Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
AN: I decided to wait until I got this chapter sorted out before I began editing the previous two so I could hopefully work out all of the kinks. The last chapter in particular was a nightmare to write and I had trouble deciding if I should kill Bellatrix or drag it out a bit longer. Obviously, I made a decision but it was nervewracking and I have been bouncing between these three chapters making changes as I went along.
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, 4/7/1996, 19:39
"Mr Yaxley, what have you learned?" Voldemort demanded as soon as his servant entered the drawing room that had been one of his favourite haunts since he had moved into his family home.
"The attack on the Weasleys was a complete failure, Potter destroyed the inferi before they could reach the Weasley home, my lord," Yaxley answered.
"How is that possible?!" Voldemort demanded, knowing inferi were almost indestructible.
"He cast a fire spell, according to Dawlish it was very dark magic," Yaxley explained.
"Where would Potter have learned a spell like that?" Voldemort mused.
"He's being raised by Andromeda Tonks, she could have instructed the boy in her family magic, my lord," Yaxley answered.
"It is possible, I admit that I was surprised at how well she did against our attack last summer," Voldemort conceded.
"The Potter boy was questioned and it was termed reasonable use of magic by an underaged wizard," Yaxley continued.
"And what of the other attacks?" Voldemort pressed.
"The Diggory couple was killed as planned, the order arrived shortly after and Amycus fled. The Lovegoods were not home, it would seem they are abroad looking for some ridiculous creature," Yaxley answered.
"Very well, I already know how the Longbottom attack went, don't I Lucius?" Voldemort asked the quivering man that was sprawled on the drawing room floor in a pool of his own vomit.
"Y-yes master," Lucius stammered out in a hoarse whisper.
"T-there is something else, m-my lord," Yaxley said in a rush.
"Oh?" Voldemort asked testily.
"According to Dawlish, Potter killed Bellatrix today," Yaxley replied looking terrified.
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort thundered as rage like he hadn't felt in decades flooded through him.
Bellatrix was his best servant and the closest thing he had to a protege. He had trained her personally in the dark arts and had been grooming her since she was a teenager. Voldemort already knew her loss would be felt for months to come, she had been working on several projects and he was not confident that any of his other servant could handle those tasks.
This was the second time Harry Potter had killed one of his better servants. This concerned him a bit, when Potter had killed Dolohov he had marked that off as blind luck on the boy's part but this couldn't be a coincidence.
A rasping gurgling sound brought him from his angry thoughts and Voldemort realized he was in danger of snapping Corban's mind if he held the curse much longer.
"Lucius send in young Theodore to see me," Voldemort commanded as he released the spell on Corban, bringing the man's bloodcurdling screams to an end.
"Y-yes m-master," Lucius stammered as he got shakily to his feet and staggered out of the room.
"Mr Yaxley, I want to know exactly what happened between Potter and Bellatrix," Voldemort ordered.
"Y-Yes master," Yaxley replied as he forced himself into a kneeling position.
"While I have you here, what is the ministry planning next, Corban?" Voldemort asked as he looked down at his servant.
"T-They are planning on raiding the Carrows' property tomorrow morning," Yaxley answered timidly.
"You had better remove the giants from that property," Voldemort hissed.
"They are already being moved as we speak, my lord," Yaxley assured him.
"Where are you moving them?" Voldemort demanded.
There is an abandoned muggle air base not far from the Carrows' home, we will have them stay in one of the larger hangars for the time being," Yaxley answered.
"Good as soon as it is safe to move them, send them to the Scrimgeour property," Voldemort ordered.
"As you wish," Yaxley replied.
"Let me know when they have arrived, I think I shall pay the minister a personal visit," Voldemort continued.
"Very well I predict they should be in place by the end of the week, my lord," Yaxley answered as he finally managed to stand shakily to his feet.
"See that they are, you may leave," Voldemort said as the door opened and a terrified-looking Theodore Nott entered the drawing room.
"You wished to see me, my lord," The fifth-year Hogwarts student asked nervously.
"Indeed Mr Nott, I have a task that I wish for you to complete for me," Voldemort said in a calm voice as he gestured for the boy to come forward.
The attacks today had not gone as planned, he would have to accelerate the timetable and make a move on a much larger target. They had yet to make a decisive strike against the order or the ministry, so it looked as if he was going to have to do something to really make a statement.
"Anything, my lord," Theodore said as he bowed his head in a show of subservience.
"There is a room at Hogwarts on the seventh floor...
