The Search Is Over,
Chapter 100, Spirits Of The Dead
For months Regulus had been contemplating the prospect of talking with the resurrected spirits of his parents. Knowing that this was an option, thanks to the resurrection stone, was at once painful and thrilling. Painful because he'd have to face them and thus his own failings, which in various ways had cost both their lives or at least contributed to their loss. Thrilling because, of course he wanted the opportunity to speak to his parents again...To see how they were, to apologize for...everything and most important of all to tell them how very much he loved and missed them. He'd been contemplating it for months, rather than acting upon it for a few reasons. The first was the simple fact that he had to psych himself up to actually face his parents. It was going to hurt as much as it may be joyful. The other reason involved the resurrection stone itself, though.
He'd told Gellert his theory that The Elder Wand was a Horcrux. If all three Hallows were, he would be dealing with a Horcrux to talk to his parents and there could be potential dangers of which said parents certainly would not approve. Also if it put him at any risk, even of being ensnared by the thing, he owed Kreacher more than that after everything. Granted he didn't know that the resurrection stone was a Horcrux, but it could be, and in complete honesty, he felt it likely was way down in his instincts.
This didn't mean he would have to entirely let go of the idea of briefly reuniting with his parents. Though few and far between, there were some legitimate mediums; necromancers too. Of course he didn't want to raise the zombies or, gods forbid, Inferi of his parents, but some necromancers, if skilled enough, could just raise the spirit rather than the flesh of a person.
He decided to place an advertisement for a skilled Medium or Necromancer. The obvious choice for where he would place it, was the Monster's Fang. Along with their stories, the publication also ran articles as well as want ads. As the articles and ads were, as a rule, dark in nature to match the feel of the publication itself, Regulus thought it worth a shot that a necromancer or medium may be reading it. When he talked it over with Kreacher, the elf thoroughly approved of his choice. He was glad that Regulus refused to risk their hard won peace and happiness by mucking about with a potential Horcrux for any reason.
He was also certain they'd enjoy interviewing potential mediums and necromancers.
"Those we don't feel are legitimate shall still serve us," he proclaimed happily.
"How is that," Regulus asked, arching his brows, wondering what Kreacher had in mind.
"Kreacher can use them as inspirations for his next horror stories!"
Regulus chuckled.
"Of course you can! No time wasted, then."
Kreacher nodded.
"Exactly."
Regulus sent in the ad the very next evening. It would show up in the next issue which would come out in around two weeks. With that done, his mind returned to the resurrection stone. Though he had no personal interest in the thing, his own horcrux theory regarding the Peverell brothers and their three Hallows being Horcruxes that would help them defeat death was a puzzle he wished to study.
With this in mind, he wrote Harry Potter, asking if he'd be willing to share his experiences with the thing. Harry wrote back within the hour, agreeing, asking if Regulus would like to meet the next day. Of course he would! Regulus invited him to dinner, thinking he should at least feed him for his trouble and Harry accepted.
Kreacher was none too pleased, still not being a fan of Harry in spite of the kindness the young man had shown in his willingness to return their home to them.
"Harry Potter did not want our home," Kreacher grumbled when Regulus said as much.
Regulus sighed and shrugged.
"Well he could've kept it for spite were he anything like Sirius."
Kreacher scowled, but shrugged and acquiesced when Regulus bent to kiss him.
"Kreacher isn't putting himself out for a fancy meal," he muttered as soon as the kiss ended.
"Kreacher shall make something rather ordinary that takes little effort. It shan't be of poor quality, though. Kreacher shall not make himself appear a poor cook even to give Harry Potter stomach discomfort."
His eyes darkened mutinously as he added, "He'd better not bring any of his Mudblood or blood traitor friends either."
"I'm sure he won't," Regulus said with a chuckle.
"I didn't mention a plus one."
"Well if he does, Kreacher shall not be pleasant," the elf announced.
Fortunately for all involved, Harry Potter came alone. Kreacher was disapprovingly civil and Kereston was skeptical but friendly enough. Skeptical because both Kreacher and Mag, both close friends of hers, disliked Harry Potter for reasons she found valid, though she had no personal experience with him. She'd explained as much to Regulus the previous evening.
Apparently Mag agreed with Kreacher on the boy's ineptness, but the majority of her gripe with Potter was that he was allowed to attend Hogwarts in spite of the fact his presence endangered other students. Kereston told of how the troll had gotten into 'the safest place on earth' on the first Halloween of Harry Potter's attendance at Hogwarts. When Regulus asked if Mag had explained how she felt Potter should've received his education in order to have a chance of defeating Voldemort, Kereston said the red head felt Dumbledore should've gotten a qualified wizard to homeschool Potter. Regulus supposed that made sense to a degree, though if Voldemort knew where Harry was, one qualified wizard could not protect him as well as Hogwarts.
