An hour after and they had dedicated 2 other blackboards to the prophecy and any questions or possible theories they had on it. Sirius was naturally lightening the mood by writing down the most absurd suggestions all which led to eye rolls and huffs of laughter. Killick, Remus and Vexmoor were hovered around the table talking over possible theories and how it could be interpreted; they worked well together permitting the thoughts in their head to run smoothly instead of letting possible fears get in the way. Harry, Robins and Arrans were sitting at the other end of the table and were allowing silence to take over them until one of them blurted something out and then bounced possible ideas around, most of it was totally unrelated to the task that they had set for themselves.
"I still don't get why you love Hogwarts." Was one of the sentences that Arrans had said soon after. "I mean you have the friends, and they turn their back on you. You have the adventures, and almost die twice. And you learn some awesome things, but actually it's pretty average compared to the other schools. Why do you love it so much there?"
"Well for starters it got me away from the Dursleys, they weren't good to me. Far from it and its only because of numerous talks with Sirius and Daphne and really the going to Hogwarts and having the freedom that I realise how wrong and despicable they are. Hogwarts…was home and freedom. I could decide what to eat, and I didn't even have to cook it. I could decide what time to go to bed and I wasn't locked in or physically exhausted from all the chores. The teachers were - until recently -quite fair and I could learn as much as I wanted without fearing punishment for doing better than others."
"I didn't realise the Boy-Who-Lived had it badly." Arrans said quietly, her face quite downcast.
"Its been tough, hell I still wonder how Sirius and Remus can want me sometimes. But I know they do. And of course now I have a girlfriend and amazing friends who have stuck with me in this crap time and have simply been there. And the situations I got involved with…well yes they were incredibly dangerous and should never have been resolved by children but I got through it mostly in-tack and managed to prove to myself that I could."
His companion nodded thoughtfully as she thought about his years and friends and for a moment the trio were quiet before Robbins spoke up.
"My family is from England but my dad took us across the pond to America when I was six and the fighting was starting, my mum is muggle. Ended up at Ilvermorny; it was good over there aced all my courses and the exams, O.W.L's are called E.A.G.L.E's over there. Stand for Excruciatingly Aggravating Graduate Level Exams."
The other two snorted loudly.
"And I thought O.W.L's were bad." Harry said shaking his head. "What did you do after?"
"Stayed on until I finished, flew through the exams. Hated it."
"Why?"
"Nothing challenging enough. After I took on my masteries in Transfiguration and Astronomy, then I travelled. Best time ever. I went magical and muggle, through Asia and Africa and learnt more than I ever did in school, and small jobs along the way; bartending, animal keeping, tutoring etc. Came back here after 8 years and an Unspeakable was waiting for me at the port."
"Port? You came back muggle?"
"Oh yes, I knew it was coming to the end of the road. I still didn't know what I wanted to do but I had a feeling it would involve work and from that moment I would be tied to one place, I wanted to savour my last moments of freedom so yes muggle travel."
"And you've been here ever since?"
"Been here, ever since."
He didn't indulge the length of time and Harry decided not to enquire.
"What's your story, Arrans?"
"Well Harry, a long long time ago there was a beautiful woman who fell in love with a man and they decided to get married and everyone agreed they were utterly delightful and then they were blessed with a gorgeous daughter who was wonderful in every way but one…"
"Which was?"
"She was magical. Odd things happened around her. And the oh so lovely couple realised they couldn't have something so unnatural around them. So they drove out of town and dropped her off at the first kids home they could." Arrans tone was still happy though slightly muted now but from the distance in her eyes Harry had the feeling that she had made her peace with her past and it didn't trouble her as much as it might have.
"The girl was actually picked up by a magical couple who adored her, I mean how could they not! They nurtured her gifts and thought her wonderful-"
"Leading her to have a far too high opinion of herself." Robins injected with a roll of his eyes.
"Rude! Anyway she went to Hogwarts and was average there but her imagination had her coming up with all sorts of theories about spell work and time and how it all moulded together. After leaving Hogwarts with typical grades of someone who doesn't pay much attention to their teaching she begged and pleaded her way to be none other than Ollivanders apprentice. She stayed there for 10 years before moving on until an Unspeakable got wind of a mysterious woman who was travelling around and fiddling with time and magic and how the two connected. They snatched her up and she has remained in this dark and dusty place ever since!"
"That's so cool! Both of your stories!"
"What about you, any idea's of the future."
"Not to die is top of my list."
"Ah an excellent plan! Especially if you have the beautiful girlfriend in the picture frame." Arrans said with a teasing wink.
