The two of them were standing upon a high rock with water foaming and churning below the two of them.  A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the one upon which Harry and Dumbledore were standing, looked as though they had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by any tree or sweep of grass or sand.

"What do you think?" asked Dumbledore.

"They brought the kids from the orphanage here?" asked Harry.

"Not here, precisely," said Dumbledore, "there is a village of sorts about halfway along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans were taken there for a little sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims who visited this spot. He brought two small children here, to terrorise them."

Harry looked up at the cliff again and felt goosebumps.

"But his final destination, and ours, lies a little farther on. Come." Dumbledore beckoned Harry to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff, the descent was treacherous.

Once the two of them had arrived, Dumbledore let out almost a satisfied sigh.

"Yes, this is the place." said Dumbledore.

"How can you tell?" Harry spoke in a whisper.

"It has known magic," said Dumbledore simply, "this is merely the entrance hall," said Dumbledore after a moment, "we need to penetrate the inner place...Lord Voldemort's obstacles stand between us."

Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave and glided his fingers across. Dumbledore walked right around the cave, touching as much of the rough rock as he could, occasionally pausing, running his fingers backward and forward over a particular spot, until finally, he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the wall.

"Here," he said, "we go on through here. The entrance is concealed."

They looked at the wall and Dumbledore pointed his wand at it. An outline appeared and the two could see the white light coming from behind the wall.

Dumbledore stood still, staring and observing the wall. After some time, he spoke quietly. "Oh, surely not. So crude."

"What is it, Professor?" Harry asked.

"I rather think," said Dumbledore, drawing out a short silver knife of the kind Harry used to chop potion ingredients, "that we are required to make payment to pass."

"Payment?" said Harry. "You've got to give the door something?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "blood, if I am not much mistaken."

"Blood?"

Dumbledore seemed disappointed. "The idea, as I am sure you will have gathered, is that your enemy must weaken him, or herself to enter. Once again, Lord Voldemort fails to grasp that there are much more terrible things than physical injury."

Dumbledore moved the knife and exposed his forearm, leaving Harry shocked.

"Professor! I'll do it sir! I'm-"

"You're too kind Harry," Dumbledore smiled, "but I believe your blood is worth more than mine."

Once Dumbledore had cut himself, he pressed his blood against a wall. The cave walls began to move and soon, an entrance formed.

"After me Harry." Dumbledore instructed after healing his cut.

An eerie sight met their eyes: they were standing on the edge of a great black lake in a cavern so high that the ceiling was out of sight. A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake.

"Let us walk," said Dumbledore quietly, "be very careful not to step into the water. Stay close to me."

He set off around the edge of the lake, and Harry followed close behind him, their footsteps echoing around them.

"Professor?" Harry said finally. "Do you think the Horcrux is here?"

"Oh yes," said Dumbledore, "yes, I'm sure it is. The question is, how do we get to it?"

Harry suggested a Summoning Charm and as foolish as it sounded, Dumbledore tried it. There was an explosion and something grim and pale lept out the water for a moment before falling back down leaving ripples of water. Harry jumped backward in shock and hit the wall; his heart was still thundering as he turned to Dumbledore.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Something, I think, that is ready to respond should we attempt to seize the Horcrux." Dumbledore explained.

There was a silence as the two of them walked along, trying to find a way to get to the Horcrux in the middle. Dumbledore stopped suddenly and noticed a chain on the floor. Dumbledore tapped the chain, which began to slide through his fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed noisily off the rocky walls, pulling something from the depths of the black water. Harry gasped as a tiny boat broke the surface.

"How did you know that was there?" Harry asked in astonishment.

"Magic always leaves traces," said Dumbledore, as the boat hit the bank with a gentle bump,"sometimes very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know his style."

"Is...is this boat safe?"

"Oh yes, I think so. Voldemort needed to create a means to cross the lake without attracting the attention of those creatures he had placed within it in case he ever wanted to visit or remove his Horcrux."

