Chapter 43
Slytherin’s Cave
The next morning Harry sat at breakfast with Ron and Hermione, discussing the upcoming D.A. meeting.
“So I was thinking, what if we reviewed counter-curses?” said Hermione. “I noticed a lot of the class hasn’t quite mastered the Body-Bind spell. Remember when you used it on Dolohov? I think everybody aught to know it.”
Harry nodded in agreement as he helped himself to some scrambled egg. It had become a custom for the three of them to discuss the progress of the members of the D.A. and decide what topics needed to be covered at the next meeting. He found their input extremely helpful, as the D.A. had long since gotten so big it was hard to manage all by himself.
“I agree. I remember watching Connolly trying to cast it last meeting. Nearly put out Dervin’s eye, his wandwork was so bad.”
“You know who’s really got it down?” continued Hermione, taking a drink of her orange juice. “Theodore Nott. I saw him showing a couple of Ravenclaw third-years how to do it last time and he was really good. We should ask him to help us next time we divide the class.”
“That’s a good idea,” Harry nodded again.
“What do you think, Ron?”
“Ya, e’d be good,” said Ron with a mouthful of toast and nodding. He had lost his distrust for Nott, having long since realized he was no more a spy for Voldemort than Dobby was.
In fact, the only people who didn’t trust Nott anymore seemed to be Malfoy and his cronies. Once spurned and ostracized by the rest of his house (mainly at the behest of Malfoy), Nott’s bravery had inspired quite a few of the other Slytherins to come out against the Death Eaters. Nearly two dozen Slytherins now joined him at his end of the table, almost all of whom were regular participants in the D.A. meetings. Though some of the old rivalry and distrust remained, the Slytherins in the D.A. had (for the most part) been welcomed and accepted by the members of the other houses, and Harry had been pleased to notice some inter-house friendships begin to form. He himself had entered into a friendship of sorts with Nott, who, a few weeks earlier, had confided in Harry the real reason for his turning away from the rest of the Slytherins.
His respect for Nott had grown considerably ever since.
“…Oo’ know,” began Ron, his mouth still full of food. Hermione shot him a reprimanding look and he promptly swallowed before continuing. “I heard Grendelhall mentioning to her NEWT class something about a resistant charm the other day. Apparently you can use it against Stunning Spells. Maybe we should see if she’ll show it to us.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve read about that,” replied Harry, recalling a particularly old book he had skimmed through in the library. “Plumbeus Refragatio. I’ll stop by her office after Transfiguration today. That would be a good one to teach if she thinks the class can handle it.”
“Hey guys,” said a voice suddenly “ a charming voice Harry had been waiting anxiously to hear all morning. Ginny placed her bag on the table and scooted into the empty space beside him. Their eyes met and she gave him an affectionate, knowing smile.
“Hi, you.”
“Morning,” said Harry, smiling back. He searched for her hand underneath the table and clasped it in his own. Suddenly he felt very at peace with the world again.
“Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I had to meet with Veronica and Deidre to go over our Potions essay.” She then turned to Ron. “Pass me some of that bacon before you scoff it all, will you? I’m starving.”
Harry looked up to see Hermione looking curiously at them, apparently noticing the close proximity in which Ginny was sitting next to him. Ron was focusing on his mash and bangers and was completely oblivious. They hadn’t discussed telling Ron and Hermione about the new development “ as far as Harry was concerned, they didn’t need to. They would find out soon enough anyway.
“Oh, Hermione, can I borrow your History of Magic notes from last year? I need the part on 17th century goblin revolutions,” said Ginny.
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll get it to you at lunch,” Hermione answered, looking shrewdly at Harry.
Breakfast went on as normal, other than he and Ginny talking a good deal more to one another than was usual. At one point he said something especially funny, causing Ginny to laugh and slap him playfully on the shoulder. Ron glanced up at them after this “ a perplexed, suspicious look on his face, as though he could tell something was different but couldn’t quite place it.
