Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

A/N: Howdy people! Another week, another chapter. I had fun writing this chapter, the whole horcrux plot is something I haven't really tried before, but I think it shaped out fairly well. I hope you enjoy this! Cheers!

Chapter 49: Horcrux Hunting

-Harry-

I left the Room of Requirement with the little box clenched tightly in my hand. I needed to get to the fourth floor and get this over with. Perhaps this thing would be destroyed today, together with the other one. Then I could finally put this behind me.

The coldness of the diadem was dampened by the small box, but my fingers were still blue as ice. It felt like I was holding hell itself in my hands, it was heavy, yet it weighed nothing.

"I've got it!" I said as soon as I entered Rowena's room. "I've got the didadem."

Rowena extended her hand and I placed the box in her palm. "Good job." She smiled at me and strided inside the room where the other horcruxes are kept.

I followed a couple of steps behind, as before, Rowena's horcrux rested on the altar inside together with Voldemort's horcrux and the vial of blood.

It felt so long ago since she had requested my blood to be placed there. It was two years ago. Two years sounded like nothing. It felt like she'd been here, teaching me, forever.

"When are we destroying them?" I said.

"As soon as possible. What do you think, tomorrow night? I can have everything prepared by then."

"Tomorrow night it is. Should I dress for the occasion?"

Rowena smiled. "If you wear something purple, then yes."

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

Rowena looked genuinely upset. "What do you have against purple?"

-()-

The gargoyle let me inside without a hitch. Upon knocking on the door to the headmaster's office, I received a "come in."

Dumbledore was resting by his desk, a thick, ageing brick of a book laying open in front of him.

"Fun read?" I asked and sat down.

"Very much so." He smiled. "What brings you here tonight, Harry?"

There was no beating around the bush. "Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater."

Dumbledore's face betrayed nothing, he peered at me for a couple of moments. "I know."

I chewed on my lips for a couple of moments, waiting for him to say something. "What? There is a Death Eater in the castle, and you know about it? Why haven't you done anything?"

"Mr. Malfoy finds himself in a rather precarious position, if he doesn't do what he is supposed to, not just him, but also his family, will die."

"And what is it that he is supposed to do?"

"Kill me." Dumbledore was smiling, as if the question of his assassination was amusing.

"And you will just let him? Because you will die either way. You will sacrifice yourself for him."

The headmaster sighed. "No. I don't intend for Mr. Malfoy to be the one to kill me. That task will be left to someone else."

"He's trying to get Death Eaters inside the castle. Did you know about that too?"

"Indeed. He will use a vanishing cabinet, I believe."

I scoffed. "I don't agree with not reporting Malfoy to the authorities, but at least I understand it. Endangering every person inside the castle by allowing Death Eaters inside. . ." I trailed off, I didn't need to say what might happen.

"Mr. Malfoy won't succeed for quite some time, if my accounts are correct, which I know they are. And trust me when I say that I will know quite some time before the Death Eaters come here."

"How can you be sure?"

Dumbledore folded his arms and leaned back. "I'm keeping Borgin and Burkes –where the other cabinet is– under constant surveillance. The second any Death Eater sets foot near that place, I will know about it. The order is ready, so am I."

"Seems like a lot of effort for very little reward."

"Perhaps, but sometimes we have to make the choice between what is easy, and what is right."

I scoffed. "Respectfully sir, those members of the orders could have done a lot of good elsewhere."

"My opinion on this matter won't change Harry."

"I understand that, sir, but we can't win this war if we indulge every single morally right little whim."

Dumbledore's eyes suddenly look tired and –dare I say– sad. "It pains me to hear you say such things Harry, you've always been concerned with doing the right thing."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. "Of course I want to do the right thing, but if the right thing makes me lose. . . Well, then I'll chose the thing which makes me win."

"I understand, Harry."

"Sir, there's another thing, I've gotten the memory from Slughorn."

Dumbledore sat up a little straighter. As I took the vial with memories out of my pockets, he levitated the pensive to stand between us.

"Well done, Harry. I must admit that you got your hands on it quicker than I expected."

"Thank you, sir," I said and uncorked the bottle.

The memory was exactly the same as the previous one in the beginning. But when Riddle asked Slughorn about the horcruxes; Slughorn answered the questions Riddle asked.

"He made seven," Dumbledore concluded as we got out.

"It seems that way," I said. "The ring, the diary and the goblet makes three."

"Nagini is one too," Dumbledore said. "Which makes it four."

"Three left then," I said.

