A/N: Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I'm glad that people have been enjoying it. And a special thanks to Bonnie and Mainsail for beta reading this and thus improving on the original. If you have questions or concerns about what's going on, feel free to include them in a review or a PM — I'll try to answer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "A Boon for Bill" by canoncansodoff. Bill and Fleur want to get engaged. Harry and Hermione want to run off with each other. Working together, the two couples will help each other get what they want.
Final Countdown: 10...9...8...7!
Chapter 44 - Secret
Tuesday, March 21, 1996, Late Afternoon.
"Miss Granger, Miss Potter, please stay after for a few minutes," Professor McGonagall said as students started packing up at the end of the Transfiguration lesson. Once everyone was gone and the door was silenced and sealed, she said, "I expect that the Headmaster will want to speak to you soon — possibly as early as this evening. Have you given any thought to how you wish to handle it?"
"I think we should wait a couple of days at least," Hermione suggested. "Jasmine and I discussed it, and we decided that at this point we should tell him everything — maybe not every detail, but at least a general overview."
"Though he's not learning about the prophecy without an oath to not interfere," Jasmine said darkly. "Because if there's anyone who would be tempted to meddle, it's him."
McGonagall nodded in agreement. "Those are good points. He should take a few days to come to terms with what he's already learned and experienced anyway. Why don't I suggest to him that he wait until Saturday evening?"
"That sounds perfect," Hermione said.
Tuesday, March 21, 1996, Evening.
Albus Dumbledore stared at the locket sitting on his desk. It seemed to mock him — him, his arrogance, and all his failures. Not only wasn't it a genuine horcrux, but it was a fake left by Regulus Black to replace what had probably been the first horcrux to self-destruct last year. All of that effort, and nearly dying, for what? he asked himself. I don't seem to be any closer to putting an end to Voldemort than I was a week ago, though it is nice to at least know that I can cross this off my list.
As much as nearly being killed in order to retrieve a fake horcrux had battered his ego, being not merely healed but actually rejuvenated by an incredibly powerful magical ritual — something he would have earlier decried as dark and dangerous — was even worse. It was anything but dark, he was forced to conclude. After reviewing my memories in the pensieve and paying attention to what was being done and said around me, there's no denying that everything about the ritual stands in opposition to the dark. And if what that Duthé woman said is correct, it would be difficult for such a ritual to be dangerous, too. Yet I suspect that it was the sort of ritual which Morgana participated in — the sort of ritual which Merlin said corrupted her.
He picked up the locket and began running his thumb across the engraving. What still bothers me, though, is the sheer amount of power that the ritual was able to call up. I've never heard of any magical ritual that involved so much power — and Duthé indicated that this wasn't the first time. Where exactly is that power going, and what is it doing? Can anyone be trusted with that much power in their hands, especially two witches as young and inexperienced as Miss Potter and Miss Granger? If Merlin was right, the answer to that is no, but was he? What will this mean for the prophecy? And what will it mean for the future of our world?
Dumbledore looked over at Fawkes and said softly, "Things are definitely not going to plan, my old friend. What's more, I'm honestly not sure if that's good or bad."
Fawkes trilled hopefully, and Dumbledore started in surprise at how much of it he understood.
Wednesday, March 22, 1996, Afternoon.
"So, he's probably mortal now," Walburga said once Sirius finished reading the long letter which Dobby had delivered earlier that morning.
"There's no way to be sure until someone kills him and he stays dead," Sirius observed, "but it sure looks that way."
"She'll need to strike as soon as is reasonably possible," Walburga said next. "Before he finds out or does something else to protect himself from true death."
"I still don't like the idea of sending a fifteen-year-old witch out to fight one of the worst dark lords Britain has ever had."
"She won't be alone," Walburga pointed out.
"Of course she won't," Sirius agreed, "but having Hermione by her side means that I have twice as many people to worry about! Even with all her friends helping, I have trouble seeing how they'll win."
"Then you need to ensure that she has more resources," Walburga insisted. "Dumbledore is being more cooperative, is he not? Make sure that he is prepared to come to her aid. And what about that Bones woman at the Ministry? You've been feeding her information to cultivate her as a resource — maybe it's time to call that in."
