And here's the twenty fourth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Clavyus, Harry is around thirteen physically at this point, and so, like any just-entered-teens boy, he's developing an interest in girls.
NobleHumanRocks, Mydisorder20, Charles Ceaser, zakripng, magitech, mizzrazz72, geekymom, raigalcc, DarkRavie, elvander72, , et-reader97, Lord Mortensen, ObsessedWithHPFanFic, lonewolf 83, jamnaz79, Ranmaleopard, JPElles, Zicou, PrometheusDark, goblin81, Pygmy Hippo, SilverExcel115, Nouriel, bearcas79, Driabwb, Guest, hellfire45, themadmartian, DarkFusi0n, Smokeing, thank you for your reviews, folks!
TheGreatBubbaJ, the removal with be handled in a rather boring way, actually. We've enough "Harry becomes a super-powered wizards thanks to the memories from the horcrux" stories as it is already. ;)
orion0905, perhaps - Harry did that without consulting with him or even informing him about his plans - but learning that a horcrux can be moved to a new 'host' will also allow him to preserve a certain priceless relic currently hidden deep within Hogwarts.
nkh1, heh. As for the snake... while the story is rated M, I'll try to keep the plot going without resorting to smut. Seriously, though, the basilisk will indeed make its appearance, but with a bit smarter Slytherin Harry and Dumbledore now actually accountable for what is going on in the castle the things won't go the same way they did in the book.
Jostanos, no, but I'm sure that it isn't a side-effect Harry would mind.
bigrobinho, yeah, it is quite annoying that a lot Slytherin!Harry stories portray him either as an evil overlord in training, a stoic or a jerkass.
Peregrine 2K, hopefully, I will be able to write something that isn't an utter disappointment.
Yami no fukushi no tenshi, heheh.
* AN: As always, great thanks to my friend Alayne Amaya for his help in polishing this chapter.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells
A Year Too Soon
Chapter XXIV: Dealings
Lucius Malfoy was sitting in his study, working his way through the day's worth of business correspondence and other documents that required his attention. To an outside observer he would appear as the very image of a powerful and confident pure-blood lord, but on the inside the things were a bit different. Just as his son had returned from his first year at Hogwarts, some very disturbing rumors have reached him.
Apparently, the Dark Lord had somehow cheated death on the night he attacked the Potters. And now he was active again, seeking a way restore himself to his former glory. And while some would be thrilled to have their Master return, Lucius wasn't one of them. Not anymore, at least. While he was still a firm believer in pure-blood superiority, the years of peace left him rather reluctant to put his Death Eater's mask back on. He was a powerful and well-connected Lord of the Noble House of Malfoy and not some disposable grunt, expected to die for the cause whenever it pleased his Master. He also hasn't forgotten the Dark Lord's penchant to punish his followers with the Cruciatus curse, no matter how small their failures might be. Or even curse them for no greater reason than having a bad day…
In other words, Lucius Malfoy wasn't especially eager to see the man return.
Thankfully for him, it looked like Dumbledore had managed to foil the Dark Lord's attempt to regain his body this time. Alas, according to that rumor, this was but a mere setback for the man and he would rise from the ashes sooner or later. And Lucius would rather it be later. Or never.
Of course, he couldn't aid those who sought to end the Dark Lord directly, but there had to be something he could do to secretly aid the final downfall of his former Master. And after thinking hard about this for awhile, he finally had an idea worth pursuing.
A couple of years before his downfall, the Dark Lord entrusted him with safeguarding an item of great importance. At a glance, this item looked like a normal leather-bound diary, but some Dark and powerful Magics dwelled deep within it. Back then Lucius didn't pay it much mind, but now he was quite sure that this diary had something to do with the Dark Lord's miraculous ability to cheat death.
Having made his mind up, Lucius made his way to the manor's dungeon and retrieved the diary from a secret safe he had installed there. The object still radiated that invisible aura of Dark power. Drawing his wand, the Lord Malfoy cast a few diagnostic spells in an attempt to determine the true nature of this artifact. The diary, however, was in no hurry to reveal its secrets.
