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Chapter 5: No Name Chapter
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The next day, at twenty-five after three, Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood outside the Hogwarts castle, staring up at the building that had been their home for six years. But it just didn't seem to have the same warmth and inviting feeling as it used to. The reason for that, Harry figured was the white tomb by the lake, which held Dumbledore's body. Harry took a deep breath and sighed. Hermione looked at him, smiled, and reached for his hand, and held it in hers comfortingly, then she took Ron's hand in her other one and held it. She also took a deep breath and sighed and said,
"Well, let's get it over with." Ron opened the doors to the entrance hall, and the trio set foot in the castle. It seemed so dark and gloomy, like the lights weren't functioning properly, not giving off their proper amount of light. They made their way to the Headmistress's office, stopped at the stone gargoyle, unsure of what the password was. Harry thought for a second then said tentatively,
"Lemon Drop?" The stone gargoyle leapt aside and the stairs to the office materialized. The trio climbed the steps and when they reached the top, Ron knocked on the door.
"Come in," came McGonagall's reply from the other side of the door. Ron opened it, and they came into the office. It looked almost exactly the same as it did when Dumbledore was Headmaster, with only a few changes. The portraits of the former headmasters and headmistresses quietly snoozed in their frames or tried to see who entered the office. The portrait of Dumbledore still slept peacefully, looking the same as it did at the end of last year. From the time the three had come into the castle and went to McGonagall's office, Ron had dropped Hermione's hand, but Harry still held her hand, finding it somewhat calming. Professor McGonagall sat at her desk, writing, and didn't acknowledge the presence of her former Gryffindors right away. She finished the sentence she was on, and laid her quill down and looked up. She smiled and said,
"Please have a seat you three." The trio sat, and McGonagall leaned back in her chair.
"I cannot deny my disappointment when I read your letter. So many have already decided not to come back this year, and it's disappointing to see you three on the list. Especially when you, Harry and Hermione, were chosen as Head Boy and Head Girl."
"You're not going to make us come back are you?" Ron said uneasily.
"No, Ron, I'm not. I have no control over the matter. If it is your choice to not return this year, then I must go along with it. I just would like to know why, though." Hermione, releasing Harry's hand, sat up a little straighter in her chair and said,
"It's not that we're afraid to come back, Professor, it's that we have things to deal with, that can't be done while at school."
"Because of the Horcruxes." The trio looked at their former transfiguration teacher in surprise. She smiled slightly and said,
"Before he died, Dumbledore left me a letter in case the worst should happen, and he explained it all in there. He explained that there are still four left if the locket proved to be a decoy."
"It was, Professor. The locket wasn't a Horcrux, Dumbledore weakened himself that night for a fake Horcrux."
"I know. But what we need to find out is where the locket could be."
"Professor, I think we might know that. Harry said that in the locket was a note signed by an R.A.B. We did some thinking, and we think that R.A.B. could've been Sirius's brother Regulus, and that the fourth Horcrux could be at Grimmauld Place," Hermione said, in that same tone of voice she used when answering a question in class. Professor McGonagall nodded.
"That is very possible. If I recall correctly…" She stopped in mid-sentence and got up and retrieved a thick book and flipped through a few pages before coming to a stop and placing her finger on a place. The trio stood to see what she was pointing at, and saw the book was a list of every student that had ever attended Hogwarts and what house they were in. She was pointing to Regulus A. Black.
"You were right, Regulus's initials are R.A.B. There's a very strong possibility that he took the Horcrux." Ron picked the book up and turned it over in his hands.
"Can I borrow this for a moment? I just want to look through it." McGonagall nodded and the trio sat back down in their chairs.
"So you're planning on going to Grimmauld Place then?" Harry and Hermione nodded, Ron was busy looking through the book.
"Then let me offer a suggestion. I already know you won't be returning to classes, but I think that it might be wise to let everyone think that you are. Because people will notice that you three are among the ones not coming back to school this year and could tell the right people to go looking for you somewhere other than Hogwarts. So, I think you should come back on the first day of school, as the Head Boy and Girl, and you can come and go as you like, though I would prefer that you let me know when you're leaving." Hermione nodded.
"It might be a good idea. But if we're gone for weeks at a time, wouldn't people notice then?"
