Black Estate
Training Room in the Basement
Westley, Amanda and Arcturus stood in the middle of the room. There were small tables in each corner of the room, each with one crystal box placed on top. Westley ran a hand through his hair, "I just don't know if they will interact if they are too close to each other."
Arcturus, "Wisdom when dealing with the unknown will help us all complete this. This is the best way to deal with these items at this time."
"Did this Riddle make more of those abominations than you knew?" asked Amanda who was feeling upset.
"I doubt it," said Westley. "That would have meant he split his soul several more times than his goal of seven. Seven is a powerful number, a very powerful one at that. It is also the number that he obtained from someone who tried to cover up their contribution to the abomination that was Riddle. But that's not the issue now, no, not at all. The problem is we have no idea who else made such abominations."
Arcturus rubbed his chin for a moment before he spoke. "There is an old Black family spell that may be useful. It was created a long time ago to identify someone who was approaching, so that way one could know if they were a friend or foe. It may reveal the identities of the soul anchor abominations which you have obtained."
"That sounds safer than trying legilimens on the objects," stated Amanda.
Arcturus nodded, "I can try it on the symbol first."
Arcturus had Westley levitate the symbol out of the crystal container. Once it was levitated over the box, Arcturus then held out his wand and pointed it at the object as he stated "Cogno nomen" while he made the slight motion of jabbing his wand towards the object.
There was a loud hiss and a flash followed by a eerie voice calling out "Cantankerus Nott."
After the flash Westley let go of his spell and the metal symbol clanked as it landed back into the crystal box.
Arcturus shook his head and growled. "I always knew he was a dark bastard who would go to great lengths, but this? I would not have suspected even that man of doing such a thing."
Arcturus then felt his legs wobble and he collapsed backwards. As he started to fall, Amanda conjured a chair for him to land on.
"I don't know why," stated Arcturus, "but casting that spell and getting the answer took more out of me than I had expected."
Westley called for Kreacher to being a pepper up potion for Lord Black. A moment later the house elf arrived with the requested potion. Arcturus drank it slowly and then handed the empty vial back to Kreacher. Westley thanked the house elf for being so quick and helpful.
Westley ran a hand through his hair and then slowly walked over towards the crystal box holding the yellow jar. "We already know that the Ravenclaw Diadem is one of Riddle's soul anchors. But this jar, it looks like an old fashioned candy jar."
He turned around and looked at Arcturus who was getting back to his feet.
"I don't think you should try that again," said Westley.
Before Arcturus could respond Westley turned back to the box with the yellow jar, and then he called out, "Legilimens!"
MiB
Westley felt as if he was being drawn into the crystal box and into the jar.
He became aware of an argument going on between several wizards. He looked around and saw a witch leaning against a rock, holding her face in her hands and crying. The voices that were arguing, two were familiar.
"You leave her alone, both of you!" called out one of the wizards. Westley thought it looked and sounded like a young Aberforth Dumbledore.
Another wizard called out while pointing his wand at Aberforth, "You stay out of this youngling, you have no idea what is going on here."
The third wizard spoke harshly, "This isn't how we agreed to go about this, Gellert."
The voice was that of a young and dark haired Albus Dumbledore.
"We need to do this. With the power we could get from her, we could have what we need, to complete our goals. For the greater good!"
"No!" yelled out Aberforth as he cast a spell towards Grindelwald.
Grindelwald was quick and had a shield spell up immediately. He quickly responded with a silent spell which shot out red light towards the younger Dumbledore.
Albus quickly sent a spell that conjured some object that blocked Grindelwald's spell. A moment later there were spells shooting around the open yard between all three of the men. As the spells continued the woman cried out and ran across the yard, leaning froward as she caught herself on a table on one side of the yard.
Two spells collided near her and there was a scream from Arianna and then she fell to the ground.
There was a flash that erupted from the table. Two objects on the table, a family ring with some sort of crest on it and a yellow candy jar seemed to have a slight glow to them.
Aberforth ran over to his sister's side, and then he yelled at the other two men. "What the hell did you to do to her?"
"Merlin, no, we weren't trying to hurt anyone!" called out Albus as he ran over to where they were.
