AN: As always, many thanks to my great beta reader Verlor (id: 1113787)!


Chapter 37 - The Birds and the Potions Master

Furiously, Harry rose from the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office, his blood boiling, his ears rustling, and only Dumbledore's voice prevented him from rushing into the dungeons to rend Horace Slughorn's entrails out.

"Harry, calm down," Dumbledore urged him. "Professor Slughorn –"

"Is a bloody coward!" yelled Harry. "He's known for years that ... that Voldemort was interested in Horcruxes – and said nothing?!"

"Yes, Harry," interrupted Dumbledore, raising his hands soothingly, "I agree, we must persuade him to share the original memory with us. But rushing recklessly is not the right response, we have to act carefully."

"Why?!" Harry shouted angrily. What did he care about that bastard? Without his inaction, many lives could probably have been saved, including those of his parents...

"Horace is my friend," Dumbledore said, almost pleadingly. "He did not manipulate the memory out of bad faith, but because he was ashamed of what he did. But I'm sure that with enough time I can convince him to give me the unaltered memory. Please don't rush anything, Harry. Please."

Stunned, Harry returned Dumbledore's gaze. Was he really protecting that cowardly bastard?

He then forced himself to take a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat. Relief spread across Dumbledore's face, but if he only knew ... Slughorn might be his friend, but certainly not Harry's. He didn't owe him anything! No, he wasn't going to rush anything, he would make a plan with Daphne and then they would act. Daphne's eyesight and their happiness depended on Slughorn's disclosure of this information, and Harry was not going to stand by while Dumbledore appealed to Slughorn's good conscience. Already a plan was forming in his head…

Reluctantly, Harry nodded to Dumbledore. "You said you wanted to show me another memory?" he asked coldly.

"Yes, Harry," replied Dumbledore. "The memory comes from me, the last time Tom Riddle was in this office..."

Once again, they went to the Pensieve together.

When Harry got up a few minutes later, he was deep in thought. At first glance that memory had not contained any references to the Horcruxes, but...

"Professor," he turned to Dumbledore. "What do you think he wanted to achieve with his visit?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" said Dumbledore. "For my part, I do not think for a second that Voldemort wanted to teach. So what then made him come here? I have two theories and I look forward to your opinion. The first is that he wanted to come to Hogwarts to find items from the Founders and turn them into Horcruxes. That would fit his pride and belief in his superiority. My second theory is that he wanted to hide an already created Horcrux here, where he had been happy for the first time. You may have noticed, Harry, that Voldemort with the Gaunt shack and the cave has already chosen places that had an important meaning in his life. And Gringotts is one of the greatest symbols of magical power and grandeur. Hogwarts fits even more so as it is both."

"You think Voldemort might have hidden a Horcrux at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I do, Harry. He would not hide it in some broom closet. No doubt he would choose a more sublime place, a place that might even have personal meaning for him. I have already checked the Great Hall and the Slytherin Dungeon but could not find anything. Hence the question for you, Harry: Did you notice anything else in the Chamber of Secrets, any object that could be a Horcrux or any hiding place for one?"

Thoughtfully, Harry shook his head. "No, I didn't notice anything… just the statue under which the passage to Valeydis and Valeydor was. But ... I don't think Voldemort hid a Horcrux there ... the diary already had a connection to the chamber. And he also wouldn't have had the time to get to the chamber during his visit…" Suddenly Harry's eyes widened as he remembered another secret, deeply magical place that nobody but the house-elves seemed to know – and Voldemort had never considered house-elves important, as Kreacher had shown…

"What?" Dumbledore asked hopefully. "What are you thinking?"

A smile fell on Harry's lips. If he was correct, they would be destroying another Horcrux very soon. Thankfully he had his Invisibility Cloak with him; without it he'd rather not stroll through the hallways of Hogwarts when the entire wizarding world was looking for him.

"Professor," he said, "I think we have to go for a little walk..."


It was already the middle of the night when Daphne was lying on the bed in their bedroom in Grimmauld Place, deep in thought. Harry had not yet returned from his meeting with Dumbledore, which had been going on for much longer than usual. And she had felt a multitude of violent emotions in him: anger, hatred, hope and, ultimately, triumph. Only the fact that she had sensed he was in no danger had prevented her from calling Dobby and go to Hogwarts immediately.

