Chapter 10-Tale of the Three Brothers
The Burrow
"Hey wotcha doing Twerp, It's been so peaceful here since you and Albus left for Egypt I was about ready to take up knitting to pass the time away." said Tonks jokingly as she nearly tipped over her full cup of hot chocolate.
"Oh come on give the boy a chance he just got back from vacation. I'm sure he has plans to keep himself occupied for the rest of the Summer...Like er...learning how to be a prank master like Fred and George." said Percy while he reached out for another hot muffin.
"Of course the Twerps plans this summer are to help the twins create even more insane pranks and continue to drive everyone batty before the Summer is out." said Remus jokingly.
"Yes, I think he is already well on the way to becoming a master prankster." said Sirius as he avoided looking at Molly's piercing gaze.
"Me thinks he already has earned that title." said Harry with a laugh. "The Candy Kits and Illusion Drinks were his ideas. Just what more mayhem can he cause."
Severus chewed and swallowed a slice of roast beef , then looked around innocuously at everyone seated around the table and asked, "Can I do that?" with an innocent tone in his voice and Twerps' eyes widened as if he had never thought of such a thing. "Albus said I was to relax, play games, read kids books and have fun. I didn't think Mayhem was included in his orders. Unless it is listed under fun."
"Relax? You relax? This I have got to see to believe." said Draco as laughter erupted around the table. "From what we have been reading in the Daily Prophet you were not exactly relaxing when Dumbledore took you to Egypt."
Severus protested slightly "I did relax ...at least when I was sleeping."
"Right, and that is for what, three hours? four at the most?" said Draco casually as Hermione pursed her lips and said, "Come off it Draco, you know how interesting another country can be. Especially when it is filled with sights you never see in your own country."
"Like the Headmaster riding a Camel with the Twerp?" Draco responded to Hermione's comment as he glanced sideways at the Twerp.
"Okay Severus, just what did you do to Albus?" asked Mad-Eye teasingly as he kept a stern look on his face. If anybody noticed he had a slight smirk also as he barked. "Riding a Camel at his age."
"I didn't do anything." the Twerp protested again. "It was his idea to ride that smelly creature and believe me I would have bottled that stink if I was able to. It was worse than a stink bomb."
"Severus, Honestly." scolded Molly. "Just what Prank would you be thinking of developing that would require such a smell."
Percy laughed "Oh Mum, chill out, can't you see he is only trying to get a rise out of you?"
"I'd say he is succeeding quite well." said Fred with a merry glint in his eye.
"Indubitably, without a doubt." George agreed as both of them grinned.
Severus looked at Molly with wide innocent eyes and smirked just a little as the witch gave him a suspicious look that clearly meant that she would be watching him closely like she had with the twins.
Hogwarts
"There." said Albus later that night as he looked at the transcript with satisfaction. He looked up at Fawkes who was calmly eating and said "I've finally finished revising the last chapter. I just have to Owl it in the morning to the Wizarding Publishing House." He gathered the sheets of parchment and placed them carefully into the envelope that was already addressed and set it to the side. He patted Fawkes feathered head and then walked up the stairway. Looking about the Library before retiring to his bed Albus looked at the empty shelf that had contained his childhood books and smiled as he thought about Severus reading them while at the Burrow, then he sighed as he thought back to when he was younger and a flood of memories came back to him. He opened his hand and looked at the ruined gold ring with the dull black stone, he felt bad about being so curt with the Twerp, who was just curious about why he hadn't gotten rid of it.
Noticing that the books on the bottom shelf of the nearby purplish blue book stand were not quite in the order they were supposed to be, Albus placed the ring into his robe pocket and knelt down to rearrange them. He suspected that the Twerp had been attracted to the brightly coloured binding and thought they had been some of the children's books that Albus had told him he could take. As Albus looked at them he remembered that he had placed a very old book that was written in the runic language in behind these books. It was now missing.