Hogwarts Express, 4/10/1996, 15:39
Harry sat in the same compartment they had used on the trip home as the Hogwarts Express sped down the tracks. The trip back wasn't nearly as cheerful as the ride home. Across from him was Hermione who was scribbling in her notebook while Ron was on prefect patrol with Megan Jones. Beside Hermione was Ginny who was flicking through a Witch Weekly and beside her was Neville who was staring blankly at the wall.
The news of what had happened at the other attacks had gotten back to the Burrow by the evening of the inferi attack.
The Diggory family had been torn apart by an overwhelming horde of inferi, the Diggory home was about twenty miles away from Ron's house and the order hadn't made it in time to save them. Harry had asked why they hadn't just apparated and had been informed that death eaters usually set up transportation wards that would redirect incoming apparition hundreds of miles off course so it was often safer to fly to the location if you were close enough.
Luna and her father had thankfully been in Sweden over Easter break and weren't home. She was currently sitting beside him on the bench reading the Quibbler.
The biggest blow had been the attack on the Longbottoms, Neville's gran had been killed though she took all but one of them with her. Neville was sitting across from him beside Ron and had a familiar look on his face. Harry knew that look well as he wore it himself after leaving Godric Hollow Cemetery last December.
The loss of Augusta Longbottom would have a big impact according to Andi as she was part of a powerful voting block in the Wizengamot. Neville could take up the seat when he reached majority but until that time, the seat would remain unused and the Longbottom vote could not be cast.
Harry knew that the attack the other day was a statement, Voldemort was starting to get fed up. Since his return, only a handful of attacks had been effective. It was only a matter of time before he personally got involved.
"It looks like you've been infected by a wrackspurt," Luna said.
"Just thinking," Harry said as he glanced over at Luna.
Do you mind if I get more comfortable?" Luna asked giving Harry a hopeful look.
"Sure as long as your clothes stay... on," Harry said.
"Okay," Luna agreed as she slid down the bench before laying down on her back and draping her legs over his lap.
Luna was wearing the same sundress she wore on the trip a few weeks ago though she looked exhausted, Harry was a bit distracted as the dress rode up past her knees but he pushed that from his mind.
Harry couldn't help but smile, she was using her balled-up jumper as a pillow and looked like she was seconds away from taking a nap if her wide yawn was anything to go by.
"You still look like you have a wrackspurt in your head," Luna commented as she looked up at him with her large silvery eyes.
"Well it's better to have wrackspurts than muffkiffles," Harry pointed out.
"You can check me for muffkiffles if you like," Luna offered.
"Sorry blondie but he won't be doing that," Tonks said as she stepped into the compartment.
"Oh poo," Luna pouted.
"I see she's making herself comfortable Tonks said as she sat down beside Hermione.
"I'm sleepy, daddy had us out searching for snorkacks until four this morning and then we had to catch our portkey," Luna grumbled.
"I'm glad you were in Sweden," Harry admitted.
"So am I," Luna said simply.
"So the D.A will be having a meeting this evening," Hermione said as she looked up from the composition notebook she had been writing in.
"Good, we're going to start running teamwork drills," Harry said.
"But I thought we were reviewing for the O.W.L students," Hermione said sounding a bit put out.
"After the attacks, I think this is more important" Harry admitted.
"Alright, though I am really getting tired of coming back from holiday to find out more people have been attacked," Hermione sighed.
"Voldemort is going to be pissed after the attack on the Burrow," Harry sighed.
"You killed his number one in command, he's going to be after your head," Ginny snorted.
"You killed Bellatrix?!" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Tonks helped quite a bit but yeah, LeStrange was the one directing the inferi," Harry said.
"I am glad she finally got what she deserved," Neville muttered, speaking for the first time since taking a seat in their compartment.
"How are you holding up, Neville?" Hermione asked softly.
"I'm pissed, I just want this to stop!" Neville said sounding like he was close to breaking down.
Ginny who was sitting beside him, wrapped her arms around Neville and tried her best to comfort him.
"Do you need help with that group of yours?" Tonks asked as she gave Neville a sympathetic look.
"Yes," Hermione asked before Harry could speak.
"Yeah, I would appreciate that," Harry said, shooting Hermione an exasperated look.
Harry heard a soft snoring to his left and turned to see that Luna had already fallen asleep.
"I think you've adopted her," Tonks sniggered.
"She grows on you," Harry shrugged.
"Well as long as you don't search her for muffkiffles we won't have any problems," Tonks smirked.
