19. Chapel of Betrayal
Harry, Ron and Hermione passed through the gates of Hogwarts on their way to the church where most Hufflepuff graduates took their vows. The day was grey, gloomy and unwelcoming, and the air was chilled below freezing, so they dressed in layers of clothing in an effort to shut out the cold.
They had on the warmly knitted jumpers that each of them had received from Mrs. Weasley for Christmas last year, and their heavy winter cloaks, not to mention boots made from waterproof Niffler fur (one of the softest and warmest skins available).
The ground was tiresomely laden with snow, which they sank almost knee deep into as they trudged away from the gates.
'Couldn't we have waited for another time to do this? When we could actually walk across the ground, rather than having to wade through it?' Ron asked grimly.
'No, we couldn't!' Harry said sharply.
'We don't have time Ronald.' Hermione said. Then she stumbled suddenly, Harry grasping her arm and yanking her to her feet, stopping her from ending up face first in snow.
'Where is this place anyway?' Ron said gloomily 'If it's any further North of here, I'm going back to get your smorbal.'
'It's called a snorkel, and they're used under water, not under snow! Anyway, I seriously doubt you'll be needing it in London!' Hermione said wryly. 'Stop complaining and grab my arm.'
'I hope you know what you're doing.' He said to Hermione as he staggered awkwardly toward her. 'You've never done a side-along before, let alone with two people.'
Ron's sulky warning may have had more impact if it wasn't for the fact that he had just walked straight out of his boots, leaving them behind him embedded in the snow. Both of his big toes were exposed through well-worn holes in his motley old socks, and holding them up in a desperate, and fruitless attempt to avoid them touching the snow, he danced around, swearing as he tried to dig his boots out.
'Stop messing about, Ron!' Hermione said impatiently. He gave her a withered look as Harry interrupted.
'Are you sure you can get us all there?' he asked her.
'Of course I can!' she haughtily.
Ron had finally replaced his boots, though he walked as if his feet were embedded in concrete.
'I'd rather not be splinched, if it's at all possible. There aren't too many parts of me that I can spare.' He said.
'Especially the grey-matter type.' Hermione quipped under her breath.
'Look, lets just get on with it, shall we?' Harry had been listening to Ron and Hermione taking cheap shots at each other all week, and had had just about enough of it. Ron and Harry each gripped one of Hermiones arms firmly and closed their eyes as the uncomfortable compression started to set in.
A few suffocating seconds later they were standing on a rather dingy looking deserted street, which had dirty snow swept into the guttering, and several many story buildings rising either side of the road, all in a neglected state of disrepair.
Hermione headed off immediately, crossing the street and stopping before a very old, rather plain looking building, which was only identifiable as a church because it had a rather rusty steeple atop of its small peak on the roof. Ron moved off to follow her, patting himself down to check all of him had made it, while Harry stamped the excess snow off his boots, before trudging over to join them.
'Doesn't exactly look very romantic, does it?' Ron smirked.
Hermione huffed without looking at them, and climbed the few stone steps, and turning the iron ring handle, pushed the door in, disappearing into the darkness beyond.
Ron lifted his head, scanning the building glumly, before climbing the stairs and following Hermione into the darkness beyond. Harry trailed them, his mind barely on what he was doing. The moment he had arrived on the street opposite the church, a strange feeling had come over him, like maybe he'd been there before.
It took a moment for Harry's eyes to adjust to the dim light that streamed through the dirty windows, penetrating the dusty air in the small chamber they now stood in. There were about a dozen pews, skewed awkwardly and uncaringly before a small, plain altar that stood upon an unassuming platform which was covered in a tatty, multicoloured carpet reminiscent of the type you would most likely find down at the local "Horse 'n' Hound", rather than a "House of God".
Two candelabras coated with old candle wax stood upon the altar, which was shrouded in a rather dusty, yellowed embroidered doily that was stained with what looked to be blood, but upon closer inspection turned out to be red wine.
Cobwebs could be seen hanging from every arched rafter and window recess, and the worn burgundy cushions that were thrown higgledy-piggledy across the pews looked like they might disintegrate if anyone ever actually dared sit on one.
The drapes that hung from what appeared to be a line of three old disused confessional boxes, were greyish and threadbare, and had chunks missing from the bottoms of them as if they had quite literally eroded.
As Harry wandered the recesses, inspecting the old statues that were placed between each of the windows, Ron picked up a cushion, smacking it with his hand in an effort to clean it up enough to sit on. He had to lean back, holding the cushion at arms length, coughing and spluttering loudly, as he choked on the dust that billowed from it.
'Well, Hermione … this must be every girls dream.' Ron said. She looked at him scathingly, though as she continued to eye the dilapidated décor, Harry saw her cringe ever so slightly.
'Maybe it just hasn't been used in a while…' she said, trying to sound positive, but clearly finding it very difficult to understand what on earth Zach had been thinking. 'Probably just needs a bit of a clean up.'
'A clean up?' Ron said trying to suck in the grin that curbed his lips. 'Nothing short of blasting it out of existence and rebuilding would bring this place up to scratch!' He said, obviously pleased about something.
Harry silently agreed, but decided not to involve himself.
As he walked behind the alter, he reached out and pulled aside some worn red velvet curtains that hung draped over a life size painting of a rather stately looking lady and her pet creature.
'Hermione, come and have a look at this.' He ran his fingers over the small mounds of the brush strokes, curious as to what the animal was.
