Harry Potter and the Serpent's Eye by Marauder9744
Chapter Notes: First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far! I can’t tell you how glad I am that so many of you are enjoying it! As always, you will NOT have Deathly Hallows spoiled by reading my story and I’d also like to take this time to thank my beta, Priya, who has done an awesome job with this story “ I couldn’t do it without you! Hope everyone likes this next chapter and please review if you can! Thanks!
Chapter 23 - Harry, Ron and Hermione travel back towards Hogwarts through the Forbidden Forest; Harry has another disturbing vision; Harry, Ron and Hermione also overhear a very troubling conversation.
The flying Ford Anglia landed only a few moments later in a clearing somewhere to the west of Anangog’s layer.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stumbled out of the car and onto the cold snow, Harry still clutching the destroyed Horcrux.
They fell to the ground, all three panting heavily.
The moment they were free of the car, the Ford Anglia gave two honks of its horn and took flight again.
No one spoke for a second as they collected themselves.
“Did you destroy it?” Hermione asked finally, rolling over onto her stomach.
Harry nodded slowly, still panting, and held up Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup, its cracked, engraved badger glimmering eerily in the moonlight.
Harry wasn’t quite sure how it happened; perhaps Ron was the first, but before long all three of them were rolling around in the snow, laughing harder than they had in months.
“Ron, you were brilliant, mate!” Harry said, through his laughter.
“You really were, Ron,” Hermione said.
Ron’s ears turned beat red and a second later, he, Harry and Hermione dissolved into fits of laughter once more.
“We should get moving, Harry,” Hermione finally said, after sitting up and brushing some of the new fallen snow of off her robes. “We’re still close to the Acromantula layer.”
Harry nodded, got to his feet, and then set off in the opposite direction, away from the creek and the Acromantulas, though he didn’t know whether or not it was back towards Hogwarts.
They only walked for maybe an hour before Harry couldn’t walk anymore. His lack of sleep, coupled with the battle with the spiders and the cold, made Harry extremely tired.
They came to a clearing in the forest where the moon and stars were visible overhead and that was large enough to fit their tent.
“This spot looks as good as any,” Hermione said, stifling a yawn and drawing her wand. “Incendio!”
Flames erupted from Hermione’s wand, melting the many layers of snow on the ground so they could set up their tent on the frozen grass.
Within moments, Harry, Ron and Hermione were inside the tent, sitting at the kitchen table, each covered with a thick blanket, drinking hot chocolate.
“What I don’t get,” Ron began, “is why we couldn’t Apparate.”
Harry had been thinking the same thing for some time now, but he could not figure it out.
“I don’t know, mate,” he answered. “Do you reckon maybe it was the Ministry protection that Luna was talking about?”
“I dunno,” Ron said. “That’s what I thought at first.”
“But if the Ministry only put protection on the Hogwarts grounds, it couldn’t possibly reach this far,” Hermione said, frowning slightly.
“They could have extended the protection to the Forbidden Forest too,” Harry offered.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” said Hermione. “Harry, try to call Ginny with the picture she gave you.”
“But it’s the middle of the night,” Harry said, rather defensively.
“Just do it, Harry,” Hermione said, clearly exasperated. “I’m sure she won’t mind talking to you if it works.
Harry shrugged, reached into his pocket and pulled out his leather-bound picture of Ginny.
“Ginny Weasley,” he said clearly into the picture.
Nothing happened.
“Ginny Weasley,” Harry said again, and again nothing happened.
“It didn’t work, did it?” Hermione asked, with a frown.
Harry shook his head.
The picture had been his only way of communicating with Ginny and now he couldn’t use it.
The elation and relief he felt after destroying the Horcrux quickly evaporated as reality set in. They were somewhere in the forest, a long way from Hogwarts and a long way from the trail. They could not Apparate, so their only option was to walk out of the forest, which could take days, maybe even weeks “ weeks which they could not afford to lose.
