Chapter Eight

As soon as she entered through the back door, the noise from the kitchen hit. It had only been an hour but from the loud bangs of plates and cutlery, she guessed dinner must be over. The knowledge that she had to tell them something weighed on her heavily. She felt as though she hadn't lied. She knew nothing of the dark wizard's plans or even the humans that were on his side.

The door creaked open and all conversation and cleaning halted, turning the room silent as when she first arrived. A brief feeling of anger swelled in her chest but she pushed it down as she walked to the table and sat beside Remus, who kept his eyes on her the entire time. When she settled, the moment passed and the conversations restarted albeit a little quieter.

But no words reached her as blood rushed loudly through her ears, making her deafened to everything else. As the sound of running water and scratching reached her, she turned her head. The pots and pans in the sink moved unaided as they cleaned themselves before moving onto the dish drainer to dry. When she finally looked away, she glanced at the table.

Most of the people she'd seen an hour ago were still here but a few people were missing, notably a few of the red-heads. There weren't as many as last time. Other noticeable missing persons was Dumbledore and Severus. She scanned the room twice but there was no sign of them. She frowned but was unsure as to why the knowledge made her uncomfortable.

A gasp of surprise escaped her lips as a hand pressed against her back. "It'll be alright."

Thalia turned her head. Her eyes met Remus' blue ones briefly. They were full of concern and kindness. Choosing to look away and nod, she shifted in her seat, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. It seemed Remus took the hint and removed his hand from her back, moving it into his lap.

The kitchen door opened and the tall figures of Dumbledore and Severus walked in, the latter taking a seat near the end of the table, not saying a word while the former, stopped at the top, standing tall, his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for something which didn't take long. Silence filled the room and all eyes turned on him.

"You understand what will happen, Miss Greyback?" said Dumbledore quietly. Thalia looked up and met his eye but said nothing. "We will tell you everything we know and you will do the same."

"Yes," said Thalia, nodding. "I know."

Thalia glanced around as the room seemed to darken and it turned so silent, not even the breathing of the people around her could be heard. She watched as Dumbledore stared at her, his blue eyes passive, showing no emotion. When he spoke, his voice was calm but low, giving away nothing.

"At the end of 1926 a young woman from a broken family gave birth to a son that she named Tom Marvolo Riddle. Just before his eleventh birthday I met the young boy, who lived in a muggle orphanage, and told him of his heritage. It took a little convincing but he believed me after I showed him magic. This boy grew into become Lord Voldemort, creating the new name to spare himself the reminder of his muggle name.

"Over the years, Tom has allied himself with people who have the same views, want part of the glory or ones that sought protection from their own weakness. Despite his hatred for them he also requested help from others who were willing to give their assistance. And by others, I mean half-breeds. I am of the belief that once Tom has what he wants, the half-breeds will experience a quick and sharp demise and then the muggles of the world will suffer."

Dumbledore paused as he took a step towards the table and leaned forwards, resting his palms flat on the table, his blue eyes still on Thalia. "For years I and others here have attempted to bring him and his followers down. We've had successes here and there but so has Tom. We need something more and right now, we'll take anything. Now, I believe you can help us but you have to be open and honest about everything. If you have questions, ask them now."

Thalia cleared her throat. "Do you want the werewolf packs to fight on your side or what? What do you want from them?"

"We only want them to stand down," said Remus, who shifted in his seat beside her. "We don't want them fighting with us but we don't want them siding with Voldemort either. We want them to stay out of it."

"Why?" asked Thalia, looking at him. "Why wouldn't you want them fighting on your side?"

"Most werewolves don't live with humans and don't care to," said Remus, giving her a knowing look. "So most wouldn't want to help us anyway, but we believe there's a chance to dissuade them from joining the other side."

"Who are his followers?" Thalia asked next.

"They're called Death Eaters," answered Moody in a gruff voice across from her. "It primarily consists of wizards and witches who are pure-blood supremacists and who practice the Dark Arts without regard or fear of Wizarding law. When you see one you'll know it. You can't miss the black robes and snake eyed masks that cover their cowardly faces."

"And what other beings does he have working for him?"

"We only know of a few," answered Sirius, who sat beside Harry on the other side of the table. "He has an alliance of giants, goblins at the wizard bank and a few vampires, but how many we've been unable to tell. He also has use of Inferi."

"What are Inferi?" asked Thalia instantly.

"They are corpses," said Sirius. "Dead bodies that have been reanimated by a dark wizard. They have no free will and cannot think for themselves; their purpose is merely to serve as puppets of the dark wizard who reanimated them. Voldemort used them in the first war against us and we're sure he'll use them again."

Thalia nodded slowly as she took the information in. "I only have one more question. What is a horcrux?"

"Very dark magic," answered Kingsley, his deep voice drawing her attention up the table. The dark-skinned wizard leaned forward, his vivid purple robes moving with his body. "It's an object in which a dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of their soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating a horcrux is considered dark magic of the most evil kind. It violates the laws of nature and morality and requires a horrific act such as murder to accomplish."

"And how many are there?"

"We do not know how many he has created," said Dumbledore. "Anyone in history that created one only made one. The process of makes the part of the soul remaining unstable. We know of three but have only destroyed two."

"How many do you think there are?"

"I do not know," replied Dumbledore. "If I know Tom as well as I think, there could be as many as seven. Harry may have a lead on a fourth. The third is still out of reach as its location is unknown."

