AN: Welcome to the next chapter!
We have something huge coming up!
At the same time, it is all slowly coming together now.
Therefore, as unfortunate as it sounds, the end of this FanFic is soon in plain sight…
Nevertheless, we have a few more chapters to go.
Enjoy!
The recognizable sections belong to JKR
Chapter 87
January 3rd, 1997
The ethereal form of Helena Ravenclaw disappeared through the wall and left Dumbledore and Harry standing in the empty corridor. Wow... A thousand thoughts were racing through the younger wizard's head. However, Harry also felt his anger rise.
How dare Tom Riddle make a mockery of Rowena Ravenclaw, by corrupting her precious item and having the audacity to use her brilliant creation to hide it from the world. The sheer audacity of the man had his blood boiling. He growled in anger.
"I am afraid, I am at a loss." Dumbledore spoke up next to him: "Perhaps you know what was meant by those very cryptic words, Harry?"
"I know where he hid it, and it is as brilliant as it is disrespectful." Harry growled, doing his best to control a magical outburst: "But it won't be easy. We will need help finding it."
He pulled out his mirror from within his robes...
Diagon Alley, London
After a long day at work, Fleur was ready to finally head to bed. Harry had mentioned that he would be busy tonight, trying to mend his relationship with Horace Slughorn. At first, Fleur had not understood, why her boyfriend was putting so much effort into something so trivial, but his explanation made sense.
The potions professor had excellent connections and he was certainly a man you would rather have on your side, instead of against you. In addition, the man had taught Voldemort and was the professor a young Tom Riddle trusted the most during his stay in the castle.
Fleur had wished Harry the best of luck and told him that she would simply call him in the morning before going to work. Therefore, she was surprised when her mirror beamed up at her bedside table...
"Harry?" Fleur asked curiously when her boyfriend's face appeared instead of her own reflections: "Is everything alright?"
The boy nodded grimly: "How quickly can you come to Hogwarts?"
"I was just getting ready for bed, my love." The Veela pouted.
"We found another one, Fleur." Harry replied with a serious expression: "And I believe we need your help locating it."
Fleur instantly shot up and walked to her closet to change her outfit. Her nightgown would hardly do for this occasion. She frowned momentarily: "You mentioned 'we', my love?"
"The headmaster is with me." Harry nodded. His face turned away and Fleur heard him addressing the professor: "Sir, would you mind waiting in front of your office while I pick up Fleur. Our journey will take us to the seventh floor anyways..."
"Of course, Harry." She heard Albus Dumbledore reply, though she could not see his face: "Actually, there is something I will have to pick up from my office anyway... I will meet you two up there."
"It should not take us too long. We will catch up with you right away" Harry replied and she heard him walking through the corridor.
"I am ready now." Fleur smiled as she looked at herself one last time in the mirror next to her wardrobe. With a flick of her wand, she pulled her hair up in a high ponytail, slipped into some shoes, and snatched the small gold coin from the drawer inside her night table.
"I will meet you down there, then," Harry replied and Fleur saw that he was already descending down the stairs into the Chamber of Secrets.
The Veela blew him a kiss and ended the connection. Holding the coin in her open palm, she spoke:
"Salazar's Quarters"
The next moment, she found herself in the Founder's study looking up at the sleeping Portrait of the man. Apparently, the sound of her arrival had not woken him up yet. Still, she decided that they could always tell him about the mission as soon as they were done. Fleur exited the room, to head over into the large main Chamber.
A few seconds after she arrived, her boyfriend already hurried over to her from the antechamber.
"Thank you for coming," Harry greeted her while engulfing her in his powerful arms.
Fleur sighed contently. Even though it had been less than a day since he last held her, she would never grow tired of feeling his warmth and strength whenever her body was pressed against his:
"Of course, my love." Fleur gave him a chaste kiss: "I assume it is something from Ravenclaw then? I find it unlikely that Voldemort hid his snake within the walls of the castle..."
