Unedited...
Chapter 16: Heirs and Heirlooms
~oO The Night Before...
He sat there in the shadows, completely motionless and in a meditative state, watching the madness from a distance and amusing his senses with their idiocy.
The lemon iced-tea that he had ordered remained untouched, dripping cold water on to the table. It was bad enough that he was sitting in a Muggle setting, he didn't want to stoop lower by allowing their filthy beverage to touch his lips...
His consigliere, a young girl who had sworn her life to him, had insisted that he leave the job to her—insisted that this was no place for a wizard of his stature to pay a visit to.
What she didn't understand, however, was the importance of announcing One's own arrival—the holy gesture that had to be owned entirely by the Lord himself, lest the fear be foreshortened.
No.
The world needed to know who he was.
Wizards needed to understand that Change was coming—whether they liked it or not.
And the Muggles. Well, they needed to know their place in the world, didn't they?
No.
He had to do it himself...
Determination pulsed through his veins even as sounds of celebration reached him from afar.
"—Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday TO you..."
Pitiful, he thought to himself, watching the birthday party in play at the far end of the restaurant he was sat in. And we let them on top of the table...
His gaze hardened at the thought.
Well, not for long, he thought, a slight smile cutting his features even as dislike and hatred soared up his body like hot poison. By this time, tomorrow, I will have what I've sought for several years now… What I need to become invincible… And then, nobody can deny me… his lips curled in malice, his thoughts racing back to the little boy who was aiding him with quest all the way back in Hogwarts, even as he sat here, drinking in the scene in front of him.
The little party of the mother and ten or so children clapped and sang for the birthday boy who stood beaming in front of his massive cake and candle.
"—Happy BIRTHDAY dear, Terry...!"
Terry's mother wiped happy tears off her face, watching her five-year-old finally blow out the candle as his friends clapped and squealed loudly around him.
And at that exact moment, the large clock on the wall opposite to him chimed serenely.
7 o'clock. The time had come.
His fingers automatically wound themselves around his wand, itching with excitement at what was about to come, mere seconds from now.
"What's your name?" a tiny voice suddenly ripped through the silence, breaking him off his reverie.
Voldemort turned to his right to find a tiny little girl watching him with eyes full of curiosity.
"Why are you all alone?" she spoke again, innocently brushing a strand of hair off her face and inching closer to him, completely unperturbed. "You can sit with us over there, you know?" she said, pointing to a table several feet away where a young couple sat, chatting happily with each other. "Mummy and daddy won't mind," she said, tugging lightly at his black robes.
The stark contrast of their sizes would have driven anyone speechless. Voldemort was seated and still managed to tower above the tiny little girl, making her arch her neck all the way to her back to get a glimpse of his face.
He hadn't moved a muscle in all this time and simply watched the little girl, if not, completely overcome with wonderment.
Children really didn't fear anything, did they...
"What's your name?" he whispered.
A bright smile cut her features at once. "Catherine!" she squealed and happily jumped on the spot upon hearing her own name.
From the corner of his eye, he saw her mother's head jerk up at the sound of her daughter's name.
"Cathy!" she called out, turning around and finding her daughter chatting with a strange man in the shadows. "Cathy, that's quite enough chit-chat, get back over here!" he heard her say, but the little girl stood there, transfixed next to him.
"What does that do?" she asked, pointing a tiny, stubby finger at his long, white wand.
"Magic," he whispered back, waving it lightly in front of her face.
The girl's mother was getting a little agitated now. "I'm going to go get her," she whispered to her husband and got up from her chair. "Cathy, what have I told about talking to strangers?" he heard her say, but he never took his eyes off of the little girl.
"Say, Catherine," he hissed ominously into her face, "would you help me with a spell?" he said, smiling sinisterly, his eyes almost crying with mad joy.
"I know! I know!" she squealed happily. "Abra Cadabra!" she said, giggling innocently.
"No," he smiled back, just in time to look up at the angry face of her mother. Glaring daggers into her eyes, he casually flicked his wand and whispered, "Finestra...!"
Time stopped.
Voldemort had only enough time to see the look of innocent wonderment on the little girl's face before a whoosh of dark force slammed into her, marring her angelic face with blood...
