Hey everyone... Sorry for a week's delay in posting this chapter. I was a bit busy and couldn't get the time to post it.
Anyway, this is an important chapter. Enjoy!
"Jane," called Harry.
"Yes?" responded Jane.
"There's something peculiar I just realised," said Harry and walked over to Jane.
"Go on," said Jane and had her total attention on him.
"None of us really know anything about the connection I share with You-know-who, do we?" began Harry. "I just realised something that makes no sense to me. What happened to me when you destroyed his Horcrux, the Hufflepuff cup?" asked Harry.
Jane remained silent though she knew exactly where he was going with this. She just hoped he wouldn't connect all the dots just yet.
"Back in the Chamber, something happened to me when you destroyed Riddle's diary. I just collapsed on the ground, unconscious," continued Harry. "And I remember another time this happened to me. I was with Professor Slughorn. And suddenly, out of nowhere, something happened to me. I was told that I went flying out of the chair and onto the ground, and I fell unconscious," finished Harry.
"Was that the time Dumbledore destroyed the other Horcrux?" asked Jane.
"I don't know for sure," replied Harry.
"So, whenever a Horcrux is destroyed, it affects you," replied Jane, trying to steer the conversation ahead.
"Yeah... why is that?" asked Harry, curiously.
"I think the more pertinent question is, does You-know-who know when one of his Horcruxes is destroyed?" wondered Jane out loud.
Harry shrugged in response, unsure.
"Surely, he must... It is his soul we are destroying," remarked Jane. "But, he has had 3 Horcruxes destroyed till now. He only has 3 remaining," continued Jane.
Harry suddenly went into a deep thought.
"If he knows his Horcruxes are getting destroyed, he would immediately want to create more. I don't even know if it is possible to split your soul that much. A soul split into 7 pieces sounds ridiculous, already. How much more can it be split into?" thought aloud, Jane.
"By using the Philosopher's Stone to get his body back, Tom Riddle might have just lost the war," muttered Harry, under his breath, remembering Dumbledore's words and sprung out of his chair, excited.
"What? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you clearly," asked Jane.
"Dumbledore had this theory about the Philosopher's Stone but he wasn't sure about it," replied Harry, excitedly. Harry went on to narrate Slughorn and Voldemort's shared history and explained how Voldemort was looking for the Philosopher's Stone even before the fateful night of October 31st, 1981.
"So, You-know-who decided to create Horcruxes, and once he'd have enough, he would drink the Elixir of Life & become whole again?" asked Jane.
"Yes, that was the plan," replied Harry. "But here's what he might not have thought about," continued Harry. "Tom used the Philosopher's stone to get his body back, his soul back. While he can't be completely killed without destroying his Horcruxes, he may never realise when his Horcruxes are being destroyed," he announced.
"His ignorance is our ammunition," muttered Jane as hope flickered in her eyes.
A couple of weeks went by, it had now been close to 3 weeks since Harry decided to stay for the Horcrux hunt.
Now that Harry wasn't at odds with Jane, he decided to get better help, to get back to his best sooner. And it was working. Harry was now able to perform magic as well as he did earlier. It was now only a question of his physical strength in terms of endurance, stamina, etc., and his mental strength.
A few days later, Jane also approached Harry with the topic of Occlumency, and how he hadn't been able to master it yet.
"You were telling me how you've been struggling with Occlumency," began Jane. "I might have a solution for you, not a perfect one, but something that should get you by," she remarked.
"What is it?" asked Harry, excitedly.
"You were under my illusion for a long, long time, Harry. And by the end of it, you had almost powered your way out of it," said Jane. "That... is a good start," she praised. "While often Occlumency is achieved through blocking everything, keeping a calm mind, etc. It can prove difficult for many. One trick you can use is to allow your attacker inside," said Jane.
"I don't get it," said Harry, confused. "You want me to open my mind, instead of closing it?" he asked.
"Yes... Open your mind to your attacker, but don't reveal your thoughts, instead show them gibberish... Create an illusion," replied Jane.
"Oh," wondered Harry. "I had never thought of that," he confessed.
"I'll help you through it," said Jane, smiling.
Harry had already started preparations to lay down in the fire once again. Jane had spoken with him and they had decided to have the ritual the following weekend. The Practitioners had promised them that this time around, the ritual wouldn't go on for more than a couple of weeks. All the groundwork had already been laid.
On the eve of the ritual, Harry and Jane were having dinner when Harry decided to broach a subject he had been avoiding. It was something that was pricking him for a while, ever since he had heard Jane tell him about her search for the Hallows.