Harry snorted as he took her hand and led her out of the chamber: "Unlikely indeed... I had been the right idea to mend the bridges to Slughorn, you won't believe what we just find out..."
Ten minutes later, the couple finished climbing the last staircase and found themselves on the seventh floor. Fleur had listened to the full story of learning about Helena Ravenclaw, how she stole the Diadem, told a young Tom Riddle about it and he hid it in its creator's own room.
"We have spent so much time in the room when preparing for the Tasks... and we never thought to check it, even though it is the perfect place to hide something of value..." Fleur sighed.
"I know right... where were naive to believe that a student as brilliant as Tom would have never found it." Harry nodded: "But it's going to be fine, we will find it now..."
They approached the headmaster's office and caught Dumbledore standing in front of the gargoyle with a large sword at his side... It took Harry a second to figure out why the man would take the ruby-encrusted sword with him. Then, he chuckled: "Goblin made..."
"Indeed, my boy." Dumbledore smiled as he turned towards them with the familiar twinkle in his eyes. "It's good to see you again in better condition, Ms. Delacour. May I ask, what do you know about Goblin-made steel?"
"It absorbs only what might strengthen it and repels anything else," Fleur answered. Her eyes flickered to Harry and widened in realization: "Is that the sword you killed the Basilisk with? In your second year?"
"That is exactly the sword." Harry nodded: "Together with our Sorting Hat, it is the only known relic of Godric Gryffindor."
"So, it is infused with Basilisk Venom." Fleur hummed in understanding.
"While I have no doubt that either of you would not struggle to control Fiendfyre, I thought a saver alternative could not hurt. After all, I have no idea where exactly you two are taking me tonight." Dumbledore explained his reasoning.
"You are going to enjoy this one, sir. trust me." Harry grinned as he let the trio down the corridor: "We are taking you to a beautifully proportioned room, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots, headmaster."
A peal of laughter escaped Fleur's lips at the memory of the headmaster describing the room during the Yule Ball: "Indeed, sir. And as you have guessed correctly back then, it may only appear when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."
Dumbledore looked like he did not know whether the teenagers were having him or not. Instead, he simply chuckled: "I am excited what you two have in store of me... I never managed to find the room again... Perhaps tonight another secret of this magnificent castle will reveal itself to me..."
Soon, they reached the stretch of wall beyond which the Room of Requirement was waiting to do the bidding of the next entrant. Harry closed his eyes:
I need the place where everything is hidden.
Harry wished of it inside his head, and the door dutifully materialized on his third run past.
"Headmaster, I present to you, the Come and Go Room, the Room of Requirements, or this case, The Room of Hidden Things..." Harry said as he pushed open the door.
"Incredible," Dumbledore whispered.
They entered and were standing in a room the size of a large cathedral, whose high windows were sending shafts of light down upon what looked like a city with towering walls, built of what Harry knew must be objects hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants. There were alleyways and roads bordered by teetering piles of broken and damaged furniture, stowed away, perhaps, to hide the evidence of mishandled magic, or else hidden by the castle's house-elves.
"So many hidden treasures..." The headmaster mused as he took a look around.
There were thousands and thousands of books, no doubt banned or graffitied or stolen. There were winged catapults and Fanged Frisbees, some still with enough life in them to hover halfheartedly over the mountains of other forbidden items; there were chipped bottles of congealed potions, hats, jewels, cloaks; there were what looked like dragon eggshells, corked bottles whose contents still shimmered evilly, several rusting swords, and a heavy, bloodstained axe.
"Okay..." Harry spoke up. "The Diadem could be anywhere. I suggest we split up and start walking down the aisles. Headmaster, you have your spell and might be able to recognize Tom's magical signature. Fleur, you are better than either of us at feeling dangerous and malicious magic. After all, that's how you found the Cup already. And I will attempt to use whatever link there is left to try and find a part of his soul, similar to the one that once tainted my own. Any questions?"
Dumbledore and Fleur both shook their heads, as each zipped their wand into their palms. They separated and started walking down a different aisle each.
