Bonded chapter 83

Chapter 83 -

"Sometimes, I can't believe our luck," Harry said with a small sigh as he finished getting ready to go to school, his mind thinking back on the past few weeks he'd spent in Sirius's house.

After finding the ring and returning home with Tonks for a multi-hour, private celebration, he noticed the ring had been acting weird. It didn't take him long to realise that the ring was reacting to another soul piece. One of the key things about horcruxes was that you had to keep them far away from yourself in order to avoid the soul trying to return, rendering the horcrux useless. If the ring had been acting like that, it stood to reason that either Voldemort was in the house or that there was another horcrux.

So after he and Tonks had put their clothes back on, they ran around the house like madmen, trying to find the damn thing until Tonks managed to find it in pile of rubbish that the now deceased Kreacher had hid. The horcrux in question was Slytherin's locket, a horcrux that Voldemort had originally hidden in a cave far from here with the help of Regulus Black, Sirius's brother. Something that raised a lot of questions for Harry. Regulus was supposed to be Voldemort's man through and through, something Sirius and Voldemort both believed with a certainty, so what was the horcrux doing here? Voldemort didn't know about this, at least not at the time when he attacked Godric's Hollow, and Sirius likely also didn't know about it. Even if he did, Harry doubted he could just ask the man without raising a ton of questions.

Truth be told, Harry didn't really care too much about why Regulus ended up with the horcrux; he was just happy that he had it without having to go through a cave to find it. Not to mention, he and Tonks decided that this bout of luck was worth another celebration, which they had after she came back from work.

Sirius had offered to help get Tonks a job at the Daily Prophet, but she had refused, citing that she had already worked for one brain-dead group of imbeciles; she wasn't going to work for another (obviously not counting the lovely girl that Sirius was dating). Not to mention that she found herself surprisingly enjoying her job at the Quibbler. As far as Luna and her father were concerned, Tonks was allowed to post anything and everything she wanted since they were firm believers of one thing.

'The truth should never be stopped. Unless you have a doctor's note.'

Tonks had initially started on small things like a potential increase in Ministry taxes, several new stores opening in Diagon Alley and so on. But eventually she decided to start writing about Voldemort and his followers. She started by discussing how Harry had been forcibly entered into the tournament before pointing out how he came back far too late after the third task ended. She also went on to point out how Minister Fudge not only refused to investigate Harry's claim, but also went and stopped anyone else from doing it. Even her old boss was not spared from Tonks's written assaults, as she stated that someone who doesn't have the guts to stand up for what's right shouldn't be in charge of the country's protection. The ministry hadn't really reacted to it yet, but according to Tonks, her new boss was pleased, as apparently the copies of the paper were flying off the shelves.

'Yes,' Venom said from within Harry. 'It's a fortunate stroke of luck that we managed to get the other horcrux easily. Once at school, we can get the diadem. Then, should we go for the cup?'

'Nah,' Harry mentally replied with a shake of his head. 'I doubt there's any point in doing so. Voldemort's going to need to sacrifice one of them; he can't use the same ritual as before and the other rituals he knows about are horseshit in comparison. More drawbacks than advantages. He believes that the locket will be safe where it is, he'll never want to go back to the Gaunt shack unless he's desperate.'

'He is desperate,' Venom pointed out.

'More desperate,' Harry replied easily. 'He hates that place, he hates everything associated with it. He believes that he's the only one who knows about the secret room in Hogwarts, but he won't want to risk getting caught by Dumbledore. The old bastard is the only one that the other old bastard fears. He knows his cup is in the goblin's vault, and Voldemort never trusted them, so it stands to reason that that's the one he's going to go for. I say, let him, it's one less obstacle for us and we need a body to destroy anyway once we're done with all the horcruxes, or Voldy will end up roaming the world for however long he can before he fades away.'

'Hmm,' Venom let out a growl. 'He's been a thorn in our side for too long, I'll enjoy ending him.'

'Ditto,' Harry said darkly.

(.)

"Look after yourself, Harry," Sirius said, hugging Harry on the train platform. The Tonks family wanted to come and see him off as well, but Andromeda was simply going to meet him at the school, while Ted and Tonks had to both go to work. Ted had said goodbye to him the day before, while Tonks sent him off the night before with some wonderful memories.

