Chapter 3: What Goblet?
Thanks for all the reviews.
Someone suggested that Isobel might be a self-insert. That is funny as fuck. I am old, and I do cuss, and I am near-sighted. But not near to the degree as Isobel in all categories. That and she's much more outgoing than I am. Still, that was a funny review.
Most of your reviews bring a smile to my face. They are the only payment I get.
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The Dursleys were idiots. There was no denying that. They were still under the belief that Harry was cowed into not using his magic around them. It was easy getting his snake in. Harry simply snuck Isobel in in his trunk. He had Dobby pop it up to his room, after they had locked it in the cupboard, unlocked it, and let her out.
"Don't you ever lock me in a fucking trunk again, motherfucker," she hissed, coming out of the trunk. It had been quite cramped in there for her still rather large form. She wound her way up his body and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Next time, I'll just have Dobby pop you in," Harry said, scratching her behind her eyes. He had had Sirius put a feather-light charm on her, so now she could coil up on his body without weighing him down.
"You'd better, you arsehole," she said, closing her eyes in bliss. "So, do I get to kill your relatives?" she asked, after a few more minutes of his scratching. That Spellotape really was itchy.
"No, but you do get to petrify them to your heart's content, and you can scare them whenever you wish," Harry said, lifting her off his shoulder and unwinding her from his person. He set her on the bed and started getting ready for sleep. He called for Dobby, just as Hedwig flew in the window.
Isobel waited until the owl roosted on her perch and then froze her. "Bitch," she hissed, hatred in her tone.
"Isobel!" Harry chastised, not knowing what got into his snake. He was blindsided by this hatred she was exhibiting.
"What? She's a pretentious bitch. Always parading that she was your first familiar," the snake said, like Hedwig could talk to her.
"She does not, and you know it. Stop that," Harry demanded, taking Hedwig, and relocating her to where Isobel couldn't hurt her. Not that there really was any place in this tiny room, but he put her as far away as he could.
"Fine, I'll leave the fucking bitch alone," Isobel stated, putting her head on her coils, and closing her eyes. She could still dream of freezing the bitchy owl.
"Did Master Harry need Dobby?" the elf asked, not wanting to get between the two feuding familiars.
"Yeah, can you conjure me a snake tree for Isobel. It'll have to be a big one," Harry asked the elf, gesturing to the only blank area in his room. It would be a tight squeeze, but he was sure Dobby would make it happen. Maybe if it hung over the bed?
Dobby did it one better. He enlarged the room, double its size. Then he conjured a snake tree with a tiny artificial sun on the top branch. "There yous bes going, Master Harry," he said, puffing out his chest.
"This is great, Dobby. Now we all have room," Harry said, getting down to Dobby's level and hugging him. He then moved Hedwig to a place further away, but near the window so she could go hunt. Her perch was then cleaned, and he made sure she had food and water. She barked and nipped his fingers.
"Bitch," hissed Isobel, glaring at the owl, but not freezing her, like she promised.
"Behave," Harry said, coming up to her and putting her on the snake tree. She settled in and got comfortable under the tiny sun.
"That feels fucking fantastic," she said, soaking up the rays for the first time in her life. She could so get used to this.
So, the four of them slept well that night.
It was Petunia's shrieks that woke them all the next morning.
Isobel automatically petrified her, and they went back to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, she unfroze and started screeching again and Isobel immobilized her again.
This went on until Vernon woke up two hours later.
"Boy, what are you doing to your aunt?" the walrus demanded, coming down the hall. "Petunia!" he yelled seeing his petrified wife. "I'll kill you, you useless freak." He tried to squeeze past his wife, but he was too fat. He didn't want to pick her up, he might break her.
"Who are you calling a freak, you fucking waste of air? I'll fucking kill you, you bastard," Isobel said, slithering off her tree and going to the hall and freezing him too.
"Isobel!" Harry shouted, not wanting her to make good on her threat. "No killing," he said, jumping out of bed.
He was just in time; she was about to take a bite out of Vernon's foot.
"Why?" she asked, retracting her mouth. "He's a fucking useless waste of human flesh. After all he's done to you, he deserves to fucking die," she added, once more going to take a bite.
"They'll kill you if you kill him," Harry said, tears in his voice. "I don't want you dead," he stated, forcefully.
"Fine," she said, then added to herself, "I'll wait until we bloody well leave. Then this fat fucker is mine."
