"Wait!" Sirius said.
"What now?" Dumbledore muttered, forgetting that he'd cast a minor sonorous charm on himself, earning him a laugh from Harry and Neville.
"We can't do this without McGonagall." Sirius whined. "I thought I could but… I can't."
Minerva McGonagall accepted the message from Fawkes the phoenix and sighed, it seemed Albus had another mad, rash plan for the order.
Opening the note she frowned. "One of my lions is getting married?" She tilted her head in thought. "I wonder which… And they want me there? Now?! Today?!" Fawkes trilled in agreement. "Well, I had better get changed, hadn't I?" She opened her wardrobe and found an outfit suitable for an outdoor summer wedding and held it up. "Yes. That will do fine." A flick of her wand and a quietly whispered 'verto' and she was ready to go. "I'll just have to send them a gift later." She told Fawkes, who trilled again and rose into the air, he settled on McGonagall's shoulder and with a cheery chirp, flamed them away.
They landed in a lush garden, bright summer flowers dotted about the rich green foliage.
"Professor!" Harry Potter's voice came from behind her and she hurriedly turned around, with Potter were Granger, Longbottom and the Lovegood girl, as well as a few members of the Order. "This way Professor, we have a seat for you, right here." She was gently manoeuvred into a chair that was much the same as she used in her office.
"Thank you, Potter." She nodded to the teen.
"No worries, Professor. Enjoy the show." He was almost laughing.
"Lovely." Albus' voice reached her and she looked in its direction, spotting her employer standing in front of the spectators with two unknown men, one with his back to her and one facing her. She studied the man facing her but there was nothing about him that was familiar. "Now that Professor McGonagall has joined us, we shall start…"
Ten minutes later, she figuratively leant down and picked up her jaw off the floor and approached the grooms.
"Mr's Black." She gave one of the men a soft smile while the other got a hard glare. "Congratulations. Although…" She raised a brow to man who would now be known as Buchannan Black. "Why on earth you would choose this reprobate as your husband, I just do not know."
Sirius whined and Bucky laughed. "Harry said that you'd say something like that. But… in all honesty, I haven't found him to be nearly as bad as everyone says he should have been."
"Really…?" McGonagall said blandly.
"Yeah." Bucky nodded. "After listening to a lot of people say the same thing, we put together a series of memories, in a pensieve of course, for the doubters to watch. Even Moody says that Siri grew up."
"I would like to see these memories." McGonagall said. "Not that I doubt either of you, just that I want to see more of the two of you together. Marriage is a large step and with Sirius being on the run from the Ministry for the last couple of years, finding time to be together must have been difficult. Especially, as he was supposed to be under lock and key in London." The last sentence was directed, not at Sirius, but at Remus Lupin.
"Oh, it's way more complicated than that." Sirius laughed. "Come on, and I'll get you set up with the pensieve, when you've watched that, you'll have a better understanding." He lead her into a solid looking manor house and through to a neat office. "When you're ready, just come through there." He pointed to a door that she could see opened into a large ballroom.
"I shall." She nodded and approached the pensieve that sat on a desk in the middle room.
When she emerged, however long later, she stood there for a few moments before sighing and going in search of her lions. Spotting the pair talking to Harry and Tonks, she gestured for Harry, Tonks and Bucky to not acknowledge her presence and quietly eased up behind Sirius.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Mr Black." She snapped, after winking at the other three.
Sirius spun in place and squawked, "Fifty!" Before he remembered he wasn't a student anymore. "Don't do that to me, Professor…" He whined.
Bucky laughed and pulled Sirius back against his chest. "I like her, can we keep her?"
"You like everyone that gives me a hard time." Sirius muttered.
"Of course, I do." Bucky grinned. "It means you come sulking to me, for cuddles."
"Oh." Sirius blinked in surprise.
"The more people tease you, the more cuddles I get." The American explained, resting his cheek against Sirius' hair.
"That will only work up to a certain point." Remus warned as he joined them. "Once he hits the limit, he starts pranking."
