Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, sadly, as if I did, HBP would have been different…
A/N: This is my response to a Challenge. It is named "HBP: The Redemption", by Talon Karrde, thus the story title. If some of you have read my other story "HP and the quest of the Horcruxes", you may find some similarities in some points. That's because being this one on seventh year too, I rearranged parts of my other story to fit the requirements of the challenge. As usual, if you read, please leave a comment, good, bad, the way you want, but leave it. It means a lot to me.
The Next Horcrux
Harry tried ignoring his nightmares next morning, so he quietly dressed and waited in their small common room for Hermione, so they would go pick Ron up, then they would head to breakfast together.
Once there, they filled their plates, and started eating while chatting.
"So, I guess this is quite good. A month of school, and we've already found and destroyed an Horcrux" Ron whispered, so that only them could hear him.
"Ron, don't speak with your mouth full. And yes, this seems good, but we've got three more Horcruxes to find" Hermione chastised him.
Harry said nothing, simply ate his meal.
When they were done, they headed in the grounds for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson. They had decided to take it again, as maybe they could learn something useful in their quest. Hagrid was once again teaching the subject.
"Welcome" he greeted the students, and smiled broadly seeing Harry and his friends. "Today we're gonna study something really fascinating, but a bit dangerous"
"I foresee troubles. If even Hagrid admits the creature is dangerous…" Ron muttered.
Hermione and Harry simply looked at each other with a feeling of dread.
Hagrid then guided them into the Forest, to a clearing where a fence was built. In it there were strange creatures, seemingly lions with two heads.
"These, boys, are the rare Two-Headed Lions. Although they may seem to simply have one head more than the Muggle Lions, these beasts have strong magical powers. First of all, their bite is highly venomous, and few are the healers in the world able to brew the antidote. Second, their skin is almost invulnerable, as well as the dragon one. There is just one point where you can hurt them, and it is under their belly, as there the skin is much softer. And, finally, they have magical blood, so that it can be used in complex potion-making, especially for explosive potions and similar. But maybe you should ask Professor Pastral for better indications on the use of their blood"
Although the beast was highly dangerous, due to its venomous bite, the class passed quietly. This is because Hagrid did not let anyone inside the fence, to not risk bites.
It was an interesting class, and for once even Hermione should admit Hagrid was really skilled about magical beasts. The Half-Giant knew all what there was to know on every kind of beast, and if he started acting more prudently in class, he would be an excellent teacher.
Harry couldn't hide his grin while walking back to the castle.
They next headed toward the Defense classroom.
After taking their usual seats, they waited for Professor Trayens to show up.
The tall man entered the class soon, and went to his desk in the front.
"Very well, today we'll start on something you already have familiarity with. I've seen from the records that in fourth year, although the teacher was a fraud, he started you on the Unforgivables. I think that now, in seventh year and with Voldemort on the loose, it's good to take the matter in our hands again"
The trio exchanged worried glances. Hermione seemed ready to protest.
"No, I'm not going to show them to you, Ms. Granger. One time is enough, I'm sure you all remember the effects from fourth year. What I'm going to do, is telling you how to contrast them. See, the Imperious Curse can be overcome by a strong will. If you try and strengthen your will, maybe forcing yourself to do something while you don't want to, for example, on a sunny Sunday you force yourself to study instead of going outside and flying up in the air, well, you may grow strong enough to overcome the Imperious, should you be put under it"
All class took notes, and Hermione smirked at Ron, knowing very well that an exercise of will like the one suggested by the professor was something he would find extremely hard to do.
"Then there is the Cruciatus Curse. Terrible, indeed. But there is a way to overcome it. You all know what this curse does, so have you any ideas how we can avoid to endure the pain?"
No one raised his hand.
"I knew it. Well, meditation can help. Yoga is a meditation discipline that is used mostly in the East, by Muggles. It is really useful, as you may learn to detach your mind from your body. Adding it to our magical abilities allows us to be able to, in a figurative meaning, "float" outside our body when the Cruciatus is put on us, and we won't feel the pain. Now, for the Yoga technique…"
One hour later, class was dismissed.
"Really interesting, wasn't it?" Hermione commented while they headed to lunch.
"Oh, yeah. I think this will be most useful in the war. That man knows his job, that's for sure" Harry said, deep in thought.
