Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR.
A/N: First of all, I'd like to apologize for the long delay with this chapter but I got busy for the first two weeks after I posted the last one then I had another attack of writer's block, plus this chapter wouldn't come out the way I wanted it to. Anyway, I hope you like this even if it's shorter than usual. Please review.
A Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.
Chapter 56: Researching the rituals of Voldemort
Harry was the next to find out about Ti and Maggie's new relationship from Ginny as soon as he woke up since Ginny couldn't wait to tell him. After hearing the whole story of how it happened, Harry was happy that Ti had found someone like Maggie. It was time for his young friend to be happy again.
Ron found out along with most of Gryffindor House, when the two kissed upon meeting up in the common room the next morning. More people learned about it when the new couple walked into the Great Hall for breakfast holding hands. By the time of the Defense Club met that evening, the whole school knew that Ti and Maggie were dating which most thought was a good thing. Harry and the others also noted that the new couple's happiness seemed to give them more power in their spells during the duel practice that evening.
As the days passed, Ti and Maggie spent most of their spare time together, often disappearing for hours, much to Neville's distress. When he would complain about it to Rose, she'd just roll her eyes then proceed to distract her boyfriend from thinking of what his sister was doing with Ti by doing it to him which would distress Harry who would then be distracted by Ginny. Of course that would set off Ron who would then be distracted by Hermione. From all the snogging going on, it was later considered one of the best times of their lives by the four couples.
The next weekend was the last Quidditch game of the season where Slytherin faced Ravenclaw. It turned out to be a close match with both sides scoring many goals. However, because of Draco being in the Ministry's custody, the Slytherin seeker was new and completely outclassed by Cho Chang who managed to catch the Snitch, giving Ravenclaw the victory. In spite of the latter's victory, Gryffindor won the House Cup due to their greater overall standing in points earned. This led to another great party in the Tower. James and Sirius threw their own party for the team at Potter Manor the next day. It was a satisfying end to the season and Harry was proud to have captained the Lions to another Cup.
However, as much as they wanted it to, the carefree times could not continue uninterrupted. They still needed to beat Voldemort. Hermione and Rose had continued researching about the five rituals Voldemort had used to gain power and escape Death. Through their and Lily's research, they had managed to find information on the five rituals Voldemort had undergone to hold Death at bay, including the names of these rituals.
The first ritual which they had seen in the memories Harry had taken from Voldemort was the Cu Culain ritual from pre-Roman times, said to have been first performed by a great Celtic hero to protect him from physical weapons and spells. On the other hand, Pythagoras ritual he did in Greece and the Chin Di ritual from China would grant him more magical power. But while the Celtic ritual called for the sacrifice of animals, the last two called for human sacrifices as they had seen in the pensieve.
Even more sinister was the Evita Moerte ritual from Romania. Some said that this was the first stage used long ago to create the first vampire. The ritual consisted of eating the liver and heart and drinking the blood of an adult male and slowed the perpetrator's aging process to a factor of one-tenth the normal rate.
The most gruesome was the Mayan ritual Voldemort had uncovered in Central America which involved the sacrifice of three babies and eating parts of their bodies which would tether the soul to the world even if the body dies. Professor Dumbledore was sure that this was the reason Voldemort had survived the night he had tried to kill the fifteen-month old Harry.
All this information was of great interest but the two girls felt it was more important to continue the search for a way to overcome the protections from death Voldemort had gained from all these rituals. With Lily back working in the Ministry, she didn't have as much time researching the rituals as she had previously.
On the last day (and Sunday) of May, Hermione and Rose were browsing among the books in the library of Potter Manor while the others were in the Dueling room. Hermione was searching through the higher shelves when she saw a book written in Nordic runes. Curious, she picked it up. Translating the title, she found that it was entitled "Rituals of evil and magical nature from around the world" and was published in 1731 which puzzled her even more. Translating some of the runes she recognized, Hermione saw the names of a couple of the rituals Voldemort had used during her brief browse.
"Rose, I think I may have something here," she said as she climbed down the wooden stairs she had been using to check the higher books.
"What is it, Hermione?" Rose asked.
"Here, take at look at this book," Hermione said. She and Rose met up at one of the tables on the library floor. Rose leafed at the book and turned back to Hermione with an excited look on her face.
"I think you're right," Rose said. "This might be of great use to us."
The two girls sat down to translate the book side by side. They found several passages that talked about the Cu Culain, Chin Di and Evita Moerte rituals. They were so engrossed in their work that they didn't know someone else was in the library until a hand came down on Hermione's shoulder.
