When Harry had gotten back to Grimmauld Place, Harry cursed at his luck for delaying them. He, Hermione, and Ron were to visit the house in the morning, and then make their way to Hogwarts with plenty of time. But now there undoubtedly was an emergency meeting of the Order happening, and McGonagall would be far too busy�”not to mention not one of them knew where the new headquarters was.
They all decided it would be best to do things to take their minds off the morning. Then, later in the afternoon, Errol smashed against Harry’s bedroom window. Harry stopped practicing the spell he found (with no results), and Ron and Hermione put a hold to their twenty consecutive games of chess (Ron dominated in all of them).
After letting Errol recover in Hedwig’s cage, the letter was torn open. Even though the details weren’t much, they all were still surprised to see that Mr. Weasley posted some information about the Order meeting. And more to Harry’s surprise, the meeting was more about the blunder at the Ministry and what to do about it. The meeting actually only brushed over Harry’s security. Apparently, a majority of the members recognized Harry’s sovereignty, and beat out a vote to force him into hiding if necessary.
“That’s good news,” Hermione commented. “At least we’ll have no problem leaving tomorrow.”
And leave the next say they did. Still careful of any enemies that thought of looking for Harry at Grimmauld Place, they ran out the front door, as the house melted away behind them. The three of them then stepped forward, Apparated, and found themselves outside the familiar gates of Hogwarts.
“I must say, this is certainly a surprise,” McGonagall said in greeting an hour later. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to wait in a confused Hagrid’s newly repaired cabin since McGonagall had stepped out. “I don’t usually get student visits over the summer, especially when there’s no school to go back to in September.”
“That’s because we have a question,” Harry said nervously.
McGonagall folded her hands, and stared at them intently. “And what would be that question?”
“Do you know where Professor Slughorn is?”
“Of course I do,” she responded immediately.
“Really?” Ron said excitedly.
“Yes, but I’m not giving that information to any of you,” she continued harshly.
“Why not?” Harry asked, irritated by having his hopes raised and dashed almost simultaneously.
McGonagall gave him an angry glare. “Because Horace Slughorn went to the Order of the Phoenix himself, and trusted us to put him into hiding. I am not about to break that trust!”
“Do you want to know what I was doing the night Dumbledore died?” Harry blurted out. Ron shot a look at him, Hermione made a sound of agreement, and McGonagall cocked an eyebrow.
“That would be nice to know, Potter,” McGonagall said suspiciously.
“We have a question for Professor Slughorn,” Harry continued, “and after we ask him, it’ll be pretty obvious what happened that night.”
“And then he’ll come to the Order to tell you all what is going on,” Hermione finished off. Now it looked as if Ron understood. After going to Slughorn, and after asking him about the Horcruxes, he would definitely confront the Order about the manner at hand. There was no way it could stay a secret.
After a few seconds McGonagall sighed, pulled some parchment in front of her, and scribbled down something with her inked quill. Harry was about to take it, but she bypassed him and handed it to Hermione.
“I’m warning you, I am betraying someone’s trust. Do not let this fall into the wrong hands.”
“We won’t,” Hermione answered. She then stuck the parchment in her pocket.
They turned and left her office. Nobody spoke until they got outside.
“Where’re we headed, then?” asked Ron once they passed the front gates.
“A place called Acomb,” Hermione read from the parchment. “Any of you two know where it is so we could Apparate?” she asked anxiously, dreading the alternate decision.
“Nope,” said Harry, frustrated, sticking his right hand into the air. BANG. The violently purple form of the Knight Bus rolled down the road and stopped in front of Harry.
Daniel leapt out of the bus and before he could say anything Harry said, “Take us to Acomb.”
“No problem,” he said, steeping aside to let Harry, Ron and Hermione pass. He took fourteen Sickles from Harry and said to Ern, “Hit it!”
BANG. They were now rolling somewhere along Scotland.
“Can’t believe that you’re alive!” Daniel said happily, throwing them a copy of the Daily Prophet. The headline read: "Ministry Blunder at Godric’s Hollow Further Undermines Public Confidence."
“It’s a miracle,” Daniel continued. “It said that about twelve of the those people that helped out before the Aurors came had to be taken to St. Mungo’s�”three of them resulted in fatalities!”
“What?” Harry said, tearing his eyes from the newspaper. He had never given a second thought about what happened to the members of the Order that he hadn’t seen leave the house. He had only recognized a few of the faces that left.
“Yup, and only four of them Death Eaters were captured.” He shook his head in disappointment and said, “Keep it.”
Harry also purchased a hot chocolate and went to the back of the bus, followed by Ron and Hermione. They took the tables in the most secluded spot and looked over the article. The one bit of good news was that Bellatrix Lestrange was among the Death Eaters captured. There was a bit more about casualties, and then it got to the part Harry wanted to see. Apparently, it was a man named Henry Dempsher, Amelia Bone’s replacement as head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, who delayed getting word to the Aurors. He was now facing an inquiry.
“Hope he isn’t like Lucius Malfoy and has the right people in his pocket,” said Ron in disgust.
“Scrimgeour won’t like it if this Dempsher person gets off without too much punishment,” Harry said thoughtfully. “The attack shook up a lot people, and trust in the Ministry for security is already low.”
“I just hope that the Ministry doesn’t go and accuse other innocent people of being Death Eaters for the sake of false hope,” Hermione said in the same tone as Ron. She wore a sour look on her face, but it changed to surprise when she read the next line.
“Oh, look,” she said, pointing at a sentence. “It says here that the owner of the Witch’s Wand, along with that Claire, were chosen for a second round of questioning. They didn’t seem like the type to join the Death Eaters, did they?” she asked them.
