Part IV: Revolution
Chapter XV: In Which Corinna Gets Caught Up
When Corinna first woke up, she was in that bedroom again with the burgundy canopied bed and brick walls. She lifted her head and expected to see the fireplace and two stuffed chairs. Instead, the room faded into bright sunlight with peach walls and light stained furniture. It took her a moment to remember she was far away from that manor. She was at Shell Cottage.
She was no longer kidnapped, but she was far from free.
Pain shot through her shoulder as she leaned her weight onto it, bringing the previous night into clear focus. She eased her weight off it and clutched her arm to her chest. Sometime in the night, her arm had freed itself from the sling. She did not think she had tossed and turned that much throughout the night, but she must have. She simply hoped that she did not disturb Harry too much.
Remembering Harry, she looked over at the other side of the bed. It was cold to the touch, with the covers pulled up in a way that was as neat as possible despite the fact that Corinna was still sleeping in it. She already missed his presence, almost craved it at this point.
Corinna carefully climbed out of the bed and noticed that her bag was sitting on the low dresser. It had all the same contents when Hermione snatched it up to put in her beaded bag. The only things that were taken from it were the potions and some of her clothes looked recently worn. She was okay with it. It was better that they were used instead of taking up precious space.
She grabbed a couple of vials and some new bandages, as both Uncle Ted and Aunt Andromeda had insisted on making sure they had necessary medical supplies, and carefully tore off her jumper. There was a gaping hole where the blade went through and then Bill had rip it open further to get to the wound. She tossed it aside to repair later. She figured it would be a good thing to test Draco's wand out with.
After cleaning and inspecting the wound at an odd angle through the mirror above the bed, she rewrapped it and put on a clean and hole-free jumper and a pair of jeans. Without really thinking about it, she took the wand she stole from Draco and put it in her pocket.
Once she had everything packed away again, she opened the door into the hallway, there were quite a few closed doors, but she peered down the hall to see light pouring in from the kitchen. There were very few voices, mostly someone clambering about. She hesitated by the threshold as she saw Dobby bustling about by the stove with numerous pans full of sizzling food and Fleur sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at an espresso cup as if used to the idea of a house-elf doing everything.
"Bonjour, Coreenna," said Fleur, lowering her cup to her saucer with delicate precision. "Comment allez-vous?"
Corinna did not have an answer for that question. She did not really know how she felt at the present moment beyond numb and overwhelmed.
Dobby hopped off the stool and pulled the nearest chair out. "Corinna Crouch saved Dobby's life. Dobby must thank Corinna Crouch."
"Dobby, I…" She was at a loss for words as to what to say. "It was nothing."
"Dobby owes everything to Corinna Crouch and Harry Potter," he continued as Corinna automatically sat down. Fleur gave her a look that said that she should just accept it. "Dobby made lots. Everyone has eaten. Dobby made it fresh for Corinna Crouch."
Guilt rose up within her. Sure, she grew up with a house-elf. Winky made all the meals and cleaned the entire house, but it felt off accepting it from someone like Dobby who prided his freedom even more than Winky prided her servitude. "Thanks, Dobby," she said automatically as the smell of bacon and sausage made her stomach curdle. The idea of eating made her want to be sick, but she managed to nibble on some toast so she didn't insult Dobby.
"Je suis ici pour parler," offered Fleur as she could see how uncomfortable Corinna was. "Personne ne connaît assez le français pour comprende ce que nous disons."
Corinna really appreciated the offer. But right then, she wasn't ready to talk, in French or otherwise. "Où est tout le monde?" she asked instead, wanting to know why they were the only ones in the kitchen.
Fleur explained, in French of course, how Dean went into the nearby village to make a phone call to his family to let them know he was alive and safe. Luna went with him as no one should go out alone in these times. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking with Ollivander. "Pourquoi, je ne sais pas," she added, emphasizing how little she knew of their situation. And Bill was talking with Griphook, despite the fact that he had not gotten much sleep as he had to run to the Burrow. Fleur mentioned how Harry, Ron, and Hermione expressed wanting to talk with him, but Griphook was not having it.
Corinna didn't know either. It has been months since they set out on their Horcrux journey, so she wasn't sure where they were in that or why they would need to talk to either Griphook or Ollivander. She had not only lost those few months she was in school, but at least those were somewhat productive. She lost those months simply trapped in that room with no end in sight. It took her uncle dying and her mother deciding to be jovial about it to get her out.