Reacting quickly, Hermione grabbed the hand as she jumped out of the chair and twisted the hand behind the unknown person's back.
"Ow, ow, Hermione," the tall redhead being assaulted by Hermione said frantically, "let me go!"
"Ron?" Hermione said, quickly letting go of her boyfriend's arm. "You should know better than to surprise me while I'm reading."
Ron looked at her with a pained expression as he flexed his arm. "Yeah, well, I didn't think you'd try to break my arm." He glared at Rose who was trying her best not to laugh.
"Sorry, but you do realize that startling me nowadays will get you into big trouble," she said. "After all, that's one reason why we've been training in the Muggle martial arts these last three years."
"All right," Ron said, "I'm sorry for startling you but I was just wondering whether you girls wanted to have some lunch. It's nearly one."
Hermione looked at him in surprise. "It's that late?"
"Apparently," Rose said, "we found this book so interesting, we forgot the time."
"In Hermione's case, I'm not surprised," Ron said. "But, you Rose? I never thought you'd be like that. Maybe I should warn Neville not to let you have too many books when you're married. You may never have children if he did."
"Oh shut it, Ronald," Hermione said. "I don't like what you're insinuating with that comment. If you don't change your attitude with books and learning, I might just decide we should be celibate for the next twenty years." She turned away from Ron who was now gaping like a fish to Rose who was blushing furiously, causing Hermione to smile at her. "I'm sorry if that was a bit more information than you would have wanted to hear about our relationship but he deserved it. I guess we should bring the book to the dining room. Maybe your mum can help us translate the rest of it."
The three teens headed down to the dining room where Harry, Ginny, Neville, Ti and Maggie were already seated with Andrew, Daisy, Daniel and the Granger and Potter parents.
As soon as she sat down, Hermione looked to Lily. "Mrs. Potter, Rose and I found a book that seems to mention some of the rituals Voldemort used to give him protection from death like Cu Culain, Evita Moerte and Chin Di rituals. Among the information it had were mentions of rituals or spells that may overcome the protections created by those rituals. It may hold more information on the other rituals."
"That's great," Lily said, "Where did you find it? I thought I scoured through the whole library here."
"I found it at one of the top shelves," Hermione said. "It was quite dusty. What's strange about it is that it's written in Celtic Runes yet it was published in the early 18th century. We'd like some help in translating it."
"Of course, I'll help," Lily said. "Let's go over it after lunch."
"Thanks, Mrs. Potter," Hermione said.
"Yeah, Mum, thanks," Rose said.
The lunch that followed was filled with conversation among the different diners, mostly about mundane and ordinary topics. After eating, while the others headed for some relaxation time, Hermione and Rose went back to the library with Lily to work on translating the book.
Several hours later, they had managed to translate most of the book into English. This provided them with quite a pile of information. Lily took their findings to Dumbledore who was duly impressed.
Two nights later, Dumbledore called a special meeting in the Headmaster's office. Aside from Lily, Rose and Hermione, also present were the rest of the New Marauders, McGonagall, Snape, James, Molly, Arthur, Sirius, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Remus and Tonks.
"All right, everyone please take a seat," Dumbledore said. Once everyone was seated, he said, "I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that the matters we will discuss this evening are of the utmost importance and should not be discussed with anyone outside this group and always in a secure area."
"Why are the children here, Albus?" Molly asked. "What could they possibly have to do with what we will talk about?"
Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid that this concerns the two Prophecies made about Harry and his friends. The information Lily, Rose and Hermione have uncovered could make it possible for their fulfillment in a positive manner for us."
"What exactly is this information about then?" Frank asked.
"Before Lily tells us what they found, I have to explain something that most of you don't know," Dumbledore said. "Until a few months ago, no one knows how Voldemort survived that Hallow's Eve night he tried to kill Harry fifteen years ago. There has been a lot of speculation but no hard facts. After all, even a reflected Killing Curse will kill its target. Harry's own survival is linked to the strength of Lily's love and willingness to sacrifice herself for her son. Voldemort didn't have anything like that since he rejects love as a silly and wasteful emotion. However, we now know that he used several rituals, most of them vile and evil, to gain protection from death. These were the reasons for his survival and eventual return."
"That's terrible," Molly said. "How will they be able to beat him then?"
"That's what we've been trying to find out for the last four months, Molly," Lily said. "Ever since we first found out about these rituals, we've been looking for any scrap of information about them. Yesterday, Hermione stumbled about a rare book that gave us a lot of information about all the rituals Voldemort used."