Sirius nodded. "I can do that. We'll also have to make sure all the portraits know to start being more aggressive in gathering intelligence. We definitely can't take the chance that he'll try something that will protect him from the magic which Jasmine and Hermione are using. We can't assume that they'll get that lucky again."
"Any magic that deals with souls is... unpredictable," Walburga said, a haunted look in her eyes.
"Unpredictable or not, I can't begin to say how happy I am to know that Voldemort probably suffered greatly through the connection he had to Jasmine," Sirius said with a grin. "It's sick that something like horcruxes could even exist, and anyone who messes with magic like that deserves to be punished. In fact, I wonder if this is yet another example of the sentience of Magic — that people who defile their own souls like that make Magic angry and suffer because of it."
Walburga started looking uncomfortable and refused to meet Sirius' eyes.
"What is it?" Sirius asked. "Have you thought of something else?"
"No, no," Walburga said quickly. "It's nothing. It's just... you're probably right. People who try to use such magics probably do get punished, one way or another."
"Of course," Sirius declared. "Magic is a part of nature and life, and the one inescapable fact about both is that everything dies. This means that the magic used to create horcruxes is not just an abomination, but contrary to Magic itself. There's no way that Magic would allow the creation of such vile objects to occur without punishment."
Walburga didn't respond to that, but Sirius could tell that something was wrong.
Thursday, March 23, 1996, Morning.
"Did you see that there was a new Educational Decree?" Ron asked as he dished up some breakfast for himself. "This is number... uh, 109, I think. It says: 'Students who perform prohibited incantations will be subject to severe punishment under Section 28.' I'm not sure what Section 28 is, but I doubt it's pleasant."
"No, I didn't see that one," Hermione said with a scowl. "There are so many of them hanging out there now... it's hard to tell when something has been added."
"Do you suppose that one's aimed at the students who are part of the DA?" Jasmine asked quietly. "There's already a couple of decrees that would apply, but maybe she's trying to find ways to make it easier to catch us."
"We need to know what the 'prohibited incantations' are, first," Neville pointed out. "Maybe it's all about allegedly 'dark' magic and so is only aimed at Jasmine and Hermione?"
"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Jasmine said as she looked around, trying to see if Umbridge was hiding anywhere, waiting to leap out at her. "The way she goes on about 'dark magic,' that makes a lot of sense."
Saturday, March 25, 1996, Afternoon.
Training in mass transfiguration was proceeding well, or at least well enough. Neither Jasmine nor Hermione were able to transfigure more than one large predator at a time, and even then the results still weren't quite up to Professor McGonagall's high standards. Nevertheless, their efforts were looking much better and were capable of attacking effectively.
When working with smaller animals, Jasmine and Hermione had already perfected the mass transfiguration of pebbles into flies. Unfortunately, they were merely annoying at best, which was why they were working hard on being able to do the same for bees. They usually got the physical form correct, but layering in the compulsion charms to attack was proving more challenging, possibly because bees usually weren't very aggressive in the absence of a clear threat.
The one benefit to their slow progress was the fact that they didn't need to leave the castle and go to the secret training area which Professor Flitwick had introduced them to the previous year. Everything they needed to work on could still be done under the guise of "remedial Transfiguration lessons" in the Transfiguration classroom, Professor McGonagall's office, or the Room of Requirement, which meant that there was no risk of being caught by Umbridge in a violation of either school rules or Ministry decrees.
Saturday, March 25, 1996, Early Evening.
"Before we get started," Jasmine said as soon as she and Hermione were seated in the headmaster's office, "I'd like to say that I'm sorry for not getting your permission before we subjected you to the effects of that ritual celebration. It's just that... well, even if you had been conscious, I knew what you thought about rituals. And while I understood your concerns, I also knew that those concerns didn't apply to the rituals we'd participated in. I didn't know if you being there would help you, but I knew it wouldn't hurt."