"I wonder if the Twerp has it." said Albus thoughtfully. "I can't see him wanting it since he can't read runes ...or can he?" He scratched the side of his temple with his forefinger. "I wonder.." he said as he pulled the ring back out of his robe pocket and looked at it.
The Burrow
After supper the adults were talking about events that were transpiring at Azkaban and at the Ministry so the teens and Severus excused themselves and went into the living room where Severus pulled out the elderly book from his knapsack and asked Hermione if she could read it.
The Teens were silently watching Hermione as she looked at the elderly book with interest. "Yes I can read this book Twerp." She turned the pages carefully as she settled back on one of the couches in the Living Room. The Twerp was curled up in his favourite chair near the fireplace with his two toys who were sitting on the arm of the chair facing Hermione. A sense of anticipation and foreboding filled the small boys mind as he blurted out. "I want to know if there is a story there that might have something to do with Marvelo Gaunts Ring."
"What? That old ring ring?" asked Hermione as she looked up from the page she was reading. "I don't know if there is one yet as I have never heard any of these stories before. They look like they are fairy tales though."
"You've never heard of The Tales of Beadle the Bard,?" asked Ron incredulously. "I can't believe it, you read everything."
"The Twerp hasn't read them either. Remember?" said Ginny.
"Yeah but it's understandable in his case." retorted Ron "His family wasn't exactly the loving type who would think of fairy tales."
"I have never heard of them either." said Harry whose eyes were wide with amazement that Ron had actually read a book that Hermione hadn't.
"That's understandable Potter." drawled Draco. "Your Aunt and Uncle are muggles who didn't exactly raise you with the care and attention they did ..what's your fat cousins name again?"
"Duddly" answered Harry automatically.
"Oh yeah, anyway personally I think you are better off than he will ever be."
Harry's eyebrow rose as he turned to look at Draco. "You know Dumbledore said something similar to me. He said that Severus and I have a better chance then he does to make a life, a good life."
"I can see that." Draco commented. "Don't forget I have seen both sides myself and to be honest I prefer to live the way I am now. " He grinned "The only Malfoy in generations to stoop to doing manual labour."
"Gee Malfoy you honour us. Maybe we will find more work at the shop ."
"For your happiness should be considered or you may slip back."
"And become that very disgruntled...sad...pathetic...spoiled..."
Everyone burst out laughing at the the twins as they looked at Draco with large sad eyes and lopsided smirks on their faces.
"Okay lets get back to the book, shall we?" asked Hermione. "Twerp wants to know if there is a story in here that has a ring in it. "
"The tale of Three Brothers has a stone in it."Ron replied thoughtfully. " I am suggesting that one because of the stone in Marvelo Gaunts ring."
"Oh, okay" Hermione said as she thumbed through the elderly looking book, "here it is, The Tale of the Three Brothers. That's the story you want Twerp?" She looked over at the Twerp and his two toys who were shaking with barely concealed excitement.
"I won't know till I hear it." said the Twerp. "All I know is the Oracle had shown me Albus reading a story in that particular book and I have this feeling it is to do with the old ring that Albus still has in his office."
"He didn't get rid of it?" asked Harry as he looked searchingly at the Twerp.
"No he didn't." answered the Twerp. "I asked him why he didn't get rid of it and he got a little angry." The Twerp looked a little upset for a moment but the look passed across his thin little face almost as fast as it had appeared.
"Curious." said Draco. "Anyway Hermione, continue with the story. Most of us know it but you, Harry and the Twerp."
"All right." Hermione said as she coughed to clear her throat and started to read from the old book.
'There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at Twilight.
In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.' 'And Death spoke to them-'
"Hey, wait a minute..Death spoke to them?" asked Harry incredulously.
"It's a fairy tale, Harry!" said Hermione as she looked up from the book.
"Oh right, Sorry." said Harry as a faint blush crept across his face.
Hermione returned to reading
"And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him. So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence, a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there and gave it to the oldest brother.
Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still farther, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead. And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death most unwillingly handed over his own cloak of Invisibility
Once again Harry interrupted as he blurted out, "Deaths got an invisibility Cloak?"
