Playing on the Harry Potter beach here. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling who gave us a great hero with wonderful adventures. This sandcastle will disappear with the tide and make way for the next fun story someone else shares.
Work is demanding my time for the next few days and will update when able.
12 Battles and Baby CharmsThe four visitors to Hogwarts departed from the castle on 17 February without completing their tasks to earn another thousand years of protection for their Horcruxes. There were several arguments about the pending departures. First, Headmaster Dumbledore and Lady Hogwarts argued about an arbitrary departure date. When their argument was finished, Albus was sent back to his office with a headache. Then attempting to gain another week to work on the book about the Horcruxes, Nicolas Flamel and the castle made the rafters in the Great Hall shake with their shouting before the wizard was thrown through the wards into the snow. Still, he was allowed to return after an apology with his wife standing beside him, her wand visible to everyone as it pointed at her husband. The third argument was a large blow-out between Rex Harrison and the entity.
In each case, Lady Hogwarts reminded the wizard who argued with her that they were guests within her walls and were allowed to remain there only as long as she permitted them. When Rex Harrison threatened to conduct a ritual to destroy the part of the magic of Hogwarts that was 'his,' the wizard suddenly found himself outside the wards of the castle in the current snowstorm, without his coat and hat. Lady Hogwarts had allowed the wizard to keep his wand before she kicked him out, but unlike Nicolas Flamel, Rex was unable to return through the gates.
Elizabeth Taylor didn't plead for another chance for her husband – she understood the reason for his expulsion. The students, three remaining visitors, and the other adults in the Great Hall at dinner that evening listened to Albus Dumbledore give his regular lecture on the power of forgiveness and providing a wizard with a second chance.
Lady Hogwarts appeared opposite the headmaster in the Great Hall. She reminded him about the ninety-four times he forgave Sirius Black for his terrible pranks while a student at Hogwarts. While Dumbledore smiled genially to discuss the Marauders, Lady Hogwarts asked, "If you had taught him to think before he acted, to consider the ramifications of his impulsive actions, how might Halloween 1981 have been different?"
This argument embarrassed Harry and made him think. He didn't think less of his godfather, but he understood the castle's argument. Dumbledore frowned upon being blamed for failing as a teacher.
Now Lady Hogwarts asked the headmaster about the multiple passes and meaningless detentions he had given Tom Riddle time and again while a student at Hogwarts. She demanded to know, "Did you ever teach him that there were consequences to his actions of torturing his fellow students and his widely communicated threats to kill mudbloods, half-bloods, and traitors?"
While the headmaster puffed up to deny being responsible for Tom Riddle's actions, the castle entity asked, "And what about your attempts to reform Gerhart Grindelwald?"
"NO!" shouted Albus. "Do not speak further! I forbid you…"
The headmaster vanished (banished to the nearest snowbank though he could return to the castle,) and Lady Hogwarts explained, "The defeater of Grindelwald locked the wizard within his own castle in the Alps somewhere. They speak once a year, and Fawkes tells me it's never pretty when Gerhart begins swearing at Albus."
The bruhaha in the Daily Prophet two mornings later echoed around the castle and the whole of Magical Britain for the rest of that week.
CHANGE SCENE && HogsmeadeNicolas and Perenelle Flamel, and Elizabeth Taylor departed Hogwarts after breakfast on 17 February. There was a light snow that morning, but with warming and protective charms, the trio made their way to the nearby village of Hogsmeade, where Rex Harrison had taken a room at Madam Rosmerta's tavern. The two couples ate lunch in the common room to establish their presence and being relatively 'normal' among the regular visitors.
The unfortunate incident with Rita Skeeter in the common room at the end of the meal made the Daily Prophet's inside pages a couple of days later. Rita was expected to be released by Saint Mungo's in a month…or two. Regrowing her teeth was relatively simple, but the need to regrow her tongue required the development of a refined potion with expensive ingredients.
In the seating area of the Flamel's chamber, the four plotted their next move.