Ron reddened slightly and shrugged, probably thinking the question was directed at him. Harry, on the other hand, knew Hermione wouldn’t accuse just anybody she didn’t like to be Death Eaters.
“Talkin’ about Larry and Claire?” Daniel had come up to the table and sat down with them. “I forgot to ask: Did you mention me to Larry?”
“Yeah,” Harry said thankfully. “Would have had to empty my money bag to pay for a room, otherwise.”
“Then you must have more money in that bag than I would have guessed,” he said cheerfully, and then looked down at the sentence Hermione was still pointing at.
“Can’t believe that they took him ‘n Claire,” he said with a grimace. “I’ve known her just as long as Larry�”and neither them would be Death Eaters.”
“Must be tough having friends facing possible time in Azkaban,” said Ron sympathetically.
“Yeah,” Daniel said, his eyes going out of focus into a dreamy state. “Friends,” he repeated with a chuckle, “were more than friends once. Pity it didn’t work out with her,” he quietly said to himself.
Hermione looked at him with concern and snapped her fingers in front of his face, causing him to jump. “Oh, sorry about that,” Daniel said, blushing with embarrassment. “Acomb’s the next stop, by the way.”
When they got off the bus Harry, Ron, and Hermione found that they were in a mostly rural area that had some farms lined across road.
Hermione then looked up a nearby street sign and she seemed to understand it, because she suddenly started off down the street. Harry and Ron followed, knowing that she knew what she was doing. The area wasn’t too populated and only a few cars passed them when a street sign came up on their left that told them that they reached a street called Bishops Hill.
“We’re looking for number eighteen,” Hermione announced as they started walking up the street. The houses in this neighborhood were obviously designed for well off people. They were all brick two story houses, with nice, big lawn and fences. It was a step up from Privet Drive.
“Fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…seventeen,” Harry said counting the house numbers on the mailboxes. The sun was almost all the way down and it became harder to see where the number.
“And eighteen,” Ron finished when they stood in front of a wooden house with a large front yard. Their faces fell when they saw that the door was ajar, and they felt tension in the air.
“Ouch!” Harry yelled. A sharp pain shot across Harry’s scar and disappeared as fast as it had come.
“What is it?” Hermione asked, horrified at the prospect of the answer. Ron was the same way.
But Harry didn’t hear her and just said, “Wands out.”
The three of them pulled out their wands and started for the house. They made it across the lawn and opened the front door further. Inside everything looked in order: the chairs were upright, no bloodstains on the wall, nothing was broken. Harry, however, kept walking, somehow knowing where to go. He led the way up a set of stairs and came into a hallway that had a door open.
When Harry looked inside he was stunned by what was there, even though he had already caught a glimpse of it when his scar hurt. Professor Slughorn was lying on the floor next to a bed and was bleeding freely through his chest, which looked as if it had been torn open. Ron and Hermione seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Then they heard a hiss in the corner, where a large snake was slithering and looking at them with an evil glint in his eyes. It was Nagini!
When Harry looked into those eyes his scar seared again, but he tried to ignore it and realized the obvious: Voldemort was controlling the snake. Harry had to try and not make eye contact again, unless he wanted Voldemort to get another peek into his mind.
“Get away from him!” Harry shouted, looking at the snake’s tail. Hermione and Ron jumped at must have been a sudden hissing sound issuing from Harry.
“Watch out!” shouted Ron, pulling Harry out of the way as Nagini coiled and tried to strike Harry. It hit the opposite wall, recovered and coiled to attempt another strike.
It lunged forward before any of them were prepared, and missed them again. It landed on the bed, and its fangs sank into the pillow. Nagini pulled out, and seemed disoriented by the feathers still attached to its fangs.
“Stupefy!” Harry cried. But Nagini shook off the feather, slithered out of the way just in time, and prepared to attack once more. It struck again, this time catching them off guard and going after Ron.
“Crap!” he yelled, dodging as best he could. The snake only got a piece of his shirt, but it turned out to be a ploy, because it then cunningly wrapped its tail around Harry’s ankles.
Harry tripped, and dropped his wand in the process. As more of the enormous snake began to wrap around him, he could feel his legs being crushed. The snake struck its fangs menacingly when ever Ron or Hermione tried to intervene with a spell. In the meanwhile, the coils worked its way up to Harry’s hips.
Then, Ron grabbed the pillow and tried to beat the head of the snake’s head with it, sending more feathers flying out from the tear. It tried to strike Ron, but he put the pillow in the way to take the blow.
“Diffindo!” Hermione shouted, while Nagini was too busy dealing with Ron.
Harry suddenly felt the Nagini’s grip go slack followed by warm liquid spraying on his face. He looked up and saw that Hermione had severed off the snake’s tail, and it was gushing out blood. Nagini was now flailing around, just having part of her body cut off.
Harry didn’t waste anymore time, and grabbed his wand. “Incendio!” he yelled, intending to hit the creature and the area around it. The snakes shot up in flames, and the writhing became wilder. But it only managed to roll around in more fire. As the flames continued, Nagini started moving less and less, until finally it was nothing more than a long strand of burning flesh.
Then a pain punctured Harry’s skull and it felt like it was going to split in two. He clasped his hands onto his forehead and fell to the floor twitching, screaming his lungs out like never before. And his screaming was not just of pain, but also anger was resonating from it. Something bad had just happened, and it was making the pain worse�”it was only second to the Cruciatus Curse. Harry squirmed all over the floor, his nails digging into his head. He blacked out.
A/N: Sorry if this chapter was too short, ended abruptly, or the fight with Nagini wasn’t long enough�”anyway one more Horcrux down.
Harry Potter and the Secret Spell by Phoenix 86
Chapter Notes: All reviews appreciated.