Chapter 23 “ Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup
The flaming tapestry closed abruptly behind him, and it extinguished, leaving Ginny and Harry in total darkness. Harry’s heart rate increased in fear. This time he was not untouchable. This time, he could have his head chopped off. He didn’t dare move in case he fell into a lake, and he was hesitant to use his wand in case it was a trap. Ginny squeezed his hand and began to say something.
“Shh...” Harry silenced her. At this, candles came into light one by one lining the walls. They provided a faint glow that felt harsh on Harry’s skin. The room was completely empty. It was cold, grey stone, just like the rest of the castle, but Harry sensed something whispering in the walls. Ginny looked disappointed.
“Now what do we do?” She looked over her shoulder. The door melted away slowly and soundlessly and Ginny’s grip on Harry’s hand increased. Harry didn’t quiet her this time. He could tell that it would be ok to yell now.
“Do you feel that?” he asked almost joyously. “Do you hear that!” He ran towards the wall and began pressing his palms to every stone he could reach. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt it would be the best thing to do to get past this test.
“Help me!” he demanded of Ginny. She ran to the opposite wall and started doing the same thing.
“What are we looking for?” she hissed as she touched the stones. Her perplexed expression made Harry smile.
“I’m not sure,” he laughed, “but if you feel anything, anything at all unusual, even if it’s just an emotion, tell me, and remember which brick it was.”
“You’re the unusual one,” she muttered impatiently.
Harry ignored the remark and continued touching each stone within reach. The room was not much taller than himself. It would take about an hour for one person to touch each one.
Ginny was annoyed. She couldn’t stand it when Harry didn’t explain anything to her, and Harry knew it. She’d know when they found it “ whatever it was.
This odd room was not too large “ about the same size as Harry’s Gryffindor Dormitory. After nearly ten minutes, the pair was halfway through the room. Just as Harry was beginning to question his theory, Ginny fainted.
“Ginny!” he cried as he raced to her, not even bothering to mark his place on the wall. He held her carefully in his arms and checked for her pulse. Still alive. Still breathing. Yet not awake.
Thinking quickly, Harry conjured up another stick, this time with young, green leaves at the very end of it. Harry used this to poke every stone that Ginny might have touched before she passed out. The proximity was large, for Ginny had fallen sprawled out beside the wall with her head pointing north, feet pointing south. Harry had to stand up and continue prodding each stone in the area near his girlfriend. At the touch of one dark, silvery-grey stone, the leaves turned brown and fell off. Nothing else happened. He was unsure about what to do next. Blood? Harry thought. He cut the tip of his finger with his wand and used the dead stick to dab some blood on the stone. It evaporated, leaving a dry, red residue, but nothing else happened. No, Voldemort would not use the same key twice. Harry shot spell after spell at the stone, but it just absorbed each one. Of course, it wouldn’t be so easy. He was becoming frustrated. Why was nothing working? He paused. What would Voldemort do in this situation? Harry cautiously tried, “Avada Kedavra”, and yet still nothing happened.
They couldn’t get out; they were going to die in here.
“Wake up, Ginny,” he whispered anxiously as he knelt beside her again, lightly slapping the side of he face. She blinked. The stone disappeared. Harry had no idea how. Stone after stone began to tumble all around them as the wall fell apart. Harry clutched Ginny and scooted backwards to avoid the mass of stone now tumbling where he had sat moments before. On the other side, mystifyingly magnified by the gently falling dust, the hand-painted, gold-rimmed masterpiece of a ceramic teacup stood silently on a table in the center of the room.
Harry tried to lift Ginny to her feet, but they would not support her. She was weak, and on the verge of passing out again. Harry slipped his arm under the crook of her knees and hoisted her off the ground. The dust had not yet settled as Harry stepped over the mass of rocks towards the Horcrux. There it was “ victory.
~*~
He increased his pace and stood right in front of the prize. He shifted the unconscious Ginny awkwardly in his arms as he held his wand to the cup. It felt wrong to destroy it; it was so beautiful. It looked as thought it had taken years to create, and now he, a young man, was stealing that beauty with a few simple words.
“Avada Kedavra,” he muttered with a defeated tone. The room suffered an explosion of blinding green light and fire. Harry held Ginny close to him as he darted from the room. He stood on the other side of the stone wall and watched. The cup rose into the air and shattered into a million pieces. Harry heard screaming and felt his head split with pain. He knows. Voldemort knows.
Harry was now certain the Horcrux was gone, and he shot into the middle of the room to find the door had reappeared. Through the tapestry he flew into the Trap Room. Each trap lay wasted on the floor. He jumped over the seventy-foot drop with sudden strength, manoeuvred around the lion’s cage, hopped the daggers, and tore through the door. He felt as though he was running away from Voldemort. The evil wizard was not here, but he knew that this Horcrux had been destroyed. Harry was certain that Voldemort didn’t know who did it, but he felt that Voldemort, who thought he had at least four remaining pieces of his soul, would be in a hurry to make a new piece as soon as possible. Harry needed to protect someone from being murdered, and to protect this search from being prolonged. Harry tried to Apparate home as he ran breathlessly up the stairs and all through the halls, but he found he couldn’t.
Once he was outside, the building became invisible. He Apparated at once.
Harry Potter and the Seventh Search by snufflesismyidol
Chapter Notes: One of my favourites. I hope you like it too.