| And how could the boy, or anybody else, know about the cave or penetrate its protection? The idea of the locket being stolen was absurdAs for the school: He alone knew where in Hogwarts he had stowed the Horcrux, because he alone had plumed the deepest secrets of that placeAnd there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his protectionBut to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to each of his hiding places, he must redouble protection around each of his HorcruxesA job, like the quest for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake aloneWhich should he visit first, which was in most danger? An old unease flickered inside himDumbledore had known his middle nameDumbledore might have made the connection with the GauntsTheir abandoned home was, perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that he would go firstThe lake, surely impossiblethough was there a slight possibility that Dumbledore might have known some of his past misdeeds, through the orphanagebut he knew the his Horcrux there was safe; it would be impossible for Potter to enter Hogsmeade without detection, let alone the schoolNevertheless, it would be prudent to alert Snape to the fact that the boy might try to reenter the castleTo tell Snape why the boy might return would be foolish, of course; it had been a grave mistake to trust Bellatrix and MalfoyDidn't their stupidity and carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust? He would visit the Gaunt shack first, then, and take Nagini with himHe would not be parted from the snake anymore and he strode from the room, through the hall, and out into the dark garden where the fountain played; he called the snake in Parseltongue and it slithered out to join him like a long shadowHarry's eyes flew open as he wrenched himself back to the presentHe was lying on the bank of the lake in the setting sun, and Ron and Hermione were looking down at himJudging by their worried looks, and by the continued pounding of his scar, his sudden excursion into Voldemort's mind had not passed unnoticedHe struggled up, shivering, vaguely surprised that
he was still wet to his chanel body jewelry skin, and saw the cup lying innocently in the grass before him, and the lake, deep blue shot with gold in the falling sun His own voice sounded strange and low after Voldemort's high screams"He knows and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he was already on his feet," is at Hogwarts "What?" Ron was gaping at him; Hermione sat up, looking worried"But what did you see? How do you know?" "I saw him find out about the cup, I - I was in his head, he's" - Harry remembered the killings - "he's seriously angry, and scared too, he can't understand how we knew, and now he's going to check the others are safe, the ring firstHe things the Hogwarts one is safest, because Snape's there, because it'll be so hard not to be seen getting inI think he'll check that one last, but he could still be there within hours -" "Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?" asked Ron, now scrambling to his feet too"No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he didn't think about exactly where it is -" "Wait, wait!" cried Hermione as Ron caught up to the Horcrux and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak again"We can't just go, we haven't got a plan, we need to -" "We need to get going," said Harry firmlyHe had been hoping to sleep, looking forward to getting into the new tent, but that was impossible now, "Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realizes the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts Horcrux, decides it isn't safe enough? "But how are we going to get in?" "We'll go to Hogsmeade," said Harry, "and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's likeGet under the Cloak, Hermione, I want to stick together this time "But we don't really fit -" "It'll be dark, no one's going to notice our feet The flapping of enormous wings echoed across the black waterThe dragon had drunk its fill and risen into the airThey paused in their preparations to watch it climb higher and higher, now black against the rapidly darkening sky, until it vanished over a nearby mountainThen Hermione walked forward and took her place between the other two, Harry pulled the Cloak down as far as it would chanel metallic gilt leather bag go, and together they turned on the spot into the crushing darkness
\p\C0="Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Missing Mirror"
\bChapter Twenty-Eight
\iThe Missing Mirror\i\b
Harry's feet touched the roadHe saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop
fronts, and the mist line of black mountains beyond the village and the curve in the road ahead that
led off toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows of the Three Broomsticks, and with a
lurch of the hear, he remembered with piercing accuracy, how he had landed here nearly a year before,
supporting a desperately weak Dumbledore, all this in a second, upon landing \a150\a150 and then, even as he
relaxed his grip upon Ron's and Hermione's arms, it happened
The air was rent by a scream that sounded like Voldemort's when he had realized the cup had
been stolen: It tore at every nerve in Harry's body, and he knew that their appearance had caused it
Even as he looked at the other two beneath the Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open
and a dozen cloaked and hooded Death Eaters dashed into the streets, their wands aloft
Harry seized Ron's wrist as he raised his wand; there were too many of them to runEven
attempting it would have give away their positionOne of the Death Eaters raised his wand, and the
scream stopped, still echoing around the distant mountains
"\iAccio Cloak!"\i roared one of the Death Eaters
Harry seized his folds, but it made no attempt to escapeThe Summoning Charm had not
worked on it
"Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?" yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm and
then to his fellows
Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron and Hermione backed as quickly as
possible down the nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed them by inchesThey waited
in the darkness, listening to the footsteps running up and down, beams of light flying along the street
from the Death Eaters' searching wands
"Let's just leave!" Hermione whispered"Disapparate now!"
"Great idea," said Ron, but before Harry could reply, a Death Eater shouted,
"We know you are here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find miu miu bags you!"
"They were ready for us," whispered Harry"They set up that spell to tell them we'd come
I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us - "
"What about dementors?" called another Death Eater"Let'em have free rein, they'd find him
quick enough!"
"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hands but his - "
" 'an dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, nor his soulHe'll be easier to
kill if he's been Kissed first!"
There were noises of agreementDread filled Harry: To repel dementors they would have to produce
Patronuses which would give them away immediately
"We're going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!" Hermione whispered
Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural cold being spread over the streetLight was sucked from
the environment right up to the stars, which vanishedIn the pitch blackness, he felt Hermione take hold
of his arm and together, they turned on the spot
The air through which they needed to move, seemed to have become solid: They could not
Disapparate; the Death Eaters had cast their charms wellThe cold was biting deeper and deeper
into Harry's fleshHe, Ron and Hermione retreated down the side street, groping their way along the wall
trying not to make a soundThen, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, came dementors, ten or more
of them, visible because they were of a denser darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks
and their scabbed and rotting handsCould they sense fear in the vicinity? Harry was sure of it: They
seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling breaths he detested, tasting
despair in the air, closing in -
He raised his wand: He could not, would not suffer the Dementor's Kiss, whatever happened afterward
It was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he whispered "\iExpecto Patronum!\i"
The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: The Dementors scattered and there was a triumphant
yell from somewhere out of sight
"It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"
The Dementors have retreated, the stars were popping out again and the footsteps of the Death Eaters
were becoming d |
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