Chapter 68 – Rumors of War

As the situation worsened, the mood of the entire country deteriorated. The attack on Godric's Hollow had stunned the nation, and the fear which had gripped the country with Voldemort's sudden return to activity now seemed to be approaching a full panic. Though the residents of magical Britain had protected themselves and attacks on individual residences had largely been ineffective, a malaise had settled over them all. Thus far few had left the country as a result of the troubles, but the trickle would almost surge to flood levels if Voldemort was not defeated, and defeated soon.

For the most part, Amelia was proud of the way the Ministry had responded to the threat of the Death Eaters. It was a difficult circumstance to be certain, and her predecessor's actions in suppressing the news of Voldemort's return and the subsequent lack of preparation for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had put them in a difficult situation. But the Auror office was doing everything it could to stem the tide of the Death Eater advance and so far, especially with the successful engagements at the Ministry building and Hogsmeade, they seemed to be holding their own. Kingsley had put into effect an advance warning system, of sorts, for all magical communities or areas of high wizard populations, so that they would be better able to counter massive Death Eater strikes in the future. The attack on Godric's Hollow was far beyond what Voldemort had done in the first war—hopefully, with the system of watchers and magic detectors now employed, they would be able to respond more effectively to any future major strikes.

Amelia was also proud of the Ministry workers themselves. Hardly a worker in the building had not lost a colleague or acquaintance during the Ministry battle, and yet the workers had hunkered down and continued the work of the Ministry without complaint. Of course there was much more work to do than there had been before, due to the state of affairs and the fact that fewer hands were left behind to complete it, but again they had largely proven themselves to be resilient and energetic. It was a far cry from the Ministry that Fudge had presided over. It was now, also, safe, as those Death Eater moles in the Ministry had been found out and incarcerated, as the sweep of the entire Ministry had been completed. After the DMLE and Magical Transportation departments had been swept, most of the rest of the Ministry had received similar treatment without incident, with only one or two being unmasked as being Death Eaters. There were also a few who were unaccounted for; they had obviously gotten wind of what had happened and had fled. Amelia was not too concerned about them—assuming they were able to win this conflict, those Death Eaters would be brought to justice as well.

But that was the true point of concern. The Ministry workers were generally performing well under stressful situations it was true, as was the Auror department and the Hit Wizard corps. But at some point, Amelia knew that there would come a breaking point, especially if Voldemort's forces now outnumbered them, as was suspected. The fact of the matter was that regardless of how well the Auror force responded, and despite fortifying wins such as the engagement at Hogsmeade, the nature of the conflict meant that they were always responding, always on the defensive. That would eventually wear them down, allowing Voldemort to gain more of an upper hand the longer the conflict wore on. Amelia could see the signs already—she had lived through the same thing during the first war.

Thus it was early in the week when Amelia had a chance to speak with Dumbledore about the state of things. What she had to say to him was distasteful, but she knew it needed to be said. She had more to think about than those who had been affected most by Voldemort's actions.

"Headmaster," she greeted him as he stepped through the Floo into her office. As a point of fact, she was grateful that they had confirmed the Floo system to be safe, as it was by far the most convenient method of travelling.

"Please have a seat."

The Headmaster thanked her and did so, and then she regarded him for a few moments, knowing that this conversation might be difficult.

"Has Mr. Lupin returned yet?" she asked by way of opening the conversation.

"Not yet," Dumbledore replied. "We expect him back tonight, either with or without the information we need."

"I've never been much of a spellcrafter," Amelia said, choosing her words carefully, "so I don't know what it will take to determine whether a solution can be found. I will ask you—do you think it's even possible?"

"Every magic has a counter, Amelia," Dumbledore replied with a smile, eyes twinkling in merriment.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Now is not the time for platitudes, Albus."

"It's not a platitude," Albus replied. "I will, however, be serious. Yes, I have a great deal of hope that this idea of Miss Granger's will turn out to be the answer to our dilemma."

"And how long will it take before you know for certain?"

"Not long at all," Albus replied. "I imagine we'll know within a day or two whether it is feasible, and if it is, the solution can be drawn up fairly quickly. Creating a magical formula based on an existing formula—which it is, as it is intended as a direct counter—is accomplished much more quickly than creating something from scratch. I doubt it will be anything more than a week before we have something, though, as with all new magic, it will be difficult to know for certain whether it will work until we actually try it.

