Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

‘Stay obediently at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and don’t go anywhere.’

That was Sirius Black’s demand of Evan, Harry, and the others, and also the wish of most members of the Order of the Phoenix.

No matter how much they had accomplished, in the eyes of the adults, Evan and Harry were still underage boys, and Hermione and Elaine — even more so — were underage girls. For safety’s sake, the adults wanted all four of them to remain at Grimmauld Place, especially after what had happened to Ron. None of them wanted to see the four go running off again.

From Sirius’s tone, it was obvious that he feared Evan, Harry, and the others might sneak out to the Malfoy Manor to rescue Ron, just like the many dangerous escapades they’d undertaken before.

In fact, this worry wasn’t entirely unfounded.

Harry seemed to have this thought, and Evan could sense it.

Once Harry confirmed the news of Ron’s capture by tomorrow morning, he wouldn’t be content to stay at Grimmauld Place doing nothing and waiting for the Order of the Phoenix to rescue Ron; that wasn’t his style.

When his attempt to join the Order of the Phoenix’s rescue team was rejected, he would definitely find another way, planning to break into Malfoy Manor to rescue Ron. He would definitely do it, because that was Harry Potter.

But Evan didn’t want to go. If Ron was carrying Voldemort’s Horcrux, he wouldn’t be in immediate danger. There were far more pressing matters now than running off on another reckless rescue mission; such as deciphering the inscriptions on the Cup and the deed, or the matter of the Twin Serpent Staff. …

At the end of last term, when they left Hogwarts, Evan, Harry, Hermione, Elaine, and Ron had hidden the Twin Serpent Staff somewhere inside the castle. Looking back now, Evan realized it had been a serious mistake to involve Ron, or even to let him know about it. If Voldemort had questioned Ron, he would know where the staff was hidden by now.

But that was unavoidable; under those circumstances, how could they possibly have kept it from Ron?!

Honestly, there was nothing Evan could do now to stop Voldemort from taking the Staff. Not only was Hogwarts under Voldemort’s tight control, but even if he somehow managed to return to the school, it would be far too late!

He could only wait for news from the house-elf Dobby. Evan had previously instructed Dobby to stay at Hogwarts and keep watch over the Twin Serpent Staff. If Voldemort seized it, Dobby was to come straight to him and report.

Evan had already prepared himself for the worst. He could only hope Voldemort didn’t know how to use the Staff. If he were to be harmed by its power, or even die, that would be even better!

Of course, the possibility of such a thing happening was extremely slim.

The next morning, Evan was jolted awake by Dobby shaking him. The house-elf’s large, lamp-like eyes were wide with terror, filled with panic.

“Wake up, Master Evan, wake up!”

“Dobby?” Evan opened his eyes, gently pushing the trembling elf away from his chest.

“Master Evan, the Staff you told Dobby to watch over is gone,” Dobby cried in panic, his voice trembling with tears. “Stupid Dobby, bad Dobby! Dobby didn’t guard Master Evan’s staff properly — it’s not there anymore!”

“Was it the Dark Lord who took it?” Evan sat up in bed at once. “When did it happen?”

“Dobby doesn’t know, Dobby didn’t dare go near it last night, but Dobby knows, the Dark, the Dark Lord… he went to the castle last night, yes, Dobby knows, the house-elves downstairs in the kitchens are all talking about it.” Dobby let out a loud howl and pulled hard on his ears. “Dobby didn’t do what Master Evan told him to do, Dobby needs to be punished, Dobby —”

He seemed to be overly frightened; Evan hadn’t seen Dobby like this in a long time.

Since leaving the Malfoy family, this house-elf had changed quite a bit over the years, rarely punishing himself anymore.

“Alright, Dobby, it’s not your fault,” said Evan gently. “What did you expect to do — stop the Dark Lord? Duel him? None of us could have done that. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. I should’ve been more careful when I hid the Twin Serpent Staff. …”

He tried to calm the trembling elf while pondering the potential consequences. “In fact, I already knew that the Staff would be taken.”

“Master Evan knew?” Dobby asked in a sharp voice, raising his teary eyes.

“Yes, I knew…” said Evan; he had fallen asleep thinking about it last night.

What would Voldemort do with the Twin Serpent Staff?

This question seemed boundless, but in reality, there were clues to follow, and the answer could be reasoned out.

Crucially, the Staff was connected to the strange realm where the evil god resided. Dumbledore had once used its magic to travel to that very dimension — the world created by the vile Herpo the Foul.

The Twin Serpent Staff. Voldemort. The evil god. The otherworldly dimension … a jumble of information.

If Voldemort wanted to reach the evil god’s realm, he would need the Staff. Beyond that, it was of little use to him; he couldn’t easily use it as a simple weapon to attack anyone or do anything evil, unless he wanted to be torn apart by its immense power and swallowed by the endless void.

Thinking about it this way, the Staff falling into Voldemort’s hands wasn’t as alarming as it first seemed.

Voldemort could only use it for one thing: breaking through the spatial barrier to reach the void.

He wouldn’t use the Staff to cause greater harm to the real world, nor would there be any victims.

And to undertake a space travel to the world where the evil god resided, besides needing the Staff to break through the barrier between space and the void, he also needed the coordinates of that other dimension. Evan and Harry’s inability to find Dumbledore wasn’t because they couldn’t use the Staff, but precisely because they didn’t have the coordinates of the world created by Herpo the Foul. Dumbledore must have found it, but he hadn’t left the coordinates behind.

They now had to find the location of Herpo’s lair in the real world, to see if there were any clues pointing to the alternate world he had created.

By the same logic, if Voldemort intended to use the Twin Serpent Staff to enter the dimension where the evil god resided, he too would need coordinates.

So the question now shifted from what Voldemort would do with the Staff to whether he had the coordinates for that alternate dimension.

Did he?

Based on the information Harry provided, the Death Chamber door in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic might be one such coordinate.

Beyond that door lay the realm of the dead, and also the world where the evil god resided.