The ritual had gone wrong. The goblins weren't telling her why, or maybe the goblin healers didn't know why.
What Narcissa Malfoy did know was that Lucius had gotten a note before lunch that the goblins could perform his Dark Mark removal as soon as he arrived at Gringotts. The note included a goblin portkey.
The portkey had deposited Lucius, Draco, and her into a stone lined room. The door opened immediately and they were ushered into the goblin infirmary where they were told the ritual was a long and difficult one that couldn't be interrupted once started. Lucius appeared stoic as he followed the healers out of the waiting area but Narcissa knew he was worried and more than a bit frightened. The Dark Mark had been part of him since before graduating Hogwarts. He had committed murder to earn it.
All marked with the slave mark had committed murder or worse. The differences were who the victims had been. Severus had killed a muggle who had kidnapped and raped a young magical girl in his old neighborhood. The girl in question was a muggleborn and the family had few resources. The magical authorities had done nothing to bring the man to justice and had healed the girl physically, destroying all evidence of the crime. The DMLE had offered no other help. Severus had ended up obliviating her memories of the attack to stop the night terrors. He had also 'recommended' to her parents that they emigrate to America. He didn't know if they had. Only that the girl never attended Hogwarts.
Severus had covered his tracks well on the muggle side, making the death look like an accident. He hadn't shared what the muggle's crimes were to anyone until much later and then just to Lucius and Narcissa. All Riddle ever saw was the pensieve memory of the act itself. Riddle never bothered to ask who the victim was or why he was chosen.
Lucius' targets were two panhandlers in Knockturn Alley. The pair had been threatening and robbing youngsters who had gone into the sleazy part of magical London on a lark. The DMLE had turned a blind eye to what was happening. When the pair's crimes devolved into kidnapping and murder, and the DMLE still did nothing, Lucius took them out with the cold calculated efficiency that marked both the Malfoys and the Blacks, shredding their minds and pulling out memories of all their crimes to send to the DMLE.
Later, much later, he told Narcissa that the panhandlers would have been perfect recruits for Riddle's growing army of psychopaths except for being muggleborn and he doubted that part would have actually mattered to Riddle. Lucius didn't regret what he'd done. They'd been targeting children. And if the DMLE refused to take out the trash, well, someone had to.
Narcissa and Draco waited in a side alcove, watching goblin healers in light green robes hurrying past on mysterious errands. No one paid attention to the two humans. Then, near the end of allotted hour, Narcissa heard the crack of wards being broken and then screams. She pulled Draco tight as healers and goblins in cursebreaker robes ran down the hall.
Then, finally, a healer came to escort them to where Lucius had been taken to. The healer refused to answer her questions.
She and Draco were led to a small private room with a human sized bed, a side table and two human sized chairs. One of the chairs held Lucius' neatly folded clothes. His wand was on the side table along with his Head of House ring. Narcissa stepped closer to the figure on the bed. She recognized her husband, but he looked as though he'd aged a hundred years. His eyes were closed but but the rise and fall of his chest indicated he still lived.
"What happened?" Narcissa demanded. The healer shook his head and left the room.
Narcissa wasn't sure how long she sat, holding her husband's hand as he lay unconscious.
One of the healers came back to check on him periodically. "His core has been destabilized and severely weakened. His life force has been terribly drained. We cannot use potions on him until his core stabilizes," the healer told her.
Finally he opened his eyes.
"What happened?" Narcissa asked softly.
"Riddle happened," Lucius said. His voice was weak. "They were almost done with the ritual when I felt the slave mark activate, pulling on my magic and my life force. I believe the curse breaker who was trying to remove the mark and the final curses was killed. Don't know about the others."
"Father, how do we fix this?" Draco asked. It was obvious that he was fighting tears. "Somebody must know how to fix this."
"There is no fixing this," Lucius said. "Riddle's last act was to kill his slaves by stealing their magic and life force. I was almost free. He didn't take my soul."
"What do we do?" Narcissa asked. "We can't let anyone know what has happened to you."
"You declare me dead. I'm sure the goblins will assist. You become Draco's regent. Keep Severus as close as appears proper. He is Draco's oath sworn godfather."
"Father? I don't understand. What happened?"
"Remember we were told yesterday that the goblins were close to finding Tom Riddle?" Lucius asked.
Draco nodded.
"I think they found him and ended him. I wasn't completely free before it happened."
Narcissa opened the door and asked the nearest goblin if someone would locate Severus Snape.
Severus followed Ironmace to a door off a side hall. Inside Severus found Narcissa and Draco. Draco was crying. On the bed was an ancient looking man who, Severus realized with a shock, was Lucius.
