Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry Potter-McGonagall - Chapter 4 - Aperio Animus Navis
"Aperio Animus Navis," said Hermione as she pointed her wand at her Transfiguration textbook with a flick and twist. A black light left her wand and hit its target, which glowed pure white for a second before returning to normal.
"So," declared Harry with a grin, "Now we've established that your textbook isn't a Horcrux." They were sitting in a corner of Ravenclaw Tower shortly after he returned from his meeting with Mr. Dumbledore.
"I had to make sure I had the spell right," countered his girlfriend. "We can't very well try testing everything between your aunt's office and the Entrance Hall before I've mastered the spell, can we?"
"Of course not, dear," he replied. "And I suppose I shouldn't joke about a book being one of those foul creations."
"I still can't believe that Dumbledore wanted to waste an entire year slowly getting around to teaching you about them. I'm glad you put a stop to that."
"So, we're going to be checking things out during our rounds?" questioned Harry.
"Yes. I think that's the best time. Otherwise, too many people will see us and ask what we're doing."
"I suppose you're right," he agreed. "How much longer `til we leave?"
"About twenty minutes."
--HPM--
And so, the Horcrux Hunt began. The young couple carefully and slowly walked all over the seventh floor testing everything. Broom cupboards, from which they ejected snogging couples after removing house points, were checked. Every empty classroom was checked - the desks, chalkboards, windows, doorknobs, everything - on that floor before Harry and Hermione did their normal rounds.
"Well, at least we've established that the Horcrux isn't on the seventh floor," commented Harry while they were walking down the stairs.
"I guess so," conceded Hermione, who seemed disappointed. "I suppose that it was a bit foolish to believe we'd find it on the first night."
"I hoped we'd find it, too."
"Anyway, we've used up enough time searching that floor, so we'll have to hurry up to finish our rounds."
"Yes, ma'am," Harry agreed as he sped up. They continued their rounds holding hands as they searched for rule-breakers.
They had reached the fourth floor when they noticed that one of the broom cupboards was slightly moving. "It looks like we've found another happy couple," commented Harry with a smirk. "Shall I do the honors?" he asked. Hermione nodded. He pointed his wand and incanted, "Alohomora," and nothing happened.
"Great," commented Hermione as she got her wand out of its holster. "A creative couple." She performed a more complex spell, quickly overpowering the charm that had been placed there.
As the door was opening, Harry said, "You've got to admit that this couple was…" As he recognized the girl that had her lips locked with a boy he didn't know, the Boy-Who-Lived's face turned red with anger. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the couple that was now separating before him. "BRIANNA!!!!!!" he shouted loudly enough to wake the castle. His sister actually looked frightened and embarrassed. Now Harry's focus turned to the villain who had just been snogging his little sister. "What's the name of this b…"
"Harry, language!" scolded Hermione as she placed her left hand on his right, which was currently holding a wand from which sparks were flying. "Calm down."
"Calm down?" This piece of…"
"Language!"
"This person has been taking advantage of…"
"He has NOT been taking advantage of me!" shouted Brianna, who apparently had re-found her courage. However, the boy she was with appeared too terrified to speak. His eyes were focused on Harry's wand, which was still emitting sparks, though at a slightly slower pace than before.
"I think I should handle the punishment, Harry," said Hermione, fearing what her boyfriend would do. "What is your name and house?"
Swallowing, the brown-haired boy replied, "James Sauder, Hufflepuff."
"Come on, Hermione. You know if you punish me that Aunt Minnie will find out," implored Brianna.
"You should've thought of that before!" scolded Harry, still glaring.
"You know we have to treat every incident the same. Do you really want preferential treatment?"
Brianna replied, "No," with her eyes downcast.
"Well then," replied Hermione, "Ten points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Go directly to your respective dorms." After a few seconds, she added, "It was nice to meet you, James. If you're dating Brianna, I'm sure we'll see a lot of each other."
"You can count on that," sneered Harry, earning a slap upside the head from his girlfriend while the younger couple scampered away in separate directions. "Hey!"
"You knew this would happen sooner or later, Harry. Brianna's growing up. Deal with it."
"If he even thinks about…"
"Yes, I know you'll make Voldemort look like a saint with your treatment of James," she replied with a smirk.