Harry turned as he heard the door open and saw Ron step into the compartment looking utterly exhausted. Ron glanced over at Ginny who was holding Neville and rubbing soothing circles on his back while Neville cried into her shoulder. Ron gave them a curious look before he took a seat to Harry's right, having to shift Luna's feet to make enough room to sit down.
"Is he alright?" Ron whispered as he gestured to Neville.
"No and he probably won't for a while", Harry said sadly.
"Oh," Ron said dumbly.
"How was your patrol?" Harry asked, hoping to take the focus off of Neville.
"Pretty boring really, I think Nott and Parkinson are an item now," Ron said as Luna shifted around so that her feet were resting on his lap.
"Figures," Harry snorted.
"So not that I don't appreciate a good pair of legs but why are Luna's draped over you?" Ron asked as he gave a subtle nod towards Wendy.
"Harry lets the little minx get away with it," Tonks snorted.
"She's tired. She is kind of cute when she's not causing chaos," Harry conceded, noticing his best mate kept eyeing Luna's legs with an almost fascinated look.
"So how was the rest of your holiday?" Ron asked.
"Quiet, Tonks spent most of her time at the ministry. Andi and Ted had to work so I was stuck at home by myself," Harry shrugged.
"Wasn't much better on our end, after you and that sexy auror of yours left, we got corralled into Grimmauld place for the rest of the holiday," Ron scowled.
"Sexy auror?" Wendy asked in amusement.
"Yeah that auror Harry lives with is really fit," Ron said unabashedly.
"I'll tell her you said that," Harry said trying to keep a straight face.
"I think she already knows," Hermione rebutted.
"You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for talking about Tonks behind her back," Ginny protested.
"I knew I liked you, Weasley," Wendy chuckled.
"We're not saying anything mean," Ron protested.
"Whatever," Ginny huffed as Neville sat up.
Neville looked to have composed himself though his eyes were still very red. Harry really felt bad for his housemate. From what he'd heard, Neville had seen his grandmother get hit by Lucius Malfoy's killing curse.
Harry had this sneaking suspicion that Lucius Malfoy's days were numbered and that the Malfoy line would end very soon. Once Neville got over his grief, he would want vengeance for his grandmother. Neville was a powerhouse in his own right, with proper training he would be a formidable wizard.
Harry knew that feeling well and wondered if it would be wise to help him. Neville had asked Harry to teach him spell chaining and nonverbal casting. Harry had planned to set something up but had gotten sidetracked with following Malfoy. Now Harry knew Neville would need those skills if he went after Malfoy.
"Wendy has decided to help us with the D.A," Hermione said, pulling Harry from his thoughts.
"Great, isn't she the reason Harry always came back to the dorm covered in welts?" Ron asked warily.
"Ah good ole dodging practice," Wendy grinned.
"Wonderful," Ginny said giving Harry another glare.
"Neville," Harry said softly.
"Yeah?" Neville asked, his voice coming out hoarse.
"Meet me in the room after breakfast this Saturday," " Harry instructed.
"Sure," Neville replied, not questioning why Harry wanted to meet with him.
The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, Neville's sombre mood seemed to affect the rest of the. Harry sat there listening to Ron go over the quidditch scores while Luna continued to sleep. The rest of the trip was almost peaceful minus Ginny shooting him strange looks every so often.
Harry honestly had no idea what that was about but he had a feeling he would learn soon enough.
Gryffindor Common Room, 4/11/1996, 07:08
Harry stepped into the common room after his morning PT to find Ginny sitting in a chair by the fire and looking very cross. She was still in her nightclothes and seemed to be in a bad mood so Harry thought it best to leave her be and headed for the staircase.
Harry had barely made it halfway across the common room before Ginny stormed over to him. Harry was brought up short as she blocked his path to the boys' dorms standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.
"Now that I've finally got you alone, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Ginny demanded angrily.
"What are you on about?" Harry asked, feeling a bit caught off guard by the glare she was directing at him.
"I saw you kissing Tonks the other day at our house," Ginny exclaimed, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.
"You did?!" Harry asked in alarm.
"I did and as far as I know you're still dating that Wendy girl," Ginny continued.
"I-
"Tonks is my friend and I don't like you messing her around," Ginny snapped cutting him off.
"I'm not messing her around!" Harry protested.
"So you and Wendy broke things off then?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Ginny whether I have or not is none of your business," Harry said flatly before he walked around her and made his way up the boy's staircase.
Harry half expected her to try and curse him but she just stormed up the girls' staircase muttering darkly to herself instead. Harry thought he caught the words, "bat-bogey his bits," which did give him cause for concern.
