As Harry had predicted, Hermione was her usual friendly self the next day, as though nothing had happened.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the table, restless and bored. Luna was visiting again, but had popped out somewhere to get a can of soup. Harry was just wondering whether they would ever defeat Voldemort when Ron sighed.
"Oh, come on you guys!" he whined, clearly agitated. "We've got to think. Where could it be?"
"Ron, we've been trying to think of places where someone would hide a tiny little horcrux since we got here!" Harry snapped. "What do you think we're trying to do?"
"It's no use snapping at him Harry," said Hermione wearily. "Come on, lets- lets brainstorm some ideas, we haven't done that in ages."
Harry felt this wouldn't account to much, as they'd already done it a thousand times, but it would account to less if he stopped them.
"Right." Hermione had a piece of paper and a quill. "Now, we've already got rid of the locket, cup and snake, so, if Dumbledore was correct, we need to find something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's."
"We've already been through this," Ron grumbled, and Hermione ignored him.
"Now, the only known possession of Gryffindor's was this sword, and we've made sure it wasn't a horcrux. But there aren't any known possessions of Ravenclaw's."
"Possessions of Ravenclaw's?" Luna had come back, carrying an armful of lentil soup. "You wouldn't be talking about the legendary indestructible hat of Ravenclaw, would you?"
The trio stared at her, then at each other.
"What legendary indestructible hat, Luna?" Harry could feel his heart rate quickening.
"Oh, you weren't talking about it." Luna shifted uneasily. "Well, I shouldn't really be talking about it, not many people know it even exists… Can you keep a secret?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded eagerly.
"Well, legend says that when she was young, she bought a hat to practise spells on. It just so happens she came across a spell to make it indestructible, and no spells can destroy it."
"And this actually exists?" Hermione sounded keen.
"Oh, yes, it's kept in a top secret room in the Department of Mysteries. You see, my Mother was an Unspeakable, and she trusted Daddy with this secret, and he's passed it on to me." She sighed dreamily. "Sort of like a heritage."
They stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Um, excuse us a moment, Luna," Ron croaked, and their heads snapped together.
"What do you think?" Hermione hissed. "Do you think it's real, or is she just being Luna-ish?"
"No, my Mom mentioned it once when I was little," Ron whispered excitedly.
"But do you really think Voldemort would use it as a horcrux?" Harry said quietly.
"I would have thought so, I mean, not only did it belong to Ravenclaw, but where better to hide a horcrux than an indestructible hat?" The two boys nodded in agreement.
"Luna," said Harry "Tell us more about this hat."
"Well," Luna put down the tins of soup and sat with them. "The Department of Mysteries keep it, trying to work out the charm that Ravenclaw put on it. I mean it's not just a shield charm, it is truly indestructible, and nothing can get it. Some say You Know Who once got his hands on it, but they managed to retrieve it." Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look. "Hardly anyone can get to it, just a few trusted Unspeakables, and my Mom was one." She beamed proudly, eyes flickering to the sky for a second. Harry felt his heart warm, then felt guilty about what they were about to do.
"Luna," he said softly "we need you to take us to the hat. You say Voldemort got his hands on it? Well… we think he might have used it for some dark magic."
"What kind of dark magic?" Luna's eyes narrowed, an unfamiliar look of sharpness on her face.
"Well, there have been these objects, where Voldemort has… placed part of his soul in them." Luna looked horrified. "And we think Ravenclaw's hat might be one of them."
"So you have to destroy it." Luna looked sad, and then sighed. "Well, if it's going to help you defeat You Know Who, I suppose it has to be done."
"It's crucial to defeating him."
"Yes, then, I'll take you." She stood up, still looking disappointed. "It's a shame though… such an ancient relic…"
Ron stood up and put an arm around Luna's shoulder. "Listen, we're really sorry, Luna,"
"Yes, we are," Hermione nodded.
"If there was a way to get the soul piece and keep the hat we'd do it," Harry agreed.
"… But Voldemort's turned it into an object of evil. Won't you feel better, knowing you've helped get rid of that manky old murderer?" The corners of Luna's mouth twitched.
