Orphans of the storm

The sun skirts the edge of the horizon, it’s golden glow bouncing off the surface of the lake and splattering over the walls of Hogwarts; he is gliding over the grounds, alongside Severus Snape, the man carrying himself stiffly as usual, his posture betraying his impassive face… It amuses him… Not that it is surprising that even his most trusted follower is wary of him, frightened even, he would be a fool if he wasn’t — only one man has ever truly faced him without fear in his heart, only one, and he was conquered now, the white glint of his tomb visible next to the lake — no, what amuses him, is that Snape bothers to hide his fear, and how well he does it…

”I shall join you in the castle shortly”, he speaks in a high-pitched, cold voice. ”Leave me now.”

Severus bows stiffly, his eyes flitting up to his face but not all the way up to his own eyes, then he turns and walks back up the path to the castle, his black robes billowing behind him; he smiles then… Harry feels a twinge in his chest… in his chest, not Voldemort’s… Voldemort is still smiling grimly and waiting for Snape’s figure to disappear before continuing down the path… Because it wouldn’t do for anyone, not even Snape, to see where he means to go, after all… He casts a Disillusionment Charm on himself that hides him even from his own eyes; he holds up his hand in front of his face, but he can’t see it… 

He ambles around the edge of the lake, until he reaches the white marble tomb, reflected brilliantly in the dark water… No, Harry thinks as horror slams into him… But Voldemort is expectant, excited, euphoric almost… He lifts his yew wand: the tomb splits open from head to foot, revealing the shrouded figure inside and he leans over and trails his hand down the fold and caresses it aside, revealing the white-pale, sunken face of the old man… almost perfectly preserved still… he could be sleeping… 

No, Harry thinks — his grief butting heads with Voldemort’s euphoria —

Voldemort’s eyes trail down from the man’s face to his folded hands on top of his chest, one white and one blackened for some reason; and there it is… Had the old fool really thought that marble or death would protect it? Had he thought that Lord Voldemort would be scared to violate his tomb? 

With his spider-like hand he reaches down and plucks the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s loose grip. 

”Dumbledore had the Elder Wand?” Ron says incredulously when Harry fills him and Hermoine in later. ”Harry! How long have you known? Did Ollivander tell you back at Shell Cottage? ’Cause if he did, why have we been wasting time, instead of going to Hogwarts to get it —?”

”We haven’t wasted time”, Harry retorts. ”We’ve got another Horcrux! Hermoine was right, Dumbledore never wanted me to have the Elder Wand. He wanted me to find the Horcruxes, and that’s what we need to focus on…”

”Well, on the upside we got the Horcrux”, Ron says. ”On the down-side however…”

”No sword”, Harry agrees bitterly. 

”No sword”, Ron repeats. ”That double-crossing little scab…”

Harry pulls the cup from the pocket of his wet jacket that he’s just wrestled off him and places it in the grass in front of them. As the last rays of daylight hits it, it glints golden and beautiful. 

”Well, at least we can’t wear this one round our necks”, Ron says. ”Would look a bit weird, wouldn’t it…”

Hermoine tears her eyes from the cup and looks across the lake at the bank on the other side where the dragon is still drinking from the water, ”What do you think will happen to it?”

”You sound like Hagrid”, Ron says and rolls his eyes. ”It’s a dragon. It can take care of itself. It’s us you should be worrying about…”

”What do you mean?”

”Well, I don’t know how to break this to you, but I think they might have noticed that we broke into Gringotts…”

All three of them start laughing, and like a switch has been flicked, once they’ve started it’s impossible to stop. Not until they’ve run out of breath and tears of mirth are seeping out of the corners of their eyes do they manage to compose themselves again, the sun having disappeared completely behind the line of the horizon. Harry lies back in the grass and stares up at the red sky as he pants for breath. 

Pain cleaves his head in two, like someone had split it open with a sword and his final chuckle turns into a gasp; He is standing in a dimly lit room, with a semi-circle of wizards facing him from behind ghost-like masks… on the floor, a quaking little figure is kneeling… a goblin… 

”What did you say to me?” Harry demands in Voldemort’s cold voice as fury burns inside him. ”Say it again. Say it again!”

”M- My L- Lord”, the goblin stammers, his black eyes wild with terror and flitting back and forth across the floor between them but not daring to meet his own. ”We t- tried to st- stop them… imp- posters, my Lord… broke — broke into the — into the Lestrange’s v- vault…”

”Imposters? I thought Gringotts had ways of exposing imposters? Who were they?”

