A/N – I am aware the pacing is somewhat slow and that things have been largely expositionary up to now. Things will start picking up, I promise. The scene setting is taking a bit longer than I thought, but I hope it will be worth it when the action starts! As always, the characters in this fanfic are created by, and property of the respective authors (JK Rowling and Ben Aaranovitch). I'm just borrowing them to do my thing and change some stuff up! The Toyshop, Lefferis and McRae were all real in the muggle world, back in the days of WWII. It was a weapons research and development project. Look it up sometime, it's actually very interesting stuff.

Chapter 9 – Gates of Tomorrow

It had been a hard couple of days for Harry back at Hogwarts. Isolating himself from his friends, from her had been breaking his heart, but he knew it had to be done. He was going down a path that he had to walk alone. Thanks to his Marauder's Map and Dobby, he had been able to avoid everyone. He had taken up temporary residence in the Room of Requirement, using that as a base to start collecting the bits and pieces he would need for his upcoming quest.

He also knew that he had to schedule another meeting with Amelia Bones and was hoping that he would be able to speak to one of the unspeakables, the inadvertent pun notwithstanding. He had to pick up one of the enchanted mirrors, along with the other artefacts left by Dumbledore.

The late headmaster's office was the only other place Harry spent any time whilst he was in the castle. Now occupied by McGonagall, she had stripped most of the trinkets and devices out, placing them in the part of her predecessor's private chambers which were still accessible, at least until she activated the final seal which would see them disappear into the castle itself. It was one of the many pieces of incredible magic that the castle was capable of. When a headmaster died his chambers, other than a designated public area were automatically sealed. Headmasters (and headmistresses) or Hogwarts generally had many secrets to keep, secrets which were always taken to the grave with them. Anything from outside the chambers which was to be sealed was left in the public area and the sitting head then finalised the seal of the chambers. They would then disappear.

Albus had left many books and rolls of parchment in a mini-library which formed part of his office with instructions that they were not to be sealed. Harry was spending time going through these to see if there was anything which could help him, only to be met with a growing frustration. It seemed that Dumbledore had left his Voldemort/Riddle notes in his chambers.

After a frustrating couple of hours he made his way back to the Room of Requirements, taking care to not be seen. Calling on Dobby for something to eat, he sat in the comfortable chair the room had provided and thought. It came to him that he hadn't gone through the package Dumbledore had left for him with Madam Rosemerta. He retrieved it and opened it.

Inside were some vials which obviously contained memories which could be viewed in the pensieve Dumbledore had bequeathed. There were notebooks and parchments also, along with an item which looked like a large brooch, but with no way of fastening it. It was metal, in the shape of an equilateral triangle, bisected by a single line, with a circle also constrained within it. It was clearly a magical object, although Harry had no idea what it was for, and hoped that amongst the parchments and notebooks was something which would explain it. Time however, wasn't on his side. A quick scan through some of the documents found copies of stuff he'd already seen or discussed with Dumbledore, so he bundled everything back together and put it in the enchanted satchel which already contained the tent.

It was time.

"Dobby!". As soon as Harry had summoned the loyal little house elf, he appeared.

"Harry Potter sir, how can Dobby help?"

Harry reached into the satchel and pulled out a small package. "I want you to get this to Hermione, but make sure she's alone." Harry had a thought. "Actually, can you leave it on her bed. I will charm it so only she can see it, just in case there's anyone being nosey." With a swish of his wand, he cast a disillusionment charm on the package so that only Hermione could see it. The charm would fail as soon as the parcel was opened, but that was fine. "Make sure that no one else sees you leave it. Oh, and wait until tomorrow before you do."

"Dobby can do this Harry Potter sir. Is Harry Potter sir leaving the castle to go home?" Dobby's ears drooped at the thought of Harry leaving.

"I'm leaving the castle Dobby, but I'm not going home. I have things I need to do."

"Dobby wants to help Harry Potter sir. Harry Potter has been a friend to Dobby, even when Dobby didn't deserve it."

Harry smiled and knelt down to be on the same level as the now despondent house elf. "Dobby, you have always deserved friendship. You are a fantastic elf and someone I'm proud to call a friend."

By now there were fat tears running down the little creatures face. "Harry Potter is Dobby's friend" he gasped out and launched himself into Harry who returned the hug. A shimmer of magic came from the emotional elf.

"Dobby, what was that?" asked Harry.

Dobby wouldn't look at Harry directly. His eyes firmly on the floor he whispered "Dobby was so happy to be Harry Potter's friend his magic reached out and.."

"And what, Dobby? I'm not going to be angry with you, I just want to know what happened."

"House elves are bonded to their masters as servants. They don't have a choice. Dobby wanted to have a bond with Harry Potter sir, but a bond made of friendship. Dobby is sorry Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby should have stopped, but Dobby was…"

Harry stopped the little elf. "Dobby, I would never be upset to have a bond of friendship with you. But I'm not going to be your master, you are still a free elf."