At length Ginny looked at her watch and pushed her plate away from her. “I’ve got to go. I’m meeting with a study group to go over our Transfiguration notes before class. Bye, Harry.”
She leaned over and gave him a quick, delicious kiss on the lips, smiled, and walked off.
“See you at lunch,” replied Harry as he watched her go, already looking forward to the next time they would see each other. When he turned back he found Ron staring at him with the most flabbergasted, shocked look he had ever seen on a human face. His eyes were wide as saucers. His mouth hung open so wide that Fred or George could easily have hit a Bludger into it. His arm was thrust out, straight as a pole, pointing an accusatory finger at him. His expression was one of shock, disbelief, and accusation all at the same time. Apparently he was too stunned to speak “ all he could do was sit there and point.
Harry wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or run for his life. He looked at Hermione.
“So, you told her then,” she said matter-of-factly, though she couldn’t help hide her smile.
Harry grinned. “Yeah. Just last night. I didn’t really have a choice, she kind of...forced it out of me.”
For a brief moment Hermione looked like she was trying to be stern and Harry thought he was about to get a lecture of some sort. But all at once the sternness disappeared and was overcome by a fit of girlish delight.
“Oh Harry, I’m so happy for you!” she squealed, leaning over the table and grabbing his forearms. “This is so wonderful! I’m glad you finally wised up “ she’s been waiting for so long. Oh, but you will be good to her, won’t you?”
“Of course. I told you, Hermione, I real””
But he never got to finish his sentence, as Ron suddenly overcame his paralysis.
“YOU!” he gasped in astonishment.
Harry looked at him, feeling a little remorse for not telling him he fancied his younger sister sooner. Hermione just shook her head, however, and said, “Settle down, Ron. It’s not a big deal.”
“Wha”” Ron whirled on Hermione. “You knew about this?”
“I didn’t know he had told her, all I knew was that he fancied her.”
He then whirled on Harry. “Wha”how come you didn’t tell me? She’s my sister!”
Harry shook his head. “Sorry mate, I didn’t even think about it. It all just kind of, you know, happened.”
“Ron, she’s grown up. You’re not in charge of her.” said Hermione.
“Bu”didn”” he sputtered, looking at Hermione for support. “He’s my best friend! You’d think he’d at least show the courtesy of asking my permission before snogging my sister. I mean, that’s…wait”” he turned back to Harry. When he spoke his voice was slow and dangerous.
“Have you snogged my sister?”
Unsure how to answer, Harry felt his face go red instead. It was all the answer Ron needed.
“ARGGHHH!” he roared, looking genuinely angry.
“Ronald calm down, you’re embarrassing yourself,” said Hermione, rolling her eyes and taking a drink from her pumpkin juice. Realizing he had better act quickly before Ron started throwing things, Harry said the first thing that came to mind.
“So I should have told you, huh? Like how you told me you’re going out with Hermione?”
That seemed to do the trick. Hermione choked in her goblet of pumpkin juice and Ron’s anger was immediately replaced with shock.
“What? That’s diff…how did you”,” he sputtered, then exchanged a quick look with Hermione and quickly tried to recover himself. “I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, give it up you two. Everyone knows,” Harry replied impatiently.
Ron exchanged another baffled look with Hermione, obviously seeking direction on how to handle the situation. Harry felt a small, vindictive pleasure in having turned the tables on him so quickly.
Hermione let out a sigh.
“How did you know?”
Harry couldn’t help but be amused by their naiveté. “Well, the fact that you two stopped arguing months ago was clue enough. Add to that how often you’re on ‘prefect duty’ compared to the other prefects and I’d have to be pretty thick to not know something was going on.”
Ron’s eyes flitted from Hermione to Harry and back to Hermione, who looked slightly embarrassed.
“We’re sorry we didn’t tell you, Harry. We talked about whether we should or not, but thought that you might feel, I don’t know…left out. You know, like we were abandoning you or something,” Hermione tried to explain. She looked pointedly at Ron.
