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SECOND TOMB
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Dear Hagrid,
Well, you'll be glad to know that Davy will finally sleep for several hours straight without being held and read to. Thank Circe that he does! I was ready to give him to Brightfeather and his flight to raise! Brightfeather rejoined us at the First Tomb and inspected Davy pretty thoroughly, and my son patted him on the beak quite happily, babbling all the while. Ferdinand nearly fainted, he was hyperventilating the entire time, but I could no more keep Brightfeather from Davy than I could Madge or Fang. Francesca took a picture of it all, and when she gets the film developed, I'll send you a copy.
I was very pleased to hear that you got approval to register as a mature student with Beaubaxton. It's about time! You'll be able to get formal recognition of all those skills you have, and the wand will help matters, even if it is French (a bit prejudiced of me, I know, but I'd never trade my wand from Ollivanders for love or money). At least you won't have to hide your magic use any more. Let me know when the graduation day is – Davy and I will be there cheering as you get your diploma!
I wanted to thank you again for the cradle you made us. It arrived safely from Rome just after we did, and its so beautiful Hagrid! The fact that you went to the effort to make it for us is so special too. I gave Francesca the cradle I bought in Rome, and she's ordered three more to match it. I know Davy loves it, especially the snake that you carved at the foot of it. He hisses at it quite happily, though he's obviously not old enough to make actual words, and I think Elaine was surprised when she realised I was speaking Parseltongue to him as well as English. He seems to understand me, so I guess that's a birth power that he's inherited from his dad.
The fruit smear is from Madge, who also enjoys sleeping in the cradle with Davy (photo enclosed as per your instructions) though Winky and Dobby are fairly horrified and mutter about fleas and so on. I explained that Madge doesn't go anywhere she could catch fleas, but to make them feel better I've installed a new set of wards on the tent that will remove fleas from anything and everything that crosses the thresholds. She's so picky about staying clean though, so I don't think it will ever be an issue really.
We think we've got the location of the second tomb worked out, and I'm going to be handing this site over to the Magical Trust of Peru later this week. We've learned all we can here, and I think they're the best choice to finish documenting the site. We did find the entrance to the secret passage, which was hidden Muggle style. The corridor held a lot of arcane information on the walls and almost no objects of significance, but we haven't had time to translate it all. Francesca has copies though, and as she gets closer to her due date – and she's huge Hagrid, I'm so glad I only have to cope with one baby at a time! – she'll have something to keep her mind occupied.
Once the site is in the hands of the people from the Trust, we're heading further east. The new tent is even easier to erect than my first one, which is odd seeing as its much bigger inside than the other. Harding says that with a larger Wizard space the spells are much better quality to keep it all aligned correctly when the tent is folded up. I think he was really saying that the first tent I bought was cheap rubbish, but I'll overlook it this once. It seems odd to have such a large space when its only me, the elves and a tiny baby. I can see where we'll be needing the space though, especially when Davy and his siblings hit the teenage years.
Thanks for the pictures of Fang and Madge – they're hilarious! I was trying to figure out when those two were together unsupervised, but then I realised that they were your distraction while I was otherwise occupied. I'm not sure I like the picture of me and the Belly, but as long as you aren't posting copies of it all over Beaubaxton that's ok then.
In other news, Trinket has decided to agree to the wedding his father and Clan Elder have arranged, so I have sent him with a letter of approval back to his Clan in France. He's marrying someone called Argent – her name means silver in our language as well as theirs, which is fitting, as her Clan are silversmiths – and is bringing her back with him. He decided he wanted her with him, and I included instructions in the letter to ensure that the Clans wouldn't interfere. From what little he's told me she's not too keen to be married to someone who's living under the conditions of a life bond, but I'm hoping once she's out here she'll realise that the practice is very different from the theory. Apparently, she's a metallurgist, which is at least a complementary skill to our trade when it comes to identifying objects. Trinket doesn't want any of us at the wedding, but we'll have a feast for him and his bride when they rejoin us.