"I don't think they would as much as if you didn't come that first day. At least this would buy you some time." Hermione and McGonagall went on forming the plan, but Harry's attention was brought to the book his other best friend had. Ron had elbowed Harry and when he got his attention, pointed to a few names on the list of students that came to Hogwarts twenty-seven years ago. He pointed to Evans, Lily E. and Potter, James M., then to Black, Sirius O., and to Lupin, Remus J. Harry smiled, but Ron held up a finger to say `hold on a moment'. He flipped back a few pages to a list written twenty-five years prior to the one with his parents. He pointed to a name, Potter, Michael W. Harry's grandfather apparently. Ron held his finger up again and flipped forward in the book. He got to a list twenty years after his parents' year. Ron said,
"Who're these thickheads?" He pointed to Granger, Hermione J., Potter, Harry J., and Weasley, Ronald B.
Harry smiled and shook his head. "Dunno, never heard of them." Ron grinned and turned back through the book looking for other people they knew.
Harry turned back to McGonagall and Hermione's conversation. "Professor, how do you destroy a Horcrux?" Both women turned their attention to him and McGonagall said,
"I don't know, Harry. I know very little about them."
"I know how I destroyed the diary, but I know there's other ways of destroying them."
"I know. But like I said, I know very little about them, and even less about how to destroy them."
Hermione grabbed Harry's arm as a realization came to her. "Harry, maybe Slughorn knows. He knew about the Horcruxes in the first place, remember, he told Riddle in that memory. Maybe since he knew what they were, he might know how to destroy them."
"Is he here?"
"Yes, he should be in his office." Harry and Hermione stood up, and Ron asked,
"Where are we going?"
"We'll be right back, Ron, we need to talk to Professor Slughorn."
"We'd take you along, but…"
"It'd be easier for you two to persuade him to give up information than it would be if I was along right?"
Harry and Hermione looked uneasily at each other, but Ron shrugged. "I guess you're right. I'll be right here, still reading. I'll admit, it is interesting to see what kind of people went to school here." They smiled, and Harry and Hermione left the office to find Slughorn. They found him in his office, writing out lesson plans for the upcoming year. Hermione cleared her throat, announcing their presence.
Slughorn looked up and he smiled a huge smile and said jollily, "Harry, m'boy! And Miss Granger! How good to see you!"
"Sorry to bother you sir, are you busy?"
"I'd never be too busy to visit with two of the best potion students in this school! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Would you like a cup of tea? Or perhaps something stronger?"
"Sorry, Professor, but we didn't exactly come for a social call. In fact, we have something we need to ask you."
"S'alright, sit down, sit down." They sat, and despite their protests, eventually ended up with cups of tea in front of them.
"So what can I do for you?" Hermione spoke; Harry was glad that she was doing the talking for the both of them; she was able to sweet talk people and make them see logic in things to get her way sometimes.
"Sir, we were wondering if you could tell us…how do you destroy a Horcrux?" The jovial smile fell from Slughorn's face, and he stood up quickly, almost knocking over his chair.
"Now why would you think I would know anything about that?" The nervousness was evident in his voice.
"It's just well, you gave Harry that memory of you telling Tom Riddle what Horcruxes were, and we figured that since you knew what they were, you might know how to destroy them."
"You know, I've just remembered, I have an appointment, terribly urgent, can't get out of it, so I'll just be going…" He made for the door, but Hermione and Harry stood in front of it.
Hermione said, the sweetness and hesitation in her voice gone, "If you tell us, Professor, it will take us a step closer to killing Lord Voldemort. We can rid the world of his power…if only we knew how to destroy the seven parts of his soul." She added, "You…do want him dead…right Professor?" It was a cornering question. Bordering on the lines of blackmail. If he were to refuse to tell them, they could easily use it as an excuse to be helping out the Dark Arts. Slughorn sighed.
"Why don't you want to give up this information?" Harry asked.
"Harry, m'boy, do you realize that Horcruxes are among the list of extremely Dark magic. If the Ministry knew I knew about them, I'd be spending a lifetime in Azkaban for sure."
"So you value your own life over hundreds of others whose lives could be spared if we knew how to destroy the Horcruxes?" Hermione asked incredulously. Slughorn didn't answer.
"If you tell us, we'll keep it to ourselves, we'll never tell anyone. Not even Ron," Harry said, trying another tactic. Slughorn sighed again. He pulled out his wand and shut the door, and cast a silencing charm around the office.