“Er…yeah. Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Harry, brushing it off. He turned to Ron. “So you two are going out. And I’m going out with your sister. At least it only took me a day to tell you “ you two have been trying to hide this thing for months.”
Though Ron didn’t look entirely pleased with the whole thing, he didn’t raise any more objections and the rest of the day proceeded mostly as normal. After Transfiguration class Harry made his way to Professor Grendelhall’s office to ask about Plumbeus Refragatio. As he approached the office door he heard voices from within and a woman’s laugh. When he knocked it became silent. After a brief wait the door slowly creaked inward, revealing one of the last people Harry expected to see.
Remus Lupin.
“Ah, Harry!” Lupin replied, apparently just as surprised as he was to see the other standing there.
“Remus?” said Harry in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
“Professor Dumbledore asked me to come,” Lupin laughed as he held the door open for Harry to enter. “Come in, come in.”
Slightly confused, Harry entered Grendelhall’s empty office. As he turned to face Lupin a strange sense of deja-vu came over him “ no doubt from seeing his one-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor standing in what had once been his own office.
“I knew I’d see you while I was here, though I didn’t expect it to be so soon,” Lupin said warmly. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” Harry replied. It’s good to see you. But why did Professor Dumbledore ask you to come? What’s going on?”
Lupin was about to answer, then paused.
“He…er, hasn’t spoken to you yet?”
Harry looked at him confused.
“Spoken to me about what?”
Lupin shook his head. “I’d better not say anything. I’m sure you’ll be hearing something soon,” he added with a smile, noticing the annoyance on Harry’s face. Harry was about to question him further when Professor Grendelhall stepped into the main office from one of the side doors, one Harry had always assumed was a closet.
“Ah, here you go, Remus. A perfectly preserved Gridylow skeleton. Told you I had one,” she said, waddling over to where Lupin was standing and carrying a glass case with a small skeleton in it. Harry didn’t get the best look, but he thought it looked more like a Knarl than a Grindylow. She looked up at him.
“Oh. Hello, Potter.”
Lupin hesitated a moment, then took the small glass case and examined it. “Ah yes, quite the specimen. Impressive.”
“Isn’t it?” said Grendelhall in her gravelly voice. “Potter, this is Remus Lupin. Remus here dallies somewhat in the Defensive Arts himself, you know.”
“Yes, Harry and I are acquainted.”
“Splendid,” Grendelhall answered, looking like she had known this information all along.
Harry quickly tried to piece together this latest connection. It was obvious that Remus and Professor Grendlhall knew each other. Was Grendelhall in the Order, perhaps? He had never heard her mentioned in their meetings, but how else would she be acquainted with Lupin?
“So, how do you two know each other?” he asked Lupin, who exchanged a quick glance with Professor Grendelhall. It was Grendelhall who answered.
“Oh, we go way back, Potter. Years and years and years. I taught him everything he knows,” she said, patting Lupin patronizingly on the head. “Actually, I was out there fighting Dark Wizards when Remus here was still sucking his thumb and wetting the bed! Hah heh heh he!”
Harry looked from Grendelhall to Lupin, who was smiling amusedly.
“Yes, Grishelda is very knowledgeable. So knowledgeable, in fact, that she sometimes has trouble remembering everything she’s learned. Why, just the other day I had to remind her how to cast a simple Vanishing Charm.”
Grendelhall stopped smiling and her eyes narrowed. Lupin smiled back at her innocently. This strange exchange left Harry slightly confused.
“Anyways, Potter, what can I do for you?” said Grendelhall in her sandpapery voice.
Harry quickly related the reason for his visit. Grendelhall nodded.
“Plumbeus Refragatio, huh? It may be a little too advanced for most of the club, but I don’t see any harm in trying. Remus, why don’t you drop by the meeting too? You should have time before Dumbledore’s little excursion, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I think we should. And I’d love to see this club of yours, Harry. I’ve heard great things about it. That is, of course, if it’s ok with you.”
“Yes, definitely,” replied Harry enthusiastically. Lupin was the was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they had ever had “ it would be great to have him at the D.A. club. He also felt a desire to show him everything they had accomplished.