Well, that was a long letter about not much! I mean it about graduation. I really want to be there for it, and Davy is as eager as I am to see Uncle Hagrid get the honours he deserves! He's added his fingerprints in agreement as you can see. I need to go wash him, the table, my trousers and possibly the rug, so I'll sign off now, with all my love…
Harry and Davy (who are hiding from two slightly cross house elves) and Madge
0o0o0o0
Trinket arrived by flying carpet. He had come to appreciate the finer points of flying on a rug, and for his wedding, Harry had commissioned a carpet especially for the Goblin. It was a four seater, which meant that it could take both Goblins and their luggage comfortably. Argent didn't look too pleased at the mode of travel, but Trinket was beaming happily, a very rare expression for the normally taciturn Goblin. He fairly leapt to the ground in front of Harry and the green eyed man shook the Goblin's hand enthusiastically, then the rest of the team were there adding their congratulations and welcome backs.
Argent climbed down from the floating carpet a little stiffly, but once on the ground she seemed to loose a lot of the rigidity in her… posture.
"A Hippogriff pursued us," she announced in a thin voice in response to Harry's polite enquiry about her journey, "What are you going to do about it? Trinket seemed to think that you had some … relationship with the beast."
"Brightfeather was chasing after you?" Harry frowned, glancing down at Trinket, "Any idea why?"
"It seemed to want us to avoid crossing over a small lake," Trinket frowned, "Naturally I was in no danger from it, and it was no great effort to change course, and we're on time."
"Of course," Harry nodded, "Well if its something I need to know about, Brightfeather will come see me."
"We should set up," Trinket nodded to the still floating carpet, "Thank you for the gift Potter."
"Any time," Harry beamed, "We reserved a spot for you near the trailhead again. If you would be so good as to monitor it as before?"
Having someone monitor the spell that recorded the journey's to and from the tomb allowed them to be sure that no one was lost at the end of the day, and if there was some kind of disaster then they'd at least know who was at the site and who was not. Trinket had monitored the spell before, as it was Goblin in design and he had the best grasp of its subtleties.
"Naturally," Trinket nodded and directed the carpet to fly behind him. Harry watched as Argent started hauling trunks and then shook his head. She hadn't made the friendliest of starts, but with luck, they'd win her over. It couldn't be easy marrying a Goblin that you'd never met, and was living as little more than an indentured slave of a Human at that.
"That's going to be interesting," Francesca mirrored his thoughts, and he grinned at the heavily pregnant linguist. She was as graceful as ever, which Harry envied, and the extra weight suited her.
"Yeah well, we'll win her over in time," he shrugged, "Trinket has a right to having his spouse here too."
"Oh I know, caro, I just hope she loses the stick up her… oomph."
Armando rolled his eyes and took his hand away from his wife's mouth. The closer to her due date she got the more profane Francesca got. It was an interesting phenomenon. Harry decided to be a supportive male though, and change the subject.
"We'll be ready to start the locating spells tomorrow," he mentioned as they strolled towards the Vecchio tent, "And then I'll have some new stuff for you to look over Frannie."
"Good, because I'm getting bored sitting around doing nothing. Armando won't even let me spell the kitchen clean," she shot her husband a dark look, "As if using my wand is too much work."
"I seem to remember a certain Italian linguist standing not a million miles from me hiding my wand once or twice when she decided I needed to rest," Harry mused and yelped when she whacked his arm, "Bloody hell, woman! Don't beat the boss!"
Francesca's response had Armando clapping a hand over her mouth again, a pained expression on his face.
"Master Harry, Master Davy is waking up," Winky popped out of thin air, and Harry nodded at her. The elves were very good with Davy, though he was starting to feel that his son needed more supervision from a Human. If Davy wouldn't stop crying for them, Dobby and Winky punished themselves, which Harry was dead set against. Once the baby got old enough to start throwing tantrums, and Harry was sure that Davy would do so no matter how sweet he was at the moment, the elves would be entirely unable to cope with him.
"I'm coming right now," he promised, and bade goodbye to the Vecchio's. He hurried across to his tent, enjoying the ability to move unencumbered by a big belly. That would be changing again as soon as they located and charted the Second Tomb. They'd check that the Soul Gem was able to withstand the ritual and then not long afterwards Harry would be pregnant again.