Thus, she was all the more relieved when suddenly there was a loud bang in the room, and she could feel Harry's presence again. However, before she could express her joy, even if it was only with a loving "welcome back", Harry pounced on her, his lips hungrily searching for hers. Daphne loved it when he kissed her so passionately, as well as the feeling of his arousal pressing against her. She was pleased that she had such an effect on her husband. Surely there were much more beautiful women than her in the world, but that didn't matter in Harry's presence. When she was with him, she could forget all her self-doubts and fears.

When she hugged Harry's naked body more than an hour later, both of them covered in sweat, she let out a pleased sigh. She would have loved to see him at that moment, his smile as he stroked her hair, but even so it was beautiful.

"What did I do to I deserve such a passionate greeting, my husband?" sheasked with a grin.

"Sorry, love," said Harry. "It was just ... too many pent-up emotions today that needed to get out, I guess..."

"No need to apologize. I enjoyed it very much." She snuggled even closer to him, pressing her breasts against his upper body. "But I could feel your emotions from here. What happened at Hogwarts?"

Instead of answering, Harry shared his memories with her. In an instant, Daphne knew everything he had seen tonight; Slughorn's secret, Voldemort's visit to Dumbledore, Harry's conjecture – and finally the destruction of the diadem in the Room of Requirement. Had Voldemort considered that one could just ask the room to create the location of the Horcrux to find it? In his arrogance he probably thought he was the only one who had ever found this wondrous place...

"You already have a plan about Slughorn?" she finally asked, agreeing with her partner. Slughorn was a bloody coward and not worth feeling sorry for, let alone shedding a tear. He had decided to keep that knowledge a secret for so long, and now they were going to take it as it might be the key to their victory.

Harry nodded. "Yes ... tell me again, how good are your Human Transfiguration skills?"

"Better than yours. Why?"

"Oh, that's all part of my plan. I've always wanted to know what you'd look like with black hair…"


"So how do I look?" Daphne asked with a mischievous smile as Harry stepped out of the bathroom. Her normally honey-blonde hair had turned as black as a raven's wing, while her skin took on a tanned complexion as if she had enjoyed a long vacation in sunnier climes. In addition, she was dressed in a red silk robe with long sleeves and thin gloves, her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Hot," Harry said the first coming to his mind, making Daphne laugh.

"Be careful that I don't get jealous of myself," she teased him. "Now let's look at you."

Taking her hand, Harry stood with her by his side in front of the mirror so she could examine him. Like Daphne, he had changed the color of his hair, except that his hair had turned blonde; along with blue eyes, a beard, and inconspicuous clothes, and he had also replaced his glasses with contact lenses. They still had to be careful, but he was confident that they would not be recognized in Hogsmeade –who would expect two of Britain's most wanted criminals to just wander the streets? They also looked significantly older after their transformations.

"Well, I think you look boring – very good," said Daphne, satisfied. "Just let me give your scar the finishing touches." With that she pointed her wand at his forehead, and with a brief tingling sensation his scar, which had already faded significantly since his "death" in Stonehenge, disappeared completely. "Now you look perfect, at least for our mission."

With that, the couple left their bedroom and went down to the entrance hall, before finally stepping out into a sunny afternoon. Only a few pigeons kept the bright sun in the blue sky company while Harry closed his eyes to concentrate on their destination. The next moment they appeared at the public Apparation place in Hogsmeade, crowds of people already around them. There was a dreadful crush, loud voices, laughter and brightly colored figures pointing to shop windows.

Daphne linked arms with Harry as they made their way through the crowds. In addition to the Hogwarts students – they had deliberately chosen a Hogsmeade weekend – there were many other wizards and witches present, doing important errands or just spending a nice Saturday afternoon outside. They also saw the conspicuous figures of watchful Aurors patrolling the street, and certainly some were undercover as well, so they behaved as inconspicuously as possible. Again and again they stopped at shop windows, admiring the displays or laughing as if they were having a lot of fun, as if they were just a normal couple with no sinister intentions. Wistfully, Harry wished that were the case, as in Alexandria when they had strolled through Grimalkin Lane for a whole day as tourists.

Since Hosgmeade was much smaller than Alexandria, they were confident that they would eventually see their target; at some point he had to walk down the main street to get to the carriages returning to Hogwarts. And with his massive stature, it was extremely unlikely that they would miss him.

