"A New Order"
Chapter four – "Bombshells and Bindings"
By the_scribbler
the_scribbler (at)
Pursuant to the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, this work is copyrighted 2008 with all rights expressly reserved by its author unless explicitly granted. No portion may be reproduced in any fashion without the express written and notarized permission of the author.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K. Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted.
CONTENT Disclaimer: This story contains sexually graphic and explicit material and as such, it is not suitable for minors. If you are a minor, please leave now, as it is illegal for you to be here. If it is illegal for you to read or view sexually explicit material in the community you view such material, please leave now. This story and characters are purely fictional and any resemblance to events or persons (living or dead) is purely coincidental. These stories are just that, stories, and do not promote or condone the activities described herein
Note One: Cannon? What cannon? This story is an amalgam of several different story lines and does not adhere to any one particular AU. THIS IS A HARRY/HERMIONE SHIP. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DISEMBARK!
Note Two: "It's Now or Never" Lyrics written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold, 1949 - Based on the song, "Il Sole Mio", © 1898, Composed by Alfredo Mazzucchi, Giovanni Capurro, and Eduardo di Capua.
Note Three – I have gone with the birth date given by the HP Lexicon (online) for Thomas Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort) as December 31, 1926. That makes him Head Boy in the fall of 1944.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
Office of the Editor, the Daily Prophet, June 21, 1995 – 6:45 AM
Inkwell Blaine, the Third sat in his office, looking at the printers' copy of the morning's paper. He was still reading 'above the fold' wondering what his star reporters' newest article was going to do to the power-structure in the Ministry, as his senior deputy, Gordon Potts, entered the office.
"Rita's sure kicked over a hornets' nest this time, Blaine" he said, taking a sip of his coffee.
Blaine grunted noncommittally.
"Potter might not take this well, boss."
That got his bosses' attention. "What do you mean, Gordon?"
"I mean that Potter is known to be pretty protective of his friends and it probably doesn't do us any good to be printing doctored photos of his new bride"
Inkwell Blaine turned in his chair so that the two men were facing one another. "What's he going to do? Have us arrested or something? We both know his reach isn't that long. Besides, the girl's a mudblood. What do we care? It sells papers and given how influential some of our supporters are, I'm not worried."
Gordon Potts thought that his boss ought to care a great deal, irrespective of whether Lucius Malfoy or Madame Umbridge supported the paper, but he didn't immediately say anything. He had heard stories about what Harry Potter had done during the Tri-Wizard Tournament…including facing down a full-grown, angry female Hungarian Horntail dragon and living to tell about it. And if that wasn't enough, there were strong rumors that Potter had killed, by himself, a sixty-foot long Basilisk. The thought of facing one of the greatest nightmares of the wizarding world terrified him as an adult and he just couldn't fathom how a twelve-year old boy had done it.
Gordon left the Editor-in-Chief's office with the thought that Harry Potter's reach was actually a great deal longer than anyone supposed and that slandering his new bride was probably an act of suicide…whether Inkwell Blaine knew it or not.
The OTHER headline in the paper, while less sensationalistic, was probably more important…at least in the short to medium term. The murder of the Matriarch of one of the Fifteen families and the death of twelve Aurors portended bad things. What specifically, he wasn't sure, but definitely bad.
He was sure that the shit was going to hit the floo when the paper was finally distributed and wished, not for the first time, that his name wasn't on the masthead.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
08:15 AM, Office of the Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The beautiful white owl glided effortlessly down from the upper-most window that was open in the Deputy Headmistress' study and came to rest on her shoulder. She had watched her downward spiral with admiration and was comforted, after a fact, by the owl's presence.
"Have something for me, girl?"
Hedwig held out one leg – the one with the secure, miniaturized letter-tube attached – and let the matriarch of Clan McGonagall untie it.
The tube itself was very, very heavily warded, which the Deputy Headmistress found odd. Muttering to herself, she said "Just what have you done here, Mr. Potter?" as she pricked her finger and smeared the blood on the tube.
The tube obediently popped open, allowing her to withdraw the scroll that lived within. She was somewhat amazed when the tube unfurled by itself, in midair, and she heard Hermione's disembodied voice saying, "What did your brother call you when you first transformed for him?"
"Kitty-bum flea-bag" the old woman said out-loud, a trifle embarrassed that her protégé knew that particular secret.
Immediately, letters began appearing on the scroll, and she began reading.
June 21, 1995
04:45 AM EST
Dear Prof. McGonagall,
I wanted to write to you and let you know, if you didn't already, that Elvis has left the building. You might want to spend some time singing some of his greatest hits. I particularly liked his Italian favorite.
Love always,
Ganache
Minerva smiled. Hermione was nothing, if not creative. "Ganache" was Minerva's very private nickname for her, because of Hermione's tremendous love of all things dark chocolate. The playing around with Muggle musical references was classically brilliant she thought, as no one as far as she knew, other than Muggle-born students, would have any idea about the song to which she was referring.
