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Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 259 Summary: After the horcrux hunt implodes leaving most of those Harry loves dead, he starts a new life with a few fellow survivors far away from wizarding Britain. But the discovery of an ancient ritual that promises to send a single memory back in time sparks hope that maybe things can change. Dark ending to DH followed by a tweaked retelling of GoF through DH. Harry/Ginny. Friday updates. Original Timeline Voldemort's Victory - Chapter 1-5 (Feel free to skip if you don't like major character deaths) Tenochtitlán - Chapter 6-9 New Timeline Harry's 4th Year - Chapter 10-28 Harry's 5th Year - Chapter 29-68 Harry's 6th Year - Chapter 69-Current Hitcount: Story Total: 169432; Chapter Total: 1394 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Despite his reticence to allow himself to get his hopes up, a spark of hope had kindled inside of Harry on Saturday morning when Dobby explained the existence of a room that seemed like a possible hiding place for a horcrux. By the time Dobby dropped him, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville off at the door of the Room of Hidden Things, the spark had grown into a raging inferno of unbridled optimism. "This definitely isn't on the map," murmured Harry, his eyes wide at the sprawling expanse beyond the doorway. The tall shelves vaguely reminded him of those within the Hall of Prophecy, due to their immense size. Still, their contents were nothing like the neat and orderly organization deep within the Department of Mysteries. Each shelf was laden with an assortment of odds and ends, everything from tiny trinkets piled on top of each other to massive items taking up entire shelves. Harry stepped across the threshold and cast "Homenum Revelio!" He remained still for a few moments before turning back to the others. He wasn't as confident with the spell as Kingsley, Sirius, or Remus had been, but he felt enough of a tug in his gut to fan the flames of excitement burning within him. "I think we may have one!" he called to the others, beckoning them inside. "You say that, but we don't even really know what we're looking for," noted Hermione, her voice quiet in the face of such a vast room filled with fascinating things. "How are we supposed to find anything in this mess?" "Fair point," agreed Harry, trying to recall the lessons he'd learned from Kingsley about searching for magical items. "It should be a bit like how we were searching the castle last term, only now we've got a much better chance of actually finding something important. Feel around for anything that has some sort of magical signature to it, especially if it feels sinister. No need to touch anything, but we can at least try to identify what may have been left behind by a dark wizard." "I'll bet there will be a lot of magically charged items hidden in here, especially since some of this stuff looks ancient," noted Ron warily. "Dad's always telling stories about stuff he confiscates at his job. Wizards and witches used to be way more cavalier about charming any old thing, even more than nowadays. Who knows what'll turn up while we poke about, so we need to be extra careful." "Absolutely," agreed Ginny. "I don't fancy having a tea kettle bite off my fingers." "It's a huge room," marveled Neville as he peered down one of the aisles. "Do we stick together or split up?" "Let's do two groups," suggested Harry, squeezing Ginny's hand. "Whatever we're looking for might give off a similar magic to Riddle's diary. Evil object trying not to be noticed. Since she and I have dealt with this kind of stuff the most, we can split up. How about me and Hermione head this way while the three of you head right?" "Are you and Hermione trying to start something behind my back?" asked Ginny with a smirk, bumping Harry with her shoulder. "Watch your back, Granger, because I don't share!" Hermione let out a fake retching sound and shoved Ginny playfully. "Not a chance! Just because you go all weak in the knees every time he flashes his 'eyes as green a fresh pickled frog' doesn't mean we all do!" "Technically, I believe it was 'fresh pickled toad,'" corrected Harry, only to be met by a loudly blown raspberry from his girlfriend. "I don't have to take this from the two of you!" she shot back, grinning all the while. "Come on, let's find whatever this thing is before they do. Shoot up green sparks if you find something important?" "And red sparks if you get into trouble," answered Harry at the already-retreating figures of his three friends. Making their way down a wide aisle, he and Hermione passed a dented-in suit of armor on their left that he thought looked straight out of the Middle Ages. "This should be a good test for us," said Harry over his shoulder as he examined a nearby shelf. He waved his wand slowly past several tattered books and a set of scales that had some sort of nest built upon one of its sides. Harry paused over a metal instrument he didn't recognize, but a moment later continued his search. "Kingsley really wanted me to try to hone my magical discernment when I've searched alongside him the last few times. It's helpful to be able to identify when something has been tampered with magically, but that doesn't do much good if we can't tell whether it's been charmed to help someone or if there's a potentially fatal curse on it." It was still a little odd to Harry when Hermione focused her student mode on him, but he did get a bit of a thrill from passing on Kingsley's knowledge to someone so eager to learn. Knowing that serving as a Defense professor was a possible future career for him made him appreciate Hermione's love of learning