Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 49 – Goblin's Wrath
To say that Director Ragnok was furious on hearing that was the understatement of the century. He was apoplectic. Not only were horcruxes amongst the darkest magic around, but they could be highly unstable depending how powerful the piece of soul was and given it was Voldemort's soul they were talking about there was no question as to its power. Given how unstable it was and that it potentially had the power to level the bank, Ragnok was furious that anyone would bring such an item into Gringotts, while the fact that it happened right under his nose made him ready to skin the perpetrator alive. He immediately ordered Bill to locate the item, not caring which vault it was in, and knowing that no goblin would touch such an item, it had to be in one of the vaults. None of the goblins present protested in the least, all of them knowing that to bring such an item into the bank was a serious breach of contract, specifically the part where the witch or wizard who opened the vault swore not to store anything that could harm Gringotts.
Using his locator spell, it didn't take long for Bill to locate the horcrux, though it took time for them to get there for it was in the deepest levels of the bank, located in one of the oldest vaults, one of the few protected by a dragon. Having just gotten passed the Horntail earlier that day Harry was not keen to face another one, but face it he did, speaking with it in broken Parseltongue as he had the Horntail instead of allowing the goblins to use the clankers that were all but torture to the beast.
"That's barbaric." Hermione muttered, but otherwise raised no complaints given they were in the midst of searching for a piece of Voldemort's soul. Finally Bill stopped outside a vault, one that the Director knew only too well.
"The Lestrange vault." He said, unsurprised. "It has remained sealed since the last remaining Lestranges went to Azkaban almost thirteen years ago. But no longer." Ragnok ran his finger down the middle of the door and locks were heard opening before the door swung open. Bill found the item they were looking for quickly: a small golden cup with two handles. A few standard detection spells revealed that there were no further traps on it, so it was easy to levitate that cup down to them, the Lestranges no doubt assuming that no one would be able to enter their vault so no further protection was needed. Enlisting Snape's help again the horcrux was quickly dealt with, leaving behind just the cup that they could now see had a badger etched into the gold.
"That looks like Hufflepuff's badger." Said Ron.
"You're right." Hermione agreed, moving to get a closer look. "It's in exactly the same position as on Hufflepuff's crest."
"That is because it belonged to Helga Hufflepuff." Snape said, sounding a little in awe, which in itself had the others in awe, never having thought to hear such a tone from the potion's master.
"Would you care to explain, professor?" Bill asked. "I thought nothing of the founders remained except Gryffindor's sword. And even that was only revealed to still exist when Harry pulled it from the hat two years ago."
"In the staff room at Hogwarts there is portrait of the four founders, one of the few in existence, and in it Hufflepuff is holding that cup. I have seen it too many times not to recognize it."
"Couldn't it just be a copy?" Ginny asked.
"Possible." Snape shrugged. "Though highly unlikely. The Dark Lord would not use a copy to house a piece of his soul. Only the real thing would be worthy of such an honour, dubious though it may be." That made sense. They knew that Voldemort had a very high opinion of himself so it was unsurprising that no ordinary object would do to house a piece of his soul.
"Right, so what do we do with the cup now?" Harry asked, leaving the others stumped.
"If everyone is in agreement, we will keep it here, at Gringotts." Said Ragnok, his tone of voice making it clear that everyone had better be in agreement, and anyone who wasn't could lump it. "Not only must we keep hidden the fact that the cup is no longer a secret within the Lestrange vault, but like Gryffindor's sword, that cup is goblin made." All those present knew that the goblins considered all pieces made by goblins to be theirs. They did not have the same laws of inheritance as humans did, at least not when it came to master craftmanship. The goblins considered such pieces to be on loan to the purchaser and were to be returned to the goblin that made the item upon that person's death. Of course, wizards didn't see it that way and refused to adhere to the goblins rules, thus resulting in the goblins no longer selling anything to wizards. It was just another one of the reasons that wizard/goblin relations were as low as they were. No one fought Ragnok on his decision and the cup was taken away with some reverence by a goblin that seemed to appear out of thin air. Ragnok then decided that it was time for the teens to return to Hogwarts, and that he would be accompanying them. The fierce look on his face as he said that told them that heads might roll, and it became obvious just who's head the Director was after when he barged into the Headmaster's office.