"She would definitely find a way to bring me back just so she could kill me again." Harry said with a grin as his mind thought about his beautiful spitfire of a woman. Silence once more of took them before Harry voiced a thought that had been stayed with him.
"What do you both think of the Horcrux idea?"
Arrans leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk with a shrug as she let her mind consider. Robins, meanwhile leaned forward and steepled his fingers together as he started down at the work surface with a frown.
"I think it incredibly likely he made more than two." Arrans said finally and Harry nodded at her hoping for more information, he also thought it likely but wanted an experts opinion first." I think Vold-well Tom Riddle, that is his name after all - did not want to die at all. Ever. I think it likely he made four or five just in case to prevent anything from happening to him if the first were destroyed or discovered."
"I think he also made more, his actions during the war were sound until the mid/late 70's when his strategies became most bizarre. He no longer was thinking like a leader, his battles were all over the place and he put his followers in prime positions for failure. He was seen a lot during the first few years, out in public, gathering people, actively fighting during the war. And then he just vanished leaving his followers to try and cause destruction instead of taking over. They were the actions of more than a man wanting to take over the world, it is far more likely that he simply went totally bonkers as a result of the split soul."
Harry nodded again thinking of what he knew of the Dark Lord and the war. Sirius and Remus had explained in brief detail the horror of the first few years, how each attack had been so precise and violent that no one could predict what was to come. Muggle-born families and blood-traitors were specifically targeted with no reign of destruction in sight, he had even tried to launch an attack on Gringotts resulting in the death of two goblins and the creatures had responded with full force which had crippled him for several weeks and he had left them alone after that. Then two years before the attack that left Harry without parents the strikes had started a different pattern, in the open, in crowded areas, in the ministry. The death eaters no longer cared about the people who got in the way their only goal was to erase everyone who rejected their way of life.
"I agree. As the memory, Tom Riddle was charismatic and fast thinking. But the thing that I met on Quirrells head was clumsy in his actions over the year and certainly not charming in any way, the words he used to convince me to join him were laughable and he became angry too quickly."
"Too quickly?"
"Yes, my uncle was the same and Snape. They are too used to obedience from the people they are in contact with, when faced with adversary they explode into rage rather quickly. Sirius always said that HE got followers because he spun a tale like Hitler from World War Two and made people feel. Considering what I know now, I would have thought he would try and persuade me more."
"Indeed, I also remember stories my father used to tell me of the speeches that inspired many. He only went to one but several of his acquaintances went to plenty before the violence started and then they backed away. I only remember the fear…the panic…the anguish that spread so quickly. Trying to keep people safe but muggles were being murdered in the broad daylight and the ministry were struggling with the statute of secrecy, I won't lie I was happy to leave and stay away."
They were all silent again, each contemplating the war.
"Tell us more about your dreams and brain smudge, Harry. That is the reason you came here originally after all." Arrans said with a grin.
Harry snorted, it seemed like years ago that he was introduced to something new and bizarre yet it was only 32 hours ago that his world was flipped over once more.
" Well when I first had the dreams I didn't take it too seriously, I didn't tell anyone about it. It was only after I had the second dream that I told Sirius and we thought to keep an eyes on it, after the third dream which was more feelings and foggy images we realised something more concerning could be happening. That as well as the smudge I found made us want to seek some help. I've been working on Occlumency for the last year, its helped me a lot. Kept my temper more, thought things through, allowed me to actually focus on things like studying instead of my mind jumping around. I was trying to organise my memories when I felt it clinging to my soul. It was horrible, the feelings of fear but superiority and arrogance. I couldn't move it." He went on to describe his friends and guardians had reacted and the other feelings the smudge aroused, in more detail than he had yesterday.
"It sounds almost implausible; I've never heard anything like it before." Robins said, his eyes moving side to side above Harry's head as though searching for the answer in air.
"Great, something else that makes me different." Harry said morosely.
"Oh come on now don't think like that! Instead it's a new discovery, a second soul maybe! an impossibility!" Arrans said, her eyes sparkling with interest.
"Isn't an impossibility – by definition- impossible?" Robins mocked.
"I say you haven't had enough practice! Sometimes I believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast!"
"Quoting Alice in Wonderland isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Spoilsport." Arrans shot back before doing the mature thing and sticking her tongue out at her colleague.
"And what are you all discussing over here?" Came the warm tones of Remus.
"Harry's smudge. What do you make of it?"
"In all honesty, something left over from the attacks he's suffered. First Halloween, then the encounters of Tom Riddle at Hogwarts. Harry says the spirit passed through him, maybe it left something behind."