"Master Harry Potter sir, the only bonds house elfs know is the bond with their master. It doesn't matter what caused the bond, even if it was friends, the bond recognises Master Harry Potter sir as Dobby's master and friend. Dobby will punish himself."

"No. You won't. If you are my friend, Dobby and we are bonded in any way, you will never punish yourself. I don't want any of my friends to be punished. I never want to see a friend hurt. That's why I'm leaving, and it's why I'm going alone."

It took a few minutes to calm Dobby down to the point where Harry could ask questions. It turned out that Harry could now call on Dobby from pretty much anywhere, although he would stay at the castle for the time being. At least, thought Harry, it might be useful to be able to call on Dobby when I'm traipsing through the contry.

Harry told Dobby to continue working at Hogwarts like nothing had changed, and that he would call for him if he needed anything. The house elf did pop back with some bags for Harry, explaining that they each were charmed to be bags which would keep food fresh, and that between them there would be enough food to keep Harry going for several weeks. Harry was delighted, it was something he had been worried about, but that problem was solved.

After Dobby popped away again, he took out his parchment and went through his list. The tent, clothes, Dumbledore's package, provisions, Hermione's parcel. All he had to do now was arrange a meeting with Amelia Bones. Taking out his invisibility cloak, he threw the satchel over his shoulder and made his way to the owlery. He picked a plain looking owl and slipped a message with the instruction to give it to the head of the DMLE. He was sure that Madam Bones would not be long with a reply, and the owls couldn't get to the room of requirement, so he decided to wander out to the Black Lake, knowing that even under his cloak, an owl would be able to get to him. Maybe not exactly to him, but it would know the area.

As he suspected, it only took a couple of hours for the owl to return with a message and another Avalon portkey. Harry took the portkey and with a tap and the password, felt the usual tug at his navel.

He arrived in the same room as he did the last time he was summoned to the Ministry. This time, there was no secretary and the door was open. He knocked.

"Ah, Mr Potter" the head of the DMLE looked up. "Please come in." Harry entered the room and took the seat indicated. "I presume you are getting ready to start your little adventure?"

"Yes, I've got a tent, some food, some stuff to read over and the beginnings of a plan. I could really use the pensieve that the Headmaster left me if nothing else."

"The Minister is having the formal reading of the will later this morning, after that I'll be able to get your items. In the interim, I'd like you to visit a couple of people, Jefferis and McRae. Don't ask them for any names other than that, they won't tell you anyway."

"Are they unspeakables?"

"Yes, they work for MIR, the Magic Intelligence Research division, we call it the Toyshop. It was the Toyshop who developed the Avalon portkeys which brought you here, they came up with Peruvian Darkness Powder, despite the name, the Limpet Spell, a time-delayed spell which will stick to something and then go off at a later time, the Time Pencil which I don't even understand myself." She stopped and took a drink.

"They will go into it more, but they have some other things which might help, like the POTR, or Potter as they've called it." Harry groaned, but Bones continued. "It stands for Projected Offense, Timed Release. Basically it's a small hollow tube, a bit like a wand, but with a spell already loaded, so all you have to do is push some magic into it and the spell will shoot out of the tube in the storage crystal. The more magic you put into it, the further it will go, but the longer it will take to go off. Very interesting results when you have one with a pre-loaded bombarda, or a fire charm. The crystals are charmed to be able to fly a long distance, certainly much longer than you could cast with a wand. But the two of them will speak more."

Harry was excited despite himself. "I'm looking forward to it. I also have a favour to ask." Bones nodded at him to continue. "I'd like to take my apparition exam. If I'm going to be going around the country, it would be better to apparate than have to take a broom everywhere. Plus it's going to be easier to hide my travels."

Amelia looked at him. "It would make sense. Have you had lessons?"

Harry had the sense to look embarrassed. "Well, not quite, although Dumbledore took me through the basics." He neglected to mention that he had side-alonged the late headmaster on their way back from a horcrux hunt.

"I presume that Dumbledore had you having some practical experience as well as the theory?" Bones had a knowing smirk on her face. Harry didn't look directly at the head of the DMLE - the implication was clear, I refuse to comment on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.

"Ok, what are the three Ds?"

"Destination, determination, deliberation."

Bones nodded. "How far can you apparate?"

"That depends on the power of the person apparating. The more powerful you are, the further you can safely apparate." Harry was thankful that not only had he been given the basics by Dumbledore, he had also sat with Hermione as she studied for her apparition lessons.

Bones nodded again. "What are the main issues with apparition for the average person?"

Harry thought. "Well, splinching is the obvious. If you lose focus you could splinch yourself. There's also the problem of apparition drift. If further you apparate the more issues you could encounter. Oh, and apparition nausea." Harry gave another silent thank you to his bushy haired friend.

