94 hp Diagon Alley

Am I delusional," Ron called after a long silence, "or are we really descending? "

Harry looked down at mountains and lakes that were dark green, coppery in the setting sun.He squinted his eyes and looked down the side of the dragon. The scene on the ground seemed to be getting bigger and showing more details.He suspected that the dragon felt the presence of the lake because of the reflection of the sun.

The dragon flew lower and lower, descending in a wide circle, seemingly aiming at a smaller lake.

"Listen, we'll jump when it flies lower!" Harry beckoned to his two companions. "Before it senses us, jump straight into the water!"

They agreed, and Hermione's voice of agreement was weak.Now Harry could see the dragon's broad yellow belly swaying in the waves.

"Jump!"

He slid off the side of the dragon, plummeting feet downward toward the lake.The fall was more violent than he had imagined, and he hit the surface hard, like a stone dropped into a cold, green world of reeds.He kicked his legs out to the surface of the lake and came up, panting, to see the large circle of ripples spreading from where Ron and Hermione had fallen.The dragon didn't seem to notice anything, it was already fifty feet away, swooping down on the lake to drink from its scarred muzzle.Ron and Hermione floated up from the depths of the lake, spitting out water and gulping for air.The dragon flew on, flapping its wings violently, and finally came to rest on the far shore of the lake.

Harry, Ron and Hermione swam hard to the other side of it.The lake didn't seem very deep, and soon it changed from swimming to struggling through reeds and silt.Finally they slumped down on the slippery grass, panting, soaked and exhausted.

Hermione collapsed, coughing and shaking.Harry struggled to his feet, drew his wand, and began casting the usual protective spells around them, though he wished he could lie down and sleep for a while in bliss.

When he was done, he returned to his two companions.It was the first time he had seen them closely since he escaped from the vault.Ron and Hermione had red, swollen burns all over their faces and arms, and their clothes were charred in many places.They were applying white essence to countless wounds, frowning in pain.Hermione handed Harry the medicine bottle, and pulled out the three bottles of pumpkin juice and clean robes she had brought from Shell Cottage.The three changed their clothes and began to gulp down pumpkin juice.

"I said, on the bright side," said Ron finally, as he sat watching the skin grow back on his hand, "we got the Horcruxes. The bad side is—"

"—lost the sword," said Harry through gritted teeth, dripping parsley through the charred hole in his jeans and onto the swollen burn.

"Lost the sword," repeated Ron, "that deceitful little rascal . . . "

Harry took the Horcrux fragment out of the pocket of the wet coat he had just removed, and placed it on the grass in front of him.Several fragments glistened in the sun, and Ron and Hermione, who were drinking pumpkin juice, were fascinated.

"At least you moved fast enough to finish off the sword before it was snatched," said Ron, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Thanks to Mad-Eye and Cedric, they're just - Hermione, what's the name of the wizard who fell from the sky and saved the Muggles?"

"I think you mean angel." Hermione rolled her eyes and swallowed a mouthful of pumpkin juice.

"That's the word." Ron nodded with satisfaction, "but how did they find us?"

"Bill told them." Harry replied, looking away from the Horcrux fragment that was causing him pain. "He knows we made a deal with Griphook, and he used to work at Gringotts." .Before we set off, I had a hunch that he probably guessed our plan."

Ron shrugged, "I hope the two of them can escape smoothly."

"They will. That's the most powerful Auror at the Ministry of Magic and his apprentice," said Hermione, as if reassuring herself.But for a few minutes, they all fell silent, worried about the powerful backup of the Order of the Phoenix.

Hermione glanced across the lake, where the dragon was still drinking, and broke the silence. "What do you think will happen to it?" she asked. "Will something happen to it?"

"You talk like Hagrid," said Ron. "He's a dragon, Hermione, and he can take care of himself. It's us to worry about."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, I don't know how to put it mildly," said Ron, "I think those guys might have found out we broke into Gringotts."

