Chapter 9

Thanatos sat down at the table in his room in the Three Broomsticks. Pulling the Elder wand out of his cloak, he laid it on the table in front of him and examined it closely.

The wood had been worn smooth over the centuries of use, but he could see the runes carved the length of the wand. There were no scratches, nicks, or cracks. It was as if the wand had been protected from aging. Like goblin silver, the wand seemed to have rejected all that wouldn't strengthen it.

As he ran his fingers along the wood, he frowned. Something was wrong. The wand felt… angry. Something like hatred came off the wand in waves and it was all directed at him. His frown deepened.

When he'd first taken the wand from Dumbledore, it'd seemed happy to see him, not unlike a dog greeting it's master. Now, however, it felt as if the wand wanted to hurt him. Was the wand more sentient than he'd thought? Had it taken more than magic from those who had wielded it? Leaning close, he spoke to the wand.

"If you are aware of things around you, you know what was done and what you and the others were used to reverse. Would you rather all of magic had died and you with it?"

Of course, the wand didn't respond. He slowly picked it up and tucked it back in the cloak he wore. He would need to be careful. If the other Hallows were this angry, they may try to work against him.

He stood. Perhaps it was time to find some help. But first, he needed to retrieve the stone.

**ACC**

"Harry," Dumbledore said smiling at him. "Thank you for coming."

Harry nodded silently and sat down in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. For several moments, neither spoke. Harry stared at the desk in front of Dumbledore. Finally, Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I need to ask you a few questions."

"Such as?"

"Why would the god Thanatos be interested in you?"

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, blue green eyes meeting piercing blue. "I don't see how that would be any of your business."

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Thanatos came and took something from me."

"I see. Why is this my problem."

Dumbledore stiffened. "He mentioned your name."

"Did he? In what way?"

"He said you were the key to everything."

Harry nodded. "Wish he wouldn't have said so much, but what's done is done."

"Will you tell me what you know?"

Harry shifted in his chair. "You've given me no reason to trust you with any information."

"True," Dumbledore said picking up a lemon drop from the bowl on his desk. "I have given you no reason to distrust me either."

More silence. Harry felt a pressure in his mind. And pushed back. Dumbledore flinched.

"Stay out of my mind, Headmaster."

"My apologies. May I ask who taught you to defend your mind?"

"That is none of your concern."

"If you don't tell me anything, I can't help you."

"At the moment, I don't need your help. If I ever do, I'm sure we could come to some agreement."

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to come and see me."

**ACC**

Argante took a sip of wine. "I should've known that he'd want to speak to you after Thanatos took the Elder wand."

"What do we do?"

"Nothing. He's gonna keep investigating and I imagine he'll go talk to James, but Thanatos shapeshifted when talking to him. I wouldn't be surprised if that crafty old man has already visited James."

"Should we warn him?"

"Thanatos? Nah, he can take care of himself."

"Do you have any idea what he's planning to do with the Hallows? He said something about destroying them, but what about the magic? Will he just absorb it into himself?"

Argante shrugged. "He can do whatever he wants to. If he takes the power of the Hallows, it will restore all the power he invested in them and then some."

**ACC**

"What are we going to do?" Luna asked as she sat down beside him in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Do? About what?" Harry asked as he turned a page in his charms book.

"Voldemort, the war, the fae? All of it."

"You know I don't remember most of these charms," Harry said absently. "I must have forgotten a lot of them over the years."

"Harry!"

Harry closed his book and turned to face her. "At this point, I really don't know what to do. In my current state, I'm unable to go ask questions. Even if I could, I don't know what questions to ask. We may have an idea of how they did it, but we don't know who and we don't know why."

Luna leaned forward. "So, we just sit here?"

"No," Lily said walking up. "We train and prepare."

"Lily?" Harry turned to face the girl.

"Look, I've let you two lead because you have the memories of a former world that no longer exists, but since you two don't know what to do, I'll give my opinion."

"We're listening," Luna said.

"Harry, what happened the last time in your first year?"

