Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

Revelations in the Shrieking Shack

"Were you able to help them?" asked Harry.

Usagi looked downcast. "I'm sorry, Harry. I wasn't able to completely heal them."

"Usagi is being overly modest," said Setsuna in English. "While the Longbottoms may never fully recover, they are once again aware of the world, and can remember much of their past life. There are still holes in their memories, and they might have some difficulty creating new memories, and they might never fully recover physically. But they show a marked improvement."

"I'll let you tell Neville," Harry said to Ami. "I'm sure he'll be very thankful."

Ami blushed. Usagi, on the other hand, leaned forward, her eyes wide.

"Who's Neville? Is he cute?"

"Ummm..." Ami's blush deepened. Luckily, Setsuna decided to intervene.

"I shall take Usagi back to Juuban," said Setsuna. "If you need my help again, feel free to contact me through Ami." She waved her staff, summoning the Gate, and she and Usagi stepped through.

"Am I to understand that that girl cured the Longbottoms?" asked Snape.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She's got some of the best healing magic I've ever heard of."

"Even better than mine," said Hotaru softly.

"Well, that's debatable." Harry shook his head. "Usagi can cure things that you can't, but it's not nearly as effortless for her as it is for you."

Snape cleared his throat.

"Mr Potter," he said, with just sufficient volume to ensure he had Harry's attention. "Though I am certain that you would wish to share what we have learned this evening with Ms Tomoe—not to mention Mr Weasley and Ms Granger—I must insist that you keep it private. At least for the immediate future."

"I want to tell Sirius," said Harry immediately. "He can get to places that we can't. And I want to tell Ami, as well. She has ways of tracking things that we don't. She might be able to hunt them down."

Ami suddenly looked very curious.

Snape considered Harry's points, then nodded begrudgingly. "Ms Tomoe's Occlumency is up to the task of protecting this secret. And I can only assume that Pluto is equally safe, what with the secrets that she protects. Very well. Contact the mutt. Let me know when and where we are meeting."

"Dobby," said Harry clearly.

Dobby appeared with a pop. "What can Dobby do for Master Harry?"

"Can you please fetch my communications mirror?" asked Harry. "It's in—"

Dobby vanished, then reappeared, the communications mirror in hand.

"Thank you," said Harry. He blew lightly on the mirror, then said, "Padfoot."

"Given the hour, I doubt he will be awake," said Snape.

"If so, I'll just send Dobby with a letter," said Harry. But the mirror cleared, to show Sirius' face.

"Hey, pup. How did it go?"

"It went well," said Harry. "But we've learned something interesting. When's the earliest that you could meet us at the Shrieking Shack?"

"I could do it right now," said Sirius, "but I expect that it's too late this evening for you. How about tomorrow at lunch?"

"That'll work for me," said Harry. "What about you three?"

"Yes." Ami nodded.

"That's fine by me," added Hotaru.

Snape merely rolled his eyes.

"Sounds good, Padfoot," said Harry. "Just so you know, Professor Snape will be there. So behave."

"Aw, you take all the fun out of life." Sirius pouted. "All right, I promise I'll be good. See you then. Good-bye."

The good-bye was the signal to the mirror to disconnect. Harry stuffed it in his pocket. "Mischief managed, Sir."

Snape curled his lip in disgust.

Ami eyed the Whomping Willow with a healthy amount of distrust. "Are you sure this is wise?" she asked.

"It's easy enough to get past, once you know how," said Harry. He swished and flicked his wand, pointing at a nearby pebble, then sent it flying to strike a certain knot on the tree. The tree paused its movements, and the four of them quickly made their way to the tunnel beneath its roots.

"I see why you warned me to wear my old robes," commented Ami. Harry, Hotaru and Snape all wore Muggle trousers, but Ami hadn't brought any that she felt like soiling by crawling around in the dirt. Luckily, the tunnel widened quickly enough, to the point that they could walk, rather than crawl. Harry flicked his wand again, illuminating the tip.

"It's about a mile to the other side," he said. "And there are some charms designed to keep certain creatures from coming through this tunnel."

"The Headmaster should have included charms to keep students from doing so as well," observed Snape.

"You know well why he couldn't," said Harry.

They walked the mile in silence after that, until they came to a ladder. Harry climbed up, pushing the trap door above his head open.

"Hello, Pup."

And nearly let go of the ladder when Sirius greeted him.

"Damn it, Padfoot! Scared the life out of me."

Sirius reached down and grabbed his arm, helping him up. "So where's Snivellus?"

Harry frowned. "Sirius, you promised to behave."

"Yes, I did." Sirius sighed. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted," said Snape with a sneer as he pulled himself out the trap door. Hotaru was immediately behind him, and smiled at Sirius.

