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SIYE Time:12:33 on 29th March 2024
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Harry Potter and the Butterfly Effect
By Brennus

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure
Warnings: Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Rape, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence/Physical Abuse
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 733
Summary: Minor events can have repercussions far beyond their size and importance. When one of these minor events occurs to a ten year-old Harry Potter he finds his world turned upside-down and it starts him down a very different path than the one he expected to follow.
Hitcount: Story Total: 199228; Chapter Total: 7815
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
At the bottom again.




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Chapter 13 — A Present from the Poison-Hearted



Tues day, 16 July 1996

Tonks stood opposite Harry with her wand held casually in her right hand and a smug grin on her face. Harry had every intention of wiping that silly smile away and making the young woman pay for her arrogance.

Things had been going well at Grimmauld Place. Misty and Bolly had been working tirelessly, and the house was already much more appealing than it had been just a week before. Harry had cleared out one room and converted it to training exclusively. It was now shielded against spells and warded against magical detection. He could practise without the worry of Ministry interference. He had also discussed a training program with Remus and even started work to become an Animagus with Sirius. Then, of course, Tonks had to open her mouth.

It had been a minor insult; she had made a casual remark about her starting to train Harry at duelling. Harry had immediately pointed out that he had just spent a year studying under one of the greatest fighters in the world and she had laughed. His honour besmirched, Harry had immediately challenged the Auror to a duel.

So here they both stood in the training room with Remus and Sirius looking on eagerly. Harry suspected Tonks was not going to play fair. She had already stripped off her jacket under which she was wearing the tight t-shirt that had got him so hot and bothered the previous week. She was also wearing the same tight jeans that accentuated her shapely legs. That’s not going to work this time, Harry thought. He’d been in the company of Tonks for most of the week, and he was already beginning to think of her more as an annoying older sister, rather than the object of his desire.

“Are you ready?” called out Sirius. “You will start on the count of three. One, two…three!”

Tonks raised her wand and quickly threw a stunning spell at Harry. Her casting was fast, accurate and she put a lot of power into the spell. She was surprised therefore when Harry casually knocked her spell aside with a silently cast shield.

Before she could react, Harry returned fire. His first blasting curse blew her hasty erected shield away like it was made of rice paper. His follow-up stunning spell was cast so quickly she never even saw it coming. The next thing Tonks knew she was being revived by a laughing Sirius.

“You might want to show Harry’s skills a bit more respect from this point, eh, Tonks?” he said. Tonks turned to Harry and performed a small bow.

“I humbly apologise for doubting your skills, oh boy-who-lived,” she said mischievously.

“Don’t call me that!” Harry groaned.

“I must also congratulate you on your skills,” Remus said, still smirking at Tonks. “As one of your teachers, I think it would be a good idea if I tested my talents against you as well. Tonks was somewhat overconfident; that’s not a mistake I’ll make.”

“The more the merrier,” Harry replied.

The two wizards faced each other. As soon as Sirius had given them the signal to start, Remus unleashed a barrage of spells against Harry in the hope of quickly overwhelming his shields. Unfortunately for Remus, Harry was no longer there. As soon as the first spell had left Remus’s wand, Harry had rolled to the left and come up to kneeling position. A single stunning spell later and Remus was flat on his back. Sirius and Tonks both clapped and cheered. Once Remus was awakened he joined in the praise, even if he did look a little put out.

“Right, just me left,” Sirius said. “Fancy having a crack at an old man like me?”

Harry snorted.

“An old man who came in drunk at two o’clock in the morning ever night last week?” he laughed. “It’s not your age you need to worry about. More like if you’re sober enough.”

“Harry, I’m hurt. You know I wouldn’t neglect your training just because I have such a full social life,” Sirius replied, grinning. “I’m sure I’ll cope.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Harry said, shaking his head.

The two wizards squared up, and this time Remus started them off. Sirius sent a quick stunner at Harry but was not surprised that the boy had already moved. Instead of tracking him Sirius lowered his wand and cast a spell at the floor.