"And yes, I understand to what these questions tend," the Headmaster continued when Amelia would have spoken. "The situation in Britain has become very dire in only a very short time, unlike the long build up of the first war."

"It has," Amelia replied, feeling a deep ache within her very soul. "With the destruction of Godric's Hollow, the panic has arisen more quickly than I would have thought possible. It will not be long before our people start leaving in droves, and I, for one, will not blame them.

"And you may not be aware of it, but Voldemort attempted to attack Gringotts this morning."

Obviously Albus had not yet heard the news, as he sat up in his chair and regarded Amelia with an intense stare. "Was he repulsed?"

"He was, though I dare say it was nothing more than a probing attack to test their defenses. Luckily the attacking force left most of the rest of Diagon Alley alone and concentrated on the bank. The goblins acquitted themselves well and there were very few casualties, but I expect that the next time he attempts this, he will do so in greater force, and with far more deadly intent."

Albus sat back in his chair considering. "And this attack has only increased the level of hysteria gripping our society."

"Exactly," Amelia replied grimly. "Now, as you know, the French have passed their resolution to aid us in the struggle, and we expect some relief from them very soon, so that will at least be a boost to our struggle. But you and I both know that even that may not be enough. For this war to be won, we will need to strike at the heart of the enemy, and remove him from the equation."

"That is true, Amelia," Dumbledore replied with a tight nod. "But I would caution you against showing your hand too early. The French Aurors would undoubtedly ease the strain on our own forces, but then the Dark Lord would know of our alliance. That would not only forewarn him, but would also make our friends across the channel a potential target for reprisal."

"I am well aware of that," was Amelia's prim reply. "But we will soon reach the point where it is no longer an option, Albus. You know this."

"I do indeed," the Headmaster replied in a very quiet tone.

"The French Minister and I have discussed the matter and we have come to an agreement. Unlike my predecessor's rather cool relationship with the French," Amelia's tone was positively scathing, "I enjoy a rather good relationship with the French Minister, and perhaps more importantly, he trusts my judgment. He does not wish for his people to come under fire from the Dark Lord's forces, but he realizes that at some point, he may not have a choice.

"Therefore, I will delay involving the French forces until I feel there is no other choice, though they will begin to arrive very soon. We will keep them a secret until the last possible moment."

"Very well," Albus replied.

Amelia watched him with an implacable gaze. "There is one more thing."

At the rise of Albus's eyebrow, she continued, "I am well aware of the fact that you have a mole in Voldemort's forces."

"I would be surprised if you were not."

Amelia nodded at him very slowly. "I am also aware that he will be able to give us the location of Voldemort's base, though I suspect that he may have moved his operations to another location, given Mr. Potter's adventure."

"At this point there is no indication that he knows that it was Harry."

"For that at least we may be grateful," said Amelia. "But regardless, the fact is he knows someone was in the area. And though I cannot but admire Harry for his tenacity and his courage, the way he displayed the snake for Voldemort to see does not help us in this instance. Voldemort certainly knows the killing was no accident."

Dumbledore nodded. "Agreed."

"Regardless, as it would make no strategic sense for our advantage with the French Aurors to be wasted, the French involvement will not be their assistance in beating back Death Eater attacks. At some point we will need to attack Voldemort in his base of operations, and that is when we will finally reveal the fact that the French are on our side—to do it any other way makes no tactical sense."

Albus passed a hand over his face, his distress obvious. But he was not the preeminent wizard of his age for nothing—he obviously understood the reasons why she would wish to proceed in such a fashion. It was also clear he understood the ramifications.

"I need not remind you the danger to Miss Weasley and Mr. Potter will be great if the soul shards are not removed first."

"No, Albus, you do not. But I must act for the good of the entire populace, and not for the sake of only two young magicals. You must see this."

"I do," Albus said with a sigh.

"Besides," Amelia continued, "there is no reason to suppose that if we kill the Dark Lord this time, he won't just go to ground like he did last time. He has no reason to believe that he could possess Mr. Potter's body instead, when he doesn't even know it's possible."

"You are correct," Dumbledore replied, "but I would prefer not to take the chance if any other alternative existed."

"As would I. But the choice might be soon taken from us."