Harry would have to tell Tonks about this encounter and see how she wanted to handle things but he really did not want to tell anyone else about Wendy's real identity. Too many people already knew and it was starting to get out of hand. The more people that knew of her true identity increased the chances of it getting back to the wrong people. As far as he knew, Voldemort didn't know there was an auror amongst the student body and Harry wanted to keep it that way.
When Harry entered the dorm he grabbed his uniform and slipped into the bathroom. His dormmates were still sleeping, so if he hurried he could have the bathroom all to himself.
As Harry stepped into the shower and began preparing for his day, he couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do about Ginny.
Twenty minutes later Harry stepped into the great hall and made his way to where Hermione was sitting sipping her morning coffee.
"Good morning," Hermione beamed.
"Good morning, you're up a bit early," Harry said as he took a seat across from her.
"I was woken by someone throwing things around in the fourth-year dorms," Hermione said.
"Really?" Harry asked already having a pretty good idea who that was.
"Yes, apparently Ginny is in a right snit with you," Hermione said, giving him a pointed look.
"I know, she caught me on the way to my dorms this morning," Harry admitted.
"I heard," Hermione said wryly.
"She saw me and Tonks kissing and thinks I'm leading her on or something," Harry sighed.
"Because you're dating Wendy?" Hermione smirked.
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
"You have to admit that is pretty funny," Hermione giggled.
"Maybe to you," Harry huffed.
"Yes, I suppose it's all about perspective," Hermione agreed.
"It's bloody ridiculous is what it is," Harry scowled.
"So what are you going to do about Ginny?" Hermione asked, giving him an amused look.
"No idea," Harry shrugged as he poured himself some coffee.
"Well she looks like she wants to throttle you," Hermione pointed out as she gestured to Ginny who was sitting a few seats down the table.
"Too many people know already, I am not bringing her in on the secret unless I have to," Harry said as he saw the post owls start flying in through the high windows.
"Alright but she's not going to let this go," Hermione warned as an owl with the Daily Prophet landed in front of Hermione.
Harry's response died in his throat as Hermione unfurled the paper and he saw the headlines
Diagon Alley Attacked in Broad Daylight, Garrick Ollivander Kidnapped!
Florean Fortescue Missing After Attack on Diagon Alley!
Giants Spotted Moving Towards the West Country Muggle Homes Destroyed!
Harry read the headline and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the picture underneath the first article. Diagon Alley looked to have been demolished though thankfully nothing was on fire.
"This is bad," Hermione muttered.
"Yeah I know, look at the alley," Harry exclaimed.
"No, I mean Ollivander being kidnapped," Hermione corrected.
"Yeah that could be a problem, now the best wandmaker of Britain is a prisoner to the other side," Harry said as he processed how big of a blow this was.
"Exactly," Hermione nodded.
"And the giants?" Harry asked.
"They were just passing through and no one was killed. The obliviators have already erased the muggles' memories so they think a tornado caused the devastation but the ministry is searching for the giants," Hermione explained.
"Great as if we didn't have enough problems, we have giants to worry about now," Harry sighed.
"I think Voldemort is starting to get frustrated," Hermione admitted.
"So he's going to start trying harder?" Harry asked.
"I think so, that attack on the Burrow was overkill and his forces were still destroyed before they had even gotten into place. The first attack on Diagon Alley was a complete failure as was the attack on Hogwarts. He is not going to give up easily," Hermione predicted.
"Great," Harry muttered as he took the paper from Hermione and began to read. each article.
Today was already shaping up to be a bad day and he hadn't even attended his first class of the day.
Harry perused the article as he picked at his breakfast, idly he noticed that Ron was sitting at the Hufflepuff table with Megan Jones this morning.
'Well the day can only get better from here,' Harry thought optimistically as he glanced over at Ginny noticing that she had finally stopped glaring daggers at him.
Seventh Floor Corridor, Hogwarts, 4/11/1996, 18:39
Harry was making his way to the room for his evening training. Despite the rocky start, the rest of his day had gone pretty smoothly.
Harry turned the corner and began making his way down the corridor that led to the room and found Tonks standing there staring at the stretch of wall looking perplexed.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked in confusion as he came to stand beside her.
"The room won't open, I think that someone's already using it," Tonks said, giving Harry a look of annoyance.
"Except for Luna and Hermione, the members of my group don't know how the room works," Harry assured her.
"Damn I guess we'll just have to wait them out," Tonks sighed.
"That sounds boring," Harry pointed out.
"It probably will be," Tonks agreed.