In a slightly quavering voice, she sang softly:
"It's
now or never, come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling,
be
mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late,
it's now or never…
My
love won't wait."
-Elvis Presley
The fancy, scrolling text disappeared suddenly, replaced by Hermione's traditional compact, slightly-italicized script. The missive went on for several pages and detailed a history of events over a fourteen-year period that made her increasingly ill with every new revelation. By the end of it, Minerva McGonagall knew what she had to do. It was hugely risky, but if successful, would be worth it. The information contained in the letter gave her enough ammunition as well as motivation to be willing to risk her own life to see it through.
Gathering up her belongings, she began planning. She had to be gone by nightfall at the very latest, because that was when Albus Dumbledore would return to the Castle.
Calling her family's elves to her side, she gave them quiet, detailed instructions about what she needed done. When she was finished, she gave each a personal hug and a kiss and told them that if she didn't see them again, that she loved them and was grateful to have known them.
Myrtle, Grayson, and Henri looked at her with tremendous sadness in their eyes and promised, in turn, that they would do everything they could to make her proud of them. She blessed them and sent them on their way…before the overwhelming urge to sit and cry overtook her and embarrassed them all.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
In a subterranean cavern, 50 miles south and east of Glaumbaer, Iceland – late morning, June 21, 1995
Filius Flitwick looked at his great cousin, Griphook, and wondered how it was that the wizarding world could have fallen so far that the magic he saw being used now was no longer being taught anywhere except by the few small enclaves of goblin wizards. The river of molten lava flowed by them, not three hundred meters away, and yet they were all untouched by its ferocious heat or killing vapors.
Griphook lifted his clawed hand and pointed at the Ore-Smith as he once again lifted his calloused, black hands and made a massive stream of lava leave its channel. The red-hot rock sailed gracefully towards the massive, waiting holes where it would be separated into its constituent parts.
Nothing ever went to waste and Filius watched with tremendous appreciation for the magic being employed. It was both powerful and subtle – two qualities that he tried, and mostly failed, to impress upon his charms students.
As he watched the chief Gringotts Ore-Smith weave the complex magics, the half-Goblin professor thought about the things he could have done with his life, besides teaching and dueling, and realized that perhaps he should have spent time learning propagating Goblin magic. 'Perhaps there's still time' he thought, as the Ore-Smith started breaking the lava down into its base components – including gold, silver, and pure carbon.
Just as he was about to as a question of one of the Ore-smith's assistants, a glowing white, kneazle-Patronus appeared out of nowhere, coming to rest right in front of him. All of the Goblins around him recognized it for what it had to be and looked at him expectantly, wondering what would happen next.
Filius smiled. It was the Patronus that only Minerva McGonagall could produce. Touching it, he silently absorbed the message that it contained, causing the Patronus itself to fade away.
The message it carried was clear and to the point, if not just a little bit shocking. All it said was: "Caput capitis proditor nos. Adveho domus statim." ('The head has betrayed us. Return home immediately')
Turning to Griphook, who was several feet away, the fifteen-time All-European Dueling Champion walked over and said, "Forgive me, cousin. I would stay and learn of the magic that is being done here today, but duty calls and I fear that things have soured, or worse. Either way, I must go."
Griphook didn't smile, for such was the nature of Goblins that work was something that was just an accepted part of life, like breathing or eating. "May your every duty be profitable, Filius."
"And may your gold so flow as to cause the maker himself to be jealous." Filius said, with affection, before taking his leave and disappearing without a sound.
In a well-guarded, spacious office, fourteen floors below ground, Amelia Bones, the Minister for Magic, received a missive similar to the one that had interrupted Filius Flitwick; causing her to postpone all of her afternoon meetings and floo away to a previously unknown address on the edge of the Hogwarts wards.
Four hundred forty-five miles away, in the highlands of Mallaig, Scotland, above the broad, green valley and the railway station where the GWR 4900 Class 5972 "Hogwarts Express" came to rest every September First, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall waited nervously for her hoped-for compatriots to arrive. There were so many things riding on what would happen between the her colleague and her friend that she dared not think about what might go wrong if they didn't believe her.
Pacing back and forth in her office, someone looking in might have thought that she was more cat than person and in truth, her mannerisms were those of someone who had decades of experience being in and living with her animagus form, with all of its peculiarities.
Finally, a gong sounded, announcing the imminent arrival of a witch or wizard by portkey or by apparition. A moment later, Minister for Magic Amelia Bones appeared, wand out and shields-up. Since she was the Minister for Magic, being keyed into the schools' wards was one of the allowances that was made for her.
When the Deputy Headmistress saw her she said quickly, "Who was I with when we first met?" to which the Minister for Magic answered happily, "That scoundrel brother of yours, Shane"
Both women smiled happily and lowered their wands.