"What did you do to my house?" Petunia screamed as she came to once again.
Isobel froze her again.
This continued throughout the morning. Harry cooked breakfast and ate it in silence, and the Dursleys never left the first floor. They kept getting immobilized by Isobel because they never stopped shouting at Harry. It took until dinner for them to learn.
"Are you going to stop yelling at me now?" Harry asked the three idiots.
They all nodded mutinously. They were sitting at the table in the dining room.
"Okay. This is Isobel. She's a magical snake, as you might have guessed. She is also very deadly. One bite, and you're dead. Her gaze will petrify you, as you found out this morning. Yes, even if you take her glasses off," he said, glaring at Dudley, who had made fun of Isobel's glasses, like a fool.
Dudley snickered and tried to cover it up with his fat hand. But it was just too funny.
"Are you threatening us, boy?" Vernon asked, sitting up to his full height.
"Yes, yes, I am," Harry said, a serious look on his face. He called Dobby. "This is Dobby. He's a house elf. He will be making sure I am fed, and he is also protection from you," he said, putting a hand on the elf's shoulder.
"Yous will not be hurting Harry Potter," Dobby said in his squeaky voice, giving them the stink-eye.
Dudley couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. "Your protection is a snake with glasses and a tiny gnome?" He doubled over with guffaws.
"Dobby, wash Dudley's mouth out with soap," Harry suggested, a smirk on his face.
"You leave my Dudley alone," Petunia screeked, diving across the table as if to save her child from the magic about to be imposed on him.
Suddenly a mass quantity of bubbles came spewing from Dudley's mouth and he started tearing up from the taste of bitter soap. He was gagging from the taste and the amount of soap in his mouth. He tried calling for his mum, but there was just too much foam in there.
"Duddikins," Petunia screamed, clasping her fat son to her bosom. "Mummy is here," she said, like it would help him endure.
"Here's how it's going to work," Harry said, not the least bit impressed with the mother/son dynamic. "I'm going to just do what I want, and you're going to let me." He smiled and got up from the table and left.
And that's how the first half of his summer went. The Dursleys would try to stop him from doing what he wanted, and he had Isobel or Dobby set them straight. Then Sirius came and got him, and all was better.
If Isobel bit Vernon a tiny bit on the way out without Harry knowing, well that was okay too. It was only a nick by his thumbnail and couldn't be traced back to her. She'd done it while the bastard was asleep, and it'll look like he died of a heart attack. Even if they did say it was poison, her venom was unknown in the muggle world. Harry never needed to know.
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Living with Sirius was an experience. He was a prankster, so it wasn't unusual to find oneself waking up with different colored hair or skin. Remus also lived there, and he too was a prankster, but he was far more subtle. Harry wasn't a prankster; he was just a vengeful person. He would leave those two restrained for hours if they pranked him.
"Come on, pup, can't you take a joke?" Sirius asked, after he woke up from an hour-long petrification.
"No, and don't call me 'pup'. I'm not a kid," Harry said, eating his ham sandwich. Dobby and Kreacher were fighting over who was to serve Harry. Dobby said it was his job, while Kreacher said it was his house.
Isobel was wrapped around Harry's shoulder, but had her inner eyelid closed so she didn't freeze anyone. She was just observing everything. She had been having a great time going through Grimmuald Place and eating all the pests. She especially like the doxies. They were very tasty.
"Come on, why can't I call you 'pup'? It's been my nickname for you since you were a baby," Sirius whinged. He did that a lot.
"Exactly," Harry said, taking another bite. "I'm not a baby anymore," he stated, putting the sandwich down and drinking the fizzy drink he'd had Dobby buy. All Sirius stocked was butterbeer and firewhiskey.
"To change the subject," Remus said, already done listening to Sirius whinge, "are we going to the Quidditch World Cup?" he asked, taking his third roast beef sandwich off the plate. It had been a full moon the night before. He was starving.
"You bet," Sirius said, bouncing like a kid. "I've got us box seats. The Minister is still trying to butter me up for their faux pas." The government had been bending over backwards to prevent him from suing their arses. So far, it had been working. He was getting more out of them this way anyway.
"Good news for us," Harry said, wondering if he could sneak Isobel in. He did have his invisibility cloak, that might work.
They planned the trip for an hour, with Harry mentally adding his own additions. When the time came, they all woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and were soon at the campgrounds. There were people everywhere.
