"We might wanna put the trip to Gringotts off until they get that done." Moody suggested.
"If they take an hour to put it together, it should only take Gringotts another hour to formalise it." McGonagall said.
"Then Alastor can take copies to Madam Bones and we'll be good to go." Sirius added.
"In the meantime?" Falsworth looked at Harry and Neville. "Boys? Back to it."
Harry groaned but got to his feet and followed a grinning Bucky from the room.
"Bugger." Neville sighed, but he too got to his feet, only he followed Morita out a different door.
"And you two." Falsworth pointed at Sirius and Remus. "You need this almost as much as they do."
Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and huffed. "Right." Remus nodded. "Come on, Padfoot."
Moody handed Harry a set of four badges on lanyards.
"These are to tell anyone that asks, that the bearer is a DMLE-approved, privately contracted personal security guard." Moody explained. "It's rare to get DMLE approval. The last time was during the Grindelwald war, Newt Scamander was asked to courier something from MACUSA to Hogwarts. Theseus Scamander may not have liked his brother much but he didn't want the man dead." He also laid four wand holsters on the table. "Madam Bones also suggested that your guard be provided these. These are dedicated wands. They are only capable of a couple of spells and can be used by squib or even a muggle."
"What spells?" Peggy leant forward and studied the wands.
"A couple of shields, as well as Stupify and incarerous. We'll walk you through using them." Moody answered. "They're also tied to the badges so only the person wearing the badge can use them."
"Excellent." Harry grinned. "Tonks has also just got back. She went to Luximbell's for their robes."
"You should see them, they're wicked." Tonks said, brightly. "There's nothing to get in the way of movement. They'll be able to fight in them, magical or muggle style. And they can wear their combat gear under them, if they like."
"Did you get the Potter crest on them, like I wanted?" Harry asked.
"No." Tonks said. "Madam Bones said not to. There's a lot of guards out there, most of them aren't DMLE approved but they're still out there. The Purebloods employ them as their bully boys. She was the one to suggest Luximbell's, as most of those that are employed for security work go there, they all tend to wear much the same robes. It's almost like an unofficial uniform. Wearing a crest means that they have to be DMLE approved and she said that we were better off to keep that quiet until we need it."
"She also suggested that we let the masses think the DMLE or Dumbledore have provided them, not you." Moody said. "Having Tonks and Kingsley, in uniform, assigned to you, will just reinforce that. The fact that the rest of them are muggles might never be known to anyone outside of us and Madam Bones."
"Unless we tell them." Tonks added, with a grin.
"So…?" Harry asked. "We can go to Gringotts, now?"
"Whenever you're ready." Tonks agreed.
"Give us ten." Harry was already heading for his room, Neville, Hermione and Luna not far behind him.
Leaving Gringotts with new keys, Harry walked between Bucky and Dum-dum, with Morita and Falsworth at his back, Neville and the girls in front of him and Tonks and Kingsley in front of them.
He waved to a few people he knew and stopped to chat to the Creevey boys and their father for a few moments. Neville greeted a couple people and Hermione darted into Florish and Blotts to pick up an order, while Luna just enjoyed the summer sun. They floo-ed from the Leaky Cauldron to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and got a few things from Honeydukes and Spintwitches.
From there, they meandered their towards the school. Hagrid was on holidays and Professor McGonagall met them at the gates, letting them in and escorting them up the path to the castle. They entered the portcullis and into the Bell Tower keep, the expressions of wonder and awe on the faces of the four Howling Commandos was enough to make Remus smother a laugh.
"Impressive, isn't it?" He asked.
"And then some." Morita nodded.
"The architecture varies so much." Dum-dum said, his eyes darting here and there. "There's tenth century masonry beside fifteenth century stuff and that's a nineteenth doorframe, right there." He pointed to parts of the DADA tower. "It's fascinating to see how the different styles have been brought together."
The other three Howlies stopped in their tracks and just stared at Dum-dum's back, in shock. He turned and looked at them.