Part of him was almost looking forward to it.
0o0o0o0
"Are we sure that's a diamond?" Ferdi asked idly, carefully making a sketch of the door and its markings while Elaine recorded the arithmancy of the wards. Harry was busy keeping them in the visible range, and Trinket was carefully casting measurement spells.
"Yep," Harry had to keep the answer short because the wards were being particularly recalcitrant, requiring most of his not inconsiderable skill to keep them steady. Trinket took over the answer though, which helped vastly.
"There is no other naturally occurring gem that is hard enough to contain a soul," the Goblin shifted to the side and cast another spell, recording his results meticulously. Harry would get a copy of that diagram to add to his own journal for the tomb. Trinket was so reliable that Harry didn't feel the need to redo the work for himself.
"I thought that the Star of Africa was the largest diamond in the world," Ferdi protested, "You know, the one in the Crown of the Muggle royalty in the UK."
"Largest known to Muggles," Trinket sniffed in a disparaging fashion, "Not large enough to hold a human soul though."
"Ok Harry, all done, you can let them go now," Elaine announced and Harry sighed in relief before carefully releasing the wards, letting them become quiescent once more. Of the whole team, he was the one who could hold that spell the longest, not surprising considering his personal magical strength; of course, that didn't make it any less tiring for him.
"Actually Ferdi," Harry sat on a handy stump with a sigh, "I think that the Soul Gems were actually all part of one single diamond, cut into pieces to be used in the defences of these tombs."
"Oh wow," Ferdi breathed, "That would have been… wait a minute. Why did they cut up a diamond that was so big?"
"Probably because it was too big. I know that most people think the bigger the better, but in the case of the diamond, something that large would actually be useless to them. Too large and unwieldy to properly work with for starters, and too heavy to transport from ritual to ritual easily," Harry shrugged, his green eyes fixed on the soul of his next child, "Anacosta would have split it with a spell that traced its natural faults. Chances are that there are five tombs only because there were five fragments of sufficient and equal size. If there had been more of the right type of fragments, then there would be more tombs protected with Soul Gems."
Ferdi swore in Spanish, and then capped the fountain pen he used to write with, charmed to be never out, and inlaid with gold filigree that was actually quite captivating. The thought that each Gem was a visual testament to the ritual murder of a child was a sobering thought and tarnished the gems beauty.
"Done," Trinket announced, "I'll have a copy for you by sundown, Potter. Shall I take the copies of the door to Vecchio now?"
"Yes, please," Harry nodded, and Trinket nodded and stomped off. They'd learned to read the Goblin's actions and speech over the last almost year, and Harry could tell he was eager to get back to his wife.
"Harry, Harding and I have come to a decision on the matter of the tutor and nanny that you suggested at yesterday's meeting. If you're sure that you don't mind paying in a share with us then we'd like to go ahead with it," Elaine hauled Harry up off the stump. If left to himself, Harry would spend hours sitting with the Soul Gem.
"Of course I want to pay a share," Harry smiled, "Davy and his siblings will all be under the nanny's care, and eventually under the tutor as well. Just because your eldest is going to need the tutor first doesn't mean we should pay differing amounts. Frannie and Armando are happy to go in equally as well, so that's ok. Ferdi can put the advertisements in now, and when we go back to Rome next week we can hold the interviews then."
"Actually," Ferdi spoke up hesitantly, "I need to talk to you as well Harry."
Elaine took the hint, and left them to walk back to the camp slowly. After his work on the wards, Harry didn't have the energy for a brisker pace, and he was reluctant to leave the Soul Gem alone, though it had managed without his presence for thousands of years and likely wasn't even aware of him at all.
"What's wrong Ferdi? Is this about Juanita?" Harry linked his arm comfortably through his assistants, grateful for the support.
"Yes," Ferdi sighed, "And it's spooky that you know… I mean I didn't think that anyone knew about her writing me."
