Chapter 9
Harry's POV
Entering the great hall, I was struck by just how different it all seemed to me now. Where my first few years here it had been a sole place of solace and wonder, not all that seemed mildly tainted. Dumbledore's interference in my life still weighed heavily on my mind, and as I looked up at the man, seated at the head of staff's table I cursed him for having done this to me as well. Though by no means ruined, Hogwarts just didn't seem as safe or hospitable as it once had. It was admittedly odd to think that all the near-deaths somehow hadn't done that already.
Leading Ron and Hermione to the table, I chose for a change to sit in the far corner of it. With Gryffindor's table being one of the two situated at the ends of the room, sitting at the corner allowed me to keep my back to two walls while observing the room. If Ron or Hermione wondered why I had made the change, neither voiced that question. Ginny sat not far from us and I realized that she had always done so as long as she'd been at the school. Our eyes caught for a moment and she smiled before looking away. At once my pulse quickened and that same pleasant warmth that had spread through my chest after I had talked to her on the train did so again.
'What the hell is this feeling?' I wondered to myself 'It's by no means unwelcome but I've never felt anything truly like it before'
My eyes then caught hold of something far less pleasant. My mother's journals had been enlightening to say the least, and one part that she thankfully hadn't blotted out was her friendship with Snape. She had recognized his feeling for her but hadn't returned them, and after a falling out they had lost touch. I felt a similar pressure on my forehead as I had with the Veela and realized that he was trying to read my mind. Doing as I had planned I immediately focused on the image of my parent's wedding photo I had found among their things. Focusing hard I was able to ensure that this was all he saw without formally shielding myself. As I had hoped he immediately looked away in revulsion. I didn't want him or Dumbles to know I could keep them out of my head just yet. Until I was ready to reveal that, I would have to focus on simply avoiding their gaze and hoping they wouldn't try a full on assault.
"Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts" Dumbledore said in his usual grandfatherly manner once the sorting ceremony had finished.
"I trust that this will be a productive and fun year for all of you" he paused for a moment, his eye starting to twinkle before continuing "Now, as has become an annual task for me, I welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Alastor Moody"
Everyone clapped to welcome the grizzled man to Hogwarts. I had read a little about the man during the summer as I researched the war. Apparently the man had been a juggernaut for the so-called light, though some suggested that the man's sanity may have waned in recent years.
'So naturally Dumbles brings him along to teach children' I thought to myself and realized just how odd the past few years had been. A man possessed, a bumbling idiot, as much as I adored Professor Lupin, a werewolf, and now a quite possibly unhinged ex-auror.
"I also bring you all some good news and some bad news" Dumbledore continued "The bad news is that the Quidditch tournament this year, is cancelled."
"WHAT?!" several students yelled in unison
I myself was more than a little annoyed but was far more curious as to why the old man would do such a thing. Despite his many, many faults, he did had an apparent fondness for the game going for him.
Once the crowd had quieted a little, he continued "The good news is that this is so that our school can host the Triwizard Tournament"
This caused commotion of a different nature as student's reactions ranged from excitement to confusion.
I myself counted among the confused and so asked "What is that?"
"The Triwizard Tournament is a gathering of three schools, hence the name, for a series of challenges that each school's champion must compete in" Hermione answered helpfully "The tournament itself hasn't be done in centuries, the last time it did, one of the champions died."
"Now the delegations from the other schools will be showing up in a month's time" Dumbledore continued "Until then I suggest that each of you consider carefully before throwing your name into the Goblet, as once the school's champion is chosen, he or she will face terrible danger and be unable to back out"
Sitting down for a moment before appearing to have forgotten something and standing back up Dumbledore added "Oh one last thing, possible competitors for the tournament will be limited to those already seventeen years of age. Now lets dig in and enjoy our meal."
If the old man cared about how many people he had just infuriated he didn't show it. As I ate my fill and listened to Ron and the twins go on about how much they wanted to compete, I found myself entirely uninterested in the affair and simply missing Quidditch. Still, in the back my mind, the most paranoid part of me wondered if might not have a choice in the matter.
After dinner, I walked back to the common room alone to think in peace and was pulled into a corridor by a redheaded blur.