"Oh, yes. Wonder if he was an Auror or something like that" Ron mused. "Either way, he knows lots on the Dark Arts. Maybe we could ask his help for the Horcruxes…"
"No" Harry replied, while Hermione, who was going to agree with the suggestion, remained with her mouth hanging open.
"Why not?" she said, regaining her composure.
"Because less people know about them, less people are in danger. Dumbledore gave me this task just for one reason, the prophecy. He would have done it himself, if he could"
They accepted his decision, although they thought the man could be useful in their quest.
After lunch, Harry and Ron headed for the common room, while Hermione went to Arithmancy.
Then, she had Ancient Runes, while they had a free period.
Professor McGonagall called them in her office.
"First of all, my congratulations to you, and Ms. Granger, who I understand had lessons now, for destroying Slytherin's locket. Brilliant intuition, Mr. Potter, brilliant indeed."
Both boys nodded.
"Now, on the matter at hand, I called you here for talking about the Quidditch Team. I reckon with your mission no one of you two would be able to be Captain, due to your possible absences when the training is going to take place. While it can be excused as normal players, it can not as Captain. So, I called you two here to know if you've got suggestions for the captaincy"
The boys looked at each other, and then Harry spoke. "I don't know, Headmistress, but maybe Ginny Weasley would be adapt. She's breathed Quidditch her whole life, and for two years in a row she substituted me very well. So, I would suggest her"
"I agree, and not just because she's my sister" Ron said.
"Very well then. I guess she'll have to gain a steady role in the team to get the captaincy, tough"
"Oh, I guess she can play Chaser" Harry said Ron. "We may have to test her in the position, but I think she'll do fairly well"
So it was decided.
Next Saturday, they organized an impromptu Quidditch training for the Gryffindor team, and Ginny was to play Chaser.
They had kept to themselves the fact that if she was to get the position, she would get the captaincy as well, to not stress her too much.
Harry acted as an interim Captain.
He released the Quaffle, the Snitch and the Bludgers, and the training started. Ron was Keeper, and Ginny was to try and score him as much as she could in ten tries.
Surprisingly, she scored seven goals on ten shoots, while no one else of the Chaser was able to score a single goal.
Harry grinned at Ron, who had effectively tried his best to stop his sister's attempts, and the redhead returned the grin.
As soon as they all landed, Harry walked toward Ginny, followed by the others.
"Welcome on the team, Captain Weasley" he said, giving her the badge of Captain.
She looked at him dumbfounded, then at all her team mates grinning at clapping their hands, and she started crying of joy. Then she hugged Harry in a way that reminded him of her mother.
Later in the common room the celebrations were all for the youngest Weasley, who for one night was treated like a real Queen by the whole House. Hermione congratulated with her friend too, sincerely happy for the younger girl.
The next days brought the trio back on working on their quest.
They kept studying the books in the library searching clues for the location of the Hufflepuff's cup.
Harry shared with them all the places he had visited with Dumbledore in the memories, and they reasoned where Voldemort could have hidden it.
"I guess it has to be a place that held a great meaning for him. Something really representative of one particular moment or event in his life" Hermione said.
"Yeah, I think that too. Just wonder what that place could be, though" Harry replied, deep in thought.
Ron said nothing, as he had no idea where the object could be hidden.
"Let's see, we have visited the cave for the locket. Other places we saw or heard of in the memories are the orphanage, Riddle's house, the Gaunt hut, Borgin's shop…" Harry started remembering.
"Do you know where Dumbledore has found the ring?" Ron asked.
"No, unluckily I don't" Harry said, discouraged. The cup could be in any one of those places…
"We need to try and think like Voldemort. Where would have you hidden it if you were him?" Hermione said.
So they started thinking and reflecting on that. No one came to a solution, as every place seemed equally probable.
Night started falling, so they once again had to interrupt and go to dinner.
They resumed their musing when there was no one else in the common room, but without reaching a solution, so they at one in the morning called it a night.
Next morning, they discussed some time during breakfast where they should go.
"I think we should really go to Riddle's house" Hermione suggested. "I mean, after all an Horcrux can be made just when you rip your soul after a murder, and the Riddles were his first murders, so it would make sense for him to have hidden it there. It should hold a certain importance to him"
"That's brilliant, Mione! I hadn't thought of that!" Harry exclaimed.
"Well, it's just an idea that came to me this night" she said, smiling at his praise.
So they went to see the Headmistress.
She greeted them.
"You asked to talk with me, Harry. So, what is the matter?" she asked gently, while offering them some tea.