They also had no way of communicating with the outside world. The last bit of information they had was what Luna told them weeks before: the Ministry thought Hogwarts would be attacked.
Harry let out a small sigh and closed his eyes.
They needed to get out of the Forbidden Forest as quickly as possible. They needed to find the other Horcrux and Nagini, and they needed to stop Voldemort.
They needed to…
Harry was flying through the air once more, over mountains, over rivers, over trees, and then he was falling, falling into darkness and then everything went black.
He awoke kneeling in front of Lord Voldemort and a group of Death Eaters. He could feel a cool breeze from somewhere behind him, but the Death Eaters formed a circle so tight that Harry was unable to see anything except Voldemort, the Death Eaters and Ginny, cowering at Voldemort’s feet.
“NO!” Harry yelled, but it seemed that, like the first time he had seen this vision, neither Voldemort nor his Death Eaters could see or hear him.
“I shall ask you only one more time,” Voldemort said silkily, advancing on Ginny with his wand raised. “Where is the boy?”
Ginny recoiled slightly, but did not look away from Voldemort, it was clear that she did not want him to know that she was afraid. When Ginny spoke, however, it was clear that she was scared.
“I… I… I already told you,” Ginny said, stuttering, yet still staring directly at Voldemort’s blood red eyes. “I don’t know where he is. I haven’t… I haven’t seen him since the summer.”
A twisted smile crossed Voldemort gaunt face. He moved in closer to Ginny and aimed his wand at her, square between her eyes.
“Liar. You choose to suffer pain beyond belief for what? A boy?”
“Y-yes, I would,” Ginny said, shifting further away from Voldemort.
This was exactly the same dream Harry had earlier this year, after his meeting with Lupin, Moody and Mr. Weasley at the Leaky Cauldron, but he could not stop it, he could not wake up.
Ginny crawled backwards and bumped into a Death Eater who was standing over her. Harry could see that it was Greyback. Greyback opened his mouth slightly allowing for a small trickle of what appeared to be blood to run down his chin and land on the top of Ginny’s head.
Ginny jumped forward, away from Greyback, and the surrounding Death Eaters erupted in a cackle of laughter.
“I would do anything for H-Harry,” Ginny said, “I… I l-love him.”
Voldemort threw back his head and laughed derisively.
“You… l-love him,” he said, doing his best to imitate Ginny. “You don’t sound too confident, Miss Weasley. Are you sure you don’t regret getting involved with Potter?”
Ginny shook her head fervently and the Death Eaters laughed again.
“Liar,” said Voldemort again. “The Dark Lord always knows, Miss Weasley. You are regretting getting involved with Potter because you know that by doing so you’ve condemned yourself to death. You wish you had never met Potter. You might even tell me where the boy is hiding if I promise that you and your family will go free.”
“No, never!” Ginny said, tears streaming down her face.
“Liar! Crucio!”
“NO!” Harry yelled, but once again no one seemed to hear him.
He tried to reach out to Ginny, he tried to save her, but all he could do was watch as she thrashed around on the ground, her screams piercing the cool breeze.
“Had enough yet, my dear?” Voldemort asked, withdrawing his wand.
“Please, don’t kill me,” Ginny pleaded, hiding her face from Voldemort.
The Death Eaters erupted in laughter once more and Harry could feel his eyes stinging.
“I love, Harry,” she sobbed. “I love him so much, please don’t kill me, I love him so much.”
“Well then, Miss Weasley, we mustn’t kill you just yet,” Voldemort said. “When dear, sweet Harry Potter discovers your lifeless body we want him to know that you were tortured… that you were forced to beg for mercy before the end.”
Harry wanted to yell out something, to warn Ginny somehow, but he could do nothing. Harry saw Voldemort’s mouth curl into a wicked smile before he cried, “Crucio!”
Ginny began instantly thrashing around again, her screams ripped through Harry like hot knives. He reached out to her again, trying to hold her, trying to save her, but there was nothing he could do.
