Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice
Post 12: AReturn To Hogwarts
Chapter 10
A Return To Hogwarts
"You did WHAT!?"
"I ran up and grabbed it. Why, what was I supposed to do?"
Harry had shaken Hermione awake right as he had found her, and they had swiftly apparated back to Godric's Hollow. They were now in the dining room, with Hufflepuff's glowing blue cup sitting on the table in front of them.
"You could have tried to detect a curse around it. You could have… I don't know, but surely SOMETHING smarter than just grabbing it!"
"It was just sitting there on a pile of clothes, I didn't see anything suspicious, and for all I knew, you were dying downstairs!"
Hermione did not have a retort to that one, so she went back to staring at the goblet. "We still have a problem. Dumbledore's hand was cursed when he destroyed the ring. We don't have Snape around this time to help us if this one is cursed as well."
Harry was silent for a moment. His face was unreadable. After a minute or so, he said, "No.. we don't have Snape around.. but we may be able to get back his Advanced Potion Making Book."
Hermione shook her head. "Who knows if that will do any good?"
Harry said, "I know I don't. But I'd want to at least look through it before we attempt to destroy that thing. Do you have a better idea?"
Hermione looked from Harry to the cup and back. "Actually, yes. You left the book in the Room of Requirement, right?" Harry nodded. "Well, if we're going to be sneaking in to Hogwarts anyway, I'll look through the library for some books on curse breaking while you're getting the Potions book.
"Sneaking in to Hogwarts?" said a voice behind them. "Sounds like fun!"
Harry & Hermione turned around to see Ron & Ginny standing at the front door, both grinning. "Off probation I see," said Harry. "That was quick."
"We told Mom we were helping Fred & George out in the store," said Ginny. "They said they'd cover for us, no questions asked, so long as we actually did help them out once they opened their third store."
"Third!?" gasped Harry. "Nobody told me they'd even opened their second yet!"
"They were finally able to buy Zonko's in Hogsmeade," sneered Ron. "A partnership in Weasleys' for the former owner convinced him."
"Do they have a spot in mind for the third shop yet?" asked Harry.
Ginny laughed. "They have spots in mind for the third, fourth, and fifth shops. The third one is going to be in Edinburgh. The fourth…." She trailed off and looked at Ron.
"Nutters.." muttered Ron.
"What? What about the fourth?" asked Hermione.
"They're going to open another store in London. In muggle London."
Harry & Hermione gaped at the two Weasleys, waiting to see which one would start laughing first. Neither did. It was not a joke.
"But.. they can't!" Hermione said. "The statute of secrecy.."
"It's going to be a Muggle item only shop," explained Ron. "The rack they had in the first store was doing so well, they figured they try out a whole store full of the muggle magic tricks. The Ministry is all for it. They've made a little arrangement."
"Arrangement?" asked Hermione.
"Yes," said Ginny. "They're going to be giving out free shield hats, cloaks, and gloves with every purchase during their 2 month long Grand Opening, completely paid for by the Ministry. They hope enough Muggles will wear them on their own; obviously they're not going to tell them they're really magic. They don't offer a whole lot of protection, but they're better than nothing. It was actually Dad's idea."
"That's atypically generous of the Ministry," Hermione scoffed. "Those cloaks aren't cheap!"
"It's Scrimgeour's attempt to get back on good terms with the Muggle Prime Minister. Ever since he found out what caused the destruction of that bridge last year, he's blamed everything that goes wrong in England on wizards. I don't think a day has gone by so far this year where the Prime Minister hasn't requested a meeting with Scrimgeour to yell at him about something new..."
"This is boring!" interrupted Ginny. "I want to hear why we're sneaking in to Hogwarts!"
"We!" exclaimed Harry. "There's no reason for all of us to go. Hermione & I just need to get a few books."
Harry expected Ron to be upset, but Ron hadn't even heard him. He had just noticed the cup on the table and was staring at it. "Harry! That's not.. you didn't already…"
Harry grinned. "We went this morning. It was on the third floor of the Riddle house."
"You went without us!?" Ron & Ginny shouted simultaneously.
