Chapter 2: Lunch and a Passport
By the time Harry and Ginny got out of the Tomb it was just after one in the afternoon. Ginny sent a patronus message to her contact asking her to meet them at a muggle pub in London. Harry had argued for the muggle pub since they were trying to keep their discovery secret for now and Ginny had reluctantly agreed. A quick apparition later had Harry and Ginny sitting at a secluded table in a small football pub. The lunch time crowd was in full swing when they arrived so there was little chance of them being overheard, even so Harry set a minor ward to jumble their words to any eavesdroppers.
Ginny had insisted on buying the first round, claiming that she owed Harry for saving her life. The little voice in the back of his mind that had been getting louder all morning greatly approved of Ginny getting a pint for herself instead of one of those fruity drinks girls seemed to enjoy. A harried lunch shift waitress stopped by their table briefly to get their lunch order and then disappeared back into the crowd.
"So Ginny," Harry started taking a drag of his pint. "Why Curse Breaking?"
Ginny studied him for a second a wrinkle forming on her brow, "Because I'm a woman?"
Harry returned her stare evenly, "Honestly, yes. I've only heard of a few women actually sticking with it. Most are scared off after a week or so and only a handful make it through their training."
Ginny held his stare for a moment, and Harry had the odd feeling that she was making an important decision about him. Finally she broke the stare and sighed while looking at two guys in football jerseys laughing loudly while watching a replay on the telly.
"Curse Breaking was actually a fall back job for me," Ginny said. "I had a starting spot on the Holyhead Harpies."
Harry's mouth dropped open in shock, "You were a Harpy!?"
"Yes, but I was injured in a scrimmage before the official start of my rookie season," she answered lifting a hand to trace a thin pale scar just under the hairline on the right side of her head. "I lost my peripheral vision in my right eye after someone on the other team checked me into the stands. It doesn't affect me at all really in my day to day life, but a chaser needs her peripheral to see while on the field."
Harry wasn't sure what to say and this was clearly a sore subject for Ginny. So instead he reached over the table resting his hand on hers. "I'm truly sorry Ginny. I know what it's like to dream about doing something for your entire life and then having it snatched back at the last second," he finally said.
Ginny's eyes met his as she seemed to weigh his words carefully. "Really?" she asked.
"I grew up in England," Harry said. "My parents died when I was young, and my Godfather raised me, with some help," he added with a fond smile. "So I spent my entire childhood growing up listening to my Godfather and his friends telling me stories about Hogwarts, my parents, and all their adventures there. Just before I turned eleven my Godfather got a, er, a job offer in America and it was too good to pass up. I ended up getting home schooled for two years before enrolling in an American school. I understand why I couldn't go to Hogwarts but I always dreamed about how it would be different if I had gone."
"Maybe we would have been friends," Ginny said, a kind smile on her face. "What house were your parents in?"
"Gryffindor, I hope I would have been there too."
"I was a Gryffindor!" Ginny said happily. "My whole family has been Gryffindor's for generations."
"I never did get your last name," Harry said curiously.
"Oh! Weasley, Ginny Weasley."
Harry's eyebrows rose as everything suddenly fit into place. "Of course, I really should have figured it out earlier. You look a lot like your mother, I met your parents a few times through my Godfather," he said without thinking.
"Really?" Ginny asked. "Who's your godfather?"
"Oh uh-" Harry fumbled for an answer, the entire wizarding world knew that Sirius was his godfather. Luckily before his pause became too apparent a woman about his age with a head of bushy brown hair appeared at the table.
"Ginny!" The woman said startling Ginny as she hugged her tightly.
"Hello Hermione," Ginny said once she had recovered from the surprise hug. "Hermione this is Harry Evans. Harry, Hermione Granger."
"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Granger," Harry said standing and extending his hand. A glance at Ginny showed that she hadn't forgotten their conversation and would be expecting an answer once they were alone again.
