Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*


Harry looked around the room, noticing that it was the old Transfiguration classroom. The teacher sitting at the desk was paying little attention to the student. Harry didn't recognize the teacher but could tell it wasn't a present day memory.

He looked to the student now and his mouth fell open. The boy had shaggy black hair and a ruggedly handsome face. Up close, Harry could see that he was only pretending to do the work the professor had assigned. Instead, there was a small mirror in his lap and he was sending messages through it.

Harry moved closer to where the young Sirius sat, hoping to be able to look in the mirror and see who it was he was sending the messages to. But the mirror was blank. That must mean it was not Sirius' memory.

It seemed not to be the professor's memory either, since she was not looking up from her desk, and, therefore, could not have seen what Sirius was doing.

Harry looked around, wondering whose memory it could be if it was neither of the two people in the room. It wasn't until Sirius looked up sharply and hastily stowed the mirror away that Harry noticed a third presence in the room.

A small house-elf was standing by the door to the classroom. The house-elf was short and his ears flapped over as he shuffled to the professor's desk. Harry reluctantly left Sirius' side and moved closer to the house-elf.

The elf shuffled closer to the professor and squeaked, quite clearly, "Professor Mistle, miss, Headmaster Dumbledore is wanting to see you."

The professor rose from her chair tiredly and looked over at Sirius, who had an innocent look on his face. Harry noticed that the mirror was no longer in sight.

"Alright, Mr. Black, you are free to go, but let's remember next time that it is inappropriate to be doing that in a closet, shall we?"

Sirius nodded, trying to keep from grinning. The professor just shook her head and strode out the room. The house-elf remained behind, watching as Sirius packed up his things, sending one last message through the mirror.

He turned to the elf. "Thanks, Fitzy," he said casually, grinning at the elf. To Harry's surprise, the elf bowed low and followed Sirius out of the classroom.

Harry hurried along behind them, wondering how Sirius was on such good terms with a house-elf when he despised Kreacher so much. He followed them down a few corridors and behind some hidden tapestries until they reached the seventh floor.

Harry wondered how far the house-elf was going to follow Sirius. They turned down a corner and Harry stopped dead in his tracks, staring down the corridor as someone strode toward them.

Sirius and the house-elf stopped too, watching the stranger near them. Sirius studied the man carefully as he came to a stop in front of him. The man had dark, black hair, slit-like eyes and pale skin. Harry couldn't believe Voldemort was in the castle, just walking around it.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked without preamble, looking at Voldemort suspiciously.

Voldemort took a moment to look Sirius up and down, as though gauging his strength and worth. "I'm Lord Voldemort."

"What are you doing here? You're too old to be a student." Sirius, it seemed, didn't like the look of the man.

"I've come to inquire after a job to the Headmaster," Voldemort replied, his voice getting colder. He didn't like Sirius' questions.

Sirius looked suspicious as he watched Voldemort. "Why are you wandering around the castle, then?"

"I was merely taking in my old haunts," he replied vaguely. Harry thought this was odd. If anything, Voldemort would want to see the dungeons, not the seventh floor.

"I don't think Dumbledore would approve," Sirius said coldly. "Maybe you should leave."

Voldemort paused and Harry could tell he was contemplating what he should do in that situation. "Alright. It was a pleasure meeting you," he said at last, turning and walking down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Likewise," Sirius muttered under his breath. Then he bent down and whispered to the elf. "Keep an eye on him, Fitz."

The house-elf nodded fervidly, his large ears flapping against his head. Sirius walked off in the opposite direction and Fitzy turned and followed the path that Voldemort had taken.

Harry wanted to follow Sirius but he also wanted to know what Voldemort was up to. So he followed the house-elf down the corridor. Fitzy crept, nearly unseen, down the corridor until they came upon Voldemort once more.

He was stopped in front of a blank patch of wall across from the tapestry of the dancing trolls. The house-elf hid himself neatly behind a large vase in a corner, but Harry moved forward, knowing he couldn't be seen.

Voldemort was stopped, contemplating the wall. His hand was stowed inside his cloak, grasped around something Harry couldn't see. Harry moved further forward, hoping to see more. Voldemort looked around quickly, as though making absolutely sure that he was completely alone.