Still, they had to wait almost two hours before they finally saw the figure of Horace Slughorn step out of the Three Broomsticks, surrounded by a crowd of students, to whom he now said goodbye with a flushed face, his fat belly and mustache shaking with every laugh he made.

Harry felt a searing rage rise up in him again. How dare the bastard be so carefree when he had so much blood on his hands?

"Easy, love," Daphne soothed, tenderly squeezing his hand. "Remember, we're not here for revenge."

"He would deserve it, but ... you're right. Let's focus on our mission."

Harry forced himself to put on a friendly smile as they both walked towards the slightly staggering man. "Professor Slughorn!" they called out loud. "Professor Slughorn, please wait!"

Slughorn turned around, his face marked by no surprise as if he were used to being approached on the street. The surprise only came when Harry and Daphne each grabbed one of his arms.

"There you are at last," said Daphne in a sweet, high-pitched voice. "We've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been for so long?"

"Um, please excuse me," Slughorn stammered, "but – do I know you?"

"But Professor," said Harry with mock dismay. "What are you saying? You've agreed to meet us weeks ago, or have you forgotten? My uncle has already warned us that you could be a bit forgetful at times…"

While Harry was distracting the teacher, Daphne had discreetly drawn out her wand, most of which was hidden by her long sleeve. Slowly, so as not to attract attention, she pointed the tip to Slughorn's back.

"Your uncle?" asked Slughorn, puzzled. "Who is –"

He could not finish his question, for suddenly his body went limp in their arms. Harry looked at Daphne, whose wand had already disappeared back into her sleeve. She gave him a quick nod, and together they Disapparated.


Tonks hated guard duty. She hated, hated, hated it! To see all the students having great fun while she stood around bored. As if You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters would suddenly show up – there hadn't been any open fighting for months. The Death Eaters were still busy recruiting followers and gaining strength before daring to attack; at least that was what Dumbledore believed. And she had no reason not to believe Dumbledore, even if she did not approve of him holding his protective hand over the Potters. The two were murderers and, in her opinion, should be punished for it, but of course once again no one was interested in her opinion...

Trying not to show her annoyance too clearly, Tonks nodded to Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick who were passing her, McGonagall smiling at her before disappearing into the crowd again. Tonks had always liked the Transfiguration teacher – generally, Transfiguration had been her favorite class, which of course had absolutely nothing to do with her Metamorphmagus skills!

Bored, Tonks watched the crowd on the main street, the first students already on their way back to the castle. How much she'd like to join them, she thought wistfully, her mouth watering at the thought of the delicious food in the Great Hall. In her little one-room apartment in Diagon Alley only burnt toast and ketchup awaited her. Maybe she should learn to cook one day – or visit her parents. No one made as good of a beef casserole as her mother...

In passing, Tonks noticed how a large group of students stepped out of the Three Broomsticks, following Professor Slughorn, who was a striking figure with his big belly and thick mustache. She had never had him in class – that had been before her time – but she knew he enjoyed gathering promising students, either because they had famous relatives or because of their special achievements.

But apparently even he had had enough of his protégés for the time being because shortly afterwards the group broke up and Slughorn made his way out of Hogsmeade alone. Tonks was about to turn away and walk another round when suddenly two figures she had noticed before approached the teacher. Although … she had especially noticed the appearance of the young woman. Her clothes indicated she was a pureblood witch, brought up according to centuries-old traditions, but she also wore sunglasses that Tonks had only seen on Muggleborns before. All this was not suspicious in itself, but Tonks was interested in what the couple wanted from Slughorn – they certainly weren't students. Slowly she approached the scene.

Slughorn did not seem to know the two of them either if she correctly interpreted his expression when the two linked their arms with him. Tonks was just considering addressing the three when her trained Auror eyes suddenly noticed a suspicious movement. The young woman slowly raised her arm – and the tip of a wand peeked out of her sleeve!

Reflexively, Tonks pulled out her wand as well. She was about to shout something when Slughorn's body suddenly went limp and the three of them immediately Disapparated, just a split second before Tonk's stunner cut the air where they had just been standing, instead hitting a Hufflepuff student in the chest.

She had been too slow.


