Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
"How did you get here, and why did you arrive together? We need a winner." Crouch was the first to find words, while Harry noticed that Dumbledore and Madam Maxime were smirking in obvious amusement. Karakoff seemed to be fuming.
Harry shook his head in annoyance. "As you probably know, it is not possible to apparate within Hogwarts. Therefore, this task gives me as the owner of Hogwarts a huge advantage over the other champions, which is totally unfair. Therefore, we decided to finish this together."
"Well, then we'll just decide by the points from the first task that Mr. Prince wins." Bagman shrugged.
"No sir. We won't accept that. The one who would finish the third task and come back here first was supposed to be the winner. Therefore, this tournament has been won by no one in particular. We have a tie here." Harry's voice was firm.
Crouch's eyes narrowed. "How old are you, boy, to tell us what to do?"
Harry scoffed. "Yes, I am only fourteen, which means that I shouldn't have been in the tournament in the first place. Let me say mismanagement by the organisers from the beginning."
"Harry is right." Viktor agreed, only to add, "Although he was the best of us."
"That is not true," Harry contradicted. "Who knows what these creatures would have done to us without your charms and spells?"
Fleur shrugged. "You 'ave 'heard ze boys. We are all winners."
Crouch helplessly lifted a bag and put it in front of the champions, giving Bagman a questioning look that caused Dumbledore to chuckle.
"Ah, but Bartemius, nothing easier than that." With a small flick of his hand, three smaller bags appeared in place of the one bag, one in front of each champion."
"Congratulations to you all for winning the tournament." Whisker's voice was laced with amusement.
"Thank you, Whisker, for seeing to it that we all survived the tournament," Harry directly addressed his colleague. "We appreciate it."
HP
The guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang remained at Hogwarts for another week. Seeing that Fleur and Viktor seemed to develop a friendship exceeding the usual relationship between two champions and spent more time with each other than with their friends from their own schools, Harry decided to simply attend classes together with his classmates. 'I've missed enough during this school year anyway, so I'll give them some space,' he thought, although he was not exactly worried about having missed much, as Hermione and Teddy had used every free minute to keep him updated about their classes.
For the following weekend, he organised a Quidditch tournament between the three schools, thinking, 'That gives the Hogwarts team some much needed practice, considering that we only won the matches against teachers and parents during the first-years' parents' weekend last month because I caught the Snitch on time.'
While Dumbledore had wanted to forego the parents' weekend for once due to the Triwizard tournament, Harry had insisted that all events should take place as usual, not only Quidditch.
Needless to say that Hogwarts won the matches both against Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as Harry always caught the Snitch as usual.
When Whisker, who had been refereeing all three matches, announced the result and handed Dumbledore some kind of cup for winning the Quidditch tournament, Karakoff harshly protested.
"That was cheating. Mr. Prince was flying with his dog, who helped him catch the Snitch. Otherwise, he'd never have been able to win against Mr. Krum, who is the best Seeker, world-wide."
"Well, let's do a replay then, in which I am going to fly without my dog." Harry's voice was firm, but Karakoff was the only person to agree, while the teams refused to play, and Dumbledore, Madame Maxime and Whisker merely looked from the professor to the students and back in apparent disbelief.
"Harry is the better Seeker," Viktor then announced.
"We accept 'Ogwarts' victory," Fleur added, smiling. "We 'ad a wonderful time 'ere at 'Ogwarts, and for zat, I wish to zank all ze professors and students of 'Ogwarts."
Huge applause followed her statement, efficiently ending the discussion. After dinner that evening, the guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang returned home, and the fifth table vanished from the Great Hall by an invisible hand.
