Hermione beamed as she flew over the training area, determined to get a new record.
"Come on Hermione, we are almost there" Harry said happily as he jumped onto her back. Below them, Ginny, in her Animagus form, rushed along the ground, jumping out of the way of the boulders that shot up from the soil. Albus smiled as he watched them, they had come a long way since their training started, he was proud to see the difference in them. They were all a lot more confident in their forms and were learning new things. He noticed there was something bothering them but chose not to mention it, when the time was right it would be clear. Hermione swooped down through a tunnel, right above Ginny, Harry smiled down at her before he took out his sword. They continued to the other side, Ginny ran through the mountain in front of them while Hermione and Harry flew to the top where there was a spike that went through to the bottom of the mountain. They heard a rumble from inside it and knew Ginny was ready, in a flash, Harry swung his sword and dug it into the top of the spike. Effectively, it shattered the top of the mountain causing an avalanche, Ginny, in her human form, jumped on Hermione before she flew her and Harry to safety. Dumbledore clapped as they landed in front of him, Ginny passed him the amulet that she retrieved from the mountain before the three smiled triumphantly.
"Well I am very impressed, that was three minutes quicker than last time" Albus said, he raised his wand and repaired the top of the mountain for next time, they were truly mastering their forms and he was pleased to help the Golden ones. Their smiles grew when it was time for their break, they ran to where Daniel and Ron were planning and sat down.
"What are you up to?" Hermione asked suspiciously as she looked down at the piece of parchment they were writing on.
"Just a bit of payback to Sirius and Remus for what they did yesterday" Ron said showing the parchment to them. They all laughed at what they saw, Sirius and Remus were definitely not going to see that coming. Ron and Daniel continued to plan and tell them about their thoughts until the break was over and they had to go back to training.
"Now to test your sight as well as your agility, I am going to open this cage and you have to collect the creatures as they run into the forest, these creatures are tricky so don't let your guard down" Albus said before he opened the cage. Harry, Ginny and Hermione prepared to transform as they watched the cage open carefully, after a moment, Harry broke out laughing.
"Garden Gnomes, no disrespect but aren't they a little too easy" he said as he watched the Gnomes walk out of the cage cautiously.
Ginny beamed "aw, they are so cute, hello" she said as she knelt down and picked one up. It looked up at her for a moment before it leaned down and bit her thumb, she winced as she quickly stood up. "It bit me!" she said indignantly which caused Harry to laugh more as she glared at him.
"Enough messing, these things are not going to win" Hermione said, she changed into her Animagus form and flew into the forest.
"I don't see the challenge but fine" Harry said as he and Ginny changed too. They rushed into the forest and looked around the floor, there were about ten of the Garden Gnomes so it wouldn't be too hard to find them.
Harry grinned when he saw one a few feet away from them "got it!" he shouted as he jumped at it, his eyes went wide when it quickly ran through his legs. In his shock, he landed face first into the floor which was covered in leaves and soil. He quickly stood up and cleared his face, Ginny was shaking slightly and making a strange noise as she laughed at him.
"Stupid horse" he mumbled as he passed her, she seemed to roll her eyes as they continued through the forest. Above them, Hermione was watching amused while she looked for the Gnomes. She preferred her eyesight when she was in her eagle form, she squawked when she saw a Gnome and dived into the trees. She grabbed at the Gnome and flew back to the cage before dropping it in. She turned sharply and continued her hunt, shrinking so she could move more easily through the trees.
Ginny blocked off a Gnome as Harry grabbed it and ran back to the cage, so far they had all collected six. It was surprising how fast they were for such small creatures, it was difficult to catch them without hurting them but Harry guessed that was Albus' actual lesson.
They found the last one running through the trees towards a stream, Harry and Ginny smiled. He jumped on her back as she tried to run as fast as she could towards the creature. Within seconds, Harry managed to snap it up and put it in the cage. Hermione flew to them and they all transformed back into their human forms.
"Excellent, I hope you all learned not to underestimate your opponents" Albus said, Harry inwardly grinned, he knew that was going to be the lesson.
"Now, the amulet is in the forest, you are having no clues as to where about, you need to work together and try and find it within the hour, good luck" Albus said smiling at their shocked expressions. Once their time started, they ran into the forest, it must have a whole of acre of trees.