In the past few weeks, Harry and Jane had spent a lot of time together. As a consequence of it, they had shared quite a lot of things with each other, which normally, they may have never had the time or place to share. In one such conversation, Harry probed Jane just enough for her to narrate how her search for the Hallows went, and the different things she had to do. He suspected that he hadn't heard the complete story, but he knew that was for the better.
And while Jane narrated to Harry, there was one particular part that intrigued him.
"Jane," began Harry. "The other day, you were telling me how you got attacked at Little Hangleton village," he said. "Did you find anything about the Resurrection stone there?" he asked.
"Hardly nothing," replied Jane, nonchalantly.
"Nothing?" repeated Harry.
"Nothing," replied Jane. "Just that the Gaunt family was once rich, and they had these couple of Heirlooms that they valued very highly," she elaborated.
"Was one of the Heirlooms a ring by any chance?" asked Harry.
Jane's ears perked up. "Yes," she replied, curiously. "How did you know?" she asked.
"Uh..." began Harry, awkwardly. "There's something... that I hid from you," he said. "I told you earlier that Dumbledore destroyed a Horcrux," said Harry, cautiously.
"You said that Dumbledore got injured destroying the Horcrux, that it was cursed somehow," remarked Jane.
"Yeah, that part was true... But Dumbledore told me something more," replied Harry. "The Horcrux was a ring, a Gaunt family heirloom," remarked Harry as Jane grew surprised. "Marvolo Gaunt, Tom's grandfather possessed the ring, that had been passed on through generations. Dumbledore found the ring in Gaunt's old house, hidden in the ruins," he added.
"You're telling me that, Dumbledore was the last one to possess the ring?" asked Jane, shocked.
Harry nodded in response.
After a moment's thought, Jane spoke up, "Why are you telling me this, now?" she asked.
"I don't know," replied Harry. After a pause, he continued, "Maybe, it is better if we have someone who possesses all of the Hallows, if one of us is the Master of Death," he sighed.
Harry lay down on the floor as the Practitioners walked into the Sanctuary and formed a circle around him and the fire. Jane stood at the far end, anxiously waiting for the ritual to begin.
This time, because Harry willingly decided to take part in the ritual, he was given an option. To either stay awake and watch himself submerge in the fire, or to be rendered unconscious and placed in the fire in which case, he might get consciousness at any point in time, and it might be difficult to manage the pain suddenly.
Harry chose the option to stay awake throughout the ritual.
Quickly, the chants began. There was something about the chants of the Practitioners, it seemed to change the air around them immediately, it felt majestic and magical. Along with the loud and rhythmic chants, the blazing fire heated the environment. After a short while, one of the Practitioners took out a coin and placed it on Harry's forehead.
The moment the coin touched Harry's forehead, he felt himself being carried upwards by an invisible force.
It was a weird feeling for Harry, being lifted in the air, especially in the "lie down" position his body was in, felt weird. Slowly, he got lifted and positioned right above the blazing fire. And just as slowly, Harry found himself being dropped into the fire.
Despite being right on top of the fire, and dropping, Harry didn't feel the heat just yet, at least no different to how he felt a couple of minutes back. Within seconds, Harry was dropped into the fire, and there he was lying submerged in the fire.
Harry felt a jerk the moment his body touched the fire, but that was down to his apprehension than the fire itself.
The chants grew louder around him, but Harry felt no different.
And then it hit him a few moments later.
He started to feel a little burning sensation, but not on his back, he felt the burning sensation deep inside, right above his abdomen.
With every passing second, the burning sensation grew more and more.
"Woah," gasped Harry and glanced at Jane, she was staring at him, her hand covering her uncomfortable expression.
Within a few minutes, the burning sensation had grown beyond manageable.
Harry squirmed and moaned feebly, in anguish, trying to control the pain.
"Come on, Harry"
"Come on, Harry"
"Come on, Harry"
He repeated to himself.
He was reminded of every single lesson he had with Professor White, he remembered all his words. But putting them into action proved impossible. The pain had now spread all over his body, his chest, however, burned the most.
And slowly, Harry's eyes shut.
…
When Harry's eyes opened next, he was in his room, the familiar warm combination of candlelight and light from the red lanterns filled his eyes. He got up gingerly, feeling his chest, arms and legs one after another, all of them feeling sore for the moment.
Like clockwork, within a couple of minutes, Jane walked into the room and greeted him.
"Hey," greeted Jane, smiling, as she handed him a goblet.
