Title :
Ars Virgarum - De Templis et Servis
Authors : DracoCrescendo &
Nuin
Pairing
: Overall gen - implied pairings may occur.
Rating : Overall
R/NC-17
Warnings : War-fic, dark stuff, angst.
Word count : this chapter : 4443 - total wordcount : 20.539
Disclaimer : All HP characters and names are
copyright of JK Rowling. We use them for our own pleasure, we do not
make money out of this.
Feedback : Oh yes, hit us harder!
Beta
: Essayel & Flosspyromaniac
Author notes : Ars Virgarum Art of the Wands; De Templis et Servis Of Dreams and House Elves.
Chapter 3 : De Templis et Servis
Daily Prophet - September 17th 1997
Last night, the lifeless body of Horace Slughorn was found by a Muggle couple in the back of an alley in the small town of Rye. A team of Aurors was sent to the scene of the crime to Obliviate the Muggle bystanders and send them home. Horace Slughorn taught Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last school year, but had been missing for several months already.
According to the Auror team, the wounds were still
quite fresh when they found his corpse. Whether this is a murder
committed by Muggles or Wizards has not yet been clarified. We wait
until the team and the Ministry release new information on the
unfortunate death of Horace Slughorn.
She hadn't meant to take a walk past curfew, but she just needed to get out of the stifling silence that permeated the Slytherin common rooms and dormitories. Pansy brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and kept walking through the deserted hallways of the lower levels in the castle. She wasn't sure were she was going, she just walked wherever her feet took her.
Pansy hadn't run into any teachers yet, but they rarely made their rounds in the dungeons at this hour and she knew most of the good hiding spots just in case. The castle was quiet and Pansy liked it that way. It gave her the chance to just take in everything that made up the experience of the familiar old pile. She pulled her robes tighter around her body, being dressed only in her nightgown Pansy could easily feel the cool dungeon air seep through the fabric and chill her limbs.
Suddenly she stopped and looked around. Had she really been walking for so long that she no longer knew where she had ended up? Pansy didn't recognize her surroundings and she felt slightly panicked. She had heard of students that had wandered around for hours, getting lost and hadn't been found until someone had noticed that the person was even gone.
She had stopped by an open door to an disused classroom and she could see a row of windows along one wall, so she had to be above the dungeon level, Pansy reasoned. Slowly she walked into the classroom and glanced around. She took a few more steps until she could rest her hands on the windowsill and look out through the glass which was covered in dust. There hadn't been anyone in this room for a long time, she wondered as she pulled her hand away from the sill and surveyed the thick layer of dust that now covered her palm.
Why had she come in here?
The room was bare except for the desks scattered haphazardly around the room, some in small clusters, others standing by themselves. Then there was the statue at the back of the room. A beam of moonlight shone through the windows and hit something that seemed to made of metal on the statue. Pansy walked closer, curious as to what it could be. She came to a halt before the dust covered marble statue. Spotting a plaque at the base, she crouched down and brushed the filth away until she could make out the words.
Rowena Ravenclaw
Rising to stand up straight Pansy looked at the statue. She could understand why it wasn't on display like so many other statues in the castle. But why had no one repaired it? The marble was chipped and broken in several places, among those were the eyes, the hair and the flowing dress. The statue was missing its left arm, but the right one was intact and it was on that arm that the glint of metal caught her eyes. She leaned down to inspect it closer. It was a small bracelet made of silver and bronze in the shape of an eagle. 'How predictable of Ravenclaw.' Pansy thought.
She felt compelled to take it off the statue and couldn't stop herself form doing so. Holding the bracelet in her hands, Pansy turned it over and studied it form every angle. She turned around and walked out of the classroom, determined to get back to her dormitory all of the sudden. She knew that she should have put the bracelet back on the statue, but it wasn't like anyone was using it. Pansy put the silver and bronze piece into the pocket of her robes and walked down the still empty hallway.
McGonagall was looking around the Great Hall with a worried expression on her face. She could feel the tension in the air and she was certain the students could feel it, too. While the Aurors present at the school were only to patrol the hallways, they were now standing near one of the house tables. During the last week, there had been a few incidents between some students of Ravenclaws and Slytherins.
Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, who had always kept mostly to themselves and their housemates over the past years, now suddenly raised their voices and picked fights with whoever who would insult them. One wrong word, one step in the wrong direction would send them flying at each other's throats. Thus had McGonagall come up with the idea to let the Aurors and Order members keep an eye on them at mealtimes as well. Food had been thrown back and forth more than once this week, often combined with a few well-aimed hexes.
She had punished the responsible students herself, but couldn't blame their moods in a time like this. They were all very tense and there were no small sparks this time, only the big fireworks. It seemed that the Slytherins had been trying to keep quiet this year. McGonagall wondered if it had something to do with the events of last year, or if some of the parents had actually told their children to keep a low profile. Anyway, none of the Houses seemed to be acting normal this year. Even the Gryffindors were quieter than usual, but their ever-present rivalry with Slytherin was still here.
For some reason, she was glad the Potter boy wasn't here this year. She knew deep inside that he had made the right choice by not returning to Hogwarts to serve a different goal. She only hoped he would be alright and that it would be enough this time.
'Good luck, Harry. May Merlin help us all.' She thought to herself, before resuming her meal.
It was only a few days later that Hermione and Harry were standing in a rather empty room at Grimmauld Place. The only furniture in the room was a desk and a chair. Harry could only guess what the purpose of this room had been in the earlier years. The worn wood of the tabletop was now almost invisible due to the large amount of books that had been stacked on it. Along with the owls to arrange specific days and times for their scheduled lessons, Remus had sent Harry a number of books on advanced DADA. However they hadn't exactly started yet, Hermione had already taken it upon herself to go through their previous DADA books to practice the older spells. Harry hadn't been too joyous about the idea, but of course, Hermione did not take no for an answer. They had started out with simple spells and were now practicing a small duel.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Hey!" Harry scowled.
"Pay attention, Harry." Hermione sniffed.
Harry growled. "Accio wand!" As he gripped his wand tightly again, he pointed it at her. "Confundo!"
"Protego!" Hermione deflected the charm, before sending a Furnuculus hex at him.
Harry jumped aside, but his arm was hit anyway. He grimaced at the sight of his arm starting to break out in boils, before pressing it against his stomach, hoping it would lessen the pain somehow. He turned a pair of angry green eyes at Hermione. "Incarcerous!"
Thick ropes appeared out of thin air, lashing out at Hermione to wrap themselves around her. She easily ducked aside and out of reach, severing them with a Diffindo spell.
"You're slacking, Harry!" She yelled. "Put some more effort into it. You're never going to get anywhere with those cheap tricks! I'm not made out of glass, so don't you even dare hold back on me! Oppugno!"
Harry had to throw himself face down onto the wooden floor to avoid a thick flock of owls to get in his face. Hereby, he landed on his painful arm and rolled over onto his back with a groan, closing his eyes. He felt a shoe pressing into his stomach and cracked an eye open to see Hermione smirking down at him. "Didn't see that one coming, did you?"
Harry's eyes narrowed and Petrified her with a mumble and a flick of his wand. He started to push himself up into a sitting position, grinning. "Ditto."
But apparently, he hadn't thought about the now Petrified Hermione losing her balance and falling to the floor with a loud thud. He cursed loudly, before scrambling over to her.
"Oh God," he groaned, "She's going to be so bloody pissed. Finite Incantatem."
Hermione blinked once, twice, before focusing on Harry who was leaning over her with an apologetic smile on his lips. In less than half a second, she had gripped him by the front of his shirt.
"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me, Harry James Potter?!?!" She yelled in his face.
Harry cowered slightly. "You said yourself that I shouldn't hold back and that you were not made of glass..."
"That doesn't mean you can Petrify me and then knock me over, you nitwit!" She rolled her eyes, before rubbing the back of her head. "That bloody well hurt, you know."
"I'm sorry, Hermione." Harry carefully pried her fingers away, which were still tightly gripping his shirt.
He got to his feet and pulled Hermione up to her own, too. Hermione grimaced at the sight of Harry's left arm. "That must hurt, too."
"Yeah, kind of like bubotuber juice." He nodded, looking at it again himself.
He had almost forgotten about the boils on his arm, but suddenly, he could feel them again.
"I take it you don't have any Murtlap essence around, do you?" Hermione sighed.
Harry shook his head and snorted. "I don't brew potions in my free time."