"Two more, I'd say," Dumbledore corrected. "Voldemort most likely sees himself as the seventh part."

That made sense, but I knew that to be false. There were three remaining. A locket, a diadem and. . . me.

"I guess you're right," I lied. "Do you have any clue what these two things could be?"

Dumbledore frowned. "I had a lead, but I'm quite certain the horcrux won't be there anymore, since Tom knows we're trying to find them."

"It's still worth taking a look, we might find out what the horcrux is, if nothing else."

Dumbledore nodded. "You're right. We should go there soon. What about tomorrow night?"

I had other plans, but those could wait. She wouldn't be happy, I mused.

"Can we do it in two days?" I wondered. "I have some plans for tomorrow?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "More important than finding horcruxes?"

Yes, I wanted to say. I am going to destroy two horcruxes.

"No," I said. "I guess I can move it." I stood up. "Goodbye, sir. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Harry."

-()-

My master was waiting patiently for me when I came back to her room.

"I have some bad news," I said and plumped down in my armchair.

She gave me a questioning glance.

"I will have to go on a mission with Dumbledore tomorrow."

"Weren't we going to–"

"Yes. I know. But what was I supposed to say? 'I can't go on this important mission to find horcruxes because I have this other important mission to destroy two horcruxes'?"

Rowena pursed her lips. "I allow this once, but next time, you'll have to prioritise."

I nodded. "Yes master."

We fell into a comfortable silence, Rowena picked up a book to read, I did the same. Yet focus wouldn't come to me. I put it back down at the table.

"Master, I have a question." I winced internally.

Rowena looked up from the book she was reading. "What?"

I tried my best to appear casual. "I've been wondering for some time, how do you know what's going on in the castle?"

She gave me an odd look. "I have a system in place." I got the impression I wasn't subtle. "Why the sudden interest?" I thought the last question was asked in an octave higher than her usual voice.

I shrugged. "Just wondering, is there a chance I could use this. . . 'system'? Would be a useful thing to have…"

Rowena closed her book and stared inside the fire for a moment. Was she using her 'system'?

"I guess it would be." She exhaled slowly. "Fire. I use fire."

I raised my eyebrows, trying to look surprised at the 'news'. "What? How?"

She smiled mirthlessly. "Every torch in the castle is enchanted, as you know. But what most don't know is the extent to which they are enchanted."

"I suppose they are very advanced?"

My master nodded. "Indeed, very much so. Even I don't know all of them, just as I don't know every enchantment on the moving staircases, just as I don't know every enchantment which protects the school." Rowena appeared a little bitter over the fact.

"I thought you built the place, shouldn't you know all about it?"

Rowena smiled tiredly. "I did, in a way." She frowned. "One can say that we, the four founders, created the thing which created this castle. As I mentioned, a rock grew to become this entire castle. We created that rock." Rowena stared up into the ceiling with a faraway look. "But we didn't just create a rock, we gave that same rock sentience."

"The rock could think?"

She nodded, proud. "In a way. That is why the castle seemingly has a life of its own, because it has a life of its own."

"So one could theoretically have a conversation with it?"

She shook her head. "Not quite. The castle knows how to be a castle, nothing else. Hogwarts will only change and adapt when it has to, hence why the castle grew to be this size." Rowena frowned for a moment. "The castle is us, the founders, in a way. Which is why the housing system exists. The castle is based on four personalities–"

"–Which is why there are four houses, one for each of you."

Rowena nodded. "Something like that."

"So you managed to create life, isn't that almost impossible?"

She smiled. "Every mother on the planet has the ability to."

"That was not quite what I-"

"I know," Rowena interrupted. "Artificially creating a living being, which doesn't just have cognitive function, but also a soul, is. . . kind of impossible."

"But it's still possible?"

"In a way. I think I am the only person to ever do it properly… There have been other attempted, but most lack a certain. . . finesse."

"Didn't the other founders help, did you do it all yourself?"

"Helga approached me to help her for a reason, but no, the others helped me, of course."

I nodded. "I…I don't know what to say. It's hard to comprehend, it's all so abstract."

She shrugged. "I guess it is." Then she smiled at me. "But by the time I am done with you, you will be able to do all of this too."

That was one hell of a complicated answer to how she could observe the goings around the castle.

One thing was clear though, Helena was right.

"Master?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"I was wondering, when you look through the torches, is it possible for you to change the colour of them?"

I thought I saw my master tense up a bit. "Sure. Why?"

"Well, if I ever want to tell you something, it would be great to get some kind of signal that you've heard me."