Harry was hopeful that he could still sense the Horcrux. His connection to Voldemort might be severed, but his body had been the host for the Dark Lord's soul shard for over 15 years. Surely, Harry would feel the presence of his essence if he walked by closely enough...
With his eyes closed, he strolled down the aisle, holding out his hands to each side and feeling the magic in the air. It was a difficult task. The room was stuffed with the strangest magicks Harry had ever encountered. In addition, there was the dominating magical effect of the phenomenal room itself.
The magic of Rowena's creation was so powerful that it was difficult to shut out and focus on what else was there... Nevertheless, Voldemort's magical signature was so unique that it would only be a matter of time before they would finally find the item they came looking for.
Two aisles to his right, Albus Dumbledore took a stroll through the objects students had been hiding in this room for almost a millennium. He could not help but chuckle at the occasional sight of a prank item, piece of homework, or just everyday mundane stuff. This room was truly spectacular. Albus could not wait to explore its capabilities in more detail. The only question was: How did Harry open it?
He would have to ask the boy. Hopefully, he would share the secret with him. But for now, they had a mission to focus on. The Elderwand was held in his right hand and he was looking for clues of the magical signature of a former student of his...
In another aisle, Fleur Delacour was waving her unfailing rosewood wand in intrinsic patterns as she gracefully strode through the room. Being in contact with dangerous magical objects on a daily basis granted her an advantage over the other two wizards. She could easily fade out any of the weak ordinary residual magic around her, and instead, use her fine-tuned skill and senses to search for something truly sinister.
She was determined not to leave this room until they found what they came for. In addition, this was another opportunity to prove to Harry and herself, that she was a witch capable and worthy enough to stand by his side. Fleur Delacour would not fail...
Deep in concentration, Harry paced forward into one of the many alleyways between all this hidden treasure. He decided to turn right past an enormous stuffed troll when he finally caught something very vague... It was not much, and he lost the lead almost as quickly as he had found it, but he had definitely felt something.
If he was in close proximity to the Horcrux, it could not help to have the other join him and combine their efforts: "Guys, I felt something over. You should come and join me!" He called out and received short confirmations from both Dumbledore and Fleur.
The headmaster arrived, shortly followed by the Veela: "I think it has to be close. I felt something familiar but lost it soon after. Let's focus on this area and try to locate it..."
The others agreed and they all spread out once more. Intuitively, Harry made his way over to a large cupboard that seemed to have had acid thrown at its blistered surface.
The feeling got stronger... much stronger: "Guys I think it has to be close to here..." He called out excitedly.
Fleur's long legs quickly carried the Veela over to his position: "I feel it too. Something dark is hidden underneath all this plunder right around us. But it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location."
Just then, Dumbledore arrived and paused: "I know what you mean, Harry. I can sense it too, now..."
Harry walked next to the cupboard and the chipped bust of an ugly old warlock from on top of a nearby crate. He knew he was really close... In irritation, he swiped a dusty old wig away, when a faint glitter caught his eye. He carefully removed the wig and revealed what looked like an ancient, discolored tiara... Harry caught his breath...
"Guys, I think I found it!"
Dumbledore was instantly by his side, as was Fleur. Neither felt like touching the piece of jewelry, but both Fleur and Dumbledore quickly started performing their own diagnostic charms.
"I used the spells to identify the Cup." Fleur gulped heavily: "They confirm that it is indeed a Horcrux... But it is so beautiful."
Harry levitated the Diadem and made it slowly spin around its own axis as Fleur, Dumbledore and he regarded from all angles. Almost simultaneously, they caught the small engravings:
WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE
"Oh, Tom... What have you done..." Dumbledore sighed gravely.
"Whatever enchantments are on it, they won't survive the Basilisk Venom," Harry said after a minute of silence.
"It is a shame that we have to destroy such a priceless and unique object so shortly after rediscovering it." Dumbledore nodded.
"I can't even analyze the charms on it anymore." Fleur frowned: "He practically eroded them with his own magic... There is no way we can save it..."