With a loud bang, Harry and Daphne appeared on the steps in front of 12 Grimmauld Place, holding the limp body of Horace Slughorn between them. Immediately they tore open the front door, pulling Slughorn inside, knowing that their action would not have gone unnoticed and that they shouldn't hesitate for a second.

Without care, the two tossed Slughorn on the floor, from where he stared at them with a frightened expression, a pleading flicker in his eyes. If he could move, he would surely be begging now, Harry thought disgusted, pleading for mercy, appealing to their conscience. He might even give them his memory under threat of violence, but they would not risk him showing them another manipulated memory. No, they had to be sure that it would be nothing but the truth, the whole, unadulterated truth – especially since they would not have to pay the price for it.

Without hesitation, Harry pulled out his wand, pointing it directly at Slughorn's sweaty forehead. With Daphne's hand in his and the familiar pull of magic on their connected souls, Harry then opened his mouth, from which both melodious and bloodcurdling hissing sounds came out. The magic flowed through Harry's body, warm and seductive, but after Valeydis' teachings they had learned to better withstand its temptation, to control their urges rather than being controlled by them. Like a surgeon using a scalpel for a complicated operation, Harry directed the silver beam of light that had burst from his wand towards Slughorn's forehead. As soon as the beam of light hit his skin, Slughorn began to shiver violently, his body longing to scream, but Daphne's spell prevented it.

Harry entered Slughorn's mind without mercy, seeing his memories fly by in his mind's eye, but the memory they were looking for was many decades in the past. During that time Slughorn had taught countless students, accepting and reciprocating favors, leading a carefree life. For a brief moment Harry even saw his mother's smiling face, but that memory too was washed away in the flow of time. Without that bastard she might still be alive ...

Swallowing his anger and hatred, he continued to dig until he finally stumbled upon the memory he was looking for, the pale face of Tom Riddle sitting across from Slughorn, his lips forming an innocent question. And finally they found out Slughorn's true answer...

With a triumphant laugh, Harry withdrew from Slughorn's mind into reality, where he was greeted by Daphne's beaming face, who had watched everything. Only Slughorn had not survived the procedure so well. His mustache had turned white, his skin even more wrinkled, his eyes cloudy. With a quick flick of his wand Harry lifted the spell that had tied him, but instead of attacking or at least speaking to them, Slughorn just curled up on the floor, drooling and shaking all over. Something told Harry that he probably wouldn't be teaching again...

"We did it!" Daphne cheered. "Now –"

Suddenly the front door was thrown open and Dumbledore rushed in, his face red with fury. In a split second, he seemed to have grasped the situation.

"What did you do?" he screamed, hurrying to Slughorn, who was still curled up on the floor. Behind him, the flaming figure of Fawkes flew in before settling on the hall stand to carefully look at them with his golden eyes.

"What does it look like?" Harry asked defiantly. They had expected their deed to not be welcomed by Dumbledore. "We got the memory he hid from us. We now know what he told Voldemort – and most of all, what else Voldemort wanted to know."

"Why?" Dumbledore yelled in a desperate voice, his arms around his old friend, who did not even notice his presence.

"Why?" asked Daphne in disbelief. "You seriously ask why? Maybe because we needed that coward's memory? We couldn't wait forever until someday, maybe, you persuaded him to share it with us. We must defeat Voldemort before he becomes too powerful."

"But… but," Dumbledore stammered, "was this necessary?"

"Yes," Harry said coldly. There was nothing more to say.

An uncomfortable silence fell across the hall as Harry and Daphne looked expectantly at Dumbledore, who in turn looked at the curled up Slughorn. And over it all watched the golden eyes of Fawkes.

Eventually, Dumbledore let out a long sigh, with which he seemed to also give up all his kindness for them. For when he got up from the ground again, the warm sparkle in his eyes, with which he had been looking at them since Christmas, had completely disappeared. "And what did you find out?" he asked in a cool voice.

Unimpressed, Harry returned his gaze. "Voldemort asked Slughorn if it was possible to create more than just one Horcrux," he said. "The really remarkable thing, however, is that he asked him for his assessment of a seven-part soul, since seven would be the most powerful magical number."

For a brief moment triumph flashed in Dumbledore's eyes before he looked at them again without emotion. "So six Horcruxes?" he asked.