"Hello again, Padfoot."

"Hotaru-chan! So good to see you again." He helped her up, then did the same for Ami. "And Mizuno-san." He glanced at Hotaru. "Is that correct?"

"Yes," said Hotaru with a smile.

"All right," said Sirius. He clapped his hands together. "I've put some of the furniture upstairs back in order, but I don't know how long my transfigurations will hold up; Moony did a pretty thorough job destroying them, back in the day. So let's head up, and you can tell me what's so important."

"Six of them?"

"The good news is, we got one," said Harry quickly. "The diary in my second year. And we're fairly certain that we know of two others. A cup, once owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and a locket, once owned by Salazar Slytherin."

"But that means he split his soul six times," said Sirius in disbelief. "He'd be completely insane if he did that."

"Hello," said Harry with a grin. "It's Voldemort we're discussing."

"Sorry," interrupted Ami. "But what is a horcrux?"

"It's about the vilest kind of magic I've ever heard of," said Sirius. "A wizard can fracture their soul, carve off a piece and bind it into some object. If they do that, then they cannot be killed. Even something that entirely destroys their body leaves them in a spirit form, and if they can re-form their body..." He shook his head. "That's what Voldemort did last summer."

Ami shuddered. "That is horrible. I mean...I can understand wanting to avoid death, but surely this cannot be worth it!"

"It's not," agreed Sirius. "With every fracture, the Wizard becomes more unstable, more twisted. Only the darkest of Wizards even try making a horcrux, and they normally only make one."

"You seem remarkably knowledgeable on this...vile magic," Snape commented quietly.

Sirius snorted. "I'm a Black. If the magic wasn't illegal, immoral or sadistic, my family didn't want to know about it."

"Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket," said Hotaru quietly. "And his own diary. Do you suppose he was after things associated with the school?"

"If so, he'll have to have made compromises," offered Sirius. "The only artifacts of Gryffindor that are known to exist are the Sorting Hat and the sword. And I think we can rule both of those out."

"Why can we rule them out?" asked Ami.

"The Sorting Hat has been worn by every student to pass through these halls since Tom Riddle," answered Snape. "A horcrux has a certain corrupting influence on anybody who comes near it. Certainly, someone would have noticed."

"As for the sword," continued Harry, "we know that basilisk venom destroys horcruxes. Well, the sword was exposed to basilisk venom, and it wasn't destroyed."

"Better than that," said Sirius. "If the sword was made of Goblin steel, as we've been told, it would have absorbed the basilisk venom into it. Meaning it's now a perfect horcrux hunting weapon."

"How do you know—"

"I used the sword to kill the basilisk," said Harry. "Some venom got onto it, because I stabbed the snake through the head. Then, when I stabbed the diary with the sword, there was still venom on the blade."

Ami considered this, then asked, "Do you currently have one of these horcruxes?"

"No," admitted Harry. "Not even the remains of the diary."

"If you can get one to me," said Ami, "I can try to isolate its magical signature. If I can do that, I can scan for the rest."

"That would speed things up," said Harry with a grin.

Hotaru pouted momentarily, then brightened suddenly. "I seem to be sensitive to dark magic. I can help search the castle. If there's one hidden here, I should be able to detect it."

Harry, however, was uncertain about this plan. "You're sensitive to dark magic, yeah," he admitted. "But it tends to cause you nightmares. Are you sure you want to risk that?"

She looked him squarely in the eyes—something she didn't often do. "Yes, I'm certain. If it will help you...if it will stop Voldemort..."

"All right," he said softly. "But let me know if it's too much. I don't want to see you hurt."

She took his hand between hers, and smiled. "I will. But...this is something that needs to be done."

"If we manage to locate any of them," Sirius remarked, "we'll bring them to Harry for destruction. It aligns with the prophecy, after all."

Harry blinked. "What prophecy?"

"You—" Sirius shook his head. "No, of course. Until you finished your Occlumency lessons...there was a prophecy made before you were born, pup. It said that you would be the one to defeat Voldemort."

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches," recited Snape. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not, and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." He paused. "I heard the prophecy as it was being given, though only the first two lines. I..." He looked down. "I told Voldemort what I'd heard. I had no idea that it meant you, Mr Potter."

Harry jumped to his feet, rage etched across his face. "So all this...it's because I—" He shook his head, then glared at Snape. "If you hadn't told him, my parents would still be alive!"

"I know," said Snape heavily.

Harry struggled to regain control, his hands shaking, his fists balled tightly. "I...I can't look at you right now," he hissed. He turned, and stalked towards the basement stairs.