"Who is going to do it then?" Dumbledore asked as he detached the Sword from his belt.
Harry shot Fleur a questioning look: "Well, I have destroyed a couple of them already and Fleur had destroyed the Cup. You helped us search for it headmaster, therefore I think it's only fair if you destroy it. After all, you have also invested considerable resources trying to find as much as possible about these items..."
"I would be honored, Harry..." Dumbledore smiled: "And I appreciate the trust you showed me when revealing this room to me. This will take us all one step closer..."
Harry nodded grimly and slowly levitated the Diadem to the ground, where it sat motionlessly. He took a step back and squeezed Fleur's hand as the old headmaster readied himself.
"One less obstacle, Tom..." The man hummed: "One less..."
He leveled the sword over his head brought it down with as much force as he could muster... The was a sharp sound as the metals collided. Then, they heard the faintest, most distant scream of pain, echoing not from the grounds or the castle, but from the thing that had just fragmented on the floor in front of them. The trio watched in awe as a bloodlike substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem.
"Most fascinating." Dumbledore mused as he regarded the item over his spectacles while attaching the sword back to his belt.
"It's done..." Harry said with finality: "Now there is only the Snake missing..."
"And the man himself," Fleur added as she tore her large blue eyes away from the destroyed piece of jewelry...
"We will get both of them..." Harry nodded and his eyes beamed ever so slightly: "Soon we will be rid of him forever..."
February 10th, 1997
A month has passed since the destruction of the last nonliving Horcrux. Since then, Harry and Fleur only found a few occasions to make plans for dealing with the two animals on their agenda: A Snake called Nagini and a certain little Ferret called Draco Malfoy... The reason for their lack of time was mostly due to Dumbledore taking Harry's training much more seriously than ever before.
The headmaster was pushing himself and Harry to the extreme, meeting him up three times a week and teaching the boy in complex forms of magic and advanced transfigurations that could actually be used in a duel. It seems that the destruction of another Horcrux had flipped a switch within the old wizard's mind and he finally realized that a confrontation, possibly even the final confrontation between Harry and Tom would soon take place, perhaps within the next year.
Voldemort had not been idle either. The frequency of attacks increased over the last months. However, the majority were simply small skirmishes, resulting in the Death Eaters killing a few random targets and disappearing before the Aurors could arrive. Voldemort showed his Slytherin traits. The man used his resources most efficiently and never risked losing a single follower.
Harry could not blame the man. The young wizard had killed a total of 16 people in his life so far. Two of them, Victor Krum and Dolores Umbridge had not been Death Eaters. The rest had all worn the Mark with the exception of Quirrell. Although Harry had not bothered to check back then.
Then there was Fleur, who had robbed the Dark Lord of a fair share of followers as well. The Veela had killed the entire MacNair family, Alecto Carrow and of course, the famous Bellatrix Lestrange... Truth be told, things did not look good within Voldemort's ranks. A few of his best fighters and the manpower he used to scare the general public within the second wizarding war, had been killed off.
The Dark Lord chose a different approach, therefore. Much more cunning... This tactic scared the public and Harry had the feeling that it was somehow part of a bigger scheme, perhaps to assess the response time of the Aurors? Every day, Harry was waiting for a bigger attack, on either Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, or perhaps even the castle, but Voldemort remained firmly in the shadows.
In any case, with his two Masteries, teaching the lower years, and frequent meetings with Dumbledore, Harry was, once more, glad that he had a time turner, otherwise his own studies or even physical workouts would come short. Unfortunately, some sacrifices had to be made. Fleur had reluctantly agreed that spending the entire weekend together was no longer possible. Harry missed her dearly, but luckily the Veela was understanding and instead usually visited her family or occupied her time with the few projects she was currently working on herself, like optimizing Augustus Rookwood's ward schemes...
In Addition, Harry had left Cloak with her, for the Veela to analyze it. As far as he knew. The Potter family had never produced any major Enchanters. Transfiguration was more along the line of skills and abilities the family could boast with.
