A/N: I want to thank lazymanjones96, Fast Frank, Inquisitiveinsomniac, pottersparky, lokarryn, futureauthor62, and KnightLawn for reviewing! It really means a lot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, "protego maxima lawsuit"!

Chapter Six: Cleaning House and The Mail

The room we had flooed into was apparently the drawing room. It took up one whole half of a floor in the house. The drawing room was on the first floor, which in Great Britain is actually the floor above the ground floor. Number 12 Grimmauld Place consisted of six floors in total (plus an attic), containing a basement, ground floor, and first through fourth floors. The drawing room took up the right side of the first floor, and towards the back of the house of each floor was the grand staircase. Accessible from the grand staircase landing on the first floor was a door to a guest bedroom on the left side of the house which had an attached bath and a door to the drawing room on the right side of the house. From the drawing room, one door towards the back of the center wall led to a bathroom, and a door all the way in the back of the center wall led to a large study. Since this was the floor we flooed into, this was the floor we cleaned first. Remus decided the most time practical thing to do would be to have Sirius teach me the "Scourgify" cleaning charm so that I could help with the cleaning process. Sirius, because he hadn't cast magic in a decade, wasn't going to be of much use magically in our quest of cleaning the house. The healers said it would probably take a few weeks for him to regain his magical stamina. Apparently magic is somewhat of a "use it or lose it" type of thing. I asked, "What about the trace?"

"The trace? Well, the trace is like a ward set up all over Britain that tracks wand usage of witches and wizards under the age of 17 and also can track wand usage of over age witches and wizards and other magical creatures and beings. When the ministry is alerted to the use of magic by an underage magical, they first send a warning and then for further offenses there will be a disciplinary hearing. The issue is that wizarding families can easily install wards that block the Ministry's tracking of the trace. This house has them, for sure. If you're in a wizarding home then more often than not the Ministry can't detect magic there. Diagon Alley is also very oversaturated with magic and keeps the Ministry's system from tracking magic there. At Hogwarts, it's a combination of the oversaturation and powerful wards."

Even though no one had lived here in five years, it looked like no one had lived here in fifty. Remus used a couple of charms that would be strong enough to hold off some magical creatures on the stairwell but decided that we should clean the three rooms on this side of the floor first. Watching Pobby in action (and Kreacher somewhat as well, who worked at a much slower grumbling pace) was very fun and interesting to watch. Within a half hour, the room looked livable, and within an hour the room looked immaculate. Of course, the room still had dated furnishings, but they had cleaning charm after cleaning charm and repairing charm after repairing charm cast on them, so they were as good as new. Practically the only thing holding the couches and drapes together was magic at this point, but they looked beautiful (for their time period). There was a pile of doxy bodies that Remus vanished intermittently, along with many wild Puffskeins and dozens of other types of pests. Sirius and I just sat on the couch as they cleaned while he tried to teach me the cleaning charm, which was more complicated than the usual first spell young wizards and witches learn. He said that the most common first spell of most young witches and wizards is the spell to create sparks. Nevertheless, by the time Pobby and Remus were done with the drawing room, I was ready to help with the cleaning charm that I had become fairly good at. I learned that many different things go into casting a spell. In order of importance, Intent, Motion, and finally Incantation. The intent was not only knowing what the spell was exactly designed to do, put picturing what you wanted to be done. The motion was the physical motion aspect you applied with your wand, which was most often in the shape of runes or abbreviated runic styles that allowed a witch or wizard to cast spells easier and to learn to cast them easier. The incantations were the verbal aspect a witch or wizard spoke which also allowed them the ability to learn to cast spells easier and to cast them easier. As witches and wizards get older and more experienced, they start to drop the incantations and the wand movements and only need intent. Scourgify was a charm that used an S shape as its runic component, which was simple to cast. Within the hour, I was able to clean the wooden floors or any material or furniture in the rooms that needed the treatment.

