Paradigm

Kurai and Vider le demarreur- Thank you for the replies, I will take that into consideration and get to work on this ^_^

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!!

I am changing the direction of this fic slightly in light of the Seventh book. Despite my best attempts this is now AU and it follows canon only up until the sixth book.

And I am well aware my horcrux-related ideas pale in comparison to the seventh book.





(P A R A D I G M) : C H A P T E R . T W O




After watching around twenty minutes of some dull soap opera program, Harry silently got up and padded into the kitchen where Hermione was now flipping the pancakes, half a plate of which were already finished and laid out. He grabbed a plate for himself and nicked a few off the top before he spun around and headed for the stairs. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he seemed to be drifting farther and farther away from his two friends as of late.

It was mostly Ron who was creating a dent in their friendship, however, as he seemed to grow angry any time Harry was in the same room as Hermione. With Hermione's recent moods, it even made getting along with her fairly touch-and-go.

A grating voice rang out as he reached the base of the stairs, "And where do you think you're going??"

Harry sighed in exasperation as he replied, "To my room. I'm going to do some research, I think you might have been onto something last night and I'm going to give it another look-over."

Hermioned eyed him suspiciously, "Well, alright, just so long as you aren't going there to sulk again."

The green-eyed Gryffindor gave her a frustrated look and bit out, "That isn't all I do, you know," before he turned his back and continued up the stairs and past the landing into his room, where he shut the door with rather more force than was strictly necessary.

Harry threw himself onto his bed the moment he got inside and closed his eyes as he took intermittent bites from one of the pancakes that he had rolled up and began to eat plain. It wasn't as though he didn't like his friends anymore, but it was infuriating to be constantly bickering with one or both of them. Not to mention painful - the arguments only bothered him so much because he did care about them and he just wished they could stop fighting. It had gotten to the point where sometimes, in the very back of his mind where his worst thoughts usually laid, he entertained the thought of ending their friendship just so that they would no longer be at each other's throats.

He glanced over at Hedwig's open cage, which had a discarded pair of muggle pants thrown over it. She wasn't inside, so Harry assumed she must have gone out again to stretch her wings. He set his half eaten pancake back down on the plate, which was atop a mountain of books that were piled on his dresser, after which he walked over to check Hedwig's food trays. Her water dish was mostly empty, so he snatched up the bottle of water he kept nearby and refilled that. Her food dish was still half-full so he left that alone since she often fed herself by hunting. She rarely had any interest in the food he bought her except on nights she didn't feel like going out, which were usually cold winter nights.

He scattered a few owl treats atop the food in case she felt like a snack and walked back over to sit on the edge of his bed. He stared balefully at the piled books, knowing full well that he had no intention of doing any research for the Horcruxes. Recently, he'd been having his doubts as to whether he could really do this anymore. Not even Dumbledore had managed to get away from trying to destroy one Horcrux alive; how was he supposed to get to all the
rest of them, and kill Voldemort?

Reality had been weighing heavily on him since the Headmaster's demise, which in the end had been for nothing as the Horcrux hadn't even been there. So many people had died already in his confrontations with Voldemort. His parents, Cedric, Sirius... and now Dumbledore. His parents had been two highly trained Order members, Cedric had been at Harry’s current skill level, roughly; Sirius had been a skilled wizard and Dumbledore was probably more powerful than all of them combined. If they had all fallen so easily to Voldemort, how could he possibly hope for even a chance at defeating such a powerful and dark wizard?

It just seemed nearly hopeless to him at this point and the mere thought of his 'destiny' was so overwhelming that he didn't even know where to start.Oh sure, it sounded easy in theory; pick a Horcrux, find the location, destroy it, move on. But in truth, deep down it left him feeling blown away by the sheer task before him. He felt as though he was drowning under the weight, not to mention the knowledge that failure is death. It was either him or Voldemort and honestly, he had a strange feeling that at the end of it all, he was meant to die.