Then he turned back to the wall, his hand grasping whatever it was tightly inside his cloak. Harry saw his hand shift, as though clamping tighter over the object. He had an irrepressible feeling that there was a Horcrux in that pocket.

Voldemort looked around again then removed his hand from his cloak. Harry held his breath as Voldemort pulled out a long, thin box. It was made of a dark, rich wood and had a single sapphire placed in the top of the box.

Harry thought it looked very much like a wand box. Voldemort didn't open the box, but instead passed it over the blank stone. Immediately, a door appeared and Voldemort strode in.

Harry started forward, trying to follow Voldemort but was pushed back by an invisible force. He looked around and saw that Fitzy was still standing behind the vase, looking at the door suspiciously.

Harry cursed the elf for staying where he was but could do nothing about it. He saw the elf move out from behind the vase and turn and go back down the corridor, leaving Harry in a gathering white mist. He concentrated hard on leaving the memory and felt himself being lifted up until he was deposited on his bed once more.

He stared at the Pensieve for a moment as the darkness engulfed him as he sat on his bed, the curtains shut tightly around him. He just knew that had been a Horcrux Voldemort had had. It obviously wasn't the cup, so it must have been one of the Founder's objects.

Harry thought back to the memory and realized that Voldemort had been at Hogwarts to request a job. That had to have been the memory Harry had viewed with Dumbledore so many months ago. Voldemort had been at the school and, unknown to Dumbledore, been keeping his Horcrux with him. Dumbledore's theory had been wrong. He had thought that Voldemort had wanted the job to look for more objects while really it was only a pretense to get into the school.

Anger boiled in Harry as he thought that Voldemort had tricked Dumbledore into getting into the school only to hide his Horcrux. Dumbledore had been correct in guessing that Voldemort had an alternate reason for wanting to teach in the school and Harry was sure he had been right there. Voldemort had only wanted to gain followers. Harry could tell from the way he had been looking at Sirius, like he was sizing him up, deciding if he would be a good follower. Obviously, he had decided otherwise; Sirius was too loyal to Dumbledore already.

On the bright side, Harry was now sure that he had made the right decision in coming back to the school. The only problem now would be finding the Horcrux and destroying it. Harry knew the Room of Requirement tended to be temperamental at times.

He quickly shrunk the Pensieve and shoved it back in his beg. Then he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and, as he did so, a piece of parchment fluttered out and onto his bed. He put aside the cloak for a second and looked at the parchment. He was surprised to find that it was the Marauder's Map. He had never taken it out of his bag when Hermione had returned it to him at the end of school.

Quietly, Harry unshrunk the cloak and slipped it on. He then unfolded the map and tapped it with his wand. The whole of Hogwarts appeared before him, spreading over the piece of parchment. He crept out of his bed and to the door.

He could hear the soft snores of the other boy's and knew he was the only one awake. He took a close look at the map and saw that there was no one in the common room. He snuck down the stairs quietly, making sure to cover all of himself.

Out through the portrait hole and down the corridor, Harry went. He kept the map close to him, checking it often to make sure he was truly alone.

When he reached the blank stone wall where he knew the Room of Requirement was, he paused, wondering how best to phrase what he wanted. He put the map in his pocket for a moment and began to pace up and down in front of the room.

I need to find a Horcrux, I need to find a Horcrux, I need to find a Horcrux. He turned back to the wall hopefully only to find that it remained stubbornly stone. He frowned.

He walked up to the wall and pushed on it fruitlessly, like it might give way if he did. He had known this would happen. It had happened all the last year when he had been obsessed with finding out what Draco had been up to.

Harry stared at the wall for a while, contemplating it. He knew he had to find the perfect wording or it would never let him in. He just couldn't imagine what those words could be.

I need somewhere to hide my map, he thought suddenly. Maybe, if he could find the room where everything was hidden, he could find the Horcrux. I need somewhere to hide my map, I need somewhere to hide my map.

He looked up to find that a door had appeared in the stone. His heart gave a leap and he pulled the door open. He found himself in the huge room filled to the ceiling with long-forgotten items that had been hidden.

As Harry moved into the room, lighting his wand, he wondered if maybe this wasn't what he wanted. After all, Voldemort hadn't even asked the room for anything; he had merely passed the box in front of the wall and it had granted him admission.