Dumbledore remained silent while the young witch struggled to find the words to explain her actions. "And... and I couldn't just sit by and do nothing, not when there was any chance of helping you. I didn't want to watch you die."
The old wizard smiled slightly. Despite how troubled he was by everything that had happened, the one bright, shining beacon was the fact that Miss Potter had been so willing to save him. He was quite certain that a year or even six months ago, she probably wouldn't have crossed the street to help him.
"It's not easy, is it, standing by and watching someone suffer when you know you have the ability to help them?" Dumbledore asked. "Especially when you know that your aid entails doing something that the other person would not approve of, without their consent?"
Both witches' eyes widened slightly at the implications of his words, but before they could respond, he went on, trying to be as conciliatory as possible. "Perhaps it was for the best. I almost certainly wouldn't have agreed, and as a result, I would have perished while holding on tightly to opinions that I now see might need to be revised. Indeed, I have found myself reconsidering quite a few of my opinions lately, usually because of actions you two have taken contrary to, or even in defiance of, my own preferences. As much as that once upset me, it has forced me to defend my decisions in ways that I haven't had to do in decades. I'd become complacent, and you two have shaken me out of that."
Dumbledore paused for a moment and looked carefully at the girls, pleased to find that neither had any hint of the hostile expressions he'd so often seen in recent months. "I won't lie to you: I still have plenty of concerns regarding these rituals you are involved with. Even if they aren't as dangerous as I would have assumed a week ago, that doesn't mean they are a good idea, either. I will, however, try to approach them with an open mind. For your part, you'll need to be as honest with me about them as you can. I understand why you've kept them a secret until now, but that can't continue — if for no other reason than because you are sneaking out of the castle for them."
When they both agreed, he said, "Now, Professor McGonagall informed me that you had more that you needed to tell me and that it was important enough that I should hold off forming any firm opinions until I had a chance to talk to you."
"There are several things, all connected," Jasmine agreed. "Which would you like to hear about first: how we think we've destroyed all of Voldemort's horcruxes already, or how we intend to change the magical world?"
"Either way, we're going to need an oath from you," Hermione added.
Dumbledore gave her a disappointed look. "Do you still have so little trust in me, Miss Granger?"
"Actually, we have a lot more trust in you now than we did before," Hermione answered. "However, some of our secrets aren't entirely our secrets."
"We also don't trust everyone that you trust," Jasmine said. Dumbledore nodded, not needing to be told who it was she meant. Frankly, he was beginning to have his own concerns about the same person.
After a moment's consideration, he gave them his oath, then suggested that they start with the smaller but most immediate concern: horcruxes.
"I learned over the Christmas hols that horcruxes can only be destroyed if all of their magical protections can be overcome," Hermione said. "That's why the strongest magics like fiendfyre or the most deadly substances like basilisk venom are needed. We have since learned that another approach is possible."
"As you told us originally," Jasmine continued, "horcruxes are vile magic, but more important is that they are death magic that can only be created through fear and hate — fear of death and the hate necessary to cause someone else's death. The opposite of that is love."
Dumbledore nodded. "That is similar to a conclusion I had already come to. As you know, the prophecy describes 'one with the power the Dark Lord knows not.' It would be difficult to identify any branch of magic which Voldemort is unfamiliar with. However, there is one thing he seems to be not only ignorant but also disdainful of: love."
"And you thought that love might somehow be the power that Jasmine could use to defeat Voldemort?" Hermione asked. When Dumbledore nodded, Hermione shook her head ruefully. "Under any other circumstances, I'd have laughed and called you crazy. Now, though, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that such a sappy interpretation might actually be correct."
In response to Dumbledore's quizzical expression, Jasmine said, "Horcruxes aren't just vile death magic, they are also soul magic. There exists another form of soul magic which involves pure love: soul bonds. They are the opposite of horcruxes in many important ways, and as a result they are also effectively toxic to them."
Dumbledore frowned. "Very little is known about soul bonds — I've never been able to find out much about them. Regardless, I don't see how that... how one... I mean..." He didn't understand why he suddenly found himself completely tongue-tied, and grew even more confused when both young witches smiled knowingly at him.