"Please call me Hermione," she said taking his hand.
"Then please call me Harry," he said as Hermione settled into her seat. "It's my round, would you like anything Hermione?"
"A water is fine, I have to return to work after this," she answered. He glanced at Ginny who simply motioned toward her empty pint glass.
"I'll be back shortly."
He made his way across the pub to the bar and signaled the bartender while leaving the two empty glasses. Glancing back he saw Hermione and Ginny deep in conversation, Hermione's brow furrowed worriedly while Ginny waved off whatever she was saying. Hermione glanced at Harry and met his eyes for a second before smiling and saying something to Ginny whose eyes widened as she shook her head negatively. When Ginny's cheeks started to redden Harry began to suspect they might be talking about him.
"- trust him Hermione," Ginny was saying as he returned to the table with their drinks. "Thank you Harry."
Harry nodded in acknowledgment, "Has Ginny explained why you're here?"
"No, and it is rather peculiar to be requesting a meeting in a muggle pub," Hermione said looking intently at Ginny.
"Leaky would have been fine with me but Harry wanted to avoid magical areas," Ginny answered with a shrug. "Afraid someone will try to spy on us."
"Why would someone spy on you? Did you find Merlin's Tomb!?" she asked with a gasp.
Ginny glanced around her to see if anyone was watching them, "Quiet Hermione, no need to make the muggles curious."
"We did," Harry said simply.
"I did," Ginny corrected. "You just snuck in behind me," she added with a glare in his direction.
Harry rolled his eyes and cut Hermione off as she opened her mouth to ask a question, "It was empty, someone got there before us and cleared it out."
"Really? Then why has no one ever come forward before now?" Hermione asked.
"Based on the body we found in the Tomb, I'm pretty sure it was Grindelwald," Harry said.
Hermione nodded, "That would make sense, no one knows exactly what artifacts are hidden in his Vault."
"Hermione we need your help to translate a journal we found on the corpse in the Tomb. It might have a clue as to where Grindelwald's Vault is," Ginny said pulling the journal out of her pocket and sliding it across the table to Hermione.
Hermione's eyes lit up in interest as she pulled the journal closer to her and ran her fingers over the name engraved on the cover. "Matthias Lehman, First Lieutenant of Lord Grindelwald," she read.
"First Lieutenant? Why would Grindelwald just leave his body in the Tomb like that? He sounds important enough that Grindelwald would want his body reclaimed," Harry said, his brow creasing as he tried to figure it out. "Hermione go to the last entry, what's the date?"
Hermione flipped to the last entry in the journal, her eyes darting to the top line, "5th of June 1944."
"He probably got left behind when the Allies invaded," Harry said and Hermione nodded in agreement, her eyes already scanning the final entry.
"When who invaded?" Ginny asked, her eyes moving between the two questioningly.
"They really should teach basic muggle history at Hogwarts," Harry said. "During World War II the Allies invaded France on the 6th of June 1944. It was a giant invasion, hundreds of thousands of men all storming the beaches of Normandy. If Grindelwald and his men were in the Tomb during the invasion they may have had to leave quickly, probably left our friend there in favor of carrying treasure."
Ginny nodded and they both fell silent as Hermione poured over the journal, flipping between pages seemingly at random. At some point Hermione had pulled out a piece of parchment and a self inking quill and was furiously taking notes. While Hermione was scribbling notes the waitress returned with their food setting down the plates while giving Hermione's parchment and quill a curious look. When Hermione confirmed she didn't want any food the waitress shrugged and left the table.
"You never did tell me why you became a Curse Breaker after your accident Ginny," Harry said as he picked up some of his chips. He ignored Hermione accidentally poking a hole through her parchment in surprise.