"Right, we need polyjuice potion if we're going to the Ministry of Magic," she said suddenly.
"Right" Hermione said. They had been able to raid the Hogwarts stock cupboard, leaving money and an anonymous note of apology.
Early next morning, they got ready, bringing an extra flagon of potion in case they ran out. They apparated to the entrance of the Ministry of Magic. They waited until an Unspeakable apparated next to them, then knocked him out, took a few hairs and put a spell on him to make him realize he had to stay at home for some reason. They did the same with three other Unspeakables, and strayed into the Ministry building.
"Department of Mysteries," said a cool female voice as the lift slid open. Harry, as Unspeakable Josiah Weston, walked along the slightly familiar torch lit corridor, Ron, Hermione and Luna following in hot pursuit.
They went through the plain black door again, finding themselves in the circular black room with its flickering blue candles. The doors began to move, and Harry squeezed his eyes shut tight, but the line of blue candlelight still burned through his eyelids, imprinting themselves in his pupils.
"Hmm," said Luna, who didn't seem to be affected much by the blue lines. "Let's try… this one."
They followed her into a long corridor with a row of barred wooden doors. "Hmm…" She peered through one of them. Harry looked too. Inside there appeared to be some sort of tiger crossed with an elephant, that kept changing the colour of it's stripes as it paced up and down.
"How odd…" Luna looked over to the other little rooms, then to a much larger one, and gave a little scream of triumph.
"Shh!" Harry whispered, even though it was deserted. "What's up?"
"Sorry, but, but… look!" She pointed to the creatures in the cage. She looked practically dizzy with happiness. "Crumple-horned Snorkacks!"
"WHAT?" Harry, Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped. They rushed over to the small room, and gawped through the bars. Two purplish black creatures were prancing around. They were about half the size of a person, and resembled pigs: they had short snouts, boar-like tusks and twisty tails, but instead of stubby little legs they had clawed paws and broad, fuzzy bodies that resembled bears. In between their long, furry ears were a pair of yellowish spiralled horns, thick and almost lethal looking.
"Well I'll be," said Ron, looking amazed.
"I can't believe they're real!" muttered Hermione, staring in determined disbelief at the creatures.
Luna looked besides herself. "Didn't I tell you? Oh, my goodness, I had no idea the Ministry were breeding them! Oh, my, Daddy will be so pleased, I can't believe this is happening, it's so exiting!"
"Luna," said Hermione gently, looking guilty "I'm not sure… I mean, there isn't anything to say they are Crumple- horned…"
Luna's smile dropped. Hermione's guilty look increased.
"Don't be so sure, Hermione!" Ron pointed to a little plaque that read,
The elusive Crumple-horned Snorkack (suidae crumpilius hornicus)
Origin: Sweden (?)
Greatest magical ability: ?
Life expectancy: ?
Discovered by: Zentavious Lovegood (1851- 1947)
Hermione looked taken aback. Luna looked as though she could kiss him.
"Oh, they are Snorkacks! Wow, look! My great-great-great grandpapy discovered them! Oh, isn't this exiting?! I wonder if we can get closer…"
"But we can't…" but Luna had already jiggled the handle.
"Identification, please" said a cool female voice.
"Uhh," Luna checked her badge "Ann Marie Twycross, Unspeakable, regulation of Mysterious and Elusive creatures office."
"Voice identification confirmed." The lock clicked, and Luna began petting the creatures enthusiastically.
"Lucky Ann Marie Twycross was part of this office."
"It sure is, Luna. I guess you proved us all wrong, huh?" Ron smiled fondly into her deliriously happy face. Harry's eyes drifted from Ron's dopey smile to Luna's dewy-eyed beam, and a little idea floated into his head.
But there was no time for that now.
"Come on, you lot. We need to check out this hat, the sooner the better."
They dragged Luna from the Snorkack's domain, half-heartedly shutting the door.
"Ok, let's try again" said Hermione when they were back in the revolving room, putting a fiery cross on the door.
Next they came to the room with the crumbling archway, and Harry thought he saw a flicker of a shadow of a man that looked mysteriously like Sirius behind the veil, but knew it was just a cruel trick of the room. After that they went back into the corridor leading out of the Department of Mysteries.
