I cannot do twin speak

I own nothing

Harry

Harry had thought that him being suspended would mean he'd have a nice relaxing Monday of doing nothing. Sadly, the reality was that was far from it. He had spent the entire morning going over scrolls about the Black family history. He had received three letters this morning requiring an immediate response. One from Augusta Longbottom, one from Albus Dumbledore requesting a meeting at 3pm and the last from Narcissa Malfoy. It was due to the last one that he was in the Black family library. Picking it up he re-read the letter

Lord Potter-Black

I am writing as a daughter of House Black to request an annulment from my marriage to Lucius. I am aware he is already dead, but I no longer wish to be associated with a house that has brought the Black family name into such major disrepute and I have no desire to die with the Malfoy name still attached to me. My son Draco has abandoned the Black family, stating he has no desire to acknowledge a Half-Blood as his overlord and is currently staying with the recently disgraced Bellatrix Lestrange at Lestrange Manor. He has rejected the knowledge that Voldemort himself is Half-blood as lies designed to slander the last Heir of Slytherin. Lucius, it seems has done a good job on him

Regarding Bellatrix, I have received some distressing news that I feel my Lord Black should know. Bellatrix has been chosen by Voldemort to take part in an 'Heir Ritual' on All Hallows Eve to produce an heir to the Slytherin line. I am unsure of what this entails but he needs a viable womb and Bella has been chosen. Severus Snape is aiding in the ritual though in what capacity I am unsure of. As Draco is now with Bella and Voldemort, I feel sure that he also knows about you appearing at the ministry on Tuesday due to the Blood Feud so be prepared for an interruption and take whatever precautions you deem necessary. Draco has been informed he needs to turn up or he will die regardless

Faithfully

Narcissa Black-Malfoy

Lady of the House of Malfoy

Daughter of House Black

It was for this reason that he along with Remus going over many accounts of disownment and annulments that had happened in the Black Family. There were surprisingly few documents about annulments, likely due to the Black name being so prominent but there were so many disownments. Getting the right information was a pain. He was also unsure of what part Narcissa would play on Tuesday too, she was legally still a Malfoy so was she still a part of the Blood Feud? Were any of the women a part of it to start with? So much was still guesswork

"I fear Harry" Remus said after sitting back in his chair "that you'll just have to wing this one and play it by ear. Narcissa has requested a divorce, which you can get Ted to start the paperwork on and then file it with the ministry and Gringotts. It won't be done before Tuesday though so she may die still being a Malfoy, again this all depends on who Magic deems it necessary to die. Plus Lucius is already dead, how do you divorce someone who is already dead? She already inherits his estate as his widow and can disown Draco herself if that is what she is worried about. I still have doubts that the mothers will be a part of it as they married into the families, but it's still their sons who you are killing so they're still likely to retaliate against you. My advice? Don't do anything to the ladies during the duel except stun them, I know full well you're capable of separating them all and doing that Harry. Wait for Magic to decide their fate. As for Narcissa just speak to Ted and get the ball rolling on that. Snape being involved means potions, hopefully amongst these other books we can gain some insight into what the ritual may be"

Sighing Harry replied "I had pretty much come to the same conclusions Moony. I'm more concerned with the second part of the letter in all honesty. I have no doubts I could put up a great fight with Voldemort, whether I win though is still very debatable. I only won my duel at Hogwarts because none of the professors were trying to kill me. I may have won; I may not have. Voldemort is a very different animal. Dumbledore has only one arm and the rest of the Heads of Departments will likely flee upon seeing him, like they always do. Either way we will find out by this time tomorrow. I'll send letters to Narcissa, Ted and Albus. Get all this nonsense started. Thank you for your help, Remus." with that he stood up and went to leave

"Oh, before I forget" he said causing Remus to pause as he took out his wand "I Harry James Potter-Black hereby give Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks-Black, Andromeda Tonks-Black and Theodore Tonks-Black unrestricted access to the Black family library. So Mote It Be" a flash of light signified the oath had taken place "I seem to have been doing a lot of this kind of crap over the past week. Its exceedingly tedious Remus" he finished in a whine. Receiving a chuckle in return Harry left to go write his letters. Tearing the second half of Narcissa's letter off as he sat down at his desk he called for Dobby "Can you take this to Albus please. If he asks then tell him the first half of the letter was Black Family business and it doesn't concern him. The bit I am sending him is of great concern and tell him to take whatever precautions he deems necessary. Thank you, Dobby" hearing the pop signifying Dobby's departure he wrote a reply to Narcissa