Bones, for her part, was impressed. "Ok, let me make a floo call and we can see if we can get you licenced before you leave here today." As soon as she finished speaking, her floo flared into life and an unknown face appeared. "Ah, Jefferis, are you ready for Mr Potter?"

"I am" said the disembodied head, "I've been looking forward to meeting him!"

"Ok Harry, step into the floo and Jefferis will pull you though. Obviously we can't let you know where you are going."

Harry nodded and stepped in. At least with someone on the other side he might be able to exit with some dignity for once!

- oOoOoOo - Jump in the Fire - oOoOoOo -

It was a forlorn hope that he could exit a floo, even a guided one without winding up on his arse Harry thought as he tumbled out into the arms of Jefferis who sniggered.

"Given your reputation Mr Potter, and your quidditch skills, I was expecting more of a graceful exit!"

"Everyone has their Achilles heel, Mr Jefferis. Floo travel has always been mine. Now, how can I help the unspeakables?"

"Straight to the point Mr Potter, I like that. And from what I've spoke about with Madam Bones its more about how we can help you." The large wizard beckoned Harry to follow him. "I know you are a child of prophecy, although the actual prophecy is being kept secret, and I understand that. I also know you are going to be hunting the darkest of artefacts. Again I don't know the details, and I don't need to. My first question however, if and when you find any of these dark objects, how do you propose to destroy them?"

"I hadn't thought about that" Harry admitted. "The last time I found one I managed to stab it with a basilisk fang, that saw to that". Jefferis looked stunned. "I hadn't thought about how else they could be destroyed. I suppose I could go and get another basalisk fang, that should work. There's also the Sword of Gryffindor, I used that to kill the basilisk, although I don't know what happened to hit afterwards. Dumbledore took it."

"Madam Bones was right, Mr Potter, you are full of surprises. Ever thought about coming to work in the Department after you are finished with Hogwarts and with your quest?"

"I've not even thought beyond tomorrow, Master Jerreris, let alone what I'm going to do in the future." Harry ran his fingers through his messy hair. "That's one of the things I need to figure out actually."

"That's one of the reasons you are speaking to me. We have a lot of experience with this sort of things, and we have a few tools which we can let you borrow which might help."

At that Jefferis motioned for Harry to follow him into another room. He pulled out a couple of devices. One looked like an astrolabe, the other was a device made up of 6 small cylinders, joined together. Jefferis held up the astrolabe device. "This is a Multa Locus device, which I propose you mostly use as a dark magic detector. It will help in the location of dark artefacts. I'll have to set it up for the level of darkness you are going to be looking for. It's range is sadly limited, but in a room, for example, it will help you detect anything dark. It won't pinpoint it, but will give you an idea of where it is, and how dark it is. It's capable of many other things too, it can help you triangulate the optimum position for runes when you are setting ward stones, for example, which might be useful actually." The unspeakable stopped talking to think things over. "Yes, I'll show you how to use the dark function and the rune plotter, you shouldn't need anything else."

"Why do I think I know what the other device is… It's a POTR, isn't it?"

Jeffris smiled broadly. "Yes! Developed with someone like you in mind! 6 tubes, 6 spells. You can have 6 of the same, or a mixture. We have found it's best to have two or three POTRs, each with their own sets of spells. If you have a mixed one, you need to remember which spell is in which tube. You don't want to try and send a bombarda and accidentally send a long distance tarantallegra!"

Jefferis showed Harry how to use both devices and the younger wizard took the chance to ask the unspeakable about the best ways to ward his wizarding tent. The older man looked out a set of ward stones which included notice-me-not and muggle repelling charms, along with a warning if someone apparated near the tent. He also explained that because of the amount of magic used in wizarding tents, there was no way to ward them to the same level that you could a house - the magic in the tent would interfere.

Harry reached into his satchel and pulled out the strange device Dumbledore had left in the package. "That's interesting" said Jefferis. "The symbol of the Dealthly Hallows. Do you know the story?" Harry shook his head. "It's now a fairy-tale, but it's believed to be rooted in historical reality. There are three hallows, the original invisibility cloak, a stone which can summon the dead and the Elder wand. The cloak was meant to hide the wearer from death, the stone was meant to make the holder immune from death and the wand was meant to be able to beat death. The holder of the wand would be the most powerful wizard or witch in the land. It was said to be made of wood from the only branch ever freely given by the Hyldemoer, the Elder Mother, the first magical Elder tree. It's said to be about 15" and smooth, apart from two almost spherical knots which make up the top and bottom of the handle."