"I agree, unfortunately." Killick said, coming up behind Remus. "However before I speak anymore about it I think it would be a good idea to take a look."
"Legilimens?" Harry guessed. He didn't like the idea of having someone digging around his mind but was willing to go for it though the uneasy glances that Vexmoor and Killick were shooting at each other had him weary.
"I'm the best for it. I swear I will find it as soon as I can and will not pry into your memories. It will be uncomfortable but should not cause you any pain. If your memories are as organised as you say they are then it should be pretty easy to by pass them."
Harry nodded jerkily and Robins moved into the chair next to him.
"Stay relaxed, calm. Talk to Sirius, talk about school, your girlfriend. Just keep your eyes on mine. Okay?"
"Sirius, tell me about mum and dads first date please."
As Sirius immediately started talking about the nervousness of the young James Potter on his much anticipated date Robins quietly murmured "Legilimens." And he felt himself leave the room and the conversation as the energy of the young man in front of him accepted him. The blackness enveloped him and he patiently waited until the memories and moods started to swim before him. He was immediately entranced, he was locked in a room, wooden panneling a sofa and fireplace, it seemed huge.
Harry I need help to find what I'm looking for. He felt Harry's acceptance and slowly the room shifted before him leaving a black blank space. He moved forward and caught glimpses of vague situations but nothing stuck and Robbins was quite surprised at how well the boy had done with manoeuvring his thoughts away from him. True to his word he made no attempt to hover and instead carried on continuously, moving further into the mind Robins discovered the beginning of defences that Harry was using to defend his mind against unwanted invasions, they seemed quite intricate and Robins figured that once Harry had researched and gained complete control his mind would be hidden behind a veritable fortress. Luckily they remained dormant and after what seemed like hours of searching through the chasm, Robins eventually found the smudge, he immediately knew what Harry meant by the emotions radiating from it. It was so very black and bleak, clinging to a piece of Harry and omitting fear, fake strength, aggression. Deciding to try and remove it, Robins drifted closer surprised when he found the smudge welcoming him, urging him, encouraging him on. As he realised the sense of security that was close to swallowing him whole, Robins began to fight and pull his way away from it, feelings of anger, frustration and fake concern poured over him and he almost started moving closer before fighting even harder to pull away. It was like the smudge had a mind of its own, it was full of rage and hate. Robins tried to sidle around it and pry it away but the smudge simply evaded his touch, it slipped through his hold and seemed to clutch tighter to the mind of Harry. After several more attempts that all ended in frustrated failure Robins decided to try something new and summoning his own brand of protective magic shot pure energy towards it. The light burst over the smudge and repelled back towards Robins, just before he was thrust out of the mind he was aware of the blackness moving towards him like leaking oil.
Coming back into himself, Robins found himself on his back staring up at the ceiling. His colleagues were above him watching with concerned expressions while a moaning and sounds of vomiting had him sitting up quickly. Sirius was rubbing soothing circles on Harry's back while Remus was kneeling in front of the boy holding a bucket.
"What happened?"
"That's what we'd like to know. One minute you had zoned out and Harry seemed pretty relaxed then he suddenly screamed and fell forward clutching his head; you were pushed out with such force you fell back and then my godson started throwing up! What the hell were you doing in there?!"
Robins gingerly stood up and made his way to the young man who was now sipping some water still looking rather pale, he looked up at him with big green eyes and Robins felt small rush of guilt at the pain he had inadvertently caused him.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I did not think it would cause so much pain, I didn't think that it would have reacted the way it did."
"Reacted? It?"
"Yes, I fear that this is what connects the three things we have been talking about…"
There was silence before Remus started to make an odd chocking noise and abruptly sat on the floor. Killick and Vexmoor looked sympathetic while Arrans, Harry and Sirius had almost identical befuddled looks.
"Someone just say it." Harry demanded as his worry grew and looked pleadingly towards Vexmoor who had taken a step forward to put a hand on his shoulder.
"We think your smudge, may in fact be a Horcrux."
Harry slumped back on his chair, face pale, wide eyes wide, barely breathing.
"But…but I thought H-Horcrux's couldn't be p-people." Sirius stammered as he knelt by his Godsons chair and stared up at Vexmoor in horror.
"Neither did we, apparently we were wrong." Killick spoke softly.
"But how can you be sure?" Sirius replied desperately.
"The smudge that feels familiar but not his, his connection with Parsletongue, the way the scar reacts in the presence of Voldermort and on top of that the dreams he's been having. And we haven't even gone into those in detail yet." Said Vexmoor with a compassionate gaze.
"I forgot about those." Remus said almost absentmindedly from his position on the floor.