HP
During the last four weeks of the school year, Harry busied himself catching up on his studies, but also spent several hours per week in the Office for Elves' Affairs, which he had not abandoned of course, but at least slightly neglected during the tournament. He also saw to it that he was back at home in the evenings to help his mother with Eileen, who was now ten months old and slowly became more alert. Just like Felix, she seemed to absolutely adore their big brother. Somehow, Harry revelled in his siblings' affection. He still needed the reassurance that he was a proper member of the family, even if Regina and Severus had emphasized many times that he was their real sibling due to the blood adoption between Severus and him and the blood donation from him to Regina.
"It's evident that they have your magic along with some special traits such as the affinity for the Animagus transformation," Minerva pointed out, when they observed Felix jump around the room in his majaroo form.
HP
On the day after their guests had left, Dumbledore cornered Harry at breakfast. "Harry, from now on, please come to my office every Sunday evening after dinner."
Harry grudgingly agreed, knowing that the old wizard had already wanted to teach him in whatever it was that he deemed important to him during the previous summer. 'I wonder what he wants,' he thought in annoyance.
"If he does anything nasty, just pop away," Luna advised him, when they enjoyed their Saturday at Hogsmeade together, causing Harry to chuckle.
"Oh, believe me, that I will do, and I know that Godric will keep an eye on him from his portrait, too."
HP
To Harry's surprise, Dumbledore merely wished to show him a memory in his Pensive. It was the memory of how he had first met Marvolo, Tom at that time, when he visited him in the orphanage and told him about Hogwarts.
'Setting the wardrobe on fire?' Harry thought in disbelief. 'What teacher does such a thing?' However, he knew better than to voice his thoughts and merely thanked Dumbledore for the insight, before he left the office, accompanied by a few funny trills from Fawkes.
'Marvolo,' he thought to his friend, once he returned home, and informed the older wizard about the memory he had been shown that evening.
'Ah, he's a manipulating old coot.' Marvolo's response came immediately. 'He wants to show you how bad I was and that I didn't need the second chance at life I was given. Does he know by now that you're on my side?'
'I'm not sure. We're all trying to keep him in the dark.'
'Anyway, thanks for telling me about it. If you ever have questions about what he shows you, feel free to ask anything.'
'I will. Thanks, Marvolo, and don't worry. I won't let him manipulate me. He would have been able to do that, before my father adopted me, but not now.'
'Thanks, Harry. That's good. Congrats for winning the Triwizard tournament, by the way.' Before Harry could point out that he did not win the thing, he continued, 'I know that you made a tie, but I watched the whole event in my serpent Animagus form, and you were clearly the best. Remember, the other two champions would have been out of it in the first task already, had you not helped them.'
HP
The lessons with Dumbledore as the old wizard called the memory sessions continued until Harry left for the Isle of Elves. During the last memory, Dumbledore showed Harry a scene between Tom still as a student and Professor Slughorn. Harry had never met Slughorn; however, his father had told him a lot about his former head of house, and Harry was not sure that he overly liked him.
"When you have a spare hour sometime this holiday, I wish to visit Horace Slughorn together with you," Dumbledore announced. "We must find out what he told Tom about. As you might have noticed, this memory has been tampered with, and we need to convince Slughorn to give us the real one."
"Excuse me, sir, but why is my presence needed for that?"
"He always had a soft point for your mother, my boy, and I am sure that he will be thrilled to meet you. He might give in if you ask him."
Harry decided to not discuss the matter any further but instead simply ask Marvolo about that specific memory's background.
HP
Marvolo let out a deep sigh. 'Harry, let me explain about this personally, not through telepathy.'
'Of course,' Harry replied, wondering what the matter could be about. 'Will you come over?'
'Will your parents be all right with it?'
'Just floo to the founders' quarters then.'
Five minutes later, Harry and Marvolo met in the founders' quarters, where Marvolo told him everything about Horcruxes.
"I believe that one has been destroyed a few years ago, another I collected at Hogwarts some years ago, after we met in the Chamber of Secrets. However, there should be three or four others. I will do a ritual on the Summer Solstice to determine which I still need to collect and where they are. You're very welcome to attend the ritual if you're here. Afterwards, I will try to collect them all and then do another ritual to reunite all the pieces into my body."
