A/N: Sorry for the long time since my last update, I've had writer's block! I think I know where I'm going with this now though, so (hopefully) it won't take a few weeks for the next update! Review and enjoy!
The morning following Sirius's confessions was a Monday, and Harry planned to begin the Defense Club meetings that week, on top of his own private lesson with Dumbledore that evening. Though Harry had been excited about his first Order mission over the summer, the tension with Ron hadn't quite gone away from the prefect party, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to leading the group with him. Things had, in fact, been so awkward between the two that Harry often took to spending time in Sirius's quarters or in the library with Hermione to avoid his other friend.
Sirius and Remus had been having their own problems as well, both concerning the horcruxes and how they would handle the situation if Harry turned out to be one. It was with this idea in mind that Dumbledore set up a time for them to meet the coming weekend and continue on the search for the deadly objects.
In the meantime, classes continued on for that day as planned. The students were happy to have Sirius back and were relieved to see that the rumors of him being ripped apart by a giant were only partially true.
"Now, I know this isn't Defense class, but charms can be very useful in a duel - there are charms that won't bring substantial harm to the victim, but will buy you precious time to either escape or retaliate with something more brutal. I would like a volunteer to help demonstrate this idea in a mock duel - not to worry, I won't use anything harmful." Sirius added at the end with a smirk, seeing his fifth year class's worried faces.
A few Gryffindor girl's hands shot in the air, but Sirius had other plans. "Mr. Potter, if you will," he said, motioning for Harry to come up and join him.
Harry rolled his eyes, but stood nonetheless and walked to the front of the room. Sirius and him stood about ten feet apart, and Sirius gave him a small wink before turning back to the class. "Now, I'm going to have Mr. Potter attack me, and then I'm going to use a charm to buy myself time. Typically after you do this, you would want to follow up with another spell or run, but since this is just practice I want to demonstrate the idea. Ready, Mr. Potter?"
Harry nodded and prepared himself. Sirius had been training with him all summer, so he felt fairly confident he would be able to read his father's movements; however, he didn't want to mess up the demonstration.
"Attack me, okay? Nothing too crazy now… 1, 2-" Sirius began, but was immediately cut off by stunner being sent his way. Taken aback, he blocked the stunner, then shouted "Rictumsempra!" Harry immediately doubled over with laughter when the tickling spell hit him - he had been expecting a more difficult charm than one they had learned in second year.
Sirius left the charm on his son, a smug grin playing on his features - he wasn't mad that Harry started without letting him finish the countdown, but this would show him not to try and make a fool of his father in a public place. "So that is something, I believe, you all learned in second year, but it can be easily used to your advantage if you have accuracy when firing it. I now have time to run, fire another spell, or make fun of my opponent without them being able to do anything. There are many-"
"Prof-Prof-Siri-" Harry choked out, trying to get past his laughter to tell his father to let up on the spell. Sirius wasn't having any of it though.
"Tut-tut, Mr. Potter. I'm trying to teach a lesson here," Sirius said with mock solemnity, causing the rest of the class to burst into laughter as well. He lifted the charm off of Harry, still sporting the smug smile, and motioned for him to sit back in his seat. Harry gave him, what he hoped, was a threatening glare, but did as he was told.
"As I was saying," Sirius said cheerfully, ignoring Harry's glare with ease, "There are many charms that you can use to fulfill this purpose. I'll list them up on the board, and I want you all to pair up and practice using them to your advantage. Again, use nothing more than weak stunners if you're on the offensive, I don't want any of you to go to the hospital wing - I've been in there all week and I can tell you, it's not fun. However," Sirius added as the students paired off and went to separate ends of the room, "If you have the desire to try out more difficult defense spells, I believe there is a defense club starting up tomorrow evening. I suggest you all attend, and talk to Mr. Potter about it if you have any questions."
Harry blushed as multiple girls looked at him and giggled. Sirius smirked to himself as he noticed his son's blush, knowing that he wouldn't have a happy boy in his quarters for dinner that evening. He decided it was worth it when Harry got hit with another tickling spell by Hermione, due to him not paying attention because of his embarrassment.