"You're a natural, Harry. You're going to do great at Hogwarts," Sirius told me. I had practiced around the room, and was getting noticeably good effects with the spell after about twenty minutes, but became very adept at casting it within an hour. With the drawing room all clean it looked in a certain way, beautiful. There were windows on both far sides and three separate sitting areas. The largest one was in the middle, with a three seater couch and four armchairs creating a square with the large fireplace. On both far ends of the room, identical sitting areas with two loveseats and two armchairs were framed around small tables. On the wall opposite the center wall, a tapestry of the black family spanned the wall. One thing I knew I had to keep my eye out for while cleaning was Slytherin's locket, which was in this room somewhere. Within a half hour of working, I spotted it and quickly stashed it away in my bag that I carried with me. I snatched it while nobody was looking so that way I could do what I needed to do with it in private. I thought I'd take it to Gringotts and consult with them to see if they knew of any possible solutions to preserve the locket but destroy the Horcrux. I didn't even get a very good look at it because I stashed it away so quickly. I think if everything worked out alright with it, and it was usable, I'd just tell Sirius and Remus I found it in the Potter Vault among the various other old knick-knacks.

With the room complete, Remus, Pobby, Kreature and I moved into the study. The room had large windows on one side and bookshelves on the three other walls. It was in a state of bad disrepair due to a certain magical pest that ate through the wood in this room. Remus has to vanish basically all of the furniture before he said, "You know what? This could be a great classroom for us to use for our Ancient Runes lessons. It's plenty big, probably five meters by five meters. Near the floo, lots of light. Since we're taking most of the furniture out now, we can outfit the room with desks and the like. How does that sound, kid?"

"I think that sounds great!" I said, in the middle of casting cleaning charms on the bookshelves. Sirius approved of us getting rid of every trace of his father's old workspace. The room only took us fifteen minutes of work before we were left with a bright and airy room of light wooden floors and bookshelves. The bathroom took little time and effort at all, and we soon moved into the guest bedroom across the landing. It was large and spacious with an attached bath and took around a half hour to completely scourge. After that, we had the option to either go up or down. Upstairs there were more floors of bedrooms and below were the rooms used for living. We decided that having a working kitchen was more integral to being able to live in a place than all having bedrooms right away, so we ventured down through the dark wood stairwell to the ground floor. We discovered that Sirius's silencing spell he had cast towards the direction of his mother's painting didn't hold well because her painting was on the floor below, her voice just traveled really far and really loud. A charm couldn't hold from that distance (especially a spell cast by Sirius in his current state). Remus and Sirius discovered that the painting used a permanent sticking charm, so I asked them if they could just cut down that section of the wall. They were able to, despite all the screams of protest, and they then were able to silence the painting and have Kreacher place it in the basement storage. On one side of the ground floor was a formal dining room and on the other was a large library with seating areas. One section of the library had wards so strong that Remus couldn't get into it. I, however, was allowed in addition to Sirius, who told me, "Because you're my godson. This section is for Black family members only and the books can't leave this area."

These rooms took a couple of hours to clean. The formal dining room was set with enough chairs to sit thirty-eight people! It was the longest table I had ever seen. We then worked our way down to cleaning the basement, which was mainly just the kitchen. A pantry, some storage, and the house elf quarters were also down there. It took a couple hours to clean down there as well. At that point, we were exhausted and very tired. Sirius was still cracking jokes left and right, though. Sirius and Remus let me have the bed while they both took couches in the drawing room. Kreacher slept in his basement quarters and Pobby slept in the drawing room as well, until we could get him a bed tomorrow. We talked about getting classroom furniture as well as some updated pieces for the drawing room and library. I convinced them to let me lead the decorating, so the color scheme I planned was going to entail blues and light woods in the classroom, a library of greens and dark woods, and a drawing room of white, dark blues, and light pink accents.

Before going to bed, I walked into the drawing room and asked, "If house elves are sick, who cares for them?"

"Well, we often tend to our own injuries. We can go to St. Mungo's and be treated if we have severe enough injuries to warrant it." Pobby replied.

"I think Kreacher needs and deserves mental help," I said. "I think something is actually wrong with him that could be helped. Can we take him to St. Mungo's?" I asked.

"What, hell no! That bloody bastard doesn't deserve to go." Sirius grumbled.

"Sirius. Don't treat your house elf like shit. If the healers say he doesn't need any help then we can bring him back. If he can be helped, wouldn't it be nice to have an agreeable elf?"

"Don't say the word shit," Remus said to me. "But you're very much right."

"Oh, alright," Sirius said, tossing a pillow at me. I took that as a win and headed back to bed in the bedroom across the hall.

