Chapter 7 – Adjusting My Plans

Hermione knew where the bluestones of Stonehenge had been quarried and wanted to send a party to obtain some large slabs for us to Witch sculpt.

"They're from Carn Doegog in Wales," Hermione excitedly told us. "I got up early this morning and did a quick trip to a Muggle library. You need to send a party to harvest rock tonight. We'll have time to sculpt it to match some of the Stonehenge stones."

Professor Celine overheard what Hermione said. She had a better plan.

"We can Witch sculpt the stones in place. It won't be much harder than harvesting raw rock. We still must sculpt it from the carn and Apparate it back to Hogwarts. We might as well bring a finished product. That means my Witch sculptors need to visit Stonehenge first, in order to fix the exact shapes in our minds. I understand that there are four magical stones, which you want to copy. We can do that. Give me Professor McGonagall, Cissy, Margaret, and Hermione, since she knows which stones you want."

I decided to work on creating portkey belts for all my potential Questers. Luna said that she would help me. Harry hung around to chat. He wasn't going to the Ministry at all. It's as if he wanted to savour every remaining moment with me, which probably was the case.

"I think we should include Tony in part of the planning. He can help find the stones and silver that you need. Your father says it's okay. What do you think."?

"Fine, Harry. Do you want to contact him? I was thinking of underground destinations that we could apparate to, if we needed to retreat. I thought perhaps your Gringotts vault but didn't know if it was set to let me out."

"Of course it is. You're my wife. What's mine is yours. Just to be doubly safe, let's test it today. If you're going to use the vault, you should not be the only person who can operate it. We should add permission for Hermione. We can trust her."

"I agree. We'll do that tomorrow. Think about a spot at the Ministry that we can safely Apparate to. In fact, think of all the locations you can."

"Ellie can set up a room in the storage section of the basement that the Ministry Apparation barriers will permit your team to Apparate into. I don't think that's hard to do. You could Apparate into Slytherin, it's virtually empty and may be next term – perhaps that's only a short-term good idea. There's the basement of both of George's shops. The basement of Cissy's castle is a good spot."

"Yes, I had thought of all those places. I'm looking for some place that isn't closely connected with any of my potential Questers but will be safe."

"One place I went with the Dursleys was the Silver Exchange in London. It's far underground. Mr. Dursley wanted me to see it, so I would know all the things I could never have as a person who was going to waste his life on magic. We also visited the Churchill war rooms in the basement of a government building. I think that I could Apparate you to both of those spots. They wouldn't be good for daytime but could be a night retreat. You were in the basement of 10101 and the basement of the church near it. You could Apparate to either of those spots."

"That's all a lot more what I'm looking for. It sounds as though I'll be fine on unusual escape spots at night. I need daytime places."

"It's always night somewhere. You'll need spots in other parts of the world, in case you are limited in Apparation range for some reason. I know, it's a stretch, but I'm just trying to cover all the possibilities. Really, just about every Muggle house has places in the basement, if they have a basement that is, where nobody ever goes. Muggle stores have barely used areas of basement storage. Every Muggle church has useful underground places. Don't forget the tunnel under your own church, by the way. I think some of us may just have to sneak into some Muggle buildings and find a good Apparation spot. As far as daytime retreats in the middle of where most of your destinations are likely to be, you should ask Phaedra to identify some safe daytime spots in Greece."

"While you think about that, I also have the need for really pretty spots. Scenic views that my Questers can remember and pull up in their minds when the prolonged dank causes the black dog to appear. Don't look at me like that. I know it's a Muggle expression that I learned from Hermione, but it just fits so well with Professor Trelawney's The Grim, that it seemed perfect."

"Well now that you've brought up Churchill, I saw a show on the telly that said he regarded the view from Chartwell as the most beautiful in Britain. I've not been there, but I'll bet Hermione has. What I like most are views from daytime flying. The view over the Hogwarts lake is stunning. The view from the cave where you start your Quest is also very nice. You can see our homes from there, so that should be a nice scene for you and Hermione to remember. Ron and I can stand outside our house, while you and Hermione make your memory. I know what you're thinking – you want to keep Jaden and Adrienne in good spirits, but you don't know how much the Quest will wear down you and Hermione. You need your own cheery memories."

Harry was right. The view of our house was something that I could cling to and compel myself to fight my way back to, no matter what challenges I might face on the Quest. Given Harry's mood, I asked him what he thought about taking the Pensieve with us.

"Good idea. That's also a way to carry information. Remember the Dumbledore lectures to us?"

I did, but I didn't see that as particularly practical. If magic was good enough for us to lug the Pensieve around in Hermione's magical purse, we could certainly add the written reports from all my helpful planners. I really didn't have time to make the memories of the information. I told Harry as much.

"I didn't mean you had to make the lecture memories. Any of the professors could do it for you, or one of the Ministry experts or aurors. I agree that if the written report is adequate that you don't need the memory. What about things that require a demonstration or a picture?"

"You're right, but we can also carry pictures as easily as memories. For complex concepts, we can take memories of a demonstration lecture. You can remind the planners of that and they can store what they think will help."

I could sense that my lack of enthusiasm for his idea was causing Harry to slip out of his helpful, cheery mood. I rushed to change the subject.

"Can we all fly tomorrow? The flight across Scotland that we made with our piece of the Voldemort ghost was just beautiful. We could fly all the way to the firth at Edinburgh. I don't need to revisit the hill near 10101, that memory is etched in my mind and I can extract it for the others to view.