Voldemort finally withdrew his wand and Ginny lay in a heap on the floor, sobbing harder than Harry had ever seen her sob before.
It’s just a dream, Harry told himself. It’s just a dream.
“Had enough, my dear?” Voldemort hissed, leaning his head down towards her so his lips were only inched from her head. “Are you ready to tell us where Potter and his friends are hiding?”
It’s just a dream. I’ve seen this before, it’s just a dream.
Ginny raised her head slightly so that she could look directly into Voldemort’s eyes.
She spat in his face.
Voldemort recoiled with a look of disgust and raised his wand again, for what Harry knew would be the last time.
It’s just a dream!
There were no words of warning, no audible sound could be heard except Ginny’s ragged breathing.
“Avada Kedavra!”
With a flash of green light, Ginny was dead and Harry let out an almighty scream of pain.
“Harry! HARRY!”
Harry’s eyes flew open and he was lying on his back in the tent’s kitchen, staring up at the worried faces of Ron and Hermione.
“Was it another dream, Harry?” Hermione asked. “Was it Ginny?”
Harry nodded stiffly and wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Was it the same one you had before, mate?” Ron asked, looking away to save Harry from embarrassment.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Hermione asked, reaching out to put a soothing hand on Harry’s shoulder.
Harry shook her off.
“No,” he said quickly. “I just want to make sure Ginny’s okay and then I want to go to bed.”
Ron and Hermione shared a slightly frightened look.
“But… but, mate, how, er, how do you want to find out if Ginny’s okay?” Ron asked. “I mean, if it was the same dream as last time and she was fine last time then shouldn’t…”
“No,” Harry answered again. “I need to know.”
That by far the most disturbing dream that Harry had ever seen. He now had everything Voldemort said ringing in his ears.
‘You regret getting involved with Potter. You wish you had never met Potter’
“I need to know,” Harry said softly to himself.
Almost if on queue, the tent flaps opened with the breeze and Hedwig flew through them and landed on Harry’s shoulder.
Hermione let out a shriek and Ron let out a sharp gasp.
“Hedwig?” Harry said disbelievingly. “How did you find us?”
Hedwig hooted softly and nipped Harry’s finger affectionately.
“Harry, when did you last see Hedwig?” Hermione asked kneeling down next to Harry and petting Hedwig tenderly.
“I don’t remember,” Harry answered, racking his brain. “I think I sent her to Ginny with a letter right before we set off to look for the orphanage in London. If Hedwig couldn’t find us, she would have gone back to Ginny.”
“But how the bloody hell did she find us in the middle of the Forbidden Forest?” Ron asked.
Both Harry and Hermione shrugged as Hedwig continued to hoot.
“Is Ginny all right, Hedwig?” Harry asked, and Hedwig nipped Harry’s finger softly again.
“She’s not hurt?” Hermione asked, and unless Harry was mistaken, Hedwig nodded slowly.
“Did… did Hedwig just nod her head?” Ron asked disbelievingly, with a smile.
Harry let out a small laugh.
“I think so.”
* * *
They left early the following morning in a very happy mood again.
Harry sent Hedwig back to Ginny with a small note saying how much he missed her and that hopefully he would be seeing her soon. He also told Ginny to keep Hedwig at Hogwarts and that he had a good feeling if he was ever in dire need of a messenger, Hedwig would be able to find him.
They crossed the creek at mid-day, thankfully at an entirely different spot than where the Acromantula layer was located, which Ron was quick to point out. By night fall, Harry guessed they had walked at least ten miles.
The following day they set off early again and by night fall they had again walked about ten miles.
On the third day, the first of December, Harry was beginning to feel apprehension and dread again.
He knew they must be lost by now because there was nothing familiar about their current setting.
They were near another larger river that Harry guessed ran into Anangog’s creek somewhere behind them.