Early-Morning, July 27th, 1991

12 Grimmauld Place, Kitchen Table

The next morning I actually woke up before Sirius. 'Poor bloke must be so tired.' I thought. 'Wow, I'm really turning British mentally.' I thought, immediately after. Pobby had gone shopping with my money, so we were presented with a full English breakfast. Remus and I ate side by side. I decided to ask him about my classes since I needed to send Hogwarts an official notice of the classes I was taking.

"I'm going to take everything but Divination." I told him matter of factly. "Do you think that's a good idea?" I asked.

"I don't see why not. If you can't handle it, you can drop electives mid-year." He replied.

"So, could you give me some arithmancy problems to see where I could be placed?" I asked. He gave me a few algebra problems that I handled without difficulty which he was happy with and encouraged me for. When he got to geometry, I had a few issues because it had been a while for me since I had done any, but when we got to trigonometry and precalculus I really knocked his socks off. My teachers always made us do tests without calculators so I was pretty well prepared for not having one. "Wow! Harry! You're very good at this. I think you could go into fourth-year arithmancy without much problem at all. If you do have any, I can help of course, but, wow. You're leaps ahead of most of your classmates with math. You could become a great spellcrafter." Remus exclaimed.

"So I can sign up for third-year advanced Ancient Runes, fourth-year Advanced Arithmancy, and then first-year everything else except for Divination?"

"Well, you seem highly motivated and very bright, Harry. Do you want to try to do anything else this summer? I think we could accomplish the first year of History of Magic curriculum too if you wanted?"

"That would be wonderful. Anything more than that would be too much, I think, but I'll go ahead and send in my notice. Could I have some parchment and a quill and ink again?" I asked.

He called for Pobby and Pobby brought it down from Remus's bag he had upstairs. Then, I began to write to Professor McGonagall.

Dear Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall,

Please enroll me in first-year Advanced Alchemy, Advanced Ancient Studies, Advanced Beastiology and Being Studies, Advanced Elemental Studies, Advanced Astronomy, Composition Preparatory, Introduction to The Wizarding World, and Languages. I also plan to enroll in second-year History of Magic, third-year Advanced Ancient Runes, and fourth-year Advanced Arithmancy which my tutor, Remus Lupin, will be sending a letter to confirm.

Have a wonderful summer,

Harry Potter

I had Pobby bring me Hedwig's cage so I could send her off with that letter soon, but I likely had a couple more to write. At the same time, a brown and white owl came knocking on the high window pane of the basement, and Pobby let it in. It carried two letters to Remus. The first was from the Moon family.

Dear Remus,

We have received your invitation for our daughter to attend lessons with your pupil, Harry Potter, in addition to Madeline Fenwick's son and a muggleborn girl. We would love to accept, especially Lily, and can't wait for further details of time and place. We will be awaiting your owl, and have already sent notice to Hogwarts of her intent to enter into third-year Advanced Runes.

Your friends,

The Moons

The second was from the Rivers family.

Dear Mr. Lupin,

Little Oliver would be delighted to join the lessons. Please send us a list of dates and times as soon as they're available. We're awaiting your owl. We have made Hogwarts aware of this last-minute change to his scheduling for his first year.

Thanks,

Oliver Rivers, the 6th

"Well, that's exciting!" I said. "When will we start?" I asked Remus.

"Well, today is the 27th, and you go with Hagrid tomorrow to the alley, right? Giving ourselves an extra day in there to get this place ready, I think we should start on the 30th. July 30th, 9 am. Floo to "12 Grimmauld Place"." He replied. I had told him of my invitation to Hagrid. I had received a reply late in the middle of the night last night which I unfurled to read for the first time.

Dear Harry,

I'd love to. Can't wait.

See ya then,

Rubeus Hagrid

'Short and simple, a nice style.' I thought. Confirming with Remus, I said, "Yes, Remus. I'll be with Hagrid tomorrow. When will the session end?"

"Eh, 4 pm." He told me. I hadn't yet read Hermione and Marcus's replies either, so I unfurled one of the parchments, starting with Hermione's.

