April 1986
Hydrae and Arcturus brought the diary down into the room in the basement where they were prepared to deal with Riddle's soul anchors. Hydrae placed the black book onto the table. Arcturus looked at the book and then at one of the fangs.
"You know, maybe we don't need to stab the book like you did previously, maybe just placing some drops of the basilisk venom onto the diary may be enough," said Arcturus. "It might be safer that way as well."
Hydrae shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose it is worth a try. We do have plenty of the venom for now."
Hydrae put the diary back into one of the crystal containers, but left the lid off of the container. He carefully picked up one of the fangs, and removed the covering that was secured to the non pointed end of the fang. He tilted the fang and allowed several drops of the venom to pour onto he dairy. He quickly covered the fang back up again, just before a screeching sound emanated from the book. A dark cloud emanated from the diary but it never took shape like it had done when he had encountered the shade of Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets. A moment later and the room was quiet and the black cloud had dissipated.
Hydrae let out the breath he was holding as he watched the soul anchor's destruction. "Almost anticlimactic, particularly after what happened the last time I had to destroy the diary."
Arcturus nodded, but added, "However, you did say that the soul anchor in the diary had been absorbing the life force of that other student, so it clearly was much stronger. This version had no change to gain any sort of power and had been laying dormant in that book for many years."
"If only they could all be so easy," said Hydrae.
Arcturus laughed. "I have known you long enough to not expect anything to come easy to you."
Hydrae shrugged in response. "I suppose you do have a point." He looked at the diary which did not appear any different from when they first obtained it at Malfoy Manor. "So, that's two down, the locket and now the diary. We still need to obtain the tiara and the ring, and somehow get the cup from the Lestrange vault."
"The ring, while protected by whatever Riddle put on that shack, is probably going to be the easiest," said Arcturus, "as we won't have to deal with getting into Hogwarts.
"We did figure out how to get in with that secret passage to the Chamber of Secrets near the Forbidden Forest," commented Hydrae.
"Which is how we will need to access the Chamber in order to have the goblins harvest the basilisk, but we don't want to use that too often or Dumbledore may become suspicious if there is too much activity near the edge of the Forbidden Forest," said Arcturus.
"The ring is next then," said Hydrae.
MiB
Saturday, April 26, 1986
Hydrae and Arcturus made their way to Little Hangleton, looking for the ancestral home, or shack, that the Gaunt family used to live in prior to their ultimate demise. It actually was not hard for Arcturus to obtain the location from someone at the department of records at the Ministry of Magic as he claimed he was simply being diligent in trying to see if he had any other unknown relatives to his family.
Hydrae was feeling a little uncomfortable at the sight of the old Riddle homestead with the graveyard below it, not wanting to dwell on the memories of that night he faced Tom Riddle at the end of the Tri-Wizard tournament when he was used as part of the ritual to bring the crazed wizard back into a new body. Hydrae was certain that there would be no way that evening would be repeated, as their goal was that Tom Riddle would be long gone before young Harry arrived at Hogwarts this time.
Arcturus noted that Hydrae had paused in his walking and looked up to where the young man's eyes were focused. "We will make sure that this place is nothing but bad memories for anyone and not about to make new bad memories, even for that caretaker who is still probably somewhere nearby."
Hydrae nodded in response to the encouragement from Arcturus. "It shouldn't be too far from here, the shack that is."
Just around a slight bend in the road they saw the dilapidated old shack. Before approaching closer than one hundred meters they could sense muggle repelling wards. The two men then cast several spells to reveal any further wards, of which there were several.
"Some of these wards could be quite nasty if someone tripped them," stated Arcturus.
"The muggle repelling wards have kept away the non magicals and there would be no reason for a witch or a wizard to travel here, unless they specifically knew that the object in question was hidden in that shack," commented Hydrae.
"The wards do include warnings, magical signals to be sent if they are tripped," observed Arcturus. "Highly sophisticated warding system. If the spirit of Riddle is hiding out somewhere in Albania, then he will not know that we have tripped any of his traps just based on the sheer distance. As opposed to when you said that fool Dumbledore would try to do it, after that monster had already returned."
After several minutes they had deactivated all of the magical wards surrounding the property and the shack, other than the muggle repelling charm. As the two approached the shack they detected some notice-me-not charms, that had weakened over time, and some charms with rather nasty hexes associated with barrier alarms.
Walking up the path towards the house, they had apparently missed one of the wards. A nearby bush erupted into flames, which Hydrae quickly doused. Hydrae stepped back from the formerly burning bush and activated another trap. There was an audible clang as the ward was activated. Arcturus instinctively cast a shield charm just as a nearby boulder exploded. Hydrae looked back and forth between the debris that bounced off of the shield and the Lord Black.