They then joined hands and said in unison, "Jasmine Dorea Potter and Hermione Jean Granger share a soul bond."
Suddenly, everything clicked for him — the abrupt, unexpected understanding of the two witches' soul bond caused so many curious behaviors, statements, and choices to fall into place and make perfect sense. It was as if he'd been walking around for the past year and a half wearing dark sunglasses that obscured everything, and now they'd been removed, revealing colors and shapes that he'd never noticed.
"Oh, my... You... you two have a soul bond?" Dumbledore asked slowly. "And that bond... destroyed Voldemort's horcruxes?"
"Apparently I had some bit of his soul attached to me," Jasmine said as she pointed to the nearly faded scar on her forehead. "This created a connection to him as well as all the pieces of his soul. That must be why my scar hurt when I was near him."
"Surely you must have suspected," Hermione said with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, I'm sorry to say that I did," Dumbledore admitted, his mind still whirling over what he was hearing. "In fact, I feared that it was an accidental horcrux, created because Miss Potter was the only living thing left in the room after Voldemort's body was destroyed."
"That shouldn't have been possible," Hermione said. "Horcruxes can't be created easily or accidentally. It takes a lot of work to prepare an object to become one."
"How would you—"
"You didn't want us to know much about the subject," Jasmine interrupted, "but since they were critical to defeating Voldemort, we simply didn't take no for an answer. You keep too much important information hidden from others who need it."
"You have to properly prepare the target vessel," Hermione continued, "otherwise the soul fragment will simply return to you because the separation is so unnatural. What's more, if anything could become a horcrux, even accidentally and without preparation, how would you direct the soul fragment where to go? How would you prevent it from latching onto a spoon or used tissue?"
Dumbledore grimaced at her choice of examples, but couldn't deny that she had a valid argument. "So Miss Potter wasn't a horcrux, but still had a soul fragment attached to her?"
"This was probably a unique situation," Hermione answered, "so it's impossible to know for sure what exactly was going on; but since she didn't go through the proper preparations, she wouldn't have been able to truly anchor him to our world. So, she wasn't quite a horcrux. But she did have a bit of his soul attached to her — enough to create a connection, since every piece of a soul always retains its connection to all the others. It might have been enough of one for Voldemort himself to leech power from her, but definitely enough for her to affect all the other soul pieces."
"And you believe that your bond somehow destroyed them?" Dumbledore asked.
The two witches joined hands again as Jasmine said, "We think that our love destroyed them. Our bond was why our love was strong enough to do that when it was transmitted through my connection to them. Based on what we've learned, we believe that the consummation of our bond on Samhain caused at least two horcruxes to explode as well as my scar to finally start fading, so we are hopeful that all remaining horcruxes were destroyed then."
"Given how little is known about soul bonds, I wouldn't be surprised if that was as good of a candidate for 'the power he knows not' as love itself," Hermione observed.
"Your love..." Dumbledore said slowly. "As happy as I am to find that something so pure and good may be responsible for making Voldemort mortal, I fear that it will not be accepted in our society. You have no real hope of taking such a relationship public without suffering tremendous backlash." He couldn't help but be reminded of choices he'd made in his own past — choices he'd long regretted and usually avoided thinking about.
"We intend to work on changing that," Jasmine said firmly.
"You did mention something about changing the magical world," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "I take it that this is what you were referring to? What is it that you intend to do?"
"The answer to that requires a separate oath," Hermione said. "It's not enough to promise that you won't reveal this; you have to promise not to meddle."
"Miss Granger, I can't simply give a student a blanket oath to never interfere in anything they will be doing," Dumbledore protested.
"This involves a prophecy," Jasmine explained, "a different prophecy from the one you told us about. We've been told that when people presume to interfere with prophecies — whether to thwart them or to direct them to some outcome that they favor — it turns out badly for everyone. We simply need to be assured that you won't knowingly try to prevent the changes the prophecy describes, or even just interfere to make those changes more palatable to you."