"Yes he does. It is so he can sneak up on People instead of running after them, flapping his arms and shrieking all the time." explained Ron who glanced at Hermione who had stopped reading and said, "Sorry Hermione please continue.
" 'Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts.
In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination. 'The first brother travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he won the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible. 'That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own.
'Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death, appeared at once before him. 'Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to join her. And so Death took the second brother for his own. 'But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and equals, they departed this life."
Hermione closed the book and said to the small Twerp. "Is that the story you think Dumbledore was reading from this book?"
"Yes." he said as the little Oracle once again nodded its little head vigorously and the little mummy clapped its tiny hands together. The Twerp went silent as he thought back to that day when the Oracle showed him some scenes from the past.
"Hey what's this?" asked Hermione as a small piece of parchment fell out from the book. "I didn't see this parchment." She read the thin slanting handwriting.
"QUEST:
Peverell brothers:
Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus
Three Deathly Hallows:
Elder Wand,
Resurrection Stone
Invisibility cloak
Albus Dumbledore,
Godrics' Hollow 1863
Harry looked closely at the parchment as Hermione passed it to him. "That's Dumbledores handwriting. All right"
The Twerp looked at it also "Yes it is, but Look at how he wrote the 'A' in Albus."
The teens crowded in to see the symbol which consisted of a straight line with a circle on top of it and a triangle enclosing both of them. "Just like on the cover of the book." said Hermione. "The symbol under the runes."
"Weird." commented Ron. "What does it all mean?"
"Draco was muttering under his breath as he was deep in thought. "Peverell, Peverell...Where have I heard that name before?"
Hermione exclaimed . "That name is in 'Natures Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy.'" She explained further, "It lists the pure-blood families that have died out along the male line. The Peverells were among the earliest to vanish." She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I would study the history of the Wizarding world and combine some Genealogy lessons with it. It helps when one understands a little background of the people and their families involved in Historical events you know."
"And that makes sense, I guess." said Draco. "Personally I could never stay awake long enough in Professor Binns class to get that interested."
"No one except Hermione has ever managed that." joked Fred
"She doesn't need to listen to him, she probably already has everything memorized." continued George
Hermione glared at the twins who were smirking back at her then returned her attention to the Twerp who was still looking at the aged piece of parchment.
"So why has Albus written their names on the parchment?" asked the Twerp. "If they are no longer around..." He looked questioningly up at Hermione.
"The name has died out but they could still have descendants though, they'd just have different names that's all." Hermione explained to him patiently.
"Hey I think I can connect it." yelled Harry. "Dumbledore showed me a memory in the pensieve belonging to Bob Ogden, who was employed by the Department of Law Enforcement at the time . It had to do with a visit he made to see Voldemorts grandfather Marvelo Gaunt."
"what about him Harry?" asked Ron.
"Marvelo Gaunt was also the one who had that ring which Voldemort used to store a bit of his soul in." said Severus. "Am I right?"
Harry paused as he tried to recall what he had seen. "Right Twerp, In the Memory Marvelo Gaunt said that the ring had the Peverell coat of arms on it when he was waving it under the nose of that bloke from the ministry. He also said he was descended from the Peverells. He wasn't the kind of person to believe in fairy tales, believe you me, but he seemed to think that scratches on the stone were a coat of arms because as far as he was concerned having pure blood made you practically Royal."
"Nice recommendation for those of us who are pure bloods..." He winced as Ginny smacked him one up the back of his head. "Ouch, I didn't mean anything by it..I was just teasing honest, but you have to admit his grandson Voldemort was a little out of of his gourd." said Draco as he felt the back of his head with his hand.
"That whole family was out of their Gourds as you put it." said Harry with a sly grin. "Dumbledore said that it was possible they were insane because they were too closely inter-bred."
"Okay that theory would explain some why some members of my family are total nuts like my Aunt Bellatrix." said Draco. "But we're not all like that."