Harry reached a hand up and ran it through his unruly strands, which he hadn't bothered to cut in awhile. His hair had grown out just long enough that it could be pulled into a very small ponytail if he wanted, though a few short pieces always managed to slip out and frame his face. He'd noticed that Hermione often stared at him when he had his hair like that and hadn't missed Ron's jealous scowls, either.

He also had considered looking up an eyesight charm recently so that he would be without the handicap of glasses in a future battle. They could prove too much of a hindrance in the future; should they fall off or be smashed he would be at a severe disadvantage. Despite his bleak outlook on whether or not he would be successful in defeating Voldemort and destroying the Horcruxes, there was still the part of him that wanted to be prepared. The part of him that was dedicated to his survival.

As he glanced around the room his eyes landed on the multiple piles of clothes scattered about and he mused that he ought to do his laundry before Hermione had another fit, did it herself and then complained about having done it. It wasn't as if he wouldn't have gotten to it in his own time, but saying that to her would only provoke an even worse fight. He had a lot more clothes, now that she had specifically gone out and bought him some, saying that he no longer had any excuse for wearing his cousin's dreadful hand-me-down's.

Though he was slightly annoyed that she'd gone and done that without even asking him, he did appreciate having clothes that actually fit a lot more than he had thought he would. He'd never been especially concerned about his appearance in the past, but he found that recently it had started to matter more to him. Harry supposed it was probably just a part of getting older; in the wizarding world he was now considered an adult after all so he was likely just maturing, as most did when reaching his age. Not that he held any illusions about himself being a fully-mature adult - he was well aware that he was a far cry from it, but at least he was making some progress from the child that he had been.

He glanced up when he heard a rapping at the door, and froze momentarily when he heard the door open - hadn't he warned Ron about not answering the door? Harry walked quickly over to the door and opened it, walking quietly out of his room as he listened for any signs of an attack. His tense muscles relaxed when he heard the voices conversing amicably, and recognized the rough grating of Aberforth Dumbledore. It had been a surprise when he had come to them shortly after the Headmaster's death, informing them that Albus' demise had been planned. He was a bit more eccentric than Dumbledore, and slightly less personable but otherwise Aberforth seemed to be a decent fellow.

He'd been angry at first of being left out yet again, especially when it was the Headmaster's life that he'd just thrown away but eventually the teen accepted the fact that it was just how Dumbledore was. Harry grimaced when he suddenly heard the dark, acidic tones of his ex-potions professor speak up and mentally groaned at the thought of entertaining the surly man's company. Apparently, according to Aberforth and a painting of Albus which he'd had made before his death, Snape had been under his orders to follow the oath that he'd had no choice but to make.

Harry didn't trust the greasy bat, and never would but Dumbledore's portrait had forced him to promise  to try and work with the git and understand that it had been necessary. He didn't understand, but he would stay his hand - that is, until Snape stepped so much as a toe out of line. And then he would make the bastard regret that he'd ever lived. Harry did wonder why exactly Snape was here now, as he'd been suspiciously absent lately. No one had seen hide nor hair of him since he disappeared, and with that thought in mind, Harry ran down the stairs into the entryway to see what was going on.

The sight he was greeted with was somewhat surprising; Snape appeared to be having trouble standing, and it looked at though he might be bleeding. Disregarding his obvious dislike of the wizard, Harry rushed over to his side and helped the bast-- other wizard into the living room and guided Snape to sit down on the couch. He gazed at the bloodied wizard with hardened eyes.

"Where have you been?" Harry bit out.

"Harry!" Admonished Hermione over his rudeness and Aberforth made a disapproving noise.

Snape sneered and bit out, "I don't suppose I should expect you to exhibit manners or common courtesy, Potter, but I should have hoped you would display at least a modicum of brains by now - An obviously vain and deluded idea, it seems. Do you really think the Dark Lord would let me off so easily after disobeying his orders?"

Harry glared and pursed his lips, counting to ten in his head before he spoke again in a shaky, bitter voice, "So that's why you're in this state."

