The Family Name
Sixth Year
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 2
In mid-July, Artemis and Butler traveled to Grimmauld Place again. While they waited for Dumbledore to arrive, Artemis talked to Potter and Hermione. "Did you, by chance, ask Dumbledore about his sister, who the ring mentioned?" Artemis inquired. "Or about whether he knew Grindelwald?"
"Yeah, I asked him about Grindelwald," Potter admitted. "He didn't tell me much, of course."
"Of course."
"He said they lived near each other when he was younger—right after he'd graduated Hogwarts. Grindelwald lived with his aunt for about two months before he moved away again, and they spent some time together. They were both young and smart and wanting to change the world. He said he realized their versions of a new world were incompatible. Obviously. He said Grindelwald hadn't seemed like such a bad sort at first, but maybe he just hadn't wanted to believe it."
"Well, that's more than I thought he'd give you," Artemis mused. "I've been reading everything I can find on the history of Grindelwald, but his early life remains dreadfully obscure."
"And Dumbledore's sister? Was she a Squib?" Hermione asked.
"The evidence is inconclusive."
"Why is that important?" Harry frowned.
"Hmm? Oh, just curious. One thing I've discovered, though. 'For the greater good' was Grindelwald's slogan. It was even carved over Nurmengard, the prison he built for his enemies. Ironically, he ended up there himself."
Dumbledore interrupted them then, so they gathered up Butler and the four of them travelled to a cliff by the sea. At the edge of the rock were a line of niches for footholds. They climbed down these, and lit upon the slippery rocks below. Artemis held himself very carefully.
A few feet below them they could see the cave. They would have to swim to get to it. Artemis grimaced. He would have transformed and flown if he had been alone, but he didn't want to give himself away in front of Potter and Dumbledore.
"You couldn't have warned us to bring a broom?" he complained instead.
"You can swim," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling in amusement.
"I don't like being cold and wet."
"Come on, Fowl!" Potter was grinning, too.
Artemis rolled his eyes. "At least I knew to wear an old robe."
They slid into the water and made their way to the opening in the cliff. The entrance became a dryer tunnel, then a large cave. Artemis immediately cast drying and warming charms on himself and Butler.
"Umm…"
"You need to learn these," Artemis scolded, but cast them on Potter, too, who thanked him a bit sheepishly.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was turning in a circle, examining the walls and ceiling of the cave. "This is the place. It has known magic," he said softly.
Artemis fully intended to ask more questions about the sensing of magic later. For now, he let Dumbledore continue to explore. "This is merely an antechamber. We need to penetrate to the interior," the old man mumbled. "We must go through Voldemort's obstacles." He walked around the cave, running his fingers over the walls.
"Here," he said at last. "The entrance is concealed."
"Did you use Ostendo or Aperio?" Artemis demanded.
Dumbledore smiled at him. "Exibeo," he replied. "Would you like to try?"
Artemis stepped forward immediately and tried the spell. Sure enough, the cave wall wavered before his eyes, not enough to see through, just enough to make him aware this was a portal.
"Harry?" Dumbledore offered, so the Gryffindor tried, too.
"Unfortunately," Dumbledore said then, "it appears that we must 'pay' the door in order to open it. Very crude. The idea, of course, is that your enemy must weaken himself to enter…"
"Blood."
"Correct, Mr. Fowl. However, there are worse things than physical injury, something Voldemort fails to grasp."
"I'd still prefer to avoid it." Harry shook his head.
"Sometimes it is unavoidable." Dumbledore produced a knife and bared his forearm.
"Professor…" Potter started to object, but Dumbledore just smiled and carefully cut himself, dripping blood on the rock, then healing his arm.
Then a blazing silver outline of an arch appeared in the wall, and the rock vanished. They peered through the opening into darkness.
Dumbledore lit his wand. "After me," he instructed.
They lit their own wands. Butler, very practically, had brought a glow-stick. They looked around. They were at the edge of a vast black lake. The farther bank and the ceiling were both too far to see. In the middle of the lake, a greenish light shone out.
"Don't touch the water," Dumbledore cautioned. He led them on a narrow path of rock around the lake.
"We couldn't just try a summoning charm?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Go ahead," said Dumbledore.
"Oh… OK. Accio Horcrux!"