She shuddered to know what would have happened if she was stuck in that room when everything went down.
Corinna did not realize all she was doing was staring at her plate until she saw Fleur shift in her seat when Bill arrived. His scars had faded, but they still marred his once-handsome face. Corinna supposed they would add to the rugged charm. "How are you doing, Corinna?" he asked, and she was already sick of everyone asking her that. "We heard about Ted on Potterwatch. I'm so sorry."
She would have rather been stabbed again, it would be less painful. "Thanks," she mumbled, thinking she should know what to do by now when people say such things. Uncle Ted wasn't the first father she lost, but his loss hit harder than her father's and grandfather's, that was for certain.
"If you want to go home, we can arrange that," said Bill quickly and Dobby busied himself with making Bill a plate of food similar to Corinna's. "I'm sure that is all they want."
Corinna looked uncertain as she put her piece of toast down. The bit she took out of it was so small some might think it was still whole. "I don't know," she said honestly, slumping over on to the table as uncertainty all but crippled her.
"How's your shoulder doing, at least?" said Bill as he stood back up from the table. "I should change the dressings."
"I already did," she said miserably. "It'll be scarred over by tonight."
Bill sat back down, giving Corinna an annoyed look. "You took care of me when Greyback mauled me, the least you could do is let me return the favor."
She knew in her heart that he was joking with her, but she could not bring herself to rise to the bait, and he slumped back because of it. Fleur merely focused on her cup, relaxing back in her seat with a leg resting on Bill's lap.
"I didn't do that to be owed a favor," said Corinna softly.
"That's not what I'm implying," said Bill, giving Corinna a reassuring smile. She quickly looked away, slightly ashamed. "I appreciate everyday what you did for me, Corinna."
Color rose to Corinna's cheeks as she quickly picked up her tea to give herself something to do. "You're welcome," she said softly. She glanced over when Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the kitchen, giving her both relief and a shot of more anxiety.
Now that she was seeing him without the threat of death hanging over them, Corinna's heart seemed to jump from her chest. It has been months since she saw Harry, and he almost looked exactly the same as he had previously. He seemed to be skinnier, which seemed like an impossible feat all things considered, with his cheeks hallowed out and his stance unsure. The three of them seemed to collapse to the table, Harry sitting right next to Corinna.
Dobby was immediately on them, pushing the food that Corinna wasn't eating onto them. Both Ron and Hermione were gladly loading up plates, but Harry watched Corinna with worried eyes. "You should eat," she told him, which was not what she had imagined saying when she saw him again. Then again, what she wanted to say did not involve words at all. "You look like you would disappear if you turned to the side."
Harry let out a tense breath and shook his head. But it seemed Dobby was especially not going to let Harry walk away from the table without eating as well, as Dobby was personally loading a plate for him. "I missed you," he said softly.
Corinna opened her mouth but seemed to be at a loss for words. She suddenly felt very overwhelmed with what was going on. She wasn't sure if it was from being isolated for so long or who she was, but she wanted nothing more than to disappear. Her usual headache was building in the base of her skull as she turned away to focus on her cup of tea.
"Corinna, are you okay?"
"What?" She lifted her gaze and noticed how everyone was now staring at her. She slammed her teacup down, sloshing lukewarm tea onto the table. "I'm sorry, I…" She did not even give an excuse as she abruptly stood up from the table and rushed out of the kitchen.
She didn't stop until she made it outside, the salty sea air burning her lungs. The rush of waves was drowned out by the rush of blood in her ears as she sat unceremoniously onto the sand and hugged her knees to her chest. She didn't care that it pulled on the still-healing wound. The pain was a welcome reprieve. It helped focus her mind when all it wanted to do was succumb to the darkness ebbing away at her vision.
She didn't notice how much she was shaking until she tried to make her body still. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead into her knees, focusing on her breathing even if it seemed like her lungs weren't really taking anything in.
Someone sat down next to her, but she couldn't tell who it was, and she could not bring herself to open her eyes and turn her head to see who it was. They made no move to touch her or comfort her, which she was thankful for.