"I recall you didn't seem to mind brewing them last year." Hermione pursed her lips, before adding with a mumble. "And I told you that book was trouble." She paused, waiting for a reaction, but when it didn't come, she went on. "I'll bring some with me tomorrow. We'll smear some burn-healing paste on it for now."
Hermione took a hold of his other arm and started dragging him out of the room and down the stairs. "I remember seeing burn paste somewhere in the kitchen. I don't even know why you keep it there, but I suppose that is not really important."
Harry allowed himself to be dragged along and pushed down on a chair, while she rummaged through the drawers and pulled out a jar of thick orange cream. She scooped some onto her fingers and started smearing it on the boils on Harry's arm, while the latter tried not to hiss too much. It took a few minutes to cover the entire affected area and afterwards, Hermione was still not content.
She frowned. "Maybe we should put on a bandage on it for now."
"Really, Hermione, that's not necessary. I've had worse. I've looked worse." Harry protested.
"Yes, I know." She sniffed, "But I don't want you to rub it off."
She conjured some bandages and started to wrap them around Harry's arm. Harry decided protesting would not lead to anything. So he just sat back, watching her, only to jerk his head up when he heard the whooshing sound of someone Floo-ing in.
Ron stepped through the fireplace and brushed the soot off his robes. He looked around for any sign of Harry having heard him Floo in, then called out.
"Harry?" He walked out into the hallway and hung his robe up on one of the hooks, being careful not to irk the painting of Mrs. Black.
"Yeah, we're in the kitchen, Ron." Harry called back.
"Oh." Ron wandered out into the kitchen and found Hermione wrapping Harry's arm with bandages. He cocked an eyebrow. "What have you two been doing?"
"Hermione hit me with a Furnunculus jinx." Harry scowled at Hermione.
"Don't be such a baby, Harry." She rolled her eyes. "In return, he Petrified me and knocked me onto the floor."
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry protested.
"You could have been a little more careful. Think before you act, Harry." Hermione sniffed.
"You've been busy then," he scratched behind his ear in thought. "But Hermione… shouldn't you be prepared for anything? I mean, I don't think the Death Eaters would show the same consideration as Harry in a fight." Ron said as he sat down by the table.
"He was on his back, Ronald. He Petrified me when I was standing over him. So much for fair play, but for once you are right, the Death Eaters will not take mercy on anyone. Not even when they're on their backs." She coolly replied as she finished bandaging Harry's arm, giving it a last firm tug while glaring at Harry.
Harry grit his teeth, but looked away from her eyes, knowing she was right. Again.
"Let's get to business, shall we?" He nodded as he flexed his arm to make sure Hermione hadn't cut off his bloodstream.
"Yes, alright." Hermione sighed. "I take it we all saw the article in the Prophet about Slughorn's death? So... What is our next step?"
Ron winced in sympathy at the treatment Hermione was giving Harry. That had got to hurt more than the boils themselves. He looked at Hermione and shrugged helplessly. "Although it's somewhat of a coincidence. We need information from him and he is found dead. I don't know what to do next."
"I'm a bit at loss myself." Harry grimly admitted. "My guess is that he was murdered by Death Eaters. I dare betting my head on it. This means that we must have been looking in the right direction. If Slughorn formed a threat to exposing Voldemort's secret, then I don't doubt Voldemort would rather have him out of the way."
"I agree." Hermione softly said with a nod. "But what else do we know?"
"Dumbledore told me that Riddle started working at Borgin & Burke's after he finished his seventh year." Harry said. "We know that he purchased a cup which originally belonged to Helga Hufflepuff and that Hepzibah Smith was found dead at one point. Riddle disappeared afterwards. We have good reason to believe that cup is a Horcrux. Borgin had already got his hands on a golden locket originally owned by Slytherin, the very same Dumbledore and I went looking for the other night, but that one turned out to be fake."
"But we still don't know where Riddle gained more information about Horcruxes." Hermione added. "Slughorn might have given him a head start, but there's no way he could have figured it out by himself."
"Don't underestimate him, Hermione," Harry warned her, "But you're right. Even if he had already immersed himself in the Dark Arts, he would have gotten his information elsewhere, too."
Ron nodded, when an idea popped into his head. "What's the best place to get information about the Dark Arts that we know of? Knockturn Alley. Maybe he found something while he was working there? There are bound to be a some bookshops with books that had what he needed."
"You're right, Ron." Hermione beamed. "We should definitely check out Knockturn Alley."
