The Dark Lord's Pet Princess

67. A Handy Hint

Despite having a long time to plan the attack on Harry, Voldemort still failed to kill the boy.
Larissa knew that Harry had been moved to the Burrow, to live with the Weasley. And after a lot of persuading, she managed to convince Remus to allow her to talk to Harry.
Since she was a death eater, she couldn't just apparate directly there. And there was no loophole that allowed her to get in, like there was with 12 Grimmauld Place.
So Larissa needed access to be granted to her by a member of the Order.

Remus agreed to sneak her inside, behind the Ministry's back, so one afternoon she left the Malfoy Manor to meet up with him.
He then got her past all the enchantments around the Burrow, and took her inside to meet Harry.
"Lupin said you wanted to see me" said Harry, who had his arms folded, and was glaring at Larissa.
She knew why he was angry at her, for the last time he'd seen her, she'd been fleeing Hogwarts after Dumbledore's death.
Larissa and Harry were both stood inside Ron's room, so that they could talk without being overheard.
"Yes, I did. But it looks like you have questions of your own, so I'll let you ask away first, so that you can focus on what I have to say after" admitted Larissa.

"I do have some questions. Were you there the night I left? Did you try to kill me?" Questioned Harry.
"Of course I didn't try to kill you. And no, I wasn't there. My master hasn't wanted to send me on any missions lately. Even though Dumbledore was successfully killed, we still lost a death eater that night. Gibbon was nobody important, but Voldemort was worried it could have been me. He worries greatly for my wellbeing, which is why he didn't want to risk me accompanying him on the mission to kill you" answered Larissa.

"If he cares so much about you, how did you get away to talk to me today?" Asked Harry suspiciously.
"He doesn't want to send me on missions anymore. But he's not foolish enough to limit the time I spend away from him. I earned my freedom though hard work, and he doesn't want to go back on his promise" revealed Larissa.
"You were there that night on the Astronomy tower, yet you did nothing to help Dumbledore"
"There was nothing I could have done to protect him. Revealing that I was a spy for Dumbledore, would have helped no one. Because even if I had defended him, the two of us would still have been outnumbered".

"You could have tried! You just stood there and let it happen!" Shouted Harry.
"I had to. Dumbledore didn't want me to get involved. He knew right from the beginning that Draco was trying to kill him, because I told him. And Dumbledore did not want me to get involved, because he wished for me to remain a spy for the Order, after his death. Besides, Dumbledore was old, and didn't have long left to live anyway. So me saving him that night, would only have given him a few more months. Dumbledore was dying and there was nothing anyone could do to save him. Not me, and certainly not you. You might be the chosen one, but it was not your job to keep him alive".

Harry sighed, "Why did you come here today and what did you want to ask me?".
"I want to know if you found a Horcrux that night, when you went off with Dumbledore?" Questioned Larissa.
Harry's jaw dropped, "You know about Voldemort's Horcruxes?".
"Yes. I'm the only death eater who does, because when Voldemort first shared my body, he could not hide his thoughts from me. I heard him thinking about Horcrux's, and questioned him about them. It wasn't long after that when he worked out how to shield his thoughts from me, while inside my body" revealed Larissa.

"So, you know what they are and where they are hidden?" Quizzed Harry, who couldn't hide the excitement from his voice.
"I'm afraid that I do not know much more than you. Me and Dumbledore were working together all last year, trying to put the pieces together. And when you got hold of Slughorn's memory and told us how many Horcruxes there were, we figured out what objects he had placed his soul inside" explained Larissa.
"Why did Dumbledore not tell me any of this himself?" Questioned Harry.
"Because unlike me, you are useless at Occlumency, and we didn't want to risk Voldemort reading your thoughts and learning that we were onto him".

"Dumbledore kept so many secrets from me" mumbled Harry.
"He only did it to protect you" insisted Larissa.
"So everyone says... Do you really know what all the Horcruxes are?" Asked Harry.
"I believe so. The diary, which you destroyed and Marvolo's ring, which Dumbledore destroyed. I know that Nagini is a Horcrux, because I was there the night Voldemort turned her into one. I'm telling you now though, that that's not a process anyone wants to witness, it's very gruesome. Anyway, I have a hunch that the other three Horcruxes are Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's diadem and Hufflepuff's cup"
"Dumbledore thought that too. He also said that the 7th part of Voldemort's soul resides in his body".

Dumbledore had told Larissa not to reveal to Harry that she was a Horcrux, because he didn't want Harry to work out that he was one too.
He didn't want Harry to learn the truth, until all of the other Horcruxes had been destroyed, because he wasn't sure that the boy would have the courage to do what needed to be done otherwise.
So Larissa knew that she, like Dumbledore, had to lie to Harry to protect him.

"So, did you find a Horcrux that night?" Asked Larissa.
Harry sighed and shook his head, "We went to the spot where the Horcrux was hidden, and it ended up being Slytherin's locket. But someone had gotten there before us and replaced the Horcrux with a fake".
Larissa frowned, "How can you be so sure it's a fake?".
"Because inside the locket there is a note, explaining that the real locket was stolen by someone who intended to destroy it"
"Did this person say who they were?"
"No, they just signed it with their initials, R.A.B".

Larissa's heart began to beat twice as fast, as Harry said the initials out loud.
To anyone else, using initials to sign something would be strange.
But Larissa knew exactly who had written that note and stolen the real Horcrux, because she had seen R.A.B written all over the place at home.
R.A.B stood for Regulus Arcturus Black, her youngest brother.

With this new information, Larissa wanted to leave and search Grimmauld Place for the locket immediately.
"I've got to go" announced Larissa.
"What's wrong? Do you know who R.A.B is?" Asked Harry.
"No, I don't. But listen to me Harry, you have to track down the rest of the Horcruxes. It's all up to you now. Dumbledore believed that you could do it, so I have faith in you" replied Larissa.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. I'm not going back to Hogwarts in September. Me, Ron and Hermione are going to look for the remaining Horcruxes".

"Well, I wish you good luck. You have to succeed for all our sakes. And Harry, one last thing, don't trust anyone at the Ministry. Right now the Minister does not have your best interests at heart. And I know that very soon he will be removed from office and replaced by someone who means you a great deal of harm" revealed Larissa.
"Voldemort's going to attack the Ministry?" Questioned Harry.
"Yes. I can't say when or how, but it will be soon. So you must keep yourself safe, and tell no one about the Horcruxes. It's all up to you now"
"I won't let you and Dumbledore down"
"You'd better not".