Arcturus shrugged in response. "I did fight alongside your grandfather against Grindelwald years ago. I haven't lost all of my reflexes and magical skills."
"Thank Merlin for that," replied Hydrae.
"Now, let us both be a little more careful as we make the rest of the way to the house, if you could even call it that," said Arcturus.
There were no further magical traps and they were able to open the door to the shack and stepped inside.
Arcturus cast some detection charms and found a number of wards. "There are wards that could release some noxious gases as well as another that appears to summon snakes. Although the deactivation of these wards does not seem as simple as many of the other wards we already encountered."
Hydrae noted and then cast his own detection charms. "It will require Parseltongue to bring the wards down." He then spoke in what sounded like a hiss to Arcturus and after a minute of hissing Arcturus could feel the wards collapse.
"Handy skill you have there," said Arcturus.
Hydrae nodded, "Yes, it can be. Now to find the ring."
He cast another detection spell and there was a faint glow from beneath one of the floor boards. Arcturus cast a spell to remove the boards from the floor and they saw a small leather bag on the ground.
"Definitely radiating dark magic," said Arcturus, "just as I would expect for finding another one of those soul anchors."
Hydrae pulled out one of the crystal containers and placed it on the floor in front of them. Arcturus then cast a spell and levitated the bag from the space under the floor and dropped it into the crystal container. "Even lifting it magically it was clear that the object within the bag is tainted with foul magic."
"I presume it had a similar feel to the diary and the locket," said Hydrae.
"It did indeed," acknowledged Arcturus. "And Albus was foolish enough to allow the compulsion on this item to put it on his hand and curse him? How did he ever defeat Grindelwald or fool everyone to make him head of the Wizengamot?"
The two started to make their way out of the shack, when Hydrae asked Arcturus about the wards they had taken down. "Do we need to do anything about the wards we destroyed?"
Arcturus shook his head and gave Hydrae a wry smile. "If your plan succeeds then it won't matter and will simply save anyone from serious injury if they ever happen to stumble on this place. And if he does return, what can he do about it? We have already destroyed some of his anchors and we will get the rest of them shortly."
After apparating back to the Black Manor in Leeds, they quickly made their way to the basement. Hydrae pulled out the crystal box, and Arcturus then manipulated the small leather case to dump the ring out and into the box. Hydrae then took the basilisk fang and just like with the diary poured a few drops into the box and onto the ring. As with the diary, there was a slight screech followed by a black cloud emanating from the ring. After a minute the black cloud had dissipated and the two approached the crystal box.
"The ring still has the compulsion charm as well as the flesh rotting hex," said Hydrae after he cast the diagnostic spell.
Arcturus then cast a series of spells into the box, then he cast a diagnostic charm on the ring and sighed heavily. "There you go, your family heirloom, which you may need again sometime, along with your cloak and your wand."
MiB
May 10, 1986
Hydrae arrived for the Swiss Duelling Championship, one of the matches leading up to the European Duelling Championship being held later in the year. Arcturus accompanied him to Bern as he had been to the magical part of the city several times since the end of the war with Grindelwald.
"The Swiss are less antagonistic towards their muggle counterparts than the typical British wizards or witches," commented Arcturus as they made their way towards the old magical castle that was the site of the tournament. "Even I could see that having a less antagonistic relationship with our non magical counterparts would be best for magical Britain."
Hydrae completed his registration for the tournament and simply waited in a seat in the front of the stands. Once again, Filius Flitwick arrived to work with the judges for the match. He stopped briefly to speak with Hydrae, "It is good to see you here, young man. I hope you perform well throughout the competition, but based on what I have perviously observed, I have no doubt that you shall do quite well." He gave a smile to Hydrae and turned to make his way to the judges table before Hydrae could really respond.
Hydrae and Arcturus were talking among themselves when there was a commotion over at the judges table. Someone had been pushed forward and the judges table was overturned. One of the wizards who was registering for the tournament was walking away slowly, holding both hand up in the air apologising for some sort of misunderstanding. Hydrae and Arcturus could not make out what was being said, however Arcturus' eyes narrowed.
"That looks like a Selwyn, the one backing away from the table," observed Arcturus. "And the other one beside him looks like he is a Jugson. I wasn't aware that anyone from those families participated in the duelling circuit."
Hydrae nodded silently as he studied the faces of the two men, understanding the implied warning.
A short time later and Hydrae was called for his first duel, which so happened to be against Jugson. Hydrae was not particularly concerned as he was certain that particular family was not known for their duelling prowess. He walked up onto the platform and it was clear that Jugson was sneering at him.
"Not good at playing poker, I'm sure," thought Hydrae as he prepared for the match to begin.
As soon as the judge signalled the start of the duel, several cutting curses made their way towards Hydrae, which he simply stepped out of the way. Next came a series of slightly different and more dangerous cutting curses, and again Hydrae was able to side step the curses fairly easily. Jugson growled at the fact that all of his curses had missed the target.