A moment later, Filius Flitwick appeared in the office via floo. His arrival wasn't challenged, though, because of the inordinate number of safeguards that her floo had on it. Only those who had been cleared through the blood-ward and who knew the password could access it safely. All others would find themselves swimming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a long way from anywhere.
Helping the diminutive professor to his feet, Minerva touched her lips with one finger and then reached out and touched his forehead in the same manner. It was a very, very Goblin gesture, which was done only among those who considered themselves family or as close as family.
He accepted the gesture and the feeling behind it and then smiled. "I feel the same, Minerva. Now, tell me why you've called me back. I was with my cousin and he is unhappy that I had to leave."
Knowing that he'd feel defensive for his cousin's time and station, Minerva immediately proffered the scroll which she had received from Hermione; singing the first two bars of the requisite song so as to activate the actual contents. "Read that, Filius and then pass it to Amelia. It says everything that needs to be said. I'll take your questions when you're done."
Filius took the scroll and sat himself down on a low stool to read it. While he did so, Amelia started in on Minerva.
"You need to know some things, Minerva, and it's not going to be easy for you to hear some of them. What I have to tell you may mean that Hogwarts will not re-open this fall."
The slightly older woman simply nodded. It wasn't news to her, after Hermione's missive, and given what she was preparing to do after her friends left, was probably never going to be her concern again.
Amelia noticed that her palms were sweating, even though she had no genuine reason to be nervous. "I was at the Longbottom Estate two days ago; to preside over a hand-fasting and a bonding ceremony. I think you can already guess who the two were who were being bonded…."
"Harry and Hermione. I know. It's in the scroll."
"It's true, Minnie. But, they weren't the only ones making promises. Neville Longbottom was hand-fasted to my niece….as well as the Patil twins."
It made sense, after a fashion, though she might have expected Harry to be the one to end up with a harem. The Longbottom fortune was almost as vast as its landholdings, which was saying something indeed.
"How did he do?" she asked, quietly.
"Fine, Minnie. He did just fine. Harry stood for him, while Hermione stood for the three girls. The Arch-Druid was present and blessed the ceremony. I hadn't expected his presence, but it was good to have him there."
Minnie knew Cathbad, of course, and liked the man as well. He was a bit old-fashioned, she thought, but acknowledged privately that he had succeeded in propagating Druidism throughout the United Kingdom and had instituted changes which would keep the Muggles out of Stonehenge, and places like it, probably forever.
The Arch-Druid was also a known, completely neutral party and his status as such was respected by both sides. Riddle had left him and his followers alone during the last war and there was no reason to expect that anything different would happen this time.
"Did anything happen that was unusual?" The deputy Headmistress asked gently.
Amelia thought about it for a moment and then said, "Two things, actually. First – Harry and Hermione? Soul bond, for sure. Actinic-white, blinding light. Couldn't even look at it, it was so intense. Never seen anything like it. Heard rumors about such things happening, but never, ever seen it. I could feel the power coming off the two of them and it wasn't like anything I've ever felt before. Second, when Cathbad was about to leave, Neville gave him some kind of really, really rare plant. I heard Cathbad promise him one favor, of Neville's choosing, at a time and place of Neville's greatest need."
The first part, about the bonding, really didn't surprise Minerva all that much. Hermione had a tremendous amount of raw power and Harry's power was well….ridiculous. A boy who could take down over 100 dementors was pretty much off the charts. Easily in Dumbledore's class if not stronger, she thought.
The second revelation – about Neville – was a genuine surprise. Not just because of the nature of the gift, but because of Cathbad's gesture in return. "Are you sure of what the Arch-Druid said?" she asked the Minister for Magic.
Amelia nodded. "Quite sure. He was only six or seven feet from me and it was quiet otherwise, so I heard every word. I didn't see Augusta slip Neville the plant, but somehow she got it into his hand so that he could present it. It was very deftly done."
It was only a moment before Amelia started crying, as if out of the blue, and had to sit down. Minerva looked at her in horror. "What's wrong, Amelia?"
Between sobs, Amelia told her of finding Augusta, as well as the dozen Aurors, dead that the Longbottom Estate.
There was a horrible quiet that came over the room as the impact of the loss hit Minerva. Augusta had been a friend and confidant for as long as Minerva had been involved with the school…and that was a very long time. More, it had been Augusta herself who had taught her how to create stained glass windows, in every color imaginable, when she was young. She could still remember the first time Augusta had been willing to sign off on one of her projects and sell it at auction on her behalf. It had been an exhilarating feeling to see one of her pieces sell for that much and she still remembered with pride how her parents looked at her as Augusta gave her the huge bag of galleons.
