Chapter Nine Godric's Hollow
Hermione and Harry climbed the shallow steps to the entrance of Godric Manor, leaving the others waiting on the grounds. It was a wild overgrown garden that encircled the house and it emphasized the blank windows and ivy encrusted walls. White stone, cracked and stained, peeked out from the vegetation and made up the entirety of the manor. They found the front doors and the two stood looking up at the edifice towering over them. It seemed to almost be leaning out over them.
"Why do we have to go in?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Why come all this way and not go in?" Harry replied, standing before the gigantic wooden doors. He looked over at her and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Harry was a little surprised by her attitude. This was the ancestral home of Godric Gryffindor, the progenitor of their Hogwarts House. Of all the people in the world he thought that she would certainly want to see the ancestral home, and so, cocked his eyebrow quizzically at her in an unspoken question.
"Oh, all right," she moaned and stepped up beside him.
"So who's guarding, Malfoy?" Harry asked, softly.
"Ron, of course. He's in charge until I get back and he's got a dozen other students helping. We think Lucius was searching for Draco. He had help getting into the school. I think one of the Slytherin's."
Harry stopped and frowned at her, "A Slytherin!"
She nodded and continued up to the top stair and looked at the immense wooden doorway. A large ring served as a door knob and she reached for it gingerly. "Yes. I don't know why you're acting so surprised. They haven't changed their allegiances just because they are still at Hogwarts. Still it's hard to believe Lucius was searching for Draco out of fatherly concern. By the way, have your plans changed, Harry? Are you still planning on going to Knockturn Alley?"
They climbed the stairs slowly and talked softly. "I think if I am right and Voldemort is trying to undo what he has done, and he has released his 'teacher' from her imprisonment to help him do that, then... ." He stopped speaking as they reached the top stair, staring at the huge door before him.
She finished his sentence, "Then, he'll bring all of the objects he needs together in one place in order to do it." She emphasized the word 'objects'.
He nodded without looking at her. "It would save a lot of time searching for them. We can let him do the work."
She stepped to the door and kept speaking even as she pressed against it, "That may be a good thing or a terrible thing... here...help me." She had her shoulder to the door and was shoving. Together, they put their shoulders to the doors and were able to swing the door open. "I mean it would be an opportunity to destroy those objects, if it were possible. And you definitely need to do that. But it also means he'll have them close by, guarding them. That's not so good."
"Hermione, don't forget that I'm not the only one that can destroy those objects. Dumbledore had already cracked the ring."
"Yes, I'm aware of that Harry."
He continued, " I also don't think Lucius was after Draco. I think he knew that Snape had him and that his own wife was murdered by his master. I'm sure he got the news pretty quickly. No, I think Lucius was after something else. Either he was there serving Voldemort or there on his own." Harry stopped in the entrance. They studied the interior. "It will be interesting to question him."
Hermione snorted, "If he'll tell us anything."
"Shall we?" Harry asked and stepped forward.
With their wands extended, they entered the cavernous foyer that was the heart of the large manor house. Windows allowed in dim gray light and the hall was filled with shadows and dark corners. It was clear, even through the gloom, that at one time it had been a magnificent house.
The floor was covered with rubbish and dust from years of neglect and yet, the intense colors of the marble glimmered where there were scuff marks made by their feet. Harry noticed that there were numerous marks and footprints on the floor. He pointed his wand at them as they moved through the room.
To their left a long sweeping staircase hugged the wall and curled upward to the floors above them. Stained glass windows rose like upright spears above each step and scenes of knights on horseback and other medieval pageantry were depicted on them. As they surveyed the area, it was clear that much of what had been grand about the house had been taken away or stolen. The area where an immense chandelier lit the entryway was now void of such ornamentation. A grand fireplace setting on one wall would have been a welcoming asset if it had a roaring fire in it. Now it sat empty, a void in the whiteness of the wall.
The house did not echo their footsteps or voices. It was as if it were cushioned in some protective way.
"You know, Harry," Hermione mumbled, "Snape was right. It is dangerous to be here. Voldemort will have people spying on such places as this. He might even guess that you would choose to come here."
Harry proceeded towards the rear of the building, crossing the floor of the foyer and turning his head to check out the rooms on each side. The doors that may have hidden them from view had long since disappeared. On the right was what appeared to have been a large dining room and the left was even larger, indicating a possible ballroom. When Hermione spoke, he turned to her and waited for her to catch up. Both of them were almost on tiptoe, as if their presence might disturb the atmosphere of the house.
"So how did you find me?" he whispered, continuing their conversation from outside and then said "Lumos." The tip of his wand brightened and he held it aloft to check the ceiling. The house was not without grandeur even in its' abandoned state. The ceiling appeared to have once been gilded with gold for there were still specks of it still glittering overhead like little stars in the night sky.
