The Headmaster's Office. Hogwarts School.
While the body of Albus Dumbledore sat in this office, surrounded by his books, magical artefacts, and fancy furniture, the mind of the professor was lost in thought.
Aside from that recent trouble with Harry Potter and Ron Weasly at the start of the term the school had been peaceful enough as had the larger magical world until recently something had come along to shake things up.
It was fortunate that he had such influence over the Ministry and had been able to use it to keep the Weasly family out of trouble not once, but twice. If the Minister weren't so indebted to Albus then Molly and Arthur's youngest son would have been expelled as soon as he stepped foot into the school.
In the current political climate, there was no way that the Ministry would have attempted to prosecute the Boy-Who-Lived. Young Mr Potter was simple too well thought of by the community as a whole to end up in a courtroom, although that could change if he got into more trouble.
Thankfully, the flying car incident had blown over in the Muggle world as well. There were witnesses, however, they seem to think that had been a trick of some kind, or the work of alien beings from another world depending on what newspaper you ready. No one in the Muggle world was looking for magical explanations for the event.
The second event that rocked the family of redheads was the recent discovery that Ron Weasly's pet rat was in fact Peter Pettigrew a man believed to be dead for over a decade. A few people at the Ministry had been of the opinion that the Weasly family had been in cahoots with the animagus who turned out to be Death Eater. Offering him shelter.
That didn't last long once Dumbledore began to use his influence to meet with certain people and to remind them that Molly Weasly lost both of her brothers in battles with the forces that had served Voldemort. It had easy to spread the idea that Pettigrew had been using dark magic to ensure that he was overlooked.
Doing this had cost him a few favours from important people, but it had been worth it to keep the Weasly family out of trouble as they were among his biggest supporters, and he wanted them around to help keep Harry Potter on the right path.
It didn't help that Amelia Bones had come in person to the school to make the arrest with a team of Aurors while Dumbledore was busy at the Ministry. He'd been trying to help Minister Fudge handle the news that Barty Crouch Senior had kept his son, who he had broken out of Azkaban, as a prisoner at home under the Imperius Curse.
Bones wanted the top job. A high-profile arrest that made the papers and had so many witnesses was just the sort of thing to put her in line for the Minister's job should Fudge fall from grace. That was something which could happen if Fudge lost more support.
The Headmaster was alerted to the fact that someone was seeking entrance to his office, which snapped him out of his train of thought.
"Come in, Alastor" he invited.
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was retired officially, but he was not one for extended periods of inactivity and so could be depended upon to aid Dumbledore when he needed someone dependable to do some investigating.
Alastor for all his moodiness had been a great fighter during the struggle with Voldemort, he was a warrior for the light, and would no doubt take up his wand again should the Dark Lord return to power.
"Albus," Moody said with a nod.
The paranoid wizard chose not to sit and his fake eye spun around as it ensured that there was no one about to eavesdrop on this important conversation.
"How goes your investigation?" enquired the old Headmaster.
Moody didn't relax exactly he just seemed a bit less ready to spring into action once he'd finished looking around.
"I tracked the tip-offs to the DMLE to the goblins" informed the former Auror "But they are too tight-lipped to give anything away. My sources inside the bank don't know if anyone informed the goblins about Pettigrew or Crouch or if they've been sitting on the information for a while".
That worried the teacher. The goblins had no love for wizards and might be working to destabilise the Ministry for political reasons. The Ministry was focused on using the new Muggle Protection Act as justification to crack down on dark artefacts and books. It wouldn't do for the Ministry to become distracted from that task by the goblins.
"I did get something from the bank" mentioned Mad-Eye "The goblins aren't talking, but the human workers love to gossip during their lunch break".
Moody paused to drink from his hipflask as was his habit.
"There's a new wizard on the scene, a very wealthy one called Macross," said the disfigured wizard "There's not Macross family, and that's not a muggle name as far as I know. I don't know if that's his first name or family name".
Dumbledore couldn't recall ever hearing of a person called Macross either.
"Rumor is that the man is rich and new to the country, but he sounds British so he might have been around and just gone unnoticed," said Moody "He's brought a couple of properties and he's hired a few tutors".
The retired Auror had more to say.