"Riddle is truly dead," Lucius said with apparent difficulty. "He did this deliberately before his end. I felt his malevolence as he sucked my magic out of me. He was furious he couldn't reach you. He was trying to grab onto other magicals to drain them. He was trying to reach Draco and Narcissa to kill them through me."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I want to go home," Lucius said. "And I don't want anyone to see me like this. I'd rather people believe me dead. Narcissa has my instructions. The Ministry will be in chaos. I doubt Fudge will clean out the rest of the blood purists and wannabe Death Eaters, so you and Narcissa need to follow up on forcing that. I was thinking a magical oath for all ministry staff to uphold the equality of all wixen."
Severus frowned. All wixen? Severus wasn't aware Lucius even knew the term. It was a muggleborn invention.
Lucius chuckled. "My mind is clearer than it has ever been. Fudge is corrupt. Bribe him to get what is needed, then discard him if he won't take an oath on his magic. There's more than enough evidence against him in my office.
"Hogwarts needs to be protected. The board only just got started on fixing the messes Dumbledore created. We can't allow it to go backwards. The British Education Department needs to be allowed to implement its new programs. Fudge and Umbridge will try to stop them. Don't let them." Lucius' voice was getting even weaker. His eyes closed.
"Fudge cornered me earlier and demanded to know what Lucius was thinking when he sent a note to Fudge last night about clearing out the pure-blood supremacists. I told him about the Dark Mark being a slave mark," Severus said to Narcissa, keeping his voice low. "I also told him that if Lucius Malfoy said there were pure-blood supremacists in the ministry that needed to be out, he should do it."
"We need to frame Lucius' death to be the result of a heroic battle against the Dark Lord," Narcissa said. "We need to take control of the narrative."
"Let's take Lucius home," Severus suggested. "Then I can notify the Ministry of his heroic death and make a call on Miss Skeeter. Petunia put the fear of Morrigan into her earlier so she should be reasonably pliable for a while."
Narcissa raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow at him. Severus knew he was going to have to explain to Narcissa what Petunia had discovered about Skeeter at some point. Then she opened the door and asked for the Malfoy account manager, Fradrast. On arrival to the small room, the goblin glanced at Lucius then picked up the Malfoy Head of House ring in a piece of silk. "This will go into the Malfoy master vault until the heir can claim it. The former Head of House Malfoy no longer has the magic to hold it."
"Will you support our claim that my husband died heroically fighting the Dark Lord's curses?" Narcissa asked.
"No Gringotts employee will refute your statement," Fradrast said. He handed her a silver ring box. She opened it and saw a silver signet ring with the Malfoy arms. She put it on and it momentarily flashed green.
"As mother and guardian of an underage presumptive Head of House, you become regent and have all the rights and privileges of that position until the heir claims it. Gringotts does take on the responsibility of safeguarding the estate against 'errors of judgment' on the part of the regent. However, that still allows you a large amount of leeway in regards to expenditures." He gave her a toothy grin. "I will have a key made for your agent."
"Thank you. We will choke our enemies with gold, then take it back with blood and interest," Narcissa said, her smile making her look very goblin-like.
Narcissa and Severus dressed Lucius in his own clothes. A stasis spell and levicorpus allowed them to float Lucius' apparently dead body out of the hospital room and up to the public floo. People in the teller lines turned and gawked at them. Severus knew that some of them recognized him and possibly Narcissa as whispers began to whirl around them. Narcissa laid a hand on the body and at least a few observers seemed to make the connection that the body was that of Lucius Malfoy. Lucius hadn't wanted to be seen as a wizened shell of a man, but a dead body in that state would publicly show how vicious Riddle had been to his own followers.
More whispers as Fradrast hurried over to Severus and handed him a vault key. "You have access to the usual amounts of 'inducements'." The goblin had a positively vicious grin on his face. Severus knew that goblins didn't take bribes. Anything that compromised their ability to safely and profitably husband the assets in their care or impugned the bank's integrity was utterly forbidden and any goblin found doing so risked his own death and the wiping out of his clan – the adults killed and younglings sold to other clans. However, they had no such qualms regarding wizards. An honest politician was one who, once bought, stayed bought. There were questions as to whether or not Fudge was an 'honest' politician.
Narcissa called out their destination and they walked into the green heatless fire and into Malfoy Manor.
