AN: Happy Back to Hogwarts day!
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Alduin paid Dumbledore a visit the very next day. „It's seven," he said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The number of ways Riddle split his soul. It's seven."
Dumbledore exhaled. "That's what I feared," he said. "Do you have the memory?"
"I do," Alduin admitted, "but I'm not giving it to you. Horace Slughorn clearly doesn't mean for you to get it, so-"
"I need to see it!" Dumbledore insisted.
"Take it up with your old employee. I'll not break his confidence, since I'm very grateful for his cooperation. There was nothing else particularly relevant – Riddle asked about the Horcruxes in general, and only slipped this in as a question towards the end. It really threw Horace, too."
"I can imagine that," Dumbledore muttered. "It is rather preposterous, and extremely alarming. But we need to concentrate on the matter at hand."
Alduin nodded. "How do we find the remaining pieces?"
"We've already discussed the possibility that Bellatrix Lestrange might have been given a Horcrux, too, if Lucius Malfoy was. That, I believe, is the safest bet."
"It's less easy to find a way to get at it, though," Alduin pointed out. "Mr. Lestrange is extremely unlikely to let us go through Lestrange Park looking for pieces of Riddle's soul."
"Yes – but then, I do not believe it would be kept in the house. Too many people live there."
"Gringotts," Alduin realized.
"Yes. That would be my bet, if Bellatrix indeed had a Horcrux. The trouble, of course, is that we are more likely to convince Rupert Lestrange to let us go through his house than we are to persuade the goblins to allow us entrance into one of their customers' vaults."
"I might know of a way there," Alduin said, "but it will require time. Meanwhile, what about the other four?" Alduin didn't even hesitate over the number. He would not reveal Harry's predicament to Dumbledore unless it was the last option.
"That will be more difficult," Dumbledore admitted. "It seems to me we will have to go over Riddle's past to look for places of significance to him, and objects of significance too, if we are to have any hope."
"May I ask what you base your assumption on? The one Horcrux we found, after all, was an old diary and Lucius Malfoy had it in possession."
Dumbledore gave him a level look. "I do not have a concrete basis for it, no," he said, "but unless it is true, we might as well give up, for if the Horcruxes can truly be anywhere, we will never find them. Under the circumstances, it does not seem like working with the assumption that Voldemort is vain enough to somehow connect the objects and the hiding places to himself would be a bad start."
That was fair enough, Alduin supposed.
"This is where your wife could be of great help," Dumbledore continued. "She is a historian after all, and with some interest in Riddle and his downfall from what I know. I will do my best as well, of course, but I am rather busy."
Alduin snorted. "And she isn't? But yes, I suppose I can convince her that writing her latest book can take a back seat to this particular and rather crucial hunt for information. Meanwhile, I will try to find out if my idea for getting into Bellatrix's vault is feasible."
Dumbledore nodded. "I wish you good luck with that," he said.
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It was Ron's birthday again, and after last year's success, they decided to repeat the whole process with a party in the Room of Requirement. There was one new guest, too: Su, Ron's highly competitive chess partner.
"So," Harry said, toasting Ron with pumpkin juice, "to the first teenager among us!"
"Really?" Su asked curiously after they all drank. "Ron is the oldest, and his birthday is only now?"
"Yeah," Seamus confirmed. "Who's the oldest in Ravenclaw?"
Su shrugged. "Hermione, and she was born in September, so she's been thirteen for ages. And I think there are a few more people whose birthday is before now, even though we don't really have birthday parties much, so I'm not sure."
Harry sighed. "And here I thought Alduin was exaggerating when he said you just gave each other books and time to read."
"What, you know of a better gift?" Su asked, and Sophie groaned.
"As the first teenager among us," Dean said with mock seriousness to Ron, "tell us, do you feel any different? Have the dating urges kicked in?"
"They seem to be rather going down even among the others," Seamus observed. "I haven't seen Lavender with McLaggen for a while."
"Of course you'd notice," Ron said, amused, and Seamus stuck out his tongue at him.
"I think they broke up," Sophie observed. "At least, she's been crying a lot lately, but when I asked what was wrong, Parvati lashed out at me."
"Is she still treating you badly?" Harry asked in sympathy.
"No, it's got much better, really. She just has these little moments." Sophie shrugged. "She seems moodier than she used to be in general, to be honest, and I overheard her telling Lavender her parents took her to a psychologist over the break."
"Do you think it has something to do with...you know?" Harry asked meaningfully, worrying. Would Parvati talk to the psychologist about the diary?
Su rolled her eyes. "Look," she said, "if you asked me here, can't you manage to keep to topics you're not trying to keep secret for me for maybe two hours? You have all the time to talk privately in your house."