"Headmistress, we're on the search for the next Horcrux, but we need some days of leave to concretise our search. You see, we've got to search his Muggle house, as we think it was somehow an important place for him, so he may have placed an Horcrux there"
After the explanation of their whole theory, the Professor nodded.
"Yes, I reckon this is a reasonable hypothesis. I'll allow you some days of leave then, but be careful" she advised them.
And so they moved, walking to Hogsmeade and then Apparating to Little Hangleton and walking toward the building Harry had seen in one of his nightmares in fourth year and recently in a memory in Dumbledore's Pensieve.
All day they searched in the garden, in the walls of the house, they broke in and searched in the rooms, but found nothing.
"Bloody Hell, seems like he hid it very accurately" Ron commented.
"Yeah, or he never put it here in the first place" Harry said, trying a revealing Charm on a wall behind some shelves.
"Guys, concentrate, and if something is here we'll find it" Hermione said, trying to boost their moods. But she was getting sceptical herself, even if she knew somehow that place was important for Lord Voldemort. Probably not enough to hid an Horcrux there, though.
That night, Harry went hunting in a nearby wood, and his Seeker reflexes helped him in catching a particularly fast deer that would be enough food for all of them. So he took the animal and put it on his shoulders, returning to their small camp.
Once there, he found his friends involved in some serious snogging.
"Hey, you two, get a room!" he called smiling at them, even if his insides were, once again, twisting.
"Smartass, we are out of city, where do you think we could get a room?" Ron retorted, sticking his tongue at him.
Harry simply shook his head, placing the deer on the wood for the fire. He was utterly annoyed at his inner monster now, as he shouldn't be so upset at them kissing. It was not like he fancied Hermione, especially since he liked Ginny.
Ginny…he had not thought of her romantically for along time now, to be sincere.
"That's because we have been busy" he thought to rid himself of senses of guilt. But he was not so convinced himself by that explanation.
Thinking about that, he didn't notice Hermione nearing him, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when her hand touched his shoulder.
"You ok, Harry?" she asked, concerned.
"Yeah, of course. Just a bit distracted"
She didn't seem to believe it but didn't push the matter. "Anyhow, I thought you may need some help with that big deer"
"Oh, don't worry. I can manage"
"I would like to help all the same. I feel like me and Ron are exploiting you. Just because you can cook, it doesn't mean you have to do all by yourself"
"Well, if that's so important to you, you can help me"
And so she did. At one point, their hands brushed one on the other, reaching for the plates they conjured to place their food. They looked at each other, both blushing.
Harry found her hands extremely soft, and wondered how would be to have his face cupped and caressed by those hands.
As soon as he thought this, he shook the image from his head, like it was some forbidden thought.
"I can't go on this way. She's Ron's girlfriend after all, and I can't hurt them. Wonder why I'm so affected by her touch, tough" he thought while seating in front of her and Ron, and eating his meal silently.
That night, he had a strange and upsetting dream, in which he was with Ginny, and he started kissing her, but when they parted it was no more the redhead he was with, but Hermione. And he was actually glad for it…
Their search failed for the next two days. Finally they understood there was nothing interesting there. On the third morning, during breakfast, Harry exposed one theory he had formulated while dressing to the others.
"I think we should search in the orphanage. I mean, he placed the locket in the cave he visited when in the orphanage, so maybe since he got the two objects together, he decided to put them in places linked one to the other, thus placing the cup in his old room in the building"
"Brilliant, Harry! I surely couldn't come up with such a theory!" Ron said, enthusiastic to leave because it meant they were going back to town, and he would have lots of places where to satisfy his appetite, that in the last days had been never completely fulfilled.
Hermione nodded smiling too. "Yeah, brilliant thought. I didn't think of that"
Harry became a little pink hearing Hermione's praise, but that went unnoticed from Ron, too busy in gulping down some coffee and sausages.
Hermione however noticed it, but her questioning look was met by Harry's simple shrugging.
Soon they Apparated to Diagon Alley, and from there they exited into Muggle London.
Harry asked information about the whereabouts of the orphanage to some passing people, and then they started walking toward there.
"Really, couldn't we simply Apparate, or take a Portkey?" Ron wailed after half an hour they were walking.
"Honestly, Ron, stop being a baby! We're in the middle of Muggle London, going to a Muggle place, where do you expect for us to Apparate? In the middle of the street?" Hermione said sternly, rolling her eyes.
