Chapter 37: Down the rabbit hole.

Harry ducked under the hail of Disarming charms and fired off a blast of fire using the Incendio spell. His fire was parted in the middle by a counter spell and it split away from his target. The fire twisted and turned before coalescing behind his target's back.

"Uh oh!" Harry muttered as the fire twisted into a huge ball and rushed straight for him.  

"Okay. Here goes nothing." He muttered and began concentrating on the new spell he picked up from one of Slytherin's books.

Placing his wand diagonally against his palm he envisioned the rapid twisting of air.

"Expugno."

A miniature twister formed over his left palm and began picking up speed. Pumping more juice into the spell, Harry pushed his palm outward. The miniature twister suddenly grew into a giant lance of storm that rushed out of his open palm. It batted away the fire and struck the hastily put-up shield of his target.

The lance of wind speared into the shield and began grinding against its surface. It only took five seconds before the shield shattered like glass and his spell found its mark.

The target was thrown off violently to the other end of the duelling hall. There was a loud crash and wood splintered in every direction.

"Phew! I finally got you, you stupid piece of wood." Harry crowed as he celebrated his 'victory' over the duelling dummy provided by the Room of Requirement.

Of course, the dummy quickly reformed and sat quietly in the corner. But, Harry was not ready for another magical bout. He has been going at it for half an hour straight. He needed some relaxing time.

With that in mind, Harry pushed open a door and entered the room with the pool in it. Suddenly, a plate hovered near his eye level with a glass of orange juice and a packet of cigarettes.

"Thanks, Dobby. You even managed to get my favourite pack as well. Nice." said Harry, before he drained the juice.

After that, Harry put a cigarette in his mouth. It lit up with a snap of Dobby's finger.

"Thanks, Dobby." he said, after taking a drag of the smoke.

"Master Harry Potter sir should not use smokey. It be bad for you sir." said Dobby in his usual squeaky voice.

Harry smiled and patted Dobby's head affectionately.

"You are a good friend Dobby. But, I'll be fine. There are cleansing rituals that should wipe out any carbon residue from my lungs." said Harry.

He took a few more drags before vanishing the cigarette and jumping into the pool. As Harry began backpedalling he looked at Dobby who looked like he wanted to say something.

"Do you want to say something Dobby?" asked Harry.

"Oh yes, sir. Dobby found what master Harry Potter sir has been looking for."

Now that made Harry curious.

"What do you mean Dobby?" he asked, stopping his swimming.

"Well, sir. Dobby couldn't help but notice Harry Potter sir's plan in the nasty snakey's home sir." said Dobby while snapping his fingers.

The sound of the snap echoed in the room and four huge metal crates fell beside Dobby with a loud thud. Just a look at the crates keyed in on what Dobby was talking about.

"Oh, Dobby. What have you done?"

Harry rubbed his face as he looked inside the crate. As he feared, Dobby went ahead and stole the essential equipment he needed for executing one of the plans for the Third Task.

"Is Harry Potter sir not happy with Dobby sir?" asked Dobby, his large green tennis ball eyes staring at Harry.

"No Dobby. But, in the future always ask me before acting on my plans alright."

"Dobby will do that sir." said Dobby, flattening his ears sadly.

"Tell me Dobby. Did you manage to evade the security?" Harry asked fearing the need for some cleanup. He hadn't gone ahead with this plan because he need to master the memory charm in case of any risky elements in the mission.

"Dobby did sir. Dobby sneaked in and made everyone sleep, sir. He also took care of those pesky camies sir." said Dobby, excitedly hopping from one leg to the other.

"Camies? Oh, you mean cameras."

"Yes, those sir. Dobby made them go poof."

Dobby's colourful vocabulary aside this was no laughing matter.

"Exactly how did you do that?" he asked curiously.

"Dobby just vanished them for a time, sir. After Dobby took what Harry Potter sir wanted he restored the camies."

"Are you sure no one saw you Dobby?

"Oh yes, sir. Dobby was invisible sir."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He took a look at the contents of the crate once more before closing it down. He was sure the warehouse manager was going to be in a heap of trouble when they find these crates missing. There was nothing he could do about it. One man's victory is another man's defeat. It is a cosmic law. One has to die for another to flourish.

Similarly, the old system and its enablers have to die for the young to flourish.

"It seems Plan B is the way to go." Harry muttered, as he closed the crates.

"Dobby, take these crates to the Chamber." Harry ordered.

As Dobby disappeared with the crates Harry let out a sigh. The path forward was now clear. There was going to be a lot of work but Harry believed he could pull this off.

'It'd have been easy if there was a way to trap Voldemort's spirit.' Harry thought as he jumped back into the pool.