"Macross makes great use of secrecy contracts so I won't be able to find exactly what he's doing at the bank," said Moody "But he's the subject of gossip so I was able to hear that the Curse Breakers there have been very busy recently, and I doubt its a confidence that some books on dark magic were sent to the Ministry from the bank to be stored properly".
Neither of the two old men spoke as Dumbledore pondered this information.
"I can't help wondering if this has something to with Cygnus Black passing" mused Moody.
Cygnus Black had been a pure-blood wizard and a member of the noble House of Black. He'd been the youngest son of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe as well as the youngest brother of Walburga and Alphard. His passing meant that ownership of the Black estate should have passed to Sirius Black.
Dumbledore thought that the passing of Cygnus Black could indeed have something to do with this Macross as the painting of Phineas Black, a former Headmaster of Hogwarts, had reported to Albus not so long ago that he could no longer access his portrait at Grimmauld Place. A team of Curse Breakers could have easily disabled the portraits at the Black residence before starting to clear it out.
"Rumour has it that Macross inherited a great deal of wealth before he started throwing money around" reported Mad-Eye.
The Headmaster found that to be very interesting.
"Perhaps this Macross is a Black," said Dumbledore "The family was quite large at one point and with Sirius Black in Azkaban until recently the inheritance might have passed on to some distant relative of Cygnus. Given that I've never heard of him he could have been born out of wedlock".
He would have to chat with Sirius and not just about who might be living in Grimmauld Place these days. It was important that Harry Potter returned to his aunt's house and Dumbledore would have to find some way of getting Sirius Black to agree.
It would have been so much easier if Sirius Black had stayed in prison. That just wasn't an option now, not with Fudge having thrown Barty Crouch under the bus as the muggles would say. Fudge wanted to be seen as someone correcting other people's mistakes, so Black would go free.
As for this new Black with so many of the family either dead or locked up it made sense that someone only distantly related could end up inheriting everything simply because he was the only male left free and alive who could carry on the family name.
"So this Macross Black inherits everything from his distant cousin Cygnus Black and then hires the goblins to clear out the house. The dark magic books get sent to the Ministry to end up in cupboards in the Department of Mysteries and the Curse Breakers either destroy or cleanse anything that seems dangerous" summarised Moody "I can't imagine any dark wizard doing that".
Neither could Albus. A dark wizard might be willing to part with a few old cursed objects that had no practical use, but the Black Library contained knowledge of the most wicked of magics. What kind of dark wizard would give up that kind of power?
"If this new Black is a light wizard or at least not a dark one, then that could have ramifications in our world" stated Dumbledore "I have hopes that Sirius would join us, if he does perhaps he can contact this cousin of his and gain us more support for our cause".
Moody intended to let Albus deal with that sort of thing. He was better at information gathering and duelling than political matters. He wasn't the kind of person who played nice at parties and made friends easily.
"I'll get in contact with a few people and see if they have any more information for us," said Dumbledore "I know that Lucius Malfoy has something planned, Severus wasn't able to get any details, but he is sure that Malfoy has a plan to discredit me and the new Muggle Protection Act. So far I've seen no signs of what he has planned, and I must remain vigilant here at the school".
Mad-Eye would look into it. He knew who to question about this sort of thing.
Gringotts Bank. Diagon Alley.
The goblins of this bank did not invest in businesses that existed in the muggle world directly, there were laws against that sort of thing, as you couldn't have goblins working at the stock exchange. Although I was amused by the idea of goblins yelling down phones about buying and selling as prices in stock shifted.
Gringotts goblins cleverly got around those laws by hiring squibs, who the Ministry didn't care about, to act as middlemen for them and that allowed people like me to leave it to the bank to handle most of the work when it came to investing my money.
I had to admit if only to myself, that the goblins had done well for themselves in the world of finances. The wizards and witches of the magical world had given over far more power to the goblins than they could have imagined.
Thinking about that made me wonder who exactly had won all those goblin rebellions in the past. I felt sure that history books printed by the wizards would say they won, but the reality was that the goblins were running quite a lot of the magical world and had influence in the muggle one as well.
Using squibs and Gringotts services that were unknown to most people, also allowed those who were willing to invest in the muggle world's business to do so without actually having to admit where their money was coming from.
