Break Me || Harry Potter

Chapter 106 - A Change of Plans

I AM SO SORRY. PLEASE PLEASE READ THE END NOTES FOR AN EXPLANATION. 

I stumbled out the shadows on an unfamiliar road. I really shouldn't have been there, but I found myself standing outside the Leaky Cauldron, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was hidden.

The shop was boarded up.

I swiftly found my way in, pausing one moment to let a memory of being in this exact location with my parents and my brother nearly 7 years ago. How the times have changed.

In the past few weeks, I had been weighing different options for what Voldemort might use as a horcrux. Mostly, I had been going off the idea that he would most likely not be able to let go of his pride and put his magic into objects of power. The diary, the ring, and the locket proved that theory. So, I had been planning to break into Gringotts and have a look around.

Something that I had noticed, and Harry had too after I consulted him about it, was that the horcruxes spoke, in a way. To us. I had no idea how to explain it, but I remembered when we took down Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, the book had been hissing and sending off waves of bad energy. Harry said he could feel it too, so I knew it wasn't me just going crazy or my magic going haywire.

So, my grand plan was to go snoop around the most highly protected vault in the magical world and listen to highly precious clumps of metal whisper to me.

Well, that plan just sounds great, doesn't it?

I knew I would need a few days to figure out a plan. I knew that Gringotts had world-famous protection charms that were nearly impossible to sneak past. I would have to plan.

On the other hand, I wanted to take things slow and scope out what I could. One part of me wanted to charge into Gringotts and bring the storm to them, but the other part of me wanted to let Harry and the others figure that all out while I go back and battle the death eaters.

I was standing in front of the brick wall in the back of the Leaky Cauldron when I realized how much I didn't wanna go in there and test out my grand theory. Suddenly, the idea of paroling around London and protecting people seemed much better. And if I can possibly make up for the terror I caused in England that summer...I didn't even need to finish that thought.

Now, I felt stupid standing in front of the brick wall. Hell, I was in a fancy-ass dress and holding a purse — what was I going to do in Diagon Alley? Shop in the three stores that are still open? My plan seemed so foolish now that I realized how much I didn't want to.

And therefore, I brushed my fingers once over the bricks and then promptly turned on my heel and left.

After I fell out of the shadows once again, I was met with the bustling streets of what seemed to be Manchester. I hadn't really visited this part of England, considering my family and I had lived in France and only ever came to England to drop my brother and I off at the Kings Cross. (Oui, je peux parler francais, merci beaucoup). I quickly fell into the stream of people, letting the cool night air brush across my face. I had no idea why I really landed here, but somehow it felt right. I felt like something was going to happen here, something soon.

I stopped at a small restaurant to eat, realizing I hadn't in a while. I used what little muggle money I had on me to pay for a glass of soda with cherry syrup and a small entrée. I sat next to the window, watching the muggles walk by. I realized that these poor people had no idea what was terrorizing them, had no idea what kind of war was going on. For a fleeting moment, I let myself wonder what would've happened if I was born into a muggle family. If I hadn't been gifted with the wand that ended up sealing my fate.