On Thursday, Alduin made a trip to the Department of Mysteries to destroy another Horcrux, along with his other Transcendental friends. It was Muhammad's turn, this time, to stick the ring into the Veil as Daniel Goldstein, being present for the first time, watched carefully and with interest.
Three gone. With one in Harry and one in Riddle, that meant two more to go. The locket and the diadem. If one of them was truly at Hogwarts and the other in possession of Black, they were going to be done soon.
Or, well, almost done. But thinking about that bit of soul in Harry wasn't very good for Alduin's health, so he tried to do it as little as possible.
On Friday, he met with Narcissa to discuss the Auror Section situation.
"You seem to be under the impression," the Malfoy matriarch said, "that I will help you build an Auror department that is efficient in catching Death Eaters. I'm not clear on why. The Vow doesn't bind even Lucius that far, and I am under no Vow."
"No," Alduin agreed, "but still, I thought it might be of interest to you that the Lestranges are doing their best to bring Voldemort back, and that Aurors under Kingsley will do their best to prevent that from happening."
Narcissa sighed. "This is one of those conversations that is going to require extensive memory charms at some future date, is it not?"
Alduin only smiled.
"It really would be easier if you could discuss this directly with Lucius," she remarked.
"Teach him Occlumency," Alduin replied succinctly.
"If only it was that easy," she muttered. "Very well, then, what do you want?"
"What I said."
Narcissa gave him a look. "Don't you think it's too late for that? Don't think for a moment that Lucius didn't realize what Pettigrew's escape meant. But what can he do now that he's gone?"
"We know where Voldemort is, roughly," Alduin pointed out. "It's impossible to act there in an official capacity, of course, given that it's foreign territory, but we do still have means of at least attempting to prevent him from getting back into Britain. If we employ them."
Narcissa raised her eyebrows. "And how will Lucius explain his support of Shacklebolt if your plan fails?"
Alduin waved his hand. "Oh, I trust he will come up with something. Kingsley is a proper pureblood, or something like that."
Narcissa frowned a little. "It seems you expect us to take a lot of risks. I'm considering whether it wouldn't be safer to just go along with...the times."
"I'm sure that's what Lucius father thought, too," Alexandra interjected, quiet but pointed.
Narcissa gave her a sharp look. "I beg your pardon?"
"I understand it would be a sensitive topic for him," Alexandra replied carefully, "but has Lucius ever examined the circumstances of his father's death impartially, with a cool eye? Has he never found them suspicious?"
"What do you know?" Narcissa demanded.
Alexandra gave a languid shrug. "Merely that it was extremely convenient to Voldemort that Abraxas died when he died, and that there was never really any proof against Weasley except for Lucius' word."
Narcissa looked at her for a long time. "And you expect me to take this to Lucius?" She asked then. "When I can't even openly tell him about why we need to do something about the Auror Section?"
Alexandra smiled grimly. "I trust you, Narcissa. You'll think of some way of making use of this information when the right time comes. In the meanwhile, I wanted you to have it. I wanted you to know that not even the closest, most long-time followers are safe. Not if they know too much or the wrong thing, or become inconvenient in any way, and Lucius did let go of a certain object which I am quite certain Voldemort wanted him to keep guarded..."
Kingsley was named the Head Auror the following Monday.
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Dean's birthday party was, once again, a Quidditch themed one, since not even his role as a substitute Chaser made him any less desirous of flying more. Especially as his birthday meant he would get to fly on Harry's Firebolt.
Since Katie could come this time, Harry had to contend with the problem of odd numbers once again. At first he tried to convince Kiara, but she insisted she really much preferred to enjoy Quidditch passively. It was Ginny who came out with the solution, saying that her first year friend, Mahnoor, loved flying and was really quite good.
"Harriet doesn't fly?" Harry asked. He actually knew her, at least.
"No, Harriet doesn't care about Quidditch," Ginny replied, her expression making it clear what she thought of people like that, "but Mahnoor is cool, you'll see."
Harry had to admit that, in spite of being an ickle firstie, she really was quite decent. They played six on six now, with every position except Seekers. Since there were two beaters now, Fred and George tried to say they'd be on the same side, but that was quickly rejected in the hopes that the match could stay at least somewhat equal. So it was Fred, Angelina, Katie, Dean, Mahnoor and Ron on one side and George, Alicia, Harry, Seamus, Ginny and Sophie on the other. Angelina and Alicia willingly took on the other Beater roles, since no one particularly wanted them and they, at least, were old enough and so strong enough to give the Bludgers a proper hit. Ron and Sophie, of course, were Keepers.
