บท 8: Chapter 08
~ ~ = Parseltongue
<<<<<<<<<<Harry Potter>>>>>>>>>>
Voldemort groaned as he regained consciousness. His anger intensified when he saw his Death Eaters scramble for cover, knowing that he was awake. He hated that he had lost control in front of them all.
"Severus?" he asked silkily, addressing one of the two people who were brave enough to stay in the room. "What happened?"
Snape gulped as he remained still, kneeling down in front of the Dark Lord. He clearly remembered the previous dose of the Cruciatus Curse and he didn't want to experience it again.
"I'm not sure, My Lord," answered Snape truthfully in his usual monotonous voice. "However, I have prepared several potions that I believe would help you."
Voldemort's red eyes glared at the Death Eater, but he didn't say anything. Bellatrix was kneeling down too and was strangely silent; she might like being tortured, but she knew where and when it transformed from pleasure to pain.
"Leave me," he said in a high, cold voice.
Snape and Bellatrix quickly exited the room, leaving Voldemort in his solitude as he stared at the wall. What in Salazar's name had happened to him? He accessed his memories and saw that it had started with a blinding pain in his head which had resulted in him falling unconscious. He spent the next several minutes trying to comprehend the situation when suddenly, his eyes opened wide and he screamed in rage.
The blasted boy was destroying his Horcruxes!
There was no other explanation. His soul-piece being destroyed was the only logical reason for his current state. He would have to return to each of his hiding places and redouble the protections around them. The hunt for the Elder Wand would have to wait. He still wasn't closer to finding out who the thief was, but his Horcruxes were more important right now.
But that begged the question – how could the boy know his biggest secret? He hadn't confided it with anyone!
Voldemort's shoulders stiffened; the diary. Dumbledore must have suspected it after he saw the diary. Dumbledore must have realised that he had created Horcruxes. Horace Slughorn was another loose end. He should have eliminated that man sooner, but his respect for his former professor had won out. No longer, though. He was not going to be merciful. He would destroy every last man, woman and child if they threatened his life.
His thoughts returned to the boy. Even if Potter knew of his Horcruxes, how in Salazar's name could he or Dumbledore ever hope to find them? He had hidden them in places that no one in the world could find, with protections none could breach.
The Horcruxes must be intact.
But …
If his Horcruxes were safe, what caused the pain that he, Lord Voldemort, felt that rendered him unconscious?
No, it must have been a Horcrux's destruction that caused this.
Surely the boy must have only destroyed one Horcrux. Yes, that was the reason he felt pain. He, Lord Voldemort, would know if one of his precious soul-pieces was destroyed. But which Horcrux was compromised?
Voldemort concentrated on the location and defences of each of his Horcruxes. Which one of them was the most vulnerable?
His first Horcrux was the diary; it was already destroyed.
The second was Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Voldemort frowned. Impossible! How could the boy know about the Gaunt shack or get past the deadly enchantments that he had painstakingly set up? No seventeen-year-old wizard could get past those defences. No, it wasn't the ring.
The third was the Salazar Slytherin's locket, hidden in the cave by the sea, filled with Inferi. How could the boy or anybody else even know about the cave and its significance to him, let alone penetrate its protection? The idea of the locket being stolen was absurd.
The fourth was Hufflepuff's cup in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts and the fifth was Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. Again, it was impossible. There was no way the boy could have entered Hogwarts or Gringotts without being detected. It was ludicrous to even consider it as a possibility.
Then there was Nagini, his final Horcrux, but she was in Godric's Hollow, waiting for Harry Potter to visit his parents' graves so that he could be captured. He could feel the link he shared with her, so it obviously wasn't her.
So, which one? A cold unease flickered inside him. Dumbledore had known his middle name. He might have traced his ancestry to the Gaunts. Yes, the one probably destroyed was the ring. But a smile made it to his lipless mouth. Maybe there was a chance that Potter was dead? The curse on the ring was something so deadly that he doubted even he, Lord Voldemort, could undo it. The loss of one of his precious soul pieces could be chalked off as collateral damage if it had indeed killed Potter in the process.