This only further assured Lucius that his guess was spot on and this diary was responsible for the Dark Lord's 'survival' of that Halloween night. Now, the question was how to proceed from there…
Of course, he could hire goblin Curse-Breakers to deal with it, but something was telling him that the diary in front of him wasn't the only such artifact the Dark Lord had created. And the chances were, even a single such 'anchor' was enough to prevent the man from dying for real. He needed to pass this discovery to Dumbledore and others on the Light side without exposing himself as its source.
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Ever since the 'Daily Prophet' had spread the story of a curse placed on the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts all those years ago it had become increasingly difficult for Dumbledore to find a skilled teacher willing to take the position. And it was even worse than usual this time as Hogwarts managed to lose not one but two DADA Professors in a single academic year.
In fact, there was only one applicant for the job: Gilderoy Lockhart. According to the books the man himself had published, he had performed many incredible deeds of Magic - and a cursory check showed that at least someone did those things - the aged headmaster wasn't sure that he wanted the famous wizard on his school's staff. For one, Lockhart was quite narcissistic and giving someone like that power over children might not be the best of ideas.
And then there existed a number of inconsistencies when one tried to create a complete timeline of all of the man's adventures. Some things just didn't add up right. Dumbledore could chalk this up to a use of creative license in order to make stories more interesting for the readers, but it still made him wonder about the truthfulness of Lockhart's claims to have performed all those heroics he wrote about.
Which is why Albus was going to interview the man.
"Good afternoon." He greeted Madam Rosmerta as he stepped into 'The Three Broomsticks' pub. "I have Room Four booked for today." The witch nodded.
"Of course, Albus." She said as she gave him a key to the room. "Any refreshments?"
"A butterbeer for me for now." The Hogwarts' Headmaster replied. "I'll call you if I need something else." Madam Rosmerta nodded again and offered him a cool bottle of fresh butterbeer and a glass. Accepting them, Dumbledore headed to Room Four to wait for Lockhart..
The man arrived to the room some ten minutes later, dressed in eye-catching lilac robes. He was doing his best to project an aura of confidence in his knowledge and abilities, but Dumbledore could see nervousness behind this facade.
"Good afternoon, Gilderoy." The Hogwarts Headmaster greeted. "If you want some refreshments, don't be shy to order some from Ro-... Madam Rosmerta."
"Good afternoon, Professor." The blonde greeted back as he shook Albus's hand. "Maybe later?"
"Then, let us begin." Once the two of them got seated, Dumbledore said. "After I received your application for the post of the DADA Professor, I read through your books and I must say, Gilderoy, I'm very happy to see that you've grown into an outstanding wizard."
"T-Thank you, Professor!" Lockhart replied.
"Now." The elderly warlock continued. "I understand that the books you publish are adventure novels and I shouldn't expect an accurate description of Magic used from them, however in 'Wanderings with Werewolves' you claim to have cured lycanthropy. As far as I'm aware, it's incurable. Would you please explain what really happened there?" Gilderoy forcefully suppressed desire to swallow nervously. This was a question he'd rather not be asked. Still, he was no fool to rush into situations blindly - not anymore, at any rate - so he had prepared.
"Yes, lycanthropy can't be cured. What I did to the Wagga-Wagga Werewolf was weakening the Wolf and sealing it deep inside the Man. The bastard was left unable to transform or infect anyone anymore."
"That is still impressive." Dumbledore said. "And, it would be great if you could repeat your success with other werewolves who wish to live ordinary witches and wizards."