“I have no idea where we are, Harry,” Hermione said, checking some of the maps she had drawn during the three weeks they had wandered through the forest looking for the spiders. “There’s a large tree that’s less than a mile from Hagrid’s Hut that we should be able to see if we got to the top of one of these trees,” she added, pointing to a sycamore next to them.
“I don’t think we can climb these though,” Ron said, walking to the nearest tree and trying to find a branch to climb up on.
“I don’t know then,” Hermione said, sounding rather exasperated.
Harry sat down on a log and then immediately stood back up again.
“Ugh… I think I just sat in blood,” Harry said, trying his best to wipe the blood off of his pants.
“What kind of blood is it?” Hermione asked curiously.
“I dunno, Hermione,” Harry said, slightly peeved, “I’m not really up on my animal blood type….”
Harry fell silent.
“Harry, what is it?” Hermione asked.
“Er, I think I know how we’re going to get above the trees,” Harry answered.
Ron and Hermione turned to look at what Harry was looking at and a there, sitting a few yards ahead of them, his legs crossed and his arms folded, was Grawp.
Ron and Hermione backed up instantly, but it appeared that Grawp had been watching them ever since they had entered the riverside clearing.
“Er, Grawp?” Hermione said timidly.
“‘Ello, Hermy,” Grawp said slowly.
“‘Hello, Hermy’,” Ron mouthed disbelievingly. “Since when can Grawp talk?”
Harry shrugged.
“Er, listen, Grawp, can you help us out?” Hermione asked. “Can you help out… Hermy?” she added with a grimace.
Grawp nodded his head.
“Okay, um, Grawp I need you to lift Ron up so that…”
“Now wait just a minute, I’m not about to…”
“Not now, Ron,” Hermione hissed. “Okay, Grawp, I need you to lift Ron up so he can climb that tree. Can you do that, Grawp?”
Grawp nodded again and, before Ron could utter another complaint, lurched forward and grabbed Ron by the waist.
“Be careful, Grawp!” Ron yelled, although Harry wasn’t quite sure Grawp heard him.
The giant lifted Ron high up in the air and onto an overhanging branch, some twenty feet in the air, where he disappeared from sight.
“Ron!” Hermione called anxiously, and Harry had the feeling that she was instantly regretting her decision to volunteer Ron. “Ron, are you all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he called from high above them. “This is bloody unbelievable up here!”
“Do you see the tall tree?” Hermione asked.
“Er… yeah! Yeah I do, it’s not that far away,” Ron called back. “It’s straight away to the east. Hey, Grawp… Grawp, let me down, mate.”
Harry and Hermione smiled at one another as Grawp reached up and lifted Ron down to the ground.
“Thanks, Grawp,” Ron said, patting the side of the giant’s massive hand.
“It’s straight away to the east?” Hermione said, pulling out her hand drawn map and lighting her wand due to the impending darkness. “Oh, okay, that makes sense. We’re not to far now “ it should only take a few more hours.”
Harry let out a tired sigh.
“I just wish there was a faster way to get there,” Harry said, stretching and letting out a tired yawn.
“Testruls,” Grawp said.
“What did you say, Grawp?” Hermione asked, not looking up from her maps.
“Testruls,” Grawp repeated.
“What’s he say…?” Ron asked, but he was cut of at the look on Harry’s face.
“Thestrals “ look! How could I have been so stupid?” Harry exclaimed, watching as three Thestrals slowly sauntered out of a thick clump of trees and walked over to where Harry was standing.
“Blimey, they’re attracted to the blood, mate,” Ron said, disbelievingly.
“Wait, can you see them?” Harry asked.
“Yeah, I can,” Ron said matter-of-factly. “Hermione and I saw that Death Eater “ oh, what’s his name? Gibbon, I think, yeah, we saw him die last year.”
Hermione nodded, moved cautiously towards the nearest Thestral and patted it soothingly on the side of its head.
