Chapter 26
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 23rd December 2011
It was two days before Christmas. Snow covered, the hilltops and mountains surrounding the castle, The wind was blustery and wild, cutting into the skin. "So damn cold…" Dean complained as he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "This castle is drafty."
"You 're telling me you 're not used to it yet?" Sam asked.
"Shut up Sam…" Dean grumbled, shivering. Sam laughed a little.
Both brothers were relieved. Things had calmed down, it seemed. It had been a week since Ron 's poisoning. They noticed the redhead nursing an equally red mark on his cheek that loosely resembled a handprint that morning. Obviously, the breakup hadn't gone down well. Dean wondered if he would need a little pep talk, but his fears were easily dismissed when he saw Harry and Hermione talking to him. Hermione seemed much more attentive to him. Their relationship apparently mended.
"See? My meddling helped," Dean smirked.
"Yeah yeah," Sam rolled his eyes. "Are you going to add matchmaker to your list of hunting skills?"
"Hilarious," Dean retorted.
"I wish Bobby could be here to see this." Sam mused.
"Yeah, he 'd love it. He'd complain about the cold too."
Sam rolled his eyes and shoved Dean 's shoulder, planning to hit him in the face with a snowball later. He smirked to himself.
"I am ready for some more Firewhiskey. I swear that warmth stays with you all the way back to the castle."
"I wonder if wizards have AA?" Sam mused. "No, there's probably a magic spell that cures a hangover."
"You should learn that one," Sam grinned.
They were walking out of the castle toward Hogsmeade and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione at the clock tower.
"Hey," Dean greeted.
"Hi sirs," Hermione smiled back.
"How are you guys doing?" Sam asked.
"Fine," Hermione replied.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Harry suggested. "It'll be warm."
"Sure," Sam and Dean shrugged.
"Might be able to pick up a few witches, eh Sammy?" Dean grinned, nudging his brother who was rolling his eyes.
The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying toward their destinations. There was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the winter weather. There were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin. As Dean, Harry, Sam, and Hermione drew closer, the tall man drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms. Harry suddenly spoke.
"Mundungus!" Sam and Dean shared a look. Obviously, Harry knew him. The man jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open.
"Oh, 'ello, 'Arry," said Mundungus. "Well, don't let me keep ya. Gimme that!" he snapped at Dean, who was holding a silver cup. The Black family crest was embossed proudly on the silver.
"Thank you!" said Mundungus, snatching the goblet out of Dean's hand and stuffing it back into the case. "Well, I'll see you all — OUCH!" Harry, to the other 's shock, pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. He pulled out his wand.
"Harry!" Sam protested. "Stop!" He didn't know where the line was between student and teacher in this instance. They 'd never seen him act like this. "You took that from Sirius's house didn't you," said Harry dangerously, his anger barely in check.
"I-no-what…?" spluttered Mundungus, who was slowly turning purple.
"What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?" snarled Harry. "Give it to me!" Harry snatched the cup from his hand angrily. "You had no right to take this! You 're worse than a damn Niffler!"
There was a sudden bang, and Mundungus was gone.
"Shit!" Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot. "COME BACK, YOU THIEVING-!" he yelled.
"There's no point, Harry," Dean said. "He'll be gone by now."
"He's nicked Sirius's stuff! Nicked it!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "How dare he…."
"Harry…" Hermione touched his shoulder gently.
Harry knelt down and looked at the array of objects Mundungus left behind after his escape. Ron helped him collect the items.
"Hang on." Harry grabbed Ron 's arm as he held up a long chain to inspect it. He took it from him. There was a heavy, gold oval-shaped locket that hung from it. There was an 'S' in green stones on the front. Harry 's eyes widened, recognizing it at once. Slytherin 's locket. His blood went cold.
"I have to go," said Harry suddenly. He bolted in the other direction.
"Harry?!" Hermione and Ron called after him.
"Watch it!" A gruff-voiced man exclaimed as Harry pushed past him.
Ron looked at Hermione. "Should we go after him? He seemed kind of upset."
"Maybe we should give him a minute," Sam frowned.
"Yeah… he's probably just upset over that guy," Dean was frowning too, knowing it probably wasn't the case. Ron nodded. "Suppose not…"
"Let 's get inside, It's getting too cold out here," Sam instructed. Ron and Hermione nodded.