She did not know how long she sat there, but she eventually lifted her head and blinked to clear her eyes. Next to her, inches away but feeling like they were miles apart, was Harry. He sat in a similar way that Corinna did when Harry first lost his godfather: he had his arms draped over his knees as he looked over at the sea, waiting for her to make the first move. At the time, he didn't say anything, letting the silence fall between them until it grew too cold to be out by the lake any longer.
Except, now, they did not have the luxury of time. As Uncle Ted had said before he left and never got the chance to return: wizards have never found a way to make more time.
With a shuttering breath, she lowered her arms and let her knees fall to the sand. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, and sniffled loudly.
"Don't be," he said softly. Corinna could feel Harry's gaze on her, but she didn't move to meet it. "You have been through a lot."
"And you haven't?" she asked as she watched a bird peck at the shore. "What happened to you lot after…" She sighed heavily. "After I was quite literally pulled away from you." She finally looked over at Harry as she saw his lips twitch at the dark humor she automatically relegated to. "I know you were at Grimmauld Place and broke into the Ministry to get the real locket from Umbitch." Harry sniggered for a moment, but immediately sobered. "I got that much from Remus. But, after that, it seemed you all really fell off the radar."
It was Harry's turn to look away and look out at the sea. He toyed with the frayed edge of his jumper as he seemed to gather and organize his thoughts. Corinna let him take his time, knowing it must have been hard all these months on the run.
"Honestly? It was a lot of just staying on the move. Never staying in the same place for long before moving on and keeping the locket safe. Actually, we ran into Ted and Dean and their other companions." Corinna's heart twitched, but she let Harry keep going. "It's how we got news that Neville, Luna, and Ginny tried to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from Snape but failed. Griphook was there and talked about how they put a fake Sword in the Lestrange vault."
"So that's why she freaked out," said Corinna, putting the pieces together. "She thought you lot broke into the vault."
"Which makes us think that there is something very important in there that she doesn't want taken," said Harry.
Corinna slowly nodded. "You think it's one of the Horcruxes?"
He slowly nodded. "Which is why we need to talk to Griphook. We need to break into the Lestrange vault to grab it." He hesitated a moment. "The problem is, Griphook will only talk to you."
She turned her head sharply to look at Harry. "Me?" she said in surprise. "Why me? I didn't even know his name until Bill said it last night."
"Dobby won't shut up about how you saved his life, so word got around to him, I guess. He told Bill that the only kind of wizard worth dealing with was one that was willing to protect what others have deemed lesser."
"All I did was move in front of him when I saw Bellatrix throw that knife," Corinna muttered. "I didn't do anything that someone else wouldn't have done." She rolled her eyes when Harry gave her a look. "Okay, yes, I know others see house-elves and goblins as lesser, but others would have a different tune if they were practically raised by one like I was."
"Either way," said Harry. "But we would completely understand if you didn't want to help us."
Corinna's brows knitted together. "Why wouldn't I want to help? That was the plan in the first place."
Harry hesitated. "Well, you know, we figured you would want to go home, considering…"
Corinna nodded in understanding, so Harry didn't have to say it out loud. "There will be time for that once You-Know-Who is six feet under. Right now, getting that stupid horcrux is more important. Aunt Andromeda and Dora will understand." She swallowed thickly and screwed her eyes shut. "Uncle Ted would especially understand."
She looked away again. "How did you guys get the real Sword, if it is the real one?"
"It is," said Harry. "Honestly, I'm confused how myself. I followed a doe Patronus and it was at the bottom of a lake. I would have drowned if Ron hadn't come back and rescued me."
There was a lot to unpack from that, but Corinna seemed to focus on one aspect of it. "What do you mean 'come back'?"
Harry hesitated. It was his turn to look away. "Ron ran off sometime in October. The same night we ran into Dean and the others. He showed back up sometime after Christmas, and just in time, too. Just, don't mention it to him or Hermione. It's a bit of a sore spot for both of them."
Corinna nodded in understanding. "Kind of like how we probably shouldn't mention that Death Eater grabbing me?"
"I wanted to come back for you."
"That would have been stupid."
"That's what Hermione said."
They fell silent again as the bird seemed to get something it wanted and flew off inland. "Were things up at the school as bad as we heard?"
"Probably," said Corinna as she left it at that. She brought her knees up to her chest, hoping Harry would understand that she did not want to talk about it.