He was still reading up on the topic of Horcruxes. If there is a way to trap a split soul he'd use it on a dime. Until then, he'd be working under the assumption that Voldemort is impossible to kill or imprison.

'Well, not exactly impossible to kill.' Harry thought.

It was then Harry had an epiphany.

'Ravenclaw's diadem.'

A moment later Harry stood outside the Room of Requirement pacing back and forth with one thought in his mind.

'I need the Room of Hidden things.'

Harry repeated over and over in his mind until a door materialized on his third pass.

Stepping into the room Harry was greeted by towering walls of objects left by previous students.

"Accio Ravenclaw's diadem."

Harry waited a moment but nothing happened.

"Anti-summoning jinx. That dark bastard has to make this more complicated." Harry muttered as he began searching for the tiara of Rowena Ravenclaw the old-fashioned way.

It was near a statue of some sort. This he knew. The vanishing cabinet was also supposed to be nearby so he searched for the cabinet first. It took him nearly half an hour to wade through all the junk. He passed by old books, broken chairs, some leaking quills, and even a few axes and polearms.

"Aha!" Harry cried as he found the Vanishing cabinet.

It was covered with cobwebs and it looked like it was almost ready to fall apart.

"You are somewhere around here aren't you?" Harry muttered as he looked around for a statue of some sort.

No such luck. So, he resumed his search but it yielded no results.

Time was slipping by and he was getting frustrated. He nearly abandoned the attempt but then Harry thought of a risky idea. Standing still and closing his eyes, Harry concentrated his magic outward so that his senses could reach out beyond the limits of his body. All his senses shut down except for the sense his magic provided him. With his magic as the metaphysical extended hand, he reached out to the surroundings. For nearly five minutes, he continued the process until finally, he felt the presence of a malevolent power within his sensory turf.

Opening his eyes, Harry rushed towards the source of malevolence. And there it was, the old tiara. Sitting innocently on a wooden box near a stone sculpture of a wizard. The blue gem on the tiara gleamed in the darkness. The closer Harry got to the tiara the urge to place it on his head surged.

'I could become super smart. I could destroy Voldemort easily with a little more wisdom. I could learn everything about magic and become the most powerful sorcerer in the world.'

The temptation was strong.

Who wouldn't want to become the most powerful being in the world? More power means more freedom. More freedom means more comfort. Greater the comfort greater the pleasure.

Pleasure was the ultimate pursuit of all. Without pleasure, there was no point in life. One might as well be dead without some kind of pleasure in life.

"What a price!" Harry whispered looking at the tiara.

The more he spent time looking at the tiara the more beautiful and powerful it felt. But in the end, he pocketed the tiara in a bottomless Mokeskin pouch.

"I'll extract pleasure out of this world on my terms. I don't need a tiara with one-sixth of a soul as a crutch." Harry declared before he made himself scarce.  

Harry had the diadem secured in a bottomless mokeskin pouch and locked it away in a cupboard inside the Chamber. Slytherin's Chamber would hold the diadem till he was prepared to safely dispatch the Horcrux. Besides, there was one more Horcrux within his reach. Slytherin's locket should be safely tucked away in Grimmauld place. Having the locket in his hand should be a priority, especially considering the risks involved in the Third Task.

After securing the diadem Harry decided it was time to pay a visit to the library. He had some books to return. However, Harry froze when he stepped outside the Chamber's entrance as he came face to face with the Ravenclaw tower's ghost.

She looked like she was about to say something but then paused. The ghost of Helena Ravenclaw turned away from him and floated away without saying a word.

Regaining his bearings Harry ran after the ghost.

"Wait!"

He picked up speed but he was nowhere near fast enough to catch a ghost. He turned a corner and the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw was nowhere to be seen.

"Great." Harry muttered dejectedly as he missed the chance to explain himself to the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw.

He felt a bit sorry for her. Even if centuries have passed the diadem is still the heirloom of one of the greatest witches born in this world. It must have been painful for Helena Ravenclaw to watch helplessly as the diadem was desecrated with Voldemort's vile magic.

"You seem upset Harry Potter. Maybe you should take care of those Nargles circling your head." said a melodic voice from his back.

Quickly turning around Harry was greeted by a dirty-blonde-haired girl with large purple glasses blinking away with odd lights. With one look at her, Harry immediately recognized who it was.

"Hi. I'm Harry Potter." He introduced himself offering his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Harry Potter. I'm Luna Lovegood." said Luna, a vacant smile on her face while shaking his hand.

"Can I ask you a question, Harry?"

"Sure."

"Did you happen to see my wand by chance?" asked Luna.

"Oh. Umm... You have your wand on your hair." said Harry, pointing at the piece of wood sticking out of the blonde bun of her hair.

