Chapter ten

In preparation for a waltz

…

…

Gringotts Wizarding Bank, owned and operated by goblins. If Amelia was current the bank was created by a goblin called Gringott in 1474. It is considered one of the safest locations in the Wizarding world with the exception of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its motto was simple, Fortius Quo Fidellius, Strength through Loyalty. It also had a formidable reputation of only having one break-in since its creation.

Gringotts is an imposing building in its own right, its entrance hall showed its wealth and prestige, with marble all over the place, long counters stretching along its length with doors leading off to the vault passageways with large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Yes, Gringotts was an impressive sight and filled with many, many secrets. It was also heavily guarded by armed Goblins which stood on alert as she entered its halls in official robes of the Bones family.

This consisted of elegant robes did in the Bones family primary color, which was an elegant leaf green robes trimmed gold. The crest of the regency of the Bones family was upon it and under those robes, she wore a pair of black dress pants and a slightly darker green blouse. She was dressed to represent the Bones family even if she was here in official Ministry of Magic business. On her right was the only other Auror with her, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Like her, he was dressed in robes to show his stature as the Head of the Shackebolt family. His robes were more African-based then her own, flowing freely. It was primarily in the dark blues and purples yet had accents of gold within it.

Appearance was everything to the Goblins, appearance, and gold, gold being the most important. Still they respected a person who showed them respect and by downing appropriate attire in the meeting, they were showing that they respected the goblins enough to take this meeting very seriously.

Just as they entered the hall two armed goblins approached, and stood at the ready before one goblin began to speak.

"Madam Bones, Auror Shacklebolt welcome to Gringotts, we have been requested to lead you to Lord Grimtooth," He announced catching the attention from some onlookers.

"Thank you, please lead the way." Amelia agreed and thankfully without further delay they were lead passed the entrance hall of the bank and into its deeper halls.

It took them a few minutes to reach their destination but as they arrived, they spotted a set of very tall yet thin double doors that looked to be made of gold. On either side of the door were two goblin guards. Without even missing a beat, the doors opened and they were lead inside. With two matching bows the goblins turned and left the room leaving them alone with the Head of Gringotts Lord Grimtooth.

"Amelia Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, welcome to Gringotts," the aged goblin greeted while rising to his feet.

Lord Grimtooth was an aged goblin, yet he was one of the most respectable goblins you could meet with. To fix the wards around Azkaban as much as they wished, they needed to form a contract with Gringotts. To do such, they needed to speak with Lord Grimtooth.

"Thank you Lord Grimtooth, for agreeing to meet with us." Amelia greeted swiftly earning a nod from the goblin before he motioned for them to sit down.

"You wished to form a contract with Gringotts regarding the wards of Azkaban," Lord Grimtooth swiftly began not one for waiting. "I see no reason for Gringotts to deny such a request the simple question would be funding. I have come to understand that the Ministry has reduced your budget once more."

This made Amelia cringe internally. Oh yes, it was a well-known fact that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's budget had gone down once more. It continued to go down every year. Thankfully, though her budget would not be affected by this deal.

"The Minister had allocated a certain amount to pay for your services, Lord Grimtooth." Kingsley voiced, smoothly. "We hope you would accept this as adequate payment."

Smoothly passing over an official document Lord Grimtooth gazed at it with a critical eye before giving a nod.

"This shall be acceptable, and the terms stated are as well. When do you wish for this to be handled?" He questioned.

"We were hoping that you would be willing to do so as soon as possible. We have reasons to believe that certain individuals might wish to breaks others out of Azkaban." Amelia announced showing that she did indeed believe Dumbledore about Voldemort's return.

For a moment, Lord Grimtooth gazed upon them before giving a nod and pulling a document out of his desk.