When the time came Harry made his way to the D.A. meeting early so he could start setting up. He wasn’t surprised to find Nott and a few of the other Slytherins there already, practicing spells they had gone over the meeting before. They each greeted Harry as he entered then continued practicing. Nott, however, broke away from the group and approached him.
“Harry, could I ask you something? The Blathering Jinx. Is it a wave and a flick or more of a thrusting motion?”
“Well, it’s more of a roll and a jab, kind of like this…”
Harry demonstrated the movement and stood aside as Nott practiced it. As he watched he thought back to the night several weeks ago when Nott had told him his reason for turning from the rest of the Slytherins. It had been a situation much like this “ Nott approaching him after a D.A. meeting with some questions, not quite ready to return to the Slytherin common room. It had become a common practice by this time and Harry usually didn’t mind “ he was actually glad to see someone who took their defensive training as serious as he did.
Perhaps because of the extra time they had spent together, Harry felt comfortable enough to ask the question that had been hounding him for so long.
He asked why he was there.
Nott had been silent at first, making Harry think he had overstepped his bounds. But apparently Nott saw something he could relate to in Harry, for he had opened up and told him his story. His tone was flat and haunted as he spoke and he looked at the ground rather than meeting Harry’s eyes.
His father had taken him along on a mission with another member of Voldemort’s inner circle, a Death Eater named Hodges. Nott explained that once the sons of Death Eaters came of age, they were expected to enter into Voldemort’s service as neophytes. Nott was nearing this moment, so his father thought it a good opportunity to prepare him, as it was a minor, relatively risk-free mission. Basically their task was to harass a wealthy proponent of pure-blood rule who had gotten cold feet back into supporting Lord Voldemort. Nott had been taught his whole life that the greatest honor he could have was to stand next to Voldemort (should he ever return) as one of his selected Death Eaters. Thinking the cause of pure-blood superiority noble (again, he had been taught so his whole life), he accepted the mission.
He had no idea what he was about to witness.
They had arrived at the man’s house in the middle of the night. After rousing him and his wife out of bed, they brought them into the living room and began threatening him. At first the man resisted. He told them plainly he didn’t want any part in what was going on and wouldn’t support it. When it became apparent that they couldn’t dissuade him by threats, the Death Eater named Hodges disappeared into a side room. After a brief moment he emerged, bringing a young, confused boy with him. The man’s son.
They gave the man one final warning. After that, Nott’s father turned his wand on the boy…
Silence had followed. Nott didn’t elaborate on what had happened to the boy, for which Harry was grateful. He knew the Death Eaters well enough to fill in the blanks on his own “ knew the cruelty they were capable of, even to a young, innocent child.
Nott had then looked straight at Harry, a cold, smoldering fire of defiance and anger in his eyes like nothing Harry had ever seen.
“I am NOT my father.”
Over the next few weeks, Harry found himself thinking over this conversation repeatedly. His respect for Nott grew each time. By turning away from his family and Lord Voldemort, Nott was putting himself in extreme danger. Voldemort would definitely try to make an example out of him. In fact, Harry wouldn’t be surprised if the Dark Lord ordered Nott’s father himself to kill his wayward son. Harry found it ironic that, despite Gryffindor House being the most lauded for courage, the bravest thing he had ever heard a fellow student do had been done by a Slytherin.
After this Harry determined to give Nott as much time as he wanted for personal training.
Nott soon mastered the wand movement and thanked Harry, bringing him back to the present. Soon the room filled to capacity with the other students and the meeting began. They had been practicing for about 10 minutes when Harry noticed a small commotion at the back of the room. Walking over to investigate he saw a small cluster of students gathered around two taller figures who had just entered. Grendelhall and Lupin.
Seeing the rest of the students putting their wands down and craning their heads to see what the commotion was all about, Harry decided they had better make an announcement.
