Harry Potter and the Silver Dragons
Chapter 2: Final Confessions
Hermione arrived midway through the next morning, and the three of them spent most of their time in Harry's room. She had a pencil and a sheet of paper and was writing everything that Harry could recall about his trips into Dumbledore's Pensieve as well as what Dumbledore had told him after each trip. "Ok," Hermione said after writing everything, "so far we know that at least two Horcruxes have been found and destroyed: the diary, which Lucius Malfoy had given to Ginny just before our 2nd year, and the ring, which originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin…"
"Which Dumbledore had already destroyed after our first lesson." Harry added.
"And of course," Hermione continued as if she had not just been interrupted, "the locket that had also originally belonged to Slytherin."
"Which was filched from You-Know-Who by R.A.B., whoever that is?" Ron added.
"And," Harry quickly added, "Dumbledore believed that one of them might just be Voldemort's pet snake Nagini, the one that attacked Ron's dad at the Ministry."
"Right," Hermione said, jotting this information down on the paper, "now we just have to figure out what the other two Horcruxes are and where they would be hidden."
"And lets try not to forget," Harry quickly added, "that both the Locket and the Ring were guarded by some pretty powerful enchantments, not to mention Inferi."
"Well then, it should be just like the Sorcerer's Stone all over again." Ron said. Harry and Hermione just rolled their eyes.
Not wanting to get in the middle of what could be another disagreement between Ron and Hermione, Harry walked over to the window and looked out over Privet Drive. As he gazed out, he noticed a familiar looking cat walking down the road towards them. He followed the cat as it walked into the yard of Number four, and sure enough the cat seemed almost like it was scaling the walls up to the window. Harry opened his window just in time for the cat to jump through it.
He immediately recognized the cat as Mr. Tibbles, who belonged to his neighbor Mrs. Figg. Harry had only found out 2 years earlier that she was a Squib, or a person born into a wizard family that did not have any magical powers at all. Harry saw a piece of parchment attached to Mr. Tibbles collar. Removing it, he read it to himself. The letter said;
Dear Harry,
I did not get a chance to talk to you at the funeral, but if you would like to come over to my house for dinner around 6:00 tonight there are some things that we need to discuss. I also noticed that you have some of your friends from school with you, they are welcome to come along, since it is not often that I get to entertain people from our world.
Hope to see you tonight, Sincerely
Arabella Figg
P.S. We might be joined be an old friend of mine as well.
"What's that Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry handed the letter to Ron, and after reading it, he just said "Brilliant!" Ron was not looking forward to having to cook super on his own, as Aunt Petunia had clearly told them earlier that day that she would not cook anything for them.
Hermione took the letter, "I wonder what she wants to talk to you about, Harry."
Before Harry could even try to guess, somebody had started pounding on the door. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione with a grin on his face. In order to keep Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia from spying on them, Hermione had used the Colloportus charm to seal the door shut, as well as used an Imperturbable charm, so nobody could hear what was being said inside. "You'd better let him in Hermione." Harry said.
Hermione pointed her wand at the door and said, "Alohomora!" and the door flew open spilling Uncle Vernon flat on his face.
When he got up Uncle Vernon was fuming mad, but quickly composed himself when he saw Hermione's wand, which she still had in her hand. "Just to let you know, your Aunt Petunia and I will be going to Smeltings to pick up Dudley, and we will be gone for the night." He then paused as if to build up his courage before speaking again, "And if I find out that anything is missing from the cupboards, the pantry, or the refrigerator, even if it is just a carrot stick, you and your," he paused looking squarely at Ron and Hermione, "friends will be out of this house and on the streets." And before any of them could mutter a word, he walked out of the room slamming the door behind him hard enough for the wardrobe door to swing open.
"I could hex him you know." Ron said as he pulled out his wand.
"Ron," Hermione said in a disapproving tone, "that sort of behavior is what one would expect from a Death Eater." As she said this she pointed her wand at the door and immediately they could hear the door seal shut.
"Maybe so," Ron said with a grin, "but he would deserve it."
Hermione only rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So Harry tell me were Dumbledore found the ring at."
Harry retold them about the house were Voldemort's Grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, lived with his son Morfin and his daughter Merope, and how after both Marvolo and Morfin had been sent to Azkaban, Merope had bewitched and married Tom Riddle Sr.. He the explained how Voldemort had gone there when he was 16 and had taken Slytherin's ring from Morfin, modified his memory, and then went and killed his father with Morfin's wand. And finally he told them, again, about how Dumbledore had tracked down that Horcrux back to the house that it was taken from many years earlier.
By the time that Harry had finished telling then the story again, it was time for them to go to Mrs. Figg's for dinner. As they down the road, all three of them kept their wands no more than a few inches from their hands at any given time, until they finally arrived at Mrs. Figg's house. As they approached the front door, Mr. Tibbles stepped up in front of it, and let out a soft meow, and the door immediately opened. The three of them shrugged to each other and followed the cat inside.