Harry dared not look at the contents and gulped instantly.
"Why does everything hurt?" he chuckled, his voice barely audible.
"Go back to sleep, we'll talk in the morning," replied Jane, warmly.
"How long was I out for?" asked Harry.
"A little over 2 days," replied Jane. Before Harry could ask his next question, Jane continued, "And don't worry, we know where to find the next Horcrux," she added, with a smile.
"Perfect," sighed Harry just as he dozed off.
Harry woke up the following morning, much more briskly. And soon, the conversation turned to the Horcrux.
"Why couldn't they find all the Horcruxes in one go?" asked Harry.
"I told them not to," replied Jane. "I want you to accompany me, on our journey to finding the Horcruxes. The longer the ritual continues, the exponentially worse you will feel by the end. And it'll take you weeks to regain your strength," she added.
"We should do the last 2 Horcruxes together," replied Harry. "Even if we have to wait a couple of weeks extra," he added.
Jane nodded in response. She agreed with him, while it made sense till now, they now also had to consider the risk of being found. The faster they get knowledge of the Horcruxes, the better.
"So, what do we have next?" asked Harry.
"A locket," replied Jane, showing Harry a drawing of the locket drawn by the Practitioners. "And it is hidden in the Crystal Cave," she added.
"Crystal Cave?" asked Harry, confused.
"I have no idea," replied Jane, shrugging. "All we have is a place to apparate to... It seems to be some obscure seaside cave," she said.
A few more days went by as Harry recuperated. And then, one fine morning, Jane and Harry decided to make their way to the Crystal Cave.
"Why are we leaving so early in the morning? Shouldn't we be going there in the dark?" asked Harry, yawning.
"We are in the far east of the world, Harry. It might be morning here, but it'd be the middle of the night back home," replied Jane.
Soon, the pair made their way out of the Monastery, a safe distance away from the ancient architecture. And once both of them were ready, they apparated away.
Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed, tightening around his chest, his eyeballs being pushed into the back of his skull, and his eardrums close to being burst, and then suddenly, he was there, standing on a high outcrop of dark rock.
Harry breathed heavily and immediately took in lungfuls of fresh, salty air. A cool breeze seemed to be blowing, it was dark, darker than any kind of darkness Harry had seen, and it was deserted, an eerie calm engulfed his ears despite the waves. Harry looked around, a towering cliff stood behind them, and a few large chunks of rocks lay straying around, it was overall a depressing view.
"This is the place," he sighed and glanced at Jane.
"He chose one hell of a place to hide his Horcrux," sighed Jane, in response.
After the pair stared around a bit, Jane spoke up. "Wands out, Harry," she said and moved ahead, Harry following behind.
The pair walked towards the very edge of the rock, where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was a treacherous descent and the pair moved slowly. Some of the rocks, closer to the water were slippery with sea water.
"Lumos," muttered Harry, followed by Jane.
"Look," exclaimed Jane as her eyes fell on a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling.
Harry took the lead and slid down the boulder, landing in the sea and began to swim. Jane followed closely, towards the dark slit in the rock face, both of their wands held by their respective teeth.
The water was icy, and weighed them down, along with making them shiver every few seconds. Soon, the pair swam near the fissure and found it opening into a dark tunnel.
"Careful, Harry," warned Jane as she swam ahead. True enough, when the pair swam through the narrow, slimy walls, they were welcomed by a rougher current of water.
The pair swam ahead and finally, Harry saw Jane rising out of the water ahead. The next moment, he found steps that led into a large cave. He climbed up the steps and emerged at the top, a shivering mess, his clothes soaked and making the chill that consumed his body, worse.
"Harry," whispered Jane.
"Brr..." gasped Harry, in response.
Jane pointed her wand at him and instantly, Harry's clothes turned warm, like they had been hanging out to dry in the peak of summer for hours and hours.
"Thanks," replied Harry while Jane dried her clothes.
"This is the place," said Harry. "I can feel it," he added.
And sure enough, it looked the place, there was something in the air suggestive of it. How still and freezing it was, compared to outside the cave.
"But I can't see anything that resembles a locket," he added, glancing around.
Jane stared around the cave, there wasn't anything written on the walls, the walls seemed ordinary enough. She pointed her wand at the walls of the cave after a couple of minutes and moved around, keeping it pointed.
Sure enough, a moment later, a small piece of the wall shuddered.
"This is an entrance," whispered Jane as she stared at the wall. The very next moment, an arched outline appeared on the wall, blazing white, as though there was a powerful, bright light behind.