“Excuse me, everybody! Stop what you’re doing, I have a quick announcement,” Harry called out over the din. The noise level slowly quieted down and all eyes turned on him. “We have a special guest with us today. This is Remus Lupin. He used to be a professor here at Hogwarts and is going to be helping us out today.”
There was a general murmur of interest throughout the room. Harry heard Seamus’s astonished voice blurt out, “Professor Lupin?” then he, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and several others ran across the room to greet their one-time professor.
It was interesting to note how much the war with Voldemort had changed things. If Lupin had come to visit the school two years ago most of the students would have spurned him because he was a werewolf. Now a large group of excited students had gathered around him, pelting him with questions and anxious to show him the spells they had learned. It was unfortunate that it took something as serious as a war to get people to put aside their petty prejudices, Harry thought to himself. He smiled nonetheless, happy that Lupin could finally see how much he had been appreciated when he was here.
Practice resumed. They spent a few more minutes on the Body Bind Spell, then moved on to reviewing Patronuses. Both Lupin and Nott were a tremendous help, going from group to group, showing the correct wand movements and intonations to students who were having trouble. Lupin sought him out during the free-practice session.
“Harry, this is amazing!” he said in admiration. “These are some difficult spells they’re working with. I even saw Neville conjure a perfect Patronus! You’ve done an incredible job here.”
Harry felt himself swell with pride. Coming from Lupin, a previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, this was no small praise. Lupin then motioned for him to step away from the nearest group of students and to a nearby wall. His tone grew secretive.
“Harry, we need to leave now. Follow me outside into the hall. There’s someone who wants to speak with you,” he said, leaning in close and whispering so no one could overhear. Harry tried to question him further, but he simply shook his head.
“Come with me.”
They quietly made their way out of the classroom, keeping close to the outside wall in order to move more freely and avoid attracting attention. As they exited the classroom Harry peered around the dark corridor to see who he was supposed to be meeting with.
“Ah. Hello, Harry.”
Dumbledore.
“Thank you Remus,” he said, stepping out of the shadows to stand next to Harry. “Will you help Grishelda with the remainder of the meeting, then meet us there?”
“Of course, Albus. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Excellent.”
Lupin smiled at Harry and went back into the room. The headmaster turned towards him and he noticed a barely-concealed excitement in the old wizard’s face. The usually bright and energetic eyes seemed especially vibrant at the moment.
“Thank you for joining me, Harry. I would have come in and retrieved you myself, but considering what we are about to do I thought it best to attract as little attention as possible.”
Considering what they were about to do? Could he mean…Harry felt his heart leap in anticipation.
Apparently Dumbledore saw the excitement in his face, as he smiled knowingly and nodded.
“Yes, Harry. The final diary. It is time.”
Harry grinned as a surge of excitement shot through him.
They made their way out of the castle and onto the grounds of Hogwarts, walking in the general direction of Hogsmeade. By now the moon was high in the sky and hundreds of stars illuminated the ground before them. Dumbledore talked as they went.
“I apologize again for the wait, Harry. I know how anxious you’ve been to retrieve the final diary. I must say I have felt it as much as you have. But ever since it became apparent that Lord Voldemort knew about the diaries I’ve felt it prudent that we proceed cautiously to avoid falling into another trap. Your encounter with Bellatrix Lestrange was much too close for my liking.”
Harry nodded. It was hard to admit it, but he knew the headmaster was right.
“So have we found out how Voldemort knows about the diaries?”
“Not quite. Though we were able to discover this: he never found the final diary.”
“What?” said Harry in surprise.
The headmaster turned his wizened old head towards him, nodding. “Lord Voldemort never found Ravenclaw’s fourth diary. He doesn’t know what it contains.”
Harry was stunned.
“But…if he knew about the third diary, why wouldn’t he have gone after the fourth one?”
“Perhaps he didn’t know the location of the cave it was hidden in. Perhaps something else came up that distracted him. Perhaps he simply didn’t think it was worth his time. Your guess is as good as mine.”
They were nearing the main gate of Hogwarts. The shimmering lights of Hogsmeade glowing in the distance. A cold wind blew off of Hogwarts Lake.