Dumbledore frowned deeply and considered his options. They believe themselves to be subjects of another prophecy, one which involves significant changes in magical society — changes which would somehow cause their relationship to be accepted, perhaps. Yet I've spent much of my life and political career trying to preserve our culture for future generations.
"One thing I cannot do," he said carefully, "is stand idly by if I believe that dark wizards... or witches... are seeking control of magical society. I would also find it difficult to not get involved if I saw unnecessary violence being committed, even in the pursuit of ostensibly good goals."
"As far as we're concerned, our intentions are no more dark than the ritual you saw," Jasmine said. "Whether others label our goals as dark or not is out of our hands; but if you don't consider the ritual to be dark, then you shouldn't consider our goals to be dark."
"And as for violence," Hermione continued, "we can't promise that there won't be any. Major social changes rarely occur without some resistance, and we anticipate that some of those who object to our changes will resist violently. We won't resort to violence first, and we won't use it to force changes on others, but we expect that at times we'll have to use violence to defend ourselves or others."
"You seem to have taken at least some of my concerns regarding violence to heart," Dumbledore said hopefully, and when the girls nodded, he continued, "Very well, I think I can accept such assurances and make an oath to not knowingly interfere with the prophecy — though with the proviso that it not include a complete prohibition against me arguing for certain ideas or approaches."
Neither witch had a problem with that, and in short order so many of Dumbledore's assumptions and expectations came crashing down as he learned about the veela prophecy and what it likely meant. When I kept hoping that Miss Potter would become a leader of our society for the coming century, this wasn't at all what I had in mind, he thought as he leaned back in his chair and removed his spectacles. I expected her to help preserve our way of life, not change it completely!
"Are you sure that such... sweeping changes are wise?" he asked. "Not everyone will accept them. You're right that there will be resistance."
"Change is inevitable," Hermione observed. "Without change, there is only stagnation and death. It's just a question of who benefits from the changes that happen."
"Obviously there were earlier changes that brought us to where we are now — changes that weren't all for the better," Jasmine said. "It can't be any healthier to suppress the feminine aspect of magic than it would be to suppress the feminine aspect of humanity. Or of nature generally. We expect to restore ideas and practices that were lost or taken away, not impose new things that never existed before."
"But can you be sure that your changes will improve our world?" Dumbledore asked, now regretting his oath because he was horrified at the idea of magical traditions and practices he knew so well just falling away.
"If prophecies are sent to us by Magic itself," Hermione said, "then how could you argue that the broad goals wouldn't be improvements? It wouldn't surprise me if Magic somehow recognized that we're heading in a dangerous direction and is trying to get us to turn around before it's too late. I'll grant that not all of our specific ideas may necessarily be great, but so far what we're doing is definitely improving the world — both muggle and magical, in fact." She then went on to explain what she knew about how the rituals were creating massive improvements in the health of the surrounding ecosystems, and further explained her conclusions about how a strict enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy might end up killing off the entire magical world in the long run.
Needless to say, Dumbledore was thunderstruck — not merely that these two were at the center of doing so much good, but that they had even done it right on his doorstep without him ever having noticed. Clearly I need to get out of my office and look around a little more, he considered, starting with the Forbidden... well, with the Forest.
"Right now, the magical world is sick," Jasmine announced. "It's too insular, the space for it is shrinking, there's too much inbreeding, there's not enough innovation, there are regular dark lords... I don't know how much of this is tied directly or indirectly to the problems we intend to fix, but I'm sure some is."
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "As much as I want to preserve the society I've grown up and lived in, I cannot deny that there are problems... perhaps more than I've cared to admit. I also have to admit that I've been unable to come up with solutions to those problems within the framework of the traditions and practices I wish to defend. This, though... this is so much to take in. It was difficult enough to come to terms with the small revolution you started here in the school, but now you're talking about going even further — and with our entire society, too."
"Our friends are more responsible for what happened here last term than we were," Jasmine pointed out, "but they were taking their lead from us, even if we didn't know at the time that we were leading them in that direction. I guess it won't come as any surprise that they are fully behind us in the wider changes we want to make. I think that shows that there was already an underlying desire for those sorts of changes. People have simply lacked inspiration and leadership."
