4. Birthday
In October Jade didn't spend time to prepare anything for her birthday. She wasn't interested in the deaths of Rufus Scrimgeour or Master Gregorowitsch. Her publisher urged her to write about Harry Potter's appearance in London but Jade had something else that interested her more. It was the research of Harry Potter's parents. No one was allowed to enter their house and no one spoke about them other than their sacrifice. Jade couldn't stop thinking of her suspicion this couple must have secrets like every wizard had.
After she examined the Dursley house in Little Whining this thought only grew. It was too clean, too tidy for somebody who left in a hurry. Her suspicion got the interest of someone else and on her birthday it was Rita Seeker who knocked on her door and stepped in with a small piece of birthday cake. "Happy Birthday, Jade"
"Rita, is it?"
"Oh yes, Jade. I read your articles and I love them. You remind me of yourself and I couldn't stop thinking my new favorite girl needs a little help" Rita closed the door and put the cake and a present on Jade's desk. "It's one of my special feathers. It reads your mind and you don't have to bother writing anymore. It helps a lot"
Harry, Hermione and Ron had left Grimmauld place after they broke into Umbridge's office in London. Ron was injured and Hermione helped him with casting spells while Harry read some stolen files. Lists of missing wizards and paid catchers had been on Umbridge's cast. Reports from men called Fenrir and Scabior were sent to Umbridge and Jade from Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry was disgusted by it and stepped out of the tent to his friends. "We have to find Scabior and stop him. Our friends are on the run and get caught because of me"
"And how do we find him?"
"The files say were was his last patrol. If we are lucky he is still there" Harry tipped on the files and his friends agreed. Withone spell their tent disappeared into Hermione's bag and the friends were ready to go. Using Ron's deluminator they found themselves in a forest where several hands grabbed them and pulled them to the ground.
It took Astoria weeks to get Professor Sprout's agreement to read a book from the Forbidden Library. Herbology was Astoria's best subject and Professor Sprout believed her student wanted to read more about plants they won't examine in school. Of course Astoria wanted to read a different book and grabbed the book with golden letters once she was inside the Forbidden section.
Salem - Magical Institute and new experiment on old-fashioned traditions
Astoria spent hours reading it and was excited to know more about Jade's school life. In Salem Jade studied 7 years like Hogwart students do. Arithmancy, Astronomy and Flying were main classes unlike in Hogwarts were they were only minor subjects.
In Salem all students played gobstone matches and it was their favorite sport even the sorting was done with gobstones. Astoria read that every student got one stone for every year in Salem. Jade must have had 7 stones and one she gave to Astoria. She pressed her stone close to her heart when she turned the page and found an entire chapter about gobstone magic. "Finally"
"Thank you, Rita. I hope you liked my new article" Jade handed Rita the first draft of an article about the Dursley's which Rita read in no time. "You write very eagerly, Jade, I like this. Tell me, have you any idea where Harry Potter is or has my new favorite another story she is working on?"
"I could actually need your help. I have information about a couple in London and Harry Potter was seen entering her house the night Alastor Moody died. Her name is Andromeda Tonks and she was a friend of James and Lily Potter. If I speak to her I'm sure I get closer to the secret the Potter's had" Jade's eyes were glowing and Rita liked this. "Jade, my girl, I help you to get this interview. Come, let's go right now"
"Hey!" Hermione was the first to free herself and pointed her wand at Dean Thomas. She was surprised to see him but happy to know her classmate was alive. "Dean! We thought Scabior already found you"
"No, this man was after us but we didn't want to get caught and... we know Harry would come for this" Dean nodded to a small group of other Hogwarts students who led Harry to a frozen lake. Harry didn't know what he should see but Ron noticed something under the ice and broke the ice to grab it.
"The sword of Godric Gryffindor?" Harry grabbed it and for the first time in months he felt something like hope. "You all step back. Ron and I have to destroy something" Harry gave the sword back to Ron before he found a spot on the ground to place the necklace they stole from Umbridge. Ron didn't wait and destroyed the piece with the sword and the dark magic left.
"What was this?"
"This was a piece of the Dark Lord's soul. We have to find all pieces and destroy them. It's the only way to kill him. Dumbledore told me about it before he died but we have no idea where the other pieces are" Harry watched Ron who put the sword in Hermione's bag before his eyes turned back to Dean who agreed to help them. "We will tell the others about this, Harry. They will sent messages to all your supporters and we find these pieces for you"
Harry nodded before a girl in the group interrupted them. Hannah Abbott looked sick and her voice was weak. "This sounds like gobstone magic"
"What is gobstone magic" Hermione was surprised Hannah knew something she had never heard about herself. When she gave Hannah a salve for her chest her classmate tried to explain what she knew the best way she could. "My mother told me about an aunt we have in America. She is a student of Salem and my mother refused to have any contact with her. In Salem they use other magic like we do. They are the only ones who use gobstone magic. They put a piece of their soul in a gobstone and then they can use it to read somebody's honesty. They can even make others do something they don't want to do if they have a piece of their soul"
"This must be what the books mentioned" Hermione and her friends decided to stay away from gobstones when Dean had more information. "Gobstone magic is forbidden in Britain, isn't it? Not even the supporters of the Dark Lord would use it because Salem witches are not welcomed not even in their pure-blood societies. They are feared"
"I don't know. This was before HE came back. Maybe they even ask Salem witches for help now" Ron didn't want to stay for longer but Hermione and Harry agreed to stay one night with their friends and let them sit by the fire in their invisible tent.
Rita convinced Andromeda to let them in. On the walls were pictures of her daughter and old friends like Remus Lupin and the Potter's. Jade didn't follow Rita and Andromeda right away instead she took a gobstone from her pocket and touched on of the pictures. The moving image frozen and Lily disappeared. Another woman got James' attention and Jade had the headline for her next article.
"Miss Tonks, who is Harry Potter's mother? His real mother?"
In Hogwarts Astoria looked at her gobstone and had only one question: Had Jade took a piece of her soul?