"Ah, this is the way." The next time they tried Luna led them into a room that seemed to be completely made of stainless steel. It was extremely unnerving to be completely surrounded by your own reflections.
There was a cat-flap sized door at the other end, and Luna crawled through it, the trio following. They found themselves inside a corridor, large cobwebs stretching across the ceiling.
"Third door…" Luna muttered. They went in. There was a huge tank, and a giant, slimy red lump of muscle was connected to thick blue and red wires. It was pounding vibrations through the air, and the whole room was moving with its thumps. It was a gigantic, working model of the heart.
Luna took another door, and then another and another, going through rooms filled with weird and other-worldly stuff. Harry didn't understand why it was so deserted: where were all the Unspeakables?
"How do you know where to go?" Ron asked suddenly. They had gone through at least 50 rooms and corridors, sometimes passing the same room twice, and Harry was getting extremely confused. They had to be deep in the heart of the Department of Mysteries.
"Memorised it from Daddy… ah, now, this is one of the most top secret corridors." She walked through a wall that appeared to be solid, and they came into a pitch-black corridor. Luna lit a nearby candle, so the flickering green light half illuminated their surroundings. It was museum-like: there were antiques and objects on display, all protected by some sort of magical force field.
They walked along the corridor, the walls getting narrower and narrower, until Harry abruptly stopped, Ron and Hermione bumping into him: the floor before them had crumbled away, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the hallway.
"Don't worry, it's just a precaution to deter intruders," said Luna dreamily, and she walked over the hole, apparently through thin air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed her, feeling like they would fall.
They stepped on a red carpet, and the room literally turned upside down, so they were standing on the ceiling and looking up at the floor. "Another precaution," Luna smiled as they looked around in panic. They walked off the carpet and the room spun back to normal.
"Precaution," said Luna when Ron yelped in shock, as they walked straight into a wall of fire and appeared to be burning.
"Precaution," said Luna when Hermione screamed in horror as they passed a gruesome giant face in the wall that wailed and moaned, its unseeing eyes rolling.
"Now these vaults," Luna indicated the heavily bolted and chained steel vaults on the sides of the walls. "Dad told me they contain some of the most precious magical items in the wizarding world."
She turned to the one second nearest the end, and drew a key from her pocket. "Mum's," she grinned, and inserted it in the lock. There was a rumbling noise, like two rusty hammers clashing together, and the bolts undid themselves and the heavily knotted chains snaked loose. The heavy iron door slid upwards, to reveal another iron door, which slid down into the ground, and then another iron door slid upwards. A blast of hot air hit their faces, like opening an oven door.
Thick streams of dust came billowing out like smoke, and, coughing, Harry peered inside.
On a high table in the centre of the room, illuminated by a dim spotlight, was a patched and frayed old hat. It was intricately decorated, even though it was faded: it was made with dark blue silk, and black ruffled lace lined the hem. Strings of gold thread were weaved around it, giving it the effect of being covered in a gold spider's web. It was bent at the top, so it pointed outwards instead of up, and there was a little eagle on a string dangling from it.
Luna made a move to get it, but Harry held her back. "Don't touch: it could be a horcrux, remember."
Ron pulled out his sword, and stepped closer into the room. He hooked the hat up with the end of his sword, and now it was up closer Harry could see something was wrong: it was pulsating slightly, the gold thread had black strands creeping up it, and the miniature black glass eagle had a skeletal look about it, its eyes glowing red. Not the shape of the eagle on Ravenclaw's house emblem.
"Strange," Luna's eyebrows furrowed, "it's supposed to be a bright blue, not the dark blue it is."
"It is a horcrux," said Harry grimly. "But how do we destroy it if it's indestructible?"
Ron shrugged, shifting his feet.
Suddenly, there was a deafening noise like an alarm. Harry looked around, horrified. There was a flashing red light in the corner, and when he looked at Ron's feet he saw he had broken a thin red beam of light. There was a network of them lining the floor.