"The initiation," Hermione answered.
"The what...oh!" Harry gasped a little too loudly, stopped and gritted his teeth. He hated subterfuge and glared at her..
She noticed the look on his face and nodded. "I knew you wouldn't keep us aware of your movements so I persuaded Remus to do it." She noticed his sudden arched eyebrow. "Oh, stop worrying about it, Harry." She finished quickly, "Ron and I are under the same incantation. If it saves your life, you'll thank me someday. And if it saves ours, I'll thank you. Now shall we proceed?" The defiant look on her face was familiar.
Harry huffed and continued ahead of her. "Fine!"
They had entered rooms at the back of the central house. The rooms were a montage of kitchens, preparation rooms, and pantries adjacent to the main quarters where servants performed their activities.
"Do you notice anything strange, Harry?" Hermione asked, now pointing her lit wand around the large kitchen where they had stopped. There was a large brick fireplace with adjoining ovens and long stone tables that were used for food preparation that ran the length of the room. Windows lined one wall and light shone over the sinks that remained attached to the wall.
He looked around and nodded. "Clean," he murmured.
The floors of polished marble were spotless and there were no traces of leaves and old rubbish, cobwebs or even a layer of dust on the surfaces.
She nodded and pointed towards the walk-in fireplace. There were ashes in the grate. Not the pile of ashes expected if the kitchen was in full use, but those of a fire built for one person; a cooking fire. She stepped to the scorched brick opening, bent over and touched the sooty grate with her finger. "Do you suppose a vagrant or someone comes in and stays to get out of the weather? Something like that?" She glanced up at him with a worried expression.
Harry shrugged and said, "We are in the wizarding world, Hermione. Couldn't you feel it when we crossed the threshold? No muggle broke in here."
She looked around them again and shivered involuntarily. " Harry, this house is huge. The wings may be empty or incomplete but the main house has been occupied throughout the centuries. Finding this just means someone- witch or wizard- was here, and recently. I think we should leave now."
"In a minute," Harry answered and stepped to the window to look out. He could see only the drifting mist and fog that camouflaged what lay outside the windows, turning the garden statuary into odd shapes and figures. There was one that was particularly surreal with outstretched arms and hanging head. It looked like a grotesque scarecrow draped in seaweed or moss. He blinked twice and the figure was encapsulated in fog.
"Why is it important for us- for you- to be here?" she asked.
Harry shook his head and continued to turn slowly and look at the large room. He finally allowed his eyes to remain in one spot, a corner. The space was in shadow and the color of the sooty blackened fireplace. He squinted and raise his wand and stepped forward.
"Come out."
Hermione turned her head to look at the area.
"We thinks that you are trespassing," a quivering voice said. "We thinks that you should leave as the muggle-born suggested."
Harry stepped over and leaned in. "Get up!"
"Hoagie doesn't obey a strange wizard." A face appeared out of the gloom. It was the picture of age, lined with wrinkles and the shade of slate. The body was so twisted and gnarled either from starvation or old age that the creature barely looked alive.
Harry couldn't guess how old the house elf was, but it was clear that he was very old. He lowered his wand when Hermione stepped over and placed her hand on his arm.
"Who, who are you?" she asked gently.
"We are Hoagie, servant to the House of Gryffindor," he answered. The last words were almost a breathless whisper as if it had siphoned off all his strength to speak them.
"But you can't be!" Harry mumbled. "Godric Gryffindor has been dead over a thousand years. Even house elves don't live that long!" He turned to Hermione, "Do they?"
She stared at the wizened figure and shook her head. "Even Hogwarts; A History doesn't talk about elves living that long. Hoagie? Is that right? Hoagie? You must be the house elf for the descendents of Godric Gryffindor. Is there a living heir? Someone still in the house?" She had knelt down seeing that the elf struggle to rise to his feet. He looked unsteady.
"Hoagie is waiting to serve a master he has never met," was the elf's reply.
Harry squinted in the gloom and felt the Gryffindor wand pressing warmly against his heart. "You have never met the master you serve, but you have served others before him...or her. Who were your other masters?"
The elf rubbed at his chin and the long ears waggled in the air. Harry knew how to read that particular action. He had seen it in Dobby when the elf was being purposefully evasive.
"We are not here to hurt you or anyone," Harry continued. "We are students at Hogwarts and are in the House of Gryffindor."
The elf looked at him with wide green eyes and then turned to Hermione. "That is true?"
She nodded.
The elf eased himself to the ground and pulled a ragged blanket around his shoulders. It reminded Harry of the articles of clothing and objects that they had found with Kreacher at No.#12 Grimmauld Place. He had yet to find an elf dressed appropriately and cleanly except at Hogwarts.
