Once we got to the rocks and began to climb up the hill, we told the other two about what we saw. We told them that Voldemort knew that we broke into Gringotts and he also knew what we took while we were there. Hermione scolded at us for letting him in again, but we weren't sure if we could control that or not. Harry also told the others that Voldemort was angry and scared at the same time. Voldemort knew that if we found all the Horcruxes and destroyed them, then we would be able to kill him. But there was something else, too.

"There might be a Horcrux at Hogwarts," Harry blurted out.

"What?" Hermione said. "At Hogwarts? How do you know?"

"Max and I saw it," he replied. "It has something to do with Ravenclaw. We need to get into the castle tonight."

"We can't do that!" Hermione protested. "We've got to come up with a plan! We've got to figure all of this out!"

"Hermione, when have any of our plans actually worked?" Harry pointed out. "We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose."

Hermione gave all of us some dry clothes to change into. Ron and Harry went in another direction so that they could change clothes. Hermione and I stayed where we were at and changed into our clothes.

"Max?" Hermione spoke up as she was taking off her dress.

"Yeah, Hermione?" I said, lifting my wet shirt over my head.

"Do you really think there's a Horcrux at Hogwarts?"

I paused for a moment. "Well, it's a possibility, right? I mean, I know the Horcruxes can be anywhere, but..." I trailed off as I looked down at my charm bracelet. I spotted the blue eagle and I gasped.

"What is it, Max?" Hermione asked.

"My charm that Dumbledore gave me," I stated. "It's not just an eagle."

"Okay? So what?"

I widened my eyes. "Merlin's beard, why the hell didn't I think this before? I'm a genius!"

"Wait, so what are you trying to say here?" Hermione asked, still confused at my realization.

"Don't you get it, Hermione? Each founder of Hogwarts had their own item. Gryffindor's Sword, Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket, and Ravenclaw's Diadem! Rowena Ravenclaw had a diadem. You-Know-Who must've made it into a Horcrux."

"So you're saying that Ravenclaw's Diadem is a Horcrux?"

I nodded my head. "And it's at Hogwarts! Seriously, Hermione, how did you not know about the diadem? I mean, you read all the time, so I don't know how you didn't read about this anywhere."

"Well, I read a lot of books, Max," Hermione pointed out.

"So that's why Dumbledore left me this charm, because he assumed that Ravenclaw had an object as well like Slytherin and Hufflepuff, which You-Know-Who turned into Horcruxes. I have to tell the boys this."

As the boys were walking towards us with dry clothes on, I was getting more and more excited about what I had just discovered. I couldn't believe it took me this long to figure out why Dumbledore left me the charm. Maybe it was because I never really paid attention to the charm ever since we left the wedding. We were so focused on finding the sword and destroying the locket that we didn't even think about the other Horcruxes until it was decided that there was a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault.

"Guys, I think I know what the Horcrux at Hogwarts is," I told the boys as they approached us. I explained to them about the charm that Dumbledore gave me and about how each Hogwarts House had an object, so the object for Ravenclaw was the diadem.

"Are you sure about this, Max?" Harry asked me. "I mean, it's a good theory, but--"

"But what? It makes sense. I remember reading about it in a book somewhere. Each founder had some kind of object The diadem has to be a Horcrux. Why else would Dumbledore leave me the charm in his will?"

"Maybe she's right, Harry," Ron spoke up. "I mean, the other founders had an object, and we've found all of them except for Ravenclaw's."

"Well, we have to go to Hogwarts either way," Hermione said.

"Yeah, that is true," Harry said. "Which is why we have to get into the castle tonight."

"But how? I'm sure Snape has that place loaded with Death Eaters. They're probably surrounding every inch of the castle," I pointed out.

"I have an idea," Harry explained. "When it's nightfall, we should Apparate to Hogsmeade. We can take one of the secret passageways. It might be the only way. I don't think Snape is letting any students go to Hogsmeade, anyway."

"Probably because he's got Death Eaters at Hogsmeade as well!" I shouted. "I'm telling you, Harry, Death Eaters will be everywhere. Snape knows we'll go straight to Hogsmeade since we can't go through the castle."

"But it's the only option we've got, Max," Harry told me. "Plus, we'll be able to see if your theory is right."

"It is right, Harry James Potter," I corrected him, shooting him a serious look.

"So when do we leave?" Hermione asked.

"We'll Apparate to Hogsmeade tonight," Harry replied. "That's the only way."

After our conversation, Ron and Hermione walked away from us, leaving me alone with my brother.

"You know, I think there's something wrong with You-Know-Who," Harry told me.

"You mean, everything just feels disconnected?" I asked him.

He nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I've noticed that, too. You think it's the Horcruxes?"

"I don't know. It's like he's wounded or something. If anything, he feels more dangerous, more threatened."

I nodded my head in agreement. "After all these months, we're finally going back to Hogwarts."

He nodded his head again. "Yeah."

"It's almost like we're going home, isn't it?" I asked him.

He nodded his head again. "Yeah, it is, but I'm worried to see what's happened to it."

We stayed at the top of the hill until the night fell over us. I was worried about this plan since there were going to be Death Eaters everywhere. The worst part was that they were after me and Harry.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Harry asked us.

"Ready," Hermione said.

"Ready," Ron said, nodding his head.

Harry turned and looked at me. "Max?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied.

With that, we piled our hands on top of each other and Apparated to Hogsmeade. The first thing we heard was the sound of a screeching alarm.

