Dark Mark Burning
7th of November, 1996.
Little hands explored the mess of black hair that lay on the carpet. "Baba," Leoline said determinedly. He grabbed a handful of black hair and put it in his mouth.
"Hey, little guy no eating that," Harry said gently and waved a toy wolf in front of Leoline so he would grab for it.
Leoline giggled and grabbed the wolf. He chewed on it happily.
"Thank you for stopping by," Remus said. "Winky is great, but he needs human contact and I have to catch up on these assignments."
"That's fine," Harry said.
"How is Alice doing by the way," Remus asked.
"She is extremely bored. I wish we could get Frank to improve more because then I could move them," Harry said. "Right now however he needs too much attention for us to do that."
"That is understandable," Remus said. "Well I need to get started on these assignments or I'll never get done. Just call if you need anything."
"Will do," Harry said. He rolled over and looked at Leoline. "So little guy what should we get up to?" he asked. "Maybe you would like a bath, huh? Though maybe we should do that after dinner."
…
"How was Leoline?" Hermione asked when Harry sat down next to her.
"Messy," Harry said. "He got mashed potatoes not only in his hair but also between his toes somehow. Then we had a bath and I think there was more water on the floor than in the tub by the end of it."
Hermione laughed. "At least you have magic to clean up with," she said.
"Blessed Kyne," Harry said. "I wouldn't want to clean that mess manually."
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her book as Harry brought his own schoolwork out so he could finish up what he had left for the week.
12th of November, 1996.
The sun was shining and the leaves of the Forbidden Forest danced yellow and burning orange in a soft breeze. Tanya and Harry were walking around the lake. They were talking about Khajiit and what Harry knew of them.
Tanya listened intently as she walked next to him. "So you know how to fight like them since you lived with Khajiit?" she said. "I would like to learn, I think if only so I know how to fight when I go looking for my father. What if the other Khajiit make fun of me otherwise?"
Harry smiled softly. "Do you really want to learn how to fight?" he asked. "You shouldn't learn something because of other people."
Tanya looked up at Harry. Then she looked out over the lake wondering what she really wanted. He was right. Did she want to learn how to fight? Hand-to-hand combat seemed messy. "Is there a magical way to fight that does not use a wand?" she asked.
Harry nodded slowly. "There is," he said. "If I teach you that you can't just use it on people because they are mean or irritate you. What I would teach you is dangerous in the wrong hands."
Tanya's hands clenched. She knew there was danger coming someday. She wanted to be able to fight. "I want to learn," she stated.
"Then you better get up in the morning and join me because that is the only time I have available," Harry said.
"I will. Thank you, Harry," Tanya said.
"Don't thank me. You'll really dislike me before the end of the week," Harry said.
"I would never," Tanya said.
17th of November, 1996.
Tanya was breathing heavily. She growled at Harry and launched at him. Fire burned in the palm of her hand. She had picked up Nirn magic quicker than Harry had expected. Maybe Khajiit were more closely linked to the old ways. Or maybe they kept their bloodlines more intermixed or something. He just hoped they weren't inbreeding because that would end badly.
Harry parried Tanya and slapped her away. He had decided that if he was teaching her destruction magic then she might as well learn combat too. He wanted her to be prepared if it ever came to that. "Again and mind your footwork," he said. He wasn't using magic that much yet since he could easily overwhelm her. He wanted her to learn not to be crushed. He wasn't Rashall so he didn't push her further than she could manage. He parried Tanya again and sent her flying into a pile of pillows. He had spent the first few days making sure that she understood the basics. Now he was going to hold an alternating schedule. Magic, fighting and balance work.
The alarm Harry had set went off and they headed back to the tower to shower and change.
"Am I getting any better?" Tanya asked.
"Yes, you are, though we only just started and you have to remember that," Harry said. "It takes a lot of time and practice to get good and then you need to keep training so you don't lose your edge."
"Do you train enough for that?" Tanya asked.
"Hopefully," Harry said.
"When I get better we can make sure you do," Tanya said.
Harry chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Sure, small fry," he said.
Tanya stuck her tongue out at him and ran up the stairs to her dorm. She woke Natalie up and headed into the bathroom to shower.
"How was today's training?" Natalie asked as she walked into the shower stall next to Tanya.
"Rough," Tanya answered. "But Harry is a good Master so I'll keep going. I don't want to disappoint him now that we both know that I have an aptitude for this strange magic he knows."
