After reading the parchment that identified all the Horcruxes, Harry stepped closer to the tables with the devices displayed. The crowns were made of gold and jewels. There was one plain belt buckle, one necklace, and a few weapons that had been used. The teenager went back to the bust of the queen of Egypt and said, "Hello, Cleopatra."
Behind him, a voice replied, "Hello, Harry Potter."
The boy leaped in the air, spinning around, and dropping into a crouch with his wand in his hand. The lovely voice simply giggled and then laughed aloud.
Begin Here &&Harry found himself facing a woman dressed in old-fashioned,brown robes of brown color with the Hogwarts emblem stitched into the panels of her skirt and on both sleeves. Her hair was braided and hanging down her back.
"Uh, you don't look like the bust."
"Good. That's because I'm not Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt."
Remembering his manners, Harry bowed his head and said, "Like you said, I'm Harry Potter. Who are you? If I can ask…"
"I'm not anyone you have seen before, but you have talked to me many times," the woman replied. "I'm Hogwarts – I'm the spirit that was born when the founders worked their magic to protect this spot from people without magic and from magical people who want to harm others. Their intentions were good, and they built a school where everyone could learn without prejudice."
Harry turned back to the Horcruxes, pointed at them, and asked, "So, it's okay that they made these things and left them here?"
"I believe the modern expression is 'the cost of doing business'. Helga, as Cleopatra wanted everyone to call her then, and Godric were each about a thousand years old when they started Hogwarts. Their friends, Rowena and Salazar were only about half that age. They wanted a safe place to keep their soul jars."
The representation that was Hogwarts sighed and said, "Then they invited Marc Antony to visit, and I was never the same again. He was a god even then. I felt moved by his physical beauty as soon as I appeared in his presence and that's why I appear in the female form. Then when I met Alexander, I must confess I made a fool of myself with both of the wizards more than once."
"Wait…stop, please," begged Harry. "I don't need an explanation."
Sighing deeply, Hogwarts nodded and said, "Once the school was built and running properly, Helga and Godric told me that they'd store the soul jars for other worthy wizards here where no one would find them. That's why the four of them made the Room of Requirement. Their soul jars were stored here first. Then Antony and Alexander brought their Horcruxes here."
"Why here?"
Hogwarts grinned and said, "Think – why would Hogwarts be a good place to hide Horcruxes?"
A map of Great Britain appeared on the wall with Hogwarts highlighted by light in the northwest of Scotland. After a moment, Harry said, "The castle is far away from anything muggle. And it's isolated so if wizards come to fight here, there's nothing to bring the muggles around."
"Mundane or non-magical, please," Hogwarts said. "Yes, that's the primary benefit. Also, the castle sets atop leylines that power my wards. If that idiot in the Headmaster's office hadn't monkeyed with my wards, this would be the most secure magical location in the world."
"And for most of the thousand years I've been here, only the elves could find the 'Come and Go Room' to store bits and baggage."
Harry nodded and steered the conversation back to the Horcruxes. He motioned toward the collection of soul jars and asked, "So, how did these – artifacts – all get here?"
"As I explained, the first four artifacts belonged to the founders. Then their 'friends' Antony and Alexander brought their jars. A thousand years ago, it seems that wizards and witches spent all their time trying to steal the Horcrux of another wizard or witch. Ramesses the Great – he was already a couple thousand years old when I was built – brought his Horcrux here. That was a great day for the founders that their leader trusted them."
Again, Hogwarts sighed and continued, "Then Antony became successful stealing other people's artifacts. He brought the shield of Charlemagne and the sword of Attila the Hun in about 1100."
"The Plantagenet kings were mostly wizards, and Helga and Godric brought their soul jars here for safe storage. Let's see, I have Eleanor of Aquitaine's soul in her Crown, her husband, Henry II, in his Crown, their son Richard the Lionheart in his Crown, and a grandson or great-grandson, Henry III in his Crown."
Harry pointed to a list of names and said, "I see a bunch of kings from the 1400s."
"Yeah, they were more Plantagenets kings, and Rowena and Justinian were their court wizards at that time. The big scandal in that century was that Godric Gryffindor got tired of sharing Helga with Antony and killed his friend in 1402. They had to flee England for a couple hundred years and left a daughter behind who married into the Black family, increasing the magic in that family.
