Hello everyone! Sorry for the late chapter but I've been working on my original novel for the last several weeks. It is officially published and it's actually doing really well (thanks in part to you guys). It is called "The Mage Council" by Amber A Draper and is exclusively published on Amazon. It is only $2.99 USD and free to download for anyone with Kindle Unlimited, and the first three chapters are available as a free preview. There are links to the official website, amazon page and Facebook page available in my profile. Thanks for reading!
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Triss whispered, ducking behind James as the enraged professor approached the sopping children.
"Think so," James agreed, taking a step around Triss and pushing her forward.
"Hey! She's your mother!" Triss objected, again putting James between her and the other witch.
"Are you morons?" Lily demanded, pausing a few feet short of the children. They halted their scuffle, attention turned to the older woman. "You two must be simple to have snuck out of the school to gallivant around London in the rain! You're going to catch your deaths!" She brandished her wand and dried both children with a short flick. "Get in the car!" James and Triss shared a knowing glance… and took off running. "James Cage you get back here right now!" The children heard the car door slam and the tires screech as she chased after them and it only took her a moment to catch up.
"She can't cast spells in the middle of London!" James gasped cheerfully, his body still not used to intense activity.
"She might just hit us with the car and fix us up at Hogwarts!" Triss retorted.
"Nah!"
The two ended their sprint as they crossed on to the lawn of Water House, knowing they'd disappeared into the wards. The sedan screeched to a halt behind them but they were already through the front door.
"What's that smell?" Triss asked, pulling the collar of her shirt over her nose.
"Sulfur and dead animal?" James guessed, switching on the lights. The house was still and silent, so children tiptoed forward, unable to sense anything living. "Our letters," James observed, noting the stack on the visible end of the kitchen table. James crossed the threshold first and froze. "Triss, close your eyes!" he hissed, blocking the girl's view. Triss did as she was asked, covering her eyes with her hands and spinning around.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Basilisk. Go get Lily," he demanded, shoving her back the way they came. Triss darted off, leaving James to examine the table. There was a small basilisk but it was long dead and rotting on the floor. On top of the table a twisted hunk of metal melted into the wood, a basilisk fang still protruding from it. "Dragon," James whispered, his eyes falling on a blackened figure sitting at the head of the table. It wasn't recognizable as more than a scorched husk, but James had no doubts the skeleton belonged to his father. He wanted to turn away but he couldn't, drawn forward by a ring glinting on the husk's finger.
'Put me on,' it whispered, and James shuffled forwards.
"James!" Lily shouted, bursting into the room with her wand raised and her eyes tightly closed.
"It's dead," James assured, still shuffling towards the burned out husk.
Lily opened her eyes and gasped, immediately drawn to the dead man at the table. "Oh god, James! Don't look!" she shouted, reaching for the boy's arm. He pulled away and his fingers grazed the basilisk fang imbedded in the table.
"The ring killed him," he hissed, suddenly filled with anger.
"Sweetie, it's just a ring. Come outside, we'll figure this out." Lily tugged on his arm again, still unable to move him.
"IT'S TAUNTING ME!" His hand shot out like lightning, ripping the fang from the table and piercing the ring in one smooth motion. Lily covered her ears as a shriek filled the air and the ring melted on the husks finger, the stone falling off and bouncing to the ground.
"James!" Triss shrieked, sliding into the room. Her eyes fell on Dragon's dried out form and tears immediately welled in her eyes. "Dragon?"
"I told you not to look," James whispered, sinking to the ground at the husk's feet. His face hit his knees and his whole body shook as sobs took over.
Lily stepped away from the children in search of a fireplace. In the next room she found one and lit the fire with a swish, her next motion dousing it with floo powder. "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts!" she shouted, kneeling down. Albus's face appeared and she gave him no time to speak. "I need you to come through right now!" She reached into the fire and pulled, the Headmaster following her hand out of the flames.
"Goodness!" he shouted, disoriented.