"The most important aspects of the information they uncovered are possible methods to whatever benefits Voldemort gained from those rituals," Dumbledore said.
"That's fantastic," Harry said. "What do we have to do?"
"Before going to that, we have to let the others know about the rituals themselves," Dumbledore said. "Lily, if you would please."
Lily took a deep breath and spent the next twenty minutes giving them information about the five rituals used by Voldemort. Most of them turned pale as they learned about the acts that Voldemort did in the course of doing each ritual. Only Snape remained composed except for a hardening around his eyes.
"Oh, those poor people," Molly said after Lily finished telling them about the rituals. "How could he be so cruel especially to the babies?"
"I'm afraid the Dark Lord would have felt nothing for his victims, Molly," Severus said. "All he has cared ever cared about is what he could get out of anyone he interacts with. Even the Death Eaters are mere servants to him, to be used as he sees fit, with little regard for their welfare."
After Snape's honest assessment of Voldemort, a silence descended on the group for a few minutes before Dumbledore cleared his throat and asked Lily to explain the methods they had uncovered to undo the effects of the rituals. Lily deferred to Hermione and Rose, proclaiming that they were the ones who had found the source of their information and deserved the right to explain their findings.
Hermione and Rose stood up; both blushing from the praise Lily had given them.
"First of all," Hermione began, "I'd like to talk about the book we found. It seems the book was in Nordic Runes yet it was supposedly written in 1731, which struck me as strange. It turns out that the author, an Italian named Angelo Marchietti, was a wizard who became interested in magical rituals. He had inherited a small fortune from his parents and used it to scour the world for any kind of magical rituals, especially those from lost or dying civilizations. The ones he writes about in the book are only some of the ones he found. However, these are among the most evil he found and could be used to cause great harm to others or give great power to an amoral person."
"Like Voldemort?" Maggie asked.
"Exactly," Rose said. "The things most of the rituals require a person to do are so horrific and terrible that only a person of low or absent morals would think to do them."
"So why did he write them down?" Harry asked. "You'd think that anyone with any shred of decency would prefer the knowledge of such rituals to be lost forever."
"Well, I think he'd agree with you," Hermione said. "However, he also found suggestions or clues on how to reverse or remove the effects of these rituals. He may have thought that one day someone would need that knowledge. I think he wrote them in runes so that few people could read about the actual rituals and thus learn how to perform them."
"An astute assessment, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. "It is fortunate for us that he did write them down. Please continue."
"Signore Marchietti must have thought someone would need to counteract or reverse the rituals' effects because he had a lot of information on the effects down to the minutest details," Hermione said. "He also made a very important speculation: that the effect of these rituals came from negative emotions like anger and hate."
"Well, he may be right," Lily said. "The rituals mostly call for some form of human sacrifice, practically an act of murder which is usually committed due to anger or hate."
"So, to perform the rituals properly, Voldemort needed to be angry or hate the person he was using?" Ginny asked.
"Not necessarily," Dumbledore said. "I believe it is not anger or hate that fueled Voldemort but fear, fear of Death. He is afraid of dying. Why else would he seek a way to be immortal? Severus?"
Snape looked to Dumbledore for a moment before answering. "The Headmaster is correct in his assessment. The Dark Lord has many reasons for undergoing the rituals he has but the main reason would be to avoid death. He believes that Death is worse thing possible to happen to a person. As such, he fears it and does not want to die."
"So how does that help us?" Sirius asked.
"Well, Signore Marchietti believed that positive emotions can be used to counter the rituals and their effects," Hermione said.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked. "You want us to go before Voldemort and laugh at him? Will that make him vulnerable to a Killing curse again?"
"No, Ronald," Hermione said, scowling at Ron. "There is one powerful positive emotion that can be used."
"Love," Ginny said.
"Yes, Ginny," Dumbledore said. "As I told Harry at the end of his first year, Love is the most powerful emotion in the world, something Tom doesn't understand. It saved Harry from the Killing curse that Hallow's eve and helped him escape Quirinius during their struggle for the Sorcerer's Stone. It appears it will again help us overcome the Dark Lord."
"Not to be a killjoy or anything like that, Professor," Neville said, "But how is it going to do that?"
"That's where we're stuck," Rose said. "All Marchietti gave were speculations and theories. He did say that the Mayan ritual could be reversed by a spell powered by love. How it can do that, I don't know."
"Well, if there are rituals like this, are there any rituals that require love?" Harry asked. "They might be able to counteract Voldemort's rituals."
