CHAPTER FIVE
I own nothing. Also i got a few reviews saying the center alignment makes it hard to read so it's going to be left to right from now.
Back from the edge, back from the dead, back before demons took control of my head.
-o0o0o0o-
"I don't understand what we're meant to do," Cassie muttered after the kids had all gone to sleep in Harry's room. She was perturbed, never in her long life had she ever been at a loss on what to do, what action to take.
She watched as the Potter boy tried to push his friends away, afraid of the apparent evil soul within his body. But his friends didn't care. All they said was that he was an idiot and that was that. Sirius smiled at the memory, thinking of the same thing.
"What can we do? Short of killing him, there's no way we'll be able to remove the horcrux." Augusta muttered. "And nobody is going to kill him," She said sternly, looking at a few wayward Blacks who were going to say something.
"We can take him to the goblins." Andromeda said, eyes wide. "We can get the goblins and a team of curse breakers..to..I don't know!" She wailed, her head in her hands. Sirius felt the fear radiating off of her in waves.
They all felt it. They raised the young boy. They all fell in love with him in their own way. And now, there were talks of killing or ritually cleansing the dark soul of the man who murdered said boy's parents from his very body.
It was all very concerning. And disheartening. And about every awful word in the English lexicon Sirius could think of.
"We could ask the goblins, though." Arcturus said softly. "It would have to be done very carefully and..the Potters are goblin friends. They would do it. For a sum, of course, but it would still be done."
"And what about locating the others?" Remus asked, gesturing to the list of objects Harry described from his vision.
"Perhaps we could use one soul piece to locate the others." Ted offered up. "A locator spell of sorts."
"That could work.." Sirius muttered.
"Perhaps we could leave it in there." Cassie said doubtfully. "Use it. He gets visions of the man, yes? Or shade..or whatever he is. We could use the connection the horcrux gives us to our advantage."
"No." Pollux snapped. "That is what Dumbledore would do. We will not use the boy as a pawn. It is his body, soul, mind, and magic. He makes the decision on what must be done."
And for once, Arcturus could say he agreed with Pollux. It was truly quite the feat. That Pollux Black could say something sensible in the eyes of the former Lord Black.
"I didn't mean to use him as a pawn, Pollux." Cassie sneered. "I just meant, if the connection has given Harry access to knowledge and powers of the Dark Lord, it could be beneficial to use it to our advantage."
"Perhaps he even got the parseltongue from the Dark Lord," Alice suggested, but Remus shook his head.
"Parselmagic is hereditary only. Nobody can steal the power from someone else, or transfer the power into someone else. It is a blood gift. Harry would have been a parselmouth with or without the horcrux."
"Parselmagic is a branch known only to some select pureblood families, the Blacks being one of them."Arcturus mused. "Perhaps Voldemort never had the resources to delve into that branch of magic. Which we can use to our own advantage."
"How?" Sirius snapped. "How can we use any of this to our advantage?"
"We will remove the soul piece from the boy, Sirius." Arcturus answered back. "But the how and the when is not up to us. It is up to Hadrian. "But we use parselmagic to our advantage. Give him the books. Train him in legilimency if we need to. Make practical training into duelling training. We will do everything we can to ensure his survival in all of this."
"What if he doesn't?" Sirius whispered brokenly. His eyes glistening but staring at Arcturus unseeing. As if he was staring through his grandfather. His eyes looked haunted and fearful. "What if after all of this, denying Dumbledore, planning on ruining him the moment he makes a horrible mistake nobody can undermine, raising him, training him, what if it is all for nothing and he dies? My godson. My best friends' son. My son. What if..what if-what if it's not enough?"
"It will be enough," Alice said softly, her hand on Sirius cheek as she gazed into his eyes. "It will, Sirius."
"We will be with you and Harry every step of the way, cousin." Narcissa's voice was insisten. "I have not failed you thus far."
"No, you haven't, Cissa." Said Sirius with a wet laugh. She smiled, her own eyes full of tears as she ran her nimble fingers through his soft, obsidian hair.
"And I will not fail you now. None of us will."