From what I understood it was considered shameful to work in the muggle world or do business with muggles when you were a witch or wizard. Not that I cared about the public's opinion and I wouldn't let it stop me from listening to sound financial advice.
What I did care about was investing in the right business as while I didn't need the money, I could just get more gold it was lying around on versions of Earth where human civilization had collapsed, it would be good if I had legitimate sources of income should I be investigated.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I'd drawn that kind of attention to myself already what with all the cursed objects and dark magic books I'd wanted to deal with. At least no one would label me as a dark wizard if I was known for getting rid of dark magically items.
Investments were why I was meeting with my account manager Bloodaxe and Alexander Prewett who worked as an accountant for a firm in the muggle world that had some connection to Gringotts. Not that I fully understood the connection.
I understood that he was one of those middlemen who allowed wizards such as myself to make investments in the mundane world without breaking the law since squibs were allowed to live as muggles, and no one on the magical side cared enough to see what they were getting up to.
While I didn't mention it I felt certain that Alexander Prewett was the second cousin of Molly Weasley that Ron Weasley mentioned to Harry Potter. He looked like an older version of Percy Weasley from the films, his looks and the name had tipped me off.
"So what companies are you interested in investing in?" I was asked.
Since I had more money than I would ever need, I'd already invested in what Mr Prewett had suggested, and I had some ideas of my own.
"There's a computer company called Dell," I said "I predict that they will be successful for many years to come".
I knew from my studies of technology in my world that Dell had been around since the mid-1980s and would do fine for a long time to come. The invention of tablets and more powerful mobile phones would cause problems later for PC manufacturing, but I could always sell my stocks before that happened.
"If computer companies are of interest to you might I suggest buying stock in Apple," said Mr Prewett.
There was no guarantee that this timeline would progress as mine had for the muggles, but all investments carried risk and I wasn't gambling with any money I couldn't afford to lose. As an added bonus the investments could make me a profit without me having to do more than attend a few short meetings.
"Sounds good," I said.
I gave the matter of investments some more thought.
"Another thing I'd like to invest in is energy drinks" I mentioned "I have a feeling that it will be big business over the next few decades".
I didn't know the names of any companies involved in the creation of energy drinks, and if they weren't known enough to invest in I could always come back to it later. Mr Prewett could look into the details for me and he was smart enough not to question why I was interested in energy drinks and computer companies.
Once Mr Prewett left to carry out his work I prepared to leave only for Bloodaxe to ask me to stay.
"It has come to our attention that a certain person is looking into you, Macross," said the goblin "We believe that Albus Dumbledore has taken notice that there is a new and very wealthy wizard in the country".
I was not happy about this news, but I kept calm as getting mad at the goblins would at the least be counterproductive and perhaps even dangerous if they took offence.
"He's making inquiries with people who have some influence with Ministry and even Gringotts about a wizard called Macross Black" I was told.
Now I felt confused more than upset.
"Why would he call me a Black?" I asked.
I wasn't even from this world never mind a wizarding family.
"You do own Grimmauld Place" pointed out Bloodaxe "and wizards with your kind of gold don't just pop up out of the ground".
He had a point there. The contracts I'd signed protected my dealings with the bank, but rumours will always get around even if those rumours don't give much in the details. Given that Dumbledore thought I was a Black this clearly showed that even he didn't have much of a clue about me.
"Just because they know you exist doesn't mean they can find you" my account manager assured me "Your homes are well protected and Gringotts will never give Dumbledore any protected information. All he has is a name he got wrong and the fact that you're doing a lot of business with us. He might know that our Curse Breakers have been kept busy, just remember they can't talk about what they have been doing".
Dumbledore must have put together some scraps of information and he'd gotten his facts wrong so there was no reason to panic.
"What are my options here?" I asked.
The goblin considered my words.
"You could just ignore him" offered the banker "He can't force you to do anything and you are not involved with his school in any way. Nor do you have a connection to the Ministry".
I sensed that things wouldn't be that simple.
"The problem is that you don't have a family name and so you don't fit into the wizarding world even Muggleborns have family names they just don't matter," said Bloodaxe "If you were a Black you'd make more sense. Cygnus Black died recently and you could be related to him. The Black family was quite large until recent times and yet now there aren't many of them left. Perhaps we could insert you into the family as a child born out of wedlock?".