That topic remained thankfully off the table at dinner, without Kreacher or Kereston bringing it up for which Regulus was relieved. Kreacher had made a thick lamb stew with fresh baked bread on the side. As always when he remained present while others dined, Regulus experienced a brief flash of missing Kreacher's cooking even though he could no longer technically crave anything other than blood. The enjoyment of Kreacher's cooking was a thing the two had once shared together that was forever lost. Still the opportunity to share immortality was worth it, and Regulus knew that. Harry Potter complimented Kreacher on the food, seeming to truly mean it. Kreacher nodded, giving the young man a grudging smile.
"There are seconds if Harry Potter would like," he said.
Harry nodded.
"If I'm not too full by the time I finish my firsts, I'm sure I will!"
Turning to Regulus he said,"Thank you for having me to dinner. I've been wondering how you and Kreacher are so it's nice to catch up."
Regulus smiled, a bit surprised by that and oddly touched as well.
"Thank you. We are well. Kreacher is a published author now!"
He gave Kreacher a proud smile.
Harry blinked in surprise from behind his thick glasses.
"Oh! Really? That's nice, Kreacher. Congratulations! I never knew you wrote."
"It's a new discovery," Kreacher said.
"Kreacher discovered it himself only a few months ago."
Regulus hoped that Harry wouldn't ask what Kreacher wrote his first story about, considering it was bloody Sirius.
"Wow. What is it that you write?"
"Horror novels," Kreacher replied.
"Very good ones too," Kereston enthused.
"I have had a few nightmares."
She frowned at Kreacher's eager look.
"And once again, no I will not have them on Purpose for your dream catcher experiments."
Harry's curious look caused her to shake her head of long blonde curls and make a face.
"Don't ask. Trust me, you don't want to know."
Shrugging, Harry turned back to Regulus as he took another bite of lamb stew.
"You wanted to know about the resurrection stone?"
Regulus nodded.
"I have some theories about its construction, and the more I know of how you experienced its effects, the closer I am to discovering if I am correct," he explained.
"How did it make you feel? That is did it change your feelings in any way when you were holding it?"
Harry ate in thoughtful silence for several seconds, obviously seriously considering the question.
"It's hard to say. I didn't have it long and I was under so much stress at the time. So much was going on that there were surely several other things factoring into my emotional state."
Regulus nodded. That was unfortunate yet understandable.
"Did you actually use it to speak to the dead?"
Harry nodded, his eyes growing sad.
"My parents, Sirius and Remus."
"How was it?"
"It was wonderful, actually. They were so kind and loving and encouraging."
"That's interesting," Regulus said with a frown.
"Legend has it that the dead do not like to be disturbed by the stone's draw to return to the world of the living."
"Well my dead didn't seem to mind in the least," Harry said.
"I'm grateful for that too. I'd have felt really dreadful if I'd caused them any upset."
"Did they try to get you to come with them," Regulus asked, thinking this could make sense if the Horcrux of one of the Peverell brothers was after coaxing Harry into giving up his life. It was something a person who created Horcruxes certainly may not be above doing, after all.
Harry shook his head adamantly.
"Oh no! Not at all. In fact, my mother encouraged me to live.
"That is interesting," Regulus said.
"It was likely legitimate then. Most likely you were truly speaking to your parents and not someone posing as them."
Unless the Horcrux had good intentions, which was difficult to believe of any Horcrux, frankly. Then again if the brothers only wanted to live, not to stop anyone else from doing so, perhaps the one in the resurrection stone enjoyed using his sliver of life to assist others? But that didn't feel right. It seemed more likely it would try to possess the holder. It was becoming quite the quandary. Perhaps he was wrong about the Peverell brothers making each item into a Horcrux, though he still didn't think so. It just fit too perfectly with the idea of their desire to escape death.
"Have you used it since," he asked and Harry shook his head.
"I can't even if I wanted to, but no."
"Why couldn't you even if you wanted to," Kereston asked before Regulus could.
Harry hesitated, then seeming to make a decision, he shrugged.
"Because I threw it away in the forest where no one shall ever find it again. It's just not something that should exist. No one has the right to that much power, and if it ends up in the wrong hands, it could cause a great deal of trouble for not only this world but the world of spirit, or whereever the dead live!"