"You owe me" Ginny said, her tone playful
"Oh do I?" I asked in the same tone
"Yes I told you my story and I still don't know how you got to ho...knowledgeable over the summer" she said
I decided not to bother her about the near slip of the tongue and replied "I suppose I should. Not here though"
"Where?" she asked, an eyebrow raised
I contemplated the many reasons I probably shouldn't suggest this and went over a few other possible safe locations to talk before deciding to just tell her anyway
"Well" I started "You are free to say no and I would more than understand if you did but, I sorta renovated the Chamber of Secrets"
"You what?" she hissed
"Prior to talking to you I thought the only other person that could enter it couldn't get past the school's wards even if he got a new body" I said in my defence "I thought it might make a good hidden base"
"I want to see it" She said firmly
"You're sure?" I asked
"Yes I am" she replied just as firmly "I would never have had the nerve to go there myself but, I think I need to see it"
Nodding I thought for a minute before saying "Meet me in the common room after dark"
Ginny's POV
With more than a little apprehension I walked down the stairs to common room. Everyone else was in bed by now and living in so full a house had long ago taught me the necessity of moving quietly. Entering the common room I thought for a minute that I had beaten him here.
$Hey Ginny$ a familiar hiss came from somewhere I couldn't see
$Lose the cloak, that isn't funny$ I hissed back
I was greeted by the disturbing sight of Harry's disembodied head.
$You know about the cloak?$ he asked
$The whole family does$ I replied $Ron isn't exactly known for keeping his mouth shut. I guess you have the map with you to$
"Shit" he muttered in English
$A problem for another time I suppose. Come, get under$ he said
With more than a little delight I got under the cloak and, with him letting me walk in the lead, we made our way to the chamber's entrance. Walking so close to and occasionally bumping against a teenage boy had its effect on him and with a blush I recognized just what brushed against my ass and thigh when I stopped suddenly.
$Having second thoughts?$ he asked, a slight hint of embarrassment in his voice
$No, do you hear something?$ I asked
$I do, but it must be a ghost$ he replied gesturing to the map and lumos spell behind me $The map says that there's no one anywhere near here, Snape's the closest and he's on the third floor$
Cursing my paranoia and figuring it must just be my lingering fear over returning to place of my worst nightmares, I continued on and before long, we were in Myrtle's bathroom.
$Open$ I hissed in Parseltongue before adding $Stairs$
$I really wish I had thought of that the first time$ Harry hissed behind me
$You didn't?$ I asked
$No, Ron and I slid down the entranceway$ he replied
Fighting to stop my laughter at the image I apologized and continued down the stairs. Each step became more difficult than the last and without realizing it, I took Harry's hand. If he noticed he didn't say anything, but after a few more seconds, we arrived, hand-in-hand where the battle for my soul had taken place. Looking up at him I realized once again how foolish my little childhood crush had been. This wasn't the boy I had pined for as a little girl, aided by my mother's insistence that my father read me stories about the "Boy-Who-Lived" every night. That boy existed only in the fever dreams of fools and hack-writers. This boy was kind, generous, and heroic, but had suffered so much in his life and been denied happiness for so long that it was a miracle that he hadn't end up like Tom had been at his age. To go through so much and come out a good person, was the mark of a someone who would become a great man.
Letting go of his hand I approached the centre of the room, noticing just how changed it was. Somehow Harry had managed to clean and repair every inch of the massive chamber, also finding the time to furnish it.
"What did you do with the basilisk?" I asked
"I cut it up and sold it's body parts to the goblins" he replied simply
"Seriously?" I asked disbelieving
"Yeah, it made me a small fortune" He said
"At least it did some good" I said grimly "So we're here, what happened to you this summer?"
Sitting down and beckoning me to do the same, Harry told me his tale. To say it was difficult to believe would be an understatement.
"So to be clear, the house elf you befriended my first year took you to a healer, that healer sent you to the goblins, and after saving the local leader of those goblins, they helped you to free yourself for the most part from your relatives." I summarized
"Yes, I then came here and Dobby and I have been transforming it ever since. Slytherin even put a few different bedrooms in the corridors back there, though those had long ago been blocked off by cave-ins" he replied
"And this ritual Slytherin devised?" I asked intrigued
"That is detailed in his grimoire on the podium over there" he replied
"Harry why are you trusting me with all this?" I asked, my insecurities getting the better of me
"You trusted me with the secret of Tom's memories" Harry replied "At the moment you're the only one I'm completely sure I can trust."
"That is probably for the best" I replied "Hermione and the rest of my family trust Dumbledore implicitly, they are loyal to you but I doubt any of them would think twice about revealing to him anything he asked. He's just that infallible in their eyes"
"That's what I've been worrying about" Harry said "I don't know how I could get them away from Dumbledore's influence without telling them everything, and if I did that I risk all of it getting back to the old man."
"For now I would recommend keeping them in the dark" I said "It took his utter failure to help me the entire year I was suffering under his nose to break my idea that Dumbledore was perfect. Let's just wait for him to slip up and hope it doesn't take as much to convince them as it did me."