"Ferdi you spend hours talking about her, when we're not talking about work," Harry smiled, "I know how special she is to you."
"She's the one, Harry," Ferdi sighed, "And she has agreed to marry me on one condition."
"She wants you to give up the field work," Harry guessed and Ferdi sighed, his lips pressed tightly together, "Ferdi… you have to follow your own path. I'll miss you, and finding someone to replace you will be hard, but I'd hate to stand in the way of your happiness."
"Oh Harry," Ferdi sighed as they emerged from the trail and into the clearing dotted with the teams tents, "You know, not many people are willing to put up with someone like me. My flair and style is intimidating to many. You have accepted me as I am, and for that… I will always be at your disposal. I'll make an Unbreakable Vow to keep silent about the First and Second Tomb until you release me, and I will be available to research for you. Just send me a letter and…"
"Thanks Ferdi," Harry smiled, interrupting before his assistant could get too carried away, "I guess you'd better put an advertisement out for an assistant as well. Married couples with complimentary skills a plus. If you've got any contacts, anyone in mind that might fit the bill, give them a nudge to apply."
"I'll get right on it," Ferdi nodded, "Will you be ok from here?"
"Sure," Harry smiled and disengaged his arm from his assistant, putting a hand onto the flap of his tent, "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Harry," Ferdi smiled sadly and headed for his own tent. Harry sighed and ducked inside, wondering what he'd do if he couldn't get an assistant before they came back to the site. Not everyone was willing to drag their significant other into the wilderness, looking for treasure.
He put his thoughts aside to deal with his concerned elves and cooing son.
0o0o0o0
Ray and Ben Fraser joined the team two days after they returned to Rome with Francesca. She had been whisked off to spend time with her mother prior to her delivery, and Ferdi had made it a point to get his replacement organised first. With the rest of the team working on the ritual, which had to be tailored to the geographical location of the tomb as well as to the wards on the tomb, some of which were vastly different to those on the first tomb, Ferdi wanted his replacement to have plenty of time to get up to speed with the site.
Ray was a historian by training, and actually held a degree in Muggle archaeology. He was Muggle born, and his parents had apparently made it a condition of his attendance at the Italian Academy of Magical Excellence – Italy's version of Hogwarts. His partner Ben was a Herbologist, who was interested in cultivating several rare Peruvian plants. Ben had also offered to grow vegetables and produce for the team, and Harry had signed approval for purchase of a tent that was mostly a series of greenhouses. He'd also warned Ben to ward against Madge, as the young monkey was very curious and likely to eat his plants.
Neither man seemed phased by the idea of Harry having children, or of the team being made up of mostly married couples with children. In fact, Ben had commented that it made sense to take family members into the field, as it took the guilt out of pursuing excellence in a person's chosen field.
"That's one way to put it," Harry had laughed. Ben had a house elf that would also accompany them, one that he'd inherited with his trust fund. He was a bit of a playboy in that he didn't actually need to work and chose to pursue herbology as more of a hobby. He wasn't too bad for a 'trust fund baby', though Harry was aware that term could also apply to Davy, whose trust fund had been established before he was born, and so would his siblings.
They had settled back into the house that they'd rented when waiting for Harry and Elaine to deliver their children, and Ray and Ben seemed quite happy in the spare room. The house didn't actually have enough rooms for everyone and the children, but it did have a very large attic and cellar, so they'd each pitched their tents and were sharing communal meals in the dining room. This had the added advantage of allowing the children to have access to their toys and own beds, something that Harry had come to recognise as very important when it came to keeping little people happy. If Davy couldn't have his cradle, then he wanted his daddy, and Harry had become very accustomed to reading his research aloud to a snoozing baby.
"Hey Boss, the Kowalski's are here," Ray announced, "And what are you reading to him?"
"The fourth principal of Wagner as applied to inorganic curses," Harry glanced up, marking his place, "And who are the Kowalski's?"
"Married couple looking to be your nanny and tutor," Ray rubbed a hand through his short hair and shook his head, "This kid is going to be after your job if you're not careful, and he doesn't even have teeth yet. Think he'll let me hold him while you wear the bosses' hat?"
