The Auror's had officially reported the Burrow had collapsed to no one's surprise. The relevant departments had been sent in to collect evidence and clear the area. The Weasley's were pragmatic. They were still all together. Fred had broken his leg but he was on the mend. Ron had been a bit disorientated for a day but had recovered with just a small scar on his head to remind him of that night. The Weasley's were becoming more than a little paranoid about their family's fantastic survival rates. They were starting to think they were all either very lucky or on borrowed time.
Those who had been killed had been given dignified funerals. The two Death Eaters were both unable to be identified which was worrying. They seemed to have arrived from nowhere. Both the Muggles and the Magical had tried various methods to find out who these two men were but to no avail. The Queen had been informed and was as concerned as the others.
The Weasley name was considered by her as one of her most trusted allies in the Wizarding World. The silver lining from the dreadful incident was the Queen launching a judicial enquiry into the Weasley's personal circumstances due to the destruction of their property and the reasons why they were living there. The Queen had sniffed a rat when it was explained to them how the Weasley family had lost their Manor. It involved a great deal of paperwork, probate law, civil law, criminal law, land laws and an array of legal terminology that made Iris's head spin. The Queen herself had read the Ministry of Magic's bizarre neglect towards the Weasley family over the years and had not been happy.
After several weeks, lots of very smart lawyers, much litigation and courtroom sessions, Amelia Bones broke it all down into plain language for everyone to understand.
'The Weasleys had been robbed by the Ministry of Magic and they could prove it.'
The people involved back in those days had all but passed away or were about to. The Ministry had been operating shady rackets and had systematically targeted some of the lighter families of the day. Unscrupulous individuals with contacts to the Ministry had deliberately gone into partnership with some of the older families in order to sabotage them further down the line. It opened the door to other, similar cases.
To the family of redheads, their rightful inheritance had been restored. It was more than could have been hoped. Mrs Weasley was just happy to have a roof back over her family's head. The Greengrass family had been lovely to stay with during their hour of need but Molly needed her own kitchen. She had been rather vexed without one.
Ron had been very quiet about the developments. The very imposing and grand Weasley Manor was a far cry from the Burrow.
His family had settled into their new family home with a lot of ease. Ron had been impressed at first but his mind kept wandering back to the Burrow and all the happy memories he had of the place.
He had made several trips back, helping to clean up the land. Not much was left but the foundations remained.
He had made sure his father would be keeping the land his old home had stood on. His father had read between the lines and, after speaking with Molly, it was with great pride he had signed the land deeds of the Burrow over to Ron who had accepted the tremendous gift with a shaky hand and a warm smile. He would rebuild the Burrow. It would be his first home. His own. It was where he was happiest. It had taken losing it to understand how much it had meant to him.
The Weasley's had gone back up in the world. They would be much more careful in the future with who they did their business dealings with. Arthur and Molly spent a great deal of time discussing their new situation with the Greengrass family who gave them some very astute advice.
Percy had been in his element at the new Ministry premises. There was so much to organise. So much to arrange. He took like a duck to water to the Muggle office equipment and adapted and merged much with the magical for maximum efficiency. He was thriving. New laws regarding overlaps between the Muggle and Magical interests were being formed and he was a part of that. He had met many like-minded Muggles who agreed wholeheartedly with him about the importance of good organisation, rules and regulations. It had been music to his ears.
Percy was for the first time in a long time thinking of his own future. There was still a long way to go. He had fought hard and bravely in the battles. He had always been the odd Weasley, but he had proved himself time and again to his family and had gained their deepest respects. He had longed for his desk job during the entire ordeal. He promised himself if there was ever an end to the ominous threats he would find his sensible wife. Percy was a realist. It wouldn't be for a long time. Their world was not safe and Percy was a man who needed structure, order and routine in his life to be truly happy. There was not much to be found.
'Still,' he had thought, as he happily used his Muggle word processor to print off an itinerary for a meeting for later that day, 'There was some of it and that would have to be enough for now.'
They were a couple of weeks into summer and the vibe was bittersweet. The threats were still there. In the shadows. Lurking. Harry was still a target. As was anyone he was close to. Albus and Gabriel spent hours in the Pensieve, studying the locations of the Horcruxes.
