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SNAPE ABRUPTLY LOOKED AWAY from Rhea just in time to dodge Flitwick's spell, which hit the suit of armour sheltering him: With a clatter it came to life. Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it flying back toward his attackers: Professor McGonagall sent a spell at Rhea which sent her flying out of harm's way and Harry and Luna had to dive sideways to avoid the suit of armour as it smashed into the wall and shattered.
When Harry looked up again, Snape was in full flight, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout all thundering after him: He hurtled through a classroom door and, moments later, he heard McGonagall cry, "Coward! COWARD!"
Rhea, still on the floor, groaned and clutched her stomach. Torn between the desire to run after Snape and help his best friend, Harry looked pleadingly towards Luna, who nodded reassuringly and ran to Rhea.
Harry raced along the corridor, trailing the Invisibility Cloak behind them, into the deserted classroom where Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were standing at a smashed window.
"He jumped," said Professor McGonagall as Harry ran into the room.
"You mean he's dead?" Harry sprinted to the window, ignoring Flitwick's and Sprout's yells of shock at his sudden appearance.
"No, he's not dead," said McGonagall bitterly. "Unlike Dumbledore, he was still carrying a wand.. . . and he seems to have learned a few tricks from his master."
With a tingle of horror, Harry saw in the distance a huge, bat like shape flying through the darkness toward the perimeter wall.
There were heavy footfalls behind them, and a great deal of puffing: Slughorn had just caught up.
"Harry!" he panted, massaging his immense chest beneath his emerald-green silk pajamas. "My dear boy . . . what a surprise . . . Minerva, do please explain...Severus . . . what . . . ?"
"Our headmaster is taking a short break," said Professor McGonagall, pointing at the Snape-shaped hole in the window.
"Professor!" Harry shouted, his hands at his forehead. He could see the Inferi-filled lake sliding beneath him, and he felt the ghostly green boat bump into the underground shore, and Voldemort leapt from it with murder in his heart —
Just then Luna and Rhea burst in; Rhea was still clutching her stomach. "Harry," she said, scrunching up her face in pain, "the Inferi—Voldemort—"
"Yeah, I know." Harry said desperately. Everyone present in the room knew the connection between the Dark Lord, Harry and Rhea, and therefore, no elaborations were needed. "Professor, we've got to barricade the school, he's coming now!" Harry shouted.
"Very well. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming," she told the other teachers. Sprout and Flitwick gasped; Slughorn let out a low groan. "Potter has work to do in the castle on Dumbledore's orders. We need to put in place every protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do."
"You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You-Know Who indefinitely?" squeaked Flitwick.
"But we can hold him up," said Professor Sprout.
"Thank you, Pomona," said Professor McGonagall. "I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those who are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance."
"Agreed," said Professor Sprout, already hurrying toward the door. "I shall meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes with my House."
And as she jogged out of sight, they could hear her muttering, "Tentacula. Devil's Snare. And Snargaluff pods . . . yes, I'd like to see the Death Eaters fighting those."
"I can act from here," said Flitwick, and although he could barely see out of it, he pointed his wand through the smashed window and started muttering incantations of great complexity. Harry heard a weird rushing noise, as though Flitwick had unleashed the power of the wind into the grounds.
Harry turned towards Rhea and asked hurriedly, "What did Snape do to you? Did he try Legilimency on you? But you're a natural Occlumens! He has never been able to do that to you! What did he see?"
Waiting until he poured out all his worries, Rhea spoke calmly despite the fact that she felt sick after what she had seen. There he was, standing in front of her, oblivious to the fate that awaited him. "He didn't attempt Legilimency. I did."
"You did? What did you see?"
Swallowing, she said, "Nothing important. It was just a blur—he was trying his best to keep me out." She added upon Harry's look.
Harry knew she was not being truthful. The hesitance in her black eyes, her sickly pale complexion and her quivering lips spoke volumes. But there were other tasks to attend to now.
While Harry talked to Flitwick about the diadem, Rhea looked up at Professor McGonagall and said dryly, "Thank you for assisting me in injuring my ribs, Professor."
Said-professor's lips twitched in a smile and said, "You're welcome Ms. Arquette. And welcome back to Hogwarts"
Rhea smiled and suddenly a wave of nausea hit her and she remembered why she was feeling so scared and angry. Her spiking heartbeat wasn't doing wonders to her seemingly calm exterior. With her mind in an emotional haze and her entire body shaking with tremors, a single word manifesting itself in the back of her mind:
Dumbledore.
He lied. Again. He hadn't told them anything else about the hocruxes, hadn't mentioned anything about the Hallows, hadn't mentioned Snape, was in fact, a noble man.
He had hidden the fact that, Voldemort's seventh hocrux was Harry.
"Are you okay, Miss Arquette? Rhea?"