"Lady Hogwarts won't give us relief from her price for another thousand years of guarding our Horcruxes," Perenelle said to begin the discussion. "We have to capture or kill the Dark Lord's homunculus, and we have to destroy the last Horcrux.
"According to Lady Hogwarts, the final Horcrux is a family ring hidden in a shack in some town called Little Hangleton.
"Where is the homunculus?" asked Rex.
"The Malfoy boy didn't know," Nicolas replied. "I believe we should call on his parents."
"As Flamel or as Salazar Slytherin?" asked Perenelle.
"That is the one thing I am not certain," Rex replied.
"Why the hesitation?" asked Elizabeth. "The public knows Rex and I are Godric and Helga."
"That's what the goblins announced, but the wizards can deny facts all week. They'll deny you were here," Nicolas explained. "But if Salazar appears before prominent wizards like the Malfoys, it will give credence to the Godric and Helga story."
"Nicolas and I want to go home to France and vanish for fifty years without hordes of malcontents searching for us."
Looking at Rex and Elizabeth, Nicolas asked, "Might we work together and complete these two tasks?"
A letter to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy was sent via owl that same afternoon. Nicolas and Perenelle were surrounded by 'fans' in the village each time they ventured out and there were several uncomfortable encounters where wizards or witches were left befuddled and confused about why they were in Hogsmeade and penniless.
The two couples argued about the problems that came along with notoriety. Waving away the Flamel complaints by the Flamel couple about fame, Rex replied, "Dumbledore has been famous for fifty years. You don't see him complaining about his fame."
"But Albus lives life in a fishbowl in the well-protected environment in the castle. When he visits the Ministry, he is in another well-warded area with Aurors around to protect him. The wizard never walks along Diagon Alley or Merlin-forbid, a muggle street."
"And the boy – Harold Potters – he stayed close to Lady Hogwarts the entire time we were in the castle," Rex said. "She protected him."
Elizabeth Taylor spoke up for the first time, "Ramesses. His entry and departure were some magic I've never seen. He walked through the Hogwarts wards like they were nothing."
Thinking about everything they'd seen, Nicolas opined, "Unless Ramesses was already in the castle."
"Still, only the headmaster can apparate within the castle," replied Perenelle.
Says the headmaster," added Elizabeth. "We never set any such limitations on the castle."
"We didn't have wards a thousand years ago," replied Rex.
After five more minutes of fruitless arguments, the two couples separated for a time. Elizabeth and Perenelle discussed the approach to the Malfoys. However, it was a full day before the reply appeared in a parchment filled with compulsions and tracking spells. With their magics nullifying the spells on the parchment, Nicolas opened and read the reply. He was bitterly disappointed and didn't hesitate to share his opinion of the writer, "This wizard has none of the characteristics of a respectable Slytherin!"
"Which wizard sent the letter? Lucius Malfoy or Tom Riddle?" asked Rex.
"That Riddle fellow," Nicolas replied. "He demands I appear before him and become his follower!"
"There are four compulsions on the letter – sluggish, blabber, confusion, and suggestibility. And the wax seal is poisonous!" Perenelle exclaimed after her examination.
"Let me check a few things," Elizabeth said motioning for Perenelle to lay the letter on a table. The witch did so before moving to stand beside her husband. Elizabeth's wand moved slowly through an intricate series of positions while her other hand also moved in a different pattern.
Above the parchment on the table, the snake-like face of the homunculus appeared, and the 'man' was unaware he was being observed. Elizabeth added a compulsion to the spell and the Dark Lord abruptly changed his topic of conversation.
"Lucius! Lucius Malfoy!"
"Yes, my lord," replied the voice of a man.
"Where are these visitors hiding?"
"My spies report they are at Rosmerta's Tavern in Hogsmeade."
"Take a dozen death eaters, capture them all and bring them before me at my manor house here in Little Hangleton before luncheon."
"Yes, my lord! Certainly," the voice said as other voices spoke up to volunteer for the raid.
"They'll attack in the middle of the day?" asked Perenelle with some questions in her tone.
