Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay. My sister's wedding is coming up soon, and here in India it is a very lengthy and energy consuming process, esp. for Bride's brother. With me being constantly on move, it was difficult to write even a single chapter. Even this chapter is not checked for errors as much as others are. I did what I could and would keep on improving as I get the time.
Thank you for being with the story, and keep reading. :D
DAPHNE GREENGRASS
She could feel Harry's body stiffening as he talked about the place all six of them hated. In the future, after the carnage by the Weasley family was over, she, along with Sue and Tracey, had taken great pleasure in destroying every bit of the Malfoy family, and that manor had taken the worst brunt of her anger. By the time three of them had been done, the manor was a cursed, burning ruin, with everything inside and around it destroyed. Even the lands around it were emptied of anything connected to the then extinct family, the buried ancestors' remains included. Harry's voice brought her out of her musings.
"Long story short, Bellatrix saw the Gryffindor sword with us and became suspicious that we had broken inside her vault at Gringotts. She imprisoned Ron and me in the manor's basement, where we met Luna, Ollivander, Dean, and a goblin named Griphook while keeping Hermione for interrogation. With Professor Dumbeldore's brother and Dobby's help, we managed to break out and escape the manor just before Voldermort arrived, but the price for it was heavy. A knife throw stuck Dobby by Bellatrix right in his heart, and he died in my arms."
Her Husband's words had become hoarse by the end, and everyone looked sad about the hyperactive elf they had seen since morning. She looked around for the said elf but didn't see him in the room. After composing himself, Harry started speaking again.
"Dobby had rescued us to Shell Cottage, the home of Bill and Fleur Weasley. That house by the sea is one of the few things I would miss coming back. During the days we stayed there, it filled us with the determination to go back again to fight again. It was where I was told about my godson's birth by his father, and near which I buried Dobby with my own hands. After the burial, I had a lot of time to think about everything and came to a few conclusions. First, one of the Horcruxes was in Bellatrix's vault, and we would need to break in Gringotts to get it. Second, the three objects in the story 'The tale of three brothers' are real, and the third, that Voldemort did not know that we were after his Horcruxes."
Before he could continue further, Tonks's voice made him pause.
"You are kidding right now, aren't you? The three gifts of Death are just Children's stories, mate. They are not real. There are records of hundreds of people trying and failing to collect them all. Even the Ministry tried to find them once, but were not able to recover even one. I know, I have read those dusty files under Moody."
Since her Husband looked a little hesitant in telling them, she rolled her eyes and poked him. His tendency to not share information about his personal things to others was as appealing as it was irritating. Appealing when it was to others, irritating when it was to her. After sharing a glance with the Headmaster, he sighed and explained.
"I don't know whether they were Death's gift or not, Nymphadora." She could see that he was intentionally using the Rookie auror's full name.
"But the three objects of the story are real. Nobody ever found them because they were held by some of the magical world's most powerful entities. The Elder Wand or Deathstick, as it is known, can be found in our history easily. Right now, it is in the hands of one of the most powerful Wizards alive, who won its allegiance after defeating his old friend in what is rightfully known as Dual of the century."
It was not difficult to notice that Harry's eyes were focused on the Headmaster. Soon everyone was looking at the older man, who brought out the Elder Wand. A hush fell through the room as everyone stared at one of the Myths of the magical world. From the corner of her eye, she saw Munchkin explaining Junior about the Elder Wand, while Jean was doing the same to her parents and Hermione on the other side.
"The second gift, The Resurrection Stone, was passed on by the middle brother to his family, which eventually took up a different name. The most powerful family member would one day meet up with three other Wizards and Witches and set up a school for magical children in Scotland. Yes, I am talking about Salazar Slytherin, and the stone still remains inside the family ring, hidden where the last of the known members of the family died."
The Headmaster's eyes frowned at this mention, and she knew why. But this time, he would not be getting anywhere that cursed place.
"The third and final gift of Death, according to the story, was the Invisibility cloak. A cloak so powerful, that it can hide it's wearer from everything. No spell or enchantment can detect it, summon it, track it, or destroy it, with the only exception being the Peverell family magic. It was the sole object of three whose location was always known, but the family holding it was too dangerous to obtain it from them. First the Peverells, and then the Potters, People tried taking it from them, but every one of them failed. The cloak had become the most prized asset and most hated burden for the family. A famed heirloom, which was the reason for the Death of most members of the Potter family. By the time Grandfather inherited it, plans were under research to do something about it. Unfortunately, Voldermort stepped up during this time, and by the end, My father, Mother, Grandfather, Grandmother, and the rest of Potter were dead, with me being the last member, still holding the cloak. And somehow, the three gifts from the future have come back with me."