I wasn't on the family tree, I'd seen the one in Grimmauld Place, but if illegitimate children don't appear on it then that wouldn't matter, not unless they had some sort of DNA testing spells.
"Is that legal?" I asked.
The goblin made a gesture that gave me the impression that it was sort of a grey area. Given the corruption and ease with which people could be bribed, I could see how loopholes could be exploited and people made to ignore certain rules.
"If you present yourself as the bastard son of Cygnus Black, who died quite young for a wizard and didn't leave a will, then could use the Black name" I was told.
This would be amusing because I'd named myself Macross after the wizard Macross the Black, so becoming Macross Black tickled my fancy.
"Being born out of wedlock will explain why you lack any formal education due. You've been hidden from the world makes and so your recent hiring of tutors becomes understandable" the account manager was now saying "Sirius Black will be able to claim the Black family vaults since he is the last legitimate Black, but Cygnus Black didn't know that Sirius Black was going to be freed from Azkzban so he made you his heir, or so Gringotts would make it appear. The Black family has been around for a long time so there can be vaults hidden from even Sirius Black".
The goblin was now looking over some paperwork.
"I think it might be best however to make you a legitimate descendant of Marius Black, he was the grandson of Cygnus and Violetta Black née Bulstrode, he was disowned when he turned out he'd been born a Squib" Bloodaxe was now saying" He disappeared into the muggle world and Gringotts can claim to have found you on behalf of Cygnus who was desperate for an heir. You'll be a half-blood wizard who Cygnus welcomed back into the family so that you could carry on the family name".
The goblin seemed pleased by this idea.
"Being a half-blood will cause a lot of purebloods to look down on you, but since you are known to be wealthy and could have the right name I doubt they'd do more than mutter behind your back" I was assured, "The name can open certain doors for you and money talks. Even the more dedicated blood purists will ignore your blood status if you are rich or talented enough".
That was true. The first Death Eaters would have known that Voldemort was a half-blood and Snape another half-blood had been a member of Voldemort's inner circle from what I understood.
"We can spread rumours of your wealth to help smooth things over" Bloodaxe offered "Overall becoming Macross Black descendant of Cygnus and Violetta would be easier to arrange since the muggle world is easy for people to have disappeared into and no one knows what happened to Marcus Black".
Nor would they care to go find out.
"Sirius Black is unlikely to kick up a fuss since he'd known to be against Blood Purism and was disowned," Bloodaxe said, "It isn't as if you need access to the family vaults so he can keep the family fortune".
I gave the idea some thought and began to wonder about something.
"What's in it for you?" I asked, "This seems like a lot of trouble to go through".
Sure they could charge me for setting this up, but I got the sense that this idea aided Gringotts more than it seemed.
"We get another important wizard as a client and the Black name still holds weight" I was informed "This could be of use to the bank in the future".
That made sense and I decided to sleep on it before deciding if I wanted to become part of the Black family. It could be useful to be part of this society, but on the other hand, it would draw more attention to me. I would have to measure the pros and cons before making my choice.
Grimmauld Place. London.
The training dummy was an odd device that looked as if the top half of a wooden Death Eater had been attached to a unicycle. The device, that I had salvaged from the Room of Requirement, was bewitched to move and roll around on its own accord, and when knocked down by a spell it would right itself. The dummy even had a fake wand so you practice disarming and a bullseye on its chest for obvious reasons.
The features made it an excellent target for those who sought to improve their spell-casting, and while it didn't compare to trading spells with another wizard I wasn't ready for that sort of thing as such the dummy was useful to me.
"Expelliarmus"
The wand of the fake Death Eater went flying through the air more energetically than I would have expected. I hadn't yet learned many spells to be used in combat and when I did get the hang of one the results were impressive. I clearly had a lot of raw power to throw around even if I was lacking in knowledge.
Since the training device wasn't complex enough to be able to recover its own wand, I had to go recover it. This meant travelling the length of the training room which seemed to be too big to fit inside the house, but that didn't mean much with magic, and like many of the rooms it was different than it had been when the house was owned by the Black family.
The dwarves I'd hired and paid very well for their efforts had done a wonderful job of turning Grimmauld Place into The Sanctum Sanctorum I desired. The house was free from spying portraits and much more well-lit thanks to the windows that had been installed. I figured that getting rid of all those dark artefacts aided in transforming the house in a way that could be felt rather than seen.