"Director Ragnok." Dumbledore didn't often look surprised, but he had not expected to see the Leader of the Goblin Nation burst into his office. Even less did he expect to see several other goblins flanking him, alongside Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Bill and his own potion's master. "To what do I-"
"I will keep this short, Dumbledore, for my temper has reached its limits today." Ragnok growled. "Did you know that a piece of Voldemort's soul resided in Mr. Potter when you left him on the doorstep of those hateful muggles?" Surprise was no longer the expression on Dumbledore's face, but outright shock; they were even treated to him turning almost as white as his beard.
"How…" Was all he managed to stutter. The Director actually growled at him, and the air practically crackled with magical energy.
"I thought as much. You are too smart to miss something like a cursed scar, though you are clearly stupid enough to do nothing about it!" Harry looked to the Headmaster.
"You knew a piece of Voldemort was in my head? And you left it there?" Harry had always been cautious of the Headmaster and his motives, but never had his opinion of the man sunk so low. Ginny grabbed his hand and tried not to glare at Dumbledore, though her attempts were futile.
"Harry, there is no way to remove a piece of soul without destroying the container which it is housed in." The Headmaster tried to explain.
"Not that you know of, at any rate." Ragnok snapped, before taking a deep breath. The air around him calmed some and he took a seat in front of the Headmaster's desk, clearly settling in for a discussion. "But if you had bothered to look beyond your own crooked nose instead of assuming that if the great Albus Dumbledore didn't know of a solution then there wasn't one, perhaps Mr. Potter wouldn't have spent thirteen years of his life with the soul of a madman inside him. And equally as important, perhaps Voldemort could have been defeated by now if you had deigned to inform anyone else of his horcruxes." Given that they knew about the soul piece in Harry it wasn't too far of a stretch that they knew Voldemort had created a horcrux as well, but that they spoke in the plural was surprising.
"We've already located and destroyed another of his horcruxes today." Griphook, who looked just as angry as his Director, spoke up at Dumbledore's surprise. "What? Did you think that You-Know-Who was the first wizard to create a horcrux?" While Ragnok was brave enough to use the name, Griphook was not. "Curse Breaker Weasley has destroyed many horcruxes in his work in Egypt; ancient Egyptian wizards were quite fond of trying to ensure they were never judged in the afterlife, and what better way than not really dying?"
"A simple spell exists to locate a horcrux, though you have to be in the general vicinity." Bill said, glaring at his former headmaster.
"And finding those horcruxes that remain is the only reason we are still here." Ragnok took over again. "I am assuming you have a theory as to how many he created and what and where they might be. You will tell us all you know, Dumbledore, and you will do so this instant or you will find yourself persona non grata at Gringotts, and in the entire Goblin Nation."
"And I swear to use every ounce of my power in the Ministry to make your life a living hell." A student threatening their headmaster wasn't the smartest move, but in this moment Harry didn't care. He was too angry, too hurt, to care, and he figured that if Dumbledore could arbitrarily decide to leave him on the doorstep of people that hated him with a piece of Voldemort in his head, then he was entitled to treat him as nothing but the meddlesome old fool he clearly was. For the first time that night Dumbledore didn't show surprise at either Ragnok or Harry's ultimatums and it took but a moment for him to reach a decision. Reaching into a drawer of his desk, Dumbledore pulled out the last thing any of them expected. Ginny tensed at the sight of the diary that had very nearly ruined her life, and the lives of many others, and that she still had nightmares about.