"Tomorrow works for me," Harry told me. "If a night flight perked up Jaden's mood, a day flight should dazzle her. I'll bet she's never made a cross country flight in the daylight. Work hard for the rest of the day and a long flight tomorrow can be your reward.

"I haven't forgotten using stored memories to carry information. One thing you should consider is very detailed views of all the circles we've seen, showing exactly how the silver connectors are braided and how the stones are placed. I'm sure our friends could send us the same information on the Paris and Durmstrang circles."

I liked this idea and I told Harry that he should arrange it. That sent him off with a smile.

I went in search of the ancient Witches. I had just remembered the comment about the Hogwarts Goddess and wanted to learn more of her. If she existed, she might well be the first deity we met.

Victoria and Mafalda were chatting together in the Ravenclaw common room. I told them "I believe it was Victoria who told me that she had seen one of the Brighit Triad near Hogwarts some thirty years ago. I've just recently been told that the Goddess of Hogwarts was in the vicinity some dozen years ago. Was she the same deity of whom you spoke earlier?"

"I don't know dear; I haven't seen her in the past almost thirty years."

"Which of the triad did you meet?"

"It was the Cailleach Bheur. She is associated with Scotland, so she could be the Goddess of Hogwarts. She didn't call herself that in my presence. Her sister Brighid still lives but doesn't hang out as much in Scotland. If Brigantia lived, I suppose she could be the Goddess in question. She was closely associated with Scotland. The sisters filled in for each other, so if Brigantia is dead, perhaps her sisters have taken her place. The Cailleach and Brighid each commanded half the seasons, so it would take both remaining sisters to replace Brigantia. We're past Bealtaine, so it would be Brighid you would be most likely to meet on your Quest, if you are to meet a Goddess at Hogwarts."

"That sounds right to me," Mafalda endorsed all that Victoria had told me. "I know of no other Goddess who has been linked to Hogwarts or to the land it sits upon. I'll think on the matter."

I really hadn't learned anything new. I would need a folder on Brighid. On the Cailleach also, just to be thorough. As I continued to work diligently through the afternoon, I discovered that I already possessed such a folder.

Professor McGonagall had authored the folder and noted at the top 'these notes include input from Victoria, Mafalda, and Professors Trelawney and Sprout. I have made a study of the triad, so assigned this topic to myself.'

I skimmed what McGonagall had written. Her script was difficult for me to decipher. The key point seemed to be that she disagreed with Victoria, regarding the death of Brigantia, although she agreed that this poor deity had been under considerable duress the past several decades. Still, a Witch, whom McGonagall described as 'old Mathilda, reported conversing with Brigantia a few miles outside of Harrogate, about fifteen years ago. Old Mathilda reported that Brigantia was failing and most distressed that she had been 'nearly forgotten by my people'.

This was significant, because of the three sisters McGonagall reported that Brigantia was the only warrior Goddess. She also commanded a great wild boar, which would be a truly nasty thing to encounter in the confines of a cavern. Her sisters seemed much easier to deal with.

McGonagall noted that 'Brighid commands the eternal flame and provides a means for those who travel within the earth to warm themselves and light their way with flame borrowed from this generous Goddess.'

This seemed very important, since fire, along with diamonds and chocolate, were things that Harry, and Ron couldn't place in the caverns before we arrived. We had to carry any of these items we needed, from the very start of the Quest.

Brighid seemed like a Goddess I would like and would be able to negotiate with. I realised that I had been negligent in my blessing of Little Erin in not mentioning Brighid and her significance to the Bealtaine holiday. Really, I should have mentioned the transfer of responsibility from the Cailleach Bheur to Brighid on that date. I hoped that lapse wouldn't be held against us but got the impression from McGonagall's notes that Brighid was not a jealous or vengeful Goddess.

The Cailleach was a little more difficult. Commanding winter, she was a more intimidating figure, with a staff having the power to freeze any water. I took relief from the knowledge that all the circle caverns with which I was familiar were dry. The ability to freeze standing water would be quite a weapon. I read that the Cailleach could command the storm but hoped this would not be a problem to those of us sheltered by the caverns.

I worked hard, but at least got to take a break for a delicious dinner of vegetarian lo meins. Adrienne's crew did not reappear until an hour after dinner. Adrienne was still cheery, but Hermione looked totally whipped, as did some of the others.

"We harvested the four stones you wanted," Adrienne proudly reported to me. "They're inside the Chamber of Secrets next to the stones from the Aragog cave. They are perfect matches to the magical stones at Stonehenge. Nobody will know the difference if you need to make the substitution."

I told everyone of the big treat in store for us, right after breakfast. We would spend the whole morning and half the afternoon flying our brooms, site-seeing, and storing happy memories of beautiful scenery.

In her tired state, Hermione was less than visibly enthused by the prospect.

"I think I might forego that trip and just continue my research, after a late rising," she told me.

This did not sit at all well with Ron. When Ron is excited, he is incapable of speaking in a quiet whisper, so I overheard everything he said.

"I know you're tired, but you must do this. This is preventative mental hygiene and you will need it more than you expect. I know you're not as moody as Adrienne, but all that time underground is going to bother you. You will need memories of bright vistas. I will feel much safer about you if you participate in the trip tomorrow. Harry and I are going. I think we'll all have a good time. You are working very hard and you need a beauty break."

Hermione was controlled enough to whisper back very quietly. I couldn't make out a word of what she said to Ron, but Ron appeared to be mollified by whatever was said. That counted as progress.