"I will," he vowed.
"Come on. Let's continue our rounds," commanded Hermione.
--HPM--
The next day had Brianna speaking first with Aunt Minnie in her office and then with her mother on her mirror. Needless to say, she was upset with Harry and Hermione.
"I thought you understood," said Hermione, who wanted peace in the family she planned to join after Hogwarts. "We had to report you, just like everyone else."
"After all I've done to help you and Harry," Brianna grumbled.
"I'll make a deal with you. If you'll forgive us, then I'll stop Harry from murdering James." Even from the Gryffindor table where they were talking, it was easy to see Brianna's big brother at the Ravenclaw table was glaring daggers at James the Hufflepuff, who looked like he wanted to flee in terror.
"If that git runs James off, I'll kill him!" promised Brianna.
"I'd say that if he's too afraid of your big brother…"
"That's not just any big brother. He's the Boy-Who-Lived, who was seen dueling Voldemort himself. Everyone agrees that he was winning that fight so Riddle ran away. He's also the top student in Defense. If I didn't know him, I'd be afraid to cross him. James is not a coward!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't really think of it like that. Poor James is facing a man that doesn't back down to anyone. Come to think of it, bad things do tend to happen to people Harry doesn't like."
"You keep him under control, and then I'll talk to him again."
"Deal."
--HPM--
"Well, mom, I really don't know much about him except that he's a Hufflepuff and a git. Oh, and a coward. You should see how terrified he looks when I just glare at him."
"How do you know he's a git?" asked Harry's mother from the mirror she was speaking out of. "I thought you only saw him the one time."
"Just the way he was acting before he realized Hermione and I were there. He wanted to…"
"…To do the same things you and Hermione were doing in your third year," completed his mother. "Don't do anything to him. Be civil and friendly. Yes, make sure he knows he'll answer to you if he hurts Brianna, but don't attack him for fancying your sister."
Taking a deep breath, Harry replied, "Alright, mother."
"I mean it. Bye. I love you."
"Loveyoutoo," he quickly muttered before turning off the mirror.
Between that and the talk he got from his girlfriend, wherein she said that if he's truly against boyfriends and girlfriends snogging, that she'd stop forcing him to snog her, he decided to try to get to know this ba…boy who was dating his sister. To that end, they had a picnic outside, just Harry, Brianna, Hermione, and James.
"Beautiful day," said Hermione, breaking the silence that had been prevailing.
"Yes, it is a beautiful day," agreed Brianna while the males sat there quietly. "I still don't understand why you'd give up Quidditch just so you can study more."
"I do miss you being on the team, Hermione," agreed Harry. "You're a great Chaser and I like having you around."
"But now you'd have to yell at me in your role as assistant captain," she replied coyly.
"The other captains don't yell at you much," countered her boyfriend. "Although it might've gotten difficult if I did make captain next year."
"You will," said James. "Everyone knows you're the best player at the school, even Cedric Diggory. He's just hoping that the rest of your team will stink when we play Ravenclaw."
Chuckling, Harry replied, "Not a chance. Ravenclaw's gonna kick everybody's…"
"Harry, language!" interrupted Hermione. James started laughing when Harry complied.
"Butts in Quidditch just like every year I've been on the team."
Try as he might, Harry couldn't actually come up with a good reason to hate James Sauder. He'd try harder in the future. In the meantime, Harry resolved to keep an eye on his sister's boyfriend, waiting for him to put one toe out of line.
--HPM--
It was just after midnight at Azkaban prison, and Allan Freely, the night warden, was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk. As much as he hated it here, he did enjoy the perks of the night shift. He never told his wife how easy the job actually was, always complaining about the hardships in order to get sympathy from her. He glanced at the picture on his desk of the woman in her thirties waving at him with a little boy imitating his mother.
There were only a total of half-a-dozen human guards at this place of punishment at any given time. The Dementors made sure no one had the nerve or will to riot. All in all, it was actually an easy job, as long as you stayed in the heavily-warded office. No Dementor (nor bad weather) could enter. He'd had this job for two years, ever since his predecessor had been sacked for letting Sirius Black escape, and never once had a problem. That was about to change.