"Harry, you and Hermione check the left half, I will check the right, if anything looks strange then call the other" Ginny said, Harry and Hermione nodded before they all transformed and went their separate ways. Harry jumped onto Hermione's back and looked around carefully as they rose from the ground. Ginny ran through the trees and looked around closely, there had to be something guarding or protecting the amulet otherwise Albus would have thought it was too easy.
After about twenty minutes, Hermione saw something shiny, she lowered and noticed that it must have been the amulet. Harry noticed it and quickly jumped to the floor "Ginny!" he called. A moment later, the fiery hoarse was by his side. He took out his sword in case and walked closer to the amulet. They flew back when something repelled them and hit the trees behind them. Harry shook himself off and walked slowly back to the amulet and held out his hand. He was confused when he felt a barrier, it surrounded the area surrounding the amulet, twelve feet in every direction.
"Dumbledore must have had a reason for this, there has to be some way to pass it or destroy it" Hermione said, transforming back into her human form. Harry nodded, Albus was up to something, the only question was what. He looked closely as he let his hands drift along the shield. There must have been something, what was Albus thinking.
"Harry look out!" said Hermione urgently, Harry looked behind him and saw Ginny charging at the barrier, he quickly jumped out of the way and winced when he saw her hit the invisible wall. She transformed back to her human form and felt the bump on her head.
"Ok, that was a terrible idea" she said as she rubbed her head, she stood up and saw the concerned look on her friend's faces. "I'm fine, we need to find out how to get through though" she said turning back to the barrier. Hermione studied the area, they still had half their time but if Ginny couldn't pass through it then she couldn't understand how they would get the amulet. She changed back into her eagle form and tried to peck her way through but it didn't work. Harry raised his sword and tried to smash it but he was just thrown back. Ginny changed back into her horse form and looked carefully before something began to build up in her. She was confused when she felt a slight burning in her throat, this had never happened before. Her mouth was forced open as what looked like flames were fired towards the shield. Harry and Hermione stared at her, shocked as they saw the flames. After a moment, it seemed to move on it's own, surrounding the barrier before it closed in and passed through. When the fire was a foot away from the amulet, Ginny stopped and the barrier seemed to have vanished, she changed back into her human form and rubbed her throat.
"Well that was strange" she said but wasn't complaining, it was cool but now wasn't the time to think about it, they needed to take the amulet back to Albus. Harry picked it up and climbed onto Hermione's back once she transformed. They rushed back to Albus and gave it to him, wondering why he looked more pleased than usual. "I see you have found more of your talent" he said to Ginny. She nodded, he knew about the Golden ones so he must of known that they had more powers. Harry and Hermione wondered what other powers there were but shrugged it off, they would find out soon enough.
MMMA-}
Albus had brought the children home, and sent Daniel and Ron off to find something to do, while he talked with the Golden Ones and the adults.
Daniel and ron went to their room, to do more planning. Trying to make sure that their plan was fool proof. They knew how hard it was to pull one over on the Marauders. They thought about how, if they saw through a obvious prank, they may fall to a hidden prank. That was what they were working on.
In the kitchen, Albus was telling the assembled group about what he knew of Horcruxes. How they were conceived, protective spells, and how to destroy them. This was an important issue, and was making it a point to look at ginny as he was saying this. She wondered why he was singling out herself? Then she thought about her knew flame throwing ability. "Professor, you say Fiend fire can destroy a Horcrux, and you kept looking at me as if you were trying tom push the point across for me to get it. Is my new flame throwing ability, Fiend fire?"
"Very good Ginny, I was hoping you would make the connection. Yes, indeed, it is Fiend fire, and you seem to have excellent control of it. That was what that last problem was all about. You learning of this new ability. You had to become aware of it, prior to starting what I intend on doing. Now, What I suggest we do, is to pair up, and go Horcrux hunting. Harry, you and Lily will be one pair. Ginny, you and Remus will be another. And finally, Hermione, you and Sirius will be the final pair. You will go out, one pair at a time. If my calculations are correct, there are six Horcruxes, five of which, you will be going after, before school starts. One of these, is a living creature. What you have to learn first, is how to detect a Dark magical item. Hermione, if you would, please change into your smallest form."
Hermione changed into her Eagle Animagus form, and shrunk down into her smallest form. She looked up at the Professor, and waited for him to procede.
Albus then asked her to concentrate on what he was saying. "Hermione, what I want you to do, is look at this ring." He produced a ring of gold with a large stone on it. "Now, what I want you to do is concentrate on this ring as a dark object. If it is indeed a dark object, it will have a black sort of mist surrounding it. Now please, if you will."
