Chapter Twenty One: Fugitive
Hearing the news out loud did not seem to make it even more plausible. Ginny's eyes widened for a moment, if she did not believe what she was hearing, before Harry wrapped his arms around her, before he pulled her in tightly, as she was shaking slightly and Dumbledore stood there, us if he was struggling to find the right thing to say in this situation, if there was a right thing to say. Harry looked at Ginny, who was shattered at the loss of her father and angry at Dumbledore. To be fair, she was not the only Weasley in this room that was not happy with this, as Fred, George, and Bill were all shooting nasty looks at the Headmaster right about now as Charlie and Ron both balled up their fists. Molly on the other hand, looked at the ceiling, catatonic, in shock.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry it had to happen this had to happen," offered Dumbledore which snapped Molly out of her state and Ginny turned slightly, she still held tightly to Harry's arm.
"Sorry, you're sorry, Dumbledore?" demanded Molly as she shakily got to her feet. "That's all you can offer after you basically lead Arthur to his death. Do you think sorry is going to bring Arthur back? Do you think you can just wave away this mistake you made with a few words and a twinkle in your eye?"
"Molly, I understand and sympathize with your grief, but at the same time, we can't be allowed to be lead to dissension because of this tragedy," said Dumbledore. "Voldemort wants this, he uses this to divide us, we must not be distracted from the bigger picture…"
"FUCK YOU AND YOUR BIGGER PICTURE ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!" shouted Molly angrily. "If it wasn't for your vague assumptions about something that You-Know-Who might be after, when you haven't been entirely clear to the Order of the Phoenix what exactly this weapon is. How can we trust you when you can't trust us enough to give us all of the information? This isn't the first time you've gotten someone killed but I refuse to stand by. It was supposed to be safer than last time, but it's just as dangerous if not more so. Now Arthur's dead and all you can offer for an explanation is that you're sorry. You owe us the reason why he risked his life."
"That is impossible Molly, if this falls in the wrong hands, it could be a disaster," said Dumbledore and here Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Once again, there was Dumbledore, overstating the importance of the Prophecy. Ginny had her head buried into his shoulder but her hand was shaking. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand tightly, in an attempt to comfort her.
"Of course, Dumbledore, I shouldn't have believed any less than you, you're no better than You-Know-Who," spat Molly angrily.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Molly," responded Dumbledore, who saw the Order of the Phoenix crumbling before his eyes. There were things he did not understand himself, he had assumed because of the connection between Voldemort and Harry and Voldemort's subsequent connection with the snake in question, Harry should have saw the incident as it happened. Perhaps the connection was not as Dumbledore had thought, he would have to have Severus investigate it more thoroughly.
"I'm sure you do, Dumbledore," responded Molly scathingly. "Right now, I quit the Order of the Phoenix and I hope my children have the sense to do the same."
"Molly, do reconsider, I don't think you're being rational, blinded by your grief," said Dumbledore but Molly had already left the office, both angry and sobbing at the loss of her husband.
"Professor Dumbledore, I've always respected you and given you the benefit of the doubt for some rather questionable situations," said Bill as he finally found his voice. "Right now, I don't know if I could ever trust you again and I know for a fact I can't under good conscience continue to be in the Order of the Phoenix. I'm going to hand in my resignation right now."
Dumbledore was alarmed as he watched Bill Weasley walk out of the room. Getting the goblins either on their side or to adopt a policy of neutrality was crucial. If they joined Voldemort, all would be lost and Dumbledore was relying on Bill to make that happen. As he watch the eldest Weasley leave, Dumbledore watched another one of his well placed had dissolved right into nothingness.
"I have to agree with Bill as well, Professor Dumbledore," added Charlie. "You reassured us nothing bad would happen, and now Dad paid for your error in judgment. I just hope you don't lead anyone else to their death."
Dumbledore watched Charlie leave the office, as he wondered exactly how this day could get any worse. Fred, George, and Ron could not even bring themselves to words, but they gave Dumbledore one final nasty glare before they departed, which left Harry and Ginny alone in the office with Dumbledore, who looked every one of his over one hundred years. After a moment, Harry decided to speak up.