Ron assured Hermione that if it was important Harry would fill them in later.
They walked in silence into the Three Broomsticks. The group didn't plan on sitting together, but with the combination of the cold winter winds and the warm food, the small dining room was packed. They found a booth and sat down. Hermione came back to them with four Butterbeers.
"Sorry, it took so long…" She set the mugs down and they each took one. "Madam Rosmerta is swamped."
Dean looked for the witch among the melee. Spotting her bustling around three tables. "She needs to hire some help around here. You know I 've always wanted a bar?"
"No Dean…." Sam frowned. "You only mentioned it a thousand times."
"How cool would it be though Sammy?!" Dean grinned. "And a magical bar at that."
"Awesome…" Sam replied sarcastically.
Hermione and Ron smiled at the brothers.
"Anyway," Dean waved his fork between the two students as he chewed. "You two seemed to have made up."
Ron choked on his Butterbeer, and Hermione turned pink.
"Subtle Dean…" Sam rolled his eyes as he took a sip.
"I believe in getting to the point," Dean shrugged.
"Ronald and I have reconciled our differences," Hermione sniffed.
"Sorry about my brother," Sam apologized, glaring at Dean. "He doesn't think before he talks."
"And my brother is always a smart ass."
"Dean, be professional, will you?"
"I believe the word you 're looking for is smartarse…." Ron smirked. "Bloody hell, you two bicker more than Percy did with Fred and George."
"Typical brother stuff." Dean shrugged. He caught the little frown Ron gave when he mentioned the name 'Percy'. "How is your family, Ron?"
"Mum is a bit mental at the minute." Ron made a face. "Charlie has come in from Romania to visit for a couple of days. He went back in September. Now he's back for Christmas. She 'll have plenty to obsess over. She might try to get him to assign us a dragon bodyguard."
"Let me guess, he's the favourite?" Sam smiled a little.
"I 'd say it's a tie between him and Percy." Hermione smiled.
"Dragon bodyguards? Sounds awesome!" Dean grinned.
"Mum wants us to go home for Christmas. I think she still wants to pull us out of school. We 're staying here for Christmas. If we go home, I think she might not let us back," he frowned. "She still treats us like kids."
Dean and Sam 's replies were cut off by distant shouting. They joined the others in going outside. They recognized the voices of Katie Bell and her friend; they were becoming shriller and louder as they got closer to the huddle of students. The two girls were arguing about something Katie was holding in her hand.
"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" they heard Katie say. Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding, but Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground.
At once, Katie rose into the air, almost gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed, and her face was quite empty of expression. Sam, Dean, Ron, and Hermione froze.
Katie let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open, displaying terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed. Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground.
"Move!" Dean shoved past the concerned students, making way for Sam, Hermione, and Ron to come through. "Leanne!"
"Professor! I can 't- She-" Leanne was babbling incoherently tugging fiercely on Katie 's ankle.
They ran towards Katie and tried to pull her down. They managed to lower her, but she was still convulsing in obvious agony.
"Oh, bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.
"We have to get her to the castle," Sam said. Dean nodded and bent down, scooping her into his arms, and ran off toward the castle with her. They followed.
"Did it just happen all of a sudden, or…?" Sam asked Leanne as they saw Dean disappear.
"It was when that package tore," Leanne sobbed, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which was split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Sam bent down, his hand outstretched, but Hermione seized his arm and pulled him back. She pulled the scarf from around her neck and wrapped the necklace in it.
"We'll need to show this to someone," Hermione said and began walking.
"Give it to me, Hermione," Sam said. She gave Sam the scarf gently. They reached the castle within a couple of minutes. Minerva was hurrying down the stone steps through swirling sleet to meet them.
"Dean says you four saw what happened to Katie Bell. Upstairs to my office at once, please! What's that you're holding, Sam?"
"It's the thing she touched," Sam replied.
"Oh Merlin," said Minerva, looking alarmed as she took the necklace from Sam.
Sam and the others followed Minerva upstairs and into her office.
"Well?" she said sharply. "What happened?"
Leanne, after calming slightly, began to explain what happened to Katie. When she finished, Minerva looked sympathetic.
"You 're sure Katie did not have this in her possession when she entered the Three Broomsticks?" Minerva asked Leanne.
