Reviews
Alan
A phoenix could be a good form for the MC since not only can they heal and carry a lot they are immortal so if Kol was dying he could transform then die, get reborn from the ashes, and then retake human form. Might turn his base form into a baby and he'd need to turn into a phoenix to avoid death as such it wouldn't work if he's killed before he could transform say like if he was hit by the killing curse, but it's still a cool idea.
I don't know much about other magical creatures, but he needs to go to Romania and see a few dragons because when it comes to magical creatures of the wizarding world you can't do better than a dragon.
DipstickMadden
Here is more.
Mugen-Muse
Regulus Black is considered to be dead and he is a known Death Eater who the other Death Eaters would likely kill on sight due to Regulus having turned on them. So there isn't much Regulus can do to help other than make sure the locket gets to someone who can deal with it.
frankieu
You're welcome.
Selias
Is that good or bad?
Crossworld 1 - Harry Potter
Part 11
Potion's Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
One of the coolest tricks I'd learned to do with my Loki given powers was to make an illusion that convinced people not to see something that was there were as normal illusions worked the other way around, they fool people into registering the existence of something that doesn't actually exist.
Since I'd just finished my first potion lesson of a new term, a double lesson with practical work on Tuesday afternoons, this seemed like as good a time as any to pick up a certain book that I'd been meaning to get my hands on.
I waited until Snape left the poorly lit classroom and then I waved my wand while casting a spell.
"Accio Severus Snape's copy of Advanced Potion Making"
I didn't really need to be that precise, but this was important so I wanted no mistakes and when I heard a bump noise I knew exactly where to look. I opened the right cupboard and took the item I sought.
"This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince"
When Snape attended Hogwarts as a student along with the parents of Harry Potter, he had like some others acquired this textbook for N.E.W.T.-level Potions which at the time would have been taught by Horace Slughorn, who must have recognised Snape's talent in the subject since he wouldn't have students in his N.E.W.T class unless he had a reason to favour them.
Teenage Severus Snape signed it with his own self-proclaimed nickname the 'Half-Blood Prince', just as I used 'Kol' and how Tom Riddle began using the title 'Lord Voldemort' while still in school. Hopefully, I would be more successful than either of them in my chosen endeavours.
Snape, being a talented potion brewer even at that young age, had made useful alterations to some of the recipes within the book in an attempt to create superior potions. Even when just skimming these notes I could tell that a lot of effort had gone into improving upon the original text.
These notes would be of limited use to me since I was at the novice level and if I suddenly improved my potion-making then Snape would notice, but since I intended to get rid of Snape sometime soon I could just wait until the next potion teacher came along and once I'd studied this book I would impress them. A few of the improvements should apply to more simple potions.
If all went to plan then the new teacher would be Slughorn since I would like him to collect me as it could lead to useful contacts and to me acquiring valuable information. Given that there was no threat of Death Eaters finding him to worry Horace the promise of getting to meet Harry Potter should be more than enough for Dumbledore to bring the Potion's Master back to the school.
My intentions were still to rid this school of Snape as while he was indifferent to us during Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff classes he did little that could be called teaching. Also, I knew he'd get worse once Harry Potter joined this school and the man was a threat to me even my growing mastery of the mind arts. I'd do something about him over the summer so as not to disrupt things here at the school.
Dumbledore could protect his pet Death Eater from complaints by the students and keep him out of Azkaban for the man's past crimes, but even the Headmaster's power had its limits. I would be able to take Snape's form and implicate him for a crime as I wasn't sure I'd be able to kill him even if he wasn't exactly a good guy.
I didn't want him in Azkaban just out of this school so I would have to think of something bad enough that even Dumbledore would have to sack him for, but not so bad that he'd be locked up. It would have to take place outside of the school and I wasn't sure what it would be, but I had plenty of time to think about it.
In the short term, I did have use for the potion notes, but there was more in here. Several spells that Snape had invented himself, were recorded here. Including Sectumsempra, Levicorpus, Langlock, and Muffliato. I knew what those spells did, however, there were others within the book that I would have to carefully explore.