As a result, Ginny was by far the best Chaser on Harry's team, and they owed almost all the goals to her. On the other side of the pitch, Dean excelled on Harry's Firebolt, making him tied with Katie for goals. But Mahnnoor kept her own ground, and that side ultimately won, in spite of all Ginny's efforts, when the designated amount of time they set down for the match passed.
Afterwards, they gathered on the ground for a picnic in the setting sun, and talked.
"So, there's another Hogsmeade trip just after the exams, right?" Harry asked.
Angelina nodded. "It's a good way to relax," she said. "Especially after the OWLs, it'll be appreciated."
"How are you doing with that?" Harry wondered.
She frowned at him. "Don't you know it's a forbidden question?"
"We had to do a lot of bargaining to convince the girls to even take this break and come here," Fred added. "Talk about it too much and they'll leave to study once again."
"I admit it's done me good to clear my head, though," Alicia observed.
"So, are you going to go to Hogsmeade with Cho again?" George asked Harry then, returning to the original topic.
Harry shrugged. "I guess...I mean, we haven't really talked about it, but I suppose so?"
"Why haven't you asked her here today, anyway?" Fred joined in. "She's a good flier, even if I hate to admit it."
"It's never even occurred to me, to be honest," Harry admitted. "I don't know, it's just...this is for friends, isn't it? And, I mean, she's not my friend, she's – I'm dating her, I guess..."
Angelina gave him a pitying look. "Well, if this is your approach, I don't know how long it's gonna last," she said.
Harry frowned. "And what about you, are you taking someone to Hogsmeade?" He asked as a sort of counter-offensive.
Was it just his imagination, or did she send a fleeting look in Fred's direction before she replied: "Nah. I'll just want to relax after the exams, hang out with friends..."
"What about the rest of you?" Fred asked the other third years. "Anyone taking anyone?"
There were head shakes all around.
"Well, Ron probably shouldn't, after the disaster from last time," George remarked, and his brother gave him the stink eye.
"Hey!" Harry protested. "I think he should. Needs to replace the bad memories with the good ones, you know? I think it's a great idea, in fact!"
Ron gave him a doubtful look. "Who do you think I should ask?"
Harry thought about it for a moment, then nudged his head in the direction of Lavender, who was chatting with Parvati and Kiara and was oblivious to their conversation. Harry remembered that Ron had agreed with Seamus that Lavender was pretty. Perhaps it was time to give it another try.
Ron looked at Seamus, who shrugged, indicating he didn't really mind. "I'm not sure she'd want to," Ron muttered. "I mean, she must have heard about the date, and..."
"You won't know till you try," Dean encouraged him. "And, anyway, she wouldn't mind the talk of Quidditch so much, I think, so..."
Ron agreed to at least consider it.
"But you'll do it yourself this time," Sophie said resolutely.
Their conversation was interrupted when a long show fell over them, and when Harry raised his head, he saw Hagrid's grinning face over them.
"Havin' a picnic, eh?" He asked.
"It's Seamus' birthday," Harry explained.
Hagrid looked around, clearly trying to find out which of them was Seamus, and when the boy waved to him, Hagrid extended his hand, swallowing Seamus' in it as he shook it. "Happy birthday, then," he said. "I don't exactly have a gift, but there was a baby hippogriff born just a few days ago – do you want to see?"
Seamus looked a bit unsure, but many others, Sophie unsurprisingly chief among them, declared that they absolutely wanted to see, and so most of the group – excluding Angelina and Alice, who went back to the castle to study – set out for the edge of the Forbidden Forest as Hagrid excitedly told them about hippogriffs.
"Yeh haven't covered them wit' Professor Grubbly-Plank yet, then?" He asked at some point. "I know she takes some students to see them, but dunno which ones."
"It's probably someone older," Harry explained.
"We only do boring stuff," Sophie complained.
"That's not true," Parvati opposed with a frown, "kneazles were great, and knarls were fun."
"I liked billywigs!" Lavender joined in.
Hagrid gave her a grin. "Let them sting yeh, did yeh?"
"No!" Lavender said, scandalized.
"I did," Sophie said with a giggle.
At this point, they reached the hippogriff enclosure, and Harry had to admit that there was something magnificent about the creatures, even as they were strange. The combination of eagle and horse was quite simply unexpected, but the transition was so smooth it was hard to tell when one ended and the other began. Sophie seemed transfixed.
"This is what I want to be studying, not stupid murlaps," she muttered as she looked at them.