more, and he wondered for a moment whether he'd ever have someone like her in a class. "Focus in whenever you start getting the feeling that something has known magic. Without touching it, run your wand past it and try to get a general sense of it. Listen in closely, pay attention to any feelings you get, and just try to read what your body is picking up. When you've got an idea, call me over and I can help double-check your instincts with you. Kingsley says it's a skill that takes time to master, but I'll bet we can figure some of it out together." Within the first twenty minutes, Ron had been proven correct about the large quantity and the wide variety of magical items they had encountered. Harry wasn't proficient at this kind of detective work, by any means, but he'd stumbled into a few items that caught his attention. Hermione had grown a bit frustrated by the process, although Harry thought she was already doing well. As the two searched through more shelves, Hermione had a few successes, though they were interspersed with some misses. Harry had patiently walked her through some details of the process a few times but had eventually held back and allowed her to learn more through trial and error. Unfortunately, it was Harry who hadn't been cautious enough while examining a box perched precariously upon a great wooden cabinet. Touching the box left a large blister on his hand, causing him to jump back and swear as it clattered to the ground. The throbbing pain made him much more careful thereafter, even after Hermione used a rudimentary healing spell to assuage the pain slightly. A bin full of brooms proved to be Hermione's best find. Most of them were too ancient to fly on their own, much less with a passenger, though there did appear to be a few more recent models that looked air-worthy. She took a closer look at one of the Comets and caught a sudden feel of something amiss while holding it. After a minute of study, she passed it along to Harry. "Great find, Hermione! Both Oliver and Angelina taught us how to identify this one, and I even read about it in the book you got for me back in first year." Hermione looked quite pleased with her discovery and the fact that Harry had actually read a book she'd gotten for him. He turned the broom over in his hand as he spoke, peering at the handle from all angles. "The spell on this thing caused quite a bit of trouble back in the seventies. This little jinx is super sneaky and outlawed at every level of quidditch competition. It doesn't have any effect when you first touch it, like we've done. But if you were to sit on it for more than ten minutes, things would start to get pretty uncomfortable because the jinx causes the wood to begin to come apart when it's being used." Harry snickered at the aghast look on Hermione's face. "Not all at once and not enough to affect the broom's ability to fly. It makes the handle begin to give its rider splinters. Nothing huge, but enough to make concentrating on a match while flying around a lot more difficult." Though less violent than a full explosion, the idea of straddling a broom that gave him magical splinters for a two-hour quidditch match made Harry think it would almost be better for the jinx to explode the broom and be done with it. "Now I remember reading about that!" exclaimed Hermione excitedly. "The Nimbus company gained a lot of respect from the quidditch community when one of their employees developed a counter-jinx to implement on all of their brooms. That helped them gain notoriety as-" Hermione stopped mid-sentence when a shower of red sparks erupted from deeper within the vast room. Her eyes widened in fear, but Harry didn't hesitate before plunging down an aisle toward where his friends were in trouble. He barely heard the sound of her struggling to keep up with his sprint over the pounding of his heart in his ears. He turned a corner recklessly, grabbing at a shelf to steady himself. The ancient wood groaned under the sudden sideways pull, causing several large books and other items to cascade down around him. One struck the suit of armor Harry had seen earlier, which clattered backward against the shelf and clanged loudly. He whipped around to make sure Hermione didn't get injured by the collapse and witnessed the entire shelf topple over, blocking the path back to the room's exit. Years of dust flew into the air, making it impossible to see. "Hermione!? Are you alright?" he called, hoping against hope that she hadn't been crushed beneath the avalanche of wreckage. "I'm not hurt!" she cried back to him before sputtering with coughs from the dust. "Go on without me, I'll find another way around!" "Go get Professor McGonagall first!" answered Harry, already moving toward where he'd seen the sparks. "Nobody else knows we're here and we might need her help!" Hermione didn't argue as both students sprinted in opposite directions. Harry felt a sense of dread as he ran deeper into the room, which grew darker the further he pushed toward where he thought the sparks had signaled. From a few aisles away, he noticed angry black smoke billowing up. The sight of it made him run even faster, no longer hopeful about possibly finding a horcrux but terrified of what one might do to his friends. He skidded to a stop after turning a corner, with Ginny, Ron, and Neville's backs to him. They were staring horrorstruck, not at whatever was belching black smoke into the room, but at ethereal figures that had materialized from the smoke. Harry could see a terrible facsimile of Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Neville's mum and dad, and even one of himself slowly inching toward his spellbound friends. On the floor by their feet, long tendrils