"It looks like you have a lot to do, so we'll just get out of your way, Professor Dumbledore," answered Harry in a force calm voice that Dumbledore obviously misinterpreted for genuine.
"Indeed, Harry, more than you could ever imagine," muttered Dumbledore as Harry got this feet before he lead Ginny, who wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe, before they made their way to the Room of Requirement. Arthur Weasley's unfortunate death had thrown a spanner into their fun holiday plans and of all the people who deserved to die, Arthur was at the very bottom of that list. Hell, he was way below the list. Harry was glad the rest of the Weasleys wised up to the dangerous game Dumbledore was playing. It was a shame that such a good man had to be sacrificed to make that happen.
Dumbledore remained in his office, relieved that Harry and Ginny had not turned on him like the others had. As long as he had those two, his plans would be safe. Sure there was grief and a bit of anger at the situation, but nothing as blatant as the five Weasley brothers and Molly Weasley. Dumbledore hoped they would reconsider. They were all valuable assets to his plan.
Unfortunately, it would be even more problematic to find people who would willingly guard the prophecy. The Aurors getting arrested had lead to a problem and as much as he liked to say it was different, Dumbledore was no closer to solving that mystery. Now, there would be even fewer people who would willing to stick their necks out for something that Dumbledore only gave them basic information. Still, he was unwilling to give more specifics out about the prophecy. There was always the possibility that he could have Harry remove it from the Department of Mysteries, but that would require Dumbledore to tell Harry about the prophecy, something that he was not willing to do just yet. Along with the fact that Dumbledore still needed the prophecy as bait to lure Voldemort out in the open, to make the Minister believe that he had returned.
While Dumbledore was saddened to a slight extent what happened to Arthur Weasley, there were other problems that would present themselves in the not so distance future. This would only serve to weaken the Order further, beyond the Weasleys, Dumbledore could only begin to guess whatever people would quit the Order of the Phoenix because of this accident. People would get scared and fear for their lives, it was too long since Dumbledore had to deal with these uncomfortable truths. When the Order of the Phoenix had made progress, it was because of the efforts of the members. When there were failures, the members turned the blame towards Dumbledore. With that in mind, Dumbledore could not remember an incident that had so many horrific ramifications.
Even with that in mind, there was the matter of how the Minister of Magic interpreted this incident and Dumbledore made plans to flee quickly to a safe house had prepared for such an incident if the worse case scenario came to pass.
-
Cornelius Fudge made his way into his office, as the entire Ministry was in an uproar, after the body of one of their Ministry employees was found just outside the entrance for the Department of Mysteries. From all reports, it was a ghastly sight, but they managed to identify the body as Arthur Weasley, the father of his Junior Assistant Percy Weasley and a long time employee of the Ministry.
Fudge sank down on the chair behind his desk. Rufus was in the process of conducting a full investigation on the area around Weasley and looked for any clues that would indicate the culprit. Already the Daily Prophet got a hold of the information and painted the picture of a scandal with a Ministry employee dying on their property after hours. Even during the time of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named it was unheard of. Fudge felt he had to act quickly, otherwise his reputation might be destroyed along with this scandal. If he acted quickly and caught the culprit behind this or at least someone who could be fingered as the culprit based on the evidence he found, his career would be saved. At this moment, the Daily Prophet would be finding its way into the homes of many and Rita Skeeter would have already added her own unique two cents on the deal.
"Minister," said the voice of Rufus Scrimgeour and Fudge turned to the side where the fireplace was. He knelt down to see his Head Auror in the fire. "We've scoured the area, nothing that can be used to identify the attacker physically, but we did find a very interesting note on Arthur Weasley's person."
"What is it, Rufus?" asked Fudge, who hoped this could be the piece of evidence that he needed to breathe just a bit more easier.
"It's a list of times where Arthur was to be outside of the Department of Mystery corridors," said Scrimgeour. "It says its for the Order…perhaps Order of the Phoenix?"