Hydrae cast a spell that emitted a jet of water towards Jugson. Jugson scoffed at the simple spell. Hydrae then sent a freezing charm at the water but he ended up missing the water as he was again dodging a series of cutting curses. Jugson then sent a series of blasting hexes when Hydrae simply deflected as though they were just a nuisance. In his anger at his being unable to land anything on his opponent, Jugson then sent a curse that Hydrae had not expected to hear, as his opponent called out "Sectumsempra!"
Hydrae then quickly and silently created a shield that worked as a magical mirror. The white beam of magical energy hit the shield and rebounded back towards Jugson. Jugson was initially grinning at his apparent success at sending the lacerating curse, until he realised that the curse was reflected back at him and his eyes went wide just before the curse hit him across his chest and he started to bleed profusely. Jugson dropped his wand and fell to the platform, crying out in pain. The judge declared Hydrae the winner and the Medi-witch on standby quickly made it onto the platform as they worked at treating the wounds.
Selwyn then called out from the crowd, calling for the immediate expulsion of Hydrae Black from the tournament for the injuries he caused to his downed opponent.
Filius Flitwick was the first to speak up in response. "Your protest is in vain, Mister Selwyn, as Mister Black was simply defending himself from the inappropriate spell cast by Mister Jugson. Protection fo one's self during the duel is allowed, particularly when the spell used to attack an opponent in the duel is not within the guidelines."
A second judge spoke up after Flitwick, "And to make it clear, Mister Jugson is hereby banned from participating in any future duelling events."
Selwyn hid himself in the crowds while Hydrae turned and walked off of the platform. He sat down silently in front of where Arcturus was sitting.
Arcturus spoke to him quietly, "Do not over react, you've done well. Clearly that was an attempt from the former Death Eaters to avenge Lucius for what you did to him. But Selwyn is still here, they are not done."
Hydrae did not vocalise a response. He noticed Amanda seated on the other side of the platform where he was, as she was awaiting her duel. She gave him a worried look as she had clearly witnessed what happened in his duel, which her returned with a confident smile trying to reassure her.
Amanda managed to perform well in her match which occurred about thirty minutes after Hydrae's encounter with Jugson who was taken to the nearby magical infirmary to fully treat the injuries he sustained from the spell which had rebounded back on him.
Hydrae's second opponent was wary at first, as he was feeling intimated by the spectacle from the end of Hydrae's first match. The wizard was overly cautious as he was worried any spell he cast might be reflected back against him. After a minute of casting various spells towards his opponent he then found himself facing a spell chain that started with a simple stunner, then a blow back hex followed by a conjuration of a flock of birds. He quickly dispelled with the birds only to be hit with a rapidly approaching disarming spell.
Flitwick nodded in appreciation of the simplicity of Hydrae's duelling techniques, and admired the young man's continued success.
The third round of the tournament had Hydrae facing off against Selwyn. Arcturus shook his head slightly upon hearing who Hydrae's opponent would be. "I presume that the whole scene at the judges table was just to hide their manipulation of the supposed random ordering of the matches. The Selwyns are noted for being more adept with a wand than the Jugsons, or many others within the Death Eater ranks," he whispered to Hydrae.
Hydrae did not react to the words of the Lord Black, as he had already surmised that his current opponent, much like his first one, was not random. He slowly walked onto the platform, avoiding any eye contact with his opponent. Selwyn, however, was not hiding his glaring at the Black Heir whom he was about to face in the duel. The two wizards took their positions on the opposite ends of the platform and awaited for the judge to signal the start of their match.
As soon as the judge started the match, Hydrae erected a shield silently. Selwyn's overpowered reductor curse merely hit the shield with a loud clang. Hydrae did not move or even flinch. Selwyn shook his head in frustration and then cast a spell chain consisting of various bludgeoning, piercing and cutting hexes. Hydrae dodged the first two and then deflected the next three spells.
Hydrae conjured some ropes which he sent towards Selwyn, who simply batted them aside with his wand. Selwyn then noted several balls were heading towards him, again conjured by Hydrae but they all went wide and didn't come close to hitting him. Selwyn laughed at Hydrae's bad aim and sent another series of blasting hexes at his opponent. Once again Hydrae simple dodged the hexes which only angered Selwyn, who then prepared to send an even stronger spell.
As he started his wand motion he felt some pressure on his legs, and looked down to see the ropes that were previously conjured by Hydrae were being twisted around his legs, each anchored by the balls that had been sent flying past him. Selwyn tried to step out of the ropes but only managed to trip as he could not separate his legs. As he was falling towards the platform he was not able to see or protect himself from the simple stunning spell that Hydrae had sent towards him. Hydrae then summoned his opponent's wand and immediately tossed it towards the judge who declared him the winner.