The feeling of loss was overwhelming and she could barely contain her anger at Albus Dumbledore. She was sure that it was he or someone who worked for him directly that was responsible for Augusta's death, as well as the death of her two beautiful house-elves, Syboa and Dulcette.
"We will make him pay, Amelia."
"Make who pay, Minerva?"
"Albus" she said, bitterly, as she thought about the man who had betrayed her, in word and deed, over all the years she had known him.
Before Amelia could recover from hearing the bitter anger in Minerva's voice, a very, very angry Filius Flitwick handed her the scroll that he had just finished reading. "Read this, Amelia, and then try to tell me that we shouldn't burn him down where he stands."
She did. It took almost thirty minutes, where were passed in total silence, for her to read the entire document and then re-read two sections that she had found particularly hard to swallow. When she was finished, there was anger in her eyes the likes of which Filius hadn't seen since the first war against Riddle. Finally, she put the scroll down and looked at Minerva and the diminutive Charms professor. "So, what are we going to do about all of this?"
Minerva swiveled around in her chair so she could face her friend straight on. "I know what I have to do here. Hermione wrote that letter almost as soon as they landed wherever they are yesterday and they need whatever I can get to them. It's my life if I'm caught appropriating things from the school….but I don't think I have a choice. Since Harry's Lord Gryffindor, that nominally gives me cover to remove things that are considered 'his' property….but school records and the Book of Names are pretty clearly property of the school. Removing them signs my death warrant."
Amelia and Filius both jumped on that and said, almost at once, "Not if I can help it." They both smiled at their instinctive, simultaneous reaction – which did wonders to break the tension in the room.
Effortlessly transfiguring the chair that he was sitting on into a higher bar-stool, Filius changed positions so that he could look the two women more eye-to-eye.
Minerva held up five fingers and, folding a finger down as she ticked things off in order, said "The first thing we need to do is clean out Snape's private stores and get them packed away. After that, we should see if we can find the things that Hermione talked about being in the 'Come-and-Go room' on the seventh-floor. It might be better to just pack up everything that we find and send it all, so that they can sort through it thoroughly. Third, I have to at least make copies of all of the student records, so that Harry and Hermione can continue their recruitment efforts. Next year, whether I'm here or not, is going to see the lowest attendance that Hogwarts has ever recorded, thanks to them."
She stopped for a moment and looked at Amelia, whose expression clearly said that she was thinking about something and wanted to talk about it.
"What is it?" she said, seeing if she could elicit a reaction.
"Well, it occurs to me, since Susan is with Neville, it might be wise for me to vacate office as well. I can't see staying around and getting slaughtered with everyone else. If I left, Rufus would become Minister most likely, leaving one of his flunkies to take over his old job. I just found out before I came here today that Maria Edgecombe - who was over at the Floo Regulation department - has disappeared. I assume, without knowing for certain, that she and her daughter Marietta left with Harry, Hermione, and the others."
Filius looked thoughtful, his brow as furrowed as it could be for someone with his lineage. "I think it's time for me to make my goodbyes to Hogwarts as well. If what Hermione said in her letter is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, and her speculations are accurate, then my services will soon not be needed. It pains me to say it, but I think that I should depart. My cousin will shelter me, as I know they always have a need for a Charms master."
Minerva looked at him and then nodded. "What about the rest? Septima and the others?"
"We have to get word to them as soon as possible and let them know that it's time to retire from the field, at least until such time as we're prepared to return and establish a new, fairer order here."
Amelia said, putting her hand on her need as she prepared to stand up, "Then we better get to it. None of us are strong enough to face Albus, either alone or together, and it would be better if we concluded our business and departed these shores….sooner rather than later."
It was a cold, hard realization and none of them liked it, but it was the lesser of two evils and each had a healthy sense of self-preservation. Immediately, Amelia called her two house-elves to her side and gave them the sad news – that it was time to pack their home and prepare to leave. Filius called two of the Hogwarts elves with whom he had established good relations and asked them to pack his entire apartment and prepare it for their departure.
The three stood and extended hands to each other. "It's time to declare where we stand, Minerva, Filius. I saw the winning side the day before yesterday and that's the side I want to be on. How we get there….I don't know….but I know that I don't want to be a victim of an inexorable pureblood takeover. Maybe in the short-term, my leaving will hasten that, but in the long term, I can do a lot more if I can pass on what I know to those who want to learn it and who will use it for the benefit of witches and wizards fairly, without regard to one's family history."
"Meet back here in two hours, then?" Filius asked.
"Yes, hopefully by then, we will be prepared to leave. We cannot afford to confront the Headmaster."
There were nods all around and two of the three departed the Deputy Headmistresses' office. She stayed behind to clean out all of the student records. She would have made copies and then destroyed the originals, but that would have left behind magical traces which might have been detected and used to track her after the fact.
She then set about destroying or disrupting the charms which protected the Book of Names. It was laborious work and took her the better part of an hour to achieve. Finally, though, she was able to remove the book without causing the original alarms to sound.