With an explosive noise, something large and pale erupted out of the water and then splashed back down again. Butler very nearly fired at it.
"What was it?" the bodyguard growled. "Some warning would have been nice." Because of course Dumbledore had suspected it was there.
The old man gave Butler a vaguely apologetic look. "I didn't know for certain. They—there will be more than one—are Inferi. But we don't need to worry about them just yet."
Artemis and Butler exchanged annoyed glances. The explanation had been most unhelpful.
"It would be nice to know how to deal with them before they become an issue," Artemis said pointedly. "I presume we will have to cross the lake, as the Horcrux is undoubtedly at the source of the green light."
Dumbledore merely smiled and stopped walking. Potter almost ran into him. "I think I have found the place. Stand back, please." Dumbledore ran his hand through the air, apparently finding something and grasping onto it. He tapped his wand against his raised fist.
A thick green chain materialized from Dumbledore's fist, extending into the water. Then he tapped the chain, which began to slide through his hand, pulling something up from the watery depths. It turned out to be a small boat, also glowing green.
"How did you know that was there?" Harry demanded.
"Magic always leaves traces. And I know Tom Riddle's style. I was one of his teachers."
"So the boat will keep us safe from the Inferi?"
"Until they realize we're not Voldemort," was Dumbledore's not reassuring answer. His eyes slid to Artemis, who he knew was extremely frustrated. "This is how your friends feel when you keep secrets." His eyes twinkled.
"Don't make me curse your lemon drops, Headmaster."
Dumbledore laughed.
But then Artemis finally remembered what he had once read about Inferi. "Fire works against them."
"Yes. Fire. Into the boat, then."
It was a very tight fit, but they managed. The boat moved on its own. Harry peered down into the water. He could see the dead drifting beneath them. He shuddered and looked at Fowl. The other boy didn't seem too pleased, either, which made Harry feel a little better.
Eventually the boat bumped up against a small island of rock in the center of the lake. The light came from a stone basin on top of a pedestal.
They exited the boat, walked over, and looked into the bowl. The basin swirled with a green, glowing liquid.
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure," Dumbledore admitted. He attempted to touch it, but an invisible barrier prevented this. Once again, he raised his wand and muttered over the liquid, while the other three watched closely. "The Horcrux is there," he said at last, "but how to reach it? The potion cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped up, or siphoned away, nor can it be Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made to change its nature. I can only conclude that it is supposed to be drunk." And he conjured up a crystal goblet.
"How can the potion tell that you're going to drink it? If you scoop it up with that goblet, why can't you just pour it away and then scoop out more?" Artemis frowned. "What about absorption or evaporation?"
Dumbledore smiled cheerfully. "It's magic. If you don't drink it, if you just pour it out of the cup, it won't hit the ground. It will reappear in the basin. It would be charmed against evaporation over time as a matter of course."
"You can't change it into a gas?"
"That would be changing its nature. Nor can you simply mop it up with a towel."
"But what will it do to the drinker?" Harry protested. "Kill them?"
"Not immediately. Voldemort would want them kept alive long enough to question who they were, why and how they were here."
"Pain? Incapacitation?" Artemis theorized.
"It must act to prevent me from taking the Horcrux," Dumbledore agreed. "It might be pain; it might paralyze me or cause me to forget what I'm here for. This being the case, Artemis, it will be your job to keep me drinking, no matter what. Even if you must force me."
Artemis frowned. He wondered if Mulch Diggums would be able to drink this with no ill effects. If the choice had been him consuming the potion—but he wouldn't expose the fairies just for Dumbledore. The old man must know what he was doing—he wasn't that big a martyr. "You won't give me detention for it, will you?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Dumbledore's smile didn't fade. "No, I will not."
"Would Professor Snape be able to counter-act this? Should we fetch him here?"
"I will have him care for me when we're done."
"What if we all drank a little?" Harry offered.
"No, no. I could not have my students take that risk. I'm sure I'll be fine in the end, however."
"If I had my chemistry set, I bet I could find some sort of neutralizer. Shouldn't I try first?" Artemis felt a bit concerned despite himself.
"It would still be changing its nature." Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I must drink it."
"You're sure?" Butler asked. "What if I blew it up?"
Dumbledore laughed. "The barrier around it would kick in." He dipped the goblet into the potion and raised it again. "I have your word, Artemis, that you'll keep me drinking?"