At the first sign Sirius was going to cast a spell, Harry had rolled to his right. He doubted the same trick would work twice, but he was confident he could put Sirius on the back foot. Harry tucked in his shoulder, rolled and started to stand up. He then promptly fell flat on his face.

Looking round, Harry saw that the floor was now covered in strange, vine-like plants. As soon as he had tried to stand the plants had wrapped themselves round his ankles tripping him up. Desperately, he tried to turn himself around to face Sirius.

“Expelliarmus!” he heard Sirius cry, and Harry’s wand was ripped from his grip. He heard Remus and Tonks hooting their approval behind him.

A few moments later Sirius’s legs came into view. He dispelled the plants which by now had Harry completely pinned down and knelt beside his godson.

“There’s a good lesson for you, Harry,” Sirius said with a big smirk on his face.

“What? Don’t trust the disreputable old bloke because he’s bound to cheat?” asked Harry sarcastically.

“Close,” Sirius laughed. “Remember, being sneaky can be a good thing. Frankly, Harry, I doubt I could have won any other way. Your speed of spell casting is phenomenal, you have an excellent range of hexes, and your movement is incredible. But you did try the same trick twice which was your undoing. Rather than let you dance rings round me, I just conjured up a few Devil’s Snare plants and let them slow you down a bit. Worked rather nicely, if I do say so myself.”

Harry tried to glare at his godfather, but couldn’t pull it off. He laughed at the man’s evident joy at getting one over on him. Reaching up, he let Sirius help him stand.

“Okay, you win that round, old man. But let’s see how well you do against me again,” Harry said grinning.

“Oh, look at the time,” Sirius said, looking at an imaginary wrist watch. “Almost dinner time and we can’t keep those wonderful elves of yours waiting, can we?”

“Coward!” Harry yelled, but he was still smiling. “I’ll just get you next time.”

“Quite possibly, Harry,” Sirius said throwing an arm around Harry’s shoulder. “Unless I get you first.” Laughing, the two of them headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Behind them Tonks turned to Remus and fixed him with a stern gaze.

“You could have warned me he was that good,” she said accusingly.

Remus just grinned. “Sorry, I thought you could take a fifteen year old boy,” he laughed. “Besides, you did laugh at him when he told you he was skilled at duelling. I think that did deserve a little punishment.”

“Okay, okay. Lesson learnt,” Tonks said. She looked towards the doorway where Harry and Sirius vanished from sight. “Just how good is he, Remus?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Remus replied carefully. “At a rough guess, in terms of knowledge and capabilities I would put him at the level of a Senior Auror at present, but he maybe better than that. He was educated by the Flamels and they did a marvellous job. He was taught to fight by the Japanese Master Tamazuki and he didn’t skimp on the job either. And he’s powerful, Tonks, by Merlin he’s powerful!”

“He’s the one, isn’t he? All those rumours were true, weren’t they? He’s the chosen one,” she asked, all trace of humour gone from her voice.

“I believe so,” Remus said simply.

The pair stood in silence for a moment before Tonks spoke. “Well, just have to make sure ‘the chosen one’ achieves his full potential, won’t we?”

“I guess we will,” Remus replied, smiling. For a second the pair’s eyes met and they gazed at each other.

“Remus, I…” Tonks began.

“Come on, it’s time for dinner,” Remus interrupted, looking away sharply. “The others will have wondered what’s happened to us.”

Remus hurried out the room, leaving a sad-looking witch standing behind.


Friday, 6 September 1996

Harry made his way down from his bedroom to the kitchen. Today was going to be a very interesting day for him, as today he was going to be inducted into the Order of the Phoenix.

Ever since Sirius had told Harry about the order, he had pushed for entry into it. Dumbledore had initially been extremely reluctant, stating that he felt membership of the organisation would put Harry in unnecessary danger. The Professor had eventually caved in after Sirius calmly stated that he would tell Harry what occurred at any of the meetings anyway. Harry had also reasonably pointed out that he was already involved in the search for the Horcruxes, and that was already pretty dangerous. Dumbledore conceded the point.