"Lupin mentioned how you, Ted, and Andromeda were tortured after we ran off," said Harry. A guilty look crossed his features as he refused to look over at Corinna. "And don't say it was nothing."
Corinna huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, well, it's not your fault," she said, knowing that was precisely what Harry thought of the whole thing. "They would take any excuse to hurt people. They would have done it whether you had run off or not. Hell, if you had stayed put, they probably would have killed us."
That did not seem to reassure Harry, so Corinna moved closer to him. Their shoulders were now touching. "Let's just agree that it happened and move on. We have more important things to do."
Harry still looked unsure of himself. He was someone who wore their heart on their sleeve, but it was hard for him to be willingly open about his thoughts and feelings. Corinna knew it was from years of neglect from the Dursleys. At least Corinna had Winky and Barty to turn to if she needed to rant about her "father." But right then, Corinna even had a hard time dealing with the turmoil within her. It was full of conflicting emotions that boiled just under the surface.
"Let's agree to talk about this later," suggested Corinna as she reached out and placed her hand on Harry's arm. Someday she'll tell him what happened at Malfoy Manor before he showed up. Someday she'll ask what really happened during the months they spent Horcrux hunting. Until then, they had a goblin that they needed to convince to help them break into a Gringotts vault.
Harry helped Corinna up from the sand and they shook out their clothes as they walked back up to Shell Cottage. In the light of day, she could tell how quaint and homely it was with the sun and sand faded façade with embedded shells. Given the squat nature of the building, she was surprised that someone like Fleur would have agreed to live in something so small, if Corinna was being perfectly honest.
Ron and Hermione were sitting on the sofa, leaving no space between them. Hermione still looked shaken from being tortured by Bellatrix, her skin ghostly pale and dark circles bruised her eyes. Ron enveloped her hands in his much larger ones to help bring comfort. Corinna was also having a hard time imagining Ron abandoning the two of them with how sweet and caring he was being to Hermione just then.
"You sticking around, then?" asked Ron when Hermione pulled away and abruptly stood up.
"Nothing's changed," said Corinna easily as Ron stood as well. He kept a hand on the small of Hermione's back, as if afraid to let go over her. That was when Corinna became keenly aware of Harry doing the same thing to her. If it wasn't for the fact that they haven't seen each other in months, she would have been annoyed. "And I'm sorry for calling you a Blood Traitor."
"Cauldron, kettle, I suppose," Ron mumbled with a shrug. "Hermione guessed you were pretending to be under the Imperius."
Corinna nodded in affirmation but did not offer any more of an explanation. "Okay, let's figure out a way to break into my family's vault, shall we?"
"I thought you weren't a Lestrange," said Ron as they headed down the hall towards the room Griphook was staying in.
"On paper, I technically am," said Corinna.
They all fell silent as Harry knocked on the door. There was a pregnant pause where Hermione and Ron exchanged worried glances before a shaky voice told them that they could enter.
The shades were drawn, leaving the room shrouded in almost complete darkness. It was impossible to tell the color of the walls or furniture, but it was easy to see Griphook as he sat up on the bed, still clutching the Sword of Gryffindor. The rubies on the hilt seemed to almost glow despite the shadows. They still shined when Ron firmly shut the door behind them.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," said Harry. "How are your legs?"
"Painful," Griphook replied, not looking up at those who just entered. "But mending."
Corinna stuck close to Harry, suddenly unsure of how to proceed from here. "You probably don't remember—" Harry began to say, but Griphook interrupted.
"—that I was the goblin who showed you to your vault, the first time you ever visited Gringotts? I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst goblins, you are very famous." When Griphook finally looked away from the Sword and up at the four of them, he wasn't looking at Harry. He looked right past him. "You," he said to Corinna and she kept her back straight. "You stepped in front of the knife, saving that elf's life."
"Yes," said Corinna.
Griphook's eyes narrowed as he seemed to study Corinna. "You are an unusual witch. Carina Lestrange, was it?"
Corinna did not let her annoyance outwardly show. "Yes," she decided to agree, hoping this was the right play. "Griphook, we need to ask—"
"You also rescued a goblin."
"What?"
"You brought me here. Saved me."
"That was Harry," said Corinna, picking and choosing which truths to impart. It might help to have more than one person in Griphook's good graces. Although she was only a novice at the language, she did learn a bit about their customs. They dislike witches and wizards as they felt that they should be equal. Corinna wasn't here to agree or disagree, but it might help their cause if they are seen acting as if those that society has deemed lesser were treated as equals in their eyes. "I was a little busy with a knife in my back."
