Chapter 7: Get yer motor running (a.k.a. The Call of Hiasobe, part 1)
Bacon! I smell bacon! Gotta be bacon, only one thing smells like bacon and that's bacon! Ron opened his eyes and hungrily sniffed the heavily scented morning air. "Bacon!", he blurted out droolingly, waking Hermione and Ginny. Harry was already awake, and was aiming his wand into the iron cauldron, blasting blue flames at a sizzling mass of bacon. "Bacon, anyone?" Hermione stood up, yawned, and stretched, and Ron, watching her stretch, forgot for a moment that there was bacon cooking for breakfast. Ginny peered into the cauldron. "I think it needs something, Harry." And from the cupboard she levitated half a dozen eggs and, blasting the shells off of them in midair, sent them crashing like missiles into the cauldron.
Fawkes took one look at breakfast, made a face that clearly read "Blucch!", and went outside to scratch the ground for seeds and grubs. The humans, however, absolutely devoured the stuff. And after breakfast, there was no need to clean out the cauldron, because bacon grease was one of the ingredients needed for the magical items tracking potion. And, with Severus Snape's potions book by her side and the cauldron still warm from breakfast, Hermione began the complicated sequence of stirring, heating, and adding just the right amounts of just the right substances at just the right time to make the potion work this time. Ron stayed by her side, handing her the vials she called for, and reading from the potions book when she was busy watching the potion itself for color changes. And by midmorning, the potion was done.
"I think I have it.", announced a cautious Hermione. The potion was glowing a light blue, and looked rather like a sky of puffy clouds. Now for the ring. Ginny removed it from her finger, and, suspended with a thread, lowered it into the potion. The light blue glow darkened, the puffy clouds turned gray, and forked lightning flashed inside the cauldron. Ginny then pulled the ring out, washed it, and put it back on her finger. The potion itself began to thicken, clumping into nine separate jellylike pieces. Ron handed Hermione nine vials, and into each one she placed a quivering clump of potion, and capped each with a cork. Once in the vials, the now nine separate potions developed like film in a darkroom, each one clearly depicting a scene, each scene showing a different item being hidden.
But seeing a scene doesn't mean that you know where it is or how to get there. Some they already recognized: The cave Harry and Dumbledore had gone to, the incence burner in the tombstone, and the ring in the wall at the House of Black. One vial depicted the Tom Riddle diary, another showed a unicorn which the Dark Lord was tortuously infusing with a piece of his own soul.
The remaining four vials showed scenes that nobody recognized.
And so without delay, it was back to the World Floo Library. Placing the first vial inside the crystal cauldron, Harry asked the question: "Where is this?" The scene inside the vial was echoed in larger form within the crystal cauldron. And then, like a camera zooming away from a close-up shot, it showed successively wider areas, until included within it were familiar landmarks, making it clear where to find the place, and hopefully the item itself. "Permanente!", ordered Harry, dropping into the cauldron a piece of blank parchment. And with a dry, crinkly sound, the scene floating within the crystal cauldron crystallized onto the parchment.
After repeating this procedure for each of the four mystery vials, the five friends began to review their treasure maps, and plan their next trip. There were four artifacts to retrieve, two of which would, hopefully, turn out to be horcruxes.
The first artifact looked like a Rook. A chesspiece, that is, made of marbly green stone, and was shown being hidden down in the dungeon of a small castle in Scotland.
The second item looked like a thimble, except that the tip was sharpened to a point. It was being hidden beneath a chicken coop on a farm in the Yorkshiredales.
If the first two items seemed within easy reach, the other two more than made up for it in difficulty, for the third item was located in what looked to be a labyrinth of secret chambers beneath the stage of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, Japan. As for the final hidden object, it seemed absurd to think there was any way to get it, and it made them wonder how on Earth any witch or wizard could have possibly put it there, for it was not on Earth at all. The last artifact was hidden deep within the sea of Europa, moon of Jupiter.
Well, the sea of Europa would have to wait; for now, there were other, closer places to go. And hopefully, they could find what they needed right here on Earth. The farm in the Yorkshiredales being the closest, it seemed the logical choice for their next trip. "So Fawkes, can you apparate us out to the Yorkshiredales?" inquired Hermione. Fawkes shook his head. "A bit far, especially with four passengers." Harry glanced forlornly in the direction of the broom closet. "So I guess brooms are out of the question." This time it was Ron who came up with a better idea. "Trundles!", he blurted out. "That old car we flew to Hogwarts in, remember that thing?"
And so as morning turned to afternoon, brooms in hand, they apparated out to the Shrieking Shack. Cruising high above the Forbidden Forest, they searched for some sign of the vehicle. "I hope Trundles is still running", hoped Ron. "I hope it'll agree to our trip", hoped Harry. "I hope we can find the thing", hoped Ginny.
