Dumbledore started talking before Moody could revert back. "We do not want to catch any undue attention from Tom's spies, which we have to assume are everywhere. For the first Horcrux hunt, I could go collect it from the said place with Hermione's help but she insists on having younger blood for the job. Apparently the oldies are more prone to fall for the defensive temptations of the Horcruxes."
"I have a feeling the Horcrux might detect his power and fight stronger in defence." Granger explained.
"How did one get that kind of a specific feeling?" James wondered.
Dumbledore continued, "Thankfully we can count on Hoarse Slughorn hosting a get together soon enough once the new session starts from Monday. He always invites the previous year's select few in the first one. I'm pretty sure we'll have James and Lilly attending as ex head boy and head girl."
"New links in Auror Office and St Mungo's would be too tempting for him." Moody groaned.
Dumbledore chuckled, "Hermione will already be there to attempt her NEWTs under Ministry appointed invigilators. This ways you all will have a valid excuse to be at Hogwarts late in the evening incase you come across anyone. You all can collect the Diadem and destroy it there itself."
"Are you kidding me? You are sending a bunch of kids with no backup to destroy the soul of one of the most evil wizards ever! How exactly are they supposed to do that?" Mother rose from her seat!
"This should be interesting!" James thought. When his mother got like this, her Black side coming to the forefront, she was scary as hell! And as long as he wasn't at the end of that treatment, it was extreme fun.
"Calm down Dorea," Dumbledore replied patiently. "Firstly, Hermione knows exactly how to destroy the Horcrux. Secondly, do you really think I would send them if I wasn't sure it was safe for them to do so? However if it makes you feel better, they can just collect the Horcrux and we can destroy it over here in the next meeting when we are all together."
"That would be much appreciated thank you." Mother insisted.
"I would rather not store it anywhere near Teddy and I don't think I want to trust anyone keep it with them." Granger interrupted.
"You do not trust us?" Dad raised his eyebrows.
"Who is Teddy?" He heard himself ask.
She ignored him and answered his father.
"I do Mr Potter." She said with a faint blush on her cheeks, probably from being reprimanded. She looked pretty while blushing. She continued, "It is the Horcrux that I do not trust. It has a tendency to bring out the worst in you. Make you believe your worst thoughts." She looked sad and he could see her shiver slightly.
"How DO you know that? How exactly do you have such intimate knowledge of Horcruxes when even the most accomplished wizards and witches haven't even heard of it! There are hardly any books going around with that knowledge." Moody was flabbergasted, like all of them he guessed.
"Well," she sounded sheepish & hesitant, "You could say that I have already come across and destroyed one."
A collective shocked "What" could be heard before Sirius decided to be, well, 'Sirius'. "How many people out there are making Horcruxes? Is it a new fad or something? In which case I would … ," Sirius started.
Granger cut him off immediately, "I would rather not talk about it. Just know that I am well aware of what I'm doing and no Sirius you would not," she almost scolded him. She called him Sirius with such familiarity! She hardly knew him! And yet it felt so… natural.
"And I would never ever deliberately put your children at risk Madam," she met his mothers eyes.
"I'll hold you to that young lady," Mother said in her most stern voice.
"I'll expect nothing less," Granger replied with equal confidence.
"I would prefer we first have the means to destroy the Horcrux ready so that we can immediately destroy it once we get it." She continued.
"So how do we destroy a Horcrux?" Lily asked.
"Burn it with fiendfyre or just stab it in the middle," I would prefer the later, she smiled.
"Just stab it with…. a knife?" He heard Lilly ask apprehensively.
"Not a knife, a Basilisk fang."
"Who WAS this girl?" He couldn't help but wonder, just like probably everyone else in the room, going by the startled expressions on everyone's face.
"Easy enough then. So are you carrying a Basilisk fang in your pocket or do we have to start the search for the most elusive of the creatures in the world?" Moody commented sarcastically.
"I wish I did at present but unfortunately forgot it while packing for this place you see, never thought I'll need it again." She said with a weird kind of a chuckle.
A shiver went across his spine wondering if she was actually joking or….. ?
She continued, "I have however narrowed down the search for it. So as long as you get me a couple of roosters, I'll get you your Basilisk."
"Am I in an alternate fictional world? Are you for real? Where have you been all our lives?" Padfoot spoke with a wonder on his face.
Moody however was even more dumbfounded,"You know where to find a basilisk?"
"It's in the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts."
"There is actually a 'Chamber of Secrets?'" a number of people including him asked out loud in shock.
"Just when I thought it couldn't get any better!" Sirius was ecstatic. "It's like Christmas has come early! How did we ever not know about it? How do you know so much about Hogwarts?" He asked in awe!
"Can't let the Marauders have a monopoly on all the Hogwarts secrets now can we?" she laughed. She looked so lively while laughing. "And I'm Albus Dumbledore's Goddaughter, don't you think it earned me the privilege of roaming around in Hogwarts during the holidays," she smirked.
McGonagall looked at her with a strange expression and seemed to be about to say something when mother beat her to it.
"There is a Basilisk in Hogwarts!" Mother shouted. "And you knowingly let children be there despite that!" Dad put a calming hand on hers. "I'm sure Albus wouldn't knowingly put the children at risk, would you Albus?," Dad rarely spoke at the meetings, preferred to observe, much like him.
"I would not. I only recently came to know after Hermione discovered it. She assures me it can not come out of the chamber as of now."
"As of now?" Mother asked.
"Well who can guarantee the future right?" He winked at Hermione.
She straightened herself and looked down the table. Weird.
"Anyways, so as Hermione mentioned, we just need a couple of Roosters, easy to get, and then just enter the chamber to let them lose. The cry of a rooster is fatal to the basilisk. Once it is dead, we can go collect the fang.
We should take care of it this weekend itself, before the new session starts and the castle is filled with students.
Since the session is yet to start, it's the perfect time, we do not want Tom to be intimated by any of his student spies about people moving around the Chamber area.
I'll ask Charlus and Alastor to accompany Hermione to take care of this task." Dumbledore stated.
"I want to be there too!" He heard himself say along with a simultaneous cry from Sirius, Remus and the Prewett twins!
"You all just want to know about the Chambers location," Lily laughed.
"Let us have these layabouts guarding the entrance just incase something goes wrong and we need to control the basilisk." Moody agreed and he felt elated like the rest of the group.
"We need to ask Prof Sprout to have Mandrakes ready incase things don't go to plan and someone gets petrified. Not a fun experience I assure you," Granger mentioned as if getting petrified was nothing new to her. Who WAS this girl?
"Okay I got to go revise for my NEWT's. I'll catch you guys over the weekend." Granger rose from her seat as if she had just had a casual conversation about tea and biscuits. "How could someone hunting and destroying evil souls be concerned about their exams!" He thought with wonder.
"Do you need any notes? Lilly and I made some good ones for ours. We could drop them over at your place in the evening." Moony spoke up.
"NO!" He could feel her getting immediately embarrassed at the abrupt, almost panicked refusal. "I mean thanks, I really appreciate it but I already made my own notes."
"No problem, send us an owl if you have any doubts." Moony reassured her awkwardly.
Lily added with a smile,"Yeah, please do. And once you are done with the NEWT's, you need to come and join us for a post meeting get together to celebrate it!"
"Thank you," Granger replied but quickly averted her eyes from both of them.
This girl made extra effort to limit her interactions with them. "Weird," he thought as the meeting came to an end after the final logistics of the mission were conveyed.
As he left, he kept thinking about what they were about to face.
"A 'Basilisk' and a 'Horcrux'! Who would have thought these two words would be a part of my vocabulary!" he thought as he apparated home.