After taking an old yet still fancy looking gold pocket watch from my cloak I saw that as planned I had time to visit home as Tom Hiddleston and to check up on Regulus Black before returning to the school for a late dinner. Black was taking longer to recover from his magical stasis than I'd expected, but he should be awake and somewhat recovered by now.
With that in mind, I headed out of the classroom and looked for an empty classroom where I could take the form of a House Elf before popping off to Godric's Hollow.
(Line Break)
Former Dumbledore Residence. Godric's Hollow.
Regulus Black woke up and screamed. Not an unexpected thing to happen given that the last thing he remembered was being pulled into a lake full of corpses. Yet he was safe and dry, he'd even been put into clean clothing by someone.
This wasn't St Mungos, this was someone's home he could tell that right away, and for a moment the young Black couldn't help panicking as he imagined that the Dark Lord would be here soon to question him.
Thankfully it wasn't Voldemort that came to check up on him it was Kreacher who was very happy to see his favourite wizard and the feeling was mutual since the House Elf was the only member of Regulus's family that the young wizard cared much for.
"Kreacher where are we?" he wished to know.
The House Elf attempted to get his beloved master to lie back down.
"We are in the home of a great wizard called Tom Hiddleston" explained the small magical creature "Mr Hiddleston saved master from the Dark Lord's cave".
Regulus couldn't remember that happening. He just remembered the cold water and the corpses dragging him down in the dark. It seemed almost like a dream now that he was warm and with his loyal House Elf.
"I've never heard of a Wizarding family called Hiddleston," said Mr Black.
Kreacher had since he'd been sent out to collect some newspapers for his master to read so as to help him accept how much time had passed and to get him somewhat up to date with the world. Kreacher could read well enough and House Elves were overlooked so they could overhear many conversations. Hiddleston was still a source of gossip despite having not been seen much and few people knew anything about him. Normally he would have been forgotten about now, but there had been little of interest in the news over the last few months.
"Mr Hiddleston's family moved out of the country many years ago and they were not an old family," said the elf "But he is a powerful wizard who wishes to carry on your great work, Master".
Regulus was confused.
"My work?" he asked.
This was when someone entered the room. Black saw a smartly dressed wizard in robes suited to a pureblood and he had the look of a pureblood as well.
"Defeating the dark lord," said the wizard before he made introductions "I'm Tom Hiddleston and I pulled you out of that cave".
While grateful for the save that didn't mean that Regulus was foolish enough to simply trust this strange man. This could all be a trick by Lord Voldemort to find out what Regulus knew about the Horcruxes, although that wizard had no real reason to be this crafty given that he'd have been able to torture the information out of Regulus if he'd kept Black alone. Hiddleston must have called upon Kreacher and that was not something that a wizard would do if they wanted to keep Regulus a captive.
"Thanks," said the young Black.
Somehow Regulus didn't think that Hiddleston had saved him purely out of the goodness of his heart and soon he was proven correct.
"I took the risk because I'm after Voldemort's Horcruxes," said Hiddleston.
Regulus flinched upon hearing the name yet he still picked up on what mattered.
"He made more than one?" asked the Black wizard "I didn't know".
Tom sat down on a nearby chair before talking further.
"I can get to most of them," he said "I've already destroyed two and there should only be four more. The locket, which you have, a cup which is in Gringotts, a book that Lucius Malfoy keeps and there's one I don't have a plan for yet, but we should have a few years to sort it out. Or at least I have time".
Regulus had been shocked enough to find out that the Dark Lord had even made one of those horrid things, but that wasn't what he focused on.
"What do you mean?" he asked "Why don't I have any time".
Tom didn't go for his wand or make any kind of hostile move so Regulus didn't try to make a run for it or order his loyal House Elf to take them away from here.
"It's known that you were a Death Eater and you're thought to be dead" explained Hiddleston "If you appear in public the Ministry will just throw you into Azkaban like they did your brother and a lot of the Death Eaters after Voldemort fell".
That was another shock to the system.
"The Dark Lord is dead?" he asked.
Tom shook his dead.
"No, his body was destroyed, but because he has Horcruxes his spirit still lingers" the other wizard in the room explained, "That's why I need to deal with the Horcruxes sooner rather than later. If he finds a way to recover and obtain a new body he could move the Horcruxes I know about or maybe even make more".