An explosion ripped through his ears followed by a whistle of splinters as from a breaking window frame, decimating every member present in that little quaint joint in less than a second! A ripple of screams rang out all around him as the shattered glass from the glass walls of the restaurants pierced through everyone's skin like bullets, maiming and mutilating them from every direction. In an instant, the walls and the floors were splattered with blood as sounds of agony roared through the night—every man, woman and child present writhed and kicked and thrashed in pain, turning the quaint little place into an instant slaughterhouse...
Little Cathy lay beneath his feet, coughing up blood and struggling to breathe even as her mother desperately tried to reach her hand, bleeding through her mouth herself.
"Ca-Ca-Cath..." she gasped, bubbles of blood frothing out of her mouth. "M-Mum's here..." she choked, her hand still outstretched trying to get to her daughter, even as several other explosions resounded around them, drowning the helpless cries of pain ripping through the air.
In an instant, the row of shops and restaurants in that little street were imploding into themselves, drenching the streets with the blood of hundreds of innocents.
Casually twirling his wand between his long fingers, Voldemort rose from his seat, towering above a sea of gasping and twitching lot of Muggles and watched the spectacle with cold pride, and perhaps, a tiny hint of brawny swagger.
Kicking past the bodies around him, he slowly stepped out of the restaurant and on to the quiet night, the silence cut only by the distant sirens of approaching police cars.
"And. That's. How. It's. Done," he whispered to himself, watching the streetlights blow out too for as far as the eye could see. "Morsemordre!"
29th January, 1976
~oO Back in Hogwarts...
A low thunder rumbled above them in the wake of strong winds blowing in their faces.
"Izzy, we have to wake the boys up," Lily declared feverishly, as the two girls waved Hagrid off into his little cottage in the distance.
"Huh?" Isabella swivelled her head, her hand still raised and halting on the spot. "What do you mean?" she asked, watching an odd determination descend on Lily's face.
Lily grimly turned towards her. "We're going to need their help if we want to break in without anyone noticing," she stated matter-of-factly.
Isabella's mouth went completely dry as her words struck her hard in the gut.
"What are you...? Break into where?"
"Filch's office."
A stunned silence followed that.
"What in the WORLD...?"
"Izzy, it's the only way to save Regulus!" Lily yelled, not even letting her finish.
"Save Reg…? Merlin's beard! What, are you LOSING it up there?" Isabella bellowed, pointing at her own head.
"Izzy, how are you not seeing this?!" Lily stared incredulously at her. "This isn't some stupid school rule that he's broken, it's much, MUCH bigger than that! If he gets caught, it doesn't just mean expulsion from school, he could end up getting thrown into AZKABAN! Now, I might not know him very well, nor do I care for the lad as much, but what we have right now is a scared little boy who needs our help! ANY HELP! He's too young to realise he's lost his way, too young to realise he's actually gotten involved with the wrong lot, and much too young to face punishment for someone else's CRIMES! If we don't help him, I don't know who can..." she breathed, her chest heaving and falling from the effort.
Isabella blinked incredulously. "But, Lily, it's too dangerous! We could end up getting into a HEAP of trouble too...!"
"Hence, the boys!" Lily screamed back, managing to send a whole bunch of birds atop a tree flee in mortal peril.
Isabella simply gaped at her, allowing her brain to implode on itself again and again at the genius that Lily was.
"I know! I can't believe I'm saying this too..." she grudgingly added, before Isabella could even open her mouth to comment. "We're going to do the right thing the wrong way, but it's the only way," she said, speaking more to herself as if she herself needed convincing. "And without the boys, well, we'd most likely be pulling our blankets up and punching ourselves in the face!" she added bitterly, making Isabella burst out laughing.
"I must say, I'm rather proud of you, Lil!" Isabella said, wiping her laugh eyes whilst giving her a tight side squeeze.
"Oh, look! It's Dewy!" Lily said looking up at the sky and watching a beautiful brown Tawny owl soaring straight towards them, carrying a long parcel.
As soon as Dewy landed on Lily's hand, Isabella wrenched the Daily Prophet off her leg and propped open the paper while Lily scratched the back of Dewy's ears.