They sat in silence for several minutes. The matter was personal to Dumbledore, Amelia knew. Both were students at his school, and she knew how he felt about Harry. If Amelia were to be honest with herself, she knew that it was no less personal to her as well. She had known the Potters when James had been an Auror in the department, and she was coming to have a high esteem for him in his own right. And as for Miss Weasley, Amelia had known Arthur for many years, and now the man was her own right hand. Yes, it was definitely personal.

Rising from her chair, Amelia met the Headmaster's eyes. "I will give this as long as I can, Albus. Certainly we can hold out until the end of the week, and that should give you time to at least see if Miss Granger's idea is possible. But at some point I will have no choice. If Professor Snape is not prepared to give us the location, then you had best make him aware that he will very soon be required to do so."

"Severus understands the situation, Amelia," was Albus's quiet reply, as he stood himself.

"I'm sure he does," Amelia agreed. "But making it very clear to him cannot hurt."

With that, Amelia nodded to the Headmaster and he stepped through the Floo, and back to his office. Sighing, Amelia turned back to her desk and its ever-increasing piles of work. In the back of her mind, she tried to be positive, to believe they would find an answer. She was very much worried, however, that their hopes would turn out to be for naught.

"You say you may have found a solution?"

"Yes, Mohammed," Remus replied, leaning forward in his seat.

Mohammed regarded him with some skepticism. "The last thing I had expected to hear upon learning that you had returned was that you had found a way to remove a soul shard from a horcrux. Are you certain?"

"We can't be until we attempt it. But the solution is a simple idea, and to be honest, I'm not sure why no one has thought of it before."

The expression on the other man's face acquired a shrewd cast to it. "And in order to attempt it, I assume that I am correct in thinking that you require the actual horcrux ritual and the arithmancy itself?"

Remus nodded. "That is exactly why I am here."

Sighing, Mohammed leaned back in his chair and rested his chin in his hand. "You are aware, of course, that we rarely allow anything to be removed from our repository, correct? We are especially careful of information as potentially damaging in nature as the horcrux ritual."

"I do understand. However, this is not a normal occasion. The potential for a solution to the horcrux problem exists, Mohammed, and I believe we need to follow it through until its conclusion. I ask you this as a friend—there are two good people who have had a portion of a madman's soul inflicted upon them, and I believe that we owe it, not only to them, but to all those who have been similarly used in the past, to find a solution if one exists. And should the ritual ever be discovered by another, this could potentially save other lives."

"Two?" Mohammed asked. "My understanding was that only your Harry Potter was made into a horcrux."

"That is what we thought," Remus confirmed. "But it has recently come to light that Voldemort attempted to make several. In one such instance, a magical animal was near enough to become a horcrux, and when it was killed, the soul shard moved to a young woman close by. We need this to save them both."

For a brief moment, Remus thought that he would be refused, which would not have been a total surprise, after all. The Society had been protecting this information for eons, and the thought of releasing it, even under the most strenuous of protections, must surely go completely against the grain.

"I will hear your explanation," Mohammed finally said. "But I believe I would like Samuel here as well. He is as learned as any of us regarding the horcrux ritual, and even further, he is an arithmantic expert."

"Of course," he replied, and when Mohammed left the office, Remus sat back in his chair, waiting for Samuel to be summoned.

The journey to Egypt had been accomplished with relatively little fuss. As the Minister was now on board and knew of the secret of the horcruxes, including the reason for his mission, a permit for an international portkey had been obtained immediately. The morning after Hermione's surprising idea had been put forward, Remus had found himself travelling once again to the Egyptian capital of Cairo, and from there, down to Alexandria, where he had once again made contact with the Society. It was fortunate that they had provided him with contacts who would take him to Mohammed, as he never would have found them again, he was certain.

Unfortunately, Tonks had not been able to accompany him this time, busy as she was with her Auror duties. With the rapidly deteriorating situation in Britain, the members of the Auror force and the Hit Wizards were being run ragged, and Tonks was no exception. Remus had seen little of her since their return, which was on the one hand a sorrow—he had come to esteem her greatly—while on the other, it was a blessing. He needed time and distance to sort out his thoughts and feelings, regardless of the epiphany he had experienced at the battle of Hogsmeade, and he could not do that with her constantly before him.