"I will have to think about what you've said here," the Headmaster said slowly. "I honestly don't know how supportive I can be, though I will hold to my oath not to knowingly interfere. For now, though, we should probably focus on Voldemort." Neither of the girls could hide their disappointment at the lack of immediate support from him, but neither did they look surprised.
"We're training regularly so we can be ready to fight him whenever he shows himself in public," Jasmine said. "We need to get rid of him before he finds a way to prevent his own death again."
"I completely agree," Dumbledore replied. "We need for him to either feel that it's safe to expose himself, or, more likely, have bait that is tempting enough that he thinks it's worth the risk."
"Something at either the Ministry or Hogwarts?" Hermione suggested. "We know he must be planning some sort of attack on one or the other."
"That's probably true," Dumbledore agreed. "And as I'm sure Sirius told you, an attack on the school seems to be in the works. If it happens, it could be catastrophic, but we must be prepared. I will of course do what I can to help you two, as well as ensure that the students are kept safe."
Sunday, March 26, 1996, Morning.
"Thank you for seeing me like this," Tonks said as she sat at her boss' breakfast table, fidgeting a bit under the older witch's hard stare.
"Normally I wouldn't," Amelia Bones answered. "Normally I'd probably have a junior auror reprimanded for trying to see me at home so early on a Sunday morning. However, I happen to know that you've been working on an unusual case, so I'm willing to make allowances. Small allowances."
Tonks gulped audibly and her hair shifted to a washed-out brown. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."
"Now why don't you get to the point."
"Yes, ma'am," Tonks responded. "I, uh... I'm sorry, it's just that this is difficult for me to explain."
"Try starting from the beginning," Bones said dryly. "I find that usually works."
Tonks took that as an order and explained the course of her investigation, running through the information she'd slowly gathered right up to her unexpected discoveries in the Forbidden Forest while disguised as Minerva McGonagall.
"That... well, I can understand why you came to meet with me like this, Tonks," Bones said finally. Tonks gave a silent sigh of relief and her hair slowly shifted back to her preferred bubble-gum pink, recognizing the use of her name instead of her job title as a sign that she was no longer in danger of being chewed out.
"Given how little you had to work with," Bones continued, "I'm impressed with how much you were ultimately able to discover... impressed enough that I'm going to completely ignore how you glossed over what sorts of detection spells you used." Tonks' hair almost instantly collapsed back to a limp, mousey brown. "Don't worry," her boss assured her, "you can leave it out of your written report, too. You got good results. Right now, I'm much more worried about what McGonagall is up to."
"If you don't mind my saying, ma'am," Tonks put in hesitantly, "I'm certain she isn't in any way helping You-Know-Who or any other dark wizards or witches. I may not have been in Gryffindor, but I looked up to her while I was in Hogwarts. Still do. She's... she's a good witch."
"I know she is," Bones conceded, "which makes this even more mysterious. We don't have any indication that any actual crimes have been committed, but we can be pretty sure that whatever is going on wouldn't get Ministry approval, either. Also, whatever is going on seems to be helping the surrounding areas — even to the point of making the centaurs friendly, which is unheard of." Her eyes narrowed slightly before asking, "You haven't mentioned this case to anyone else, have you?"
"No ma'am!" Tonks insisted. "I gave Auror Scrimgeour an oath to not talk to anyone but him or you about this!"
"Good." Bones removed her monocle and cleaned it while considering the situation, then said at last, "Auror Tonks (and I do mean that — you're no longer a Junior Auror as far as I'm concerned), you're to continue your investigations as you have been. I recommend plenty of caution, just so we don't alert anyone that we might know what's going on. I also recommend investigating other powerful magical sites around Britain — sites outside direct Ministry control, obviously. You're authorized for whatever overtime you need because I know there are a lot of places to look at."
"What about McGonagall, ma'am?" Tonks asked as she sat a little straighter.
"Don't worry about her," Bones replied. "I'll approach her, or maybe Dumbledore. First, though, I'll wait for you to submit a report on the current status of past and possible future ritual sites. I don't want to go into such a meeting without all the information I can get."