Flitwick approached Hydrae after the duel was completed and questioned him about throwing the wand to the judge.
"I believe, sir, that if someone was to investigate what happened earlier, before the tournament began, you may find traces of magic from that wand on the schedule for the tournament.
Filius looked at Hydrae in silence, then he turned and spoke with the other judges who then conducted an impromptu investigation. Selwyn was revived and had his wand handed to him after the investigation did show that somehow he had tampered with the schedule of the duels for the tournament. The judges then barred him from any future duelling events throughout Europe.
Selwyn sneered at the judges and started to storm out of the building, pausing as he neared Arcturus Black. "You should be ashamed of yourself, sullying the once great name of Black and harming all of the wizarding world with your actions."
"On the contrary young man," replied Arcturus, with a calm in his voice, "it is the actions of you and your fellow followers of a misguided and crazed individual who was not at all what he purported to be. And it is those actions of you and your associates that are endangering the future of the magical world."
Selwyn spat at Arcturus' feet as he was then escorted out of the building by the wizards who were present for security.
Arcturus shook his head in disgust at the antics of the man as he was led out of the building.
The remainder of the duelling tournament was unremarkable in comparison, other than Hydrae winning the tournament when he defeated the wizard who barely eliminated Amanda in the other semifinal duel.
As the group was leaving the tournament, Amanda turned to Hydrae. "I know you're involved with raising Harry Potter, as your cousin is his godfather, and he was just released from Azkaban last year. Do you really just leave that poor young boy with Sirius Black to watch over him while you travel to events like these?"
Before Hydrae could respond, Arcturus laughed as he answered for him. "By Merlin's beard, no! What do you take us for? Fools? No, Sirius' cousin, one of my granddaughters, Andromeda, she is there at the estate, and she is keeping Sirius in line as well as watching over the young ones."
Hydrae smiled at Arcturus' response, then he added, "And if some of the other children come over to play, then their mothers may be there also, including Lady Greengrass, or Andromeda's sister Narcissa. And any of them are more than willing to make sure to help keep Sirius in line."
MiB
May 14, 1986
Hogwarts
Headmaster's office
Professor Albus Dumbledore was reviewing the lead article in the newspaper which detailed the accomplishments of the young wizard, Hydrae Black, who had just won his Swiss Duelling event in Bern Switzerland. He knew that the school's charms professor, Filius Flitwick, himself a former duelling champion, had been present for the event as one of the judges. The gargoyle at the bottom of the stairs to his office notified the headmaster that he had a visitor coming up to see him.
Albus put down the paper as he welcomed Filius into his office.
"You had some questions for me?" asked Filius as he sat himself down on a chair after conjuring several pillows for himself so he could actually see the headmaster eye to eye.
"Yes, Filius, and thank you for coming by so promptly," said Albus who cast a slight glance towards his phoenix who had recently delivered the request for this meeting to the professor. "I hope that you enjoyed your time in Bern."
Filius smiled slightly as he easily anticipated where this conversation was headed. "Yes, it is always exciting to see how the younger witches and wizards are progressing in their duelling skills and tactics."
Albus smiled and allowed his eyes to twinkle slightly. "Good, good, I would think it could be quite exciting, not to mention educational, to watch those competitions.
Filius just nodded in reply.
Albus continued as he realised that Filius could be tight lipped when not asked direct questions. "Yes, well, this young man, this Hydrae Black, he has been making quite the name for himself. A newcomer to Britain and Europe and already he is winning duelling competitions."
"Yes, the young man is quite skilled," agreed Filius.
"So, clearly you have observed his duelling matches, and I am sure that you have paid close attention to his skill and techniques," said Albus. Filius did not react to the statement, something he had learned long ago, that unless the headmaster actually asked a question then he had no need to simply volunteer any information.
The headmaster continued as he again had no verbal response from the charms professor. "Well, to the point then. Do you think this young man could be a good option as our next DADA professor? You are aware that Professor Potemkin has already made it clear that he will not be continuing after this year. He has a recurrent malady that he needs to seek treatment for somewhere in Asia during the next academic year."
"I had heard those rumours about Professor Potemkin," said Filius.
"Yes, well, your thoughts on Mister Black?" prodded Albus. "Would he be a good option?"
Filius nodded slowly, "He may be young, but he is skilled, quite skilled indeed. In fact, I would dare say he is not a duellist, but a fighter. Someone so young to have his skills, well, it's definitely not common."
Albus smiled as he steepled his hands together on his desk in front of him, his eyes twinkling slightly more.
Filius tilted his head slightly. "If you are looking for someone who can teach students how to fight wizards and witches, well, he has the skills. Not that I have seen whether he has the ability to teach others. I suppose, if he does not have much skill in actual teaching, it may not matter, as no professors for DADA seem to last more than just one academic year."