Narcissa Malfoy-Black

I thank you for the information. I shall take the necessary precautions tomorrow. I have given Albus Dumbledore the latter half of the letter so that he as the head of the ICW can also take the necessary precautions. I do not believe that Voldemort can gate-crash the proceedings, the wards are extremely strong and the oaths have already been taken from those involved as witnesses to keep their silence until Blood Feud has been finished

Regarding your divorce from Lucius, I have gone over many documents this morning and I have instructed the Black family lawyer to start proceedings. It will unlikely be finalised before Blood Feud is finished though but I assure you that I will push it through regardless of what transpires. Hopefully you will take some comfort from that. My advisor and I are still unsure on how you can divorce someone who is already deceased. If you're worried about inheritance issues then you are entitled to disown Draco yourself before the duel. I can only disown him from the Black family. I will wait for your reply before doing so

I am sorry about Draco. Do not get me wrong, I'm not sorry about ending his life, he's been very lucky that I gave him a week after all he has put me through over the past six years but I am sorry that your son will die. As a daughter to House Black, I will endeavour to make it as quick and painless as possible. I have no desire to play things out and wish to end this whole sorry affair as quickly as possible. That is the only crumb of comfort I can offer. Should you wish to speak to him before-hand I can try and arrange it but I can offer no guarantees

Yours

Lord Potter-Black

Deciding it was formal enough for Narcissa he called for Hedwig to send it. Watching his first friend take wing and leave the house he looked at the second letter sent to him by Augusta Longbottom

Lord Potter-Black

We have urgent business to attend to. I have taken the liberty of setting up a meeting at Gringotts at 10:30am. I cannot offer any information in a letter; it is far too sensitive to write down. Be aware Mr Potter that this is very serious

Augusta Longbottom

Dowager Lady of House Longbottom

Wondering just what could be so serious Harry apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and made his way down Diagon Alley. It was such a different feeling walking down the alley these days from when he first did so. Was it only just over six years ago? It had changed so much. Walking past the empty shops of Ollivander's Wand store and Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour he felt a strange sense of melancholy. Wondering where they were being held, or if they were even still alive left him feeling very sad. It was very strange; Harry couldn't think why a man who sold ice creams would be kidnapped by Voldemort. Then again, he was very knowledgeable on history so maybe Voldemort needed information on something.

Ollivander's kidnapping seemed much more straightforward. Wands. That's all Garrick knew about. Why would Voldemort need to know about wands though? Was it because of what happened to their wands in the graveyard? Harry knew he would have to use his secondary wand in any duel with Tom due to Priori Incantatem. Maybe Voldemort needed a new wand to be able to combat Harry. Or maybe an old wand? That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. Writing a quick note to Albus 'remind me of my wand during our meeting, Harry' he stopped at the post office and sent the owl on its way to Hogwarts. Carrying on to Gringotts he went inside and was met at the door by an several armed guards. Wondering just what he'd done this time he decided to follow them rather than cause a scene. He was led to the very same office he went to last time where Griphook, Augusta, the king and his nephew were currently seated. Deciding not to be a prick this time he gave the King and his nephew a head bow and Augusta a kiss on the hand.

"Well Mr Potter-Black" The King said "it seems you've caused yet another problem at Gringotts"

Sighing and shaking his head he resignedly asked "alright what have I done this time? I've not been here since our last encounter so I'm utterly clueless"

Seeing the King nod at a guard he watched as another guard carried a box into the room and place it on the desk. As the King took the lid off and removed a golden chalice Harry immediately felt its presence. Standing up as quickly as he could and taking both wands out, he placed himself in front of Augusta he said in a very serious voice "Augusta, stand behind me, take your wand out and get ready to move" pointing his wands at the box he looked up at the Goblins and asked "what the hell is the meaning of this? Judging by the box you have it in you know exactly what that is. So, give me a reason to not start another Wizard-Goblin war"

Standing up and taking her wand out Augusta asked "just what is going on here? I can feel that evilness from here. What is that thing?"