Harry's Holly wand came out and snapped in a circle. The three hallows appeared out of nowhere, shining brightly, before coming to rest in front of her husband.
"I knew they were bonded with me, but did not think that they would follow me to the past. We can count it as another point against them being Death's gifts. They are most likely potent objects enchanted by the Peverell brothers. And now, we have two sets of them in this timeline and no idea how it would affect everything."
Everyone started discussing what Harry had said and would have done it for a long time if Jean had not pointed it out to them. Harry continued soon after.
"After talking with Mr. Ollivander and Griphook, we settled on a plan. Griphook would help us break into Gringotts, and the price of his would be the Gryffindor's sword. I agreed upon it, planning to give it to the goblin after the Horcrux was destroyed."
He paused before starting the first of two memories of that year. Knowing this memory would not go well with many in the group, she opened up.
"What you all will see in this memory, might not be legal right now. But when it happened in the future, the Ministry had changed its rules. Before judging them for their actions, remember what Tracey said. These 3 were seventeen-year students, attempting to do things that much more experienced people had failed in, and in tiny part for themselves."
Harry and Jean gave her a small smile, as both of their actions were not something others would expect in the memory, which started soon after. Everyone was observing the memory closely, so when Jean polyjuiced to become Bellatrix, a shudder passed through nearly everyone in the room, despite knowing it was Jean. As the memory continued and the trio's plan to break in Gringotts became more apparent, more than a few exceptions were heard in the room. When Harry first used the Imperio curse, she paused the memory, wanting to stop the rant most of them seemed to build up to.
"Keep in mind that Harry did nothing illegal. The Ministry had legalized the use of unforgivable by this time, and Goblins have never been considered anything other than magical creatures. Yes, it was unethical, but he did what he had to, without harming the goblin permanently. It was war, everyone. There was more to care about that personal honor or legality."
It was logical that there would be arguments against her words, some pretty excellent and correct, so she played the memory once again, not giving anyone the chance to reply. As the memory progressed, it was clear that the trio had been lucky more than once in the future. Fooling the Goblins was not an easy thing, and if they had been caught, the Goblins would have completed Voldemort's wish to kill her husband with full pleasure. Unnoticed by most of the others, Madam Bones and her father shared a look after seeing the security charms inside the Lestrange vault. She wondered what it was about but couldn't think of anything. When the trio climbed upon the Dragon to escape, most people's reaction was quite amusing. While Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore, her, Jean, and Tracey's parents looked resigned, the Tonks family, along with others, looked horrified. A sudden wave of amusement and happiness spread through her marriage bond, and when she looked for the reason, something settled inside her too. Harry was staring at Junior, who was being poked by Munchkin for being too Gryffindorish. She wanted a happy life for her younger self, and Junior was the perfect option. She knew that the young boy would be able to normalize her younger self and force her to stop thinking of everything as a business transaction.
By now, the memory had reached where the trio had jumped off the blind Dragon. Harry paused the memory there and started speaking.
"Since our exit from the bank was not exactly subtle, the news about it reached Voldermort. When he came to know that we had taken the Hufflepuff cup from it, he knew. Through my connection to him, I was able to see into his mind as he thought about the location of all the Horcruxes. The last one, whose location we had yet not known, was at Hogwarts. Knowing that Voldemort was going to check up on all of them, we decided to get the last one before he found out about the others. Unfortunately, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were under the management of the latest Headmaster of Hogwarts, Severus Tobias Snape."
Harry was nearly snarling now, no doubt everything that had happened under Snape's term as the Headmaster. She, along with other Slytherins, had suffered too, despite what others thought.
"Snape knew I will come back to Hogwarts sooner or later, and would be able to sneak inside the school. He suggested using caterwauling charm all over the Hogsmeade and many other measures, too, just to catch me. I know you do not believe it, Professor, but the captured Deatheaters confirmed all this information after the war. Snape is a true bastard, one who cares only about him and thinks that the world owes everything to him. He…"
"Harry"
Ron's voice whipped through the room, stopping what was going to be a long rant. They all knew that Severus Snape's life's and actions needed to be discussed, but right now was not the time. She could feel her husband trying to control his emotions as he took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Deatheaters nearly caught us that night, but Aberforth helped us escape them by hiding us in his bar. After a small discussion, he agreed to help us reach the school, showing us a secret passage to school. The person who came to take us inside was a visible wounded Neville Longbottom. As he escorted us inside, we got the first view of everything happening inside Hogwarts through his words. The passage took us straight to Room of Requirement, which had become a refuge for people being hunted by the Carrows, the Deatheater twins who had taken up positions inside the school. With only students of three houses present there, I thought that Slytherins were enjoying their place under the regime of Voldermort, never knowing how wrong I was at that moment."
She caught his hand in assurance, knowing what he was thinking about.
