He didn't know when he got back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but when he did he found out that Ron and Daphne were still there. "Come on Daph. I'll take you back to the Slytherin Common Room." Harry told his girlfriend. "Not until you tell us what happened to your hand." she told him in reply. He lifted up his right hand "There's nothing wrong with my hand." he lied to her. "Your other hand Harry." she told him, while lifting the hand in question. Harry looked at his left hand, and it was badly scarred. "It doesn't matter now. Especially since Umbridge is going at Azkaban right now waiting for her trial." he told her. Ron and Daphne looked at Harry in shock, but it was Ron who asked "What is she in Azkaban for?" Harry looked at both Ron and Daphne, and told them while his voice was choking up "It was Umbridge who attacked and killed Hermione. She did it because Hermione overheard her plans to try to kill me, since I stopped her from being Hogwarts High Inquisitor. It wouldn't have even happened if I hadn't yelled at her. I just feel so angry all of the time, and I don't know why."
Daphne hugged her boyfriend, while Ron got up and patted his back. "Listen here mate. Hermione was never angry at you, and she wasn't hurt by you yelling at her. She's strong enough to handle that. She was angry at herself for suggesting that you weren't afraid when you were at the graveyard last year. All throughout class, she kept muttering 'It's my fault he left'. So don't be too hard on yourself." he told Harry. Harry looked at Ron with his eyes full of gratitude. He pulled away from Daphne's hug, and told them "I assume Dumbledore is going to announce Hermione's death to the school tomorrow during breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I don't know when they're holding the funeral. The only satisfaction I get out of this, is knowing that Umbridge is going to die for killing Hermione. Either she's going to get chucked through the Veil, or she's going to receive the Dementor's Kiss."
Harry took Daphne's hand into his, and started escorting her to the Slytherin Common Room. As soon as they were out of earshot of the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry asked her "How or why did the Fat Lady let you in?" Daphne laughed at him when she answered "I was with Ron. He knew the password, so she let us both in. Besides, the whole school knows we're dating." Harry smiled to himself and it was a genuine smile. "Any word on that pompous idiot Malfoy?" Harry asked her. "He'll be alright. If Hagrid hadn't brought him in when he did, Malfoy could've died of blood loss and you'd be sent to Azkaban for killing someone." she told him. Harry shuddered at that thought, because he saw what Azkaban did to Sirius and Hagrid. Not to mention all of the Dementors who were guarding that horrid place. "I suppose I could've just escaped like Sirius did. After all, I am a multi-animagus." he told Daphne.
"What's a multi-animagus?" Daphne asked him. "It's an extremely rare ability where a wizard or a witch can transform into every single animal they've seen or touched. The only transformations I haven't tried are a Basilisk and a Cerebus. I don't want to accidently kill or injure somebody." he explained to her. Her eyes lit up with sparkles, when she asked him "Can you teach me how to become an Animagus?" Harry stopped in his tracks and looked at her face to see if she was serious, and it definitely showed that she was. "Well… I don't know." he started to tell her. "Please?" Daphne asked sweetly and with a puppy dog pout. Harry just couldn't resist her sapphire eyes when she was pouting like that, and told her "Fine, I'll do it. Only if you can find somewhere to practice. Oh yeah, and you must keep it a secret from everyone else at school. If they find out about our ability to become Animaguses, we'll have no rest whatsoever." She nodded her head at him, and thought about places to practice.
By the time they reached the Slytherin Common Room, Daphne told him "How about the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked "The Room of What?" Daphne giggled at the way he didn't know about the Room of Requirement. "It's also known as the Come and Go Room. It's equipped for the users needs. I just don't know how to find it." she explained to him. Harry smiled when she told him that she didn't know where the Room of Requirement, but he cursed his luck when Dobby popped out of nowhere. "Dobby's be knowing where the Room of Requirement is. It's be on the Seventh Floor in the left corridor across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy's." Dobby told them both. Harry grinded his teeth at Dobby, but put on a fake smile in front of Daphne. "Thanks a million Dobby, but why are you here?" Daphne asked the House Elf. Dobby answered "I sensed that Harry Potter sirs be needing my help. So I popped right over."
Harry was resisting the urge to slap himself in the forehead in front of Daphne, but knew that if he did so she would know that he didn't want to teach her how to become an Animagus. "Can you take us there this Saturday?" Daphne asked Dobby. "Yes indeed I can, Miss Harry Potter's Missus." Dobby replied, as he apparated back to Grimmauld Place. Harry kissed Daphne goodnight and watched her go through the portrait. He slowly, ever so slowly, headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, silently cursing Dobby for telling Daphne where the Room of Requirement was. He was on the staircase about to get off on the Seventh Floor, but the staircase moved like it always did. He groaned when this happened and just decided to wait until the staircase moved back to the Seventh Floor.
