Chapter Nine: the headpiece

When Albus Dumbledore had died, Harry had no disbelief, as he had with Sirius. He had known that Dumbledore was really gone. He had felt it. Harry had just felt empty.

He felt that way now. In some ways it was worse. Dumbledore had been a friend and a mentor, so had Sirius. So had Ginny, he supposed, though she certainly hadn't been showing it, but still, she was different…

The walk back to Bill and Fluer's house was silent and, especially compared to recent events, uneventful, other than Fleur using her wand to heal the cuts of Harry's arm and cheek.

When they reached the small house, Bill and Fleur had moved there after the end of the second war, when Gringotts had rehired them both, Bill pointed Harry to the single guest's bedroom.

There, Harry washed and changed into jeans and light long-sleeved shirt, not sure what to do with his torn and bloody clothes, he simply left them on the floor.

He collapsed onto the bed, lying on his back. Harry wasn't at all tired, even though he was exhausted. Absentmindedly, he picked of the second headpiece. Holding it up above his head, the sun through the small window focused through the ruby, creating a small red dot of light on the wall. It really was, Harry realized, an impressive piece of craftsmanship.

Ginny was gone, Harry decided he would just have to stop thinking about her. The best thing to do now would be to find the Ark, and stop Dietrich. Most likely in that order.

Harry got up and went downstairs. Bill and Fleur were sitting at the table, eating in silence. Harry sat down across from Bill. There was a place laid out for him, but he wasn't at all hungry. He took the headpiece out of his pocket and laid it on the table.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have taken her with me."

"What happened exactly?" asked Bill

"Well, it really started a little more than a week ago, I was in South America, the Ministry had sent me to get something from an ancient temple in the forest…"

Harry went on to explain how Malfoy had taken the first headpiece from him. How Musgrove had explained the Ark and Dietrich, though he wasn't sure Musgrove would approve, he told them everything he knew about the Ark. To buying the second headpiece off of Mundungus in Nepal, and meeting Arnold Toht. Then how he and Ginny had been attacked upon arrival, how Ginny had been captured and killed when the truck exploded. Ending with how Fleur had saved him from Malfoy in the bar.

"So, I'm really sorry, more than I can say, but I have to get to Tanis as quickly as possible. Have they started digging yet?"

Bill spoke, "They found the map room. Last night they used a headpiece, like this one, but not goblin-make, a replica. No idea how they got it. Still, they've started us digging in a new location, probably for the Well of Souls. They hadn't found anything when I left, though."

"Let's hope it stays that way." Harry glanced at the headpiece and remembered something about it. "Can either of you read these?" he asked, indicating the runes around the inset ruby.

Bill picked up the headpiece. "This is a very old dialect, I think it says, 'thy staff must be six kadam high, but the man who disturbs the sacred Ark shall be damned'."

"Charming."

"Certainly, anyway; six kadam is about seventy two inches." Bill turned to Fleur, "can you find us a staff that size?" she nodded and left.

Bill turned the headpiece over, realizing there were more runes of the other side. "This part reads 'and take back one kadam to honor the Hebrew God whose Ark this is'.

"The Death Eaters didn't have this on their replica, they only had the one side. That means-"

Harry finished for him; "They're digging in the wrong place."

Harry grinned, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to smile anymore. "We'll go tonight," said Bill, smiling too, which didn't look quite as good on his heavily scarred face, thanks to an encounter with werewolf Death Eater Fenrir Greyback.

"I'll go under the cloak," continued Harry, "We'll be able to get a staff the right length by then. Can you get me to the map room."

"I'll do better. There are some other diggers who don't like working for the Death Eaters either, once you have the location, they'll help you get to the ark."

Harry, still smiling, sat back in his chair and began to eat. He hoped Ginny wouldn't have minded.