Ron coughed, but he was most likely trying to hold back a laugh.
"Well, I take it you're not sorry," said Harry. Corinna could feel he was growing impatient with the stalled conversation.
"No, Harry Potter," said Griphook.
"Right," said Corinna. "Well, we need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to us." When Griphook remained silent, Corinna continued. "We need to break into a Gringotts vault." She figured just putting it out there was going to be the best course of action. Goblins tended to like things very straight forward. It was part of why they were so good at running Gringotts.
"Breaking into a Gringotts vault is impossible."
"No, it isn't," said Ron, and Corinna wanted to smack him in the shoulder to get him to shut up. "It's been done."
"Yeah," said Harry before Corinna could intervene. "The same day I first met you. My birthday. Seven years ago."
"The vault in question was empty at the time," snapped the goblin, which Corinna was afraid of. "Its protection was minimal."
"The vault we need to get into isn't empty, and I'm guessing its protection will be pretty powerful. It belongs to my parents. The Lestranges."
"And you are not on the list of those permitted to enter the vault?"
"We have a rocky relationship."
"You have no chance. No chance at all. If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours—"
"Thief, you have been warned, beware—yeah, I know, I remember," said Harry, just as flatly as Griphook. "We aren't trying to get any treasure. We aren't trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?"
The goblin still did not look at Harry, his focus still on Corinna. "If there was a witch of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain, it would be you, Carina Lestrange. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection or the respect that you have shown. Not from wand-carriers."
Harry, Ron, and Corinna looked confused, so Hermione interjected. "The right to carry a wand has long been contested between wizards and goblins," she explained. She might have cited examples from their school texts, but Ron interrupted.
"Well, goblins can do magic without wands."
"That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wandlore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"
"Well, goblins won't share any of their magic, either. You won't tell us how to make swords and armor the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never—"
"It doesn't matter," said Harry before things could escalate even further between Ron and Griphook. "This isn't about wizards versus goblins or any other sort of magical creature—"
Griphook gave a nasty laugh. "But it is, it is about precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are enslaved, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"
"We do!" said Hermione. "We protest. And I'm hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook. I'm a Mudblood."
"Don't call yourself—" Ron muttered.
"Why shouldn't I?" demanded Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! I've got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoy's! Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free? Did you know that we've wanted elves to be freed for years?" That was news to Corinna, but she let Hermione continue her rant. "You can't want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!"
Griphook extended the same curious glance that he had given Corinna earlier.
"What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault? The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one." He finally glanced over at Harry. "I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there."
"But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it? Perhaps you've seen the other things in there?"
"It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers."
Corinna thought about pointing out how she was a Lestrange and should technically know what was in her family's vault, but she bit her tongue as Griphook seemed to study the four of them. Sometimes less words were better than more.
"So young," he said after a long moment of silence, "to be fighting so many."
"Will you help us?" said Corinna, and she decided to change tactics and grovel a little. "We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance."
"I shall…think about it," said Griphook.
Ron looked as if he was ready to strangle the goblin, but Harry pulled him back and thanked Griphook as the three of them left the bedroom.
"Little git," whispered Ron once Hermione closed the door behind them, leaving Griphook in peace. "He's enjoying keeping us hanging."
"And he's going to keep going until he has a way to get something out of us," said Corinna. "He might appreciate that we are odd, as he put it, but he's still a git, as Ron aptly put."
"At least our talk with Ollivander earlier went better," said Harry as they gathered in the bedroom that Harry and Corinna shared last night. It surprised her that the thought didn't even phase her.
"What did you talk to him about?" asked Corinna as Hermione sat down on the bed, her limbs shaking slightly.
"Well, he told me my wand was beyond repair," said Harry.
"You broke your wand?" Corinna asked in alarm.
To answer her question, Harry pulled the two halves of what was once his holly and phoenix feather wand out of a pouch around his neck. Corinna's heart plummeted when she saw it. She remembered her own wand that she hadn't held in months and felt like a part of her was missing. She wouldn't be surprised if, after last night, Bellatrix had snapped her wand in half.