There was more to say on that topic.
"That's why I need you to get me the locket you had your elf hide" Hiddleston was now saying "Once your brother gets out of prison he might stop by your old house and start messing about with what's inside".
Regulus couldn't accept that Sirius had ever been a Death Eater.
"My brother would never have joined the Dark Lord" he stated firmly.
It simply wouldn't happen. Sirius was just too loyal to his friends and he hated pureblood society.
"Of course, he didn't," said Hiddleston "But the Ministry is hopelessly corrupt. It took them a decade to bother giving him a trial and that's only because one of the people he supposedly killed was recently found alive".
Regulus was having trouble processing all of this so he was grateful that no one spoke for a while.
"I don't know what to do" he admitted "I didn't think I'd survive this long".
Could he clear his name? Would the Ministry accept that he'd turned away from Voldemort? Or would they just lock him up and throw away the key?
"If you want to flee the country I'll help you flee. You're dead officially so no one is looking for you, but you might be recognised if you stay in the country so it seems wise to leave" Hiddleston advised "Or you can hide out at your family home and try to convince your brother that you switched sides, but he's one of Dumbledore's followers so don't mention the Horcruxes as Dumbledore doesn't want anyone else to know about them. Voldemort didn't fish you out of the lake which means he might not know you were even there. If I were you I'd move to the other side of the planet and stay there. You should take your elf with you, I don't think he likes being alone in that house".
Regulus considered his option.
"I need some time to think about all of this," he told his saviour.
There was one more matter to discuss because Regulus could get some more rest.
"I want the locket you got from the cave," said Hiddleston "I'll trade you for yours and I promise to destroy the Horcrux"
The fake Horcrux was dropped onto the bed and Black picked it up. He considered not handing over the Horcrux, only this man had saved his life.
"Kreacher didn't you destroy the locket?" he asked his House Elf.
The magical creature broke down and it took some time for him to be convinced that Regulus wasn't angry that the House Elf had failed to carry out his master's order and Black decided that since he didn't really have anyone else he was going to have to trust Hiddleston. At least until he could get out of the country.
(Line Break)
12 Grimmauld Place. London.
"Remember the plan," I said to Regulus Black.
It was the first weekend of my second term at Hogwarts so counting the summer I'd been in this world for about six months and I'd gotten a lot done. I'd destroyed two Horcruxes, acquired a great deal of magical knowledge, increased my magical power, I'd claimed one of the Deathly Hallows and saved Regulus Black who was actually a nice guy considering that he'd taken the dark mark.
To be fair to the younger of two still living Black brothers had joined Voldemort's followers due to a mixture of his mother's urgings and peer pressure from his so-called friends, and soon as Regulus realised how insane Riddle really was he'd started looking for ways to not only escape the Death Eaters but also to undermine the Dark Lord. Which is a lot more than many witches and wizards did during the war.
While it might be possible for Black to get off with a light prison sentence if he went to DMLE and made a deal, giving them information on Death Eaters and then Horcruxes, this would get in the way of my plans and the Minister of Magic might just subject him to the Dementor's Kiss in an effort to cover up the matter so as to avoid making the Ministry and himself look bad.
Also, I suspected that Dumbledore would make efforts to silence Regulus so that he didn't go spilling the beans on the subject of Horcruxes. How far the Headmaster would go I didn't know as it depended on what kind of Dumbledore they had in this world, but he wouldn't just let Regulus go around talking about Horcruxes.
Sure Horace Slughorn knew that Tom Riddle had been interested in Horcruxes but Regulus had actually stolen one of them and he was a Death Eater without any famous allies. Plus he was someone that Dumbledore had no use for. It would be easy enough for the Headmaster to ensure that Regulus ended up taking his brother's cell in Azkaban.
That was another good reason to get this over and done with before getting Regulus out of the country. Sirius Black was finally getting his trial so we needed to finish up here before Monday in case the older of the two Black brother's chose to come here once free and start poking around. Sirius would likely spend some time in St Mungos to help with his recovery, but I couldn't know that for certain.
Sirius Black might not have liked his family, but this house was magically defended and if he did somehow get custody of Harry Potter then Dumbledore might send them here to hide under the protections this place was supposed to have. Also, he might add to the wards and post members of the Order of the Phoenix here.