'I have watched these children grow into young adults, Gabriel,' Abus confided in the Angel, 'They have surpassed any hopes I had for them. They are stronger together but perhaps too young for this mission. The battles were one thing. This is something else entirely. We have more experienced Witches and Wizards to hunt these Horcruxes. Bella and Sirius are raring to go. Myself. You. It will be demanding enough for us. Alas, Iris will be needed to open the portals and sustain them. Only the Peverell ring may be strong enough to get through.'
'I suspect that is the whole point of the precise nature of the locations and nature of the protections on these Horcruxes. Why a lone mirror in each one of these cells? It is ominous. There could be enchantments and spells in these rooms. That is what Iris and myself need to alert you to. Riddle must be playing his games. He must know her gifts and has clearly based his protections on them. I suspect he intends to use her power against her. She is Harry's power. I believe he takes a great store in the prophecy. She has the power he knew not. He disregarded the Peverell ring as a trinket. She didn't. The ring helps shield us all. If he destroys her, he is one major step closer to destroying us all. We need the gateway the ring creates for the founders and our protectors from the other worlds to aid us. Riddle must be panicking to go to all this trouble. Death tortured him that week. It may have pushed him too far,' Gabriel said wearily.
'I'm concerned about using Iris,' Albus admitted, 'She has a good heart, but out of all of the young ones, she is the most unstable. The Gaunt blood runs through her veins. Her Black blood is prone to absurdity too. She knows it as well. She fears the descent into madness. She has taken steps already to protect her mind. She speaks to a mind healer regularly. She knows she is more vulnerable than the others to breaking. You know what happened at the Ministry. She couldn't handle it.'
Gabriel sighed, 'We have no other choice. Only the Peverell ring may be powerful enough to open up the entrances to the Horcruxes.'
Albus grimaced, 'How did Tom manage it? These locations should have been impossible to access.'
Gabriel had used the Astral plane to confirm Iris's images from her mind were accurate. They had been.
'One is buried underneath the ocean,' Gabriel reiterated, 'Another is carved inside a mountain. And they are two of the easier ones. I simply can't see how he could have done this? Just how?'
Albus stared into the distance, 'Grindelwald had accessed a place you could not go to. You and I assumed then it was a different dimension, rather like the Room of Requirement,' he spoke as if in a trance, 'Have you ever read the Time Machine?'
The Angel sat up sharply, 'The infinite. Iris said she was on Earth except it was much different. The oceans were clear blue. New. She saw it all.'
'That's what they did,' Albus grimaced, 'They placed the Horcruxes in places which the world would grow around. Yes. Riddle and Grindelwald together would perhaps have the talent to do that.'
'That's why we couldn't find them. Going into a different dimension is dangerous to attempt. They could have addled their minds or been refused entry. They would have calculated for that. They went to a different time. Yes. That is why Riddle has wiped his memories of the Horcruxes. All I could see was that book. The information in there isn't just Horcruxes. It's about the time portal. That is why there were no leads. If not for Iris we would never have known.'
They stared at each other.
'How far back?' Albus whispered, 'How many years before the mountains formed? Before the oceans rose?'
Gabriel's eyes glowed, 'Before me. Millions of years.'
They had hit a brick wall. There was no way to know how many years their enemy had travelled back.
'Those two unidentified men at the Burrow. They couldn't be identified because they are not from now. They are from the future or the past. That's how they got in. A time portal,' Albus felt his hand tremble.
Gabriel shook his head in helplessness.
'Oh, Merlin,' Albus lamented, 'That's the leak. They didn't have to get through the dome because they were already on the island but at another time. I knew Salazar had done a thorough job.'
Gabriel looked on in a shocked state.
'That's where Tom has gone!' Albus sat up quickly, 'That's why no one has seen him. He isn't in this time,' Albus's quick mind sped on, 'If he is in the future then he knows all our plans. That is why they were at the Burrow. He is trying to kill those of us who are a threat to him. He wasn't there himself because he's terrified of Iris setting Death on him again.'
Gabriel looked horrified and, for the first time, Albus heard an Angel swear.
'The future timeline is going to be shredded if he is interfering in it,' Gabriel said in fear.
'Terrible things happen to Wizards that mess with time,' Albus said ominously.