Isobel was having fun freezing random people. She was scaring the bejesus out of the crowd, who thought there was someone cursing them. However, when the turning into stone wore off, they brushed it off as a bad prank.
"Isobel, you're going to get me in trouble," Harry hissed, when they made it to the tent, which Remus had erected.
"How? No one fucking knows about me," she said, from her perch on his shoulder, her body wound around his torso. She was wrapped in the invisibility cloak, like a blanket.
"Sooner or later, someone is going to put it together that I'm always around when petrification happens," he insisted, cracking his neck in frustration.
"Oh, is that bloody all. well, I can fucken take care of that," she hissed and slithered off his shoulders, out from under the invisibility cloak, and out the tent.
"Wait!" he called after her. He picked up the cloak and rushed out of the tent to find his unruly snake. She was good at hiding though. It was a good thing she was, or she'd have been caught. Still, all he had to do was follow the frozen people. Dammit, she was pissed.
Unfortunately, she was too fast for him. He went back to the tent and waited for her to return, which she did. He scolded her, she told him to fuck off, and all was right with the world.
The Weasleys and Hermione came a few days later, and a nice reunion was had.
Isobel was regulated to the room. She was not a happy snake. She snuck out the window and continued to petrify people at the campgrounds. That made her deliriously happy. Unfortunately, she was spotted, though no one believed the person that there was a basilisk with glasses running around. That was just too weird for words. Even for the wizarding world.
The game came and Harry reluctantly let her ride on his shoulders. She promised to behave. The only person she froze was the guy under the invisibility cloak that tried to steal Harry's wand. When he went for Ron's instead, she let him.
The party, after Ireland won, was huge. The kids went to bed early only to be woken by anxious adults.
"Harry, get up," Sirius said, shaking him frantically.
"What?" he said, reaching for his glasses.
"Death Eaters," the dogman said, handing him his wand. "Get Isobel and head for the woods."
"What's a Death Eater?" Harry asked, slipping on his shoes.
"Voldy's lackies," was the quick explanation.
"I'll kill them. Show me these motherfuckers and I'll bite them dead," Isobel said, swishing her head back and forth as if searching for the enemy.
"Calm down," Harry said, going to her and casting the feather-light charm. He lifted her and put her on his shoulders. "You need to protect me," he stated, going to the door and out the tent.
"If anyone comes near you, they'll be in my belly. Unshrink me," she said, slithering down his body and on to the ground.
"If I do that, everyone will see you," Harry protested, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. They weren't. They were all running away from him and the campgrounds.
"In order to protect you, I need to be bigger," she said, swaying from side to side.
He shrugged, hoping she knew what she was doing. He unshrunk her to her normal size and then climbed on her back. She took off like a bat out of hell and headed straight for the Death Eaters. Once she got there, she petrified them all.
Harry saw the muggles fall and caught them with a levitation spell. Well, he caught the kids, and someone else got the adults.
"Get out of here!" Sirius yelled, waving wildly. "Now!" he roared; desperation laced his tone.
Harry whipped out his invisibility cloak and Isobel took off again. They only hoped the darkness of the night had masked Harry's identity.
It hadn't.
The next day it was all over the papers that Harry Potter and his pet basilisk saved the people of the campground. Though they hadn't stopped the Dark Mark from showing in the sky.
When Harry heard about Winky, he had Dobby find her and offered her a home. There was always work to be done at Grimmuald Place. If not, then Harry would find something for them to do.
"Well, shite," Harry said, reading the paper a week later. The story still hadn't died down. They were calling for him to come and talk to the public and prove that he had control of his snake. There were some calling for the basilisk to be put to death, but Harry had her hidden well. Well, she was shrunk again, and no one expected that.
Sirius, as his guardian, said that the basilisk was harmless as long as Harry was around. That Harry was disinclined to speak to the public, as he was very shy. The public ate it up and life moved on.
Now it was time for school, and Harry snuck onto the train under his cloak and hid in a compartment with the door locked. A little blonde girl came in, somehow unlocking the door, and sat near the entrance. She grabbed Neville when he walked by, who seemed confused but sat. He flagged Ron and Hermione, and soon the compartment was full.
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked, miffed that the boy wonder hadn't been seen since the World Cup.
"Right here," Harry said, taking off his cloak. There were a few gasps of surprise, but most were happy to see him.