Despite having gotten rid of many books that were dark by the standards of the Ministry as well as those that had been really dark, the library here was impressive as quite a few books had been cleared and there had been plenty in the Room of Requirement to fill up the shelves here. As such, I had a lot of research material.
Aside from having a kitchen, living room, bathrooms and a few bedrooms, The Sanctum Sanctorum also had its own fully stocked potion lab in case I wanted to brew up a potion while here.
The rest of the rooms were meant for the storage of magical artefacts that I intended to gather from across the multiverse in case I had use for them or if I felt that they needed to be kept away from people. The basement had been transformed into a vault for the storage of treasure.
Until I advanced enough to be able to cast the fidelius charm, so as to fully hide the house, it would be risky to bring artefacts here, but the house how defences and not many people knew where it could be found since it didn't appear on any maps.
I returned the fake wand to the training device and prepared myself for some more practice. There were a number of combat spells I wished to learn how to use. Being able to disarm, stun and otherwise disable my enemies would be quite useful in the future. Once an enemy was helpless it would be much easier to kill them, assuming that I could bring myself to actually kill anyone.
"Stupefy"
According to the book I had open on a nearby lectern, this charm was exceptionally useful in duelling, as it can quickly end a duel without causing lasting damage to whomever you fired the stunner at. I knew that spell would useful to me should I end up in a world where important people frowned upon killing even in self-defence.
The next spell I focused on was called Flipendo and it allowed you to physically repel an opponent, knock away an obstruction, and even blast apart more fragile objects. These were all spells that a first-year Hogwarts student could learn, but considering that I'd only been learning magic for a matter of weeks I was making very good progress.
I kept practising simple spells until I noticed that it was getting dark outside, yet I would not be returning home any time soon. I was avoiding seeing anyone as much as possible now that I had the attention of Dumbledore. It was best to stay out of sight and hope that I was forgotten about as soon as something interesting happened.
Sensibly I'd decided against getting involved in whatever political machinations the goblins were involved in and to focus on learning magic, the thing I'd come to this world to do when I wasn't allowing myself to be distracted.
Slowly I made my way up into the attic, a space used for complex magic such as rituals, or so I hoped, right now it contained the irate spirit of Herpo the Foul, who despite having created a Horcrux had gotten an afterlife because he'd also figured out how to unmake his own creation.
"Have you reconsidered?" I asked.
The spirit did not long belong on this plane of existence. Staying here too long made the departed soul uncomfortable for lack of a better word and so I'd chosen not to send him back to what Dumbledore would call 'The Next Great Adventure' and this could be considered torture, but I had no pity for Herpo given the harm his creations had done.
"I will not tell you how to create a Horcrux" he insisted.
I'd assumed that the spirit would speak ancient Greek, so it had been a surprise when he first talked to me in modern English. Although given that the ghosts of Hogwarts, some of which had died about a thousand years ago, also spoke modern English thEn it shouldn't have been shocking.
"There are better ways to avoid death" I stated.
Over in the corner on a simple wooden desk, a quill was recording every word spoken in this room so that no knowledge granted by Herpo would be lost. Just because he'd been a dark lord that didn't mean he was ignorant of magical subjects some would consider being light in nature.
I'd been intending to have the spirit's words translated by some scholar who I could pay to do the work for me. There were quite a few famous universities in this country and one of them was bound to have an expert on ancient Greece.
As for immortality, there were plenty of ways to obtain that. I could go and find a Fountain of Youth or obtain some elixir of life, or I could acquire one of those golden apples that appear in myths. Creating a Horcrux, which could interfere with my Elder Blood abilities, wasn't even on my list.
"I want to know if there is some way of using a Horcrux against its creator," I said "Can they be used to weaken the wizard who made it".
Herpo didn't answer right away he was deep in thought.
"There is a ritual," he told me "I did not create it as I unmade my own Horcrux when I began to seek to undo my sins, but I did learn of it after I died".
He had my undivided attention.
"Another dark lord who created one of my mistakes had his Horcrux stolen by an enemy, a dark wizard who wished to usurp him" I was informed, "That wizard absorbed the Horcrux and gained some of his foe's power, using it to defeat him".