-o0o0o0o-
The next morning, the options they had were explained to Harry. He sat stiffly alongside his friends and cousins, listening stoically.
"So those are the only options? Kill me–"
"That is not an option!" His friends and Sirius and Remus shouted vehemently.
"Do a ritual at gringotts, or use the horcrux within me to gain information and an advantage." It was a statement.
"Yes, Harry," Cassie said gently. "Those are the options."
"I want to go to the prophecy." Harry said simply.
"Harry.." Frank trailed off. "Are you sure you're ready for that? To shoulder that burden?"
"I'm shouldering every other burden, aren't I?" Harry shot back. "I am the Lord of my house at eleven years old, I have a horcrux within me and we have another one on that very table," he said, nodding to the diary. "I am the reason my parents are dead. And do not say that I'm not. They very well could still be alive right now if the prophecy were not made." Harry said, interrupting Remus and Sirius from speaking. He smiled a sad smile. "I love the life that I have lived, but I am shouldering much more than any eleven year old should be. I need to know what the entire prophecy is."
"Harry, your parents died to protect you," Andromeda said softly. "We all will do the same if need be."
"No." Harry snapped. "Nobody else is going to die. Not for me. He is simply a shade. If we destroy all his soul anchors, will the shade disappear?" He asked them.
"We don't think so," Dora said softly, having been in the family meeting as she is of age.
"Then, destroying them now is pointless." Harry said softly. "We don't know if he will be able to feel it. And when he does eventually come back, he can make more, can he not?"
"No," Arcturus said gruffly. "The soul is finite. One can only make so much, and he has split his soul many times already."
"Then, we find all the anchors. We bide our time until we can destroy them all together. We don't know if it will be felt if it is destroyed one by one." Draco said simply. "Even if we destroy all of them, Voldemort can find bodies to inhabit to anchor his soul to this world. He will come back whether all the horcruxes are destroyed or not."
"This is ridiculous." Sirius muttered. "You should not be thinking about this! You're only eleven years old, Harry! All of you are too young to be shouldering a burden such as this. This needs to be our problem, as the adults. As your guardians."
"Sirius," Harry whispered, a hand on his godfather's shoulder, looking at him with a sad smile. "I know this is hard, but this is about us. Your generation already fought.." Harry whispered. "It's our turn."
"No. I am not going to make child soldiers out of you boys." Sirius denied. "I was a child soldier. My friends were child soldiers. You are not going to carry that burden. This was the mistake of–"
"It was nobody's mistake except Dumbledore's." Neville snapped. "He is coming after Harry. We know that now."
"We don't know that!" Remus said.
"So we wait?" Fred asked softly. "We wait while the monster that killed your friends and our family rises to power again?"
"If we can do something about it, shouldn't we?" George asked. "This is as much our fight as it is yours."
"That does not matter," Narcissa said softly. "This was our generation's problem before it was yours, and we will fix it."
"I still want to hear the prophecy. The horcrux is not leeching off of me, is it? The stronger I grow, what happens?"
"Your mother's protection keeps it at bay," Cassie says, having done a diagnostic on Harry before the conversation. "The stronger you grow, the weaker it gets."
"Then for now, or at least after I learn of the prophecy, it will remain."
"Are you sure, Harry?" Remus asked softly.
"Yes," Harry answered. "I'm sure."
"Okay," Remus agreed. For the rest of the day, all talk of the horcrux was forgotten.
-o0o0o0o-
Daphne and her parents along with her little sister arrived the day of Christmas.
"I just want to thank you all again," Rhea said at the dinner table, her hand clutching Astoria's, who had a bright smile on her face and her eyes shone with gratitude. "You have given us hope that we can cure the blood malediction."
"We will do everything we can to help friends, Rhea," Sirius said, smiling at her softly.
Conversation continued and the kids remained in their seats until it was finally socially acceptable to leave. They had all agreed that this year, their gifts will be opened on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.
Daphne and the boys went to the hangout area on the floor where the bedrooms are. They sat silently until Fred cast the silencing charm, and they began discussing everything. Harry settled himself on the soft, fluffy grey pillow on the love seat.