made of the inky smoke wound their way toward them, looking ready to ensnare them at any moment. With his heart pounding in his ears and a twinge of pain in his scar, he moved to meet his friends. Without a moment's hesitation, Harry cried, "Expecto Patronum!" at the top of his lungs, remembering to lean forward slightly and keep his elbow straight as he'd been practicing with Daphne. His stag burst out of the wand stronger and brighter than usual, galloping forward to stand protectively between Harry's friends and the smoke creatures. It brandished its antlers at the smoke-Harry and stomped a hoof menacingly at the encroaching tendrils. "Get away from it!" yelled Harry at the others. "Stay back!" His voice seemed to break them from whatever trance-like state they were in. Each clambered down the aisle hastily, not bothering about the piles of items that they upset in their mad scramble to put distance between them and the smoke creatures. Harry concentrated on the happy memory powering his patronus (playing quidditch with Ginny at her birthday party over the summer) until the three reached him. Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's midsection for a brief moment before releasing him and pulling out her wand. "How do we help?" asked Ron, who brandished his wand despite how pale his face had become. "Best patronus you've got from everybody," Harry replied as wind whipped past them as if a storm was brewing. "It's probably more dangerous if we're too close to it, so let's stay back and try to contain it until Hermione gets back with McGonagall." Harry could feel the press of the horcrux's defenses against his patronus. He could already tell that he was tiring much more quickly than when he had cast alongside Sirius and Kingsley while Dumbledore and McGonagall dismantled the ring's protections. The pain in his scar increased as a tendril reached forward toward them, only for it to withdraw when both Ron and Ginny successfully brought forth a patronus. Neville's hand shook as he pointed his wand forward, hesitating as the burgeoning smoke storm and conjured figures attempted to move past Harry's stag and the bright oncoming terrier and horse. "You can do it, Neville!" called out Harry, straining with effort. "Use your happiest memory!" The boy gritted his teeth and steadied his hand. With a look of determination in his eyes, he cried out, "Expecto Patronum!" The glowing white toad wasn't as luminous as Ron's terrier or as solid-looking as Ginny's horse, but the other three let out whoops and cheers of excitement as the massive amphibian leaped to join its compatriots. Harry wiped the sweat from his brow as he felt the effects of the others drawing some of the smoke creatures' attention, even as he grimaced under the weight of exertion and the pain in his scar. In the midst of the struggle, Harry frantically thought back to the other times he'd confronted a horcrux spewing dangerous smoke. He didn't feel confident about the four of them being able to maintain their patronuses long enough to allow McGonagall to dismantle the artifact's protections, especially since he hadn't thought to tell Hermione to bring Dumbledore. Harry silently chastised himself for omitting the headmaster in his instructions for Hermione to bring help. It would have been far wiser to search such a probable hiding spot with more backup than he'd brought, and he very much wished that he was standing beside Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Dumbledore, or- "Kingsley!" Harry exclaimed, startling the others around him. "I've got to get word to Kingsley!" Ginny frowned in concentration, not taking her eyes off their targets as she spoke. "Do you think you can send your patronus with the message?" "I don't know if that's such a good idea," replied Neville anxiously, staring wide-eyed at the growing smoke storm. "We might not be able to hold out long with just our three." Harry was inclined to agree. Neville's toad looked to be dangerously near flickering out of existence. Ron and Ginny's patronuses were more steady, but the smoke was pushing each of the glowing creatures back. Black tendrils pulled a shelf to the ground where it disappeared as the smoke tempest grew in size and ferocity. "You said Hermione is on her way with McGonagall, right?" asked Ron, speaking loudly over the noise of the wind whooshing past them and upending all manner of trinkets from the nearby shelves. "Someone can send a message to Kingsley once they get here for backup!" Two more tall shelves crashed into the smoky void as Harry wondered if they'd have that much time. Part of him wanted to simply provide enough cover for their group to make a tactical retreat, but the idea of the horcrux growing in strength and getting loose in the school kept his feet planted. He had no clue as to what kind of damage it could cause or if it could seriously hurt someone. He was certain that there had to be a way to quickly get a message to Kingsley, but Harry was coming up empty on ideas. If only the auror had a communication mirror, he could call for him in an instant. "I've got it!" cried Harry, using his other hand to dig in his pocket for his mirror. He pulled it to his face and shouted for Sirius. When he appeared in Harry's mirror his expression grew panicked immediately. "Harry! What's going on? Where are you?" "Sirius! We found one!" yelped Harry, trying to maintain focus while relaying the message. "Get Kingsley to bring the containment chest to Hogwarts! We need it now!" Harry's gaze was too focused on the growing smoke to watch the color drain from Sirius' face, but he heard his godfather quickly assure Harry that they'd be there soon and to hold on until they arrived. He didn't