The gravity of the situation hit Albus hard, 'The attack on the Burrow! That wasn't meant to happen. Severus. Betty. Gladys. Marvin. They were not supposed to die. Not that day. Not like that.'
Gabriel looked very concerned, 'What if he was meant to come back?'
Albus shook his head, 'The golden rule in time travel is you cannot use it under any circumstances to change events that have already happened. The wedding was supposed to be just that. A wedding.'
'The butterfly effect,' Gabriel breathed out.
'That mad bastard!' Albus shouted, 'He has no idea what he's doing. Gellert would have told him to stop this. Even he wouldn't be such a maniac than to mess with time itself.'
Gabriel looked astonished. Albus was looking frantic.
'He's frightened,' Albus said quietly, 'Death must have pushed him over the edge for him to resort to this. He knows he can't fight us using normal means. He's seen the future. What our plans are. He's trying to pick us off one by one. Anyone who is a genuine threat to him is going to be targetted.'
'What about replicating a time portal ourselves?' Gabriel pondered.
Albus shook his head wearily. 'The consequences would be even more catastrophic if we did that.'
Albus looked around his office, 'They seemed hell-bent on killing Severus and myself. We were the first ones targeted. They were trying to bring down Sirius and Bella too using any means necessary. They were trying to poison them. Yes. That's it. That's why. They weren't targeting Harry as much as us. I just assumed they were after him. Why didn't I see it? They were after us. His followers could be anyone now. We don't know who they could be. We don't know what happens two, three, four years down the line. Britain could fall. The dome could be destroyed. Even if we're successful and defeat this New World Order his followers would still be lurking. They could send people further back before the dome went up. They could be planning to do just that if the situation gets dire enough. He's crazy enough to do it. He has no idea of the insanity he is releasing! The whole lot will come crashing down!'
Gabriel himself was sensing just how bad this was. He had never seen Albus so scared.
Albus pulled himself together and called for Fawkes. It was time for an Order meeting. The Horcrux hunt was going to be starting sooner than they had anticipated.
The usual suspects groaned around in sheer terror at the ghastly news that had greeted them.
They were seated around the table at Grimmauld Place.
Iris sat in the corner with Hermione looking absolutely devastated.
'That's why Sev took so long to go through the veil. I thought it was weird. It wasn't his time,' she sobbed. 'The veil knew there was a fuck up.'
Hermione kept her arm tight around her. She was in shock.
'The power to do this must be intense,' Sirius said in a quiet voice.
Albus nodded, 'The Ministry time turners were destroyed in the battle. There can't be too many of them in circulation. It may be that he has found another way to do this. If there was a Wizard who could find a way to duplicate the time dust or find another way to achieve this then it would be Tom.'
Bella sat back with Kingsley and surveyed the room. Harry was looking pale. The Weasley's resolute. The Longbottoms grim. They were two of only a few families left still in one piece in the Wizarding World. It felt like the guillotine was hanging over them ready to crash down at any moment.
Draco sat next to the Greengrass family with a weary expression on his face. He had lost his Godfather and a friend when Sev died. Sirius gave him a small smile as Draco nodded back.
They had lost a lot of the Order in the last year. Mainly in the Battle. They were down to the bare bones now. Bella sighed. The implications of losing Severus were becoming clearer by the minute.
The Tonks family sat opposite her as Andromeda made eye contact with her sister and gave her a helpless look. This actually stiffened Bella's resolve, 'None of that Andi. We've got a job to do and we're going to bloody well do it. The fact Riddle is going to all this trouble proves he's worried. We must have got the upper hand in the future. We just need to be even more vigilant.'
'There is no time like the present. We need to start the hunt. Riddle is breathing down our necks,' Albus said, 'There is a mirror Horcrux in the heart of a mountain. We suspect the protections may well be illusions of some sort. There seems to be a mirror in each one. Gabriel has located the Horcruxes. I have the portkeys for us. Iris. You will need to open the portal for us. We get through the protections and obtain the Horcrux. It could be anything. The Horcrux will play games with all our minds. It will lash out. Gabriel will need to take the diabolical object away then to limbo. We cannot know what to expect. It, well. I cannot lie to you. This will be very dangerous. We need four volunteers for this mission.'