If that happened I wouldn't be able to get access to the Black House again unless Tom Hiddleston became a member of the Order of the Phoenix and I simply didn't see that happening as I wanted to keep my distance from Dumbledore. I was even willing to publicly discredit the man if he started bothering me.
Sure Regulus had already gotten his House Elf to bring me the locket, which I had stashed at my home in a safe, I didn't really need to be here, but Regulus wanted to collect his stuff and to say goodbye to his childhood home. I'd provided the illusion to hide his face and would do so again when we went to the goblin run bank to lessen the chance of anyone recognising him.
"I remember," I said Black "Put a freezing charm on the portraits before packing".
One of the less well-respected Headmasters of Hogwarts was Phineas Nigellus Black. He had a painting at Hogwarts and this house, and he could move between them so anything he saw here he could report to Dumbledore. The other portraits here could also report what they saw to the former Headmaster so they all needed to be frozen while we were here.
"Poor Mistress" complained Kreacher.
I couldn't help wondering if spending so many years in the same house as the locket Horcrux might have done something to this house as it seemed wrong in some way. It certainly hadn't done the House Elf any favours. I intended to spend as little time in my own home as possible until the Horcrux could be cleansed.
"If you can get her off the wall you can take her with you" I offered.
She wasn't mine to give so Regulus would need to give the idea his support.
"That's a good idea," said Regulus "Sirius and mother hated each other. She'll be happier with us no matter where we end up".
Kreacher was bound to the Black family which meant that he technically belonged to Sirius since he was the eldest son, but he was loyal to Regulus who was here to give orders so it was a simple matter for the younger Black brother to order the elf to ignore Sirius even if he called.
As for the portrait if anyone could remove it without damaging the building it would be a House Elf as they had powerful magic. I often wondered how wizards and witches had tamed the magical creatures yet I'd not found any certain answers on the subject.
"I'll be in my room," said Regulus as he headed up the stairs "There's a lot of valuable stuff in the drawing-room. Consider if payment for saving my life. I'll take anything that has the family seal on it with me, but the rest is yours. Just be carefully I don't know what's cursed".
We'd not discussed this but he did know that Tom Hiddleston was a treasure hunter so it made sense for him to offer me the trinkets.
"Sirus will just throw it all out" Regulus was now saying "He always hated this place".
I didn't blame him as this house was old for sure, but the property was valuable despite its rather poor state.
In many fanfics that I'd read the inheritance of this property by Harry Potter along with its contents and any money left in the family, and there must be if Sirius could buy Harry a Firebolt broom, (something he must have done via Gringotts since goblins don't care if you're a wanted criminal or not as long your crime wasn't committed against them and while the bank doesn't normally shop for people they can act as middlemen and make arrangments for you with other parties for a fee) was sometimes challenged by Draco Malfoy due to his mother being born a member of the Black family.
This would never happen in the real wizarding world because while Sirius was disowned by his mother there are no real legal ramifications from this or Sirius wouldn't be allowed to call himself Black or be able to access the family money. Sure his mother could throw him out of the house and deny him support in terms of gold, but really that was it.
In the magical world, inheritance also goes down the male line so if Sirus died, and Regulus stayed dead in the eyes of the wizarding world, then the property would go to whomever Sirius Black named in his will since there are no male Blacks left other than the two brothers who are fit to inherit.
Draco Malfoy is a Malfoy he has no claim to any lands or money belonging to the Black family. His mother might be able to make a claim if Sirius Black died without children or without naming someone in his will because she was born Narcissa Black, but the wizarding world seemed to run on some version of English Common Law so a male heir like Harry Potter (who is related Sirius Black as well) would always win over a female claimant.
"Thank you," I said as I headed for the front room
I avoided the curtains as they were infested with Doxies, these were fairy sized creatures that were considered pests. They could infest houses and removing them required a good supply of Doxycide or certain spells that summoned up some magical fire, but that was a bad idea when you were indoors even if the Doxies don't like the heat.
After taking out a few mokeskin pouches, they were expensive but well worth buying, I began carefully sorting out the Black family heirlooms. No doubt Sirius would wonder where they all went so I'd advised Regulus to leave his brother a note just to let his older brother know that he'd left the country after taking stuff from the house.