"Oh, I know…" Bucky nodded vehemently. "Howard used to tease him. A lot. Used to. Until Siri turned all his clothes pink and yellow. Right down to his underwear. After that he was a little better. Siri only had to remind him a few times before he got the message. Teasing is okay but only in moderation."
"Colour change jinxes are easy," Remus shrugged, "they require little power and can be set to expire at a certain time. They can also be tied to a person and to a type of item, so that every time the person touches that type of item, it changes to the set colour."
"Yes." Bucky grinned. "Siri explained."
"Mr Potter?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes, Professor?" Harry replied.
"I wouldn't have expected to see you here."
"Ah…" Sirius grimaced. "I reminded Albus that Riddle took Harry's blood to use in his… resurrection…"
"Yes…" McGonagall pursed her lips.
"That would mean, as far as blood wards are concerned, that Riddle is a part of Harry." Sirius explained. "It would negate the wards Albus put around the Dursleys' home."
"Oh, my…" McGonagall gasped.
"Which means that Riddle could just walk right in, anytime he felt like it and take Harry away." Sirius growled. "Not happening. Not on my watch."
"No." Remus nodded. "Which is why we are here. This island belonged to Alphard Black, who according to the blood adoption potions that Alphard left in his vault, is now Sirius' father. It's been under fidelius since before we started Hogwarts, with Sirius as the Secret Keeper. So, we decided to take advantage of it and…" for the next ten minutes Remus explained what was planned for Harry and his friends.
"I see…" McGonagall nodded.
"Albus has finally agreed to explain exactly what is going on and why it has to be this way." Sirius added. "He says, he'll answer any and all questions we have, but only if we agree to keep it among ourselves."
"He's going to ask Professor Flitwick if he'll come and teach us some sword and knife fighting." Harry said. "But he's not going be told everything, just that it's for the war. Nothing else."
"I'd like to know exactly what you're going to be taught, Mr Potter." McGonagall requested. "As your head of house, it might be wise to be aware of your capabilities. The last thing I need is you turning Mr Malfoy into a ferret as imposter-Moody did in your fourth year."
"That was wicked." Harry grinned. "He totally deserved it."
"He might have, but regardless of whether or not he was actually Alastor Moody, Bartemius Crouch jnr, was portraying a Professor and should have had a more professional attitude." McGonagall said sternly. "If I hear of you, or your… compatriots doing anything similar…" She left the threat hanging.
"Not until we finish school, Professor." Harry assured the witch.
"That is not what I meant, Potter." She huffed.
"I know." He grinned, causing Sirius to laugh.
"You remind me of your mother, sometimes, Potter." McGonagall shook her head fondly. "She could always talk her way out of detentions, mostly by using what we'd said, against us." She blinked a few times and regained her stern demeanour. "Now, I need a word with Mr Falsworth. Please excuse me." She gave them a head bow and left, in search of the Howling Commando.
"Mr Falsworth." McGonagall finally cornered the man near the drinks table.
"Ah…?"
"James Montgomery Falstworth, I believe." Minerva McGonagall raised a brow as she spoke.
"Miss McGonagall?" Falsworth blinked in recognition at his neighbour's daughter.
"Indeed, Mr Falsworth." McGonagall nodded. "How did you get mixed up with this lot? I remember you coming home from the war and other than Remembrance Day, you've been living a very quiet life. Malcolm and Robert were ever so disappointed that you refused to teach them to fight. What changed?"
"Ah… Well…"
"Mr Falsworth." McGonagall simply stared at him.
"We're old men, now. And-"
"You certainly don't look it." McGonagall cut him off.
"This?" He gestured to his body. "This is potion induced and while it will last for a few months, it's not permanent for us, like it is for Peggy. The four of us are the last of the Howling Commandos, when we die… There'll be no-one left, other than Barnes. No-one that was there, no-one that will remember us, the way we want to be remembered."
"And what, may I ask, brought this on?"