Albus sighed audibly in response to Filius' statement about the loss of DADA teachers every year. Ever since he refused to offer Tom Riddle a teaching position at Hogwarts, the DADA professor position seemed to have been cursed as no one in that position has ever lasted more than one academic year since. Albus was sure that Riddle must have placed some sort of curse on the position but so far he was unable to do anything to remove the curse.
"Perhaps you can introduce me to the young man so I can then discuss with him the possibility of him coming here to teach," said Albus.
MiB
May 28, 1986
Diagon Alley
Arcturus led Hydrae to an outside table at a cafe along Diagon Alley.
"Remind me why we are here again," said Hydrae quietly.
"You need to continue to build upon your reputation within the magical community," said Arcturus. "You first came to the spotlight with your dealing with Lucius in a most definitive manner. Now you have gained further fame with your winning the Swiss duelling tournament. You need to be seen as approachable, as someone who the people can look up to and trust. It's not like the Black Family has a great reputation in that area. Powerful? Yes. Intimidating? Of course. But approachable? If you are not one of the dark leaning members of the Sacred 28 then it would be unthinkable to approach a Black publicly. You are doing this for yourself and for the Black Family."
Shortly after they were seated a waitress came by and took their order for lunch. She almost squealed when she realised that Hydrae Black, the duelling champion, was one of her customers.
Hydrae shook his head at her reaction.
"You better get used to it," said Arcturus.
While they were awaiting their meal to be brought out to them, several people stopped by and congratulated Hydrae on his recent duelling victory. Some just waved as they walked by. A few young witches even tried to talk to him about the tournament.
"This is getting embarrassing," stated Hydrae.
"You have just never taken to being in the spotlight," said Arcturus. "But considering how you were raised I am not in the least bit surprised. You are a gifted and talented and dangerous wizard. The more people who know that about you, the more you will be able to accomplish."
"My goals are simple," said Hydrae. "Destroy the soul anchors, prevent Riddle from returning, ever, and make sure young Harry and Daphne have the chance to get together and have a real life together."
"The last part, all you can do for them is create the opportunity," said Arcturus. "The other issues, while important, and perhaps daunting to most, are nearly complete." Arcturus smiled at his heir as he noticed a particular witch making her way towards where they were seated.
Amanda Lester came through some of the people at the crowd and sat herself at the table between Arcturus and Hydrae.
"Good day, young lady," greeted Arcturus.
"Hey there, Amanda," said Hydrae.
Amanda smiled at Hydrae. "The two of you are so often having your special quiet conversations whenever I run into you, usually at the duelling tournaments and qualifying match. Yet you always seem to change the topic of conversation when I show up. But now, you are here, in public and you can't avoid me."
"Is there a problem, Amanda?" asked a slightly confused Hydrae.
"Hey, I am not stupid. I am quite aware that your little dining out experience here is to continue to bolster your public image," said Amanda. Then she turned to Arcturus, "And it is part of your plan to rehabilitate the public image of the Black family. But I am sure that you two are up to something more, I can tell by the way you talk in hushed tones, even when I am around."
Arcturus bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of her statement.
"Now, my family came back to England to try and change our family's legacy," continue Amanda. "It is clear that Arcturus is trying to change the legacy of the Black family. But what are you up to? How are you involved? Other than your public persona that you are actively building on."
Hydrae looked to Arcturus, who gave him a slight nod of the head. Arcturus then raised some private wards before Hydrae continued to speak.
"Arcturus and I are working on preventing the latest Dark Lord from returning. But we don't want others to find out what we are doing, as we can't risk others doing something that would interfere," said Hydrae.
"What? You mean the Dark Lord who terrorised Britain until young Harry somehow defeated him the same night his parents died?" questioned Amanda. "But he was destroyed, he can't come back, can he?"
Hydrae had a somber look on his face.
"You're serious," said Amanda.
"No Sirius is Harry's godfather, I'm Hydrae," said Hydrae with a grin.
Amanda slapped him on the arm. "Fine, you're not kidding about this, and why would you. So, my relatives, I know they were involved with You Know Who, and, as I was saying, I want to change my family's legacy. So, what can I do to help?"
"Funny you should ask," said Hydrae with a smirk. "We do, however, need to continue this conversation somewhere else, and not out in public. Meet us at 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black family home in London, in say, about thirty minutes. We will have the wards adjusted to allow you to enter via floo."
Amanda tilted her head slightly as she responded, "See you then and there." With that she got up and left the table.
About thirty minutes later the three were seated around a table in the kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place. "This place feels abandoned," commented Amanda.
"Oh, we do no currently live here, but the elves are finally taking proper care of it," said Arcturus.