"It's- it's like I said." She sniffled. "She left to go to the loo, and when she came back, she had the package." She took a pause. "She said it was important that she deliver it."
"Did she say to whom?" the Professor inquired.
"To Professor Dumbledore." Dean, Hermione, Ron and Sam all shared a silent look before turning their attention back to Leanne.
"All right," She said kindly. "Go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock." When she left the room, Minerva turned back to the others.
"What happened when Katie touched the necklace?"
"She rose up in the air," Dean explained. "And then began to scream and collapsed."
"She will need to go to St Mungo's," Minerva. "The sooner, the better." She sighed.
"Are you sure you didn't see anything out of the ordinary before Katie was possessed?"
"No Professor," Ron replied.
She sat back down and rubbed her temples.
"Professor Winchester, would you mind taking this down to Professor Snape?" Minerva motioned towards the still bundled up necklace.
"Sure thing Professor," Sam smirked. "You know my brother and I deal with cursed objects all the time. We could take a look at it if you want."
"I am well aware of that but for all intent and purpose; I think Professor Snape would want to examine it."
Sam picked up the necklace and walked down to Snape 's office.
Minerva looked at Ron and Hermione. "I suggest the two of you go back to your dormitories."
⸸
Harry was panting as he broke into a sprint toward the castle. He was barely aware of bumping into several people on his way. How could he miss this? All this time, Slytherin 's locket, suspected Horcrux, lay in the Black family home. Out of all the knick-knacks scattered in the Black house. The one thing that Dumbledore had been searching for was right under their nose.
What seemed like a lifetime ago, where in reality was only a little over a year ago, Mrs Weasley tasked everyone in the decontamination of the house. It involved the ridding of several questionable items from the home, along with various types of vermin. Among them was the locket. When no one could open it, it was discarded. How had Mundungus found it? Kreacher, Harry realized as he ran. The loyal house-elf stole back various objects. He remembered Sirius 's harsh words as he pulled a piece of jewellery from Kreacher 's hiding spot and threw it away.
"Damn house-elf…" he muttered under his breath. Harry was amazed. How had he not recognized it when they viewed the memories? He should have put the pieces together. So now there was a Horcrux in his hand. A part of him wanted to bury it somewhere, disgusted by what it contained. A twisted, mangled piece of Voldemort 's soul.
By the time he reached the gargoyle, he was panting. "Lemon… drop," he gasped before sprinting up the stairs. He knocked insistently on the door.
"Come in," said a calm voice on the other side. Harry pulled the door open and bolted inside.
"Harry?"
"Sir… locket… Mundungus…" he gasped.
"Slow down Harry." Dumbledore guided the young man into a chair. Harry dug in his pockets and pulled out the locket. "Is that?"
Harry nodded, breathless.
"How did you find this Harry?" Dumbledore asked, rising to his feet.
"We were in Hogsmeade," Harry told him, starting to get his breath back as he put the locket down. "Mundungus had Sirius 's stuff. He was flogging it. I was angry, and I took the bag from him. That's when I saw the locket. When we were cleaning Grimmauld Place last year, we found it. No one could open it, so we threw it out. We figured it was rubbish."
Dumbledore nodded. "And you're sure this is the locket?"
"I mean, I think so," Harry replied. "It looks like the one in the memories."
"Thank you, Harry." Dumbledore smiled. "This is fantastic. We must be careful, don 't touch it more than necessary."
"Why Professor?" Harry frowned.
"Horcruxes can have some nasty enchantments," Dumbledore said and raised his blackened hand. Harry 's eyes widened.
"Is that because of a Horcrux?"
"Yes, my hand was cursed when destroying Marvolo Gaunt 's ring," Dumbledore explained gravely.
"It is best to destroy them as soon as possible."
"Are you alright sir?" Harry asked.
"I am fine. That's not what is important now," Dumbledore said as he walked to a nearby cabinet. "What is important is that we must destroy it."
"How?"
"Using the Sword of Gryffindor," Dumbledore explained. "I came to realize recently, that in your second year when you stabbed the Basilisk, you impregnated the blade with the venom. This Sword was goblin made. Objects like this only take in that which makes it stronger. I realized basilisk venom could destroy a Horcrux when you stabbed Tom Riddle 's diary with the Basilisk Fang. Putting everything together, I realized that the Sword could now destroy Horcruxes."