Harry clicked his fingers, erecting a privacy spell around them. "Dumbledore hid the Philosopher's stone in the school. Supposedly, someone tried to steal it, but I don't know if that happened this time around."

"Okay," Lily said thoughtfully. "What happened?"

"Voldemort came after the stone, and I had to stop him because none of the staff believed me when I said he was trying to steal it."

"No," Lily said. "I don't suppose they would. Do you know if it's in the school this time?"

"I assume it is. Dumbledore gave the same warning at the opening feast that he gave last time."

"Do you know where it is now?"

Harry shook his head. "I know where it will be after Christmas. At least, if they hide in the same place they did last time, but I don't know where it is now?"

"I see," Luna said. She turned to Lily. "You're taking all this very well. I mean you and I haven't really talked about my former life since we were really little."

"You and I have been friends since we were three. I guess hanging out with you made me a lot more mature." Lily turned to Harry.

"Where will the stone be?"

Harry quickly told the story of finding the mirror over Christmas, how Dumbledore had hidden the stone in the mirror, and how he, Ron, and Hermione had been forced to fight their way through the obstacles around the stone to stop Voldemort from getting it.

"That's odd," Luna said.

"What?"

"Well, Hermione was always the logical one, you were the best seeker for Gryffindor in a century, and Ron was great at chess. It's almost like those obstacles were tailor made for you."

Harry nodded. "I thought so to. I assumed it was Dumbledore's messed up way of training us."

Luna hummed. "Maybe, but if he were really training you; why not try and make sure you could actually beat Voldemort. No offense, but you weren't exactly a magical prodigy."

Harry snorted. "None taken. When I talked to Dumbledore, he said something about wanting me to have a childhood."

"Right," Lily said drily. "Because having an insane mass murderer coming after you is normal."

"Technically, it was for Harry," Luna said her silvery eyes sparkling.

"Not helping," Lily snapped. "Did you have anymore adventures like that at Hogwarts?"

Harry told the story of his adventures at Hogwarts. When he was done, Lily frowned.

"You said in your former life Voldemort created Horcruxes?"

"Yes."

"And you destroyed one in your second year."

"Yeah."

"Okay," Lily said drumming her fingers on the table. "Okay, so you gave the diary to Dumbledore and explained what the shade of Tom had been doing to Ginny."

Luna leaned forward again. "This is the first time I've heard the whole story. Dumbledore had to know what the Horcrux was. You said Slughorn told Tom that Dumbledore was really fierce on the Subject of Horcruxes, so he at least had an idea of what they were fifty years ago. Surely, by the time your second year rolled around he would've known all about them."

"You think he set me up to die."

"It's quite possible," Lily said gently. "Why else wouldn't he train you. Where did you live before Hogwarts?"

"I lived with my adoptive aunt and Uncle," Harry said. "They hated magic. Dumbledore didn't know I was adopted, so he placed blood wards around their house. As long as I called that place home, the Death Eaters couldn't touch me."

"So," Lily said slowly. "He left you with people that hated what you were for ten years, didn't train you, and didn't give you any information to help you stop Voldemort. It's almost like he wanted Voldemort to win."

"I'd say it was a draw there at the end." Harry stared down at the table. "Danu's eyes, I knew he was manipulative, but he caused the death of a lot of people playing his games."

"We don't know if he is still playing his games this time around. For all we know, he might be trustworthy."

Harry shook his head. "It's too risky to trust him without knowing more information. He still had the Elder wand, so Grindelwald stole it. I don't know if he and Grindelwald were still friends? Lovers? Whatever they were."

"Abeforth would know," Luna said.

"That's assuming he's still running the pub in Hogsmeade," Lily said.

"We won't be able to find out about that for another two years."

"We could ask your Mum to check."

Harry shuddered. "I don't know how much she knows about my years at Hogwarts. If she even suspects what Dumbledore was doing…"

"She'd probably kill him," Luna said quietly. "The fae aren't known for their rational thinking when their children are threatened. She'd probably view this Dumbledore as a threat even if he hadn't done anything to Harry."

"So, we just wait?" Harry asked.

"No," Lily said. "We prepare."