In truth, he was beginning to feel a little ashamed of his behavior. Sirius and James had spent the years of their time in Hogwarts, trying to build up his confidence, and to help him see that his life need not be ruled by his lycanthropy. And yet, in the years since James's death and Sirius's incarceration, he had firmly fallen back into those ways. It was true that finding work in Britain with his affliction was difficult at times, and there were, of course, other obvious drawbacks to his situation, but his tendency to wallow in his misery was truly a character trait which was not at all attractive.

And then Tonks came along with her sunny disposition and her irrepressible spirits, and Remus found himself almost feeling alive again. And her discussion with him on the train ride back to England had been needed he felt—she had turned his arguments on their heads, and admonished him for believing himself less than worthy. The epiphany had only reinforced everything which had come between them, to the point where Remus had decided that he would seize the chance at happiness if she felt the same way. The matter of how to go about that was irrelevant—all Tonks required, he was certain, was for him to commit to her and for the right reasons. She was not one who needed the trappings of courtship or grand shows of affection. Of course, he also needed to opportunity to move their relationship forward, which he was quite certain would not come until Voldemort was finally defeated.

That was what this was all about. He would be as eloquent as he possibly could be, help these people understand that the solution he offered was not only possible, but that it could be achieved by hard work and cooperation. He would settle Harry's problems, help defeat Voldemort, and then he would be free to pursue his heart's desire.

After a few more moments of being left alone with his thoughts, the door opened, and Mohammed stepped in, followed by the diminutive American.

Rising to his feet, Remus extended a hand in greeting, which Samuel shook enthusiastically. "Remus!" he said with a welcoming smile. "It is very good to see you again, though much sooner than I would have anticipated."

"You and me both," Remus replied. "But I think we may have a solution to our horcrux problem, and I need your help."

"So Mohammed indicated," Samuel replied, taking an empty chair in front of Mohammed's desk. "Please, let us know what you have discovered."

"Actually," Remus said, shaking his head a little ruefully, "it's not my idea. One of Harry Potter's friends came up with the general concept."

The eyebrows of both men rose at this statement. "A contemporary of Mr. Potter's?" Samuel asked.

"Are you sure of this, Remus?" Mohammed chimed in with a frown.

"If you knew the girl in question, you would understand," Remus responded with a chuckle. "Hermione Granger is perhaps the most intelligent person I have ever had the good fortune to meet. And that is saying something, since I know Albus Dumbledore, and was well acquainted with Harry's mother Lily, who was brilliant in her own right."

Though his skepticism had obviously made a return, Mohammed waved for him to continue. "By all means, please tell us this idea."

"As you both are aware, most efforts to neutralize a soul shard have centered on the attempt to actually remove it from the horcrux."

"Which is why they have always failed," Samuel interjected in his southern drawl. "Since the soul is infinite, there is simply no way of removing the shard."

Remus nodded. "One of Harry's friends has been doing some research on the matter, and recently she had an idea while thinking about it. What if, instead of removing the soul shard, one cut it off from the main soul? In other words, if we can cut the connection between the soul shard and the horcrux creator, then theoretically, when the creator dies, it would have no way to find its way to its horcrux. Thus, in the situation of particular concern to this discussion, should we cut Voldemort's connection to the soul shard in Harry, Voldemort would have no horcrux, and would not be anchored to the earth should he die."

Samuel blinked once at Remus, before he let out a great belly laugh. "So simple!" he exclaimed. "And yet so profound."

Watching his friend with some amusement, Mohammed said, "So you think it's possible then?"

"You don't" Samuel challenged.

"On the contrary," Mohammed replied, shaking his head with some amusement, "it sounds rather promising."

"The question I have is why no one thought of it before," Remus said.

"Who says that they didn't?" Mohammed replied with a shrug. "Other than our inestimable Pharaoh of the seventeenth dynasty, there are relatively few recorded instances of horcruxes actually being created, and some of those may not even be credible."

"Exactly," Samuel said, nodding his head. "And given the fact that the records are somewhat fractured, the further back you go, it's probable that there are instances when a horcrux was created which were not recorded. It is equally possible that someone actually came up with this solution—or perhaps something else entirely—but their writing either did not survive for our agents to find it, or they did not write it down. There may be any number of reasons why it is not recorded."

