Chapter 14

It was obvious that the Gaunt house had been filthy even before the cobwebs, layers of dust, and rotting leaves blown in from the broken windows had taken over. Dirty dishes had been left piled in the sink, on the small wooden table, and on every counter space in the kitchen. There were more in what once had been a living room, scattered across tabletops and left on the floor. The food that had been left on the dishes had shriveled and hardened and was covered with mold. Brown-colored stuffing protruded from worn areas and tears in the couch and chairs, the colors of the furniture no longer decipherable. Rats, mice, and larger animals had made nests and left droppings among shredded paper and old clothing.

From the control room, Charles scanned the area, seeking wards that might protect a horcrux. Finding nothing in the kitchen or living room, he moved the trunk upstairs into one of the bedrooms. "Oh, that's nasty," he said.

"Yeah, it is," Harry agreed. "Aunt Petunia would have a heart attack if she saw this place."

His grandfather chuckled. "I don't mean the room, Harry. I'm talking about the wards. There are some nasty spells on the drawer of that bedside table. There's one that, if you opened the drawer, would destroy the tissues in the hand that opened it. The skin would turn black, the muscles would atrophy, and the bones would shrivel. It would eventually spread up the arm and to the rest of your body."

"Can you take the wards down?"

"I'm trying," he said, twisting knobs and pushing buttons. "I'm going to try to open the drawer and see what happens."

Harry watched the monitor while his grandfather continued to work at the control panel. After a moment, the drawer began to slowly open. A burst of orange light shot out of the drawer, turned into a mist that hung in the air for a moment, and then slowly dissolved.

"What was that, Granddad?"

"That was a little curse that was preventing me from taking down the wards. If I'd breathed in that mist, my lungs would have turned to stone."

Harry shivered. "Did you get rid of the curse that would turn your hand black?"

"No, I bypassed it. It's still there. I'm taking down the wards now so I can remove whatever is in the drawer."

"Are you sure it's a horcrux?"

"Yes. The scan revealed that there is definitely a soul piece in there."

"Should I go get Professor Dumbledore?"

"No, let's wait until I get it out. I need to concentrate, and he puts me a bit on edge when he stands over my shoulder watching and commenting."

"Do I put you on edge, Granddad?"

Charley smiled. "No, actually. Your presence has a calming affect."

"Is that why you asked Sirius and Remus to keep him occupied?"

Charley chuckled. "You don't miss a thing, do you? Ah, here we go."

Harry watched as a heavy gold ring floated out of the drawer and over to the bed where it dropped on the filthy mattress.

"Now, for the hard part. Harry, there's a little switch hidden behind this panel that I didn't mention in the book. When I flip the switch, it's going to perform an unforgivable curse. I want you to realize how serious this is. I have to kill the soul piece with the Avada Kedavra curse. You know, of course, that this curse is against the law and carries a life sentence in Azkaban."

Harry nodded. "Yes, Sir. I know."

"It's much easier to sit safely inside this room and flip a switch than it is to stand in front of a person and use your wand, but the results are the same. If you use this curse, someone or something is going to die. I want you to think long and hard before you ever use that hidden switch, Harry. Will you promise me that?"

"Yes, Sir. I promise."

Charles nodded. "All right. Now, you can go get Albus."

Harry left the control room and found Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, and Dobby sitting at the kitchen table eating biscuits and drinking tea. "Professor, Granddad asked me to come get you," Harry said.

"Ah, good," Albus said, standing up and following Harry out of the kitchen. "He's found a horcrux, then?"

"Yes, sir. It's the ring."

"Excellent! Excellent! Let's take a look at it, then."

Charles had waited until Harry was out of the room before flipping the switch that would perform the Avada Kedavra curse. It wasn't that his grandson didn't know that he was performing the unforgivable, but that, even though it was necessary, he didn't want to do it in his presence.

When Harry returned with the others, he zoomed in on the ring so that everyone could take a closer look. "Should we bring it in or leave it there?" he asked Albus.

After a long discussion, it was decided to put the ring back in the drawer and reset the wards. No one knew if Voldemort ever checked the safety of his soul pieces, but if he did, it would appear as if it were still intact. Only a thorough examination would reveal that the ring was no longer a horcrux.

When the ordeal was over, the group gathered in the library for a celebratory glass of wine. Even Harry was allowed a glass. After congratulating themselves for a job well done, they retired for the evening.

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Gregory and Vincent, with their mothers and sisters, had also visited their fathers the previous day. Unlike Lucius, Misters Crabbe and Goyle were not as eager to have their sons become Death Eaters at 16, especially after hearing that the Dark Lord had threatened the lives of the parents if their sons had failed at whatever task he was planning to assign them. They were both relieved that their wives and children were safely tucked away from Voldemort's wrath. And though they weren't happy about being locked up, they were glad to be away from Azkaban and the possibility that other Death Eaters might enter the prison to make examples of them.

Like the morning before, the Goyle and Crabbe families had breakfast on a picnic table beside the lake. This time, however, the Malfoys joined them.

Narcissa had perked up a bit since her visit with her husband. She no longer sat alone in her tent, talking with no one but her son. The evening before, she had accompanied Hazel Crabbe and Margaret Goyle through the woods to the beach. They had walked along the shore talking about trivial things while their children splashed in the ocean. That evening, they had spread blankets on the beach and eaten their dinner there. At one point, she had actually laughed.