**ACC**

The next morning, Harry was just sitting down at the Ravenclaw table when he felt a touch on his shoulder. Turning, he stared into Hermione Granger's chocolate brown eyes.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

Harry nodded. "Sure." Rising, he pulled out a chair and waited for her to sit before pushing the chair in.

Returning to his seat, he dished up a plate of bacon and eggs as he waited for Hermione to speak.

"You're a faery, right?"

"I'm fae," Harry said calmly. "Calling us faeries is like calling a Muggle-born a mudblood."

Hermione flushed. "My apologies."

Harry nodded. "You didn't know."

"Did you know there are Brownies at Hogwarts?"

Harry shook his head. "Probably Hobs to. I'm not surprised."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"Do?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I assume they're not being mistreated since the castle is still standing."

Hermione shook her head. "No, but they are slaves. They're being forced to work for wizards."

"That's early," Harry muttered.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly. "Look, what makes you think they're slaves?"

"The poor things are just being fed with a bowl of milk and cream and no one even acknowledges their existence."

Harry winced. "First, brownies are servants, not slaves. A slave is given no pay and forced to work. A servant had a job that they are paid for.

Secondly, no one is forcing the Brownies and Hobs to do anything they don't want to. The brownies like being outdoors and working the fields and the hobs like household chores. They prefer to be paid with milk, cream, and the occasional cup of whisky.

Lastly, you aren't supposed to talk about the Brownies or hobs. Now, I'm gonna have to make a trip to the kitchens to make sure they haven't quit."

"Quit?" Hermione said. "Isn't that what we want. I mean they can get better paying jobs now?"

"The little folk don't like to be spoken of. They don't even like being seen. How'd you find out they were here anyway?"

"I saw this little hairy old man cleaning the common room a few nights ago. I was curious, so I went to the library to look him up. Brownies and hobs have been working at Hogwarts since its founding. Hogwarts was built on slavery."

Harry sighed. "As I said, Brownies aren't slaves. Whoever made the deal with them knew what they were doing."

"But…"

"No buts," Harry said. "The deal is solid. If they were being mistreated in any way, they could've left. They are fully capable of defending themselves."

"Problem," a soft voice said from behind them.

Harry turned to see Lugh standing there. "Hermione found out their were Brownies here and thinks they're slaves."

"Ah," Lugh said. He turned to Hermione. "I admire your compassion MS. Granger, but in this case, you are seeing a problem where there is none. The Brownies and hobs are perfectly happy here. Checking on them was the first thing I did when I came to work here."

He turned back to Harry. "You have potions this morning. I'd suggest you aren't late. I'll go talk to the Brownies."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

Lugh squeezed his shoulder. "Good luck."

Without another word, Hermione turned and went back to the Gryffindor table.

"Do you think she'll drop it?"

"Probably not. Hopefully, she doesn't offend them too bad. Come on, we have to get to potions. I don't suppose Snape quit teaching while I was gone?"

Lily snorted. "Does Dumbledore have a beard?"

**ACC**

The dungeon classroom was just as dark and foreboding as Harry remembered. As he sat down, he saw Snape staring at him.

"Ah," Snape said silkily. "Harry Emry's, I suppose you think you're really important since you are related to Merlin, don't you?"

Harry clenched his fists on his desktop but said nothing. Glancing over, he saw Ginny Weasley watching him from the other side of the room.

"Emry's," Snape barked. "Look at me when I am speaking."

"I'd prefer not to give you the chance to read my mind," Harry said quietly.

Snape paused. "I see your mother has taught you some things."

"Just a few," Harry said.

"I hope one of those things was humility. I cannot abide having arrogant dunderheads in my class."

"Humility?" Harry said pleasantly. "I am a prince, but I have never called myself as such. You, on the other hand, didn't you call yourself the Half-blood prince when you were at Hogwarts? If that is not arrogance, I don't know what is."

Snape's hand twitched. "How did you know about that?"

Harry continued as if he hadn't heard. "I will commend you for the spells you invented. You truly are a great wizard."

Snape's eye twitched, but his hand relaxed. "I… thank you."