Harry ignored the thought for a moment, though, and walked cautiously into the room. There was an almost sinister air about the place. To his left and right were piles of books and glittering piles of hidden jewels. Harry thought that Voldemort wouldn't just have left his Horcrux out in the open, and it would have been nearly impossible to find it amongst the masses of junk piled in the room.

He walked down one of the paths, winding around old cabinets piled with books and other misplaced items. He came to the end of one aisle and found himself looking at the wardrobe in which he had hidden his Potion’s book. It seemed so long ago that he had been standing in front of that cupboard, his heart beating a mile a minute, scared to death of what awaited him in the bathroom.

Harry couldn't help himself and moved forward, pulling the door open. It creaked loudly and Harry winced at the sound, even though it was unlikely anyone would hear it. He peered into the dark shelves of the cupboard, catching sight of his book near the back.

He reached in and pulled it out slowly. In the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn't even be bothering with it, but he couldn't help wanting to see it once more. It was the book that had been his downfall as well as his savior.

He opened it to the last page and saw, in its small, cramped handwriting, written, "Property of the Half-Blood Prince." Harry looked at it for a moment, and then snapped it shut. He shoved the book far into the cabinet and slammed the door.

He turned away abruptly, staring out at the room. A Fanged Frisbee hovered listlessly over a pile of dusty robes. Harry looked around hopelessly, knowing that he had no chance of finding the Horcrux that night. He needed help in order to do this. He would have to wait for the morning and tell Ron and Hermione.

Reluctantly, he walked back to the door and out. As he stepped out, the door dissolved into stone once more. Harry walked slowly back to Gryffindor tower, climbing through the portrait hole and into his dormitory. He put the cloak and map away, and then settled into his bed, hoping that the next day would bring better luck.

***

The next day, Harry hurried Ron and Hermione through breakfast then forced them back to the common room where he told them all he had seen in the Pensieve and what he'd done the night before.

Hermione was shocked that he had already gone wandering around the school after being back one day. "Harry! You could've gotten caught!"

Ron was in awe that Harry had figured out so much. "Whoa, mate, I would never have thought of that."

Harry was disappointed with both of their reactions. He really needed their help to find the Horcrux now.

"Listen, guys," he told them seriously as they sat in front of the blazing fire. "We have to find a way to find the Horcrux. It's in the Room of Requirement somewhere. We just have to find it."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, staring in the fire. "Do you think it's in that room where you were last night, really?" she asked.

"Well, it's our best bet," Harry said, shrugging. "I know there's a ton of stuff in there that no one knows about."

"But do you really think V-Voldemort--oh, Ron-- would hide something as valuable as a Horcrux with junk? I thought they were really important to him."

"They are! That’s why he doesn't just use junk. All his Horcruxes are important parts of his heritage and life."

"And do you know exactly what it was that he was putting in there?" Hermione asked carefully.

"It looked like a wand box. It was made of some kind of dark wood and had a sapphire gem on the top. I think it's Ravenclaw's. You know their colors are blue and bronze. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I suppose," she sad slowly. "But how are we supposed to find it, though? Even if it is somewhere inside that room with all the junk, how will we find it? It must be hidden and concealed with powerful magical spells and enchantments."

"We're just going to have to try our best to get in. Or word it differently so that maybe we don't have to go hunting through piles of books to find where he hid it. But I know it's in there somewhere!"

In the end, all three agreed that the Horcrux was concealed somewhere within the Room of Requirement. Now, it was just how to find it.

They all made their way down to where the Room was located and, for the next few hours, paced up and down in front of it, each trying some way to get inside and find the Horcrux without having to go into the huge room.

By lunchtime, they were still unsuccessful, so they decided to take a break and went down to the Great Hall. They ate quickly and soon resumed their pacing.

Over the next few days, they tried fruitlessly to find the Horcrux within the Room of Requirement. Everyday after breakfast, they would retreat to the seventh floor corridor, pacing up and down in front of the blank wall.

After the third day of this pointless activity, Hermione simply sat down on the ground in front of the room, her head in resting on her hands as she stared, annoyed, at the wall. Ron and Harry stopped their pacing and looked at her.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked. He was beginning to become very exasperated at their lack of success. Once or twice they had attempted to get into the room where everything was hidden, but even that seemed closed to them. Harry supposed it was because the room knew they didn't need to hide anything and only wanted to search through it.