"Elves, to me!" Narcissa called. The Malfoy elves popped in. All but one were neatly dressed in smocks with the Malfoy crest. The odd one, Severus knew, was called Dobby. More than once Lucius had complained that particular elf was as mad as a muggle hatter but essentially harmless. Even the other elves seemed to think Dobby was odd. Luckily his job was taking care of Narcissa's rose garden so he wasn't in the house all that often.
Dobby took a long look at Lucius then stepped forward. "Old master has no magic. Who took old master's magic?"
"The Dark Lord," Draco answered.
"Is nasty Dark Lord dead for stealing old master's magic?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Take old master and put him, gently, to bed in the room next to Draco's," Narcissa ordered. "When he awakes, feed him chocolate and easy to digest food. No potions. Tell no one that old master is in this house."
"Who should be taking care of old master?" Winken, the head elf, asked.
"Dobby can take care of old master," Dobby said.
Winken sniffed at him then snapped his fingers to clean the garden grime off the other elf. "Only respectable elves should take care of old master."
Dobby hung his head, then conjured his own clothes to match the others. "Dobby can be respectable elf."
Winken nodded and Dobby ever so gently levitated Lucius to his new room.
"How badly damaged is old master's magical core?" Narcissa asked.
"Old master is not a muggle," Winken stated. "But old master is almost a muggle."
"Will that affect the bonding?"
"The house's magic and mistress can support the house's elves until young master is strong enough to take the bond," the old elf stated.
Severus turned to Narcissa. "You have a funeral to arrange while I need to deal with the Ministry."
"Bring me the papers old master was working on earlier," she ordered one of the elves.
A sheaf of parchments appeared in her hand and she handed them to Severus. "What my husband was working on before this." She waved a hand toward the fireplace and its bowl of floo powder. "Give my regards to the minister."
Severus flooed into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic and handed over his wand as required. As a teacher he'd rarely had cause to enter the ministry building. He considered that in his new role he might need to get nicer robes than the ones he currently had.
Head Auror, Rufus Scrimgeour was waiting by the elevator. "What the hell happened?" Scrimgeour demanded.
"I should ask what the hell you're blathering about but I suspect I know. Malfoy is dead and I'm assuming from the circumstances of his death, all the marked death eaters preceded him," Severus said.
"Except for you," Scrimgeour growled.
Severus pulled up the left sleeve of his robe to expose the newly scarred skin. "I became the one and only living ex-death eater yesterday afternoon."
"Have you any idea how many families have called in about dead family members? How many have lost their head of house?" Scrimgeour hissed.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Severus stated. "And every one of them not in Azkaban paid their way out of convictions that should have had them kissed but for Dumbledore's insistence that we should all believe that kneazels can stop chasing birds if we ask nicely and wasn't it so nice they helped the orphans they made." Severus didn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"Like you?"
"As you wish. But I was pardoned and you have no cause to suspect me of any crime other than being a lousy teacher. To that I plead guilty with extenuating circumstances. Now, I am here to fulfill one of Mister Malfoy's last wishes and that requires seeing Minister Fudge. You are welcome to accompany me."
Severus entered the lift. Scrimgeour followed him and selected the DMLE's floor.
"I think we should see Madame Bones first."
Severus nodded. Bringing Amelia Bones in on this was a good idea. Probably better than his own first impulse which had been to confront Fudge directly. Not that he'd ever tell Scrimgeour that.
"So, Malfoy was the last to die?" Scrimgeour asked.
"As far as I know. He fought Riddle's attack. Before he finally succumbed to his core being shredded he said Riddle had been trying to steal the magic from as many other wizards as he could reach out to. Not just his slaves but their families. I doubt the rest of Riddle's slaves even realized they were under attack. There may be more bodies that haven't been reported."
"Ten aurors dropped dead at their desks. We thought we had protocols to prevent them from joining the department. Do you know who killed He Who Must Not Be Named?"
"His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle and he was a half-blood," Severus corrected. "No, I don't who killed him but I'm buying whoever it was the oldest bottle of Ogden's Finest I can find. And I do hope the ICW can see fit to award the Order of Merlin to goblins if it turns out they were involved in the final destruction of Riddle."
"Were the goblins involved?"
"The Potter Investigation started at Gringotts and revealed a lot of things Dumbledore didn't want known about Riddle including the fact that Riddle made soul anchors and hid some of them in Gringotts and at Hogwarts. The Goblin Nation declared Riddle an enemy of the Nation. I'm sure they properly notified the Ministry and the ICW of their legal and righteous actions in hunting down and destroying the abominations he created and their intent to hunt down and execute Riddle for his crimes against them and his crimes against Magic."
Scrimgeour swore as the lift doors opened. Severus followed Scrimgeour to Amelia Bones' office.