Harry nodded. "First impressions mean a lot. Judging from what I've seen, I don't really like you and it's obvious that you don't like me for some reason. Having said that, I can acknowledge your skill and intelligence."

Snape sneered. "Well, I have the approval of an Emry's. How did I ever survive without it? Five points from Ravenclaw for sucking up to a professor."

Harry was careful the rest of the lesson. As before, Snape wrote the instructions on the board and set them to work brewing a boil curing solution. Harry ended up being partnered with Lily.

"Why does he hate you?"

"This time? I have no idea. He hated my father last time around." He paused. "I wonder if Lugh did something to piss him off?"

"I thought Lugh kept the fact he was your father secret?"

"He did. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to grin and bare it."

"Five points from Ravenclaw for talking," Snape said from behind them.

Harry and Lily were silent for the rest of the lesson. Before he handed his potion in, Harry was careful to place an unbreakable charm on it to keep Snape from shattering it… accidently of course.

**ACC**

The woman swigged the last of her whisky and slammed the glass back on the bar. She looked out the window and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon.

It had been a long day. Hell, it'd been a long few months. First, their caretakers wife had gone nuts, murdered him, and then taken some kind of poison.

Then, not a week later, her father had been murdered in his own home. Burying your father is never an easy thing, especially when he was murdered, and the police didn't have any leads.

She scowled at her reflection. She was in her fifties and her father had lived to be in his nineties. Still, who would want to kill her father and why? Sure, he could be a rich snob at times, but he'd loved her and her mother Cecilia."

"Matilda Riddle?" a voice asked.

The woman glanced up, brushing her dark hair out of her face. She stared at the woman beside the table, her blue eyes showing no emotion.

"Whose asking?"

The woman standing in front of her smiled slightly. She looked totally nondescript. Average height, brown hair, brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She wore a simple dress and high-healed shoes.

"May I speak to you for a moment?"

"I'm really not in the mood," Matilda said icily. "It's been a long month."

"Yes," the woman said. "The death of your father. I was made aware of that. Tom Riddle. I do not suppose they have any leads on his murder?"

A Chill ran down Matilda's spine at those words. They were spoken as if the stranger were commenting on a terrible event in the newspaper.

"No, bloody police are useless, not as competent as they were in my day."

The woman nodded sympathetically. "Yes, of course, but they do have their work cut out for them do they not? I mean your father looked as if all the life and vitality were drained from him. According to the reports I read, it was like he had not eaten or drank in weeks."

Matilda shifted in her seat. "Why do you care? I mean, I don't know you. Did you know my father?"

"Only by reputation. I adopted his son you see."

"Son?" Matilda stared at the woman. "You must be mistaken. I am Tom Riddle's only child."

"So, he never told you or your mother?"

Matilda stood. "Told us what? I think you need to leave. I'll not have my father's memory besmirched."

"Sit down please," the woman said pleasantly.

Matilda found herself back in her chair. She couldn't remember sitting back down. The woman smiled at her, her brown eyes full of compassion.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not blaming him. After what was done to him, no one could blame him for leaving. He left Tom's mother while she was still pregnant."

Matilda stared at the woman. "So, I have a brother?"

"Half-brother, but yes. Would you like to meet him?"

Matilda stared at the woman suspiciously. "You don't want money or anything?"

The woman chuckled. "My dear, of course we don't want your money. I am quite well off. My boy, Tom, he just wanted to reconnect with his biological family."

"Tom?" Matilda asked.

"Yes, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was named after his father and his mother's father."

"Who was his mother?"

The woman waved her hand. "A poor woman that tricked your father when they were both very young."

"Very young, what are you talking about."

"Come with me, and all your questions will be answered."

Matilda laid a twenty on the bar and stood. She followed the woman out of the small pub. As she walked, she couldn't shake the feeling she was making a terrible mistake.

**ACC**

Matilda stared at the shabby inn in front of her. "My brother is here?" she asked, her lip curling. "It's so…"

The woman shrugged. "He has been taught to be very frugal with his money. Now then, come with me."

