The Time Travel Crew
Chapter 13: Minerva and Filius procure the Cup
It was the twenty seventh of April and Minerva, Pomona, Filius and Severus left the castle at different times to buy a birthday present for Joyce Lily Potter's second birthday.
It was a calm, peaceful evening, however, Minerva couldn't bear to do so much as admire it because she felt the very opposite.
Well, isn't it a very rare occasion that somebody's teacher is suddenly present as an attendee of her daughters birthday Party? Severus had requested Lily to call Minerva, to join in the celebration.
He explained to Lily, or that was what he told Minerva, that she had really wanted to meet meet the children. It had been a long time since she had seen them, for, she had been rather busy. Lily happily asked Severus to bring her along.
There was, obviously, an ulterior motive.
The four Heads of House needed some excuse to be out of the castle and the twenty eighth of April was a Hogsmead Weekend. There was no need of them to be around the students while they wondered off in the magical village, for they rarely ever fought... Thanks to the House United project that was still going strong.
Dumbledore himself was highly ebullient about the enthusiasm the students showed towards the activities. He began using his free time to come up with more creative ideas and surprises for the children and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly.
This gave the Professors the opportunity to get down to business and acquire a Horcrux - the Hufflepuff Cup. Minerva and Filius were the ones assigned to retrieve the cup, all four Professors entering Gringotts together would be the cause of suspicion. And it was the anxiousness over accomplishing it and coming out of the bank alive, unharmed and unseen that made Minerva's mood so dispiriting.
They spent a little less than two years coming up with an appropriate plan...it wasn't an easy task. Every time a one of the professors would come up with what they thought was a good idea, another would find a flaw, and the plan was done away with. Eventually, Severus, who with Pomona's help had spent his free time inventing, modifying and perfecting a 'secret' potion, decided to fill up the loopholes of one of their better plans.
They now had an almost concrete scheme that to the others seemed foolproof. But to Minerva, it meant disaster if anything, anything went wrong.
As Minerva walked through the Muggle market streets, she deliberately turned away from the clothes shops. Lily could make clothes better than the ones displayed. But as Minerva strode past yet another shop, her eyes fell on a beautiful shade of greenish blue. She was so taken by that colour, she took a few steps back to look through the clothes store's window display.
The thing she had glimpsed was a material that would match little Joyce's eyes beautifully. So very happily, Minerva walked in through the door and inquired about the fabric with the attendant. And eight minutes later, Minerva was heading to an isolated spot from where she would disapperate to Hogwarts, along with the neatly wrapped soft cotten greenish-blue material.
Lily would do the rest.
Two years of diligent work and Lily's wine making and tailoring were flourishing. Minerva today was wearing a neatly tailored outfit that Lily herself stitched for her almost a year ago.
Lily, Harry and Joyce, according to Severus, were doing very well. The Potters had settled down almost a few weeks after Joyce was born and Lily was back to her usual self. She had now got back to a routine. During the summer, a few of the neighbours grandchildren would come to spend some time in Cokeworth and they adored the 'Potter toddlers'.
Two years had made a huge difference in the Longbottom, Malfoy and Lovegood families as well.
The Longbottoms had an addition to their family as well. Sally Longbottom was born almost a year after Joyce and there was yet another baby on the way. Dobby was extremely happy too. From what Minerva heard, the family enjoyed his company.
What worried Minerva now, was the nature of the turn the future would take. If one sat to think about it, facing an unknown future itself was frightening, but facing the unknown when you are supposed to live through it again was a different matter, not to mention dangerous.
"When you are working to make a change," Severus had told her once in an uncharacteristically patient voice, "you cannot expect everything to remain the same... There obviously has to be a difference."
Luna, true to her word, got her mother to stop experimenting on potions and venture into foods instead. There was now no need to worry about her getting covered in exploded, unidentified potion. Luna, back in ninety eight, had shown Severus that memory, a very clear memory indeed. And Severus told her, Minerva, in confidence later, that he had never seen such a foolish mix of so many volatile ingredients.
The difference made by the Malfoy family, however, took the cake. In a few months from now, like Alice Longbottom, Narcissa was going to have a baby! This had taken all the members of the crew, including Draco himself, by surprise...It was an indication that there was a possibility of things not going as perfectly as planned - Exactly another of Minerva's worries.
Minerva, Filius and Pomona had never changed their attitude towards the students from the end of the first war to the end of the next, so they didn't have to put on much of an act. And through her haze of anxiety, she felt highly tickled over the fact that Dumbledore hadn't spotted anything unusual about them.
Severus wasn't as mean as he was in the previous time and many students from houses other than Slytherin, actually enjoyed his classes. This didn't make Dumbledore suspicious either and now Minerva was worried about his well being.