"Let's go," said Harry, excitedly.
"Harry, wait," remarked Jane, instantly as she placed her arm in front of him, blocking him from going ahead.
"Don't take another step," warned Jane and pointed her wand at the wall. "Shield us," she instructed, glancing at Harry.
Cautiously, Harry pointed his wand and conjured a big shield around the two of them.
The very next moment, Jane swung her arm at the wall, muttering, "Bombarda Maxima".
To Harry's shock, the charm did nothing to the entrance, and instead, bounced off the wall and returned to strike his shield, moving him back by a step.
Jane repeatedly struck at the wall, but nothing happened to it, a couple of times, they got pushed back, despite Harry's shield.
"Why isn't it working?" asked Harry, worried.
After a couple of minutes of thought, Jane pointed her wand at herself, at her fingertips precisely and instantly, there was a prick and blood started oozing out.
"What are you doing?" asked Harry, mildly alarmed.
"Just trying something out," replied Jane and let the blood drip on the rock in front of the entrance.
Within a few seconds, the bright, arched outline disappeared, giving way to total darkness.
"Woah, that worked," gasped Harry.
"Blood magic... To weaken the enemy, I suppose," replied Jane, casually. "Careful with every step, Harry," warned Jane and took the first one, closely followed behind by Harry.
With every step, Harry shuddered at the thought of what lay ahead.
They had walked a few steps through the darkness when their eyes fell on a faint green light, deep into the ground. Only a moment later did Harry realise what he was looking at.
"It's a lake," whispered Harry. It was a lake, a dark, still lake, almost unmistakably a concrete surface, if not for a close inspection. "Do you think the Horcrux is deep, sunken in the lake?" he asked, in a whispery tone, glancing at Jane.
Jane pointed her wand at the lake and flicked it. A bright white light escaped her wand and dove inside the lake, moving deeper and deeper.
As the pair watched the light with bated breath, the light went deeper and deeper into the lake. And then suddenly, it disappeared. However, the faint green light, remained, shining from deeper in the lake.
"We've to swim to the other side," whispered Jane. "And we are likely to meet some resistance," she added.
At the very same moment, Harry's eyes spotted something in the lake. "Jane," he exclaimed, a little too loudly than he meant to. "I think I saw a hand," he whispered, hastily.
Jane looked around, trying to gauge if anything lay far away, any piece of land on the other side. But it was so dark, they were hardly able to see anything beyond a few feet.
Once again, Jane flicked her wand, but this time, pointing to the abyss that lay in front, instead of searching deep into dark waters.
Fortunately, the light that escaped her wand this time, travelled swiftly ahead and almost a mile away, hit a wall and died. The pair spotted a small piece of island past the dark lake.
"I think we've found the Horcrux's location," remarked Jane. "Shall we?" she asked, glancing at Harry.
Harry heaved a sigh and stared ahead at the icy cold water.
Jane was the first to step into the water and she paused. After a few seconds, she gestured to Harry to step in.
The pair would have only taken a few steps when suddenly, their eyes fell on the faint green light, that was now growing brighter and brighter. Instantly, the pair came to a halt.
As they watched, the light grew brighter and brighter. Within moments, their eyes fell on a small boat that had risen to the surface.
"I don't know whether to thank the Lord or be suspicious of him," chuckled Harry and Jane glanced at him, grinning.
"Come on," said Jane and walked ahead, towards the boat, that stood still a few feet in front of them.
The moment, the pair reached nearer to the boat, they realised it was quite small, hardly capable of carrying one person. Jane and Harry squeezed into the boat, quite uncomfortably, worrying every second that they might sink with the boat. Surprisingly, the boat withstood them as it took them to the other end of the lake.
Every second they floated across the lake, their eyes fell on more and more creatures, dark creatures, Inferi and many more. But surprisingly, none of them attacked.
"Why aren't they attacking?" asked Harry, a mixture of curiosity and worry on his face.
"I have a bad feeling about this," replied Jane, not helping Harry's anxiety whatsoever.
Finally, after a few minutes, they reached a small island, not bigger than any office in Hogwarts.
The moment the pair got down and dried themselves, their eyes fell on a large stone basin, similar to a Pensieve, slightly bigger even. Beside the Pensieve, lay a small goblet.
"Horcrux is inside the basin?" asked Harry as he peered into it. He couldn't see it, but he suspected as much. What he could see, however, was that the Basin held a liquid substance, a potion, perhaps.
Jane pointed her wand at the basin, and hit it with a spell, hoping to empty the contents. But, nothing happened.