"Oh. Silly me." Luna tittered as she took the wand from her hair letting her hair pool over her shoulders.

Luna suddenly pointed her wand at his face and made a small clockwise spin. There was a silver light that made Harry close his eyes.

"There! The Nargles won't bother you anymore." Luna said happily.

"Thanks, I guess. Are you going to the library?"

"I was not but I can accompany you if you fear the Nargles are going to attack you again." Luna offered.

Harry looked at the strange girl and smiled.

"I'd appreciate that." said Harry as he walked beside Luna and together they made their way towards the library.

XXXXXX

It was evening and Harry finally finished the last day of detention with Snape. The greasy git looked unhappy that the detention was over. Over the week, Snape has been looking for any excuse to get an extension for the detentions. Harry was careful not to fall into the trap. There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming and Harry didn't want to miss it because Mr Personality cannot let go of a grudge against a dead man.

He was just about to take the stairs leading out of the dungeons when he came across both Tracey and Daphne.

"Hi, Harry. Finished with Snape?" asked Tracey.

"Yep."

There was an awkward silence between them as Tracey silently urged someone to speak. Harry was not taking the bait here. He was quite familiar with this kind of situation. If he opened his mouth now he'd be the one to and up saying an apology even though he did no wrong.

"Well, Daphne has something to say." said Tracey, before she pushed Daphne towards Harry.

"I didn't like it when you kissed Delecour."

"Correction." Harry raised a finger in protest. "She kissed me."

"Well, I didn't see you complaining." Daphne snapped back.

"That's because my mouth was otherwise engaged." He deadpanned.

Daphne looked like she was about to spew out hellfire. Thankfully, Tracey chose to intervene.

"Can you both just set aside your attitudes for a moment?" Tracey snapped before rounding on her friend.

Harry remained a silent spectator as the two Slytherins conversed under their breaths for a moment before facing him once more.

"I'd like it if you accompany me to Hogsmeade tomorrow. No politics, no deals and no meetings. Just you and me." Daphne offered, her cheeks burning red as she gazed at Harry for an answer.

Harry remained silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"I'd like that." said Harry.

Harry left the two Slytherins in the dungeons. Daphne was understandably thrilled. He could read that in her eyes but Harry was anything but thrilled. By choosing to go ahead with this date he knew he was cheating on some level.

'Or I could come clean with Fleur.' He thought as he made his way to the Gryffindor tower.

The internal struggle that he was going through made him blind to his surroundings. So, when he was pulled into a broom closet he was surprised. Moreover, he was paralysed enough to not react in any way.

Fortunately, it was not someone hostile.

"Fleur!"

He barely uttered her name before a pair of warm lips engulfed his own in a sensual tango. Hostile His bind went blank except for the pleasure of Fleur's body pressing against him in the confined space. It became incredibly hot and he was slowly succumbing to the allure of Fleur.

'No! Snap out of it!'

Harry slowly regained a hold on his emotions and with great reluctance, he pulled back from Fleur's pouty lips.  

"Arry?" Fleur inquired, her melodic voice caressing his ears.

"I have to tell you something."

Harry began narrating the events involving Daphne and Tracey. When he was finished he waited for the inevitable end of his budding relationship with Fleur. In the end, he was unwilling to lie to Fleur. For some reason, it didn't sit well with him to cheat on Fleur not to mention she'd have eventually found out about his date with Daphne. Nothing can hardly remain a secret at Hogwarts especially when he was about to go out with Daphne to Hogsmeade.

But all of that came crashing down when Fleur gave him an unexpected reply.

"I don't mind."

"What?" Harry reared back in surprise.

"More kissing and less talking 'arry." said Fleur, sneaking her fingers underneath his shirt scratching at his abs while kissing him.

'This is an interesting development.' thought Harry, engaging in a heated make-out session with Fleur.

All worries fled his mind as Fleur deepened the kiss by drawing him in. Under such a situation he could only do one thing. His left arm snaked around Fleur's waist batting away her cloak while his right hand settled on the back of her neck taking her silky hair between his fingers.

Gasping for breath they separated.

Harry could see the lust shining in Fleur's sapphire eyes. He assumed she could see the same in his eyes.

"Arry." Fleur moaned, as she took his head into her hands and kissed him deeply.

One of her legs climbed up and Harry on instinct took her up by her ass.

When they broke up for air once both of them were left panting for air.

"This is not safe." Harry mumbled half-heartedly.

"I agree." said Fleur. "We need anozzer place."

'But that's not what I meant.' Harry silently said in his mind but he dared not air that thought out.

"I know a place." said Harry.

The moment he said that he knew there was no turning back now. The sunny smile gracing Fleur's face made him forget all his inhibitions and he was rewarded with another soul-searing kiss for his efforts.