'Ah! There you are, my angel!' Harry and Ron spun round immediately as Hermione winced painfully, preferring to pick up a dusty old tome from the pedestal rather than face her "intended beau". 'I must apologize for being inexcusably late, mother was fussing over which tie I should wear.' Zach waved his hand dismissively as he waltzed over to Hermione and placed his arms firmly around her waist.
'I tried to point out to her when one has so many excellent ties, all one really need do is leave it to Spider, he has the most outstanding fashion sense of any House Elf I've ever known.' He leant in to kiss Hermione's lips, though missed and getting her cheek instead as she strategically turned her face, flicking a page over idly.
'And I see you have brought along one of your little friends,' He appeared to have to drag himself away from Hermione as he made his way over to Ron, whose face was like thunder. Ron stood up and grabbed another cushion, and then just as Zach approached him with his hand extended, he began beating it sadistically. Zach doubled up as he choked and wheezed, encased in a plumb of ancient dust.
'Oh, sorry 'bout that.' Ron said flatly and placed the cushion on the pew beside him. 'Thought you might like a seat.'
'That's …' a coughing fit ensued as he tried to speak 'quite alright…' he said between splutters. 'Actually,' he cleared his throat as his eyes watered, 'this isn't really the best place to sit and chat.' He returned to Hermione, once again seemingly unable to keep his hands off her as he pulled her back to him. She was facing Harry, giving him a rather embarrassed look, when Zach finally noticed he was there.
'Oh,' he said, less than enthusiastically, 'I hadn't realized you'd be coming.' Harry could tell Zach was feeling threatened by him. The story the Daily Prophet had run some time ago about he and Hermione being an item was possibly still lingering in his mind.
Rather than reassure him, Harry chose to use Zach's obvious discomfort to intimidate him, not at all happy with his need to have his hands all over her.
'Of course. Hermione and I have known each other a long time. I want to see what she is letting herself in for, and going by the state of this place,' Harry let his eyes roam the dank chamber 'it's a good job Ron and I came.'
Zach raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'You can't seriously think I'd get married in this place, let alone subject the light of my life to such filth!'
'Well, what are we doing here then? I thought you said this is where all the prominent Hufflepuff marriages take place?' Hermione struggled to turn in his firm grip to face him.
'They do, my lovely!' Zach said brightly. Harry could see Ron's fists clenching and unclenching as he watched the two of them. 'But not in this section! This is the only part of the original church that still stands. The street frontage has been kept the same drab way to keep the muggles out. The real hall lays beneath.' He finally released Hermiones waist, and grabbed her around the shoulders instead. 'I'll show you.' He said smugly.
Hermione and Zach entered one of the dilapidated confessional boxes, and as Ron went to squeeze in after them, he gave Ron a rather pompous look and directed him and Harry into an adjoining one.
'Press your wand tip to the small gold button next to the window grate.' He said, and within seconds, they could feel the floor of the boxes dropping from beneath them rapidly.
Harry and Ron steadied themselves by spreading their feet apart, but it was apparent, when they eventually stepped out of their box, that Zach had taken the opportunity of Hermiones unsteadiness, to pull her to him, seemingly willing to stoop to any level to keep her close.
Ron reached in and yanked her free as Zach was apparently loathed to let her go even after they had stopped. Her face as red as Rons, and her eyes turned to the floor as Zach, for the first time since seeing Ron and Hermione together, eyed him off challengingly. Harry removed his beanie, the warmth of the underground hall seeping through him immediately, and keen to keep things as pleasant as possible turned everyone's attention to unexpected site that greeted them.
Never would he have guessed, after just descending from the neglected chamber above, that there would be such a place of well cared for beauty, below. It was obviously a well-kept secret as there was nothing about the outside building, which indicated that rather high society wizard weddings took place here.
Hermione walked through entranced at the wondrously high arched ceiling that was similar to Hogwarts Great Hall's except instead of reflecting the weather, it housed floating cherubs who threw flower petals from small cane baskets hung over their arms, and twinkling fairies that darted gently to and fro, sprinkling translucent, glittering fairy dust on the four of them as they passed below.
The décor itself when they first entered, was a warm lemon colour with white and silver trim, but it gradually faded and changed to various other colour schemes that were just as beautiful, including lilac and palest blues with gold trims and Salmon pink and white, trimmed with a pale mushroom cream.
Great archways enclosed the aisle to the altar, which was raised on a three-tiered platform, and was decorated in an assortment of some of the most beautiful flowers they had ever seen. Harry watched Hermione as she walked hypnotically to the altar, glancing at Ron every now and then to ensure he wasn't about to lose it and blow their cover wide open. But Ron did not seem aggravated or ready to explode at all, which was surprising in an even more disturbing way than if he had looked livid. Instead he looked crest-fallen as he sat down dejectedly in one of the beautifully ornate pews, which along with the rest of the décor kept changing colour.
Harry, feeling it safe to do some real looking around, ventured off around the hall, inspecting every statue and icon, including the stained glass windows which were lit from behind magically as they were underground. He went over the altar, the pews, and even the small rooms off to the side, but he found nothing out of the ordinary.
'Does it always do this?' Hermione asked dreamily at the colour variations.
'Oh no,' Zach said as he came up behind her, obviously over the moon at her reaction. 'This has been set up so that we can choose any colour scheme you want. On the day it will stay the way you choose.' Hermione was still staring at the ceiling. Zach spun her around to face him, and positioned his face within inches of hers.