Once he'd left even I wouldn't know where Regulus Black was going and while the idea of leaving a letter wasn't smart, Regulus wanted his brother to know that in the end, they had been on the same side and that he was alive.
Knowing that Regulus would want some time to say goodbye to his home I decided to take my time going over what I could find here. I located many things including an ornate crystal bottle with a large opal set into the stopper, full of what appeared to be blood that might be useful if the charms meant to keep the blood were still working so I took it for myself.
Next, I found a box made of tarnished silver that had been inscribed with runes of some sort and since that could be cursed I secured that item in a pouch that contained items that I needed Gringotts curse-breakers to go over before the goblins figured out how much they were worth.
A lot of my wealth that was stored in my vaults at Gringotts (I had three one for the storage of items, one to pay for living expenses and a trust fund vault for my John Smith persona) was still in the form of valuable objects that could be turned into currency by the goblins of Gringotts if I ever needed the money.
Gringotts would know if I tried to have anything with the Black family crest upon it uncursed or stored in a vault so that was a good reason not to try swindling Regulus Black. Other than the fact that I actually liked the young wizard and wished him well in his new life.
Before long I found a dusty box containing Arcturus Black's Order of Merlin First Class. He hadn't yet died, but he was in long term care in St Mungos. Sirius Black would throw something like out so I placed it in the pouch that contained what Regulus would take with him along with his personal possessions as while he couldn't sell it he might genuinely care for his grandfather and want something to remember him by.
I filled that pouch with fancy silverware that had the Black family crest and motto upon it as even with Regulus having access to his own trust fund (Only Sirius would be able to access the family vault) he would need some valuables to help him build a new life somewhere. If he did sell any of the silverware I hoped that he did so carefully so that it didn't lead anyone back to him.
While ignoring some rusty daggers, as there were much better weapons in the Room of Requirement, I carefully placed some family photos that had silver frames into Regulus's pouch knowing that they were treasures he'd cherish in ways that had nothing to do with the value of the silver that made up the frames.
I ignored the grandfather clock, a device that shot heavy bolts at me which did no damage to me since the magical mechanism was failing, I did so due to the size of the clock and the fact that I had no use for such an object.
As I looted the old house in as a dignified way as possible I destroyed a pair of spider-like tweezers, which scurried away as it just seemed wrong to me, and then I looked around some more.
I secured an enchanted music box that I knew could play a tune meant to put people to sleep. It might be meant to help restless children go to bed, but given that the Black family had a justified reputation for being sinister it was best to let the curse-breakers take a look at it and to destroy it if needs be.
Among the dust and mould, I discovered a large golden ring that bore the Black family crest and that would go with Regulus even if it legally belonged to his brother. That joined the Order of Merlin and the silverware.
Then I did battle with moth-eaten purple robes that tried to strangle me and that I ended up shredding with a minor curse. As well as a silver snuffbox, filled with Wartcap Powder, that tried to bite me. Something that made me glad I'd been wise enough to put on my dragonhide gloves.
It was somewhat sad that this ancient wizarding family had been reduced to such a sorry state, but perhaps it was for the best as the wizarding world was stuck in the past and the Blacks seemed to be helping to hold it back.
With the families, wealth, motto and self aggrandisements they were a prideful bunch to be sure and the closest thing, the wizarding world had to actual royalty. There were no kings, princes, lords or ladies in the wizarding world (Voldemort's title of Lord was one he gave himself since the Lord bit is part of the anagram of his name) even the title of Dark Lord is a mere honorific.
The wizarding world doesn't really have the population for a proper class system, but the Black family didn't seem to remember that. A number of fan fiction writers are the same and seem to think the Wizarding World is Game of Thrones for some reason.
"I'm done here," said Regulus as he came back down the stairs.
By now I'd also finished up.
"Take this" I instructed while passing him the pouch I'd filled for him "I found some valuable items with your family seal on them and some pictures that you'll want to take "I think we should leave the rest and get going".
Now we needed to head for the bank and make some arrangements. We also needed to carry out part of my grand plan.
(Line Break)
Gringotts Bank. Diagon Alley.
