The Eye Of The Gazer
Chapter 21
Hermione Granger stood in front of the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. She looked at him, and felt a little afraid. Here was a true warlock of the tenth century, tall and broad, with the fair colouring of a Norseman or Saxon, wearing the sword that she recognised from Hogwarts. She was unsure how to approach him: what was the correct etiquette in the 900s? Hermione decided that she must try something, so she performed a perfunctory curtsey, and then addressed him.
Instantly, he looked at her in amazement, and replied, "Good morning, Mistress. You speak my language! That is very rare indeed. We get few enough visitors here in the gallery, and those who come are generally completely unintelligible." He made her a stiff bow.
Hermione blushed with pleasure at the compliment. "Thank you, Sir. I have been studying Anglo-Saxon for some time now. I can read old manuscripts well enough, but I was unsure of my pronunciation for the spoken version."
"Your vowels are a little odd, to be sure, but I can understand you," replied Gryffindor airily. He looked at her searchingly. "You are the second visitor in as many days. The other fellow was indecipherable. I expect you want something from me? Nobody ever calls on us merely to pass the time of day. Why are you here?"
Hermione looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, you are right. I wanted to ask you something. I would not bother you, but I believe it's very important. It concerns your other visitor, the tall man with long silver hair who came yesterday."
Gryffindor's shaggy golden eyebrows were raised in query. "Ask, Mistress," he said. Hermione thought he sounded weary; but then his expression changed to one of interest. "Firstly, tell me your name," he said.
"Hermione Granger," she replied.
"Hermione? Unusual. Or is it more common nowadays?"
"No, it's still unusual."
"A very old name, of Greek origin. It is good when modern wizards respect the past. However, this is not relevant to your query. Ask."
"The wizard who came to see you yesterday – his name is Lucius Malfoy. What did he want with you?"
"He seemed a most arrogant and disagreeable fellow," remarked Gryffindor. "He was full of his own importance, and very annoyed that I could not understand him, even when he tried speaking to me very slowly, as if I were a babe in arms or an imbecile. However, it was clear enough what he wished to know from me: he has something of mine. He merely wished me to confirm that it had indeed once been the property of Godric Gryffindor."
"And will you tell me what it is?"
"It is an amulet, in the shape of Thor's Hammer."
"And – forgive my impertinence - it was definitely yours, not merely a similar amulet?"
"It was mine. The hammer is held by a lion's head, and is also marked with my name in Futhorc. I would like very much to know how it came into his possession. I should not have been surprised had it been in the possession of a descendant; but I do not believe this Malfoy is a relative of mine. What think you, Mistress Granger?"
"No, I do not think he is either. He and his family have always been in Slytherin House, and they share that founder's prejudice against those who are not born with pure wizard blood."
"And you Mistress Granger? In which house were you?"
"Gryffindor, Sir," replied Hermione proudly.
Later, back in her small university flat, Hermione drank a refreshing cup of mint tisane, and thought over the matter of the amulet. Lucius Malfoy now had something precious that had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. She cast her mind back to the time when they had all been seeking just such an artefact. Horace Slughorn had confessed to Harry that he had revealed to Tom Riddle the dark magic needed to create a horcrux: but Lord Voldemort had not been content with only one horcrux. Dumbledore had believed that the Dark Lord had split his soul many times, and in order to destroy Voldemort, it would be necessary to destroy all his horcruxes.
There had been four missing items, one belonging to each of the four Hogwarts founders: Salazar Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, something belonging to Godric Gryffindor and something belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw. These items were believed to be four of the six horcruxes created by Lord Voldemort to hold the parts of his severed soul.
Dumbledore himself had removed the power from one of the other two horcruxes, a ring belonging to Marvolo Gaunt, but he had rendered one of his hands useless in the process, showing that horcruxes could not be damaged easily even by the most powerful wizard. Then shortly afterwards Dumbledore had been killed, leaving Harry with the task of finding and destroying all the remaining horcruxes. Hermione's blood ran cold as she once more relived her old Headmaster's cruel death, and her eyes misted over with unshed tears.