Natalie shook her head. If she didn't know better she would say Tanya had a crush on Harry. She knew Tanya didn't, they had talked about it before. Tanya greatly respected Harry, but she didn't have a romantic interest in him. Not that Natalie could blame anyone who had a crush on Harry. He was kind of amazing. He was leading her group for the crafting and he had a way with people that just made them all want to have fun and not worry so much. She could definitely see why Tanya had always enjoyed quidditch if that was what he was like on the field.
…
Natalie and Tanya split up as they entered the craft room. Tanya was a Snake this time and Natalie was a Badger. She sat down close to Harry and looked at the big glass ball they were painting. They were going to float in the new common room as lights when they were done. They used shadows and masking tape to mark their animals and then they painted them on. They were going to work on some detail today. She hoped that they would be allowed to make glass balls for themselves. She would really like some coloured lights in her room.
Harry smiled as his group got started. He mostly watched them work while considering what he wanted to make for Fleur. He had an idea he hoped he could pull off. He grabbed a pair of fist-sized glass orbs from the bag he kept them in. Everyone would get two for themselves next session. He would have to light them all so he might as well start early. He placed a soft pulsating light in the orb getting the light to stay there took a few runes but he could paint over them later. Slowly he worked the light to look like doves in flight then he animated the picture so it actually moved. Then it was time to paint the orbs. He smiled as he heard his Badgers discuss what shade of purple they should use for their animals.
"How about you use three different shades?" Harry pointed out. That started a whole different discussion. It was good for them. He would only step in if it got too heated. He didn't want them to fight after all. He continued working on his own orbs until he was happy with the way they looked. Then he spent a bit of time working out how to shrink them to a more practical earring size. Now all he needed was hooks so Fleur could wear them.
Natalie handed him the small orb she had been working on for the common room.
"Can you make it glow?" she asked.
"Of course what colour did you use to paint the top here? I have to add a few runes and I don't want to ruin your work," Harry said.
Natalie smiled and went to fetch her paints. She pointed out a pretty silver blue and Harry dipped a thin brush in the paint. He drew his runes in and activated them. The orb lit up and cast coloured light against his hand.
Natalie clapped her hands excitedly. "I love it," she said.
"You did a really good job," Harry said. He held the orb out and locked it into the very complicated magical net that would hold the orbs. He had spent hours working on it so they could do this. Unfortunately, that meant only he could add orbs and everything was held together with dragon runes. Hopefully, that meant it would hold for generations to come. He would have to return to make sure things weren't falling apart. He added that to his mental calendar of things that had to be done at some point. He moved from his Badgers so others would know that they could approach him too, and Dean circled over to his table a bit more often.
The grand finale of the day was when Harry raised the four grand orbs into the air and lit them up. The temporary light sources they had used would no longer be necessary. They had more than enough light.
"Next time you will be able to start on your own glass balls. Don't worry if you haven't finished the one you have for the ceiling you will have loads of time to finish everything," Dean said. "Good night everyone. Make sure you get plenty to eat and drink."
18th of November, 1996.
Dear Mr Peverell,
I write to you in regard to conversations
we have had in the past. I wish your insight
in a matter that has been bothering me for
quite some time.
I hope that five p.m. on Thursday is
agreeable to you. I have reservations at
the Reve D'epice.
I hope to see you there.
Yours Sincerely,
Lucius Malfoy
Head of the House of Malfoy
Harry folded the letter and placed it in an inner pocket. He should be able to make it to the meeting with Lucius. He did wonder briefly why Lucius would like to meet with him. He guessed he would find out on Thursday. For now, he had DADA and they were learning some pretty interesting spells. He was glad that Remus was back as their teacher. Remus was much better than Sirius had been.
It did make him wonder where Sirius was though. He hadn't heard anything from his godfather in a while. Maybe he should send him another letter? He hadn't received a response last time.
"Anything important?" Hermione asked as they headed to class.
"Lord Malfoy would like to speak with Kato," Harry said softly after he had made sure no one could hear them.
Hermione gave him a calculative look. "What could he want?" she asked.
"I don't know but it is bound to be interesting," Harry said.
"Meaning you are going?" Hermione said.
Harry nodded. "I'm trying to keep on top of things and Lucius is a good source of information," he said. "He is an opportunist and Kato is powerful. He will want to stay on Kato's good side."
Hermione rolled her eyes. At least she didn't have to worry that Harry hadn't thought things through. He certainly seemed to have all the angles covered.
They sat down in the Defence classroom and turned their attention to Remus.
"The Dementor is a dangerous creature not actually believed to be alive. It feeds on misery, not happiness as many seem to believe," Remus began the class. "The reason you have a hard time feeling happy around them is because they bring all your worst memories to the surface as they feed. The art of Occlumency gives a certain amount of defence against their presence, but the only certain way to fight a Dementor is the Patronus Charm." He drew his wand. "If you would Mr Potter," he said.