Sirius and Bella both put their hands up together immediately. Tonks and Kingsley a moment later.
Albus breathed a sigh of relief.
'Iris. Are you ready?' Gabriel asked her in a gentle voice.
Iris nodded reluctantly. Hermione pulled her into a deep hug.
'Right. Well. Let's get this show on the road then,' Bella said in a bright voice.
Albus brought out a silver phoenix portkey.
Seven brave souls took one last look at each other and as one, touched it tightly.
A moment later Walburga's dining room disappeared from view.
'Tibet. Mount fucking Everest. That bastard,' grumbled Bella as they put warming charms on each other. It was chilly and dark here. They were halfway up the craggy rock as they looked around. It was deserted.
Albus conjured up a mirror against the rock as Iris took a deep breath.
Iris zipped her leather jacket up with a small mirror inside and stood straight, 'Here goes,' she said in a whisper as she gave the nod to Gabriel and went through the mirror as the others watched with interest.
Making her way through the rock was not a pleasant experience but neither was it too awful. She wasn't claustrophobic and with Gabriel beside her, it felt like a warm-up. She thought of Hermione to gain some inner strength and soldiered on.
It felt like some time had passed before Iris could make out a distant flickering of light. Gabriel's golden eyes sparkled at her as he gave murmurings of reassurance.
They moved around the area, surveying the rock for traps but found none.
They found themselves in a bare stone cell with a rather benign-looking full-length gold framed mirror hanging against the wall. An everlasting candle attached to the wall flickered, throwing shadows. It all looked far too easy. Iris looked for Tom's name but couldn't see it. Infinity had labelled them then.
Bringing out the small mirror and using an Engorgio spell on it, Iris eased slowly out of the mirror into the room. Nothing happened. Gabriel appeared next to her in solid form.
The silence was heavy.
Iris pursed her lips as her heart rate began to speed up due to her nerves. Breathing out slowly she calmed herself. She conjured the portal to the others as the veil formed. It was all going too well. She would have preferred spells being shot. This was tight tension. Albus, Bella and Sirius came quickly into the room. Tonks and Kingsley would wait by the mountain in case a rescue mission was required.
For a moment they all stared warily at the mirror. Gabriel was the first to move closer. He touched the frame and drew his hand back with a frown.
'It is tainted with a strange sort of magic. I don't recognise it. I cannot tell if it is black or white,' he admitted to the others.
'It was as we suspected. The Horcrux is in the mirror itself,' Albus said in a thoughtful tone.
'It's a setup, isn't it?' Iris said in a dry voice, 'This is for me. I knew he would do something like this.'
They looked at her then with varying looks of contemplation.
'Alas, we do not know anything for certain,' Albus told her.
They each touched the mirror. Their fingers met glass. Even Gabriel's.
'Iris, this is clearly your area,' Albus said to her plainly.
'He's going to try to drive me as mad as him, isn't he?' Iris sighed.
Sirius hugged her, 'You'll never be like him,' he said firmly, 'You know yourself. You know your own mind.'
Iris gave him a peculiar look as she turned back to the mirror, 'What do you think is in there?' she asked.
'Illusions,' Gabriel said, 'Your worst fears. You have to remember that none of it will be real. It will seem as real as this does. You will feel it physically, but it won't be real.'
'Right. Well. Time to pull it together. Come on, Iris,' she spoke to herself as Bella hid a smirk.
'The Horcrux will be in there somewhere. You should be able to feel it when you're close to it,' Gabriel said, 'Remember, we're just the other side of the mirror. If it gets too much then leave.'
'Iris. Try to look at this as an exercise in mind control. Like in your therapy sessions. Learn from it. It shall be a lesson of sorts,' Albus told her in a reassuring voice.
'I doubt very much this will be anything like my weekly meetings with Anthea,' Iris said shortly.
Albus had to concede that accurate point.
Iris took another deep breath and moved closer to the mirror before tentatively looking into it. She saw herself. Merlin, she looked like she was about to brick it. That would never do. She drew her shoulders back in a way that made Sirius's heart clench.
'I'm a bloody Gryffindor. We live for this shit,' Iris told them in a determined voice as Sirius gave her a proud smile. She pictured her family and friends. She was doing this for all of them. She put her fingers up to the mirror and pushed inside.