But the possible horcrux belonging to Godric Gryffindor had never been found, in spite of Harry, Ron and Hermione searching high and low for such an item. It had worried Hermione for many months that this one remaining horcrux remained hidden following the announcement of Voldemort's death at the hands of an auror. She had talked it over with Harry and Ron, but they had not shared her concern: Ron told her not to fuss over details, Voldemort was dead and that was all that mattered. The horcrux must have been destroyed some other way. Anyway, Dumbledore had probably only guessed the number of horcruxes as six: perhaps it had never existed.
Harry had been in very strange mood for a long time following Voldemort's demise. He had believed that it was his destiny to destroy Voldemort, and when He Who Must Not Be Named had instead died by the hand of another, Harry had become sullen and resentful, and it had been impossible to get a civil word out of him. For all his constant claims that he hated to be the centre of everyone's attention, when the spotlight fell away from Harry, he had found it impossible to accept that his final goal had in the end been snatched from his grasp.
Hermione had remained alert for any sign that Voldemort was not dead, but eventually had decided that the others must be right, and he really was no more. The wizarding world had celebrated, and a great shadow was lifted from all their lives.
Now she wondered, could she have been right all along? Was Voldemort still hiding out in the world somewhere, regaining his lost strength and planning his return as he had done before? She shivered at the thought, and later when she went to bed, she found it impossible to sleep, the thoughts churning over in her mind. Did Lucius Malfoy know what he had in his possession, or was he merely a pawn in Voldemort's plans? For if he were fully informed, he would surely not have found it necessary to ask Gryffindor if the amulet were his. Also, that must mean that he had only recently acquired the amulet – and where did he get it?
Hermione was unsure of Lucius' loyalties nowadays. She tried not to allow her personal dislike of the man to cloud her judgement of him. He was older now than when he had been a close follower of Voldemort; she knew he loved his daughter, and Gabrielle had spoken of a reconciliation with Cho. Perhaps he now wished for a life of quiet obscurity with his family rather than his previous notoriety. Perhaps the return of Voldemort after all this time would not be greeted with any great enthusiasm by the Dark Lord's former chief Death Eater?
Hermione then suddenly realised what she should do next, and eventually fell asleep as the clock on the university tower struck two o'clock, her mind a little more settled now that she had made this one simple decision.
The following day, Hermione stood in the portrait gallery of Transpires University library, in front of a painting of Albus Dumbledore. After ascertaining from Livvy how he had found his way to Godric Gryffindor, Hermione too had asked for guidance from the portrait of the Old Bursar, who had been responsible for purchasing or commissioning many of the artworks. She wished it had occurred to her before that there might be a portrait of her old Headmaster at her place of work: she would have been to see him before, not waited until she needed his advice. She coughed slightly.
Dumbledore opened his eyes and blinked. "Ah, it's daytime," he muttered to himself. He seemed about to go back to sleep, when he noticed the figure standing there.
"Miss Granger, I do believe!" he said, "Well, well, and all grown up too. It is so easy to lose track of time in here, where one day is like another, and we seldom get any visitors. Indulge me, and tell me how old you are, and what you are doing nowadays?"
"I'm 28 now, Professor," replied Hermione, "And I work here in the university. I'm doing research into the Dark Arts, and I lecture part-time on the same subject. I like the work, but it doesn't pay very well, so I work in the library too for extra money."
"You look very well indeed, Miss Granger. I do like your curls, if an old man is allowed to notice such things. Now, why are you here? I strongly suspect that this is more than a social visit."
Hermione blushed, both at the compliment and at the shrewd observation that she was here with a mission. "I only recently realised there was a portrait of you here," she said. "I mean, if I had thought about it, I would have guessed there was, but I never came into the gallery till yesterday. Professor, I spoke to Godric Gryffindor."
"Ah, yes, a very interesting fellow," nodded Dumbledore. "Of course, you can speak Anglo-Saxon? Yes, I thought so. And I presume you had a special reason for seeing him too?"
"Yes, Sir. Lucius Malfoy came to see him two days ago, and I was curious to know what he wanted."
"Did he indeed? Enlighten me, what is Mr Malfoy up to these days? Now that the Death Eaters are no more, how does he pass his time?"