Harry chuckled. He loved those little fights, and his inner monster hoped they would grow to something bigger so that they would break up.
"Now, I should be happy for them" Harry chastised himself. But he could not deny that every time he looked at Hermione he found her extremely attractive.
So, they finally entered the building, Harry asked of Miss Cole as Dumbledore had done years later, and they spoke with her after some time.
"So, what kind of business brings you here, Mr. Potter?" the woman asked coldly.
Harry didn't know what to say, he had not expected her to question him, so he said the blunt truth, throwing caution to the wind.
"We're here to see the old room of Tom Riddle"
"And why should I let you?" Miss Cole asked.
"Because we are making investigations on him" Ron added, following Harry's path of bluntness. Hermione just closed her eyes, imagining what was to come.
"Well, I admit strange things have happened in that room in the last years, but you can't come here and simply ask to search a room without proofs and a regular permit from Scotland Yard, you know. So now, exit from here and don't come back without it!" Miss Cole said, angrily.
They were kicked out in no time.
"Such a couple of smooth talkers you are" Hermione said, rolling her eyes but a bit amusedly.
"Well, you didn't do a lot better in Borgin's last year" Ron retorted. They all laughed.
"Probably it's better this way. She would have never let us search it alone, and with her surveillance, we would have not been able to use our magic abilities to find it" Harry concluded.
"Yeah, but what do we do now?"
He simply took a folded cloak from his bag.
"Invisibility Cloak. Tonight, we'll search that room, Miss Cole wanting it or not" he grinned. The other two smiled at him.
"For now, let's just relax and enjoy the good day" Harry said. And so they did, passing the afternoon in Hyde Park relaxing under a tree. It was by now almost November, so the days started to grow chilly, but it was still bearable.
That night they squeezed themselves under the cloak, which with always more difficulty contained all three of them without showing a thing, then with a quick Alohomora they unlocked the front doors of the building and slithered in, going up the stairs trying to be as silent as possible.
Harry, who had seen where the room was in the Pensieve, led them there, and they found it empty. Just the cupboard was there. Harry quickly inspected its insides, but to no avail, since he found nothing useful.
They checked all the walls but found nothing. The Revealing Charms they used were too weak, or there was nothing to be found.
Suddenly Ron tripped, banging hard on the cupboard. The noise was so loud, Harry knew someone would come, so they quickly hid under the cloak again, barely moments before Miss Cole entered, followed by her assistant.
"Miss Cole, I'm really scared by this room. Strange things always happen here"
"I know, my dear, I know. Well, seems no one is here, so we can go back to sleep"
The two women exited leaving the trio alone once more.
"Good job, Ron. We almost got caught. Try to be more attentive, please!" Harry spat angrily.
Ron nodded, grinning sheepishly.
After two more hours, they were still at a loss for what to do.
"Merlin's beard! It's not here too!" Harry muttered angrily in frustration, slumping to the floor. That was the moment he saw it. With the moonlight coming into the room from the window, and the view angle he had from that position, he noticed a snakelike V on the opposite wall, just near the ceiling.
"Ron! Hermione! Come here! Do you see it too?" he asked them.
"Yeah, there's something on that tile" Hermione said.
"Ron, can you lift me?" Harry asked
"Of course, mate" so he climbed on the redhead's shoulders, trying to reach the tile.
He tried every unlocking charm he knew, but nothing happened. He thought he had to use some blood to open it, like Dumbledore did at the cave, but it did not work.
Parseltongue was useless too.
"How do we open this bloody tile?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, mate, but do it quickly. It's not like you weight like a feather, you know"
Hermione was deep in thought.
Suddenly she smiled. "Of course. How could we have not thought of it before? Harry, you need to prove it you're Voldemort, or it won't open"
"And how can I do that? I'm not him"
"I know. But we can adjust it" she said, then using the human transfiguration spell they had learned previous year at Hogwarts, and remembering the images of Lord Voldemort Harry had told them, she transfigured Harry's hand to be like Voldemort's, snakelike, really thin, and with long fingers.
"Now press your finger on the V while unlocking it"
Harry did that, and it actually worked. After a click, the tile broke, revealing a small space in which the cup was.
"Hufflepuff's cup" Harry said in awe. It was golden, with a badger engraved on it, and two finely wrought handles. Stretching his hand to grab it, he had it repulsed by a nasty electric shock. The sudden movement he did made him lose balance, so he fell from Ron's shoulders, bringing the redhead down with him .