'You can have it any way you want. It'll be everything you ever dreamed of.' He bent his head to close the small gap, and kissed her. She kissed him back for a moment, seemingly swept up in it all, but then she pulled away from him quite suddenly. Harry just made out her mouthing "not now" to Zach, before he saw Ron rise and make his way back over to the confessional boxes.
Moving swiftly to intercept him, Harry yanked him inside one of the booths. 'C'mon Ron, you know she doesn't like that prat! She's doing all of this so we can find the cup.'
'I can never offer her all of this Harry. I'll never be able to make her happy like he could. You know it as well as I do. She'd be better off with someone like him.' He said gravely.
'I think you're reading more into this than there is. So she likes the chapel, but you and I both know Hermione's not that shallow.'
'You two ready to go back?' Zach pulled the curtain back, eyeing them curiously, Hermione still firmly by his side.
'Yeah,' said Ron, his eyes seemingly unable to meet Hermiones.
'What about you?' Zach turned to Hermione. 'Ready beautiful?' Hermione nodded and they entered the booth next to Ron and Harry, and all of them began their ascent.
After being in the pristinely magical surrounds of the chapel underground, the chamber above looked even worse than it had before.
'I've got to head back, if I'm not back within the hour, mother will have half the wizarding world out looking for me.' Zach tried to move in on Hermione again, but this time she was not so distracted, and stepped towards the door so she could usher him away quickly. She gave Harry a meaningful look, and he followed her closely, dragging Ron by the sleeve of his jacket until Zach grudgingly let her go, and disapparated.
'Did you find anything?' Hermione directed her question at Harry, as it was clear Ron wasn't likely to be particularly receptive.
'No,' Harry said, his voice laced with disappointment as he replaced his beanie. 'At least not down in the new section, though I didn't really get much of a chance to check the old part out thoroughly.'
'I imagine we'll be back,' Ron goaded. 'Hermione's gonna wanna pick her colour scheme yet.'
'You're so right as usual Ronald!' She said angrily, her voice dripping with sarcasm 'That's exactly why I'll need to come back. Its always been a dream of mine to get married at the age of seventeen.' Then as an after thought, 'If I'm really lucky I'll be pregnant before I even leave Hogwarts!' Her anger was raising her voice to almost a shrill. 'No need to study ever again, I'll just stay at home like the good little wifie, bringing up a dozen screaming little brats. Still, there is one upside, none of them are likely to have red hair!' Ron scowled as he kicked the crumbling little stonewall, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
'You won't need to worry about that, that's for sure! Why don't you and Harry head back together?' He said nastily 'I think I'll stop in at the Three Broomsticks for a while. I hear Madame Rosmerta's been asking after me since the battle of Hogsmeade. Seamus says she's been wanting to thank me, and I think its about time I took her up on it!'
'Hah!' Hermione mocked. 'Fine!'
'Fine!' Ron returned angrily and started to walk off, but in their need for someone to back them up and justify their behaviour, they both noticed Harry was no longer with them.
He was heading determinedly down the street, now some distance from the two of them, eyeing a rather grim, square looking building, surrounded by high railings that had a set of iron gates leading to a baron looking courtyard.
'Harry! Where are you going?' She asked rather testily.
Harry continued on in the same direction, nearing the building that seemed to draw him hypnotically towards it.
'Harry!' Hermione's voice was becoming more urgent now. 'What are you doing?'
'Oi! Mate, what are looking at?' Ron was yelling.
As Harry approached the building, he was unable to speak, unable to answer their calls. Pulling up before the large iron gates, he placed a gloved hand on one of the bars as if by touching it, it would become undeniably real.
He could hear Ron and Hermione's footsteps quickening as they came up behind him, but he could not yet draw his gaze from the deadened building. The minute his eyes had fallen upon it, he knew he had seen it before. In fact, he had not only seen it before, he had been there.
Ron and Hermione were panting as they came to a halt at the gates, trying to understand what it was that had held Harry's attention so completely.
'What?' Ron breathed as he bent over and placed his hands on his knees, the cold air making it all the more difficult to draw in breath.
'This is it' Harry said, almost not daring to speak it aloud, both his gloved hands now clutching at the cold metal bars on the gate.
'This is what?' Hermione said, breathing heavily as her eyes roamed over the impossibly dull building.
Harry let go of the gate and took a step back, taking it all in. 'This is where Tom Riddle grew up.' He still spoke as if he said it too loud, it would disappear.
'What?' Ron said unbelievably as he straightened to get a better look.
'Are you sure?' Hermione too, had taken to almost whispering, whether following Harry's lead, or more likely, was awed at the realization that this was the place where the darkest wizard of all time had spent his childhood.
'This is the orphanage Dumbledore came to when he offered Riddle a place at Hogwarts.' Harry still couldn't quite believe he was suddenly faced with it. 'This is where he brought me in the pensieve.'
All three of them stood silently watching the building for a time, and then Harry took a step forward to the gates and lifted the latch. It creaked open ominously as he passed through it.
'What are you doing?' Hermione half whispered.
'It looks like someone still lives here' Harry said as he craned his neck back, staring up at a small light on in one of the third floor windows.
'So what if they do?' Ron was also whispering, obviously affected by the disturbing history of the place. 'How's that going to help us find…' he cut himself off before blurting out aloud the reason they had come.
Harry ignored them and made his way up the few stairs to the door, and lifting his hand, hesitating for the tiniest moment, he knocked lightly, looking back at Ron and Hermione standing outside the gate. He waited with great anticipation, but no answer came.
