The horcrux was more energised than the other they had encountered, perhaps because it had been nearer the living for longer but he could feel it plucking at his occlumency shields. There had been mentions of horcruxes defending themselves in what he had read but this one was struggling, it seemed. In fact, there had been accounts of horcruxes entirely possessing someone until they drained enough life force to take form again. It really was rather interesting, but it appeared even basic occlumency was enough to defend oneself. He wondered if with even more exposure to the living it would become stronger. Perhaps a school wasn't the best place to experiment.
He followed Hermione's lead up to the castle, her afternoon with the boys forgotten. Not that that seemed to matter, because it seemed the two boys had also forgotten about the meeting and were hurrying back to the castle, muttering about Mundungus Fletcher.
They caught up to them, and Harry quickly informed them that they'd caught Mundungus stealing from the Black household. He claimed they were on their way to inform Sirius and see if they could persuade Dumbledore to exercise more control over the crook. Gellert laughed because Albus couldn't control anybody.
The sounds of an argument drifted down the road, two girls getting louder and shriller with every passing moment. They rounded the corner, and saw Bell holding a package. Her friend tried to snatch it out of her hands, there was a harsh sound of tearing paper and suddenly Bell rose up into the air. It was graceful, her arms outstretched as though she were an angel, then suddenly she screamed and screamed and screamed. The four students seemed frozen in shock, but Gellert could see something green glinting on the ground which confirmed his suspicions. He'd heard of them, rare cursed necklaces, his family even owned one but he'd never seen one with an effect like this.
He waved his wand, a slash of red light dropping the screaming girl to the ground.
'Stay back!' He bellowed to the students, who all halted their approach and scuttled backwards. Bell thrashed, still screaming with her eyes jerking from side to side as though she was trapped in a terrible vision. He concentrated fiercely, waving the death stick again and a jet of purple light engulfed Bell. Her screaming cut off suddenly, the surroundings surreally silent after the noise.
Hagrid dashed around the corner with a thunder of footsteps, a brace of pheasants swinging around his neck.
'What's goin' on here!' He bellowed, taking in the Gellert standing over Bell.
'Hagrid, please take Bell up to Hogwarts, inform Madam Pomfrey that she will need to go to St. Mungos immediately.' Gellert ordered, ignoring the suspicious glare from the groundskeeper. 'Ron, run ahead and let her know that Hagrid is coming.'
Hagrid obliged, picking up Bell. The petrification curse had done it's work, freezing her solidly into the position she had been in, head contorted to one side and one arm in a position that was almost definitely dislocated. However, as essentially a lump of stone she was an inanimate object and therefore the curse could not continue its work. It was dark, dark magic, but still a curse he found terribly misunderstood, petrification could be lifesaving in many cases.
With the half giant gone, Ron sprinting ahead with adrenaline fuelled speed, Gellert finally turned to the cause of this. It was an opal necklace, although the gem stones had little influence on the value. The Grindelwald family's had only a single ruby but it could drain the magical power of the victim, this one was far more ornate and he still didn't understand the exact purpose of it; some terrible torture, perhaps deadly if left too long. Then again, the British wizarding aristocracy had never been quite so deadly in their conflicts as the Europeans, so it could have just been a terrible torture tool.
He cast several simple diagnostic charms, unsurprised to receive no results. These necklaces were designed to be undetectable. He would have to cajole Hermione into brewing him a potion, he was certain she would be happy to learn it.
'This is a curse necklace, one of many in the world.' He told the watching students. 'It seems relatively inane, compared to those I have heard of before but none of them are a laughing matter. Where did Bell get this from?' He turned to the friend, a Hufflepuff.
'She came back from the toilet with it.' She said, twisting her hands in her robes. 'She insisted she had to deliver it to someone at Hogwarts... oh, oh and she was acting funny. I bet she was under the imperius and I didn't even realise!' He gave her a withering glare, earning a scowl from Hermione for his lack of sympathy. Of course the Bell girl was under the imperius, did the Hufflepuff live under a rock. Unusual actions were always to be treated suspiciously, especially when there was a war on.
'Harry, take her to the hospital wing for a calming draught. Hermione and I will take the necklace to Dumbledore.' He decided, removing his outer robe and using it to wrap the necklace carefully as he picked it up.
They hurried to the school, Harry and Hufflepuff following behind them at a slower pace. It was bitterly cold but he been through worse in Nurmengard, never the less he was glad when they reached the castle.
St. Mungo's healers were already in the hospital wing when they arrived, examining Bell. The same healer that had tended Hermione last year approached him as soon as they entered.
'Mr Grindelwald, the boy had described what happened but I hope you might have something to add?' He said calmly without even a waver in his voice. He was a very competent man and Gellert seriously considered the advantages of recruiting him to his network.
He briefly described the necklace and the actions he had taken, the healer nodding in approval when he described the petrification. He was certainly a man worth recruiting with that attitude, he would do what needed to be done. Eventually, the man deferred the testing of the necklace to him with the assumption that he had more experience, and handed over his business card if Gellert needed any assistance. The petrified Bell was taken to St. Mungos, and Gellert was left alone with the students and teachers.
He would have to report to Dumbledore, probably complete lots of paperwork and examining this necklace looked like it would be a long, boring task. At least it would be a learning opportunity for Hermione. Before that though, he deserved a hot chocolate in the kitchens, and he would venture a guess that the other students could do with one too.
'Ron, Harry, Hermione, come with me please.' He requested, leading them from the healers wing.
'It was Malfoy!' Harry decided as soon as they had left the wing. The other two gave enduring sighs as though they had had this debate frequently. Gellert knew for a fact that Malfoy had been in detention with McGonagall all day and that the boy was certainly not trying to sneak cursed necklaces into the castle, but Harry's wild theory would only be interesting to listen to.
'That is a serious accusation. What makes you think that?' He asked mildly, ignoring the incredulous glare from Ron.
'He's a death eater! He must have signed up over summer and he's been told to get to someone in Hogwarts.' He nodded, Harry was right, but Gellert had deactivated the tracking spells in Draco's mark weeks ago. This was not an act committed by Draco, but there was a high chance another student had been given his task instead.
'And who was he getting to? Me? Albus? You perhaps?' He questioned, as Harry ranted on. It was interesting that he had formed this opinion with absolutely no evidence, unless one counted a childish brag that he was fairly certain was misinterpreted anyway.
His question gave Harry pause, because he had managed to identify the necklace within seconds, so there was no chance he would have fallen for it, Albus was likely of the same expertise in Harry's mind, although Gellert suspected his friend had never seen a cursed necklace before. Which left Harry, but apparently Bell had been in the three broomsticks with them and if she'd been sent to give it to him, why wouldn't she have just done it then? He could see the same reasoning clicking into place in Harry's mind.
'Slughorn.' He finally said decisively. 'Dumbledore said he would be a target.'
Gellert sighed. It appeared that Harry was determined to not think things through.