"I see that you are a reasonable woman Madam Bones, so I entrust this into your possessions. In addition, a feasible donation has been done to fix the wards of Azkaban, as long as the Ministry added in this upgrade. This will allow us to add certain other wards to the group you have selected." Lord Grimtooth announced earning a shared look between both the Head of Law Enforcement and her auror. "To answer your unasked questioned, this individual is the sole heiress to the Potter family and trusted us in doing a few – adjustments to certain investigates and other donations. This is not the only donation she has performed, and it certainly won't be the last. We are aware of her state of – mind for lack of better words – but understand that not everything is permanent but death. Even then it is misleading at times."

For a moment, Amelia did not understand what the goblin was speaking off. How could he be aware of Téaleon's state of soullessness? Moreover, how much more permanent could that be, nobody had ever returned from a Dementors kiss, at least, none that she knew.

"For now, simply understand that we will do what is necessary to stop Lord Voldemort from gaining any of his followers. The funds will aid in securing extra security measures for our warders as they work, not just from Dementors but also outside forces." Here Lord Grimtooth turned to Kingsley and gazed into his eyes swiftly taking the man's attention. "Take note that if any – extra defenses will be made available – Gringotts will be sure to take their defense and state that their services were welcomed."

After a few more items were discussed, Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shackelbolt were escorted from the bank. Once outside Kingsley turned to Amelia who gave her agreement, he was to inform Dumbledore of the situation and that if any aid could be given to the Goblins on a certain day then it would be well appreciated, especially those with the ability to perform to Patronus Charm.

…

"So these are runes that can be used in a basic shielding ward," Téa concluded earning a nod from the man.

"Some have placed the runes on their very persona so that the ward is bound to them, and will follow as they move. Understand that it will not stop very powerful spells. Now that we have some basic on runes and some blood magic, do you feel comfortable perhaps furthering your knowledge when you return to your body?" Thanatos questioned making Téa look up to stare into his hazel eyes.

"Yes, I think I would be." She agreed, earning a nod of acceptance from her ancestor. "Good we will move onto our specific type of Necromancy," He remarked before walking away from her desk.

"You see for as long as our family has existed we have had a link with the dead. Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or by raising them bodily. Our method is different. We do not raise flesh and bone - we raise bone. Skeletal bodies bound to defend our line and to fight alongside us. Some of our ancestors could summon the famous hellhounds of hell to follow our orders but those were rare."

"To begin you must use blood, this is why we are so good with blood magic. You can only use one sort of dagger for necromancy summoning, a bone made from an animal that has killed. If poison is in it, the better but nobody uses a poisoned blade, as most are not immune." Thanatos remarked making Téa's eyes grow wide. "Actually, my father used to be immune to many poisons; he had once been poisoned by a very poisonous snake. He was then cured with phoenix tears; this made it is so he could not be poisoned by regular means.

"Wait – so if I was bitten by a Basilisk, and phoenix tears healed the wound I wound be immune to Basilisk Venom?" She asked curiously earning an odd look from her ancestor.

"There have been no recorded sightings of Basilisks in Britain for at least 400 years," Thanatos started making Téa chuckle.

"That's what everybody thinks," She remarked while subconsciously moving to rub the thick bundle of scar tissue that was in the crook of her elbow.

For a moment, Thanatos simply stared at her arm, as though considering exactly what she was saying before he took a seat and turned his gaze to her emerald green eyes, not a color he had ever seen a Potter have considering they normally only had either hazel or brown eyes.

"Explain," he ordered simply and although she hesitated she finally gave a nod.

"I assume that you are familiar with the tale of the Chamber of Secrets." She began and after a nod, she continued. "During my second year the chamber was opened a second time, the first time it was opened it killed a student and that was fifty years before I even went to Hogwarts. The second time, the chamber was opened, it was by the same person yet it did not kill any student. It simply petrified and this is all by extreme convenience. Finally, a student was taken into the Chamber of Secrets and my friends and I knew more about the chamber then anybody. Sadly, before the student was taken into the chamber one of my friends was petrified. She held the secret of the creature within her grasp and finally completed our search. The monster of the Chamber was a Basilisk. It was, at least, fifty feet long and was, at least, a thousand years old considering Salazar Slytherin himself placed the snake inside the chamber."