"..And before anyone makes a decision on the horcrux, Harry wants to hear the prophecy." Draco summed everything up to Daphne, who was listening, eyes wide.
"But who's going to get it?" She asked, her mind numb and barely working as it processed all the information she had just received.
"Prophecies are only able to be held by the people or person in which the prophecy is about." Neville said. "Uncle Algie is an Unspeakable, I've picked up a few things." He defended himself, shrugging when everyone looked at him strangely.
"Okay so, do we really need the adults permission to go?" Fred asked softly. "We could floo to the atrium, Harry is a Lord of the Wizengamot."
"But I am still eleven," Harry shook his head. "Nobody's going to help me, even though I can take NEWTs and pass right now without studying."
"We just go to the Department of Mysteries. The Unspeakables don't ask questions unless it's about what they're studying." Daphne murmured.
"Okay, so say we do this," Draco drawled. "When are we going to go without the adults finding out?"
The late hours of the night were upon them and everyone was asleep. Harry looked out the window and noticed there were no signs of the regular animals playing, as the darkness had settled in and the sounds of chirping crickets reached his ears through the open window. The stars and moon illuminated the grounds beautifully. Harry soaked in the moment of peace, inhaling deeply.
"That's easy," George said with a grin. "We go now."
"You want to sneak out of the house and sneak into the Ministry?" Harry asked, eyes wide.
"Yes. That is exactly what I want to do," George said simply. "This is about you, it is your decision in the end, Harry."
"Bloody hell, I can't believe I'm saying this," Harry groaned. "But let's go."
And so they crept quietly down the stairs into the family room with the private floo. "Ministry of Magic," Harry whispered as he and Neville vanished in a swirl of emerald flames.
The rest followed suit. And so there they were, in the Ministry Atrium. Though it was dimly illuminated, the tall walls and beauty of the Ministry was not lost on Harry. It was such a shame it was filled with corruption.
"Is there not a directory in this bloody place?" Harry grumbled.
"I could say the same thing about your house," Fred sniped back jokingly.
They fumbled their way through the levels until they finally found the Department of Mysteries. But there was a problem.
The bloody changing doors. The kids each picked a door, marking it with a specific colour from a prank paint spell they all learned from the Marauders handbook.
"IT'S THIS ONE!" Draco called out as they all filed into the room with illuminated glass orbs lining shelves throughout the massive and dark room.
"Fuck." Neville groaned as they walked down the rows, wands illuminated and looked at names and numbers. After what seemed like hours, Neville spoke.
"Harry, I found it." Harry turned back and looked at Neville, who was pointing at one orb in particular on the edge.
Harry levitated it off of the shelf and it fell softly into his hand.
"How do we activate it?" Daphne whispered. Harry shrugged, and tapped it with his wand.
A croaky female voice emerged, as the fog within the glass ball began to swirl.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who had thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives..the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies..
"Well, that's morose isn't it?" Neville joked weakly.
"Very." Harry said, his throat dry as the prophecy ball felt limp in his hand. "We have to take this with us."
"That would technically be stealing from the Ministry!" Daphne stressed as she glared at Harry.
"We know that he knows of the prophecy," Harry said back. "If he comes back with a body this is the first thing he will be wanting."
"So?" Draco asked, eyes wide.
"We can't bloody let him have it!" George snapped, already knowing Harry's train of thought.
"So we take it, keep it in a gringotts vault or somewhere in the house." Harry said. "Voldemort will never hear the contents of this prophecy."
They walked back to the atrium in silence. Harry said nothing as he secured the prophecy orb in his robes once more and dimly said "Potter Manor" and disappeared in a flash of emerald fire.
The rest followed suit.
The next morning the affair was morose. The adults did not yet know why the kids were feeling the way they were. Remus broke the silence that morning.
"Is everything okay?" He asked the children softly.
"We snuck out last night," Harry said, dully.
"Oh, did you?" Sirius asked, brows raised. They nodded.
"We went to the Ministry." Fred supplied.