The woman followed her into the lobby, up the stairs, and stopped in front of a door with a brass number seven on it. Taking a key from her pocket, the woman opened the door. As the door swung open, she held out a hand.

"Coming?"

Matilda hesitated. Something was wrong here. Why had she followed this woman without telling anyone where she was going? Why had she accepted this woman's story about having a brother? This woman was far too young to have raised her half-brother.

She started to take a step back, but the woman grabbed her wrist. "Come on," she said harshly. "He is looking forward to meeting you."

"Why didn't he come to meet me? Why did he send you?"

The woman pulled her into the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Matilda spun around and tugged at the handle frantically.

"Let me out of here?"

"Sorry," the woman said, and she really sounded like she was. "I can't do that."

A spectral figure stepped through the wall and Matilda screamed.

"Mother?" the ghost rasped.

Matilda stared at the man in shocked surprise. His hair was raven black and his eyes were a piercing blue. Dazedly, she realized she could see the door through him.

"Who… what are you?"

"A specter," the ghostly man said, "but you are going to help with that. You will restore me to life."

Matilda stumbled back a step only to run into the strange woman behind her. She felt a hang grasp her shoulder hard enough to bruise.

"I am sorry," the woman said. "Truly, I am, but this is the only way. The woman turned to the ghost. "Are you ready?"

"Yes mother," the ghost said. There was a clatter from the corner of the room. Matilda watched as a skeleton rose to its feet and stepped towards her.

Fear rising, Matilda turned and tugged at the handle of the door so hard the handle sapped and fell to the floor. "Please," she whimpered. "Let me go. I promise, I won't tell anyone."

The skeleton spoke with the voice of the ghost. "I know you won't tell anyone. For what it's worth, it would've been nice to have a sibling."

Matilda shrieked as bony arms wrapped around her. "Do it," the skeleton rasped.

Pain exploded through Matilda's body. Looking down, she saw her skin bubbling. She could feel her bones shifting and changing. The last thing she heard was the strange woman's voice.

"It will be over soon."

**ACC**

The woman looked down at the picture frame. The frame itself was made of bone. Where the glass would go, there was an expanse of pulsing flesh. She watched as the picture frame pulsed. Slowly, the image of a man appeared. His dark hair fell just above his shoulders. His blue eyes were like two chips of granite, but they sparkled when they looked at the woman.

"Mother," he said. "I am here, but so is she. I can hear her screaming."

"That will pass. The mind is not designed to deal with this sort of prolonged agony."

The man looked down at his hands. "I have a body, but I'm trapped in this… thing."

"Fear not," the woman said. "I have a plan."

"Oh?" Tom asked, arching one eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"We get the philosophers stone."

**ACC**

The rest of September passed quietly enough. Harry settled into doing classwork and spending time with friends. Lugh continued to train him in the use of a spear and sword.

As they entered October, Harry began studying runes more and more. The idea that the fae could create life-like prosthetics interested him. Could he bring that to the wizarding world?

In addition to prosthetics, Harry had learned that runes could be used to fashion protective clothing. He'd spent most of October learning that he wasn't good to sew. He'd finally contacted his mother for help.

"You want me to sew runes into your cloak? Why just the cloak?"

"I can't have runes sewn into all of my clothes, but a cloak that can act like a form a light armor would be very handy."

Argante nodded. "Most fae have some type of armor. It could come in handy in case you have to face someone that is stronger than you."

"So, you'll do it?"

"Argante nodded. "I'll do it, but it'll be Halloween before I can get it to you."

"That's fine. With Quirrell not here, Hogwarts won't be near as dangerous."

Argante glared. "Thanks for saying that, now something's gonna happen."

Harry laughed and hugged his mother. "I'll be fine. I'm a lot more prepared to handle danger than I was before."

Argante took his cloak and handed him a replica. "I'll get this back to you on Halloween."

"See you then."

Harry watched as his mother vanished in a swirl of wind. Somehow, he just knew This year was going to be just as dangerous as last time.

A/N I won't be updating next week. I'll be going out of town for Easter. I will update on April 5. Please read and review.