Harry sat by the side of a narrow dirt road, resting his tired body. It had been several days since he had first set off from the Burrow, he’d lost count of just how many, and he was exhausted. No one was passing through this deserted road, so he had been forced to walk for many grueling miles.
His robes were rumpled, and his hair was even messier than usual, but either Harry didn’t care or he didn’t notice. All he wanted was to get to Godric’s Hollow in one piece.
After sitting a few minutes, he stood back up and sighed heavily. The going was even harder without Ron and Hermione to help pass the time. He missed them so much, but knew it had been necessary to leave them behind. Harry would never have forgiven himself if something had happened to the both of them.
Harry began trotting quietly down the road. Hedwig glided down behind him and settled on his shoulder with a contented hoot. Harry smiled halfheartedly. At least someone was happy.
A meters more along the road, he began to get the shivery feeling that he was being followed. He glanced back and saw nothing, but that did nothing to ease the feeling. He warily continued, treading as lightly as possible, trying to catch whoever was following him. After a moment, his efforts paid off. He heard a soft rustling sound in the grass by the side of the road. It sounded almost like ” a snake? Harry’s insides turned to ice, and his heart sank as the noise continued. Nagini, he thought with dismay.
Harry stopped again, and the snake he was sure was behind him stopped too. Okay, think, Harry, he told himself. The snake can’t follow fast enough if you get on your Firebolt, but flying is too risky... and she’d be sure to catch me if I made a run for it... I guess there’s only one thing I can do...
He gritted his teeth as he stepped forward. Harry had never liked Apparating, but it was his only remaining option. But if the Ministry caught him, without a license...
“To hell with the Ministry,” he muttered fiercely. “Like they care what I do anyway...” He closed his eyes and twisted around, concentrating on his destination: Godric’s Hollow. Godric’s Hollow, Godric’s Hollow, Godric’s Hollow...
Harry felt the now-familiar sensation of being pulled inside-out, and suddenly toppled over onto the grass. Wait a minute... grass? I was standing on the road, a dirt road, wasn’t I?
He pushed himself up and stood, brushing himself off. Then he raised his head and looked around. He’d done it! At least... he’d gotten somewhere. The small village in which Harry had landed didn’t match his idea of Godric’s Hollow at all.
This Godric’s Hollow was basically a ghost town. Half the houses were in ruins, and the ones that weren’t were boarded up. A few looked in good condition, but the windows were shattered, the walls graffitied. The whole village seemed to be completely deserted.
Harry closed his eyes. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d been expecting to find, but it wasn’t this. He’d thought there would at least be people still living here, but that assumption had been wrong, too. What had been the point in coming here?
He suddenly heard a loud crash. Harry’s eyes flew open and looked around to see what had made the noise. He could hardly believe what he saw.
An old woman was kneeling in the rubble of one of the houses, picking up the broken pieces of a ceramic bowl and muttering to herself. She had a stooped back and wild, frizzy white hair. She wore a ragged brown dress and a moth-eaten shawl, and seemed to be completely unaware of her observer.
Harry hadn’t thought he would see anyone living here. He stared at her. After a moment or two of rummaging around the dirt and stones, the woman glanced up and jumped back, apparently as surprised to see Harry as he was to see her.
Then after her initial fright, she stared back at him, with large, penetrating brown eyes.
“Who are you?” Harry croaked. His mouth was suddenly very dry. He swallowed nervously as the old lady shuffled forward a few steps, never taking her eyes off his face.
He knew nothing about her, and didn’t know if it would be wise to speak to her, to give her any information about himself, but Harry decided to try anyway. He swallowed again and said, “I’m ” I’m Harry Potter. I’m looking for something, I didn’t know if you’d help me find it?” No response. The woman just continued inspecting his face. Her eyes lingered a second on the scar on his forehead, and something about the look on her face seemed to change.
Harry was about to speak again when the old woman blurted, “You are Harry Potter.”
She had a raspy voice that sounded unused. Harry blinked, then stammered, “Y-yes... I just...”
“I know what you are looking for,” she interrupted. She looked around shiftily, then said quietly, “Come closer, Harry Potter. You seek certain items belonging to the one they call You-Know-Who.”
She stated this very matter-of-factly, as if she knew what he was thinking. Harry wasn’t even sure if that was what he was here for. Just the idea of visiting his first home had drawn him to Godric’s Hollow. But he had to admit he was searching for Voldemort’s Horcruxes... And if the woman knew something...
Harry nodded slowly. “Yes... yes, I am. Do you ””
“The Dark Lord has returned and you seek the four hidden keys to his defeat!” the old woman said loudly. Harry gasped. How did she know how many Horcruxes were left? Or was she bluffing, trying to make him believe she knew about his search? But then how does she know my name? Why is this lady here, wandering about the exact place I Apparated to?
