"So, basically," concluded Harry, "the locket’s safe at Grimmauld, we’re pretty sure the opal necklace is a Horcrux, and, er “ we have no idea about Hufflepuff’s cup."
In the portrait, Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "That is good, Harry, very good indeed. You have done well. And now," he added, smiling from under his white moustache, "It is my turn to contribute to our quest. I have had much time to think while stuck on this wall, and I have several ideas, though some will, of course, be wrong...." He paused, running one long-fingered hand through his silvery beard.
"We hoped you could tell us what you did with the necklace, sir," Harry ventured. He was glad when Dumbledore nodded again.
"Oh, yes, if the necklace is a Horcrux “ and it certainly does seem possible, even probable “ then retrieving it should not present too much of a problem. No, I was wondering what you would say if I told you my suspicions concerning the whereabouts of Hufflepuff’s cup."
"You think you know where it is, sir?" Harry leaned forward at once, all ears.
"I have a notion that it may be closer than you think," said Dumbledore. "It may just be the whim of a silly old man, but Harry, I do believe that the cup is hidden within this very castle."
There was a small silence.
"In “ in Hogwarts, sir?" Harry looked at the picture of his old Headmaster doubtfully.
"That’s the one," said Dumbledore cheerfully. "And can you not guess where in the castle?"
"Er “ "
"Why, the place where he fulfilled his childhood dreams of power, where he learned to kill, the place where he proved to himself that he was more than a Riddle, of course."
And Harry realised. "The Chamber of Secrets!"
Dumbledore smiled. "Very good again. To Riddle, the Chamber would have been more than a slimy dark cavern filled with rat bones; it was the place where he gloried in the knowledge of his Slytherin heritage, and learned that he could make the mightiest of snakes, the Basilisk, do his bidding. What better place to hide a portion of his soul than a Chamber to which even the greatest wizards did not have access, that he alone could open? And you, Harry, because of the power he transferred to you when he gave you that scar."
Harry shivered. The thought that he had a little bit of Voldemort in him, however unconnected from his own soul, still made him uncomfortable. Dumbledore continued placidly.
"The Basilisk, of course, would have been a perfect guardian for a Horcrux. While the snake was alive, no sensible wizard would venture into the deeps to regain a mere cup. Most would not even have dared to face it to retrieve a young girl, especially when armed only with a Hat, a sword, a bird, and two years’ worth of magical education."
Harry looked up. Dumbledore was smiling. Then the headmaster continued briskly.
"I suggest you investigate the Chamber again, Harry, and in the meantime you could set about regaining the necklace. It should not be too difficult for a master like you."
Harry waited for more information, but none seemed forthcoming. "Um, right,” he said, not wanting to seem rude. “So “ so where is it, sir?"
Dumbledore looked apologetic. "Ah, yes. Well, Harry, I regret to say that in my reluctance to keep it in my office, and also to destroy it in case any cursed shards of opal fell into innocent hands, I put the necklace somewhere rather difficult to access. I cast it into the depths of the Hogwarts lake."
"The lake?" said Harry, horrified. "But how’re we ever supposed to find it in there? It’d be like the whole Triwizard thing again!"
"Exactly right," said Dumbledore serenely. "And as I said, it should be no problem to such a master as you. Good luck."
Harry stared dumbly at his old headmaster. "But “ "
Dumbledore merely smiled again, and bowed his head. Harry understood himself to be dismissed and so, still trying to work out whatever Dumbledore could mean, he rose reluctantly, walked to the door and exited the room.
I cast it into the depths of the Hogwarts lake. Dumbledore’s words played over and over in Harry’s mind as he walked through the castle towards the Entrance Hall, and the more he thought about it, the more mystified Harry became. What did Dumbledore mean, he was a master? Did his former headmaster expect him to steal some more Gillyweed and dive into the lake to search, as he had done in his fourth year? But the lake was huge; covering a good fifth of the Hogwarts grounds; it was even difficult to define objects on the other side “ finding a tiny necklace in its watery depths could take days, even weeks. Walking along, frowning, Harry was not even aware of the light footsteps sounding behind him, until a dreamy voice spoke in his ear.
"Hello, Harry."
Harry spun around, and found himself face to face with Luna Lovegood.