Madame Bones was waiting for them. Bones was a stern looking woman wearing a monocle. Severus speculated it was charmed to detect magic.
"Every single Death Eater, including the ones in Azkaban, is dead," Bones began without preamble. "Care to explain?"
"I take it Minister Fudge did not bother to share the information I gave him about the slave mark after he accosted me in Diagon Alley earlier today."
"Slave mark?"
Severus gave them a brief summary of what he'd told Fudge.
"So when Riddle died, he took all his followers with him?" Scrimgeour clarified.
"Only the marked ones, and possibly their families," Severus corrected. "I stopped being marked yesterday." He showed the scar on his left arm again. "The removal required three goblin curse breakers and two parselmagic wizards from overseas. I believe the ritual is one they hope never to have to perform again."
"And Riddle killed Malfoy as well?"
"Malfoy was the last one to die. He knew that he bore a slave mark and he knew everything it meant. He fought against it, and Riddle, to save his family and his world."
"You sound like you're putting him up for an Order of Merlin," Bones commented.
"Considering how many have received it and not deserved it, and how many have deserved it and not received it… I won't say that Lucius reformed, but that he realized that to save his family, Riddle had to be stopped before the mad man burned the whole world down. And Riddle planned to burn the world. Literally."
"And your business with Fudge?"
"Carrying out Mister Malfoy's last wishes." He reached into his robe and carefully pulled out the parchments Narcissa had given him. He sorted though them, hiding his astonishment at the copies of several ledger sheets.
He handed the sheets to Madame Bones. "Mister Malfoy's accounting of 'incentives' paid to ministry officials and employees over the past several years. Names, amounts, and dates."
She looked over the sheets. "This could be faked."
Severus shrugged. "You have the ability and authority to check."
"You wouldn't be here to give this to Fudge."
"No. My first instinct was to use this as blackmail to bring these people in line with Lucius' wishes. However, I believe his wishes will be better served by people like you cleaning house in the Ministry."
"And exactly what were his wishes?" Bones asked.
"To allow British Education Department to continue implementing its reforms and to require magical oaths of office for all officials and employees. Oaths that would require upholding equality for all wixen and preserving, defending, and protecting Magical Britain and Britain as a whole. Overhauling the education system is just the start of righting many wrongs." He handed her a hand written note.
"A rough draft, I'm sure," he added.
"Why would Malfoy want this?" Scrimgeour asked.
"Because in a moment of clarity, he realized that all magicals are rare and precious no matter who their parents are and despite what the Ministry says, all magicals are descended from magicals. Squibs may not be able to use wands but they are still magical.
"He also realized that Hogwarts under Dumbledore taught every single student that muggles and squibs are vicious, brutish, unintelligent, and murderously dangerous. Even the muggleborn are brainwashed to believe they are vastly superior to anyone who can't wave a wand. But who is to blame if a muggle sees magic because a magical is too lazy or self centered to care if they're seen? Who is to blame if a muggle is cursed because they can't defend themselves? When does a magical ever get more than a slap on the wrist for knowingly violating the Statute of Secrecy? Children get punished if they're muggleborn or half-blood, but pure-bloods? I've never seen it happen. And since I know for a fact that obliviation can damage wand users, I dare anyone prove it doesn't damage muggles and squibs."
"Sounds like you had a moment of clarity, too" Scrimgeour commented dryly.
"For the first time in twenty years I'm free of mind warping compulsions," Severus admitted. "I'm still fighting the insidious lies I was taught at school and passed on to more innocents. But maybe getting government employees to respect the rights of all magicals, not just pure-bloods, and understanding that magicals need to be held accountable for their actions especially around muggles, might be a step in the right direction."
He wasn't sure what had caused him to go on a tirade. Except he remembered a first year Lily Evans protesting the unfairness. That no one cared if Severus or his mother did magic in their own home but she was threatened with expulsion and having her wand broken if she did. And muggles were punished with mind wipes for just seeing an idiot do magic in front of them, and the idiot was let off scot-free to do it again and again.
"Getting pay raises for those employees might help them not need to be on the take and beholden to pure-blood extremists," Bones stated, breaking his train of thought.
"Very true," Severus agreed. "But reforming the tax code is way above my pay grade."
"Why don't we get a lawyer to come up with a good oath," Bones suggested. "Don't want loop holes or using bad laws as an excuse to not do the job or do it backwards. Maybe a muggleborn lawyer," Bones added with a wry grin.