"So how are we going to do this?" Harry asked in a resigned tone.
"We're going to stake this corridor out just like an auror would do in the field," Tonks smirked as she tapped his head with her wand.
Harry jumped as the spot she tapped smarted before an unpleasant cold feeling ran down his neck reminding him of the time Dudley had smashed an egg over his head.
"What the hell was that?" Harry demanded.
"A disillusionment charm," Tonks said as she tapped her head and seemed to vanish so that all Harry could make out was her blurry outline.
"A bit of warning would have been nice," Harry muttered as he look down to see his body was mimicking the wall behind him almost like a chameleon.
"Quit your bitching and stand still, a disillusionment charm is only effective if you stay very still or move very slowly," Tonks lectured as she leaned up against the wall to the right of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy.
"Alright," Harry said as he leaned against the wall next to where the door usually appeared.
"And now we wait," Tonks said, her voice so quiet Harry barely heard it.
It seemed like they stood there for an eternity waiting for the door to appear in the wall. They saw a few students pass by and even watched Hermione and Terry Boot try and make the room appear several times before Hermione suggested that they find an abandoned classroom. Harry made a mental note to tease her about that later especially since she should have known that he and Tonks usually used this room at this time of night.
It was when the warning bell for curfew rang that a door finally appeared in the wall to Harry's right. Harry was a bit surprised when a large cabinet was levitated out of the room.
He waited until the cabinet had cleared the door before he quickly darted into the room passing Theodore Nott who was too focused on guiding the cabinet to notice him.
Harry stayed in the room so it wouldn't disappear and waited for Tonks to join him. As he waited he looked around and was awed by what he was seeing.
He was standing in that could easily dwarf the great hall in size and put him in mid of a cathedral, there were large arched windows set high on both sides of the room letting in light from the waning crescent moon. Even with the limited light, Harry could see what looked like a small city of junk. There were towering walls, built of what Harry thought must have been objects hidden by generations of Hogwarts students. There were narrow pathways bordered by teetering piles of broken and damaged furniture that went almost to the ceiling and Harry thought that if a fly landed on one of these piles they would most likely collapse.
There were thousands of books, many of which seemed to be written in languages Harry couldn't decipher and some Harry was almost certain were very dark tomes.
Besides books and furniture, there were banned items like winged catapults and Fanged Frisbees, a few of the latter were still zooming around near the ceiling, leading Harry to believe they had been hidden here fairly recently.
There was a whole quidditch shop worth of broomsticks as well as quaffles, bludgers, beaters bats, quidditch pads and even a couple of muggle footballs.
There were also tons of clothes ranging from hats and cloaks to robes, dresses, trousers, shirts, socks, jewellery, and a small mountain of female undergarments
Then Harry noticed items of a more questionable nature such as chipped bottles of congealed potions, dragon eggshells, corked bottles Harry was almost certain contained poison, several rusting swords, a pair of bloodstained axes, and a pile of wands, some of them actually looked to be functional.
Harry was still taking the room in when the door banged open and Tonks stepped in dropping her disillusionment charm as she shut the door.
"Bloody hell, what is this place?!" Tonks exclaimed as she looked around the room in amazement.
"If I had to guess, I would say this is Hogwarts' lost and found room," Harry snorted making Tonks jump.
"Here," Tonks said as she whacked him on the head cancelling his disillusionment.
"Bloody hell, do you have to wack my head so hard?" Harry grumbled as that same cold feeling passed over him making him shiver involuntarily.
"Sorry, I was a bit distracted," Tonks said absentmindedly as she continued to take in her surroundings.
"Tell me about it," Harry agreed.
"We could make a mint selling this stuff, some of those brooms alone are worth a small fortune," Tonks muttered as she started wandering down the rows, following a set of fresh footprints on the dusty floor.
"What did Nott do with that cabinet?" Harry asked as he followed after her.
"Called for his house elf and ordered him to take it to his dormitory," Tonks shrugged.
"So he came up here to shop for bedroom furniture?" Harry snorted.
"Maybe, Tonks said as they came to a square of slightly clean stone floor.
"This must have been where the cabinet came from, I wonder why he didn't just call his elf here instead of levitating it into the hallway," Tonks muttered more to herself.
"Probably couldn't, the room may have measures to prevent him from calling a personal house elf," Harry reasoned.
"But Dobby pops into the room all of the time," Tonks argued.
"Dobby is a Hogwarts elf, maybe the castle can tell the difference," Harry pointed out.
"Good of an explanation as any," Tonks agreed.