"Luna! How’re you doing?" Harry spoke automatically, while looking round in alarm for other students; though he was rather pleased to see Luna again, he realised that he had forgotten to put his Invisibility Cloak back on after leaving the office.
"I heard you were looking for Voldemort," said Luna almost absentmindedly; her gaze was fixed vaguely on a point somewhere behind Harry’s left ear. "Is it fun?"
Harry was taken aback. "Fun?" he repeated.
"It must be rather exciting, really," said Luna dreamily. "Rather like looking for a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, in a way."
"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Um, Luna, I’m sorry but I’d better be going “ " The corridors were still deserted, and Harry guessed that most of the other students were eating dinner in the Great Hall; nevertheless, he was not keen on the idea of meeting Filch or even being glimpsed by a portrait “ the news would spread round the school like wildfire.
"Oh, okay," said Luna wistfully. "So you didn’t come back to Hogwarts to stay, then…I hoped you had. You were one of the people who used to talk to me."
As he looked at the slightly eccentric-looking girl in front of him, Harry felt distinctly guilty. "Are “ are you lonely here, Luna?"
"Oh, only sometimes," said Luna. "I have a friend now, see." And she plunged her hand into the pocket of her robes, bringing out a plump white mouse, whose shower of whiskers twitched wildly as it stared at Harry.
"Her name is Mildew. Daddy gave her to me." The mouse blinked at him.
Before Harry could comment, there was the sudden sound of clattering footsteps and what seemed like several dozen first and second years came bursting round the corner. Harry stepped backwards in a sudden panic, and the students in the first wave nearly fell over as they stopped dead, staring at him, and were walked into by those behind them.
"It’s Harry Potter!"
"What? Why’s he here?"
"Hey “ hey, Harry! Is it true you’re destined to fight You-Know-Who?"
"It’s Harry Potter!"
Harry swore under his breath, said rather stupidly to the general public, "No, it’s not!” and before the crowd of students could say another word, he had fled round a corner, thrown the Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders and flattened himself against a wall.
"Where’d he go?"
"Was that really him?"
"Whoa “ I’ve actually seen Harry Potter!"
Good for you, Harry thought grimly as he let the young students wander unsuspectingly past him. When they had gone, Harry didn’t dare take off his Cloak in case another lot came along, but he moved back over to Luna, who was standing rather forlornly in the corridor, stroking Mildew’s head, and said quietly to her, "Bye, Luna. I’ll see you around."
"Bye, Harry," said Luna. "Good luck, and have fun." And she moved off, without a backward glance, her radish earrings swinging as she turned a corner. Harry watched her go, still feeling sorry for her, but when she had disappeared from sight he knew he had to get on. So Harry crept cautiously along the corridors, taking care not to trip or sneeze when he was near anybody. As he saw Horace Slughorn striding purposefully towards the Great Hall and, presumably, his dinner, Harry made up his mind on the spur of the moment.
Swiftly and silently he sped down to the dungeons, along the long, dingy corridor, and into Slughorn’s office. The door of an adjoining room was slightly open; Harry looked inside and found what he had been hoping for “ the Potion Master’s private stores. He pushed aside boxes of dragon fangs, Demiguise toenails and sinister-looking dried tentacles before he found it: a large jar of Gillyweed. Harry grabbed a couple of handfuls of the slimy plant, feeling distinctly guilty as he did so, stuffed them into his pocket, and made to exit the store cupboard. A noise outside made him stop dead.
“Horace? Is that you? I brought you the Windleweed you wanted “ oh.” Professor Sprout had pulled the door of the cupboard open wide, and Harry held his breath as she squinted into the small room. In her hand was a large basket of long, dark-green reeds, which were squirming slightly. The surprised professor pushed her flyaway hair back over one ear with an earth-covered finger, still looking into the store cupboard in confusion.
“I could’ve sworn I heard “ oh, well I’ll just leave them here for him to find when he gets back,” she muttered to herself, laying the basket on the desk. She left the room without looking back, and Harry breathed again. As soon as he thought it safe, Harry followed her, taking care to leave the cupboard door slightly ajar, as he had found it. He reached the Entrance Hall without further incident, but was sorry to hear whispers everywhere, already, that Harry Potter had been seen in Hogwarts, and had been conversing alone with “that Loony Lovegood”.