Dear Harry,

I'm glad to hear your godfather is doing well. Please keep me updated on his status. Justice will always win, I believe. I'm so excited to hear we will begin our lessons soon! We have already mailed Hogwarts to let them know of the change in my class plans! Hope I don't fail… on my gosh… Ask Remus what extra books I should get! I need to make sure I don't look like a fool. Please let me know if Lily and Oliver join us. Thank you for letting me use Hedwig to send you back a letter. It's very nice of you. Having an owl must be very useful in the Wizarding World. I'll have to convince my parents to purchase me one. I've already read through four of my course books fully. How about you? I think I find Transfiguration the most fascinating, but Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are close seconds. It's just all so wonderful. While we were in Diagon Alley, I convinced my parents to let me try a few spells, and I managed to get them all right. I practiced the Sparks Spell, the Red Sparks Spell, and the Wand-Lighting Charm. Isn't it weird that we can use magic in Diagon Alley without any repercussions?

Wishing you well,

Hermione

I then unraveled Marcus's letter so I could read it.

Dear Harry,

My mother and I are very glad to hear that Sirius was released. She told me he was quite the prankster! (But also at the top of his class). I've already started asking my mom basic questions about Ancient Runes. It's been really hard keeping everything secret from my younger brother, Mason, like my parents want me to. They said that they want to wait until he gets his letter next year to tell him. I think I understand now, they really just wanted us to have a normal childhood instead of a childhood yearning for magic. We're telling him I'm going to a boarding school in Scotland for gifted kids.

Please let me know when you know for sure, and I'll be there. Also, what should we bring to the lessons?

Your friend,

Marcus Fenwick-Hitchin

Well, I needed to inform Hermione and Marcus of the plans for our lessons. Remus has already started writing his response to the Moon and Rivers families as well as his letter to Hogwarts.

"What do they need to bring?." I asked Remus.

"A beginner's rune carving kit and the first year textbook should do," he replied. With that information, I began to write my response to Hermione.

Dear Hermione,

Sirius is doing very well. They discharged him from the hospital yesterday, and we're currently in the process of cleaning up his old house. It's where we'll be having our lessons. It's very very old and very very dirty. We were cleaning all day yesterday and only got through half of it. I'm excited to get to tell you that Remus set a date for our first lesson! July 30th at 9 am. We'll be going from 9 am to 4 pm, with a lunch break in the middle. If you'll send me your address, I'll have Pobby find it and pop over to you at 8:50 am. Pobby tells me it is a bit unpleasant to go through side-along apparition, but it is more comfortable with an elf than a wizard or witch. You should talk to your parents about getting a floo connection installed in your fireplace too, they're very helpful. Remus said that all we need for our first lesson is the first year textbook and a beginner's rune carving kit. (Plus your wand!) Don't stress out! Lily Moon and Oliver Rivers will be joining us! I hope they're nice. Not sure why they wouldn't be, though, if Remus suggested they join us. You really should think about getting an owl, but feel free to message me back by using Hedwig very time I send you a letter. Sirius taught me the Cleaning Spell, and I managed to learn it pretty fast. Casting spells is so cool! Even after my hundredth time cleaning wooden floors, it was still fun to see the effect of the charm. Remus actually told me about the trace, and it is widely unfair to muggleborns, I think. Turns out, you can use magic in most wizarding houses because the wards block the trace. That means only muggleborns and people without strong wards are really subject to the trace. The good thing for you is that you'll be here for tutoring and will be able to use magic here because of the wards. It's not ideal, but it's more than nothing.

Wishing you well as well,

Harry Potter

After writing that, I picked up a new piece of parchment to begin penning Marcus's letter.

Dear Marcus,

He was quite the prankster. Still is, in fact. All he would do while we were cleaning his house yesterday was crack jokes. Some were amazing, some were alright, but some were plain awful. He seems like a great wizard though, if impulsive and childish. He taught me the cleaning spell "Scourgify", really nicely. I've been asking Remus about everything too. I've managed to already start reading the beginning of the Runes book. I've just been terribly busy, cleaning all day yesterday. I'm sorry you can't tell Mason. He's your full-brother, right? He'll definitely be going to Hogwarts next year? Maybe you can talk to your parents about why it would be a good idea to tell him and make a whole list? I'd try guilt tripping them on the fact that you're having to hide things from him and it will hurt your bond as brothers. They might listen to that. In regards to the lessons, Remus has told me they will begin at 9 am on July 30th. The floo address is 12 Grimmauld Place. Do you even have a floo set up? If not, I guess you could come the muggle way. You do live in London. Actually, where do you live…? Maybe it is nearby. You only need to bring your wand, the first year textbook, and a beginner's rune carving kit. See you then!

Your friend,

Harry Potter

Hedwig was still in her cage, but the owl that had brought Remus's letters was hopping around the table. "Is that your owl?" I asked him.

