The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow III » Harry Potter

3.9 | R. A. B.

The kitchen in Grimmauld Place was lit up with old-fashioned gaslamps despite the fact that it was barely noon. The dreary sky outside was filled with seemingly unmoving grey clouds, blocking all sunlight.

"So," begins Sirius, eyebrows raised, "who is this R.A.B.?"

"To explain that, we need to start at how we came across that name," says Margaret. "There was a word that the night Dumbledore died, Harry and I went out of Hogwarts with him. That... was true."

The air changed, growing tensed as Sirius sat up straighter in his chair.

"Dumbledore took you both out of Hogwarts?" he asks, an edge to his tone. "Why?"

"We asked to go with him," says Harry. "All throughout last year, we had lessons with Dumbledore in which he showed us all that he knew about Tom Riddle's past. The most important of all was that Riddle had made a Horcrux."

There was a beat of silence. Hermione glanced at Margaret out of the corner of her eye; she, too, had noticed how Harry had said Horcrux – singular, not plural.

"What's a Horcrux?" asks Sirius. "Is it some form of a weapon?"

"In a manner of speaking, it can weaponise itself for protection," says Margaret. "But what it truly is, is an object within which a Dark witch or wizard has stored a part of their soul. You see, your soul tears apart every time you commit a murder. Killing is an act against nature, it damages you... Creating a Horcrux goes beyond this "usual evil" and enables the murderer to take out that part of their soul and store it in an object. So, in any case, should their body be destroyed, they would still live on. Which is why..."

"...Why Riddle came back," finishes Sirius, his voice hollow. Under the light of old-fashioned gas lamps, his face looked to have lost its colour. "This is worse than anything we could've ever imagined... But how does this relate to..." Sirius trailed off, his clever mind piecing the puzzle together faster than Harry's Firebolt. "Don't tell me Dumbledore took you both to find Riddle's Horcrux – or is that what the three of you are planning on doing? You think Dumbledore wanted you to be the ones to find it!"

"Both," says Harry with impressive nerve. "Dumbledore took us with him because we asked him to because we both wanted to find the piece of Riddle's soul and destroy it."

"Did you find it then?" demands Sirius.

Harry dug through his pocket and placed the silver-chained locket on the table. Sirius stared at it wearily, as though expecting it to go off like a bomb.

"It's not real," says Harry.

"Well, of course not," says Sirius, sounding a little relieved despite himself. "Riddle wouldn't leave a part of his soul so casually. It would have a ton of enchantments around it, I imagine. All sorts of horrible dark magic that..." he trailed off again, eyes unfocused. "...that you'd have to get through..."

"You're right," Margaret tells him. "There were. But it didn't matter. Someone else had gotten the Horcrux before us, years ago if our theory is correct. They left this fake one in its place."

In the meantime, Harry clicked open the locket and took out the folded parchment. He straightened it out and passed it to Sirius.

"To the Dark Lord," Sirius reads out loud, "I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more... R.A.B."

Looking up at Harry, Sirius shook his head to himself, his brows furrowed.

"Regulus Arcturus Black," he whispers. "You think Regulus..."