DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$ from this…
A/N: Okay - here's my thinking from here to the end of book one: (not necessarily in order)
This Chapter. And then…
Defeating the Resurrection Ritual - (mentioned)
The expansion of the Weekend Warriors - (mentioned)
Sirius gets married - major bit as it explains why Sophie is trusted.
Luna's Mum - major bit.
Neville's parents - major bit.
Summer 1990 - (Mentioned)
Arcturus Black again - major bit.
Summer 1991 - major bit.
And, the final run up to Hogwarts - major bit.
Major bits will be chapters or significant parts of chapters. Mentioned will be 1000 words or less, I hope.
Enjoy as now the fun begins…
P.S. - HOGWART is BOOK II (the sequel) This is entirely pre-Hogwarts. Sorry.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: THE FIRST MISSION
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, 1989 - OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE OF LITTLE HANGLETON, U.K.
High over the English countryside an eagle was in flight circling over the landscape in an ever larger circle as if it was looking for something. The bird of prey had terrorized the local birds and smaller animals who had all scurried for the safety of the trees and burrows as the raptor scouted the ground below it. Oddly, the Eagle did not seem interested in finding a meal, but it was certainly searching for something. It suddenly stopped circling and turned, flying at great speed towards a small wood and descending as if to land.
Hermione sat on a folding chair in front of one of two small tents located in some woods in rural Yorkshire, England sipping a cup of tea. It was early in the morning and she and Harry had been the first to awake. This was not her first camping trip by a long shot. Both her parents loved camping almost as much as they loved traveling and they usually went camping at least once a year. Since Harry and Clarice had joined the family, they too had been on a couple of camping trips. But this was not like any camping trip Hermione had ever been on before.
For one thing her parents were not with them this time. Their adult supervision was Sirius Black who had admitted he had never been camping before. Neither had one of the two others in their party. This was Neville's first camping experience as well. Luna had spent months and months in tents before as her Dad was a self proclaimed naturalist and traveled to remote place all over the world in search of new magical creatures. Luna had been camping even as a baby. She was up now cooking breakfast.
Another thing that was very different were the two small tents at their secluded campsite. They had borrowed the tents from Luna's father so naturally they were magical. Hermione understood that intellectually, but she was stunned by what they really were. They had arrived at this site the night before and spent about half an hour pitching camp. The boys were sharing one of the tents and she, Clarice and Luna the other. From the outside, it looked like it would be a snug fit to say the least.
The insides, though, came as a surprise. Luna had described these tents as "pretty basic." If one called a three bedroom flat with a large living area, a dining area, a full bath and fully equipped kitchen "pretty basic," Hermione wondered what a high end magical tent was like. Even after all this time, magic could still be amazing.
Still, this whole escapade was not something Hermione would have thought prudent. This was not a holiday or a safari to seek out new magical creatures. This was an actual mission, one which she felt was hastily arranged and ill planned. They did not really know what they were looking for! It was all that bloody Sensei's fault.
The same day as their meeting with MI-5 and the teachers from magical schools all over Britain, Sensei had decided to grace them with his presence. The old codger was fun to be around most times. He told the most amazing stories about his life. As much as Hermione enjoyed the stories, she felt they were never placed in any kind of context such that she could see how it fit into his timeline and their's for that matter. Still, she enjoyed his visits - usually.
That one after the MI-5 meeting was different.
Sensei had not really explained much about his timeline since the kids had left for their first summer in Japan. It was not yet necessary. For now, it was more important for them to learn as much as they could. Still, he would tell them stories. These were stories of things that probably would not come to pass based upon the changes in Harry and Hermione's life that had already occurred. He told them of how he came to learn he was a wizard and of his first trip into the wizarding world with a giant of a man named Rubeus Hagrid. He told them of the first time he met Hermione and some of the adventures they had together over time. But he had never told them any of the details about his dealings with one Voldemort, aside from the day that Harry and Clarice's parents were murdered. But it was only after that fateful day he told them the truth about his life. He had never lied to them, just held back on some major details. This was their first real mission to change the total future and she knew that now.
What he had told them was infuriating to Hermione. It had taken them weeks just to find out where this village of Little Hangleton was. It could have been anywhere in the British Isles, but at least Sensei was right, it was in England proper as opposed to Wales, Scotland or Ireland. The problem was it wasn't on any of the usual road maps. Apparently, either the cartographers had missed it or it was so insignificant that they didn't bother to include it. It was only because Great Hangleton was on some older maps and Sensei had mentioned a memory of a sign indicating that the two were six miles apart along the same country lane that they felt they had the right location. Harry was now out doing the initial reconnaissance. He was looking for a small village in a valley with a large, abandoned Manor House on a ridge overlooking the village and a shack somewhere nearby on the opposite side of the valley.