Harry's next words died in his mouth as he felt a familiar magic calling out to him. It was a welcoming feeling that he couldn't really describe but he could feel it pulling him deeper into the room.
"Hey Tonks, do you feel that?" Harry asked softly as he started moving down the narrow pathway.
"No what is it?" Tonks asked curiously as she followed after him.
"It feels like that locket at Grimmauld Place," Harry said distractedly as he wandered over to a pile of junk not far from where the cabinet had been resting.
The first thing he noticed was a discoloured potions cabinet. On top of it was all manner of junk piled high but it wasn't the items on top of the cabinet that was calling to him.
Cautiously Harry pulled out one of the lower drawers and found a plain-looking tarnished tiara sitting in the drawer on top of an old curly-haired blonde wig.
"This is it," Harry said breathily as he stared at the tiara trying to figure out what he was seeing.
Harry lit his wand tip to get a better look and noticed that there was a large oval-shaped sapphire set into the front of the ornament with words finely etched into the headband underneath it.
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," Harry muttered to himself as he read the words out loud.
"Don't touch that thing or I will stun you like last time," Tonks warned as she drew her wand and sent off a patronus message.
"I can use my occlumency now and you wouldn't be able to pull that trick on me now," Harry snorted only to stumble back as a first of orange fire lit up the room, almost blinding him in its intensity.
A second later, Albus Dumbledore appeared in front of them clutching the tail of his phoenix, Dumbledore quickly took in his surroundings before looking between Harry and Tonks.
"Good evening Nymphadora and to you as well Harry," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
"It would be a better evening if that damn bird hadn't blinded me," Tonks muttered.
"I am sure Fawkes is most apologetic, now to what do I owe this spontaneous meeting?" Dumbledore asked curiously as Fawkes disappeared in another blinding burst of orange flame completely contradicting Dumbledore's first statement.
"Potter thinks he found something like that locket, I figured you'd know what to do," Tonks answered looking, scowling at the place the inconsiderate phoenix had just vanished from.
"Is this true, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Harry sharply.
"Yes sir, that tiara was pulling me to it just like the locket did last summer," Harry answered as he gestured to the headpiece still sitting in the drawer.
"My word," Dumbledore gasped as he looked where Harry was pointing.
Harry watched as Dumbledore moved forward and inspected the tiara closely, his white eyebrows climbing higher on his head until they completely disappeared into his long silver hair.
"It can't be," Dumbledore muttered to himself as he gently picked the item up and looked at it closer.
"What is it, sir?" Harry asked curiously.
"I believe this is the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw," Dumbledore said, a note of deep sadness in his voice.
"Blimey, I've heard of that," Tonks muttered.
"Yes well unfortunately it will have to be destroyed as I have little doubt that this contains a fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul," Dumbledore said as he slipped it into the pocket of his outer robes.
"That thing has to be worth a fortune though," Tonks muttered.
"Yes, it is a priceless treasure that is as old as this very school. Lord Voldemort has already tainted two other founders' relics, I had no choice but to destroy them," Dumbledore said, and there was no mistaking the sadness in his tone.
"Damn, what were the other two?" Tonks asked.
"The locket of Salazar Slytherin and the cup of Helga Hufflepuff," Dumbledore answered.
"That noseless bastard!" Tonks hissed, looking quite upset.
"I couldn't agree more. Just out of curiosity, where are we?" Dumbledore asked as he looked around the room with interest.
"The room of requirements, we were tracking Theodore Nott and he was using this room," Tonks answered as they began walking back towards the door.
"Oh, and what was mister Nott doing here?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"He came here to get this massive cabinet and had his family elf take it back to his dorm," Tonks answered.
"Interesting," Dumbledore muttered before casting a pair of twin phoenix patronuses that zoomed through the upper windows of the room.
"It ruined our evening training," Harry scowled.
"From what I've heard, you are doing quite well in your training, Harry," Dumbledore beamed.
"Thank you, sir," Harry said feeling a touch of pride at the headmaster's words.
"I must be off but you have no idea how much you have helped me tonight," Dumbledore said as they reached the door.
"How many of those things are left?" Harry asked curiously.
"Just one, I do believe," Dumbledore answered before he stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.
"I am going to let Bones know about Nott, something tells me that cabinet is more than just furniture," Tonks muttered as she closed her eyes.
Harry watched as the room changed around them to their usual common room. The mountains of junk disappeared and the room shrank significantly until it was about the size of his dorm in Gryffindor tower. The dust vanished from the stone floor before the was covered in pink plush carpet. A large fireplace with a roaring fire appeared in the wall and a sofa and coffee table appeared in front of it. Finally, a full-sized four-poster bed appeared on the wall across from the fireplace and a bathroom door appeared in the wall on the right side of the bed.