"My older brother Bill is a Curse Breaker. He's mostly a desk worker at Gringotts since the war and his daughter but he always used to tell me stories of his time in Egypt. We even visited him there the summer after my first year in Hogwarts," she answered with a fond smile and a faraway look in her eyes. "After the accident I was pretty depressed and he would come by our family home every few days to check on me. After a month he brought an application to the Gringott's Curse Breaker training program and told me to fill it out. I'd actually chosen Curse Breaking during our career counseling in my fifth year, and since Quidditch was out… well here I am."
Harry noticed that Hermione had almost completely stopped writing while Ginny was talking although her eyes were still fixed on the parchment in front of her. He wondered if Ginny was really so secretive that even this story was enough to get her friends undivided attention.
"What about you? Why choose treasure hunting?" Ginny asked. "The money?"
"Well, yes the money is nice," Harry said giving Ginny his most charming smile. "But really it's a job where I get to go on adventures, and travel to exotic locations. I was in Casablanca yesterday, Algiers the day before, and China last week," he didn't mean to sound like he was bragging he just genuinely enjoyed the travel. "It's also challenging. I was seriously impressed with the way you bypassed the wards around the Tomb by the way. It's exactly what I would have done," he said and Ginny smiled happily at him making his stomach flip.
Hermione had given up all pretense of translating the journal as her eyes darted back and forth between Harry and Ginny a smile forming on her lips as the two talked. As Harry began to ask Ginny questions about her brothers Hermione returned to the journal, occasionally glancing up as Harry or Ginny would laugh about something the other had said.
"So Fred and George got grounded for a month for turning Ron's teddy bear into a spider," Ginny was saying. "But actually it had been my firs-"
"Oh my!" Hermione interrupted Ginny's story. "I-I don't believe it!" She said loudly, drawing some attention from the nearby tables.
"Hermione quiet," Ginny said looking at the group that had turned in their direction. "What did you find?"
Hermione slid the journal over to Ginny. "Read that," she said pointing at an underlined segment.
"Grindelwald's gewölbe an gelegen 83471 Berchtesgaden, Deutschland," Ginny read brokenly, needing Hermione to tell her how to pronounce some of the words. Harry gasped as he felt a surge of magic flow through him as she spoke.
"What did she just read?" He asked.
"It's the location of Grindelwald's vault. The Lieutenant was the secret keeper. He wrote the address in the journal," Hermione said in an excited whisper.
"But he's dead shouldn't the secret have been useless?" Ginny asked.
"A Fidelius Charm relies on one person holding the secret and telling others. If the Secret Keeper dies then the secret is transferred to everyone he or she had already told," Hermione explained. "It's why we couldn't use the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters after Dumbledore died, because Snape knew the secret," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly when Harry showed no surprise or curiosity at what she had said.
"So then the secret just dispersed to everyone else who he had already told," Ginny continued. "Which was probably only Grindelwald and his inner circle."
"But they're all dead, shouldn't the Fidelius have fallen when all the Secret Keepers died?" Harry asked.
"Unless they're not all dead," Hermione responded with a shrug.
"That wouldn't be too surprising, the end of World War II and the war with Grindelwald was chaotic. Most of his followers were dead and some of the survivors could have slipped through the cracks," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Well hopefully the survivor didn't empty the vault," Ginny said. "Any idea where this is?"
"No idea, there's a muggle library a few streets over. We can probably find maps and geography books there," Harry said. "Hermione is Berchtesgaden the town name or the street name?"
"The town name," she answered quickly, "I feel like I've heard of it before but I can't say exactly where it is."
Harry dropped some muggle money on the table to cover their food tab, as the other two got up. "We'll probably need to head to Germany for this, I can get us transport," Harry said as they moved towards the door.
"I'll head back to Gringotts and continue translating the journal," Hermione said cheerfully. "Once I tell my supervisor I've found a lead to the Vault he won't mind me postponing my other work."
As Hermione said this Harry shared a look with Ginny. The silent communication was missed by the bushy haired witch as she continued flipping through the journal in her hands. After several pointed looks Ginny finally sighed and nodded her head in agreement. By this time they were outside and Ginny began leading Hermione towards a side alley.