"I'm afraid, that is impossible." Lockhart replied. "The spell I used in my final fight with that monster was merely a trigger to activate a ritual - one that wasn't created by me and wasn't taught to me fully." He really didn't want to admit that he wasn't as heroic as he presented himself in the books, but being exposed as a complete fraud and losing what fame and money he already had was an even worse Fate… "Furthermore, in order for this ritual to work, the werewolf must have a recognized territory as his 'hunting grounds'. Severing the connection between the Wolf and his territory is what weakens it enough to be sealed." Thank Merlin he had gotten those details from the wizard who actually fought the Wagga-Wagga Werewolf before wiping his memories. "And, I was told that having a Wolf sealed so tightly and with no way to stretch its legs on the nights of full moon will quickly drive the man incurably and murderously insane."
"I see… This is really unfortunate." Dumbledore said after several long seconds of silence. "And here I was hoping that you would be able to free a certain young man I know from the curse of lycanthropy." This was followed by another, more awkward, pause. "Very Well." The Hogwarts Headmaster said finally. "And can you please tell me what Magic did you use when you banished The Bandon Banshee." Lockhart let out a small sigh before retelling the story he got from the witch (with a hairy chin) that actually did that, substituting himself in where appropriate, of course. Once again, he was thankful for his foresight to take a very detailed account of the event, before wiping the memories of the witch.
"...And so I made the banshee flee in fear for its life." Gilderoy finished the tale. "I certainly didn't do that with my smile, but it certainly helped that I was presenting a front of unwavering bravery." He said, while giving Dumbledore his patented smile.
"That was very educational." Albus commented. "You clearly have things you can teach to the younger generation of wizards and witches. But I also would like to see if your actual skill with a wand matches what your presentation of it in your books." The blond man swallowed nervously.
"Surely you don't mean I do the demonstration right here? Madam Rosmerta wouldn't approve of us scaring away her customers and trashing the room." He tried to wiggle his way out.
"You're certainly right." Dumbledore said. "Let us go to where you can safely demonstrate your skills then. Surely, the field next to the Shrieking Shack will suffice." Lockhart let out a small resigned sigh, but seeing as his only valid argument for not having an exhibition match against the former Chief Warlock was shot down, he was left with no recourse but to accept the 'challenge'.
Thankfully for him, he did have an ace up his sleeve and with the demonstration taking place outdoors, he now had time to actually use it. Back when he had just graduated from Hogwarts, he tried to modify the Glamour Charm to make him look perfect regardless of situation. It didn't quite work like wanted, but the resulting spell turned out to be an illusion that could conceal small movements he might make. In practice, it gave him an extra element of surprise by letting him pull his wand out of holster without the victim noticing anything. It was actually what allowed him to subdue and memory-wipe a few of the wizards and witches whose deeds he stole.
And he secretly applied this Charm to himself while Dumbledore wasn't paying attention to him as the two of them made their way to the Shrieking Shack.
"Do you find this place better suited for the demonstration of your skill with a wand, Gilderoy?" The Hogwarts Headmaster asked as he reached the field behind an abandoned shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The blond wizard nodded while quietly pulling his wand out of its holster, the illusion he had cast upon himself preventing the other man from seeing the subtle movements he was making. "Very well, let us begin then."
"Confundo!" Lockhart threw a quick Confundus Charm, hoping to disorient Dumbledore with it. The old warlock, however, was way more spry than his appearance suggested and had no problem dodging this attack. And he returned spellfire with a moderately-sized fireball. Gilderoy was still scared quite a bit by it as he knew his best Shielding Charm will not be able to withstand something like this. Dodging was his only option, but lack of actual combat experience didn't let him do it as gracefully as Dumbledore. Hell, he nearly fell on the dirt when he tripped over his feet. Quickly recovering, he sent another Confundus Charm, followed by an overpowered Charm to straighten one's clothes. Once again, the Hogwarts Headmaster simply dodged his attack.
"Expelliarmus! Glacius!" Albus returned fire. Gilderoy tried to shield himself and while that let him keep his wand, the disarming Charm shattered his shield with enough force to send him flying backwards. Which also prevented him from being frozen on spot as the Glacius Charm sailed harmlessly above his head. Hastily getting back on his feet, Lockhart returned fire with a Freezing Charm, followed by a Mobilicorpus spell and yet another Confundus Charm. None of which managed to hit their intended target. "Is there a reason you're using only OWL-level spells, Gilderoy?" Dumbledore asked while sending a bolt of lightning that the blond man barely avoided.