"Yes, adopted her with a broken wing but was able to fix her up. She'll need to rest for a few hours before going back out again with these letters, but she's always done well for me. I've had her a few good years, now. Her name is Athena." Remus replied.

I unlocked Hedwig's cage and called to her. On the second call, she flew out and came to rest on my shoulder. Then she got down onto the table and snatched a piece of bacon from my plate. "Girl, are you up for another delivery?" I asked.

She gave me a look: 'Of course' as she stuck out her leg. I attached my three letters, one to McGonagall, and one each to Marcus and Hermione.

"So, what's the plan for today, kid?" Remus asked me.

"Well, I think I'm going to go into the Alley for some shopping, because now I've signed up for all my classes, so I know what I'm taking." I told him.

"I'll let you go by yourself if you take Pobby and promise not to go down Knockturn Alley." Remus said to me. "Do you think that's fair?"

"Well, it's the offer I got, isn't it?" I asked back cheekily. "That sounds fine to me." I added, right after.

"I'm going to go and interview at Hogwarts today, actually." Remus said.

"For the defense position?" I asked.

"No, actually, the Ancient Runes position." He said.

"So, Sirius will be here all alone with Kreature?" I asked.

"Hmm. That doesn't sound like a good idea. I'd trust you alone more than Sirius, at this point." Remus then chuckled. "Honestly though, I think he knows it's in his best interests not to leave until everyone has seen the prophet. Speaking of which, have you seen it?" He asked me.

"No. Do you have a copy?" I asked.

"Yes." He said, pulling out the newspaper from his satchel strapped over his chair. "It gets delivered every morning between 7 and 8. Today, it was early." He slid the paper over to me and said, "You know, Sirius could take Kreature to St. Mungo's. He could use the private floo of his healers, and they'd probably want to see him again anyway, just to check up."

"That sounds like a plan to me," I said, taking a look at the paper.

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT!

by B. Cuffe

—

HARRY POTTER RETURNS TO WIZARDING WORLD!

by Rita Skeeter

—

BARTEMIUS CROUCH FIRED, NEVER GAVE SIRIUS BLACK A TRIAL!

by A. Fenetre

—

PETER PETTIGREW TRUE CULPRIT IN POTTER MURDER!

by M. Carneirus

The headlines said it all, but I read through each one at least once. This was the first time I had seen a wizarding publication and it was beautiful. The moving pictures were amazing. The article about me was the most surprising, of course, seeing how it was written by Rita Skeeter.

HARRY POTTER RETURNS TO WIZARDING WORLD

by Rita Skeeter

For the first time in ten years, the world has finally seen Harry Potter. Hidden away by Albus Dumbledore for unknown reasons and to unknown whereabouts, Harry Potter was seen (with a scar we can confirm to be very real) at the Trial of Sirius Black at the Ministry of Magic, yesterday, July 26th. His appearance was a total surprise, as well as his surprise (and extremely important) addition to the trial.

Read more on pg. 8

—

Continued from pg. 1

Mr. Potter arrived accompanied by Andromeda Tonks, Sirius Black's lawyer, and Remus Lupin, Sirius Black's childhood friend. Little known fact, Sirius Black is actually Harry Potter's godfather. Yes, you heard it here first folks. For ten years Sirius Black was in prison, and with his new release, should assuredly be taking over the responsibility of Harry's guardianship. They were seen leaving the trial together. Interestingly, Albus Dumbledore seemed full of surprise with Harry's presence at the trial. I wonder if this means Dumbledore hasn't know where Harry has been all these years? Or what if Harry is rebelling against Dumbledore's clutches? Do we have a bad boy on our hands? What we do know, however, is that Harry Potter found his parents will in his Gringotts vault, which became an integral part of the case in proving the fact that Sirius Black was not the secret keeper of James and Lily Potter, and that it was, in fact, Peter Pettigrew.

Read more in article PETER PETTIGREW TRUE CULPRIT IN POTTER MURDER on page one.

Photo by. M. Harvey

In the middle of the front page, above the headline about me, was a photo of me sitting at the Wizengamot, flanked by Remus and Andromeda, and smiling when Sirius was declared innocent. I looked good thankfully, and the article wasn't really bad, although I would probably need to dispel with the idea that I was a bad boy. The other articles were very factual and well written even if the pictures they included of Sirius looked terrible. That's when Sirius decided to walk into the kitchen, late, of course. At least he'd get to read the prophet without my interference.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked him.

