But he must know, he must be sure... He paced the room, kicking asidethe goblin's corpse as he passed, and the pictures blurred and burned in his
boiling brain: the lake, the shack, and Hogwarts -
A modicum of calm cooled his rage now. How could the boy know that he
had hidden the ring in the Gaunt shack? No one had ever known him to be
Related to the Gaunts, he had hidden the connection, the killings had never
Been traced to him. The ring, surely, was safe.
And how could the boy, or anybody else, know about the cave or penetrate
its protection? The idea of the locket being stolen was absurd...
As for the school: He alone knew where in Hogwarts he had stowed the
Horcrux, because he alone had plumed the deepest secrets of that place...
And there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to
Do his bidding, under his protection...
But to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to each of his hiding
Places, he must redouble protection around each of his Horcruxes... A job,
Like the quest for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake alone...
Which should he visit first, which was in most danger? An old unease
Flickered inside him. Dumbledore had known his middle name... Dumbledore
Might have made the connection with the Gaunts... Their abandoned home was,
Perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that he would
Go first...
The lake, surely impossible... though was there a slight possibility
That Dumbledore might have known some of his past misdeeds, through the
Orphanage.
And Hogwarts... but he knew the his Horcrux there was safe; it would be
Impossible for Potter to enter Hogsmeade without detection, let alone the
School. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to alert Snape to the fact that
The boy might try to reenter the castle. ... To tell Snape why the boy might
Return would be foolish, of course; it had been a grave mistake to trust
Bellatrix and Malfoy. Didn't their stupidity and carelessness prove how
unwise it was ever to trust?
He would visit the Gaunt shack first, then, and take Nagini with him. He
Would not be parted from the snake anymore ... and he strode from the room,
Through the hall, and out into the dark garden where the fountain played; he
Called the snake in Parseltongue and it slithered out to join him like a
Long shadow. ...
Harry's eyes flew open as he wrenched himself back to the present. He
Was lying on the bank of the lake in the setting sun, and Ron and Hermione
Were looking down at him. Judging by their worried looks, and by the
continued pounding of his scar, his sudden excursion into Voldemort's mind
Had not passed unnoticed. He struggled up, shivering, vaguely surprised that
He was still wet to his skin, and saw the cup lying innocently in the grass
Before him, and the lake, deep blue shot with gold in the falling sun.
"He knows." His own voice sounded strange and low after Voldemort's high
screams. "He knows and he's going to check where the others are, and the
last one," he was already on his feet," is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I knew
It."
"What?"
Date: 2015-12-11; view: 639
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