A loud ringing sound had him out of his chair within two seconds. He pulled out his wand and walked to the door. He opened it and stepped outside, noticing some members of his crew were running toward the entrance to the prison, a few Dementors floating beside them. As unpleasant as the beasts were, he was relieved to have them on his side.
He joined the short run to the main doors and looked out to see ten people in black cloaks with skull masks stepping off a few boats. In the midst of them stood a hooded man/monster whose main feature was the fact that he had no nose. It took all his courage just to avoid wetting himself as he realized that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were coming to call.
He felt the familiar hopeless sensation as several more Dementors came from behind him. "Get them!" he ordered the dark creatures under his command. "Kiss them all!"
He opened the door for the Dementors, but they didn't float through the doorway. Instead, the closest one grabbed him by the throat, another grabbing his right hand and breaking it so he'd drop his wand. "What are you doing?" he choked out before the Dementor lowered its hood and slowly sucked out his soul. He didn't see that the Dementors had disarmed all his men, who were forced to watch this horrid event as Voldemort approached, stopping for a moment to cast the Dark Mark in the sky.
"Excellent," the Dark Lord commented when he was close enough to be heard by the remaining guards. "You've seen a fine demonstration of what happens if you defy Lord Voldemort. Do you chose to end up like your former boss, or do you wish to join me?"
To his credit, one of the guards did choose to face a Dementor's Kiss rather than serve the evil madman, but the remaining four guards had Dark Marks tattooed on their left arms within fifteen minutes. Voldemort, surrounded by his Death Eaters, walked through the prison, freeing all who would serve him, killing those who wouldn't. Among his new recruits was one Delores Umbridge.
--HPM--
"Harry, language!" scolded Hermione the next morning after her boyfriend let out a string of expletives that could put a sailor to shame. He was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"I wouldn't criticize him for that reaction," interrupted Padma. "Have you read the news?"
"Not yet, I thought…" she trailed off as she read the headline.
Azkaban Captured
By Anna Jesse
During the night, Azkaban prison was visited by none other than the Dark Lord himself. Two guards received the Dementor's Kiss while eighteen prisoners fell victim to the Killing Curse. We know that because the bodies were sent to the shore on the boat that met the morning shift of guards. Along with the bodies was a note from You-Know-Who claiming Azkaban Island as his own. We can only assume that everybody else in that prison joined him.
Minister Fudge called this a "minor setback" and said that we shouldn't panic. Among the notable prisoners were Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus, his brother Rabastan…
The article went on to call the Ministry to action. Fudge seemed to have been blamed for this catastrophe, as he had always been a big advocate of having Dementors serve as guards while others like Albus Dumbledore claimed they couldn't be trusted.
"He has to be stopped," whispered Harry. "We've got to work harder!"
Over the past few weeks, whenever Harry and Hermione had rounds, they'd searched one of the floors of the castle as thoroughly as possible. They'd already checked the direct path from the Headmistress's office to the Entrance Hall, and then everywhere else. They'd paid special attention to Tom Riddle's Special Award for Services to the School, but still hadn't found a Horcrux.
"Why don't we check the Chamber of Secrets?" suggested Hermione. Harry and Padma agreed, and so they decided to spend a Sunday morning exploring Salazar Slytherin's famous addition to Hogwarts.
--HPM--
"Hello, Myrtle," said Hermione when they'd opened the door to her restroom and found her there.
"We're just passing through," added Harry while Padma nodded.
"Of course you're just passing through. No one wants to speak to miserable, moping, moaning Myrtle! Let's all use her loo as a passageway; she won't care!" She then picked a U-bend and dove into it, somehow making it flush.
Harry walked up to the sinks and said, "Open." Nothing happened.
"In Parselmouth, Harry," corrected Hermione. "Not English."
"Open," he tried again, staring into the eyes of the snake carving.
"Still English."
"I…I can't," he groaned in frustration.
Padma gasped. "You must have lost that ability when you lost your connection to Voldemort."
"So, how do I get down there now?" he asked, obviously annoyed.
"With a thought sphere," his girlfriend replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Less than an hour later, after putting a memory of himself opening the chamber a few years before (as well as saying Exit in Parseltongue) into a small globe, Harry, Hermione and Padma were staring at the opened entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
Hermione commented, "I know we slid down here when I helped harvest the basilisk, but I somehow have trouble imagining Salazar Slytherin jumping down a hole and shouting `Weeeee' as he slides down." Padma laughed.