He knocked again, more forcefully this time, and waited. It was becoming obvious that no one was in, and just as he started to descend the stairs, he heard the rough clanging of a massive bolt being slid open on the other side of the door. Abruptly it swung inwards, revealing a rather skinny, frail old woman.
She had grizzled grey hair that stuck out in all directions from a poorly twisted bun, and a number of spiky looking grey whiskers protruding from her chin. Her rather wrinkled features seemed to bare the weight of a hard life, and her clothing was drab to the extreme, yet was overlaid in stark contrast by a bright floral apron that seemed glaringly inappropriate.
'Yes?' she demanded in a crackly old voice, somewhat out of breath.
'Oh, er … I don't mean to bother you-'
'Of course you do! Why else would you come knocking on my door?' As she spoke, she showed her crooked, yellowed teeth that looked like they were barely hanging from her receding gums, and in between those crooked, yellowed teeth, were black gaps where it seemed that some of her teeth had finally lost the battle to cling on.
Harry tried to avoid looking at it.
'Er … um, I-I was just wondering if you know anything about the orphanage that used to be here?'
The woman paused for the longest time, just staring at him, and then a small smile crept across her crooked mouth.
'What's your name boy?'
Harry didn't know if this woman was muggle or witch, but with his beanie on his scar was hidden out of sight. 'Harry' He said 'Harry Potter.'
'Of course you are!' she said. She glanced around him at the two teenagers hovering at the gate. 'Friends of yours?' she said accusingly.
'Er … yeah,'
'Well, its all the same to me if they want to wait out here in the cold.' She held the door open just enough to allow Harry to pass through, and as he stepped over the threshold, he looked back nervously at Ron and Hermione. They exchanged glances and walked slowly to the open door as Harry disappeared behind it. The iron-gate clanged shut behind them, making them both jump as they half glanced over their shoulders.
'Well, come on then!' the old woman crackled impatiently. 'You get to my age, you don't have time to be waitin' on people as slow as you two!'
Ron turned to Hermione, all thoughts of their previous pettiness forgotten. 'I'm not sure this is such a good idea.' He said under his breath as they continued to approach slowly. 'There's something about her-'
'You don't trust?' Hermione finished, looking just as apprehensive. But with Harry already inside, what choice did they have? They mounted the stairs, and Ron, taking Hermione by the arm, all the while placing himself between her and the grizzled old woman, entered to hallway. The door was slammed shut and bolted behind them.
Harry stood in the familiar black and white tiled entry hall, staring up the stone stairs, pulling off his gloves, half expecting the younger looking Dumbledore and the eleven year old Tom Riddle to come strolling down towards them. But it appeared the place was empty now, though it had an unpleasant smell that reminded Harry of Mrs. Figgs, the squib that lived down the street from the Dursleys. The frazzled old woman was watching Harry silently as he shoved his gloves idly in his cloak pocket and pulled off his beanie. Tom's old room was up there somewhere, just meters from where he now stood.
Without realizing it, Harry's hand had gripped the balustrade, and he had one foot already on the lower step as if he were about to climb the stairs. Then, as his face turned to the second landing, an unnaturally cold draft seemed to pass right through him. His hair ruffled almost unnoticeably causing a shudder to ripple down his spine as he felt the breath leave him momentarily.
'Harry?' Hermione came up beside him, but even her familiar voice was unable to drag his eyes from the floor above. 'What is it?'
'Didn't you feel it?' he breathed.
'What?' she frowned as she followed his gaze. Ron joined them at the foot of the stairs.
'What are you looking at?' He asked, watching their expressions.
'Look if you will, that's why you're here isn't it?' The woman's gravely voice drew all of them to turn their heads and look at her. Her lips curled into a dry smile as she looked directly at Harry. 'I wish I could be of more help dear, but you wont find anything. This place has been empty for more than sixteen years. There's nothing here now but some useless old furniture, plenty of cobwebs and…' she trailed off.
'And what?' Harry dropped to the foot of the stairs again as he turned to face her. 'There is something else here too, I know. What is it?'
'What makes you think so?' she said, smiling as she raised an eyebrow. Harry's eyes narrowed.
'Because I can feel it.'
The old woman cackled at Harry's words. 'It is not my place to understand what may lurk here.' Her laughter died as quickly as it had been born. 'As Dumbledore knew well.'
'Dumbledore?' Harry asked 'He put you here?'
'He did.' Harry had the impression she did not like Dumbledore.
'What do you know about this place?' He pushed.
'It was an orphanage once.'
'And the Chapel down the road?' Harry asked intently. The woman's mild expression changed at the mention of the chapel. Her face dropped.
'I know nothing about the Chapel.' She said flatly.
'But it would have been the local chapel for the orphanage, wouldn't it?' Hermione asked innocently.
'That was before my time. For all I know, they never visited the chapel.' The woman eyed Hermione out of the corner of her eye.
'Why are you here?' Harry asked her 'What did Dumbledore ask of you?'
'He told me to mind the place. Watch over it. He knew that you would come.' She said slyly.
'How is that possible?' Harry interjected abruptly. 'I didn't know myself until just now when I stumbled onto the place by accident.'
The old woman seemed to grow nervously impatient at Harry's continued questioning. She waved her hand at the stairway.
'The room you seek is on the first floor, third door to the right.'