bother replying, instead stuffing the mirror back in his pocket and steadying his wand arm with his other hand. "We've got help on the way!" yelled Harry, though he was unsure if the others heard him over the cacophony of tumbling shelves splintering and the shattering of an untold number of abandoned trinkets. The smoke cloud was growing more quickly now and shooting out more black tendrils that grasped at anything they could reach. With one last hop toward the smoke, Neville's patronus flickered out of existence. He frantically tried to cast the spell again, but couldn't produce more than wisps of white vapor. "Come on, Neville!" shouted Ginny, straining to push her patronus forward against the growing onslaught. "You can do this!" Harry gazed sideways at him. "Lean forward when you cast! You know you can do it, just concentrate and fix your form!" Though he felt the oppressive weariness of maintaining his own spell and the ever-growing pain in his forehead, Harry watched as Neville leaned forward, grit his teeth, and yelled out the incantation. His toad burst forward again, rejoining the others to inhibit the smoke's expansion. Whether it was the toad taking on some of the weight of the work or Harry's happiness at seeing his friend succeed, maintaining his stag suddenly felt just a bit more manageable. "We might still need an exit strategy," called Ron, his eyes darting to and fro. "If that bloody thing keeps growing, we won't be able to stick around!" "Language, Mr. Weasley!" came a voice from behind them. Harry didn't need to look to know it was Professor McGonagall as she and Dumbledore strode protectively in front of the students. They both conjured exceedingly bright and solid-looking patronuses, a large cat and a flying bird that Harry thought resembled Fawkes. Even before the two new creatures joined the others, Harry felt the intense strain to hold back the smoke begin to lessen. "Expecto Patronum!" cried out Hermione as she ran to stand between Ginny and Ron. Her otter darted forward as the smoke began to be pushed back by the seven glowing creatures. The wind howled even more fiercely, but Harry thought the tide had turned. "Sirius said on my mirror that he would try to get Kingsley to bring the chest!" Harry shouted over the din, one hand on his wand and the other clutching his scar. "I think they'll be here soon!" The adults nodded and redoubled their efforts. While most of the patronuses surrounded the menacing black clouds of smoke, Dumbledore's phoenix soared above the fray and slowed the outflow of smoke from the top. It was slow, exhausting work, but the seven of them pushed back against the horcrux's protections. Minute by minute, they made steady progress until Harry heard Sirius' voice call out from behind them. The already diminishing smoke storm was beaten back further once Sirius and Kingsley joined their patronuses to the mix. The dog and lynx pushed against the horcrux's protections until a rotating tiara at its center became more visible. Smoky tendrils shot out from it, flailing and grasping wildly at anything they could reach. When one ventured too near a patronus, a glowing paw, claw, or hoof severed it with impunity. Harry felt relief as the struggle to maintain his patronus lessened. His stag had become much less luminous under the strain of the prolonged battle of wills. Ron, Ginny, and Neville each looked exhausted and their creatures were almost ready to flicker out of existence at any moment. Sensing their precarious position, Kingsley stepped forward to the front line. "Everyone give one last big push!" he yelled, the containment chest in his hand as he moved steadily forward. "Sirius and I will get it inside the chest as soon as we've got an opening! Use the best memory you've got and don't hold anything back! Do it now!" Sirius and Kingsley sprinted toward the tiara that still belched dark smoke as Harry and the others readied themselves. Each patronus grew a little more solid and glowed a little brighter as their casters channeled all their power and focus into one final volley. Harry let out a growl of concentration mixed with a yell of pain as the stabbing feeling within his scar redoubled, but he maintained his stag despite it all. Harry grit his teeth and tried to find another happy memory to focus on. The memory of quidditch at Ginny's birthday had worked well enough, but it was difficult to sustain the happiness of that memory much more. His mind flitted from one idea to another without settling on anything, until he found himself considering the rogue memory. Sitting beneath a shady tree on a hot day. His fingers intertwined with Ginny's. The blush on her cheeks and the feeling of his own face tinted by a rush of emotion. The prospect of a lifetime of happy memories sprawling out before him; of making up for lost time. A jolt of power surged through his chest and down his arm as Sirius and Kingsley began pressing forward to capture the horcrux. His godfather cast a spell that rocketed the tiara away from the smoke and into the open containment chest, which Kingsley shut tightly the moment it careened in. The smoke began to dissipate immediately, finally allowing the exhausted students to collapse as their patronuses disappeared. Harry felt light-headed as his strength gave way underneath him; he crumpled to the ground utterly spent, his non-wand hand still clutching desperately at his scar. Ginny cried out for help from the adults, causing Dumbledore and McGonagall to rush to his side. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness overwhelmed him was a white stag with a faint glimmer of gold faded into nothingness. |
| Reviews 259 |
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