"That's an excellent suggestion, Harry," Dumbledore said. "We've been so focused on these rituals that we didn't consider looking for rituals with opposite effects. We'll have to refocus our research on those. I believe that Ancient Magic used spells that are powered by love."
"They are," Lily answered, causing everyone to turn in surprise to her.
"How do you know this, Lily?" Dumbledore asked.
"I guess it's time I was honest with you, Headmaster," Lily said. "You see, after you told James and me about the Prophecy and advised us to go into hiding; I decided to look for any spells of protection I could use to guard Harry. As an Unspeakable, I had access to resources no one else in the Order had. I delved deep into the books kept by the Unspeakables, searching for a way. I finally came upon one about protection spells and rituals from some of the ancient civilizations. Most of them were powered by love. I performed a powerful ritual on Harry that would protect him against strong Dark magic using my blood and my love for him to power it. I hoped it would help protect him against the Killing curse. I guess I was right since Harry survived that night Voldemort attacked him."
"I see," Dumbledore said. "Well, that does give a final explanation for Harry's survival that night. It also proves what I said about Love. With your love powering the ritual, it did keep Harry alive. I do wonder if the protection is still there."
"I doubt it, Albus," Lily said. "The book I got it from said that the protection would last for about five to ten years. It's been fifteen years. I don't advise trying to test it."
"I agree," Dumbledore said. "Do you think that book can be of help against the rituals Voldemort used?"
"It's worth a try," Lily said. "It won't be easy. I'll have to do it covertly. I don't know who among the other Unspeakables are trustworthy, especially the head of the Department."
"Yes, Thomas Crowley," James said grimly. "He was a Slytherin who was a friend of Augustus Rookwood."
"Damn," Sirius said abruptly then flinched as his wife slapped the back of his head for his outburst. "Whoops, sorry about that. It's just that Rookwood was a blow to the Ministry."
"Why's that, Sirius?" Harry asked. "Who's Augustus Rookwood?"
James sighed. "He was an Unspeakable who was a Death Eater. Unfortunately, no one knew until Ivan Dolohov ratted him out during the trials after Voldemort was defeated. When we captured Rookwood and interrogated him, we found out that he had managed to turn over a lot of secrets of the department and Ministry to Voldemort."
"So, this Crowley could be doing the same thing?" Harry asked. "How do you know he isn't a Death Eater yet?"
"Well, after I became Minister for Magic, Albus and I cast a complicated spell on the door after the security desk," James said. "Anyone with the Dark Mark on him would set off an alarm and cause a few spells to shoot out at him from the walls, including stunners and an Incarceration spell. So far, no one has tripped it, not even Crowley."
"What if he's a Death Eater and doesn't have the Mark?" Harry asked.
"I doubt Tom would allow that, Harry," Dumbledore said. "He likes controlling people. Any follower would have to have the Dark Mark branded on them. "
"It's unfortunate that due to the present Ministry laws about the autonomy of the Department of Mysteries, I can't get rid of Crowley without the approval of the whole Wizengamot," James said. "You'll just have to be careful, love, when you do your research. You can't tell anyone else about it."
"I agree with James," Dumbledore said. "The less people know what you are researching, the better."
"All right," Lily said. "I'll see what I can find."
"In the meantime," Dumbledore continued, "We should look into the information Hermione and Rose uncovered. In the very least, they may allow us to reduce Voldemort's power. Now, I think it's time we adjourned. After all, these young people need their sleep to be ready for school tomorrow and our two lovely redheads do have O.W.L.s coming up."
Everyone else chuckled at the loud groans that came from Rose and Ginny about their upcoming exams. All the people in the room then said their goodbyes to each other. Molly and Arthur spent a few extra minutes wishing Ginny luck with her O.W.L.s.
*******
Later, when they arrived at Potter Manor, James turned to Lily.
"Lils, why didn't you tell me you cast a ritual on our son?" James asked, looking a bit angry and anxious.
"James, I'm sorry. First of all, it's part of the Unspeakable's store of knowledge. You know it's not allowed for an Unspeakable to talk about our work and what we know even to our loved ones. Plus, I just didn't know if it would work. I know how worried you were then about our safety and especially Harry's. I didn't want to get your hopes up. I know how overconfident you can get. Then, after that night, in all the excitement and joy at having us all survive that night, I just forgot about it. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret then not telling you afterwards."