Dumbledore stood aside and Harry climbed carefully into the boat. Dumbledore stepped in too, coiling the chain onto the floor. They were crammed in together; Harry could not comfortably sit, but crouched, his knees jutting over the edge of the boat, which began to move at once. It moved without their help, as though an invisible rope was pulling it onward toward the light in the center. Harry looked down and saw something extremely concerning.

"Professor!" he said, and his startled voice echoed loudly over the silent water.

"Harry?"

"I think I saw a hand in the water...a human hand!"

"Yes, I am sure you did," said Dumbledore calmly. Harry stared down into the water, looking for the vanished hand, and a sick feeling rose in his throat.

"There are bodies in here!" said Harry quickly after continuing to look down into the water.

"Yes," said Dumbledore placidly, "but we do not need to worry about them at the moment."

"At the moment?" Harry repeated, tearing his gaze from the water to look at Dumbledore.

"Not while they are merely drifting peacefully below us." said Dumbledore.

Harry said nothing but he found the idea that there were bodies floating around them and beneath them horrible.

"Nearly there," said Dumbledore cheerfully.Sure enough, the greenish light seemed to be growing larger at last, and soon, the boat had come to a halt.

"Careful not to touch the water," said Dumbledore again as Harry climbed out of the boat.

The island was no larger than Dumbledore's office, an expanse of flat dark stone on which stood nothing but the source of that greenish light. The light was coming from a stone basin rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal. Inside the basin, it was filled with a liquid.

"What is it?" asked Harry quietly.

"I am not sure," said Dumbledore, "something more worrisome than blood and bodies, however."

Dumbledore tried to reach inside the basin but something stopped him. Harry tried the same and arrived at the same conclusion.

"You think the Horcrux is in there, sir?"

"Oh yes." Dumbledore peered more closely into the basin. "But how to reach it? This Potion cannot be penetrated by hand..."

Almost absentmindedly, Dumbledore raised his wand again, twirled it once in midair, and then caught the crystal goblet that he had conjured out of nowhere. "I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be drunk."

"What?" said Harry. "No!"

"Yes, I think so: only by drinking it can I empty the basin and see what lies in its depths."

"But what if...what if it kills you?" questioned Harry.

"Oh, I doubt that it would work like that," said Dumbledore easily, "Lord Voldemort would not want to kill the person who reached this island."

"Sir," said Harry, trying to keep his voice reasonable, "sir, this is Voldemort we're-"

"He would not want to immediately kill the person who reached this island," Dumbledore corrected himself, "he would want to keep them alive long enough to find out how they managed to penetrate so far through his defenses and, most importantly of all, why they were so intent upon emptying the basin. Do not forget that Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Undoubtedly," he said, "this Potion must act in a way that will prevent me taking the Horcrux. It might paralyse me, cause me to forget what I am here for, create so much pain I am distracted, or render me incapable in some other way. This being the case, Harry, it will be your job to make sure I keep drinking, even if you have to tip it into my protesting mouth. You understand?"

"But sir-"

"You swore, did you not, to follow any command I gave you?"

"Yes, but-"

"I warned you, did I not, that there might be danger?"

"Yes," said Harry, "but-"

"Well, then," said Dumbledore, shaking back his sleeves once more and raising the empty goblet, "you have my orders."

"Why can't I drink the Potion instead?" asked Harry desperately.

"Because I am much older, much cleverer, and much less valuable," said Dumbledore, "once and for all, Harry, do I have your word that you will do all in your power to make me keep drinking?"

"Fine." Harry said grudgingly.

Before Harry could make any further protest, Dumbledore lowered the crystal goblet into the Potion.

"Your good health, Harry." he said before he drained the goblet.

Harry watched, terrified, his hands gripping the rim of the basin so hard that his fingertips were numb. "Professor?" he said anxiously, as Dumbledore lowered the empty glass.

"How do you feel?"

Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes closed. Harry wondered whether he was in pain. Dumbledore plunged the glass blindly back into the basin, refilled it, and drank once more. In silence, Dumbledore drank three gobletfuls of the Potion. Then, halfway through the fourth goblet, he staggered and fell forward against the basin. His eyes were still closed, his breathing heavy.