Dumbledore continued.
“Even after we discovered that Voldemort never found the fourth diary, it still took us some time to find the cave. You see, the landscape tends to change over hundreds and hundreds of years “ the location would look far different now than it did when the man who stole the diaries lived. Though it took a good deal of searching and digging, we finally found it “ the cave where Salazar Slytherin briefly lived after leaving Hogwarts, the place where he plotted his revenge. And wouldn’t you know it””
The headmaster turned to look at Harry again, a pleasant smile on his face.
“There’s a splendid little etching of a snake on the western wall.”
They walked through the gate and off the Hogwarts grounds. Hogsmeade station wasn’t far off to the right, but Dumbledore guided him to the left, towards a small thicket of trees on the outskirts of the town.
“Of course, then we had to clear the area, make sure there were no Death Eaters lurking about. Even though Voldemort never found the fourth diary, he likely would have a general idea where it was located and might attempt another attack. We can’t be certain it is safe, so I’ve enlisted a number of the Order of the Phoenix to help us. And on that note…”
Here Dumbledore stopped walking and pulled out his wand.
“We had better get ready. Allow me.”
Dumbledore tapped his wand on Harry’s head. Immediately he felt the cold, oozing feeling of the camouflaging spell Moody had cast on him the year before, the spell that made him nearly invisible to those around him. Dumbledore then cast the spell on himself, handing Harry a small loop of silver rope as he did so.
“Just to be safe, we will keep to the trees outside of Hogsmeade to avoid attracting attention,” he instructed as he gradually melted into nothingness. It was a most peculiar thing to watch. “Now, the cave is on the other side of the village, not far from where Sirius hid during your fourth year. We will use this rope to stay in contact, for once we start moving we will not be able to speak. Any questions?”
Harry shook his head to indicate ‘no,’ then realized Dumbledore couldn’t see him.
“Err, no sir.”
“Excellent. Here we go then.”
With that the headmaster began walking, Harry following him. They kept away from the town and did their best to keep quiet. Dumbledore stopped occasionally, presumably to look around and get his bearings on where they were. Harry’s mind drifted as they went.
There were still so many questions to be answered. Where was the Half-Blood Prince hidden? What power did he hold? Would he really be able to help them in the war against Voldemort or were they wasting their time? And if he really did have such awesome power, why hadn’t the enemies of Gryffindor killed him after they found the diaries? And how on earth could he still be alive after a thousand years anyway?
Harry felt an excitement and anticipation like nothing he had known before ignite within him as they walked. Soon, hopefully, all these questions would be answered.
After about thirty minutes of slinking through the woods (though it seemed much longer) they emerged on the rocky path outside of Hogsmeade where Sirius, in dog form, had led Harry two years earlier. The pull on the rope told Harry that Dumbledore was walking more quickly, apparently considering them past the most dangerous part.
They carefully made their way down a rocky slope, past the cave Sirius had hidden in, around a large, stooping bend, across a small field, and back into the edge of a forest. They walked for several more minutes when the trees began to thin and Harry noticed the rocky, gradual slope of a mountain in front of them.
Dumbledore’s arm reached and stopped him.
“Stop, Harry. We are here,” he whispered. “Allow me to notify Alastor so he hopefully won’t attack us.”
Harry saw a small light emit from what must have been the tip of the headmaster’s wand, followed by the very faint sound of a chime off towards the mountain. After a brief moment of silence, Dumbledore pulled gently on the rope, urging Harry forward. Once out of the trees they walked down a small hill and around a rocky outcropping to a sight that made Harry’s eyes widen in amazement.
They were next to one of the tall, grey mountains adjacent to Hogsmeade. Its rocky slope descended into the ground in front of them. While most of the surrounding area had the appearance of being untouched for ages, there was an enormous, gaping excavation at the base of the mountain, at least thirty feet deep and nearly twice as wide. What was most peculiar was that the excavation was smooth and spherical, as though it had been scooped up by a giant, invisible hand.