"Indeed."
"You'll watch them while I'm out of it, Mr. Butler?"
"Of course."
Dumbledore lifted the goblet to his lips and drank.
"Are you alright?" Harry demanded when the cup was drained. He looked extremely distressed.
Dumbledore's eyes closed. "Hm." He filled the glass and drank again.
"Professor?"
He did not answer. Artemis watched closely as he drank a third glass. He was halfway through the fourth when he staggered and began panting. The cup nearly slipped from his fingers.
Artemis stepped forward. "Headmaster. Keep drinking."
"I don't want to…"
None of them had heard Dumbledore sound frightened before. Harry shifted back and forth, looking between the two adults, as if to see if one of them would stop this.
Artemis raised Dumbledore's hand holding the goblet.
"Don't like… don't make me…"
"You told me to yourself. Go on." He nudged the cup against the man's lips.
"…no…"
Artemis forced the potion into his mouth by tilting the cup. Dumbledore had to swallow or choke. He moaned but finished off the potion.
Artemis took the goblet back to the basin.
"How much is left?" Harry whispered in anguish.
"We're barely halfway," Artemis murmured back. He brought the refilled glass to Dumbledore's lips again and forced it down him.
Dumbledore screamed. Artemis nearly dropped the cup.
"Make it stop… I can't… don't make me…"
Artemis took a deep breath. He knew why Dumbledore had given this task to him. He was the logical one, relentless, ruthless, unemotional. Wasn't he?
He wasn't proving to be. This was affecting him when he hadn't expected it to. He didn't even like Dumbledore; the man was too manipulative, secretive, irritating, arrogant…
But this was still shaking him. He glanced at Butler, who gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
"Right," Artemis muttered, refilled the goblet, and forced Dumbledore to drink again. Albus began to cry. "Potter, say something comforting."
Potter looked like he wanted to cry, as well, but spoke up firmly. "It's alright, Professor. This isn't real, you're safe… you'll be alright…"
Artemis got another cup down the man, who then sank to his knees. "It's my fault. Please make it stop, I know I did wrong…"
Despite himself, Artemis's ears perked up. "Butler, keep him still."
Butler caught hold of the man's flailing arms. Artemis kept tilting cups of liquid down his throat as he rambled nonsensically. "Don't hurt them, it's my fault, hurt me instead…"
"What did you do to cause this guilt I wonder…"
Harry looked at the Slytherin sharply.
"Dead, she's dead…"
"I believe this all goes back to his sister, who I am beginning to suspect, was not a Squib at all. Perhaps Grindelwald was in love with her? No, that's not it…"
"How can you…"
"Because I'm trying not to think about what I'm doing, lest I stop," Artemis snapped, shutting the other boy up.
"How many?" Harry whispered after a silent moment.
"This is serving number nine. I'd say we're 2/3 there."
"Please… please… not that…"
"Drink, Professor, we're nearly there," Harry encouraged.
He drank, but then started screaming again. "Make it stop! I want to die!"
"Silence him, Potter," Artemis ordered.
Harry looked at Fowl. He was wincing as he refilled the goblet again. "You're more human than you let on," Harry said. He drew his wand and pointed it at the Headmaster. "Silencio."
"And you are apparently more ruthless than I gave you credit for. Good for you," Artemis retorted.
"I could drink the last few glassfuls."
"Yet still with the hero complex. No, one patient to worry about is enough. We may need you to fight off Inferi before we're though. I estimate only two cups left, anyway."
One… two… Harry confirmed the basin was empty. Dumbledore, however, gave a great gasp and went limp in Butler's arms.
"Reenervate!" Harry cried. Artemis threw the cup in the basin and came closer as Potter cast the spell once more. "Wake up!"
Dumbledore's eyelids flickered. "That's it…" Harry coaxed.
Artemis's eyes were wide as he crouched next to them. Harry's heart was beating double-time. "Sir?"
Artemis quickly cancelled the silencing spell. "Water…" Dumbledore croaked.
Harry leapt up to seize the goblet. "Aguamenti!" the cup filled with water but by the time he brought it back to Albus, it was empty. "What—?"
"Never mind." Artemis pointed his wand directly at Dumbledore's mouth. "Aguamenti."
