Three Barriers of the Chosen One

Chapter 1 – A Haunting Memory

St.Mungo's hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries had been half inviting when Harry had visited it, but now that he was admitted into one of the vast wards on the fourth floor, he found that he detested the hospital with intense passion. Every five minutes a Healer or Assistant would stumble in, insisting that it was an accident, and make fruitless attempts to divulge information out of him. If he wasn't going to inform the details of most recent events to people he trusted, what made the blithering idiots think they would have any hope?

Despite the brightness of the room, Harry felt engulfed in the deepest cave of blinding darkness. Everything he laid eyes upon reminded him of his ominous life. The mobile photograph of Mr.Rhinecourd's two grandsons settled on his bed desk reminded him of the photo album Hagrid had given him his first year that included pictures of his parents and Sirius. An ancient broom used for sweeping sitting near the door flashed him back to the day not long ago when he had lost his Firebolt. The room could be associated to Mr.Weasley, the Longbottoms, and Lockhart. The list could go on and on, proving that life was indeed a cursed circle.

Harry wasn't the only patient present in the room. He had grown quite accustomed to Mr.Rhinecourd's loud snores and his annoying habit to ruffle Harry's hair whenever he was three feet from the old man. Apparently, a Death Eater had put him under the Imperius Curse and ordered him to curse all the Aurors positioned at Diagon Alley, but unfortunately, one of the spells deflected and cursed him instead. On Harry's left was a twenty-five year old woman named Malfada Rivers, with the darkest and thickest elongated hair that made her have the appeal of a zombie vela, especially with the addition of her newly pale skin that made her eyes stand out. Harry didn't say much to her, perhaps because she might be scared of him. After two weeks of being in the same room, Harry still didn't know how she had gotten injured.

Right at that moment, a young woman dressed in an emerald green cloak with matching olive eyes and an abnormally long nose came in the room. She held a bouquet of miniature yellow roses proudly in her hands as she walked over to him, casting a glance at the other two patients but ignored them.

Smiling widely, she said, "Oh, hello Mr.Potter!"

Harry thought it quite odd to be addressed by his surname from an older woman.

"My my my…when I heard, I was shocked, really shocked…to think, the famous Harry Potter would end up in St.Mungo's, when he himself survived from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's curse! But of course, even the exemplary man has his bad days-"

"What do you want?" He blurted out, interrupting her rambling, and she didn't notice his rudeness, "Well, I just wanted to wish you luck and I hope you feel better soon! Here are some – flowers – oh! Here, I'll put them there-"

She placed the flowers on top of another batch, no mountain, that were resting on the floor next to Harry's bed.

"Wonderful! Now, I really must be off! Ministry calls, and I must answer, you know-"

"No I don't-"

"-and, oh yeah! I never told you my name! It's Hameli Norton and I work in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophies. I really must be off! Now, Mr.Potter, if you need anything, some to talk to or confide, need money, I'm your girl! Tata for now!"

Harry snorted. The only person who could compete with her never-ending babbling was-

No, don't think of her, a cogent voice rang in his head. You'll only start to sulk…

But he couldn't help it. She had been the only thing on his mind ever since it had happened. He wished he would encounter a Death Eater and be sent into heaven to get her back onto Earth. He was furious with her for leaving him. How could he do this all alone? Did she really expect that dying would have motivated him more to achieve his purpose? It was never going to work because he had no intent to go after Voldemort anymore. Even if he was gone, who would Harry celebrate it with? It was like sitting at a table of eight seats with only two of them filled.

The memory haunted him everyday. The harder he tried to push it out of his mind, the easier it crept up in his eyes.

It had been a gloomy day, with rain awaiting them in the horizons, but it still encouraged Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to explore the deserted lands near the Mediterranean Sea that might have been potential places for the rest of the Horcruxes to be. It was a vast land of sand and strangely sshpaed rocks bordered by the sea. They were escorted, or rather following, Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Cruscha, the members of the newly registered Order of the Phoenix, with Harry being the Secret Keeper. Harry did not wish them to accompany him, because he only wanted to depend on Ron and Hermione, but since he was living in the Burrow these days, he couldn't exactly sneak out of the house unnoticed. There were Sensors all over the entrances and besides, Mrs.Weasley's clock would give it away. Ginny had of course forced them to take her, claiming that she cared about him as much as Ron and Hermione.