As Harry marveled at this, a lone, huddled figure appeared before them.
“Ah, it’s about time. Welcome Albus, Potter,” growled a low, familiar voice.
“Thank you, Alastor,” said Dumbledore. Harry felt a quick tap on his head from the headmaster’s wand and was soon able to see his arms again. Dumbledore then materialized next to him.
“Have you seen anything strange tonight?” he asked.
“Nothing,” replied a deep, low voice to Harry’s right as another man stepped out from the rocks. Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry hadn’t even seen him there.
“Hello, Potter,” he said with a nod.
“Excellent. Let’s wait for Remus to catch up, then we will proceed.”
“That’d be him there,” Moody growled, pointing off into the trees behind Harry. The retired Auror’s knotty, chiseled face seemed especially creepy in the moonlight.
Lupin soon joined them, panting slightly and handing an invisibility cloak to Moody. Out of habit Harry quickly looked at the moon to make sure it wasn’t full. Luckily they still had at least a week.
“Anything?” Dumbledore asked him.
“No. Nobody following, other than the one we already knew about. Grishelda ended the D.A. meeting early to take care of that one. We’re all clear.”
“Splendid. Shall we?”
Dumbledore motioned towards the excavation and they made their way into it. At the bottom there was a dark, gaping fissure in the side of the mountain, what Harry could only assume was the entrance to Slytherin’s cave. Dumbledore nodded at them and disappeared into the inky blackness, followed by Lupin. Kingsley and Moody stood to the side of the fissure as guards, motioning for Harry to enter. He did so and groped around for a brief moment, wondering where he was supposed to go. Then he noticed a shimmering, green light not too far in front of him and made his way towards it. Careful not to hit his head on any low hanging rocks, Harry soon found himself in an open, circular room with an ancient, stale smell to it.
Looking up to see the source of the light, he saw a strange, green cloud hovering on the ceiling of the cave. A pale, murky light seemed to be radiating from it. Looking to his left he found Dumbledore and Lupin gazing up as well, a stream of the green cloud issuing from the headmaster’s wand. Apparently the cloud was some sort of illuminating charm the headmaster had devised.
When finished, the headmaster placed his wand back in his robes and looked at Harry. He nodded at the wall off to his Harry’s right, the green light dancing on his face and revealing a rather uncharacteristic look of excitement and anticipation. Harry turned his attention to the spot on the wall he had indicated and walked towards it. At first he could see nothing other than the typical grooves and notches that centuries of time would normally carve into a cave wall. Once his eyes had adjusted to the strange light, however, he noticed a small, white etching of a snake just to his left and slightly hidden in a recess in the wall. On closer inspection he found it wasn’t a recess, but rather a flat, stone panel flanked by two stalactites. He traced the etching with his finger.
This was it. The final diary. None of the headmasters had ever gotten this far.
Dumbledore and Lupin walked up behind him, both keeping silent. Harry could almost feel the anticipation radiating from them. His heart was pounding. He took two deep breaths and closed his eyes, doing his best to clear his mind of emotion.
His eyes opened and focused on the etching of the snake.
“Show me your secretssss.”
A low rumble. The deep, resonant grinding of stone sliding on stone. The etching glowed a pale, ghostly white.
The two stalactites withdrew up and back into the wall, like the retracting fangs of a serpent. The small panel with the etching sunk downwards, revealing a dark, gaping hole.
Harry reached into it and felt around. His fingers ran across cool, smooth stone at first, then closed on a hard, rectangular something. A book.
The diary.
He withdrew it and turned to face Lupin and Dumbledore. The three of them stood in a circle around the diary, staring silently. No one said anything for quite some time. Harry felt numb. Even after all this waiting, even after all the anticipation, he still couldn’t believe he was holding it. His eyes met with Dumbledore’s.
After one last moment of silence, the headmaster shook his head as though throwing off a trance and nodded towards the cave entrance.
“Let’s go.”
Harry Potter and the Legacy of the Founders by VoldemortsPatronus
Chapter Notes: Only six chappys to go.