"You broke into the Ministry?" Narcissa asked in shock.
"The Department of Mysteries if we're being specific." Draco said blankly, taking a sip of his orange juice.
"The Department–Why?" Ted stuttered.
"I'd like to know why I wasn't invited?" Dora said, horribly offended they didn't ask her to join their excursion.
"We can't have that on your record, Dora," Harry said, eyes wide. "Not while you're trying to be an auror."
"Fair enough," she slumped in her seat and stabbed at her breakfast.
"We went to get the prophecy." Neville said softly. "It is now in our possession."
"Oh," Sirius murmured. "What did it say, then?"
Even Cyrus and Rhea were intrigued to know.
Daphne repeated the contents to them, her voice also dull and monotone.
"That-That cannot be true." Frank spluttered.
"And yet it is. I have to kill him, or he's going to kill me."
"No, prophecies are self-fulfilling and if–"
"And because Voldemort believed it, it's already in motion, Sirius," Cyrus said gently. "Harry has been marked as his equal," his voice was sad as he gestured to the boy's scar.
"If he hadn't gone after my parents the prophecy would never have been set in motion, and yet it has." Harry said. "I have come to terms with it. I had long decided I was going to kill him before any prophecy said I was."
"Harry, you do not have to shoulder this burden alone," Andromeda said softly. Harry smiled vaguely.
"I know I don't. And I haven't. You all have been there every step of the way, and I am incredibly grateful."
"We will always be here, Harry. Until the very end."
"Until the bitter end, more like." Harry snorted.
"Either way, you prat." Draco nudged him. "We'll take him down, together."
-o0o0o0o-
And so winter holidays are now over. Life at Hogwarts was much the same as it was before, only now the gang was beginning to grow extra weary of Quirrell. Harry and the rest, having seen him on the map in front of the specific door in the third floor corridor, were watching him.
Harry's scar ached more and more when he was around the man. Theo and Blaise had been filled in, and they were in shock over everything that happened over the course of the holidays.
They were seated in the library, studying for their transfiguration exam. Or, the others were studying. Harry, Neville, and Draco were helping them study.
Hermione burst through the double doors, ignoring the glare from Madam Prince. She reached their table, clutching the stitch that formed on the side of her abdomen and breathing heavily.
"Ha-Hagr-" She wheezed. "I-" Her voice was weak and it sounded as if she had something akin to an asthma attack. Harry knew better. Theo laughed.
"Take a deep breath, love," and he inhaled and exhaled dramatically, as she copied him. They did it a few more times before Theo nodded. "Okay, what happened?"
"Hagrid has a dragon in the hut."
"A what?" Draco asked, cleaning his ear as if he had misheard.
"Come again?" Neville suggested, eyes wide.
"Hagrid. Has. A. Dragon. In. The. Hut."
"Bloody hell," Blaise groaned as he and the others packed up their things and bolted from the library. Hermione whimpered at having to run more, but followed.
They reached his hut, heaving, wheezing, and coughing.
"Oh I'm going to vomit," Theo grumbled, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
"Do it." George muttered.
"I'll get the bin," Fred agreed as Daphne ploughed through the doors.
"Ms. Greengrass! Wha' are yeh doin' 'ere?" Hagrid exclaimed, jumping in front of his table. The half-giant was obviously sweating, the heat in the home itself was unbearable.
"Hagrid, why on Earth would you think it's a smart idea to house a dragon?" Neville asked, exhaling heavily through his nose.
"Who tol' yeh that?" Hagrid demanded.
"Does it matter?" Harry exclaimed exasperatedly. "Hagrid, owning a dragon is illegal."
"Not to mention–you live in a wooden house!" Theo added.
"Yes because that is the worst of his problems, Theo." Harry shot back.
"It is!" Theo defended. "His house could burn down, with him in it!"
"Fair point," Harry conceded with a sigh.
"He won' 'urt no one!" Hagrid defended.
"Hagrid, you have to get rid of it–" George began, when the egg began to shake.
"Oh bloody hell," Blaise groaned, hitting his head repeatedly on the wall.