"Of course it is, you imbecile," Snape replied irritably as usual.

Aberforth, meanwhile, had gone over to the fireplace and was fire calling Madame Pomphrey to come and tend to the obsidian-eyed wizard's injuries. Since Harry had moved into his parents old home, certain order members, along with Pomphrey, had been made aware in case of emergency. It wasn't long before the elderly witch was making her way out of the fireplace with blood-replenishing and other potions in hand as she hurriedly bustled over to where Snape sat scowling.

Harry smirked as she poked and prodded the irate with her wand, casting diagnostic spells as well as healing ones, and forced potions down his throat while she interrogated him on how he acquired his injuries.

"It is hardly any of your business!" The irate ex-professor replied, "Just finish your job and be done with it! I have important business to attend to."

Harry arched an eyebrow, "And what business is that?"

"Certainly not yours, brat. That is between Albus' portrait and me. If it is necessary for you to know, then you will be informed," Snape said caustically.

"Severus," warned Aberforth in a chiding voice, "You know my brother would disapprove of this behavior. Whatever you need to tell Albus, you can tell me and Harry just as easily."

Snape glared at Aberforth, but proceeded with his report, knowing that Dumbledore had chosen Aberforth as his replacement. Though slightly less moralistic than Albus, he was still nearly as capable as his brother.

"I have come upon the location of two more Horcruxes. During my... stay, I overheard Voldemort instructing Bellatrix to retrieve them within a few days time, so we will have to move quickly. One of them is located beneath the Orphanage, in a location that I will have to be present at for you to pass through. There is an enchantment on a hidden door that makes it so that only a Death Eater who knows it's
location will be able to open it," Snape sneered, "And as much as I disapprove of the action, Albus has instructed me to bring Potter."

Harry perked up at this, his heart thudding excitedly and with trepidation in his chest at the thought of pursuing another Horcrux, when he'd so recently been musing on the impossibility of it all. Aberforth's expression had grown grim, Harry noted, and Albus' brother spoke up,

"Then we have no choice but to go. We can't risk losing the chance to destroy a Horcrux. Severus, will you be able to go?"

"Of course," Snape said, "We should leave immediately."

Aberforth nodded, and said, "Excellent. Let's get moving, Potter. Grab your invisibility cloak, make sure you have your wand and meet Snape and myself back
down here."

Ron called out in a tone slightly higher than normal volume, "You're not going without me!"

Snape sneered, and said, "And what are you going to do, get your wand broken and hex yourself to distract any creatures he may have been placed to guard the horcrux?"

Aberforth cut in, "Ron, Hermione, you two are staying here. I don't want to hear anything more from you. Stay upstairs, keep the doors and windows firmly locked. Don't answer the Floo or door for anyone. If it's us, we'll let ourselves in. Anything suspicious happens, make for the fire and Floo to Grimmauld. Understood?"

Ron looked like he was about to argue, but Hermione clapped a hand over his mouth and said, "Yes, sir. I'll make sure he behaves," before she dragged him up the stairs and into a room, where shouts from the enraged red-head could be heard. Harry followed them and retrieved his cloak and wand, avoiding Ron who tried to grab him on his way out so he could try and convince Harry to let him come under the invisibility cloak. Harry quickly made his way back downstairs, and shuffled up to Aberforth.

"Well, let's get going, then." Aberforth said.

"Er, I can't apparate," Harry said, to which Aberforth stared at him, and Snape sneered at his incompetence, "I failed my apparition test..."

"Oh, very well, boy," huffed Aberforth, "Come along now, I'll side-along apparate you."

Harry walked up to Aberforth, and the aged wizard nodded at Snape before pulling him along as he apparated to the Orphanage. Harry did his best to ignore the unpleasant rubber-tube sensation of the transition, and breathed a sigh of relief when they appeared outside the run-down shack. Snape popped into existence next to them moments later, and Aberforth wordlessly started to the front door, the other two following silently behind.