Once those two tasks were completed, she turned her attention to the more pressing matter: getting Severus Snape's lab, with all of his potions, preparations, and supplies, along with his personal notes boxed up and ready for transport.
She left her office and made her way down to the dungeon level and towards the former Potions-masters' office and private lab. Along the way, she had to overcome several of his automated lock-outs and protective charms. Some she disabled using her authority as the schools' Deputy Headmistress and the others she had to destroy or disable using direct, brute force.
Eventually, she made it past all of the protections and into his office. It was more orderly than she might have given the man credit for, based on her previous interactions with him. Good riddance, she thought, without remorse.
With several waves of his wand, the room was organized. Another created several large boxes, into which she sent all of the books, documents, binders, and bits of parchment. Once the job was done, she made her way towards the next room – Snape's personal lab.
There was none of the smell or disorganization that marked many other labs and she thought, grudgingly, that the very organization of the room was the reason that Snape had always been thought to be one of the better potion-brewers in the UK. The lab was well stocked, items were neatly labeled and in there proper place .
Not having much to do with potions herself, except for the Animagus potion, which she had brewed a few times, she looked about and reasoned that there was no reason not to just take everything. She took a deep breath and then began the painstaking work of packing everything in the room. Some things, she knew, simply couldn't be packed with others, unless she wanted a fairly titanic explosion.
Twice she had to stop and re-arrange items in the boxes that were on the 'do-not-mix' list, but eventually she completed the task. It was an easy thing to then miniaturize everything and cart it all off to her office.
At the two-hour mark, the three reunited in her office to discuss what they had accomplished.
Amelia made a checklist and each compared his/her tasks against it. Minerva's work was done, as was Filius', while Amelia's had yet to be finished. She had been assigned to gather everything out of the room of requirement, but had been so overwhelmed with what she had found that she had completed only a portion of the work.
Laying out what she had discovered, Minerva's desk was covered. The Deputy Headmistress laughed as she listened to her friends' excitement.
Pointing at one particular item, she said "See! This axe was thought lost in 1367! Halfnor the Toothless owned it and then it was lost during the Goblin uprising that led to the battle of Prickles' Bridge. It's priceless. The Goblins will do anything to get it back…..including giving us one favor, no questions asked!"
Both Minerva and Filius began to understand what Amelia had taken so much time with her assignment. She pointed to another item, a small chalice. "This is a pensieve, though I'm not sure whom it belonged to. What I can tell you both though is that it us unlike anything I've seen before. The runes on the side are at least a thousand years older than any I've studied before. If Hermione got her hands on this, we'd lose her for days or weeks."
That caused Minerva to laugh again, as she thought about her protégé. It was true that Hermione would want to devote her every waking moment to solving the puzzle and she thought that in a more perfect world that she'd get to do just that. It was not a perfect world though and research for its own sake would have to wait until more the more pressing matters had been resolved.
There was one more item on the desk however that garnered their total and unequivocal attention. It was a small, gorgeous tiara, set with diamonds. Magic radiated off it and it felt palpably dark and dangerous.
Minerva looked at it and then several wheels turned in her head. Whipping around, she reached for the scroll which she had tucked into the inner pocket of her travelling cloak. Opening it, she quickly sang the activation phrase before skimming half-way down the multi-thousand word document. Finally, she stopped and read carefully; taking in several lines again and again before she extended one hand and pushed Amelia and Filius away from the desk and away from the tiara.
Rolling up the scroll and returning it to the pocket from whence it came, she said, "It's a Horcrux. It's Riddle's – Voldemort's - horcrux and it's got to be destroyed."
Both Amelia and Filius looked at her, somewhat amazed. She began explaining, even as she kept a wary eye on the unmoving tiara. "Remember what Hermione's letter said about that damn diary that Harry destroyed? The one that she said Harry thought Lucius Malfoy had given to Ginny Weasley at the beginning of her first year at Hogwarts? The diary that Harry ended up stabbing with the basilisk tooth? That was a horcrux. It was a part of Riddle's soul that he had 'broken off' and stored in the diary. I am dead certain that the tiara – the one you just found – is a horcrux as well. It has to be destroyed in order to help make Riddle mortal again."
She stopped and then said, "And you can't talk about this….ever. Either one of you. This is the information that Albus has been protecting all these years."
Filius spoke up, twirling his wand between his fingers as if he was dying to use it. "How many has he made?"
"The most powerful numbers are three and seven. If it were three he'd have left a piece in the tiara, another in the book, and one would remain in him. I'm betting that it's seven, though. That would allow him to spread them around and make it very, very difficult indeed to track them all down."
"I bet I know where another one is." Amelia said, surprised at herself.
Minerva looked at her, surprised. "Where?"
"Ollivander's. It's in his front window, in fact" she said, smirking.