Similar to how Harry Potter used his connection to Voldemort to defeat the Dark Lord.
"The dark wizard did not become a Horcrux?" I asked.
I didn't want to be connected to Tom Riddle like that.
"The soul is not a pie to be cut up into slices" the spirit explained, "When a Horcrux is created only a small sliver of the soul is separated. Think of them as anchors keeping the soul in this world. But that anchor can be melted down and the metal used for other purposes".
I got the sense that Herpo the Foul was doing his best to simplify very complex ideas. I doubted that there were words that could properly express what Herpo was trying to tell me.
"If you possess a Horcrux of your enemy you can absorb the fragment of soul and add to your own, making it a part of you, taking some of the power and knowledge from your enemy as our souls contain our experiences of life".
It was possible to add to your soul. How interesting.
"Can you tell me about the ritual?" I requested.
As Herpo instructed me I got the sense that performing this ritual more than one would be unwise as I didn't want to become like Voldemort, and it would be best to keep a Horcrux around in case I learned of some way to use them against the Dark Lord in the future.
I also didn't want to even think about performing the ritual until I'd adapted to the magic of this world as something could go wrong otherwise. I'd have to wait a while and prepare myself until I felt ready to acquire some of Voldemort's knowledge. Doing so could advance my education in magic by years, but it wasn't without risks.
Adding to my soul might change me as a person and lead me down a dark path to becoming someone like Voldemort. Was it worth it to take a shortcut and risk getting lost on the way? I wasn't in any kind of rush or danger so it might not be worth it. Something to consider.
Grimmauld Place. London.
The former Dark Lord known as Herpo the Foul and I had come to an understanding.
Spending more than a short time in this world was unpleasant for spirits, the reformed dark wizard wasn't upset about this, so I got the sense that I'd annoyed him more than anything else by forcing his spirit to stay in this realm until he began answering my questions, however, that might have just been him being stoic.
I hadn't totally ruled out the idea of absorbing the bit of soul in one of the Horcruxes, it was just that given my lack of knowledge about magic it seemed foolish to perform the ritual. If I had been in some sort of danger or if my time was limited in this world then that would be a different matter. As it was the ritual was something I could look into later. No sense in deciding on a course of action right now.
Herpo seemed content for me to call upon him for about an hour out of every 48. Any more than an hour and he began to get frustrated. Although that might have something to do with me not being a very good student by his standards. Herpo knew how to make powerful monsters and cast complex spells I was far below him in terms of magical knowledge.
My most advanced spell was normally taught to 4th-year students and I could only cast it so well because unlike a Hogwarts student I wasn't taking classes I'd no interest in. Add to that ever since I'd awakened my Elder Blood I had much better focus and memory than I'd had before.
"The creation of a Horcrux is not an easy affair" the spirit let me know.
Herpo would not tell me exactly how a wizard or witch took a bit of their soul and placed it in an object, and there was more to it than simply killing an innocent or all the Death Eaters would have a few by now, but he was willing to take me through the spell required to turn an object into something suitable to be a Horcrux so that I can undo them.
I'd decided to keep the diary locked away in case I ever wanted to perform the power stealing ritual or if I found some way to use a Horcrux to attack Voldemort. The others I would try to unmake as they were priceless artefacts, and if I just smashed them then magical relics would be lost.
Better to try to reverse the spells performed on them because the artefacts would be mine to do with as I saw fit. If I had no use for them I could sell them or trade them, or just donate them to Hogwarts.
"You will have to counter every spell cast upon the object," said Herpo "Stripping away its defences one at a time before undoing the enchantments. Before attempting to unmake Voldemort's mistakes you will learn the spells required to secure the container".
Human souls, intact or in pieces, aren't meant to inhabit objects there is magic keeping the soul in the item, remove those spells and the soul will be cast into limbo without destroying the Horcrux itself. At least in theory as Herpo undid his Horcrux using his remorse for past actions he didn't dismantle it magical as we planned to do with Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Upon first hearing about this I'd been a little upset as I'd destroyed the diadem. If I'd secured it I might have been able to undo the damage done and cleanse the diadem. Then I would have more than one relic of the Founders.