Harry smiled and drew his own wand. "Expecto Patronum," he said as he cast the spell. A dragon rose from his wand and took up a good part of the room. It roared and shook its head.
"Quite the display, Mr Potter," Remus said with a smile. "A Patronus can change. Its form depends on the strength of the memories used and what memories were used. Yes, Mr Potter?"
Harry took his hand down. "As an example. When I first learnt the Patronus in our third year, you might remember that I had quite the incentive back then to learn it, it was a stag. The reason for that was that I used the idea of memories of my parents. My father was an animagus. He could turn into a stag," he told the class.
"Who on Earth has given you happy memories that make your Patronus a Dragon then?" Theodore asked.
Harry shrugged. No one on Earth was the answer, but he wasn't inclined to tell them that.
"While we will get further into the intricacies of how Dementors work later," Remus said. "I believe that we shall work on actually casting the charm first. Do not be dissuaded if you cannot cast a fully corporeal Patronus. Many of our Aurors can't cast this spell. It is a tricky one to cast as it demands a certain amount of emotional backing."
Remus asked them to stand before moving the desks out of the way. Once again Harry could already perform the spell assigned and spent his time helping his fellow students. At least people were getting used to him knowing things ahead of the rest of them in Defence and since most knew that he didn't know more than them in other subjects they were alright with that.
…
That evening Harry and his friends sat with their Defence homework. Remus had wanted an essay on the differences between Dementors and Lethifolds. It was tricky enough work since so little was known about the Lethifold. Harry wondered if he had better books at home. Maybe a more tropical country had better information since the Lethifold was a tropical beast. He would have to go look tomorrow. He yawned. "I'm going to bed," he said.
"Sounds like a good idea," Hermione said. "We should finish this tomorrow." She packed her things away and lifted her bag.
They all wished each other a good night and headed up to bed.
21st of November, 1996.
Kato left Alice and Frank after giving Alice another memory boost. They were almost there. He would need to meet with Augusta so he could get memories of Neville growing up. He wanted to share those with Alice once he had helped her as far as he could. She could remember marrying Frank now. It was only a matter of time before she would be remembering her pregnancy. He was still planning on shielding her from what had happened to her the night when Bellatrix and her accomplices had attacked them. He didn't think that it would help her to remember that.
From St Mungo's he headed to Diagon Alley. He was meeting with Lucius. It seemed to be a rather busy day in the cramped alley. People were bustling around in a hurried manner. Kato moved through the crowd swiftly. He checked into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see how Fred and George were doing. The twins were busy with customers so Kato simply looked around. He always felt impressed by the twins' work. They had so many ideas that were new and innovative. He was glad that the defence clothes were not going up here though. Those were products that Alica and Angelina would be selling in the pseudo-Quidditch store once they got that up and running. That reminded Harry that he still needed to get the practice orb to work without him. He should get started on that.
Maybe if he came by again after his meeting with Lucius, Fred and George would have some time over for him.
Kato entered Reve D'epice and let the host know that he was there to see Lord Malfoy. He was led to a private room that currently stood empty. Apparently, he was a little early or maybe Lucius was running late. It wouldn't surprise him. He walked up to a strange painting and tried to figure out what it depicted.
"I apologize for my tardiness," Lucius said as he arrived. "The Minister held me up."
"No problem Lucius," Kato said. "I haven't been here long."
They sat down by the table and looked through the menu. It looked somewhat strange like Brits trying to do French cuisine.
"May I make a suggestion?" Lucius asked.
"Certainly," Kato said.
"Simply ask for the chef's special. She is an amazing chef but the owner has some strange ideas and it limits her," Lucius said. "The staff, however, understand and everyone is happy when she gets to prepare something she wants to cook."
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Kato said.
A waiter walked in and they placed their orders. As they waited for the food they drank wine that Lucius had ordered for them. He knew far more about wine than Kato had ever wanted to know, but it tasted alright so he didn't mind listening.
The food was delicious and Kato would have to remember to return. Maybe he would bring Fleur when she came by. He would have to look into how to get reservations.
"We have met a few times now," Lucius said. "I'm familiar with some of your work and amazed at some of the things you have managed to accomplish since returning to Britain. Are you familiar with the Dark Lord that once plagued Britain?"
"I am familiar with him, yes," Kato said. "I don't particularly agree with his methods nor do I agree that non-magical people are beneath us. They are different from us and our cultures are better off apart, but they are people and they are evolving quickly. Their technology is rather terrifying as a matter of fact. Did you know they have weapons that could blow up our planet?"