"And in the intervening centuries," Mohammed broke in again, "we've largely become a record-gathering society. We bring everything together under one roof, so to speak. But for the most part we don't study what we gather, at least outside of academic interest, and we certainly do not study what we find with the intent to counter it."

Mohammed turned to Samuel, and in an introspective tone, continued, "I wonder if we made a mistake there. Perhaps it would be better for the world if we had studied such things and had an answer waiting for when people such as Remus come searching for knowledge. Or perhaps we could take greater interest in the world around us and intervene with out knowledge much earlier."

"Ah, but we would not have had a horcrux in the past few centuries," said Samuel with a nod at Remus. "Without someone on whom to test the theory, we could never be certain it would work."

"Perhaps," Mohammed mused. "But we would almost certainly be further ahead than we are at present."

"Does this mean that you'll help me?" Remus interjected, prompting a smile from his two companions at his eagerness.

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here," Mohammed admonished. "Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to release this information to you. For such an important decision, the entire council needs to be involved."

Frowning, Remus regarded his friend. "Do you think they'll deny my request?"

"You just leave the council to me," Mohammed replied. "There will undoubtedly be dissenters, but I think we can help them to see sense. The horcrux is one of the great dark magics known to us, and this is an opportunity to neutralize it. The council will not be able to ignore such a rare opportunity.

"We will, of course, have conditions, however," Mohammed continued. "In fact, I believe that one such will be that Samuel accompanies you, and remains in control of the information at all times. We know you are trustworthy, Remus, but Samuel is one of our members, and his involvement will undoubtedly appease the council."

Samuel nodded and grinned. "Besides, you're not going to go ahead with this without me being involved. This is the chance of a lifetime! And, I've got a lot of experience with arithmancy and spellcrafting, so I think I can help your Dumbledore create a working spell."

Nodding, Remus agreed eagerly to their terms. Not only did they make complete sense, but Samuel was a jovial and likeable fellow, and Remus thought that he would fit right in with those who would be working on the solution. The real problem would be explaining his presence, as he would almost certainly need to join them in the castle—nowhere else was secure enough, in Remus's opinion, for such a sensitive endeavor. He was certain that Dumbledore would insist upon it as well.

"In that case, I believe that we should make the preparations," Mohammed once again spoke. "It will take a few hours for the members of the council to make their way here, so I suggest you relax while you are waiting. We'll have this squared away as soon as possible."

Remus did as he suggested, and even managed to catch a little sleep while he was waiting. The council was summoned, and they convened several hours later. And though it was as Mohammed had suggested, in the end they were able to prevail and convince the council that not only was it an opportunity that they could not ignore, but that it was also necessary. It was agreed that Samuel would represent the Society, and that he would maintain direct control over the arithmantic equation. In short, it was exactly what Mohammed had said with would be.

The decisions being made, Samuel quickly obtained the information from the archives, and he and Remus made their way back to Cairo and the Egyptian Ministry, where they once again portkeyed away, arriving in London some time later. They met with the Minister briefly, and then were on their way to Hogwarts.

The last thing Harry wanted to do was to return to classes that Monday morning, and he was well aware of the fact that most everyone else in the school agreed with him. The situation in the Wizarding world had just about everyone on edge, some due to concerns about their families, some because of fear of the war reaching Hogwarts. But for Harry, it was also due to the fact that his unofficial uncle was even now trying to bring to fruition his very last chance (or Harry assumed it to be his last chance) to remove the horcrux in his head.

On a certain level, Harry knew that he was being melodramatic. If Hermione's idea did not work out, there was always the chance that someone else would come up with some other way to remove it. It felt like his last chance, however, and that, perhaps more than anything, made it feel all too real to him.

Then there was the relationship with his two girls. Fleur had forgiven him, if their steamy make out session in the Room of Requirement was any indication at all. But Hermione was still acting a little distant. Oh, she was still concerned about him, and she watched him, helping him with his work and interacting with him the same as any other friend would be expected to.

But the difference was in the warmth of her demeanor—which was much less than it had been before—and the little actions which showed her regard, which had been part of their relationship as far back as he could remember. It was apparent that it would take some time for their relationship to return to the way it had been before, and that he would need to make it up to her. Perhaps most importantly, he would need to once again earn her trust, and show her that she was important to him and that he was willing to fight for his very life if need be.