However, all might be lost when it came to diadem. I'd given the remains over to Gringotts to be handled by the Curse Breakers, and they'd thanked me for returning one of their creations to them even if it was damaged as the diadem had been made of goblin silver. It seemed likely that they could melt down the corrupted diadem and reuse the silver.
They'd placed in my vault the sapphire that had been part of the diadem as they had no claim to the gem, it was free of dark magic and it was still enchanted as such I figured that I had at least part of the diadem and if I called Rowena Ravenclaw she could perhaps tell me how to make a new diadem. That might take years, but it was worth looking into.
As for the spells required for unmaking a Horcrux they were carefully written out on the blackboards I'd brought up into the attic. I figured that mastering all of these charms, even with Herpo's help, would take a while, but I was in no rush, and the work might go more quickly if I focused all of my free time on the project. I could even summon up masters of charms to aid me in understanding the theory behind each of the spells.
"I'll summon you again in a couple of days," I told Herpo "We can't start practising the first charm then".
We made our goodbyes and then I decided to summon up Miss Ravenclaw. As I did I noticed that the stone felt warm when normally it was cold.
"I was wondering if you would call upon me," said Rowena Ravenclaw.
Right away she reminded me of more than one school teacher with her stern look and hair tied up so as to not get in the way. The dress she wore was very old-fashioned even by the standards of witches.
"Good job dealing my diadem, young man" she praised "That tacky thing has been nothing other than trouble since I made it".
I would have expected her to be made about me destroying her heirloom
"About the..." I started to say.
She didn't let me finish my sentence.
"I assume you're going to ask about the sapphire," she said as she gestured towards the gem which rested on a nearby table "That gem is the true source of the diadem's power, the rest is just meant to keep the gem touching your head. In retrospect, a headband would have worked just as well and might have stopped my daughter from running off with it".
Well if nothing else learning this saved me a lot of work. I didn't need a fancy silver accessory I'd be happy to make use of a simple circlet. As for the sapphire, if I could summon the souls of the dead with a gem that had been attached to the ring Horcrux then it made sense that the sapphire could be safe and a powerful tool.
Voldemort's corruption had not been able to taint either of the stones. This suggested that his power did not measure up to that of the Founders of Hogwarts or the three brothers who made the Hallows. Assuming that some manifestation of Death hadn't made the Hallows. I wouldn't rule that out.
"Just be careful to use it in moderation, Macross" I was warned "I became rather dependent upon my diadem during my life and once I lost it I was never the same. Use it only when you need to, or just take a wit-sharpening potion, that can have a similar effect even if it isn't as potent".
This was not going as expected. The relic of the Founder didn't sound as impressive as I'd hoped. Although legends do tend to exaggerate so I shouldn't be so surprised.
"How do you know about me?" I asked.
Herpo hadn't been able to explain what the afterlife was like, I doubted that a living person could understand, but I knew that the souls of the dead had at least some idea of what was happening here in the land of the living.
"I've been keeping tabs on diadem since I died" I was told "I was quite happy when you broke it with that fancy sword of yours".
That made sense. If I'd made a relic and someone had befouled it as Riddle did with the diadem I'd wanted it destroyed too.
"Don't tell anyone you have even a part of the diadem" Ravenclaw ordered "Enough people have wasted their time on this world looking for it".
I had no desire to be killed for it or for some fool to try to rob me so I agreed.
"Helega will want to talk to you about her cup when you get the chance," said Ravenclaw "And Salazar will tell you all about the locket".
Hufflepuffs cup never caused any trouble even as a Horcrux, at least not as the others had, and it might have some interesting properties. I also wondered what the locket did and couldn't wait to find out.
Ravenclaw didn't waste time with pleasantries so soon her spirit was back where it belonged and I felt the stone hallow getting hot. Clearly, I'd been overusing it and should practice moderation with the artefact.
I was pleased by the idea that I now owned my own soul stone and mind stone. Granted they don't compare to the ones in Marvel, but given my level of experience, that's a good thing as I wouldn't be able to handle them.
With this in mind, I carefully secured each stone separately in boxes meant to contain dangerous magical objects.
Now it was time for some practical work down in the training room. I had training dummies to batter around. It was best not to spend too much time with dead people and so it was good that I'd set up my tutoring sessions.