"Uhm… I'm supposed to teach inexperienced youth. I should show off my skills with what I'm planning to actually teach them." Lockhart replied while hoping that his voice doesn't somehow betray the fact that these OWL-level spells also were the best combat spells he could use.
"Indeed." The Hogwarts Headmaster agreed. "It would be rather pointless for me to evaluate the skills you will never get to teach to your students, Gilderoy." The blond wizard nodded vigorously. "And, while you seem to be a bit rusty when it comes to fighting other wizards, you do have a lot of experience in dealing with dangerous Magical Creatures and you did display a level of creativity that is most definitely needed when one is facing against the forces of Dark. I believe, this proves that you have what it takes to be a DADA teacher." Dumbledore said, causing Lockhart to let out a sigh of relief, thankfully concealed by his 'Glamour' Charm. "Refresh yourself if you need, Gilderoy, and meet me in my office in hour. I will have your contract ready by then."
"Thank you, Professor." The blond man replied with a bright smile on his face. "It's a great honor to be able to share my skill and my knowledge with the young wizards and witches of Great Britain."
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"You have requested my presence, Lord Malfoy?" Goyle Sr. asked once he shook Lucius's hand.
"Yes." The blond aristocrat replied as he led the other man to the privateness of his study. "There is something I want you to do for me."
"What is it?" Goyle Sr. asked with some measure of curiosity: it wasn't often that Lucius made such requests of him. And, more often than not, it meant that Lucius needed him to something illegal. "Whom do I need to beat this time around?" He was a bit surprised when Lord Malfoy shook his head.
"No, no, nothing like." The blond man said. "Today, I merely need you to help me get rid of one Dark artefact I had come in possession of some time ago. Unfortunately, I can't do so myself without attracting undue attention to myself, no this soon after Weasley had the Ministry people inspect my manor." He said while handing over a small silk back to Goyle Sr.
"I'm not sure I'm the best person for this job." The burly man said. "I can try burning it or something, but if you want this artefact of yours destroyed, you better hire yourself some proper curse-breaker."
"I don't want it destroyed. Not by you or I, at least." Lucius replied. "What I want you to do is to secretly deliver this object to the Ministry for Magic. It would be the best if you can find a way to get the Auror Office to deal with it, but the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts would do as well. You just have to ensure that it can't be traced back to us."
"That I can do." Goyle Sr. replied.
"Thank you. The Noble House of Malfoy will be in your debt for this." Lucius replied.
Evening saw Goyle Sr. sitting in the study of his own home, trying to come with a good way to complete the mission given to him by the Lord Malfoy. Unfortunately, no bright ideas came to him. And, well, stealthy missions like the one Lucius requested him to perform weren't one of his strengths. He was more of a charge straight ahead wands blazing type of a guy.
Taking a swig from a glass of firewhiskey, the wizard went back to thinking. Alas, even alcohol wasn't giving him much inspiration. He just couldn't see any way to sneak the cursed diary into the DMLE without getting caught. Damn Lord Malfoy and his impossible tasks!
Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. What if he got someone else to hand the diary over to the Ministry for him? But who would be his courier? He certainly didn't want to risk any of his men for something like this. Perhaps, he could get some mudblood - with all memories incriminating him Obliviated, of course - to deliver it to the DLME for him? Yeah, that sounded like a plan. A few moments later an even better idea popped into his head:
He could get that Dumbledore's asskisser Weasley to do that. Of course, as the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, Weasley would be regularly screened for memory-altering and compulsion Magic, so there was no Charming him into an unwitting delivery boy… But there was no actual need for that either. Weasley had like five kids from his brood still attending Hogwarts, so all that Goyle Sr. needed to do was secretly slip the diary into his kids' things while they are shopping for Hogwarts. Even better, since Weasley were so poor, they'd be buying a lot of things from the second-hand shops in Knockturn Alley. And that particular street wasn't known for being frequented by kind and polite crowds. No one would bat an eyelash if he bumped into them hard enough to spill their things all over the ground. And getting the diary mixed with those would be painfully easy.