Fortunately Hermione had put a Silencing charm on the room, so no one came this time.
After many attempts, all of them bringing Harry to be electro-shocked, Ron had one brilliant idea.
"Guys, I hate to tell you that, but maybe we should put Imperious on one of us, so that one would grab it no matter what, even if it will hurt him.
"Ok, then put it on me" Harry said. "This way I'll be the one hurt"
Hermione and Ron hesitated, but in the end she did that. "Imperio!" she cried. Harry's eyes went blank.
"Harry, I order you to take that cup no matter what" she said softly then, hating herself for it. But it really seemed there was no other way.
Harry did, resisting the shock wave, and brought it down trough a nasty smell of burned flesh.
Hermione released him from the curse.
"So, did I take it?" Harry asked, feeling his consciousness come back.
"Yeah, you did. But at what price, I can't tell" Hermione said seriously, looking at him.
Ron seemed horrified too. After all he was the one who had suggested it.
Harry looked down at himself, just to see his wand hand completely soaked in blood and smoking like it had been burned. He tried to use it, but while he could move it, he had no sensibility at all.
"Well, if Dumbledore could go on with a burnt hand, I can too" Harry said, bravely, taking the cloak and putting it around them. Or at least he tried. But he couldn't do the movement right, for his hand was really badly injured.
With Hermione's help they managed to secure it around them, then they exited the building, the cup now in Hermione's hands, since it didn't shock the one touching it anymore.
Once away from there, they stopped in a square, and since no one was around, Hermione took her wand and cast some Healing charms on Harry's hand. She managed to stop the bleeding, and to rebuilt the flesh on it, but it seemed he had lost his sensibility forever.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have suggested that" Ron said sadly.
"Don't worry, Ron. We had to take it somehow, and we did. Now we need to destroy it. I'll learn to use my wand with the other hand, if that's necessary"" Harry said, dismissively.
They reached the Leaky Cauldron and from there Apparated to Hogsmeade. Then they walked back to the castle, and went to report to the Headmistress.
"So you got it. Have you already tried to destroy the object?" She asked.
"No, we thought better to come here straightaway since Harry was injured to his hand, maybe Madam Pomfrey can do something for him, plus we've been away three days, it is better if we keep our absences to a minimum" Hermione rationally explained.
The older witch nodded. "Very well then. I guess this is it for the moment. Potter, go to the Hospital Wing and see if Poppy can do something for your hand, then the three of you return to your common room" she said, dismissing them.
So they did.
"Potter, you've passed here more time than all the other students together, you know that, don't you?" the nurse said him checking his hand. "And how did you burn your hand this way? I see someone has already fixed it"
Hermione blushed a bit and nodded. "I did, with some spells I've read about"
"Well, you may very well have saved his chances to get his hand back as new, Ms. Granger" the nurse said. "Here, Potter, drink this, and then only time will tell if your hand will be back to normal" she said, shoving a goblet in his good hand.
Harry gulped it down, and found it was less foul than it looked.
Then they were off to the common room.
Once in it, they sat on the floor, trying to find a way to destroy the cup. No one was there anymore, so they had quite a bit of freedom in thinking and trying.
Parseltongue hexes did not work, normal ones didn't too. Muggle ways even less.
Then Harry tried putting it in the fire to make it melt. Some kind of venomous gas exited from it, so, between coughs, Hermione managed to open the window and breathed in the fresh night air. Then she turned to see Ron and Harry on the floor, like stones. She felt drowsy herself.
But the task was accomplished, there was no sign of the cup in the room anymore.
For one hour she tried to wake up her friends, but no results. She flung cold water on them, but nothing. Tried Enervating them, with the same result.
When she was starting to despair, though, Harry started coming around on his own.
She immediately rushed to his side.
"Harry! How do you feel?"
"Fine. Drowsy but fine. How's Ron?"
"Still out cold" she said.
"Seems I've more stamina than him then" Harry said, smiling feebly, and trying to stand up.
"No, rest. I'll levitate you to the couch" and so she did. While waiting for Ron to wake up, they relaxed a bit.
"You gave me a nasty worry there, you know" she said, faking to be angry and scooting closer.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. But what really matters is that we destroyed it" Harry said, just while his eyelids closed, and few moments later her did too, so they ended falling asleep one near the other on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder.
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