The door opened with a simple Alohomora, and Snape pushed in front of Aberforth as he led the way inside, making straight for the door to the basement. Once they reached the bottom, Snape looked around until his eyes fixed on a spot near the leftmost corner, where he stalked over to and crouched down over. He pulled out his wand and pressed it to his hand, muttering a spell to cut the skin open. Dipping the end of his wand into the blood, he carved a rune onto the smooth surface, which within moments flickered and then revealed a doorway in the floor.

The greasy haired wizard eased it open, and motioned for them both to follow him and Harry did so still without speaking. This place gave him an odd chill down his spine. As he eased himself through the door he planted his feet on a staircase that led to an underground chamber of some sort that could have passed as a catacomb. Aberforth followed closely behind him, wand drawn. Harry jumped as the trap-door swung shut behind them.

Harry glanced around at the circular room which was very dark, and managed not to flinch as suddenly torches flared into existence along the walls, one at a time. The room was plain, but for what appeared to be a nondescript coffin in the center of the room. Harry walked over to it, and Aberforth called out, "Careful, Potter! Don't take another step!" And the green-eyed wizard froze in his tracks.

"Once again, Potter, your stupidity never ceases to astound me," Snape's voice could be heard saying.

Aberforth walked forward with his wand out, muttering spells under his breath.


"Alright, there's no proximity spells," he said, and Harry's form relaxed, and not thinking, he continued forward and walked up the the coffin.

As he got close, the lid suddenly flew off, and Harry couldn’t contain a cry of surprise as he saw himself within, pale and rotting in death. He screeched as his dead look-alike opened it's eyes and stared directly at him.

Aberforth rushed forward and called out, "When did I say you could move, foolish boy?!"

He huffed as he neared the casket, and the image changed into a likeness of Aberforth. The creature or whatever it was reached out it's hand towards Aberforth, a blank expression on it's face.

Snape stalked forward and cast a disillusionment charm but the ghostly image remained and now switched between his image, Aberforth and Harry's, proving that it was not a mere illusion. Snape then noticed that something along the inside of the lid glittered and he hesitantly reached forward to grasp it. It was what appeared to be a diamond and Aberforth's eyes widened greedily before he reached out to grasp it.

"Well, no need to leave that here!" Said the aged wizard.

"No!" Snape bellowed, as he snatched it back and deposited it into the creature's hand. It gave a strange moan, and the lid swung close over it, while at the same time a door appeared across from them. Aberforth cleared his throat and walked forward a bit quickly and oddly enough Snape and Harry traded a look behind the old wizard's back. It seemed they could at least agree on something; Aberforth was no Albus.

Harry followed Snape into the room, and his eyes widened as he glanced at the surroundings. It appeared to be a small, comfortable sitting room; the kind that you would expect to see in a homey cottage located somewhere around Coniston village(1). There was a fireplace with a small fire crackling in the grate directly across from the door, and across the mantle piece were several tasteful knick-knacks. There was a couch and two arm chairs, a glass coffee table, and a curio cabinet scattered around the room.

The curio cabinet was made of glass, mirror, and black wood with fancy designs etched into it. There were sculptures of glass, ivory, and gold inside, of which some were set with diamonds and other precious stones. There were both cloth and regular tapestries along three of the walls, and the other wall had a large,beautiful mural of a forest with a intricately painted elf maiden riding a unicorn in the center. Lush white carpets covered the floor, which contrasted elegantly with the blue tones that the walls were painted in.

Completing the look, there was what looked to be a beautiful golden leopard asleep in front of the fireplace. If one was to look close enough, strange sparkles seems to surround the leopard, as though there were glitter spread all around it. Snape and Aberforth stood frozen in horror in the doorway, but Harry didn't notice as he walked forward to inspect the room and get a closer look at the leopard. As he moved nearer to the fireplace, he noticed that the cup sat in the center of the mantelpiece.

"Harry, don't!" Yelled Snape.