"Probably, if you keep talking to him," Harry sighed, "He doesn't like port keys very much, and he's always a little unsettled for a few days afterwards."
"Heh, maybe you should give him to Barbara and see if she can handle him. She's the nanny portion of the couple," Ray put his hands out and settled Davy on his shoulder with a practiced pat. He apparently had quite a few nieces and nephews, and had a lot of experience playing with them.
"Let me meet them first," Harry smiled, "Barbara Kowalski and…?"
"Damien," Ray supplied, "Polish couple in their late seventies, which means they've got at least forty years before they consider retirement. Specialities include transfiguration and charms, which can't hurt in the field."
"Right, Barbara and Damien," Harry nodded, "They're in the study?"
"Yep," Ray nodded and turned the book that Harry had been reading aloud. He took up where Harry had left off, his slightly nasal voice oddly soothing. Harry grinned as he shut the door, shaking his head. Ferdi had been a little formal and detail oriented, despite his flamboyant style. Ray was much more … organic in his approach, something that had appealed greatly to Harry. Both Ray and Ben had made instant friends with the team, not at all phased by Trinket and Argent, and accepting the idea of a boss that was planning to get pregnant four more times without missing a beat. For all his excellent points, Ferdi had been a little… reserved about Davy and his future siblings. The Spaniard hadn't wanted them to commit infanticide, but Harry had always had the feeling that Ferdi would have been happier if Elaine and Francesca had borne the children from the Gems.
Harry paused outside the door to the study and took a deep breath, focussing his attention on the interview he was about to conduct. The team had agreed to let him hold the initial meetings, and they would meet Harry's choice before a firm offer was made to ensure that everyone was happy.
Their team was certainly growing in leaps and bounds. If this kept up, they'd fetch up qualifying as a village or something in their own right.
0o0o0o0
"Wow."
Harry turned at the comment and smiled at his assistant. The tomb was impressive, festooned with vines and constructed with the light grey stone that was native to the area. They were floating above it on the carpet while Harry and Trinket mapped it out to ensure that they didn't miss any chambers hidden by means other than magic. Ray hadn't had a chance to see much of the tomb, as they were still finalising the translations on the door and Harding had insisted on double-checking the arithmancy of the wards. Some sites had wards that changed according to moon phase, or experienced seasonal fluctuations, and the ritual that would free the soul trapped in the Gem needed to be perfectly matched.
"Yeah, it's pretty impressive," Harry agreed and directed the carpet slightly to the left to give Trinket a better angle for his diagram. The Goblin grunted his thanks, and Ray rolled his eyes. The blonde man was fairly easy going, and it took a lot to rattle him. The arrival of the quads, for example, hadn't bothered him at all, though he was stuck in a Muggle elevator with Frannie at the time. That had been a saga and a half, and in the end, only Harry's magic had gotten them out and clear of Muggle rescue workers before the actual birth.
On the plus side, Hagrid now had a nice little colony of Nestene – small lizard-like creatures that liked eating metal and breathed sparks – that had been chewing on the lift cables. They were similar to Dragons in some ways, which his brother was still fanatical about. It was the Nestene that had been responsible for the failure of the lift, something that the Muggles had been naturally unable to detect.
"I am so glad Ben talked me into applying for this job," Ray grinned, "I mean, there aren't many jobs that take married couples, and everyone knows about the Five Tombs. You must have been inundated with applicants."
"Ferdi didn't say," Harry smirked, "Which was a relief, because hiring everyone the first time was … well, not to worry."
"And is that a lake over there?" Ray grinned. He knew how little Harry liked interviewing people, especially after Ferdi had finished briefing him. Harry had overheard some of it: Ferdi had made it more than clear that the proper care and handling of Harry Potter was Ray's primary goal in life.
Harry hated interviewing people because he hated putting himself in the public eye. His exile had not changed that, and he was in the unusual position of needing to publish his work to gain and maintain his professional standing, thus attracting unwanted attention. Additionally, male pregnancy wasn't so common that people brushed it off without a second thought, which meant even more attention.