"You can apparate back to Gringotts over here Hermione," she said.
Harry frowned sadly at the two women before pulling a small pocket mirror from his jacket. "Padfoot," he said stepping back into the shadows and holding it close to his face. A muggle would think he was just using the speaker on a mobile.
"Harry?" Sirius' voice called out. "About time you called, was starting to think I'd have to come rescue you from the Tomb."
"Sorry I got sidetracked," Harry said. "I'm actually in London."
"London?" Sirius asked a hint of concern in his voice. "Are you ok Harry?"
"I'm fine Sirius," Harry answered smiling at the small image of his Godfather's concerned face. "The Tomb was empty, Grindelwald beat us there."
"Damn. I was really hoping you'd find something good," Sirius said.
"I got a lead on the Vault," Harry said simply.
Sirius' face went from a sad frown to shocked surprised so quickly Harry wondered if the mirror image had skipped forward. "You found the Vault!?" he practically shouted causing Harry to cover the mirror with his hand and smile apologetically at a surprised woman passing by on the street.
"There was a corpse in the Tomb from one of Grindelwald's lieutenants," Harry explained. "He had a journal on him which is why I'm in London, I needed a translator."
"So? Did you find a translator?" Sirius asked.
"Yea I did," Harry said glancing towards the alley where Ginny had led Hermione. As he watched there was a flash of light from the alley. "The owner of the journal was Grindelwald's secret keeper. I know where the Vault is."
"Hot Damn!" Sirius yelled excitedly. "Do you know how much treasure there will be in that vault!?"
"I have an idea Sirius," Harry said. "I'm going to need transport to Germany. Berlin should be fine we can apparate from there."
"I can have a plane ticket waiting for you at Heathrow in twenty minutes," Sirius said already pulling out an actual mobile phone.
"Uh. Sirius wait," Harry said glancing towards the alley just as Ginny emerged from it tucking the old journal into her pocket. "I'm going to need two tickets, and um, do we have any contacts in London I'll need muggle documentation as well."
Sirius' image in the mirror froze before his eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Who do you have with you Harry?"
"The Curse Breaker from Gringotts," Harry answered after a moment's pause. "We've been working together."
"Harry I know you inherited your nobility from your dad, but you should ditch this guy," Sirius said. "This is the Vault Harry! Think about what we could do with all that money!" he pleaded.
"I know Padfoot," Harry said, switching to his godfather's nickname as Ginny got close enough to overhear their conversation. "But this one is different, plus they've been a huge help. The translator was their contact."
"So now Gringott's knows about the Vault too! They'll be getting an international portkey to send their teams directly there!" Sirius ranted.
"I don't think they will Padfoot," Harry said as he glanced towards Ginny who was frowning at him. "I just need the address for the forger."
Sirius sighed and stared Harry down, once again losing the staring contest after a moment. "Fine, it's a new kid in Wiltshire. He's one of the best I've ever seen," he said before providing Harry the address.
"Thanks Padfoot. Have those tickets waiting for us in the morning. Forger's always take a few hours," Harry said.
"I will," Sirius answered. "And I will be waiting for you in Germany," he said, his voice making it clear there was no talking him out of this one.
"You really don't have to do that Padfoot," Harry said.
"I know I don't have to, but I am anyway," Sirius said with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow Harry."
"Til tomorrow then," Harry said and tapped the mirror turning it off.
Stepping away from the side of the building he joined Ginny on the sidewalk where she was pretending not to listen to his conversation. No one passing by had noticed he was talking to a pocket mirror and not a mobile, typical of muggles. Ginny pulled the journal silently from her pocket and handed it to Harry.
"I really didn't like having to do that," she said quietly. "Hermione is one of my best friends."
"You didn't have to do it," Harry said simply.