"I may not like it but I can't think of anything better" Harry replied
Just then a robbed house elf that could only be Dobby appeared in the middle of the room.
"Harry, I was hoping to find you here" the elf said "Oh who is this?"
"Dobby, Ginny Weasley, Ginny, Dobby" Harry said as introduction
"Hello" Dobby said bowing "Harry, I just got back from the bank, Ragnok needs to talk to you, can you get away?"
"It's late but I suppose I can spare some time" Harry replied before turning to me "Are you okay to be here alone?"
"Yeah" I said nodding "It wasn't quite as scary as I imagined, thank you for bringing me here"
"No problem" he said "Feel free to make use of the resources I have here but don't check anything beyond the black door down there, I still haven't gone through everything we took from Malfoy"
"I still can't believe you did that" I laughed
"I still can't believe that wizards don't consider defending against house elves" he replied laughing with me
With that he and Dobby left and I was alone. I'd exaggerated just how alright I was with being alone here but I knew I needed to confront this place and all that it represented. I took the time to look around and realized that Harry and Dobby really had done a lot of work. There were still some repairs to be done but it looked better than it had when Tom first entered it decades ago.
Harry had distracted me from what I had originally intended to do with the first few days of the year. Tom's memories went up to his sixth year, by which point he had already known about Horcruxes and had already planned out what he was going to do with the first few he planned to make. The diary was destroyed but the rest were likely still whole. There were a number of places he had considered possible hiding places, the nearest being the Room of Requirement here in the school. Still I could take care of that another day and for now, Slytherin's grimoire was infinitely more interesting.
Going through the book, I noticed many things that would be of interest but as with Harry, what really drew my attention was the blood ritual. Slytherin had included diagrams of the runes to be set in the ritual circle as well as specific locations along the circle that they were to be placed. Once the circle was completed on the ground, one sat in the middle, drew energy in through the runes and drank a small sample of the blood. That wouldn't be the most disgusting thing I had ever done. There were also complex calculations for figuring out the dates and times that specific people could do the ritual. As luck would have it, I personally could do the ritual later tonight. Looking over the notes Harry had added I saw how the ritual had worked for him as well as the creatures he had used.
"Giant's blood for increased musculature, Hippogriff's blood for improved eyesight, Sphinx's blood for improved intelligence, Centaur's blood for..." Listing aloud, I paused "Oh my"
Suppressing my grin and blush and laughing about how he clearly forgot just how much he had written here, I looked over the notes from both Harry and Slytherin again before going through he carefully labelled blood samples he had boxed up for potential further use. In the box was a page on which he had written a list of other potential rituals and complex spells that could make use of the blood of various magical creatures.
"Dragon's blood, Fairy's blood, Griffin's blood, Merlin there are dozens of them" I said to myself "I get that he bought these, except for the Basilisk's blood most likely, but who goes out and bottles this?"
Finally I came upon one that interested me "Veela's blood?" I asked aloud
The vainer parts of me had no problem whatsoever with the idea of this but my pride held out. Tom's old comments about my worth didn't help either but still, not entirely trusting of the ritual despite Harry's successes, but curious nonetheless, I figured I would rather play around with my looks than my mind until I was sure that it worked as well he said.
Taking the blood and borrowing Harry's cloak for the moment I left for the room of requirement. The ritual stated that it was best done right before sleeping so that the body could change while one rested and it was getting late regardless. I could simply wait until the proper time in an hour or so, complete the ritual and go to bed.
Harry's POV
"You called?" I said entering Ragnok's office
"Hello Harry, have a seat" Ragnok said, his voice serious "I've a few things to discuss, the first being that I am now quite confident that none of the other goblins in my branch were ever under Dumbledore's influence."
"He only had Bloodclaw working for him?" I asked surprised
"It doesn't even appear that he kept an eye on your financial affairs" Ragnok replied "I would suggest that he merely did what he needed to to ensure that you would be placed with the Dursleys, paying Bloodclaw to take care of it."
"He wears many hats, so I doubt he'd have the time to look over it himself" I said "He just strikes me as a guy who would have a backup plan"
"All I can surmise is that he simply didn't care enough about this aspect of whatever his greater plan is to bother" Ragnok said "The good news is that I can place a new goblin in charge of your account. From here on out, a goblin named Griphook will be maintaining your affairs."
"I've actually met him" I said "I'll need to arrange a meeting"
"The next bit is far less pleasant" Ragnok spoke grimly "I've had some of our magi here that I trust looking into Voldemort."