"Maybe look at additional oaths for the unspeakables as well," Severus suggested. "There are strong suspicions there are those who have been publishing research that doesn't actually exist or has been falsified to support the researchers' personal agendas."
At that moment Fudge burst into the office closely followed by an eye-searing pink clad Dolores Umbridge. Outside the open door, several aurors had entered the outer office to watch and listen.
"What did you do?" Fudge yelled. "They're all dead! The Wizengamot is in shambles. We don't even have enough for a quorum!"
"You were told that Riddle would kill his slaves," Severus stated. "It's not my fault you chose not to believe me."
"I checked with the unspeakables and I was assured the mark didn't work that way," Fudge spat.
"And is Cicero Trimbult still alive?" Severus asked.
"Trimbult… how?" Fudge sputtered.
"Karkaroff didn't know everyone," Severus said.
"You're still alive!" Umbridge screeched.
"As are you."
"I am not a monster!"
"Will you swear to that on your magic?" Bones asked. She said it lightly, like a joke, but Severus suspected she wasn't joking.
"I will not!"
"Then you must be a monster since you cannot swear you're not," Bones said.
"Make him swear!" Umbridge screamed, pointing her wand at Severus.
"He doesn't have a wand," Bones stated.
"Make him swear!" Umbridge screamed again. Her wand started to spark as she started a spell. "Ava…"
Umbridge dropped like a rock as a red bolt struck her in the back. Scrimgeour took the wand from her hand and cast a body bind on her.
"A stunner," the auror closest to Umbridge explained. "Didn't want her to finish that spell."
"Good call, Dawlish. Stick her in a holding cell and have her searched," Scrimgeour ordered. "Ask a house elf to do it. Maybe Mindy? I'm told she's Umbridge's favorite."
Dawlish snickered and levitated a bound Umbridge away.
"You can't do that!" Fudge sputtered.
"Your toad pulled a wand in my office and started to cast an unforgivable in front of witnesses. Inside the DMLE!" Bones spat back. She waved to the still open door and the aurors standing watching.
"Who didn't recognize the spell she was starting to cast?" she called out to the aurors. Not a single one raised their hand.
"Charges, Boss?" one called out to Scrimgeour.
"Attempted murder, attempted casting of an unforgivable," Scrimgeour answered. "Whatever else you bright people can come up with that actually applies."
"And the assumed target?"
Scrimgeour paused and made a show of studying the placement of the people in the office. Severus realized that Umbridge could well have been aiming for either Bones or him or Scrimgeour.
"Madame Bones," Scrimgeour said finally. "And pass it along that Mister Snape no longer has the Dark Mark and it was removed yesterday with great pain and difficulty. Now, will someone close the door?"
The door was dutifully closed and the silencing ward activated.
Bones turned to Fudge. "Now, sir, we will discuss Mister Malfoy's final wishes and your final orders from him."
Fudge paled.
"Are you sure you want me here?" Scrimgeour asked. Bones made two copies of the documents Severus had given her. She handed one copy to Scrimgeour.
"I don't see my name here, or yours," Bones said. "So either we're both relatively honest or very good at covering our tracks. I would prefer to think you're honest. You can prove it by clearing the remaining bad eggs out of your department."
"Can I start with a warning until we have a proper service oath?" Scrimgeour asked.
"I don't see why not," Bones said. "Maybe the deaths of Riddle's marked followers will scare them into behaving like law abiding law enforcement officers."
Petunia finished getting the old books out of the Evans vault. Grimaxe had seemed 'jittery', as though something had happened in the building that had him and the other goblins extremely worried. She didn't ask about it knowing Grimaxe wouldn't tell her anything unless it pertained to her and her accounts directly.
She and the boys were crossing the Gringotts teller floor when she saw Narcissa, Draco, and Severus accompanying what looked to be a body through the floo. She heard bits of conversation swirling around with speculation that the body belonged to Lucius Malfoy. But Lucius was close to her age and the body looked to be of a very old man.
"A spell gone bad?" Harry murmured.
"Or Riddle's dead and Lucius was here when it happened," Petunia suggested, keeping her voice low. "I think we need to get home."
Neither boy objected when she hurried them out of the building so they could portkey home.
William (Bill) Weasley, junior grade curse breaker, was working on his report on the soul anchor hunt and the final disposition of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, former Dark Lord and embodied wraith.
The soul anchor hunt was fairly standard, assuming any such hunts were standard, but goblins had long memories regarding very old magic. Long before the sidhe abandoned the goblins to their fate, goblins had been the ones assigned the task to hunt down and destroy mortal wizards who had the audacity to split their souls in the quest for immortality.