When the lesson was over and everyone was moving onto their next classes, Harry stormed up to the front of the classroom. "Dad!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms and glaring at Sirius.
Sirius gave him a gentle smile and leaned back against the desk. "That's Professor Dad, to you."
Harry rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. "I'm glad to have you back from the giant attack, but I didn't realize you would try and prank me so quickly… and in front of everyone!"
Sirius walked over to his son and ruffled his hair. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder, kiddo. Now, Professor Moony won't be very happy if you don't get over to his class soon, so I suggest you get a move-on."
Harry chuckled and shook his head before standing up and walking out of the classroom, leaving a bemused Sirius in his wake.
"Good evening, Harry," Dumbledore said kindly as Harry stepped into his office.
"Good evening, professor," Harry returned politely, trying to ignore the rumbling in his stomach. Dumbledore wanted an earlier lesson for that evening, and it happened to run right through dinner. Sirius, of course, would have food prepared in his quarters afterward, but all the same, Harry's body was on a schedule.
Dumbledore smiled and motioned for Harry to sit down across from him. Once he had taken his place, Dumbledore began to speak. "When we last met, we were interrupted, but I was going to show you a clue I had on Tom Riddle's history - his parents and ancestry. Since then, I have discovered more convincing evidence of this, and have made plans with Sirius and Remus to locate a family artifact that I believe to be a horcrux. I'll tell you more about that in a moment, but I want you to know the only reason I didn't ask you to accompany me on this trip is because I believe you will be needed her for the first quidditch match of the season. You have proven yourself very capable in the last year, Harry."
Harry nodded, flushing slightly at the compliment, then listened as the professor continued. "As I told you before, I believe Voldemort made seven horcruxes, and thus far we have destroyed two, and possibly three after this weekend. That leaves four others, and I believe they are connected to the Hogwarts Houses, but again, I'll explain that in a moment."
"Instead of making you look at the memory in the pensieve again, I'm just going to explain Riddle's family history to you. He comes from a line of muggles on his father's side, the Riddle's; his wizarding ancestry, however, is most noble, as you discovered your second year. He is a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin from the Gaunts. Merope, Voldemort's mother, was one of two children of the Gaunt family - her father believed her to be a squib, and didn't place much of his attention upon her. He was actually rather cruel to her, since she fancied a muggle boy in the neighboring town. I'm sure you can guess who that muggle boy was, Harry." Dumbledore said, piercing the boy with his light blue gaze.
"Tom Riddle Sr., sir," Harry mumbled, earning a nod from Dumbledore.
"Precisely - however, he did not know she even existed." Dumbledore returned.
"Then, how did they have a child?" Harry asked, confused.
"That is, I believe, most important in explaining why Voldemort is the way he is now." Dumbledore said quietly. "You see, Merope's brother and father were arrested and sent to Azkaban for crimes against muggles, and they left her alone in their house. Knowing that her father would be furious if he found out, she took his absence to her advantage and created a love potion to give to Tom Riddle Sr. He took it and they lived together for a short amount of time - soon, Merope Gaunt was expecting. I don't know whether she felt guilty about drugging her love, or perhaps she believed that he had been under the potion long enough that he would love her unconditionally. Whatever, her thought process, she took him off of the potion and he left her immediately. Soon, her father returned from Azkaban and disowned her in his anger. She had nowhere to go, and not long after giving birth to Tom, she died from an illness. Young Tom grew up in the orphanage I showed you during our last lesson, unable to love or show kindness to anyone." Dumbledore finished solemnly.
"So… he was unable to love because…" Harry started quietly, thinking about all he had just heard.
"Because he was conceived under a love potion." Dumbledore finished for him, nodding. "So that's why you're able to deceive him so easily - you possess within yourself what he is incapable of understanding. You can love so deeply - your mother ensured that when she died for you."
Harry nodded, and thought for a few more moments. "Sir, that is interesting, but what does that have to do with the horcruxes?"