She shoved him towards the kitchen, throwing another handful of powder into the fire. "Snape Quarters, Hogwarts!" Sev's face appeared next and she repeated the same trick, pulling the man through.
"What's the matter?" Sev demanded, brushing himself off after the unexpected trip.
"The twins are in the car," Lily answered, sweeping back to the kitchen.
Sev followed, his concern growing as Lily refused to answer his questions. He froze as they reached the kitchen, Albus already examining the dried out husk and melted metal at the table. "What in Merlin's name?" he demanded, sweeping the room until he found the two hysterical children curled together in the corner. "What are they doing here?"
"It's their father's house," Albus answered, his nose almost touching the melted glob on the table.
"And that's him?" Sev didn't want an answer but Albus nodded anyways.
Lily returned a moment later holding two infants in a carrier. "Call Poppy, ask her to take them," she instructed, pushing the carrier into her husband's hands. He did as she asked, quickly passing the babies through the flames as she tended to the distraught youths. "Come on," she coaxed, pulling Triss off the floor. "We're going back to Hogwarts." James followed, his eyes swollen with tears and a piece of parchment in a death-grip. In minutes the children were through the fire with Lily, leaving Severus and Albus alone with the corpse.
"What the blazes happened?" Severus demanded, examining the body.
"Horcrux," Albus answered, poking the glob of metal with the edge of one of the many letters littering the table. "Two of them, by the looks of things."
"James Cage's father owned two horcruxes?"
"The Diadem of Ravenclaw and the Gaunt Family Ring. I would say these horcruxes belong to Voldemort." Albus drew his wand. He cast a few spells at the remainder of the ring. "The dark spell on the ring caused his body to deteriorate rapidly. He only had minutes after it struck."
"What kind of spell would do that?" Sev wondered, still thunderstruck by the burned, shriveled corpse.
"I can say I know many of the dark spells out there, Severus, but this spell in particular... I have no idea what it was. If the ring were still whole, I might have guessed," he answered. "We will need to alert the ministry."
Back in the living area, Albus cast a handful of powder into the fire and shouted "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!"
A head appeared in the fire. "Hello Albus!"
"Hello, Sirius. I have need of an Auror, though I am unclear on my current address. May I pull you through?"
"'course!" With a swift pull, a tall man with hair in a ponytail emerged from the fire and drew his wand. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Two of my students snuck out of the school this evening to investigate why their father hadn't returned their letters. Unfortunately the reason turned out to be that he was no longer among the living."
"Why didn't they ask someone else to investigate?" His forehead crinkled and blue eyes darkened.
"Due to the residual magic in the air, I would guess the children thought no one would be able to cross the wards."
"Who are the students?"
"Trisstessa Summers and James Cage."
Sirius's eyes darkened further at the second name and he aged a bit in the blink of an eye. Of course he had heard the story of his best friend's son- swapped with a muggle child... the best friend he once abandoned to save his own skin. "Is Lily here?"
"She has taken the children back to Hogwarts, but Severus is examining the body. I must warn you, it appears he was killed destroying a horcrux."
Sirius blinked. "How would he have gotten his hands on a horcrux?"
"Shui Dragon was a Grandmaster, it is possible he sensed the link they had with James Cage and chose to investigate. Hello Sirius," Sev greeted, giving the man a polite nod. Sirius nodded back, his lips drawn into a grim line.
"That leaves Lucius Malfoy's horcrux, James Cage and Voldemort himself. Though if the Grandmaster knew how Cage was linked to all this, he might have done something about the boy himself," Albus guessed.
"Is there any way to test that? We have to kill this bastard but I would prefer to keep the blood of the Potter Heir off my hands," Sirius growled, fury overcoming him for a moment.
"You mean more Potter blood?" Sirius's head snapped to the side, taking in Lily in all of her fiery glory. "I think, Albus, you need to explain exactly what these horcruxes have to do with my son."