"Barnes." Falsworth answered. "Like the public, we never knew what happened to him or Black, they just vanished. Only Phillips, Stark and Peggy knew and Peggy is the only one of them still with us."
"I see." McGonagall nodded fractionally. "I wish to see your training schedule." It was not a request. "I may have a few things to add to it." She hummed. "I'll need to have a word with Albus, too. And maybe Augusta and Xeno."
As she spoke, Falsworth was leading her in the direction of the office, again. He went to a smaller desk and opened a folder that lay on it.
"This is what we've come up with so far." He gestured to a sheet of parchment.
"Testing? This is only for one week?" McGonagall frowned.
"That's right." Falsworth nodded. "We need to know what the kids are capable of before we go throwing them in over their heads and expecting them to swim, first time. Plus, Harry wants to learn sword and knife fighting and we don't have anyone to teach that, not yet anyway. Albus was going to speak to someone he knew, but that's supposed to be later today. This is a rough list of what we hope to teach them, depending on time." He held out a second sheet.
"I see." McGonagall repeated after a quick reading. "Very well. Add animagi to that list, please. Right at the top."
"Not how it works." Falsworth said. "Once we know what they can do, we'll sit down with them and work out who's going to learn what and how much they already know about it. Then I'll do up schedules, one each and only for a week at a time. When they're competent in something, we'll drop it from intensive training to daily revision."
As the sun set that evening, McGonagall sat at a large round table, with all the other residents of Freedom Island, in the manor's grand ballroom.
"Alright, Albus." Sirius looked at the Headmaster. "Start talking and keep going until we tell you to stop."
"Very well." Albus Dumbledore nodded. "We're here to help young Harry end this war. To do so, we need to know all there is to know about his opposition. His birth name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. The public calls him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. I shan't say the name that he gave himself, as I have recently been informed that he's planning to put a taboo curse on it, if he hasn't done so, already." He lifted a sturdy crystal glass and took a sip of sweet, golden orange juice. "The son of Merope Gaunt, a near squib, and Thomas Riddle, a wealthy muggle, he was born in a London orphanage on…"
It took Dumbledore roughly an hour and a half to divulge everything he knew about Riddle and lean back in his seat.
"Horcruxes?" Sirius whispered. "He actually made horcruxes? Is he insane?"
"He is now, even if he wasn't when he started." Remus muttered.
"I'm not sure I understand." Albus looked at the werewolf.
"Horcruxes don't just split a soul." Remus said. "They also split a person's sanity and intelligence."
"What can be done to save him?" Albus asked.
"Nothing." Remus sighed. "The damage is done. That was the main reason the Egyptians gave up on them. You can't salvage the sanity or the intellect. About one in a thousand can re-merge the soul shards with the original, but not the sanity or intellect."
"You mean…?"
"He'll always be insane?" Remus asked. "Yes. And he'll never regain his mind."
"Oh, dear." Albus whispered. "I had hoped to redeem him."
"No, not possible." Remus said.
"What about the one in Harry?" Bucky asked as Sirius seemed unable to speak, the idea of a horcrux in his godson's head, freaked him out.
"There is no way of removing it without-" Albus started.
"Yes, there is." Remus cut him off. "But we'd need a Curse-breaker."
"It can be removed?" Albus sat forward. "Nothing I've found indicates that."
"It can." Remus nodded. "The ritual is simple, it's standard in most curse-breaking apprenticeships. Spirit possessions happen to them on a regular basis. Poor Bill Weasley has had it happen to him a number of times, according to Molly and Arthur."
"Is he a member of the Order?" Hermione asked. "Could we ask him to do?"
"Even knowing what Molly and the two youngest planned, you'd trust William?" McGonagall asked.
"He works for Gringotts." Moody said. "And Gringotts only take on the best."
"Bill is not Molly." Tonks objected at the same time.
"No, he's not. Nor is he Ron or Ginny." Kingsley said. "Arthur is most annoyed with them and if it had been left to him to hand out their punishment, it would have been a great deal harsher."