"Oh no!" Luna groaned "I forgot about the muggle laser system!"
They ducked under the door, which was shutting.
"Oh, boy" groaned Ron. About ten Unspeakables had apparated and shot spells at them. It was lucky they were all huddled behind Ron, who was holding the hat. The spells deflected off it. Harry shoved his hood over his face. They hadn't been able to make out their faces, and he didn't want the people they were impersonating to get in trouble. Then they ran.
"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!" moaned the giant wooden face, its carved eyes no longer rolling, but staring at them in fixation.
"Aguamenti!" Luna yelled as they ran. A jet of water shot at the wall of fire. "The precautions aren't precautions anymore!"
They ran onto the red carpet, falling in a heap onto the ceiling as the room turned upside down, then back onto the floor as they crawled off it.
"Jump!" Harry yelled as they came to the hole. They managed to jump, with a little help from magic, and carried on running until they got to the dark corridor, where they hid behind a large statue.
"Where are they?" came a gruff voice. One of the Unspeakables struck a match, and Harry's breath hitched in his throat as the man almost brushed against them. He was tempted to stun him, having gotten used to stunning Death Eaters, but remembered the man wasn't an enemy; he was just doing his job.
"Hah!" Harry blinked as another Unspeakable shone a bright light in his eyes. "Gotcha!"
He felt Hermione tug his sleeve, and a there was a tugging feeling at his navel; she was disapparating them both.
They appeared back in the room with the giant heart. They remained silent and still for a moment, watching the heart pulsate grotesquely.
"Where are Ron and Luna?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know," he hissed back "they'd better not have gone too far away."
"Is this the right door?" she opened a door to her right, and a loud roar emitted from it. She closed it with a snap. "Err; actually, I think it was this one." They went back into the stainless steel room, where Ron and Luna were backing against a wall, an Unspeakable pointing his wand to their hearts. The hat was still hooked over the top of Ron's sword.
"Now, give it to me," said the Unspeakable "nice and calmly…"
Suddenly there was a loud grunt from the cat-flap sized door they had just come through. One of the Crumple- horned Snorkacks had escaped from the regulation of Mysterious and Elusive creatures office, and was lolloping towards Ron. One of its horns caught on the hat, and it raced out of the room, wearing the hat.
"NO!" yelled Ron and the Unspeakable, and the five of them raced after it, back into the circular room. They caught a glimpse of it opening the door by magic, and its curly tail was the last they saw of it before it bounded into another room.
As soon as the door shut the room started revolving.
"Oh, great," muttered the Unspeakable.
They opened the door, praying it was the one the Snorkack had gone through, but it wasn't. Three more Unspeakables spotted them.
"Aha! Well done, Gerald, you've got them!"
"But not the hat! One of the Snorkacks made off with it."
"The Snorkacks?! But how did they get out of the regulation-"
"No time!" snarled Gerald the Unspeakable, and all of them once again huddled into the revolving room.
This time they chose a door that led to the room with the crumbly archway, and, huddled in the corner, was the Crumple- horned Snorkack, quivering slightly and staring at the hat in bewilderment.
"Aha!" Ron got to the hat first, but as soon as his skin made contact with the material, something very odd happened. His jaw quivered and he turned a delecate shade of green, looking sick. Every one stopped and stared at him. His irises clouded over, turning scarlet.
"Must… Kill… Harry… Potter…" His head snapped up, a mad look of ferocity on his features. He blinked, and his eyes snapped back to blue. "N-no! Who are you?"
"R-Ronald?" said Luna tentatively. She looked apprehensive.
"Kirkby," whispered one of the Unspeakables. "Kirkby, jot this down, it's never happened before!"
"I'm your worst nightmare, Ronald Weasley," Ron's eyes flashed back to red, grinning dangerously.
"Ron, what-" Luna approached him cautiously.
"Ssssssssssss." Luna jumped back at the odd hissing sound Ron made, his eyes looking wild. "Don't come anywhere near me, little girl- NO!" Ron hit himself on the head, still clutching the hat. He stumbled back onto the wall. "Leave her alone!"
