CHAPTER FIFTEEN

At dawn, Harry buries Mad-Eye Moody’s eye beneath a tree. The trio relocate, but Harry’s failed Patronus against dementors reveals the Horcrux’s draining influence; removing the locket eases him. They decide to rotate wearing it. Hunger and bleak travel breed friction as they fruitlessly debate Horcrux locations.

Weeks of wandering and scarcity worsen tempers, especially when Ron wears the locket. Harry’s scar repeatedly shows Voldemort obsessing over the unknown thief from Gregorovitch, offering the trio no useful leads. Arguments over food and direction escalate.

While camped by a Welsh river, they overhear Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Dean Thomas, and goblins Griphook and Gornuk. The group discusses the regime, Dawlish’s condition, and reveals that students—Ginny, Neville, and Luna—tried to steal Gryffindor’s sword. Snape sent the (fake) sword to Gringotts, but Griphook says it’s a copy; the real goblin-made sword is elsewhere. The students were punished but not seriously harmed.

Hermione summons Phineas Nigellus’s portrait, blindsfolds it, and learns Dumbledore last used the sword to break open a ring. This confirms the true sword can destroy Horcruxes because goblin-made blades absorb what strengthens them—basilisk venom. They deduce Dumbledore hid the real sword, but its location remains unknown.

The revelation sparks hope in Harry and Hermione but inflames Ron, already embittered by injury, hunger, and fear for his family under the Horcrux’s influence. A furious argument erupts; Hermione’s Shield Charm prevents a duel. Ron abandons the mission and Disapparates into the storm, leaving Harry and a devastated Hermione behind.