Master Curse Breaker Alluk had been the one called to trap the soul fragment found in Harry Potter's curse scar. Then it had been a matter of determining how many soul anchors had been made and locating them.
The first one found was the Hufflepuff Cup. That had been in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts. Riddle may have been good at charms and warding but Alluk and his team were true masters at breaking wards and curses. It was the discovery that such a vile object had been placed in a Gringotts' vault that earned him the 'Enemy of the Goblin Nation' title and all that went with it. The Lestranges were also on the list but they had been in Azkaban.
Malfoy himself had given up the cursed diary when the goblins approached him about it. Apparently he hadn't realized it had held part of Riddle's broken soul.
A ring with a stone marked with the Peverelle sigil was found in the old Gaunt shack. Even with the ring secured, the shack stank of evil. They destroyed the shack by fiendfyre. The hole where the shack had been was a good ten feet deep. The locals were told it was a gas main explosion.
Slytherin's Locket was found at 12 Grimmauld Place owned by Sirius Black. Black had to be brought in to allow the curse breakers into the house. As it turned out, the house elf Kreacher had been trying to destroy the locket for years and had failed. The elf appeared quite mad and it was uncertain if getting the cursed locket out of the house would help him regain his senses. Bill hoped Black could see his way to getting the elf some help.
Ravenclaw's Diadem had been found at Hogwarts along with about a thousand years worth of lost artifacts and just plain garbage. The appraisers still had weeks of sorting ahead of them.
After much discussion among Gringotts' senior curse breakers it was decided to attempt to save the artifacts by removing the soul fragments from them. It was a truly ancient ritual taking hours of preparation. The actual rite took thirty minutes. The artifacts would remain in goblin custody until the goblins were certain the ancient magic hadn't been tainted.
Then the fragments and the diary were destroyed by dragon fire.
Finding the wraith that had been Tom Marvolo Riddle had been a little more difficult than finding his soul pieces but they knew Riddle's soul signature from the pieces he'd broken off and followed it. Bill hadn't realized how efficient goblins could be at hunting wraith. The gnomes of Zurich lent people for the hunt. The gnomes also had access to ancient magics and apparently Riddle's slaves had placed cursed objects in their vaults has well, although none as vile as the ones Riddle had made personally.
Riddle's wraith was finally found in Egypt, in the body of Ivan Podgorny, a seventh year Durmstrang student. A team of ICW aurors joined the goblins and gnomes in the capture. Two of the aurors died.
The Goblin Nation had an agreement with the 'guardians' of the veil in the wizards' Department of Mysteries that granted free and unfettered access to the Veil Between Worlds for the disposal of extraordinarily dangerous items. The 'disposal team' rarely told the DoM wizards what they were disposing of and didn't this time.
Bill Weasley was the only wizard present for this ritual at the veil. It was an exceedingly rare honor for a human.
He observed the 'glitch' that occurred when the master curse breakers tried forcing the bound Podgorny through the veil. There had been a pause as though the wraith possessing the boy had been able to muster resistance to the effects of the otherworldly artifact despite wearing magic suppression cuffs. Then, finally, he fell into the veil and disappeared forever. Tom Marvolo Riddle was utterly and irrevocably gone from this world taking Ivan Podgorny with him and, as it turned out, every marked Death Eater.
Bill knew his report would never be read outside of the elders of the Goblin Nation and future scholars. The Ministry of Magic would get a heavily redacted version of the report. He knew, and wholeheartedly agreed, that he should not communicate about these events to anyone who hadn't been present. A compulsion cast using parselmagic ensured it.
Bill hand carried his report to Alluk's office.
The old goblin looked it over and placed the sheet in the pile of parchments already on the low table in front of him. Alluk gestured for him to sit. Bill folded himself to sit on one of the moss-filled floor pillows that goblins preferred in the non-public areas that very few humans ever saw.
"Your schedule has you at Hogwarts tomorrow, assuming Mister Potter is available to open Slytherin's locks?"
"Yes, Master Alluk."
"You have been apprised of our belief that Slytherin left a basilisk to guard the castle?"
"From my reading on the creatures, shouldn't it be dead by now?"
"Salazar Slytherin was very powerful and very clever for a wizard," Alluk stated. "Less than fifty years ago, the wizards claimed an acromantula petrified a girl to death at Hogwarts."
"Acromantulas don't have the ability to petrify," Bill protested.
"Exactly."
Petunia had decided the 'guest' bedroom would become a library. She had bookshelves with solid doors on order that were to be delivered in a few days. Marge's old bed would be gone and replaced by a convertible futon sofa for the rare overnight guest. The old dresser would be used for storing tools and materials.
