"I got what we came for," Harry said briskly.
He helped Fleur check that everything was in order with all the failsafes before they returned home.
"So?" she asked as soon as their feet touched the ground.
Harry felt a twinge of annoyance at being questioned right away, especially in that tone, but he answered nonetheless.
"He has two more Horcruxes. The first one, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, is in Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault, that's why he can't access it," Harry started saying and offered Fleur his hand.
She took it, visibly annoyed that Harry had paused mid-sentence.
That, in turn, only irritated him further and made him even more reluctant to continue.
However, continue he did.
If he did so after phoenix-flaming them away without warning, it didn't matter, did it?
"Will you tell me now?" Fleur asked, glancing around in confusion.
"Yes."
After a moment, a look of recognition lit up her eyes, and she realised that they were next to the graveyard where they had stopped Voldemort's resurrection.
"So?"
Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "Why are you suddenly being so insistent? You know that I'll tell you, so what's the rush?"
"Well. Will you tell me or not?" Fleur said, looking affronted.
Harry's voice rose with frustration.
"Are you hearing me? Jesus—fine, I'll tell you... The last Horcrux, which the Voldemort that's possessing Dumbledore doesn't know about since it's after his time, is his snake—Nagini."
He grumbled that last part and started looking around in silence.
Fleur followed his example and didn't say anything more.
Harry didn't know if she was still angry at him or feeling sorry.
Pushing what just happened to the back of his mind, because it wasn't the time nor the place to start an argument, he closed his eyes and expanded his senses as much as he could.
He had seen Voldemort order his snake to stay nearby in case he didn't fetch her immediately.
However, even after focusing on each and every life form bigger than half a metre, a few kilometres in every direction, he didn't find the snake.
He wasn't about to go back home just yet, though.
Nagini would be somewhere around—he just needed to search more thoroughly.
Harry repeatedly flashed to the edge of his sensing range, scanning for the snake.
Alas, after a whole hour of looking and analysing so many different magical signatures, he called it quits.
Harry returned to the starting point and noticed that Fleur had left.
'Hm, where did she go?' he wondered; not that he expected her to sit and wait forever, without an explanation.
She could have said something, though…
Shaking his head, Harry thought about what to do now.
He didn't really want to see Fleur just yet, and he didn't know what to do with Nagini.
'I obviously can't just ignore the Horcrux. If Voldemort somehow sniffs out her existence, that could become a big problem.'
After all, the Dark Lord could choose to hide the snake, and a living and moving target was much more difficult to track than a stationary one. Otherwise, he could absorb it, and Merlin knew what effects that had.
Trying to come up with the best way to search for a snake, Harry was suddenly struck by an idea.
If he failed to find Nagini, why not employ his own snake to search for her?
Harry closed his eyes and felt for his link with Asmodeus and opened a 'private channel'.
'Hey, Ash! Can I ask a favour?' Harry said sweetly and waited for the mental confirmation before continuing. 'I need your help locating a magical snake. Big one, probably around twelve feet long. It's Voldemort's familiar, Nagini.'
Immediately, Harry could feel Ash's reluctance to agree to help.
Snakes generally avoided hunting other snakes, and particularly steered clear of more powerful ones.
'It's for a great cause!' Harry added quickly, too quickly.
'Oh, yes? And what is exactly this cause that you are talking about?' Ash said, his voice as sarcastic as ever.
Harry took a deep breath, summoning all his dramatic ability to pull this off.
'What greater cause is there than helping me find and destroy the Dark Lord's last soul piece? If you succeed, snakes everywhere will talk about you—how you outsmarted the most evil wizard's familiar. You'll become legendary. You'll be called Asmodeus the Great.'
Harry felt a snort-like sound in his mind, which was Ash's equivalent of laughter.
'You think flattery will work on me? But fine, I'll help you find this Nagini. Though I must warn you—if she's as powerful as I suspect, tracking her won't be easy.'
Harry grinned. At least one of his problems might be solved today.
'Don't worry, Ash. You can take as much time as you need. You just have to find her.'
Harry had faith in Ash's abilities, especially since he also had the ability to feel the magic around him.
He just hoped Voldemort hadn't masked Nagini's magical signature—though it was starting to seem more likely with each passing moment.
Either way, he needed to be patient now—snake hunting required time.
'Thank you, Ash. Even if you don't find her, I'll make it worthwhile for your efforts,' Harry said, knowing full well that the snake would likely ask something at his phoenix's expense.
After all, time passed, and Ash continued to pester Fawkes.
Such was life.
…
Fleur didn't understand why Harry couldn't just answer her question when she first asked him.
'Seriously. And he repeated again and again that he will tell me, instead of just telling me,' she thought.
It didn't pass her mind that the argument wasn't Harry's fault, and later when he would later ask her about it, Fleur would insist that he should have just told her from the start. Feeling like there wasn't much he could do, Harry dropped the subject.
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Chapter 131: It's Finally Over