"You will just be working yourself into a nervous breakdown if you keep worrying like that." Pomona told her severely once, when she confided in her about her apprehensions. But what could Minerva do? She, like her mother, had always been one to worry, though she very rarely showed it.
With a weary sigh, she reached Hogwarts, converted her Muggle clothes into robes and headed to her office. There, she found Filius showing off to Pomona and Severus a small beautiful silver tiara.
"Isn't it beautiful?" She heard him exclaim proudly as she entered. "It's for little Joyce."
"Are you coming to the Potter's Place too?" Minerva asked in surprise, this hadn't been part of the plan...
She gave them the customary two winks and they returned it, just to make sure.
"No, no!" Filius then said happily. "I found it in a store today while I was searching for a Muggle shop that sold shoes. You should take it with you, Minerva, I couldn't charm it lest the Muggles around find it a bit overwhelming. It will look magnificent in Joyce's hair, won't it?"
"Yes, yes." Severus said distractedly, casting heavy charms around the room. "Now let us focus on tomorrow's operation."
"Oh," Pomona groaned, "We've been over the plan around fifty times. I wanted to show you the shoes I bought for you to give Joyce, Minerva."
"You can do that later, Pomona. There's no harm in going through the plan again. Tomorrow's mission is dangerously unusual." Severus said looking at Minerva for backup.
She gave him a small smile and said, "I quite agree, Severus."
Pomona sighed.
"Besides," Severus said. "We can't let Harry down now, can we?"
"Did you tell him about the first hunt?" Filius asked.
"No." Severus said as he took out a few rolls of heavily charmed parchment (all their plans had been carefully noted down on them). "I promised to tell him after I retrieved a Horcrux."
And so they sat over some tea and biscuits and revised their plan.
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To Filius, the twenty-eighth of April arrived like nobody's business. Today's plan needed only two and Minerva and he had been chosen.
The previous night, the four of them synchronized their watches and went through the plan for the last time. Severus gave Pomona a flask of Polyjuice Potion in which, Filius put a few strands of his own hair.
Minerva supplied Pomona with an exact copy of the clothes Filius would wear the next day.
It had been established amongst them that Pomona was the least watched amongst the four, and so she, who also was the only member available, would take his place at Hogsmead when he disapperated to Gringotts.
A visit to Hogsmead to buy himself a pair of new fancy socks and then some lunch and a drink at Rosmerta's...That was the tale he told Professor Fibber at dinner last night in the Great Hall. Adam Portly, a tall, thin, angular wizard, better known as the Fibber, thanks to all yarn he spun throughout the year, was the DADA professor of nineteen eighty three. In the previous time, the man fled the school when an irate Severus challenged him to prove it that he had actually ridden the back to of a dragon.
Early next morning, Severus provided Filius with a properly sealed tiny vial filled his secret silver-coloured potion and a green, galleon-shaped, waxy-coated substance. In the vial was a mild yet unfailing sleeping potion, derived from the Drought of the Living Death, integrated with a powerful compelling to obey side effect. The potion even made the victim forget anything that occurred a minute prior to being subjected to it.
This secret potion kept letting out fumes which travelled a distance, placing the potion's effects on anyone in it's path. Severus tried it on almost every living creature: wizards, centaurs, goblins, House-elves, dragons, Acramentulas, hippogriffs, trolls, giants, Hagrid, Fang, Animagi, Werewolves, merpeople and the giant squid.
The galleon, shaped-waxy coated substance was the antidote to the potion and the minute it was dropped on the floor, it would sublime and the fumes would travel the very route the potion's fumes travelled and it would wake up everyone who was asleep.
The only problem now was to keep the fumes from affecting Filius and Minerva and that was why, Severus provided Filius and Minerva with a tiny crystal vial each that contained a black potion that when swallowed would prevent the secret potion's fumes from taking effect on the person.
After breakfast, Severus left for Cokeworth. He being Joyce's godfather had very important duties to perform today...along with a very childish quest - Outstripping Sirius Black. Harry told Filius in confidence one night when he visited him with some news that the competition between the two was highly amusing.
Very casually, Filius summoned the stack of essays he needed to go through to the staffroom and sat in his high chair. Minerva, Pomona, Rolanda and a few other teachers made their way in and out of the staffroom. Even Dumbledore made an appearance, twice.
At twelve o'clock, Minerva left for Cokeworth conveniently forgetting to take along with her a huge teddy bear that Severus had asked her to pick up for him from a toy store and keep in her office. The teddy bear was would be presented just as soon as Lily helped little Joyce cut her cake at one o'clock.