”It was — it was — P- Potter and t- two accomplices —”

”And they took?” he demands, voice rising shrilly as fear grips him. ”Tell me! What did they take?”

”A… a s- small golden c- cup m- my Lord…”

The scream of rage that erupts from him sounds foreign to his own ears, like that of a creature it tears out of his throat, denial and fear squeezes him from all sides, it can’t be, it’s impossible, nobody has ever known, not even his most trusted Death Eaters, so how — how — can Potter have discovered his secret? 

The Elder Wand slashes through the air and green light floods the room; the goblin rolls over, dead, while the Death Eaters fall back in terror and run for the door, Bellatrix and Lucius shoving others behind them in their race to safety behind the doors, as if there is such a thing, as if he can’t snuff all of them out whenever he so pleases… He fires off the Killing Curse again, and again, and again, at random Death Eaters without much thought, then starts pacing… 

His treasures, his safeguards, his anchors to immortality flash before his mind’s eye: the diary was destroyed already and now the cup was stolen, what if, what if the Potter boy knows of the others as well? Is it possible? Can he know? Can he have tracked down more? Was Dumbledore at the root of this? Even now, even after Voldemort has prevailed, even with the old man’s wand in his hand, even now the old fool is twarting his plans, from the other side… 

But surely he would know, if the Horcruxes had been found and destroyed, he would have noticed it? 

Some calm settles over him at last; it is also absurd to think that the boy could possibly know of the cave, or even the Gaunt shack… no-one ever knew him to be related to the Gaunts, he has hidden that connection, and the killings were never traced back to him, so the ring, surely, was safe…

He must be sure though, he must make sure… the images flash again through his boiling mind: the lake, the shack, and Hogwarts… Yes, he must return to each of his hiding places, he must redouble the protection around each of his Horcruxes… He will visit the cave and the shack first, knowing that his hiding place in Hogwarts is quite safe, since he alone has penetrated the castle’s secret… Of course, it might be prudent to alert Snape of the possibility of Potter attempting to enter the castle, just as a pre-caution… to tell Snape why would be foolish, of course — it had been a grave mistake to trrust Bellatrix and Malfoy… 

Mind made up, he stops pacing around the fallen bodies of his servants and takes a calming, deep breath. He will go to the shack first, and he will take Nagini with him; they must not be seperated again… 

Harry’s eyes flies open and beyond the worried outlines of his friends he sees the sky above them, no longer red but pitch-black and peppered with stars; Ron and Hermione gaze down worriedly at him and he struggles to sit up, avoiding their alarmed eyes, ”He knows… He knows we got the cup and he’s going to check on the others… and the last one is hidden at Hogwarts… I knew it. I knew it.”

Ron justs gapes at him, but Hermione frowns, shaking out her still damp, frizzy hair as she sits back on her haunches, ”But what did you see? How do you know?”

Harry thinks back on the vision, the fevered images tumbling over each other, the feeling of Voldemort’s raw voice as it tore through his throat, sending the Killing Curse across the room again and again, the fury mingled with fear in his chest; he tells Ron and Hermione everything, in fragmented portions as the memories come back to him, ”He thinks Hogwarts is the safest, because Se- Snape is there…” 

Harry swallows thickly past the lump in his throat… if Severus had been present in that room, if he had been summoned to that meeting… he could be dead now… but no, Harry thinks firmly. Voldemort wouldn’t kill Snape; he trusts him, he might even like him, as disturbing as that thought is…

”And because he knows it’ll be really hard for us to get in without being seen”, he continues. ”So he’ll check there last, but he can still be there within hours —”

Harry scrambles to his feet, grabbing his wet jacket and casting a Warming spell on it, to dry it somewhat. 

”Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?” Ron says excitedly and gets up as well, scooping up the Cup as he does.

”No”, Harry admits and gets out his Invisibility Cloak. ”He was concentrating on warning Snape, he wasn’t thinking of exactly where it is —”

”Wait, wait”, Hermione says. ”We can’t just go! We haven’t got a plan, we need to —”

”There’s no time!” Harry says fiercely, he’s light-headed with exhaustion and hunger and had been looking forward to a few hours rest, but Voldemort can be at Hogwarts before morning, removing the Horcrux from its hiding place and if they don’t get to it before him, it’s going to be a hundred times harder to destroy it — it’s bad enough that they have to get close enough to him to kill the snake! 

”But how are we going to get in to Hogwarts?” she insists, her eyes wide with fear now. 

”I don’t know yet”, Harry says impatiently. ”Let’s just go to Hogsmeade first of all, and then we’ll — we’ll think of some way — just — come on, get under the Cloak and let’s go!”