Grindelwald looked between the two brothers, their clearly dead sister and the objects not the table which were no longer glowing.
"I understand your anger at the loss of your sister, but it seems that there has been a benefit for us," said Grindelwald as he looked over at the items.
Aberforth laid his sister on the ground. "What sort of abominations are those?" he asked as he looked at the objects.
Grindelwald went to move towards the table, which prompted Aberforth to send a curse at the ring on the table, causing the large stone on it to shatter and a black cloud emitted from the now damaged ring.
"You fool, you have no idea what you just did!" called out Grindelwald.
Albus stood up and looked at the items on the table and then turned to his brother. "Whatever happened, it was not what we were trying to do, of that I am sure."
Aberforth looked at his brother and then rubbed his eyes, trying to dry them with his sweaty hands. As he covered his face momentarily with his hand, Grindelwald made a sudden move. He jumped forward and grabbed the yellow jar and immediately apparated away.
Westley then felt the scene go black and found he had collapsed on the floor.
MiB
Westley woke up and realised that he was laying on his bed. Amanda was seated on a chair keeping a close eye on him. As soon as his eyes blinked open she called out for Dobby and had him bring Arcturus to the room.
Westley was holding his head slightly as he looked around the room.
"So, 'mister I'll do what I want and suffer the consequences' is back with us," commented Amanda.
Arcturus walked over to the side of the bed and looked down at his heir. "What you did was, I dare say, even more foolish than what I did. Legilimency, on a soul anchor, quite a foolish move I would say. Foolish and dangerous."
Westley started to nod but the sudden increase in pain in his head forced him to stop. "I can't really argue with you at this point. Other than say I did learn who and how they were made."
Arcturus conjured a chair and sat down near the bed while Amanda pulled her chair closer to the bed.
They waited quietly for Westley to gather himself and tell them just what he had seen.
"Merlin's beard, that was incredibly messed up," stated Westley.
Amanda reached out and took his hand. "What was messed up?"
"The vision I had, about how two of those items were made," said Westley, taking deep breaths.
Arcturus frowned slightly, then added, "We are waiting, boy, for you to share with us what exactly you saw."
Westley nodded, took one more deep breath, then he began to explain what he had seen.
"To begin with, you need to understand that Albus Dumbledore was friends with Gellert Grindelwald a long time ago. They were working together on obscure magic. Somehow it involved Dumbledore's sister. The two were having a bit of a disagreement about something. Dumbledore's sister was there, she was crying. Then Aberforth Dumbledore, the one who runs the Hogshead Tavern in Hogsmeade, well he showed up. Then an even bigger argument started, spells started flying, and suddenly two spells collided with Adrianna, that is, Albus and Aberforth's sister. As she died some sort of ritual occurred, and apparently it may not have been what they were trying to do, but two nearby objects became enchanted somehow. There was a bright glow from both of the objects. Aberforth sent a spell at the ring, which caused the damage to the stone on the ring, and whatever magic had attached itself to the ring was destroyed as there was a screech and a black cloud appeared. Not unlike what I have seen when other soul anchors were destroyed. Then Grindelwald grabbed the yellow jar and he apparated away."
Amanda squeezed Westley's hand a little tighter and looked over at her and smiled.
Arcturus shook his head with a grunt. "So, we know that the individuals behind these extra items include Dumbledore, Grindelwald and Nott. But how in Merlin's name did they all end up there at the castle, in that strange room?"
"And what do we do with them?" asked Amanda. "Do we destroy them now, like the soul anchors of Tom Riddle?"
"Its dark magic, very dark," stated Arcturus. "There is no reason to let those objects to continue to exist. We have plenty of basilisk venom. Destroy them all. Even add some venom to that ring, just to be sure."
Westley sighed slightly and then looked at Arcturus. "I can't argue with that at all."
MiB
Thursday, 3 July 1986
Westley had recovered from his ordeal with the additional Horcruxes and had taken a day to rest. Then he and Amanda made their way out to Diagon Alley for a leisurely day in addition to checking on some items with the goblins at Gringotts Bank.
The two noted that occasionally people would stare at the two of them and others would point and whisper. A couple of you witches walked by and simply glared at Amanda.
"What did I do now?" she whispered to Westley.