It had taken the lot of them two weeks to get this much information. Neville came across the old maps at his home buried somewhere in the Longbottom library only a few days ago and now they were here in a wood. It seemed ill planned in Hermione's opinion. She wanted more information before they charged off into the wilderness but the others had overruled her. Luna thought it was a lovely idea - a camping trip - even if they found nothing. Neville loved it too. He wanted some adventure in life, even if it was futile. Harry just wanted to get this horcurx hunt over with and Sirius would take any excuse to get out and have fun with his kids as he saw them. Am I the only rational one here? Hermione thought to herself. She had to admit, though, it was fun so far. They had cooked out last night and stayed up making up stories and singing songs together. Still, she knew how important this was and still wished they had planned it better before venturing into the unknown.
They had arrived the night before by blind apparition. Sirius had used side along apparition to transport Luna and Neville. They knew how to shift, but you could not shift into the unknown. Apparition allowed that possibility, even with the risks and range limitations. After setting up camp and having a meal and some fun together, they had retired for the evening to get ready for today and the days that followed.
Hermione frowned as she thought about how much this "mission" had been expanded. This was not just about getting a horcrux. Harry wanted to eliminate the possibility of the resurrection ritual as well. Three of them knew about that ritual and had learned about it in N.E.W.T. level Ritual Magic. A key component was a bone from a dead male ancestor. Sensei's vague description of the site suggested the Riddles had a private family graveyard. Harry had suggested they rob it, steal the potentially useful bones and destroy them thus denying Voldemort that ritual. It would not prevent Voldemort from returning, but it would deny him any reason to kidnap Harry for that purpose as the other methods did not require the blood of an enemy. Hermione found the whole thing morbid in the extreme, but try as she might she could not deny the logic. In addition to eliminating the kidnap plot that had occurred in Sensei's timeline, this might just delay Voldemort's return for a time - time which they could use to prepare a "warm" greeting for Tommy Boy and his minions - as Harry had taken to calling them.
Still, they could not even be sure if they were anywhere near the objective. This might be a total waste of time. Even then, they had been warned by Sensei that the target was protected by curses of some sort, but not exactly what they were or where they were. Too many variables, Hermione thought and was thinking as an eagle landed near her. She watch as the magnificent bird transformed into her best friend.
"You've been gone a while," Hermione said to her eagle friend.
"Sorry," Harry replied sheepishly, "got side tracked."
Hermione raised an accusing eyebrow.
"Salmon were running in the river," Harry said.
"You didn't!"
Harry shrugged.
"Salmon?" another voice asked. "Where? Leave any for me?"
Hermione saw that Clarice was awake.
"Four miles south southwest by a large lone oak along the riverbank," Harry replied. "Ate one and left one in the grass. If you hurry…"
Hermione looked at Clarice and instead saw a raven who took flight immediately speeding off into the distance.
"Harry!" Hermione said in an accusing tone.
"Just 'cause you have yet to embrace all of your form's natural abilities, don't get all high and mighty on us," Harry said. "I am a predatory bird and Clarice is a carrion eater. I kill them, she eats them, or at least my leftovers."
"It's just so disgusting," Hermione started.
"You're a house cat! You've read up on them! They eat almost anything they can catch. They are the most predatory of all cats really. The others tend to be more specialized. Only Clarice the Raven has a less discriminating palate. All a raven cares about is that it's dead."
"Still…"
"You never really tried to be the cat, have you?"
"I have!"
"There's more to being a cat than jumping up on laps, getting petted and purring. Try being the predator…"
Harry did not finish as Hermione resigned herself to a losing argument and had transformed into Miss Kitty and sprinted off into the underbrush. Harry was not certain she would fully embrace her predatory instincts, but it was a start. He left for the "boys" tent to sketch out what he had seen that did not involve salmon.
The tent flap opened sometime later just as Harry finished his crude map. He saw the young blonde girl standing in the entry.
"Hey Luna," he said.
"Breakfast is ready," she replied. "Where are the others?"