"No, but you came awfully close to following your fathers footsteps into his service." said Severus with a shudder as he recalled what the future would have been according to the Oracle in the Tomb. He quickly returned the attention back to Harry before Draco could form a retort as he asked. "Was there really a coat of arms on that ring?"
"There was nothing fancy on it that I could see when I was watching them in the Pensieve. Just a few scratches." admitted Harry."But then when Dumbledore brought it along to 12 Grimmauld Place there was a lot of excitement while Twerp here was trying to save Dumbledores life and then Bill destroying the Horcrux it contained, I don't think any of us really paid attention to what the stone in the ring looked like."
"I had better do some more research," said Hermione. "I don't know why the Oracle showed the Twerp Dumbledore reading that particular fairy Tale but it could be to show how humans are frightened of death and the extent they will sometimes go to evade it." She thought a moment then said, "Take the Philosophers stone for example. The elixir made from it prolonged the lives of Nicolas Flamel and his wife far beyond that of a normal lifespan, even of those in the wizarding world."
"I don't think that is all." said Draco as he observed the Twerps impassive little face. "The Elder wand,a Resurrection stone and an Invisibility cape passed down from father to son. If Dumbledore was looking for the..."
Hermione turned quickly toward Draco and spoke with an authoritive tone. "Now look, there are so many stories about extra-powerfull wands over the years. They came under different names throughout the centuries usually possessed by a dark wizard, Professor Binns mentioned a few of them like the Deathstick or the wand of destiny but I think it was mostly boasting since wands are only as good as the wizards who use them. As for the Invisibility Cloak, think about it, charms wear off when they get old or they get ripped apart by spell. Travelling Cloaks are imbued with disillusionment charms, or Bedazzeling Hex. The ones made from Demiguise Hair fade over the years till they become opaque. I just want to get facts, hard cold facts before really making up my mind as to whether or not this tale was based on a true story."
"Harry's Cloak is old, It was his fathers and shows no sign of wearing out." said the Twerp. "I don't think Dumbledore would have written any of that stuff down if he didn't think that the story was real either."
"Oh come on, no way can Harry's Cloak be the Cloak mentioned in the fairy tale." scoffed Ron then he stopped cold as he noticed the stern looks he was getting from the tiny Oracle. "Just how old is that cloak anyway?"
"Maybe Sirius or Remus can tell us more about Harry's Cloak." said the Twerp. "After all they were the best of friends."
"Right and maybe Mad-eye? He knows a lot about Invisibility Cloaks, but then he would think were mad just thinking that there was a possibility that The Tale of The Three Brothers was a true story." said Draco.
"Then again maybe there is something we are missing." said Harry. "Look on the parchment. It says Godrics Hollow. That's where my family came from. You don't suppose that Dumbledores family originated from there too?"
"Well mate, the only way to find out is to go check out the cemetery there." said Ron. "Hermione can do her book research and we can do the footwork."
George and Fred stood up straight and with identical grins looked at the assembled group of teens.
"We thought that with the end of the war with Voldemort we would have a somewhat peaceful Summer." "But no... the Twerp seems to have an attraction to strange events, so lets just go with the flow and enjoy whatever unravels."
Azkaban
The move of the Death-Eaters was being strictly controlled and carefully supervised .
"Hold on take them out one at a time, no need to rush things." ordered the elderly Auror who was in charge of the transfer of the high profile prisoners to the holding cells in the Ministry.
"The Impedimenta charm has been used to prevent them from making any quick moves." said the second-in-command.
"Still, things can happen especially with such a large transfer and so few guards." growled the elderly Auror.
"You sound just like Mad-Eye Moody." said the second-in-command."He was always seeing things that might have but didn't happen."
"I know but...Hey look out." He spotted two of the prisoners had managed to cause a disruption in the steady transfer which caught their guards unaware.
"Hey, stop them!"
"Watch out, they're getting away."
There were screams of confusion and yelling as other prisoners made a frantic break for freedom.
Most of those who tried were stunned and binding cords came streaming out of the Aurors wand tips which bound them securely to keep them from trying again, but there were now two guards down and two dangerous prisoners were missing.