"Our last was Master Potter. He is dead this many a year," the voice sighed. "We have only the child that survived to serve; but we have not met him."
Harry stumbled back a foot and leaned against the row of sinks. Hermione slapped a hand across her mouth and gasped in surprise. They turned to look at one another.
"Har...Harry, that means you are a descendent of Gryffindor." She turned to the elf. "Hoagie, the man who stands before you is the son of James Potter!"
The elf bowed slowly at the waist, his head almost touching the floor. Harry cringed as he watched, wondering if bending might break him in half. Hermione's hand reached out to support him but did not touch the grayed figure.
"Hoagie is pleased to serve his new master," the elf said and finally managed to straighten himself. "We have waited many years and Hoagie was not sure the Child-Who-Lived still lived."
"Hoagie, are you saying that you served my parents? You were their house elf?" Harry gasped.
The elf nodded.
"We have been in the Potter family for seven generations," the elf said proudly and his long skeletal hand was placed on his chest as if to swear an oath. "Hugo Potter was our master when we were but a elfling."
Harry and Hermione stared at each other in shocked surprise. Hermione mouthed the words, 'Seven generations!' and Harry nodded. They looked at the elf who remained sitting, hand pressed to his chest and his eyes closed. All of a sudden a snore erupted from his still form and Hermione threw a hand back over her mouth to stifle the laughter.
"He's fallen asleep, Harry." She grinned. "How old do you think he is, then?"
He shook his head and walked slowly over to the old elf and put a hand on his shoulder, bending as he did and waiting until the green eyes opened.
"We think that you are trespassing," the elf growled.
"Hoagie, it's me, Harry Potter," Harry said gently. "You said you served my parents when they were living."
Hoagie seemed to recall the recent conversation and nodded silently, staring up at Harry with the wand light illuminating Harry's face.
"Hoagie knows your face, Master," the old elf seemed to come alive and transfigure from the stick of a figure he had been a moment before into a living breathing figure. "We are here to serve you, Master."
"Hoagie, have there been other intruders?" Harry asked. "Wizards here looking for something?"
Hoagie nodded vigorously, searched the expanse of the kitchen with his eyes and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "Evil wizards, Master. The one they call Voldemort. Many are afraid of him Master, but not I. I have lived to watch the world bear many an evil wizard and they have come and gone. Do not fret about this one. He will also go the way of the others."
"When was he here, Hoagie?" Hermione asked.
"It is welcoming to our hearts to have a muggle-born here in this house once again," the elf said and tried a smile that turned into a grimace. "Madam Potter was a muggle-born and was very kind to Hoagie. We loves her and Master Potter and now we have his son to serve." Hoagie looked back up at Harry with admiration.
"Can you answer Hermione's question ,Hoagie?" Harry asked. "When was the evil wizard here?"
"Oh we cannot say," Hoagie replied and shook his head disconcertedly. "Time has little meaning for us now. But he left behind a spy."
"He did!" Harry croaked and shifted to survey the shadows in the kitchen.
"Master need not worry. Hoagie has taken care of that one," Hoagie nodded firmly.
They were both staring at him dumbfounded when another voice intruded.
"Well, if it isn't Hoagie! I thought you were long since dead." Remus Lupin stood in the doorway and behind him were Snape and Draco. He entered and walked slowly towards the elf who was now cowering down.
"You shouldn't be afraid," Lupin continued. "Don't you recognize me old elf?"
Hoagie peered around Hermione's shoulder and up at the man who stood next to Harry.
"Hoagie knows the smell of the wolf," Hoagie answered grumpily. "We knows ye."
Lupin laughed gently and bent over saying, "We are the only ones left, you and I. We are old friends from long ago- so mind your manners."
Hoagie managed a sheepish look.
"Remus, Hoagie was saying that Voldemort was here and left someone behind," Harry whispered.
"We've searched the house and there is no one here. Who was it Hoagie?" Remus was now speaking more sternly and the elf was once again in a posture of deep sleep. "Hoagie, I remember your tricks very well. Now tell me who it was and where he is?"
The elf opened one eye and smirked, "It was another who says he is a friend of Master Potter who indeed was not. I swear by Merlin's beard that he was a traitor!" Hoagie looked back at Remus defiantly.
Snape was now standing with them and Draco drifted to the edge of the room and stared at a blank wall.
"He means Pettigrew," Snape said casually.
They all looked back at Snape who was staring at the elf with his grim, granite-face.
"Where is he, Hoagie?" Remus asked sharply, this time taking a menacing step towards the elf.
"Remus," Harry said quickly, "it's alright." Harry was reminded that he now had several house elves 'serving' him and wondered at the idea. This time he knew what he needed to do. " Hoagie, I am asking you to tell us where Peter Pettigrew is."
