works at Gringotts." Harry answered and the others still gave him a puzzled look. "Just like Voldemort (Harry ignored the general flinching) trusted Lucius Malfoy with the Diary Horcrux, he could have trusted the Cup Horcrux with a Death Eater who might have decided to hide it at one of the Gringotts vaults." Harry added.

"It might be worthy to check." Professor McGonagall replied. "I'll call the Weasleys to talk to Mr. William Weasley about this. Professor Slughorn, you'll stay in charge until I get back."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Slughorn replied.

"Professor McGonagall!" Ron exclaimed, scandalized. "Will you trust a Slytherin to run Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. I will." She replied with an end-of-discussion tone.

"Well, not that it says much but at least he's better than Snape." Ron commented, a decision he'd soon regret.

"You think so, Weasley?" They heard Snape saying. He was just returning from his meeting with Voldemort.

"H-h-how did you…"

"It doesn't matter now, Mr. Weasley." Snape replied. "Just so you'd know, had school not been closed, I'd give you a detention and docked 20 points from Gryffindor."

"Severus, I was leaving Professor Slughorn in charge of Hogwarts while I'm absent following a possible lead on the Cup Horcrux but since you're here, you'll be in charge instead." Professor McGonagall said.

"Are you insane?" Ron asks even more scandalized. "He's a bloody Death Eater."

"Mind your language, Weasley." McGonagall said. With no more words, she entered the fireplace and left.

"Potter, Professor McGonagall said something about following a clue to the Cup Horcrux." Snape said. "Did you get it from the Dark Lord's mind?"

"No, Sir." Harry answered. "She's following an alternative plan."

"With all due respect, Professor Snape, aren't you afraid the curse on the Defense job will catch you?" Hermione asked.

"There's no need to worry, Ms. Granger." Snape answered. "With the Horcruxes being discovered, the Dark Lord decided to put a special charm on me to protect me from it."

"I'm relieved." Hermione said.

"Not me." Moody replied. "I expected to see how the curse would keep you from keeping the job for more than one year."

Harry and Ron suppressed their desire to say 'me too'.

Harry suddenly felt Voldemort entering the Gaunt Shack. The Dark Lord looked at the hidden spot where he placed the ring only to learn it's no longer there. 'How could the old fool have found out about my relation to the Gaunts?' He thought. 'That orphanage matron. She must have told him as much as she had told me about my relatives and he was also able to have made the deduction. But there's no way he could have known about the other Horcruxes. Sure, Malfoy's foolishness might have clued Dumbledore to the fact I created more than one but… of course! She might have told about the cave incident as well. It could have been enough to make him check if there was another Horcrux there.'

Harry then left Voldemort's mind. "Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked out of concern.

"Voldemort went to the Gaunt Shack." Harry explained. "He is furious he didn't consider Dumbledore's chances of finding out he's related to the Gaunt family. Now he's going to check the Horcrux cave."

"Almost makes me wish the fake Horcrux was there when he went to check." Ron commented.

"I know the feeling, Ron." Harry replied.

"I hope he has a heart attack as he finds out he lost another Horcrux." Ron said.

"I don't think he still might have a heart to suffer an attack, Ron." Harry commented. All others silently (and sadly) nod at the statement.

"If you don't mind, I'm going back to the Ministry." Moody said. "With Dumbledore dead, the Death Eaters might be trying to take over it."

"We understand, Alastor." Professor Flitwick said and Moody then left.

Meanwhile, at the Burrow, Acting Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was talking to the Weasleys about the Horcruxes.

"Professor McGonagall, how do you expect Bill could be of any help to destroy any Horcrux?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"We know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named stole Helga Hufflepuff's cup from Hepzibah Smith and that he probably turned it into a Horcrux." Professor McGonagall explained. "We're studying the possibility that he might have trusted one of his Death Eaters to hide it and that said Death Eater could have hidden the Horcrux at one of the Gringotts vaults."

"It's a shot in the dark, Professor McGonagall, but I'll check this." Bill replied.

"But how will you do it, my dear?" Molly asked, worried. "I thought you said goblins didn't take sides on wars between humans."

"And they don't, Mum." Bill replied. "But they don't tolerate thefts and might help just to have the Cup returning to their rightful owners."

"I'm glad to hear this." Professor McGonagall commented.

Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Magic, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody reported to Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimegour about the recent events.

"You-know-who had SIX Horcruxes?" Scrimegour asked, completely shocked. He already knew what a Horcrux is but he never thought a Dark Wizard, even Voldemort, would have created more than one. "We must do something!"

Please review. Rufus Scrimegour being told about the Horcruxes was something that I came up with while writing this chapter.