"Yes, that might do the trick, I see what you've done now Dumbledore, you've been sending people to nose around in the Department of Mysteries," muttered Fudge as if he was piecing together some extraordinary scheme. "Obviously, you were trying to figure out what was inside, so you could steal it and perhaps equip your army with weapons, to overthrow me. Weasley must have found out too much and might have disagreed with you, so you set him up, poisoned him and left him for dead. Covered your tracks but not well enough, Dumbledore."
"Minister?" prompted Scrimgeour in an uncertain voice. "Are you saying that Albus Dumbledore was behind Arthur Weasley's death?"
"I'm positive, Rufus," answered Fudge, he had been looking for something to put away Dumbledore ever since he started spreading that nonsense about You-Know-Who. While the handling of Harry Potter and Secret Keeper fiasco were damning evidence, it was not enough to put someone with Dumbledore away. Now with a murder charge over his head, Dumbledore would be put into Azkaban and maybe if the Minister had his way, get a little kiss as well.
"So do you want me to give the word?" asked Scrimgeour and there was a moment's pause before the Minister nodded, a determined, intense look on his face.
"Yes, Rufus, take a team of your best Aurors to Hogwarts and bring Dumbledore in for his part in the murder of Arthur Weasley," responded Fudge. "Bring him in alive if possible, but if he is killed in the struggle, then it is what must be done. Regardless of how, Dumbledore needs to be brought down because his recent mental stability in believing You-Know-Who is alive is harming himself and others. I fear old age has finally taken the mind of Albus Dumbledore and these delusions could be a danger to the students of Hogwarts. Take as many Aurors as you need, but bring him in or take him down. That's my order, Rufus."
"As you wish, Minister," said Scrimgeour as his face disappeared from the fire. Fudge rose to his feet, to write a letter to the Weasleys, offering his condolences for the death of Arthur Weasley and to offer his help if they needed anything in this time of need.
-
"Ginny, I don't know what to say," said Harry as they were in the Room of Requirement, sitting on a couch, with Ginny's head in Harry's lap, as she clutched the latest addition of the Daily Prophet, her father's death the front page story.
"This is exactly the reason why we should keep doing what we're doing!" shouted Ginny hysterically. "Dad wouldn't have died if he didn't have that blind trust for Albus Dumbledore. You saw Dumbledore, he said he was sorry but he wasn't, he just saw Dad as another sacrifice, for this plan he has. Dad didn't matter to him and he just happened to be there when that happened!"
"I know, Ginny, its unfortunate and your father will be missed. In fact take as much time to recover as you need to before we continue with the plan, I just never expected something like this to happen," responded Harry as he brushed her hair away from her face and looked up. Arthur Weasley was one of the few adults that he had ever respected. He might have been a bit blinded by Dumbledore and a bit whipped by his wife, but Arthur Weasley was truly a harmless man, who would never deceive anyone, would never hurt a fly. Besides he had been up front with him about the Sirius thing, despite the Minister not wanting him too. Even though Sirius turned out to be innocent, Harry still respected Arthur's honestly of telling information that Harry needed to know. That was more he could say for certain other people named Albus Dumbledore.
"No, Harry, we can't let this distract us, I'm upset that Dad died, but for that reason, we can't fall behind, every day Dumbledore and Voldemort are allowed to run free, is another day that more innocent people just like him die," said Ginny in a firm voice, who refused to let her father's death, no matter how bad it affected her, get in the way of what had to be done.
"If you're sure Ginny, I don't want to force you back into this before you had time to grieve," responded Harry and Ginny looked at him, a focused look in her eyes, even though they looked slightly red, she was determined to not let this tragedy set her back. "I just wish that…well I can't help but shake that if the connection between myself and Voldemort hadn't been destroyed, I might have been able to…"
"Stop it right there, Harry" responded Ginny who had an idea where this was going and wanted to cut Harry off at the pass before it happened.. "We've already more or less figured out that connection was nothing but trouble. The Horcrux had to have been slowly killing you, after what we've read about them in the Black library and the theories about. Who's to say that Dad wouldn't have already been dead by the time he was found? It says in the article he was covered in the Invisibility Cloak, so it would have take a miracle to find him before the venom completely poisoned him. I know you wished it wouldn't have happened but it is too late now."