"The ultimate form of corruption" came the Kings reply waving his guards to stand down "it is a corruption of the soul. It goes against the very laws of Magic herself. Someone has split their soul Madame Longbottom and placed the separated piece into this very item. What Gringotts would like to know is just why this was in the vault you gave to the Longbottom's Mr Potter-Black"

Looking at the Chalice, he saw it was embossed with the Hufflepuff family crest. This was it. The penultimate horcrux. Five of six dotted around the UK. Looking at Augusta he nodded at her wand telling her to put it away. Reluctantly she did so as Harry did the same and sat back down. Wandlessly he levitated the cup to himself where it stopped about a foot away while rotating it to get a better view, paying the anxious guards no mind he started

"I have been looking for this item for a while now, it is one of six items that have been used as a way of protecting a wizard from death" looking at Augusta he said "I genuinely had no idea this was in Bellatrix's vault when it was handed it over to you. You have my most sincere apologies. I suspected that she was in possession of one but thought it was more likely to be at her family home hidden somewhere. That she would risk the wrath of the goblins to hide this in Gringotts is absurd" looking over at the surprised look on the King he continued "yes, I know exactly what this is, and I know exactly what the penalty of having one of these in a vault means too. The Longbottom's are innocent here. They had no idea that this was there. You see Augusta these items are somewhat sentient; they can get into your mind, play on every insecurity you have and even possess you after a certain amount of time. They corrupt your own soul. One of these was used in the past to corrupt a goblin into killing his King. Since then even uttering the official word of what these are outside of a working capacity is an offence in the presence of a Goblin to the point they could consider it an act of war. They are an abomination.

Curse-breakers have specific training to deal with these items as they were frequently used by the Pharaohs as a way of trying to live forever. They are created by murdering an innocent person and then doing a ritual to shear off a piece of your soul. You don't live forever by the way. What they do should your body die is reconstruct your body back to the point this was made, so you retain none of the experience and knowledge you have after making one. An example would be this. It was made by Voldemort when he was in his thirties after murdering its previous owner in 1961. He used her death to create this thing. So should he use this to come back to life his new body would be in his thirties again. So far, I have destroyed three of these with Albus Dumbledore destroying another one. With the destruction of this he will only have one left which we believe to be his snake. Albus has been hunting these for the last few years when he gained confirmation at the end of my second year at Hogwarts, I only gained knowledge on what they truly were less than a week ago but I knew they were an abomination against Magic herself when I found them"

Looking at him in disbelief Ironfang asked incredulously "you have destroyed three? By yourself? You expect us to believe that?"

Pulling up his sleeve he showed them the basilisk scar. "I destroyed the first one when I was twelve years old after surviving being bitten by a sixty-foot basilisk when I had just lodged the Sword of Gryffindor into the roof of its mouth and killed it. Dumbledores phoenix healed the venom bite and I used one of the fangs to destroy the shade of Voldemort that came out of his Diary after possessing a first year to open the Chamber of Secrets. I next destroyed the Locket of Slytherin that I found in my godfathers' house, Black manor that was stolen by Regulus before he himself was murdered. The last one I eradicated was the Diadem of Ravenclaw that I found in a hidden room in Hogwarts where Voldemort had placed it in the early to mid-sixties, using a job interview as an excuse to hide it under the very nose of his most hated professor. Dumbledore destroyed the Gaunt family ring, of who he is descended from after finding it hidden in their abandoned shack this past summer. He lost his hand while doing so"

"So, Voldemort seems to have a predilection to using items used by the founders then to house these disgusting things?" The King stated "and when this one is destroyed only his snake remains?"

"Yes" Harry said with certainty "his own ego demanded nothing but the best for his soul to rest in along with the most magical number. And his own relation to Salazar meant in his mind that the best were founders' items. There was precious few remaining that were genuine so it added to the mystique of his own reputation. Of course, he never told anyone what they were, Lucius was told the Diary was created to kill muggleborns by controlling the monster within the fabled Chamber of Secrets, Bella just knew it was important to her master and didn't question what it was. The others were hidden in places of significance to him. A cave where he tortured his childhood bullies, the shack where he killed the last of his family after finding out they didn't want him, the room that very few people could find at Hogwarts that would also thumb his nose at his most hated professor, Albus Dumbledore. The snake we believe was used to create a magical number of seven, himself being the last part. Using Nagini just underlined his own connection to Salazar as a fellow parselmouth. Only once the snake is destroyed can he himself be killed"

After a few minutes of reflection, the King said "I am extremely reluctant to see this item leave Gringotts Mr Potter-Black to be destroyed. I do not want one of these falling into the wrong hands. So, I will personally take it to one of our furnaces and burn the thing. I will instruct Griphook to inform you of its destruction"

