Sudden awareness of what he was holding, of what lived behind the little golden

Doors, hit Harry as he spoke. Even after all their efforts to find it, he felt a violent urge to

Fling the locket from him. Mastering himself again, he tried to prise the locket apart with

his fingers, then attempted the charm Hermione had used to open Regulus’s bedroom

Door. Neither worked. He handed the locket back to Ron and Hermione, each of whom

Did their best, but were no more successful at opening it than he had been.

“Can you feel it, though?” Ron asked in a hushed voice, as he held it tight in his

Clenched fist.

“What d’you mean?”

Ron passed the Horcrux to Harry. After a moment or two, Harry thought he knew

What Ron meant. Was it his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could feel, or

was it something beating inside the locket, like a tiny metal heart?

“What are we going to do with it?” Hermione asked.

“Keep it safe till we work out how to destroy it.” Harry replied, and, little though

He wanted to, he hung the chain around his own neck, dropping the locket out of sight

Beneath his robes, where it rested against his chest beside the pouch Hagrid had given

Him.

“I think we should take it in turns to keep watch outside the tent,” he added to

Hermione, standing up and stretching. “And we’ll need to think about some food as well.

You stay there,” he added sharply, as Ron attempted to sit up and turned a nasty shade of

Green.

With the Sneakoscope Hermione had given Harry for his birthday set carefully

Upon the table in the tent, Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day sharing the role

Of lookout. However, the Sneakoscope remained silent and still upon its point all day, and

Whether because of the protective enchantments and Muggle-repelling charms Hermione

Had spread around them, or because people rarely ventured this way, their patch of wood

Remained deserted, apart from occasional birds and squirrels. Evening brought no change;

Harry lit his wand as he swapped places with Hermione at ten o’clock, and looked out

Upon a deserted scene, noting the bats fluttering high above him across the single patch of

Starry sky visible from their protected clearing.

He felt hungry now, and a little light-headed. Hermione had not packed any food

In her magical bag, as she had assumed that they would be returning to Grimmauld Place

That night, so they had had nothing to eat except some wild mushrooms that Hermione

Had collected from amongst the nearest trees and stewed in a Billycan. After a couple of

Mouthfuls Ron had pushed his portion away, looking queasy; Harry had only persevered

so as to not hurt Hermione’s feelings.

The surrounding silence was broken by odd rustlings and what sounded like

crackings of twigs: Harry thought that they were caused by animals rather than people,

Yet he kept his wand held tight at the ready. His insides, already uncomfortable due to

Their inadequate helping of rubbery mushrooms, tingled with unease.

He had though that he would feel elated if they managed to steal back the Horcrux,

But somehow he did not; all he felt as he sat looking out at the darkness, of which his

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 654