They didn't know it then, but one of them was under the Imperius Curse. They cruised across the sands in search of any suspicious objects or a kind of test in their vicinity, with all the members of the Order in front of the four 'children' with their wands armed and ready.

"I still don't understand why he would keep it here. In a desert, I mean, what association does it have with Vol-"

"Shh." Ron cut Hermione's whispering off. No, Harry had not betrayed Dumbledore's promise. No on but he, Ron, and Hermione knew about the Horcruxes. All he had told them was that he had to find something that had to do with Voldemort. They insisted upon knowing but he remained discreet. Ginny, who usually could never shut her mouth, wasn't talking to them at the moment, obviously furious that Harry hadn't even informed her of it.

"What? It's not like they can hear!" Hermione breathed furiously, brushing away Ron's hand from hers.

"You think they won't try anyway? I'm surprised you let them follow, Harry-"

"Of course we followed, Ron, do you really think we'd let you wander about on your own?" Tonks said smartly. Ron shot Hermione an I-told-you-so look as she blushed.

"Oh well, but Harry, I really don't think this is the place to look. I have a bad feeling about it. Are you sure Dumbledore didn't leave any information of the possible places or maybe left them at his office?"

Harry shook his head, quite annoyed by Hermione's bickering and the dampness in the atmosphere sticking to the back of his neck, "What do you think he was doing last year when he left Hogwarts? He was only able to find one of them in all that time-"

"Wait a minute," Tonks halted, and so did the rest, "When I asked you where he went, why didn't you tell me if you knew?"

"I didn't then." Harry explained, but Harry saw the doubt on her face, and added, "I'm not lying!"

Tonks said, "Sure you didn't."

Harry didn't reply back. Lately, he just didn't feel like talking or explaining himself to people. Out of nowhere, an article about him popped up in the Daily Prophet, saying that Harry Potter thought he was too good for the Ministry, depicting Rufus Scrimgeour's opinions about the 'Chosen One' and what he had said on his defense of Dumbledore. Harry was afraid another offending word would put him the paper again.

A hair pricked suddenly on his back, alerting him of something active behind them. It was an insignificantly small voice that had spread to his ears by accident. Harry turned to the source of the noise, and without looking twice, whipped out his wand and aimed a red light at the Death Eater. The light missed him by inches and disappeared. The others realized what was happening. Harry heard Tonks yell something amidst the spells and screams. Five more Death Eaters showed, all cornering them from separate directions. Harry went after the first one, sending more spells after him. He was tall, thin, and had the advantage of blocking Harry's spells.

"TURN AROUND AND FACE ME!" Harry bellowed, his voice echoing in the lands. The Death Eater's feet stopped, turned around, and removed his hood. Harry had never seen him before. He had a sullen face with bony pale cheeks, the right one bruised.

"Cruc-"

"Protego!" Harry's Shield Charm broke off the Cruciatus Curse, and he hastily added, "Petrificus Totalus!" The Death Eater fell flat to the ground.

Screams rang out far from behind him. More Death Eaters had showed up and were dueling with the older members.

Suddenly, someone blew a punch from behind, knocking the wind out of him. He struggled to get on his feet, but a figure locked him from movement. He couldn't breathe. The noises drifted away slowly as the pain worsened. With a great rush of adrenaline, Harry swerved his arm to the culprit's hand and forced it away from his neck, screeching with pain, until his neck was finally free. Harry turned and punched him in the chest with full force. After throwing a spell at him and leaving him unconscious, Harry sprinted back to the others.

That's when he saw it. A body sprawled lifelessly on the ground almost as if it blended with the sand. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Of all the people to be invited by death, she was the only on who could avoid it, but now, she lay there with no movement. Harry ran to her, screamed her name, and rushed beside her. He felt her pulse. Nothing. More screams. He lifted her eyelids to detect any movement, but there wasn't any. The tears came freely because he didn't have the will to stop them.

Someone stirred from behind. Two spells hit him in the back, and within a second, he was as unconscious as the dead Hermione next to him.