"And what are those objects?" asked Thalia, still wanting more.

"So far, a diary and a ring have been destroyed," said Dumbledore. "We think the third is a locket and the other a goblet."

"Why would he choose those objects?"

"In theory, a horcrux can be anything but Tom has so far chosen to use objects of great significance or importance. The diary belonged to Tom and the Ring belonged to his grandfather. The locket belonged to his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin and the goblet belonged to Helga Hufflepuff."

"Who are those people?" said Thalia, her voice edging on irritated.

"Two of the founders of Hogwarts," said Dumbledore patiently. "The others are Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw. I believe he took something that once belonged to both of them as well but I cannot be sure what yet."

The room turned quiet and Thalia bowed her head, shielding her eyes from everyone. The information she had felt overwhelming and she didn't know where to begin to start sorting through all of it. The scraping of chair legs sounded and Thalia looked up. Dumbledore had pulled out a chair and sat down, his eyes still on her.

"Tell us what you know."

The voice was calm yet demanding. Thalia nodded slowly and placed her hands under the table, wringing her fingers together as she thought quickly. The words describing a horcrux echoed in her mind and slowly, she looked up to meet Dumbledore's stare.

"Tell me… what does this goblet look like?" she asked slowly.

"Why?" asked Dumbledore suspiciously.

"I may have seen it," said Thalia quickly.

"Describe to me the object you saw," said Dumbledore.

"It was a small golden cup with two finely-wrought handles with a badger engraved on the side and what looked to be a few jewels," said Thalia, looking down at the table to avoid distraction.

When she looked up, she saw Dumbledore raise a hand to stroke his long beard. "Where did you see it?"

"It was at a house," said Thalia, shrugging. "I've only been there once. I was with my father and he said he had to make a stop. We apparated to a big house on a quiet street. We went inside and I stayed in the hallway near the front door. A group of four people passed through and one of them passed something to the only woman in the group. She held the object up and it was then I saw what it was."

"What did this woman look like?" asked Harry quickly, leaning forwards.

Thalia took her eyes off Dumbledore and look at the other side, meeting Harry's wide green eyes. "She was tall with long black hair, pale skin. She was wearing a tattered black dress that dragged along the floor behind her. It was the first time I'd seen her and I haven't seen her since."

"Bellatrix…" muttered Sirius.

"What else do you have to tell us?" said Dumbledore, ignoring the few whispers that followed.

Thalia shrugged again. "I doubt there's anything," she said, looking back at the elderly wizard. "As I told you, I never went to meetings, father rarely told me anything that was going on and I never asked and most things I do know would be insignificant and useless to you."

"Does your father attend meetings?" asked Hermione, who sat beside Harry.

"Yes," said Thalia. "With… him… he goes every couple weeks or so. The other werewolves, he meets on a regular basis, once a week, a few times at most."

"Have you ever gone along?" asked Remus.

"Twice," said Thalia. "The first time was just to meet a new pack and the second was to give the leader an offering for an alliance."

"What was the offering?" asked Remus, his voice lowering in volume.

"It doesn't matter," whispered Thalia, her voice tense. "We got the alliance. The leader of that pack, we should avoid. He'll want too much in return and I doubt anything he wants would be something you're prepared to give."

"How do we know you're not hiding anything?"

Thalia turned her head to look further down the table. The red-head that spoke looked at her with a malicious expression, his blue eyes blazing with a hatred that was beyond familiar to her. She gazed back, deciding he deserved some sort of answer.

"I guess you'll just have to take my word for it," said Thalia. "If I lie, it won't take long for it to be exposed, I'm sure."

"And we're just supposed to believe that you're not like your father?" said Ron viciously. "He's a monster and my bet is that you are too."

"Ron…"

"I'm sure killing and maiming runs in the family!" he spat.

"Ronald Weasley, that's enough!" said Molly, getting to her feet.

"That will be all for tonight," said Dumbledore. "Miss Greyback, if something else comes to mind, I'm sure Remus won't hesitate in sharing the information. Goodnight all."

The farewell was returned by a few and went unnoticed by others. Noisily, Remus got to his feet, taking Thalia with him, his grip on her arm tight. Together they left the room and headed upstairs to the third floor. At the end of the dark corridor they entered into a bedroom, the door closing behind them.

"What did Ron mean by-"

"I think you should get some sleep," said Remus, cutting her off.

Thalia watched the other werewolf. He moved stiffly but she couldn't apprehend the reason for it. Remus walked across the room fluidly, picking up a couple of books off the floor, wrenching the grey curtains shut and moving to the bed, folding the blankets back. Biting her bottom lip nervously, Thalia stepped towards Remus, taking in a deep breath, wanting a whiff of his scent.

Slowly, she approached. At his side, she touched his arm, making him turn to look at her. Blue eyes met grey and both held their breath as time seemed suspended. Thalia's mouth fell open as the scent she wanted flooded her senses. It didn't go unnoticed and the moment broke when he stepped back, putting space between them.

"Remus…"

"You should sleep," said Remus firmly, moving towards the door. "There's food in the kitchen if you get hungry and don't leave. It's not safe outside this house, except the backyard. And try to keep conversations minimal if you happen to run into anyone."

The door closed behind him before Thalia could get a word out. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. All she wanted to talk about was what had happened between them and about what Ron had said concerning her downstairs but it was clear Remus didn't want to look at her let alone talk.