"Beep!" The sound echoed up through the forest canopy as Trundles noticed its former passengers overhead. Doing a classic Immleman, it rose to meet them in midair, and it was as though Trundles already knew what they had planned, for the doors were open and in they all piled.
Trundles was in remarkable shape, considering the complete lack of maintennance over the last several years. That is, it hadn't fallen apart yet. And as afternoon turned into the twilight of evening, the car and its five passengers set off for Diagon Alley, where Trundles spent the night in a wizard garage getting some much-needed work done, while its passengers spent the night in the nearby Flying Dutchman.
Then off to the Yorkshiredales.
As it was less conspicuous, and as this was a trip through the countryside, they went muggle style, driving rather than flying. And they actually followed the roadways. As the suburbs gave way to rolling fields of green, the horcrux hunters noticed a change in the air. It was cooler, and it smelled cleaner. The remainder of their drive passed in what could be termed a magical muggle moment, with the radio playing songs like the Beatles' "Day Tripper", and the wind blowing through their hair. The only nonmugglesome thing about their appearance was that Fawkes had perched himself out front like a hood ornament, his wings spread out to catch the sun and the breeze. Big red barns and expansive green pastures full of cows dotted the roadsides, and Ron and Hermione were so busy laughing it up and enjoying the scenery that they didn't even notice Harry and Ginny snogging in the back seat.
That's right, snogging; once the two realized that the whole reason they broke up was rubbish (Remember, Harry had left so as not to endanger Ginny, only to find out she was in grave danger anyway), their lips had met again, Harry's tongue exploring those little ridges along the roof of Ginny's mouth.
And soon the farm they were headed for swam into view. And quite a farm it was, with horses, cows, ducks, chickens, and all the other critters one would expect of such a place. They drove up to the farmhouse to find the farmer and his wife sitting on the front porch removing the strings from several bushels of string beans.
"We're tourists from London", lied Hermione, producing a fake camera she had conjured during the drive. "Mind if we take some pictures of the animals?" The farm couple nodded. "Take all the pictures ye want.", the old lady added. And then she noticed the bird atop Trundles' hood. "That's a Japanese Flame Macaw.", lied Hermione. The farmer's wife responded with raucous laughter. "A Japanese Flame Macaw? Is that what you're calling yourself now, Fawkes?" Fawkes did a double take. "Bernice?" A gleam in Bernice's eyes brought instant recognition. "Fawkes the phoenix, Dumbledore's magical accompaniament!", remenisced Bernice. "Albus and I went to school together; how's the old geezer doing these days?"
A tear escaped Fawkes' eye. "He's passed on." The laughter faded from Bernice's tone, to be replaced with a resolute look. "Tell me he died fighting for what he believed in." Fawkes nodded. "Caught the avada kedavra right between the eyes. From a death eater." Bernice nodded, her eyes closing in respect for the dead.
"Stupid Snape..." fumed Ginny.
Bernice looked quizzically at Ginny, who was standing along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, their arms crossed, their eyes squinting in a dark sulk at the thought of Severus Snape and his killing of their Headmaster Dumbledore. "Snape killed Albus? That doesn't sound right, they were friends."
Ginny Weasley hadn't really shown it, but ever since the death of Albus Dumbledore, she had been smoldering with a quiet rage. She wanted blood. Snape's blood. More than that, Ginny's fantasies had turned to thoughts of torture. The killing curse, of course, would be too easy on him. Crucio him into insanity. Use Prof. What-was-his-name's forgetting jinx to rip out his memories, one by one, until he didn't even know that his name was Severus. No, let him keep his memories, so he'd know why she hated him. Chain him to a tree and beat him to death with her fists.
Now, at the mention of his name, her anger reached the boiling point. "They were not friends! Snape was just using him, and Dumbledore was foolish to trust that lying sneaking bastardly death-eating backstabbing phony dark-worshipping evil dog-turd, Sever-his-head Snape the snake!" All heads turned to gawk at Ginny, who, with her teeth bared and her fingers flexed like claws, looked like a bengal tiger about to rip an antelope to shreds.
"Actually, Ginny", began Fawkes, "there is something I haven't told you about Severus..." But Ginny started screaming again. "Like what, he's a donkey in disguise? Half-blood Prince my ass! I'll drink half his blood and smear the other half all over!" Everyone was, at this point, backing away from the raging redhead. Everyone, that is, but Fawkes, who was looking into her eyes with a soulful deep stare that let her know that it was Albus's soul, or at least half of it, peering out at her from behind those obsidian bird eyes. Ginny's rage turned to bewilderment, and she was ready to listen.
A/N ok, in chapter 8, fawkes will tell about Snape and why he killed Bumblebore.
Oh, and those hens are on this farm, somewhere, I just seem to be having difficulty
getting around to them. It's not like I actually have an outline for this story.
Whatever happens happens, ok? (Note: its called "attention deficit disorder") blah blah blah...
yeah, I know its been awhile since ch6. I haven't given up on this...