Harry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I got a little carried away." He was worried enough about the psychologist, he didn't need so becoming suspicious...especially given that Parvati's sister was in Ravenclaws, so she could have some clues from there, too. Everyone knew Ravenclaws with clues were dangerous – just look at Alduin. Harry desperately looked for a topic to distract Su with. "So, um, how are things in Ravenclaw?"
She rolled her eyes at him again, apparently not thinking much of his effort. "It's the calm before a storm," she said then. "We know it'll be time to start studying for the exams in a fortnight or so, so everyone's sort of trying to enjoy the last weeks when we can read stuff just out of interest." She frowned. "Well, everyone who isn't too wrapped up in their one weird hobby to be bothered to study, I guess."
"Do you mean anyone in particular?" Dean asked with a grin.
Su sighed the sigh of the world-weary. "There's plenty of people like this in our house, honestly, but yeah, I was thinking of Lisa. There isn't a thing she doesn't know about ghosts, but she barely passed her exams last year. I just don't get it, and I worry about her, to be honest."
"Doesn't she like to study? I thought all Ravenclaws did," Ron muttered.
Su snorted. "I wish. For one, there are people in Ravenclaw who I honestly wonder how they got there, so they're out. Then there's people like Lisa, like I said, who rjust have their weird hobbies which, sure, are Ravenclaw enough, but they are completely indifferent to house points and exams." She gave another sigh. "Honestly, sometimes I feel I should have gone to Slytherin."
"Why Slytherin?" Ron asked with distaste.
"Well, they're ambitious," Su pointed out. "That means they study hard, right? I'm sure it must." She shook her head. "It just irritates me how some people ignore schoolwork. Thank Merlin for Hermione."
Harry sniggered. "You must be the first person I've ever heard say so. I mean, some people admire her, but most seem to think she's irritating."
Su scoffed. "Well, most people are morons. Even in Ravenclaw."
"There's some strange new girl in your house this year, isn't there?" Seamus asked. "I noticed her at Sorting. Long blonde hair, vacant look?"
"Oh, yes, Luna Lovegood." Su grimaced. "Strange is an understatement. How she got into our house is a question we're all asking ourselves, honestly. The stuff she read...I've never seen such nonsense, and she's supposed to be smart!"
"Perhaps she likes it," Neville said.
Su rolled her eyes. "No doubt, but if she believes it, she'll be a disgrace to our house."
The Gryffindors exchanged looks. A disgrace indeed.
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"I have what you asked for on Abraxas Malfoy's death," Alexandra told Alduin one day at the beginning of March, as they sat and watched Wynn play with his toys.
Alduin immediately gave her his full attention. "Really? You found confirmation?"
"Not definitive proof, but enough that it's suggestive, and Lucius is not a fanatical fool like Bellatrix. He'll see where this leads." She shook her head. "Honestly, looking at it all together, I'm a little astonished he hasn't spotted it until now, though I suppose he was understandably distracted at the time. Anyway, Abraxas was murdered not even three months after Lucius turned fourteen, and so gained the capacity to partly control the family vault if he inherited, and just as he was going home for Easter break – note how that made it possible for Riddle to be there to offer his sincere condolences and his assistance with hunting down the murderers. Now, I expect you know Lucius claims – not very publicly these days – that the murder of Septimus Weasley was revenge for the murder of his father?"
"Yes, of course." The two families have never been on good terms, but it was this that made them sworn enemies. Everybody in their generation knew about the killing, though Alexandra's question suggested that in her own age group, it was already a bit less known. It made sense, he supposed – after the war, no one would be too keen to dig it up. And Alduin was pretty confident that at least the younger Weasley children didn't know. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine Ron managing to act relatively civilly towards Draco.
"Well," Alexandra continued, "you know as well as me how the usual process of vendetta works, even if it hasn't been used for years. It fact, it hasn't been used in this very case, where it would have been extremely fitting. There was no publication of incriminating documents, no extracted memories or veritaserum confessions. Nothing like that. Just the quiet kill, and Lucius later stating that Septimus was the murderer of his father. It makes me wonder if, perhaps, it wasn't because there simply wasn't any proof?"
At this point, Wynn began to bang with one of his building block on the nursery floor, and Alexandra just sighed and gently took it from his hands. "Shh," she said. "Mummy and Daddy are talking."
Wynn looked like he might cry at this interruption of his game, so Alduin conjured colorful butterflies for Wynn to try and catch. They boy's laugher was a quieter and more pleasant sound to talk over.
Seeing the small crisis was averted, Alexandra went on: "It's especially suspicious as Septimus had literally no reason to want to kill Abraxas, except for a bit of traditional family rivalry, which is really no motive at all, and poison was absolutely not his style. Riddle might have had enough to convince a distraught fourteen year old Lucius, but the entirety of the Ancient families? Much less likely. So he went this way, while, of course, stating that the hand that directed Septimus was Dumbledore's. Lucius then very willingly gave the entire content of his treasury at Riddle's disposal, in hopes of avenging his father."