The inside of Mrs. Figg's house was familiar, but at the same time it was not. On the table next to the couch sat the old pictures of Mrs. Figg's various old cats, but unlike before they were all moving around. Photos on the wall also seemed to move, Harry looked at one of the various pictures on the wall, and the man in it, Mrs. Figg had never told him who it was, smiled at him, "Welcome Harry, welcome." The man said, "My name is David, and I am Arabella's late husband. You can't imagine how much I wanted to talk to you all these years, but Arabella forbid me to say a word to you."
"That's understandable," Harry said, "especially since I was not supposed to know that she was a Squib."
Before they could say anything else, a man stepped into the hall to great them, he was a muscular man, almost six foot tall, with dark brown hair, and a well trimmed goatee. "It's good to meet all of you, I John Warrens, Arabella Figg is my mother's cousin." John extended his hand to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in turn, "I'm glad I'm finally able to meet you." John then led them into the dinning room were they saw who the old friend that Mrs. Figg mentioned in her letter was, Professor Minerva McGonagall.
"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.
McGonagall gave them a bit of a smile, "Hello Ms. Granger," She then looked at Harry and Ron, "and to you as well Potter and Weasley."
Just then Mrs. Figg came into the room with a couple of large white boxes in her arms. "My apologies, but I messed up dinner, so I just ordered several pizzas."
Helping themselves to pizza and a variety of drinks that John had helped Mrs. Figg to bring into the room, Hermione asked the question that the three of them had been eager to learn about, "Professor what will be happening at Hogwarts next year?"
McGonagall took a serious expression, "Actually in the last few days a lot has happened, first off the school governors appointed me acting Headmistress of Hogwarts until such time as they, and the Ministry, either find a suitable replacement to for Dumbledore," Harry fought the urge to say fat chance, "or they find that I have earned to post myself."
"Congratulations Professor." Ron said.
"Thank you Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said, "But congratulations may be premature since it has still not been decided whether or not the school will reopen next year."
"When will you know Professor?" Harry asked. He knew that this was a moot point since, more than likely he, Ron, and Hermione would be deep in the search for the remaining two Horcruxes.
McGonagall shook her head, "I don't know Potter, it could be next week, it could be tomorrow, it could even be just before it's time to board the train to come to school. I just don't have an answer for you on that one."
Harry mulled this information over in his head for a few minutes, and then asked the question that he wanted to ask, "So why are you here Professor?"
McGonagall gave him a knowing look, and nodded, "Very well Harry." She said, and Harry knew by the use of his first name that it was something that she had to tell him with a more delicate approach. "We located Professor Dumbledore's will yesterday." she said. Harry's stomach gave a little lurch. "Dumbledore wanted you to have a few things Harry." McGonagall continued as she pulled out her wand and gave it a little flick.
A long rectangular box made of silver with rubies incrusted on it appeared on the table in front of Harry. With an unsteady hand Harry opened the box and looked at what was inside of it. "I can't accept this," He said almost immediately, "it belongs to the school."
Both Ron and Hermione looked at the contents of the box, and Hermione let out a tinny gasp of astonishment. In the box was a silver sword with rubies the size of eggs incrusted in it, and on the blade was engraved the name Godric Gryffindore. Harry closed the lid and attempted to push the sword back towards McGonagall, "I just can't accept it."
McGonagall pulled out a letter from under her robes and handed it to Harry, "Before you make a decision Harry, Dumbledore wanted for you to read this letter." With somewhat trembling hands Harry opened the letter and read it;
Dear Harry,
If you are reading this letter than it means that I have either died or have been killed. First off I want you to know how very proud I was to have served as your Headmaster while you were at Hogwarts. Second, you are no doubt wondering why I gave you Godric Gryffindore's sword.
The story begins when you first pulled it out of the Sorting Hat in your second year during your battle with the basilisk. If you remember correctly I told you that only a true Gryffindore could have pulled that sword out of the hat. I did not tell you at the time, nor did I ever mention that you were the only Gryffindore that could have pulled off this feet, not because of your destiny, but because you are the last descendent of Godric Gryffindore.
Harry read that part of the letter again just to make sure that he read it right, then with his head spinning he continued to read;
It is because of this that Lord Voldemort went after you when you and not Neville Longbottom when he heard about the prophecy, for he figured that only a fellow heir to one of the founders of Hogwarts could have the power and skill to defeat him. So therefore the sword is rightfully yours Harry, and I hope that you use it well.
In addition to the sword I have instructed that my personal diary be given to you. Please do not worry about there being anything personal in it, the diary is only a collection of spells that I have created as well as information that could help you to stopping Lord Voldemort.
Finally Harry I have ordered that the full resources of Hogwarts be made available to you so that you can have all the help that you need to finally deliver our world from the darkness that Voldemort has shrouded it in.