"I'll be back in a minute Tonks said as she grabbed the tee shirt that she usually slept in (which appeared folded on the back of the couch) and stepped into the bathroom.
Harry decided to go ahead and change into his pajamas, as soon as he thought this, his trunk at the end of the four-poster bed. After digging out his pajamas, Harry quickly changed into them and plopped down on the couch, sighing in contentment as he sank into its soft cushions.
He had just sat down when a small chocolate cake and a pitcher of milk appeared on the coffee table along with plates cups and cutlery.
"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said with a grin as he cut two slices of cake and put them on separate plates.
Harry turned as he heard the door open and saw Tonks stepping out of the looking very nice in her long Weird Sisters teeshirt.
"You read my mind," Tonks beaned as she accepted the plate Harry offered her.
"Thank Dobby," Harry chuckled as he poured them a glass of ice-cold milk.
"So I've been meaning to ask you, what's Ginny's problem? She was glaring daggers at you this morning," Tonks asked after a minute of enjoying her chocolatey dessert.
"Well that is rather complicated," Harry admitted after he swallowed a massive bite of cake.
"Well, let's have it," Tonks said, giving him her full attention.
"Apparently she saw us kissing at the Burrow," Harry said before taking a sip of milk.
"So she's jealous?" Tonks asked in amusement.
"No, she thinks I'm stringing you along while I'm already dating Wendy," Harry explained.
"So she thinks you're cheating on me with me?" Tonks guffawed.
"Well yeah, she confronted me about it this morning. It was pretty scary, to be honest," Harry admitted.
"Well I may have been a bit annoyed she planned on asking you out but I can't deny she's a loyal friend," Tonks said thoughtfully.
"Yeah I know, she got all mad when she thought we were talking about you behind your back on the train," Harry agreed.
"But I really don't want anyone else knowing," Tonks sighed, looking very conflicted.
"I figured, though I am dying to tell Ron who you really are," Harry sniggered.
"Well, we can tell him over the summer but I want to be there when you tell him," Tonks said as she set her empty plate on the coffee table only for it to vanish with a soft 'pop'.
"Deal, it'd be funnier to do it that way," Harry grinned.
"As for Ginny, I'll tell her who I am in the morning," Tonks said after a moment's contemplation.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, if I don't it could cause quite a few problems for you," Tonks pointed out
"It could, I thought she was going to hex me this morning," Harry said as he set his own plate and empty glass down and watched them disappear.
Harry leaned back and closed his eyes as he felt Tonks snuggle up to his side.
"So when is the next meeting?" Tonks asked.
"Saturday after lunch I think, Hermione will have you a coin at the next meeting," Harry said as he loomed down at Tonks.
"Coin?" Tonks asked curiously.
"Yeah it works kind of like your auror badge, every D.A member has a coin and every coin is linked to Hermione's via a protean charm. Hermione sets the date on her and it shows up on everyone else's coin," Harry explained.
"Whose idea was that?" Tonks asked, sounding impressed.
"Hermione's, she can be annoying but she is scary smart," Harry grinned.
"You know if you set those coins up to work both ways, your members could use them to call for help if they were ever attacked," Tonks pointed out.
"Yeah that sounds like a great idea," Harry exclaimed, wondering why they hadn't thought of that before.
"If you could set something like that up, I could use it to get the aurors there pretty easily," Tonks offered.
"I'll have to talk to Hermione, she did all of the technical work on the coins but I don't see why that wouldn't work," Harry said as he tried to remember how the protean charm worked.
"You do that, now I think it's time for us to turn in," Tonks said before stifling a wide yawn.
A few minutes later they crawled under the covers of the four-poster bed and got comfortable. Tonks draped her leg over him and rested her head on his shoulder, her left hand coming to rest on his stomach.
"Good night, Harry Tonks whispered into his neck.
"Good night, Nymphadora," Harry whispered back before placing a kiss on the top of her head.
Tonks fell asleep within minutes of them laying down her warm breath tickling his neck. She hadn't changed her appearance and still looked like Wendy tonight which was unusual as she always changed her hair colour as soon as they entered the room.
Harry lay awake a bit longer, relishing the feel of Tonks' body pressed up against him as he thought about Tonks' suggestion.