Oddly enough, Harry's pregnancies were one of the reasons that Ray and Ben had been keen for the job. Ben was apparently eager for the couple to have children together, but Ray refused to allow it until they'd researched the matter thoroughly. Watching Harry live through it evidently met the research requirements.
"Yes," Trinket looked up, "But it is forbidden to us. There is a Hippogriff that hunts anyone flying too near it off."
"Why?" Ray frowned, then shook his head, "Hang on, a Hippogriff? Are they even native to this area?"
"No," Trinket snorted, "This one migrates to our location on a regular basis. Potter has made friends with it, in his own fashion."
Before Ray could ask any more questions a familiar cry sounded, and Brightfeather's shadow cut sharply over the flying carpet. Ray tilted his head back for a glimpse as Harry grinned.
"Speak of the devil," he chuckled and Brightfeather called again, a soft commanding sound that Harry knew better than to ignore, "Trinket, take the carpet and Ray back to camp, ok? I'll be back when whatever Brightfeather wants to show me is finished with."
"How will you follow the Hippogriff if you let us have the carpet?" Ray asked, confusion showing on his face. Harry smiled again and then stepped off the edge as Brightfeather flew underneath, landing securely on the Hippogriff's back as his assistant cried out in shock.
The wind whipped away any further noise, and Harry leaned forward, patting the strong neck in front of him in greeting and arranging his legs so he wouldn't interfere with Brightfeather's wings. They were heading for the lake, and at the core of his magic, Harry could feel the little tug that said Dobby was worried about him and tying to locate him. He closed his eyes for a moment and sent reassurance back through the bond, hoping that the little elf wouldn't come unless called. Brightfeather didn't seem to like the elves much; something about their magic made him twitchy.
A sudden change in altitude recalled Harry's wandering thoughts, and moments later, they were banking over the lake, and then landing on the shore, Harry slipping to the ground as quickly as he could to take the strain from Brightfeather's lame foreleg. There were several foals on the edges of the lake, and one or two dames that were hugely pregnant. This was obviously the reason that Brightfeather was hunting everyone off – friend or foe, the foals and dams would be vulnerable to air attack.
There was a dam lying on the side of the lake, with Greywings nervously dancing around her. The roan dam was struggling, and when Brightfeather nudged Harry closer, he could see that she had been bitten. Whatever it was seemed to be poisonous if the marks around the bite were any indication, and Harry summoned Dobby without a second thought.
"Dobby, I need my bag," he said urgently, "And then I want you to stay with Davy."
Dobby looked very upset by the order, but knew better than to say anything in the presence of the Hippogriffs. The moment he or Winky spoke, the flying half-breeds would attack them, snapping and snarling. Seconds later, he was back with Harry's bag and then he disappeared again, giving Harry a very soulful look.
It looked like a snake bite, so Harry began treatment for that, hampered by the fact that the dam was in labour and not at all in the mood to have a Human near her. He managed to keep her stable long enough for the foal to be delivered, dodging her beak and hooves at every turn. She seemed to lose all of her fight once her foal arrived, but Harry had a few tricks up his sleeve, and after a very stressful half hour, he finally stepped back, confident in the knowledge that she would live without any further intervention on his part. Greywings had stopped fluttering about the roan and was now watching avidly as the new foal took its first clumsy steps. Harry smiled at its attempts, packing his bag carefully and stepping away from the new mother, lest someone in the flight get the wrong idea and tries to kill him.
There was a rustle in the bushes to his left and Harry turned his head curiously. Seconds later, he was snapping a stream of spells, cutting his opponent in half and staggering in place. Battle hardened instincts could come in useful, though he'd let them slip a bit too much if it allowed his attacker to get this close. With a wince, Harry prised the feathered serpent off his wrist, preventing the dead snake from pumping any more venom into his body. He fumbled into his bag again, even as the Hippogriffs around him stamped and snorted and generally created a fuss. He swallowed a bezoar hurriedly and then apparated back to camp, arriving in front of Armando's tent.