Dumbledore's mouth filled with water this time; he swallowed blissfully. "More." Artemis cast several more times, until Dumbledore signaled him to stop.
"Potter, grab the Horcrux, why don't you?"
"Oh!" Harry had quite forgotten about it. He stood up again and lifted the locket from the basin. He waited a moment, but he felt no evil presence, heard no unearthly voices. "Shouldn't there be something menacing happening?"
Artemis sprung up and peered at the locket in Potter's hand. "The S for Slytherin is not present. This is not the Horcrux."
Harry passed it over to Dumbledore, still being supported by Butler, but slowly recovering some strength. He turned back to the basin and plunged his hand in, feeling as well as searching with his eyes. "You said it was here, Professor!"
Dumbledore squinted at the locket he held weakly. Butler reached around and opened it when the older man couldn't quite manage it. A small piece of paper was inside. Butler read it aloud.
"To the Dark Lord, I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once again. Signed, RAB."
Dumbledore laughed without humor. "It appears I was mistaken."
"RAB," Harry repeated, dumbfounded.
"Regulus Arcturus Black," Artemis hypothesized at once.
"I suggest we get out of here," said Butler.
"You need to see Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey right away," Harry told Dumbledore with a determined frown.
Butler helped Albus back into the boat. The boys followed. Artemis had taken possession of the locket and was examining it. The boat began to move.
The water began to churn as the Inferi grew increasingly restless the farther they went. They could see the figures in the shadows of the water, circling ever nearer. Heads and arms rose out of the water abruptly, causing the craft to rock.
"Impedimenta!" Harry yelped, flicking his wand.
"Fire, Potter," Artemis reminded him. "Use the spell from the obstacle course last year."
"Right. Ignus Eternus!"
"Ignus Eternus!" Artemis cast, as well. Dumbledore watched with interest. Would these two talented boys even need his help?
A ring of fire appeared around the boat, in between the humans and the dead. It hovered above the boat's edge, and moved as the boat did.
"Excellent," Dumbledore praised. "Where did you learn that spell? It is highly advanced."
"A very old book." The book he'd gotten from Voldemort, in fact.
The Inferi sank swiftly and obviously unhappily back under the water. They continued to swim near the boat, but not as close as before. Once the craft landed, however, they started to move as if to climb onto the shore. The teens spread the fire wide, and the Inferi gave up in confusion, disappearing down into the depths again.
The group got out of the boat, and left the inner cave chamber.
"What happened to Regulus Black? How would he have known about Horcruxes? How would he have destroyed one?"
"We need to get Dumbledore healed up first," Harry insisted again.
"Hogwarts or Grimmauld Place?"
"Professor Snape is at Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore said. "We must go there."
"Can you Apparate?"
"I brought us a portkey—one time use, for security." He pulled from his pocket an old playing card—the King of Spades, Artemis noted. "It will bring us to the street out front."
They all reached out a hand and placed it on the card. Dumbledore tapped it with his wand and they disappeared. They re-appeared near the front door of Grimmauld Place. Butler and Harry quickly helped Dumbledore inside.
Artemis followed, looking for Snape. He found his professor in the kitchen with a scowl on his face. "He drank a potion," was all Artemis had to say. Snape brushed past him into the living room to scowl at Dumbledore on the couch.
Artemis left them to it and went looking for Sirius. Shouldn't his brother know the story of Regulus better than most?
He knocked on Black's door. "You're back," Sirius observed once the door was opened. "How did it go?"
"That's just it. The locket was a fake." He still had the fake locket and its note, which he showed to Sirius. "Handwriting look familiar?"
"RAB—that's—that's—"
"Regulus, yes? Did you know anything about this?"
"No—how I could I? He was a Death Eater, we weren't exactly in regular communication."
"Yet, he obviously changed his mind."
Sirius sighed. "He was only 16 when he joined. He didn't realize what he was really getting into. Once he found out, it was too late. He tried to leave, but they killed him. I didn't know he was having second thoughts until after his death, though."
"Who were his friends? Maybe he had an accomplice."
"His friends were all Death Eaters. None of them would have helped."
"How would he have learned about Horcruxes?" Artemis tapped his fingers against his lips in thought. Sirius shrugged helplessly. Artemis turned abruptly and rushed down the stairs into the hall. Sirius followed. He caught a glimpse of Dumbledore lying pale and weak on the sofa and abandoned the oblivious Slytherin to check on the man.