Harry sat in shocked silence. Dumbledore brought the Sword to his desk and held it.
"Harry, I need you to open the locket," he instructed, "and to do as I say, exactly. I believe the locket must be opened using Parseltongue. It was spoken in the Slytherin family for generations."
Harry sat up, looking down at the small locket.
"On three, one, two, three."
"Open," said Harry in Parseltongue. Nothing happened at first, then with a hiss, the locket started to open.
"I have seen your heart, and it is mine," a familiar, high, cold voice echoed from the depths of the gold locket. Two faint figures appeared. The image of a girl flickered to life, no older than fourteen or fifteen. Blonde hair tumbled down past her shoulders, framing a kind face. The other figure was male, in his late teens. Blonde hair also, with blue eyes and a thin white moustache. The image swiftly faded as a crash sounded in the room along with a scream. The locket lay shattered on the table.
"Are you alright Professor?"
"Yes, perfectly fine," Dumbledore assured. "You did quite well, Harry. Well done."
A knock on the door interrupted them. Harry looked to the door to see Dean come in.
"Hey Professor, you better come down here..."
⸸
The sight of the wind swirling among the trees, blowing dead leaves from their branches, dull though the sight was, the wind made no sound as if nothing were in the trees in the endless forest. Although in Purgatory, there were nothing but monsters that hid in the shadows. Purgatory was separate from both Heaven and Hell. It was once described as the backside of nightmares. All blood and bone and darkness, filled with the bodies and souls of all things hungry, sharp, and nasty. It was originally created by God to contain the oldest of creatures, Leviathans. Long story short, it was not a good place to have a vacation home. The sky was grey, cloudy casting a sense of foreboding in the air. All of a sudden, the silence was broken by a feral growling sound. A large, human-shaped figure leapt from behind a tree, aiming for its prey, two humans.
One man was in his fifties, 6"1 in height with hard features, dark stubble, and brown, almost black hair, brown eyes and muscular build. The man beside him was a few inches shorter, at 5"9 with long black hair to his shoulders, grey eyes, an average build and looked to be in his mid-thirties. The older man pulled out a curved blade and with swiftness, sliced the vampire's head off with a smooth cut. The headless body fell to the ground.
"Damn son of a bitch," he scowled as he wiped the blood off his blade.
The men exchanged glances. Both ended up in Purgatory for different, yet also similar reasons. They both died to save someone they loved. The older man was there for years after his spirit faded, and now he was constantly fighting, but it wasn't any different to his life on Earth. He had been constantly fighting, as had the younger, who was only there around six months after going down in a fight.
The younger man had only been there a few hours when the elder saved him from a creature that he discovered was a Leviathan. He couldn't kill it but was able to slow it down. He fought those things before, and whatever he did, he couldn't succeed in killing them. The men discovered things about each other, and they began to trust one another, unusual for both men.
They knew they had to get out. They heard rumours of a portal between Purgatory and discovered it was real after getting it out of some creatures. The two men were able to pinpoint it, and here they stood, staring at a blue vortex that swirled as they approached.
"Here goes nothing," the elder man muttered. The younger man smiled.
"See you on the other side," he replied, and they both began to approach the vortex. As they drew closer, it seemed to be sucking them into it, and both men disappeared into it and the vortex was suddenly gone with them.
The men both landed in a small alley.
"Where are we?" the younger man asked.
"I have no idea," the eldest said. "There's a place over there with newspapers outside," he said.
"Brilliant!" They both sprinted towards the building, which they identified as a small shop.
The younger man grabbed a sodden newspaper and looked.
"Great, the Daily Prophet," he read. "23rd of December 2011."
"Five years," the older man breathed. "Damn."
"We're in Diagon Alley, in London," the younger man said suddenly. "I didn't recognize it."
True, the alley looked extremely different from the last time he had seen it. They looked at the paper again.
"Wait! What the hell?!" the older man said, grabbing the paper.
The younger man looked at the paper. "Muggle professors strike again: are our children safe?"
"Sources have found that the Muggle professors, Samuel and Dean Winchester have been teaching their students vile creatures that no child should see," the older one read, and his jaw dropped. He looked at the picture that went with the article.
"We have to get to Hogwarts," the younger man said.
"Yes, we do," the older man replied with determination.
John Winchester threw the paper to the ground as he and Sirius Black left to find their families with a loud crack.