Harry pulls the Cloak down as far as it will go and huddles together with Ron and Hermoine on either side of him, and together they turn on the spot and Disapparate. 

No sooner have their feet touched solid ground and the familiar sight of Hogsmeade High Street come into view, when a high-pitched scream like that of Voldemort when he found out about the Cup; the door of The Three Broomsticks flies open and a dozen Death Eaters file out into the street with their wands held aloft, their dark eyes scanning their surroundings from behind their masks. 

Ron makes a movement towards his own wand, but Harry grips his wrist firmly and shakes his head. There are too many of them to stun them all and if they start shooting hexes they will give away their position. 

”Accio Cloak!” one of the Death Eater yells and Harry hurries to glasp the folds of the Invisibility Cloak tighter, but nothing happens. 

”Not under your wrapper then, Potter?” the Death Eater yells, then turns towards the others, ”Spread out. He’s here.”

Six of them set off down the street and Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly back into a small sidestreet. 

”Let’s just leave!” Hermione whispers. ”Disapparate now!”

”Great idea”, Ron says immediately, but Harry shakes his head; they can’t go now, they just can’t. 

”They were ready for us”, he whispers back. ”I think they’d set up that spell to warn them we’d come, and I reckon they’ve probably done something to keep us here, to trap us —”

”What about the Dementors?” one of the Death Eaters growl. 

”The Dark Lord wants to kill the boy himself —!”

”Yeah, and the Dementors won’t kill him! The Dark Lord wants the boy’s life, not his soul — he’ll just be easier to kill after he’s been kissed —!”

Dread slams into Harry; to repel Dementors they will have to produce Patronuses, and then they will definitely give their position away, plus they won’t be able to defend themselves against the Death Eaters and at the same time maintain focus on the Patronus charms… 

”We’re going to have to Disapparate, Harry!” Hermione whispers, terrified. 

The familiar cold settles over the street and the few lights, including the stars overhead are snuffed out. 

No, Harry thinks hopelessly, we’re so close… so close… 

But he knows Hermione is right. To stay now, with Dementors coming for them on top of everything else, would be suicide. 

He nods reluctantly, but Hermione’s arm is already closing around his, and then he feels her turning on the spot… and nothing happens — 

Hermione gasps in horror; Harry’s heart does a back flip inside his ribcage… They’re trapped…

Dread and fear and hopelessness washes over Harry in great big waves; this is it, they have failed, he has failed, he has failed everyone… Voldemort has won… It’s all over… Glancing down the street, Harry sees ten or more Dementors gliding into view… Wait, he thinks vaguely. Wait, no, it’s not over, not yet — he draws his wand and aims resolutely — he will not suffer the Dementor’s Kiss, whatever happens next, he will not be kissed!

Taking a deep breath, Harry thinks of his mother’s letter to Sirius and warmth starts seeping into body again as he concentrates on the domestic picture she’d painted of their lives together, he thinks of her last words to him and how her love shielded him from Voldemort’s Killing Curse; he thinks about Hagrid telling him he’s a wizard on his eleventh birthday; Sirius hugging him goodbye for the last time; Severus holding him while he cried at Spinner's End, comforting him; he thinks of Severus kissing him, saving his life, kissing him, kissing him, kissing —

”Expecto Patronum!”

The silver stag springs from Harr's wand and charges the Dementors, sending them scattering down the street… A jubilant yell can be heard from round the corner and then running footsteps approaching quickly, ”He’s down here, he’s down here! I saw his Patronus!”

Harry stumbles back and knocks his shoulder against Ron’s chest. His friend’s arm flies out to steady him before he trips and tumbles over. 

”What do we do?” Ron whispers urgently. 

Before Harry has a chance to come up with a reply however, there’s a creaking noise to their right as a door opens. 

”Potter, in here, quick!” a dark voice rumbles from the darkness inside the house. 

The three of them hurry inside immediately. 

”Upstairs”, the voice says. ”Keep the cloak on and keep quiet!”

The man shoves past them and walks out into the street, slamming the door shut behind him. Harry looks around wildly, but it’s impossible to make anything out in the darkness so there’s no way for him to guess where they are. Suddenly, a dim light appears on the other side of a grimy window and Harry sees the grubby bar of the Hog’s Head right in front of them. 

They run behind the bar and through a doorway leading to a rickety staircase that takes them to the level above where they find a sitting room, empty save for a threadbare carpet, a small fireplace and a large oil painting of a blonde girl. 

They can hear angry voices from the street below and still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, they sidle up to the window and peer out at their Savior, whom Harry realises must be the gruff barman of the Hog’s Head. 