"Harry!" someone yelled and he dropped the dead snake onto the ground, staggering two paces to the left and throwing up violently. Hands grabbed hold of him and then the world faded away.
0o0o0o0
Davy blinked up at his Daddy, and Harry smiled gently, content to lie propped on his side with his son's hand flexing and grabbing against his pyjama top. He hadn't seen his son for nearly a week, though he'd only been awake for a day or so. Armando had worked long and hard on his anti venom, with Harry in a magically maintained coma at the time. The bezoar had helped him for a while, but throwing up had purged his system, which meant that the small amount of venom that had yet to be neutralised had done its level best to kill him.
Davy was chatting away, soft baby sounds and burbles that Harry swore were almost words, even though his son was still too young to be speaking at all. He angled the hand that was resting against his son's side and Davy grabbed his thumb, the tiny grip surprisingly strong. Trinket shifted impatiently in the chair beside Harry's bed, and he glanced at the irate Goblin for a second before returning his attention to his son. Harry had been treated to quite the rant from his indentured slave; all about how Trinket couldn't possibly do his duty properly to Harry if Harry insisted on going off with 'that mangy flea ridden half horse on hare brained excursions'. The Goblin had then lapsed into Gobbledegook and Harry had learned several new swear words and elaborate curses. Trinket had apparently been guarding Davy while Harry was laid up, something that touched him deeply.
The wrist that had been bitten was still quite sore, though Armando said that was as much from the nerve and tissue damage as the venom. Harry was apparently going to have another interesting looking scar to add to his collection. Feathered serpent venom was slightly corrosive, and the teeth of the serpent that had bitten Harry had grazed his bone. Of course, the Basilisk venom and Phoenix tears that were still contained in Harry's blood had complicated matters. Harry hadn't realised that Fawkes had chosen to cry tears that neutralised and balanced the venom of Salazar's Basilisk without completely eradicating it. According to Armando, the mixture would make him immune to a normal snakebite; it was just Harry's typical luck that feathered serpents were well outside the normal range.
"Hey, boss, you're awake," Ray's voice intruded on his thoughts and Harry nodded, though he continued to play gently with Davy, "Good to see you looking better and less like Sleeping Beauty."
"Tell me he didn't kiss me to wake me up," Harry groaned, and Ray laughed.
"Ben would murder me and use me for compost;" Ray replied lightly, "Your virtue is safe with me."
"Potter, I will leave you for a moment. Fraser, stay with him," Trinket announced and hopped down from his chair. Ray came into Harry's line of sight and leaned on the next bed. They were in the hospital tent, which meant that there were several beds in a row, each one with a 'skylight' above it that allowed a limited view of the area outside the tent.
"While you were in the coma, there were some… complications in the team," Ray said once Trinket was gone, "You should know that Trinket is talking of repudiating Argent, Boss."
"What?" Harry glanced up for a second and then looked back down at Davy, who was attempting to kick Harry's free hand, babbling away to his Daddy happily. A smile kept creeping over Harry's face, completely inappropriate to the serious conversation that Ray was trying to have with him.
"She aired the opinion that if you died then Trinket would be freed of his life debt," Ray shrugged, "Which, before you get worked up, is true, and we all know that. Trinket didn't take kindly to her saying it though, and there were words exchanged. He moved in to your tent to help your elves take care of Davy, and I don't think they've spoken since then."
"Hmm," Harry mumbled, patting the soles of his sons flailing feet with his palm and then resting his head on the pillows. As much as he loved Davy, he didn't think he could stay awake much longer, "Thanks for telling me. I can't get involved though, it's his marriage after all, and I really don't have the right to tell him what to do with his wife."
"Yeah, I know. I just thought you should," Ray shrugged, "You're looking tired."
"I am," Harry agreed, fatigue catching up to him in a sudden wave. Davy also seemed to be tired, because he yawned and rolled closer to Harry, which was his son's latest achievement.