Harry watched the woman for a moment, eyeing her curiously as she avoided his gaze, before turning back to the stone steps.
'Don't take too long, dear!' she said in a falsely honeyed voice as Hermione and Ron fell in behind Harry.
They climbed the stone stairs as if it were the last thing they wanted to do. When they reached the first landing, Harry glanced over his shoulder to see if the woman had followed them, but she was nowhere in sight.
'She lied.' Harry said as he looked down the hallway.
'What are you talking about?' Hermione asked in a hoarse whisper.
'She lied about where Tom Riddle's room was.' Harry was speaking softly so that the three of them had to crowd their heads together.
'How do you know?' asked Ron.
'I went to Riddle's room with Dumbledore when he brought me here in the pensieve. It's off the second landing, not the first, and it was the first door.'
'But Dumbledore put her here. Why would she lie?' Hermione asked sceptically.
'I don't know.'
'Maybe she wasn't lying.' They both turned to look at Ron 'I mean, yeah, she's a bit weird, I know,' Weird was putting it mildly as far as Harry was concerned. 'But maybe she doesn't know you're here to see Riddle's room.'
'If Dumbledore put her here, she would know why I came.' Harry stated darkly.
'Maybe the room you should be looking at is that one down there.' Ron continued as he motioned his head to the doorway. 'Not Riddle's old room at all.'
Harry went quiet as he thought about what Ron had said. But it didn't seem right. Something told him it was Riddles room that would be the only important place here to both Harry and Voldemort.
'What do we do?' Hermione's whispers were getting quieter, but more urgent. Harry looked about him for a moment.
'Ron, you wait outside the door down there,' Harry pointed to the chipped and flaky wooden third door down the hallway. 'And whatever you do, do not go into that room! Hermione, you come with me.' Harry started to move off towards the stairs again.
'Hang on, what am I supposed to do if she comes up looking for you?' Ron asked.
'Hold her off with chit-chat… and if that doesn't work …' Harry winced as he shrugged 'Hex her.' He continued up the stairs with Hermione in tow.
'Great!' They could hear Ron mumbling as he headed down the passageway. 'Hex an old woman that Dumbledore put here to guard the place!' he scoffed 'Brilliantly cunning plan.' His voice trailed off as Harry and Hermione stopped in front of the first door after quietly making their way to the second landing.
Harry put his hand on the door handle.
'WAIT!' Hermione reached out and placed her hand over his to stop him from turning the handle. 'If this is Tom Riddle's old room, and that old woman didn't want us to get in here, then maybe its protected.' Harry looked into her worried eyes and pulled his hand away.
'Hermione, I have to get in there.' He knew there was a link, a reason the Hufflepuff chapel had led him straight to the orphanage where Riddle grew up. As they stood there, the temperature dropped dramatically, and Harry shuddered, grabbing Hermione's arm.
'Can you feel that?'
'What?' she was studying his face, trying to work out what it was he was talking about.
'Cold.' He said. Hermione looked down and saw the Goosebumps on his wrist above the hand that gripped her.
'Are you all right?'
'I have been waiting for you, Harry Potter.'
A chilling voice that seemed to come from no direction in particular, swept around Harry and echoed through him.
'Who are you?' he asked, his heartbeat racing as his head turned, urgently seeking the source of the ghostly being. His eyes fell on Hermione, who by the way she was looking at him, had heard nothing.
'I am the one who will help you into his room, and I ask for only one thing in return.' The voice rasped as the cold seeped through Harry's thick clothing. His breath was coming out frosted as he started to shiver.
'What?'
'Harry, are you okay?' Hermione was watching him as he clasped his arms about him, shrinking in the cold.
'You must avenge my trust in him. You must swear ... no matter what the cost to you ... you will destroy him!'
The voice hissed in what sounded like a hundred whispering voices. Harry lowered his head as images of the people Harry cared about flashed before him, lingering on Ginny.
'I can't.' He whispered.
'Harry!' Hermione had his face in her hands, trying to get him to look at her.
'Swear it, and you shall enter!'
'Harry! Look at me!'
Harry pulled his gaze to meet hers. He rallied every ounce of strength and conviction from her compassion for him.
'I'll do it.' He said, still shaking. 'Whatever it costs me ... I swear.'
'Who are you talking to? What are promising?' Hermione persisted.
'Once I disarm the room, my job is done. You will be on your own.'
The voice passed through him again.
'Who are you? Are you a ghost?' Harry repeated.
'I am the true heir of what you seek. I am neither ghost, nor living. I bargained my death away so I could carry out this one task ... You will know when it is time to enter.'
'Harry! What's happening? Who are you talking to?' Hermione's urgent voice penetrated Harry's concentration as the terrible coldness left him.
A whooshing sound came from inside the room and directly after, a flash of bright light splayed out from under the gap in the door. Hermione was gripping Harry's arm painfully as they both waited.
The room was silent.
'It's time.' Harry said, prying Hermiones hand off his arm. 'You wait here.'
'Harry. No way!' She said frowning at him. 'You don't know what's waiting for you beyond that door!' He gave Hermione a reassuring look.
'Its okay to enter now, and I'd rather you were here keeping an eye out, just in case.'
She nodded resignedly. 'Be careful.'
He reached out and turned the small round brass handle, and as it squeaked with apparent disuse, Harry took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold, easing the door open. The first thing he noticed lying in the middle of the floor was a distorted image of a shadowy transparent body that still had some solidity to it. Truly it was neither ghost nor living, and yet now that it had form, Harry knew who it was immediately.