Little by little, the coldness that had been so much a part of Narcissa since her marriage to Lucius had begun to melt and flow out with the tide. Hearing her son berate his father for the choices he had made had opened her eyes to the kind of man her son was becoming. She had never been prouder of him. His refusal to accept the dark mark and become a part of the thing that had disgraced her husband and the Malfoy name had given her hope. Watching her proud husband cower before that sadistic monster had been humiliating for Narcissa. She had lost all respect for the man she had married, and as a result, respect for herself. Now, she was proud again, proud to be a Black and to have a son who was more Black than Malfoy—a son who would redeem the Malfoy name.

After breakfast, Hazel and Margaret persuaded her to join them on the island to ride the carousel with their daughters. Draco said that he would ride with her across the lake and join her on the carousel if she would agree. "It'll be like old times, Mum," he said. "When I was a little boy and you would ride beside me."

If Draco was going to do it, so were Vincent and Gregory. And that is how Harry, Sirius, and Remus found them that morning when they entered the second Room of Requirement, which they had begun to refer to as The Safe Haven.

Draco watched from his seat on a wooden dragon as the three newcomers made their way to the island in paddleboats. When they arrived, they jumped on the moving carousel and selected their own animals. Pure Potter, of course, chose to ride a Phoenix. Lupin had hopped on a Griffin and Draco's cousin, Sirius Black who, until that moment, he thought was dead, had selected a hippogriff. Potter's phoenix was situated between the two young girls.

"Are you Harry Potter?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "What's your name?"

"Gwendolyn Goyle," she answered.

"That's quite a mouthful. May I call you Gwen?"

The little girl nodded, and Harry turned to her companion. "And what's your name?" he asked.

"Angela Crabbe."

"That's a pretty name," he said. "May I call you Angie?"

She nodded, giggling.

Leave it to Potter to have girls goggling over him, even the young ones.

"Hey, Potter!" Draco called. "What are you doing here?"

Harry turned so that he was facing Draco, riding backwards on his phoenix. "I'm here to visit you, Draco," he said pleasantly.

"Thanks for ruining my day," Draco said.

"I'm not here to ruin your day. I wondered if you, Greg, and Vince wanted to join us in a game."

"What kind of game?"

"It's a war game. We divide into two groups, hide in the woods, and shoot balls of paint at each other with special wands."

"And you figured you, Lupin, and Black would be one team against Greg, Vince, and me?"

"Actually, I was hoping that you, Vince, and me could play against Sirius, Remus, and Greg."

Draco shrugged. "That could work." He turned his attention to Sirius who was just ahead of Potter. "Hey, Black!" he called.

Sirius turned his head to look at him.

"You're supposed to be dead."

"I was," Sirius said.

Draco waited for an explanation, but it didn't come. Curiosity got the best of him. "So, what happened?" he asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I got better."

Draco snorted, and his mother gave him a glare. "Sorry," he said, still grinning. To his surprise, his mother laughed quietly.

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"All right," Sirius said, conjuring 8 colorful wands. "This is a game we played at the auror academy. We used to call it DASH, which is an acronym for dodge, aim, shield, and hide. Those are the 4 most important things you can do in a battle. Dodge and shield are defensive actions; aim and hide or offensive."

Draco looked skeptical. "How is hiding an offensive action?" he asked.

"Because it allows you to execute a surprise attack," Sirius said. "If your opponent is good at deflecting spells, your only options are to get in a lucky shot or surprise him. This game helps aurors to practice and perfect those skills." He divided the wands into two groups.

"Angela," he said, handing her a gold-colored wand. "You are the queen of the Blue group, so you get the gold wand. Greg, you get the green; Harry the red; and Draco the silver."

He turned to his own group. "Now, for our team. Gwen, as queen of the Red team, I present to you your golden wand," he said, bowing. She giggled. "Vince gets the green; and since silver is not your favorite color, Moony," he said, grinning. "You get the red, which leaves me the silver."

Draco snickered and Remus threw Sirius a wry look.

"Now, the person who got the silver wand is the leader of your group." He looked down at his own wand. "Oh, look, Moony! I got the silver wand for our group!"

"How surprising," Remus said.

"Anyway, the wands on our team shoot red paint, and your wands shoot blue paint. All you have to do is aim and say 'fire.' Any questions?"

"What are the rules of the game?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I suppose that might be good to know." Sirius said. "The object of the game is to either kill or capture your opponents. A kill would be a shot to the head or heart. If you get shot there, you're dead, which means you're out of the game. If you get shot anywhere else, you're injured. It takes three injuries to put you out of commission. An injured person can still fire, but they can't move around as easily. If you get shot in your right arm, you have to wield the wand with your left. If you get shot in the leg, stomach, or back, you can fire, but you can't walk around. If you just get grazed or nicked, you can continue as if nothing happened. Oh, should you capture someone, their team can attempt a rescue, so you'll need to guard your prisoners. The game ends when one team kills or captures all the members of the other tea or at lunchtime, whichever comes first. Anything else?"

"Can we use our own wands?" Draco asked.

"Not to attack the other team, but you can and should use it for other purposes. In fact, you can use anything you can find in the woods."

"What if you don't have a wand?" Angela asked.

"Then you, Your Majesty, will have your soldiers use theirs for you."

She giggled.

"All right. Let's separate, plan, and get started. No attacks for half an hour. Understood?"

Everyone did, so the two groups went their separate ways to plan.