Hogwarts Year 4
Chapter 9
The day before everyone left for Christmas break and Harry still hadn't figured out the second clue, not that he was too worried since he had no intention of winning the tournament. He had succeeded last night in charging the lodestone powder and had even split it up into two batches, one to test and one to take to the manor – if the first passed the testing. Harry hoped that by charging the lodestone powder it would be enough to make the compound his own and satisfy Grimstead. Harry took the testing sample with him to see Ms. DuPrie and to ask her to oversee the testing so he could be sure. The lodestone was well charged the testing revealed and DuPrie was very surprised; they had time to mix a small amount of the whole compound for Harry to test over the holidays.
Six of the eight friends were packed and ready to leave when they came down for breakfast, the other two never seemed to be ready on time according to their sister. After they had finished eating Hermione announced loudly that she needed to ask Ms. DuPrie a question that had been bothering her and went to the head table. "Ms. DuPrie, could I ask a favor of you? We wanted to invite Daphne Greengrass over for the holidays abut we don't want to cause her problems in her own house. I was wondering if maybe you could call her to the potions lab while I just happened to be there so I could speak with her?" Hermione explained to the instructor, the response was a surprise, "Why Ms. Granger, I suspect you have some Slytherin in you. That is a plan worthy of a Slytherin, meet me in the lab in one hour".
When Hermione got to the lab she found Daphne waiting for her, Daphne said she was told to meet Ms. DuPrie here and was waiting for her to show up. Hermione quickly invited Daphne to join them on the ride home for break so they could plan when and where to meet during the holidays. The two girls talked for around 30 minutes before DuPrie came in and told Daphne that a mistake had been made and apologized for calling the wrong person in to talk, so she could go finish packing or whatever.
On the train Daphne joined the others, even the enlarged compartment was getting crowded with 10 people even Ron had joined the group for part of the ride home. It was agreed that Hermione would call Daphne and invite her over from #12, then they could all get together; Harry wasn't sure about letting her see Potter Manor yet. Daphne made an unusual comment in that this was the first Christmas break where Malfoy didn't have to buy a new wand. It was the twins that said that would never do and they went to see about fixing that mistake. When the two returned they handed Draco's wand to Harry and said they had switched wands, Malfoy had one of their trick wands that would explode into small pieces in about 12 hours unless it was deactivated – which unfortunately they hadn't figured out how to do yet. Everyone laughed at that idea, especially when Daphne told them he sometimes carried his wand in his back pocket.
Harry decided to try out the spell he had gotten from Ollivander for wand determination. Harry silently cast the spell and it revealed that the wand was "Hawthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches". Harry found the information interesting, but not particularly useful. Harry thought that it might be useful to scan more wands so as to get practice in doing so, but they would have to be wands he wasn't used to seeing or had heard about. When the train reached the platform everyone was met by family or guardians and they all agreed to get together on the 26th to exchange presents.
Harry finished his Christmas shopping on Tuesday so he had a few days to play a round before the big day. He packaged up a sample of the improved powder, along with the list of ingredients from the original, and sent it to Grimstead to show his progress. On Christmas Eve day Harry got a reply from Grimstead, "Very good work Mr. Potter, now if you would be so kind as to tell me who helped you. I know I cheated and got help with the ingredients when I was assigned the same task so it isn't anything different for you to do so. I am not sure what you changed as I have not reversed engineered the compound but it is different and seems to possess a different feel and protection. I say again, very good work". This was a very pleasant surprise for Harry.
Christmas morning Harry woke Sirius at 5:30am and then went back to bed only to be awaken himself at 6:30am by Kreacher saying breakfast was ready and Master Sirius was waiting. Breakfast was huge soon several others arrived, Amelia and Susan, Remus, Rick and Lucy, and a real surprise was Aunt Petunia. Gifts were opened, except for some which would be left to be opened the next day, and fun was had by all. Harry and Sirius had decided that they would trade locations each Christmas so each got to host the Christmas breakfast and Boxing day festivities at his own house.
