Chapter 12: A Visit by Tom
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It's a shorter one.
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Harry invited Tom over to Grimmauld Place to have him come and look at all the dark objects that were in the house. He did so when it was still Christmas vacation, so Hermione and Remus were still there. Some Order members drifted in and out. The Weasleys had gone home after Christmas Day. Harry didn't care. It was his house. He could invite whoever the hell he wanted, and no one could tell him different.
"Come in, Tom," said Harry to the Dark Lord when he showed up the afternoon he had invited him. It was a cold and sunny day. Not that that mattered, since they were going to be inside, but there it was.
"Don't mind if I do," said the Junior Dark Lord, looking replenished in his upper crust muggle attire. Why he dressed muggle, Harry didn't know. Perhaps he traveled here by muggle means.
"Kreacher has been gathering things and putting them in one of the rooms on the top floor, but he's only gotten the first floor done so far," Harry said, showing him into the entryway. The house had been cleaned up a bit since Christmas, but it was still dark and dank. "I thought we'd start on the ground floor and see if there is anything in the lounges and morning rooms. Nobody really goes through them. They just go straight to the kitchen and stick to the libraries. There's a lot of curiosities in those rooms."
"Yes, I understand the Blacks did like their novelties. They were very much in the muggle-baiting, from what I hear from my loyal followers," Riddle stated, following Harry down the hallway to the first lounge.
"You'd be shocked at the from of the shite I found in here. There's a paper clip that'll bite your finger off," the teenager stated indignantly. The damn thing had tried to bite him on many occasions. He had given up trying to sort through the dark objects on his own after the third time. He could just wave his hand and make them all inert, but he wanted Tom to go through them first.
"That's not so shocking," said Tom as they came to the first lounge. It was the one with the red couch. "Like I said, they were very much in the muggle-baiting." The room was full of dark objects that were in curio cupboards. "It is too bad the family died out," he said mournfully. "Well, Bellatrix is still around, and Narcissa, but they are women and won't be carrying the family name."
"But how did they expect any of this stuff to fly in the muggle world? I mean half of it moves," Harry asked, throwing out an arm to indicate one of the moving objects on the desk that was a stapler that was chattering along the top.
"Well, obviously they didn't intend it to because it's sitting here in this house and not loose in that world. Or if they did, they didn't succeed," said Tom drolly as he went to the nearest cupboard and looked inside. The whole room was like a freak show he had seen as a kid. The kind that spliced fish to men and called it mermen.
"Oh, I see," said the younger teen. "They must not have gotten it right. You're a smart fellow, Tom."
"Let's just get this over with," the older boy stated, not seeing anything he thought he could use. "I don't want to run into your werewolf. At least not yet," he added. He wouldn't mind confronting the lycanthrope later, but not now.
"He is not my werewolf. I can barely stand the man," Harry groused, folding his arms over his chest.
"I thought you were gonna keep him close and let him spy in your group," Tom said in a questioning manner.
"I was, but I can't stand his perpetual whining. All he ever does is complain," Harry stated, mimicking Remus with voice and face. "Woe is me, I'm a werewolf, and my life is hard."
"I see," said Tom. "When are we going to have our little spar?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I've got the warehouse deal closing at the end of the week," Harry said, letting him. "We can have our spar any time after that." He was excited to get it started. He wanted to see how his and Tom's group stood up to Dumbledore's. That and it would weed out the stragglers.
"I say the weekend after that then?" Tom suggested picking up a pair of poisonous scissors. They would make any parchment they cut toxic to the touch.
"Did you want Dumbledore to be there?" Harry asked, taking the scissors as Tom handed them back to him. He placed them in the discard pile and then moved on to the next object.
"I suppose I can put up with his presence long enough to have the spar. Though I can't vouch that I will behave myself the entire time," the mini Dark Lord said with a sinister grin.
"I'd rather not have an all out drag out fight between you two," the younger man commented. "Remember, he's got decades of experience over you," he pointed out, going over to the last cabinet. They had gone over most of the stuff in the room and found most of it, while dark, useless.
"He also has decades of sitting behind a desk over me too," Tom stated, picking up an eyeglass that might come in handy. It lets you see your enemy among the crowd.
"True, there is that," Harry conceded. He let Tom pocket the eyeglass. He did say the man could take what he wanted.
"Nevertheless, I will endeavor to keep myself in check."
