Voices (HP Fanfic)

Chapter 10: The House of Gaunt

"Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." -Carol Burnett

Chapter 10: The House of Gaunt

Penelope's POV:

"Bells?!?" I called as soon as I entered the house, via Floo Network. I heard shuffling of feet and found Bella in the kitchen. "You wanted to see me?"

"Well not me per say." Bell said as she looked over her shoulder. Voldemort came into view and I immediately bowed my head.

"My dear Penelope. Tell me have you learned anything new?" he questioned sitting down in his normal spot.

"About Draco or Potter?" I questioned, "Because Potter has found a Potions textbook that used to belong to Severus and is excelling at Potions under Slughorns' supervision."

"And what of Draco, how is his project coming?"

"He is making progress but I do not think he will be ready for some time." I stated still not making eye contact. I felt warm breath down my neck and I looked behind me to find Greyback. I finally looked up to Voldemort making eye contact.

"You know what you need to do." he told Greyback who took me roughly by the arm. I looked to Bells with a pleading look, but she gave me a sad look.

Third Person POV:

For the rest of the week's Potions lessons Harry continued to follow the Half-Blood Prince's instructions wherever they deviated from Libatius Borage's, with the result that by their fourth lesson Slughorn was raving about Harry's abilities, saying that he had rarely taught anyone so talented. Neither Ron nor Hermione was delighted by this. Although Harry had offered to share his book with both of them, Ron had more difficulty deciphering the handwriting than Harry did, and could not keep asking Harry to read aloud or it might look suspicious. Hermione, meanwhile, was resolutely plowing on with what she called the "official" instructions, but becoming increasingly bad-tempered as they yielded poorer results than the Prince's.

Harry wondered vaguely who the Half-Blood Prince had been. Although the amount of homework they had been given prevented him from reading the whole of his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, he had skimmed through it sufficiently to see that there was barely a page on which the Prince had not made additional notes, not all of them concerned with potion-making. Here and there were directions for what looked like spells that the Prince had made up himself.

"Or herself," Hermione said irritably, overhearing Harry pointing some of these out to Ron in the common room on Saturday evening. "It might have been a girl. I think the handwriting looks more like a girl's than a boy's. And has anyone seen Penelope? She has missed our weekly study sessions."

Harry looked to Hermione with a concerned look. "I have not seen her since the first Postions lesson. And she has not been back since. Which is odd even for her. The Half-Blood Prince, he was called, how many girls have been Princes?"

Hermione seemed to have no answer to this. She merely scowled and twitched her essay on The Principles of Rematerialization away from Ron, who was trying to read it upside down. Harry looked at his watch and hurriedly put the old copy of Advanced Potion-Making back into his bag.

"It's five to eight, I'd better go, I'll be late for Dumbledore."

"Ooooh!" Hermione gasped, looking up at once. "Good luck! We'll wait up, we want to hear what he teaches you! And ask him about Penelope!"

"Hope it goes okay," Ron said, and the pair of them watched Harry leave through the portrait hole. Harry proceeded through deserted corridors, though he had to step hastily behind a statue when Professor Trelawney appeared around a corner, muttering to herself as she shuffled a pack of dirty-looking playing cards, reading them as she walked.