"Yes I did," she answered. "It needed to be done, if she had gone back to Gringott's with the journal she wouldn't have been able to hide her excitement. She's a terrible liar."
"What did you do?" Harry asked curiously.
"Just a simple memory charm. She'll probably break through it on her own in a few days, but hopefully I'll be back before that and can just remove it myself."
"She seemed really intelligent, I'm sure she'll understand," Harry said sympathetically.
"I hope so, maybe if I make sure to include her name on the find and give her all the books we find she'll forgive me," Ginny said with a smile. "So where are we off to next?"
"Wiltshire, there's a forger there who can get you a muggle passport," Harry said. "I can side along apparate you to a place near the address."
"A passport? Why do I need a passport?" Ginny asked as she gently gripped his arm.
"Because we'll be taking a plane to Germany. An international portkey would take too long to get clearance for. My Godfather will have two tickets waiting for us tomorrow," Harry explained.
Ginny dropped her hand from Harry's arm and stepped back slightly, "A plane? A muggle plane!? Like the ones that fly!?"
"Yea, we'll take one from Heathrow to Berlin tomorrow. It should only be about two hours," Harry said, studying her features. He wasn't sure if she was excited or terrified.
"A muggle plane?" she said quietly to herself. "If I survive my dad is going to be so jealous!"
"You should survive just fine," Harry said with a laugh. "Statistically speaking flying by plane is safer than driving a car."
Ginny placed her hand back on Harry's outstretched arm as he prepared to apparate them. "Remind me to tell you about my dad's flying car sometime," she said as they disappeared with a quiet pop.
Once they had vanished the air behind where they had been standing shimmered slightly. The street was empty of muggles, but a security camera on the opposite side of the street caught the amazing act as the side of a building wrinkled and then slid down. A magical person would recognize it as someone removing an invisibility cloak, and seconds later a blonde haired man appeared against the wall of the building tucking a piece of fabric into the pocket of his robes.
"Potter," the man sneered before turning in his spot and disappearing with a crack.
"You're sure this will work?" Ginny asked for the tenth time looking down nervously at the passport in her hand.
"Well, I've never actually used that guy before, but it should work," Harry answered with a sly smile. "Just act natural."
"The picture he used looks terrible," she said flipping open the passport to her picture. Harry thought it didn't look too terrible for a passport photo. The new guy Sirius had sent them to had been good, and surprisingly familiar to Ginny.
"This is the place," Harry said. They were outside a modest looking photography store squeezed between a liquor store and a video rental store.
"A photography store?" Ginny asked.
"Yea most of the forgers I've met just do forging as a side business, photography makes sense as a cover," Harry said as he held the door open for her, "helps explain the equipment."
Crossing the threshold a bell somewhere near the back of the store sounded and there was the sound of movement from a back room. Ginny was looking at all of the camera equipment curiously, seemingly amazed by the small size of the cameras. Harry had made it to the counter by the time a door behind the register opened and deposited a small brown haired man.
"Hello! Welcome to Creevey Photography!" the man said cheerfully as he skipped up to the counter. "How can I help you today?"
"Colin?" Ginny asked stepping up behind Harry.
"Ginny!" the man shouted his eyes lighting up. "It's so good to see you!" he said as he practically ran around the counter and pulled Ginny into a tight hug. Harry did his best to ignore the shock of jealousy he felt at seeing the young man hug her.
"I had no idea this was your photography shop," Ginny said as she returned the hug. "When did you buy this place?"
"Oh, a few months ago, my parents helped me get a loan from a muggle bank," He explained. "But what are you doing here?"
"She needs a muggle passport," Harry supplied.
Colin looked between the two of them a moment, his demeanor getting more serious. "We should go into the back room then," Colin said quietly, leading them behind the counter.