Rowena observed me for a couple of moments. "I see. Yes, I could change the colour if I wanted."

Her purple eyes were settled on me, her face didn't betray any emotion. She was fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.

"The Grey Lady told you, didn't she?" my master said.

The two of us looked at each other for a couple of moments, both of us knowing what the other was thinking.

I sighed. "Yes. Yes she did. . . "

"Her name?"

I nodded.

"I suppose she didn't have very flattering things to say about me?"

"That's an understatement. . . She– She's your daughter," I said.

My master nodded and exhaled tiredly. "In a way, but –and I think you should know this too– she was also my first apprentice."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Yes, she was. She was the one who was supposed to learn everything I knew, then succeed me. She damn near did too."

I shifted in my seat. "What happened? Why is she so angry with you?"

Rowena stared into the fire, I wondered if she was looking at her daughter there and then. "I loved my daughter, like every mother does, but then she did some things." Rowena swallowed. "I realised she was deceitful and cruel. I couldn't give my knowledge, my legacy to someone like that. A dark shadow crossed Rowena's face. "So I left her alone, I couldn't bring myself to hurt her, no less kill her." My master tensed up in her chair. "Instead, Helena sought me out, and wanted to kill me for abandoning her."

"Did you fight?" I paused for a short moment. "Did you kill her?"

Rowena closed her eyes and opened them again. Her purple irises were clouded by wetness. "I did" The founder's voice broke. She exhaled shakily. "Stay away from her, Harry. She is more dangerous than you can imagine. Even I underestimated her, once upon a time, long ago."

-()-

-Daphne-

I groaned when I woke up in the morning. The warm sheets were perfect. But I had to leave and get up. I groaned again.

The light in the bathroom was already open, it seemed Tracy was already up. With a loud yawn, I sat up and stretched at the bed. Classes at eight were the worst.

I dressed as I waited for Tracey to finish and only greeted her with a small nod. I glanced at Pansy and Millicant who were still sleeping soundly. Perks of not choosing charms.

I got inside and had my brush in hand before anything else. My hair was wild as a bush, I could have sworn there was a knot or two in there. How could people live without tending to their hair?

My eyes were drawn to the box of makeup Tracey had left behind. I observed the large, dark bags under my eyes. Only a little perhaps?

Then I wouldn't look like a sleep-deprived zombie.

People would notice the makeup though. Everyone would look at me, I couldn't do that to myself.

Tracey was waiting on her bed, her eyelids half closed.

"Let's get going," I said, trying to exude some enthusiasm.

Tracye yawned. "Let's."

Breakfast was loud and invasive. It felt like my head would burst due to all of the noise.

There weren't many in the charms class. Perhaps fifteen of us. Strangely enough, there were five Slytherins.

I glanced at the other group. The Slytherins stood on one side of the corridor, together.

The other three houses stood on the other side. Chatting and yawning.

My eyes landed on Draco. His hair was a mess, it was worse than Potter's. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin was pale as bone.

I went up and nudged him. "Are you alright? You look like a ghost."

It took a moment for his eyes to settle on me. "Aren't we supposed to be fighting?" he said.

I gave him a levelling look. "We were. Now we've made up again."

"Have we?"

"Yes. Now, why do you look like you haven't slept at all?"

He grimaced. "Because I haven't?"

"And why would you ignore sleeping?"

He looked at me, revealing no emotion. "I can't tell you."

I stared into his grey, sickly eyes. He averted his gaze immediately. It seemed to hurt him for every second. I felt a weight in my stomach. How could I do this to the one person who showed me kindness?

"Fine. Do me a favour and get some sleep during our free period."

"I will. I– Thank you, Daphne." He forced a smile on his face.

I hated when he did that. His eyes sparkled when he smiled at me. They showed no distrust, no dislike. How could I not treat that person better?

My eyes immediately went to the boy with black hair and green eyes at the other end of the corridor. He was standing to himself, staring into nothingness. His eyes snapped up and met mine. An ever so small smile graced his lips.

I glared at him and looked away.

"You shouldn't thank me, you should thank yourself, after you get some sleep," I said.

-()-

-Harry-

Dumbledore was waiting for me with taunt lines drawn across his facial features when I met him in the entrance hall.

"Everything alright, sir?" I asked, apprehensive.

He exhaled slowly. "Good evening, Harry. If everything is alright, we will soon find out."

I nodded. "Do we apparate there?"

"Yes. We have to leave the grounds first, as you know."