It was December 26th 10am when Hermione arrived at 12 Grimmauld place with her parents. It was 10:15 when the Weasleys were called and asked to step through the fireplace, by 10:30 the whole crew was there, except for Daphne as she would be allowed over just before lunch was served. Once everyone had said hello Harry pulled Charlie Weasley to the side, such a nice surprise for the Weasley Family to have him for Christmas Harry asked if Charlie might have some information as to why they had brought four dragons to what was supposed to be a TriWizard tournament? Charlie said that was the order, it came in a week before they left and was changed from three dragons to four dragons; also, that the handlers all got into trouble over losing all four dragons "and three of them disappeared after the tournament! Whoever stole those three left a note saying we shouldn't be mean to the dragons. Who in their right mind would steal three dragons?" Charlie said.
Harry laughed and told Charlie that he was sure that the dragons were much happier now, this did raise a bit of suspicion on Charlie's part. Charlie came out and asked if Harry knew anything about the missing dragons and Harry confessed that one was on the Potter reserve and from what he had heard it was very happy. At the mention of the Potter Dragon Reserve Charlie's eyes lit up, nobody had heard a thing about the famous Potter Dragon Reserve in over fifty years. It was rumored that it was the largest reserve in the world and dragons fought to be able to live there. "I wish I could have gotten on there, but they haven't hired anyone in years and never post for new workers. A lot of what we know about dragons comes from the research done there" Charlie said.
"Well I am a Potter you know, how about if as a Christmas present I arrange for you to spend a day there?" Harry asked. Charlie said he would give a month's pay for that chance, Harry replied "In that case you work the first month free, if you pass inspection by the workers there now." Bill had to come over and help his younger brother up from the floor, as his knees had buckled at the wonderful opportunity several people stared at Charlie not understanding why the man who worked with dragons on a daily basis had collapsed after a two minute conversation with Harry.
Just before lunch Hermione called Daphne and invited her to come over and join the party, Daphne stepped through the fireplace, after asking if her parents could come too, and the Greengrass family was welcomed. The Greengrass family had been considered neutral in the last war and were still considered neutral now. Mr. Greengrass knew Sirius from the Wizengamot and Sirius told Harry later he had made a good friend in that family. After a very large meal everyone retired to the living room to pass out the presents. This year it was Sirius' turn to act as host so the first present went to Amelia of course. Everyone received gifts except the adult Greengrass and their youngest daughter, as they were unexpected guests.
One of the presents Daphne received was a Slytherin necklace, which she considered strange being as it came from Harry but Hermione told her in secret it was more than it seemed and to wait. The adults went into the library while the kids stayed in the living room to compare presents and talk about "Kid Stuff" as Sirius put it. Everyone was having a ball when Sirius came in and said he needed to speak with Harry alone for a few minutes and it was important. The two went into the office and Sirius secured the door, "Harry, something has come up. It took a while but we finally broke the conditioning on Crouch Jr., it seems that someone else besides Voldemort was controlling him – someone called 'The One' and we have no clue as to who that is. Also, when Kreacher heard about this he showed me something, a gold locket necklace with a large 'S' on it. He said Regulus gave it to him to destroy but he has been unable to do so and Regulus mentioned this 'The One'" Sirius said as he showed Harry the necklace.
Harry felt strange when he held the necklace and said it felt like the diary of Tom Riddle did before he destroyed that book, very evil. Harry just grabbed Sirius and they both disappeared only to arrive in a cavern on a red square. Harry told Sirius that he had been meaning to bring Sirius here but it never seemed the right time. Harry and Sirius went into the snake chamber and Harry summoned a large tooth and told Sirius to open the locket but be prepared for a shock. When Sirius opened the locket both heard a strange voice and Harry seemed to struggle against it, then Harry stuck the tooth into the locket and loud scream was heard as a black cloud rose up from it. Harry used his wand to cast a spell Sirius had never heard before and watched as the cloud was enclosed by a golden sphere.
Harry took a deep breath and told Sirius that the black cloud looked like the same thing he got when he "killed" the diary and when he had captured Voldemort's spirit his first year. "I believe we are looking at a piece of Voldemort's soul here and if he made two copies he has made more. We need to find how many he made and where they all are, if just one of these remain then it would be possible to resurrect himself into a new body. I learned about these at Peaks, they are called a Horcrux, or soul anchor, and require the murder of an innocent to create. There may be as many as three more of these things around since seven is a very magical number. So far two have been destroyed by basilisk venom, one was the spirit of Voldemort, and I believe that thing Lucy removed from my head was another – although a shadow of that thing remains and I use it to help protect my mind from Legilimency." Harry said sounding very tired. After resting a few minutes Harry showed Sirius around the chamber and explained how it was used by the group before taking them both back to 12 Grimmauld.
