Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Harmonians would be celebrating right now…
A/N: My take on the challenge by Detritus, that you can find here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26205 Basically, an HP/POTC crossover, I hope I can pull it off nicely! *laughs* Well, anyhow, if you read, please review and let me know what you think of the story! This is my first crossover so I need some kind of input on how I'm doing!
Start of the organization of a rescue mission, let's see how that turns out!
Harry Potter and Davy Jones' Locker
Chapter Five: Planning
Once Ginny's explanation of what she had done was finished, Ron was extremely pale.
"What are we going to do now?" he whispered.
Harry was silent, pacing the room and thinking of a way to reach the Locker and retrieve Hermione. The problem was that no one had ever been to the Locker and back again, so no one really knew where it was. There were rumours of maps that would lead to the end of the world, but those were of times when the Earth was believed to be flat, thus they were of no interest for them now.
After all, it was common knowledge that the Earth was not flat.
Silence reigned in the Room of Requirements , as the three of them tried to think some solution to this mess. As unwilling as she was, even Ginny tried to find a way to retrieve Hermione. She knew Harry would not stop till he had her back, so what was the point of not cooperating?
Maybe if she was able to help, he would see her in a better way…
Hours flied, without them being able to come up with some kind of plan. Finally, Ron grinned.
"We need to find Jones' heart" he said. Harry and Ginny looked at him like he had grown a second head.
"Reason. We can't reach the Locker, right? But he can. However, we can't summon him and order him to bring her back because he obeys only to an order every ten years, and since Ginny has already summoned him, we would have to wait ten years to use this way. Not a choice" he said with finality, seeing the slight hope in Ginny's eyes.
The redhead inwardly sighed.
"So, we have to force him to bring her back. And since the only way to kill him is to stab his heart, we need to find it, so we have leverage over him"
"Ron, no one has ever been able to find his heart!" Ginny protested. "Plus, it's hidden into a locked chest, we would need the key to open it"
"She's right mate" Harry said, sadly.
"No, she's not" Ron objected. "First of all, no one found it, yes, but how many tried? How many wizards? I don't think it's such a common desire to find his heart. As for the chest, a simple unlocking spell will open it. After all, he can't have sealed it by magic, because once he tore his heart out, he lost his magic powers, from what Ginny told us she found out on those books" he reasoned.
Harry suddenly raised his head to look at his best mate. Ron was right, how could have he missed such a detail? Jones might have been a wizard once, but he wasn't anymore.
"Still, we have no idea how to find the chest with the heart" Ginny pointed out.
"Eh, well, we will figure out something" Ron sheepishly said. Harry grinned at his best friend. Being so good at chess had to be useful for something, and in fact it was not the first time Ron had come out with a brilliant strategy.
"Let's go tell McGonagall" the raven haired wizard said. He and the two Weasleys sprinted through the castle, till they reached the gargoyle.
"Hem…does anyone know the password?" Harry asked.
He was met with two blank faces.
"Good" he muttered. Luckily, ten minutes later, the gargoyle sprung to life as the Headmistress was leaving her office.
"Potter, what are the three of you doing here?" the stern Professor asked.
"We need to speak with you about something, but we would prefer to do so inside your office, if that's ok" Harry said. From his eyes, the Headmistress understood it was something important, so she lead them back into the room, and after everyone was seated, she finally spoke.
"So, what's the matter?"
"Hermione is missing" Harry bluntly said. There was no need to lose time with useless chat.
"Ms. Granger?" McGonagall asked, surprised. "How…"
Ginny interrupted. "It's my fault" she said, becoming red on her ears. "I was annoyed because she was always in Harry's company, so I thought to take her out of the equation, and I ended doing something terrible" she said, realizing for the first time since starting her plan how cruel it was toward Hermione, and feeling ashamed for her actions. She quickly told the Headmistress what she had done.
"Ms. Weasley, I'm appalled. Summoning the Devil of the Sea for such a trivial matter" the Professor sternly said.