"I don't see any Tudors kings or queens here."
"According to Rowena, the Tudors didn't have any magic, but I think they just had more sense than to make soul jars."
"These Stuart kings – one named James and two named Charles – made Horcruxes."
The feminine form of Hogwarts shrugged, and explained, "Charles I lost his head – a wizard king executed by his mundane subject. His son, Charles II was the last king with enough magic to cast spells. His brother, James II, was a squib and so were all his children. But Charles II also separated Magical Britain from the Mundane kingdom."
Harry looked up and asked, "Why aren't any of these wizards – kings – back? Have they come back and hidden?"
"Helga and Rowena had a book – supposedly written by Cleopatra, who is actually Helga – anyway, it says that Horcruxes don't work. You can't come back."
"But…"
"A Horcrux keeps the wizard or witch alive until they die in an accident, or they're murdered. They can live a thousand years without any problem so long as they are careful. You saw what happens when someone tries to resurrect a spirit after death – you get a homunculus with limited power, and it begins to fall apart."
"That's not right."
"What's not right?"
"Tom Riddle's homunculus; it has a lot of power," Harry insisted.
"Hmm…I'd venture a guess that he's stealing power from his followers," Hogwarts explained. "The tattoo he put on their arm must let him steal their magic. In the war, Tom realized he was weakening – maybe dying – and he stopped joining the fighting himself. He sent his Death Eaters out to fight but he never engaged in a duel or fight after 1974."
"And what about Tom Riddle's Horcrux? This diadem thing," Harry asked.
Hogwarts shrugged again. "I haven't heard from any of the founders or their friends in over a hundred years."
She looked smug for a moment and added, "I need to get rid of a bunch of them. There are too many here for the magic I have – the Room of Requirement is out of my control with tons of stuff here and I can't do anything about that with all the Horcruxes here."
Harry said, "I think I've found a way to destroy the Horcruxes."
"What? How? Godric told me it would take an uncontrollable magical fire to dent his Horcrux."
Pointing at his fading scar, Harry reminded the entity that was the castle, that he'd been a Horcrux for Tom Riddle after 31 October 1981. "In Cleopatra's book about Horcruxes, she mentioned God's Pure Water possibly cleaning the terrible magic from the object."
Harry grinned as he explained, "At Christmas, I went to a Catholic Priest and got a bottle of Holy Water that the priest had blessed. I doused my scar three times, and the spirit was ejected."
"May I see?"
"Sure," Harry replied as he stood still. The image of the young woman who was Hogwarts floated closer and her cold fingers brushed aside the bangs on the teenager's head to peer at the scar closely.
"You're brilliant, Harry Potter!" Hogwarts said. She immediately turned toward the tables of artifacts and asked, "Who do we douse first?"
"I didn't bring enough to do all of them…I want Riddle's Diadem first, please."
"Surely," Hogwarts replied. "Let's douse the Diadem and maybe Charlemagne's shield and that sword for Attila the Hun. Both were butchers. Attila tore down the Roman Empire and Charlemagne married or made concubines of half the women in Gaul. The man never met a female he didn't…well, he made Godric look celibate."
And so, Harry Potter called Dobby to bring him a liter bottle of the Holy Water he and Sirius got from the priest. Hogwarts watched as the young wizard doused the diadem with three small cups of water. There was a weak scream as black smoke fled the headpiece and faded away.
Harry asked, "Do you think Riddle knows I just did something to one of his soul jars?"
Hogwarts shrugged and didn't say anything for a moment. Harry realized why adults hated the gesture by teenagers without explanation. Then the castle's entity said, "If I smack a Horcrux with a stick or curtain rod, the creator definitely feels that and comes to investigate. If you got rid of your scar and then the diadem, Riddle might feel something."
After looking over her collection, Hogwarts motioned for Harry to continue. She said, "Douse Attila and Charlemagne and we'll stop for the night."
Following the entity's instructions, Harry poured holy water onto the shield with Charlemagne's bit of his soul, and then the sword of Attila the Hun. Both Horcruxes smoked with louder screams and the larger bits of the souls of the two individuals from history vanished.