"He lives quietly for the most part," replied Hermione, who had no wish to discuss Lucius' private life any more than absolutely necessary. "Professor, he came to see Godric Gryffindor because he has a pendant in his possession he believes once belonged to him. He showed it to Gryffindor's portrait, and asked him if it was his. Of course he couldn't speak Anglo-Saxon, but with sign language the question was clear, and so was the answer. The pendant is in the shape of a Thor's Hammer held by a lion's head, and is engraved with Gryffindor's name in ancient runes. The portrait told me that he had recognised it, and it was definitely his amulet.
"Professor, I came to see you because I believe the amulet is the last horcrux that was never found, and I don't know what to do about it. The whole wizarding world believes that Voldemort is dead, but I have always had a lingering suspicion that he was not because of the missing horcrux. Could I be right?"
Hermione waited, patiently at first, as Dumbledore seemed to sink into a reverie. Of course he needed to think, but she began to suspect he had fallen asleep again. She was wondering whether to wake him when he finally spoke: "Firstly, Miss Granger, I have tried very hard to remember any occasion on which I was told that one horcrux might still remain in existence. My portrait at Hogwarts keeps me informed of any news he learns, as naturally he sees many people every day. But I do not recall Harry or yourself ever telling him this. In fact, Harry has not spoken to me since well before Voldemort's death. I was more than a little surprised at first, I expected him to wish to discuss that event with me. In fact, I may go so far as to say I was a little hurt by his continued absence…"
"And my absence too!" said Hermione guiltily, hearing the reproach in Dumbledore's voice. "I'm so sorry, Sir, I should have told you everything. I should have guessed that Harry stayed away from you just like he avoided me and Ron…"
"He avoided you too?" interrupted the old Headmaster. "Ah, yes, it is all much clearer now. He had become used to saving people. He did not know what to do with himself when his role was usurped. And you did not come either because his reaction embarrassed you – you did not want to be forced into making apologies for him. Yes, I see it now.
"So, to deal with the problem in hand. Miss Granger, I fear you may be right. Voldemort must be very weak indeed if he has been away for so long, and one horcrux gives him much less strength than six; but he will return. The finding of this last horcrux - and I agree the amulet perfectly fits the profile of a horcrux – may not be a coincidence. Perhaps he is ready to appear once more. We must be very alert for any sign, for any unusual occurrence. Tell me, have you observed anything unusual lately that could be linked in some way to the return of Voldemort?"
Hermione was about to say no, when she remembered what she had been reading when Lucius Malfoy called at the university. Surely Bryony's ability could not be related to Voldemort? But she could ask what Dumbledore knew about Parselmouths.
"There is another thing I would like to ask you about," she began, realising that she would after all need to discuss Lucius Malfoy. "Firstly, I need to tell you that Cho Chang and Lucius Malfoy have a daughter…"
"This I do know," replied Dumbledore. "My Hogwarts self is well informed about births, marriages and deaths in the wizarding world, especially births. You see, much of this information has a bearing on who will attend Hogwarts in the future, and allows the Head Teacher to make plans based on projected numbers of pupils. So I am aware that Narcissa Malfoy died some years ago, and that Cho Chang has a daughter of six years old called Bryony whose father is Lucius Malfoy."
Hermione nodded, for this all made perfect sense to her: Hogwarts kept track of all young wizards and witches so that the school could write to those who reached the age of eleven. "I taught Bryony Chang for a while," she continued, "So I know her quite well. She's a nice girl, well brought up, and very intelligent. I don't teach her now, so I haven't seen her recently. But a few days ago, I saw Gabrielle Delacour – you know who I mean, Sir?"
Dumbledore thought for a while. "She is the sister of Fleur Delacour, who took part in the Triwizard Tournament as the Beauxbatons champion."
"Yes, that's right, she was placed in the lake for Fleur to rescue along with myself, Ron and Cho. Well, Gabrielle is now engaged to Draco Malfoy."
"That I did not know. I take it that my Hogwarts portrait does not know either. For once, I shall be able to tell him something! So, Draco Malfoy is to be married, is he? It is a far better ending for him than to be my murderer while still in his teens, as Voldemort wanted. So, you have seen the younger Miss Delacour recently?"