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Truly?" he said. He had heard this before but he had never been inclined to believe the people that had said it.
"They developed them around the Second World War or the War of Grindelwald," Kato said. "The USA blew up two whole cities in Japan back then. You should have a talk with some Nihon magicals. They'll tell you how real it was."
Lucius nodded slowly. He would have to look into that. If muggels had such power maybe attacking them wasn't the best idea. He also wanted to learn if they could protect themselves against such power. Getting a hold of some experts might be a good idea. "Either way," Lucius said. "I have reason to believe that He may be returning. I have no wish to live under his reign once more and I'm wondering if you would be willing to aid me in taking him down should he return?"
Kato knew it was painful for Lucius to ask this. He also knew that if he was to say no that would just end badly. In the end, he would have to deal with Voldemort no matter what. He might as well have an inside source. Lucius certainly could help him. "What proof do you have that the Dark Lord is returning?" he asked.
"For now only a hunch," Lucius said. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before unbuttoning the sleeve on his left arm. He rolled his shirt up and held his arm out to Kato. On Lucius' arm was a rather ugly tattoo of a skull and snake.
Kato reached out and received just the barest of nods from Lucius before touching his arm. His senses were on high alert as he examined the mark.
"It has darkened slowly for the last couple of years," Lucius said. "Ever since the summer of '94 as a matter of fact, but recently it has started burning at irregular intervals. I believe it means that he is close to his goal and will be back soon."
Kato nodded slowly. "That is certainly possible. According to cousin Harry, he is still around though not quite alive. A wraith if I was to guess," he said.
"Albus has been insinuating as much for quite a while," Lucius said.
Kato nodded. "Say what you will about the man, but he is at least cautious," he said.
"You look concerned," Lucius stated as Kato let go of his arm.
"Would you like my honest opinion?" Kato said. "As both a Healer and a Curse Breaker."
Lucius looked alarmed for a split second before his usually indifferent mask was back in place. "I would prefer that, yes," he said.
"That mark will be the death of you or at least it will cost you your magic," Kato said. "There is a rune array bound to it that can siphon your magic. I would say that the only reason you're still alive now is because the Dark Lord did not expect to die once he had dealt with Mr and Mrs Potter that night."
"He could drain my magic?" Lucius asked. Had he known that he would never have accepted the mark.
"And possibly your life force," Kato said. "I would say we should try to figure out a way so that cannot happen to you. It would be a shame if we go through all of the trouble of getting rid of him only for you to die either way. Though, you will have to consider the possibility of us not being able to do anything about it."
Lucius nodded slowly. "You have given me much to think about," he said. "I need time to consider the implications."
"Then I hope we can meet again soon. I will be busy over the Holidays so I cannot see you then," Kato said as he rose from his seat. "Thank you for the excellent meal," he said. "I believe the next one should be on me."
Lucius nodded slowly. He barely noticed Kato leaving. His mind was racing with all the new information he had been given. The Dark Lord could possibly kill him through the mark on his arm. He needed to speak to Narcissa. This changed things. He was glad that he had gotten to know Kato. Not for a second did he think that Kato was lying to him. Kato had given his professional opinion meaning that lying would cost him at least his license. Words had a lot more meaning than just spoken syllables. He drank the rest of his wine and got up. He needed to head home. Narcissa was not going to like what he had to tell her, but he didn't keep secrets from his wife.
22nd of November, 1996.
Harry stood outside of the Room of Requirements. He had given Tanya Fridays off from training so he didn't need to be there. This room fascinated him though. He did wonder what he would get if he just wanted a room. He walked back and forth a few times until the door appeared. The door clicked open and he pushed it inwards. The room was filled with things. There was heaps and heaps of stuff. "Dobby!" Harry called.
"What can Dobby do for the great Harry Potter?" Dobby asked as he appeared. Then he looked around. "What is this place?" he asked. There was so much work.
"It is the Come and Go Room," Harry said. "I think this might be the room of lost things. Do you think that you and the other elves would like to clean this room and sort things out?"
"The elves would love more work," Dobby said. "Especially for the Holidays and the Summer. We be bored then when there is less to do."
"Then I think you should bring the Head Elf here and let's figure out how to do this," Harry said.
…
Hermione raised an eyebrow as Harry sat down by the breakfast table. They only had fifteen minutes before they had to leave. He was never this late. She didn't have time to ask him about it before Runes though. It wasn't until lunch that Hermione could sate her curiosity. "So what were you up to this morning?" she asked.
"Can I show you after classes?" Harry asked.
"Don't you have practice?" Hermione asked.
"Not today," Harry said. "We have a full day tomorrow though so we should get those essays out of the way tonight if we can."