Artemis drew aside the curtain covering the portrait of Mrs. Black. They stared each other down, eyes narrowed. "Did you teach your son Regulus about Horcruxes?"
"Are you going to threaten me again if I don't answer?" she snarled at him.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know what a Horcrux is, so the answer is no," she sniffed with a haughty lift of her chin.
Artemis's eyebrow raised. "Then he must have learned from Voldemort himself… how much did Voldemort trust him?"
Mrs. Black drew herself up proudly. "He was held in very high regard. He served the Dark Lord well."
"So perhaps he gave it to him… as he gave Lucius Malfoy the diary…"
Mrs. Black looked fondly nostalgic for a moment. "You said you were in Slytherin with Cissy and Lucius's son. How is he? Is he doing credit to the Black name?"
"Oh, yes. I think Regulus would have quite liked Draco."
"Good, good…"
"Did you ever see Regulus with a locket? It was a gift from the Dark Lord himself."
At this, Mrs. Black actually smiled. "I never saw one, but I'm not surprised the Dark Lord valued him so much as to give him such an honor."
"Indeed. Thank you for your time." Artemis paused. "By the way—if you were to tell us how to unstick your portrait from the wall, I could see you set up in Narcissa's house, where you'd be more appreciated."
Mrs. Black blinked, then scowled. "I should not have to leave my own home!"
"Just think about it," Artemis offered, re-drawing the curtain over the frowning woman.
Artemis (followed by Butler) made his way into the living room, where Potter and Sirius sat suspiciously watching Snape as he attended Dumbledore. He had made the Headmaster drink a few potions of his own, and some color had come back into the old man's cheeks.
"If this last one doesn't work, you'll have to swallow a bezoar," Snape grumbled, trying to hide his worry from his hated audience.
"How's he doing?" Artemis inquired.
"Better…"
"You couldn't have told me first thing that Albus was sick?" Sirius complained. "Asking me about Regulus could have waited."
"Professor Snape had matters well in hand," Artemis replied calmly. "We need to learn if Regulus managed to destroy the locket or if it still remains hidden for us to find and deal with."
"I'll be fine," Dumbledore insisted again.
Artemis watched critically as he drank the potion Snape handed him. His eyes became brighter and his breathing more regular as he finished.
Snape's shoulders relaxed. "Yes, that should do it." The Gryffindors both let out a sigh of relief. Dumbledore gave them a benevolent 'I told you so' sort of smile.
"What's this about Regulus, then?" Severus demanded.
They took turns explaining. "Do you know anything, Professor? Were you friends with him?"
"He was younger than me," Severus said slowly, thinking back. "So we didn't talk that much at school—mostly about how much we both hated his brother, the blood traitor. We saw each other at Death Eater meetings, of course. But after awhile he became increasingly distant, and then he just disappeared."
"Disappeared? You didn't actually see the Nameless One kill him?"
"No. He was sent off on a dangerous mission and never came back."
Artemis's face was intent. "Is that normally how he would execute a traitor? Wouldn't he make a public spectacle of it, for discipline's sake?"
"Normally, yes… though he has sent unruly Death Eaters out to certain death before."
"But not traitors… I think Regulus died there, in the cave. After he retrieved the locket… either the poison or the Inferi killed him."
"Then where's the locket? At the bottom of the lake?"
"He gave it to someone else to destroy. He knew what his fate would be. He said he was dying in his letter. But who?"
"Someone who either couldn't heal the poison or who left him with the Inferi to die," Butler said.
"Do you know anyone he would have turned to amongst the Death Eaters?" Dumbledore asked Severus.
"Perhaps Narcissa would know," he suggested.
Artemis nodded. "I'll ask her." He turned to go, then turned back. "The Weasley twins are taking orders for items that can be used for defense. Between an ex-Marauder, a potions master, the Headmaster, a Muggle bodyguard, a genius, and the Boy Who Lives Dangerously, we ought to be able to come up with something."
Snape sneered, but Dumbledore and Sirius both looked excited. "The Boy Who Lives Dangerously," Potter muttered. "Cute."
Artemis grinned at him.
SSSSSSSSSSSSS
A/N: Obviously the scene in the cave is adapted a bit from the one in Half-Blood Prince.