Elizabeth smirked and explained, "I pushed his compulsions back upon the homunculus."
"And more important, we learned where he is located – somewhere in the same village as the Horcrux we seek," Rex added.
Nicolas stood, straightened his robes, and said, "I recommend we take positions out of doors. A weather charm will drive off the clouds and bring sunlight this dreary morning. Once these Death Eaters are dealt with, we can make a call on the idiot at his manor home."
Moving quickly downstairs, the two couples moved outside and quickly took positions away from the door of the tavern. They expected the Death Eaters to appear in the village and then move into the tavern's front door. The four were in place to provide spell fire at the door from two different angles without the danger of being hit by each other's spells. The weather charm provided sunlight and individual warming charms drove the cold away.
They only had to wait for five minutes before thirteen wizards apparated into the street.
'A coven! How droll!' thought Elizabeth as she opened fire with blasting spells into the backs of the wizards and witches racing toward the door of Madam Rosmerta's tavern.
Inside the tavern, the witch who'd been proprietor for thirty years recognized the sound of spellfire and she slapped her hand on a dozen runes on the wall behind the bar. Patrons dove for the floors as wards sprang up around the door, windows, and front wall.
There were shouts and then a few screams from wizards and witches under attack, but her door and windows withstood all attempts to enter the tavern while Rosmerta summoned Aurors through the floo. As quickly as it began, the sounds of a battle outside the tavern ended. A team of six Aurors fell from the flames in the floo with their wands out. The Aurors shoved the patrons and Rosmerta into the kitchens while they waited nervously for developments.
A Patronus came through the walls of the tavern and stopped before Auror Proudfoot. The spaniel spoke in a witch's voice, "Come on out. The Death Eaters are all dead."
Rosmerta removed the ward and the Aurors poured out of the tavern (with Rosmerta and her patrons close behind). A dozen Death Eaters lay in pieces on the cobblestones in front of the establishment while a dozen Aurors began the grisly work of identifying the dead and putting limbs back with the appropriate torso. A dozen heads were all still attached and made identifications easier.
The Death Eaters were well-known wizards and witches – most of them had claimed to have been under the imperious curse back in 1981 but now they lay dead in 1996. Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour frowned once all the masks were removed. "The only one missing is Malfoy. Where is Lucius Malfoy?"
CHANGE SCENE && Little HangletonLucius Malfoy was groggy as he woke. He vaguely remembered apparating into Hogsmeade and being slammed against the wall of the tavern where he anticipated capturing the four visitors the Dark Lord wanted to question. The wizard slowly came to his senses as his head cleared – he was bound by strong magical ropes and his hands were stiff as if frozen and he could not feel his fingers.
The four visitors were talking about wards and Lucius realized they all stood outside the wards of the manor house the Dark Lord had occupied when he grew tired of the feel of Malfoy Manor's wards, walls, and floors. No wizard felt comfortable living under the wards of another wizard for very long, and even though he was the Dark Lord, Voldemort couldn't destroy Malfoy Manor's wards and replace them with his own.
Nicolas knocked on the wards.
Lucius decided the wizard knocked rather politely three times. There was no response to the knocking, and the four magical beings moved Lucius forward. They used his form to knock against the ward. This brought a response from within the manor – the Dark Lord would come now.
Lucius collapsed when Rex Harrison released him from being pressed up against the wards. The wards had drained enough of Lucius's magic to make him wobbly, faint, and nauseous. He lay on the ground, ignored and forgotten. In his befuddled mind, he watched the Dark Lord berate the magical visitors for disturbing his afternoon.
"Leave my house," Tom Riddle commanded the four.
"Not much of a house…it is almost in ruins," Rex Harrison said, dismissing the order. "What do you think, my dear?"
Elizabeth sniffed and added, "It smells awfully of muggles and their mud."
Perenelle jabbed, "Why would a dark lord of magic dwell in the hovel of mud?"
"He's not as powerful as he wants others to think," Nicolas said.
"Even if he is your blood?" asked Rex.