"I feel like I was hit by my motorcycle." He said.

"Well, that's the magical exhaustion. They said take it easy, not create a doxy inferno." Remus replied. "You should only cast a few spells today. Tomorrow a dozen, the next a couple dozen. You'll be back to normal before you know it."

"Well, I should just be normal now! This whole prison thing didn't do me much good." Sirius huffed.

"Well, I'm going to an interview at Hogwarts today, and Harry is going to the Alley. We've decided you're going to take Kreacher to St. Mungo's." Remus replied.

"Dad, do I have to?" Sirius joked.

"Yes, or no dessert for a week." Remus joked back.

"Oh, alright. I'll let you know how it goes later."

Since we were long done with Breakfast, Pobby and I then left for the Alley. Using the floo, I went directly to Gringotts.

Late Morning, July 27th, 1991

Gringotts Entry Hall

Flooing into existence, I was met by Pobby right in front of me. "Good work." He said, noticing I didn't trip at all.

We then made our way up to teller I remembered from before, who I think Andromeda called Nogwin. I stepped up to his podium and waited, although this time he stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at me.

"Hello Nogwin, I'm here today to consult about a magical object I own that I believe has dark magic or a curse of some sort on it. Does Gringotts offer services to remove dark magic and curses from objects?"

"Gringotts offers all services, for a fee." He replied. I chuckled. He didn't.

"Well, how much of a fee?" I asked.

"It would depend on the time it takes to remove the magic and the number of wizards and goblins involved. If it took one hour with one pair of a goblin and wizard, then it would be 20 galleons. Every hour after the first is only 10. Prices are non-negotiable, as always, at Gringotts. Still interested in our services?"

"Yes, I think so. Could I be served now?" I asked.

"For a fee." His eye twinkled. "That'll be another 10 galleons to get a curse-breaking team here within a few minutes." He replied.

"Fine," I said as he led me into one of the marbled meeting rooms. I sat alone for what must have only been four minutes before the door opened again. In walked the same red-haired man I had seen a few days before floo to the burrow from Gringotts. I had thought Bill worked in Egypt, not Britain, so I wondered why he was here. With him was a goblin a bit taller than the ones I had seen and he had a grey beard.

They walked over to me, and Bill extended his hand and said, "Bill Weasley. Are we in the wrong room? We were supposed to be meeting a client about a dark object? You just look a little young."

"You're in the right room. Harry Potter." I said, extending my hand first to Bill, and then to the goblin. He seemed to take it reluctantly.

"Andwin." The goblin said to me.

"Wow! Nice to meet you, Harry. So what do you have for us?" Bill asked.

"Well, first, I need some sort of secrecy contract. I'm not employing you to help me with this object unless you can't tell anyone I have it, what it does, or where I got it. I want complete secrecy." I said.

Bill suddenly tensed, realizing he wasn't dealing with the child he thought he was. "That's standard protocol. I have a contract right here that we can sign. Please be aware, we are allowed to converse with our superiors about all work items, but they are subject to the same blanket statement of confidentiality." He pulled out a three-page non-disclosure form.

"Well, what's the penalty if you do break this contract?" I asked.

"For me or any wizard, a month in Azkaban and 5000 Galleons. For a goblin, death. Goblin courts are different."

"Wow, okay," I replied. "That's a lot." I read the three pages and then said, "This looks acceptable to me," and signed. Pobby stood behind me and was bound by confidentiality as my elf.

Right after I signed, they did. "Now, I'll show you what we're dealing with." That's when I had Pobby pull the locket out of my bag and set it onto the marble table between where I was sitting and the pair of Gringotts employees were sitting.

It was a beautiful necklace, made of a shimmering gold with an inlay of an S in glittering green stones. The chain was gold to match the locket.

As soon as I took it out and let it settle for a second, I could feel a hint of disgust and darkness coming from the locket.

Bill immediately cast a spell silently, which I assumed was a detection spell. Then he frowned, and cast another one. Then he frowned even deeper and cast a series of spells. On the seventh one, he peeled back in horror. He whispered in his goblin partner's ear and then spoke to me.

"Where did you get this?" He asked.

"I could feel the darkness emanating from it. I recognized that I think this is Slytherin's Locket. No matter what dark magic is there, there is probably useful magic underneath it from the original design. What have you detected?" I asked.