On December 27th Charlie went to the reserve he wasn't seen again for almost two months by his family; but he had said he had to return to work so that wasn't too unusual. Harry introduced him to the head elf at the reserve and left Charlie in his charge. While there Harry saw that all four dragons from the tournament were there and settling in nicely. It turned out one of them was pregnant for real and happy to have a safe place to lay her eggs and raise her young. Harry asked that if any dragon died that the heart be preserved for wand cores, if the dragons didn't object to that use of parts.
Daphne spent most of the rest of the holiday with the others and was taught several spells that she should know but had not been taught by her previous instructors. She was allowed to go with the others to the Potter Manor, but not told where it was or who owned the place and never allowed inside alone. They even took Ron a few times but his attitude towards Slytherins got in the way until one day Daphne unloaded on him and cursed him from one end of the yard to the other. "All Slytherins aren't evil; my family has been and will remain neutral. All Gryffindors aren't brave, just look at yourself; you aren't nearly as brave as your sister. And from what I have seen not nearly as strong as her when it comes to spells. So, what is your problem Weasley?" Daphne asked when she finally released Ron from a full body bind.
The twins told Ron his mouth was going to get him really hurt one day, besides they thought Daphne might like Ron and was just testing him. Daphne noticed that Harry would disappear from time to time only to reappear an hour or so later. When she got too curious and asked about that Harry said he had to do a few things for the owner so that they would be allowed to use the property. The owner was teaching him many things not taught at Hogwarts, like introduction to simple wards, such as the fire proof ward he had used against the dragon in the first task.
The kids had fun and Daphne proved she could easily be included to the extent that the girls asked that she be invited to Peaks the next summer. Harry was inclined to agree but said everyone who had been there had to agree, which only left the twins since Neville would agree with Susan anyway. The twins said they had no objections as she was a nice looking girl and seemed to have some talent and power in her. When Ron was mentioned, they all said he had not proven himself to be reliable and able to get along with everyone, but he was showing improvement in his studies.
Returning to Hogwarts was only four days away when Daphne said she had heard from Pansy that Draco Malfoy was very angry with the twins as he had to go to the hospital to have his rear-end treated after his wand exploded. When the group heard this they laughed for 30 minutes, as soon as they calmed down someone would say something about Malfoy and it would start all over again. Sirius fell out of his chair when he heard about it and wanted to know how the twins had done that, would Sirius Black ever grow up? Even Remus thought it was funny, not nice but funny. Before Remus left Harry had asked his help, he had Remus choose a new wand. A wand that when finished worked so much better than his old one he started using it all the time; Sirius also got a new wand – both had to pay for them as that was part of the deal with Grimstead, both men gladly paid the G20 for the wands.
The night before the return Harry got to thinking, he had made several wands over the holidays; he had made one for Sirius, Remus, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, and had been talked into doing one for Amelia. That was five wands plus the one he did for McGonagall before Christmas. Once they got back and he had a chance to be around Daphne more he would most likely create one for her, especially if she went to Peaks with them. He still thought that Bill could use a staff and intended to let him try one soon. Harry had even used the new sealant and it showed that it worked better and the wands seemed a little more powerful and repelled dust better; but Sirius, Remus, and Amelia were the only ones he personalized.
Harry was at the platform by 10am as he wanted to try something, he wanted to see if it was possible to combine two compartments into one so there would be more room. He chose two in the middle of a car and started to work, it turned out to be easier than he thought as he ended up with a compartment the size of the prefect's compartment but it was comfortable and would hold the whole group without anyone having to squeeze in or sit in someone's lap if they didn't want. He locked the door and put a special password on it, Fawkes, then put PRIVATE on the door. When the others got there he told them the password and where the special compartment was located. The trip back was without incident, after the twins walked past Malfoy and laughed and asked how roasted rump roast smelled.
A/N: Now Sirius knows about the chamber, and Harry suspects there are more Horcrux around. But who is "The One"? I want your feedback as to whether or not Ron should be included more and invited to Peaks; we have the rest of the year to get through so no real rush. I don't think I want any "rump roast" anytime soon, do you?
Please be kind and comment