As they walked into Flourish and Blotts book store, Westley noted a magazine rack. At the top of the display was the latest issue of Witch Weekly, which had a cover picture of the two of them when they were at Hogsmeade the other day.
Westley nudged her slightly and gave a head nod towards the rack. Amanda immediately noted the magazine and the photo and she started to laugh. "I guess some things never change," she said quietly to him.
"And some things can't be kept secret," said Westley in response.
Amanda quickly perused what sort of books the store had in stock that could be used for students for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She came across Wilbert Slinkhard's book Defensive Magical Theory. She skimmed through it quickly and placed it back on the shelf. "That one looks quite useless," she stated. "It might help daft morons understand something about a spell, but probably wouldn't help anyone actually perform any defensive magic."
Westley chuckled slightly at how quickly she dismissed the book. "You learned that much already in such a short read?"
"I read enough," said Amanda.
She then looked at another book, "Dark Forces - a Guide to Self Protection by Quentin Tremble." She didn't even bother to pick it up.
Westley noted that she ignored the text. "Don't like that one either?"
"It's an old and quite outdated book," she said.
Westley raised an eyebrow as he was learning that she was quite well read on the subject to know which books would not be useful in helping students to learn.
She smiled slightly at Westley's comment and then took a deep breath. "It doesn't look like any decent textbooks on the subject have been published since Arsenius Jigger's "The Essential Defense Against The Dark Arts." She sighed slightly. "Well, at least many students probably already have a copy of it, and mine already has annotations about improvements to the spells he reviews as well as comments about any mistakes he has included, particularly about any supposed dark creatures."
The two then made their way back out into Diagon Alley and started to head towards the bank. Walking towards them happened to be one person who Westley was hoping to avoid, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Westley grumbled quietly about wishing he could cast a notice-me-not charm on the two of them but it became quickly apparent that was too late. The older wizard in the bright purple robes had clearly seen the two and made his way over to them.
"Good morning Amanda and Regulus! How nice to see the two of you," said Albus with his usual twinkle in his eye.
Amanda folded her arms in front of her. "Regulus? Never heard of any Regulus. Have you not met Westley Black? I could have sworn told me that the two of you have met," she said acting like she was confused.
"Oh, he has met me," said Westley as he looked at Amanda. "But I'm worried that he might be getting senile, as he keeps confusing me for Sirius' brother." Then he turned to the headmaster. "Maybe you should have your checked out at St. Mungo's just to be sure that your brain isn't too addled. Maybe its due to all of those lemon drops I hear that you like so much."
Albus ignored the jab from Westley as he turned to speak with Amanda, his newest Defense professor. "So, reviewing textbooks for your classes? I noted you just left Flourish and Blotts."
Amanda sighed slightly, "There really hasn't been a decent text published on the topic since Jigger's book, even with the flaws that book contains. So, while it is not perfect, it is probably the best place to start, for now at least."
Albus smiled at her, "I think you are quite correct on your assessment, Amanda. Oh, and nice picture of the two of you on the cover of Witch Weekly." He then turned to Westley. "You do understand, that if you are planning to visit Professor Lester while she is actively working in her role as the teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, you will need to register your arrival with either myself of the assistant headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall, whom you both have met."
Before either one could respond to his comment, Dumbledore twinkled his eyes and then bid a quick good day, and was once again heading down the alley.
The young couple looked at each other after the headmaster left them before Amanda finally spoke. "That was an odd encounter."
"The old man seems obsessed with me and with this idea that I am Sirius' brother Regulus, who was killed during the war. Regulus is the one who obtained one of Riddle's soul anchors which we have already destroyed."
MiB
Cantankerus Nott tossed the copy of Witch Weekly aside. He spoke out loud although there was no one in his office with him.
"So the young upstart who calls himself a Black made the cover of Witch Weekly. And the poor excuse for a distant relative to the LeStrange family is being hired as a professor. You have defied me and the Dark Lord's followers, Black. I will have to thank my nephew at the Department of Mysteries for his help on gathering more information, both for my research on time travel and this supposed heir to the Black family."
He took another sip from his glass of whiskey and smiled.
"I suppose it is time to get busy, once again."