"And how pray tell did you get close enough to the creature to be stabbed by it and survive?" Thanatos questioned making Téa sigh.

"I was fighting it, trying to protect Ginny. I had help of course – a phoenix – Fawkes was a friend he belongs to Dumbledore. Fawkes blinded the basilisk and I shoved a sword through the roof of its mouth. It had the side effect of having one of its fangs piercing my arm. I was saved by Fawkes who cried upon my wound." She completed.

"It seems, Téaleon that you have gotten into your fair share of adventures," Thanatos remarked smoothly before sitting back. "And yes that would do perfectly. The combination of Basilisk tears and Phoenix tears would build up your immune system. They would also give you an extreme amount of immunity against various venom's."

"Well, I guess death by poisoning is a bit far-fetched now," She joked lightly earning a lift of the lips from the man.

"If you could gain access to the body again, forming a dagger from the basilisk fang would be perfect, preferably one that is not tainted with your blood. Bring it to the Goblins, they will craft you a blade for a certain amount." Thanatos ordered and for a moment, Téa contemplated not doing it. She wasn't found of the idea of summoning the dead, little alone skeletal bodies to order around.

As though sensing her reserve Thanatos leaned against her desk and gazed into her eyes with a hard look.

"This is in your blood, you have the ability to help in a way others cannot. This ability is sanctioned by the Wizengamot and you cannot be arrested for using it as long as it is in the defense of one's self or those close to you."

With that, he pushed himself away and walked towards his desk.

"Now, I think it's time we try a bit of transfiguration. If you want to get passed my standards, there is one thing you will need to know." He began before turning to her and giving her a hard gaze. "You will learn Human Transfiguration, one of the most dangerous and difficult forms of Transfiguration and you will learn it wandlessly. This will be an incredible advantage for you."

…

It was a rather beautiful day for a Hogsmeade visit as students hurrying from the castle and hurried to the small magical village. The third years were rather excited to be going while some of the older students were just glad to get away from a certain Professor.

Entering the Three Broomsticks, Hermione looked around for any signs of her old professor, Remus Lupin. Just then they were approached by Madam Rosmerta who flashed them a smile.

"You two the ones to see Remus I gather," she stated plainly startling them.

"Yes, is he here yet?" Ron asked hoping their meeting wouldn't have been canceled because of Order business.

"Yes, upstairs top floor, only room there. He's waiting for you, already has Butterbeer up there. Oh and mind yeah, he has a dog with him." She warned before leaving.

Hurrying up the steps, it didn't take the duo long to find the room they were looking for. As soon as they entered the spotted Remus sitting in a comfortable chair and at his feet was a shaggy black dog they all recognized, even if he seemed very gloomy.

"Hello you two, come in and shut the door, I already placed some wards around the place to keep people from listening in and I checked for others as well. We're safe here from prying eyes. That's why Padfoot's here." Remus greeted before motioning to two of the other chairs present.

As soon as they shut the door, the dog turned from canine to human, revealing a tall rather pale and thin man with long dark brown hair and gray eyes.

"You have something about Téa," he stated almost instantly not even bothering to make it a question.

"We do, Remus you remember Luna Lovegood?" Hermione asked startling the old Professor.

"A year bellow you both, Ravenclaw, a little peculiar." He recounted earning a snort from Ron yet no other comment was thrown out.

"She approached us the other day, she had evidence you see, she said Daughter of Prongs, Goddaughter of Padfoot and Niece of Moony. The only other person who ever said this was Téa." Hermione continued making both men look at each other before their focus went once more to the duo.

"Luna is the only person who could see Téa's spirit," Ron shot out knowing it be best to just get to the point. "She doesn't appear all the time but when she does, it's when she's asleep wherever she is. Luna is the only one who can see her and talk to her. Téa asked Luna to give us a message."