"Horcruxes are extremely Dark Magic. Destroying one is just as bad. To make one, you have to kill someone or something of importance. To destroy it, you simply destroy the object. But, it's not that easy. You have to give it something in return; blood. If you don't, it will take something from you. Case in point, Dumbledore's hand. But it can't be just any person's blood. It has to be someone significant."
"What happens to the part of the soul once the Horcrux is destroyed? Does it return to Voldemort?" Slughorn shook his head.
"It is destroyed too."
"Would Voldemort know if a part of his soul was destroyed?" Slughorn shook his head again.
"It is unlikely. Because if he did, he would've put more care into hiding his soul. But I believe that because his soul is split, he can no longer feel them because they are no longer part of his body. But, anyways, I really do have an engagement I must attend to now. It's getting late, and I must be going." He lifted the silencing charm off the office, and unlocked the door for Harry and Hermione to exit.
"That makes sense what Slughorn said about destroying the Horcruxes. I'm guessing there was blood on the diary. You were bleeding from the basilisk wound; it was your blood on the book. I bet Dumbledore did a more thorough way of destroying the soul in the ring, but didn't give it his blood," Hermione said.
Harry shrugged. "I think for the moment, we need to find these Horcruxes first, then think about destroying them. Take it one step at a time." Hermione smiled.
"Good insight, Harry. You're right. We need to take one step at a time." They reached McGonagall's office, arranged everything so it was possible for the trio to come and go as they pleased while at school. Soon, they were leaving the castle, and as soon as they were outside the grounds, Ron started asking about what Slughorn told them.
"How hard is it to destroy one?" Harry and Hermione stopped walking and so did Ron.
"Well, Slughorn doesn't want us to tell anyone how to destroy one so he can save his own butt, but…"
"Oh, so I see, so you're not going to tell me. You're going to leave me out, again. You're going to leave me out while you two go out and be the heroes. Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm heading back home." Ron apparated before Harry or Hermione could say anything. Harry sighed.
"Well, that could've gone better."
"He wouldn't even let me finish what I was saying. He acts like we're trying to do this all on our own, that we don't want his help. He's turning himself into the victim, and frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of it. He's been doing this all summer, it sounds like something a ten-year-old would do, not an adult." She sighed.
"Well, come on, let's go get him." They both apparated back to the Burrow, thankful it was empty save for Ron up in his room. Hermione knocked on the door, and Ron didn't answer. She opened it and they found Ron sitting on his bed, reading about the Chudley Cannons.
"That was real mature, Ron," Hermione said sarcastically. Ron looked up from his book and sighed.
"Well? What did you want me to do? You're excluding me, when I could be of help."
"No one is excluding you from anything, Ron. If you would let Hermione finish what she was saying, you'd know that."
"Fine, what were you going to say?"
"I was going to say that we promised Slughorn that we wouldn't tell anyone, but we're going to tell you, so don't you dare tell anyone else."
"I promise. How do you destroy one?"
"Simply destroy the object, but you have to give it a blood sacrifice."
"Well, that sounds like something Voldemort would do."
"But we're going to go to Grimmauld Place and get that locket. Are you coming with us?"
"Of course…" They were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley coming in the room and she started bustling around the room, picking up dirty clothes and tidying up a bit.
"Mum, what are you doing in here?"
"We're going to Diagon Ally to pick all of your new school things."
"Mum, I already told you, I'm not going back this year!" Mrs. Weasley pretended like she didn't here what her son said, and continued to pick up dirty clothes.
"Come on, you three, let's get going. Ron, let me see how your robes look, I need to see if you need new ones this year. Come on, come downstairs and show me." Ron sighed as his mother left the room.
"She's mental."
"She's in denial. She doesn't want to admit that we're not going back."
"Well, she's going to have to deal with it soon. Go on, I'll do what she says, and I'll apparate before we leave. I'll meet up with you a little later." Harry and Hermione nodded, and the three of them left the room, and Harry and Hermione apparated to just outside Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
A/n: Here's chapter 5 everyone!! My apologies on how long it took to update, but I've had a MAJOR writer's block on this one, and of course, school, homework, and working a lot during the week and weekends don't help much. But hope you enjoyed this installment! Please review!!!
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