Harry nodded in understanding. "Thanks for telling me everything. I won't tell Dumbledore about it, and I won't accompany him to speak with Mr. Slughorn either."
Marvolo smiled. "Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it."
They talked about several other matters, before they separated with Harry promising to attend Marvolo's ritual on the Summer Solstice if he was back from the Isle of Elves on time. "They still won't allow me to travel to and from the Isle of Elves just by myself. Apparently, it takes too much magic."
HP
In the end, it turned out to be a good thing that Harry was not back from the Isle of Elves. Marvolo stared at the parchment in front of him in shock.
'Harry is a Horcrux. It must have happened, when I killed his mother. I can't believe it,' he thought, feeling horrified at the idea. 'It makes sense though, as it explains why we are connected to each other.' He pondered the matter for a few days, wondering how to explain it to Harry or if he should speak with Severus beforehand and pondering a possible ritual to return the Horcrux from behind Harry's scar to his own body.
In the end, he decided to speak with Severus, considering that Harry was only going to be fifteen soon and the man was his father.
HP
Regina smiled, when Marvolo elegantly stepped out of the fireplace. "Marvolo," she greeted him in surprise. "Did you come to speak with Severus?"
Marvolo nodded. "With both of you in fact."
"Let me quickly fetch him. He's in his lab. Please make yourself comfortable."
She stepped over through the connecting door into her husband's private lab and informed him that Marvolo had come to visit.
"Does he know that Harry is absent?" Severus quirked an eyebrow. "He rarely ever comes to speak with us."
"Please just come, and then, we can tell him that Harry's on the Isle of Elves."
Five minutes later, the three adults were sitting comfortably in the sitting room nursing a cup of tea.
"This is not just a social visit." Marvolo came straight to the point and explained the reason for his visit.
"Harry is a Horcrux?" Severus' voice was dangerously quiet.
Marvolo nodded. "I am sorry. I only knew from the ritual, and I am now working on a ritual to remove it from behind his scar. I am still in shock from this revelation, and I wanted to share this most disturbing news with you."
"Thank you for telling us," Regina said, kindly, knowing the man had not willingly done anything to harm Harry. "Will Harry be all right?" She looked from Marvolo to her husband.
"Yes." Marvolo was the first to respond. "I promise that I will try everything to not harm him in any way. Severus, would you be willing to support me in case your assistance is needed?"
Severus nodded, sharply. "Of course. If there is anything I can do, I will of course do everything to keep Harry safe. I suggest that we work on the ritual before telling Harry anything though."
Regina immediately agreed, glad when Marvolo also promised to not speak with Harry about the matter. "When do you think you could do such a ritual?"
"Hopefully on Samhain."
Severus nodded his agreement.
HP
While Harry, his parents and his little siblings spent the second half of the summer holidays in their home at Inis Rún, Marvolo relatively inefficiently tried to find his Horcruxes and Albus Dumbledore did his best and finally efficiently managed to retrieve information from Horace Slughorn.
On his birthday, Harry received a letter from the headmaster.
'Dear Harry,
I wish you a very happy fifteenth birthday. Just two more years, and you will be an adult in the magical world.
In the meantime, I have received the information we discussed during our last lesson before the holidays. There are several objects, which we need to retrieve, and I would like to ask you to accompany me to several spots, where I believe them to be hidden. Will you perhaps be able to return to Hogwarts earlier this summer, so that we could visit a few sites during these holidays?
Best regards
Albus Dumbledore,
Headmaster of Hogwarts'
'He found out about the Horcruxes,' Harry realised, 'and wants me to help him find and destroy them? Fat chance.' Feeling quite upset at the old headmaster for sending him such a letter for his birthday, he showed it to his parents.
"Mum, Dad, would it be very impolite if I simply told him 'No'? These things are Marvolo's, and I know that he intends to take care of them himself."