Starting down the stairway, Harry paused to admire the much improved condition of the house. The elves really had done a marvellous job, and Grimmauld Place was now warm and welcoming. As the dark magic was stripped from the house, the oppressive atmosphere began to disappear; and Harry found he could sleep peacefully of a night. Despite his initial reservations, Harry was definitely beginning to enjoy living here.

Since his arrival in July, Harry felt real progress had been made. Dumbledore had confirmed that he had been able to destroy Gaunt’s ring, meaning another Horcrux had been disposed of. His training was also going better than he had imagined. Remus was an extremely knowledgeable teacher, and he spent a lot of time researching new things for Harry to learn. Sirius was good at introducing Harry to new ways of thinking and acting; the man definitely had a devious streak in him. He also helped Harry with his Animagus training which was progressing nicely. He hoped to achieve his animal form by Christmas.

Harry couldn’t help but grin at the thought of spending Christmas in this house. If his birthday was any indication of how celebrations were conducted at Grimmauld Place, then the holiday should be a riot. When Sirius had heard Harry was to turn sixteen at the end of July, he pulled out all the stops to throw an incredible party. Sirius also introduced Harry to the dubious pleasures of Firewhiskey that day. Harry still had only the vaguest memories of what had happened after that, but he did recall throwing up in a toilet at some point. He’d much preferred the elf-made wine he’d had with his birthday dinner and vowed to stick with that in future.

By now he had reached the kitchen, and he entered to find the room half-full already. He looked around and saw a mix of familiar faces and complete strangers. He started to walk over to where Remus was seated when he spotted two people he recognised. He headed towards them.

“Mr and Mrs Weasley? Hello, do you remember me?” Harry asked the red-haired couple sat in front of him. They both looked up sharply at him, their faces filled with astonishment.

“Why, yes. Of course we remember you,” Mr Weasley said. “Good to see you again, Mr Potter. What are you doing here?”

“Well, actually, I live here now. Sirius Black is my godfather, you know. As for why I’m at this meeting, I believe Dumbledore will initiate me into the Order today,” Harry explained.

“Initiate you into the Order?” Mrs Weasley repeated in horror. “But you’re just a boy! You’re far too young to be mixed up in this sort of thing.”

“Mrs Weasley,” Harry began, trying to keep his temper, “I have faced Voldemort directly more times than anyone and I’m still alive. I can also assure you that I’m a better fighter than anyone in the Order, with the exception of Dumbledore and Alastor Moody. I have earned the right to be here.”

Mrs Weasley gave a snort of disapproval, but said no more. Harry decided to change the subject.

“So, how’s your daughter Ginny doing now?” he asked. He noted both the Weasleys shift uncomfortably at this question.

“She’s very well, thank you, Harry,” Mr Weasley said with a weak smile. Mrs Weasley just stared straight ahead, pointedly ignoring Harry.

“Glad to hear it,” Harry replied. Seeing the pair really didn’t want to talk to him, he decided to end the conversation. “Well, give her my best when you next speak to her. Nice to see you again.”

“And you, Harry,” Mr Weasley responded. He then turned away clearly relieved the conversation was over. Harry walked over to where Remus was sat and took a chair next to him, still wondering at the Weasleys' odd reaction to him.

By now the room was full and Harry noticed that Professor Dumbledore had entered as well. The old wizard stood at the front and called for attention.

“Good evening, one and all. Thank you for coming this evening.” Dumbledore smiled kindly at the assembled group. “Now, we have a number of things we need to cover tonight: progress reports, details of Death Eater activities and such. But before we go any further, I would like to introduce you all to our newest member, Harry Potter. Please stand and make yourself known, Harry.”

Feeling extremely embarrassed, Harry stood to the general astonishment of the Order. Behind him he could hear Sirius cheering and Tonks giving him a wolf-whistle. He turned and glared at the pair who just smirked back unrepentantly. Harry was about to sit down again when a sneering voice called out.