"Do you want to try and fly one?" Hagrid asked her, beaming.
Sophie smiled broadly, but before she could reply, Harry said decisively: "No."
She turned to him, frowning. "I-"
"Come on, Sophie," Harry muttered to her under his breath, "you know we'll be covering them next year, you know we go by the Ministry classification, so you can learn when Grubbly-Plank teaches us, and if she doesn't let us fly, I promise I'll take you here and you can do it then, but not now, please, if something happened to you..."
Harry trailed off. He remembered the dragon in his first year far to well to trust Hagrid with any kind of safety.
Sophie scowled at him, but relented, and Hagrid, clearly disappointed, brought out the hippogriff baby. That, at least, Harry had no qualms about, given that it was smaller than them, and they stayed admiring it until darkness began to fall and they had to get back inside the castle.
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Dumbledore visited Travers Manor one late May afternoon, looking to talk to Alduin privately.
"You told me," he said once they were in Alduin's study, "that you have a way of destroying Horcruxes without destroying the object in which they are hidden. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Alduin confirmed with an incline of his head.
"Then I'd make use of your services." Dumbledore gave a small, satisfied smile. "I have found the diadem of Ravenclaw."
Alduin couldn't help it, he smiled in response. Another one down. "Where was it?" He asked curiously.
"At Hogwarts, as you predicted."
Alduin didn't press. He kept things from Dumbledore, too, and knew that the old man wouldn't relent unless it was an exchange of information. "I'll need a few days' preparation," he said, "and then I'll need the diadem here."
"Then I will bring it on Saturday?" Dumbledore suggested.
Alduin nodded. He knew perfectly well that there was no chance of convincing Dumbledore not to be present in person. He bid him goodbye, and contacted the youngest Burkes once again.
"Two in the span of a fortnight?" Theodore asked when Alduin told him what he needed him for. "Impressive."
"This one is Dumbledore's work," Alduin explained.
Theodore grimaced a little.
"Yes," Alduin agreed, "prepare to be judged."
On Saturday, they all gathered in Travers Manor. Dumbledore did, indeed, watch the ritual with judgement clear on his face, just as they'd predicted, but at least he was smart enough not to say anything. Given that without Theodore's knowledge of the Dark Arts, they couldn't have found a way to preserve the precious objects Riddle choose as his Horcruxes, Alduin had little patience for Dumbledore's policy of zero tolerance towards it, and might have just kicked him out of his house if he said a word.
Once the ritual was done, they headed to the Ministry.
"Ah," Dumbledore muttered as they neared the Department of Mysteries. "Ingenious."
In fact, it was him who volunteered to hand the diadem in, and with some reluctance Alduin agreed. They had tried it twice already, after all. It was safe enough.
It went as smoothly as it always had before. Dumbledore was unharmed and the diadem was restored to its original function.
"What are you going to do with it?" Alduin asked him.
"Study it extensively, and then add it to the Hogwarts collection besides the Sword of Gryffindor," Dumbledore replied, turning it in his hands.
"Shouldn't it be used?" Mrs. Gerard asked pointedly. "Contrary to your sword, it actually has some functional aspects..."
Dumbledore frowned at her. "I will decide based on what my research discovers," he said. "I'll consult this with Filius Flitwick, as well," he added when he saw the present Ravenclaws were still unsatisfied. This promise calmed them somewhat, and they began to trickle towards home, even though Daniel couldn't help his longing glances at the diadem. Alduin wasn't surprised. The man might not be a Ravenclaw, but he was an expert of the mysteries of the human mind, and if there was one artefact that was rumoured to do wonders with it, it was the diadem.
Oh well. With luck, they would live long enough to see a Ravenclaw become the Headmaster, and then at least they'd have a chance to get access.
Alduin also thought of his promise of returning it to the Grey Lady, but that was rather more complicated now that it had been Dumbledore who found it. He couldn't even mention it out loud, as he didn't want to have to explain her connection to Rowena to people who might not know. He had promised to keep it secret, after all. He supposed he'd just have to mention it to Dumbledore at a later date, in private, and if the old man gave him nothing, go directly to the Grey Lady and tell her where the diadem was. No doubt she had ways of her own to put pressure on Dumbledore.
"What have you done with the Gaunt heirloom?" Dumbledore asked as they were leaving, interrupting Alduin's thoughts.
"Nothing yet, but I'll return it to the nearest relative," Alduin replied evenly.
Dumbledore frowned, but didn't say anything. Alduin supposed that he, too, knew how to pick his battles.