"Goblins have magi?" I asked "I had no idea"
"Not many humans bother to find out" Ragnok replied "Most goblins have some capability in terms of goblin magic, but there are those who dedicate their entire lives to the study of the arcane"
"What have they found?" I asked interested
"Originally there appeared to be nothing to be found" Ragnok spat "Even we know next to nothing about the man's past since the humans have been so terrified of him for so long that even thinking about investigating him seems to be beyond them"
"Believe me you don't know the half of it" I muttered "He's been presumed dead for over a decade and people still won't even say that idiotic pseudonym he made for himself."
"Precisely" Ragnok said "But what I did get some success with was having them look into how he could have survived his death"
"What did they find?" I asked
"We at Gringotts have the distinct pleasure of dealing with multiple cursed objects through our excavations of old tombs" Ragnok began "We keep a number of curse-breakers throughout the world in to deal with these things. There are however, some objects that we don't allow the curse-breakers to take care of, opting to do so ourselves."
"Such as what?" I asked
"There various ways to cheat death" Ragnok said "All but one of them are of a truly vile nature, the exception being something that you are already familiar with"
"The Philosopher's Stone" I said nodding
"Yes" Ragnok replied "Now in Voldemort's case, given what you've told me of the wraith that you encountered your first year at Hogwarts and what little is known of Voldemorts 'death' my magi believe the most likely answer is that he created horcruxes."
"What's a horcrux?" I asked
"A vessel, prepared by specific ritual to contain part of a being's soul" Ragnok replied "Once the vessel is prepared, the wizard or witch murders an innocent with the vessel on his person, and with his soul fractured by that act, has the piece that has broken off stored within the object."
"That's horrible" I spat in revulsion
"Indeed" Ragnok agreed "Now in the few cases we've come across there was only one vessel created, but in this case we have reason to believe Voldemort made more than one."
"What reason" I asked
"That connection you have to him, something else I'm having looked into by the way, is still active right?" he asked
"It's lessened since I started learning occlumency but I still have the occasional dream that I know isn't just a dream" I replied
"That is why I believe that he created more than one Horcrux" Ragnok said "Because you already destroyed one, one which contained a far younger version of him."
"The diary" I gasped in shock
"According to my magi, the diary that possessed your friend's sister couldn't have been a simple creation of spellwork" Ragnok said "The intelligence was too great from what you've told me to have been any curse, it had to be driven by something sentient"
I buried my head in my hands for a moment before saying "Then his return really is inevitable"
"Yes but not his victory" Ragnok replied "If we can find out more about the man who became the monster we might well be able to find the other horcruxes"
"Why did you say that goblins would deal with them personally" I asked
"Well in our experience, most wizards evil enough to go through with this ritual would, by necessity be utterly egotistic" he replied "as such of the eight such vessels that have been discovered by us in the last three millennia, seven were made from otherwise priceless artefacts. As such the we devised a way to transfer the essence of the person who made it from the object itself into something less valuable, so that it could then be destroyed."
"So that you can then sell the artefacts without fear" I said surprised that I could still grin
"Exactly" the goblin replied with the same expression "However many he made, once they're been found we will be able to destroy them either way, you could do so with the basilisk venom you have, but if they are valuable, we'll take care of it."
"How about this?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow "Whichever of us finds the artefacts, if they are valuable, profits from them, though the goblin magi will take care of the ritual either way. You have a virtual army at your disposal and I have my connection to old snake face."
Ragnok considered it for a moment before replying "Deal"
"Well" I said rising "Is there anything else?"
"One last thing Harry" Ragnok said standing up also "Your ministry is, as you know, run by morons. The state of things has slipped a great deal since the end of the war but you, with your fame and the political clout of your house, may be able to make crucial difference before Voldemort returns."
"What would you suggest?" I asked already having formed a couple such ideas myself
"I would suggest getting to know those in the highest positions of power" Ragnok replied "The minister in particular is about as sharp as a mallet and might be easily manipulated by you into making a few necessary changes."
"I'll think over how to go about it" I said already working on a plan "Thank you again Ragnok"
"Think nothing of it Harry" the goblin replied "If Voldemort were to return and win, both our societies would be destroyed."
I had a lot to think about and several things to plan out this year but for now the most pressing issue I had to deal with was talking to a girl about a psychopath.
A/N Before anyone comments, I mean the warm sensation in his chest as a descriptor for the feeling of infatuation. Worry not, there is no "chest monster" coming anywhere near my story. Gods, even as a Harry/Ginny fan, that was nauseating writing in HBP.
$$ quotations denotes Parseltongue
As always, reviews and criticism are welcome