"Well, Raven is off for my leftovers by a river," Harry said. "And Miss Kitty took off into the woods for who knows what…"
"Oh," Luna sighed, "I can't wait to find out what my common form is. It seems so cool! And the others?"
"As far as I know, they are not up yet."
"Well, we'll just see about that," Luna said severely. "It's well after the dawn, you know."
Harry nodded in agreement and looked over his map again as Luna headed for the bedrooms.
"WAKE UP!" Harry heard her yell. "WAKE UP!! BREAKFAST IS GETTING COLD!!!"
Harry watched as Luna then sprinted out of the tent giggling.
"What the Bloody Hell was that?" a deep voice said. Harry saw Sirius coming from his bedroom.
"Just you're friendly Nargle inspired wake up call," Harry quipped.
"I'll get that harpy," Sirius growled. "One day…" He then trudged off towards the bathroom.
Breakfast took a while. For one thing, it did not even start until both Neville and Sirius had showered and it seemed Sirius liked long showers. For another, there was a lot of food. Although Neville had said something about Luna being the favorite cook on their floor at school, this was Harry's first exposure to her culinary talents and he had to admit the girl was quite good. Harry would never admit she was as good as he was, even if that were the case. Harry took a great deal of pride in his cooking abilities. Still, it was a wonderful meal.
Clarice had returned from her trip to the riverbank just as they were sitting down and thanked Harry for the salmon appetizer. Hermione, however, was nowhere to be seen. Harry explained that she had turned into Miss Kitty after Clarice and he had "encouraged" her to explore her cat qualities more. At first, no one seemed concerned but everyone was worried within a half an hour or so. While a feral housecat might be near the top of the local food chain, there were still fox, badgers not to mention the occasional eagle that might see Miss Kitty as a meal. Just before anyone of them voiced their collective thoughts of looking for the seemingly wayward witch, Hermione entered the tent and sat down for her own breakfast.
She apologized saying that cats have no sense of time really especially when stalking prey. She told them of picking up a trail of what she later learned was a squirrel and how she stalked it deep into the woods. The moment of truth arrived where she knew she was in a good position to pounce when she decided she really did not want squirrel for breakfast especially when there were eggs and bacon waiting back at camp. She then realized she was lost.
"Apparently, my cat as a terrible sense of direction as well," she said.
After a moments panic, she transformed back into her real self and shifted back to camp.
"Useful that," she said. "Can't get lost if you know where you've been."
Once the breakfast was over, the tale of the misadventure of Miss Kitty thoroughly told and the dishes and pans cleared away, cleaned and set to drying, Harry produced a piece of paper.
"Okay," he said to the others, "while at least a couple of you were having a lie in, I did a little scouting."
"You find it?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded. "Drew up a map," he said. "Probably not to scale but it should do." He lay the paper on the table and pointed to an "X" with a circle around it. "This is our current camp site. We are about two hundred yards from the south edge of this wood. From there, the land is slightly rolling with fields separated by walls or hedgerows. Three miles due south of our position is a narrow valley with a river running through it to the southeast."
"That's where he found the salmon," Clarice said.
"Anyway," Harry continued, "about five mile up the valley to the northwest is the village of Little Hangleton." Harry pointed to some squares and lines on the map. "There are about thirty homes there, a church with a large graveyard, another building I could not identify, a pub, a market and a petrol station. That's about it.
"Anyway, on the north ridge overlooking the village and the valley is Riddle Manor," he said indicating another square on the map separated from the others.
"You sure?" Hermione asked. "I mean it is supposedly abandoned."
"Pretty sure," Harry said. "It meets Sensei's description in the key details and here," he pointed to another making, "about two hundred yards from the Manor house is a small graveyard - well smaller than the one in the village at any rate. All the headstones I could read said 'Riddle' on them."
"Probably a family plot," Neville added.
"That's my thinking," Harry agreed.
"Okay," Hermione said, "that's the secondary. Where's the primary?"
"Hard to find," Harry said, "unless you can fly."
"Which rules out most of us, unless you include brooms," Neville said.
Harry nodded in agreement. "However, it can be found. About three hundred yards to the west of Riddle Manor is a large boulder on the north ridge of the valley. It's about ten feet or more in height and you cannot miss it. If you stand at the base of the boulder and look back at the village and use the church spire as a site line, beyond it you will see on the far side of the valley a lone oak in the middle of a field. A hundred yards due west from that oak is a hedgerow - a double hedgerow actually. In the middle of the two hedgerows is a narrow country lane, the one that connects Little Hangleton to the town of Great Hangleton. Anyway, just across the second hedge on that line is our primary - the Gaunt shack."