The back room wasn't large but had enough room for a desk and a shooting station with a plain blue backdrop. A corner of the room had been walled off with a solid red door separating it from the rest of the room and a large red light bulb sticking out of the wall above the door. On the desk there was a photograph of a younger Colin, an older man and woman who were probably his parents and a young boy, similar enough in appearance to most likely be his brother. The occupants of the magical photo waved cheerfully at Harry and Ginny.
Ginny's eyes rested on the photo, a sad smile on her face. "How is Dennis?" she asked softly and Harry saw the flash of pain that crossed Colin's face.
"He has good days and bad days," Colin whispered. "The healers are going to start him on a new treatment next week, but he'll probably spend most of his life in the Potter Home."
"I hear they do good work there," Harry said quietly.
"They do. Some of the best healers I've ever met, and they don't have the old blood prejudices that St. Mungo's does, "Colin said. "They don't use the same muggle repelling charms that Mungo's does, so my mum and dad can visit whenever they want," he continued, a sad smile on his face. "Harry Potter is a great man, funds the whole place almost entirely on his own."
"When I'm done with this job, would it be alright if I come visit him?" Ginny asked.
"He'd love that!" Colin said with a hint of his old excitement. "He met Harry Potter himself a few weeks back and wouldn't stop talking about it for days. I haven't seen him that happy since before the war."
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, Colin lost in memories of the war, Ginny silently supporting him with a hand on his shoulder, and Harry trying to not look too uncomfortable at the praise Colin had unknowingly given him and the guilt he always felt when learning of another victim from the war. After a moment Colin made a discreet swipe at his eyes, gave Ginny a thankful smile and a nod then moved towards the camera he had set up.
"So, you need a muggle passport Ginny?"
"So, you went to school with Colin?" Harry asked in an attempt to distract Ginny.
"Yea we were in the same year and both Gryffindors," Ginny answered. "It's not surprising he opened a photography shop, he was always lugging a camera around with him. Most of the pictures I have from school are probably duplicates he gave me."
"So did you and he ever date?" Harry asked as innocently as he could.
"Me and Colin!?" Ginny asked before breaking down into a fit of giggles. "No. Definitely not. Actually he'd probably be more interested in you than me," she added thoughtfully.
"I know. He slipped me his number as I was paying him for your passport," Harry said. The payment had caused an argument between them, but Harry had argued that since it was his idea to take a plane he should pay. When Colin had given them a discount because she was an old friend Ginny had finally relented.
"He did!?" Ginny asked.
"Yea, I didn't want to make a scene but I don't swing that way," Harry said as he pulled the scrap of paper from his pocket.
"He's definitely gotten braver since school," Ginny said with a smile as she snatched the paper from Harry and handed her ticket to the stewardess.
Once the two were settled in their seats on the plane Harry pulled out a book he had acquired from a library the night before. It was a map and tourism guide for Germany. Flipping the book to its index he began browsing through until he reached 'B'.
"It was Berchtesgaden?" Harry asked, his finger moving down the 'B' words slowly.
"Yea," Ginny said looking out the window as the plane taxied out onto the runway. "But how will we get in the air?"
"Buckle your seat belt," Harry said. "Also sit back, takeoff is a lot like taking off on a broom."
Ginny took his advice and let out a yelp of surprise as the plane jolted forward and she was pushed back into her chair for a moment. The pressure was only present for a moment but by the time she looked back out the window the ground was far below them and only getting farther away.
"Harry we're flying!" she said pressing her face to the window. "These muggles are amazing," she whispered in awe, drawing a smile from Harry.
So ends chapter 2. Thanks everyone who left really kind reviews on the first chapter. The third and final chapter should be up next weekend. This was always intended to be a trilogy of short stories each 3-4 chapters long, I haven't decided if I'm going to publish an entire new story for the next part or just continue with this story and label the chapters Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 but I'll have made up my mind when I publish the next chapter.
Also I apologize for the German stuff I used mostly google translate and google maps to find a location for the vault. So if the sentence in German makes no sense I'm sorry.