“Gibbon?” Harry said slowly, more to himself than to either Ron or Hermione. “Gibbon? Where did we see that name?”
Ron and Hermione both turned to look at Harry, shrugged and then turned back to the Thestrals.
“Come on, Harry,” Hermione said. “Get on and we can get out of here.”
“All right,” he answered, his mind still thinking about Gibbon.
Where did I hear that name?
“Goodbye, Grawp,” Hermione called. “Be a good boy, okay?”
“Okay, Hermy,” Grawp answered, and without a backwards glance he hurried off into the woods.
“Bye, Grawp,” Ron called, but the giant didn’t hear him.
He turned back to Harry and Hermione to see them both smiling at him, their eyebrows raised.
“What?” he asked defensively, climbing onto the back of the nearest Thestral. “He didn’t drop me “ I like the big bloke.”
Hermione gave Harry another smile and then the pair of them climbed onto the two other Thestrals where Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself for good measure.
“To Hogwarts,” Harry told the Thestral and the three lifted off, high above the Forbidden Forest and into the cold, night sky.
They only flew for a few moments before Harry saw the lake, the Whomping Willow and Hogwarts Castle, gleaming eerily in the moonlight.
They flew low over the trees and Harry could see the hundreds of wizards, more than there were last time, standing guard over the entrance to Hogwarts.
Harry looked sideways at Ron and Hermione and it seemed that they noticed the wizards too.
Harry urged his Thestral on, hoping that something bad hadn’t happened.
They touched down in the snow a few yards from Hagrid’s Hut and Harry threw off his Invisibility Cloak.
“Under here, let’s go,” Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, lifting the Cloak.
They got underneath the Cloak and set off back towards the Whomping Willow.
“Why didn’t we just fly back to Hogsmeade?” Ron asked, half-way across the grounds.
“Did you see all the Ministry wizards patrolling the streets?” Hermione answered waspishly. “We never would have made it.”
Ron said nothing and then continued on towards the Willow.
Only a few yards away the tree Harry heard voices coming from somewhere behind them.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry turned around and saw three hooded figures walking up the road from Hogsmeade to the Castle.
They hurried up the path through the snow made by the students going between Hagrid’s Hut and the Castle and reached the Entrance Hall before the three hooded figures.
They waited off to the side until the three figures reached the front doors. One of them whispered the password and the doors opened.
Harry, Ron and Hermione darted inside, veered quickly to their right and, even though they were safely below the Invisibility Cloak, ducked behind a suit of armor.
Harry could see the three wizards move swiftly across the Hall. From his position he could not see there faces.
A fourth figure emerged from the Great Hall and walked towards the three who were now standing in the center of the Entrance Hall.
“Anything new?” said the fourth figure, and Harry knew in a instant that it was Mad-Eye Moody.
“Nothing,” said the voice of Remus Lupin.
Harry’s wand instinctively moved into his robes and grabbed his wand. Hermione shot him a scandalized look from under the Cloak.
“No new news of Potter then?” Moody asked.
“No,” Lupin answered again. “He’s been out of contact for almost a month.”
Harry could hear the tiredness in his voice.
“The Aurors seem to think that Potter’s going to come back to Hogwarts,” Mad-Eye.
One of the other hooded figures let out a sharp laugh.
“He’s not that dumb, Mad-Eye,” said the voice of Nymphadora Tonks, and Harry let a small smile cross his face from under the Cloak.
“Do you think he is hiding?” said the final hooded figure in a familiar, heavily accented, voice.
“Krum?” Ron whispered sideways to Harry, looking rather upset.
“I think so,” Harry whispered back.
What is Viktor Krum doing guarding Hogwarts? Harry thought to himself.
“I doubt it,” Lupin answered in a hoarse voice, and then Harry remembered that it had been a full moon only a few days earlier. “Harry’s not the type to run and hide when something goes wrong.”
“You have to admit that the attack on Gringotts must have fazed him, though, Remus,” Moody said, and Harry felt Hermione grab tightly onto his arm.