"Horcruxes are that sentient?" Hermione, unsurprisingly, immediately drew the correct conclusion: that the diary had been a horcrux.
"If they are able to gain enough power, yes." Said Dumbledore. "The piece of Voldemort inside the diary fed off of Miss Weasley's very life force, giving it added strength. Whether or not a horcrux on its own would have that kind of power, I do not know." He looked to Bill, who actually did have an answer.
"Horcruxes are sentient, they have to be based on the simple fact that a soul is sentient. They will do everything they can to stay alive, so to speak. I've seen them create illusions, give off a powerful burst of magical energy, and even attempt to control the mind of someone nearby, but I have never known one to take a physical form like you described, Gin."
"Regardless, the fact that there are two confirmed horcruxes gives credence to our theory that he made seven." Said Ragnok.
"Intended to make seven, I believe." Offering up information of his own free will was clearly new to Dumbledore, he sounded almost in pain. "I believe that the night that Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow he intended to make his seventh horcrux."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked.
"As I am certain you are aware," His eyes flickered to Snape, making it clear whom he thought they gained this information from. "Voldemort has a very high opinion of himself, and so the murder or torture of not just anyone would be worthy to be the catalyst for one of his horcruxes."
"And what makes Harry's murder special?" Ginny found her voice, finally taking her eyes of the diary that still lay on Dumbledore's desk. "Or more likely, his parents' murders? They were fighting against him, but Harry was just a baby, just collateral damage since he happened to be there. There was nothing special about it until Harry stopped the curse, but he couldn't have known that a baby would stop the killing curse and make him disappear, especially if he planned to make a horcrux that night."
"Unless there's something else you're not telling us, Headmaster?" Hermione called him out, though couldn't bring herself to be entirely disrespectful. Dumbledore sighed and the conversation that followed made the goblins even angrier and made Harry go numb inside. Dumbledore hadn't even finished speaking when he couldn't take it anymore and ran out, Ginny, Ron and Hermione following closely behind him. Harry ran all the down from the tallest tower where the headmaster's office was located to the edge of the Black Lake. Grabbing a rock, he threw it as hard as he could, and feeling no satisfaction at the splash it made, he grabbed another and threw that, followed by a third and fourth. Ginny, Ron and Hermione stood by and allowed him to release his anger, though all three came forward when his anger left him and he collapsed, left with nothing but sorrow. Ginny and Hermione didn't hesitate to wrap him in a hug, while Ron patted his back and stood close by.
"They're dead because of me." He murmured finally, feeling his friends' arms tighten around him.
"That's not true, Harry." Ginny said vehemently and Hermione nodded her agreement against his shoulder, where she'd laid her head.
"She's right, mate." Said Ron.
"He came after them because of me!" Harry snapped, some of his anger returning, though they knew it wasn't directed at them. "If it wasn't for that stupid prophecy about me he wouldn't have been there that night. He wouldn't have cared about them. I'm the reason my parents are dead!"
"You know that's not true, Harry." Hermione raised her head and forced Harry to look at her. "The prophecy said 'born to those who have thrice defied him.' They were becoming a nuisance, he would have gone after them eventually regardless of the prophecy."
"Exactly. And who's to say there's anything to this prophecy anyways?" Ginny added. "Dad says that prophecies are very fickle bits of magic. There's a load of them recorded at the Ministry that never become fulfilled."
"Left on their own, maybe, but Voldemort believes it. He marked me as his equal," His hand went to his scar. "His belief gives it power and he'll make sure it comes true." Ginny pursed her lips.
"Perhaps." She said noncommittedly. "But that still doesn't mean you're the reason your mum and dad died."
"Miss Weasley is correct." The baritone voice of Snape spoke as he stepped out from behind a tree. "For I am the reason they are dead."
A/N - I know...LONG absence. I finally feel like my writer's block is going away, though, I actually know where I want to take this story again, so hopefully I'll be able to write now and will update soon!
Review please!