The two of them froze at the headline.
'LONDON ATTACKED, A NEW DARK LORD ANNOUNCES HIS ARRIVAL'
Isabella quickly scanned through the article.
'...biggest mass muggle murder in the history of Magic... unidentified wizard who calls himself Lord Voldemort terrorized a peaceful street in the West End of London around quarter to nine last night... hundreds dead... Muggle London still gripped by the green skull hanging above the location... terror descends on the Magical and Muggle communities alike as London seethes under His open warning...'
Isabella looked up from the paper, her mind fully made up now.
"You know, if we get a move on right away, we might actually be able to bag the cat in time?" she said through gritted teeth.
"And before the company even arrives!" Lily nodded nervously. "Let's go!" she grabbed hold of Isabella's hand and the two of them shot off towards the castle.
...
The school was buzzing now as early-bird students had trickled down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Isabella could not believe it was still only half past eight in the morning, because it felt like she'd been awake for almost a whole day now.
Hurtling past groggy students as if on a mission, Isabella quickly realised that the school still hadn't heard the news from last night—neither about the mass murders nor about the smuggling job—or they wouldn't all be this cheerful. And just as they were about to cross the Entrance Hall and take the stairs back up to the upper floors, Isabella saw a bunch of teachers pushing out of the Great Hall, looking grimmer than ever and speaking in quick, hushed voices.
She immediately held Lily back by her hand and pressed herself against the wall as the group of teachers frantically made their way up the stairs in the Entrance Hall.
"Most unusual..." Elfbough, their DADA teacher, muttered to Abolet.
"Oh, I agree," Abolet whispered back, seeming jittery than ever. "It's nothing like anything I have come across in all my years of experience in Divination... Are you sure, though, that Binns said they belonged to the Sacred Age?"
Isabella's ears perked up immediately at the mention of those words.
"Oh, for the love of Herpo the Foul's smelly socks, I'M POSITIVE!" Sprout whisper-growled, as if she was tired of answering this question over and over again.
"Most UNUSUAL...!" Elfbough repeated, shaking her head, as the company trudged on. "Can you believe that when I woke up today, I was among those who'd believed that the Sacred Age didn't actually exist, that it was all some demented wizard's figment of imagination!"
"You were a fool to think that!" Sprout rasped.
"Well, can you blame me? There wasn't a shred of evidence to prove that the Hadens had existed until this morning!"
Isabella looked quizzically at Lily. 'Hadens?' she mouthed, to which Lily responded with a helpless shrug.
"Well, it still numbs me cold at the thought that this boy may have, indeed, FINALLY broken the Wall in History...!" said Abolet.
"Oh, let's not get carried away now…" hissed Flitwick. "What boggles me the most, though, is how did he get his hands on these ancient pieces of Magic... And in whose possession were they before they reached him... Who ordered him to get hold of these and what they'd planned to do with them..." he visibly shivered as he spoke.
"You think it has something to do with Lord Voldemort?" Abolet whispered, seemingly terrified.
"I don't even doubt it," Flitwick faced her grimly, his voice trailing off as they turned a corner and disappeared out of sight, shrouding the girls in silence once more.
A shiver ran up Isabella's spine as the story of The Cursed Pair replayed in her mind.
If Flitwick was right, Voldemort was after something that belonged to that particular time-period, but WHY? What could possibly he want these objects for…? It was more than evident that he was using a gullible young lad to do the job in order to keep this mission as low-key as possible, making it that much more apparent that he is desperately planning something... Question was, 'what?'
"Lily..."
"I know," she merely nodded, looking equally blown away. "No time though, let's go," she said and the two of them bolted up the stairs two at a time.
Isabella didn't register anything from that second on as they raced back up to their tower, her mind frantically trying to piece all the information together. The only thing she remembered was that the two of them had somehow reached the landing of the boys' dorms that seemed, uncharacteristically, peaceful and quiet.
And even as they raced towards the fifth-year dorm, her legs automatically hit the breaks on their own as a new issue, of a whole other flavour, waited for her beyond those wooden doors—one that would have her chewing on her left cheek whilst her stomach did a little jiggle of itself.