The air was chill and I felt myself hunching my shoulders to protect myself from the cold. The trees with red and yellow leaves, which were just beginning to fall, casted eerie shadows over the grounds.

I pushed down the waves of nervousness and took in those of anticipation. This was important.

The gates surrounding the school were locked with heavy enchantments. There was a low humming in the air from the enchanted walls. The air felt thick and clumsy upon approach, like it pushed you back from the tall structures.

We came out on the other side and they swung shut behind us. Dumbledore held out his arm for me to grab a hold of. "Ready?"

"Ready?" was my reply, accompanied by a resolved nod.

It felt like I was being compressed into a think tube and then, I was free again.

The winds slammed against me like a battle ram, I staggered backwards for a moment.

"Follow me." Dumbledore walked across the yellow grass plateau towards a grey beach.

He stopped at the beach and stared out towards a small island about ten metres out in the ocean. Tall waves were slamming against harsh rock time after time.

"I'm afraid we'll have to get wet." Dumbledore took some tentative steps towards the island.

I had another idea. Voldemort may have protected the small island against a lot of things, but could he really protect it against things he did not know existed?

"Lustragio." The beige spell whisked past Dumbledore and struck the sand with a low thud. I suddenly saw the cliffs of the island right in front of me.

I turned around. Dumbledore had stopped in his tracks and was observing me with a frown, then he continued across the water, the liquid up to his waist.

"Useful trick," he said as he arrived beside me. He dried himself thoroughly from the biting water.

"It is." I smiled and walked towards the rocks in the middle of the small island.

I stopped in the middle of a step. There was a corpse resting against the rock.

Dumbledore pushed the frozen me aside. "Hmm. He's been dead awhile." Dumbledore stroked his chin. "I'd say he was left here around the time we went to Gringotts."

There was a large speck of dried blood on the rock, right beside the entrance to a dark cave. Peeking inside, I couldn't see further than a couple of metres before it took a sharp turn.

"So Voldemort most likely put him there after he found out we were looking for the horcruxes." I stared at the face where the skin had rotted away. "Who do you think it is?" I said and nodded to the corpse.

Dumbledore stood up with a sad look. "I don't know, but he was most likely a muggle."

"Why is he here? Some kind of warning?"

Dumbledore stroked his chin before he muttered a spell. "No, it seems like there was a door here. A door-"

"-Which had to be opened with blood," I finished coldly.

"Indeed."

Dumbledore sent a ball of light into the cave, shining a pale light at the coarse walls. "Let's see what he left behind."

He walked inside the thin passage with his wand at the ready; I followed a couple of steps behind.

The passage twisted and turned like a snake until we came out into a spacious underground cave. There was a black lake inside which reflected the white light back at us like a mirror. Off into the distance, there was a small island in the lake. There was a thick smell of smoke inside, a heavy layer of ash on the beach.

There was another body just by the shore, untouched by the whatever caused the ashes. A small boat was lying smashed to pieces beside it. Dumbledore frowned and walked up to the body.

The corpse's skin was grey and emaciated. The hair was long and black, it clung to his bony head like slime. His clothes looked to have been expensive, once upon a time, but they were now torn and shabby.

"He's been dead longer than the other." Dumbledore glanced at the lake. "He drowned, I think."

I bent down and observed the body. "If he drowned, where did all the cuts come from? It looks like something with claws attacked him."

Dumbledore walked up to the lake. He stopped just short of the water. Then he conjured a small rodent which he tossed far out over the lake.

The rodent splashed against the surface and it was as if an explosion occurred. Countless bodies flew from the water and flung after the poor animal. Then they disappeared, leaving ripples after them. Those, too, disappeared soon and it was as if nothing had happened.

"Inferi." I swallowed. "The whole lake, it's full of them."

Dumbledore walked back to the corpse. "It seems that way. He was killed by them, dragged below the surface when trying to cross the lake. That would be my best guess."

"But why is his body here then, not on the bottom of the lake? And why is he and the boat untouched by the fire which burned everything else?"

Dumbledore looked at the splinters of the boat. "Perhaps we should visit the island, hopefully, that will grant us some important clues."

He waved his wand and the boat mounted itself together again. It rested against the water timidly. Most importantly, no inferi appeared either.

The journey over, I peered out over the lake, all senses on high alert, frantically searching for the smallest splash, the faintest ripple.

I breathed out an immense sigh of relief when we reached the shore of the small island.

There was an altar carved out of pale stone standing in the middle. At the top of it, there was an indentation, as if it had been used to store a liquid.