"Bill's cool." Harry said. "I liked him and Charlie." Harry might have been stressed by the Tournament but he clearly remembered that Bill treated him like a family friend, not the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Very well, I shall approach William and inquire if he would assist us." Albus said.
"And we've a list of the other horcruxes." Tonks said. "Although getting our hands on them is going to be difficult."
"The cup is going to be the hardest." Kingsley warned. "We've no way of getting into the Lestrange vault."
"Actually, no, that's going to be the easiest." Sirius objected. "I'm Lord Black. I claimed that before I did the adoptions from Alphard, so I kept it even after the adoptions. I can enter Bella's vault, I can't remove anything, but I can access it."
"How does that help us?" Tonks wanted to know.
"If Harry can get another fang from the basilisk, I can take that with me into Bella's vault and kill it, still inside the vault." Sirius answered.
"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked. "Is there a curse-breaking ritual that will kill all the horcruxes at once?"
"Not that I know of, but we can always ask Bill. He'll know." Remus answered.
"I think…" Harry bit his lip as he spoke, mangling his words a little. "I think I would prefer to destroy it, then there can be no confusion. It can never be used again if it's got a hole through it. The idea of drinking from something that was a horcrux is… ugh…"
"You have a point." Albus nodded.
"Do you have pictures of the items?" Falsworth asked.
Albus tilted his head in thought. "I'm uncertain, but I can conjure replicas of them." He flicked his wand and one by one, a number of items shimmered into being, floating in front of him.
"Hey, I know that locket!" Hermione gasped. "I saw that at number… at number… why can't I say it, Professor ?"
"Headquarters' address?" Albus asked.
"Yes!"
"It's under fidelius, my dear, and you are not the Secret Keeper, thus you cannot tell the Secret." Albus explained.
"Oh." Hermione frowned. "That locket was in a heap of stuff that Mrs Weasley wanted to throw out but Mr Weasley wouldn't let her. He said that it was jewellery and it belonged to the house of Black and it was not for her to say what should be thrown out and what should be kept."
"Sirius made Kreacher put it in a trunk with a whole lot of other stuff with the Black crest on them and put it in the attic." Harry said.
"I did?" Sirius asked, blinking.
"You weren't really awake," Harry laughed, "and sort of growled at Kreacher to do what Mr Weasley said."
"That sounds more like me." Sirius laughed.
"Well, that gives us two." Morita said. "With five left still to find."
"Three, maybe two." Hermione corrected. "Second year, Harry destroyed the diary. The one in Harry. We know where the locket is. And we have a strong lead on the cup." She nodded to Sirius.
"Oh, yes, I forgot about them." Morita made a note. "So, that leaves…?"
"The diadem and the ring."
"Is there any way of checking how many he's made? If he's made more since his resurrection?" Hermione asked.
"Actually, yes." Remus nodded. "There are some scans, that should tell us how many pieces are left."
"Alright, until we know for certain how many pieces there are, I think that we should concentrate on getting this one out of Harry." Bucky said. "We can meet each evening, to discuss the day's activities. At least until Siri starts up the time dilation field, we'll have to re-access timing later." He looked around the table. "All in favour?" A chorus of agreement answered him.
"Excellent…" Dumbledore twinkled. "I shall be off to speak with young William. If he gives an oath of secrecy, would anyone be concerned about telling him what we're doing? Not just an outline but the complete truth?"
"If he makes the oath. Sure." Sirius said. "And don't forget to speak to Snape. I still need to know why you trust him so much."
Dumbledore's twinkle faded a little, but he nodded. "I shall go to him directly and then to William. I shall return as soon as I can." He stood and Fawkes flitted from the owl stand he'd been roosting on, over to Dumbledore's shoulder. A quiet trill and the pair vanished in a burst of flames.
"Right, who's for hot chocolate?" Sirius clapped his hands.
"Me." Remus was the first to climb to his feet and head for the kitchen.