Jane walked closer to the basin and tried to touch the contents, as cautiously as she could. While the basin didn't react to Jane's touch aggressively, she realised that she couldn't quite touch the potion with her fingers.
"Maybe we have to pour out the contents using the goblet," suggested Harry, impatiently.
Jane glanced at the goblet, picked it up and dunked it inside the potion. She was able to take out a goblet full of the potion, leaving many, many more of such goblet amounts inside it. She proceeded to pour the potion down on the ground.
But, the moment she did, the goblet refilled itself.
"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" remarked Harry, unhappily.
After a couple of minutes, Jane stared at Harry. "Harry, I suspect the potion needs to be drunk," she said.
"What?" asked Harry, shocked, though the thought had occurred to him as well. "What if it kills us?" he asked.
"I don't think it'll kill me," replied Jane, and Harry stared at her, perplexed. And Jane continued, "If I were You-know-who, and I had created such elaborate measures, I wouldn't kill my enemy quite easily. I would keep them alive long enough for me to question them," she said.
Harry stared at her, unconvinced. "Jane, you can't expect me to drink this potion," he said, hesitantly.
Jane stared at him, surprised. "You are not the one drinking it, Harry," she replied.
Harry stared back at her, equally surprised. "Jane," he exclaimed. "You can't drink this potion," he said.
"I don't see a way out," retorted Jane.
"Jane," repeated Harry, but he knew that there was no convincing her. "The last time someone told me to stay back while they did something reckless, things didn't end well for them," he exclaimed, loudly.
The moment he uttered those words, he knew he shouldn't have. Jane glared at him, a blank expression on her face. Harry could almost sense how angry she was at that moment.
"Well, I have a better, more skilful companion," replied Jane bluntly and walked closer to the basin. "If I stop drinking the potion, you force it down me," she remarked. Harry stared at her, speechless. "Got it?" she asked, commandingly. Harry continued staring. "Harry?" exclaimed Jane, sternly.
Harry finally nodded in response.
Jane turned around, facing the basin, holding the goblet full of potion. In a swift motion, she downed the contents in one.
"Jane?" called Harry, cautiously.
Jane ignored him and dunked the goblet into the basin, took out another goblet full of the potion and downed it in one go.
Harry walked closer to her, slowly and stared at her face. He couldn't quite the read expression on her face, but it looked like she was suppressing pain. Jane continued chugging a couple more goblets when suddenly, her knees buckled and she slid down, took support from the basin, and knelt on the floor. The basin was tall enough that Jane had to peek into it.
"Jane," exclaimed Harry, horrified, as he went closer to her and supported her.
Jane chugged a couple of more goblet-full of the potion and within seconds, the goblet fell out of her grasp and she fell on her back, almost in slow motion, slow enough for Harry to catch her and help her down.
"Jane, don't do it," exclaimed Harry, helplessly. "It is killing you," he remarked, loudly.
"G... give... me... the... po... potion," said Jane, stuttering, but her body had stopped moving, she was paralysed, and the potion seemed to be causing her incredible pain for she had clenched her teeth, her brows furrowed and her facial expression seemed to be contorted into a tight grimace. There were little droplets of tears streaming down on her face.
"G... give... me... the... po... potion," she repeated.
Helplessly, Harry picked up the goblet, took some potion and poured it down Jane's mouth. Harry must have poured down four or five goblets of potion when he heard something.
He stared at Jane, and she looked in pain, paralysed completely and muttering something under her breath.
Harry couldn't quite hear what she was muttering, but her mind seemed lost. There were a couple of words he heard, here and there.
" … sorry …"
" … there with you …"
" … because of me …"
" … something terrible …"
" … without wax …"
"Jane, do you want me to stop?" asked Harry as he paused.
"N... No... K... Keep... G... G... Going..." replied Jane, stammering.
And then Harry heard it again. No, it wasn't Jane's faint mutters, this was something else. Harry turned around, alarmed and stared at the dark lake. He couldn't see anything, but he was certain he had heard it.
And then he heard Jane's voice, "W... Water," she begged.
"One moment, Jane," replied Harry, and hastily got up and ran towards the lake to get some water. He bent down and took some water into the goblet. And that's when the horror struck him. He suddenly saw an army of Inferius appear out of the water and make their way towards him.
Harry rushed back to Jane to give her the water. Before he could, his eyes fell on a pool of blood that seemed to be quickly collecting near Jane's body, specifically, around her finger, which she had cut, to do the blood payment.
"Oh, no, no," groaned Harry.