Of course, there was a small risk that whichever little blood-traitor that finds the diary among their things will keep it instead of handing it over to their father, but, seriously, any Magical kid old enough to attend Hogwarts knew not to trust strange books. Especially ones producing as strong aura of Darkness as this cursed diary. No, even a Weasley kid wouldn't be stupid enough to keep this diary for themselves.
His plan finally made up, Goyle Sr. walked up to the fireplace in the corner of his study. He had a few orders to give to his men.
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Harry walked into Gringotts some twenty minutes before the noon on the last Monday of June. And even though it was a prime time for business, he didn't have to stand in line for long before it was his turn to talk to a teller. Well, he didn't anything more than a greeting to the goblin and just handed him an official letter the Gringotts sent him a couple of days ago. He quickly read through this letter, before summoning one of the many "errand boy" goblins that hung around the hall.
"Escort Mr. Potter to Ritual Chamber Five, Rustknife." The teller commanded in Gobbledegook while writing something in a registry book he had on his counter. The younger goblin gave a quick but polite nod before turning his attention to Harry.
"Please follow me, Mr. Potter." He said. "Master Steelhorn and his team are waiting for you." Once the green-eyed wizard gave him a nod, the errand-goblin guided Harry out of Gringotts' atrium. A not-so-quick walk through a virtual labyrinth of corridors and stairs later, they arrived to the hall of ritual chambers. Unlike the previous time he was there, however, Harry wasn't led to one of the smaller rooms. Ritual Chamber Five was a huge - though still barren - room, lit by those same everlasting Magical torches that burned with cold blue flames.
The floor of this chamber was covered by a huge and incredibly-complex runic array, seeing which immediately made it clear why the horcrux-removal ritual was so expensive and had to be booked many days in advance. Preparing something like this would take a lot of time even with multiple people - or, in this case, goblins - working on it.
And, speaking of the goblins who had drawn this impressive runic array. There were seven of them, all wearing identical dragonhide armors with Gringotts' emblem and having various curse-breaking tools on their persons.
"Mr. Potter, I presume?" The leader of this group asked as took a step towards the green-eyed wizard. "I'm Master Curse-Breaker Steelhorn. The horcrux-removal ritual you've requested is prepared and can be performed as soon as you are ready."
"It's a pleasure to do business with you, Master Steelhorn." Harry replied with a nod. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he added: "Let's begin the ritual."
"Very well." Steelhorn said. "Please take off any and all enchanted items you have on your person and lay down in the center of the array." Once the green-eyed youth did that, the goblin walked up to him and painted some rune in the dead center of his forehead. Then he retreated out of Heir Potter's sight and the chamber was filled with rather-ominous chanting in Gobbledegook. It made Harry's vision blur and soon he his consciousness faded away.
When Harry woke up, the ritual was already over - though, apparently no one thought that it might be a good idea to move him to somewhere nicer than cold and hard stone floor of the chamber. Or, more likely, no one cared. He also felt quite strange, like something that had been weighing on him constantly for years had suddenly vanished.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter." Master Curse-Breaker Steelhorn said as he walked into Harry's field of view. "We were successful in removing the horcrux from your head. It has been transferred to a temporary container." He said, while gesturing towards an enchanted cage containing a rat that had a particularly-murderous gleam in its beady red eyes.
"T-Thank you." The young Potter said.