"I will, you have someone look after you, you obviously can't do it yourself," Harry said with a teasing grin, earning a laugh from Sirius.

"Cheeky bugger," He said, ruffling Harry's head before he sobered up. "You have your communication mirror, right?"

"That I do," Harry tapped his pocket where his trunk had been shrunk and placed. "Don't worry, Siri, if Voldemort shows up again, then I'll just break his neck. Done deal." He said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Sometimes, I don't know what to think about you, Harry," Sirius admitted with a deep sigh. His godson, lovely boy that he was, truly believed that it was such a simple thing to break the neck of the man who had terrorised the wizarding world for decades. But...then again...he did beat him before, so maybe Harry actually knew he was talking about. Perking up at that thought, Sirius hugged Harry again before the train horn interrupted. "Off you go, Harry. Remember to write." He said as he let go.

"I will, Sirius, have fun with your girlfriend." Harry grinned before hopping onto the train. One goodbye wave later, Harry walked down he train before finding a compartment with Luna inside. "Hey Luna," Harry asked, leaning his head into the compartment so he could talk to Luna, who looked up from the latest issue of the Quibbler. "Mind if I join you?" He asked politely.

"Oh, not at all," She said brightly, gesturing for him to come inside. "How were your holidays?" She asked as he sat opposite her.

"Very good, actually," Harry said with a smile. "What about you? Did you have fun?"

"Oh yes, Daddy and I went on a trip to Hawaii to find triple-cheeked, Mum-chickers." She revealed with a happy smile.

"Oh, what are those?" Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know, we never found any," She shrugged. "Still, the trip was nice. Not to mention that Daddy is quite happy with how the Quibbler is doing. He says it's more popular than ever. Tonks's stories about you-know-who's return were quite fascinating and interesting."

"That they were, all true as well," Harry replied. "I hope it gets people to think and prepare. Everything could go to shit if people aren't ready to fight."

"So, what you're saying is that the quibbler could potentially help save the magical world?" Luna perked up.

"Honestly...probably."

"That's nice," Luna smiled before going back to her book, looking a tad bit smug.

(.)

One lengthy train ride later and Harry found himself sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. He had clapped politely whenever the first-year students got sorted, but he was starving, and he wanted to eat. From the looks of things, his other housemates felt the same. Once the sorting ceremony was done, everyone quickly started ripping into their food. Ron, in particular, ate his chicken wings like it was the first time he had ever tried it, earning an annoyed "Ron!" from Hermione. Once everyone had finished eating, the food vanished, and Dumbledore stepped up to his podium. Harry wanted to just head up to his dorm, but he knew that he had to endure Dumbledore's regular start-of-year speech first.

"Welcome, welcome all to another year at Hogwarts!" Professor Dumbledore spoke with a bright smile on his face, looking like he genuinely didn't want to be anywhere else. "A warm welcome to all students, old and new." He said before his smile dimmed slightly. "There are only two new announcements regarding the staff, firstly, Professor Hagrid will not be here for the first part of the year at least, so I'd like for us all to give a warm welcome to Professor Grubbly-Plank, who has agreed to take over for the year until Professor Hagrid returns." Professor Dumbledore said, pausing briefly as his smile seemed to dim a bit more." And now," He continued speaking, looking like it took him a bit more effort to maintain his smile. "Allow me to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge." He said as he gestured to the head table where Professor Umbridge was sitting between Professor McGonagall and Snape. She noticeably stood out from the other teachers due to her insistence on dressing head to toe in pink despite being a grown-ass woman who worked in one of the highest government positions and in the most famous Magical school in the world, a colour that especially clashed against Professor McGonagall's emerald robes and Snape's all-black get up.

'That's the bitch that Tonks told us about, yes?' Venom asked darkly.

'Yep.' Harry said in a cold voice. 'Sitting right next to Snape, the bitch.'

'Maybe we could kill the two of them at the same time,' Venom suggested. 'But personally, I'd like to savour Snape's death without Umbridge spoiling the mood.'

'Agreed,' Harry said instantly.

