PARALLEL {Cedric Diggory | Harry Potter}

Forty Five

"Of course, sir. It'll be our little secret."

The room dissolved into black, floating up to the top of the pensieve as Lori and Harry straightened, looking at Dumbledore. His face was void of emotion as he turned and sat himself on the steps, "This is beyond anything I imagined."

"You mean to say he succeeded, sir, in making a Horcrux?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded gravely, "Oh, yes, he succeeded all right. And not just once."

"What are they exactly?" Lori inquired.

"Could be anything. Most commonplace of objects." He bustled over to his desk, "A ring, or a book."

Harry looked at it in realisation, noticing the large gash that ran all the way through the leather, "Tom Riddle's diary."

"It's a Horcrux, yes. Four years ago, when you saved Ginny Weasley's life in the Chamber of Secrets, you brought me this. I knew then this was a different kind of magic. Very dark, very powerful. But until tonight, I had no idea just how powerful."

"And the ring?"

"Belonged to Voldemort's mother. Difficult to find, even more difficult to destroy."

"But, if you could find them all, if you did destroy each Horcrux?"

"One destroys Voldemort."

"But, sir," Lori began, "surely it would be impossible to find them all? All he would have to do is make his Horcrux a pebble and drop it into the ocean?"

"True, but magic, especially dark magic, leaves traces. And Voldemort is, oddly, sentimental."

"It's where you've been going, isn't it, sir?" Harry asked, "When you leave the school?"

"Yes. And I think perhaps I may have found another. But this time, I cannot hope to destroy it alone. Once again, I must ask too much of you, Harry, Lori."

*

They slowly climbed the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, passing Snape on the last flight before emerging into the dusk.

"You need a shave, my friend." Dumbledore muses to Harry, "You know, at times, I forget how much you've both grown. At times I still see the small boy from the cupboard and the quietest of the Weasleys. Forgive my mawkishness, I'm an old man."

"You still look the same to me, sir." Harry smiled.

"Just like your mother, you're unfailingly kind. A trait people never fail to undervalue, I'm afraid." His robes gently billowed in the wind as he continued, "The place to which we journey tonight is extremely dangerous. I promised you could accompany me, and I stand by that promise. But there is one condition for the both of you: you must obey my every command I give you, without question."

"Yes, sir." they agreed in unison.

"You do understand what I'm saying? Should I tell you to hide, you hide. Should I tell you to run, you run. Should I tell you to abandon me and save yourselves, you must do so. I need your word."

"My word." Lori said first, then Harry.

"Take my arm."