"What's that?" Charlie asked.
"A note, from Percy saying that he wants to join us." Remus replied without looking up.
"My werewolf senses are tingling, how about yours?" Charlie snatched the note from his hand. It was ridiculously long (two meters) and very repetitive. "A note? This is a bloody letter!"
"I think that Dumbledore is trying to use him to spy on us. We could use this to our advantage and free him." Bill suggested.
"But if Dumbledore is looking on the other end, then he'll surely know where we are and see some of the interior." Pondered Remus.
"We could 'kidnap' your entire inner circle and get their family to stay here." Mr. Weasley said absent-mindedly.
"You know what dad? That could actually work." Charlie nodded approvingly.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Percival Ignatius Weasley was in his office drinking fire whiskey. Last year, the disastrous attempt at spying on his family was bad enough, now he have to spy on his family again! Except that this time, they are Death Eaters. The fire turned emerald green and a wand tip became visible. Percy fell to the floor, unconscious.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Cho just finished patrolling the corridor, on Head Girl duties. She returned to the common room when she heard a voice.
"Psst, it's me! Get over here." Someone whispered from behind Ravenclaw's statue.
"Remus? What are you doing here?" Cho asked, searching behind the sculpture.
"It's too dangerous in here, we have come to take the group from Hogwarts. Take Luna and come back to the statue." Remus answered.
Cho rushed upstairs and cast a notice-me-not charm on herself. Then, she crept into Luna's dorm. "Muffiato." She whispered when she got inside. "Luna! Remus is here. We're going to leave Hogwarts tonight." She shook the sleeping blonde. Luna merely turned and went back to sleep. "Excito." She sighed.
"What!" Luna screamed and jumped out of bed.
"Get up you sleepy head, Remus is here to pick us up. We are leaving tonight." Cho explained.
"Pack!" she pointed at her trunk and at once, her stuff folded neatly into her trunk.
A moment later, Cho returned to the common room, dragging her trunk along. To both of their surprise, Rowena's statue jumped aside and revealed a set of stone stairs with a bronze and blue carpet. At the end of the stair case was a large bronze mirror.
"We could have went directly to your dorms but since there is no females in the team apart from you two and Susan. We didn't think it would be too polite to barge in through your closet and interrupt your sleep." The face of Remus appeared in the mirror and grinned at the pair. "Just walk through the mirror to get to my ancestral home."
The two Ravenclaws stride through the mirror-that-felt-like-a-waterfall, and was transported to Lupercale. There inside was Susan Bones, who had obviously just arrived, the four Slytherins that looked as sleepy as ever. Seamus had already fallen asleep on the sofa and is gently snoring. On the scarlet carpet was Percy, who was still unconscious.
"Remus left me in charge while they went to get our families. Draco and mine are already here." Theodore stroked the Lupin crest with a hint of pride.
"Okay, but you don't have to be so arrogant about it." Cho sat down, visibly annoyed by Remus putting Nott in charge. But in a few minutes, she could see exactly why the Lupin heir had put Nott in charge. There wasn't much to be in charge of since the room was extremely tranquil and Nott knew no more than anyone else about the place. The decision satisfied Nott while giving him no more power than anyone else.
It took two hours for the team to return. To everyone (that are still awake)'s surprise, their family were all unconscious, knocked out by a stunner. Remus, Charlie, Bill, and Arthur had their own battle scars as well, looks like they didn't go down without a fight. As soon as they had arrived, the squad left again to retrieve the 'luggage'.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Seeing the unconscious people on the rug, the exhausted Remus collapsed on to the floor. "There is no way, after what happened with your brother and father, that I am explaining to all those people" he exhaled.
"Just let the kids do the explaining." Charlie yawned and helped himself to a mug of coffee.
"Save that for tomorrow. We all need our rest." Complained the young Malfoy.
"In that case, go to your chambers, it is much more comfortable there." The future dark lord suppressed a yawn and waved his wand lazily, a door appeared on the floor. "Go through the door to your rooms. Charles will show you the proper way tomorrow."
All it took was a few minutes for everyone in the castle to succumb to Morpheus.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
"Rise and Shine! It's a brand new day!" an alarm clock screamed at the top of its mechanical lungs.
Charlie tumbled out of bed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" The room was still dark. "What time is it anyways?"
"4:00 AM sharp." The alarm clock answered gleefully.
"I barely slept for five minutes and you waked me up?!" He stared at the mechanical dragon in disbelief. "If you weren't a present from Regulus I would have cursed you to oblivion!"
"But it's Research day! You programmed me to wake you up at four!" The little dragon whined.
"You mean I didn't reset you before I went to bed?" the clock shook its head. "I swear I was almost 100 sure I reset it to ten!"
"But it's bad for your health, besides if you leave it till ten, you'll start your research at around noon. Then, you'll research till four so you'll try to wake up at ten again and then you'll start doing whatever you planned at noon, and you'll do it till four so you'll try to wake up at ten…" It rants on.
"I GET THE POINT!" the room shook.
"How about we compromise?" it suggested in a tiny voice.
"9:45"
"No, 8:00" the pesky alarm clock insisted.
"9:30"
"8:15"
"No way! That's just 15 minutes more!" Charlie complained.
"You changed it by fifteen minutes too." The clock persisted.
"Why don't we just use nine?" Charlie gave another yawn.
"Sure."
"Finally I can get some sleep…"
(9 minutes later)
"Rise and Shine! It's a brand new day!"