Lily, on the other hand, was a bit more helpful, though. Without even the slightest bit of courtesy, she rapped sharply on the door once, before throwing it open only to receive several terrified yelps from the dorms' unfortunate occupants. Seemingly unperturbed, she bolted inside and started throwing out instructions at the terror-stricken lads, while Isabella stood stalk-still on the spot, not moving a muscle.
And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't deny those mesmerising grey eyes from flashing through her mind, making her stomach do multiple somersaults at the same time...
Blushing furiously, she wrapped her hands around herself while Lily did her magic.
"...and we need to work as a team! D'you hear me?" Lily was yelling to an unconcerned, almost nonexistent bunch of boys.
"Go away!" Frank seemed to be moaning from under his pillow.
"And DON'T LOOK THIS WAY! I'm not WEARING anything!" Isabella heard Sirius whimpering helplessly—and her knees nearly gave away…
"Trust me, Black, I too will regret that decision of yours for the rest of my life!" Lily nodded, looking so disgusted, it made Isabella want to burst out laughing.
Sirius snorted. "Shame... McKinnon would've paid MUCH GOLD for exactly this!" Isabella heard him call back cheekily. Funnily enough, she could literally visualise him pointing at his own body, sporting a stupid grin.
"Staub-beein-so-loud, err'wun!" groaned Peter, who was closest to the door.
"Yeah, James, control your woman!" Sirius called to an unusually quiet James.
"Shut up, Black! And no time for all that, Pete!" she squawked and tore the curtains open, throwing the boys at the mercy of the blinding white morning light.
"Bloody hell, Evans. What's this about?" Sirius slurred from inside and suddenly, everything went quiet. Tapping her feet impatiently, Isabella leaned in a bit to see what was going on inside.
For just a split second, she saw Lily go all blank in the face, before determination replaced it once again. "It's about your brother. He's in trouble. BIG trouble... And we need to save him before it's too late…!" she replied stiffly while the boys gaped at her, alarmed at the very least. "But, no time to explain everything! We need to get a move on NOW!" she clapped her hands, managing to jolt everyone awake. "I'll tell you the rest as we go!"
They didn't need any more goading.
Everyone was up in a flash, shrugging on whatever they could lay their hands on and wasting no time.
Everyone, except Sirius.
Before Isabella could even PREPARE herself for what was coming, Sirius had walked out wearing nothing but his white sheets wrapped around his waist! Going by the heat that was emanating from her face, she knew she was going magenta-red from the neck up as her eyes (working on its own accord for the most part) scanned his slim build and his hypnotizingly toned abs. And before she knew it she was coughing and choking to death!
In contrast, however, Sirius seemed completely unperturbed upon seeing her.
"Oh, hey..." he muttered, hardly breathing but staring achingly at her at the same time. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, relax there!" he laughed and held up his hands in defense, watching the tears streaming down her petrified face. When she finally caught her breath, his laugh turned into a fond grin. "Didn't know you were here too..." he whispered awkwardly, towering above her and still being glaringly naked.
Still coughing and still VERY red in the face, she finally managed to sputter out a, "Black! Put on something, for Merlin's sake! ANYTHING!" she gasped, making him chuckle even more.
"Aw, don't worry, sugar quill, I won't bite!" he laughed cheekily and inched dangerously close to her.
"Go away!" she said, nudging him backwards.
The butterflies weren't just in her stomach now—they were everywhere!
"Oi. Wus' the matter? You okay?" he grinned, running a finger along the side of her face, and momentarily getting lost in her large, hazel orbs.
"Sirius! Quit playing, time's running out!" she croaked, amazed that she'd indeed managed to get words out of her mouth.
"OI!" Lily's voice suddenly rang out through the door. "Get dressed. NOW!" she said, dragging him back into the room by his hand, and in he went, still laughing.
…
This was high-profile and the situation was getting out of hand sooner than one could spell trouble. Important-looking Ministry officials were already flooding into the castle, followed by a bunch of Daily Prophet journalists, Magical Historians, members from the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, Portkey Officers, International Magical Law Officers, Aurors, goblins, members of the Wizengamot and the Minister herself, greeted courteously by the school's staff at the Entrance Hall—all for a little sloppily executed rule-breaking event!