Nodding Harry put it back in the box and replaced the lid. Immediately the presence quietened. Letting out a breath Harry said "I can deal with that. Be careful though, they have all fought back! And they have all tried to use your most personal memories against you. You mentioned last time your wife had died not long ago. It will certainly use her memory against you"

"Remember who you are speaking to Mr Potter-Black" Ironfang said sneering "we have been dealing with these things for centuries now"

"And that kind of arrogance could cost you your life!" Harry snapped shocking them all "This goes no further than this room" he said looking at Augusta "but it has cost Albus Dumbledore his. The ring had a withering curse on it and he stupidly picked it up. Only potions have halted its progress but he has until May or June to live. So be serious about this!"

The King interceded before anything else could be said "rest assured Mr Potter-Black, I will not even handle this wretched thing. I will throw it in the furnace while it's still in the box and ward the furnace to contain the soul piece before it too dies" Nodding to himself and standing up he continued "I believe we have reached a satisfactory answer. No punishment will be deemed necessary. Griphook, escort them out, guards with me to the furnaces"

Diagon alley and Hogwarts

With that Griphook escorted them all out of the room while The King and his entourage left via a back door. While Augusta left to go home and have a drink Harry told Griphook about the impending divorce of Narcissa and asked him to ready a new vault for the soon to be reclaimed Malfoy dowry that he was taking back and to place it in her name. Leaving, Harry saw that he had an hour to kill so he decided to go for a walk through Diagon Alley. Seeing Weasley Wizards Wheezes he halted. Should he go in? Do they even want to talk to him after what he did to Ron? Deciding he may as well get it over with now he went in and began looking amongst the shelves for anything of interest. While some of the items left him bewildered, most of them left him in awe. You needed to be clever to make a lot of these. It proved to Harry that he had made the right choice investing in them.

Taking some items to the counter Harry went to pay when his arms were grabbed on both sides and he was marched into the back room. Only his surprise at being manhandled had stopped him reacting. Being placed into a seat at a table he saw Fred locking the room and George shine his wand on him. Was this really going to be an interrogation he mused? The absurdity of the whole situation left him speechless. It would be just like the twins to come up with something like this

"Harry old buddy, old pal" George started after sitting down looking officious. Honestly it made Harry want to burst out laughing "it seems you've been a naughty boy"

"Indeed George" Fred stated solemnly "very naughty indeed. And it has come to us to relay punishment"

"Yes, punishment "George said carrying on "but what kind of punishment should it be Fred?"

"hmmmm" Fred mused pulling out a fake beard and putting it on so he could stroke it "that's the million-galleon question isn't it my uglier twin"

"Indeed, it is" George said "my vertically challenged brother"

"I'm a quarter of an inch smaller than you!" Fred said indignantly seemingly forgetting the interrogation

"And don't you forget it Fred" came the smug reply "because I certainly won't let you" turning to Harry he said "Imagine being only six foot four. The very shame"

"You're six foot four!" Fred said indignantly "you just happen to be a quarter inch taller than me!"

"Now, Harry, Harry, Harry. What are we to do with you?" George said ignoring Fred "Imagine our surprise to see our good buddy Harry Potter enter the store. We've not seen or heard from him in ages, and then not only does he enter our store but he then he tries to pay for something!"

"For shame" said Fred as if nothing had happened "you've been a very naughty boy!"

Not being able to hold it in anymore Harry burst out laughing. It took several minutes for him to calm down and regain his breath before he asked in a halting way "that's what this is about? Me paying for something? Bloody hell guys"

"Well, yes" George said looking surprised "what did you think this was about?"

"I thought, you idiot that this was about Saturday and Ron" Harry said still chuckling wiping the tears from his eyes

"Oh, we don't really care about that" Fred said dismissing him with a wave "we're still not sure Ron is actually a Weasley"

"Indeed" George supplied "were still convinced he was swapped out by the nurses at birth after he was dropped on his head and the real Ron has changed his gender and lives in a cave as a hermit somewhere. After all, we've yet to see any evidence he's a Weasley. Red hair isn't a significant sign"

"In all seriousness though Harry" Fred said "we've been tempted to disown him after we found out what happened off Dad. Mum is still convinced he was harshly punished but if we'd have got a hold of him after what he did, he wouldn't be walking. And if Bill or Charlie find out his life won't be worth living. We've all been raised better than that"

"Ron is bloody lucky to still be alive guys" Harry said seriously "If the professors hadn't interfered, I don't think I'd have stopped. Hermione deserves better than him"

"Yes, she does" George said looking off into the distance "when are you two going to get together?"