It was therefore unlikely that within the last decade any member of the family had actually analyzed the Cloak and tried to understand as much about it as possible. Who knows, perhaps Fleur would discover something that had been missed. Something that would give them clue about the unique magic of the Hallows and perhaps even a way to replicate them or use them in other branches of magic.
Today, Harry would have another training session with Dumbledore. While the two wizards tried to keep their schedule as irregular and unpredictable as possible, the Sunday afternoon was one of the more frequent time slots they used. Harry and Dumbledore agreed that it was very important to not raise too much suspicion. If they became too predictable, one of the many spies, the Dark Lord currently had in the castle, might report valuable information back to his master.
"Thank you for meeting me once more, my boy." Dumbledore smiled as the teen entered his office: "I hope you are well. I have a lot planned for us today..."
"May I inquire as to what we are about to do?" Harry asked curiously. He noticed that Dumbledore wore his long traveling cloak and an unusually thick pair of boots. They would definitely not remain within these walls...
The headmaster chuckled: "There are many branches of magic I can teach you about. Transfiguration and Alchemy are my specialties as you might know. However, today, we are going to be studying something different... We are doing a field trip as the muggles say..."
With a flick of his wand, Harry transfigured his own school uniform to match the headmaster's attire: "Will we be apparating?"
"I am afraid the distance is a bit too long for that, Harry. I created a Portkey for us." Dumbledore nodded towards a single old head that was placed on the table beside him.
"The continent then?" Harry mused and increased the thickness of his socks. After all, Dumbledore looked like he had prepared for the worst weather possible.
"Exactly, Harry." The man smiled: "If you would hold on to the hat... I think we have about ten seconds left."
Harry lost no time and quickly attached a single finger to the top of the hat. A few moments later, the two wizards vanished...
A second later, after being squeezed through a tight tube, Harry breathed in fresh clear air. His eyes needed some time to get used to the brightness around him. Soon, he took in the breathtaking view. They stood at the edge of a cliff with magnificent mountain ridges covering them from all sides.
The view was phenomenal. Harry was forced to squint his eyes. As far as he could see, there was nothing but snow, sharp rocks and cliffs, and the occasional settlement of trees...
"The Alps, sir?" Harry asked curiously while applying a few warming charms on himself.
"Indeed Harry." Dumbledore nodded while taking a deep breath and smiling: "You find yourself standing in Austrian territory, looking at the edge of the German Alps. How insignificant and small we seem compared to their proportions, don't we?"
"May I ask what we are doing here, sir?" Harry asked once more: "We get more than enough fresh air up in Scotland and I was not expecting you to take me on a skiing trip or hiking..."
"Patience, Harry." The man chuckled: "And follow me."
Harry reluctantly followed the older wizard along a small path at the edge of the cliff. Below them lay a beautiful valley, with what seemed to be a small village, though Harry could not tell if it was a muggle or magical settlement.
"As I said." Dumbledore spoke up while the two stomped through the snowy trail: "Transfiguration and Alchemy are my fields of expertise. Luckily the former can be applied in a duel. However, the latter is pretty much useless in those circumstances. There are not many people in Britain with a more in-depth understanding of the Dark Arts than Professor Snape and me. Unfortunately, both our understandings are rather limited and specialized."
"Severus for example prefers the research of spells and curses. He occasionally invents them as well. I on the other hand consider myself rather knowledgeable when it comes to countering the Dark Arts. You see that we might complement each other's knowledge, but neither of us can compare to what Lord Voldemort will certainly apply during his next encounters with you... My ability to teach you in that field is therefore limited. So, I had to find someone who might do a better job than me..."
"That's sounds fine and plausible. But where exactly are we, headmaster?" Harry frowned.
"See for yourself, Harry..." Dumbledore nodded.
A few hundred meters ahead of them, right at the slope of the mountain, he saw a towering building, a grim fortress, jet-black, and forbidding. Whereas the castle of Hogwarts had a euphoric glow about it, this one looked unsympathetic, cold, and heartless. There was no light in its towers, no fancy decorative windows, and still, it radiated power, standing impregnable in strong contrast to the beautiful landscape surrounding it.