Currently she had all the books she selected from the Evans vault, and all the newly purchased books on potions and runes from Flourish & Blotts, on the bed. Harry had looked up the duplication charm and after much practice had duplicated each of the Evans books twice, one each for Harry and Dudley. He also duplicated Petunia's old potions and runes books. She had considered having him duplicate Lily's old text books until she realized that her old books were more complete.
The fact that Dudley had exhibited parselmouth ability gave Petunia hope that his core wasn't inert. The old cursed Petunia would never have hoped that her son had any magic at all. Now she was hoping he had least some magic. She didn't want Dumbledore to win at destroying her family's magic.
She made a mental note to order a sturdy work table for the room and safety glasses for both the boys. Carving created chips. They would also need pens in different colors and notebooks for practice.
Paper was so much less expensive than parchment and pens easier to use than quills.
Harry was already eyeing the books he wanted to take to his room. 'Practical Runes' and 'A Parsel Primer'. Her father had claimed that the original primer had been written by Salazar Slytherin himself for his children.
Those with parselmouth could automatically translate spoken Parsel into their native language and back and most did it without even realizing they'd slipped into a different, magical, language. 'Normal' magicals could, with great difficulty, learn Parsel. It was unclear what the snakes felt about their accents.
The instruction books for reading and writing were a bit more complicated. 'Normals' claimed they actually felt slightly sick when looking at written Parsel and that was one reason they considered it 'evil'. But it also meant that a regular magical publisher wouldn't, or couldn't, publish anything written in Parsel. So every book on parselmagic and parselrunes was a hand written personal grimoire handed down from generation to generation.
Dumbledore's hidden library had been found with books and artifacts stolen from old families but Petunia wondered if Riddle himself had also stolen books and artifacts. If so, where was his library hidden?
It was getting to be bedtime for the boys. For all Harry's insistence that his spell casting hadn't tired him out, she could see the signs of exhaustion. It was summer, but hot chocolate made with Honeydukes would not be amiss as a bedtime drink for the boys.
She was warming the milk when she heard the chime that indicated an unscheduled mail delivery. Dudley went to grab it for her.
"Mom, I can see the pictures move," he said. There was wonder in his voice as he handed her the copy of the Daily Prophet.
On the front page was a moving picture of the Malfoys and Severus departing Gringotts using the floo. They appeared to be accompanying a body. 'Lucius Malfoy dead following vicious attack by the Dark Lord – Dark Lord dead' the top headline read. The article extolled Malfoy's virtues as a family man and supporter of Hogwarts and the arts. It also spoke of his valiant battle to keep the Dark Lord from shredding the magic of innocent wixen. It also implied strongly that Malfoy was instrumental in the death of 'the Dark Lord'.
The second headline should have been the first: 'Dark Lord Murders Followers, Drains Magic Before Execution'. This article carried a list of the known dead Death Eaters and talked about the devastation their deaths would cause the wizarding world. It rather glaringly left out any details on Riddle's capture or how he was finally executed.
"I would have thought their politics and bigotry had already caused devastation in the wizarding world," Petunia commented mostly to herself.
Inside the newspaper was the article Rita Skeeter had written based on the information Severus had given her about the slave mark and Fudge's willful refusal to recognize reality. That had a picture of a furious Severus Snape poking his finger at Minister Fudge's chest. Petunia and the boys were carefully not in the picture.
Petunia had the boys finish their chocolate and sent them off to bed. Then she opened her writing desk and pulled out her good stationery. She penned a quick note to Mrs. Malfoy offering condolences. It was the proper thing. It was also a meager thing. Mrs. Malfoy was a grand lady, a noblewoman of the wizarding world if that world actually had nobles. No doubt she had friends and family to help her cope with her sudden loss. And it was sudden. Two days ago Lucius Malfoy was a strong, vibrant man, a pillar of the wizarding community. Now he was dead. That he was being proclaimed a hero would be small comfort to a son who had lost a father and a wife who had lost a husband.
Petunia missed Vernon. For all his faults, and there were many, he had loved Petunia and Dudley as best he knew how. And disliking Harry? Well, not being able to overcome curses set by a master wasn't his fault. And looking back she realized he had done his best to not succumb to his worst demons. He rarely drank and both Harry and Dudley knew to stay out of his way when he did. He had often threatened to beat Harry to within an inch of his life but aside from the very occasional swat, Vernon had never actually raised his hand or taken a belt or paddle to either boy.