"Now, Quidditch try-outs will begin..." Dumbledore started speaking again, only to be interrupted by a rather blatantly fake cough.

"Hem, hem." Professor Umbridge said with another fake cough as she stood up from her seat. Ignoring the glares from her fellow teachers, she walked around the table with a bright smile as if taking a simple walk around the park. She walked past Professor Dumbledore and stood in front of his podium, her head barely high enough to see over it.

Everyone watched like they were witnessing a car crash. Nobody ever interrupted Dumbledore during his welcoming speech, Professor McGonagall looked like she was trying to blast Umbridge from behind and end her with a pure, unfiltered glare.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome." Professor Umbridge said, her high-pitched voice carrying across the hall. She gave everyone a smile that she clearly intended to be used in a way to make her seem more kind and welcoming, unfortunately for her, it was rather creepy. A few people actually grimaced. "It is just so very wonderful to be back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, almost as wonderful as it is to see all of your faces smiling up at me." She said, her smile widening. There was a collective snort from a great many students in the hall, but Professor Umbridge seemed not to have heard it, nor did she appear to have noticed that the majority of the school hall were not smiling; in fact, she seemed to be the only one who was doing so. Poor Neville actually looked around to see if he was the only one who wasn't smiling, and so did a few other people. Fred Weasley had even looked at his twin accusingly, as if to ask, 'Were you the one who smiled at her?!'. "I'm sure we will all be the best of friends!" She added, sounding like it was an inevitable thing that would happen.

"Death first, bitch." Harry whispered under his breath, earning amused reactions from those in hearing distance. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had taken a step back and smiled serenely at Umbridge, looking like he wanted nothing more than to listen to her speech.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards of the most vital importance." Professor Umbridge continued, her eyes never blinking as she continued her 'lovely' little speech. "Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school..." She paused and gave Dumbledore a barely perceptible and reluctant nod. "...Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged." She said loudly, sounding more like someone trying to get votes than someone talking to school kids. "It is our duty to know when to act and when not to. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be..." She paused once more and leaned forward. "Prohibited." She added in a whisper, which was still heard all across the hall, she stood up straighter and let out a small giggle before returning to her seat, leaving the hall in deafening silence. She sat in her seat, back straight and chest puffed out with pride as if she had done something great.

"Thank you very much, Madam Umbridge," Dumbledore said, clapping with more enthusiasm than Harry thought she deserved. He was the only one who clapped amongst the teachers, with only one or two half-hearted claps from a few students. "Well," He said to the student body once he was done. "I suppose the rest of my speech hardly seems necessary. If there are any truly important matters, I'll have your head of houses inform you tomorrow. Now, it's time for you all to go to bed, I suppose. But before you go, I think there was something I was supposed to remind you of. What was it? Hmm...oh. Oh yeah, Voldemort's back, do be careful." He said casually before turning and walking out of the hall, ignoring the death glare he got from the previously smiling Umbridge.

"Stupid old man," She whispered hatefully under her breath. "He's not back."

(.)

"I'm back!" Hissed Voldemort as he stood in front of the mirror he conjured.

He felt it a shame that he had to sacrifice his horcrux, but still, he had more left. Besides, there was no other option. He couldn't repeat the previous ritual, and the other ones weren't worth doing at all. This was the only option he had left. He looked at his new form. Just as tall as before, with milk-white skin and his patented red eyes. Though it wasn't as perfect, just like before, he had no nose, just two slits. But now he had no ears, not visible ones anyway. He could feel them, but they were covered in a layer of skin which matched the rest of his head, leaving him looking like he had two bulges on the side of his head. That wasn't the only difference; unfortunately, his perfect teeth were now sharp fangs, and his tongue was now the same as a snake's.

"I'm back, Harry Potter, and you will pay for this," Voldemort promised.

(.)

A.N: Hey guys, hope you liked the chapter. I was originally going to change Voldemort up a lot more, but then I just realised that it was kind of just a copy of one of my other fics. Either way, hope you enjoyed the story. By my estimation, there are fewer than ten chapters left. At least if I follow my story notes, though no guarantees, as I might stretch some parts into two chapters. But still,, we're nearing the end and I hope everyone enjoys it.