"We didn't know when you two would see the light of day again," said Hermione with a smirk. "This isn't exactly the kind of thing that we can do leisurely. The obituary page of the Prophet is getting longer every day."
They both nodded, and took a seat on either side of Hermione. Harry & Hermione took turns telling them the events of that morning. Ron was impressed.
"So you got two Horcruxes at once," said Ron. "Maybe this will be easier than we thought!"
Harry & Hermione exchanged a knowing look. "No, just one," said Harry. "Dumbledore was wrong about Nagini."
Ron croaked in surprise and buried his face in his hands. "So now there are two that we know nothing about, and a third that we have no idea where to start looking for. This quest stinks Harry!"
"If it were easy, it wouldn't be a quest, now would it?"
…
Without the hustle and bustle of students and teachers coming and going everywhere, Hogwarts was a very lonely looking place. A cold wind blew in off the lake, raising the hairs on the back all of their necks.
It was just after sunrise, and Hagrid's hut was dark, but there was smoke rising from the chimney. The four of them looked at it uneasily. Hagrid hadn't done very much to repair the fire damage from earlier in the year. It made them wonder what else he had been neglecting.
Hermione took a deep breath, and knocked twice. As expected, they were greeted by the booming voice of Fang.
Fang carried on for about 2 minutes, but there was no sign that Hagrid was in the hut with him. Hermione tried again twice, but received no answer other than Fang's increased enthusiasm.
"He couldn't have been gone long," said Ginny. "Unless Fang learned how to light the fireplace."
"I don't see a single light on in the castle," said Ron. "My guess is he's in the forest."
"Well come on then," said Harry from inside his invisibility cloak. "It's not like we've never been in there before."
Rather than make Harry take the cloak off, Ron took the lead into the forest, Hermione second, with Harry last behind Ginny.
"Where exactly am I going Harry?" asked Ron.
"Well, Aragog's dead and I doubt he'd be having tea with the centaurs. So chances are he's with Grawp."
"I've never been in to see Grawp! Hermione, you lead!"
They started walking in, calling out Hagrid's name every few minutes. They reached the spot where Hermione and Harry had first seen Grawp in less than an hour, but neither Hagrid nor Grawp were anywhere to be found.
Hermione sat down to think. "Let's just go back and wait for him at the hut," she finally said. "He'll turn up pretty soon."
The others all groaned and started walking back the way they had come.
About 15 minutes into their walk back, 3 crossbow bolts narrowly missed Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. All three froze in their tracks.
" Halt!" a voice shouted from behind a tree. "I didn't have to miss! Identify yerselves or the next three make their homes in yer heads!"
"Hagrid!" cried Hermione. "It's Hermione Granger, with Ron and Ginny Weasley!"
Hagrid stepped out from behind the tree, his crossbow still trained on all three of them. "A likely story! Tell me something, Hermione…" Hagrid stopped to think for a moment. "What form does yer patronus take?!"
"Otter! An otter!"
"Foine, foine. Tell me Ron…" Hagrid again stopped to think. "What was the final score of the Gryffindor / Ravenclaw final last year!?"
"450 to 140!" Ron said proudly. "Can you please lower the crossbow now!?"
"GINNY!" Hagrid boomed, ignoring Ron. "What did Romilda Vane ask you about Harry when you two first got together!?"
"If it was true that he had a hippogriff tattooed on his chest!"
Hagrid stared at the three of them, wanting to be convinced, but they could tell that something had really spooked him that night and he wasn't taking any chances.
"One more… one more.. let's see…" he muttered to himself. "O.k…. why do we have to be quiet in the front hallway of the headquarters of the Order!?"
"So we don't wake Sirius' mom up Hagrid!" they all said at once.
He was finally convinced, and he lowered his crossbow. "Blimey!" he said, as the three of them ran up to hug him. "What in the ruddy hell do yeh lot think you're doing here?"
"We.." began Ron, but Hermione interrupted him.
"I am still planning to take my N.E.W.T.s Hagrid," she said. "Mrs. Weasley said that you can take them at the ministry!"
"Well that's mighty admirable of you Hermione," said Hagrid. "That don't give you cause to be wanderin' in this forest so late at night."