Harry waited until the Entrance Hall was completely clear of students, ghosts and teachers, then slipped out of the front doors and into the grounds, which, in the late afternoon, were illuminated by the weak winter sun. As he approached the lake, Harry was more than a little surprised to see three familiar figures standing at the water’s edge, peering in the direction of the castle.
Harry sped over as quickly as possible, skirted them swiftly and silently, stopping only once when he thought he heard the crack of a twig in the trees beside the lake. But he could see nobody, and telling himself that he was being paranoid, Harry turned away from the Forbidden Forest. Ron, Hermione and Ginny seemed to have noticed the front doors open and close by themselves, and were staring in that general direction, but they were completely unprepared when Harry sneaked up behind them and let loose a Tickling Charm.
“Rictusempra!” Hermione and Ginny shrieked and began to laugh uncontrollably as the Charm hit them. Ron yelled, “Oi! Cut that out!” between great gasping chuckles, as Harry took off his Cloak with a flourish and grinned.
Harry stopped the spell with a quick “Finite!” then raised his eyebrows as his three friends straightened up, panting.
“Boy, those Death Eaters won’t even need Unforgivable Curses for you lot…they could just use a Tickling Charm and you’d all collapse,” he joked. “What are you doing here, anyway?” he added.
“Oh, this crabby old guy in a portrait in your room came and told us that we were supposed to meet you here,” said Ginny, regaining her composure and shrugging.
“That would be Phineas,” said Harry. “Sirius’ great-great-grandfather. He’s got another portrait in Dumbledore’s office, and he can move between the two.”
Ginny nodded. “Yeah, that was him. Anyway, he said it was Dumbledore’s orders. What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about, anyway?”
Harry hesitated. He didn’t feel inclined to share the news about his mother and Snape’s brief relationship; it was still too new and shocking to him, and he was uncertain how they would react. “He “ wanted to tell me about the Horcruxes,” he said finally, and told them Dumbledore’s theory about Hufflepuff’s cup being concealed in the Chamber.
Hermione and Ron both looked excited and relieved upon hearing of the possible close proximity of the Horcrux, on which they had had no leads before now, but Ginny merely bit her lip.
“So “ we’ll have to go back in there to get it?” she said quietly. She attempted to sound casual, but a tremor ran through her words nevertheless. Harry shook his head.
“Not you,” he said firmly. “It should be an easy matter with the Basilisk gone, and no one expects you to have to face going in there again, so don’t worry.”
Ginny looked slightly embarrassed, as though she thought she was being babied, but she did not press the matter. It was obvious that her experiences down in the Chamber with Tom Riddle still stood out with horrible clarity in her mind. After a second, she spoke again.
“This Phineas “ he said we had important business to do at the lake?”
“Yes, we do,” said Harry in a low voice, checking that they really were alone before continuing. “That’s the other thing I talked to Dumbledore about. The necklace is in there.”
“What, the opal necklace? The Horcrux?” said Ron, looking bewildered. “What’s it doing in the lake?”
“Dumbledore didn’t realise it was a Horcrux “ he chucked it in there to stop it harming anyone again,” said Harry over his shoulder, whist fumbling in the inner pocket of his robes for the Gillyweed. Ginny gazed out at the glassy lake, not a ripple disturbing its icy smooth surface, as Harry pulled the Gillyweed, slimy and rubbery as rat-tails, out of his pocket. He turned to Ron and Hermione.
“I’m going to have to go in and search for it,” he said.
“What?” said Hermione, looking both surprised and alarmed.
“It’s okay,” said Harry hastily. “This is Gillyweed, Ron “ that’s what I used to get down to rescue you last time. And there’s no point in all of us going in, there’s not enough of it for four anyway,” he added as Hermione opened her mouth again in protest.
“It’s okay,” he repeated before either of them could say a word. “It’s better if I go alone, I’ve done it before.”
“Harry “” said Hermione, looking at him as though he’d gone crazy, but Harry shook his head.
“I told you, it’s fine. I’ll be back in an hour; if I haven’t found it by then, I’ll go back down. Don’t worry about me,” he repeated, and he crammed a handful of Gillyweed into his mouth.