"How can that be?"
"Ask Filius. He'll tell you" Amelia said, grinning at her friend.
"It's Helga Hufflepuff's wand."
A light went off in Minerva's head and she started laughing like mad. The other two looked at her, as if they were uncertain as to whether she had lost it. "You okay, Minnie?"
"Oh yes. Think about it. What items have we identified so far? Riddle's diary, Helga's wand, and Rowena Ravenclaw's tiara. What would that leave? It's likely, though I'm not positive of this, that Riddle focused either on Hogwarts-related things, founder-related items, or both. That reduces the list significantly. What items are at Hogwarts that fall into that category?"
For the next five minutes, they made a list of all the things that they knew for certain were logically related, a second list of those things that they thought they knew about, and a final list for those things that they speculated possibly existed. The first list had ten items on it. The second had six, and the third had two.
It was Filius who suggested asking the Hogwarts elves to help with the search. "There are over four hundred elves in the Castle and there's no reason not to have them help. They can go over the school quickly – probably in the next hour – and bring us anything they find."
Minerva nodded. "I'll call Charlus. He'll tell the rest what we're looking for and if it's here, they'll find it. We still need to go back to the Come and go room and clean it out, but we can do that while the elves are searching. Once that's done though, I want us out of here. It's only two-thirty, but I don't want to even cut it close. We've got to be gone way before Albus gets anywhere the School."
"Agreed" Amelia said. "I still have to submit my letter of resignation and clean out my office. That will mean getting word to those who may want to join us BEFORE the Wizengamot gets wind of what we're doing."
"Charlus!" Minerva said out loud; hoping that the school's head-elf wasn't busy with other duties.
Pop! The head-elf, dressed in a traditional work-robe, with the Hogwarts' crest over the left breast, appeared suddenly. His ears were coated in a fine layer of graying hair and his fingers were somewhat gnarled, but he stood up straight and looked at the Deputy Headmistress with pride. "Yes, Mistress? What can I do for you?"
"Oh Charlus, thank you for coming. I know I've not seen you in a while, but it hasn't been for a lack of care."
"I understand, Mistress. Thank you for caring. Now, please tell me what I can do for you."
Minerva pointed to the tiara on the table. "Charlus, that tiara that you see on the desk is a very, very evil creation. It's a soul-container belonging to Voldemort. We believe that there may be another in the school….possibly more. I know that you and your brethren know the Castle better than anyone else, except for the Weasley Twins. Can you feel the magic around that tiara and then go and teach it to the others, so that they can help with the search? I want them all to know what they are looking for."
He looked at her, even as his ears folded back. Minerva could tell from his expression that he was afraid and that what she had just asked him to do was no mean feat. "I'm not liking this, Mistress. That's a dangerous thing that you've asked."
"Can you at least teach your brethren how to look for them and have any elf who finds one come back and tell us where it is, so that we can come get it and dispose of it?"
Charlus thought about that and then said, "Yes, we can do that, Mistress. That is bad, bad magic. The other elves will not be wanting to touch such a thing. Especially if it's from he-who-must-not-be-named."
Minerva frowned. Whenever a Hogwarts elf slipped into the traditional elvish patois, she knew that the elf in question was afraid. Charlus hadn't done it in front of her in years.
"Charlus, I know it's dangerous, but it's got to be done. For what it's worth, I'm leaving as of today. It's unlikely that I will ever return to the school. If I've ever needed a favor, it's now."
The tall-ish elf's eyes went very wide and started to leak tears. It caused Minerva to choke up a bit with the unexpected emotion of having to say goodbye to someone she had known for more than fifty-five years. "One more thing. I have to enforce your loyalty oaths, Charlus. I'm afraid that the Headmaster has become a bad, bad man as well and I have to get away before I'm killed. Many of the students whom you know won't be returning either." She hated doing it, but she had never asked it of them before.
A white glow came over the elf and he looked at her, as if relieved of some kind of burden. "We'll do it, Mistress."
She reached out and caressed his head gently. "Thank you, Charlus. If any elf finds something, we'll be in the Come and Go room on the seventh floor. Please tell the other elves that they can go there and find us and we'll go wherever we have to in order to remove the cursed object."
She was taking a risk, she knew, by involving all of the elves of the school, but it was worth it. Nominally, at least, the elves were loyal to HER, because she was administrative head of the school, while Albus was the titular head. The difference lay in the fact that HE had the ability to hire and fire the HUMAN (or at least part-human) staff and discipline the students, while she dealt with the finances and the overall functioning of the school. The fact that Albus used the elves as an extension of his information-gathering network inside the school was beside the point. She had never invoked the elves' oaths of loyalty before and it pained her to do it as her very last act, but she knew her choices were limited.