"I think they will not like having us snoop around. We're pretty familiar faces. " Harry frowned. "But of course we could always use a Glamour charm or something. It's not much, but at least it's a start. And while we check it out, keep an eye open for any objects that could be related to the Founders of Hogwarts. Riddle liked his Horcruxes to be trophies, it seems."
"Such as? The Hufflepuff cup, the Slytherin locket, what else?" Hermione asked.
"Slytherin's ring and Riddle's diary for example, which have both been destroyed." Harry nodded, "Maybe something else from Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? I don't know for sure. All of them should have some sort of value to him."
Ron grinned with pride when Hermione praised his idea. He leaned back against his chair. "So we put on a Glamour and snoop around in Knockturn Alley? Maybe look in some of the antiquity shops as well?"
"We could." Hermione nodded, "But we have to make sure they won't get suspicious of us. We can't just walk up to the counter and ask about Founder artefacts. I believe that would just be blowing our cover."
"I agree." Harry spoke up. "We have to be subtle about it."
Suddenly, there was a small popping sound coming from the drawing room. They looked at each other for a moment, before Hermione got up and snuck over to the doorway to see what was happening. She peeked into the drawing room and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Kreacher.
"It's Kreacher!" She whispered in an urgent voice, looking back at the two boys. "I thought he was supposed to be working at Hogwarts!"
"He is." Harry growled, getting up from his chair. "And I'll gladly send him back with a kick in the arse."
"Kreacher?" Ron got up and joined the others by the door.
Hermione looked back at the dirty house elf, noticing it seemed to be looking for something. She put a hand against Harry's chest when he meant to go after it.
"Hold on a minute, Harry." She continued in a low tone. "It seems to be looking for something. Let's just keep an eye on him for a bit."
They watched the house elf run its bandaged hands over the furniture, muttering inaudible words to itself. Harry's eyes narrowed when it headed for the glass cabinets. It easily opened the doors and started rummaging through the shelves.
"You think it's come back for more Black heirlooms to keep him company at Hogwarts?" Harry softly snorted.
Hermione glanced over her shoulder to reply, but right then Kreacher squeaked loudly, which made her jerk around again.
"Gone!" The elf squeaked, wringing its hands together. "Gone! Kreacher wanted to bring it to true Mistress. Gone! Locket gone! Kreacher can not go to Mistress!"
It spent another few minutes squeaking hysterically and running frantically around the room, making sure the object of his investigation wasn't there. Suddenly, the elf came to a halt and its shoulders sagged. "Kreacher bad for losing. Kreacher must iron hands now."
After those last words, it simply popped off, presumably back to Hogwarts. When it was gone, Hermione turned around again and her eyes met Harry in sudden realisation.
"Locket?" They simultaneously asked.
Ron frowned. "Locket? What locket?" He looked at the spot where the House Elf had disappeared from. "Mistress? I thought you were Kreacher's master, Harry."
Harry looked at Ron, incredulous that he hadn't caught on immediately. He had a hard time remaining calm, suddenly very excited.
"I am, Ron, but since I am not a pureblood or a direct member of the Black family, he doesn't want to accept me." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "About the locket. Remember when we were cleaning up this place? We found a golden locket in those cabinets, remember? Nobody managed to open it. Ron, don't you know what this means?"
"Apparently not." Hermione interjected, snapping his fingers in front of Ron's face. "Ronald, this means we had one of the Horcruxes right under our noses the entire time! Harry and Dumbledore couldn't find anything but a fake locket in the cave because the real one has been here all along! And now it is missing!"
"Err." Ron uttered and nodded slowly as he looked back and forth between them, still not really understanding what they were getting at. They were excited, he could see that. "Umm, so there was a Horcrux here?" That he had gotten at least. "But now it's not."
"Of course, it's not here anymore, Ronald!" Hermione rolled her eyes, "You just heard Kreacher say it ten times!" She turned back to Harry, who was actually following her train of thoughts. "It must have been hidden here for years, Harry! Under our noses and we were too blind to see it!"
"We didn't know what we were looking for in the first place." Harry protested, "But that's beside the point now."
"Who could have brought it in here? It must have been a member of the Black family, or one of the Death Eaters. But I can't really believe one of Voldemort's followers would actually steal it."
"Even if they did know where he had hidden it." Harry added, nearly bouncing now.