"No Harry." Severus shook his head in apparent annoyance. "It wouldn't be impolite. It would be the right thing to do. I do not wish for my son to be involved in that kind of things."
"Exactly." Regina's voice was firm.
"All right." Smiling at his parents, who had reacted as he had expected it, Harry summed parchment and a quill from the shelf and set to compose a response, knowing that he only had about thirty minutes, before his friends were going to arrive for his birthday party.
'Professor Dumbledore,
I am sorry, but I have plans for the remaining weeks of the holidays, and my parents have told me that they do not wish for me to participate in the hunt for dangerous items.
Best regards
Harry Prince,
Owner of Hogwarts'
HP
It was a few days later that Marvolo suddenly contacted Harry, sounding very upset.
'Harry, have you told anyone about the Horcruxes?'
'No, of course not, but I think Dumbledore has spoken to Slughorn and has found out himself. He even asked me to go searching for the objects together, which I declined of course.'
'Oh no. He probably already found one. I was too late.'
HP
Marvolo remained pensive for a while. 'The old coot,' he thought in annoyance. 'I really have to get a grip of myself and collect the items. I wonder which one he found. He probably either began with the easiest or the most difficult.' He pondered the matter for a while, before he decided, 'The easiest should be the one in the old Gaunt house, considering that I've already saved the one at Hogwarts.'
After a quick dinner, he apparated right in front of the Gaunt house, only to realise that his assumption had been correct. His safety mechanisms were destroyed, and the ring was gone.
As dire as the situation was, Marvolo could not help inwardly grinning. 'I hope he won't be able to resist putting the ring on. If he does, the curse is going to kill him within a few months.'
He decided to go for the most difficult then and apparated to a small cave, which he had frequented in his youth. Unbeknownst to anyone but himself and the few children who had played with him in the cave, there was a small room under the cave, which was easily accessible by apparition, as he had spared it from the anti-apparition wards, which he had cast all around the place.
He carefully moved the stone which hid the entrance to the lower cave and climbed out of the small place, now standing in front of the cave that held his Horcrux.
'It doesn't seem as if anyone has been here,' he realised in relief. Pulling a small snake treat out of his robe pocket, he transfigured it into a muggle drill and another into a bucket. He then placed the bucket into the lower cave, before he magically extended the drill, so that he did not have to reach into the poisoned liuid but could comfortably set the drill to make a small hole into the stone between the upper cave and the lower cave, so that the poison would flow right into the bucket.
Once the liquid was drained, he reached into the cave and pulled out the locket. Making a copy of the locket, he placed a small parchment inside. 'Sorry, Dumbledore, I was faster'. Contentedly pocketing the original item, he quickly mended the hole and after placing the fake item onto the ground once again flooded the upper cave by emptying the bucket.
He returned to the lower cave, replaced the stone into its original position to hide the entrance and popped home, somehow feeling accomplished. Only when he closely examined the locket did he realise that apparently Regulus Black had tampered with it.
"Draht."
The elf popped up instantly.
"Do you know Kreacher?"
"Yes, Marvolo. Kreacher is one of my old friends."
"Can you please ask him if he has seen a similar locket among Regulus Black's possessions? If he knows where it is, please ask him to exchange it with this one."
"Yes sir."
It took a while, before Draht returned, looking smug. "I had to convince him, but in the end, he exchanged it for me," he explained, handing the Horcrux to him.
Marvolo felt immediately that it was the real Horcrux. "Thank you, Draht. I owe you. If there is anything I can do for you, please tell me."
Draht seemed hesitant, as he stood in front of Marvolo, wringing his hands. "Draht wishes to marry Dolly if that's all right for Marvolo, sir."
Marvolo looked up in surprise and at the same time amusement. "Of course, Draht. That's a good thing, even if you do not have to ask for my permission, as you're both free elves."
HP
A week before the beginning of the new school year, Severus returned to Hogwarts, while Regina and their three children still remained on Inis Rún.