Hedwig cooed at her when Petunia asked her to deliver the note to Malfoy Manor. The bird held out a leg so the note could be tied on then flew out the open window.
Petunia hadn't reacted well the day Harry brought the owl into the house. Having an owl in a bird cage wasn't 'normal', especially as large a bird as Hedwig was. But Petunia's new normal included a mail carrier owl roosting in her nephew's bedroom, visits to Diagon Alley, and admitting she was a parselmouth. Admitting she was magical. Admitting she had denied that part of herself from the day Vernon Dursley smiled at her and invited her to lunch.
Lily had always been the cute one, the pretty one, the clever one. Petunia had gotten good grades in school, but Lily had been the one teachers gushed over. Petunia had been the plain sister with dishwater blonde hair and blue-gray eyes while Lily, with her auburn hair, emerald green eyes and dusting of freckles across her nose, was the one who would go far.
So when Vernon showed interest in Petunia, she wasn't going to wait for someone 'better'. She grabbed at her one chance for love without realizing the price might be her soul.
But that was the past. Lily was dead and so was Vernon. This was her new normal.
Hedwig returned as Petunia has getting ready for bed. The owl tapped at her window and waited for Petunia to open it, holding out her leg for Petunia to retrieve the new message – Mrs. Malfoy thanking her for her note and inviting Petunia and her family to Lucius' funeral in three days time.
Petunia gave Hedwig some owl treats. The new normal included a jar of owl treats next to the window.
Hedwig waited as Petunia penned another note, thanking Mrs. Malfoy for the invitation and promising to be there with the boys.
Severus was hard pressed to remember a time when he'd been so mentally and physically tired when he arrived back at Malfoy Manor.
He'd spent the afternoon in Madame Bones' office with Bones, Scrimgeour, and Minister Fudge. Fudge had needed a little convincing that the ledger sheets detailing bribes was an accurate accounting and that since Lucius Malfoy was beyond prosecution, Severus had no qualms about releasing the information to the Prophet, the Quibbler, and the ICW.
Madame Bones pointed out that all the allegations of bribery so close to the deaths of so many 'upstanding' members of the Wizengamot could bring down the entire government and suggested that giving everyone the option of leaving or taking a magical oath to support the lawful government would be face saving all around.
Severus had been impressed. Amelia Bones had the reputation of being a rare honest politician. But she had an almost Slytherin grasp of the uses of overt and covert power.
Severus explained all this to Narcissa over a simple supper.
"How is he doing?" Severus finally asked.
"This morning he was a powerful wizard and now he's a squib," she said. "It's hard. Draco's been spending time with him. I think he wants to make sure Draco knows what he needs to know when he becomes the master of the House Malfoy. Dobby refuses to leave old master's side. The other elves won't admit it but I think the change bothers them."
"Do you think he would be up for a visitor?" Severus asked. "Despite what's happened he's still the most brilliant political mind I know. And we're going to need that mind if we're going to save wizarding Britain."
"It's that bad?"
"It's that bad. At least a half of the Ministry was staffed with blood supremacists and the other positions were filled with people who were just sitting at desks and taking tea breaks. I think the only reason the Department of Education wasn't that way was that the ICW was watching. Dumbledore may have been Supreme Mugwump but he had no real power over making or implementing ICW department rules. The DMLE has their own rules and Madame Bones makes sure they're adhered to as best she can despite Fudge and Umbridge's interference. Although Umbridge is in a cell at the moment and Fudge has no idea how fragile his situation is. The documents I gave Madame Bones could have Fudge sent to Azkaban. And considering the number of dead that had Wizengamot seats, Fudge is panicking. Without Dumbledore or Lucius telling him what to do, Fudge is helpless."
"The puppet needs a puppet master," Lucius stated after Severus briefed him. Lucius looked and sounded stronger than he had and was sitting by a window that looked out on the rose gardens, but he looked different. Dobby had cut Lucius' long hair short, into an almost ancient Roman style. Wizards tended to wear their hair long. Lucius was no longer a wizard.
"Fudge will never take orders or advice from a woman. Sorry Sev, but you're going to have to be the puppet master. You'll have to act and dress the part of an advisor to a wealthy and ancient house. No more looking like an out of work potions teacher."
"I am an out of work potions teacher."
Lucius chuckled. "Not any more." He nodded to Narcissa. "Assuming the Malfoy regent approves."
"Of course," Narcissa said. "I would be a fool not to consider the advice of my elders."
"And Lucius Malfoy would never have married a fool…"
Severus sighed. There went any hope of having time for potions development. His new normal was getting very complicated.