Harry would be bringing her idea to Hermione and he had high hopes Hermione could make it work. A part of him was kicking himself for not thinking of this months ago, it could have saved Hannah during the attack on the Abbotts or at least given her a better chance.
Harry had thought killing the people responsible for her death would have helped his feelings of guilt over her death but it didn't, though, in fairness, he wasn't finished yet. Voldemort had ordered the attack on the Abbotts and was the reason so many people had been murdered, his own parents included.
Sixteen years ago a prophecy was made that said he would be the one to defeat Voldemort and while the prophecy was technically nullified by Voldemort's killing curse, Harry wondered if the prophecy still held true, if he could truly defeat Voldemort.
As Harry drifted to sleep these thoughts kept running through his mind and he resolved himself to follow this to the end.
He would defeat Voldemort not just for vengeance but so he and everyone he knew could have a normal happy life without worrying they would be attacked in their beds in the dead of night. Harry would end Voldemort and live in peace and he could start a family of his own.
With these thoughts on his mind, Harry fell into a peaceful sleep snuggled up to the pink-haired auror that he knew he had already fallen in love with.
Head's Office, Hogwarts, 7/12/1996, 00:29
Dumbledore sat at his desk looking at the destroyed items he had set in front of him. There was a diary, a locket, a ring, a cup, and a diadem. Five items that had once been horcruxes but were now just things that had been ruined with basilisk venom. It broke his heart to see such priceless treasures destroyed like this.
Still, he was very relieved that most of the anchors had been tracked down. He would have to pay his old colleague a visit just to be certain of the number.
Already six pieces of Voldemort's soul had been destroyed and he highly doubted there could be more than one or two more anchors or Tom's soul would have become too unstable and would have vanished into the ether.
Dumbledore was pulled from his musings as Severus entered his office looking very tired.
"You wished to see me, Albus?" Severus asked as he took a seat on the other side of the headmaster's desk.
"I did, this evening Theodore Nott was acting most unusually. He was seen transporting a cabinet of some type to his dormitory," Dumbledore explained.
"A cabinet?" Snape asked incredulously.
"Yes, according to Auror Tonks, he took it from a room that was positively packed with dark and questionable items," Dumbledore answered.
"Very well, I shall look into it," Snape promised.
"Thank you, how has Voldemort been acting since Easter?" Dumbledore asked.
"He has become very volatile, the death of LeStrange upset him greatly," Snape admitted.
"Yes I assumed as much, I applaud Harry for the way he dealt with her," Dumbledore chuckled.
"She was never the best flyer, Potter used that against her in the best possible way," Snape conceded.
"Yes though that does make me wonder who will take her place," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"That is the topic on most of the death eaters' minds of late," Snape snorted.
"Any thoughts on the subject, Severus?" Albus asked.
"She had been tasked with observing the order headquarters, I believe the task has fallen to Narcissa now," Snape said after a moment of thought.
"So you believe Narcissa will take her place?" Albus asked curiously.
"Perhaps, I believe if she proves herself competent then the dark lord will promote her above the others, he has already shown a certain amount of fondness for her," Snape admitted.
"Interesting," Dumbledore mused.
"It doesn't hurt that old guard has failed in one task after another since his return," Snape continued.
"What of Lucius?" Dumbledore inquired.
"He is very close to being killed especially after the failure at the Longbottoms," Snape sighed.
"I would hardly consider the attack on the Longbottoms a failure," Dumbledore pointed out
"His team was killed, Alecto Carrow was an inner circle member and she was killed by a teenager," Snape answered.
"Harry's defence group is proving most invaluable," Dumbledore said.
"Yes, though I fear he is very close to scorching the earth now, he is moving the giants toward Wales but I am unsure of the target," Snape confided.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely," Dumbledore assured him.
"I must get back to my lab, Albus, I have a potion to tend to, I will investigate Nott," Severus promised as he got to his feet.
"Do take care, my boy," Dumbledore said as Snape slipped through his office door.
Albus knew they were getting much closer to vanquishing Voldemort once and for all but he also knew they had a long hard road still to go. He would begin tracking down Horace very soon and he would get the information he sought one way or the other. As tempted as he was to use Harry to retrieve the information he sought, he knew it would take far too long. All he needed was a number and he was already fairly sure he knew the number but he needed Horace to confirm this for him. If he could manage it, he would also bring Horace to Hogwarts so he could give Severus what he'd always wanted.
As much as Albus enjoyed teaching defence, he had other duties to tend to as headmaster and he was running himself ragged pulling double duty.
"Still, it has been a very productive day," Dumbledore thought to himself as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth from the candy dish on his desk.