"Ron," whispered Hermione, looking scared. "Do something, Harry, he's being possessed!" Even though this was a serious position, Harry felt a twinge of gladness that Hermione still cared about Ron the same way she had done before they had started going out.
"Ok, Ron, calm down…" Harry calmly walked over to where Ron was struggling with himself.
"Harry Potter," Ron hissed, his burning scarlet eyes alive with murderous hunger. "You must die…" he stretched out a freckled hand. "No!" he snatched it back "you wont hurt him!... Oh, yes I will… You can't!...Yes!- No!-Yes!"
"Ron-"
"AAAHHH!" Ron started attacking Harry, giving him a pounding of bruises as he viciously thumped his back. "NO!" Harry straightened his glasses as Ron slammed himself hard against the wall, and then ran down the stairs, tripping and splitting his knee on the stone. However, he didn't seem to be in any pain, as he immediately scrabbled up and everyone watched in awe as, with a determined roar, he threw the hat into the veil. Breathing hard, he backed away, and raced back over to them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" screamed the Unspeakable Harry presumed was Kirkby. He flung his hands on his head. "THAT WAS AN ANCIENT, PRICELESS TREASURE-"
But Harry was staring at the archway. It was vibrating, and a rumbling sound emitted from behind the black sheet-
"Get back!" he yelled as smoke hissed from the sides "It's going to expl-"
BOOM! The crumbling old archway shattered into pieces, sending fragments of rock bouncing off the walls, and showering everyone with a layer of white dust.
Harry opened an eye, and looked up from the pile of rubble to the people surrounding him. Hermione was fanning the air, trying to clear it of dust. Ron and Luna were clutching each other tightly, Luna looking shaken. The Unspeakables were cowering in a corner.
Harry rushed over to the door, indicating for the others to follow him. Luckily, it was the first door they tried in the revolving room that led to the corridor out of the Department of Mysteries. He could feel the potion wearing off and tugged his hood tighter over his face.
He led them to the corridor where fireplaces lined the walls, turning green as people threw floo powder into them and disappeared off. Harry grabbed some glittering powder, and said the first place that came into his mind.
"The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole!" He said quietly. He stepped in, felt the brief feeling of whizzing around speedily, and arrived in the fireplace of The Burrow.
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley yelped, sending her tea flying. Ron, Hermione and Luna arrived shortly. Harry, feeling overwhelmingly excited, dumped his things, including his wand and Gryffindor's sword, on the Burrow floor.
"Mrs. Weasley, I know its short notice, but can we please stay here for a few days?" he asked. They had just got rid of the fourth and final horcrux. He couldn't get it through his head.
"But of course! What have you been doing, you're all filthy?" She wiped Ron's shoulder of white dust, and then noticed his expression. "Ron? Are you ok? You look… odd."
"I'm fine," he whispered hoarsely. Hermione and Luna pulled him into his seat, identical expressions of worry on their faces.
"Luna! Luna Lovegood! Are you ok, dear? Are you all ok?" She looked worriedly at them. "Where on earth have you been these past few months? I've been worried sick…" She carried on blabbering away as she made them all a pot of tea. Harry felt very guilty. It must have been hard for her, having her son missing all these months. Ron had sent them small notes saying the three of them were fine, but that was all. And, not fifteen minuets ago, he had been possessed by Voldemort.
"Mrs. Weasley, we've been doing things for Dumbledore." He sipped the hot tea, feeling extremely grateful to her as it slipped down his throat.
"Oh, but it's just so good to see you all healthy and well!" She burst into tears, and kissed the top of Harry's dust-covered forehead, giving him a bone-crushing hug. She then did the same to Hermione, and finally Ron, planting kisses all over his face.
"Arthur's around, I'll go get him- and Ginny, Harry, get Ginny!"
Still brimming with excitement, Harry climbed the stairs.
He didn't take any notice of Malfoy's room being empty as he swept past the open door and flung Ginny's open.
He was about to speak when he stopped abruptly at the sight before him. Two people were sitting on Ginny's bed, so closely entwined with each other they hadn't noticed Harry come in.
Ginny Weasley was kissing Draco Malfoy.
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