“Professor, you cannot be seriously considering inducting this…boy… into the Order?” the voice asked.

Harry spun round and saw the voice belonged to a pale-faced man with a large, hooked nose. He had black, greasy-looking hair which hung down to his shoulders. The man’s dark eyes were regarding Harry with a look of near hatred.

“I have not only considered it, but I have actually done it,” Dumbledore responded in a mild tone. “Harry will prove a valuable addition, I’m sure.”

The man scowled at Harry one last time before turning his head. He didn’t say another word, but his annoyance was clear. Harry could only speculate as to why the man seemed to dislike him so much. After sitting down, Harry leaned over to Remus.

“Remus, who was that man who objected to me so much?” Harry whispered.

“His names Severus Snape, Harry,” Remus replied quietly. “Don’t worry about him. He never has a good word to say about anyone.”

Snape! Harry instantly recognised the name as the one Nicholas and Perenelle had warned him of, years before. So this was Dumbledore’s pet Death Eater. He certainly looked the part. Harry burned with fury at the thought that this was the man that had told Voldemort of the Prophecy, effectively condemning his parents to death.

Harry tried his best to concentrate on the rest of the meeting, but his eyes kept drifting back to Snape, who sat by himself with a face that would have curdled milk. In any event, what little Harry did hear seemed of little importance. There was some speculation regarding the whereabouts of some Death Eaters and a few reports about training, but nothing earth shattering. Harry couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that the Order were not a little more dynamic.

Eventually, the meeting ended, but Dumbledore called for Harry, Remus and Sirius to remain for a moment. Harry noted Snape hover for a moment like he was expecting his presence to be requested as well, but then he turned and headed out the kitchen door.

“Um, can you just give me a moment?” Harry asked before darting out the door himself. He managed to catch up with the lank-haired man before he left through the front door.

“Snape?” Harry called. “Can I have a word?” The man turned and sneered at Harry.

“That’s Professor Snape to you, boy,” he snarled. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to address your betters?”

“Why should I call you Professor?” Harry asked aggressively. “You’re not my teacher and you never will be. And when I see someone who’s a better person then me, I will address them with the appropriate level of respect.”

“You little whelp!” Snape snapped, glaring at him. It was then that Harry felt the attack on his Occlumency shields. Snape was obviously skilled at Legilimency and was trying to break into his mind. Harry strengthened his shields and mentally knocked back Snape’s assault. Growling with anger, Harry began to summon his Katana, but the memory of his overreaction to Slughorn stopped him in tracks. Violence wasn’t always the answer, he knew. Instead, Harry just closed the distance between him and Snape, until they were practically nose to nose.

“Do not ever try a stunt like that again,” Harry snarled at the man. “If you do, I promise, you will regret it.”

“Arrogant and childish, just like your father,” Snape spat back.

“I wouldn’t know, seeing as my father died when I was just a year old. But you know all about that, don’t you? Seeing as you’re the one that sold them out!” Harry yelled.

“That was Pettigrew, not me!” Snape yelled back.

“Yeah, and who told Voldemort about the Prophecy in the first place? You might just as well have painted targets on my parents’ backs! You Death Eater scum!”

For a second Snape looked horrified.

“How did you know about that?” he stuttered. “Dumbledore would never…”

“Oh, don’t worry. Dumbledore didn’t betray your dirty little secret!” Harry interrupted. “Let’s just say the Headmaster isn’t quite as good at keeping these things to himself as he thinks.”

Snape just stared at Harry with undisguised hatred. The knuckles of Harry’s hands were white as he clenched them at his sides. The desire to take his sword and cut off Snape’s head was nearly overwhelming. Then, somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard Tamazuki tut at him in disapproval. The red mist cleared from his eyes and started to calm down. He was a better man than this worthless Death Eater, and he didn’t need to kill to prove it.