Harry did his best to make it through that day—at least potions was not the dreaded beast that it had been in previous years—and Sirius's presence in Defense meant that it was at least enjoyable. But he was not interested in studying in the slightest, and no one else appeared to be in a mood for it either; even Hermione, who could be counted on to become more draconian in her study habits the closer to the end of the year they got, appeared to listlessly leaf through one of her textbooks without truly seeing anything it contained.

That was why the summons to Dumbledore's office was such a welcomed distraction, coming as it did after dinner in the Great Hall. Otherwise, Harry was certain that the evening would have degenerated into a worry-fest of moroseness for all involved.

Knowing that it had something to do with the horcrux problem, Harry gathered those affected—Hermione, Fleur, and the Weasleys—and they made their way toward the Headmaster's office. It was just a few moments before they arrived and, making their way past the gargoyle and up the spiral stairs, entered the office proper. The usual cast was present already, some having arrived by Floo, and the number of people in what was actually quite a spacious office, caused Harry to think, with some amusement, that they seemed to be taxing the headmaster's ability to extend them all hospitality. Or at least they were taxing the available space in the office.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore greeted them as soon as they entered the office. Gesturing to Remus, who stood close beside him, he said, "As you can see, Remus has returned."

"Hey Remus," Harry said, greeting his unofficial uncle with a manly embrace.

"Harry," Remus responded. "No adventures while I was gone?"

Sirius guffawed, earning him a glare from Harry, which did not faze the Marauder in the slightest, Harry noted somewhat sourly. He chanced a glance at Fleur and Hermione, who were both regarding the scene with some amusement—though a little more reserve, in Hermione's case—before he turned back to Moony.

"I think I'm all adventured out for the time being."

An eyebrow rose at his statement, but Remus at least had the grace to say nothing further on the matter. He did, however, seem not notice the somewhat jittery behavior of not only Harry, but most of the teenagers in the room, and he took pity on them.

"As I can see you're all wondering, yes my mission was a success. If I may," Remus gestured at a diminutive man who was standing to the side, "I would like to introduce Samuel…"

Here Remus turned and glanced at his companion. "You know, I don't know if I ever caught your last name."

"Grant," the man responded with a suppressed laugh.

"Samuel Grant," Remus finished. "Samuel is a member of the council of the society which cares for the library. He is also an expert Arithmancer, and has agreed to accompany me to assist in our efforts to solve our problem."

Wearing a jovial smile, Samuel bowed floridly to the entire room. He appeared to be the epitome of good humor and friendliness, and his elaborately twirled mustache (which Harry thought looked a little silly) notwithstanding, Harry found himself immediately liking the man. Once Remus had completed the introductions of Harry and the others—and Samuel exclaimed with enthusiasm, though perfect composure, what an honor it was to meet such distinguished and famous wizards and witches—they got down to the business of discussing the subject closest to them all at that moment.

"Do you think it's possible to remove Voldemort's soul from us?" Harry blurted out, gesturing vaguely at Ginny and himself.

The man's face was immediately suffused with an expression of compassion, and he nodded in response to Harry's question. "Although I can't, of course, say anything for certain, I think that the idea has great possibilities. I assure you, Mr. Potter, that I will do everything I can to make this concept a reality."

Nodding, though not without some embarrassment due to the inelegantly stated question, Harry sat back in his chair with more than a little relief. It was not the guarantee he would have preferred, but it was certainly more than nothing. And it provided a boost to his hope, which had taken a beating as of late.

A hand slipped into his, and he turned and noted Fleur standing beside him, watching him closely. She smiled and mouthed, "We're all with you."

At that moment he felt his hand grasped by another, and he looked over and saw Hermione smiling at him, though perhaps a bit hesitantly. He squeezed her hand, prompting a nod in response, and though she said nothing, Harry knew that Hermione, regardless of her current state of mind or her anger with him, would always support him no matter what happened

Grateful for the support of both girls, Harry turned back to the conversation which had proceeded during his inattention. Once the usual platitudes and greetings had been exchanged, Dumbledore immediately brought them to the reason they had gathered.

"We had best get down to business," Dumbledore stated. "With Voldemort pressing the attacks against us, we cannot afford to be idle."

The Headmaster paused and turned to the visitor. "I am sorry, Mr. Grant, that we are in such a hurry and that we are pressing you into service so soon after your long journey."