He trod carefully around the figure and headed straight to the wardrobe. He opened it not nearly as apprehensively as he perhaps should have, already knowing that he would not find what he was looking for in such an obvious place. He then made a thorough search of the entire room, which because of the spells that had guarded it, was exactly as it had been when Harry had visited it in the pensieve. After maybe five minutes of rummaging around in the scantily furnished bedroom, he sat on the dusty, squeaky bed, defeated.
What was he looking for? It was the first time he had bothered to ask himself the question, relying purely on instinct that something had drawn him there. Not the cup, certainly not here. As he sat, his thoughts turned to what it must have been like for Riddle to grow up in such a place. It was grimmer even than where Harry himself had been raised, but the similarities were undeniable.
He thought about how many times Riddle must have sat on the edge of this bed wondering why he didn't fit in, which in some strange way seemed to mirror his own existence. He couldn't count how many times he had sat on the edge of his bed wishing he had been anywhere else. Knowing he was treated differently from those around him. Knowing he had his secrets.
Secrets.
Harry had his secrets as a boy, and had found what he thought was an ideal hiding place for them, and it had even proved to be just that as his spot was never discovered in the whole time he had used it. Without hesitating, he dropped onto his knees and inspected the floorboards underneath the bed. They were laden with years of dust, and to Harry's disappointment, they appeared to be smooth and even, and showed no signs of tampering with.
He ran his hands along the boards, collecting dust and feeling for anything that might indicate a slight anomaly, something that may indicate he was right, that he and Tom shared more in common than either of them could ever have imagined. He flicked off the sticky fluff that clung to his fingers, and his thumb jabbed painfully into a floorboard, and as he brought it up to his face to inspect the damage, he noticed the board he had hit was sitting slightly raised at one end. His thumb forgotten, he leaned under the bed and jiggled the board until it finally came loose in his hand. Lifting it away, he felt somewhat daunted at the similarities between himself and Voldemort.
It was a short while before he could bring himself to look into the cavity, though it was impossible to see anything in the darkness under the bed, so Harry pushed the bed aside, its metal legs scraping noisily across the floor. Just as he was about to reach his hand in, Hermione poked her head around the door.
'Is everything okay?' she asked with a worried look on her face.
'Fine. Keep an eye out, I wont be much longer.'
'Okay. And Harry…' she stopped midway from closing the door. 'Be careful.' He smiled, not really understanding what he thought was so amusing, but as soon as she closed the door, he reached his hand back in and felt around with his fingers.
His finger hit upon something that felt almost like nothing. He might have missed it but it was slightly lumpy, though short, yet flat as well, almost like paper, yet not paper. He scrambled his fingers around it until he had a firm grip and lifted it out, not knowing what to expect, yet definitely not expecting what he brought out of the dark hole, and into the light near his face. He pocketed them immediately, then placed his hand back into the open space, but unable to detect anything else, he replaced the floorboard and bed, and headed for the door, again looking at the shadowy figure on the floor.
Her face, which from the position of her body Harry would have expected to be contorted in pain, was instead peaceful looking. A slight smile curled her lips below her eyes that were open, but not looking surprised or shocked at her demise, instead looking satisfied, like she had achieved something that had been a long time in the making. Harry walked to the door and turned to take one last look at what was once Hepzibah Smith, before turning the handle and being faced immediately with Hermiones concerned expression.
'I think its time we gott out of here.' He said.
'Did you find anything?'
'I don't know. I got something, but I don't know if it will help. I'll show you later, but we need to get out of here. Have you heard anything from downstairs?'
'No.' she said 'but I agree we can't afford to stay any longer.'
They collected Ron who was still standing outside the third door on the first floor, looking rather relieved to see them, and as they reached the bottom of the stone steps, they had expected to be accosted by the old woman, but she was conspicuously absent.
Taking advantage of the moment, Harry led Ron and Hermione to the front door. Unbolting it, they headed down the few stairs to the metal gate they had entered through. Once it closed behind them, they all breathed more easily as they followed Harry back down the street.
'What are we doing going back there?' Ron asked as he looked up at the steeple.
'I don't know. But I found something in Riddles room, and I'll just bet it's got something to do with finding the cup.'
'Yeah, well fine.' Said Ron. 'But why here? Why the Chapel? We've already been through this place.' He said, then turning to Hermione he added. 'Unless of course, Hermione just can't stay away.'
'You know Ron, you can be such a-'
'This has got nothing to do with Hermione.' Harry cut her off before a full on war broke out. 'There's a reason why the orphanage is so close to the chapel. Hermione was right, they must have used this chapel for the kids in the orphanage, and it's the perfect place for Tom Riddle to identify Hufflepuff with.' Harry crossed the road to the chapel, Hermione at his heels, and Ron walking sulkily some paces behind them.
The three of them climbed the stone steps and Harry turned the ring handle to let them in. As before it took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but Harry was on a mission this time. He knew somewhere here there was the connection he was looking for. He took the strips from his pocket that he had retrieved from under riddles bed, and lit his wand to study them more closely. They were short, black and flat, but with a slightly lumpy texture, and had a small hole in one end of each of them. Hermione and Ron peered over his shoulder to see what it was he was so interested in, and when he explained to them it was what he had come out of Riddle's room with, both of them exchanged dubious glances. Harry sighed.
'Look, I know it doesn't look like much, but it has to mean something. Why would he go to all the trouble of protecting the room, and hiding them so well if they were rubbish?' He was saying it as much to convince him as them.
