A little while later, Harry and Fleur had made it downstairs and met with the others in the kitchen. Kreacher had made something resembling edible food. Which after seeing the destruction of the locket, the old elf’s personality became much more pleasant.
“Okay. So what now?” Sirius asked, while drinking a glass of firewhiskey. Harry noticed that Sirius had an air of gloom around him, but considering he just found out the nature of his brother’s death and how Regulus wanted the end of Voldemort. It wasn’t too surprising.
“Well, we are down the Locket, the Ring and the Diary. All we have left for Horcruxes are Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup, Nagini, and something of Ravenclaw’s. Dumbledore ruled out Gryffindor since the known artifacts of the founder are the Sorting Hat and the Sword, both of which we know the location of.” Harry spoke.
“Yeah, but the only problem with that Harry is we don’t know where the last three are.” Hermione voiced.
“So what do we do?” Tonks spoke.
“No clue.” Harry replied. “Tom wasn’t likely to just hide his soul anchors out in the open for anyone to find and Nagini isn’t exactly traveling around on vacation. She is both the easiest and hardest to remove from the equation.”
Hearing this the others nodded their heads. The giant snake was never far from Voldemort, especially not since the incident at the Ministry with Authur Weasley. Honestly, removing Nagini from the equation was going to be the biggest challenge. Killing that Horcrux probably won't happen until the very end, unless of course they get Felix Felicious Lucky.
“But Harry, what you are not considering is that the Dark Lord, more than likely, left them within the Magical Britain. Somewhere safe and easy for him to gain access to.” Remus mentioned as he spoke up from the end of the table next to Sirius.
“True, but where is the question?” Fleur voice. “ ‘Arry, you know the Dark Lord best. Afterall, didn't Dumbledore educate you on his past and history. How he thinks and what he was like growing up?”
“Well yeah.”
“Then you need to think like Tom Riddle. Not Lord Voldemort.” Fleur stated.
“Of course!” Hermione exclaimed. “Harry, Tom Riddle became Voldemort. That means the Dark Lord is still the same as Tom Riddle. Dumbledore said it himself. You and Tom Riddle shared a lot in common, not you and Voldemort. So think. What do you know about Tom Riddle?”
Hearing this Harry pondered the wording of Hermione and realized that she had a point. Dumbledore stopped thinking of the Noseless Wonder as Tom. Sure he still called him that but he always thought of how Voldemort was thinking.
“What we know of Tom is he was an orphan that grew up in an orphanage. He always desired independence and wanted what others had. He always gathered Trophies after making other people who wronged him pay. The only place he ever considered home was and still is Hogwarts.”
“Ok. Lets break that down.” Tonks voiced. She then conjured a board in the air. “This is what you just told us. The wanker is a spoiled greedy child who will take others' stuff and turn it into trophies. In this case, the Trophies are his Horcruxes.”
With a wave of her wand, Tonks made the words Horcrux and Trophy appear on the board.
“The next thing we know is he like doing things himself and not relying on others, hence the need for independence. But at the same time, he is jealous of what others have.”
“True.” Harry voiced, as the words independence and jealousy appeared.
“OK, then what would Tom Riddle need to be jealous of as a boy?” Tonks asked.
“I dont know, the only time I saw him as a boy was when Dumbledore met him at the orphanage. And even then Tom wanted to do things by himself. Hell, he even refused the help of shopping and gathering school supplies.”
“Harry! That’s it!” Hermione exclaimed jumping up from the table.
“What?” Harry and the others exclaimed. Clearly confused on what the brightest witch was saying.
“Harry first time you were introduce to the Wizarding World was through the Leaky Cauldron, as with everyone else.”
“And?”
“Harry don’t you see? What was the first thing you saw when you entered Diagon Alley?” Hermione questioned. Excitement written all over her face.
Harry thought about it. He remember his first trip to the Cauldron, patrons all shaking his hand, the numerous thank yous, then Hagrid tapping the bricks to open the passage. Then hearing Welcome to Diagon Alley, and there glowing in white marble.
“Gringotts. The Wizard Bank.”
“What do you mean Harry?” Sirius asked. He had gotten lost on the conversation awhile back, and when Nymphadora entered Auror investigator mode, he zone out.
“The Horcrux is in Gringotts.” Harry firmly said.
“How so?”
“Sirius, what is the safest place to store some thing that you don’t want others to find? A vault. What can only an old family with money have at a goblin bank? A vault. What does a orphan with no family, no money, and essentially nothing to his name not access or create. A vault.
First thing Tom Riddle saw when he entered Diagon Alley was the glowing marble and majesty of Gringotts Bank. The most exclusive and sought after place for wizards and witches. Everything of value at some point in time goes through Gringotts.”
“And even better, it comes with a veritable army of guards to keep your items and money safe. Not to mention all the wards and enchantments.” Harry explained.
The more Harry thought about it, the more confident he was. Gringotts was everything that young Tom would have desired. His own personal bank where anything could be housed.
“Fleur. Could you get us into the bank?” Harry asked.
“Yes. But Harry, Horcruxes are Grade X cursed magical artifacts. They are not allowed to even enter the doorway. Much less a vault. Even if you are right, who in their right mind would risk the loss of a Family Vault, for such an item?”
“Fleur, Tom wasn’t likely to advertise such a thing to his followers. He would have asked only his most loyal and deranged to keep something precious in a Family Vault. Thankly that list isn’t too long.”
“What do you mean?” Tonks asked.
“Tom gave Lucius Malfoy, his suppose Right Hand, his Diary Horcrux. What’s to say that Tom didn’t leave one with another. Say his Left Hand, the one who dished out all his punishment, loyal to the point of being psychotic. Barty Crouch Jr. fits that bill but he is already dead. The next on that list should be obvious.”
“No.” Sirius said.
“Yes. The Horcrux is in the Vault of Bellatrix Lestrange.”