Albus Dumbledore stood disillusioned in a corner of the Room of Requirement, watching a small group of students go through intense training in magical defense and offense. When Jasmine Potter had mentioned the previous evening that she and others trained every Sunday morning, he'd been eager to see what they were doing. He hadn't expected to be as impressed as he was.
The clothing they wore — especially the witches — was quite a bit more revealing than he was accustomed to, and he was sorely tempted to become visible and chastise them for wearing such things in front of wizards. Yet he held his tongue and soon realized how much easier it was for them to move and dodge. Of all the things he'd started rethinking in recent days and weeks, the value of wizarding robes was perhaps the most surprising.
Once he managed to ignore what he perceived as their state of undress, he was able to focus on how fit, strong, and fast they all were — again, especially the witches. Clearly Miss Granger's and Miss Potter's comments about how the rituals have affected the participants was no exaggeration, he considered. The fact that they are much fitter and more developed than the male students is obvious.
Dumbledore watched them all for a while, making careful observations about not only their skills, but also the nature of the training Fleur and Gabrielle were putting them through. I think both Alastor and I underestimated just how skilled my Defense professor is, he realized. Given how young these two are, I'm sure that I'm not seeing the full extent of how dangerous a veela can be. I wonder what else the veela are hiding in their enclaves, and what they expect to get out of the fulfillment of that prophecy.
As he turned to leave, he began working on plans to increase the castle's defenses, though he wasn't sure how much he'd be able to accomplish without the Chief Inquisitor getting suspicious.
Sunday, March 26, 1996, Afternoon.
"You're the second person today who's wanted to do business with me at home," Amelia Bones said, quite displeased at how her day off kept being interrupted. "So this had better be good."
Sirius gulped. "Ah, sorry about that. If I'd known I'd... well, honestly I wouldn't have acted any differently. This is too important."
"In that case, you'd better start talking," Bones said as she crossed her arms and waited.
"You may or may not have noticed that Voldemort has an unhealthy interest in my goddaughter," Sirius began. "Well, I've received intelligence that this is far more than just appearance. He's obsessed with her — and in particular, with killing her. He regards her as his greatest failure, not to mention the reason why he was reduced to a wraith of some sort for so many years."
Bones nodded. "Not surprising."
"He has plans to go after her — that's certain, not just an educated guess," Sirius continued. "Where exactly he intends to strike is still a mystery, but Hogwarts seems to be the most likely target."
Bones nodded again. "Also not surprising, since that's where she spends the most time. It's a target he'd probably want to go after anyway, though I'm not sure how wise that would be so long as Dumbledore is there. Isn't he the one you should be telling this, though?"
"Oh, he knows," Sirius assured her. "I'm telling you because I'm hoping to get your assistance for whenever Voldemort attacks."
"I can't station aurors in Hogwarts," Bones said immediately. "A protection detail is theoretically possible, but not so long as Fudge is in charge."
"Of course," Sirius said. "I was thinking more along the lines of some way for her to call you for help. That way she can get support regardless of whether she's attacked in Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, or wherever."
Bones looked at Sirius carefully and thought about his request. It's not unreasonable, she considered. But more importantly, it might fit in perfectly with what I'm already doing.
"Alright," she said after a long silence. "I have a couple of ideas of how we could make that work. Give me a day or two to see what I can come up with."
Sunday, March 26, 1996, Evening.
"Severus, come in. Thank you for joining me," Dumbledore said as the Potions professor entered his office.
"You are... looking much better, Headmaster," Snape said as he sat.
"Thank you. I feel much better," Dumbledore responded. "Poppy was made aware of a new treatment that she helped me get. I'm afraid that I don't understand it well myself, but it has worked. Speaking of health, how has Voldemort been doing?"
"No more bouts of pain or weakness, not since shortly after Halloween last year."
"That was when his familiar died, was it not?" Dumbledore asked, tightly controlling his expression.
"Correct," Snape said, clearly uncomfortable with remembering the days that followed both Voldemort and Nagini falling unconscious.