It gets worse.
By the time the boys had thrown something on and got out of their tower, an announcement had been made asking all students to remain INSIDE their Houses, that their Hogsmeade trip for the day had been cancelled and that, until further notice, the Great Hall was OFF LIMITS to all students, no exceptions.
A flurry of chaos had broken out immediately after as everyone started to wonder what had happened all of a sudden. The teachers had made sure word about the smuggled goods and the Vanishing Cabinet were kept tightly under the wraps, so Isabella could imagine everyone's surprise when their first burst into freedom after weeks of torture had been scrapped without any explanation.
"Blimey..." said James as they watched scores and scores of people thronging the Great Hall, an air of agitation and subdued excitement hanging about them all. "What did Regulus do?" he turned towards Isabella, who was crouched next to him under the Invisibility Cloak along with Sirius and Lily (Frank and Claiborne decided to stay back and watch over a recovering Remus and Peter was sent to do 'other' things while the rest went and did some snooping of their own).
"We'll find out soon…" she nodded in Dumbledore's direction who was seen descending the stairs and greeting the band of guests, albeit looking less than pleased to see them all.
"Where is Regulus?" Sirius growled in Isabella's ears.
"Dunno, Slughorn's office?" she offered with a shrug.
"Welcome, welcome, members of the Ministry and the Magical Community," Dumbledore's voice rang out making them turn towards him.
A murmur of greeting resounded from the large group of people stationed and waiting at the foot of the stairs in the Entrance Hall as they watched the rest of the school's teachers join their Headmaster behind him. The mood in the room seemed to have changed immediately, going from frantic craze to being glassy calm.
"A series of unfortunate events, no matter the weight of the misdeed, have brought us all together today and, in a very short while, the question that is in everyone's mind will be answered."
A group of journalists was frantically taking down notes in one corner, and for some reason, Hagrid seemed a bit stressed and uncomfortable in their presence. It was strange to see how such a big person could have such a small persona about them.
"And, by the end of this day, we will all know if we've finally been able to break the Wall in History after all," said Bagnold, seemingly a lot more curt than the last time Isabella had seen them together. "Also, I hope, as discussed, the details of this morning and the nature of the objects smuggled in have been kept strictly confidential?" she asked coldly.
"O' course!" Hagrid boomed immediately from the foot of the stairs. "Us Hogwarts staff take these, er, 'things'… very seriously!" he added, with a slight wave of his fist. "Made sure no un'—not one student—heard abou' it, yer can be sure o' that!"
Lily shot Isabella a guilty look while McGonagall was glaring daggers in Hagrid's direction, her lips thin as ever.
"Why, thank you, Hagrid," Dumbledore smiled, staring curiously at him, before quickly scanning the tightly packed room, his eyes falling in their direction once or twice. "As for the rest of you," he continued, "if you will all follow me in here, we shall start the conference right away," he smiled and led the party into the Great Hall, that had been transformed into a large conference room with a wide, circular table sitting in the centre lined by thirty or more chairs along its circumference.
"Barmy morning, eh?" Alatar Cobblepot, a wizened-looking old wizard, casually chuckled to Dumbledore as they trudged in. And by his demeanour, it was clear that he and Dumbledore were great friends. "What d'you reckon, Albus? Truth or farce?" he asked, smiling good-naturedly.
"Too early to comment, I must say, Alatar," came Dumbledore's kind response as they passed the four fifth-years huddled under the Invisibility Cloak next to the Great Hall's entrance.
The four of them tip-toed and followed right after him.
"And between you and me, at the moment at least, I am more concerned about the well-being of the boy than about the possibility of 'breaking the Wall'," Dumbledore admitted in a low voice.
"Oh, fear not, my friend!" Cobblepot chuckled comfortingly. "I'm pretty sure the poor boy was simply looking for playthings that eerily resemble the ancient antiquities, that's brought about all this hubbub. I, for one, don't personally believe any of those is a Portkey that would transport one to the hidden kingdoms of the Sacred Age, it's preposterous!" he chuckled silently, as the rest of the party took their seats around the table. "Also, as a high member of the Wizard's Council, I will personally ensure that the boy does not get reprimanded if his misdeed was, indeed, a mere travesty!"