It suddenly seemed like everything was going south.
Harry pointed his wand at Jane and immediately, a piece of cloth wrapped itself around her fingertip. He quickly gave her water and peered into the basin.
The locket was visible underneath what he could gauge as a few goblets of potion remaining.
He quickly took out a goblet of potion, apologised repeatedly to Jane, even though she was in no state to process his words, and poured the potion down her mouth. Harry repeated this several times while keeping his eye on the lake, on the slowly approaching army of Inferius.
Harry poured the final goblet-full of potion down Jane's mouth, grabbed the locket from the basin and put it in his pocket.
Jane lay on the ground, unconscious, or dead, Harry thought. He tried calling her a few times, but she didn't respond. But before he could check Jane's pulse, he realised that the Inferius army was there, on the island.
Harry pointed his wand at the Inferi and swiftly moved it to point towards the rocks that lay aside. Instantly, the rocks multiplied in numbers and flew at the Inferi, taking them out one by one.
Quickly, he swung his wand at the ground, a few feet away. As he moved his wand around, a wall was created in front of him, from one end of the island to the other.
Immediately, he flicked his wand, muttering, "Incendio"
Instantly, the wall caught fire, blazing a few feet tall.
As more and more Inferi continued approaching Harry and Jane, they stepped onto the fire, and burnt, giving Harry a little bit more time.
Harry swiftly turned his attention towards Jane. To his horror, the temporary bandage Harry had concocted had miserably failed. It was now blood-soaked and was dripping. On second glance, Harry realised the situation was worse.
Whatever the potion did, also aggravated Jane's wound, and it was quickly flaring up. The wound no longer looked like a prick. It looked more like a lengthy paper cut and was slowly growing every second.
But, he had a glimmer of hope. He was now certain Jane was still alive.
He tried to wake Jane up, tried calling her name, but she didn't seem to move. Her eyes opened after a couple of minutes, but not for long.
Harry glanced around, the fire he had created was still burning bright, but the Inferi were countless, and one by one, were getting past the fire. Most of them got burnt, but a few made it past.
Harry got up and stared at the Inferi, angrily, angry at everything that had gone wrong on the night, angry at being helpless.
He swished his wand around and a strong gust of wind blew the first few lines of Inferi away. Harry charged ahead and waved his wand at the Inferi, a flood of sparks escaped his wand and attacked the Inferi, each spark burning an Inferi.
As Harry fought on, the Inferi kept coming at him, as though there were an endless supply of them.
And then suddenly, a blazing hot fire erupted from behind him and engulfed the Inferi. The fire grew in size, it looked alive, and it burned in a darker colour. Harry had seen them before. The Inferi vaporized almost instantly.
Harry turned around and found Jane, barely standing up, blood oozing out of her left arm, the wound having spread to the shoulder.
Harry immediately went to support her up. The pair returned out of the cave, the same way they had entered, only this time, Jane was barely even a passenger. Within a few minutes, they were back out in the open, the fresh salty air hitting their lungs.
This time, it was Jane who took Harry's support as he waved his wand, and they apparated away.
The moment they reached the outskirts of the Monastery, the pair made their way rapidly. Harry swiftly informed the Practitioners and got healers to help Jane.
…
While Jane was being treated, Harry went back to his room and took out the locket from his pocket.
Previously, when he had the Hufflepuff cup in his vicinity, he felt something inside him. But, right now, he felt nothing. Harry inspected the locket and stared at it. And suddenly, he realised that the locket could be opened. Harry quickly opened the locket, found a note and took it out.
"To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B"
Harry stared at the note, in anger, disgust and confusion.
"This is not the Horcrux," exclaimed Harry to thin air. "THIS IS NOT THE HORCRUX," he repeated, a lot more loudly and angrily.
Harry stormed out of his room and made his way to the Sanctuary.
"Hey," he exclaimed loudly when he came face to face with one of the Practitioners, he recognized her from his time being under ritual.
"Your ritual didn't work," exclaimed Harry, angrily. "This is not the Horcrux," he remarked and threw Regulus Black's locket at her.
The Practitioner looked surprised and angry. She picked up the locket and looked at it, and sure enough, it looked different from what she had seen in the ritual.
"Say something," raged Harry.
"This... is not possible," replied the Practitioner, stunned.
How did you like this chapter and the whole cave sequence? I remember the evening I wrote this chapter and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. Hope all of you enjoyed it!
PS - The next chapter is an interesting one. It involves John. But it might take me more than a few days. Until then, Ciao!