All three laughed, and laughed out of control.Harry was a little dazed with hunger and his ribs ached, but he lay on the grass and under the reddened sky laughing until his throat hurt.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" said Hermione at last, hiccupping serious. "He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"

"Maybe they'll be too scared to tell him?" said Ron, taking a chance. "Maybe they'll cover up—"

The sky, the smell of the lake, and Ron's voice suddenly disappeared: the pain stabbed into Harry's head like a sword.He was standing in a dimly lit room, with wizards forming a semicircle facing him, and a small trembling figure knelt on the floor at his feet.

"What did you say?" His voice was high and cold, but anger and fear burned inside.The only thing he was afraid of - but that couldn't be true, he couldn't figure out how...

The goblin was trembling, not daring to look directly at the pair of red eyes aloft.

"Say it again!" muttered Voldemort, "Say it again!"

"Master-Master," the goblin stammered, his black eyes wide open in terror, "Master-Master...we try-try to stop-stop them... imposters, Master... ...broke-broke-in-the Lestrange gold-vault...'

"Imposters? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had a way of identifying impostors, didn't I? Who were they?"

"It's... it's... male-boy Po-Potter and two-two mates..."

"So they took something?" he said, his voice rising, and a terrible premonition seized him. "Tell me! What did they take?"

"One...a little gold-little gold cup, master-master..."

Screams of anger and disbelief left him as if they were strangers.He's mad, enraged, it can't be true, it can't be, no one knows!How could the boy discover his secret?

The Elder Wand snapped from the air, a jet of green light shot out, and the kneeling goblin rolled to the ground, dead.The wizards who were watching scattered and fled in fright.Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy rushed for the door, leaving everyone behind.His wand was broken again and again, and those who did not get away were killed, and none were left, because they brought him the news, because they heard that the golden cup--

Standing alone among the dead, he flew into a rage.It's all before his eyes: his treasures, his bodyguards, his hope of immortality - the diary has been destroyed, the cup has been stolen.What if, what if, the boy knew something else?Will he know?Has he already done it?Did he find more?Is Dumbledore at the root of all this?Dumbledore, the old man always doubted him; Dumbledore, the old man had been slain at his command, and the wand was his; and yet the old man was in the contemptible underworld, through the boy Revenge, that boy—

But if the boy had destroyed one of his Horcruxes, surely he, the Dark Lord Voldemort, would know, surely he would feel it?He was the greatest wizard in the world; he was the most powerful; he killed Dumbledore and many other nobodies.How could he, the Dark Lord Voldemort, not know if he—himself, the most important and precious self—had been attacked and damaged?

Yes, he didn't feel it when the diary was destroyed, but he always thought it was because he wasn't even a ghost at the time, and didn't have a body to feel it... No, the others must be safe... The rest of the Horcruxes must be intact of……

But he knew, he had to be sure... As he paced the room, kicking the goblin's corpse aside, his brain boiled with searing, blurry images: the lake, the cottage, Hogwarts—

His furious mind calmed a little: how could the boy know that he hid the ring in Gaunt's cottage?It had never been known that he was related to the Gaunts, that he had always concealed the connection, that the murder investigation had never led to him: the ring must be safe.

How could the boy, or whoever it was, have known about the cave or penetrated its defenses?The idea of ​​the locket being stolen is ridiculous...

As for the school, only he knows where he hides the Horcrux in Hogwarts, because he alone has detected the deepest secret of Hogwarts...

And Nagini, who must now stay with him, under his protection at all times, no longer sent to carry out orders...

But in order to be safe, absolutely safe, he must return to each hiding place, he must strengthen the protection of each Horcrux... This task, like the search for the Elder Wand, must be done by him alone...

Which one should he go to first?Which one is the most dangerous?A familiar unease flashed through his mind.Dumbledore knows his middle name...Dumbledore may have linked him to the Gaunts...maybe the abandoned Gaunt house is the least safe place to hide, and that's where he's headed first ...

(I.e.