"Professor Dumbledore?" said Harry, his voice strained. "Can you hear me?"

Dumbledore did not answer. His face was twitching as though he was deeply asleep, but dreaming a horrible dream.

"Professor, can you hear me?" Harry repeated loudly.

Dumbledore panted and then spoke in a frightened voice. "I don't want...don't make me..."

"You...you can't stop, Professor," said Harry, "you've got to keep drinking, remember? You told me you had to keep drinking. Here..."

Hating himself, repulsed by what he was doing, Harry forced the goblet back toward Dumbledore's mouth and tipped it, so that Dumbledore drank the remainder of the Potion inside.

"No...don't..." Dumbledore moaned as Harry refilled the goblet and poured it into Dumbldore's mouth.

"Make it stop, make it stop." cried Dumbledore.

"Yes...yes, this'll make it stop," lied Harry. He tipped the contents of the goblet into Dumbledore's open mouth. Dumbledore screamed; the noise echoed all around.

On the ninth goblet, Dumbledore was shaking insanely and his eyes were filled with madness.

"KILL ME!" he yelled. "JUST KILL ME!"

Harry, who was now extremely terrified, poured the final gobletful down Dumbledore's throat. He gulped it before letting out a great gasp and rolling over onto his face, paralysed.

"NO!" Harry screamed. He couldn't be dead. He said the Potion wouldn't kill.

"Water." croaked Dumbledore from the ground.

Harry leapt to his feet and seized the goblet in the basin; he barely registered the golden locket lying curled beneath it.

"Aguamenti!" he shouted, jabbing the goblet with his wand.The goblet filled with clear water; Harry dropped to his knees beside Dumbledore, raised his head, and brought the glass to his lips, but it was empty. Dumbledore groaned and began to pant.

Harry tried and tried again but each time the goblet would never fill with water. And now Dumbledores breathing was fading. His brain whirling in panic, Harry knew, instinctively, the only way left to get water, because Voldemort had planned it...he flung himself over to the edge of the rock and plunged the goblet into the lake, bringing it up full to the brim of icy water that did not vanish.

"Sir, here!" Harry yelled, and lunging forward, he tipped the water clumsily over Dumbledore's face. It was the best he could do.

Suddenly, a slimy white hand had gripped his wrist, and the creature to whom it belonged was pulling him, slowly, backward across the rock. Everywhere Harry looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, men and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water.

"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Harry, pointing his wand at the Inferius that had his arm. It released him, falling backward into the water with a splash; he scrambled to his feet, but many more Inferi were already climbing onto the rock, their bony hands clawing at its slippery surface.

Harry tried every spell he knew but they were all rapidly approaching him. This was it, Harry was going to die. They were all grabbing him.

But then, through the darkness, fire erupted. A ring of fire surrounded the Inferi, all of them moving away from Harry to seek safety.

Dumbledore scooped the locket from the bottom of the stone basin and stowed it inside his robes. Wordlessly, he gestured to Harry to come to his side. Distracted by the flames, the Inferi seemed unaware that they were leaving as Dumbledore led Harry back to the boat, the ring of fire moving with them.

Once they had arrived back at the bank on the other side where they had entered, Harry climbed out and proceeded to help Dumbledore.

"I am weak..." Dumbledore muttered.

"Don't worry sir," Harry said quickly, "I'll help you, lean on me."

Harry, supporting Dumbledore, staggered back to the entrance of the cave. Dumbledore made a movement to get his knife from his robe.

"No need sir," Harry said, "I cut myself on a rock."

Dumbledore nodded. "You did very well Harry..."

"Dont speak sir, save your energy." Harry panted, guiding Dumbledore back to the outside of the cave. Once they were outside and the sea breeze greeted their face, Harry spoke.

"Don't worry Professor, I'll Apparate us back."

"I am not worried, Harry," replied Dumbledore, "I am with you."