Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter, except those that clearly aren't from J.K. Rowling's stories. And since I expect anyone reading this by now to be a complete HP aficionado, I'm sure you'll know which ones they are.
Chapter 12 — Danger and Discovery
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
"I know what one of the Horcruxes is!" Hermione exclaimed, catching hold of Draco's arm before he had fully emerged from the Slytherin common room.
"I've been waiting all morning — how can you take so long to get dressed? Come ON!"
Hermione pulled Draco rapidly down the corridor, ignoring his desperate attempts to finish combing his hair.
"Hermione, slow down! Wait!"
The duo passed Gary Rutlige, the Hufflepuff boy, who was too busy sneezing to notice them as they ran by.
"I was trying to think of all the objects that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw that Voldemort might have used," Hermione babbled as they raced down the corridors. "And only one kept coming up in literature — her diadem."
"Her dia–what?"
"Rowena's diadem. Her crown."
Hermione came to an abrupt halt in front of the Ravenclaw common room. At least, that's what Draco assumed it must be. The door in the wall was just a bare plank of wood, with no way to get inside that he could see. Hermione lifted the knocker eagerly and let it drop.
"The man who makes me does not need me. The man who buys me does not use me. The man who uses me doesn't know he is. What am I?" a breathy voice asked.
"A coffin!" Hermione answered impatiently.
"What kind of a riddle is that?" Draco asked. "That's just morbid—" His words were cut off abruptly as the door swung open and Hermione pulled him inside.
"See?" she said, shoving him toward a marble statue at the base of a flight of stairs. Draco stumbled and almost fell, catching himself in the stone woman's arms.
"Tired of me already?" Draco complained, straightening up. Hermione wasn't paying attention.
"See? Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. This has to be it!"
"You think that the statue's a Horcrux?" Draco asked doubtfully.
"No, silly, the diadem. The real one! Wherever that may be," she said, slumping disconsolately down into a plush navy-blue armchair.
Draco leaned closer to the statue, eyeing the crown that the Hogwarts founder wore.
"What did you say it was made of?" he asked pensively.
"I didn't, but it's suppose to be made of silver. Goblin work."
Draco had the strange feeling that he had seen something similar fairly recently — within the last year, in fact. But he had tried so hard to bury those memories that he was having difficulty bringing them back up.
"Does silver change color?" he asked while he thought.
"Well, I guess so," Hermione answered, surprised. "Silver tarnishes over time, so it would become kind of bronzy after a while."
An old bronze-looking crown; he certainly hadn't seen it with Voldemort, and there was nothing like that in his father's house. He hadn't really gone anywhere last year; he was supposed to stay at Hogwarts and figure out a way to let the Deatheaters into the castle….
"I know where it is," he announced suddenly.
"What! Where?" Hermione cried, leaping out of her seat.
"The Room of Requirement."
"Are you sure?" she asked suspiciously. "I don't recall seeing anything like a crown in there before."
"It was in the Place Where Everything is Hidden. Believe me, I should know. I spent practically all last year in there."
Hermione was nearly bursting with excitement. "Do you know what this means? It's been destroyed! We don't have to worry about it anymore."
"I know that the Room of Requirement was destroyed, but what about everything in it?" Draco asked, hating to put a hole in her bubble of happiness, but feeling that he needed to bring up the point. "Are you sure no one tried to salvage anything?"
"No," Hermione confirmed. "I watched McGonagall destroy it myself right after the fight. She obliterated everything into Nothingness. There was no chance for anyone to take anything out of there; the diadem and whatever piece of Voldemort's soul it had trapped inside must have been eradicated."
"Well, that's the fourth Horcrux down. Congratulations."
Hermione sighed. "I do wish there was some way to check."
"I guess you'll know for sure once you take on Voldemort," Draco joked. Hermione didn't laugh, and in spite of his calm voice, Draco felt his heart give a small lurch at the thought. Another Horcrux down. That left three more between him and the day Voldemort became mortal.
He looked at the cat sitting contemplatively at his feet; and Harry Potter was one of the Horcruxes standing in his way.
-:-+-:-+-:-+-:-
The moon shone brightly through the trees. The figure in the middle of the clearing shivered slightly. He hated to be out in the light like this. It made him feel so…exposed.
"Obscuro," he whispered under his breath. Immediately a dark cloud scuttled across the sky, eclipsing the moon.
"I was not aware that you had werewolf blood," a high-pitched voice noted callously. "A pity for one who has served me so faithfully before now."
"My Lord, please do not confuse me for one of those cursed canines," the man bowed, his face turning white. "I merely do not care for the company of the moon."
The snake that trailed after the second figure slithered across the ground, wrapping itself sinuously around the first man's legs. He tried not to shiver.
"An interesting aversion," Voldemort opined. "But not why I summoned you here. Why did you fail to inform me that Harry Potter has left Hogwarts?"
"Forgive me, my Lord, but I did not inform you because I am not convinced that he has," came the nervous answer.
"Explain."
"It is certain that Potter is no longer a student there; he has not been seen for several weeks. My sources have informed me that the Order is quietly looking for him — they have not heard from him at all. It is his friends that make me think he might not really be gone."
The Dark Lord was silent. It was impossible to tell what thoughts were transpiring behind his serpentine face. The man plunged on.
"Though the blood-traitor Weasley was noticeably upset at Potter's disappearance, the girl seemed relatively unconcerned. The three of them have been together almost since the moment they arrived at Hogwarts — it is inconceivable that Potter would have left without informing at least one of them of his destination."
"And you believe that this girl knows?"
"I think she must have at least guessed. If he truly had left the school, nothing would have stopped her and Weasley from joining him; Gryffindor "loyalty" and all that muck. Either he is in no danger — unlikely with your spies searching for him so adamantly and with the Ministry on our side — or he's still at Hogwarts."
Voldemort looked pensive. The twisting of his thoughts caused his whole visage to twist as well; a metaphorical contortion of the man underneath. "We must get our hands on this girl, although the problem of kidnapping a Hogwarts student is as troublesome as it ever was, even with Dumbledore gone. How simple it would make things if I could just obtain one of Potter's friends and force him to come to me! Unfortunately, the wards of the castle have been raised, and the one place that might have provided me entry into the school has been destroyed."
Voldemort gave a low hiss and the snake Nagini uncoiled from around his servant's body, returning to its master. "Torture is of course a valid option—"
"My Lord, I'm not sure that is a good idea," the man said. Voldemort looked startled at the interruption, and fingered his wand irritably.
"It is likely that if she does indeed know Potter's location, she's been enchanted not to reveal it. Trying to force it from her might destroy our only means of ascertaining that information."
Tap, tap went the wand in Voldemort's hand. "There are ways around such curses."
The man bowed. "Perhaps, but my Lord overestimates my skill."
"Then what do you recommend?" he hissed.
"Watch, my Lord. Wait. I feel confident that the girl will try to contact Potter. When she does, I will be there to catch him."
The hooded figure stood silent for a long moment, causing the man to fidget nervously. Finally, he nodded. "Very well. Lord Voldemort is a man of patience. I have waited sixteen years, I can wait a little longer. But be warned," he said, holding up a skeletal finger, "even my patience has limits."
The man bowed again, trying not to tremble at the underlying threat. When he looked up, Lord Voldemort was gone.
Chapter 12 Summary:
Draco and Hermione identify one of the Horcruxes as Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, and Voldemort meets with a Hogwarts informant.