The Dark Lord snarled, "What do you mean? 'Your blood' – what does that mean?"
Nicolas sighed and dropped his glamor to return to the form from a thousand years ago when he was known as Salazar Slytherin. The process took only a few moments but captured the Dark Lord's attention. Likewise, Perenelle, Rex, and Elizabeth dropped their current appearances to reveal their images from a thousand years earlier. Somehow, Tom Riddle recognized the four persons standing before him were the wizards and witches who founded Hogwarts. He hesitated to act and stared at the founders of Hogwarts for a moment too long. Their wands threw dozens of spells that left him stupefied and captured in a thousand endless dreams, happy, sad, hopeful, and hopeless.
"What now?" asked Helga Hufflepuff.
"The ring," replied Perenelle immediately. "We get the ring. Once we're done with the homunculus and his ring, we can return to our lives for the next thousand years."
Lucius Malfoy wanted to understand what he'd seen, but the befuddlement he felt left him confused and unable to think coherently. The two couples cast spells that appeared to send magic flying in multiple directions for several moments. Just before he passed out again, Lucius noticed one spell flew back to one of the witches.
CHANGE SCENE && Recover the Last Horcrux"It's over here," Helga declared, remaining in her form from a thousand years before. Godric remained in his form while Nicolas and Perenelle reappeared – they didn't want anyone to see them as Salazar Slytherin or Rowena Ravenclaw. The two couples floated along, just above the ground, with their captive following them in his secure chains of endless dreams.
They came to an overgrown shack in a thicket of trees and shrubs, most of them bare of leaves on the winter day. With a few spells, the shack was revealed, and the protective magics examined.
"The wards are not impressive at all," added Helga.
"Of course not. They're just muggle avoidance and notice-me-not for magical persons. But there's a treasure hidden here that is bright as the sun on the solstice," said Perenelle, her own spells brightening the winter afternoon.
"I despise shoddy work," Godric said while he casts several spells. He grew quiet before saying, "I was wrong. Nicolas, your descendent is the most devious wizard I've come across since I met you 1500 years ago.
"How so?" asked Perenelle. "He's not my descendant so tell me how this thing impressed you, Godric Gryffindor."
"The ring is magical itself – great magic in fact," the wizard replied. "And Brutus here used that magic to hide another insidious spell in the ring. Whoever puts on the ring is cursed by a wasting curse that cannot be reversed or even delayed for long. The bearer of this ring writhes in pain for a few weeks – possibly a mere handful of days – and then turns to ashes and blows away on the wind."
"Even to a powerful wizard such as myself?" asked Nicolas.
Godric nodded confidently and explained, "Albus Dumbledore – powerful as he thinks he is – would succumb to great pain in less than a year. Death would be welcomed as mercy when it came for him."
"How do we recover the Horcrux then?" asked Helga.
Perenelle smiled cruelly as she replied, "We let Tommy here put on the ring."
"We'd have to free him from the chains of the dreams," Godric stated.
"No," Nicolas said. "As his ancestor, I'll leap into one of his dreams and lead him to the ring. Befuddled as he is, he'll place it on his finger."
The other three watched as Nicolas guided Tom Riddle's homunculus form into the shack. Godric used his magic to remove the remains of the shack so the two witches and he could see the interior of the ruin. They watched as Flamel guided the figure toward the hiding place of the treasure. It took only a few minutes to levitate the ring and while Nicolas guided Tom toward the ring, he felt the compulsion to put on the ring himself. Nicolas struggled against the compulsion.
'I can show you a greater history than you know, Justinian Imperator and Caesar!' the voice promised. The hand of Theodora, his empress-wife for 1500 years appeared on his shoulder and her magic joined with him to resist the ring and guide the struggling Tom Riddle to slip the ring onto his finger.