"Yes, Ginny, still wished it wouldn't have happened," answered Harry.
"We're alike in that regard then," answered Ginny, as she sat up, while she looked at Harry. "It's just will be hard to realize that he's gone and I don't even know if it's fully hit me yet…but I'll recover."
"I know you will Ginny, you're strong, it's tough but you will get through this," answered Harry. "Now I think we better meet up with the rest of your family, according to the map, they're in McGonagall's office."
Ginny nodded numbly, as her and Harry left the Room of Requirement, before they got under the Invisibility Cloak. Neither of them wished to encounter anyone in the hallways right now.
-
In his office, Dumbledore had completed packing away all of his most important possessions along with the memories that detailed what he managed to piece together about Voldemort's rise to power. If the Ministry managed to find a way into the office, there were items that they could not be allowed to find, it would raise too many questions why they were there in the first place. Dumbledore placed the box inside one of his robe pockets and he heard shouting outside.
"What grounds are you here!" shouted the voice of Minerva McGonagall. "You should have a warrant, you can't just barge into a school whenever you want, based on some suspicion."
"Sorry, Minerva, but I'm just following the orders of the Minister of Magic, step aside, unless you want to brought up on charges of aiding a fugitive," said the voice of Rufus Scrimgeour as he moved forward. "My men have orders to blast down the door and if that includes destroying the guardian of the Headmaster's office, then so be it."
"Allow them in," muttered Dumbledore to the door of his office, who did not wish to have Minerva do something that he regretted. She was needed at Hogwarts to help hold everything steady. While Harry's role as Junior Inquisitor would be good, there was only so much Harry could do against an accomplished politician like Dolores Umbridge. She had decades of experience that even Harry, as bright as he had become recently, would be no match for. At that moment, Rufus and a squadron of seven Aurors made their way, wands drawn. "Ah, Rufus, it's been too long. Might I ask why you are here?"
"Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest because you are suspected to have a role in the murder of Arthur Weasley," said Scrimgeour in a business like tone, as his Aurors held their wands steady, pointed directly towards Dumbledore if he had tried any sudden maneuvers. "You are to come slightly and surrender your wand. If you refuse, the Minister of Magic has authorized us to use force to bring you in."
Dumbledore remained still, before he stepped out behind the desk slowly as if to surrender. If it was any other Auror but Rufus in charge, they would enter the office, with stunning spells flying and ask questions later. The fact that Rufus was by the book would allow Dumbledore the perfect opportunity to escape.
"Just step forward nice and easy Dumbledore, lay your wand at our feet and there will be no need for an incident," said Scrimgeour in a gruff voice and Dumbledore bent forward, wand at the ready but in a blink of an eye, an orange orb shot out of the wand. The orb exploded, to fill the office with a blinding light, that Dumbledore shielded his eyes from the blinding lights with the sleeves of his robes.
"I can't see a thing!" shouted one of the Aurors obviously as he tried to rub his eyes but this gesture failed.
"Shoot your stunning spells, we can't allow him to leave!" shouted Scrimgeour, even though he was unable to tell whether he would have aimed at Dumbledore or his own Aurors.
Dumbledore moved forward, as Fawkes stood at the ready. Quickly, Dumbledore held on and as the light began to clear, he disappeared with a flash of flames. The Aurors staggered around and were enraged when they realized Dumbledore had given the slip.
"Everyone move, he couldn't have gone far," ordered Scrimgeour and the Aurors moved from the hallway, which was completely empty by now. Scrimgeour refused to give up this easily, he hated to fail at capturing a fugitive of the law and right now, if Dumbledore was allowed to go on the run, it might be months before they could even pick up the trail to find an accomplished wizard like Dumbledore, even if he was becoming a bit mentally unstable due to his constant belief that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was alive.
-
"So, basically Arthur died because he was just there," summarized Sirius with a sigh, as Harry had returned to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Remus was also in the kitchen.