"Is he as strong as he once was?"
"That... is more difficult to say," Snape replied. "I suspect not, because he seems to avoid casting spells in situations where I would have expected him to do so. It's not too obvious, but I've been paying close attention ever since you first asked me about it. However, I have no direct evidence one way or the other."
Dumbledore nodded, unsurprised by this answer. "And what do you know about his plans? It's clear that he is planning some sort of attack somewhere, but do you have any information on what his primary target might be?"
Snape frowned. "I'm sorry, but no. I'm not among those involved in the plans, whatever they are. As you know, I haven't even been informed about what exactly Nott is doing, except that it seems to include killing or incapacitating you. I'm sure that's not all, but he refuses to confide in me."
"It would seem that the castle is the target, does it not?" Dumbledore suggested.
"That is a likely explanation," Snape admitted, "but I haven't seen or heard anything specific that would point to the castle as a target for assault. I can't imagine that the building diagrams they were studying several months ago were of Hogwarts. It's unlikely that he would risk attacking Hogwarts so long as you are here, but that may be why he has tasked Nott with trying to kill you. Of course, that assumes he believes Nott will be successful."
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "It is indeed a mystery, which is why it's imperative that you find out more if you can."
"My position—"
"I understand," Dumbledore interrupted. "I don't wish to put you in any unnecessary danger. However, if we know where he is going to strike, we might be able to be sufficiently prepared to put an end to him once and for all."
"Are you certain?" Snape asked intently, surprise and hope cracking his normally blank expression.
"It is difficult to be absolutely certain, I'm afraid, but right now I am more optimistic than I have been in a very, very long time. Our chances will be increased if we can be prepared."
"Very well, Headmaster," Snape responded. "I will do what I can."
Snape left the Headmaster's office shortly thereafter, and Dumbledore was left to consider the choices his spy might end up making.
Monday, March 27, 1996, Evening.
"So, how did it go today?" Sharpaxe asked as he and Earchewer shared a bottle of brandy.
"Better than I expected," Earchewer said. "The gossiping is as heavy as ever, but now that our people here know the truth — or at least the basics — most of the wildest stories have been dispensed with."
Sharpaxe had convinced the rest of the Bet Bel that it would be better to begin releasing at least some of the truth to the nation, lest rumors get out of control. However, they insisted that he begin with the London branch of Gringotts in order to gauge how the truth would be received. Upper management had been briefed that morning and instructed on what to tell their subordinates; all day the news had been trickling down, and by now everyone should have been informed.
"Most?"
Earchewer shrugged. "Frankly, the full truth is wilder than most of the rumors were, so telling them the basics won't change as much as you might have hoped."
"Do you think this will change how the witches are treated on the bank floor?" Sharpaxe asked.
"Not much," Earchewer said as he shook his head. "I had already given instructions to treat those two well. I'm more worried about potential fanatics."
"Oh?"
"You probably don't see it in the capital," Earchewer explained, "but living out here past the edges of civilization, stuck in the midst of humans and even working alongside them sometimes... it causes some to become a bit zealous in their adherence to our culture and traditions. It's a way of holding on to one's identity as a goblin, but it's easily taken too far."
"And I guess this includes devotion to the Goddess," Sharpaxe said, seeing but not liking where this was going.
Earchewer nodded. "Taken far enough, they become intolerant even of the variations that are common among our people. I'm not sure how such goblins might react to even the possibility of two human witches becoming vessels for alleged goddesses."
"Put together a trusted security detail together, ready to go to the main banking floor just in case they come in," Sharpaxe ordered. "We can't take a chance on anything happening to them here, and certainly not at the hands of a fanatical goblin."
"Already working on it," Earchewer responded as he sipped his brandy. "I expect to have a list of names tomorrow."
"Good work," Sharpaxe said, thinking about what he'd need to write in a report on this for the Queen, the Bet Bel, and especially for the High Priestess. "I'll want any and all information you have on this phenomenon," he added. "You're right that I haven't heard about it before, but it's clearly something we're going to have to address."