Hermione looked closely at the ring, and tried to see it as a dark object. She tried harder, and finally saw a mist around it, but it wasn't black, just a grey color. She changed back, and told Albus what she saw, with a look of failure on her face. Where as Albus had a look of glee on his. "What you saw, Hermione, was exactly what it was. It is my family ring, and is gray, because it was made with magic that fringes on the Dark Arts, but are not quite considered dark. That is why the Gray mist. Excellent perception Hermione, excellent."
Hermione was relieved at this, for she thought she let the Professor down. "Professor, how many different colors are there to these mists, and how do you tell them apart, what are dark and neutral, and good?"
"Good question Hermione, now let us think for a minute, If an object is dark, they would give of shades that would absorb light, like black, gray and brown. If it was neutral it would absorb light, but would slightly brighten in color, like a red, blue or violet. If it was a light spell, it would reflect it, and shine brightly, like a gold, white or yellow. Does this make any sense to you all?"
It did for all of them.
"Good, as this needs to be clear, when you go hunting. If you see several objects that are dark, the Horcrux will be the darkest of them all, because a person has to be killed in order to form a Horcrux. This has to killed solely for the purpose to make a horcrux, not just some one who died because of a violent act against him or her. He or she, is part of a ritual that is performed to break apart the casters soul, and capture the piece that broke off,and capture it in an object selected for the ritual. In the past, people used ordinary objects to use as a Horcrux, but they were to easily discarded because of their mundane form. You see, wizards discard of their waste, using Fiend fire. Voldemort felt that he needed to find historical treasures to store his pieces of soul, thinking no one would want to destroy items that once belonged to the Founders."
"Ginny, I would like you and Remus to go first to get a Horcrux. I know where it is, but we can not retrieve it. It is in Bellatrix LeStrange's vault in Gringotts. The Director has told me of a dark object in her vault, but can not go in, and there fore do not know what it is. I have a list of objects that it could be, and it is a short list. Gryfinndor's Sword, Slytherin's Locket, Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Hufflepuff's Cup, and Ravenclaw's Diadem. Any, or all of them could be a Horcrux. When you go to the vault, look for one of these items, and destroy it with your Fiend fire.. NOw, I want every one to get a good night sleep, and the hunt will begin tomorrow. Lily, would you mind me staying her this evening?"
"Of course not Albus, you have done so much, I could never turn down your request for something so trivial."
"Thank you my dear, and if you don't mind, I will have these young ones guide me to my room, so that I might retire for the evening."
Harry, Ginny, and Hermione also said good evening, as they had a rough day. Soon, Lily was sitting alone, telling every one that she had some reading to do, before retiring. Actually, what Lily wanted to do, was talk with James, as since her and Remus got married, James had seldom made his presence known. 'James, are you there, my beloved?'
'Yes, Lils, I'm here.'
'Why are you avoiding me, have I done or said something to upset you?'
"No, sweetheart, you have done nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, you have done everything right. I have remained in the background, to let yours and Remus' relationship to blossom. It would not do, for me to pop up when you are trying to be intimate. Are you unhappy with your relationship with Remus? I don't sense anything like that from you."
"Oh no, I love Remus, I truly do. It's just that I miss the conversations we used to have. Is that wrtong. Remus iunderstands that you are still there, and even encourages me to my little talks with you. It is weird, we have been married a little over a year, and I remember our wedding day, as if it happened yesterday. It was perfect, and I could feel you in my mind, cheering like a little kid, Go Remus, Go Remus, you kept saying. I almost wanted to laugh. But it felt wrong for my husband cheering on the person I was marrying, that wasn't you. Does that sound bad? I want to love him as much as I do you, but you were always my first love. My deepest love. Please tell me I did the right thing?"
"Lily, you had to do this, to continue to live. Remus is the right person for you. I will always love you, but I can not give you what you need all the time. I can not give you a hug when you need it. I can not give you a kiss when you need it, I also can not give you a shag when you need it, although I wish I could. The reason I stay hidden is because I knew you would feel like this. The reason I stay, is because I knew you would need me in times like this. However, I can not stay forever. I must move on, but I would like to be with you until Harry goes to school. I would also like to see you and Remus have children. And Sirius and Alicia have children.'
'I would like that too my love, as I think Remus would be a good father. Thankyou for listening James, and now, I think I will go to bed, and try to coerce Remus in trying for a daughter. How do you feel about that?'
'BRILLIANT'