"And the potions?" Sirius was staring blankly across the table.
"Pettigrew's idea." Moody said. "He confundus-ed Molly into indoctrinating Ginny to want Harry and imperius-ed her into brewing the potion and to 'encourage' the kids into dosing Potter and Granger. The doses were only to be minor until you pair left school, after that it was to increase until you'd both reached the saturation point and it was irreversible."
"Was that why Madam Pomfrey gave us the treatment, she did?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Moody nodded. "It purged any remnants of the potion from your system, negating everything Pettigrew was working towards."
"Gods, how did we miss it?" Sirius groaned. "His animagi form is a rat, for crying out loud. A rat!"
"Let's wait until Bill returns before we get too worked up." McGonagall advised.
"I second that." Falsworth said. "We still have a lot to do. Can we get an update on the diadem? Harry?"
"Sure." Harry grinned for the first time in hours. "We went to Hogwarts to speak to Helena Ravenclaw and she gave us a hint of where it was."
"Was that hint enough for you to locate the diadem?" Peggy asked.
"It was." Harry nodded. "The Room of Requirement is where we held the D.A., this last year. It is also where every item that is lost, abandoned or discarded, at Hogwarts gets sent."
"And you found the diadem?" Flitwick sat forward.
"We did." Harry nodded. "After Neville reminded us that we could change the room to be anything we wanted. I asked for a room empty of anything but the item that held Riddle's horcrux."
"When he opened the door," Hermione went on, "it was sitting on a pedestal in the middle of a small room."
"It was." Harry nodded. "It took only a few seconds to stab it with a fang. It shattered the main gemstone, though. Sirius was able to do a reparo on it but we don't know if destroying the horcrux, also destroyed the charms that Rowena Ravenclaw put on it, or not." He pulled out a small box and skidded it across the table to the part-goblin who was head of Ravenclaw house.
Flitwick and McGonagall looked at the box.
"That's…? That's…?" Flitwick stammered.
"The diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw?" Harry asked for him.
"Yes." Hermione answered.
"Oh, my word…" McGonagall whispered.
"After that, Harry…" Hermione paused. How to say what they hadn't even known had been an option? "Harry wondered if the room could bring the other horcruxes to itself or if they would just be copies of the items?"
"Oh, that would be handy." Frank nodded.
"It was." Hermione agreed. "He got the room to show a painting of the locations of both horcruxes and then asked for the Room to bring that specific item, clearly stating that it was a horcrux as part of the summoning criteria and included a number of security measures to go with it. The snake ended up restrained in a metal exoskeleton that was in turn attached to a large slab of stone."
"Whoa…" Frank exclaimed quietly.
"Yeah, so it was simple to stab her, although we did end up removing her head, just to be safe."
"Does Riddle know if his horcruxes are being destroyed?" Morita asked.
"No idea." Harry shrugged. "Not that it matters, anymore. I asked the room to bring the cup and place it on the pedestal that the diadem had been on, and we let Sirius stab that."
"He also asked the room to provide a painting of any remaining horcruxes belonging to Riddle, using either his birth name or his assumed name and title." Luna added.
"There was only the painting of the golem that Riddle had Pettigrew make him, in the graveyard." Harry smiled in satisfaction. "Nothing else."
"We got them all?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes wide.
"We got them all." Harry agreed. "No more horcruxes. Now, we only have to deal with Riddle and his DeathEaters."
"Oh, is that all?" McGonagall shook her head in disbelief.
"Professor?" Hermione asked. "Think about this carefully. Outside of the Unforgivables, how many spells do the DeathEaters really use and how good at them, are they? From what we've pieced together, Snape and Crouch jnr, were the most skilled of all of them." She pulled out a notebook and flipped passed a few pages. "Crouch jnr left Hogwarts with twelve NEWTs, according to his father."
"Yes, he did." Flitwick said. "He was the first student to try for all available NEWTs. But I understand what you're saying. Barty may have had twelve NEWTs but his only O was History of Magic, everything else were either E's or A's."
"Exactly." Hermione nodded. "Now, Snape? He did better. Eleven NEWTs, five O's and four E's and two A's."
"Yes…" McGonagall nodded. "Lucius never got anything higher than an E, neither did either of the Lestrange boys, Bellatrix got one O… in astronomy of all things… But I fail to see how this helps us."