'So what should we do?' Ron asked. 'Keep looking up here?' he took his wand out and lit it too.
'I don't think he would have left the cup in the new section, it just seems … unlike him. I think he would have hidden it somewhere that had a bit more history to it.' Harry started to walk around the recesses again, eyeing the statues, looking for any clue as to where the two slightly rough black strips he held in his hand could possibly fit. Ron wandered up the centre of the aisle between the pews, and Hermione, who had also lit her wand, took the other side of the chapel.
They walked around for what seemed like ages, in such a small space, and found nothing, no clue what so ever. Hermione suggested that she go back in one of the booths to check the new part out again, but Ron immediately volunteered himself, and rushed into one of the confessional boxes as if nothing would give him greater pleasure. Harry had to smile as he watched Ron descend. He knew why Ron had gone down there. He was afraid if Hermione saw the chapel in all its glory one more time, it might just be enough to tip her over the edge.
With Ron gone, Hermione and Harry teamed up and went over everything again as they had before, still at a loss to figure out where the two stripes might fit in. They had pretty much given up, and were waiting for Ron to return, when Harry pulled back the red velvet curtains to the painting he had looked at the first time he had come in, and once again studied the stately looking woman and the unusual looking creature that was barely visible, poking out from underneath her extravagantly flowing pale yellow dress she was adorned in. Hermione scanned the picture, running her wand light over it to get a better look.
'Strange isn't it?' she said.
'You mean the fact that it's in such good condition compared to everything else in here?' Harry had noticed it too.
'What's that?' Hermione poked her wand light at the creature, whose only visible part was its face.
'I don't know, looks a bit like a ferret.' Harry chuckled as he thought of Malfoys time as a ferret.
'Harry, give me those stripes!' Hermione said seriously. Harry handed them over, and as he did so it occurred to him why she wanted them.
'You don't think…?' He watched as she placed them over the creatures face so that they ran down along the nose, and the eyes fitted perfectly into the holes at the tip of each one. Without any obvious means of adhesive, they stuck there perfectly, like they belonged. Now that they were there, it looked liked they were never missing.
'It's a badger!' Harry said, and just as he leaned in to take a closer look, the painting seemed to dissolve almost completely before there eyes. There was still a faded outline of the picture, almost as if looking through a printed fly wire, but it no longer presented a solid barrier, and as Hermione stuck her wand tip through the portal, they heard Ron emerging from one of the booths, mumbling grumpily about having buckets of glowing fairy dust dumped on him as he dusted himself off.
'Bloody Hell!' Was all that Ron managed as he came up behind them and looked at the portal. 'Guess you figured out what the stripes were all about then?'
'I can't see a thing beyond the veil, Harry.' Hermione was still waving her wand around, but it reflected nothing on the other side of the screen.
'I'll go first.' Said Harry 'Wait for me to give you the okay that it's alright to come through.' He stepped through the veil and disappeared from sight.
It was pitch black on the other side of the portal, except for the dim light that seeped through the screen, and Harry was treading slowly around the edge of the portal to make way for the others when his foot slipped. He caught himself just in time, but he realized that beyond the narrow ledge he was standing on, there appeared to be a deep cavern, an endless drop where the few pieces of stone he had knocked of the shelf with his foot did not seem to reach a bottom, they just appeared to drop, and keep on dropping. Harry's heartbeat quickened as he slammed himself against the side of the black stone wall. It took a moment for him to catch his breath before he called for Ron. He yelled for him to come slowly and carefully, and to stick to the side, so as Ron crept through the painting, he too inched his way along the opposite side to Harry, who then called Hermione.
As she stepped through eager at their discovery, her foot caught on the picture frame, and she fell through the portal with such sudden awkwardness that both Ron and Harry had a job to grab one of her arms each. She hung above the inky and seemingly endless blackness, both of them gripping her desperately. She was looking up at them with a horrified expression on her face as he legs dangled helplessly, unable to stop herself from glancing down, and terrifying herself even more.
'Hold on!' Ron said in a shaky voice as he tried to stop his grip from slipping, whilst still clinging to the wall behind him.
'And don't look down!' Harry added, then looking at Ron, he said 'Ron we'll pull her up on the count of three. Ready?' Ron nodded, but his grip slipped as his eyes widened in fear so that now he had hold of her by her wrist only. Hermione let out a terrified shreak.
'I wont let you go!' Ron sounded determined and Harry had no doubt in his mind Ron would rather fall with her than let go of her hand.
'On three.' Harry said. 'One … Two … Three!' They both pulled with all their might. Hermione used her feet to help push herself up the side of the rock wall. As she came higher, both Harry and Ron let go of the wall to grab her under the arms and pull her to the safety of the ledge. The minute she found her feet, she threw her arms around Ron's neck and clung to him as if her life still depended on it.
'Are you okay?' He asked quietly, one arm around her shoulder and the other softly on the back of her hair. She pulled away nodding, quiet tears dripping down her face that even Harry could see in the dim light. The three of them stood there for a moment, shaken by what had nearly happened. It was Ron who spoke first.
'You should wait on the other side Hermione.' It was less of a request and more of an order, but to Harry's surprise she did not take offence.
'I'm fine, really!' she said quietly 'Anyway, it looks like you're going to need me.'
Harry would have felt much more comfortable knowing Hermione was out of danger, but he also knew she was right. They had only just passed through and were already stuck. He knew they were definitely going to need Hermione's skills to figure this one out.