"Samuel, please," the diminutive man replied, waving his hand. "And I would be worried if you were not in a rush, given what I have heard of the conflict. It is no problem to begin working on the solution immediately, I assure you."

"Thank you. Now, I suppose the first consideration is the location for us to work on this problem. What do you think you will need?"

Samuel thought on the matter for a few moments. "The first thing, I suppose," he began after a moment, "is that the location be secure and out of the way of most of the inhabited areas of the castle." He smiled kindly at Harry. "I do not know about you British teenagers, but when I was young, the temptation of secret goings on and sealed rooms would have been an irresistible draw, which I doubt I would have been able to master."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I suppose you are correct, as some of our more prominent students could attest."

The humor in Dumbledore's voice took any sting out of his words, and Harry reflected that what he said was true in any case.

"I am certain we can come up with something."

"Further," Samuel continued, after a nod, "it will need to be heavily warded, considering the subject we will be researching. We cannot risk any of the information being stolen or in any way being released to the world."

Exchanging a glance, Dumbledore and McGonagall appeared to come to an agreement with a speed attributable to the long years the two had worked together.

"Professor McGonagall will choose the location, after which you and I can see to the warding of the room."

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry spoke up somewhat diffidently, "why not just use the Room of Requirement?"

Dumbledore paused, looking thoughtful, but the mention of the room obviously caught Samuel's interest.

"Room of Requirement? What is this room?"

"It's a room in the castle that only appears when it's summoned," Harry explained. "It can give you anything you want, as long as it does not break the laws of magic."

"When we started our defense club, we needed a room to practice spells and dueling," Hermione added. "The room was able to give us all of that—a dueling platform, practice dummies, everything. It can also create passages to other areas of the castle, and all kinds of things."

"It is indeed a wondrous piece of magic," Dumbledore spoke up. "And I must admit that I was somewhat surprised to learn of its existence. I believe that very few of those who have passed through the halls of this castle have ever been aware of it.

"However, unfortunately, I am not certain that it is suitable for our use. We will need certain people to have access to it periodically, and that may be difficult when the door is closed."

"But you can tell the room who can have access," Ron said. "And if someone else needs access, as long as they go with someone who does, they will be able to enter."

"And if you don't want to have the door appear in the hallway," Harry added, "you can just have the room create a passage to another place in the castle which is more secure, like here, for example. As long as someone is always in the room to control it, the passageway will stay there, and the room cannot be entered by anyone else."

Professor Dumbledore looked him over his half-moon glasses, a gentle smile on his face. "I am not certain whether I'm more impressed by the magic which created this room, or by the fact that you have all discovered this much about it." He turned to Samuel. "What do you think?"

"Is the room secure?" Samuel asked, looking at Harry and his friends.

"Very," Hermione replied. "If you enter it and say that you don't want anyone to find you, then no one will be able to make the door appear. We don't think you could even apparate or portkey in. It's almost like the room doesn't even exist when you occupy it and tell it not to allow anyone else to find it."

"Portkeys and apparition I would not wish to test," the Headmaster interjected firmly. "If no one knows about it—and very few do—then the portkey or apparition options are moot anyway."

"Then I believe we have our room all ready for us," Samuel remarked.

"Excellent!" the Headmaster replied. "Now, Samuel, as I believe that you and Remus have not yet had dinner, I would offer to have the house-elves provide us with something before we get to work.

"Also, I would like to bring Professor Vector into the discussion. She is our Arithmancy professor and an expert in her field. I do not doubt that her assistance would be invaluable."

"Very well," Samuel agreed, and a moment later the group started to disperse.

The rest of the week seemed to drag, and Harry was certain that those of his friends in the know regarding the horcrux situation were just as impatient to hear something as he was himself. But all such things had a process, and he knew that he could not hurry it—Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Grant were moving things along as quickly as they could, and no amount of pleading from Harry would result in a solution any more quickly.