"Get some rest then, Boss. I'll keep an eye on the both of you. At least until Trinket is back," Ray said it quietly, and Harry let himself relax a little. Dobby and Winky were no doubt monitoring him as well through the bond, and they'd come for Davy when they realised he was going to sleep. His elves had also lectured him – in their own way – and Harry was grateful they cared enough to do so. As long as they felt that they could voice their opinions, it meant that he was providing the right amount of care for them.
His son had quite a strong grip on his pyjama top, even in his sleep, and Harry let Davy's sleepy breaths lull him into sleep as well.
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Dear Hagrid,
We've had a bit of a delay, but the team has run the ritual through, and once again, I'm pregnant. We ran the ritual for a male from the very start and my scar hardly twinged at all when it took, which seems to confirm my theories about the blasted thing. Not to worry, though, I was able to Occlude really well at the end of the war, so there is no danger of another Witch or Wizard taking me over. Because of the delay this means that Davy will be almost a year old when his sibling is born, which is funny, to think that I've been a dad for so long.
Speaking of Davy, he's found out how to roll over, which he does most often when I'm trying to change his nappy, and he's started shunting himself along on his front, shoving off with his feet. Mrs Kowalski says it won't be long until he starts crawling at this rate! I've enclosed photos for you – as you can see he's growing in leaps and bounds. There are also a few of Madge – the object that Davy is pursuing most often when he does his caterpillar impersonation. We've moved him into his own room and a cot (fifth photo) and they both sleep there quite happily.
Now that we can get into the second tomb, work has begun in earnest. The writings and decorations are as lavish as the first tomb, but the really exciting find is some actual scrolls! Harding and I are labouring over some tailored preservation spells, and once they take, we will be able to unroll them and see what they've got written on them! Ray is drooling in anticipation, and so is Davy, though that might be because he's about to cut a tooth.
There are also several artefacts of interest to us, mainly a series of boxes in precious metals that have some very hefty curses on them. Once the scrolls are sorted, I'll be turning my attention to them, though Trinket is currently working on the preliminary detection spells. Argent would be able to tell us precisely what type of metals we're working with but she and Trinket are currently Not Speaking, and I don't like to undermine him by speaking 'over his head' to her. She made a few comments recently that have incensed several people, her husband included, and things have yet to be resolved.
Brightfeather has finally revealed the reason for hunting people and predators away from the lake. It seems that he was using it as a maternity ward for the flight, and several new foals have been dropped. The flight is growing in size, which is good news for Brightfeather. I have a feeling that they'll have a hard time leaving South America though, as the movement of magical creatures is fairly restricted here, even wild ones. When the flight was smaller, they'd have been able to slip under the radar as it were, but now they're big enough to attract attention. There was some indication that the authorities were scouting the area for the flight, but Brightfeather had them well concealed. I'm still not sure why he seems so intent on keeping touch with me, but I am happy to know that he's around. We get a lot of protection from having the flight in the area, as they are fierce hunters and any other predators in the area are usually moved on.
Well, it's a short letter, but I wanted to let you know that the ritual had gone according to plan, and to send on those photos for you. When the team found out I was writing they all warned Ray not to hex you if you should turn up, which was kind of funny. Davy sends you all his love, and Madge has licked the corner of the parchment. Hoping that you are well,
Harry
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Extract from 'Harry Potter: The Man behind the Legend. An Unofficial Biography'
… The scrolls found in the Second Tomb of Anacosta eventually led Harry Potter and his team to another nearby site, with promises of incredible wealth and fortune. In fact, the site was designed to be a killing floor from start to finish, and it was only Harry Potter's quick thinking, intelligence and magical ability that prevented the death of his entire team.
To this day, the 'Tomb of Death' as it was referred to in the Potter Journals, is maintained intact, with all of the original curses in place. Curse breakers and tourists alike have been known to visit the site to study the spells woven into the trap, as they contain several entirely unknown curses.
From his own study of the 'Tomb of Death', Harry Potter was able to publish a book on the subject. This was to be the first of what eventually became more than twenty tomes published by Harry Potter, establishing him as an authority in his field. Several of the better schools of magic in Europe use his works as instructional texts, and he continues to hold the title of the most quoted or referred to curse breaker in his field…
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