"Where's your slimy snake?" the redhead asked, only to be promptly frozen.
"Right here, you bloody arsehole," Isobel hissed, coming from under Harry's robes.
"She doesn't like to be called slimy," Harry said with a shrug.
"How are we not dead?" Hermione wanted to know, scooching away from the deadliest snake in the world.
"She has a second eyelid," Harry said, scratching Isobel's head. They had taken her glasses off, not wanting people to make fun of her. Now she was going by smelling and hearing. She would stay on Harry's shoulders as much as possible.
"I think she's lovely," the blond said, reaching over and scratching Isobel under the chin. Not the least bit afraid.
"And you are?" Hermione asked a bit imperiously.
"Oh, I'm Luna Lovegood," she said, still giving loving's to the snake. "I am going to be a good friend to Harry Potter." She stated this like it was a foregone conclusion.
"You can't just make positive statements like that. What if he doesn't like you?" Hermione said with a huff.
"You don't get to put words like that into my mouth," Harry snapped, giving her a firm look. Then he looked at Luna. "I'd love to be friends with you, Luna." He smiled at the quirky girl and had a feeling they would be close.
Just then Ron woke up. "You're ruddy snake froze me," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Harry, only to be petrified again, finger still in the air.
"Isobel," Harry hissed, making quite a few of the occupants of the compartment shiver, thumping her softly on the head.
"What? He's a fucking prat," she said, not the least bit repentant.
"He's my friend, and I'll thank you to leave him alone," Harry stated, glaring at her for a moment more.
"Fine," she hissed, huffing in a way that only snakes could.
Draco Malfoy dropped by to accuse Harry of having his father arrested, only to be petrified and shoved out of the compartment. A few other students were curious about the snake and came by to look at her. It was not a bad ride to school, but it could have gone better. At least Isobel quit freezing Ron.
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Harry knew the moment that the Triwizard Tournament was announced that it would be trouble. He worried about it from day one. Isobel tried to keep his spirits up, as did his friends, but it was to no avail. He just knew he'd be roped into it somehow.
The other two schools came the day before the drawing. The cup was lit that night, and Harry didn't sleep.
"Do you want me to go and guard the cup?" Isobel asked, slithering circles around him. He was sitting on his bed fretting.
"What good would that do?" he asked, worrying his blanket to threadbare. "Can you even read?" he wondered.
"Of course, I can fucking read," she said, affronted that he would even ask.
"How? I mean, how do you even know all the words that you know, let alone how to read?" he inquired, softly. He had been wondering about this for ages.
"Salazar taught me to read, and your Lord Voldemort had a fucking mouth on him. He would go into long rants about the fucking establishment and the fucking purebloods, and the fucking muggleborn. Every other word out of his mouth when he was ranting was the word 'fucking'. I picked it up," she explained, preening like it was something to be proud of.
"Yeah, but by then you were already over nine hundred years old. Isn't that a bit old to pick up a habit?" Harry asked, rubbing the back of his head in confusion.
"I was already a cusser. I was just using old-fashioned profanes," she explained, putting her head on her coils. "Now I'm more modern," she stated, once again proudly.
"I guess that makes sense. I never figured Tommy boy for someone who swore though," he said, then again, he never had the pleasure of meeting Voldemort outside of the one time with Quirrell.
"You'd swear too, if you fucking lived through the shite he did," she said, remembering all the shite the boy would complain about. "There was a fucking war going on in the muggle world when he was growing up. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah, I tend to forget that," Harry said, sheepishly. He yawned and settled down on his pillow, his fear of the goblet forgotten. They talked of other things until Harry finally went to sleep.
It was Halloween and that was never a good day for Harry. When the drawing happened, and the three names were called, he gave a deep sigh of relief. Until the goblet flared again. He could have bawled like a baby.
"Harry Potter," Dumbledore said, his tone grave.
"No," Harry said, staying firmly seated.
"Harry, go to the antechamber," the headmaster demanded, pointing to the room where the other champions had gone.
"No, I didn't enter. I'm not going." Harry insisted.
"Harry, fucking unshrink me," Isobel said, sliding off his body.
"There's not enough room in here for me to do that," he hissed back, taking out his wand.
Instantly people started to scatter away from him. Some started screaming and calling him a dark wizard. The foreign schools, who didn't know about the basilisk, were even more afraid than the Hogwarts students. Well, not the Durmstrang students, but they were wary.