“You seek the keys to his defeat!” she repeated. Her eyes had gotten glassy, and she looked almost like...
But no. She couldn’t possibly be a Seer... could she? But she did look exactly like Professor Trelawney had, that day in the tower... when Harry had heard her speak the prophecy that Wormtail would escape, that Voldemort would soon come back...
The old woman continued in her harsh voice, staring blindly in Harry’s direction. “Many trials lie in the road you must take. You will lose many, but must continue on for the sake of those you love! You stand near to the first clue of this puzzle, near to the completion of the first step of the path you have chosen... One close to your life but not your heart unknowingly holds the first piece of the Dark Lord’s soul! Foes will meet as the last battle draws nigh! ‘For neither can live while the other survives...’”
Harry’s mouth dropped open, and he almost fell backwards. How did she know about the prophecy, Trelawney’s prophecy that had caused the death of his parents?
The woman stumbled. When she looked up again, she seemed dazed, confused. As if she didn’t even know what she just told me... ‘Near to the first clue of this puzzle...’
"Where ”" Harry began.
The woman suddenly jumped up and slowly backed away from him. As she turned to run away, she shrieked madly, “The secret lies with the blood of the Evanses!”
Harry blinked his eyes for the briefest moment in time, and when he opened them again, the old lady was gone.
Harry spent almost an hour wandering through the deserted village, trying to figure out the message ” or prophecy? ” that the mysterious old woman had given him. ‘Trials...’ Well, he hadn’t really expected to get through this unscathed anyway... Just look at Ginny... No. Don’t look at Ginny. He forced the thought away and turned his attention back to the message. ‘Foes will meet...’ Perhaps she was referring to Harry and Voldemort? Or his Death Eaters? And why had she quoted that particular part of Trelawney’s prophecy? ‘For neither can live while the other survives...’
Harry kicked at a piece of rock that had lodged itself in a dip in the grass. ‘One close to your life but not your heart unknowingly holds the first piece of the Dark Lord’s soul.’ What did that mean? Harry stopped walking and frowned. So someone he had known for a long time had a Horcrux? Someone he wasn’t really close to? But who? Harry could think of many different people who fit that description.
‘The secret lies with the blood of the Evanses.’ Harry sat down on a board sticking through the rubble of a house. Evans, Evans... Lily! His mother! ‘The secret lies with the blood of the Evanses.’ Had his mother’s family known about the Horcruxes? And why bother saying ‘blood of the Evanses’, why not just say the name? He had to know more... If only Dumbledore were here, Dumbledore would know what to do...
Harry stood up suddenly. But there was a way he could contact the Headmaster! The portrait... the portrait in his office, it could help. Just how much could a portrait do, though?
“I’ve got to get back to Hogwarts,” he said aloud, more to himself than anything. He walked over a stone in the way, and at that very moment he heard the snap of a stick being stepped on, just behind him.
Harry froze. Was he still being followed? He silently ducked around the side of a house nearby and drew his wand, heart pounding. He heard someone talking, then somebody else answered. There’s more than one! One Death Eater could cause quite a lot of damage on his own, but Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to hold off several, not by himself.
He listened. Someone was saying, “...he said he was coming! He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
Another voice replied, “Well, what if he knew we’d follow, and just said that to put us off his trail? After all...”
The second voice faded, as if its owner were moving away, but Harry heard somebody else move closer to his hiding place. “Hang on... I think I might have found something...”
It was now or never. If Harry was to take the Death Eaters by surprise, the time was now, before they found him first. The voices were familiar, but Harry put that out of his mind... Who else would be sneaking around a ” mostly ” deserted village?
Taking a deep breath, Harry jumped around the corner and rammed into someone, who yelled in surprise. Harry pinned the wriggling person to the ground and jammed his wand at his victim’s throat.
“What the bloody... Harry! Harry, you prat, watch where you’re sticking that thing! What’re you trying to do, kill your best mate?”
Harry pulled the wand away and gasped, “Ron?!”
The freckly face of his friend stared up at him, wearing a bemused expression. “Yeah! Who’d you think it was, You-Know-Who? The way you jumped me I expect you did. Can you get off me now?”
Harry pulled back and leaned against the wall, staring at Ron and breathing heavily. Ron sat up and looked himself over, as if checking to make sure he was still in one piece. Then he grinned at Harry. “Surprised?”
Harry suddenly got his breath back and said loudly, “Ron, you idiot, d’you know how close I got to hexing you?”
Ron yawned unconcernedly. “Yeah, I guess it was kind of risky, but I knew you’d want to get a good look at the person you’d jumped before you cursed him. You know, ‘know your enemy’ and all that. I suppse I figured right. So y’see, it didn’t turn out too bad!”