"That I can't believe either, that he told just anyone where he kept it." Hermione shook her head, "But then who...?"
She broke off her sentence, eyes widening. "Harry..." She whispered, "The note..."
Harry blinked, but before he realised it, Hermione had already seized him by the arm and was dragging him up the few steps and into the drawing room. "Come on, Ronald! Don't just stand there!" Hermione called over her shoulder.
Harry winced at the grip on his injured arm, but the pain was soon forgotten as he noticed where she was dragging him off to. "The family tree!"
"If my assumptions are correct..." Hermione babbled, letting go of Harry and starting to blow the dust off the tapestry, before tracing the lines.
Harry intently watched her finger and suddenly realised where she was going. "Regulus!" He exclaimed.
"Exactly!" Hermione nodded frantically. "Sirius did say something about him having turned his back to Voldemort, but not having survived for long. If he renounced Voldemort and his followers, he could have stolen the locket from the cave when he found out it contained a part of Voldemort's soul."
Harry looked at the tapestry again, listening to
Hermione babble while his eyes scanned upwards again.
"R.A.B."
He muttered to himself. "R.A.B. Alphard! Uncle Alphard! It has to
be!"
He pointed at a burn mark. "Alphard Black was burnt off the tapestry because he gave gold to Sirius! They were both removed from the tree! That's it, Hermione! Regulus Alphard Black!"
Ron blinked, but decided to keep his mouth shut and just follow his friends as they made a dash for the upstairs drawing room. He came in while they were pointing at the Black Family Tree, shouting and babbling at each other with enthusiasm. Ron stared at the charred mark where Sirius' Uncle Alphard had been before he was burned off, then at Regulus' name. Finally he looked at Harry and Hermione.
"Eh?" He said faintly, he couldn't even follow their train of thoughts anymore and settled for just standing behind them with a lost expression on his face.
Hermione and Harry stopped talking for a second or two as they stared at Ron. They had completely forgotten he was there. Hermione was the first to break out of her daze.
"No matter, Ronald, just follow us." She nodded again, taking a hold on his sleeve and starting to drag him towards the stairs. "Come on, Harry! Onto the family library! Maybe there's something in there!"
Harry shook his head at his two friends, before following them in a small jog, a grin on his lips.
She tossed and turned, tangling her body further in the sheets. Sweat trickled down her temple and dripped onto her pillow. Pansy clenched her hand around a fistful of the thick covers, her face scrunched up in a frown. She grunted and rolled over onto her other side, falling further into her dream.
Pansy was standing in a field of grass that flashed in silver and bronze tones. An enormous eagle was soaring high above her, its cry resonating in her ears. A cool breeze tousled her hair and she reached up to brush it out of her face. The eagle suddenly landed right in front of her and without any warning it latched its sharp beak onto her wrist, biting down harshly until blood dribbled forth. The red liquid dropped onto the ground and stained the silver and bronze grass a reddish brown. She stared at the grass as it and the ground beneath slowly began to dissolve, leaving a gaping hole in the earth by her feet.
Pansy snapped her eyes open and blinked several times. The room was dark. She could hear the soft noises of sleep and the occasional snore from her dorm mates and she reached out to part the curtains around her bed. Glancing at the clock on her nightstand she sighed. It was four in the morning, far too early to even think about waking up.
The brief image of glinting metal flashed through her mind. The shape was familiar and she knew she had seen it somewhere before. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and put her feet on the floor. Pansy shivered as the cold from the stone floor seeped into her skin. Slowly she got up and stretched, then she tiptoed to the end of her bed, not wanting to wake up the other girls in the room. Crouching in front of her trunk she opened it and riffled through her clothes and books. Pansy didn't know why she was so determined to find the bracelet all of the sudden, when she had nearly forgotten that she still had it.
Her fingers touched something cool and she grasped it with her hand, pulling it out of the trunk. Pansy held the silver bracelet up in front of her eyes and studied it with a squinting gaze. The bronze eagle stood out slightly in the dark from the silver surrounding it. Without really thinking about it, she put the bracelet on her right wrist and she gasped when the cool metal touched her skin. Then suddenly the bracelet seemed to come alive as she fastened the clasp. Where the clip had been earlier the metal had melded together, leaving Pansy without a way to get the bracelet off again. A haze settled over her mind. Then everything seemed darker than before as she passed out.
Tbc.