"I suppose that's all I can ask for," Harry said, grinning at his friend. He was actually looking forward to the two of them meeting. It would either be spectacular or dead boring.
The two of them went through the house, looking at all the dark objects. Tom didn't really find anything that reached his interests. Most of it, like he said, were curiosities that were useful for muggle-baiting, which was not something he was doing. Then Harry had the brilliant idea to invite the man to lunch.
Tom and Harry were sitting at the table with sandwiches that Kreacher had made, when Hermione and Remus came to join them.
"What the bloody hell is he doing here?" asked the werewolf, snarling for all he was worth.
"You see," said Harry, waving a half-eaten sandwich at him, "that's the wonderful thing about having my own house is I can invite whomever the bloody hell I want to." He grinned impishly at the man and waved at Hermione to sit.
"Hello, Tom," said Hermione, sitting and grabbing a sandwich like it was normal for the Dark Lord to be at the lunch table.
"Hello, mudblood," said Tom, taking a bite of his lunch. It was roast beef, and he liked the way it was made. Kreacher had out done himself. He must like serving a Dark Lord.
"Don't call her that," said Remus, still standing in the doorway and snarling at the people at the table. He couldn't believe they were just eating like everything was normal.
"I'll call her whatever I want to," said Tom, not even glaring or raising his voice. "I'd like to see you make me stop." He didn't even look up from his meal, it was just that good of a sandwich.
"I asked you to be polite," said Harry, elbowing his friend in the ribs.
"Very well. I apologize for your sake," said the junior Dark Lord, nodding in Hermione's general direction.
"I accept your apology," said Hermione with a small smile. She set her sandwich down and took a drink to cover the victory look on her face.
"I still don't understand why you have him at this table," said the werewolf, who still hadn't deemed to come into the room. He didn't like anyone in there, bar the girl and he barely tolerated her.
"Because it's my table and he's my friend," Harry said slowly as if explaining it to a moron.
"I will not eat at a table with a Dark Lord," Remus finally stated, lifting his nose in the air.
"Bye," Harry stated, waving the man away.
"Just like that," Lupin asked, gobsmacked.
"Yes, just like that," the teen stated, still shooing the man away. "You are unwelcome. You are the unwanted person in this house, Remus Lupin. I don't understand why you're not getting this. I'm letting you stay here out of the kindness of my heart, and only because I know what it's like to be homeless. Not because I like you. But I don't see you making any effort into finding yourself a job or a place to live. And if I don't see you trying harder, you're gonna find yourself on the streets."
He had noticed that all the man did was hide in his room and whine about his life. Like he was hoping for somebody to come and rescue him.
"Do you know how hard it is to be a werewolf?" the man asked, getting his woe begotten look on his face again.
"Do you know how hard it is to be a kid?" Harry asked angerly.
"You can't even compare the two," said the werewolf, in his own angry tone.
"Yes, you bloody well can," Harry stated, slamming his hand on the table as his two friend just watched the byplay. "You're a wizard and an adult. You have many ways to make money and earn a living. If you can't figure that out, then you're an idiot."
"He's right, Mr. Lupin. There are many ways that you can earn a living, and I don't think you have the right to look condescendingly down on any of us," Hermione said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. She was just as done with this man's whining as Harry was.
"I guess they told you, wolf," said Tom, chuckling at the man's plight. He didn't care one iota what happened to Remus Lupin. It was just funny to watch a teenager take down a man.
"Nobody asked you, you bastard," Remus stated, pointing an accusing finger at Tom, like it was the Dark Lord's fault all this was happening.
"Can I say something?" came a voice from Harry's pocket.
"Sure, Sirius," Harry said, taking out his portrait and expanding it. He loved watching Sirius tear into his old friend.
"I just want to say that Harry's right," the painting stated, pacing back and forth as much as his frame would allow. "You used to have great plans, insomuch as to what you were going to do to make a living when you were out of school. Me seeing you like this now makes me cringe. What happened to all those great plans that you had? You were gonna open a bookstore. You were going to open a repair shop. You were going to do all sorts of things in the muggle world that you could do with magic. Now you're just sitting here being a pathetic homeless bum." He never stopped pacing, but he did turn his head and glare at the werewolf in an accusatory manner.
"You know we can't do those things in the muggle world. They're illegal," Remus stated, half whining, half pleading.
"Only if you get caught. Only if you do things that would harm the Muggles. You know better than that, Lupin," Sirius stated, hurting the other man with the use of his last name.
