Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory

Chapter 84

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.