"Well, it's harboring a piece of someone's soul." He said slowly.

"And?" I asked.

"Well, it's called a Horcrux. Only the darkest wizards can create one because of the rituals involved in splitting your soul. Even as a curse breaker in Egypt, I've only seen one once. They tie someone's soul to the earth. If their natural body is destroyed, they survive on in a wraith form."

"Well. I'd like you to remove the soul piece, obviously, but without damaging the original magic. Why aren't you in Egypt now?" I asked.

"Forced vacation while some paperwork has to get done over there. That process is going to take more than just one pair of us. Probably three pairs, and I expect it will take around an hour to remove. We can't really start today, and it will likely take a bit of time to schedule three teams to all be here at once. Gringotts has a policy of not allowing soul pieces to knowingly be stored in their bank, so you'll have to take it with you. I'm sorry. You really shouldn't be handling this, it's dangerous. I'll see about getting a magical box that can suppress its magic for you to store it in. Gringotts has some."

"For a fee of 20 galleons, you may purchase one of our boxes." Andwin, the goblin, then said.

"You guys do everything for a fee, don't you?" I asked. Bill chuckled, and this time, so did Andwin.

I thought for a moment of how I wanted to play this. Then, I spoke, "Due to where I found this, I may have an idea of where another one would be, inside Gringotts. If I made you aware of its existence and hypothetical location, would you be able to keep it secret and give me the object once the soul piece is removed?"

Andwin looked outraged at my question and then pensive for a moment before saying, "No wizard could get a Horcrux into Gringotts. If they did, well, I don't really believe you. However, I wouldn't believe anyone if they had told me that Harry Potter would show up with a Horcrux for me to destroy today, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If that really were the case, that Gringotts was housing a Horcrux unknowingly, it is within our rights to seize it, since it is against our policy to store them. Because we have no knowledge of where this Horcrux would be, and cannot search vaults without probable cause, we would have to have your knowledge to find it. Because Gringotts respects its policies and practices as a matter of pride, I believe we would be willing to trade this information you have and get rid of the soul piece and provide you the with object as a trade. We would conduct this soul piece removal free of charge, because we would not release the object to you until the soul piece was removed and destroyed."

"Well, in that case, bring me a storage box and owl me a contract plus a time and date for the soul piece removal and destruction process of the locket?" I said. Then confirmed, "That is the process, right? You move the soul piece and then destroy it? In order to retain all the original magic of the object?"

"Yes, that's a simplified version of the process. That all sounds in order, however, if you'd like, I can go and speak with the director to form a contract and if you came by after a few hours I could get it to you then and take your statements. That way, we could search for this supposed object with probable cause, and would be able to remove the soul piece as soon as possible. We'd likely do both objects in the same day." He responded to me.

"Harry. I really am afraid of why you've got this, and why you know about another one. This is concerning. I'd really like if you could enlighten me." Bill said.

I guess I'd have to play all of my chips, then. I always loved breaking out my acting skills. Performing in over a dozen musicals in my life had to count for something.

"I think Voldemort did something to me, that night. I can just, sense them, sort of, not really, I can't explain it. They are his. And I'm… I'm connected somehow. I don't know how or why, but it's scaring me, too. I just want it all to go away, but I'm afraid with these, he'll come back to finish the job he started." I broke down in real tears. I actually was afraid of if I couldn't fix everything. I really didn't want to die. I was so afraid of death. Bill hugged me. Tightly. He spoke softly, "Harry. It's going to be okay. Everything is going to turn out alright. You have people to protect you, don't you? I read in the prophet you have your godfather and his friend. I know it's scary, and we can't confirm this object, or what you sense, are his, but I believe you." He then tensed up, and backed away from me into his chair. He pulled out his wand again and cast just one spell, right at my scar. A second later, he peeled back in even greater horror and disgust than earlier, actually physically getting out of his chair. He then cast a spell at the door and it locked very quickly, sealing up as if no door was previously there. He then cast a red beam at me, and I assumed I was going to be out cold, but Pobby jumped in front of me, taking the hit.

I quickly shouted, "What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry about this Harry, but you'll be all better in just a little while. I'm sorry this had to happen to you, but we have to be sure." He cast the red beamed spell again and I fell to the floor, quickly sinking into unconsciousness.