“I don’t trust you, Snape,” Harry informed the man in a low voice. “I’ll be watching you from now on, and if I even get a hint that you’re working for Voldemort again, I will have your head on a spike. I’m going to be the one to take down Voldemort, and not because some stupid Prophecy tells me I have to. I’m going to stop him so no one else will have their lives destroyed by that lunatic. And if anyone tries to stop me, I’ll take them down, too. Understand?”

Snape stared at Harry in a mix of disbelief and contempt. Without a word he turned and vanished out the front door, slamming it closed behind him. Harry turned to head back to the kitchen and found Dumbledore watching him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Come, Harry. We have important matters to discuss,” the old wizard said eventually. Harry just nodded and followed him into the kitchen.

He sensed Dumbledore’s disapproval, but something important had just occurred to Harry’s mind. For the first time, he had admitted to himself that he was going to be the one to face Voldemort and his reasons for doing it. It wasn’t a matter of revenge or even self-preservation. It was simply he didn’t want others to suffer as he had. He wanted the killing to end. His heart had spoken and his motives were pure. Harry suddenly felt a little better about himself.

He sat at the kitchen table, ignoring the quizzical looks he was getting from Sirius and Remus. Dumbledore sat as well, clearly willing to disregard what he had seen in the hallway.

“Gentlemen, I have some good news. As you will remember, you recently presented me with a box of dark objects you had collected from around this very house. While examining the contents I came across this.” Dumbledore paused and reached into his robes. He withdrew a heavy locket with a stylised ‘S’ etched on the front. Harry recoiled at the sight of it.

“Yes, indeed, Harry,” Dumbledore said, noting his reaction. “This is another Horcrux.”

“What?” Sirius gasped. “You mean it was just laying around here all the time?”

“Indeed,” Dumbledore confirmed, amusement in his eyes. “The Black family were all loyal servants of the Dark Lord until you came along, Sirius. It is quite believable that he could have trusted them with an important object such as this.”

“I never knew my family were that trusted by him,” Sirius frowned. “If it was given to anyone it must have been given to Regulus.”

There was a sudden pop as Kreacher appeared in the kitchen. The little Elf made a desperate lunge for the locket, but Dumbledore snatched out of his grasp. Kreacher looked longingly at the locket before collapsing to the floor and bursting into tears.

“Kreacher has failed Master Regulus,” he croaked.

“So, Regulus told you to hide the locket, did he?” Sirius growled.

“No, no,” Kreacher cried, “Master told me to destroy it!” The four wizards stared at each other in shock.

“Hold up a second,” Harry said. “I’m missing something here. Who is Regulus?”

“My younger brother,” Sirius explained. “He was the golden boy of the family, as he went off and became a Death Eater. Mother loved him for that.”

“Master Regulus did not want to be a Death Eater!” Kreacher cried. “He did not want to serve the Dark Lord, but was made to. When he realised the Dark Lord was going to kill him, Master steals this locket from him and orders Kreacher to destroy it. Kreacher has failed!”

“Regulus was forced to become a Death Eater?” Sirius said in a stunned voice. “Why didn’t he come to me? I would have helped him.”

“Master still loved his mother!” barked Kreacher. “If he had refused to join, it would have broken Mistress's heart.”

“Bloody hell,” muttered Sirius. “The poor kid. It looks like I had him wrong all these years.”

Harry, in the meantime, was watching the heart-broken little elf as he wept. He turned to Dumbledore. “Professor, were you intending to destroy the Horcrux tonight?”

“Why, yes, Harry. I have a basilisk fang with me for just such a purpose,” he confirmed. “I think the locket needs to be open for it to be destroyed, and that will require your Parseltongue skills.”

“Do you think Kreacher could be the one to actually destroy the locket?” Harry asked. Kreacher’s sobbing stopped instantly and he looked up hopefully.

“I don’t see why not,” Dumbledore said. He reached into his robes and pulled out the fang which he handed to Kreacher. “Now, Harry. You must command the locket to open. Kreacher, as soon as the locket opens you must strike immediately, understand?”