He looked back at his ex-professor and scrunched his nose as he replied, "Why? It's just a leopard..."

Aberforth rushed forward and pushed the teen out of the way, huffing out,"That's no leopard, it's a Nundu! Honestly, boy!"

Harry looked confused as he asked, "What's a Nundu?"

Snape glared as he answered dryly, "An extremely dangerous magical creature that could kill us all within moments, Potter."

"Oh," Harry said and then fell silent as Aberforth cast spell after spell, trying to figure out how to get the cup down.

After about fourty minutes, Harry'd had enough and he said, "It's been sleeping this long, if it was going to wake up then it would have."

Snape said nothing as Aberforth turned back to stare at the green eyed wizard.

"I haven't been able to locate a single spell on it, I have no idea what to do," the old wizard admitted dolefully.

Snape grit his teeth, and Harry sighed in frustration.

"Fine," Harry said, "There's no spells on it, then this shouldn't be a problem."

Snape watched, feeling detached, as Harry's shot a Severing Charm at the cup. There was an odd clattering sound as the cup flew off the mantle onto the floor unbroken, and the door to the room flew shut suddenly. The fire roared up in the grate, and the sparkles around the Nundu disappeared as the creature woke up with a roar. Harry backed up into the wall as it blinked it's eyes open, and Aberforth immediately started casting spells at it.

"Fool!" roared Snape, "You incompetent imbecile!"

Harry shrunk back as the Nundu prepared to breathe out onto them and reacting quickly, he shot a wind spell to deflect it's breath, while at the same time that Aberforth shot a freezing spell. The two spells combined to create a freezing wind that turned it's breath to ice and blew the poisoned shards back at it. Snape cast a bone-breaking hex that it dodged, while Aberforth ran back to work on getting the door opened. Harry watched in shock as Snape continued holding it off and then after his brain kicked in the teen managed to aim a few well-placed spells at the thing while the greasy haired wizard distracted it.

Finally, Harry heard Aberforth give a cry of victory and Harry blasted the Nundu with a Banishing Charm that sent it flying across the room. Snape ran over to them and Aberforth motioned them both through the door quickly as the Nundu regained it's footing and ran after them. They got to the stairs by the time it caught up to them, and Aberforth reapplied the blood rune to open the trap door while Snape and Harry once again held the Nundu off. It managed to get several nasty scratches in on Snape and the Death Eater spy fell down after a particularly vicious swipe.

Harry then cast Diffindo at it in desperation, causing it to whirl around and run at him. It dodged the curse and sucked in a breath; Harry managed to jump out of the way of it's breath just in time and cast a quick air-clearing charm where it had breathed. Snape got back up and managed to level a Incendio at the Nundu, which reared back and screeched as it was hit. The greasy haired wizard seized Harry's shoulder roughly and yanked him up, pulling him over to the stairs.

Harry cursed when he realized they'd left the Horcrux and he freed himself from Snape's grasp before running back and retrieving it from the floor of the sitting room. As he ran back out toward the stairs the Nundu lunged
at him, gashing his side before he viciously hit it over the head with the cup and sprinted the rest of the way to the stairs and out the trap door that Aberforth was holding open. They slammed it shut just in time on
the Nundu, the sounds of it roaring in fury and agony while scratching at the door filtering through.

Harry collapsed outside the room and as he set the cup down on the dirty basement floor he immediately cast a Reducto on it, much to Snape and Aberforth's chagrin. Harry stiffened when a strange glow emanated from the Horcrux as it was destroyed and something seemed to flow into him. He wasn't the only one to notice the odd occurrence, as both Snape and Aberforth stared at him apprehensively. He suddenly sagged forward and Aberforth rushed forward to catch him. The last thing he was aware of was being apparated away and levitated onto a soft surface before blackness overtook him.

TBC...

After notes -

I've decided I'm not making Neville the boy-who-lived. I'm going with the Dumbledore faked the prophecy angle. I'm ignoring the Seventh book as that will complicate things far too much.