"Now, Dumbledore's going to be raked over the coals for what happened, if Fudge finds anything that remotely tying him to what happened to Arthur, I doubt he would hesitate to bring him in," said Remus. "This means that Umbridge might find herself in the role as Hogwarts Headmistress…"
"No she won't, trust me, I've prepared for this since the moment I've become Junior Inquisitor," said Harry in an off handed voice as he reflected on the last couple of hours. Arthur Weasley's death had been a shock to say the least. Ginny had returned to the Burrow with the rest of the family, with Molly's insistence and Harry agreed. Besides, they could still be together at night, using the portkeys, and no one would be the wiser. It was best to make Molly Weasley think she was getting her way. Harry also made arrangements for himself to pay for the funeral of Arthur Weasley, but in a way where it would be done anonymously with only him and Ginny knowing about it. Molly would fight him tooth and nail about the gold otherwise. It was best for her to think the Ministry had done it, because he knew that Fudge would take the credit anyway.
"Exactly what do you have planned Harry?" asked Sirius curiously
"Now, Sirius, everyone will know, well except the prefects who voted it in obviously, when it happened, but I did figure that Fudge would remove Dumbledore for quite some time and Umbridge would try to slide into the Head spot, to give her even more power," said Harry as he knew this act would both undermine Umbridge once again and also increase this trust Dumbledore had for him. No matter what happened, Dumbledore would return, he was not one to slink off into the night easily as many in the Ministry thought he would.
Right now, he had mentally made a few adjustments to his plans for the holidays. Two of the plans had to be pulled off right now, a couple of the other minor ones could wait. With the decoy ring completed, it would be foolish to wait around too much more to retrieve that particular Horcrux and destroy it.
-
Percy Weasley was at his flat in London. He had heard about the death of his father by now and he was angry at the reason it had to happen. While he was not going to go out and claim that Dumbledore murdered his father like the Minister of Magic was saying, his father's blind trust towards Dumbledore and Dumbledore's ability to put people in danger for some misguided "greater good" had lead to this tragedy. Percy was saddened that it happened, but not surprised. His father never took his words to heart about Dumbledore leading them all to their deaths and now this happened.
Truthfully, Percy was always a bit suspect in trusting Dumbledore. During his sixth year, with his sister nearly being killed in the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, Percy knew Dumbledore was not the great wizard that the world had hyped him up as. He had defeated Gridelwald and had become allegedly one of the greatest Headmasters in Hogwarts history, but exactly how much of this was truth? There was no way to prove or disprove the battle with Grindelwald, as all of the details had been lost to history, other than the fact Dumbledore had defeated him. As for the greatest Hogwarts headmaster, the average marks for the entire school had dipped from the previous five Heads. Not a significant amount, but the records were there for someone who had the time to dig deep enough. And there were more than a few questionable teachers that Dumbledore hired during his time that set off alarm bells in Percy's mind.
Still, the fact that a trio of second year students managed to solve a mystery that Dumbledore, the alleged greatest wizard of his time, could not caused Percy to wonder where exactly the old man's head was. He was one of two things. One, he was good at maintaining a charade of being good, but really most of his achievements were based on coincidence and luck and charismatic enough to make others follow his delusions. As a result, he had not pieced together what was going on with Ginny. Secondly, he was as good as he said and managed to piece together the mystery, but had kept it a secret to test Harry, no matter how much it put Ginny's life in peril. Given what Percy had learned about Dumbledore as of late, especially what was revealed in the infamous Black trial, he would not be surprised at the least with anything Dumbledore did. If that second theory he had was true, then Ginny was very lucky that she did not pay for her life because of Dumbledore's games.
His father on the other hand was not as lucky and Percy hoped that Dumbledore would be brought to justice before more innocent people paid for his crimes.
-
"Rise, Lucius," responded the cold voice of Lord Voldemort as Lucius Malfoy kneeled down before him. "This had better be worth interrupting my research efforts."
"It is, my Lord," said Lucius, who had hoped this would put the Dark Lord in a good mood. After Potter had railroaded the werewolf legislation, Lucius had lost a lot of credibility with his in fact. In face, the Dark Lord hinted that the only reason that Lucius was allowed to remain alive for his failures is because the plans to break the Dark Lord's followers currently in Azkaban had not been fully put into motion yet. "Albus Dumbledore has been charged with the murder of Arthur Weasley."