”So what!” he is yelling at the Death Eaters now. ”So what! You send ruddy Dementors down my street, I’ll send a Patronus back at ’em, I’ve told you, I won’t have Dementors near me, I’ve told you that, I won’t have it!”

”That wasn’t your Patronus”, snarls one of the Death Eaters furiously. ”That was a stag, that was Potter’s —!”

”Stag!” the barman roars, pulling out his wand. ”Stag! You idiot — expecto patronum!”

Something huge and horned erupts from the barman’s wand and charges down the street. 

”That is not what I saw —” the Death Eater says, but he sounds unsure. 

”Curfew’s been broken, you heard the noise”, one of the others insist. ”Someone was out in the street against regulations —”

”If I want to put my cat out for the night, I will, and your curfew be damned!”

”You set off the Caterwauling Charm?”

”And what if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven’t pressed your little Dark Marks and summoned him. He’s not going to like being called here for me and my cat, I tell you that much!”

”Don’t you worry about us, worry about yourself, breaking curfew —!”

”And where will you lot traffic potions and poisons when my pub’s closed down, eh? What will happen to your little sidelines then? I keep my mouth shut, it’s why you come here, isn’t it?”

”I still say I saw a stag Patronus!” the first Death Eater shouts in frustration.

”Stag? It’s a goat, idiot!”

”All right, all right, maybe we made a mistake”, another Death Eater says. ”Break curfew again and we won’t be so lenient, though!”

Harry, Ron and Hermione all breathe a sigh of relief and Hermione sinks down on the floor. Harry pulls the curtains over the windows, then removes the Cloak. They can hear the barman bolting the door downstairs and then his footsteps on the creaking stairs. 

”You bloody fools”, he says gruffly when he joins them in the sitting room. ”What were you thinking, coming here?”

”Thank you”, Harry says weakly. ”Really. You saved our lives. We can’t thank you enough —”

The barman grunts and lights a couple of candles. Harry walks up to him and peers into his face, or what little of it that can be glimpsed amongst the stringy, grey hair and beard and a pair of grimy glasses, but there is no mistaking the brilliant blue eyes. 

”It’s you”, Harry says. ”Your eye that I’ve been seeing in the mirror… you sent Dobby to help us…”

The barman stares back silently for a few seconds, then nods and looks around as if expecting the house-elf to pop up suddenly, ”I’d’ve thought he be with you, where’ve you left ’im?”

”He’s dead”, Harry says. ”He was killed.”

”I’m sorry to hear that”, the old man admits, but his face remains impassive. ”I liked that elf.”

”You’re Aberforth, aren’t you?” Harry asks, knowing it to be true even as the old man avoids answering, because there is a family resemblance there that makes something tighten in Harry’s chest. ”You’re Dumbledore’s brother… How did you get this mirror?” 

He indicates the small mirror propped up on the floor next to the door, the mirror that had once belonged to Sirius and whose twin had belonged to Harry, of which he only had that one shard left since he broke it nearly two years ago. 

”Bought it from Dung”, Aberforth says. ”Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you.”

”The silver doe!” Ron gasps suddenly. ”Was that you too?”

”What are you talking about?” Aberforth says. 

Harry frowns at Ron too, because he thought Ron, like Harry, had assumed the doe belonged to Severus.

”Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!”

”Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son… Haven’t I just proved my Patronus is a goat?”

”Oh… yeah”, Ron says, looking both embarassed and disappointed. 

Harry bristles, wondering why Ron would be so excited about the prospect of anyone other than Severus sending that doe to help them — hadn’t Severus saved Harry from drowning? and hadn’t he destroyed the Horcrux? why would Ron still doubt him? — or maybe he isn’t doubting his loyalties, Harry thinks sourly. Maybe he just doesn’t like the idea of Severus helping us because he doesn’t like Severus, and he doesn’t like that I like him…

As if reading Harry’s mind, Ron gives him a sideways glance and makes an apologetic face, and Harry gives him a tiny nod. 

Aberforth makes them some food and they wolf it down greedily. Harry can’t even remember the last time he wasn’t hungry, and his stomach churns in warning as he shovels too much food into his mouth too quickly. 

”Well”, Aberforth says once they’ve cleaned their plates. ”We need to think of the best way to get you out of here —”

”We’re not going anywhere”, Harry says immediately. ”We’re need to get into Hogwarts, and it needs to be tonight.”

”Don’t be stupid, boy.”

