Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the wonderful wizarding world and all credit must be given to Ms. JK Rowling, however, anything unrecognisable is of my own creation.

Chapter 41: The Gaunt Estate

We arrived outside of Dumbledore's office, soberly climbing the spiral staircase. I haven't been looking forward to this evening. Reaching Albus's office door, Sirius took hold of my hand, stopping me. I glanced towards him as he removed his Black Family ring, slipping it onto my finger. The ring readjusted in size.

"Why?" I asked.

"It designed to absorb residual dark energy, remember." He said, "I want you to wear it." I didn't know what to say, and Sirius didn't give me chance because he knocked on Albus's door. The door opened on its own. We entered to find Albus waiting.

"Evening," he greeted. We all sat down to discuss tonight's plan. We have gone through this plan several times this week, and had training with Albus, to ensure we could cast the spells that were required from us. We are side-by apparating to the Gaunt estate, then we'd breaking the wards, before carefully traversing the ruins and avoiding any traps. Saying it out loud made it sound easy. It wasn't going to be easy.

Arriving outside the Gaunt estate, I could feel just how barren and cold it was. The area surrounding the estate was devoid of all hope, and there's an unsettling atmosphere, which I instantly associated with dark magic. The estate itself, is in a state of disrepair; the ruins are clocked in ivy and a series of protective wards. We carefully walked around the perimeter, looking for the point at which these wards were cast. Albus walked clockwise, whilst Sirius and I walked counterclockwise.

"These are strong wards," Sirius whispered. I nodded in agreement.

"Lumos," I mumbled. The sun's beginning to set, so soon we'd have to completely rely on the light from our wands. "There's an abnormality coming up," I said. Abnormalities in wards are usually associated with their source; they're typically the weakest points

Sirius nodded, "I see it." We approached the abnormality slowly; in case it was a trap. Sirius mumbled the spell to reveal the ward's source, whilst I cast a red spark to alert Albus. "The wards must be holding back a lot of dark energy," Sirius commented. I'd come to the same conclusion, because right now the levels of dark energy are manageable.

"We should prepare for quite a wave when Albus breaks the wards," I said. Sirius nodded, though I could tell he was concentrating on keeping the ward's source exposed. Albus arrived a few minutes later, meaning Sirius and I stood back as he began the long task of dismantling the wards. Sirius and I are responsible for keeping an eye on the wards to ensure there's no unexpected reactions to our presence. The atmosphere is quite tense and there's a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The wave of dark energy was quite overwhelming as Albus finally broke through the wards. I took a deep breath, though it probably sounded more like a gasp. I could feel the dark energy wrapping around my mind. I shook my head to clear it.

"You alright, Mynee?" Sirius whispered. I nodded. The dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach had increased in intensity. Sirius squeezed my hand, leading me forward. I focused on the training that Professor Cullen had given us. We walked a couple of meters behind Albus, with our wands held out. Albus cast lumos, throwing the light into the air. The ball of light illuminated the grounds of the estate. He gestured for us to stop after a few meters.

"Follow the path I take exactly," he said. Sirius and I nodded, continuing to follow him carefully, in single file. I could feel the familiar dark energy headache starting as we continued across the grounds. Sirius had slowed to a dawdle, which was something I noticed always happened after our training sessions. We'd continued holding hands, even though we're walking in single file. I squeezed Sirius's hand.

"I'm alright," he insisted. We eventually made it to the entrance. Albus glanced up at the large wooden doors.

"There's a protective spell on the doorway," he said, "it's quite a nasty trap. I will need you both cast shield charm to block any shrapnel." Sirius and I nodded, before cast the physical shield charm. Once these shields were in place, Albus gently disarmed the trap. I flinched as the trap exploded. I could feel the debris making contact with the shield that Sirius and I had cast. It definitely would've killed anyone who wasn't prepared. A few moments passed, before we stepped over the threshold into the ruins. There's definitely a higher level of dark energy inside. I subconsciously grabbed hold of Sirius's hand again. He squeezed my hand, which made my stomach settle. I squeezed his in return. My head is pounding. We followed Albus into the first room to find the remains of a reception room. The ceiling had collapsed at some point, so you could look up into the room above. There's a hole in the roof. There was an unsettling silence.

"The neighbors said they heard shouting," Albus commented, "before there was silence and then the house burst into flames." I could tell there'd been a fire; ever surface is scorched. "Took the magical reversal squad fourteen days to put out the fire." We continued through to a dining room and then the kitchen. Albus signaled for us to stop as we reached the second reception room.

"Another trap?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Mr. Black," Albus replied, "can you see it?"

Sirius nodded, "I can feel it, above the doorframe." Albus told us to step back. I watched as Albus safety triggered the trap. There was a bright flash of light, followed by rumble falling from the ceiling. Albus then cautiously stepped into the room. Sirius and I followed slowly.

Inside the room, a skeleton was sitting in a worn-out armchair.

"Is that Tom Riddle Sr?" Sirius asked.

"No," Albus began, "I believe this may just be an unfortunate individual, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Albus walked forward to inspect the skeleton. Sirius moved further into the room after Albus. I stayed back to observe the full room. "The ring," Albus said after a moment. Sirius and I glanced towards the skeleton as Albus held up the arm, before carefully removing the ring. I could tell something wasn't right as Albus froze. He stared at the ring for a moment too long, before rolling it between his fingers. I couldn't believe my eyes as he went to place the ring on his finger.

"No!" I yelled, casting expelliarmus to expel the ring from his hands. Sirius kicked the ring further away as Albus stared at me. He seemed speechless for a moment.

"Thank you,' Albus eventually mumbled. I have never seen Albus embarrassed, but I could tell that he was ashamed of his actions. "Destroy it, Miss. Granger," he continued. We'd brought the sword of Gryffindor with us, although we weren't planning on destroying any of the horcruxes, until we had obtained them all. "It must be destroyed," Albus insisted. I shared a glance with Sirius, who seemed to think for a moment, before nodding. I pulled the sword from my beaded purse, wandering across the room to where the ring now lay. I paused for a moment. I could feel a focus, something compelling me not to destroy it. Could horcruxes fight back? I swung the sword, cracking the ring in two. There was an almighty clatter and rumble. The building around us began shaking. Albus and Sirius threw up scaffolding charms, whilst I crouched down to scoop up the remains of the ring. I hurried over to Albus. He grabbed mine and Sirius's hands, before apparating.

We reappeared in Albus's office.

"What the hell?!" Sirius blurted out. Albus flinched. I pulled the remains of the ring from my pocket; all that was left was the stone. I turned the stone over in my hands. The stone's black with a strange symbol etched into it; the symbol is rather familiar, but I can't remember why.

"Did you read The Tale of the Three Brothers, Miss. Grange?" Albus asked. I glanced towards him.

"Yes," I replied. I could tell that Albus hadn't quite gotten over his foolish behaviour. That's were I've seen the symbol. Someone had doodled it, in that copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

"The artifacts from that story are collectively known as the Deathly Hallows," Albus continued, "many individuals believe that story to be true."

"You're telling me this is the resurrection stone?" I said.

"Possibly," Albus said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sirius said, "the Hallows are frictional… magic can't bring back the dead."

"That may be, Mr. Black." Albus said, "but please take that stone, Miss. Granger. Hide it away, somewhere it can never be found." I glanced toward Sirius, who just shrugged. I slipped the stone back into my pocket. I would dispose of it in the Black Lake tomorrow.