"Yes, we have a large estate, recently purchased from Muggles. We will have to have you up there sometime soon," added Hydrae. "I don't really want to give out too many details, for your safety as well as for ours. Now, to give you a little bit more of the history of what happened all those years ago. There is a rumour that Riddle, the real name of the He Who Must Not Be Named, that he used dark magic to enable him to return. And supposedly one of these items he used to help him be able to return was given to the Lestrange family, and possibly hidden in the family vault."
Amanda eased up and leaned back into her chair. "Its my father's vault now, therefor I can have access to it. I can retrieve whatever it is you need. If that will help protect little Harry as well as every one else, then of course I will help. No one needs that menace returning."
"It's not that simple," said Hydrae. "You can't just walk in there and pick up the item."
Amanda pursed her lips. "There is a hell of a lot you're not telling me, as you know too much about seemingly random things. You can trust me. Tell me what is really going on."
Arcturus shook his head slightly at her comments but he remained silent.
"I do trust you," said Hydrae, "but what you don't understand, is the complexity of all of this. Yes, there are things we know, but I am not at liberty to tell you, or others, what I know or even how I know these things. And no, I am not a Death Eater, I have never been one. But I have had access to a lot of their secrets, things that most of the Death Eaters do not know about. Now, Tom Riddle, the person who claimed to be a dark lord and supposedly championed pure bloods, was himself a half blood, born to a muggle father and a nearly squib mother. We will skip the unpleasantries about his upbringing and everything he did to make himself as powerful as he was, but there are certain objects that need to be destroyed so he can be finally defeated so that he cannot return."
Amanda rolled her eyes, "So, okay, whatever. But I can't just go grab this item. I suppose that means it is cursed or something."
"You could say that," acknowledged Hydrae.
"So exactly how do we deal with this thing, whatever it is?" asked Amanda.
"We start with the simplest approach," said Hydrae. "You first meet with the goblins at the bank, explain that you are aware of there being a potentially dark object in the family vault, that you would like it removed and destroyed."
"And when they ask me what this object is, what do I say?"
"It's a cup, magical cup," said Hydrae.
"Just a simple magical cup? Hydrae, you really do need to get better at telling me the truth and not covering things up," said Amanda.
"Okay then. It's Hufflepuff's cup," said Hydrae. Then he continued slowly. "Yes, Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, the one of legend. And it is cursed, in multiple ways, so you do not want to touch it."
"And just what are you planning to do with it if you can't touch it?" asked Amanda.
Hydrae looked back and forth between Arcturus and Amanda. Arcturus gave a very slight shrug. Hydrae ran his hand through his hair for a moment before he finally answered her.
"I, or we, are going to destroy the curses on it, and we have a very specific way that this needs to be done," said Hydrae.
"And only you two can do this, I suppose," said Amanda.
Hydrae nodded.
"And I can't help with that?"
Hydrae shook his head no.
"And you can't or won't tell me just what it is you need to do to the cup, I presume," said Amanda.
"That too would also be a no, no we can't," admitted Hydrae.
Amanda sat there in silence, slowly looking back and forth between Hydrae and Arcturus.
She took a deep breath and then said brightly, "Okay, I'm in. When do we do this thing?"
"Wait, you're okay with all of this vague information?" asked Hydrae a little surprised.
Amanda laughed at him. "First of all, you took me into your confidence enough to tell me that, yes, there is something going on, and that it does involve he who must not be named; and it also involves a famous magical item thought lost to antiquity ages ago. Second, by helping you I am saying a big screw you to the Death Eaters, the former Dark Lord, and most importantly to my relatives, the Lestranges, may they continue to rot in Azkaban. So, yeah, I'm in and have been since you first let on there was some sort of conspiracy against those bastards."
Arcturus relaxed and Hydrae gave a little chuckle.
"Great, welcome to the team, so to speak," said Hydrae.
"So, when do we do this?" asked Amanda.
Arcturus shrugged in response to her question. "No reason not to do it this afternoon. If we're all available, that is."
"Sounds great," said Amanda, more cheerful than she had been all afternoon.
Hydrae raised his hand to stop her from just jumping up and heading towards the floo. "Now, just a minute, once we get the item, the cup, it would be best if you were not present with us when we deal with the dark magic it contains."
Amanda raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "Do you still not trust me?"
"There are some details about what we are doing that it would best if you were not aware," said Hydrae.
Amanda tilted her head slightly, "Would these be details that may be illegal?"
Arcturus scoffed. "No, we're truly working on rehabilitating my family name. No, details that if you know nothing about them, then it leads to plausible deniability if something were to go wrong or if somehow someone learned of what he have done."
One hour later, the three of them were seated with the Lestrange family's account manager, Gorefist, at Gringotts. The manager had been thoroughly reviewing the documents in front of him for nearly thirty minutes, and finally put down the stack of parchment. A slight smile formed on his face ever so briefly before his usual impassive countenance returned.