Lord Voldemort responded with a round of high cold laughter. While this was not his intention, he had framed one of his great enemies and truly this was an excellent bonus, despite the fact Nagini had not brought him any further news at what he had to deal with to get the prophecy. Once Rookwood was broken out of Azkaban, perhaps he would make some progress on this scheme.
"Amusing, a member of one of the most famous family of Dumbledore supporters, someone that Dumbledore is accused of murdering," said Voldemort softly.
"Indeed, my Lord, the Ministry has put out a thirty five hundred galleon reward on any information that lead to Dumbledore's capture and he will receive the Dementor's Kiss when he is caught," said Lucius. "I'd imagine that once Dumbledore is finished, we will be able to move forward for our plans."
"There is still Harry Potter," said Voldemort, amused that Lucius had deluded himself into thinking he was an equal to Lord Voldemort.
"Potter, I doubt a child could be much of a threat to you, my Lord," answered Lucius but Voldemort looked at him coldly and raised the wand that had been created by his connections in Albania to replace the one that Potter had stole. This wand still felt off, as it was created by a black market dealer, as opposed to a professional like Ollivander, but still Voldemort was great enough to make any wand, no matter how ill-suited, work for him.
"Crucio," said Voldemort coldly and Lucius screamed in pain. He had been on the receiving end of this curse more times then he cared to remember in the past and even the fifteen seconds the Dark Lord held him under seemed like an eternity. Lucius dropped to the ground and Voldemort stared at him, without even blinking. "Do not patronize me, Lucius. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my Lord," said Lucius as he could barely stand due to the pain.
"Leave me," ordered Voldemort and Lucius left. The fool most likely had never realized what he did. He had insulted the Dark Lord's power by discounting Potter has a non-threat. After the outcome of their latest confrontation, Lucius should have known better than to insult Lord Voldemort.
-
Nymphadora Tonks sat in her cell in Azkaban, hating life or more particularly, Albus Dumbledore. For almost five months, she sat in this cell, along with five of her fellow Aurors nearby. They had all been accused of treason towards the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore assured they would not be compromised, but when she arrived at the Ministry on that faithful day, she was forced at wand point onto a Portkey that sent her on a one way trip to Azkaban prison. She was not the only one, as five other Aurors had been sent to Azkaban, all based on hard evidence given to Fudge and Scrimgeour by a mysterious informant. The informant was not what made Tonks mad the most, but rather the fact that Dumbledore did nothing to get them out of Azkaban. Despite all of the propaganda spun by Fudge, Dumbledore had more than a few people that would easily agree to put pressure to give the Aurors a fair trial and perhaps explain the evidence.
If by some miracle she got out of here, Tonks vowed she would quit the Order of the Phoenix once and for all. She had a few misgivings before the incident, what Sirius told her about how Dumbledore sent Harry to the Dursleys and never checked up on him disturbed her. The only reason she agreed to join in the first place was because of the belief that Voldemort was back and the fact that the Ministry would not do anything, even if proof was shoved under their noses. As she joined the Order of the Phoenix, she regretted it every day.
Not to mention that based on all of the news that reached the island, that ever since he ascended to the Junior Inquisitor position at Hogwarts, Harry had proven to be more progressive and much more of a positive influence on the school than Dumbledore had been during his decades as Headmaster. Quite frankly, Tonks was intrigued by Harry and she had a feeling there was something more to who the Daily Prophet dubbed "The Golden Maverick" that met the eye. It was just a feeling that she had.
"Nymphadora Tonks," said a voice and Tonks looked up. There was a chance this was a hallucination based on having too much exposure to the Dementors. Many had gone mad in this time but a group of Aurors appeared outside of her cell, one that used his wand to rearrange the runes around the door in the proper pattern to allow it to dissolve away. "You have been acquitted of all charges by evidence given to the Wizengamot by its newest representative. It is believed that Albus Dumbledore had brainwashed you and you fellow Aurors to join up with his Order of the Phoenix. You are to sign a document that states you understand this belief but once that is done, you are free to leave, no questions asked."