Hermione nodded. That wasn't the answer she had hoped for but at least he would show her after classes. Now all they had to do was get through those classes. Friday was one of their worst days. Even Hermione felt exhausted once dinner rolled around. At least today she and Harry headed up to the seventh floor after dinner.
The elves had been busy. There was a small pile of items near the door that almost radiated magic.
"Hello, great Harry Potter. Careful by the door those be bad things," Dobby said.
"How about we get a Curse Breaker here to deal with those," Harry said.
"That would be great," Dobby said.
Hermione looked at all their junk in awe. "It is so much," she said. "Have you told any professors yet?"
"No but I was thinking of telling Professor Flitwick," Harry said.
"You should," Hermione said. She watched all the hard-working elves. They looked so happy. Slavery was wrong and House-elves were slaves, but she shouldn't be making their lives miserable as she fixed things. She was starting to feel that maybe Harry was right. If Winky's children grew up expecting more, then they could be free or maybe their children, but these elves would be hard to free even if Dobby was happy.
At least the Hogwarts elves were not mistreated.
25th of November, 1996.
Harry hung back after Charms the next Monday so he could speak to Professor Flitwick. The reason he had chosen to speak to Flitwick rather than any other teacher was because they were both members of Clan Alfknif. He knew that if he brought his concerns to Fillius the half-goblin would take him seriously and bring in the professionals that he needed to deal with the dark items the elves had found.
The only crux was that he would have to reveal to Professor Flitwick that he was Kato to do so. Since Fillius was a Member of Clan Alfknif he would keep Harry's secrets as a brother of the clan, but Harry was uncertain how his Professor would feel about the whole thing so he was just a tad nervous. Could he do this without revealing things…? Probably, but he felt more comfortable telling the truth than coming up with some kind of flimsy half-truth. He certainly didn't want to lie outright to Fillius; this was a member of his Clan after all.
…
Hermione smiled at Harry when he joined her for lunch. "How did it go?" she asked.
"Better than expected," Harry said. "He will call a team here and explain things to Dumbledore without involving me thankfully."
"I told you it would be fine," Hermione said. "Professor Flitwick is a very reasonable man."
Harry smiled. "I know Hermione. I can still be a little nervous at times can't I?" he said.
"I think it is good that you are nervous. Proves to the rest of us poor mortals that you are human too," Neville said jokingly.
Harry and Hermione laughed as Harry tried to play-punch Neville but missed.
1st of December, 1996.
Harry got up early that morning. He was training with Tanya and then it was time for another session of arts and crafts. He had started helping participants as they finished their work. The orbs and ideas that people had were truly awe-inspiring. Harry loved seeing what they had come up with.
He only had to wait for a few minutes in the common room before Tanya joined him. They were working on magic that day. Harry had first only trained her in Destruction magic and that was where she seemed to excel, but he had figured that he might as well teach her the rest too. She was going to introduce her to Alteration today. A lot of shielding spells were Alteration magic and he wasn't going to train her for battle without shields.
Tanya watched as Harry conjured light in his hand. "Really that is how you do it?" she asked. "You know that people think it is some kind of really complicated rune array or something that lets you place the lights."
"It is," Harry said. "I can conjure the light itself, but to get it to stay and continue to glow there is a rather intricate rune array involved." He threw the light into the air and it stuck to the ceiling. "This is a very simple spell but I am connected to it and keep channelling into it to keep it there. You can cast it away from yourself as well, but then it only lasts for a limited time," he explained.
Tanya nodded. "Okay at least it is better than lumos," she said. You don't have to hold it right?" She studied the light and tried to understand how it worked.
"No, you don't have to hold it. The original spell will place it floating over the shoulder of the hand you cast the spell with. I think the steps before that are easier to learn for beginners so we will start there. It shouldn't take you that long considering that you already have a decent understanding of magicka."
Tanya listened and watched intently as Harry explained and showed her how to cast the spell. She wanted to do well with this since Harry believed in her. Once it was her turn to try she realised how similar yet different this was from destruction magicka. With Destruction magicka she could channel her emotions to cast the elemental attacks. With alteration, her emotions got in the way. Every time she got irritated any light she had managed to produce would just fizzle out and die.
By the time they ended for the day, Tanya was actually kind of irritated. Harry promised her she was doing progress, but she felt like it hadn't been good enough. The only good thing was that this spell she could practice on her own. Unlike destruction magicka which was far too dangerous for her to just throw around in her dorm, she could actually practice Alteration magicka before going to bed. She was going to get the hang of that spell before their next magic session.
They cleaned up and joined their friends on the way down to breakfast. They were sitting in the Great Hall eating when Ron and Seamus walked in. They sat down near Dean.