The elf nodded enthusiastically and Harry moved round the table until he stood right in front of the locket.

“Okay, Kreacher. I’ll command it to open on three. One…two…three…open.” The last word came out as a hiss and the golden doors of the locket swung open with a click. Before Harry could react, Kreacher gave a blood-curdling scream and plunged the fang into the locket. There was cracking noise and the locket blew apart.

“It’s done! It’s done!” cried Kreacher as he performed a grotesque little dance around the kitchen floor. Even Sirius smiled at the elf’s joy.

“Well done, Kreacher,” Harry congratulated him. The elf stopped and looked up at Harry with wide eyes.

“Bolly and Misty is being right,” he croaked. “Harry Potter is a great wizard!”

Harry smiled at the little elf’s praise. Dumbledore retrieved the basilisk fang, and a very happy Kreacher retired for the night, still grinning from ear to ear.

“Excellent,” Dumbledore said happily. “I believe this means we have only two more Horcruxes to find. This really is better than I could have ever hoped for. Now, I have selected the next place for us to investigate. You will recall, Harry, that when I showed you some of my memories from the Muggle orphanage Tom Riddle lived at as a boy, the woman in charge made mention of an incident that occurred during a school trip. If you remember, a pair of young Muggles were taken to a cave by Tom against their will. I believe I have located this cave and we should investigate it as soon as possible.”

“I’m not doing anything important tomorrow,” Harry said casually.

“Wonderful!” Dumbledore said. “One other thing, Harry. I recently remembered I had an item in my possession which belonged to your father. You must forgive me, but I completely forgotten that I had it. I feel it should now be returned to you.”

Dumbledore handed Harry a small package and then said his farewells. Harry eagerly ripped open the wrapping paper and discovered a cloak inside. Sirius gasped.

“James’s invisibility cloak!” he cried. “I always wondered what happened to it. Oh, Harry, you are going to love this cloak! It’s superb.”

Harry smiled as he ran his hands over the silky material. Irrespective of the cloak's usefulness, he finally owned something of his father's. Today truly had been a great day.

Saturday, 7 September 1996

The four wizards stood on an outcrop of dark rock, with the raging sea surging and pounding around them. Ahead stood a towering cliff face of black rock, jagged and foreboding. Harry didn’t think they could have found a more awe-inspiring or terrifying spot if they tried.

“Where exactly is this cave, Professor?” Sirius asked. “I can’t see an entrance.”

“We have to go on a little further,” Dumbledore replied. “You can’t see the cave from here.”

Carefully, the group began their descent among the slippery boulders and rock. At last they reached a very large stone at the edge of the cliff face. They were already soaked from the sea spray which washed over them, and Harry could taste the salty tang on his tongue. When the group reached the edge, Dumbledore pointed to the rock wall in front of him.

“Do you all see that fissure in the cliff?” he asked. “That’s our destination. I hope you’re all strong swimmers.”

Without another word Dumbledore leapt into the dark, swirling waters and began to swim into the crack in the cliff face. Harry had plenty of practice in swimming in the sea from his time in Cornwall, so he jumped into the water without hesitation. He began to swim after Dumbledore using strong, confident strokes. Judging by the amount of swearing he heard coming from behind him, Sirius and Remus had also entered the cold water.

Harry found himself entering a large cave. He soon felt sand beneath his feet and he began to wade towards dry land. Without warning, the cave was suddenly bathed in light and Harry saw Dumbledore ahead, his wand lit with a Lumos spell. Harry made his way towards him, and they stood awaiting the arrival of the other two wizards. This took some time; it appeared neither Sirius nor Remus were strong swimmers.

Dumbledore then led them further into the cave until they reached the back wall which appeared to be a dead end. The group took the opportunity to cast drying and warming charms on themselves. After some investigation, Dumbledore found something he believed to be the entrance they sought.