"Ah, that was Neville's brilliant idea." Harry beamed at his godbrother. "We pick where the battle between us and Riddle… and his DeathEaters… is going to be and we set up a containment field around it, so no-one can cast an Unforgivable. We block just those three spells from being cast and what do you think is going to happen to their ability… and confidence?"
Moody burst into a cackling laugh.
It wasn't until later that evening that Bill Weasley returned to the island and when he did, he immediately asked if the group would accept Oaths from Charlie and the twins. None of them wanted to stay at the Burrow, not with the information that had been given to them. Harry was the first to agree, he knew the twins well and trusted them with his secrets.
Upon arrival, Fred and George collapsed to their knees, sobbing. Their lives had been turned upside down in such a short time that it left them reeling.
"Come on, you pair." Harry pulled at their jumpers and the twins slowly rose to their feet, their shoulders slumped and their faces almost grey with shock. Harry lead them and Bill brought Charlie behind them, up the garden path, into the house and into the rooms that had been put aside for any latecomers to their group.
Each twin (and Charlie) was plopped down on a bed and Andi was waving her wand at snitch speeds, chanting and issuing orders for potions, meals, baths and clothes. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna stayed with the twins and Tonks and Bill stayed with Charlie. Everyone else scrambled to do Andi's bidding. After satisfying herself that the four Weasley men were in no immediate physical danger, she nodded to Harry and he in turn nodded to Neville, Sirius, Remus and the four Howling Commandos. Between them, they bundled the four Weasleys out of the room and down a short flight of stairs to a massive underground room, there they eased the men free of their clothes and into what could either have been a large bathtub or a small pool, depending on your point of view.
The steam wafting up from the water's surface said that the tub/pool held hot water, this time. The four redheads were eased down into the heated water and quickly Sirius, Remus, Neville and Harry joined them, making sure that none of the Weasleys were left alone for more than a few seconds. The four soldiers hurried back to the kitchen and each of them collected a tray of food before headed back to the tub/pool. Each tray was placed beside a carer and the Weasley men were gently bullied into eating and drinking.
Slowly, shock gave way to anger and it was nearly an hour before that anger gave way to a need to understand.
"What did he gain from it?" Fred asked. He felt dirty and was scared that no amount of bathing would get him clean.
"I don't know." Harry said. "I don't think he really cared. He just wanted to hurt someone and your family were there."
"Possibly he gained a sense of security from controlling your parents." Dum-dum said. "He was on the run, from the law, from his allies and from his former friends. Control and security must have played a big part in initial contact with your brother and parents. From there, he felt secure enough to indulge himself however he wanted. Your family were just unfortunate to be the ones that he found."
"Bastard…" George whispered.
"When you gentlemen are ready, we have some decisions to make." Andi said from a nearby chair, pointedly ignoring the fact that all eight men in the water were either naked or close to it.
"Decisions?" Bill asked lowering his focus from the ceiling.
"Yes." Andi nodded. "I've read through the reports from St. Mungo's and through their recommendations and while their choices would work, there are other options. Or we can combine pieces from here and there."
"I heard their options and while workable, I wasn't comfortable with them." Bill said. "Not with the options and not with the people that they wanted to do them."
"No." Charlie shook his head. "They expected us to just go along with everything they said and not argue or object to anything."
"They weren't going to involve us before they started 'treatment', either." Bill sneered.
"Bollocks to that." Fred spat.
"Assholes." George added.
"Language." Hermione chided.
"After what they were going to do to us? No, Hermione, Fred and George have it about right." Bill objected. "Andi? What are all the options? Tell us them all, not just St. Mungo's versions."
"Right." Andi sighed and took a deep breath. "First there's…"
Two hours later, Bill looked from Charlie to Fred to George. "Are you sure about this? There's no going back. Uncle Gareth would have to be involved, as would Aunt Muriel."
"We know." Fred nodded.
"We need to have a conference with mum and dad, this could change things for them, too." Charlie said.
"Or at least give them more options." George said.
"I vote we bring Molly and Arthur here." Harry said. "Not tell them what we're doing, just that with Sirius 'dead' my guardianship falls to Andi and she's brought in the new Lord Black, who has reinstated Andi into the family, giving me the protection of the Black Family. And he's prepared to help them because both Molly and Arthur are children of Black Daughters."
"If the new Lord Black agrees with Albus regarding Riddle and the war, we could suggest that Albus is courting Lord Cyril Black on behalf of the Order." Sirius added.