"So why is your brother here?" Seamus asked.
"I don't know?" Ron said. "But I think that was a full team from Gringotts so it must be something pretty dangerous."
Hermione looked over at Harry. She had thought that Kato would be part of any team they sent since he seemed worried about the things that the house-elves had found. She was surprised he was sitting this one out. She wished she could get him alone before crafts, but she doubted it would happen.
"Hey cousin Kato," Harry said suddenly and Hermione could feel her insides freeze. He was in two places at once. Hermione's mind reeled with the implications of such a thing. If he was using a time-turner that could be disastrous, and he certainly shouldn't be speaking to himself.
"Harry, how are classes going?" Kato asked.
"Well, enough. Homework is rough, but we have a plan," Harry said.
Hermione buried her face in her hands.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked. He elbowed Neville so he closed his mouth. If his friends didn't stop acting like what he was doing wasn't supposed to happen someone was going to notice that something was going on. Thankfully, the most observant people at the Head table already knew. Albus wasn't present today. Why Harry didn't know, but it worked in his favour.
"Bill asked for my help. He has been sent in to deal with some old dark objects that were found in a strange room in the school," Kato said. He offered Neville a nod. "Your mother is asking for you, Mr Longbottom. We'll have to plan a visit soon. Her memories are completely restored. After the Holidays your father should be stable enough that we can start with him."
Neville's eyes teared. "Thank you for telling me Healer Peverell," he said. Now he understood why Harry hadn't told him anything after his latest visit to St Mungo's. He had wanted a genuine reaction. He felt how Harry wrapped an arm around his shoulders for support.
"Why would they want a healer with them if they are here to deal with Dark items?" Romilda asked.
Kato looked at her. "And pray tell who will take care of them if they get hurt, Miss," he said. "Besides I'm a warder as well and that is my main reason for being a part of this team today." He smiled at her and Romilda giggled in a way that made Harry's stomach turn.
"I might drop in and speak with you later, Harry," Kato said. "It depends on how things turn out."
"Alright," Harry said. "See you later Kato."
Kato walked up to the Head table and greeted Fillius as a brother of his clan before the two of them left so the curse breakers could get started.
Hermione glared daggers at Harry. He knew how dangerous what he had just done was. She was certainly going to give him a piece of her mind later when they could be alone. This was insane. He was planning on running around Hogwarts as two separate entities all day? That was simply insane.
Kato walked with the rest of the curse breaker team up to floor seven and they entered the room of hidden items. The dangerous plie had grown considerably since he had seen it last, but it looked like the elves had sorted through everything by now so hopefully, there wasn't anything else as dangerous as these items.
"Some of these were clearly brought to Hogwarts by students and then hidden away when they realised they might end up in trouble for using them," Bill said.
"We need to separate everything," Mykel said. "We can't work with it like this."
"Let's see if I can do that," Kato said. He held his hands out and carefully lifted items out of the pile. He placed them out rather far apart so they would have some space to work with and then he erected several wards. Each curse breaker could work on an item. He had full confidence that they could handle these items without help from each other. Some of the other items they might want to work together on though.
Kato fished out a beautiful diadem from the pile of cursed items. Something about it felt familiar to him. He knew this magic better than he wanted to. He had touched it recently when studying Lucius' dark mark. This was an item cursed by the Dark Lord himself. A distant conversation pulled at his conscious. When the healers of the Collage had healed his scar they had found a piece of someone's soul attached to his own like a parasite. Could this item be similar? Slowly he weaved a detection spell over the diadem.
"That looks nasty," Bill said.
"It is nasty," Kato said. "It is a soul anchor. This object is keeping someone alive… but it is a cursed life, a half existence."
"I don't think I have ever seen anything like it before," Bill said.
"I have," Mykel said. "Kato is right it is a form of soul anchor. You make them with several nasty rituals and you have to murder someone in cold blood. Preferably a ritual virgin. We found something similar in a tomb I worked in once. The man who created it had turned into a lich. It took a lot of good people's lives to take him down."
"Do you know how to destroy it?" Bill asked.
Mykel closed his eyes and tried his best to remember. He hadn't been part of the team that finally did manage to destroy the cursed anchor they had found. He had been hurt and someone had managed to get him out. He never found out who that had been so he figured they hadn't made it themselves. "I don't know," he said.