Now with everything set up, Filius attracted no attention to himself as he happily scurried to Hogsmead at twelve thirty. For fifteen minutes he strolled the streets and greeted a few students. This was the last Hogsmead weekend before their exams and many preferred to stay indoors and come up to date with their studies.
The next day was a Sunday and instead of an activity, Dumbledore decided to have the teams sit together on the grounds and either test or teach each other. He had even convinced Madam Pince to bring out onto the grounds all essential book required by the students. The stringent woman could do nothing but agree.
Then Filius scurried off to an alley and made himself invisible at the same time Pomona, now disguised as him, appeared out of thin air. She gave him a wink and scurried out of the alley and headed down to the store that sold socks.
Filius, still invisible, moved to another alley before disapperating, just to make sure anyone who saw him enter the alley and was still watching the place after Pomona's exit didn't get suspicious when they heard the loud crack.
Filius found himself outside Madam Malkin's and a clear "Accio teddy bear!" meant that an invisible Minerva was nearby. They hurried to a dark space behind the robe shop, made themselves visible to each other alone and swallowed the black potion that Severus gave them.
Filius felt the cool oily liquid coat his mouth and deliberately divide into half. One half moved down his throat and the other, to his unmost shock and consternation, flowed into his windpipe and moved upwards...the more he choked and coughed, the higher the second half went until it reached his nose and his eyes and ears and formed a sort of invisible layer on them. And as Filius began to feel a warm sensation on under his skin, the choking sensation died off.
"He should have said something earlier." Minerva said fiercely after gasping in deeply, tears streaming down her face.
Filius, knowing that Severus feared they would back out had he told them, said nothing.
They walked up to Gringotts and imperiused the Goblins outside, making them open the doors and close them after Filius and Minerva entered and then forget about the tiny episode. It was almost empty for most wizards were enjoying lunch.
Without missing a beat, Filius took out the secret potion and took off the tightly squeezed in stopper. The effects were instantaneous. Immediately the goblins, who looked up suspiciously at the empty doorway, and the few wizards became still and were asleep in the upright position.
"Mr. Goblin!" Minerva said in a very high pitched voice to a goblin at the counter after tapping his head twice with her wand as Severus instructed. The potion unfortunately wouldn't make the obliging goblin forget the major details of what happened and the next day, there was going to be a huge article at Gringotts. An obliviate charm would simply behave like the antidote.
The goblin opened his eyes and looked up blandly at Minerva who was invisible to him. It was decided to only let one person be heard.
"Show me the numbers of all the Pureblood vaults!"
Immediately the goblin turned a few pages of his register and turned it around so she could get a good look at it.
Minerva riffled through the pages with a few 'hem hems' and girlish giggles and as planned directed the goblin to escort them to two vaults prior to the Lestrange Vault. Together they climbed into a cart and sped down into the underground, past many vaults and sleeping dragons on the way.
Once they reached there, she blindfolded the goblin and walked him to the Lestrange Vault and made him open it.
The door melted away under his touch and she instructed him, "Now you stay there and don't move. Do not remove the blindfold and do nothing else."
Filius's eyes immediately fell onto the Hufflepuff Cup on the shelf.
With a floating charm he got himself to float up to the Cup, take it off the shelf, make a duplicate of it and place the copy onto the shelf.
Then using another charm, he got his feet back on the floor and pushed the cup into one of his cloak pocket on which he placed an undetectable extension charm.
Then the three of them climbed into the cart again and sped up and out of the darkness and once they reached their destination, Filius replaced the vial's stopper as Minerva ordered the goblin back to his seat. Then she turned the register around to its original position and asked him to return to the page he was on before she interrupted.
Then a second before they left through the doors that magically opened to let them out, Filius dropped the green coin onto the floor.
They hurried down the steps and back to the place where they had apparated to, just outside Madam Malkin's robe shop. Filius was caught by surprise as something huge and soft and invisible banged into him, making him tumble to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Filius." Minerva said grabbing hold of whatever banged into him.
"What is it?" he asked her as he picked himself off the ground.
"Severus's teddy bear for Joyce."
"It's huge." Filius squeaked as Minerva made the toy, seemingly taller than him and a little more than half as tall Minerva herself, visible to him.
"I noticed." Minerva said drily and with a parting laugh, Filius disapperated back to Hogwarts where he hurried back to his quarters and placed the Cup in his heavily protected cupboard.
With a sigh, he plonked himself on his comfortable little chair and heaved a sigh as the reality of the entire situation dawned onto him. He and Minerva had just robbed Gringotts, one of the most secure places in this world... in less than fifteen minutes!
He let out a laugh of relief and waited patiently for thirty minutes, after which Pomona, still disguised as him, entered with a pair of warm, fluffy, colourful socks and a wonderful, steaming hot lunch.
To be continued...