"You sure?" Hermione asked.
"It's the only place in the whole area that remotely fits Sensei's description. And, given that there are the remains of a dead snake on the door, I'd say it's a fair bet."
"Brilliant!" Sirius said. "Now all we have to do is get there."
"It would take hours and hours on foot," Luna said. "Shifting maybe?"
"It will still take time," Hermione said. "We can only shift to places we know or can see. Harry of course could get there right now, but not the rest of us."
"No way around that," Neville added. "Guess we just shift south until we reach the edge of the valley, then west along the ridge to that boulder and then to the tree. From there, I suppose we could walk."
"Sounds like a plan," Luna said with a smile. "Oh this sounds like fun."
"At least until we get there," Sirius said somberly. "Sensei did say the target is protected by curses. He doesn't know how many or where they are, aside from two on the target itself. Contrary to popular belief, Curse Breaking is a slow and deliberate process. Might take hours, even days to get to the target itself."
"Best pack a lunch then," Luna said. "I'll whip up a picnic basket while the rest of you get it together." With that Luna rose and headed off to the kitchen in the Girls Tent.
"Why not just relocated the camp," Sirius asked.
"No need," Harry said. "We can just shift back if we need to."
Sirius nodded. Shifting was one of the skills he did learn in Japan and he found it useful, if not as flexible as apparition. Tactically, it was extremely useful if you knew your destination as you could arrive without making a sound that would alert an opponent - or a Muggle for that matter. They then discusses what they would bring along. All five of the kids had staves and all had varying degrees of training with them. Luna and Neville had just started learning stave magic, but they could still be useful. Clarice was to bring her Healer kit just in case and it was also agreed that having Harry and Hermione's swords might not be a bad idea. The swords could be made invisible, which was useful if they felt the need to wander out in the open.
Sirius now regretted not going with the others for the climb up Mt. Fuji. He spent that real day with Sophie figuring the kids really did not want too much supervision and he wanted some alone time with his fiancé. He was there for Clarice's birthday party which was held once they all got back. But now, he was without a stave and had to rely on these children for that magic. He wanted the staves because they could overpower any wand based curses since they relied upon ambient magic and not the magic of the caster. But, this meant he would have to teach the stave wielder the spells. Then again, maybe that was not a bad thing. He had five willing students with him and learning this magic was useful.
It took the group about an hour to get ready for their next adventure. The picnic lunch was prepared, although Luna refused to say what it was. Once all preparations were made, checked and double checked, the group set out. It took them another hour to reach the oak tree.
"Right then," Sirius said as they had gathered beneath the tree. "Fair bet we are safe for the moment. I doubt Voldemort's defenses extend this far out. But once we reach the second hedgerow, we should proceed with caution."
The five children nodded in agreement.
They reached the second hedgerow without incident. They found an overgrown passageway through that hedgerow beyond which was a run down old shack with the remains of a snake on the door. Sirius went through first, wand in front and muttering what sounded like muffled incantations.
"Stop!" he hissed just as he cleared the hedge.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
Sirius waved his wand and a wall of red light appeared but a foot in front of him. "Magical tripwire," he said.
"What's it do?" Neville asked from behind for he was bringing up the rear.
"If we cross that line, it will set something off," Sirius said.
"What?"
"Could be anything really. Could be a curse or a magical object or it could unlease a right nasty beastie, can't say. Fair bet whatever it is is best not set off. Give me a few minutes."
The kids nodded. They all knew this mission might be dangerous but none of them expected to encounter danger more than fifty feet from the door to the house.
"Right then," Sirius said after more mutterings, "wand based trigger."
"We know Voldemort uses a wand," Hermione began.
"No, that's not what I meant. I mean a wand sets it off. Leave your wands and you can pass through no worries. But, fair bet there are other traps we'll need a wand to detect or to get through so basically this is set up to set you up for later."
"What's it trigger?" Neville asked.
"No idea. Most likely a magical device of some sort given the nature of the trigger."
"Can't you take it down?" Clarice asked.
"Not without triggering whatever it is," Sirius said. "Pretty advanced stuff. Well beyond the ancients. We need to find the device and disarm it. Once that is done, no worries for now. Problem is, it seems the device is on the other side of the tripwire so to get to it we have to cross…"
Neville appeared on the other side of the red wall.