"We were looking for you!" Ron said. "She wants to get some books from the library, and we need you to let us in to the castle."
Hagrid stared at the three of them. "If it were anybody else… well this is not the place to discuss it. C'mon, this place ain't safe right now."
The four of them waited for an explanation, but Hagrid did not give one; he immediately turned on his heel and began to lead the way out of the forest. They struggled to keep up.
"Hagrid," Hermione said a few minutes later. "What had you so spooked back there?"
"Not now, not now. Wait until we get back to my house."
…
20 minutes later, they arrived at Hagrid's front door. Hagrid breathed a great sigh, looked at the three pairs of eyes staring at him, and said simply, "Dementors."
"Dementors!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Dementors," Hagrid repeated. "In the forest. Unicorns have been going missin' from the forest for weeks, and the dementors are keepin' me from tryin' to find out why." With that, he beckoned them inside. Harry briefly debated whether or not he should go in as well, and decided to stay outside and listen at the window.
"They're not even turnin' up dead this time," Hagrid said once they'd all been seated. "I'll come across the scene of a struggle, where there might be a little bit o' unicorn blood, but I ain't found no bodies. Somebody's jus' takin' 'em. Whenever I start followin' a trail from one of those scenes though, the dementors chase me out of the forest."
"Is that what happened tonight?" asked Ginny.
"No… I wish," said Hagrid, and shuddered. "I must've gotten really close to sometin' tonight they dint want me to see. One of 'em tried to kiss me."
The two girls shrieked, and Ron practically fell out of his chair. Hagrid nodded. "Never been so happy fer this giant blood before in me life. It made me really dizzy, and I had trouble walkin' fer a bit. But as you can see, I still got me soul." He grinned.
"We can drive them out for you if you want Hagrid," Ron said. "You know that both Hermione and I can conjure corporeal patronuses. Patronuses… patroni..? Anyways, more than one patronus. We'll have the forest cleared out in no time."
Hagrid considered this, then shook his head no. "Don't want you lot gettin' involved without some betters here in case somethin' goes wrong. No Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall to call on if the…" He stopped talking. Bringing up Dumbledore had an obvious negative effect on Hagrid, and he got up and walked to the other side of the hut so the three of them would not see him tearing up. With his back turned to them, he quickly changed the subject. "So! Yeh need some books from the library do yeh? I don't think Headmistress McGonagall would have a problem with that. I'm sure she'd want to know someone was getting' some use out of 'em. C'mon then."
He left the hut and started towards the castle with the three of them in tow. Hermione was now in the rear, and she whispered "You still with us Harry?"
"Yeah, in front of you," he whispered back.
Hagrid was still anxious to keep his mind off Dumbledore, so he looked back and said, "What do you lot think about Harry goin' missin' ? Any idea where he mighta gone?"
The three looked at each other. "He told us at the wedding that he had to go away for a while," said Ginny. "I'm sure he'll turn up once he's done… whatever he needs to do."
"Aye, somethin Dumbledore told 'im he needed to do, I'm guessin…" He sighed as he caught himself again. "Books! Yeh need books. Let's go get 'em."
Hagrid opened the portcullis at the front of the castle, and led them all inside. If the outside of the castle was lonely and gloomy, it was nothing compared to the inside. What had been the setting for all of the happiest moments in Harry's life now had all the life and charm of a mausoleum. Hagrid might have picked up on this thought, for he said, "Aye, not so cheery right now. Jus' wait. It'll be back open again in no time."
They followed Hagrid up the stairs. When they got to the fourth floor, Hermione whispered "Good luck!" Hagrid led the three inside the library, while Harry broke off and continued up to the seventh floor.
He reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and was about to begin the familiar ritual of passing by three times, when a low and sinister voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I think it's almost your bedtime Potter," hissed the voice.
Harry pivoted to see the Bloody Baron floating halfway down the corridor looking straight at him.
"You can see through my cloak! I never knew that," said Harry. "What do you want?"
"I merely wish to hear of the disappearing unicorns. I have a feeling that oaf may have regaled you with details of their latest plight."