Now, Tom didn't resist Nicolas's commands and the ring slipped onto his finger. Immediately, the homunculus fell back and howled, the curse racing through the magical construct. There was no magical core to grab onto – only the magic of the homunculus. The four figures apparated away – Nicolas and Perenelle appeared on a roof in the metropolis of Birmingham. They cast spells to hide while detecting any surrounding magic. Godric and Helga apparated away to Hogsmeade again. They resumed the appearances of Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor once again before Rosmerta welcomed them inside the tavern and served them mugs of ale to refresh themselves.
On a rooftop in Birmingham, Perenelle informed her husband, "We have to go back and quickly."
"Yes, before the Aurors arrive or Tom escapes," Nicolas said taking his wife's hand and apparating once again to the shack outside Little Hangleton.
Nothing remained of the homunculus after only three minutes except for some dust scattered across the snow. Perenelle examined the ring, declared it clean, and summoned it before slipping the ugly ring with the black stone into a pocket. The couple detected the imminent arrival of Aurors in the air as they slipped away in a dozen short apparitions that left few clues. Eventually, they made their way back to Hogsmeade and joined Rex and Elizabeth for mugs of ale in the quiet tavern.
In the next hour, the Aurors removed any hint of magic in the Little Hangleton area. Rufus Scrimgeour arrived just moments after his advance scouts and surveyed the area.
"This is the same village where the resurrection occurred last June. Check everything! Check everywhere!"
In just forty minutes, Aurors Proudfoot and Tonks discovered the comatose Lucius Malfoy just outside the collapsing wards of a muggle house. Aurors investigated the house and collected all magical items deserted in the house. Rufus ordered Proudfoot and Tonks to transport Malfoy to the DMLE offices in London. There the healer on duty in the department checked carefully but then informed the Aurors, "This man might be Lucius Malfoy, but he doesn't have magic any longer."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean his magical core is drained dry. He's a muggle."
"How did that happen?" Rufus demanded to know.
The healer shrugged before she replied, "The Aurors report the man was lying against the wards of this house where the Dark Lord was hiding but the wards were collapsing?"
"Yes, they fell completely while we were there.
"The collapsing wards drained Malfoy's magic out of him. He's not a wizard anymore."
Rufus spoke to Director Bones who offered a toast of the finest muggle bourbon before she suggested that Lucius Malfoy (muggle) be delivered to a hospital in London that specialized in the dispossessed from Magical Britain.
CHANGE SCENE && Harry and the RingAn elf appeared in the Gryffindor dormitory for fifth-year boys. The little fellow whispered to Harry Potter who nodded and slipped on his shoes before taking the elf's hand and vanishing from the room. A moment later, Ron Weasley burst into the room shouting, "I won! I won the tournament!"
Weasley paused before he checked the loo but then hurried from the room to hurry down the stairs and return to the common room where a party in his honor was taking shape.
"Longbottom, Potter wasn't in the room," Ron complained.
George told his brother, "Don't worry. Harry will show up shortly! He won't miss this party."
While the elves scoured the seventh-floor hallway where the students had played chess for several weeks, one elf appeared with Harry Potter. Lady Hogwarts appeared with a small clay pot in her hand and showed the contents to the teenager.
"This is the last Horcrux."
"And the homunculus?"
"He placed the ring on his finger and dissolved from terrible curse. He's gone."
Harry grinned and walked aback and forth in front of the wall beside the troll tapestry until a simple door appeared. With Lady Hogwarts present, the door opened and beckoned the pair to enter the room where the Horcruxes were stored. Harry glanced at the six Horcruxes that remained in the room – the marble bust of Cleopatra, Caesar's Roman victor's crown, Theodora's jeweled necklace, and Justinian's iron buckle were placed together. To one side lay the knife sheath of Alexander the Great, and the Ankh of Ramesses the Great.
Harry called for Dobby who appeared and fussed a bit about Mr. Harry Potters needing to be in bed to get his rest. But the elf popped away and returned with a bottle of Holy Water. Harry doused the ring in the clay pot with three cups of water and the last part of Tom Riddle was destroyed.
Lady Hogwarts called for writing materials and composed a final note to the two couples waiting in Hogsmeade. An owl flew into the Room of Requirement and then left with an important note to deliver to the nearby village.