"But… but… but..." was all Remus got out.
"Knock it off, you moron," Black stated, waving his arm in a 'get out of here' gesture. "Get out there and do something. You're just being pathetic. You disgust me," he added with a look of derision.
With that Remus stormed off.
"Well, that was fun," said Harry, grinning like a loon.
"I must say, every time I spend time with you, you never leave things unimaginative," Tom said, finishing off his lunch. He had eaten two sandwiches and had a few crisps. He even had a fizzy drink.
"What can I say? I attract drama," Harry said with a shrug.
"He really does," said Hermione. "Like flies to shite," she mumbled.
"Nobody asked you, mudblood," Tom stated, casually.
"Really? And you were doing so well," Harry stated, smacking Tom on the arm.
"I can't help it. She just rubs me the wrong way," the mini Dark Lord complained, glaring at Hermione, who just grinned at him.
"You're just jealous," she said impishly.
"Of what?" he said incredulously.
"That I take up Harry's time that you don't," she said smugly.
"I doubt that very seriously," he stated with a frustrated sigh.
"Uh-huh," she said in a childlike manner.
"OK, you two," Harry interrupted with a chuckle, "don't worry, I think you're both pretty."
The two of them just turned and glared at him. That did break the tension and they started eating their lunch again and talking of inconsequential things. Tom when home shortly after that and Harry and Hermione discussed what they should do with all the dark objects in the house. They settled on giving them to the goblins since most of them were goblin made, just perverted.
Hphphp
Shortly after Tom left, Moody came stomping in. "Potter, I need your help," he said as Harry and Hermione were packing up the silver in the kitchen.
"What do you need my help with?" Harry asked, dropping the butter knife he was packing into the box they were using. Kreacher was not happy about it, but they didn't care. Harry was going to see if he could sell it back to them. If he could get a good deal out of it, he would. He was all about making money.
"You remember that horcrux I found in Little Hangleton?" the one-legged man asked, settling down into a chair while he talked.
"Yeah, I remember," Harry said, continuing packing, while Hermione listened in.
"Well, I haven't exactly got it yet. I need help getting to it. I've got Bill and Tonks, but it's parseltongue protected. Which means we need you," Moody stated, upset that they needed the teen, but he didn't want to get the Dark Lord.
"I reckon, I can help with that," said Harry, moving away from the boxes and wiping his hands on his trousers to get the dust off.
"Come on, let's go now," the ex-Auror stated, getting out of the chair and heading for the door. His wooden leg made thunking noises as he walked.
"Can I come too?" asked Hermione, wiping her hands on a towel, ready to join in the hunt.
"No, I think you'd better stay here," Mad-Eye said, waving her back to what she was doing. "This could be too dangerous. We're talking about a Dark Lord's protections."
"Fine," she said, huffing and leaving the room.
"I think she would have been fine," said Harry as he followed the man from the house.
"I'd feel better if she'd stay here," said Moody, going to the park across the street to a secluded area where they could Apparate.
"Whatever. Let's go," Harry said, taking the man's arm.
With that, the two of them Disapparated to Little Hangleton. Where Bill and Tonks were already waiting at the shack. It was a run-down little shack that looked like a good wind could blow it over and was only being held up by Luck and Golly.
"What's up, Bill? Tonks?" Harry said by way of greeting.
"Wotcher, Harry?" said Tonks, waving at the boy.
"OK, Harry?" was Bill's greeting. He was not as wary of the boy as the rest of his family.
"So, what have we got here?" the young man asked, peering in the afternoon sunlight at the beat-up old shack. It was cold as hell, but the sun shone brightly, glinting off the snow and ice.
"A lot of dark wards," said Bill. With that, he preceded to walk him through the breaking down of the wards that the Dark Lord Senior had put up to protect the Horcrux that was within the shack.
It took them the better part of an hour to get just through the outer wards and into the small house. There was a snake nailed to the door which Harry had to speak to. It took him fifteen minutes to convince that snake to open the door. In the end they had to kill the already dead snake. Then Moody got the idea of just setting the whole house on fire with Fiendfyre.
"Can you control that fire?" asked Bill with a great deal of trepidation. That was not a fire to be messed with. It could burn the whole town down.
"Aye, I can," said Moody, narrowing his good eye at the young man for daring to question him.