Minerva, Filius, and Amelia all watched as Charlus put his hands over, but not on, the cursed tiara. A black cloud formed around it, enveloping it for a moment, so that none of them could see it. Once the elf withdrew, the cloud faded and the tiara was visible again. Charlus looked at them with haunted eyes. "Bad, bad magic, Mistress. The sooner it's gone, the safer all will be."
"I know, Charlus. Go now, and do me this one last favor."
"Goodbye, Mistress….We will always miss you."
She wanted to say something more; anything, really, to express how much she had grown to care about Charlus and the others who had taken care of her and had seen to her daily needs each and every day that she had ever served at Hogwarts, but she found that she couldn't. It was too hard.
Amelia saw the hurt in her friends' eyes and reached out to give her the hug that was so obviously needed. They stood, embracing, for at least a minute before separating. Minerva dabbed at the tears running down her cheeks before standing up straighter and saying, "Alright. If I'm going to leave Hogwarts, I might as well do the thing properly. Can you two go to the Come and Go room and get it all boxed up? If we're going to cripple Albus' ability to fight back, we might as well do it right. I'm going to make a detour into the library and relieve the school of its restricted section."
Amelia blanched at that; causing the Deputy Headmistress to look at her quizzically. "What? We'll take better care of it than the hellions here, for sure, and we'll put it to better use as well. Besides, if it forces the Board of Governors to close the school down, it's a step in the right direction. It will make the purebloods send their children out of country for their education – and anywhere that they might go, Albus Dumbledore won't be in charge."
Filius said, "I'd not have thought of that, Minnie, but you're probably right. It would definitely slow down them down at the Ministry as well, because they'd not have a school of their own to try to dominate."
"We're agreed then?"
The Minister for Magic nodded, as did Filius.
"Good. We'll meet back here at three-thirty. That's when we leave, ok? We can't afford to prolong this."
With that, the three went their separate ways. Minnie headed up one flight of stairs to the main doors of the library, while Amelia and Filius trudged back up the seven flights of stairs to the top floor. As they went, all three were muttering about the amount of work facing him/her and about the frustrations brought on by having to deal with dark lords, incompetent Ministries, and pureblood bigots.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
A half-hour later, a small elf named Texa – who had been assigned to check the awards cases in the display hall – found the third horcrux. Knowing that she was not allowed to touch it under any circumstances, fled the room and went straight to the seventh floor and the 'Come and Go' room, where she had been told humans would be waiting to hear any news.
Filius Flitwick followed the animated young elf back down five flights of stairs, to the display hall, where she pointed out the display case that held a silver cup, which rested on a plinth that read, "To Thomas M. Riddle, Head Boy, for exceptional services to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" It was dated, October 31, 1944.
Carefully, Filius opened the case and then promptly stopped. "We need a strong, hard wooden box. Can you go and retrieve one for me, or just bring me some wood and I'll make one?"
Texa considered his request for a moment and then disappeared. Two minutes later, she returned with a perfectly-sized, hard oak box. Filius then moved around to the other side of the box which lay on the ground, waiting, so that he could use his dominant hand while casting. He deftly magicked the cup out and into the waiting box; sealing it shut with the best and most powerful locking charms and wards that he knew.
Hugging the elf with his good arm in thanks for what she had done before she popped away, he levitated the crate in front of him and made his way back to Minerva's office.
Minerva was having a much less good time of it, as was expected. There were just some books in the library that didn't want to leave and she was having a hard time breaking the wards which prevented their safe removal. She was about to give up when the Gray Lady herself floated into the library through a side wall.
"Going somewhere, Deputy Headmistress" She asked.
"Yes, Lady Ravenclaw, I am. It saddens me, but I am."
"And why does it sadden you, Minerva?"
Tears were becoming something of a habit, Minerva thought, as she tried to wipe away the new crop that had started to form at the corners of her eyes. "Because I fear I shall never return, my Lady. This has been my home for fifty-five years and this is not how I would have arranged my departure, if I could have had my wish."
"And where would you go, that you need all of these books?" She pointed to the stacks of books that stood all around Minerva.
"I'm going to follow Harry Potter and his wife, Hermione. They have fled overseas somewhere, and I will go to them, so that they can organize and plan and train for the day when we will return to these shores and take back the school and defeat the one who calls himself 'Lord Voldemort'."
The Gray Lady seemed to consider what the lady in tartan standing before her had said before she made her decision to act.
"Don't fret, Deputy Headmistress. Helga and I have watched you for all the years that you've been here and we've also watched Mrs. Potter. She's truly loyal to this school and to you, and for that, she has our support."
"You'll help me, then?"
"Aye, daughter, we will. You've proven yourself to us over and over again and now it's time that we acted, instead of watched. Harry has a destiny to fulfill and he can't do it without your help and the information that's in these books."
Minerva smiled a sad smile and said, more to herself than to the ghostly lady in front of her, "So much on someone so young."
