Return From The Veil
Chapter 9 – The Graveyard
Just their luck that night would fall as they entered the Godric's Hollow cemetery. It was considerably warm but an occasional cool breeze swept across raising goosebumps on their skin. Sparing a glace for the Potter family monument, they made their way to a line of gravestones a few rows in. Following the war, they chose to bury the family together so the group came to a stop in front of four headstones; the one devoted to Lily and James, one for Remus and Tonks on the left, Fred after them, and Sirius though he never had a funeral but got a marker too beside them.
"Well this is eerie," Fred commented. "Kind of brings a whole new definition to that saying 'over my dead body'."
"No kidding. I cannot believe we're doing this," Tonks hugged herself.
"Yeah well we don't have many options in front of us," Remus reminded her although he too was having a hard time disguising his displeasure.
"Come on let's get this over with," Ron raised his wand, as did Harry, Hermione, and Sirius.
"DIFFINDO!" The ground cracked open with small puffs of dirt flying into the air.
"ACCIO WANDS!" Five wands flew out of the cracks and the casters gingerly caught them. They were surprisingly clean in comparison to what they thought would come out but that didn't stop them from performing a cleaning charm for their friends before handing them over.
"That's better," James rolled his wand in his hand. "I can't believe I just desecrated my own grave but I am glad to have my wand again."
"Me too," Lily agreed. "Besides I'm not dead anymore for now, I don't suppose my bones will mind."
"Okay can we just get out of here?" Ron shifted uncomfortably. "This place gives me the creeps at night."
Fred nodded fervently, "Amen to that little brother, let's go," they started to leave and had made it feet away from the gates when Hermione stopped in front one of the oldest there. The writing on the old stone was even harder to read now but still somewhat discernable as was that little symbol etched above the name. The grave of Ignotus Peverell.
"What's up Hermione?" Ron asked before catching sight of the grave.
"Whose grave is this?" Remus ran a hand over the aged stone. "It's old."
"Ignotus Peverell," Harry replied. "The creator and original owner of the cloak."
"Think we can use the veil to call him back and ask him how to take it apart?" Hermione asked rhetorically.
"Well Grindelwald supposedly came here to look at it for clues when the Hallows were lost," Harry supplied. "Then again he did end up with the Elder Wand rather the Cloak so I can't imagine he found anything of use."
"Grindelwald?" James's eyebrows rose.
"Long story dad," Harry dismissed.
"But it's just a grave, what could be so important about it?" Fred shrugged.
Another cool breeze passed and the greenery surrounding the grave shifted and Hermione saw something she hadn't noticed before. She knelt in front of the stone slab, "I think there is something written here." She cleared the base of the weeds and grass that grew around it, revealing an old inscription written in Latin, quod secretum meum mihi facere in interitum et faciam illud gravi.
"What does it say?" Lily asked.
"That secret which is mine, I will carry it to death and keep it in my grave," Remus translated.
"DIdn't know you knew Latin Moons," Sirius commented.
"Most spells are done in Latin," said Remus. "Defence spells especially."
"And as equals, they departed this life," Hermione murmured not listening.
"What was that?" Lily heard her.
"Just thinking about the story," Hermione stood up. "I wonder if Ignotus was being both literal and figurative too."
"You mean you think there's something inside of his grave?" Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Do the words 'rest in peace' mean anything here?" James asked the thin air.
Hermione rubbed her temples, "I don't think we can afford to leave any stones unturned. There are possibly immortal Death Eaters on the loose and we need more information on the Hallows."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a long while and she knew exactly what her best friend was thinking about. Voldemort had opened Dumbledore's tomb for the wand and it was bad enough that they had just done something similar even if the dead in question were standing right beside them. Yes they would be disturbing a man's grave in the name of the Hallows but this wasn't the same thing, they didn't want to get the Hallows, they wanted to stop them. "I don't like this…" Harry finally said.
"Neither do I," Hermione countered rolling up her sleeves. The rest had watched the silent exchange and realized what they had to do before anyone said anything. They circled the grave and pointed their wands at the top slab that covered the tomb.
"BOMBARDA!"
The tomb burst open and the group dived out of the way to avoid the flying debris that scattered everywhere. Eventually dust settled and they tentatively peered inside the coffin – the grave of Ignotus Peverell was lined with a thick layer of dust whether that was from time or them they did not know but what they could see was that it was empty save for one object, right where the head should have been, a leather bound journal.
A/N: The story of the Peverell brothers coming soon. STAY TUNED! ENJOY! R&R PLZ!