I remembered hearing once that to a goblin, the rightful and true master of any object is the maker, not the purchaser. Thus all goblin-made objects are, in goblin eyes, rightfully theirs. You can only rent the treasures that they make.
As such when having them deal with cursed objects you need to be careful that they weren't goblin made to start with or they will try to repossess them. However, goblins are not lacking in honour or good business sense, so if you return a treasure that was borrowed for longer than it should be, and you weren't the one who made the deal, they would reward you for returning their property.
Another thing I knew about goblins was that they care little for wizards because wizards care little for them. The best you can hope for is polite indifference and an account manager who will see you without having to book an appointment a week in advance because you're going to make both yourself and that goblin some money.
What mattered right now was that I also knew that most purebloods do not like goblins at all goblins. Despite having lost the last rebellion, which is how goblins ended up controlling the finances of the magical communities here in Europe, the purebloods still thought themselves to be the superior race.
As such when an illusion of Bellatrix Lestrange entered the bank, that was thankfully mostly empty, no one called the Aurors and while the humans nearby left quickly, the goblins just got on with matters. They didn't care that Lestrange was supposed to be rotting away in Azkaban or that a wizard they didn't know, really me having shapeshifted, was escorting her.
"Take this to my vault!" the illusion shouted.
A couple of goblins came along and began moving the vanishing cabinet, a pair of which I'd picked up from a junk shop I'd been doing some business with.
I had considered taking the illusion down to the vault, but I didn't want the goblin who would escort us to see what I took and the bank had magical defences that might cause the illusion to fail. However, I might still risk using that plan if the current one failed.
"Yes, Madam Lestrange," said one of the goblins.
They might not care much for wizards, but the creatures weren't stupid enough to upset such a dangerous witch. The title of Madam was only given to witches who were respected and feared, or at the very least had a respectable job, like Madam Pomfrey the healer at Hogwarts.
Bellatrix has a reputation for throwing around dark magic as such I wasn't worried about the goblins talking much about her visit here and the few humans around hadn't stayed long enough to hear what Bellatrix had ordered done. The Ministry would find out and go see that Bellatrix was still in her cell leading to the goblins wondering what the hell was going on, but by the time all of that was sorted out I'd have the cup and the cabinet outside of the vault would be destroyed.
I'd even gone as far as to erase the memory of the sale from the mind of the old witch who sold me the cabinet which was something I'd learned to do from Voldemort's Horcrux since like Lockhart he was rather good at memory charms. I hadn't wanted to do it as messing with people's minds is wrong, but it was safer for all involved.
"Well that was easy" commented Cortana.
My work here done for now I marched out of the bank and into Knockturn Alley where Regulus waited for me, I changed my form so I was Tom Hiddleston once again, let the Lestrange illusion fade away before changing Black's features.
"Did it work?" he asked.
I wouldn't know for a while as I couldn't just use my one of the pair of two cabinets without testing it first as it might go wrong. I'd have to find someone I could mind control whose life I didn't mind risking perhaps Umbridge since I intended to deal with her sooner rather than later as her mere existence was offensive to me. It might be better to grab someone from Knockturn as time was limited.
Already I'd considered just sending Krecher or going myself, but House Elves can only take from the vaults of the families they are bound to otherwise the Gringotts wards would keep them out. Something Hogwarts doesn't do since the House Elves working there needed access to the entire castle. I didn't wish to risk the House Elf by using the cabinets as he wasn't such a bad person when treated right.
"We'll find out," I said as we made our way into the bank "Or rather I will. The goblins took the cabinet, but I couldn't follow them to the vault".
Regulus had a vested interest in seeing that the Horcruxes were destroyed and while the diary was beyond his reach and mine, and because I'd decided not to tell him about Harry Potter in case he tried to handle that issue himself, I'd made sure that he was under the impression that the cup would be something I'd deal with soon and that diary would be dealt with in due course, and then what would it.
My memories of Tom Riddle's life wouldn't help me break into Malfoy Manor as breaking or bypassing wards wasn't something Voldemort learned beyond the basics while still in school even if he had learned to set up powerful ones. So I would either have to wait for Mr Malfoy to smuggle the diary into the school or learn for myself how to break into the Malfoy home.