"Thank you, Harry," Lady Hogwarts said. "And forgive me for not calling you 'Mr. Potter' for once."
Grinning and relieved, Harry said, "Will you make certain the headmaster knows?"
"Of course," Lady Hogwarts said as she removed the little stone from the ring and dissolved away to visit the headmaster.
Smiling himself, Harry concentrated and use the portal spell left by Ramesses in his mind to move from the seven-floor Room of Requirement to his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory.
SCENE CHANGE && Headmaster's OfficeAlbus Dumbledore had retired for the evening when the lights in his bedchamber ignited, and music filled the air rising from his office. Pulling on a dressing robe and finding his slippers, Dumbledore carefully descended to his office where Lady Hogwarts stood, an insufferable smile on her face. The headmaster sighed as he asked, "What is the cause of this late disturbance?"
"Headmaster, I wanted to inform you personally that Tom Riddle has been ended by Mr Potter this evening."
"What? What do you mean?"
"In accordance with the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, Mr. Harry Potter destroyed the last Horcrux of Tom Marvolo Riddle," she said handing over the Gaunt Family ring.
"Is this…the Gaunt…ring?" the headmaster asked hesitantly.
"Yes, I believe it is," Lady Hogwarts said while Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast multiple spells on the ring.
"Where was it found?"
The castle entity shrugged – a mannerism she'd adopted from her muggleborn students. Dumbledore deflated as his spells confirmed the ring being full of Gaunt family magic but there was no sign of any 'special' magic in the object.
"Are you convinced the Horcrux is gone?"
"What?" asked Dumbledore. The headmaster didn't hesitate before he cast a few more spells and said, "There's no sign of any Horcrux here…any longer."
SCENE CHANGE && The Next MorningAs soon as they'd eaten breakfast and Nicolas settled the bill for both couples, the four visitors apparated away from Hogsmeade. They weren't seen in the British Isles for another thousand years.
That same morning, the other boys in Gryffindor talked about the great party that Potter missed. Harry just remained quiet but then during breakfast when the headmaster sighed deeply and refused to look at Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived smiled with relief. He was free of the prophecy after almost sixteen years.
END SCENE &&Characters with Multiple NamesCleopatra (Helga Hufflepuff/Elizabeth Taylor)
Caesar (Godric Gryffindor/Rex Harrison)
Theodora (Rowena Ravenclaw/Perenelle Flamel)
Justinian (Salazar Slytherin / Nicolas Flamel)
SCENERY: Updated List of HorcruxesCleopatra (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 Greave. Destroyed by Harry Potter on 28 January 1996.
James I (died 1620) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 10 Jan 1996
Charles I (died 1640) Crown Harry Potter destroyed 10 Jan 1996
Charles II (died 1685) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 11 Jan 1996
Edward I (died 1307) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 11 Jan 1996
Edward the Black Prince (died 1376) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 12 Jan 1996
Edward III (died 1377) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 12 Jan 1996
Henry V (died 1422) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 15 Jan 1996
Henry VI (died 1471) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 15 Jan 1996
Charlemagne (died 814) Shield. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996
Attila the Hun (died 453) Sword. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996
Eleanor of Aquitaine (died 1204) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 16 Jan 1996
Henry III (died 1272) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 16 Jan 1996
Henry II (died 1189) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 17 Jan 1996
Richard the Lionheart (died 1199) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 17 Jan 1996
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 Shacklebolt, 19 December 1995)
Slytherin's Locket (destroyed by Harry Potter, 23 December 1995)
Scar (destroyed by Harry Potter, 23 December 1995)
Ravenclaws Diadem (Harry Potter, destroyed 7 Jan 1996)
Hufflepuff's Cup (Gringotts curse breakers, destroyed 10 February 1996)
Tom Riddle Homunculus (destroyed by his own spell on ring 17 February 1996)
Gaunt Family Ring (destroyed by Harry Potter 17 February 1996. LAST PIECE)