Harry felt his face turning red. Why had they followed him, after all the trouble he’d gone to to make them ” them. “Where’s Hermione?” he asked.
Ron fidgeted as he stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Well, um... She’s back there, Harry, but... Harry, we thought you’d want some company... So, uh, Hermione and me, we asked ””
“No,” Harry said. He could tell where this was leading, and he didn’t like it. “No. No, no, you better not have done what I’m thinking. You two better not have dragged somebody else into ””
Just then, Hermione came running around the corner. “Oh, good, Ron, you found him. Neville heard you yell, and we thought someone might have ””
Harry interrupted, “Wait!” He turned to Ron, an incredulous look on his face. “You brought Neville into this? Of all the people you could have chosen, you had to pick Neville?!”
Ron became defensive. He put up his hands and said, “Hey, we didn’t have that many options. Besides, we had to bring some backup.”
Harry put his face in his hands. This couldn’t be happening. All his perfect plans were being rudely trampled, first by Nagini, then by the old woman, now by Ron and Hermione. How many more unpleasant surprises were on the way?
By this time, Harry half-expected to see Voldemort pop out of the ground in front of him. So many bizarre things were happening, he felt sure that something like that would not be out of the ordinary.
Suddenly another possibility occurred to him. He lifted his head and stared at Ron and Hermione, who both looked extremely guilty. “You brought ” you didn’t bring someone else along, did you?” he asked sharply.
They glanced at each other, and Harry’s fears were confirmed. He stood and started pacing around. He scowled at his friends and crossed his arms. “Brilliant. Just brilliant. Who else did you get? Wait, let me guess,” he said sarcastically. “A Squib? An old Muggle? Some random person you didn’t even know till now?”
Ron began to answer, looking exasperated, when Neville came running up, with another person close behind. Neville gasped for breath, then grinned at Harry. “Hi, Harry! Knew we’d catch up to you sooner or later.”
But Harry was staring at the girl behind him in disbelief. Wide, misty blue eyes... frizzy hair... a bright yellow sweater that read, “Protect Our Wizards! Down With The Rotfang Conpiracy!” Harry’s mouth dropped open as the girl said dreamily, “Oh... Hello, Harry. Are you fighting with Ron and Hermione again, already?”
Harry rounded on his two friends. “Luna? You dragged Luna into all this? Are you crazy?”
He saw Luna nod her head wisely. “Yes, you are fighting again. And I wasn’t dragged at all, I happily volunteered. Lovely day, isn’t it?”
Harry felt like screaming. Instead, he controlled himself and with great effort asked, “Did you two tell them anything?”
Ron snorted. “Are you kidding? You think Neville’s gran would let him go anywhere without a proper explanation? We had to tell her, and Neville and Luna, everything about the Horcruxes and You-Know-Who, and she swore not to speak a word of it to anyone.”
Neville added, “And Gran can keep a secret. When she says she won’t talk, she never will.” He turned to face Harry and said, “She’d just about locked me in the house when Ron, Hermione, and Luna came along. Frightened You-Know-Who might try something, since my mum and dad...” He trailed off, but everyone knew what he meant. Neville’s parents had been tortured to insanity by Voldemort’s followers.
Breaking the awkward silence, Luna blinked and said, “Neville’s grandmother is very nice.”
They all laughed. “I’m sure,” Harry agreed. He turned back to Hermione, and she stopped laughing. “Why’d you follow me, even when I’d asked you not to?” he asked. “It was all for your own good! Who knows what could happen...”
Hermione shook her head. “You don’t understand, Harry. We knew the risks, but we came anyway. We couldn’t just let you face all this alone! Isn’t that what friends do? We brought Luna and Neville along because we thought we might need some help, getting to you.”
Ron interrupted, “You gave us quite a scare back there, Disapparating on us like that. Me and Hermion, we weren’t sure whether you’d really come here or not. But here we all are, and I didn’t even splinch myself!” He felt himself all over, as if confirming his statement. He grinned. “Not even an eyebrow missing! Ol’ Twycross would be pleased.”
Harry sighed, now resigned to the fact that he would be having company on his journey.
“I think it’s very brave of you, Harry, going off to save the Wizarding world and so on,” Luna said calmly. “If you manage it, maybe Dad will even put the story in the Quibbler. Another best-seller, I expect.”
Harry rubbed his forehead in exasperation and looked at the four of them, standing there, eagerly awaiting his words. At that moment he suddenly remembered the strange old woman. In the excitement of finding Ron and Hermione, he had completely forgotten about her cryptic message.
Harry quickly relayed the story to Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Luna didn’t seem at all surprised, but, Harry thought, perhaps these sorts of things were everyday occurrences to her. Ron, Hermione, and Neville, on the other hand, looked astonished. Hermione gave an audible gasp when Harry told them about the woman’s message.