"Yeah, but this is an awful big target," said Tonks, being the voice of reason, sweeping her arm in a wide gesture.
"You could be right, lassie," Mad-Eye said, taking in the whole of the shack. "Let's see if we can find the objective first and then burn it." He conceded that maybe the shack was too big to burn.
"But what if it is a priceless artifact?" asked Harry. He didn't want to burn money. It could be sold.
"Which would you rather, the destruction of a priceless artifact or the rise of a Dark Lord?" Mad-Eye asked sarcastically.
"I suppose I see your point," said Harry, slumping his shoulders and sighing. He didn't like it, but human life was more important. He guessed.
Bill kicked down the door further, it had been opened slightly from the snake, but it had been jammed halfway, and the four of them went into the house, wands raised. Moody went first, Bill went second, Tonks went next, and Harry went last. In all reality, Harry should have gone first, but nobody really knew that. As it was, he cast a blanket shield over all of them without them knowing about it. And it was a good thing he did, because a humongous snake came out of nowhere. It went straight from Moody's throat, hit Harry's shield and rebounded so hard that it broke its fangs.
"What the bloody hell?" cried Moody as he fell back and stumbled into Bill, who made sure he didn't fall on his arse.
"Kill it!" yelled Harry, being too far back to do the deed. He recalled his shield so they could, but he held his wand at the ready to recast it.
Bill threw a curse and severed the snake's head. Harry threw a Lumos Charm up to the top of the ceiling to make sure there were no more snakes. There weren't.
They scoured the house to find the Horcrux. It wasn't until they started pulling up the floorboards that they found it. The Compulsion Charm to put it on was a great indicator. It was a good thing that Moody was a paranoid old sod, and started hexing them to kingdom come the second they started feeling the pull.
"Thank you, Mad-Eye," said Tonks as she shook herself from the compulsion. It had been a near thing. That spell was a strong one.
"Not a problem, lassie," the old Auror stated, pulling her back from the ring and pointing his wand at the object.
"Now you can cast Fiendfyre," Bill said, he was holding Harry back from the ring.
"Wait," said Harry, struggling to move forward. Bill's grip was tight though. "There's something about that ring that says that we shouldn't destroy it." He was sure there was something supernatural about that ring.
"No, there's something about that ring that says it should be destroyed immediately," disagreed Mad-Eye and with that, he cast the fire. No more arguments.
The Fiendfyre burned and burned and burned. The horcrux burned away, given the way the misty ghost came screaming out of it. The curses burned away, but the ring itself did not burn. Moody cursed and put more magic into the fire. But the ring would not melt. After a while, he became magically exhausted and had to quit the fire.
Everybody just stared at the ring until it cooled down. Then Harry went over and picked it up and put it in his pocket because he knew it belonged to him. "At least we know the horcrux is dead," he said as a consolation.
"I guess there is that," said Tonks, though she eyed Harry's pocket as if it held something dark.
"Let's just go home," said Bill, giving it up as a bad job. "I'm done with Horcrux hunting for the day." He was exhausted and now smelled of smoke and ash.
"Aye, we'll do the cave tomorrow," Moody stated, stomping off into the now night.
"No, we'll do the cave in two days," said Bill with a note of finality.
"Lazy, good for nothing generation," mumbled the old man as he continued walking, the others following behind him.
"I do have another job," said Bill, nudging the man's shoulder good-naturedly.
"As do I," said Tonks in a grump.
"You've really gotta lay off these two," said Harry as he lagged behind. He was fingering the ring in his pocket. He really wanted to examine it. "You're the only one who's retired here."
"I suppose so," said Mad-Eye, waiting at the Apparation point for Harry.
"Well, I'll see you all in a few days, Bill, Tonks," said Harry, joining Moody to take him back to Grimmauld Place.
"Bye, Harry," the two of them stated, waving him off.
Moody just grunted and the two of them disappeared and reappeared in the park.
"Don't let the ring control you," Mad-Eye said to the lad.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, still fingering said ring.
"It's the Resurrection Ring. It'll bring the shades of loved ones back so you can talk to them. But at a great cost. If you let it, it'll control your life. Don't let it," the older man warned, jabbing a finger into his chest.
"I'll try not to," Harry said, grateful for the warning. He wasn't one to let anything control his life.
"Don't try, just do." Then Moody walked away.
"Right," said Harry. He turned and went to the house. "See you in a couple of days," he said over his shoulder. He had a ring to experiment with.