"But I do," Kato said. He walked away from the rest of them and raised wards around himself and the diadem. It was a beautiful piece of jewellery and he was sad to see it destroyed, but he had little choice. He could not allow Voldemort to keep existing, not if he could do something about it. "Kruziik Koga Yol se Shul," he spoke the words slowly as he gathered his magic. The flames that left him and licked the wards around him were so hot that the curse breakers outside the wards could feel it through the wards. A horrid shriek sounded from within the cloud of fire for a moment before dying out. The wards cracked and fell as the flames died down. Kato stumbled back. Maybe he had overdone it but he didn't want there to be any chance that the soul could remain in some part of the diadem. Left of the piece of jewellery was only a shimmering smudge on the ground.
Kato steadied himself and looked over at Bill.
"You couldn't have taken the rest of this mess with that?" Jena said. "That spell, whatever it was, could probably have cleared the room."
Kato offered her a tired smile. "I didn't want to take any chances," he said.
"I certainly approve," Mykel said.
Kato nodded. "I fear that was not the only anchor that this person made," he said. He looked at Bill. "It is, however, the second to find its way into Hogwarts. The first one possessed a student."
Bill's eyes widened slightly. So it had been one of Voldemort's soul anchors that had possessed Ginny? That just made him even gladder that Harry had saved her.
"Was that one destroyed?" Mykel asked.
"Pierced by a Basilisk fang," Kato said.
Mykel nodded. "I guess that might do it," he said. Then he gave Kato a strange look. "Where did they find a Basilisk?" he asked.
"Under the school," Kato said. "I could take you there. I know how to."
"Maybe once we are done with the job we were brought in to do, right guys," Jena said. "Now that Kato is done doing insanely powerful displays of magic we might want to finish with the rest of this."
Kato chuckled and raised his wards again so they could continue. Thankfully, most of the other items were fairly benign. By midday, they were done and heading down for lunch. "How is your year coming along?" Kato asked as he sat down next to Hermione with Bill. Jena had taken Mykel and joined the Ravenclaw table since that was where she had been sorted when she attended, but Kato had gone with Bill. "Alex wrote to me the other day. Apparently, Viktor is driving his friends up the wall," he said.
Hermione closed her eyes. She knew that she would have to act like Harry and Kato were separate right now, but it was insane how many risks he was taking. "I think Viktor just wants to know who is taking over as Keeper for next season," she said. "One of the hopefuls is a good friend of his as I understand it."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Ron asked.
"Kato was kind enough to escort me to Bulgaria during the summer so I could see Viktor," Hermione said.
"You are still talking to him?" Ron asked, surprised.
"I am, yes," Hermione said.
"Why?" Ron asked without realising that he was just digging himself deeper down a hole.
Bill gave Kato a pained look
"I talk to Viktor because I enjoy his correspondence, Ron. Viktor is much more than just a skilled quidditch player. He is a spell crafter too, and he has some simply wonderful ideas," Hermione said.
"Oh, I just thought that you know… you and Harry are close and all," Ron said.
Harry started laughing so hard that he had to brace himself against the table. He chipped for air and wheezed.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked, feeling confused and embarrassed.
"Harry asked Hermione to become his sister. He adopted her into the Potter family," Kato said. "That is one of the reasons I agreed to escort her. As Harry's sister, she is practically my cousin just as he is. I look after my family."
Ron quickly turned red. He didn't know that Hermione and Harry were siblings now. It wasn't like Hermione had changed her name or anything so how was he supposed to know? He shoved a fork full of food into his mouth and lowered his gaze. His ears burned and he was glad that Fred and George weren't at Hogwarts anymore or he would never have lived this down.
After lunch, Kato took his gang and headed up to the second-floor girl's bathroom. He walked straight in and opened the passage down to the Basilisk. He conjured a platform for them to stand on and floated them down rather than sliding down the tube. It was a little tricky, but thankfully the pipes were large enough to manage as long as they crouched a few times.
Kato waved his wand around and cleared the rubble that Lockhart's misfired spell had caused years prior.
"Is that a skin?" Jena asked.
"Yes, it is," Kato said.
"Have you been down here before?" Mykel said.
"No, cousin Harry was the one who fought this particular beast. He told me about it," Kato said.
Bill just shook his head. He wasn't quite as worried as Hermione was as far as Kato and Harry were concerned, but he hadn't approved of the method by which Kato was now in two places at once either. It had to be a mess to keep track of what Harry knew and what Kato was allowed to know and vice versa. Bill certainly did not envy Kato at all.
"So, you are saying that a kid killed a basilisk that could shed that," Jena said. "That's insane."
"It was the only way to save a young student from being consumed by the soul anchor," Kato said. "Not that Harry knew those things at the time. He just knew that a student was in danger."
"Your cousin needs to get his priorities together," Mykel said. "He should have told an adult."