The four children exchanged glances, while Dumbledore smiled, his twinkling all of a sudden, as if he'd suddenly been struck by an idea.
"And if it were up to me," he said with a slight smile, and Isabella's skin prickled with goosebumps when he leaned away from Cobblepot and closer to exactly where they stood, "I'd make sure they really were playthings and not Dark Objects," he paused and looked straight at them—and the four of them nearly collapsed in panic.
James coiled his hand around Isabella's for support, while Sirius and Lily simply froze in place as the Headmaster continued to hold their gaze. And the longer he looked directly at them, the tighter their circle got, as they cowered and held on to each other even more.
Dumbledore's eyes glinted delightfully in the morning light. "If only the walls had ears…" he added.
It was more than clear by now that he was not speaking to Cobblepot anymore.
"Right, then!" Bagnold clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention, "if everyone's settled in, we shall get this conference started off right away," she said crisply ("Are you sure this place to safe to discuss such matters?" asked a grumpy-looking old witch to a tiny goblin next to her. "This is Hogwarts," he responded gruffly. "Someone's always listening to you," he whispered, looking around warily at the still Great Hall while Lily slapped a hand to her mouth to keep herself from whimpering in panic). "Albus, might you address your guests?"
Isabella narrowed her eyes while Sirius and James gaped at her at the fact that the Minister was giving Dumbledore permission to speak. In. His. Own. School…
Nevertheless, Dumbledore seemed as unperturbed by it as ever and graciously nodded in her direction.
"Thank you, Millicent," he stood up and straightened up to his full height till he towered above her and everyone else seated around him—and whether intentionally or not, it did a LOT to put her back in her place.
"Welcome again, everyone, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he smiled, the sunlight shimmering on his beard. "It is with a heavy heart that I contacted the Board members early this morning with the report on the smuggled-in objects by an underage student, following the advise of my colleagues," he nodded in McGonagall and Sprout's direction, who looked proud and guilty at the same time. "As they very rightly pointed out, it is not in the best interest of students if, as Headmaster, I failed to follow protocol and intimate the Board on the Dark nature of the obj—"
"—it is not in the best interest of ALL Wizard-kind too, withholding said information!" Bagnold slammed her hand on the table and glared daggers in Dumbledore's direction. "It's not a 'Hogwarts' matter, it's a 'Magical' matter of very high importance!"
"—absolutely!"
"—we have a right to know!"
"—this is about OUR past!"
A ruckus broke out immediately, as the members of the Council either slammed or supported Dumbledore's initial decision to keep this matter 'in-house'.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" yelled McGonagall, getting up to her feet herself and sending a sudden hush around all of them. "What's happened here is unfortunate, but we believe this may have something to do with a new Dark Lord on the rise and his obsession with the Sacred Age, which was the only reason why we thought it imperative to involve the Ministry!" she said, her voice resounding across the hall.
"Okay, this looks like it's going to take a while," James impatiently whispered to Isabella under the cloak.
"But we still don't know what we need to do," Sirius whispered from her other side.
"Minerva is right," said Dumbledore, still completely unfazed by the outburst. "I believe the Dark Lord ordered Regulus Black from House Slytherin to retrieve a set of objects that may or not belong to the Sacred Age, that may or may not, indeed, be Portkeys that transports one to the Four Hidden Kingdoms so that he may find and possess the last of the Founders' heirlooms…"
An ominous, almost terrified silence followed that.
"Now, we may not know exactly what he intends to do with the heirlooms, nor if the objects really are Portkeys, but his intentions are well pronounced."
"If I may, Headmaster," Flitwick interjected and everyone turned around in his direction. "Where did Mr. Black find these artifacts?" he squeaked.
Dumbledore stared grimly through his half-moon glasses. "Last I checked, it was safe and in the possession of the fabled One-Eyed Witch… And in my personal opinion," he said, turning slightly to his right and in their direction, "one needs to get going now if one were to succeed at all..."
James's face broke into a smile immediately as he nodded at Dumbledore, even though he knew they were completely invisible.
The hall erupted once more with questions and slammings while the four of them quietly slithered out.