"What is this place?" Harry whispered.
"A place with a history not many people know anything about... Full of irony... It is currently used by the ICW. Welcome to Nurmengard, Harry," Dumbledore said without further explanation as he approached the small stone bridge leading to the other side of the cliff and the entrance of the castle.
Of all places, this had been probably the last one Harry had expected the headmaster to take him to this afternoon. Everything the man had shared within the last 30 minutes made sense now. Harry was about to meet a monster, perhaps on the same level of evil as Voldemort. Somewhere with the dark walls ahead of him, Europe's most notorious Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, was paying for his crimes in a lonely, cold cell.
A guard with the ICW crest on his black uniform greeted them in front of the gate and conversed with Dumbledore in German for a minute. Soon, they were allowed to pass.
"Careful, this might be a bit uncomfortable, Harry." The headmaster said as he took a step over the threshold and entered the castle.
Harry felt the powerful and very complex wards ahead of him. Fleur would get excited at the mere prospect, but it could hardly be that bad, could it? There should be no point in trying to harm any visitors after all... He shrugged and followed the headmaster.
The frown on his face quickly changed into a grimace of pain as he entered the fortress. The ward scheme of the castle, brutally overwhelmed him, pushing him to his knees and making him gasp for air. Next to him, Dumbledore panted heavily but recovered remarkably quickly. Perhaps he was used to this. After all, he had visited his Old Friend from the continent rather often...
"What the hell is this?" Harry gasped as he slowly rose back to his feet, slowly getting adjusted to the strange, foreign feeling. He survived the worst. Still, something felt wrong within his body.
"Gellert had built this prison to detain the most dangerous of his enemies. Dumbledore explained as he led Harry through different halls within the castle and up a staircase: "He had worked on this ward scheme for over a decade with experts from all over the world."
It is very unique and will probably never be replicated. The wards are powered by the magic of the people who enter the building. They feed off it to such a strong degree, that within here, you are practically a squib, robbed of all your magical abilities..."
"How is that possible?" Harry gulped as he flicked his wand in his palm and struggled to perform a simply Lumos charm.
"Well, he had a brilliant mind and worked on the layout for quite a while. It's rather impressive, don't you think." The man chuckled as he led Harry up a staircase.
Harry frowned. Being robbed of his magic felt wrong. He felt weak and helpless, however, he could not deny that it was a genius idea. The stronger the wizard, the more the wards would feed off them to suppress their abilities.
The pair reached the end of the spiral staircase and pushed open a trap door. Harry slowly took in the room. It looked less like a prison cell and more like a library. Stack upon stack of parchment was sprayed across the floor and desks and shelf.
However, his attention was drawn to the lonely figure in one corner of the room. The emaciated figure slowly rose from the bed behind the bars. The blue eyes open in a skull of a face. A shiver ran down Harry's spine as he recognized those eyes. The last time he saw them was in memory of Gregorovitch...
"Albus, it is you again..." The man's eyes beamed up and he spoke in German. Physically he might be frail, but his voice was clear and strong: "How nice of you to visit me once more... and you brought a guest. Today must be my lucky day..."
Something about the weak man in front of him, despite his age, screamed danger. His penetrating gaze turned towards Harry. Instinctively the boy strengthened his Occlumency shield, however, the expected probe never took place.
"No worries young man, no worries." The man addressed him in very good English, almost clear of any accent: "You have nothing to fear from me. We are all friends here are we not? All of us are so powerful... Magic is Might, after all. It must feel strange to be robbed of it, does it not...?"
"Gellert Grindelwald." Harry inclined his head ever so slightly in an attempt at a greeting.
"Harry James Potter." The man whispered. His aura was so different from Voldemort's. The threat was more subtle, not at obvious, but equally as frightening. Harry had faced dangerous men before, multiple times, but the one in front of him stood out. Gellert Grindelwald was like nothing he had encountered before...