”We’ve got to —”

”What you need to do, is to get as far from here as you can —”

”You don’t understand — and there isn’t much time — Dumbledore, I mean, your brother, he wanted us to —”

”My brother wanted a lot of things”, Aberforth interrupts. ”And people tended to get hurt while he carried out his grand plans… You need to get away from this school, Potter, and get out of the country. Forget about my brother and his plans, he’s gone now, and you don’t owe him anything —”

”You don’t understand”, Harry says again. ”He left me a job —”

”Did he, now? Nice job, is it? Easy? Sort of thing you’d expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to carry out without overstretching themselves?”

Ron laughs bitterly, and Harry frowns, ”Not exactly, but I’ve got to —”

”’Got to’? Why ’got to’? He’s dead, isn’t he? Let it go, boy, before you follow him into the grave! Save yourself!”

”I can’t.”

”Why not?” Aberforth demands immediately, his blue eyes flashing behind his dirty lenses, but it’s impossible to tell if he’s angry or in fact excited. 

”I —” Harry trails off, he doesn’t even know where to begin, he’s exhausted and overwhelmed, so he just shakes his head. ”But you’re fighting too”, he counters instead. ”You’re in the Order —”

”I was”, Aberforth says. ”The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who’s won. It’s over.”

”No”, Harry says firmly. ”No. If you don’t want to help us, that’s fine, but I’ve got to get into the castle tonight. I have a job to do. If you’ve given up, that’s — that’s up to you — but I —”

”You, what?” Aberforth grumbles quietly and his eyes are definitely excited now. 

Harry swallows thickly, his heart pounding furiously again in his chest, ”I’m going to keep going until I succeed — or I die — Don’t think I don’t know how this might end, I’ve known for years.”

He is aware of Ron and Hermione staring at him in mute horror, but he refuses to look at them now. 

Aberforth seems to search his eyes for something, and whatever it was he must have found it because he nods suddenly with a look of grim satisfaction on his face, and then he leans back and turns to the portrait of the blonde girl, ”You know what to do…”

The girl smiles serenly, then turns on her heel and starts walking away from them. Not sideways out of the painting, as the inhabitants of portraits usually do when they want to leave their picture frames, but instead she walks deeper into the painting… Harry watches transfixed as she gets smaller and smaller, until finally she disappears completely into the background. 

”Er — what —?” Ron says. 

”There’s only one way into the castle now”, Aberforth says. ”They’ve got all the secret passageways covered at both ends and Dementors stationed all around the borders of the grounds. But they don’t know about this… Although, what you think you’ll be able to do inside the castle, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies, is beyond me… But you say you’re prepared to die, so…”

The girl — Ariana, Harry realises. Dumbledore's little sister. He'd seen her picture in Rita Skeeter's book — comes walking back, joined by a new person who was limping along after her, looking excited. His hair is longer than Harry has ever seen it before and his face is littered with cuts and bruises. Harry stares in wonder as Neville Longbottom approaches the foreground of the portrait and suddenly the frame swings forward, revealing a real tunnel behind it, as well as the real Neville Longbottom, who leaps out of the portrait hole and embraces Harry eagerly, ”I knew you’d come! I knew it, Harry!”

”Neville — what the — how —?”

But Neville isn’t paying attention to him, he’s spotted Ron and Hermoine and with another shout of delight he’s enveloped the both of them in a huge hug as well. 

”Neville, what’s happened to you?” Harry asks, studying the boy more closely and realising that what he’d first taken for some bumps and bruises are real injuries, and judging by the way the boy carries himself he seems to have at least a broken rib and a sprained ankle as well. 

”What, this?” he says dismissively. ”This is nothing. You should see Seamus… Shall we get going then? Oh”, he turns to Aberforth. ”Ab, there might be a couple of more people on they way.”

”Couple more?” Aberforth repeats darkly. ”What d’you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There’s a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!”

”I know, that’s why they’ll be Apparating directly into the bar. Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot!”

Neville gives Hermione and Ron a hand up into the portrait hole, then follows them. Harry turns to Aberforth, who looks even more uncomfortable than before. 

”I don’t know how to thank you”, Harry says earnestly. ”You’ve saved our lives twice.”

”Yeah, well”, Aberforth mutters. ”Look after ’em then. Might not be able to save ’em a third time.”

Harry clambers after the others and joins them in the tunnel as Ron is asking Neville about Hogwarts. 

”Well, it’s not really like Hogwarts anymore”, Neville says. ”Do you know about the Carrows?”

”Those two Death Eaters who teach here now?” Ron says, and Harry remembers Snape muttering about them as well, saying he had to get back to Hogwarts before the Carrows noticed his absence. 