"I knew there would be Death Eaters waiting for us!" I hissed.

The four of us ran to a nearby pub and hid behind the tables. Once the Death Eaters went running in another direction, we took off from the pub and tried to look for an exit. But Snape had them all locked up, leaving us trapped inside Hogsmeade. Suddenly, a door opened behind us.

"In here," an old man said.

The four of us headed inside and down some stairs that led to what looked like a kitchen.

"Did you get a look at him?" Ron asked Hermione.

"For a second I thought it was Dumbledore," Hermione said.

While they were looking around the room, Harry and I were looking at the broken piece of a two-way mirror that Sirius gave to us. It was our father's mirror and used it whenever him and Sirius were in separate detentions. Harry smashed the mirror and broke it and we lost the rest of the mirror, so Harry kept the broken piece with him at all times now.

"Guys, I can see you in this mirror over here," Hermione told us, pointing at a mirror that was hanging on the wall.

We looked at the mirror in confusion. We approached the mirror and placed the broken piece where it was missing on the mirror.

"It's a perfect fit," I said.

"You bloody fools! Why did you come here?! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?!" the man yelled at us once he came downstairs.

"You're Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother," Harry said to him. "It's you I've been seeing in this mirror. You're the one who sent Dobby."

"Where have you left him?" he asked us.

"He's dead," I replied.

"Sorry to hear that. I liked that elf."

"Who gave you the mirror?" Harry asked him.

"Mundungus Fletcher."

"He had no right to do that! It belonged to--"

"Sirius," Aberforth said, cutting Harry off. "Albus told me. He also told me that you two would likely be hacked off if you ever found out I had it, but ask yourself, where would you two be if I didn't have that mirror?"

Aberforth walked away from us and grabbed food for us. Ron and Hermione ran over to him and took as much food as they could.

"Do you ever hear much from the Order?" she asked Aberforth.

"The Order's finished," he answered. "You-Know-Who has won. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves."

"We need to get into Hogwarts," I told him. "We need to get into Hogwarts right now. Dumbledore gave us a job to do."

"Did he now?" Aberforth questioned.

"Well, yeah, why else would we be here?" I retorted.

"Is it a nice job?" he asked, ignoring my question. "Is it easy?"

"We've been hunting Horcruxes. We think there's one inside the castle, but we'll need help getting in," Harry spoke up.

"That's not a job my brother's given you! That's a suicide mission! Do yourself a favor and just go home. Live a little longer."

"We don't really have homes," I said. "Besides, Dumbledore trusted us to see this through."

"What makes you think you two can trust him? You two think you can believe anything my brother told you? In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name? Did he ever mention Ariana's name?"

"Why would he keep secrets? We trusted him!" Harry spoke up.

"That's an answer some little child would say! Twins who go chasing Horcruxes on the word of a man who wouldn't even tell him where to start! You're lying to yourselves! That's what fools do. But you two don't strike me as fools, Harry and Maxine Potter."

"He just used her real name," Ron whispered to Hermione. "That isn't good."

Ron was right. That wasn't good when Aberforth used my real name.

"First of all, it's Max, thank you very much. Second, we're not interested in what happened between you and your brother. And third, we don't care that you've given up. You can give up all you want, but we haven't. We're going to finish what he started. We trusted the man we knew. We need to get into the castle tonight and you're going to help us."

Aberforth just stared at me for a moment before looking past me and saying, "You know what to do," to the portrait. The girl in the portrait walked away from us and into the painting.

"Where have you sent her?" Harry asked Aberforth.

"You'll see soon enough." With that, he began to walk away from us.

Once I was calm, I spoke up again. "That's your sister, isn't it? Ariana, right?"

He nodded his head. "She died very young. My brother sacrificed many things on his journey to find power, including Ariana. She was devoted to him. He gave her everything but time." He opened the door to leave.

"Wait," I said. He stopped and looked at me. I walked over to him and took the eagle charm from my bracelet off. "Dumbledore left me this charm that came from Ariana's bracelet. I want you to have it. I want you to always remember Ariana."

Aberforth looked at me and gave me a smile. "Albus and I thought she would've made a great Ravenclaw. That's why she had this." He took the charm from me and placed it back on my bracelet. "You remind me of Ariana. I think the charm should be yours. I'll always remember her." He looked up at something, then back at me. "Take the mirror as well."

I smiled weakly at him. "Thank you," I whispered to him.

With that, Aberforth left the room and closed the door behind him. When I turned around, everyone was staring at me in confusion.

"What?" I asked them.

"You were practically yelling at him just a minute ago!" Ron protested.

"Yeah, well, there are times when you have to lay down the law and times when you have to be considerate of others and their feelings. Besides, he did save our lives twice. He kept an eye on us in that mirror." I took the mirror down from the wall and walked past Harry. "That doesn't sound like someone who's given up," I added with a whisper.

I gave the mirror to Hermione and she stuffed it in her bag. When we looked back at the portrait, Ariana was coming back.

"She's coming back," Hermione announced.

"Who's that with her?" Ron asked.

When she came back, the door opened. I gasped in surprise and had a big smile on my face when I saw who came back with Ariana.

"Neville!"

~~~~~~~

A/N: Wooo another chapter! This book is so close to being done. I can feel it.

Soo, I'm not going to school tomorrow because prom is tomorrow night and no one will be at school anyway, so yeah I'll try to write more tomorrow! :D

Comment, vote, because the action is coming! And maybe Draco as well. ;)

-A