Harry Potter and the Horcruxes by hpboy13

It was a very strange occurrence in number four, Privet Drive.  In fact, it had never happened before.  The Dursleys had been asked to have a talk with their nephew, Harry Potter.  What was even more unusual was that they had consented.

Harry had thought long and hard on how much to tell the Dursleys.  After all, they had never even wanted to hear about the world he lived in, much less cared about it.  Harry lived in a world as different from theirs as possible, for Harry was a wizard.  However, Harry was sure that at least Aunt Petunia, his dead mother’s sister, would at least have an inkling of what he was talking about.  Harry had thought that Aunt Petunia was just like the other Dursleys.  However, she had let that illusion slip a tiny bit two years ago.  So Harry had decided to tell the Dursleys, just in case one of them would care a bit.

Harry Potter sat facing his last living relatives: bony Aunt Petunia, who had a very long neck and blond hair; large Uncle Vernon, who had almost no neck but had a very bushy mustache; and Dudley, who was even larger than Uncle Vernon, had no neck, and had several chins and thick blond hair.  Harry took a deep breath and started.

“Well, as you know, Lord Voldemort has returned—“

“You told us that that two years ago, boy!” Uncle Vernon interrupted.

Harry patiently continued.  “Well, recently, Dumbledore was killed—“

Harry was interrupted again, this time by Aunt Petunia.  “What?!” she faltered, “But—who could kill Albus Dumbledore?”

Harry stared at his Aunt.  He had known that she knew more than she let on, but this was over the top.  How would she know that Albus Dumbledore was considered the greatest wizard of modern times?  Harry decided he would investigate his Aunt’s mysterious knowledge another time.

Harry launched into an explanation of the Horcruxes and Snape’s treachery.  During Harry’s explanation, Aunt Petunia looked anxious and scared, Uncle Vernon looked as though he wasn’t comprehending most of it, and Dudley looked like a mixture between the two.  When Harry finished, Aunt Petunia asked tentatively, “So what are you going to do now?”

Harry replied fiercely, “I’m going to find the remaining four Horcruxes and destroy them!  And then I’m going to destroy Voldemort once and for all!”

Aunt Petunia said in a soft voice, “I wish you good luck.  If there’s any way at all that I can help you out, just say the word.”

Harry gaped at her.  In the sixteen years that he had known Aunt Petunia, she had never offered him help before.  Apparently, Dumbledore’s death had brought about a great change of heart in her.  “Well,” he said feebly, “Just keep an eye on the Muggle newspapers for anything out of the ordinary.”

~*~*~

It was a dark room, and in it sat eight people.  Seven of them were sitting in a half-circle around the last one.  This person looked hardly human, and indeed he was, for he was Lord Voldemort.  His skin was unnaturally white, and he had red eyes with slits for pupils.  He had a flat nose with slits for nostrils, like a snake.

One of the others spoke up.  He had a curtain of black hair, yellow teeth, sallow skin, and a large hooked nose.  “Please, my Lord,” he said, “How do you plan on getting into Hogwarts?”

Next to him sat a short, balding little man, with very rat-like features, including small eyes and a sharp pointed nose. He had a silver hand.  “Please, my Lord,” he whimpered, “I could infiltrate Hogwarts as a rat.  It would be easy.”

On the other side of the hook-nosed man sat a woman.  She had black hair and heavily lidded eyes.  “Please, Wormtail,” she said in a harsh voice, “As if we’re going to trust you with something this important!”

Voldemort spoke, and instantly there was silence.  “Bellatrix is quite right, Wormtail.  This is a mission for the elite Death Eaters.”

“I’m the one who returned you to your body,” Wormtail muttered sullenly.

One of the wizards rolled his eyes.  “You think that just because you did that, you are the best Death Eater here,” he said.

The hook-nosed man spoke again.  “Worthless though Wormtail is, he has been more helpful to the Dark Lord by returning him to a body than you have been by sitting in Azkaban, Rabastan.  The gesture was no doubt appreciated—“

“How dare you!” a man next to Rabastan shrieked.  “We endured Dementors for 14 years while all you were doing to help the Dark Lord is being Dumbledore’s lapdog!”

The hook-nosed man replied, “And yet, Rodolphus, I am the one who killed Dumbledore.”

Then the only teenager there, a pale blond boy, said sullenly, “I would have killed him if you hadn’t interfered, Snape.”

Snape answered, “It seemed to me, Draco, that you had plenty of time to kill him.”

Draco retorted, “I was trying to get information out of him.”

Snape sneered.  “Well, what information did you get?” he said in an unpleasant voice.

Draco boldly replied, “None because Amycus and Alecto and Fenrir and you interfered.”

“Forgive me for saying so, Draco,” Bellatrix said, “But unless you had found out how to kill Potter, Dumbledore’s death would have been more valuable than any information you could have gotten.”

“Be that as it may, Aunt Bellatrix, it would have been nice to kill Dumbledore and to, say, find out the location of the Order of the Phoenix,” Draco replied.

“Speaking of which,” Bellatrix said, “Why can’t you tell us the location, Snape?”

“Because,” Snape answered, “They have made a new Secret-Keeper.  Probably McGonagall.”

“I always hated her,” said Draco.  Everyone there nodded.

“She was even a pain in the neck when we were at school together,” Voldemort said, “But she was a lot better-looking back then.”

Then they started bickering that Snape should have killed McGonagall when he had the chance, or told someone the location before they made McGonagall the new Secret-Keeper.  Snape claimed that he was preoccupied at the moment.

“Enough!” Voldemort said.  “Stop squabbling like a bunch of school-children.  Minerva McGonagall is not the new Secret-Keeper.  Being my most elite Death Eaters, you should know how the Fidelius Charm works.  If the Secret-Keeper dies, the Secret dies with him or her.  Those who already know the Secret will continue to know it, but be powerless to divulge it.  Therefore, only the Order of the Phoenix now knows the location, and they can’t tell anyone.  This is why it’s a very good thing the Potters made Wormtail their Secret-Keeper.  He told me.  If they had kept Sirius Black as Secret-Keeper, he would rather have died than betrayed the secret, in which case I would never have gotten to know the Secret.

“Now then, to the tasks at hand.  Wormtail, you will enter Hogwarts as a rat, but only as a spy.  Snape, you are to guard Helga Hufflepuff’s cup.  Bella, I wish you to perform some murders for me.  Rabastan and Rodolphus, you are to perform a special murder for me.”

Those mentioned all muttered, “Yes, my Lord.”  Then Draco spoke up.  He said, ”Please, my Lord, what can I do?”

Voldemort said, in an icy voice, “I have a special treat for you.  It’s for doing so well on you first mission.  Avada Kedavra!”

A gasp came from a witch with waist-length blond hair who was sitting between Bellatrix and Draco.  She fainted.  Her unconscious body hit the floor at the same time as the body of her dead son.