Laughing Harry said "we're not. I have no designs on Hermione in that way. At all"

"So, she's available then?" George asked nonchalantly looking at his own hand "Hermione is up for grabs?"

Leaning forward all pretence had disappeared from Harry's face "if you're serious about her then yes George she is. If you intend for her to be some form of notch on your bedpost then there will be no Hermione to stop me finishing what I started on Ron with you! You've been warned! My sister will not be a number or someone to pass the time with for any man she dates"

"I would never" George started before being interrupted by Harry

"I do not care. You have been warned. By all means pursue her. But you will not hurt her. So, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good" Fred replied taking over the conversation "so apart from that what's new with you Harry?"

Appreciating the change in subject Harry told them both a lot of what happened over the past week. Learning that the Malfoy line was about to end tomorrow made them smile, hearing about the duel after Ron made them grimace. Hearing Harry put his mother in her place made them chuckle, stand up and pat him on the back. Hearing the clock chime, he stood up to leave "it was nice chatting to you guys. We should do it again"

Walking him to the front door they bade him goodbye and Harry left to the apparition point where he apparated to Hogwarts gates. Sending his patronus to Albus he received a reply and the gates opened for him and he made his way to the headmasters' office. Passing many curious people along the pathway he was tempted to shout "Boo" just to see what happened but decided against it. He couldn't be bothered with the hassle really. Meeting McGonagall at the doors he walked with her to the headmaster's office and asked her about a term he had read the other day

"Professor, how difficult is Battle Transfiguration compared to Battle Charms?"

"They're very different practices Mr Potter-Black" Minerva replied looking at him shrewdly "Battle charms are easier because you don't need objects to be around in order for them to work, you can create objects whereas you need objects around you for battle transfiguration to work" seeing his puzzled face she continued "in order for any form of transfiguration to work you need a starting object, something you want to change. So, if you have a battlefield that is littered with objects, debris for instance, it's much easier to overcome your opponent as there are more options available for you to use against them. Battle Charms are still difficult because you need to conjure items to use, which is a form of advanced transfiguration itself but you can conjure them with the intent to use them against someone straight away with the charms already active. Intent is everything in magic as I'm sure you're aware.

The difference is charms will stay on the objects whereas conjured or transfigured objects have a shelf life depending on the users magic. It's why we tell people to never transfigure food from something that you can't already eat. It's also why I'm so insistent that people do not mess around in my class and have so much theory on a spell before practicing them. Transfiguration can be fatal to the ill-informed. Filius and I often argue about whose branch is better when in reality we know that both are equally as important in everyday life. I would highly advise you talk to Albus about it. He is beyond compare when it comes to Battle Transfiguration and has written many thesis' on the subject"

Coming to the headmasters Gargoyles he thanked Minerva for her insight and made to go up the spiral staircase. Before he did McGonagall stopped him "I'm wary of doing this Mr Potter-Black, particularly after Saturday night but I have a few books that I have written myself that you may enjoy on advanced transfiguration. Be warned, they're not for those who aren't serious about the subject and don't treat it with the level of respect it deserves. I will talk to Filius too and see if he has anything that may help you. I am wary of them being used against me Mr Potter-Black" she said seeing his puzzled face "I have no desire to have my own spells used against me outside of practicing them"

"Thank you, professor. Just call for Dobby and he'll get them to me. I shall send you them back when I'm done with them. Before you leave though just know that I don't have any intention of suing you or professor Flitwick. It was simply a back-up should the headmaster try and enforce his ways on me again. I have no intention of ever being put into a situation that I am not in control of again because of something he engineered. If you're wondering what I mean ask yourself this, how can three first years, with extremely limited knowledge on magic get past several traps designed to contain a Dark Lord? And then ask yourself about the nature of the traps and who got past them. Just think on it. Tell Professor Flitwick I said thank you too, his apology letter was unnecessary but well received. Good day professor" with that Harry stepped onto the platform and made his way to Dumbledores office. Wondering what he had in mind he knocked on the door and entered after hearing "Come in Harry"