"I thought we agreed on you waking me up at nine o'clock?" Charlie muttered sleepily.
"I thought you said nine minutes later." The clock said cheekily.
"No…AVADA KEDEVRA!" Screamed Charlie in annoyance.
The green light bounced off the dragon's chest.
"I'm curse resistant! Isn't that great?" The clock chirped merrily.
"Shut up…" Charlie yawned and smacked it on the head. "Oww…."
"I'm made of the hardest substance in the world that is indestructible!" The irritating thing pranced and skipped around the table.
Charlie grabbed the dragon and threw it out the window as hard as he can. It landed in a lake and short-circuits itself.
"Finally…some peace and quiet."
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To find a book in the colossal library is almost impossible. Summoning charms have to be used and if it's not specified, one will find themselves buried by books.
"Accio Books about ways to create immortality!" Remus commanded.
He immediately found himself attacked by a hoard of books. For the next few long tedious, mind-numbing days, the inner circle dived into the stockpile of books that's enough to fill the great hall from floor to ceiling. Then, finally, finally! As the next month passed by, the gang have perhaps enough information to tackle Dumbledore's methods to ensure immortality. There is one small problem. Finding out which ones he used out of the eighty-two methods.
"Either way, I say horcrux is definitely on the list. No doubt Fawkes is the horcrux." Susan said firmly.
"And I'll bet you anything that Life Drain is also there." Seamus added.
"Add Philosopher's stone to the list." Luna suggested.
"I'd say we consult Nick about the Philosopher's stone. The Philosopher's stone makes the user dependent on it so I don't think he might use it. Yet with Mr. Dumb and Dorky it could be possibly use it as a back up plan." Remus went back to his room to get the journal.
By the end of the day, they had come up with a list of 14 possibilities (because the argument is still tied whether the Philosopher's stone is one of the methods).
1. Life Drain (Life energy and life span of the victim is reduced and added to the caster)
2. Horcrux (seal part of the caster's soul in an object or animal) Most likely Fawkes
3. Soul Bind (Potion variation with added unicorn blood and dragon blood to counter the painful side effects)
4. Enhancing potions (to make sure the body last as long as the soul)
5. The Time/Soul Ritual (when the soul is about to die, it is sent back to age 1 with a ritual)
6. De-Aging potions (easiest, and legal way although when consumed at a large quantity could be hazardous)
7. Core shield (shield that protects the magical core and soul from almost all spells)
8. Force Field (around body to ensure protection)
9. Life Suppliers (a few people that have done a ritual with the caster so that when the caster is about to die, their life is given to him.)
10. Soul Swirls (using other people's soul as shield. Fragments harvested and swirls around the caster's soul like a mist. If it's endangered by magical means, one of the 'shield' will die in the caster's soul's place and the person the soul fragment is from will die as well)
11. Patronus Permanenum (permanent protection against Dementors)
12. Everlasting solution (applied to the brain)
13. The Death-be-gone (keeps away the grim reaper. Yes he does exist in the wizarding world)
14. Philosopher's stone (could replace de-aging potion still debating)
"Two of these are irreversible but must be reversed." Daphne pointed out. "Another thing that should be considered is time."
"The automatic time reversal spell! If he is about to die, it automatically takes the user back one month!" Blaise suddenly realized what she meant.
"I remember studying Time wards in my advance N.E.W.T.S. Almost unachievable if I'm not mistaken. It traps the time in the area and prevent the use of time spells. We could set one up when we have the final battle." Bill recommended.
"All time spells but Flames of Time, a special type of dragon fire that can only be done by an extinct breed of dragon. I believe Dumblydork killed the last one. That spell can manipulate time for the dragon's bonded familiar and many other astonishing results." Said Charlie grimly.
"How do we get rid of the Soul Swirls and Life Suppliers? Not to mention kill a phoenix." Arthur wondered.
"Accio Books on how to kill a phoenix made into a horcrux" Immediately, a book flew to Charlie's hand.
Phoenixes are one of the most holy creatures in existence. To kill one, its opposite, one of the darkest creatures would be required. It requires immense power in order do destroy a phoenix. The Great Dragon Venenum was one of such capable of destroying a phoenix. If a phoenix is made into a horcrux, then a phoenix of each of the other element that is willing to participate is needed, the final thing is a wizard carrying a relic of Venenum.
To kill it, it has to be struck simultaneously with each and then, the phoenix will be greatly weakened and will shrink so that it can fit into a phial. To finish it off, place it in an indestructible container, then use the relic of Venenum (preferably fang or horns) to impale it. Fangs are the best as it contain small amounts of its poison.
After Remus finished reading, all eyes were on Charlie.
"So first, we'll kidnap Fawkes and finish him off?" Theodore asked eagerly.
"That will be my second priority. The first…" Charlie let the trade mark Marauder's grin creep upon his lips as his fingers danced on his scythe.
"Alarm Clock!" Charlie unexpectedly roared.
"Yes master?" The nuisance popped in to the room.
"I want you to go to a place called Hogwarts and follow the headmaster around where ever he goes. Don't leave him at all costs and don't mention anything from before you got to Hogwarts. And never ever take orders from anyone apart from me." The red-head ordered.
"What's his name?" The clock hopped excitedly.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."
"Can I just call him the idiotic door?" The mechanical dragon pleaded.
"Sure." Said Remus allowing the Marauder's grin to take over.