"So, Miss Lester, you and your father are laying claim to the entirety of the Lestrange vaults and contents," he said slowly.
"Yes, we are," answered Amanda.
"It is clear, after careful review of the legality of this claim, both from the Ministry of Magic and from Gringotts Account Policies and Procedures, that you can take possession of any of the items within the vaults, however you cannot prevent others who have a legal claim, if appropriately released from Azkaban, from doing the same," said Gorefist.
Amanda let out a slight sigh before responding, "Understood."
"Is it your plan to withdraw all of the galleons from the vaults?" questioned Gorefist.
"No, well, at least not at this time," said Amanda. "I have only one request today. There is a particular item that was placed in the Lestrange Vault, by a certain member of the Black family who had married into the Lestrange family."
"You speak of Bellatrix Lestrange," observed Gorefist.
"Correct," acknowledged Amanda. "This item was placed in the vault probably at least six or seven years ago. I presume she did not declare anything about the item. However, I do believe that the item she placed in the vault was done so in violation of agreements within the Gringotts Account Policies and Procedures."
Gorefist raised his eyebrows and stifled a snarl. "And which policy or procedure would this be?"
"It is a magical artefact, in fact it is a famous one, and to make things worse, the item was cursed prior to her placing it in the vault," said Amanda.
Gorefist's eyes narrowed momentarily. "And what exactly is this item in question?"
Amanda took a deep breath before she spoke. "Now, before you send your guards down to the vault to obtain this item, be warned, they need to be very careful and not touch the item directly."
Gorefist raised his chin slightly as he listened to her closely, and lifted his hands up onto the desktop in front of him, apparently releasing a device to summon said guards he was about to send to the vault. "Again, what is this item? And how shall we retrieve it, if not by touching it?"
Amanda relaxed slightly, "The item is the famed magical cup of Helga Hufflepuff, supposedly lost in antiquity. And if it were levitated and placed into a container, such as a crystal box," she paused and waved her hand towards Hydrae who produced one of the crystal boxes they had created. "A crystal box, such as the one Hydrae has with him, then the item could be safely removed from the vault without it being directly touched by any of the goblins, or by ourselves."
Gorefist briefly showed his teeth before responding. "If this item is cursed as you say, then what are your intentions with this object?"
Hydrae spoke up, "We intend to remove the curse from the object, before it can cause any harm to anyone, goblin, witch or wizard."
"And your methods are superior to those of ours when it comes to dealing with cursed items?" snapped Gorefist.
Hydrae raised both if his hands briefly before replying to Gorefist. "No offence against the goblin nation was intended, master Gorefist. It is simply that the nature of the curse on this item is not one that most witches or wizards are familiar with, and yet, we, or more specifically, I have a way to deal with it, to permanently remove said curse."
Gorefist studied Hydrae with his eyes as he rubbed his chin. "A cursed item, dark magic, that we cannot or should not touch, and the curse is not known to or understood by most wizards."
"That is correct," agreed Hydrae.
Gorefist stared at Hydrae intently for over a minute before he started to laugh. "You are either very funny for a wizard or very naive. You expect me to believe that someone placed a horcrux in this bank, without our knowledge and that you have the means to dispose of said item."
Arcturus spoke up next. "Yes, it is a horcrux, or soul anchor. Very wise of you to deduce the nature of the item. However, considering who placed the item in the vault, I would not have put it past her to have used various dark magics and compulsions to force one or more goblins into assisting her with hiding the object here."
Gorefist snarled. "If that were so, then that would be an offence punishable by claiming the entirety of the vaults contents!"
Amanda tried to ease the tensions. "We came here today, to make you aware of the situation and to deal with the situation. We did not come here to cause trouble."
Gorefist ignored her comments and turned back to Hydrae. "You have the means to deal with a horcrux?"
"Yes, we do," stated Hydrae. "And we can get more."
Gorefist gasped at his words. "Is this part of the negotiations?"
Hydrae nodded slowly.
Amanda had a confused look on her face as she looked back and forth between Gorefist and Hydrae. She looked at Hydrae one more time and mouthed, "What the hell is a horcrux?"
Hydrae shook off her silent request and then he turned to Gorefist. He then spoke slowly to the goblin. "These are our terms. First, you will not take anything away from the Lestrange family vault. In fact, once this particular item is dealt with, all items that are not dark or cursed, including all galleons, sliver and other forms of currency will be transferred to a new vault, the Lester Vault, which no one who still has the name Lestrange will have access to. Second, upon accepting these conditions, we will give you, that is Gringotts, information on where to meet with us so as to be able to rend the carcass of said beast. The valuation of profits from sold items from the carcass will be twenty percent to Gringotts, the remainder to the Black family. No, make that ten percent to the Potter family vault, and the remaining seventy percent to the Black Family Vault. However, the exceptions to this would be certain parts that would be made available for specific use by the Black family, and those items would not be part of the divided profits."