After he had finished, Harry fell silent, waiting for their opinion. Ron seemed to be in a state of shock, while Hermione looked like she was already trying to puzzle it all out. Neville’s mouth was hanging open. Harry was sure he had never encountered anything like this before.
Finally, Ron blinked and said, “Whoa. As if things weren’t weird enough already. Now we’ve got some mad old lady tottering around, spewing prophecies and breaking dishes... Better watch out... She might start attacking people next...”
Hermione ignored him and, frowning, murmured, “‘The secret lies with the blood of the Evanses...’ Could that be your mother, Harry?”
“That’s what I reckon,” Harry said thoughtfully. “I was actually planning on going to Hogwarts... to talk with Professor Dumbledore’s portrait about it... Maybe he knows something.”
Hermione’s eyebrows shot up into her hair. “That’s a pretty good idea, Harry. Do you know exactly how much a portrait can do, though?”
Neville jumped in before Harry could answer. “But isn’t Hogwarts closed?”
“What?” Harry started. Hogwarts closed? He had never even considered the possibility.
“Yeah. My gran got a letter in the post, from McGonagall. What with You-Know-Who in the open, and Dumbledore gone, she didn’t want to risk anything happening to the students, so she closed it down. Didn’t you get a letter too?”
“No,” Harry said, stunned. Hogwarts was closed. Now how would they get into the Head’s office, to the portraits?
Luna voiced his fears. “So... If the school is closed, and we can’t smuggle Harry in or Apparate or anything...”
“...we’re sunk,” Ron finished. “There’s no way we can get in there, so there’s no way we can get into Dumbledore’s office.” He looked at Hermione. “Your turn, Hermione. Put that brilliant mind of yours to work and tell us how we can sneak in.”
“You can’t sneak in!” Hermione snapped. “I’ve told you a hundred times, there are Stealth charms aa around the castle and everything, if you ever read ‘Hogwarts: A History’, you’d know ””
She stopped. Her eyes widened. Harry and the others leaned in as she breathed, “But if one could Apparate into another place on the grounds... A whole other building, that wouldn’t have any charms or blocks...”
“Yes?” Harry said, a bit impatiently.
“Hagrid’s hut!” Hermione blurted, a pleased look on her face. “We could Apparate into Hagrid’s hut! Then he can help us get into the school! It’s perfect!”
“Wait...” Harry said slowly. “You’re saying we could actually get right into Hagrid’s hut? But Dumbledore said ” Isn’t it kind of rude, Apparating into someone’s house?”
“Yes, yes, but we know Hagrid well, he’s our friend! I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Hermione answered excitedly, pacing up and down. Then she stopped and looked round at everyone else. “What do you think?”
They all looked at each other. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron, who shrugged in response. Neville had an excited look on his plump face, while Luna just seemed detached and in her own little world. As usual, Harry thought.
“Guess we’re all in,” Harry said. He still didn’t like it that they were coming with him, but, as in the Ministry of Magic two years ago, they had minds of their own, uncaring for their own safety. But this time they won’t have Ginny, Harry thought. His eyes felt suspiciously wet. He tried to think about her as little as possible, but small things like this reminded him far too often of the fact that she was gone.
Neville interrupted Harry’s thoughts with an exclamation. “Wow! Breaking into Hogwarts! I’ll bet we’re the only ones who’ve ever tried to do that!”
“That will make another good story,” Luna said, looking faintly interested. “Second only to that sighting of a yeti in Poland, I think.”
Hermione snorted in disbelief. Ron and Harry grinned at each other. It would be nice having Luna with them; she was always good for a laugh, whether she meant to be or not. The feud between her crazy ideas and Hermione’s practical thinking would be fun to watch, too.
Harry took a deep breath, forcing all thought of Ginny out of his mind. “Well... If we’re all agreed...”
Ron jumped up and flung his arms out, looking like a demented bird. Harry tried to hide a smile as Ron said, “Let’s go!”
Harry looked at Hermione and saw the doubt in her eyes. What would happen if she was wrong, if they couldn’t Apparate into Hagrid’s hut? Could something much worse than splinching happen to them?
Well, we might as well try, he thought. He grimly nodded to the others. “On the count of three, then?” he asked. For answer, Hermione slowly began to count.
“One...”
Harry prepared himself. Destination, determination, deliberation... He pictured Hagrid’s small home in his mind and twisted around.
“Two...”
Harry held his breath and, closing his eyes, took a few tentative steps away from the other four, who were presumably doing the same thing. How Hermione could count and concentrate at the same time was a mystery to Harry. There ” he was getting distracted already... Destination, determination, deliberation... Hagrid’s hut... Destination, determination, deliberation...
“Three!”