"Yes, Professor," she said absently, taking deep breaths and exhaling them in puffs to calm down her racing heart.
Rhea suddenly felt electrocuted—not that she knew how it felt like to sustain an electric shock—for she realized something.
The connection between Harry and Rhea gave her the ability to read Harry's moods, feel what he felt, and endure any pain he felt. Similarly, Harry felt whatever Rhea felt. While this was very useful at times, it gave Rhea some other abilities that Harry had, and this often left the 'Boy Who Lived' guilty. She was a Parselmouth, and also could see the same visions Harry would witness through Voldemort's mind.
And that meant...
She was a hocrux too.
But how? It wasn't possible to make eight hocruxes. In fact, making even seven was nearly impossible...
Unless she had misinterpreted Dumbledore's words? Or was Dumbledore still hiding something from her?
She needed answers.
And she'd get them.
"We shall meet you and your Ravenclaws in the Great Hall, Filius!" said Professor McGonagall, and her voice seemed far away for Rhea. She beckoned to the three students in the room to follow her. They ran after Professor McGonagall, who had taken up a position in the middle of the corridor and raised her wand. "Piertotum — oh, for heaven's sake, Filch, not now —"
The aged caretaker had just come hobbling into view, shouting, "Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!" He then saw Luna and Harry, and his eyes bulged. His eyes landed on Rhea and he spat, "You!"
Rhea, despite her emotional agony, smirked and looked at Filch.
"The Students are supposed to be out, you blithering idiot!" shouted McGonagall, choosing to ignore their little conversation. "Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!"
"P-Peeves?" stammered Filch as though he had never heard the name before.
"Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peeves! Haven't you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once!" Filch evidently thought Professor McGonagall had taken leave of her senses, but hobbled away, hunch-shouldered, muttering under his breath.
"And now — Piertotum Locomotor!" cried Professor McGonagall. And all along the corridor the statues and suits of armour jumped down from their plinths, and from the echoing crashes from the floors above and below, they knew that their fellows throughout the castle had done the same.
"Hogwarts is threatened!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"
Clattering and yelling, the horde of moving statues stampeded past them: some of them smaller, others larger, than life. There were animals too, and the clanking suits of armour brandished swords and spiked balls on chains.
"Now," said McGonagall, "Potter, Miss Lovegood and Arquette, you had better return to your friends and bring them to the Great Hall — I shall rouse the other Gryffindors." And she sprinted off towards the staircase.
But Rhea had other plans. "Luna, Harry, I'll see you in the Room of Requirement later.
Harry scowled, "Now is not the time, Rhea! We need to stick together! We haven't found the hocru—"he stopped abruptly, earning a glare from Rhea for his slip up and a look of vague interest from Luna.
Taking advantage of the awkward pause, Rhea looked at Harry and pleaded, "It's important. Please, Harry. I need to go. I'll be back. I promise."
Harry hesitated. But he could feel her desperation in his own veins, and he said, very reluctantly, "Okay."
Rhea smiled, hugged Harry and Luna, and ran towards the staircase too. But she didn't head towards the Gryffindor common room.
She was heading for the former Headmaster's office.
Sprinting and trying to avoid as many students as possible, she skidded to a halt in front of the office which was once a reassuring promise that Hogwarts was safe.
The gargoyle stood guarding the office. She glared at it, and it seemed as though it was amused with her. Sighing, she said, "Acid Pops."
It didn't move. Right, she thought, it's Snape's office now.
"Lily." It didn't move. "Lily Evans"
Huffing, she snapped, "James? Potter? James Potter! Sirius Black! Remus Lupin? Snivellus?" Cringing, she thought reasonably. Why would Severus Snape even think of such passwords?
She leaned against the wall, and slid down on the floor. Putting her head in her hands, she let herself cry a few tears. Did Dumbledore actually think she would allow Harry to die? And even if he did think she would understand the importance of the sacrifice and let him die, Ron, Hermione, Remus, the Weasleys, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Professor McGonagall would never, ever, allow Harry to sacrifice himself.
And what about the other hocruxes? The Diadem, Hufflepuff's Cup and Nagini were still not destroyed. Voldemort had the Elder Wand. Not to mention, the Diadem was still lost.
Out of sheer helplessness, Rhea growled, "Merlin, Dumbledore! Why—"
The gargoyle slid aside and revealed the spiral staircase that seemed so familiar. She looked at the gargoyle and asked shrewdly, "What was the password? 'Merlin', or 'Dumbledore', or 'why'?"
The gargoyle just stared straight ahead, but Rhea fancied it smirked at her.
Her heart in her throat, her mind considering the possibilities of meeting Dumbledore's ghost, Rhea climbed the staircase. Entering the circular room nervously, she noticed the portraits were empty. All except one.
"Rhea Arquette."
"Professor Dumbledore"