"I'm sorry… sir," Harry said, unsure how to address the Baron. "I'm afraid I don't have time…"
"No, of course not," hissed the Baron, annoyed. "Always in a hurry is our young Master Potter." The Baron began to float away.
Harry hesitated, then called out "Sir! I'm sorry sir, that was very rude of me."
The Baron began to float back. "Such a polite young man," he said. "More polite than I would have expected, judging from the way Snape always spoke of you."
"Snape formed his opinion of me before he even knew me," Harry said curtly. "Why do you want to know about the unicorns?"
"Let's just say their disappearances seem a little…. familiar to me," the Baron said. "What has the half-giant told you?"
"Only that they're being taken from the forest by force, but with little to no blood left behind. And that whenever Hagrid tries to track them down, Dementors chase him from the forest."
"I see.." The Baron paused. "That is.. fascinating. Tell me, how well do you know your history, young Potter?"
Harry smirked. "You sound like my friend Hermione. Not very well, I'm afraid. Professor Binns… doesn't exactly make history a compelling subject."
To Harry's shock, the Baron actually chuckled. "No, I suppose not." His tone quickly became serious again. "Hear this Potter. Just as it threatened to in your second year here, I feel some of this castle's dark past may be about to repeat itself."
"Just because some unicorns are going missing?" asked Harry. "What do you think is going to happen again?"
"The unicorns are just the beginning," the Baron said, ignoring Harry's question. "This friend of yours, Hermione, you say she knows her history?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, but.."
The Baron interrupted him. "Listen to me Potter. You're not likely to find this dreadful event in any school textbook. It's not the kind of thing Binns would teach you either." Harry noticed with another shock that the Baron almost sounded afraid now. "If I am right, a tremendous folly is about to be attempted again. It failed the first time, costing hundreds of lives. I've no doubt that a second attempt will fail as well."
Harry was growing quite annoyed with the Baron's cryptic narrative. "I don't suppose you expect me to thwart this attempt, whatever it is? Because frankly I've got enough on my plate at the moment."
The Baron stared down his nose at Harry. "You'll do as you wish, of course," he said menacingly. "But if I've piqued your interest enough to distract you from your own selfish interests for a bit, you'll want to look in to strange occurrences in and around the year 1726. That way you'll recognize the signs, should they arise again…"
"That's it?" asked Harry. "You can't tell me what this 'folly' was yourself?"
"If you see more signs Potter, come and visit me again. Then, only then, will I speak of it. I will do so only if I absolutely have to. It is simply too horrible…"
With that, the Baron drifted back the way he had come.
Harry took only a moment to ponder this bizarre exchange, then resolved himself to the task he had come here for.
He walked by the tapestry once. I need to get my potions book back.
Again. I need to get my potions book back.
A third time. I need to get my potions book back.
He looked over his shoulder. The door to the room of requirement had materialized.
…
When he got back to the fourth floor, he found the library deserted, so he hurried downstairs to find Hermione stalling Hagrid at the front of the castle.
"Well, it's just that I want to look through all of the books one last time, just to make sure I have everything I need!"
"Hermione!" chuckled Hagrid. "You've already looked through 'em 6 times. Ain't you sure by now?"
"I don't.."
Harry walked up behind her and gave her the pre-arranged signal – he tugged the back of her cloak three times.
"… want to waste any more of your time Hagrid; I'm sure I have everything I need."
"Waste my time!" bellowed Hagrid. "Listen, the three of you can waste my time whenever you want. This place is damn lonely without yeh!"
Hermione smiled. "We'll make it a point to visit more often then," she said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Hagrid's cheek.
"You just be sure that Harry's with yeh when yeh come back," said Hagrid. He waved farewell and walked back to his hut.
The four of them raced to the edge of the grounds so they could apparate back to Godric's Hollow (Ginny was side apparating with Harry). On the way there, Harry told them what that Bloody Baron had told him.
"I don't remember anything around that time period in Hogwarts: A History," said Hermione. They had reached the borders. "I suppose it's worth looking in to."
"Come on, let's go," said Ginny. "We told Mom we'd be home by 10:00."
"Alright then," said Harry, as he grabbed Ginny's hand. "I think we're done here."
The four of them popped out of existence.
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