"We need to get you out of here" I reminded Regulus.
The Black family was old and so it had properties all around the world. No private islands or castles lying about or even fancy villas in France, but they did have a few cottages and small homes scattered about. Kreacher could access them and take Reglsus with him once his trust fund vault was empty as for me I had other business so we would soon part ways forever.
A shame since I was growing to like Regulus and it was good to have someone to discuss things with who didn't live inside my head, but if he stayed in this country he'd end up like his brother, trapped in a house unable to live his life or even be seen in public and he had animagus form. Worse he was actually guilty of being a Death Eater and despite his efforts to help defeat Voldemort many would not want him to walk free. So best he went far away and changed his name so that he could live some kind of life.
"Going to settle down with a nice witch and have some children?" I asked.
He'd mentioned carrying on the Black name even if he couldn't use that name in public.
"Mother would never forgive me for marrying a Muggleborn or a Muggle, so I'll look for a nice half-blood witch I think and just not mention her blood status to Mother" he answered "And I get to avoid the perils of inbreeding".
We shook hands and separated, leaving me to wonder if Regulus would break the pattern I'd noticed about the Black family and live past fifty. I'd studied the Blacks and found that few of them ever died of old age. The family seemed to have been cursed at some point and I worried for Regulus even if we'd not become close for me to share my feelings on this or other matters.
While Regulus went to empty his vault and then to go his own way, I went to see my account manager, the goblin who handled my affairs with Gringotts (account managers were an actual real thing not just fanon) and after handing over the cursed items that I wanted to be checked out I made my big ask.
"I need the goblins to make something that can purity cursed items like the goblet of fire is supposed to be able to," I said "How quickly could something like that be made?".
The actual Goblet of Fire isn't goblin made but they could make magical items tailored to the need of the buyer.
"That is possible Mr Hiddleston, but the expense would be great," said the goblin "And you are aware of our laws".
There were strict goblins laws about possessing one of their treasures, there were always loopholes of course. The Black family when having their silverware created got the goblins to create the silverware for the family as a whole not a member of the family so until it all passed to Harry Potter it wasn't considered to be stolen by the goblins.
Assuming the Mudungus Fletcher didn't take everything goblin made from the Black home I figured that in the canon timeline Harry Potter must have returned the goblin's property to them since he would know about their view on property and that would have helped to smooth things over with the bank.
If I died while in this world then returning the item wouldn't be my problem and if I left this world with my own goblet of fire then the goblins couldn't do anything about it. I was immortal I would not die of old age nor did I have children to leave stuff to so really their views on the matter of ownership weren't my concern.
"Yes, I am aware" I assured my account manager "I don't care about the expense I just need something that can purify even the most cursed of objects with magical fire as the Goblet of Fire is known to be able to do and it's for a special project so it won't affect our business arrangments. I'll still involve Gringotts curse-breakers in my other ventures".
The Goblet of Fire was as far as I knew in the lowest level of the Ministry of Magic, a place I intended to avoid going to as long as possible, so hiring the goblins to craft a similar object would be better even if it would cost me. Thankfully I was still making a little money from the Room of Requirement and had other plans for making plenty of cash.
I'd considered summoning up the spirit of whoever made the goblet and then trying to recreate the work, but there was no source of information that could give me the name of the creator.
"If it can be made before the summer solstice I'd be willing to pay more" I offered.
The summer solstice would be the ideal time to cleanse the locket and cup Horcrux with magical fire. After I couldn't just give them to Hogwarts as news of that would reach Voldemort and I didn't want him gunning for me, and Salazar had told me to keep his locket, but I would return the cup one day.
"Very well Mr Hiddleston," said the goblin "Let us discuss the terms it will take up to half a year to create the object you desire, but I think we can have it ready by the solstice if you don't mind it being a rather plain looking goblet".
No amount of money would speed things up so I would just have to wait in order to purify the locket and the cup, assuming that I successfully stole the cup.
"That will be fine," I said.
I planned to take things easy until the summer anyway and devote myself more to study so I could wait. Plus I needed to acquire the cup, finalise the adoption of John Smith with Flitwick, gather information for the anti-Dumbledore book and take my end of year exams. So much to do.