"That's our interpretation as well," said Daphne, nodding. "That would mean that – since he hadn't intended a soul piece to cling to Harry – he created two more Horcruxes we still have to destroy. The cup in Gringotts and one we don't know yet."

Suddenly there was a loud croak from the hall stand. Fawkes had straightened up, croaking again and again, before he rose into the air and shortly after landed directly in front of Daphne. It was obvious that he, or rather Valeydis, wanted to say something.

"Now I'm curious," Dumbledore muttered softly as they watched Daphne take the black stone from the pouch around her neck.

Harry put his hand on her shoulder to aid her, and shortly afterwards the shimmering figure of Valeydis appeared before them, a slight smile on her face.

"Thank you, my little birds," she said. "Fawkes wanted to tell you something, but unfortunately he cannot speak." She then turned to Dumbledore. "Albus, don't be mad at them. They too act out of love, and the hope for a new tomorrow. As doers we are all villains, but as victims we can be brothers."

For a few seconds Valeydis and Dumbledore just looked at each other, before Dumbledore finally whispered," But they set standards to others that they don't meet themselves ..." He then shook his head, straightening his shoulders. "What was it that Fawkes wanted to tell us?" he asked.

"He wanted to tell you," replied Valeydis, "that you are wrong. If you are correct in your assumption that your dark lord created six Horcruxes, then only one is missing, the one in the goblin bank. Because ... Fawkes has already destroyed another. The snake he threw into Daphne's Fiendfyre at Stonehenge. It was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

Stunned, Harry stared at the demoness. "And why are you telling us this only now?" he asked angrily. "That would have been useful earlier!"

Valeydis shrugged. "Would it? Until today you wouldn't have known how many Horcruxes you still had to destroy. And you also never asked." She gave a small laugh. "But do you know what that also means? It means … you can give Voldemort the deathblow."

Harry's body jerked at her words. She was right! The only thing missing now was the cup! Once it was destroyed, Voldemort was mortal again!

"We have to destroy the cup," he shouted. "We have to get into Gringotts."

"No," Daphne replied slowly, her mind working hard as Harry could sense. "We ... we have to attack Gringotts."

Attack? What did she mean by that?

"I mean," Daphne explained, "that we shouldn't be subtle. Assuming we could quietly destroy the Horcrux, what then? We'd still have to find Voldemort to kill him, which could be ... dangerous. But if we attacked Gringotts with our full might, Voldemort would know too. Then he would surely realize what we were aiming for. We could lure him and take him out once and for all!"

"The deathblow," said Valeydis with an appreciative nod.

The thoughts raced in Harry's head. Daphne's idea was dangerous, they would stake everything on one card. Either they would win that day, or they would lose everything. It would all depend on how powerful they had become, whether they could defeat Voldemort in battle or not…

"We need help," he mused aloud. "We'll have to gather everyone we have. Us who are here, the rest of the Order, even the Aurors who will undoubtedly show up. Voldemort will bring his followers too. A battle is certain."

"And many will die," said Dumbledore, worried. "Even if we win, we would pay for our victory with a sea of blood. Shouldn't we rather –"

"No!" said Harry and Daphne at the same time.

Harry wanted to exchange a look with Daphne but only saw her sunglasses. Immediately, he felt the familiar stab in his heart again, but Daphne squeezed his hand lovingly, sending him a warm thought before speaking in a voice filled with hope, "It is our first and only chance to face Voldemort on our terms. For the first time, the initiative would come from us. For the first time, the fight would happen under our rules. This is our chance to end it! We will defeat him, I'm sure of that!"

"And I will finally be able to see you again," she added in her mind. "With my own eyes."

"For the first time you will be a player, not a pawn," said Valeydis. "And you've used the past few months well. If we had fought each other to the death, it would have been a truly close fight ... Fawkes will be with you through it all, be it victory or defeat."

Dumbledore sighed. "But even Fawkes can only get you to the steps of Gringotts. We need to plan very carefully how we want to proceed. Human lives depend on it…"

Harry and Daphne nodded resolutely to their old teacher. They would plan – and then they would fight. They did not know if they would survive the coming battle, but they could hope. And in that hope lay the fate of the world.


Next Chapter: A Journey Ends

Preview:

Suddenly Daphne broke away from their kiss, only to throw her arms around him again. "Hold me," she sobbed desperately. "Hold me, Harry. Hold me till the end."