"The Dementors Kiss isn't as simple as people assume. It's actually very complicated. I found a book that could help us understand it a bit more but its old," Hermione swiftly continued before producing a small leather bound book. As she handed it to Remus, she continued. "It's said that the Dementors Kiss leads to a set of challenges. If one passed through them then they can regain their soul. Téa was able to communicate with Luna informing her that she had passed through two of the challenges and was now moving on to other challenges."

"The book says that the challenges can change from person to person with the exception of the first challenge. The First challenge is a maze that puts the person against their worst fears. After that nothing, much is known about the task's. Its author clearly didn't write anything further on the subject."

"That's because he was a slave," Remus murmured before showing them a something that made Hermione pale. "This book originates from Africa, I wasn't aware Africa even held Dementors. He was taken as a prisoner and sold as a slave before he could complete his memoir. Still this gives us some sort of hint that perhaps this is not permanent. Yet it also reveals we could do little for Téa in a sense of aid."

"Actually keeping her body in good shape would help tremendously. We can't have her muscles turning to mush. We'd have to keep her healthy, losing weight wouldn't be an option. That would land on the two of you considering you're the ones looking after her." Hermione answered earning a nod from Sirius even as he looked at the book in his friend's hand.

"Have you both informed Dumbledore of this new development?"

"No, we wanted to tell you both first, especially you Sirius," Ron answered earning a grateful smile from the escaped convict.

"Thank you both for this information and we also come bearing – gifts," Sirius announced before pulling out some books and handing them out.

"Dolores Umbridge is not a woman I would want teaching Defense against the Dark Arts." Remus continued, "I remember her from when we went to school. She was a few years bellow us but she was a piece of work even then. She wasn't good in Defense, actually, she didn't even pass her O.W.L's in the subject. I don't know how Fudge got away with appointing her as a Professor for Defense. Still we thought you could use these books."

"The first is a copy of the book we had had to buy in the fifth year and it is a brilliant book for Defense against the Dark Arts. The next is a more advanced but it won't hurt for you to get ahead. Wordless magic is hard but it's a valued skill." Sirius explained before grinning. "Then we got this book, this book is a hidden secret from most of the world, you can only get it in Knocturn Alley and even then it's not well known."

With that, he handed the book over to Hermione who took it with a bit of hesitation. Looking down at the cover, they found the title done in faded gold lettering. The easy way to succeeding your O.W.L's.

"This book is a genius and no Hermione it isn't cheating. It will test you and you will learn from it, when your O.W.L's come, you will find that you won't be as stressed as others." Remus assured them seeing how Hermione seemed to have been a little nervous about the book.

They spoke for a bit more time before Hermione and Ron chose to return to their trip. As they left the room, both Sirius and Remus stayed behind until finally Sirius slumped back into his chair.

"Do you think –" "They wouldn't lie about this Sirius and Luna Lovegood. She might be odd but she would not lie of this either.

"She… she's strong Remus but it's been centuries since somebody came back from the Dementors kiss, hell nobody knew about it for centuries. This is lost information Remus, meaning nobody who's been kissed has made it through alive." Sirius argued earning a sad nod from Remus.

"She's young, she's powerful, she's your goddaughter, and a Potter. She can make it through anything somebody sends her way Sirius, we just need to believe in that little bit of hope until – until we can't anymore." Remus advised his friend while placing a hand on his shoulder. "Believe in her Padfoot, that's what she needs most right now, belief."

…

It was a cold dreary night as a single boat finally docked at the Azkaban Port. As it was attached to the wood underground passage a group of curse breakers and goblins stepped out. This group consisted of some of Gringotts best warders yet it wasn't enough to be simply the best in warding they had to be cable fighters and curse breakers as well considering they would be trying to fix or completely reassemble the old wards surrounding Azkaban Prison.

Amongst those in the group was William Weasley, better known as Bill Weasley.

Just then the soft glow of wands appeared causing those in the harbor to look up, wands at a ready. Still they had nothing to worry about as those who were approaching were the extra auror team that would be aiding in the protection of the island. In that team was Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks.

"We should get started immediately." A goblin grunted.