"Would you like to destroy this abomination personally?" Steelhorn asked then, baring his sharp teeth in a bloodthirsty grin. Harry paused to think about it. After a few longs seconds he nodded. As he did that, one of the yet-unnamed goblin Curse-Breakers used some weird Goblin Magic to paralyze the rat while another approached Harry and offered him a sheathed dagger. "A warrior's choice, Mr. Potter." Stellhorn said approvingly. "Now take the dagger and kill the rat the horcrux has been transferred into. Be careful, though, the blade is infused with basilisk venom - an extremely potent venom that is one of the few known means to destroy a horcrux. Even the slightest of cuts will be fatal to you." Swallowing nervously, the Potter Heir took the offered weapon and walked up to the cage with the horcrux-possessed rat.
Drawing the dagger from its sheath, the green-eyed youth admired the silvery blade for a few moments, before raising above the immobilized rodent. Taking another deep breath, he stabbed the dagger into the rat. For a moment or two nothing happened. Then, without a warning, a soul-chilling scream filled the chamber as a ethereal black smoke vaguely shaped like a human head rose from the body of the now-dead creature.
"Nicely done, Mr. Potter." Steelhorn said as Harry re-sheathed the dagger and returned it to its owner. There was a short pause, before he continued: "Now, before we part our ways today, there is one thing that I would like to discuss with you in regards to the horcrux you've just destroyed."
"What is it?" The young Potter asked.
"I will agree with the assessment of Senior Curse-Breaker Grimlance that this horcrux almost definitely belonged to the Britain's most recent Dark Lord, Voldemort. However, my own research indicates that said Dark Lord didn't intend for you - or anything else for that matter - to become a horcrux on the Halloween night of nineteen eighty one. Now, normally, creation of a horcrux requires a special ritual to split one's soul into two pieces. For one's soul to spontaneously break apart… The best explanation for this that I can come up with is that the Dark Lord's soul had already been fractured multiple times at that point." Steelhorn made a short pause here, before dropping a proverbial bomb: "It is very likely that the Dark Lord Voldemort has created multiple horcruxes before his fall at Godric's Hollow."
While Harry already knew that Voldemort was still around in some form thanks to the horcrux he had had in his forehead, the knowledge that it wasn't the only such abomination anchoring that monster to the world of living hit him like a truck.
"C-Can they be found and destroyed?" He asked in a shaking voice.
"Certainly, but it will be an extremely time-consuming task." Steelhorn replied. "While a proper horcrux can be detected by the Magic it releases at short ranges, any physical item can be - in theory - turned into a horcrux. And since the other horcruxes created by the Dark Lord were made intentionally, they are likely well-hidden as well." Harry definitely wasn't happy to hear that, but he could also understand that it would require a tremendous amount of effort to locate a few tiny objects hidden across the entire world. "I've brought the possibility of horcruxes being hidden within the walls of Gringotts with Director Ragnok." Steelhorn continued. "He said that the Goblin Nation can't spare the resources to inspect the contents of every single vault, but he is willing to order all artefacts deposited to vaults or retrieved from them checked."
"Please pass my thanks to him for this." Harry said after a long pause.
"Of course, Mr. Potter." The Goblin Curse-Breaker replied. "But, please, don't misunderstand. Gringotts is not doing this for you or anything other than it's own profit. It just happens so that the Dark Lords terrorizing country is bad for the Goblin Nation's business." The green-eyed wizard nodded in response. "Now then, our business here is concluded." Steelhorn continued. "Rustknife will escort you back to the main lobby." The said errand-goblin stepped out of the dark corner.
The reveal that Voldemort had likely created multiple horcruxes to keep his soul anchored to world of the living hit Harry pretty hard and it took him some time to get over it. Once that happened, though, the young Potter was eager to see what actual effects the removal of the horcrux from his head had on him.
Said effects were actually pretty small, aside from the incredible sense of relief he got from knowing that he was now free of that abomination. He was still the same Harry James Potter he was used to being, and even his Magic didn't feel any different than before. About the only actual change he could notice was the weakening of his ability to speak the language of serpents. He certainly didn't lose his Parseltongue, but it looked like he'll have to relearn how to use it at will. But it was alright with him.
And now that his horcrux problem was a thing of the past, it was the time for him to finally finish his summer homework and have some fun with his friends..
That's all, folks!
Read and review.