(8) The Third Piece

James kept the vials of Liquid Luck in a small safe box at Gringotts. First, he planned a way to get around Lily, Remus, Orion & Sirius without them knowing what he was up to. Once he had left the house alone, he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron & ordered himself the strongest drink they had: 'Dragon's Heat'. It dang near killed him! James ordered a second one. Today was the day. He couldn't believe he had to do what he was planning to do.

Reunite the Deathly Hallows & return them to the original bloodline.

It was a hidden secret he had grown up with. Only one person in the family at a time actually knew the truth. Being an only child, he got stuck with it. His father passed him the Invisibility Cloak. James knew the cloak was old. He knew it had been handed down to the eldest child for generations. But that wasn't it. The real secret, came with the Cloak.

He knew that real Invisibility Cloaks often faded & lost their power after a few years. This one never did. First clue, Sherlock! James shook his head. He knew then that the Cloak was special. He never expected just how special it was. His father had taken him away from home one day to an old cabin up in the mountains. Inside were genealogy charts dating back a thousand years ago as well as family documents & other legal papers. There, his father had explained it all. There, he was told about the Deathly Hallows & how each went to one of three families, all related by blood of the three brothers. There, James was told that no one knew of the cabin unless the Secret Keeper exposed it, such as his father giving it to James. There, his father had told him that anyone who shared any blood with the three founding brothers of the Hallows would be able to find them if they truly needed to use them & sense if one was near. (Anyone else had a hard long search in front of them.)

When James met Dumbledore, he always had a fascination with the old wizard's wand. Now he knew why. James would get that one last. It would be simple enough. Easier then this accursed Resurrection Stone.

Like the Elder Wand, someone had stolen it. James managed to trace its history all the way back through the Gaunt family. It had been fitted onto a ring & handed down through that family. But something had gone wrong.

James took out the first vial, the double-dose, & drank it.

Feeling suddenly giddy like all was well with the world, James decided he would go on vacation.

Really? Now was not a good time for a vacation. Not at all! James soon found himself in Wales later that day, at an inn by the sea. He decided to go swimming. After about ten minutes of floating in the pristine ocean, James noticed a young woman walking along the shore. Her long blonde braid of hair fell to her hips. She was wearing a royal blue bikini & had a green & yellow wrap-around at her waist that went halfway down her legs. James got out as she came by.

"Nice day," James said, hoping Liquid Luck wouldn't make him disrespect Lily at any cost.

"I've seen better," the girl muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah nothing, family issues," She shrugged. "I'm Heidi by the way."

"Oh uh, James," he said. "I'm having my own family issues right now. I'm trying to find something that belongs to some of my ancestors." He didn't know why he did what he did next, but James, being one of few wizards capable of non-verbal & wandless magic, raised his hand, summoning both his wand & his glasses over to him.

"There," Heidi glared. "That's it. Right there. I can do magic. I got it from my father. My mom can't & we had yet another fight about it."

"Oh you're a muggle-born?" James asked.

Heidi shrugged. "I went to the Salem's Private Institute for girls. I just finished my last year there."

"I've heard about that school," James said. "Your mother is still upset about it?"

Heidi huffed. "Yeah, she thinks it's abnormal."

"I guess your parents didn't stay together long then," James wanted to kick himself for prying.

"Not at all," Heidi said. "I'm the product of a night fling really. He tried to get to know me, but Mom doesn't like magic. He soon left."

"What's his name?" James asked.

"I'm not too sure," Heidi shrugged. "Mom just called him 'that Gaunt guy' a few times & that was it."

Liquid Luck indeed! "Gaunt?" James gasped. He said vaguely, "They're like very, very distant cousins of mine."

"Really?" Heidi smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I'm trying to find out more about them actually," James said. "A family heirloom. Some ring. It went missing. I'm trying to find it."

"Well, I looked up what I could about that family while in school," Heidi said. "There's not much but there is an old shack that's still under the Gaunt name."

James couldn't believe it. After getting fully dressed & picking up his belongings on the beach, Heidi took him to a house by the shore about five minute walk from the hotel. She showed him the deed to the shack & told him what little information she had on it. But it was enough. James felt a strong impression to go to that shack so after saying his goodbyes he apparated away.

To the Ministry Of Magic. James wondered why he came here but without further hesitation, he headed straight for the office of Articus Greyson, an old wizard with short grey hair & an excellent curse breaker. Very expensive to hire. Articus just happened to be in a slow period with his job & was eager to come along.

The next time James apparated, with Articus in tow, he finally ended up where he originally wanted to go. The Gaunt shack stood on a cliff above them. The pair followed the stairs carved into the rock, up to the shack.