”They do more than teach”, Neville says. ”They’re in charge of all discipline. They like punishements, the Carrows…”

”Like Umbridge?”

”Nah, they make Umbridge look tame in comparison. The other teachers are supposed to refer us to them if we do anything wrong, but they don’t if they can avoid it. You can tell they hate them just as much as we do… Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except it’s just Dark Arts now. We’re supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detentions —”

”What?” Harry, Ron and Hermione all gasp together. 

”Yeah”, Neville says darkly. ”That’s how I got this…” he indicates one of the gashes in his face. ”I refused to do it. Some people are into though, like Crabbe and Goyle, they love it. First time they’ve ever been top in anything, I bet…”

Harry’s mind is whirring, it doesn’t make any sense, how can Severus allow something like that —?

”Alecto, Amycus’s sister, she teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We’ve all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious towards them and how natural order is now being restored — I got this one”, he indicates another gash. ”for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got —”

”Blimey, Neville”, Ron exclaims. ”There’s a time and a place for getting a smart mouth!”

”You didn't hear her”, Neville insists. ”You wouldn’t have stood for it either. Besides, it helps if people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry —”

”But I don’t understand”, Harry blurts out. ”How can Se- Snape —?”

”Snape?” Neville says in surprise. ”Well, he’s just as bad, isn’t he?”

”What?” Harry yelps, feeling like someone has punched him hard in the stomach and driven all air out of his body. 

”What?” Neville repeats, nonplussed. 

”What do you mean he’s just as bad?” Harry demands as the blood drains from his face, leaving him cold and numb. ”Is Snape — t- torturing — students, as well?”

”Wha—? No, no, I didn’t mean that”, Neville says. ”But he’s a Death Eater, isn’t he? I mean, he appointed the Carrows in the first place —”

”Maybe he didn’t have a choice, Harry”, Hermione murmurs and gives him a meaningful look and Harry latches onto it for reassurance, yes, he thinks furiously, he didn’t have a choice, Voldemort made him, and he can’t exactly refuse can he…

”What’s going on?” Neville says suspisciously, looking between the three of them. 

”There’s no time”, Hermione says quickly, cutting Harry off before he’s got a chance to reply. ”But things might not be as they seem in regards to Snape.”

”Not as they seem?” Neville repeats incredulously. 

”We don’t have time to explain right now”, she insists.

They turn a corner and finally, ahead of them, is the end of the passage and a little door just like the one concealed behind Ariana’s portrait. Neville squeezes in front of them and opens the door, ”Look who it is! Didn’t I tell you?”

As Harry emerges into the room beyond the door, he’s met with several screams and yells — 

”HARRY!”

”It’s Potter, it’s POTTER!”

”Ron! Hermione!”

In the next moment, the three of them are engulfed by a small crowd, tossed from hug to hug, as other arms reaches out to clap them on their backs or ruffle their hair. Harry feels like he’s just won the Quidditch Cup. 

”Okay, okay, calm down everyone!” Neville says in a loud, carrying voice and amazingly, the crowd listens and immediately steps back, still grinning at Harry expectantly. 

”Where are we?” Harry asks as he gazes around the huge room in wonder, taking in the multicoloured hangings and hammocks, bookcases and other essentials. 

”Room of Requirement, of course!” Neville beams. ”It’s really surpassed itself, hasn’t it? The Carrows were chasing me one day, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found. Well, it wasn’t exactly like this at first, it was smaller and it only had one hammock, but it’s expanded as more and more of the DA have arrived…”

”And the Carrows can’t get in?” Harry says, smiling. 

”No”, Seamus Finnigan says and Harry does a double-take, he hadn’t even recognised Seamus at first, his face being so bruised and swollen. ”It’s a proper hideout, as long as at least one of us stays in here, they can’t get at us, the door just won’t open. It’s all down to Neville. He really gets the room!”

”It’s all very straight-forward”, Neville says modestly. ”I’d been in here about a day and half and I was getting really hungry, and I wished I could get something to eat, and that’s when the passage to the Hog’s Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He’s been providing us with food, because for some reason that’s the one thing the Room can’t supply us with…”

”Yeah, well, food is one of the five exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration”, Ron speaks up to general astonishment, and Hermione turns to give him a decidedly proud and admiring look. 

”But tell us what you guys have been up to”, Ernie Macmillan says. ”Is it true you broke in to Gringotts?”

”Yeah”, Ron says and everyone whoops and claps their hands, he takes a little bow. 

”And you escaped on the back of a dragon?”