"What? I studied architecture before and after the war. How do you think I always knew how to find the weak points on the buildings we targeted?" He shook his head and kept walking. "Idiots."
Remus chuckled and gestured to a set of stairs but spoke quietly. "Harry? Check the map. Snape should be in his dungeons, brewing." Harry nodded and subtly pulled out a folded sheet of parchment. A tap and some almost silent words and ink spread across the sheet. "There's a zoom feature, tap Snape's label and say 'show' and the map will enlarge that area of the castle and show you what he's doing. Just…? If he's in his bedroom or bathroom, don't use it."
Harry's eyes widened and he snorted and tried to hide his giggles as he followed Remus' instructions. "He's brewing. And how did you map the staff's bedrooms and bathrooms?"
McGonagall blinked and looked sideways at Remus.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Remus muttered and glared at Sirius. "Where's the entrance to the chamber?"
"Second floor of the Main Keep." Harry answered. "Down to the right, near Ophelia Wimplesilk's portait."
"Ophelia Wimplesilk?" Remus asked. "I don't believe I know her, who was she?"
"Lady Ophelia was the first witch to serve as DADA Professor." Harry said. "Or at least, that what Headmistress Burke's portrait told us." He lead them down the corridor and around the corner before coming to a stop in front of a painting of a homely looking witch in leather robes sitting at a desk, writing. "Lady Ophelia, greetings and salutations."
"Master Potter, Lady Hermione, Master Longbottom, Lady Luna." The witch stood and gave them a masculine bow, as opposed to a curtsey. "Professor Flitwick, Lady Minerva, gentlemen. My greetings to you. What do you do here, this day?"
"We seek to acquire the means to destroy a great evil," Harry told the portrait, "and we would appreciate it, greatly, if you would keep our confidence."
"Of a certainty, Master Potter." Lady Ophelia nodded. "The destruction of true evil is the duty of all gentle beings."
"Indeed it is, my lady." Flitwick bowed back to her.
She gave him a regal head and shoulder bow before returning to the defence text she had been writing.
Harry took a few more steps and into a doorway. "In here." He called.
"It's a bathroom." Remus stated, looking at a collection of sinks.
"It is." Harry smothered a smile.
"Why are we in a bathroom?" Remus asked.
"§Open§"
The hiss coming from Harry's mouth might have startled Tonks and Kingsley but the sound of grinding stone and the reservoir above the sinks rising into the air while the sinks and their mirrors slowly moved away from each, had all but Remus, Bucky and a now human shaped Sirius, taking a quick step backwards. Then one sink sliding down into the floor leaving a hexagonal hole of darkness had McGonagall frowning.
"Hmm…" She hummed. "I doubt that Riddle would have just jumped into nothingness, Potter. I suggest asking for some stairs."
"And some lights." Sirius muttered.
"§Lights§" Harry waited until the hole was well lit before adding, "§Stairs§" and watched as a stone slid out of the hole's wall just below the lip of the hole.
"Much better." McGonagall nodded to Harry. "Who's first?"
Harry just shrugged and moved to the stone, it vibrated under his foot but stayed firm, once his second foot touched it, however, it began to move. Slowly and smoothly, the stone began to slide around the wall, another stone sliding out of the wall to take the place of the one he was standing on.
"Well…" McGonagall muttered and after taking a deep breath, touched her foot to the new stone that had appeared at the edge of the drainage grill. Nothing happened. She put her full weight on it and still nothing happened. She lowered her second foot to the stone and just as slowly as the stone that Harry was standing on, her stone began to move. "Give it a few seconds and step onto the stone." She instructed.
"Will that work for us?" Morita asked.
"Only one way to find out." Bucky said and stepped onto a stone, it vibrated and shuddered for a few seconds before beginning to move. "It works." He said over his shoulder.
It took forty-five minutes to get down the hole, into the tunnel under the castle and into the chamber itself, get a handful of fangs and get back to the bathroom.