He inwardly groaned in annoyance, when Minerva informed him that there was going to be a staff meeting of the headmaster and the four heads of the houses.
'Thank Merlin the twins have already brewed Poppy's stock,' he thought in relief, as he made his way to the headmaster's office. 'Too bad that they're going to finish Hogwarts at the end of the school year. They did a brilliant job all these years, a luxury, which I'm not going to have in the future. The only other student, who is able to brew on their level is Harry, and he has already too much on his plate.'
Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. 'If the twins really open an apothecary on Inis Rún, perhaps we could make a contract with them as our potions' suppliers. I could still brew some potions, especially those, which are needed urgently.' He filed the idea for later on, resolving to discuss the thought with Harry upon his return to Hogwarts.
To his relief, the headmaster seemed to realise that they all still had preparations for the beginning of the school year to do and kept the meeting short. Just when he was about to leave, however, Albus kept him back.
"Severus, my boy. I wish to ask you for a favour."
Severus sat down once again, quirking an eyebrow in silent question.
"Could you please explain to Harry how important it is that he works together with me? I don't know if he told you that Voldemort has made Horcruxes, and before we'll be able to get rid of him, we need to destroy each of these items."
"Horcruxes?" Severus feigned ignorance in spite of the fact that Harry had explained to him and Regina what Marvolo had told him and that both wizards apparently had the intention of collecting the items, even if for different reasons.
When Albus explained the matter in short, he noticed by chance that the old wizard was nursing a completely blackened hand.
"Albus, what happened? What did you do to your hand?" he enquired in surprise.
The old wizard let out a deep sigh. "Ah, my boy, I went to hunt down the first of the objects. While I managed to turn several curses inactive on my way to retrieve the object, Tom must have set a curse directly on the object itself, which I did not find out, before it was too late."
Severus inspected the arm in concern. 'This doesn't look well,' he realised.
"Do you perhaps have some potion that you could brew for me?"
Severus sighed. "I suppose that the curse will spread all over your arm. I will do some research to possibly find a potion, which can at least prolong the process, but don't get your hope up."
"Thank you, my boy. That's all I can ask for."
'Perhaps, Harry will be able to heal him,' Severus thought, but refrained from suggesting such a thing to the headmaster before asking his son in advance.
HP
Once he returned to his family quarters, he floo called Marvolo and was invited to come over.
"I was just in a meeting with the headmaster," he informed the other wizard.
"Ah." Marvolo perked up with apparent interest. "I suspect that it was him who took my ancestors' ring from the old Gaunt house."
Severus nodded, grimly.
Marvolo nodded in apparent understanding. "I see. Is he affected by the curse?"
"Yes sir. His hand is completely black and at least parts of his arm, that is as far I could see from under his sleeve."
"Without a counter, he'll be dead before the end of the school year. Please inform him that I offer to cast the counter spell at him. We should do this as soon as possible though."
"Thank you, sir." Severus lightly inclined his head. While Albus was an annoying, meddling old coot, he did not deserve dying from such a curse. "I shall inform him."
Marvolo nodded. "I can travel to Hogwarts on a short notice."
HP
Severus inwardly groaned when he made his way to the headmaster's office for the second time that day. The thought 'Am I an owl?' crossed his mind, as he impatiently told the gargoyle the password.
"Severus, my boy," Albus greeted him in apparent surprise.
"Headmaster." Severus lightly inclined his head. "By chance, I had the opportunity to speak with Lord Gaunt. He already suspected that you succumbed to his curse, and he offers to cast the counter spell at your earliest convenience."
Albus leaned forward in his seat, looking at him with apparent curiosity. "Is that so, my boy?"
"Yes, sir."
"Unfortunately, I don't trust Voldemort at all, and I will not allow him to cast any spell at me."
"I understand. Good night then, sir." With that, Severus took his leave, shaking his head in annoyance at the headmaster's stubbornness.