James sighed then took her in his arms. "I understand. I'm just a little hurt that your work was so secretive then. I forgive you." Then he smirked. "Of course, now that I'm the Minister for Magic, you can't keep any secrets from me, especially of this nature." He then frowned. "I wish I could get rid of Crowley. It would make your work easier but as the most senior of the Unspeakables as well as the Department Head, he knows too much. At least we can keep an eye on him as long as he's working for the Ministry."
They went to bed after that. The next day, Lily began covertly searching for the books she had first studied fifteen years before. It took her a few days to find the three tomes and bring them to her office. Unfortunately, as she was reading one of them, she heard a knock on the door. She quickly put the books in the drawer of her desk, cast a Disillusionment Charm on them and closed the drawer.
"Come in," she said. To her surprise, it was Crowley.
"Ah, Lily," he said, "I noticed your light was still on. Isn't it getting late? You do have two young children at home. With your older ones at Hogwarts and James busy being Minister, I would have thought you couldn't wait to get home to be with them."
Lily put on her brightest smile to hide her nervousness as she wondered why Crowley was also still at the Department. "Oh, Thomas, I just didn't realize the time. I was just so caught up in my work."
"Oh, I have always loved the enthusiasm you have for your work," he said. "I do wonder what you're working on this time."
"Oh, I was working on a new formula for the Wolfbane Potion," Lily said. "With the danger of all the werewolves joining with You-Know-Who, I thought that a cheaper and more powerful potion might help turn a few more away from him."
Crowley looked at her suspiciously for a moment before smiling. "That's a good idea. But I think you can put it off until tomorrow. Go home to those lovable twins of yours."
"All right," Lily said. "I'll just clean up here before going home."
She waited for Crowley to leave before opening her desk and removing the Disillusionment charm on the books she had borrowed. Well, now she was stealing them for a while. She'd never taken anything from the Ministry before but this was an emergency. She knew Crowley didn't really believe her. She didn't' doubt that he would wait for her to leave then search her office for whatever she had been working on. He would be able to break through whatever security spells she'd cast on her office and things.
She opened her handbag which was the size of a medium sized book. A permanent enlargement charm allowed it to hold a lot more than it looked like it could. She quickly slipped them inside the bag and sealed it with a special sealing charm she had developed herself which only worked on bags. Putting a few security spells on her desk and office just for show, she quickly left her office, headed for the lift. Once in the lift, she allowed it to take her to the Atrium at level eight and flooed home.
James was already home when she arrived. She told him about Crowley's visit to her office. Her husband wasn't happy and warned her to be careful. She promised she would be.
Later that evening, after they had eaten dinner and spent some time with Daisy and Andrew, Lily brought the books out of her bag and started reading them. It took her most of the weekend to go through all of them. What she found wasn't very encouraging.
The following Wednesday night, she and James met with Dumbledore again in his office.
"I'm sorry, Albus," Lily said. "In spite of their very informative nature, there isn't much in the books to help us. There's nothing in them to suggest that any of the rituals or spells in the books will help overcome Voldemort's powers or his protection against Death. I had to return them yesterday to their storage room before anyone noticed that they were missing."
"I was afraid of that," Dumbledore said. "The information you, Hermione and Rose found in the book from Potter Manor will not help us sever the connection of his soul to this world that the Mayan ritual gave him. There may be one option left. I doubt you or James will like it."
"What is it, Albus?" James asked.
"Lily, there is one thing in the Department of Mysteries that may help us now," Dumbledore said. "You know of the locked room in the Department."
Lily gasped. "Of course, I know of it. Do you think we can get it to open for us?
"Yes, I believe so," Dumbledore said. "However, it is Harry who must go inside that room."
"No!" Lily said. "Not Harry, Albus. He has not had the training I've had. How will it affect him?"
"Will you two please tell me what you're talking about?" James asked, with confusion evident on his face.
Lily sighed. "There is one door in the Department of Mysteries that has remained locked since the Ministry building was built. Behind it is one of the most mysterious powers in the world." Taking his hand, she continued, "It is the thing and emotion that binds us together."
"L-Love?" James asked. "How is that possible? How can you have it in one room?"
"No one really knows aside from the original builders of the building and they've been dead for a long time now," Lily said. "All that is known is that some form or representation of Love is behind the door where it was placed to be available for study but no one has been able to open it for a very long time. No spell or magical device has ever succeeded in opening the door."
"Then how can Harry open the door?" James asked.
"I just have a feeling he will be able to," Dumbledore said. "However, it will have to wait for the summer. After all, he still has his end of the year exams to finish."
"At least they're not his O.W.L.s anymore or N.E.W.T.s yet," James muttered. "Otherwise, he'd be going barmy. I know we were when it was our time."