Tonks hardly believed her luck. She followed the Aurors outside the door. The Dementors were in the shadows but the Patroni at the front kept them to the shadows. Exactly who got this information to the Ministry that got her cleared or what it was, Tonks really did not know or care. All she knew was she was getting out of Azkaban, just in time for Christmas.
A door to a small office area off to the side of the prison that was better maintained that the rest of the prison was opened and the Aurors escorted her in, where there was a hooded figure inside the office. The hooded figure slid the document, a bottle of ink and a quill towards her.
"Please sign this and then you're have your freedom, Nymphadora," said a familiar sounding voice and Tonks sat down, she took the parchment and carefully read the contents. Reading something before signing it had been a strange and foreign concept to the pureblood magical society, but her father, a Muggleborn, had always lectured Tonks about reading anything she signed. As she read it, there were several terms in it that might have been a cause for concern, but really fit in well with her own agenda. She had no problems with never aligning herself with Albus Dumbledore or joining the Order of the Phoenix anyway. Also, even though she would have done it for free, it was a nice bonus working for this person as he would pay double than the annual Auror salary. As she looked it over, everything appeared fine and curiosity did overwhelm her, as she lifted her quill and signed her name to the parchment, before she slid it back towards the hooded figure. "I must say, you were the only person who bothered to read it. The others were too pleased that when they found out they were now working for me, but there was nothing they could do. Magically binding oath, nothing around that, but I think they'll find me fair and won't leave them hanging for all of those months like Dumbledore did."
"Well, it's their fault for not reading it," responded Tonks with a shrug. "It's a lesson they need to learn the hard way."
"Indeed, this Portkey will take you straight home," said the hooded figure.
"Thanks, Harry," responded Tonks but the hooded figure did not even flinch at the revelation that she knew who he was. "I'm curious to exactly what you're up to."
"Soon enough, Nymphadora," said the Harry as he ignored the scowl on her face. He was not intimidated; he had faced Voldemort after all. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Harry," said Tonks as she looked at her new employer one more time before she took the Portkey. No doubt her parents would be pleased.
As for Harry, he needed to get back and remove the sleeping charm from the Ministry aide he replaced to get the support of the recently released Aurors. With a slight memory modification, it would be like he was there the entire time and no one would know the difference.
Tomorrow he had to attend the funeral of Arthur Weasley, but after that a quick meeting with the other members of the Wizengamot to be officially sworn in for his seat and then onto the fifth Horcrux of Tom Riddle, the ring.
-
Harry returned to the room late that next day, wearing dragon hide gloves, reinforced with protection charms, as he held the ring tightly. Had he not know about the protections around the ring from Voldemort's memories, it would not have ended well. The moment he had dug the ring out, he was visited with a strange compulsion to put it on, that he shrugged off, before he replaced the original ring with the decoy. The decoy had a similar curse on it like the original, but the death would be slower and more painful. Not to mention the fact that it had to be triggered by another component that Harry still had to place where Voldemort still believed the locket to be.
As Harry prepared the containment area for the destruction for the Horcrux, his mind reflected back to the Arthur Weasley funeral. It was a somber and rather crowded affair with Weasleys from all over the world, along with many Minister employees, that included the Minister of Magic himself among other notable employees. Harry only stayed long enough to pay his respects, before he told Ginny he would see her later and departed. The last thing he wanted was a funeral being turned into a media fiasco by his presence.
He had the ring in the box, as he removed the vial of Basilisk venom. He tapped his wand to it, as he put a time delay release on the anti-dissolving charms, before he placed it inside a glass case and sealed it shot. He watched as the basilisk venom leaked through, as a black shadow was pulled from the ring. A loud shriek echoed in the box and the basilisk venom oozed, as the shadow was ripped apart slowly. Harry stepped forward and the sight that greeted him surprised him.
Despite the fact that the Horcrux had been destroyed, the ring was still intact. Harry blinked, it was strange, basilisk venom was supposed to destroy anything that it touched, even with the strongest protective charms. The fact that it was able to destroy the Horcrux proved that, yet why did it not destroy the ring?
There was something strange about this ring, even more so than it had just contained a piece of Voldemort's soul and Harry intended to find out what.