Dumbledore frowned and inspected it closely. "If I'm not mistaken, this was where the horcrux was resting. Protected by some kind of potion, I think."

"So it's gone?"

"Yes. If that is Tom's doing or not is unclear."

"What about the man on the shore? Could he have taken it and died on the way back? Perhaps he was fished out by Voldemort to get the locket from him."

Dumbledore nodded. "That is possible. Which leaves me to wonder who that person is. How did he find this place?"

"I would say that it could be the one-armed man, but he doesn't miss an arm, does he?" I looked around the small island. There was nothing of note on it, only cold and hard rock.

"We should get back. See if we can find anything else," Dumbledore said.

The journey back took forever. Constant vigilance suddenly seemed like gross understatement.

We stopped and stood over the corpse, his face was disfigured and pale.

Dumbledore leaned down to take a closer look. "He reminds me of features to be found in many pureblood families, which one is hard to tell after this much time and decay."

"We could try to search him, see if he has any pictures or something on him."

Dumbledore sighed. "I can do that. You can have a look around, see if you find anything."

I nodded. "Okay."

I walked along the shore to the wall and back. Same as the island, everything was just cold and bare stone. Everything was black and wet.

I dragged my hand across the wall. A thin layer of ash lasted on my fingers.

Scorch marks. Someone had used fire in here. I knew that. But why? Was it to use against inferi? That was likely, but it couldn't have come from the man on the beach. He had died in the water, not here by the shore.

Voldemort has been here too, to look for his horcrux after he found out we knew about them. Could it have come from him?

It would be strange if he had to protect himself against his own sentries, so it wouldn't make sense for him to use it as a defence.

It could have been an outlet of anger, I supposed. Perhaps he came back and got so angry that he tried to burn the whole place down. But that would mean that the locket wasn't here. And the man on the shore certainly didn't get it out of here.

But why was the boat and the body untouched?

I scraped my hands across the walls. The soot and ash covered almost the entire shore. There was no way the boat and the body should have been left untouched by such an inferno.

The body must have been brought up after someone had used the flames, presumably to protect themselves.

Could the flames be the work of the one-armed man? Whoever it was knew how to find the goblet, it wasn't impossible that he knew how to find this horcrux too.

I returned to Dumbledore, who was standing above the corpse with a deep frown.

He had removed the man's shirt's right arm. The dark mark shone shone like fireworks against the pale skin. There was a small scar right above the hideous mark.

"I know who this is," Dumbledore said.

I tore my gaze away and settled it on him. "Who?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Do you see the scar just above the mark?"

"Yes."

"I remember that scar." Dumbledore paused for a moment. "I had to give your father and Sirius two months worth of detention for that one."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why would they–"

"I believe Sirius was upset about something Regulus said to their mother about him. Something about which girls–"

"This was Sirius' brother?" I interrupted. "Regulus?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed. I knew he joined the Death Eaters, but I thought he died during a raid on Hogsmeade. Now that I see him, I feel rather foolish for not recognising him, despite his injuries."

I nodded. "Do you think he was here on Voldemort's orders?"

"It would explain how he knew about this place. But I don't see why Voldemort would tell anyone where he hid his horcruxes, and definitely not some new recruit like Regulus here."

"So Regulus somehow found this place and tried to access the horcrux, for some reason. Then he was killed by the inferi on his way out."

"Let's assume that is the case, we must ask ourselves whether or not he managed to get the horcrux out or not."

I shrugged. "No idea." I paused for a moment. "I think the one-armed man has been here too."

I explained my theory regarding the ash and how the body had been left untouched by the fire.

Dumbledore was silent for many moments. "I'm not too sure he has been here, there's no proof of that. We have to make many assumptions, too many, we simply don't have enough information."

"This has answered one question but created a thousand new ones." I stared off out over the lake.

What on earth had happened inside the cave? Who had been here? Who left here with the locket? Was it Voldemort?

"It's a long shot, but we could try looking inside Regulus' room at Grimmauld Place. Perhaps that could give us a clue." Dumbledore looked lost in the pale light.

We knew nothing.

"He died here though. He couldn't have brought the locket back home."

"Perhaps we can figure out if he had some help –some fellow deserter who aided him in this plot."

I grimaced. "It's a long shot."

Dumbledore smiled, large bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. "We don't have anything else to go on, Harry. This is our last lead, for now."

A/N: I'm thinking about changing the summary for the story, since I feel as if it mainly fits for the first year of the story, so if it changes you know why. Please leave a short comment if you don't mind, I know that I usually don't reply, but I see and appreciate each and every one of them.