"Good point," Harry agreed. "And Tommy doesn't seem the type to leap before he looks. Too bad I never said `stairs' in Parseltongue."
"Yeah." Taking a deep breath, Hermione said, "I guess we should jump down," before doing so.
After Padma and Harry joined his girlfriend, they slid down, collecting the remaining grime on their old clothes they'd worn specifically for this task. The chamber looked as it had over two years before, when they, along with Aunt Minnie and Professor LaVelle, had come down to harvest the basilisk. In other words, they were walking on a pile of old bones. Padma was looking around in fascination, since she hadn't been down there before, but kept quiet.
"Y'know, I remember that when we harvested that snake Dumbledore had requested some basilisk venom," commented Harry.
"Yes. I guess he was already hunting Horcruxes," replied Hermione as they walked around. "I have a question. Why was this called the Chamber of Secrets if it doesn't contain any secrets - just a basilisk?"
"I don't know," replied Harry, now trying to reason that out. "Because it has secrets?" he guessed.
"Precisely," answered Hermione with a grin. "We just have to find them."
Harry stopped and closed his eyes. "If I were Salazar Slytherin, building my Chamber of Secrets, what would I do?" he asked out loud.
"I'd have all kinds of secret passages," suggested Padma.
"Yes," the Boy-Who-Lived agreed while concentrating. "But where?" At that moment, they reached the entrance to the main chamber, so he activated the thought sphere to open the door. He watched as the door separated, taking in the full appearance of the chamber. "Each of them would be a doorway," said Harry as he noticed the large snake mouths lining the walls on the left and right. He walked up to the first one and activated the sphere yet again. The inside of the huge snake mouth changed from a solid stone wall to an opening. "Shall we?" he asked his two companions.
"Let's," they replied together.
They bent over just a little to fit into the snake mouth and walked. "Lumos," said Harry to light his wand. His cohorts did the same. There was nothing on the stone walls around them, so they kept following the passage, soon finding a large, winding staircase.
"This must lead to a tower," declared Hermione as they kept walking and walking, grateful that there was a railing. "I suggest we bring our brooms here next time," she said, half-way up.
"Agreed," Harry chuckled, thankful they were in very good shape from their exercises. He didn't think his aunt could've survived the climb. When they finally reached the top, they saw a doorway, easily opened with the stored Parseltongue memory. The door opened toward them and they saw the back of a chair with a woman sitting on it, writing on some parchment. "Aunt Minnie?" he asked as he recognized that they were in the Headmistress' office. She didn't reply.
"I know it sounds terrible, but this looks like the perfect place to assassinate the school head from," said Hermione. "She can't hear us or probably see us if she turned around."
"Sounds exactly like something Slytherin would've wanted," agreed Harry. "Do you think we should talk to her?"
"And give her a heart attack?" protested Padma.
"I suppose not," said Harry, "but I really don't want to climb down all those stairs. We're now on the same floor as Ravenclaw Tower. We do have to tell her about this, though."
"Of course we do. It's a potential danger for her. Just, we don't have to tell her like this. Let's go," said Hermione. She walked back down the stairs, and after taking a few extra moments to memorize the angle so he could find this entrance from the other side, he turned and followed his girlfriend, and Padma followed them.
When they got back to the Chamber of Secrets, they checked out all the other doorways, finding similar passages to all four common rooms, as well as an extremely dusty office, but no Horcruxes. They marked each passage so they'd remember them. "I'm embarrassed to admit I was hoping to find a thousand year old library that rivals the main Hogwarts one," commented Hermione.
"It would be great, especially with just the spell to defeat Voldemort in one of the large tomes," agreed Padma.
"Along with ancient rituals and spells long since forgotten," said Hermione.
"Secrets revealing the power to become the master of the universe," added Harry before bursting into laughter. "Seriously, I think it's time to go back. My feet are starting to hurt and I'm hungry."
"Me, too," Both girls replied.
Padma commented, "I need to soak my feet."