"EverythingEverything that happened after we entered that room was something straight out of a nightmare. When the sun rose the next morning over Hogwarts, it was all over, or so we thought. Just watch…."
Words finally failed him as he gestured for the next and the last memory of Hogwarts to start. Everyone quieted down as they watched what was supposed to be the final chapter of a prolonged conflict. When Fred Weasley died, it felt like something had been sucked out of everyone in the room. The Weasley family looked horror-struck, especially George Weasley. With each Death that followed, things continued getting tense. Harry had hidden away Remus from the memory, but the sight of Nymphadora's dead body was enough to break the calm facade of Andromeda Tonks. Then came the part she really hated, wondering what the reactions were going to be. She knew that her husband had knowingly put Snape's memories after showing all the deaths. In the scene where Snape gave away his memory, she hoped that the adults caught what Snape's actions showed. As the potion master's memories continued, a murmuring started in the room, and by the end, nearly everyone in the room was enraged. Surprisingly, it was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke first, but her own mother.
"So all of that was just a preparation for making him accept his Death, Dumbledore? Everything he faced since the Potter's Death, was all of it for this moment? All your little nuggets of wisdom about forgiveness, sacrifice, doing what was right, was everything for this? Because from where I am looking, it seems like that you arranged for things to mold him as a perfect martyr. Answer me, you bloody fool."
By the end, her mother's voice had become strained, not to mention that she had never heard Natalie Greengrass swear. For the first time since they all had arrived in the manor, Dumbeldore looked pale and was shaking. Jean's mother was the next to add to get their attention.
"I am assuming you knew about this Horcrux thing since the second year, Headmaster. Why did you not inform him earlier? You took many things for granted, depending upon things to happen only in a certain way and time. I also want to know that whether you researched any other way to take the Horcrux out of Mr. Potter, or did you just decide on your own?"
Everyone was looking at the Headmaster now, waiting for an answer. The answer, which would determine how they treated the Headmaster from now on, was delayed by her husband.
"Think upon it, Professor. I want that answer too. For everyone who died to save me, for everything that happened to me, and for every Death that could have been prevented, you owe it to us, Professor."
Then without giving a pause, he waved for the memory to continue. Watching Harry willingly walk off to die was another thing she had nightmares about. While the memory didn't show his thoughts as he had walked towards the forbidden forest, she knew about them after hearing it from him a long time ago. The appearance of ghosts of Potters, Lupin, and Black brought a hiccup from Junior, their words making him cry. The memory paused after that.
"I am not going to show you what happened just after that. Approaching Voldermort without any wand, I gave him a free shot at me, which he gladly took. The killing curse hit me the second time in my life, and this time, I was dead. But something happened after that, and I was returned back to the land of the living, as the Killing curse had taken the part of Voldemort's soul residing inside me. What happened next became famous all over the magical world."
With a wave of his hand, the memory started when Hagrid brought her Husband's body to the school. Things progressed quickly in the memory as the fight began. Seeing Mrs. Weasley end the monster that was Bellatrix Lestrange, brought a lot of attention to Weasley Matriarch, who was flushing with embarrassment. The twins especially were looking at their mother with awe. When the Dark Lord's own curse stuck back at him, and his body fell, another murmur passed through the room. The memory stopped at that scene. Harry's voice soon rang out like a final bell.
"And that was the end of the war with Voldemort and Pureblood believers, or so we thought."
Silence ensued in the room after that as people came to terms with everything that would have happened in the next four years. Ron spoke up soon after.
"We will break for dinner now. After that, everyone still in school will leave the room. You all can either leave for your homes or stay here in the hall of manor. We need another hour for some discussion with the adults."
As they had expected, the youngsters started protesting loudly. Some of them were giving pretty good arguments, but the decision was made. A minute after their protest started, a twice pulsing wave of magic passed through the room, and Harry's voice rang out. She knew her husband's eyes would be glowing now, as it usually happened when he was irritated.
"Enough. You all will do, as Ron said. Everything we thought you all should know has already been discussed. The rest is for the adults. Only Percy can stay off all of you; that's my decision."
That ended all the verbal protest, but some still looked defiant, Junior the most. A few whispering words from Harry solved that situation too.
REVIEW REPLIES
PLUMS:- Yeah, Done :D.
ALE74:- Nearly everything you asked will be answered in next two chapters after this, and the two left would be soon after. Just a little more time.
PASCAL DRAGON:- That question will be answered in the next chapter.
TEACHERGIRL:- I know, but I had to complete them. This is the last chapter with the cannon rehash.
SHADOWDOG 11:- You are right, but after Voldemrort, he had enoguh time, it's just that he never thought upon it.
HANK1967:- Thank you. It wil get a mor dar and angsty for next few chapters.