"He did. They brought the current Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor with them. Problem was that the man was a fraud so he wasn't of much help," Kato said. He opened the door to the chamber and led the curse breakers inside. The corpse of the basilisk didn't look great. It didn't smell all that pleasant either so before continuing they all donned air-clearing spells so they wouldn't have to breathe in whatever particles were flying around in there.
"That's one big snake," Jena said. "Glad it isn't alive." She walked around the corpse. "It is probably worth a great deal though even if it is just the bones."
"Could be true," Kato said. "Maybe I should help Harry claim it rather than just leave it down here."
"Right of conquest," Mykel said. "You should consider giving some to Hogwarts I guess."
"And some to the victims," Kato said. "I'll figure it out."
"Just make sure you get a letter of approval from your cousin or there might be problems," Jena said. "A cousin of mine tried to help his brother with a manticore kill and it all went downhill because he didn't have that. I think they lost more money than they gained in the end." She gave the corpse a disgusted look. "Well, at least now I can say that I have been in the Chamber of Secrets I guess. I'd say we head out of here. This thing is kind of disgusting."
7th of December, 1996.
Lucius sat down heavily in his ornate office chair. He was hurting all over. Quickly, he penned out a note and called for one of his house-elves. He could only hope that the man he wished to speak to was available this late at night.
Thankfully for Lucius, he didn't have to wait for long. He felt through his wards as Kato approached. He sat up straighter. As much as he was willing to trust Kato he still had no wish to show weakness in front of him. He gave several orders to a house-elf in regards to refreshments and sent a message to his wife that he was back but would be busy for a little while longer.
"Don't you look like death warmed over," Kato said as he entered the office. "Do you have a private healer or would you like to be added to the list?" It was meant as a joke, but Lucius really looked like he could use a healer about now.
"Please take a seat," Lucius said. He poured himself a cup of tea and leaned back in his chair. "As you might have guessed I have attended a most unpleasant meeting today," he said. "It would seem as if the Dark Lord has now returned to us."
Kato sat up straighter. "That is most grievous news," he said. "It means we now need to act with a certain haste in mind. Unfortunately, I have discovered why he did not die and it does not look good for us."
Lucius looked concerned at the news. He had hoped that the Dark Lord could be dealt with rather quickly, but it would seem that was not the case. "Can you elaborate?" he asked.
Kato nodded slowly. "I was called to Hogwarts with a team of curse breakers last week. We found an item, a soul anchor. The magic in it reminded me of your mark. One of my colleagues also identified the object. However, that reminded me of a story that my cousin Harry told me about a diary that possessed a girl. A diary that he destroyed. I fear there are more of these items. As long as we do not know what or where they are, we are at a disadvantage. For now, I do not even with any certainty know how many of these objects might exist," he said.
Lucius rubbed his eyes tiredly. "These are grave news indeed," he said. He rose from his chair and headed over to a window to look out at his wife's beautiful flower garden. "Can you find them?" he asked after a while.
"If given enough time," Kato said. "I have a few ideas of places to look. I can check those out."
Lucius nodded slowly. "On a just as dour note," he said. "I believe that it is worth sacrificing my magic if we do not find a way to seal it from the Dark Lord. As long as I can keep my son safe from this life I'll do anything."
"Then I'll do my best to aid you," Kato said. He had stood up as well and now he walked up to Lucius and placed a hand on the proud man's shoulder. His hand glowed with a faint golden light as he healed Lucius' aches as best as he could without a full examination.
"Does the offer stand?" Lucius asked.
"Which one?" Kato asked.
"Would you take me on as one of your patients?" Lucius asked. "I have a feeling I'll be needing it."
Kato nodded slowly. "Certainly," he said. "I'll send you the papers. I don't have them with me right now."
"What can I tell the Dark Lord?" Lucius asked.
"About me?" Kato asked. "Anything that is public knowledge, but you might want to add more detail than most would know. It would be wise to present me as not necessarily against him, but not likely to join as it currently is either."
"I can convince him I'm trying to bring you over," Lucius said. "I will tell him that I do not know how powerful you are."
"There are other things you could say, but we might want to save those for if they are necessary," Kato said. "Or at least wait until that information is relevant."
Lucius nodded. It didn't hurt that he didn't know what Kato was capable of even if it did make his fingers twitch.
"Well," Kato said. "There isn't much more we can do about this right now. I guess I will see you again soon, Lord Malfoy."
Lucius nodded slowly. He was still looking out the window at the garden.
They said their goodbyes and Kato left Lucius to his thoughts. Finding the Soul Anchors had suddenly become a lot more important. Maybe he needed to figure out a way to track them. Though it was certainly possible that he could simply use clairvoyance.