“This is the door, I believe,” he informed the group. “Unfortunately, we are required to give payment to pass. The door requires a blood sacrifice.” With that, he pulled out a small silver knife which Harry noted Remus eyeing with distaste.

“I’ll do it, Professor,” Sirius offered with reluctance. “It shouldn’t require much, should it?”

Sirius took the knife off of Dumbledore and rolled up his sleeve, exposing his forearm. Gritting his teeth, he ran the edge of the blade against his arm, cutting it open. Blood immediately began to drip against the rock and a few seconds later, a door-shaped hole appeared. Sirius immediately cast a healing charm on himself, closing the cut. The group then made their way through the newly created entrance.

They found themselves on the edge of a great, black lake so wide that the far shore couldn’t be seen. In the middle of the lake they could just see a greenish glow which was reflected in the black waters.

“That is our ultimate goal, gentleman,” said Dumbledore, pointing at the light. “Follow me, and please be careful not to touch the water.”

They walked around the edge of the lake for some time until Dumbledore unexpectedly stopped. He then examined the immediate area before walking to the water’s edge. Pulling out his wand, he waived it once and suddenly a thick chain appeared out of nowhere. Dumbledore gripped one end tightly in his hands and started to pull. The others rushed over and helped. After only a moment, the prow of a small boat broke the surface of the water and beached itself in front of them.

“I think that there is only room for two in this boat at best. Indeed, I think it was only designed for one wizard,” Dumbledore declared after examining it. “Call it a hunch, but I think Harry and I should be the ones to make the crossing.”

“Why Harry?” Sirius asked sharply.

“I have a feeling that it was intended for only one wizard to be in this boat. Harry is still underage so he may not register,” Dumbledore explained.

After some argument, it was agreed that Harry and the Professor would enter the boat. They got in and found themselves pressed up against each other awkwardly. Without any warning, the boat began to silently glide across the water. They sailed on relentlessly until they couldn’t see the shoreline. Harry glanced down into the water and received a shock.

“Professor, there are bodies in the water. I think one of them just moved!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, I fear they are part of the Horcrux's protection,” Dumbledore confirmed. “They are Inferi. Hopefully we will not have to deal with them, but if we do, remember fire spells are most effective.”

Eventually, the green light they had seen grew stronger until they were close enough to see that it emanated from a small island of smooth rock. As they approached the island they saw the light came from a basin, mounted on a pedestal, which stood in the centre of the rock. They carefully exited the boat and approached the basin.

It was full of a glowing, green liquid which was the source of the light. Dimly, at the bottom of the basin, they could just see a golden locket. Dumbledore sighed.

“We have had a wasted journey, Harry. The locket is an exact duplicate of the one we destroyed yesterday. This one is quite probably a decoy left by Regulus Black to hide the fact he had stolen the original, or else a trap.”

“But why didn’t Kreacher tell us about this?” Harry asked in frustration.

“Very simply, Harry, because we didn’t ask him. House elves have some peculiar habits and rarely think to offer information unless directly asked about something. They think it disrespectful, you see,” Dumbledore explained. “In any event, we didn’t actually tell Kreacher we were coming here, did we? He might have saved us the trip otherwise.”

“Great,” Harry said sarcastically. “So, do we try and get this locket to be sure, or just leave it?”

“I’m inclined to leave it,” Dumbledore replied. “I suspect its removal will be difficult and it would serve no useful purpose. Let us return to Remus and Sirius and explain that they just took a swimming lesson for no good reason.”

Grinning, Harry headed back to the small boat. He sat himself in the bow and Dumbledore seated himself took the stern. The boat silently began to move back the way it had come when suddenly a bony hand shot out of the water and grabbed the edge of the boat. It was soon joined by other hands, all grasping at the sides.

“Harry, I think we have set off a trap!” Dumbledore shouted. “Evidently there was some task we were meant to accomplish on the island, and failing to do so, we have unleashed the Inferi! Fire spells, now!”