After Samuel's arrival that Monday, Harry understood that he had been introduced to Professor Vector—with whom Harry was not acquainted, due to the fact that he was not taking Arithmancy—and the three had immediately repaired to the Room of Requirement to being working on the problem. Perhaps surprisingly Remus had accompanied them—though he was not an expert, he did possess a NEWT in the subject—and Professor McGonagall had also spent a certain amount of time there as well. In addition, Hermione, having had the idea in the first place, had also spent some small amount of time in the room. The reports she brought back of their activities in the room had been delivered with a slightly wide-eyed visage, as Hermione, though very intelligent, did not have the experience yet, nor did she possess the practical knowledge, having not even finished her OWL. Regardless, Harry knew that she would acquit herself well in any such discussion, due to her instinctive understanding and ability to learn quickly.

For Harry himself, he knew that he would have been welcome in the room to watch their activities and ask questions, but he decided to stay away, knowing that the more time he spent pestering them, the longer it would take them to devise a solution. Besides, it was not as though such pursuits were Harry's strengths. He was much more suited for action though he was confident that he would be able to pick up the subject should he ever choose to do so. Now, however, was not the time to become overly curious.

In the evenings, he at least had something else to occupy his time—something other than classes which were not incredibly effective in holding his interest. The club now met on most evenings and in that Harry was able to lose himself to a certain extent; it was far more physical, for one thing, and required more interaction than simply sitting and listening in class.

Their club meetings had gradually, over time, become much more intense and focused, especially since Voldemort had made such a dramatic return to prominence. Though it had never been a time to slack off and have fun, even after Umbridge had left the school, it had now become much more.

That week, as the room was being used, the club met in a large room off the Charms corridor. No one commented when Harry made the announcement that meetings would be held in a different place that week, for which Harry was grateful. On Wednesday evening when the club met, Harry covered several things—continued practice on the Patronus charm, which several club members—primarily the older ones—could now cast successfully, as well as some more advanced dueling techniques.

At the end of the meeting, he was approached by Daphne and Tracey, followed a pace behind by a disinterested-looking Blaise. Harry greeted them warmly, reflecting that with all that had gone on recently, he had seen less and less of the Slytherins. Daphne in particular had been less in evidence lately, and though he found her to be somewhat inscrutable, he was getting the impression that her interest in him was waning, a development which suited him just fine, he decided. Keeping up with both Fleur and Hermione was difficult as it was—adding another energetic and intelligent girl like Daphne seemed to be asking for disaster, in his opinion.

"There's something going with Parkinson and her crew," Daphne stated when the greetings had been exchanged.

"Parkinson?" Harry asked with a derisive snort. "She's possibly even more useless than Malfoy. And Nott's an idiot on par with Malfoy himself."

"I wouldn't disagree," Tracey replied. "But if they're plotting something, then we'd better take notice. Who knows what Voldemort has got up his sleeve?"

"Can you be more specific?" Hermione prompted.

"Not a whole lot without knowing more," Daphne replied. "They've always been a rather vocal lot, as I'm sure you're aware. Even that little scuffle Malfoy started in the Slytherin common room didn't really shut him up. He kept his mouth shut when he was out in the school, but in the common room, we hardly noticed any difference at all."

"Why am I not surprised?" Harry muttered.

"Maybe because you know the little toe rag," Tracey said with a snicker. "A Malfoy can't really change his spots, you know."

"That could be," Ron deadpanned.

"So what's been going on then?" Harry asked, trying to come to the point.

"Nothing," was Daphne's short reply. "And that's the problem. Malfoy's disciples have been well tutored—they don't know how to stop their mouths from running off any more than he does. But they've gone quiet. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure that Parkinson hasn't insulted me all week, which has got to be some sort of a record."

"I think Parkinson insulted us for the first time when we were on the Express before first year," said Tracey. "And she didn't even know us then."

"And Nott is keeping his opinions to himself too," Blaise added. He said nothing more—he just nodded and left the room.

"It's almost like they have been told to keep a low profile," Daphne said.

"But why?" Harry asked.

"Unless Voldemort has something planned for Hogwarts."

A series of grim looks were exchanged throughout the group of friends.

"I suppose there's not much we can do but watch them," Harry stated. "If you see anything else, please let us know. Meanwhile, I'll let Dumbledore know. I'm sure he can take some extra steps to protect the school if he needs to."

With that, the group separated to head back to their respective dorms. Harry made a note to himself to bring the matter up with Dumbledore at the first opportunity. There was no concrete information, it was true, but any change at all in the demeanors of those who openly followed Voldemort had to be treated with care and attention.

Updated 07/14/2014