It took another forty-five minutes to calm Hermione and Bucky down. Hermione wanted to eviscerate Lockhart, while Bucky was all for being given five minutes alone with Riddle. Sirius might have been able to kiss Bucky down from rage to grumbling but Harry was having little success in slowing Hermione's rants. Eventually, he decided that if Sirius' idea worked on Bucky, it might work on Hermione. Maybe? If he was extremely lucky?
But there was no way in hell he was kissing Hermione, in front of his godfather and his Professors. He let Hermione rant while he told McGonagall that he was going to try and get Hermione to follow him to the arithmancy classroom which was a few yards down the hall. McGonagall was pursing her lips firmly to avoid laughing at the teen's frazzled speech.
Harry touched Hermione's arm and gestured to the hall, she didn't stop her cursing but she did stalk in the direction that Harry had indicated, her arms waving in time with her words. In the classroom, Harry let her pace and rant while he figuratively 'girded his loins', then he stepped in front of her and stopped her, his hands resting on her upper arms. One hand rose and cupped her cheek.
"Oh, Hermione…" He whispered and leant forward.
His lips touched hers and it seemed to take a moment for her to realise how her rant had been stoppered. Then shock held her frozen. For a few heartbeats, Harry was afraid that she wasn't going to react at all.
Then she blinked and her hands clutched at his jumper. She leant into the kiss and everything changed. Their relationship, their friendship, their lives, their future. In that second, Harry knew what Dumbledore meant when he said, 'love is the greatest power there it, Harry'.
When they left the classroom, Harry's hand was held in hers and while she no longer looked ready to render the smarmy ponce into potions ingredients, as they left the school the occasional muttered growl could still be heard to come from her, Harry hugging her or patting her hand would cause the mutters to fade into the odd huff.
Sirius and Remus would look at the two teens and bite the inside of their cheeks to stop themselves from teasing pair. McGonagall just shook her head and handed Flitwick a golden coin, when the pair couldn't see.
Back on the island, Remus laid the box, containing the fangs on the round table in the ballroom.
"You got some, then?" Peggy asked.
"No problems?" Moody wanted to know.
"Other than learning how Hermione wanted to use a few basic spells on Lockhart, in a rather frightening manner, no." Remus chuckled.
"He deserves it." Hermione glared and Harry pulled his chair closer to hers, leant his head beside hers and began to whisper quietly. It took a few minutes, that those watching found fascinating and amusing, depending on who they were, before the young witch heaved a sigh and sat back.
"Alright…" She muttered. "But you owe me."
"Hermione, my love, I owe you so much already, I should just give you my vault, right now." Harry laughed.
"Oh, no, you don't, mister." She narrowed her eyes. "No gold, you owe me time, one whole day doing exactly what I want. From breakfast to supper. All day."
Harry smiled. "Of course, dear. Just tell me when."
"Whipped..." Sirius whispered almost silently, but Harry still heard him and gave him a bland look that foretold retribution in the future. "Oh, crap…" He whined.
"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?" Remus sighed. "You said that Harry takes after Lily more than James. You know what happened whenever she looked at us like that. And you still had to push him, didn't you?" He slumped back in his chair. "Why am I always the one that pays for what comes out of your mouth?"
Harry just gave Remus a bright smile, that did nothing to lessen the werewolf's sense of foreboding.
"So, how do we kill the ring?" Morita asked.
"I used the fang to stab the diary." Harry said. "It's going to be a bit hard to stab a ring, isn't it?"
"Maybe stab the stone?" Neville suggested.
"Maybe let Bill tell us if the stone is… infected." Luna spoke so rarely that everyone listened to her.
"I can do that." Bill nodded. "Give me a few minutes." He flicked his wand and levitated the box and its contents out the door, onto a wide patio. "Now, let's see what we have here…" He began casting obscure diagnostic charms that were the sign of a Master Curse-breaker.