Harry and Ron looked down at Hermione, who sat stubbornly on the floor, glaring across the hall at the wall. They exchanged a glance but said nothing. Hermione usually had a good reason for everything she did.

"This isn't working," she said finally.

"No, really?" Harry asked sarcastically.

She gave him a scathing glance and shook her head. "I think we're going about this all wrong."

"How are we doing that?" Ron asked, confused.

"Well, Voldemort got into the room without even asking for anything. I suppose that could be because he's more powerful than us, but there might have been something else."

Harry looked at Ron again then sat down next to Hermione. "Like what?"

"You said he just waved the box in front if it and it opened?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "So?"

"So... maybe if that box, or what was in it, really belonged to one of the Founders, it had some kind of special quality to it."

"You mean it could get past the Room's wards and let him in?"

"Precisely," Hermione said, now getting to her feet and walking closer to the door, pressing her hand against it and listening closely. "The Founder's must have created the room, so they had power over it."

"So if we had another Founder's possession, we might be able to get in?" Harry asked hopefully. Even Ron seemed to understand now as he watched the two of them converse.

"Do you think the Room can be manipulated by a person with a Founder's object?" Ron asked. "You know, like make it anything they want?"

"That's a possibility," Hermione said slowly. "But we won't find out unless we have a Founder's possession, which we don't." She frowned as she contemplated the wall.

"Wait a minute," Harry said slowly. "We do."

Hermione looked at him sharply. "What do you mean?"

"In Dumbledo--McGonagall's office," Harry corrected himself quickly, "Gryffindor's sword is there. It's in the glass case behind the desk!"

Hermione's eyes widened as Harry told them this. "Do you think we can get it?"

"We'd have to ask McGonagall, and we can't tell her what we need it for," Harry said quietly. "Maybe you could ask, Hermione."

"Why me?" she asked indignantly.

"Because she likes you and she'll give you anything," Harry said simply.

Hermione scowled at him. "Fine, but I'm not doing this because she likes me. I'm doing it for you, Harry."

Harry nodded and all three of them took off for McGonagall's Headmistress office. They reached the stone gargoyle and Hermione gave the password. They went up the spiral staircase and knocked on the large door.

McGonagall bid them to enter and they walked inside. She was sitting behind her desk, looking stern as always. She nodded at them as they entered and stood awkwardly in front of her.

Harry looked behind her to where Godric Gryffindor's sword sat glittering in the case above her desk. The ruby's glimmered in the light from the window, bouncing around the room.

"Professor McGonagall," Hermione started slowly. "We were wondering if we could borrow something."

"Borrow something?" McGonagall asked carefully. "What do you want?"

"Actually... we'd like to borrow that sword," Hermione said, pointing behind her.

To the side, the portraits let out noises of disagreement. They obviously didn't think students should be allowed to borrow Founder relics. McGonagall looked to the sword and back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They stood nervously, hoping she would grant them their request without too many questions.

Harry glanced at the portraits, many of whom were shaking their heads and muttering under their breath. He looked to the end where Dumbledore’s portrait sat. Harry could have sworn the portrait winked at him. He pulled his gaze away, though, and looked back to McGonagall.

"You want the sword?" she asked, surprised. "But why?"

"I can't tell you that," Harry said softly.

McGonagall looked at him closely for a moment then stood up and unlatched the case. She reached in and took out the sword carefully, placing it on her desk. She looked at all three of them once more.

"Alright, Potter, but you better bring it back just as you found it."

"I'll try," Harry muttered, reaching over and picking up the sword. "Thank you, Professor."

Professor McGonagall nodded while still regarding them suspiciously. They thanked her once more and left the room, Harry holding tightly to the hilt of the ruby-encrusted sword.

He could feel his heartbeat increasing as they walked back to the Room of Requirement. Harry stood before the blank wall, Ron and Hermione on either side of him. On his wrist, the tiny snake hissed quietly, the sound heartening him.

He took a deep breath and raised the sword, waving it over the entrance. He stared, wide-eyed, as a door appeared just where he had put the sword. He glanced at Ron and Hermione then steeled himself and opened the door, walking in, Ron and Hermione behind him.


~~**~~


A/N:Another chapter before the real book! Gah, I'm so scared of what's going to happen... I must finish reading HBP before Saturday, though... Please review!