"And if we had Albus, Minerva, Andi and Harry here, Molly is going to feel more comfortable listening to what we have to say." Remus added.
"I agree." Dumbledore spoke up from behind them. Bill and his brothers all jerked in surprise. "I apologize, I hadn't meant to startle you." He gave them a sad smile. "But I agree with you, bringing Molly and Arthur here and presenting them with all the options available to you."
"Thanks, Professor." Harry smiled gratefully.
"I'll go and see them, immediately and bring them right here." Dumbledore said.
"Um…?" Harry grimaced. "Maybe take them to the office, instead of the ballroom."
"The ballroom is better, Harry." Sirius said. "We can put up a few screens and notice-me-nots. It's one of the few places that will fit us all."
"If you say so." Harry said dubiously.
"I do say so." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair.
"Gerroff." Harry batted at Sirius' hands, ending in a slapping match between them, until they were interrupted by the twins' laughter. "Finally." Harry huffed. "I thought you were going to be morbid for days."
"No." Fred answered.
"We just had to get…" George started.
"… our heads around it." Fred finished.
"He might have tried to alter them, but I remember our Uncles, Gideon and Fabian, and they were just as bad as these two." Bill said. "They were always going to be pranksters."
"Molly, Arthur." Albus Dumbledore greeted the Weasley parents. "This is our host, Lord Cyril Black."
"Lord Black." Arthur gave an untrained attempt at bowing. "Thank you for having us and I apologise in advance, for any slights we may unintentionally give."
"Not at all," Sirius said, bowing back, "my father was the white sheep of his generation just as Sirius was in his. I fall somewhere between Sirius and Harry. I think I'm actually about the same age as your eldest son, William." If you took his Veil-altered age into account, that is.
"Our Bill was twenty-five last November." Molly said hesitantly.
"Yes, we've even the same birth month." Sirius nodded.
"Might I ask? Why we were brought here?" Arthur asked. "Albus only said that St. Mungo's options might not be our only options."
"Indeed, they're not." Dumbledore agreed. "We spoke with healer Tonks, earlier and she had a few more ideas. After talking to Bill, Charlie and the twins, Lord Black decided that you should be offered the same options."
"Oh." Arthur struggled to keep his composure.
"Come inside and let us explain." Sirius-as-Cyril said and lead the way into the ballroom.
"Now, from what we can gather St. Mungo's believe that permanent de-aging…" Andi started. It would take her nearly an hour and a half to go through all the possible options and give a little detail about how they would affect the family. "… so, you see what we mean when we say more options?" She finished.
"Oh, heavens…" Molly whispered.
"Now, we don't expect you to choose instantly, but we'd recommend getting Percy, Ron and Ginny out of St. Mungo's, it's too open to the public." Andi said. "Anyone could walk into their rooms. Imagine Rita Skeeter nosing around?"
"Grrr…" Hermione made a vicious sounding noise.
"You don't like her?" Andi grinned at the teen.
"No…" Hermione grimaced.
Molly and Arthur looked at each other and nodded. "We've a fair idea of what we want." Arthur said.
"But getting the children out of St. Mungo's is good, I've never trusted them…" She gasped. "Oh, my… That's him, isn't it? He never trusted them, just in case they picked up on something…"
"Exactly." Andi nodded. "It's likely why you're not happy letting the children out of your sight. So to speak."
"Bollocks." Molly swore causing Harry to snicker. "Oh, hush you. Like you and Ron didn't swear on your adventures."
"Rarely." Harry countered. "We tended to have Hermione with us, that put a stop to our bad language." He gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.
"And I'm sure she had her hands full with you pair…" Molly shook her head.
"Myself, Kingsley and Moody will go with you to retrieve the children," Andi said. "St. Mungo's may object but they won't try and stop us from removing them. Particularly, as the DMLE are involved. Dora, can you inform Madam Bones and give her a brief outline? We will need to bring her into it, sometime, to get new identity papers and documentation."
"Yes, mum." Tonks nodded.
"Good girl." Andi smiled at her daughter before turning back to Molly and Arthur. "I'll give you a full list of the options and I want you to read through them all. Carefully. Completely. Don't hesitate to mix and match. Come up with a final hypothesis and we'll do what we can to cherry pick the options and components to get you there. Okay?"
"Yes, thank you." Arthur replied, knowing that Molly was still overwhelmed by the knowledge that Pettigrew was responsible for many of her attitudes.