Hoagie looked up once again at Harry and sighed. "He is in the garden. There." He looked towards the windows that were becoming even more gray with the dimming light. "He finds a purpose by feeding the birds."
Hermione got up slowly and walked to the window while Remus and Snape dropped their wands and relaxed. Harry watched them and then waited. It was obvious that the elf wasn't going to elaborate and Lupin and Snape understood the coded message. For a moment he gritted his teeth in frustration and wanted to grumble at them and then realized that he had seen Pettigrew. He had seen the scarecrow figure in the garden with large black crows resting on its arms, pecking away at the straw tucked into the sleeves.
"What?" he asked. "What does he mean?"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it much, Harry. Elves aren't allowed to kill a human being without suffering severe penalties. But Hoagie is a wise house elf, aren't you?" He glanced over at the elf who had settled himself down in the corner again. "I imagine that Hoagie means that Peter is outside tending the garden in some way. Are we speaking of above the ground or below it Hoagie?" Remus asked curiously and then proceeded to look over his fingernails carefully.
Harry heard Snape snort and he jerked his head to catch the look on the man's face. He was met with the usual beady black eyes staring at him.
"So Hoagie, I see you have met your new master at last," Remus smiled at the elf and waved a hand at Harry. "I thought perhaps you might recognize him, he looks very much like James did, don't you think?"
"Harry," Hermione voiced her concern, pressing her nose to the window and her breath was fogging it. "What do you think has happened to him?" She was peering into the growing darkness.
Harry studied Snape's face and knew that this was a critical moment. He couldn't say why he felt it was so, but he knew that if he pursued the issue that he would somehow lose the support of both men who stood in the kitchen. He had stood up for Pettigrew once in the Shrieking Shack. Now he needed to move beyond that and accept the man's fate whatever it was.
Hermione turned and looked at him with a small frown on her face and then waited silently.
"Hoagie," Harry turned to the elf. "Were they looking for something when they came? Who was with the dark wizard besides Pettigrew?"
The elf leaned out from the shadows and answered, "We see only three. The one called Voldemort, the fat ratsy one and the woman. Hoagie thinks they are looking for something special, but we do not know what it is."
"Yes," Harry said nodding and once again felt the long tubular wand pressing on his chest. "Describe the woman for us."
Hoagie waved a hand irritably at him and moaned, "Humans are all ugly. This one was no beauty. She had many years on her face, but her hair was black. Like that of the one who stands there behind you. They look like one another. Do you bring a dark wizard here with you? This one feels dark." The elf moved his mouth as if feeling for a long forgotten particle of food. The elf pulled the rotten blanket closer and Hermione once again joined him on the floor and sat protectively close by.
"It is she," Snape said. "It is my mother."
Lupin's face grew solemn. "So it is as we suspected? He is looking for some object that has become lost to him?"
Harry knew what they were talking about. He knew that Voldemort was truly gathering his Horcruxes again. And he had Madam Prince with him. It could only mean that he wanted her to help him recombine his soul parts into one; or what was left of them. There might be another purpose but Harry knew it could not be good under any conitions.
"I think it's time we talk to Lucius," Harry said and glanced at Hoagie. "And I think, if we can find him, Slughorn. We have to know whether Madam Prince is capable of doing what Voldemort wants her to do."
"Harry, we can't leave him behind," Hermione nodded at Hoagie. "Not in this place."
"Hoagie," Harry knelt down beside the elf.
"Yes, master?" the old elf raised himself up.
"Hoagie I want you to go down to the cottage at the end of the drive," he began.
"Hoagie's home!" The elf exclaimed.
Harry nodded. "I want you to clean it up and fill it with furniture and make it a home again. I will be back sooner or later and I want to live there. Remus is my father's old friend and he will help you. He can bring you money or whatever you need. I will send another house elf along to help you." He was thinking of Dobby and mindful of the frailty of the elf before him and the task he had set for him.
"Hoagie does not need help," the elf snarled.
"This is a young elf, Hoagie. One who will need your guidance. He needs to learn from you."
Hermione smiled and stood with him as they prepared to leave. "Goodbye, Hoagie." She moved over to grab Draco by the arm and guide him from the room. Remus followed her and Harry was just passing Snape.
"Perhaps I have been wrong all along. Perhaps you do have the heart of a warrior," Snape said quietly and with a hint of admiration.
Harry knew what he meant. By not rescuing Pettigrew, he had shown Snape his willingness to harden his heart and do what was necessary. He didn't like the idea that Snape might change his mind about him. He hadn't changed his about the man. He stopped in front of him, looked him in the eye and said, "What I don't have, is the heart of a murderer. That's why I want you to go out and cut him down. If he is still alive we may be able to use him." He stepped around the man and followed the others out of the mansion.