Regulus did not disagree but...
"You...just threw it down for anyone to find? Do you realize how irresponsible that was?"
Regulus couldn't keep the horror from his voice and saw no reason to try.
Likely his open displeasure made him seem more like Severus, his words being more along the lines of something Severus would say. In this, Severus would be right, though. If Harry wanted to see him as another Sirius simply because they were family, as Regulus partially feared, he wasn't playing along. Again there was no reason.
Harry frowned a bit defensively. Still the discomfort in his eyes indicated that he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of his choice now at least a little.
"But no one's ever going to find it. No one will ever know what it is supposed to be," he protested.
"Not unless they have a lot of powerful magic," Regulus countered.
A sinking feeling of concern was growing in his stomach even as he spoke.
"Yeah, there are some powerful wizards around, you know," Kereston said.
"And creatures...and goblins and elves and who knows what else in that forest! There are some dark monsters in that forest and I bet some of them know what it is. If not they'll know that it's something powerful if they have any magical senses at all! How could you have been so..." she sputtered indignantly.
"I'm sorry, alright? I just wanted it to be over," Harry said miserably.
Regulus sighed, reaching to place a hand on his shoulder.
"It's done now...Don't beat yourself up over it."
One could just hope he didn't get his hands on anything powerful ever again, Regulus thought dryly.
"And what of the elder wand," Kreacher demanded.
"Did Harry Potter leave that in the forest for someone powerful to find as well? Someone powerful who should not have the elder wand, of course."
Harry frowned.
"How did you know I had the Elder wand? Or the stone either for that matter!"
"Albus told me. I'd returned a bit before he passed," Regulus said.
True enough, if not in the proper order. Albus had passed from Scotland to Bulgaria, rather than from the land of the living to the land of the dead, but that was neither here nor there where Harry was concerned. Regulus had promised never to reveal that Albus and Severus lived to anyone. He understood their desire to be free of it all, and he believed they'd earned it.
"Well," Kreacher prompted, frowning at Harry.
"Did Harry Potter leave the wand in the forest along with the resurrection stone?
"Not exactly," Harry snapped.
"I actually returned it to Dumbledore...to his grave at least. So no one can use it. Again I don't think such artifacts should exist in the first place, and I was just..."
"It's alright," Regulus said, knowing that it wasn't, but that verbally beating Potter up over it would do no good either.
If anyone found the stone there could be trouble, but perhaps no one would. Regulus had no desire to bet on that, however, so he would be calling a meeting of the strongest wizards he knew as soon as possible. Perhaps if they all put their heads together, they could come up with a way to locate it and hopefully destroy it properly. As for the Elder wand, he wondered if Albus was even aware it had been returned to his fake grave. Regulus would bring it to his attention, as he doubted the former headmaster had any idea unless he'd placed a charm on the wand to return to him somehow. With Albus, one never knew.
"You did your best," he assured Harry.
Harry flashed him a grateful look.
"I didn't ask for the Hallows to be put into my hands. I didn't ask for any of this."
Regulus nodded.
"Most of us don't ask for what we get for good or ill," Kereston snapped, and Kreacher nodded darkly.
"Next time you want to get rid of something dangerous, try bloody burning it," the small blonde concluded.
"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said dryly.
Though he tried for an impassive face, Regulus could tell that he was miserable.
"I should go," Harry said, putting down his spoon.
"Was that all you wanted to know about the stone, Regulus?"
"Yes, but please don't. At least have dessert and catch us up on how you've been. Really we don't turn our backs on people just because they make a mistake when they're not even out of school yet."
"We don't," Kreacher wondered, not quite under his breath.
"Dumbledore's grave though...Did you actually see..."
Thankfully Potter interrupted Regulus's question with a hasty head shake and he let out an inner sigh of relief. Replacing the wand without any Dumbledore body gazing meant that Harry did not know that Albus lived, so at least something had gone as planned.
"Well good. I always find the idea of revisiting graves extremely distasteful."
Harry nodded.
"For sure!"
"So what have you been up to," Regulus asked and Harry smiled.
"I'm training to be an Auror!"
"Ah," Regulus said.
He couldn't help exchanging a look with Kreacher whose face was as skeptical as Regulus felt. Harry didn't seem the best at...well a lot of things, but really when you thought of it that way, he'd make a grand Auror. All of them had been mediocre at best during both of Voldemort's reigns of terror.
"I'm sure you'll do fine," Regulus told him warmly and Harry gave him a grateful smile.
"I'd like to think it would make both of my parents proud."
"I'm sure it would," Regulus said.