"Neville!" Hermione scolded when it was clear that nothing had happened, even though everyone including Neville was sure something would.
"Stay close to the line, Neville," Sirius said. "Fair bet there are other traps."
Neville nodded.
"How did you…" Hermione began, although it was obvious.
"Shifted," Neville shrugged. "I kinda figured Voldemort did not think of that one."
"You could have been killed!"
"Still might be," Neville paled. "But this is important, right?"
Hermione could only nod. She was at least a little surprised it was Neville who had been so bold. Harry she could see doing something silly like that. There was obviously more to their friend Neville than she had realized.
"How do I find the device?" Neville asked.
Sirius explained a revealing spell to Neville. It was at least N.E.W.T. level even in Japan and Sirius hoped the O.W.L. student could handle it. Then again, Neville had done well on his O.W.L.s.
"Got it," Neville said after a few minutes. "It's buried."
"You'll need to carefully dig it up," Sirius said. "And don't use your wand."
Neville nodded. "Should have brought shovels," he muttered as he conjured a small one and began to carefully dig a hole. It took twenty minutes before he had dug around what looked like a canister of some sort.
"Right," Sirius said in a whisper - for some reason they had been whispering, probably the tension, Hermione thought. "Here's the next spell I want you to try…"
Neville again did as he was told. He was in a cold sweat as he applied this new revealing charm to the top of the canister expecting everything to go pear shaped. It did not. Everyone could now see red tendrils of magic connecting the canister to the tripwire.
"What's that?" Clarice asked.
"Magic," Sensei said. "It connects the tripwire to what ever triggers whatever is in that canister. It must be disconnected."
"H-how?" Neville asked.
"Simple Finite should work," Sirius said.
"Sh-should?"
Sirius nodded trying to appear confident.
Neville applied the spell and the tendrils vanished. Neville sighed when nothing else happened…
"Damn!" Sirius said.
"Did I do it right?" Neville asked with fear in his voice.
"You did fine," Sirius said. "There's another device."
"How do you know?" Hermione asked.
"Because the tripwire would have dropped if that was the only one," Sirius said.
"Bugger!" Neville said. "Give me a few. My hands are shaking and…"
Harry shifted across the wire.
"Harry!" Hermione said.
"We don't have all year," Harry shrugged and then began using the spell Sirius had told Neville. Twenty minutes later, another canister had been unearthed and the magical tendrils removed. The tripwire vanished.
Sirius walked over to Neville. "You okay?"
Neville nodded. "Pretty intense," he said.
Sirius nodded. "Pretty nasty too. Garroting Gas."
"What?"
"The symbols on the canister," Sirius said. "It's Garroting Gas. Deadly stuff that."
Neville backed away from the canister as did Harry.
"It's okay," Sirius said as calmly as he could manage. "It's safe. Without the trigger it won't release."
"What's Garroting gas?" Luna asked.
"Asphyxiant," Sirius said. "A Garrot is a piece of rope or wire used to strangle an opponent. The gas does the same thing. Lethal stuff."
"Bloody hell," Neville sighed.
"Once more into the breech," Sirius said moving forward.
Over the next hours they found six more traps awaiting them between the hedgerow and the door to the hut. No two were alike and all were exceedingly dangerous. Each of the kids assisted Sirius in clearing each barrier mainly because each was a very stressful situation which would have overwhelmed any one of them had they had to deal with more than two in a row. To be honest, when they finally made it to the door, they all wanted to go home, but none of them said anything like that. It did not help that the door would not open for any of them or any spell they tried.
"I could use a bite," Luna said. "What say we head back to that oak tree for a picnic?"
Everyone agreed that this was a wonderful idea.
Most of the group were seated under the oak tree eating in relative silence. It had, after all, been a very stressful morning. For all but Sirius, this had been their first deliberate encounter with a life and death situation. True, Harry and Clarice had had theirs in the past, but not by their choice. Harry had not sought to be beaten half to death and Clarice certainly had not sought for her adoptive parents to die, or for that car crash that claimed her adoptive mother. This had been the first time any of the children truly challenged the fates as it were.
Neville was seated apart from the others. While there was no banter between the others, Neville had chosen to sit a ways away to eat his sandwiches that Luna had prepared that morning. He really was not paying attention to them and if asked could not tell anyone what they were. He was lost in thought.
"Neville?" a voice asked. "Mind if I join you?"