”Yep! Hermione wanted to keep it as a pet but —”

”Don’t exaggerate, Ron”, Hermione says with an exasperated eye-roll. 

Harry turns his back to them, his scar searing in pain again, much worse than before. He presses the palm of his hand against it and screws his eyes shut. He is standing inside the ruined shack, the rotten floorboards uprooted at his feet, revealing a golden box that lies open, empty — 

Voldemort’s scream of panicked fury seems to vibrate through Harry’s blood, chilling it. With enormous effort he pulls himself out of Voldemort’s mind again, wheezing for breath and wiping the cold sweat from his face absent-mindedly and staring around wildly, searching for Ron and Hermione. Ron is right at his side, one of his arms slung around Harry’s shoulder, propping him up. 

”Are you all right, Harry?” Neville says and even though Harry can see him right there, his voice seems to be coming from far away. 

”Yeah”, he gasps. ”Fine — I just — we have to —”

He pins Hermione with a meaningful look, trying to communicate with her silently. She looks paler than normal, and her mouth is set in a thin line, but she nods in determination. Harry looks to Ron, ”We need to get going.”

The redhead’s nostrils flare and there’s a flash of understanding in his eyes, and he nods too. 

”What are we going to do then, Harry?” Seamus asks. ”What’s the plan?”

”Plan?” Harry repeats, feeling sluggish from trying to block out Voldemort’s thoughts and emotions. ”Well, there’s something we — Ron, Hermione and I — need to do, and then we’ll get out of here…”

Nobody is laughing or whooping anymore. Every face in the Room is staring at Harry. 

”What do you mean ’get out of here’?” Neville says, frowning. 

”Well, we haven’t come to stay, there’s something important that we need to do —”

”What is it?”

”I — I can’t tell you.”

A ripple of muttering can be heard in the small crowd, and Neville’s frown deepens, ”You can’t tell us? It’s to do with fighting You-Know-Who, though, isn’t it?”

”Well, yeah —”

”Then we can help you!” 

The other members of Dumbledore’s Army nod immediately, some enthusiastic and some solemn, but none hesitant. Harry shakes his head, You don’t understand, he wants to shout at them, but there is no time for this, every second they waste now — 

”Dumbledore left the three of us a job”, Ron explains. ”Just the three of us. We weren’t allowed to tell anyone else.”

”We’re his army!” Neville says fiercely. ”Dumbledore’s Army! We’re all in this together, we’ve been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own —”

”It hasn’t exactly been a picnic, mate!” Ron counters. 

”I never said it had, but I don’t see why you can’t trust us. Everyone in this Room’s been fighting and they’ve been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here has proven they’re loyal to Dumbledore — to you!” he turns back to Harry.

”Look”, Harry says impatiently, but before he can get another word out the door to the passage has flown open and Luna and Dean clamber inside the room, beaming happily at them.

”Hi everyone!” Luna says. ”Oh, it’s great to be back!”

”Luna”, Harry says distractedly, feeling slightly faint as the situation seems to race out of his hands. ”What are you doing here? How did you —?”

”I sent for them”, Neville says and holds up one of the fake Galleons the DA had used ot communicate with each other. ”I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I’d let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows.”

”Of course that’s what it means”, Luna says brightly, turning her protruding, dreamy eyes on Harry. ”We’re going to fight them out of the castle, aren’t we Harry?”

”Listen”, Harry says hoarsely as panic starts rising inside him. ”I — I’m sorry but — that’s not what we’ve come back for, like Ron said we’ve come to — well, there’s something we need to do, and then —”

”You’re going to leave us in this mess?” Michael Corner demands. 

”No!” Ron says. ”What we’re doing will benefit everyone in the end, it’s all about trying to take down You-Know-Who, innit —!”

”Then let us help!” Neville says angrily. 

The door opens again and to Harry’s horror Ginny, Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Cho Chang climb through. 

”So what’s the plan, Harry?” George says by ways of greeting, grinning expectantly at him.

”There isn’t one”, Harry says shrilly, feeling disorientated by the sudden appearance of all these people, while his scar keeps burning. 

”Just going to make it up as we go along, eh?” Fred says and rubs his hands together enthusiastically. ”My favourite kind!”

”You’ve got to stop this —!” Harry tells Neville desperately. 

”Why can’t they help though?” Ron says suddenly. 

”What?”

”They can help”, he insists, then dropping his voice so that only Harry and Hermione can hear he adds, ”Look, we don’t know where it is and we’ve got to find it fast, yeah? They can help us look! We don’t have to tell them it’s a Horcrux.”