Change Scene && News of InterestIt was two days later that the Daily Prophet reported a major attack on the front page of the newspaper, and two other interesting events on the inside pages.
First, the story broke that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back and he'd attacked Azkaban. The Dark Lord appeared in the middle of the day when two shifts of Aurors were present at the prison, changing shifts and escorting Cornelius Fudge on an inspection.
Hearing the alarm from the prison, the DMLE sent everyone to the battle – every Auror in London port-keyed to the island and joined the defense. Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour led the London forces in a counterattack that hit the Death Eaters in the rear while they struggled to get into the fortress.
Voldemort appeared powerful but he drained so much power from his followers that the ones in the prison died before he could free a single one. With the Aurors firing curses that killed the Death Eaters, Voldemort felt his power weakening and fled. More than twenty Death Eaters lay dead around the doors of the prison and fourteen were dead in their prison cells.
The Minister for Magic was terrified – he'd seen the hideous homunculus of the Dark Lord being aided by wizards Cornelius thought were innocent years ago. But today, the wizards acted as if they were fighting for the Dark Lord of their own free will. Cornelius signed arrest warrants for Malfoy, Nott, and six other Death Eaters seen apparating away from the island with the Dark Lord.
The ministry also invoked a section of their goblin treaties to seize the assets of wizards rebelling against the monarch's lawful government and locked down every vault owned or associated with the Death Eaters now wanted for questioning.
The second event was that an important leader in the former Soviet Union apparently exploded while in a private meeting with his rivals for power in the government. Russian security services refused to comment and the only reason anyone knew anything was that there was a diplomatic reception occurring in the same building. The Daily Prophet reported that the Russian was actually a wizard who wielded considerable influence in the ICW for Asian concerns.
Third, an event occurred in a drug-cartel hideout in Columbia, South America. There'd been a large explosion that involved aviation fuel, chemicals used to prepare drugs, and several buildings filled with cash. At least 500 persons were dead, including the leaders of three cartels. The ICW reported that one of the wizards working with the muggles had apparently cast an explosive bombard at the fuel dump while several planes were waiting to take off for flights to the USA.
Without waiting for Harry Potter to return to the RoR, Hogwarts went into the room holding her collection of Horcruxes and tapped Cleopatra's bust, Caesar's crown, Justinian's belt buckle, and Theodora's necklace with the end of a staff she'd found in a dusty chamber. The entity smacked each artifact twice – hard.
CHANGE SCENE: && List of Horcruxes in Hogwarts January 1996Cleopatra (Helga Hufflepuff) Bust Marble
Caesar (Godric Gryffindor) Gold Roman Victor's Crown
Theodora (Rowena Ravenclaw and Perenelle Flamel) Jeweled Necklace
Justinian (Salazar Slytherin and Nicolas Flamel) Iron Buckle for Robes or Belt
Alexander the Great (not seen since WWI) Golden Knife Sheath
Ramesses the Great (not seen since WWII) Golden Ankh
Marc Antony (murdered by Caesar in 1402) Greave (leg guard)
James I (died 1620) Crown
Charles I (died 1640) Crown
Charles II (died 1685) Crown. Founder of Magical Britain
Edward I (died 1307) Crown
Edward the Black Prince (died 1376) Crown
Edward III (died 1377) Crown
Henry V (died 1422) Crown
Henry VI (died 1471) Crown
Charlemagne (died 814) Shield. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996
Attila the Hun (died 453) Sword stolen by Alexander the Great. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996
Eleanor of Aquitaine (died 1204) Crown
Henry III (died 1272) Crown
Henry II (died 1189) Crown
Richard the Lionheart (died 1199) Crown
Thomas Riddle (died 1981, 1991, 1992) Diadem Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996
Other dead Horcruxes
Diary of T.M.R. (destroyed by Harry Potter in June 1992)
Nagini (Maledictus) (destroyed by Auror Shackelbolt, 19 December 1995)
Slytherin's Locket (destroyed by Harry Potte,r 23 December 1995)
Scar (destroyed by Harry Potter, 23 December 1995)
Ravenclaws Diadem (Harry Potter, destroyed 7 Jan 1996)
Remaining Riddle Horcruxes
Hufflepuff's Cup
Gaunt Family Ring
Tom Riddle Homunculus
END SCENE &&