Harry couldn't help but think there was something familiar about that description, but his mind was too full of everything else to be able to focus on it. The two wizards started to discuss horcruxes. Jefferis admitted that the Unspeakables, at the behest of Madam Bones had been putting some thought into where they might be hidden. "The best we can come up with supports what you have told me. They will be in secure locations, there's a chance that they will have a connection to Voldemort, but you also have to remember that not only is Voldemort one of the darkest wizards since Mordred, he's one of the smartest and most devious. Expect him to do the unexpected. Your best hope is your brain too, try and think outside the box."

"Dumbledore had ideas, as I told Madam Bones and the Minister, I am going to have to go over the notes I have and come up with a plan. I have some ideas already, I know when I'm going to start. I also have memory vials, and I believe I have a pensieve coming my way, although I'm not sure if it will be able to be shrunk enough to get into my satchel."

Jefferis confirmed that there should be no issues in shrinking the pensieve, along with the other magical devices he was left by the late headmaster. "We need to go back to the methods of destruction. I'd recommend destroying them at the earliest opportunity, you don't want to be around magic that dark for any longer than you need to be. If the basilisk fang destroyed one, there's no reason to believe it wouldn't destroy another. From the little research we have been able to do on these abominations, they will be hard to destroy just with magic, nothing short of the killing curse would have an effect, and even then we aren't sure if the AK will work. Fiendfyre might work, but you then have the problem of controlling the fyre. If you can work that out, you'll definitely have a job here if you want one!"

Harry was already thinking. "I don't imagine the horcruxes will be very large, supposing I did have to use fiendfyre, could it be controlled with specific wards? Or if not controlled, at least contained?"

The unspeakable looked thoughtful. "Containment rather than control might work. Set any object in the middle of a ward then... " he paused. "If the wards were strong enough to contain the fiendfyre, how would you get the fyre past the wards in the first place?"

Harry pointed at the POTR. "Modify one of them. Have a single tube, with the fiendfyre curse stored in the… the whatever you use, give it a flat base and maybe a flare at the top so any artefact can be placed on top. Set that in the middle of the runes before the wards are activated, push some magic into it as the wards go up, then run away just in case!"

"You know that's either brilliant or insane. I'll need to speak to McRae to brainstorm. That will take a few days. Will you be contactable?"

"Madam Bones will have the means to contact me, I'd be grateful if you would look into that. As it is, I'm going to have to head back to Hogwarts, something I wasn't planning on to retrieve the other fang from the basilisk." Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "What would be the safest thing to store a basilisk fang in?"

"Something fucking strong! Sorry. What size is the fang?" Harry gestured with his hands held about 18" apart. "I'll see what we have. I think a dragon skin pouch, with maybe chimaera skin lining and covering of arcomantula silk. I'm sure we have some skins lying around, if not, I'll have a chat with a colleague in magical creatures, they always have skins and silks."

Harry nodded his thanks. The two spoke for a while longer before the floo activated and the head of Amelia Bones appeared. "Mr Potter, if you are done with my colleagues, I've arranged for your apparition test." Jefferis indicated that they were finished for the time being and that he would be in touch. Harry stepped into the floo and was pulled through by Amelia, once again exiting with a stumble into his backside.

Bones smiled at his efforts and introduced Wilkie Twycross, the Ministry's apparition examiner. 20 minutes later, Harry found himself suitably licensed for standard apparition. After Twycross left, Amelia and Harry walked along the corridor to the Minister's office. The door opened, as if by magic, and the two walked in. Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting in his office with a box on his desk. "Harry" he welcomed and indicated for the two to sit. "We got Dumbledore's will read this morning. The statute of estate says that those named have to receive their bequests in person, so I can't give you Miss Granger's items, but I can hand over yours." He indicated the box. Everything is in there. I can't offer much in the way of information beyond what we spoke about previously, except to say that there's also a quidditch snitch in there. It's been deactivated, so it's not going to fly away, it was apparently a late addition to the will. The box is now enchanted so that only you can take anything out of it. I presume you still plan to leave one of the mirrors with Amelia?" Harry nodded his assent. "If you take that out, I'm sure she will show you how to modify the enchantments so you can tie it to her. All enchanted mirrors work the same way. The original enchantment is very complicated, changing the named people, not so much."

Harry didn't want to say that he was already aware of how to change the tie on a mirror, just in case he hadn't done it correctly using the notes he had found in Grimmauld Place. He was also glad that he had told Dobby to delay in giving the package to Hermione, just in case. He reached into the box and pulled out the enchanted mirrors. Ameila Bones showed him how to change the enchantment to react to her name, fortunately, it was the same method Harry had used to change Sirius' name to Hermione's.

Harry mentioned that Jefferis would be looking to speak to him in a few days and would contact Amelia when the time came, and after that, there being not much else to discuss, Harry left. For the first time he would be able to legally apparate to Hogsmeade. He left the ministry and as soon as he was clear of the wards, focussed on a known apparition point near the Three Broomsticks and with a telltale 'pop' vanished.