Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft
"And that's pretty much it. I think that it kind of ironic that Riddle chose to let the Ministry guard his Horcrux while he was plotting to overthrow the Ministry." Harry had filled everyone in on finding Ravenclaw's wand with the Horcrux in the Ministry tour.
"Well, couldn't you go ahead and call it to the Room of Requirement the same way that you did Hufflepuff's cup?" This from Lupin. "After all, it would save a lot of problems if it could just be wished here"
"No time like the present to find out." Harry stood up and the rest of his friends followed suit. "By the way, has anyone seen Neville lately? I don't think that I have seen him twice since I got here."
"Neville and his grandmother have been staying at Order Headquarters since it has been re-secured. He is working with Shacklebolt on his part of the plan." McGonagall looked pointedly at Harry. "We always had problems with the Death Eaters and Voldemort breaking out of custody. Neville came up with something that could prevent that."
They arrived in the corridor on the seventh floor. Harry and the others did the same procedure as the last time, only substituting Ravenclaw's wand for Hufflepuff's cup. The door appeared, and they stepped through. There on a small platform was a wand, although it was not the wand that Harry and Dudley had seen at the Ministry. This wand had been broken in three pieces and was not much more than a collection of splinters. Harry gawked, but Hermione had a smug look on her face.
"Its obvious what happened, Harry. The wand in the Ministry never belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. The same thing happened with the Muggle Catholic and Orthodox churches, starting in the early years of the churches. They venerated certain relics of the saints. If you looked at all of the collections in churches and cathedrals, not to mention private collections blessed by Rome, you could find enough bones to make seven or eight complete skeletons of each Apostle. And there are enough 'slivers of the True Cross' to rebuild Noah's Ark. What actually happened to the real relics has been lost to history since no one ever thinks to grab the souvenirs at the time, they don't consider them important."
"The cross is a good example. The Christian God, Y'shua, or as we know him, Jesus, was crucified on a criminal's cross, then taken off the cross and buried. His disciples fled the area and hid until history tells us that he was resurrected. They were not out carving up the instrument of execution in order to have things to venerate, this would be a very non-jewish thing to do, somewhat on the order of making an idol. The Romans probably reused the cross several more times, since it was surely made out of good, solid hardwood. Meanwhile, the Christians had their resurrected rabbi and did not need reminders. Their sacraments were the only reminder they needed when he left the second time. As for the bones of saints, the Roman church changed some policies making it a virtue to go on pilgrimages to see these relics, allowing their faithful to lessen time in Purgatory for themselves and their loved ones by helping support these collections. It was a visible sign of faith. The problem with this was that they really did not have true relics. This is where free enterprise stepped in and provided what the church and people wanted. As long as it was blessed by the church, they figured that no harm was done."
"The same thing with Ravenclaw's wand. The wizarding world is hungry for relics of our ancestors. Whenever there is a market, a supplier will step in to provide for that market. The original wand was lost, so someone who knew that probably stepped in with a replacement and passed it off. If the person who had it had died, there would be no one that could say that this was not her wand. Then it got passed down from family member to family member until the Ministry took possession of it. By then, it was accepted by all as the real thing."
"So what you're saying is that Voldemort got duped?" Ron asked.
"Exactly. And so did everyone else. You couldn't call up the wand from the Ministry since what you specifically asked for was 'Ravenclaw's Wand'. The real one is right here."
McGonagall went forward and put the pieces of the wand into a small kerchief. "I will put the real Ravenclaw Wand into the Hogwarts vaults. It should not be lost to history again. It also has a stronger tie to the school than it does to the Ministry."
"Well, this is all well and good, but what do we do now?" Harry asked.
Hermione answered. "Why don't you just go out of the room and then try to do the same summoning, this time asking for the wand at the Ministry with Voldemort's Horcrux inside?"
They left the room and did as Hermione suggested. The wall stayed blank. "Somehow I didn't think that it would be quite that easy." Hermione said. I believe that the castle will not allow in an object that it knows to be evil in this way. Either that, or there are spells on the actual wand that would prevent it from being taken. That would make sense if they believed it to be the real thing."
"So it looks like we will have to stage a raid at the Ministry itself." Ron said.
" I don't know if it will have to be an actual raid," said McGonagall. " Since the Ministry has been cooperating, we may be able to handle it differently. I believe that Mr. Moody and I can make a deal that would be beneficial for all involved. I do have to know though, have you figured out a way to separate the Horcruxes and destroy the parts of the soul?"
"I believe that I have that figured out. I think that I can do it on the objects without destroying them, but I am not sure if a living Horcrux like Nagini would survive. I'm not sure how I feel about that, I don't believe that she is actually evil herself."
"Excellent! If you can do that, then I can offer them Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Cup for their collections."
"Don't forget the damaged ring that Marvolo Gaunt had which belonged to Slytherin."
McGonagall started. "I had forgotten about that. They might start a new collection of the 'Destroyed Horcruxes of Voldemort' after you defeat him."
"I seriously doubt that," Harry said. "Most people don't even know that Horcruxes exist, and I don't believe that the Ministry would want to let that particular cat out of the bag."
"You're probably right. Well, I can at least offer them the artifacts. Moody, let's go make a deal with the devil. We will be back as soon as possible." With that, McGonagall and Moody left to travel to the Ministry.
The next morning
"That was singularly unsatisfying"
The battle team was gathered in McGonagall's office to learn what she had achieved at the Ministry. "The good news is that they accepted that the wand was a horcrux. The bad news is that they still will not allow it to leave the Ministry. The Minister told me that if you could neutralise the Horcrux at the Ministry, he would allow it."
"That may be for the best, Professor. If we have Ministry cooperation, then we can have plenty of protection while I go about destroying the Horcruxes. We can do all of them at the same time."
"I will arrange it then. Be ready to leave at a moments notice." Minerva tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace, said, "Ministry of Magic" and stepped inside.
Harry looked at Dumbledore's portrait. It was still sleeping.