Yes, he would go check on the ring once he had recovered. He was confident that Potter's dead body would be in the Gaunt shack, waiting for him.
<<<<<<<<<<Harry Potter>>>>>>>>>>
One month … it had been four miserable weeks since Ron and Hermione had abandoned their best friend. Weeks of constant worry about Harry, the war and the Horcrux hunt haunted their dreams. Unable to confide their problems with Bill and Fleur, they had turned their anger and frustration towards the only person available – each other.
"But I was right, wasn't I? Harry didn't have a plan. We were going in circles and hadn't achieved anything in months!"
"It doesn't matter. You should never have fought with him in the first place!" Hermione shot back angrily. "Then none of this would have happened!"
"It wasn't my fault," said Ron defensively. "It was that bloody locket! Besides, you were disappointed in him too!"
"That's not what I meant!" Hermione lied, her cheeks pink with embarrassment and rage. She didn't want to reveal it to him, but if she had the courage to search her feelings, she knew that Ron was right. Hermione too felt that Harry should have been more prepared for the Horcrux hunt, believed that Professor Dumbledore had given him the tools required for the task. They hadn't been productive enough during their mission. But her conscience wouldn't let her blame Harry alone for their problems. Ron was equally at fault for their falling out.
"Don't think I will excuse your actions because of the effects of the locket. I wore it too, you know."
"It affected me more than you or Harry," exclaimed Ron. He sighed. "We'll find a way to him soon, I promise."
Mentally, Ron was panicking. Having left Harry all alone, there was no one to administer him the love potion. Back in the summer before their sixth year, Molly Weasley had decided that it was time for her youngest children to make their romantic interest known to Harry and Hermione. Ginny was only too happy to do so, for her crush on the Boy-Who-Lived had never faded. Ron too was game because he did harbour feelings for his bushy-haired best friend. The only problem was that Molly suspected that Harry and Hermione might be secretly attracted to each other. Normally, she would have no problems with it and would be quite happy for them. She did have to admit that the two would make a great couple, but she was also smart enough to realise that such a relationship would permanently wreak the friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione.
There was also the issue of Ron and Ginny, both of whom needed stable partners in their lives. With that in mind, Molly had decided to nudge the children's paths in a different direction, with a small doze of love potion as the catalyst. It wasn't anything strong like Amortentia, but it did ensure that the drinker was constantly thinking about the boy or girl the potion was keyed to. Unfortunately, since the love potion was so diluted, it had to be ingested frequently, the responsibility for which had been entrusted to Ron.
After about a month, just before they left for Hogwarts, Molly had decided to stop feeding Hermione the love potion. Ron, in a surprising stroke of observation skills, had realised that his Muggle-born friend had lost her romantic interest in Harry after Dumbledore had revealed the contents of the prophecy to them. It was human nature. After all, Ron was much safer to be with while Harry's future was uncertain.
It had worked out perfectly, with Hermione becoming increasingly attracted to Ron throughout the year and Harry falling for Ginny. But Ron was panicking because he was worried about Harry's feelings for Ginny. Without the potion, would he not be attracted to his sister anymore? The incident in the tent where the younger boy and Hermione were chummy together didn't sit well with him at all.
The bloody git had everything, and he still wanted Hermione? Ron fumed at that. Harry had money, fame, good looks, and magical power, all in proportions that were considered very much above average. It was only natural that Ron would snap at his friend for taking Hermione too. After trying his best to step out of his best friend's shadow, Harry would do this.
Well, it was only a matter of time, Ron assured himself. He and Harry would reconcile, like they had in their fourth year; he was confident of that. The love potion would once more take effect, and after Ginny got married to Harry, he would surely give Ron plenty of money from his vault in Gringotts. After all, they were best friends, right? He would finally be free of the dark clouds and the world would see him, Ronald Weasley, for who he was – a great wizard, not just the side-kick of the famous Boy-Who-Lived.
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