"Yes, and she told me something interesting about Bryony. She is a Parselmouth. Both Gabrielle and Bryony's governess heard her talking to a snake. Professor, I've been reading about Parselmouths. Are we right to be concerned about them just because Voldemort was a Parselmouth, and most known Parselmouths are connected to him in some way? Isn't it possible that someone could develop the ability and not be evil, just like Harry?"
Dumbledore regarded Hermione steadily over the top of his half-moon glasses. She felt he was trying to read her mind. She blushed, fearful of what he might find there.
"Miss Granger, do not worry that I shall attempt to read your thoughts without permission. Civilised wizards do not enter another's mind uninvited. I am merely wondering at your question. I think there is something else you have not told me that causes you to worry about the child Bryony Chang. Do you feel any evil from her?"
"No, of course not. She's only six!"
"And is your remarkably perceptive cat still with us? He was, I believe, unerringly accurate at distinguishing good from evil. If he still lives, what does he think of her?"
Hermione's jaw dropped, and she stared at Dumbledore. She replayed the scene in her mind: Crookshanks' immediate violent reaction when he saw Bryony, followed swiftly by the killing curse from her furious father. She had not until this moment put the two facts together: Crookshanks' behaviour and Bryony's ability to speak Parseltongue. What did it mean? With tears filling her eyes so that she could not see Dumbledore's kindly face, she recounted the events of that dreadful day. Of course, she did not include the details of how Lucius had chosen to punish her; such a revelation would be far too humiliating.
When she was able to focus once more, Hermione saw that Dumbledore was thinking. She did not interrupt, but waited for him to speak. Eventually he said, "There are too many coincidences here. Crookshanks' reaction to Bryony was the same as his reaction to Peter Pettigrew in his rat animagus form, you say. You had no doubt at all that Crookshanks was right then. Why would he be wrong now? Bryony can speak Parseltongue. She is six years old, yet this has only just been noticed. It is possible that she has just recently acquired this ability. I do not believe that any child, even the daughter of Lucius Malfoy, is inherently evil. Even Tom Riddle himself had a reason for becoming what he was; he was not inherently evil either, it was the path he chose. But this child is far too young to have made any kind of choice at all.
"Now Lucius Malfoy possesses the final missing horcrux. It is clear that he does not know what it is, or he would not have needed to ask Gryffindor. Voldemort did not trust Lucius enough in the past to tell him that his old diary was a horcrux; indeed I do not believe he ever told any of his followers how he had split his soul. But this last horcrux was never found, and now it has reappeared. I do not believe this is chance: I believe that the child Bryony may be possessed in some way by Voldemort. Perhaps we never found this horcrux because Voldemort had hidden it very well, and now that he is back, he has used Lucius to recover it from its hiding place. No doubt Lucius sees it only as a very rare and valuable item, and worth even more because it once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. I suspect that he was merely confirming its value when he asked the portrait about it."
"But what can we do?" asked Hermione in despair. "Even if it's possible to destroy the horcrux, would it kill Bryony as well as Voldemort if we did?"
"Think, Miss Granger, think. Destroying the horcrux would not entirely destroy Voldemort, for he would still have the very last part of his soul that remains in whatever is left of him in this world. That is the thing that inhabits Bryony Chang. But if we wish to destroy this very last vestige of Voldemort, we will indeed firstly have to separate him from the child, for we cannot in all conscience destroy her too.
"But our first task is to find a way to destroy the horcrux, or at the very least, to deprive it of its powers. That will not be easy."
"Professor," Hermione said slowly, "May I discuss this matter with Gabrielle Delacour? She is part Veela and has some Veela powers, and also she seems to be very close to Bryony even though she has only recently met her. She also gets on well with Lucius Malfoy, which may be useful if we need to ensure he is not around when we obtain the amulet."
"Miss Granger, I am no longer your Headmaster, I am dead. You must make your own decisions. But if you wish for an opinion, I think you have made a wise choice for your future confidant, if that young woman is anything like as shrewd as her sister."