Neville shrugged and looked up and saw Clarice was standing nearby. He waived to a spot and she sat down with her own sandwich. For a time, they ate in silence.
"Neville?" Clarice asked.
Neville looked at the green eyed, raven haired girl.
"Why did you do it?"
Neville was caught mid bite and did his best to choke down his mouthful of sandwich before answering.
"Do what?" he answered with feigned innocence.
"Shift across that first tripwire."
"The idea just came to me, you know? Voldemort is a Brit and shifting is not known here. I figured he didn't know about it."
"But why do it? Why not just suggest it?"
Neville shrugged.
"You could have been killed! You could have set off the…"
"But I wasn't and I didn't."
"Still. Why Neville?"
"Had to."
"Why?"
"Hard to explain."
"Try me."
Neville sighed. "Many reasons. One, had I suggested it - well you know there would have been endless debate about it. Hermione would have…"
"Yeah, probably."
"Figured it would just save time and argument just to do it and see what happened. Worked out in the end."
"Neville!"
He sighed again. "Before I met you guys I had no friends. None. What's worse is that I am from a long and distinguished Pureblood line - according to my Gran and such - and until a few weeks before you guys came along, my whole family thought I was a Squib. They never saw any accidental magic from me and…
"Squibs are not liked here. Worse than being a Muggle in some ways. You know about magic, are raised with it and can't do it.
"Gran loves me. I know that. But she isn't the most cuddly of relations. I know she was disappointed. She was so proud when I finally did some magic and even prouder when I came back from Japan. Still. She thinks her son - my Dad - was the best wizard ever and that I could not possibly live up to that. She never said it. It was all a matter of what she did say and her tone. I think she thinks I could never be as brave…"
"You are though," Clarice said.
"I suppose."
"So you did that to prove it to your Gran?"
"She's not here and I'm not about to tell her, Clarice. No. I did that for myself."
"You could have been killed!"
Neville nodded. "Don't want to die. But of the lot of us, I am the expendable one."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Mr. Black is our Curse Breaker. We need him to see this through. Harry, Hermione and Luna are Founders Heirs. Can't lose them. Lose Luna and unless her Dad has another kid, that line is gone. Hermione - she does have cousins who could continue the line, but… And of course you and Harry. He's the heir, but the lines would survive through you. Still, you all are more important than I am."
"Neville!" Clarice scolded. "Don't you say that! Don't you ever think that! You are important too! You're our friend! And, should something happen to Harry and me, you are the next Gryffindor Heir!"
"I know but..."
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Neville Longbottom!" Clarice said as she stood and walked off. Neville wondered what had just happened.
An hour later the group was back at the shack.
"So how do we get in?" Luna asked.
"Sensei said something about Voldemort being into blood rituals and such," Harry said. "Told us that when he told us about his horcrux hunts."
"Blood rituals?"
Harry nodded and then used his wand on his left hand causing a large wound to appear and bleed freely. He placed the bloody palm to the door and it dissolved into dust. As he healed his own would, Hermione observed to the rest that the door had probably rotted away ages ago and only existed through magic. They entered the hut.
It was as Sensei described even though it had been seen only in a memory. One large room was all there was. The people who had lived here had slept in a loft above, probably without beds given the few crude furnishings in this main room. The floor was dirt and showed signs that the house was not waterproof. In a heavy rain, this was most likely a muddy sty. Sirius had his wand out.
"Barrier field," he said.
"What?" voices asked.
"A magical field. It's harmless, but we can't get through it at all. Wand based."
"What's that mean?" Luna asked.
"To break the field, we need magic more powerful than the caster," Sirius said. "As Voldemort was one of the most powerful wizards alive, fair bet we cannot wand are way through it."
"Dumbledore did in Sensei's time," Hermione said.
"And he is at least slightly more powerful a wizard," Sirius said.
"Staves?" Harry said to the others. The kids nodded back. Staves did not draw their energy from the magic user but from the ambient magic. Even in the middle of nowhere, a stave was an order of magnitude more powerful than any wand - provided it remained in constant contact with the natural earth. In a place like this that had all kinds of magical enchantments atop the ambient magic … it only took seconds for the field to fall to the stave users.
Sirius scanned the room. He soon turned to the others and told them it was clear. There were signs of additional curses, but they appeared to be affixed to the target itself and not as defenses to prevent further approach.
"And where is it?" Clarice asked.
"Buried," Harry said. "That's what Sensei told us."
"I know that, but where?"