"Look at that, there's room now," she said, a smug tone in her voice.
Harry shrugged and unshrunk her. She slithered forward and got into the judge's and Head's faces, swaying her head so she looked into all their eyes.
"Listen to me, you motherfucking arsehole sons of bitches, Harry is not competing in your gladiator games," she hissed with Harry happily translating.
"He must compete, or he'll lose his magic," Ludo Bagman stated, after he pissed his pants.
"Oh, and how is that? Are you fucking going to take it from him, you witless arsehole?" she questioned, sticking out her tongue in his face, making his eyes roll up and then he passed out. Harry translated again, word for word.
He heard Hermione's horrified, "Harry, language." But he ignored it.
"The Goblet of Fire will take it from him," Dumbledore said with a note of superiority.
"Oh, will it?" Isobel asked, slithering up to said artifact, its fire was out. She sniffed it with her tongue and circled it and peered at it a bit more. "This fucking piece of tin thinks it can hurt my fucking friend?" She then opened her mouth and ate it. "So much for that," she said, and then burped out a bout of flame.
"I can't believe you fucking did that," Harry said in English. He was laughing so hard.
The whole Great Hall was in a state of shock. There were some students laughing with Harry, but the adults were aghast and wondering what to do now. Did they arrest the boy for letting his pet eat a priceless artifact? How were they to hold the tournament without the contract? Was the contract valid if the cup was destroyed?
"Come on, Isobel, I think we need to let heads cool down for a bit," Harry said, climbing on to her head. She started towards the door but ran into the wall. He grabbed her feathered crown and started steering her. "No, go left," they could hear him say as they disappeared out of sight.
The two of them hid in the Chamber of Secrets, with Dobby and Winky feeding them.
The adults decided to continue with the tournament. They just drew up a written contract, which didn't include the loss of magic for non-participation. It only took them a week to get over their anger at Isobel, so Harry could return to classes.
He left his basilisk in the Chamber, albeit in her smaller form. She could get out anytime, via the forest exit. She would sneak into his dorm at night and cuddle with his warmth. Even though Dobby had brought her tree and mini sun, she still preferred her Harry. Gradually, he started carrying her around again.
She still wasn't wearing her glasses, but in her smaller form, she wasn't running into the walls.
On one of her jaunts through the forest, she came upon some dragons. She was curious to see if she could talk to them. So, she went closer. She could. She sat and gossiped with them all night long, letting them know what was going on, and asking them not to hurt the poor kids that were roped into this sport, for she felt it was misrepresented, but the adults were fair game.
She told Harry about it the next day, and he told Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.
"Why are you telling us?" Cedric asked when they were all together in a room, having been brought there by Winky.
"Because if I had not been taken out, I'd want to know I was going to face a ruddy dragon," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulder.
"To be fair, my headmaster already told me," Viktor stated in his thick Bulgarian accent, he too shrugged his shoulders.
"Same," Fleur stated, looking guiltily at Cedric.
"You mean to tell me that I would have been the only one not to know?" the Hufflepuff asked, upset that the other two schools cheated, or he might have been upset that his school would have left him to flounder.
"Well, you know now," Harry said in a consolatory way.
"I guess," the other boy said, slumping his shoulders, but smiling his thanks. They broke up and went their separate ways.
The three champions made their schools proud with the way they handled their dragons, though Krum lost points for hurting his dragon and smashing some eggs. Isobel went and talked to the dragons before they left and gave her condolences to the grieving mother.
The second task was boring for the spectators, all they did was watch the lake. Not even a ripple was done to entertain them. When the champions emerged, Fleur first having been chased out early, then Viktor, then Cedric. Fleurs sister had to be retrieved because she didn't rescue her. The poor French champion was in hysterics before then. Harry thought that was pretty shitty of the judges.
The third task was a maze, which again was boring for the audience. Harry was sitting with his friends, with Isobel on his shoulders, bitching, when he felt a tug on his navel. He landed with a thump. Isobel immediately slithered off and moved in front of him. She couldn't see.
"Harry, my glasses, and hurry the fuck up," she demanded. She was in a bit of a panic.
They were in some woods, and there were people and a snake approaching.
He reached into the pouch, he kept on his neck, and pulled out her glasses and put them on her. He only had time to get one or two pieces of Spellotape on her, when another snake came slithering up.
"Are you wearing glasses?" the snake asked, completely thrown for a loop.