“The only part that would have fazed him would have been the number of causalities,” Lupin said hoarsely. “This is old news from Voldemort, as you know Alastor.”
Moody nodded slowly.
“Our latest intelligence has him attacking Hogwarts next,” Mad-Eye said. “With Hogwarts under his control, we couldn’t touch him. The Dark Lord would then have no problem focusing his attack on the Ministry.”
“Scrimgeour has got to be getting nervous,” Lupin said. “Is Kingsley still the only one of us protecting the Minister?”
“No, we’ve got Hestia and Dedalus too, but I don’t know how much that’s going to help,” Moody answered.
“Oh, don’t say that, Mad-Eye,” Tonks said. “Hestia, Dedalus and Kingsley are more than capable of…”
“It’s not a question of their capability, Nymphadora,” Moody said.
“Last time, when Voldemort wanted something he got it,” Lupin said. “If Voldemort wants to knock off Scrimgeour, he will.”
Moody let out a low growl.
“Incidentally, Alastor, are your protections are in place?” Lupin asked.
“Yes,” Moody answered. “The Ministry has placed its protection over every Order member’s house.”
“Good,” Lupin answered and a foreboding silence fell over the four wizards, each of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts.
“But vouldn’t it make it harder for Potter to stay hidden vith You-Know-Who in control of Potter’s gold?” Krum asked, finally breaking the silence.
Lupin shook his head.
“No,” he answered shortly. “But like I said, I don’t think he’s hiding.”
“Where is he then, Remus?” Mad-Eye asked. “Surely you don’t think that the boy’s de…”
“No,” Lupin said quickly. “I think he’s on a mission… looking for something… something close by.”
“What gives you that idea?” Moody asked roughly.
“What do you mean, Remus?” Tonks said. “Last time we saw him was at St. Mungo’s with Ron and Hermione. He was…”
“Herm-own-ninny vas vith him?” Krum asked, cutting Tonks off and Harry heard Ron make some sort of low growling noise.
“Yeah, she was with him,” Tonks answered. “And Harry was asking about Regulus Black wasn’t he, Remus?”
“Yes, I think he may have gone back to Regulus’ house,” Lupin answered. “He’s been there once already.”
“What?” Moody said quickly. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
Lupin looked up at him and Harry was sure he saw a flash of anger.
“Potter’s been to a known Death Eaters house “ a Death Eater who was murdered by the Dark Lord himself,” Moody said angrily. “You do know who lives on the same street as Regulus did?”
“Merlin’s beard, Remus, you didn’t tell me that,” Tonks said disbelievingly.
“I’m well aware of who lives on Spinner’s End,” Lupin answered calmly. “And as you know, Alastor, we’ve kept that situation closely monitored. I saw no reason why Harry, Ron and Hermione should be warned about that.”
“That’s taking an awful chance, Lupin,” Moody said disapprovingly. “Either way, if Potter is looking for something, don’t you think he would have tried to contact you or one of us? You and Arthur did tell him about that when you last spoke, right?”
“We did,” Lupin answered. “And that’s precisely why I think he’s near by. I’d be willing to bet that Harry has tried to contact us but hasn’t been able to. According to Ginny, he hasn’t spoken to her in almost a month either, which again leads me to believe that he’s somewhere nearby.”
“Bloody hell, Lupin!” Moody exclaimed. “The Ministry wards on the grounds and the forest would stop him from communicating wouldn’t it?”
“That they would,” Lupin answered hoarsely.
Moody rushed out of the Entrance Hall and onto the grounds, followed closely by Krum, leaving Lupin and Tonks by themselves.
“But you don’t think Harry’s still on the grounds, do you?” Tonks asked slyly.
Lupin turned to look at her and shook his head.
“I think Harry’s completing his mission, and that will have to be good enough for Alastor. Hopefully we’ll all see Harry at Christmas.”