"'S hatchin'!" Hagrid cooed excitedly, watching the egg crack and hatch like a lovestruck mother.
"Fred," George said warily.
"Yes, George?"
"Write to Charlie."
"Definitely, Georgie."
"Hagrid, we're going to give the dragon to the twins' older brother." Draco said softly, hesitantly.
"No!" Hagrid sniffed.
"Yes." Harry responded. "Hagrid, if we don't, someone's going to find out and report you. Charlie Weasley works with dragons, it–"
"Norbert," Hagrid sniffed. "'is name's Norbert."
"Charlie will take great care of Norbert." Neville amended quickly.
"How did you even get a dragon?" Blaise asked.
"I won 'im. A s'range lookin' bloke at the Hog's 'ead."
"What..what did he look like?" Daphne asked, her voice concerned.
"Er-dunno." Hagrid admitted. "'E was wearin' a black cloak."
"Um..Hagrid, were you, perhaps, drinking?" Harry asked quietly.
"A bit," Hagrid said. "But not ter much!" He defended. "I tol' 'im abou' Fluffy, yeh see. Said yeh jus' got ter know 'ow to 'andle them. Play a li'l music 'n Fluffy goes righ' ter sleep." He said proudly.
Oh no. Oh no. OH bloody fucking hell no. These were the words going through their minds.
"It was er..great talking to you, Hagrid," Theo said, ushering his friends out the door. "Charlie will be here soon to pick up Norbert, I'm sure." They all ran out, leaving a confused but happy Hagrid with his pet dragon behind them.
They finally reached the doors of the castle. "You-you don't think that it was-" Hermione stuttered, eyes wide.
"Who else would it be?" Harry demanded. "I-I need to contact the adults. Dumbledore's out of the school.."
"You call Sirius and Moony, we'll get our parents," Neville said and Harry nodded.
"Sirius Black!" Harry whispered into the mirror he rarely used. Sirius' face appeared.
"Hello, pup. Is everything okay?"
"Is Moony with you?" Harry asked hurriedly.
"Yes, everyone's with me. Harry, what's wrong?"
"Voldemort has learned to get past the Cerberus." Harry said quickly. "He's going after the stone."
"Harry..Harry whatever you do–"
"I'm going after him," Harry ignored Sirius. "Hold it down until you get here, okay?"
"HARRY!"
But Harry disconnected the mirror. He looked at his friends, who were looking at him in shock.
"I'm going down there," Harry murmured. "You all..get a professor-"
"No, you idiot," Draco snapped.
"We're coming with you." Neville said, raising a brow as if to say are you stupid?
"No." Harry snapped. "It has to be me."
"Don't be daft," Theo drawled.
"We're coming." Daphne said stubbornly.
"I supposed I can't talk you four out of it either?" He asked his remaining friends who grinned. Blaise winked.
"Right you are, mate." Fred said cheerily.
"Where you go, I go." Blaise shrugged.
"We'd follow you into the mouth of Hell, Harry." The twins said seriously. Hermione agreed.
"Then, to the mouth of hell we go," Harry said grimly.
-o0o0o0o-
They got past Fluffy by magically making the harp play itself once more. It lulled the monstrous three-headed rottweiler right to sleep.
Harry jumped first, to make sure the landing was okay before telling the others.
A big old nest or whatever it is–Harry didn't know either–of Devil's Snare.
This was Neville's area, as none of the other's took a big liking to Herbology.
Neville freed them all with a wave of his wand and a blinding flash of light.
"Nicely done," Draco said with a smirk. Neville bowed. Flourishing his wand.
The next trial was a room full of glittering, glimmering, keys. They fluttered around the chamber. Hermione assessed the door, and concluded an unlocking charm wouldn't work.
"It seems old, the key is going to be big, silver, old fashioned!" Hermione called out to those on brooms. Harry, Draco, and the twins.
"Broken wing! It has to have been caught before. Look for the key with the broken wing!" Daphne called out from the ground.