Articus put a hand on James. "You were very wise to hire me," he said. "It will take a day or two to break in there. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Definitely," James nodded.

Articus spent most of the night working at breaking through the shields around the place. James kept a fire going, cooking up a few fish he had caught from the small river nearby. When Articus finally took a break, the fish were ready. "I'm almost at the door," Articus said between bites.

"I didn't expect you to work all night," James said apologetically. "You can rest you know. We'll get that door open tomorrow."

"Nah it's fine," Articus waved it away. "I've been bored back at the office. Thanks for getting me out. I'll crack the door, then rest."

"Alright," James gave up. He lay back, staring at the sky. Full moon. Damn it, he was missing Moony's time of month. Oh well. He was running out of time. James ran over in his head those two letters he had read a few years ago. Halloween 1981. It was still several months away. James didn't go looking for any of the Hallows earlier than now for the simple fact that they had a habit of disappearing on you almost immediately. Apart from his own Cloak. He didn't want the Hallows to switch allegiance to someone else right at the moment he needed them most. Especially the wand! That was a right royal pain in the a—er uh piece of work. He fell asleep.

"Potter? Mister Potter!"

"Call me Jim," James mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Jim Potter!"

"What?" James moaned, sitting up. Fumbling about for his glasses, he found them above his head, lying on the ground. "Articus? What happened?"

"I've been at it all night," Articus said. "There's an evil in that shack! You don't want to be going in anywhere near it."

"Can we get in?"

"Yes but there's something devilish in there."

"I don't want that," James assured. "I'm merely looking for a family ring. I don't even know if it's in there or not. It's my only shot at it really."

"Oh aye! I found your ring, laddie."

"You did?" James shot to his feet. "Brilliant! Where is it?"

"I thought you told me you didn't want the evil in this shack?"

"I don't."

"Then why are you so keen to get your hands on that dark sorcery?"

James was confused. His father never said that the Deathly Hallows were evil. He knew his cloak wasn't. He doubted Dumbledore, of all people, was a Death Eater. "I don't," James insisted. "I just want the ring. Someone stole it from my family & I want it back."

"Well, you might want to rethink that one," Articus said. "Your ring's been cursed. Don't touch it!"

"What's wrong with it?"

"There's a piece of a soul in it."

"What?" James didn't think he heard right.

"Someone turned it into a Horcrux," Articus launched into a full explanation. James listened with rapt attention. "This is evil incarnate," Articus finished. "Very bad."

"You can't break that curse?" James asked when he was done.

"Not something that evil," Articus shook his head. "At least not right away. I'd have to research it."

James sighed. "Can you leave the band itself & just get the stone off it? I can merely refit the stone into a new one."

Articus thought that over. "I could probably do that. But whatever we do, that ring itself is not to be touched." Articus worked most of the morning, levitating the ring in front of him, trying to force out the great black stone with a picture carved into it of a circle inside a triangle with one vertical line from the top point down to the base through the whole thing.

James suddenly felt like he should go for a walk & followed the river a bit, perhaps to catch some more fish. In the water, he saw a black stone. He picked it up & flicked out his wand, forming a knife at one end. Walking back to the campsite, he carved the same picture into it. He handed it over. "Trick the ring. Put that fake stone in place of the real one."

Amazed, Articus just stared at James for a moment before taking the stone. Using his own wand, he shaped it exactly to look like the other one. "Now to get that one off & this one on before we're both dead."

"I'll cook some more fish," James said, feeling like all was well. He went to catch a few more & began cooking them, using a small pouch of herbs he had in his bag.

When the fish were ready, he put one on a stick & handed it over. Articus handed over the stone. "I got it." James took it in one hand. "The ring's back in that cabin with the fake stone. Some of the shields went back up, but not all. Whoever put that Horcrux in there wanted to be certain it was never destroyed."

"Did you destroy it then?"

"No," Articus shook his head. "I'm not sure what can destroy a Horcrux."

"Well thanks for this," James put the Resurrection Stone into his bag. "It's more important. A gold band can be replaced. But not a family crest."

"No problem," Articus smiled. "I'm glad you took me on this quest. I now have something to do when I get back."

The pair laughed as they finished their fish. James & Articus apparated away soon after, Articus back to his office & James to Diagon Alley for a few more things before heading home.

The moment he landed on his doorstep, James was greeted by a flurry of feathers. He put a hand on the large feathery chest & shoved. "America! Get off!" The Eagle perched on the railing of the front porch & screamed. "OWWW!" James yelped, covering his ears. "Ear rape!" Orion soon appeared, laughing at him. James just glared as he headed inside.

Now came the hard part. Confronting Lily. It was time to let her in on the Marauder's secret.