"But he was also able to identify Narcissa's and Bellatrix's wands as the ones we took," Harry added quickly as he shoved his wand halves back into the pouch.
"Fitting since she has mine," said Corinna as she pulled the wand out of her pocket. "I have Draco's."
"Since when did you start calling him that?" asked Ron.
"Since he's my cousin and who calls their cousin by their family name?"
"We asked him about wand ownership and what it takes to essentially win someone else's wand," Harry explained. "How did you get his wand if you didn't have yours on you?"
"I kicked him in the nads."
The three of them stared at Corinna and she merely shrugged. "I didn't have many options. I was wandless, outnumbered, and Hermione was being tortured. What the hell was I supposed to do?"
"You are now my new favorite person," said Ron
"Have you tried using it?" asked Harry. "Did it work for you?"
"I was able to use the body-bind curse on him," said Corinna, "and Levicorpus on Bellatrix."
"How do you know about that?" asked Ron. "I thought that was from Snape's book."
Corinna was immediately aware of how Hermione's eyes narrowed at her. "I may have taken the book back from where I hid it and read through it."
"Why would you do such a thing?" Hermione asked in a slightly shrill voice. "You know how dangerous that book is!"
"Well, it doesn't matter now because all my school things, including that book, are at Malfoy Manor, probably being burned in a pyre while my mother curses me to high heaven. I was stuck in a school run by Death Eaters. We needed all the information we could get just to survive that awful place."
Corinna stared at Hermione, who slowly seemed to understand the position that Corinna was in while at school. "I still think it was foolish."
"That I can also agree on," said Corinna. She turned to the others, tired of the discussion focusing on her. There were more important things at hand. "What else did you talk to Ollivander about?"
"You asked him questions about the Elder Wand," said Ron as he turned back to Harry. "Do you think You-Know-Who is still trying to get it?"
Corinna opened her mouth to ask what the Elder Wand was when Harry spoke up, a guilty look crossing his features. "You-Know-Who already has it."
"What?" demanded Ron, looking stricken. "I thought we were going to try to get it from Dumbledore's tomb."
"Okay, what the fu—"
"He wanted me to get the Horcruxes," said Harry firmly. "Hermione's right. He didn't want me to take it."
Corinna's headache was coming back as she tried to make sense of what they were talking about, but nothing seemed to be coming to her. She released a tense sigh as she looked over at Harry. "Okay, what are you lot talking about? I am still very much out of the loop here."
The three turned to look at Corinna and she resisted the urge to squirm under their gaze. "Do you know of 'The Tale of Three Brothers' from The Tales of Beedle the Bard?"
"Well, yeah," said Corinna as she carefully crossed her arms. She remembered the story of the three brothers who had survived death and were each given an object for fooling him. One brother was greedy and another learned that death was final, and ended up in Death's grasp anyway, with the third brother being the only one who was able to trick Death and actually live a long life. "What of it?"
Harry hesitated a moment, especially at Hermione's unreadable gaze. "Well, there's a chance that some of it might be real."
By the end of their explanation, Corinna was able to sum up how there was an all-powerful wand that Voldemort was now in possession of. All Corinna really fully grasped about the situation was that they were screwed either way.
"And you just let You-Know-Who take it?" Ron demanded when the reality of the situation slowly caught up to them. "What if Dumbledore wanted you to work out that symbol so you could take possession of it?"
"He would have needed to break into Dumbledore's grave in order to get it," Hermione reminded. She was slumping more and more as they talked, still exhausted. "He never would have expected that, and Harry would never have gone through with it. Quite frankly, even though I have a hard time believing that thing is real, it is still vile and evil."
"But it's just a wand, at the end of the day." Maybe since she was still trying to catch up on what was going on, she saw things differently. "Something like a wand isn't inherently evil. It is just a tool for someone who has potential to be either good or evil to use."
"Either way, he has it," said Harry, clearly frustrated. Whether it was outwardly with his friends or inwardly with himself, Corinna couldn't tell. "That much we can't change. Right now, we need to find a way to break into that vault."
"Why do we even need Griphook to do it?" asked Ron. "We have a Lestrange right here."
"You need more than a name to access a vault, especially a vault owned by the Lestranges," said Corinna, absently rubbing her shoulder. "I can't just waltz into Gringotts right now and say I want access. There are still protocols in place."
"Which is why we need Griphook," said Harry with a sense of finality.