"Ah, I'm getting to that. I believe that Merope and her family had a ring - a symbol of their ancestry, that Voldemort turned into a horcrux. It would be found in the house that Merope grew up in - it has long been uninhabited, so I plan to take Sirius and Remus there to help me find it. If we find it and destroy it, that means that we have gotten rid of three total, which leaves four others." Dumbledore said confidently.
"What do you think they are?" Harry asked, trying to figure out where he fit into the whole picture.
"I believe," Dumbledore started carefully, looking slightly anxious, "that Voldemort wanted a few things relating to the different Hogwarts houses. The locket was an artifact of Salazar Slytherin, as you discovered. I don't believe he ever managed to get a Gryffindor artifact, but I do think he had something of Ravenclaw and something of Hufflepuff. I also think his snake is one… as for the last one, I have suspicions, but we aren't sure yet." He finished vaguely.
Harry nodded, though he was tempted to press farther into the suspicions. "So what would you like for me to do, sir?"
"I want you to continue teaching your defense lessons and training with Sirius - these things will prove to be vital in time. I also would like for you to do some research among your fellow students, and discover what artifacts are of vital importance of the different houses. Maybe talk among the house ghosts too. I have my suspicions on what these might be as well, and if there is any chance that these artifacts are still in the school, I would like to get rid of them as soon as possible. I think Rowena Ravenclaw had a diadem, and in my mind, this would be appealing to Voldemort. Helga, I'm afraid, I'm less sure of - again, that's where you come in." Dumbledore said, the twinkle returning to his eyes.
Harry nodded and stood to leave, but Dumbledore motioned for him to stay a little longer. "One more thing, Harry. Please be careful when out in Hogsmeade - there are still Death Eaters hiding among the ministry. Malfoy, for example, still holds his prestigious post, despite Cornelius being fired. He's one of Voldemort's spies in the government. If he plays his cards right, he could get to you very easily. Be on the lookout, okay?"
Harry was extremely unsettled by Dumbledore's revelation, but nodded nonetheless and made his departure. He had promised his father he would return to his quarters after the lesson and update him on what he had learned, so he made his way towards the charm's corridor.
When he walked into Sirius's quarters, he plopped down at the table and called out for his godfather.
"Coming!" Sirius yelled from his bedroom. Harry shrugged and dug into the food that had magically appeared in front of him, now starving.
Remus and Sirius both emerged from his bedroom a few minutes later, and Harry's raised his eyebrows at them, surprised.
Sirius barked a laugh and ruffled his son's hair as he moved to sit beside him at the table. "Hey now, it's not what you're thinking. Remus was trimming my hair."
"Trying to make the old dog look less scruffy," Remus said light-heartedly, sitting down on Harry's other side and digging into his plate of food.
"Er- Okay, sure." Harry said, shaking his head and continuing to eat.
"Anyway, how was your lesson with Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.
"It was… interesting. He wants me to look into important artifacts of the different Hogwarts houses. He thinks there might be a chance Voldemort turned those into horcruxes and perhaps they're still in the school too. He also thinks his snake is a horcrux, the one I saw in my dreams last year? He says he has suspicions about the last one too, but he wouldn't tell me. Do you two know anything?" He asked, turning to look at his father, who was now coughing on the food he had just eaten.
While Sirius composed himself, Remus took over. "Dumbledore isn't really sure about the last horcrux, Harry, so that's probably why he isn't telling anyone. The others are pretty obvious really - the man was obsessed with Hogwarts and pureblood heritage, of course he would want prestigious artifacts from the different houses. The snake is also fairly obvious, so was the Slytherin locket and the family heirloom ring. The diary… well, we know it's a horcrux now, but it was a strange one. The last one could be equally as strange, so that's why he's probably keeping it to himself for now."
Harry nodded, satisfied with his answer, but Sirius still looked distressed. "What's wrong, dad?" Harry asked, concerned.
Sirius perked up, as if not realizing that he had been looking downcast. "Oh, nothing. Just talk of all these terrible things at dinner. Why don't you tell Moony about how I pranked you in class today?"
Harry rolled his eyes and soon, the mood was much lighter, but the "unknown" horcrux was still weighing heavily on Sirius and Remus - soon enough the time would come to know whether the theory was true or not, and neither were ready for that day.