Amanda was staring open mouthed at Hydrae. "What the hell are you talking about?" she whispered.
Hydrae waved her off, not taking his eyes off of Gorefist.
Gorefist narrowed his eyes at Hydrae. "And just how would this truly be profitable for Gringotts? How much could we get for harvesting a small creature?"
Hydrae now laughed out loud. "Small creature? Don't be a fool. The creature is quite large."
"The largest basilisk ever recorded was approximately twenty feet long, according to goblin records," stated Gorefist. "It took ten men to subdue it, and six of them died from the ordeal. So I cannot image that you would have one even close to that size."
Hydrae smirked at Gorefist. "Seventy feet long from nose to tail."
Gorefist's eyes went wide.
Amanda screamed "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Twenty-five percent share for Gringotts," stated Gorefist.
Hydrae shook his head. "Considering the size of the creature, you are doing well to get more than ten percent."
"I will need to draw up a contract," stated Gorefist.
"No, we will go with the verbal contract," said Hydrae. "Magic can confirm that we both agreed to it, if you say, Gringotts agrees to the terms as stated by Hydrae Black."
Gorefist looked from Hydrae to Arcturus and back.
"And if I were to not keep my end of the bargain, I am sure that Gringotts would do everything in their power to discredit me publicly and within the halls of Gringotts," concluded Hydrae.
"Fine, Gringotts agrees to the terms as stated by Hydrae Black," said Gorefist.
Hydrae handed him the crystal box. "Very well, then, your associates may take the crystal box, then return with the cup and then we shall discuss a date for rendering the basilisk corpse."
"Fine, human," snarled Gorefist. "You have just created a verbal contract with Gringotts Bank, and you better deliver on your end of the deal."
Gorefist then summoned several guards, spoke to them in gobbledygook and the guards left quickly. Gorefist then nodded at the three, "You shall remain here, I shall return shortly with the director."
After Gorefist left the room, Amanda turned to Hydrae. "Where in Merlin's name did you encounter a seventy foot basilisk? And how are you alive to tell about it? Or not tell about it, as it were?"
Hydrae rubbed his chin and smiled at her. "Killing extremely large and deadly magical venomous snakes is not something that is brought up in routine conversation. And again, I cannot tell you any more details at this time. Plausible deniability and all that."
Fifteen minutes later Gorefist walked back into the room, and placed the crystal box on the desk. Inside the box was the aforementioned Hufflepuff Cup. "Here is the item in question."
A moment later, Ragnok, the director of Gringotts Bank, London, stepped into the room.
"So, you have the item here and these are the humans of which you spoke," stated Ragnok. He then turned to Hydrae. "I have read about your various exploits that we know of, human. You have entered into a verbal contract with Gringotts, a highly unusual thing to do for a wizard. Now, you claim to have something that can deal with the abomination that was placed before you. Something you obtained from a rather large creature that should not exist."
Hydrae nodded to Ragnok and then he stood up and reached inside his robes and withdrew a small package. He had another crystal container and from this he removed a carefully wrapped vial. Carefully he opened the vial and slowly poured a small amount into the crystal box and over the cup. There was a loud hiss followed by a scream as a black mist escaped from the cup. The mist swirled around the room over the cup, twisting aimlessly for about one minute prior to dissipating.
"That was thoroughly unpleasant," stated Amanda.
Hydrae turned to Ragnok and Gorefist. "You have now seen that I have been telling you the truth. I expect that the remainder of the contents of the vault will be transferred to a new vault within four days. I also am requesting that supply Amanda Lester, and her father, with a detailed list of the items that have been transferred as well as a detailed list of the items that were removed that were considered dark or cursed. As far as the rendering goes, I will need to be in touch with you when I can have a safe and secure plan for the rendering. And do not worry, I will make it happen. It is, after all, part of the verbal contract we have together."
Ragnok stared at Hydrae blankly for a minute before stating, "How strange. A wizard who trusts goblins and expects trust from the goblins in return. Uncommon indeed but not entirely unheard of, unless of course, we are dealing with the Black family."
Ragnok turned to face Arcturus. "You have acquired a different sort to associate with, not a common occurrence for you and your family."
Before Arcturus could respond, Ragnok spoke once more. "Let Gringotts know when we can expect the remainder of the agreement to be fulfilled. And, furthermore, young Mister Black, someday I would like to hear the tale of how you subdued such a creature. And I shall be most disappointed if the actual size of the beast was exaggerated in any way on your part."
And then, without another word, Ragnok left the room.
AN: Here is another chapter, completed sooner than I had expected. Trying to review all of the grammar and spelling on my own. I found way too many problems with the last five chapters when I recently reviewed them (and updated them here).