Five minutes later, he took a deep breath and stepped back.
"The stone is heavily enchanted, but it's not Dark, just… mostly necromantic stuff, still not a good idea to handle the thing, directly. The band is where Riddle put his horcrux. If you notice? It doesn't quite meet up, under the stone. If you can use a fang to cut the band, the venom inherent in the fang should permeate the gold and be enough to destroy the horcrux. Unless you want to keep the ring, Sirius. That stone is the signet for the Peverell Family and as far as I recall, the Blacks have as much claim to the stone as the Gaunts."
"How do you figure that?" Dumbledore asked. "I was under the impression that the Potters were descended from the Peverells."
"They are." Bill said. "But the Potters come from the third son, Ignotus, while the Blacks and the Gaunts are descended from the second son, Cadmus. Gringotts researched the story of the deathly hallows and come to the conclusion that the three brothers' items were actually all made by the eldest brother, Antioch, who was a wandmaker and runes Master. The famous elder wand was, according to Gringotts' lore-readers, a custom staff that Antioch had made himself and had etched it with runes that allowed to access a greater portion of the wielder's core and store a portion of the wielder's magic, when the wielder dies, then permanently shrunk, to wand size, with charms tied to his magical signature. The Cloak of Invisibility was studied back in the early 1800's with the permission of the then Lord Potter, Jareth. It was found to be made from a mix of demiguise hair, like a typical cloak, but with acromantula silk, thestral wing leather and house elf magic woven into the fabric along with a dragon-load of runes incorporated into the fabric's designs. The Stone and I'm fairly certain that this is that Stone, was made for Cadmus as a focus stone for his necromancy obsession."
A number of those watching on, just blinked, it wasn't often that someone knew something that Dumbledore didn't.
"I see." Dumbledore nodded to Bill. "Thank you for that information, I shall add it what I already have."
"I'll ask if I can give you the research summary, that Gringotts put together for Jareth Potter in 1827." Bill offered.
"That would be most appreciated." Dumbledore replied.
"Well, I don't want it." Sirius said. "The Peverells might be my ancestors but it's bad enough that I have to be Lord Black, I don't want to be Lord Peverell, as well."
"There's no Peverell Lordship." Bill said. "The brothers split the estate. Antioch had no kids, Camdus had one son, as did Ignotus. But Cadmus died before his son was born, which meant the title passed to Ignotus and his son passed the Lordship to his son-in-law, Hardwin Potter, ennobling him in the process. It was a couple of generations later that the then King Ecgherht allowed the Potters to change the name of the estate from Pevermere to Puddlemere and the title from Peverell to Potter. King Aethelwulf ordered a new Signet Ring and Seal made for the Lord Potter when his daughter, Princess Mary, married into the family."
"Puddlemere?" Harry asked. "Princess?"
"Later, Harry." Hermione chided. "You can quiz Bill on the Potter history later. Kill the horcrux, first."
Harry opened his mouth to object before closing it and sighing. "Right." He nodded. "I know nothing about any signet rings or seals, but… if this ring is what you say, destroying it… it doesn't sit right. Is there any other way to kill the horcrux?"
"No, Harry, I'm sorry but there's not." Bill shook his head.
"If you cut the band, you can always have the ring remade." McGonagall offered. "Almost any jeweller can do that for you."
"Or you can just have a new ring made and have the stone put into a new setting." Sirius suggested.
"Yeah, let's do that, instead." Harry was already wearing dragonhide gloves and holding a fang, so all he had to do was smash the fang into the ring and watch as the cloud of greasy black and green smoke billowed from the destroyed horcrux. The stone was popped free and flew across the patio and over the railing into the garden, Harry's seeker trained eyes following its path easily. He jogged down the broad stone stairs and using a handkerchief, picked up the stone, returning to the patio and those that waited, before dropping the stone into the jewellery box that had held the ring and snapping it closed. "I might look at having the stone cleansed of magic and leave it as a plain ring."