--HPM--
"I still don't understand where it could be!" proclaimed Harry before taking a bite of his turkey sandwich. The trio had missed lunch and dinner while exploring the Chamber of Secrets and was famished, so they decided to stop by the kitchens before going to their dorms. "He'd only been on the seventh floor and then down the stairs to the Entrance Hall."
"But we've searched there and the rest of the castle!" argued Hermione before spooning up some chicken soup.
"Pardon Blinky," interrupted one of the many elves that were working in that area, "but is you being looking for a room between the Headmistress' office and the stairs down?"
"Yes, Blinky," answered Harry. "That's right."
"The elves is knowing a room that only appears when it is being needed. We is calling it the Come and Go room, but wizards is calling it the Room of Requirement. It is being used by goggly-face who says all her students is being dying. She is being hiding her cooking sherry there. It is being on the seventh floor across from the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy. You is needing to be walking in front of the wall three times thinking of what you is needing."
"A hidden room," commented Padma after swallowing some of her chocolate cake, smiling at the elf.
"Thank you, Blinky."
--HPM--
Despite being tired already, Padma, Harry and Hermione were too excited to go to bed without checking their new lead out. "This must be the picture," said Hermione as she examined the painting of a wizard attempting to teach ballet to trolls.
`I need a place to hide my Horcrux. I need a place to hide my Horcrux. I need a place to hide my Horcrux.' Harry paced in front of the wall three times thinking about what he needed. Suddenly, a door appeared in front of him. "Let's go!" he said.
He pushed open the door to find himself in a room the size of a large cathedral, whose high windows were sending shafts of light down upon what looked like a city with towering walls, built of objects hidden by generations of Howarts inhabitants. He saw bottles of cooking sherry, a bloody axe, ruined cauldrons, and many other things.
"Hogwarts' junk drawer," commented Padma as she looked around her. "Why don't you try the spell?"
"Aperio Animus Navis!" incanted Harry while pointing toward the endless rows of junk. Instead of glowing red or white, the spell caused a light yellow beam to point toward the center.
"Maybe it's not close enough for a full readout, but the spell is sensing it here," said Padma with a grin.
"Let's go to different locations and try the spell to narrow things down," suggested Hermione.
It wasn't long before they'd found an old, dusty diadem hidden between a large cupboard that seemed to have acid thrown at its blistered surface and a chipped bust of an ugly old warlock. All three Ravenclaws recognized it at once as the famous long-lost Ravenclaw Tiara. "We've found it!" they proclaimed joyously together.
--HPM--
At the same time the trio was celebrating its achievement, the one who'd hidden the diadem decades before was skulking around for an object of similar size. He was in the Ministry of Magic with four of his followers. They were specifically in the room full of prophecies in the Department of Mysteries.
"There it is," called Rookwood, pointing at a thought sphere labeled S.P.T. to A.W.P.B.D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter in row ninety-seven.
"At last," declared the Dark Lord, "I will know the full contents of the prophecy, and understand why Harry Potter has managed to defy me!" he reached out and grabbed the foggy globe. As soon as he touched it, his red eyes took on a dazed expression and he released the sphere.
"What is it?" asked Bellatrix, who was also with them.
Putting his hands in the proper positions, Lord Voldemort began to sing, "I'm a little teapot; short and stout. Here is my handle; here is my spout…"
"What's happened to the Dark Lord?" asked Rodolphus as his master continued to sing enthusiastically.
"He's touched a prophecy not about him," answered Rookwood. "Potter's put in a fake as a trap. It's the only explanation! He's the only one that could've done it!"
"Let's get him out of here!" commanded Dolohov while Tom Marvolo Riddle sang, "Tip me over and pour me out!" while doing the motions.
--HPM--
Sadly, they got out of the Ministry undetected, so it didn't make the newspaper. However, Snape did report it to the Order, and Minerva was happy to pass the news to Harry, who was understandably amused. Two weeks later, Voldemort was finally cured of thinking he was a teapot. In his first meeting after that, he declared, "We've got to strike hard again so that everyone will fear us! We're going to attack Fudge's house!"
"Master," said Umbridge, "May I join that raid. I have a score to settle with that traitor who just threw me into Azkaban. I want to be the one who kills him."
--HPM--
In case you're curious, Animus Navis literally means `reveal soul vessel.'
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