"And there will be more, daughter. But now is not the time to dwell on that. Here's what you need to do to remove the books."
Taking out her own ghostly wand, she taught the Deputy Headmistress the proper wand movements and the long, Gaelic charm that would unlock control over all the books. When she was satisfied that Minerva could properly cast the charm, she stood by her and said, "Go ahead now, dearest. You can do it."
Shaking her head, Minerva McGonagall thought back to the last time that someone had used that phrase with her and remembered that it was in her sixth year, when she was preparing to cast a particularly difficult charm that would bind ward stones together in sets, for use in protecting buildings. It seemed like a very, very long time ago indeed.
Lifting her wand, she thought about the intent of the charm and about the wording and then simply let it flow out of her. The bolt of magic hit the stacks of books; washing over and around them, until all the books from the restricted section were engulfed by it. Some glowed white while others pulsated with darker colors. She could feel the charm working, even as the moments ticked away. Finally, one book screamed – a loud, piercing scream - then went silent.
"Very good, Deputy Headmistress" the ghostly Lady Ravenclaw said. "It's a shame you weren't sorted into my house. You would have done wonderfully."
"Aye, she would have, Rowena" said a voice from behind them both. "But she was sorted into my house instead. I can't say that I've ever been prouder of a McGonagall than I am of you, dearest daughter."
A ghostly man stepped out from behind a bookcase and looked at the two of them. He was tall – or at least he would have been in life – and he sported a closely-cropped goatee. On each wrist, there was a bracer and at his hip, a long, bejeweled sword. Minerva smiled, even as she fell to one knee. "My Lord Gryffindor."
"Rise, daughter of my heart" he said kindly as he approached the two.
Minerva rose and took in the full specter of the man into whose house she had been sorted when she was but a little girl. It was awe-inspiring. From the tails found in Hogwarts: A History, she knew that only a few people, during the thousand years since the schools' founding, had ever seen Gryffindor's ghost and only one person had ever talked to him – Nicolas Flamel.
"Why me, my Lord?" she said, in a small, almost timid voice. "Why now, when I'm about to leave and not return?"
"Because my heirs have been named, my daughter, and I need you to tell them some things for me."
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
4:19 PM, in the Office of the Deputy Headmistress
Three-thirty became Four PM. and both Filius and Amelia were getting nervous. At Four-fifteen, they agreed to give Minerva a few extra minutes; hoping that they'd not have to go and find her.
At Four Nineteen, Minerva walked in, looking visibly shaken. Amelia quickly made her way over to the Deputy Headmistress and helped her to a chair. Filius conjured a glass of water and pressed it into one of Minerva's free hands and then pushed the glass towards her face.
"Drink. You'll feel better."
Minerva did so, and then faced them both. She was having a hard time deciding what to tell them first.
What came to mind was the book collection. She withdrew it from a pocket. It was a square, four inches by four inches. "Got them all."
"Really?" the Charms professor said, in a somewhat squeaky voice.
"Yes. Lady Ravenclaw helped me."
"The Gray Lady? She spoke to you? How can that be?" Amelia's interest was genuine. She had heard from Susan (who talked to Padma Patil) all about the half-dozen times that the ghostly Lady Ravenclaw had been spotted in the castle. Each time coincided with a celebration in honor of something that a person from Ravenclaw house had done that was exceptionally brilliant. It was considered to be the greatest honor possible to gain the attention of Lady Ravenclaw herself and it motivated everyone in the house to work to his/her highest potential.
"She's been watching me all these years" Minerva told them, quietly. "I made her proud, she said."
If Amelia had been her nieces' age, Minerva's revelation would surely have earned her an "Awwwwwwwwwwwww! That's so sweet!"…but it didn't. Instead, Amelia said simply, "You're very lucky, Minnie. I was here for seven years and never, ever saw Helga Hufflepuff; even though I did everything I could to work hard, play fair, and be loyal and good to those around me."
The conversation might have gone on for hours, but clock in the corner struck the half-hour and Minerva said, "It's time to go."
Not wanting to use the floo or to do anything that might leave a trace, the three made their way down the stairs from her now barren, sterile office. She locked the door and then deliberately cut her hand, so that she could inscribe the door with a blood-ward.
She coated the tip of her wand with the blood from the palm of her left hand and set to work writing the locking glyph, then the warning glyph, and finally, the punishment glyph. When she was finished, she cleaned her wand and healed the deep cut which had allowed the blood to flow freely.
Turning, she took Amelia's arm for moral support and together, the three made their way out the great doors of the school and towards the Forbidden Forest and the edge of the school's wards. As sad as it was for each, not one of them looked back.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
As usual, I would ask you to please leave a review. Reader-reviews are the life-blood of this kind of writing and I need/want them no less than the next person. Plus, it gives me a sense of what's working and what isn't.
Regards,
the_scribbler