Harry looks from Ron to Hermione who nods slowly, ”I think Ron’s right. We don’t even know what we’re looking for. We need all the help we can get. Voldemort can be here at any moment.”

Harry nods, they’re right. 

”Okay”, he says to the room at large. ”Listen up, everyone! There’s something we need to find, something that is hidden in the castle, and it’s very important that we find it before — well, before You-Know-Who — and — er — it might have belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw… So, has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for example?”

He looks over to the group of Ravenclaws hopefully, but they all shake their heads slowly. 

”Well, there’s her lost diadem”, Luna speaks up. 

Here we go, Harry thinks as he turns towards her with a forced air of patience and interest. 

”I told you about it, remember Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy’s trying to duplicate it, you know.”

”Yeah, but the lost diadem”, Michael Corner says rolling his eyes unkindly. ”Is lost, Luna. That’s sort of the point.”

A few people snicker quietly. But Harry is suddenly hopeful, if this lost diadem is something that even Michael Corner has heard about, and it’s not something that only Luna and her dad believes in —

”When was it lost?” he says quickly, turning to Michael. 

”Centuries ago, they say”, he replies and Harry’s heart sinks again. ”Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked but… nobody’s ever found a trace of it, have they?” he turns to the other Ravenclaws for confirmation and they all shake their heads in agreement. 

”Sorry, but what is a diadem anyway?” Ron says.

”It’s like a sort of crown”, Terry Boot informs them. ”And Ravenclaw’s was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer.”

”Yes, Daddy’s Wrackspurt siphons —”

”And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?” Harry cuts Luna off. 

They all shake their heads again. The pain in Harry’s scar spikes again and the Room of Requirement swims before his eyes, and suddenly he is aware of flying through the air, the snake Nagini a comforting weight around his shoulders — flying either to the underground lake or to Hogwarts, Harry isn’t sure, but either way there is hardly any time left —

”He’s on the move”, he says under his breath to Ron and Hermoine who look stricken. 

”If you want to know what the diadem is supposed to look like, I could take you up to our Common Room and show you, Harry”, Luna says. ”Ravenclaw is wearing it in her statue, you know…”

”Okay — okay —” he says and turns to Ron and Hermione again. ”It’s not much to go on, but — you stay here and keep the — the other one — safe, all right?”

Neville guides them over to a small cupboard in the corner and tells Harry that it will lead them out of the Room, but in order to prevent unwanted guests from finding it and using it to get inside the Room, its’ exit is never in the same place twice, so it’s impossible to know where you’ll end up. 

”And they patrol the corridors at night, so be careful, Harry.”

”We’ll be fine”, Harry says shortly, ushering Luna in front of him into the small passage and then putting the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them and getting out the Marauder’s Map as they near the end of the passage. ”Okay, we’re on the fifth floor… Let’s just wait a few seconds, for Filch to pass…”

”This way, Harry”, Luna whispers as they climb out of the hidden door and pulls him towards a spiral staircase. 

At the top of the stairs they reach a door without handle or keyhole, only a knocker shaped like an eagle. Luna reaches out and knocks once. The eagle opens its’ beak and says, ”Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?”

”Hmm… what do you think, Harry?” Luna says. 

”What? Isn’t there just a password?”

”No, you have to answer a question.”

”What if you get it wrong?” Harry says desperately, keenly aware of every second that passes. 

”Then you have to wait for someone who knows the answer. That way you learn, see?”

”Yeah, but, Luna, we really don’t have time —”

”No, I see what you mean”, Luna says seriously and turns to address the eagle knocker. ”In that case, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning.”

”Well reasoned”, the bronze eagle says and the door opens. 

Scrambling across the Ravenclaw Common Room, still huddled together under the Cloak, Harry and Luna approach a niche opposite the door where a tall statue of white marble stands. Harry immediately recognises Rowena Ravenclaw from the bust he saw at Luna’s house. Walking right up to the statue, Harry peers at the top of Ravenclaw’s head where a delicate-looking circlet sits. It’s not unlike the tiara Fleur wore at hers and Bill’s wedding, Harry thinks. Except this one has tiny words etched into it. Harry steps out from under the Cloak so that he can climb onto the plinth to read them.

”’Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure’”, he mumbles.

”Which makes you pretty skint, witless”, a voice cackles suddenly behind him. 

Harry’s heart leaps up into his throat and his blood runs cold. He spins around and immediately slips off the plinth and lands hard on the floor. He stares up at Alecto Carrow in horror, scrambling for his wand, but it’s too late — she’s got her index finger firmly pressed against the Dark Mark on her arm.