"Well, however," Harry interrupted. There would be time to lecture Ginny once they were back with Hermione, but now he didn't want to lose a single minute, "we figured out a way to force Jones to bring Hermione back. We need to go search for his heart"
"And I imagine you already have a plan on how to find it ?" they heard a voice from behind the Headmistress. Looking up, they were met with the twinkling blue eyes of Dumbledore's portrait.
"Actually, no" Harry dejectedly admitted. "We have no idea where it may be and how to find it"
"Well, I'm sure there is some kind of object in your possession that you might find useful" the old Headmaster said, smiling.
Harry rummaged his mind thinking about everything he possessed, but he had no idea what could help him in this quest. Seeing his blank face, Dumbledore's portrait sighed.
"You have a map, if I'm not mistaken. A very special map at that" he said, again with a twinkle in his eyes.
"The Marauders' Map?" Harry dumbly said. "How can it help? It only shows Hogwarts!"
"Ah, well, sometimes there is more than meets the eye, Harry. Especially in the Wizarding World. You should have learned it by now" the old Headmaster smiled
"So you're saying Harry's map can guide us to the heart of Davy Jones?" Ron, who had been silent till then, asked.
"Not right now, Mr. Weasley. Not right now. But, I'm sure if you were to wander into the Restricted Section of our library, you could find a book or two on magical maps of every kind. I believe the original Marauders used them to make the map in the first place, so you should be able to figure out exactly what charms they have used on it" the previous Headmaster explained with a wink.
Harry grinned. It was a chance to find out a bit more about his father and his friends, plus he had a slight idea of what the Headmaster meant. Probably, showing Hogwarts and everyone in it was only one of the functions of the map, and others could be unlocked with the right spell, or password.
After assuring the Headmistress that they would be careful, the three of them quickly made their way to the library, and particularly, to the Restricted Section. Scanning the books on the shelves, finally they were able to locate the volumes Dumbledore had hinted at.
"Magical Maps And Affinities" Ron said, reading the title of the huge book Harry had given him. Ginny was instead scanning the pages of Got Lost? The Right Charm to Find the Way.
Ron groaned. If there was something he hated, it was to do research. But, this time it was necessary, as there wasn't Hermione to do that for them. Not that he thought of Hermione only as a way to copy homework, of course, but that was a plus of being friends with her.
Time flew, and before they knew it, it was dark outside. They had skipped lunch, and even Harry had to admit he was famished, so they headed down to the Great Hall for supper. However, they made a quick business of that, and then resumed their reading.
Every now and then, someone would think they had found the right thing, but a moment later the excitement would die as the following lines showed it wasn't.
Tired, Ron and Ginny soon fell asleep while rereading the notes they had taken during the day. If they could not find how to unlock other functions of the Marauders Map, they could always make one of their own for the purpose.
Harry, instead, didn't stop a single moment reading. He could, now and then, spot notes on the sides of the pages, and he had to smile. Reading them, he recognised Lupin's writing, and from what was written in other ones, he guessed it was either his father or Sirius' doing.
At least, now he knew that was the book they had used for the Map.
As drowsiness was finally catching up with him, and he felt he was losing the battle to remain awake, he noticed a new chapter about tracking spells included in the map. He noticed how there were side notes there too, and his heart started to beat faster, his attention suddenly raised, and any trace of tiredness ebbing away.
He quickly read through the chapter, and finally found the incantation.
Moving quietly, so that he wouldn't wake up Ron or Ginny, he went to retrieve the map in his trunk. Then, he returned to the Room of Requirements where they had brought the books to read them without Madam Pince looming over them.
Taking a long gulp of air to encourage himself, he pointed the wand at the map, activated it with the usual password, and then cast the incantation written in the book.
"Tracking tabula apparere"
Suddenly the map changed, and it became completely blank if not for a question written on it.
What is it that you seek?
"Davy Jones' heart" Harry said, and he saw the map change to a geographical map of the Caribbean, with a flashing dot on a miniscule island.
Under the map there were two instructions.
Say Extendo to zoom in, Restringo to zoom out
Harry zoomed in enough o see the name of the island. "Isla Cruces" he muttered, grinning.
"Hermione, don't worry. I'm coming" he said to the dark night, looking out of the window, his green eyes flashing with determination.
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