Instead of waiting for the staircase to go back, he got off because he felt something weird. He walked slowly into the darkened corridor, despite the fact that it was still bright daylight in the school. Before he walked into the shadows of the darkened corridor, he stopped because he felt something evil coming from the deserted corridor. Going against his better judgement, he walked into the shadows while lighting his wand. "Lumos" he casted, and his wand lit up brightly. He slowly walked into the corridor and soon he couldn't be seen from the Grand Staircase. "I can sense the anger, sadness, and vengeance in your heart. Let me bring it out. Let me turn you into the most powerful Dark Lord of your time. I know who you are Harry Potter. Why should you have to hide in fear of little Tom Riddle. He wouldn't be this way if it weren't for me. What do you say? Do you want to become more powerful than your wildest dreams?" a cold, disembodied voice asked Harry.
"Who or what are you? What do you want with me?" Harry asked the voice, with fear flooding his body. "I am no one, but at the same time I am everything. I am the darkness in your heart and soul. I am the supreme being known as Shade. Everyone who steps into my corridor turns evil, no matter how good you are. I was the one who told Tom boy his little secret to stay alive, if he would ever get destroyed." the voice told him. The fear he was feeling washed away when the voice told him about Tom's secret, and he instantly went into interrogation mode. "What do you mean Voldemort's secret? How did he stay alive after his curse bounced off of me and hit him instead?" he asked the voice. "Maybe you should ask the corpse of your dead friend. What was her name? Hermione Granger? The one who died because of you. The one you want to take vengeance for. You want to kill Umbridge correct? With my help you can do it." the voice replied. Harry turned around towards the opposite direction, and ran as fast as he could away from the corridor and the voice. It was soon when he saw the sunlight of the rest of the school, and he got on the stairs and headed towards the Hospital Wing. The words that the voice told him kept running through his head 'Maybe you should ask the corpse of your dead friend.' He sped towards the Hospital Wing, not stopping for anybody until he reached his destination.
He bursted through the Hospital Wing doors out of breath, and saw Madam Pomfrey about to place Hermione's body into her casket. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Harry yelled out at Madam Pomfrey. She looked in his direction in shock, then asked him "What is it, Mr. Potter?" Harry ran over to Hermione's body, and looked at her hands. In her right hand was a piece of crumpled paper, and in her left hand was another piece of crumpled paper. He wrenched the two pieces of paper from her hands, and left the Hospital Wing with haste. "These two pieces of paper may include the clue on how to defeat and finally get rid of Voldemort." Harry thought to himself. He uncrumpled the first piece of paper, and it had a picture of Voldemort on it. "That I saw coming." Harry thought to himself. He then uncrumpled the second piece of paper, and was surprised by what it had said. It read: The Horcrux is a powerful Dark Magic item that a Dark Wizard or Witch hides a part of their soul in, for the purpose of gaining immortality. Harry reread this small passage five times to make sure he wasn't reading this wrong. "Hermione, whenever I meet you again, I owe you big time. This is exactly why and how Voldemort came back after he tried to kill me when I was an infant." Harry thought to himself.
He started heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room, until he fell to his knees on the Sixth Floor. He grabbed his pain like he was in pain, but that stopped after awhile. He looked up at the sky, and without knowing it, he was smiling evilly. "Hello again, Mr. Potter. Did you miss me?" Shade asked from inside of him. "What do you want from me Shade?" Harry asked him out loud. Shade chuckled then replied "I want to bring out your inner Dark Wizard, Harry. You know it's there, and you know that you wanted to kill Umbridge. Why don't you just go to Azkaban, and kill her before the trial?" Harry twisted his neck around looking in every direction, then replied in a growl "No, I won't do it. The Ministry will kill Umbridge legally." Shade started tutting at Harry, then told him "Well let me give you some advice that could let your Muggle-Born friend live again. After all, she really was the brightest witch of your age."
Harry waited for Shade to continue talking, but it was another five minutes before he did. "Good lord Harry. Don't you know how to go back in time? After all, the first time you did it was with Hermione." he told Harry. All of a sudden, Harry had a flashback to his Third Year. He and Hermione just saved Buckbeak and captured Pettigrew, then they saved Sirius and proved to everyone that Sirius was innocent. He was brought out of this memory, when he shouted out the answer "A TIME TURNER!" Shade smiled, and then told Harry "That's a lad. Why don't you go see if McGonagall has one?" Without even replying to Shade, Harry ran towards the First Floor with all of the hope he lost, back in his body. "Don't worry Hermione. I'm going to save you, whether legally or illegally." Harry thought to himself, as he ran as fast as he could to his Head of House's Office.