Grasping his wand, Harry started casting Incendio spells as fast as he could. Between the two of them they managed to burn off all the initial wave of creatures, but the water around the boat was foaming with bodies, all trying to get to the boat. Harry knew they would be quickly overwhelmed unless they did something quickly.

“Professor, duck!” yelled Harry and made an intricate movement with his wand. A second later, fire erupted from it in a long stream. The fiery mass began to swirl and shift, writhing as it expanded. A second later and it formed itself into the shape of a huge serpent, burning all in its path.

“Fiendfyre!” Dumbledore exclaimed. “Harry, do you know how to control it?”

“I think so!” Harry yelled back. In truth, this was the first time he had ever cast the spell and he was desperately trying to keep it under control. Gritting his teeth, Harry forced the fiery beast to circle the boat, incinerating Inferi as it passed. The boat was still moving forward, making control of the spell even harder, and a couple of times he came dangerously close to allowing the serpent to crash right into them.

With Dumbledore still casting incendiary charms to dispatch individual Inferi, Harry continued to allow the Fiendfyre to move in ever increasing circles. By now the smell of burning flesh was overpowering and Harry fought the urge to vomit. The water was filled with chard remains which made things worse.

Gradually, the fire serpent's orbit moved further and further from the boat. Seeing where the beast was heading, Harry had an idea. His face dripping with sweat, he directed the serpent towards the small island they had just left and crashed the beast directly into it. The island seemed to be enveloped in a fireball for a second before the serpent moved on. Looking back, Harry could see the basin and pedestal had been vaporised, and hopefully the locket along with them.

“Good work, Harry,” he heard Dumbledore call. “Better safe than sorry!”

Such was the destructive force of the Fiendfyre spell that soon no more Inferi could be seen. Feeling like he was at the end of his endurance, Harry carefully allowed the fire serpent to disperse. It flickered and died, leaving a few glowing embers hanging in the air.

“Marvellous, my boy, just marvellous!” Dumbledore congratulated him. “I’ve never seen anyone cast that spell with such a level of control. You’ve become a tremendously powerful wizard, Harry.”

“I don’t think I’ll be trying it again for a while,” Harry said, drooping. It had taken everything he had to keep the spell on course, and it had nearly got away from him several times. He slumped down and tried to relax as much as his cramped position would allow.

Eventually, they reached the shoreline where Sirius was beside himself with worry.

“What happened out there?” he demanded while helping them from the boat. “It looked like the entire cavern was on fire!”

“We ran into a few Inferi,” explained Dumbledore. “Harry decided to let his pyromaniac urges out. I was rather lucky not to have my beard singed off.”

“Was there a Horcrux out there?” Remus asked.

Harry shook his head. “This trip was a waste of time, I’m afraid,” he said wearily. “Let’s get out of here and we’ll explain all.”

With Sirius half-carrying an exhausted Harry, the four wizards began their trek back outside.

AN

So Snape escapes with his head still on his shoulders. See, everyone, this is why I had Harry feeling he overacted during his confrontation with Slughorn, so his reaction here would be tempered somewhat. It was all part of the plan! Although Snape won’t be Harry’s teacher at any point in this story, I still have a lot of uses for him. I need him alive!

The end scene in the cavern was put there for two reasons. Firstly, I thought the Horcrux hunt was going a bit too smoothly. It was about time the gang hit a snag. Secondly, I really wanted a scene where Harry casts Fiendfyre! Fire good! That’s a cool spell, as long as you can control it, eh, Mr Crabbe?

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that my formatting problems have vanished. A huge thanks to all those who offered help and advice. As Emlyn correctly point out to me, under the site’s help option, there is an extremely useful HTML FAQ which sorted me out in about five minutes. I swear I checked there as soon as it was explained what my problem was. How the *%$£ did I miss it? Me so stupid…

Thanks as always to MinistryMalcontent for his beta work. Despite what he says, I consider the Trinket Awards I recently won to be partly his. Don’t argue, Tom, I doubt I would have got half these chapters validated without you!


























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