Alduin nodded. It sounded plausible enough, and it was horrifying. "I'd almost feel sorry for the man," he said, "if it wasn't for the fact that he gave a horcrux to a child."
"Well, he didn't know it was a horcrux," Alexandra pointed out reasonably.
"No, but still. I mean, that was hardly the crucial part. He was framing Miss Patil, and trying to kill all the Muggle-Born at Hogwarts while doing so – or at least some, I suppose, since he can't have imagined the school would stay open long enough to..." Alduin trailed off. "Do you think he realized that risk? That Hogwarts would close?"
"Perhaps that was his goal," Alexandra suggested.
Alduin stared at her. "What?"
"I mean, not permanently, obviously," Alexandra clarified, "but for long enough it would completely discredit Dumbledore."
"Oof." That made a dangerous amount of sense. "Well, my point stands," Alduin insisted. "He was willing to kill students for the sake of his own political goals, and indirectly endanger even his own son. What exactly he used to do that, or thought he used, hardly matters."
"Hmm, yes," Alexandra said contemplatively. "He is likely traumatized by his father's murder, but I agree with you that he was probably not all that great a person even before these tragedies. But actually, all of my research led me to another question: how exactly did Abraxas' father and grandfather die?"
Alsuin frowned at her. "We know that."
"Yes, we know a group of Muggle-Born refugees from Grindewald supposedly decided to make an example of his sympathisers here...right after Riddle graduated and began to need more money, and so his best friend in control of the family fortune would be very handy. A nice coincidence, don't you think? It seems to me there are two possibilities: either Riddle had them killed independently, or it was agreed with Abraxas, who wanted control of the money as well."
Alduin sighed. "We shouldn't get too conspirational," he said. "The one surviving member of the attackers confessed, after all."
"Not impossible to arrange, I believe. But yes, of course, it's not certain...it's just very, very convenient. All of it."
Alduin nodded. "I'd ask you to go on looking," he said, "but I'm afraid there is one other thing I have to ask of you instead. It concerns the Horcrux business..."
Alexandra listened attentively, and then sighed. "One of these days," she said, "you're going to ask for something pleasant and cheerful."
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Slytherin played Hufflepuff the next weekend, and as Harry had feared, defeated them soundly, with Draco catching the Snitch just seconds before Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker.
"Congratulations," Harry said to him afterwards, honestly enough. "Winning against Diggory is no small feat."
"Contrary to winning against you?" Draco asked him with a grin.
"Well, when I'm being chased by a rogue bludger...yes!" Harry retorted, sticking out his tongue.
"Those are just excuses, my dear," one of the portraits they were passing muttered, and Draco laughed.
"There," he said. "If an ancient painting says it, it must be true."
"Is it an ancient Slytherin painting?" Harry asked pointedly.
"I am indeed," the painting agreed. It was of an elegant looking witch who looked out of place in the background, a matter that was soon explained as she said: "You're wanted in your common room, young Malfoy."
"Oh, I knew I've seen you somewhere!" Draco said triumphantly. "You're the one who hangs by the staircase tot he girls' dormitories, right?"
"Indeed," she agreed, "and the Greengrass girl is asking for you."
"All right," Draco agreed reluctantly, and they turned their steps back to the dungeons.
"What does she want, do you know?" Harry asked curiously.
"Something to do with the exams, probably," Draco replied.
"Seriously?" harry asked incredulously. "Su was right, you really are even worse than the Ravenclaws. It's March. March!"
"Precisely. Barely three months left till the exams!" Draco said, though he was grinning.
"We could call Theo and ask him what she wants," Harry suggested, a little excited, He didn't get to use that mirror very often. "Maybe you don't have to actually go back."
Draco agreed, and soon enough, Theo's face was looking at them, slowly blinking.
"What does Daphne want?" Draco demanded without preamble.
"How do you know she wants something?" Theo was surprised.
"Portraits," Draco said succinctly.
"Oh, right. Anyway, she needed help with some Potions stuff..."
"Didn't I say so?" Draco asked triumphantly, and Harry could only roll his eyes. He needed to get back to the safety of Gryffindor tower to hide form this craziness.
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AN: I'm assuming Dragon Pox was given as the public reason for Abraxas Malfoy's death, but wasn't the actual one. Of course, the same passage in HBP also suggests Abraxas was very old when he died, but once again the math doesn't check out. Lucius is 40 when this conversation with Slughorn happens, so for his father to be very old for a wizard some years ago, he'd have had to have his only child very late. Not that it's impossible, but this is a trend with Rowling, so I just ignore it.