“Harry,” said Hermione, in exasperation. Harry attempted to look reassuring, which was difficult with his mouth stuffed full of foul-tasting vegetation, but Hermione threw up her arms impatiently. “Harry, if you’d let me get a word in, perhaps I could tell you just how much easier it would be to use a simple Summoning Charm?”
Harry stopped chewing and gazed at her. Ron snorted, and Harry spat the entire mess of half-chewed Gillyweed onto the grass.
“Finally,” said Hermione.
Ginny was grinning, and Harry put his forehead against the trunk of a nearby beech tree, feeling like a complete idiot. Why had he not thought to summon the Horcrux, instead of preparing to dive in and look for it as though he had never heard of a wand?
“Okay, I admit it,” he finally announced to the tree. “I was trying to be noble, because I didn’t want to put you lot in danger again, and yes, I will try to stop doing that.” He turned around. “Okay, right…a Summoning Charm. Should be fun. Let’s just hope it’s strong enough to find the Horcrux in there; that lake’s pretty deep.”
The three of them moved far back to give Harry breathing space to perform the charm. When he was ready, Harry took a deep breath, raised his wand, and said clearly into the crisp, cold air, “Accio necklace!”
For a few seconds nothing happened. Harry continued to concentrate all his brainpower on the glittering purple jewels, the “string of death” as Regulus Black had so aptly named it. Then a sudden tremor shook the middle of the lake, and a tiny ripple shuddered across the water. The ripple swelled rapidly, and within seconds a whirlpool began to form. It grew larger and faster until it seemed the lake was being sucked inwards by a huge force. The powerful mass of gleaming green water twisted and surged downwards, deeper and blacker in its very heart, until suddenly, from the very centre, a tiny object came flying out; an object which flashed purple in the pale sunlight. Harry’s heart leapt, and as the dripping opal necklace came hurtling towards him, he unthinkingly dropped his wand and put out both hands to catch it.
“Harry, NO!” Hermione and Ginny screamed together in horrified panic, both tearing towards him, but Ron got there first. Before the necklace had reached its target, Ron threw himself bodily at Harry, and knocked him over, out of its path. With a small wet plop, the cursed Horcrux landed harmlessly in the soft mud by the side of the lake. Slowly, the swirling waters calmed and grew still, until they were as glassy smooth as before. Harry lay panting on the muddy grass with Ron sprawled on top of him. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, then Harry, still shocked at the stupidity of what he had been about to do, croaked, “Ron…thanks for that.”
The words seemed inadequate but Ron merely grunted, “No problem. Just, uh, just don’t try that again, okay?” Painfully, they untangled themselves and stood up. Harry, straightened his glasses, still feeling slightly dazed by the enormity of what he had nearly done, though judging from Hermione and Ginny’s white faces, they had been utterly terrified.
“Sorry about that,” said Harry, then tried to restore some normalcy to the situation. “Right. We should probably get on. Um, Hagrid did invite me for tea after I went to see Dumbledore, but I wasn’t expecting to have got this.” He gestured at the necklace, which gleamed evilly from its position in the mud. “We should get it back to Grimmauld as soon as possible. Hagrid will understand.”
There was a pause while the others digested this, then Hermione agreed. “Yes “ we’d better not let it out of our sight until it’s destroyed, and we need to sort out the locket soon, too. Lupin came back to Grimmauld while you were with Dumbledore’s portrait, Harry, so we can ask him for help when we get back.”
“Cool,” said Ron, and Ginny nodded slowly in agreement, still looking slightly pale with shock.
“Let’s get going, then,” said Harry. He pulled off his scarf and knelt beside the necklace. Remembering vividly the last time he had done this, with Hagrid pounding off towards the castle holding a screaming Katie Bell in his arms, Harry carefully wrapped the Horcrux in the scarf until it was completely covered. Hermione put a simple Binding Charm on the scarf to stop it unwinding, and they set off towards Hogsmeade to Apparate back home, the covered-up Horcrux tucked tightly under Harry’s arm.
Not one of them noticed when, barely a minute after they had left the lakeside, a tall figure emerged silently from the trees where Harry had earlier heard the sound of a snapping twig. The figure stood peering after their retreating backs, then stealthily followed, taking extreme care to remain well out of sight.
Please review!