"Middle of the floor," Hermione said with her wand out. "Dead center. Dark magic."
"That seems like a silly place," Luna said.
"It would be if you assumed anyone could get this far," Neville said.
"And Voldemort probably figured no one would," Harry added.
"Right, let's do this," Hermione finished.
They dug a hole in the center of the floor and soon found a wooden box.
"No curse on the box," Sirius began.
"Don't open it!" Harry said. "Sensei told us there were at least two curses on the object inside. It is a ring. The first curse is a powerful compulsion charm that will make you want to wear it. The second is some kind of decaying curse. You'll begin to rot while still alive. First the finger, then the hand, then the arm, then - well when it reaches a vital organ you're dead. No stopping it, apparently."
"So what do we do?" Sirius asked.
"Destroy in place," Hermione suggested.
Harry nodded in agreement.
"Right then," Hermione said. "We're going to cast Li Huan's spell. It'll take two of us to do with staves and as Harry and I are the only ones who know it, that leaves us. The spell will protect us according to what we read, but it will released the soul fragment and it will try to find a new host. Clarice, Neville and Luna? You need to case a powerful stave based shield charm to protect yourselves and Sirius, okay?"
"And if it fails?" Sirius asked
"Then one of you will be possessed as Harry was by that fragment. We don't know the purification ritual."
The others nodded.
"How long?" Luna asked.
"Thirty seconds maybe," Hermione said. "The sources are not - er -clear on that point."
"Let's do it," Neville said. "Let's get this over with."
Everyone nodded.
"Once we begin, put up the shields and keep them up until we tell you to stop," Harry said to the other stave users who nodded in understanding.
Harry had his stave in his right had, Hermione in her left. They joined their free hands together and started a chant or mantra that sounded not unlike Buddhist monks. Light began to emanate from their joined hands and slowly began to work down to the box. The others cast their shields. When the light reached the box, it began to glow bright green and kept getting brighter until it was almost blinding. Moments later, a scream filled the air but not from any of the magic users. A dark smoke rose from the box and immediately set upon Harry and Hermione and another scream followed. The smoke backed away as if shocked by electricity or burnt by fire and then regrouped and headed at the others. It screamed in apparent frustration as it bounced off the shields again and again. Then, it began to dissipate with a mournful wail. Once it was totally gone, the chanting stopped. The first horcurx had been destroyed.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, 1989 - POTTER HOUSE, LONDON, U.K.
Hermione was glad to be home again. It had been a stressful few days. The destruction of the first horcrux had been stressful enough, but if she thought that was the end of it, she was mistaken. Harry then had the bright idea to deal with the Resurrection Ritual that had been used in Sensei's time to bring Voldemort back. She had agreed his plan had merit, but that's where her agreement ended.
Grave robbing? Arson?
That's what Harry proposed. They would head over to the family plot at Riddle Manor and dig up the graves of Tom Riddle, Sr. - Voldemort's father - and all his six male ancestors entombed there and destroy the remains. Why was she the only one who found this disturbing? True, she agreed it would work, but digging up graves in the middle of the night?
She learned a little about Necromancy from Sirius as she tried to argue her way. Remains could be used by a Dark Wizard in many horrible ways, which could only be avoided by leaving no remains to use. This made sense, but did not make it right. Still, to her dismay, she was outvoted by all the others.
They used magic to unearth the remains of Voldemort's fathers. They used magic to transport the coffins from the family plots to Riddle Manor. Then Harry hit them with his second "Brilliant" idea. Riddle Manor had been a stronghold in Sensei's time. Harry thought it best be done away. He directed the others and the coffins where placed in the largest room on the ground floor. The next morning - yesterday - they went to the village and bought several cans of petrol. When the sun set, they returned to Riddle Manor with the petrol and doused the coffins liberally and the rest of the ground floor as well. Once done, they all left and Harry cast a flame spell into the dilapidated manor. It caught fire almost immediately.
The place burnt to the ground. She knew it would. She knew they had not been seen. Still, it bothered her. The remains had been reduced to ash, so this place was no longer of any help to Voldemort. Still, Hermione hated the fact that they had done what they did. Just because it was necessary and achieved their goals did not make it right. She hated the fact that Sirius thought it brilliant and that Harry seemed to have no remorse whatsoever for what they had done. But she loved them and knew they did it for the right reasons. It didn't make it right, but it was tolerable. She wondered what else they would have to do in the coming years to end this nightmare…