Harry dived down to the ground at an incredibly fast level that Hermione and Daphne whimpered in worry, but he glided off the broom gracefully with a key in hand.
"And that is how it's done," He said arrogantly, smirking at the grumbling boys.
And so they entered a chamber with a giant chess set. It was dimly lit, the only light evident was being shone on the chess set. Each of the pieces were about twice the size of the children.
"We have to play to get across," Theo deduced, after doing some basic diagnostics he learned from his father.
"Do we have to pick a piece?" Harry asked warily.
"I think so," Blaise whispered.
And so they played, strategizing as much as they could. Theo, who was the knight, sighed.
"I know how to checkmate the King..but you're not going to like it," he murmured.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.
"No." Daphne denied, shaking her head. "Theo..no!" Her eyes welled with tears.
"Theo! Theo, no!" Harry and the others called out, eyes wide in shock, hearts pounding in fear for their friend.
"It has to be done." He said, smiling. He was going to be okay. He knew that. And so, he made the call. The queen turned towards him slowly. Agonisingly slowly. A sense of foreboding filled the air around them, and chills went down Theo's spine as the queen inched closer and closer.
The sound of stone scraping on stone made him want to cringe, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Closer. Closer. He moved his legs, to see if he could move.
He could not. He was rooted to his tile. She was right in front of him now.
The heavy sword slashed its way down to where he was standing, exploding the area he was standing. Theo flew back, his head hitting the rubble and he landed with a hard thud.
They all cringed. Hermione moved to run to him, but she was rooted to her spot.
"Theo!" She shouted, wanting more than anything to make sure that he's okay.
Draco said the next few steps, finishing Theo's strategy. Harry heard his voice, almost imperceptibly quivering. He sighed when they were finally released from the chess board's magic and they ran to Theo.
"We can't just leave him here!" Harry exclaimed, brushing Theo's hair away from the wound on his head so it wouldn't get infected.
"We'll take him to the hospital wing." the twins said reluctantly.
Harry nodded. "Please." He said simply. "I know you want to be here for me but it'll be fine. Go."
They nodded, hoisting Theo up, wrapping one of his arms around each of their shoulders and retreating back the way they came.
The rest moved on. The next chamber looked demolished, for lack of a better word. There was a foul smell coming from the knocked out troll.
"Thank Merlin we didn't have to fight another one," Blaise grumbled.
Harry grinned.
The final chamber was well lit, two walls of fire on either side. One black, one purple. There was a table in the centre of the chamber, holding different bottles of potions.
Hermione and Daphne walked over to it.
"It's a logic puzzle!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Great," Draco rolled his eyes.
They all sat down whilst Daphne and Hermione solved the puzzle. Within mere minutes, the bottle was being thrusted at Harry.
"There's only a mouthful," Daphne said regretfully.
"We'll stay here in case it refills soon." Neville promised, smiling sadly. Harry nodded.
Hermione engulfed him in a tight hug. "Oh Harry!" She exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "Please, just..come back."
"I will." He said, hugging her back just as tight. She pulled away and nodded.
Blaise clapped him on the shoulder, not saying anything. They stared in one another's eyes for a long time, before Harry nodded. Blaise pulled him in a short hug.
Daphne hugged him next. "Be careful," she whispered into his ear, standing on her tip-toes to do so. He nodded. "You'll be brilliant Harry." She kissed him quickly on the cheek before going over to Blaise and Hermione.
Draco and Neville walked up next. They both engulfed him in a hug. When they pulled away, Harry and Draco pressed their foreheads together, in a gesture of brotherhood.
He and Neville did the same, as they pulled away. They stood in front of him, eyes full of fear.
"You better come back." Neville said.
"I will."
"Good. Or we'll drag you back." Draco threatened. Harry grinned softly, before gulping the potion down and setting it down on the table.
And then, he walked through the flames.
AN/ hii, okay so first year is almost done. i was hit with horrible writer's block so i did speed up the dragon and the trial portion of it because honestly i want to get into more of the action sooner rather than later haha. I don't mean to rush it but that's just how i am. lmk what you think of this chapter andddd yeah! see you next time.