"What's it to you, bitch?" Isobel said, whipping around looking for trouble. "Harry, get your wand out," she instructed, sensing two heat signatures. She could smell them too.
Harry listened to his pet and did just that. He stood back-to-back with Isobel and wondered what kind of trouble he was in.
There was a man coming up to his left, so he angled his body in that direction. He wished he had his invisibility cloak, but it was at the school in his trunk.
"Dobby," he called, but the elf didn't come.
The other snake was frozen, so Isobel turned and petrified the man coming towards them.
"Run," she told Harry. So, they ran. "I think there are wards here," she said, moving to the edge of the woods. If they could get to the town down there, they might be safe.
Harry could see the town too, so he continued to the buildings in the distance.
The man woke up and started firing spells at them. Stunners, if Harry was hearing right. That meant he wanted them alive. At least him.
"Split!" Isobel shouted, moving to the left.
Harry veered right. He ran for all he was worth, but the man was faster and gaining on him. There was the sound of a fight going on when Harry's world went dark. He woke up to his arm being cut. There were some words about 'blood of the enemy' and then the Dark Lord was reborn.
He was one ugly motherfucker.
"You're one ugly motherfucker," Isobel said as she came into the clearing. She looked like she had been in a fight. She was still only six feet long, but she was still the deadliest snake on earth. Her glasses were gone though. "Are you alright, Harry?" she asked, moving closer to the Dark Lord. Almost close enough to freeze him.
"Yes," Harry said in English.
"You speak parseltongue?" Voldemort said, shocked at this revelation.
"I do," Harry said, still in English.
"And you've tamed my basilisk?" Tom inquired, intrigued over this development. "How did you get her so small?" he asked, knowing spells didn't work on basilisks.
"I'm not yours, you sawed off prick-headed motherfucker," Isobel spat, jutting forward, and freezing him and then biting him on the hand. "And no one tames me," she stated, puffing up with pride.
The Dark Lord's body was deconstructed, and a spirit emerged from the goo. "I'll get you, snake," it promised, flying at the serpent. "I'll be back for you too, Harry Potter," it said, disappearing into the darkened sky.
"Well, that wasn't ominous," Harry groused sarcastically, slumping in his binds.
"Can you untie yourself?" Isobel asked him as she went after the man who had brought them here. He was thumping towards her, wand raised.
"I'll try," the teen said, working his fingers on the knots. They were loose enough that he should be able to get free. It took around five minutes, but he did get down from the statue. By that time, Isobel had made short work of the man. "Did you have to bite him too?" he asked, seeing the marks on the man's neck.
"He was going to fucking kill you," was her defense. "Of course, I had to fucking kill him."
"Thank you," Harry said, sincerely. He let her wind her way up his body and started towards the town again. He really just wanted to get out of the woods. Once he felt he was far enough away he called the Knight Bus and had them take him back to Hogsmeade. He walked back to Hogwarts from there.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked once he came into view.
"I was kidnapped," he said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.
"Really? Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over for injury. "Do we need to tell Dumbledore?" she asked, looking around for said headmaster, who was walking towards them.
"Harry, my boy, whatever happened to you?" the old man inquired. He had a look on his face like he already knew but wanted confirmation.
"Nothing," Harry said, looking him dead in the face and lying straight-faced.
"But, didn't you just say…" was as far as Hermione got when Isobel petrified her.
"I must insist you tell me the truth, Harry," Dumbledore said, stroking his beard in a knowing fashion.
So, Isobel froze him too. Harry shrugged and moved on. He didn't have to tell anyone anything. He spent the rest of the year avoiding the headmaster's and Hermione's questions. He regretted telling his friend anything. She was like a dog with a bone.
When he got home, he told Sirius.
"That means old Voldy created horcruxes," Sirius said, cottoning on to that right away. His family was dark after all. They delved into all sorts of necromancy and other soul magic. He glanced around the room, like he could feel one of the horcruxes just out of reach.
"I don't know what those are," Harry pointed out.
"And I'm not going to tell you," his godfather said, nonchalantly.
"Okay," the teen said, indifferently. He'd just look it up in the library. It wasn't that difficult.
"Let me contact a few people and we'll take care of it," Sirius said more seriously than Harry had ever seen him.
"Not a problem," Harry said, more than willing to let the adults take care of the problem. So, he and Isobel spent the summer talking about what they were going to do next year.