Lastly I wish for you to know that you are by far one of the most able and cunning young wizards that it has been my pleasure of teaching at Hogwarts. I could not have been prouder of your accomplishments if you were my own child, and hope that you will never forget all the things that I have personally taught you over the last few years. Good luck Harry, and as some muggles say God Bless.
Sincerely yours,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Harry read over the letter once again, and then wiped a tear from under his eye before handing the letter to Ron and Hermione to read. He looked down at the gleaming sword and then to Professor McGonagall and nodded his understanding. Smiling McGonagall pulled reached into her robe again and pulled out a very old looking small leather clad book and handed it to Harry, who took it without a word. He opened up the cover and saw written there 'This book is the property of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore'.
"Before we get to anything else Harry," McGonagall said, "I received this earlier today from Tonks, who got it from the new secret keeper for the order." Once again McGonagall reached into her robes and pulled out a small piece of parchment, which she handed to Harry. It said on it;
The Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place
After reading this, Harry once again passed the note to Ron and then to Hermione, who in turn set it on fire with her wand, but not before he thought that he saw John, who had remained mysteriously quiet during the entire conversation, sneak a peak over Hermione's shoulder. "So who is the new secret keeper for the Order?" she asked.
"I can't say Ms. Granger," McGonagall said, "Dumbledore made sure that the responsibility of being secret keeper for the Order was passed on should he be killed, so he chose four of us as backup keepers. I am afraid that it could be any one of them."
"You mean that you don't know who they were?" Ron asked.
"Once again I am afraid not Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said, and by the tone of her voice this meant that the discussion was over.
The rest of the night was given to sharing memories and stories. Mrs. Figg even told them about how she and McGonagall had known each other since they were little girls. McGonagall had of course gone on to attend and then teach at Hogwarts, while Mrs. Figg had been sent to a special school for squibs that taught them how to behave in the muggle world, as well as some of the most basic of potion making. As it turned out, it had been McGonagall that had recommended her to Dumbledore for the job of watching over Harry as he grew up and then to make regular reports back on his progress.
Finally at around 10:00 Harry, Ron, and Hermione said their goodbyes to John, Mrs. Figg, and Professor McGonagall, who had told them that she was staying for a night cap, and headed back to Number Four.
John watched them walk away, and then turned to face McGonagall, "He's not what I expected him to be."
McGonagall nodded, "Potter's a very special young man, and so are his friends." She looked at the window, "I just hope that what I suspect they are doing does not lead to one, if not all of them being killed by You-Know-Who's followers."
"I don't think that you will have to worry about Harry," Mrs. Figg said as she began to clean up, "If he could put up with that useless lump of a cousin of his, not to mention the equally useless Vernon and nosey Petunia, I think that he can handle a few Death Eaters, not to mention He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"I hope that you are right Arabella," McGonagall said, "I just hope that you are right."
"If you ladies will excuse me," John said breaking the silence that had filled the room, "I have to report to my superior what little information that I got from Potter." And with that John left the room, and once again all was silent.
After returning to Number Four Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately got dressed and climbed into bed. Harry who had given his bed to Hermione climbed into a second cot that Ron had conjured up and pulled out Dumbledore's diary. "So what kind of stuff is in there Harry?" Ron asked as he stifled a yawn.
"Well as the letter that I showed you said, it is a collection of spells and information that Dumbledore collected over the years."
"I still can't believe that you are a descendent of the founder of our house Harry." Hermione said as Crookshanks leapt up next to her on the bed.
"Yeah Mate," Ron added, "that is so cool."
Harry looked over at the box, which he had placed on top of his wardrobe "Well the last thing that we need is for Voldemort to learn that I have this. He will probable try to steal it and turn it into one of his Horcruxes."
"So what will you do with it?" Hermione asked.
Harry thought about it for a moment, "I think that we will make a quick trip to Diagon Alley so that I can put it in my vault at Gringotts."
"And while we are there," Ron put in, "we can stock up on supplies that we will need at Fred and George's shop."
"Sounds like a good plan," Hermione said as she also stifled a yawn, "well good night." She said and pointed her wand at the light switch immediately plunging the room into darkness. Harry put one of his hands behind his head and lay there for a short time thinking, as he often thought about these days, how everything had been so much simpler only a few weeks earlier.
Authors Note: Just to clear up some things that people had problems with in Chapter 1. First off, the American Aurors are NOT going to be making regular appearances in this story, I just thought that it would be funny to add in something about the mysterious men (or women) in black suits, and what they actually are (at least in this story). Second, because I decided to add them to my story, I have been accused of making it sound like American Aurors (or just Americans in general) are better than their British counterparts. This was not my intention, I was only trying to state that there were very few Death Eaters in the USA and that made it easier (in some ways) to catch them than Death Eaters in England. I should also point out that two of the Silver Dragons that I have introduced are American, and one of them is of Japanese decent. Try and guess which ones those are.