'There must be a way across!' Harry said in frustration.
'There will be, but it'll be hidden, we've just got to figure out how.' Hermione seemed to gather her wits extremely rapidly under the circumstances. 'Maybe we should edge around a bit further.' So they set off. Harry went off to the left, and Hermione followed Ron to the right. 'Use your wands!' Hermione said, but as they drew them and tried to light them, nothing happened, it seemed they didn't work in the bottomless chamber. They crept further apart, but there appeared to be no way across.
'This is useless! What we need is some sort of light, a way of showing us where the path is!' Ron said loudly so as Harry could hear him.
'Hang on!' Hermione said. Harry tried to look at Hermione, who had that wonderful tone that crept into her voice when one of her brilliant ideas emerged. 'Ron, do you have any more of that fairy dust?'
'What?' he said screwing his face up.
'Fairy dust! Do you have anymore on you anywhere?'
'I dusted it off, why?'
'Check your pockets, anywhere it might have gotten caught in your clothing!' she said growing more urgent. She started checking her own, and managed to come out with some tiny smatterings of the magically glowing dust. Ron started pulling handfuls of it out of his pockets.
'They went nuts when I was down there last time, I'm telling you!' he said as he dumped it into Hermiones beanie, which she had removed for the purpose of collecting as much of it as she could. Once Ron had emptied all of his clothing. Hermione took a small pinch of it and threw it into the chasm.
'What d'ya do that for?' Ron said incredulously, but Harry had already caught on, and searching his own clothing, he pulled out some small pinches and began throwing into the darkness before him, moving around slowly and throwing a little more each time, with Hermione doing the same thing some distance away.
'I'VE GOT IT!' Hermiones excited voiced echoed through the chasm and Harry looked up to see that lying at Hermiones feet was indeed a pathway of sorts. Lit by the translucent glowing dust, it looked incredibly narrow, and as she threw more of the fairy dust further out, the path seemed to dip slightly, the drop off again. 'Follow me!' Hermione said as she stepped out onto the path, ignoring both Ron and Harry's protests as she sprinkled the dust sparingly, revealing a stone stairway that descended for some distance as they followed it.
Harry could see by the light of the glowing dust that Ron was looking rather green, so Harry followed closely behind him, in case he started to lose his balance. Down and down the stairs went, turning left then right, all the while headed away from where they had come in. Hermione was just beginning to think she might run out of the magical light when they rounded a giant column, which they had been circling for some time, and spotted an opening.
'Through here!' she said as she rushed on.
'Hermione! Wait!' Harry yelled after her. He was as keen to get off the narrow stairs as she was, but they had no idea what they were walking into. Ron appeared unable to talk; possibly afraid he would lose his breakfast if he did, so he followed silently, edging along, until he too reached the opening.
As Harry followed, his scar panged painfully as his eyes adjusted to light. It appeared Hermione had already lit the old-fashioned flame torches, which hung from the dank stone brick walls. She was standing in the middle of the room looking around her in tense awe. Ron too appeared glued to the spot as he eyed the threatening ancient fixtures that littered the stone cellar. As Harry was looking around him, clutching at his scar, a very bad feeling was creeping over him. This was not safe, this was a set up, and he knew it was a trap from the moment he laid eyes on the dungeon.
'GET OUT! NOW!' He roared at his two friends, but it was too late.
Suddenly the grate Ron had been standing on dropped out from beneath him. Ron dropped out of sight as the grate slammed back into place. He groaned painfully, and seconds later his fingers were sticking through the metal mesh, and incredibly, his wand was speeding through the air and out of sight. As Harry ran to him and wrapped his hands around the rusty iron, pulling at it with all his strength, he was interrupted by Hermione's screams. An enormously loud metal clanging sound accompanied her wails, and as he looked, he could see Hermione being encased in a metal cage that immediately closed in on her, making her jump as the base slid across under her feet. The cage was then yanked roughly high in the air as Hermione clung to it.
'GET HERMIONE!' yelled Ron. He could see her in the cage as it swung wildly. She was trying to cling onto it but was being buffeted around as she gasped, falling against the harsh metal bars until she was thrown to the bottom of the cage.
'HERMIONE!' Harry pulled out his wand as he winced with the pain of his scar, but it shot out of his hand instantly, and then to his horror he felt heavy iron cuffs clamping themselves around his ankles, and huge, thick iron chains that were attached, were pulling him forcefully to the wall. Other metal chains with cuffs on the ends were flying through mid air towards his arms as he fought to avoid them. But it was no use. His wrists were clamped and drawn roughly backwards until they were secured severely against the cold stone wall, along with his feet, which were spread a small distance from one another.
The pain from the overly tight wrist and ankle clamps, and the thick, heavy chains that were pressed tightly against him was searing into his flesh, but he had little concern for himself. He yanked his head back to see if Hermione was okay, but it appeared she had been knocked out and was still lying awkwardly on the bottom of her harsh metal prison. Harry looked down at Ron, his fingers were still poking through the grating.
'HERMIONE! HARRY!' he called urgently.
'I'm … here … Ron…' Harry was finding it difficult to speak, not only from the pain, but he had been winded as he had crashed into the stone wall behind him. He looked back up at Hermione. A painful groan escaped her lips, and Harry's relief that she was okay was short lived as he saw her wand fly from the cage and into the hands of a sight that quite literally took his breath away.