In which Harry gets a blue jay statuette.
Enjoy!
A_A
Godric knew what to expect. He knew three of his friends well enough and he had a pretty good idea of the two men trailing behind him. Tommy wasn't happy about having to return to Hogwarts under the disillusionment, while Barty clearly feared being caught. Like Godric would allow him to get hurt, preposterous. The disillusionment wasn't intended as a matter of protection or necessity but as a nod towards Sal's careful planning. It would be mean (and pointless) to ruin his schemes by parading the resurrected Dark Lord and an Azkaban escapee among the students and before the eyes of thousands of portraits, which would carry the gossip all over the British Isles and abroad.
Godric stopped a couple of times on his way. He always had time for the students, and if the crisis was to be held under the covers, he had to have this time now. So he found the time to talk with little Collin for a moment when the boy approached to show him the developed pictures. He walked for a moment with Millicent, Archie, and the rest of Gryffindor's avid flyers coming back from the pitch. He helped the lost firstie to find her common room.
It took them ages to reach the Ravenclaw tower, and as soon as they entered Rowena's rooms, Tommy jumped on him.
"Have you some twisted idea of being in a hurry?" he hissed. "Or was it simply malice on your side to drag us through the whole castle?"
"I just didn't want to raise suspicion," Godric grinned.
"This was not raising suspicions?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to tell me that this is your usual behaviour? Do you tend to waste your time this way?"
Godric only laughed in response, shaking his head disbelievingly. And then led him to the room, already beaming with voices. Salazar demanded answers, Helga argued it was better to wait for Godric, and Rowena cowered in the corner, pretending to revise her notes.
"Finally!" Salazar was agitated enough to gesticulate animatedly. Godric could always count on Rowena and Helga to vex him adequately… Through the arch connecting this room with another, Godric caught a glimpse of an utterly-frustrated-pretending-to-be-bored Harry. Clearly, behind the silencing barrier and trying to eavesdrop anyway. But Godric couldn't pay enough attention to him, as Sal had just noticed Tommy for the first time after his resurrection.
He scrutinised the young man before him, undeniably handsome, now with a very shapely nose and an impressive amount of hair. Yet…
"And when this happened?" Slytherin asked sharply. "Have you been starving before creating this Horcrux, or are you on your deathbed?"
"Let him be," Godric said before Tommy gathered his reply, "and let's sit down so I can tell you what happened before Rowena explains what she found. Shall we?"
Salazar let out a puff of dissatisfaction but sat down with dignity to look at Godric with raised eyebrows, stating, 'Well?' In the first two decades, it really got Godric sweaty to stand before his teacher and have to spell out the explanation. Now, he just waited patiently for the rest to sit down. Unnerved Helga, anxious Rowena, confused Tommy… and Barty. Barty, who looked like a young cub, unexpectedly sent for a hunt with old and experienced wolves for the first time. Scared, out of place, and trying to stay invisible, all while dreaming about proving himself to the alpha.
Assured that everybody was listening, Godric decided to go with short and direct.
"Last Thursday, Rowena killed and resurrected Tommy. She found foreign magic in the process and decided to keep it a secret until she knew more about the issue. Tommy and I agreed that's a good solution. She found out he was under the influence of Dumbledore for decades. She removed the issue, Tommy's fine," that he added to placate Sal, whose lips got unsettlingly thin and eyebrows threatened to stitch together over the deep crest. All the while, Tommy remained stoic, but Godric was already aware of the burning shame underneath the influence of the potion.
"Decades under the influence of another wizard, but he's fine?" Salazar asked slowly, the muscle under the corner of his left eye twitching.
"Nothing that he cannot deal with, so yes, he's fine," Godric replied, weighing his further words. He needed to pass the crux of the issue without feeding Salazar too much of the information so he wouldn't fixate on the connotations, implications, variations, and other -ations he enjoyed rolling in his head. First of all, however, he needed to calm him down. And with Sal, it went the other way around.
"We didn't tell you so you wouldn't get all twitchy and annoyed that we had no answers yet. You can be really difficult when you're worried. Did you know that?"
"Cut to the point," Sal ordered curtly, and Godric knew him well enough to know that Sal simultaneously wanted to berate and praise Godric for manipulation, as well as protest that in no world he was, is or could ever be worried.
"Right away," Godric smiled, holding back a wink towards relieved Rowena. If not handled correctly, Salazar could spend hours scolding them for holding back information, grilling them for every detail, and then scolding them again for wasting so much time on pointless conversations while there were more pressing matters to discuss. "Rowena discovered that enchantments placed on Tommy forced him to dismiss all emotions and steered him towards the anti-muggle attitude and blood supremacy. Subtly but successfully. I don't know how much. I don't suppose he knows, but it doesn't matter at this point. You'll have weeks to establish that later. Now, as far as I understand, Rowena needs to explain to us what she discovered about Harry, and she needs our help to solve the problem. So… listen and think."
Godric sat down in a chair that allowed him to see everybody, including Harry. Noticing his gaze, the boy quickly looked away, pretending to innocently play with a piece of parchment lying on the side table, surprisingly close to the doors. Godric wasn't sure what kind of silencing barrier Rowena placed there and how efficient it was, but… he honestly saw nothing wrong with a little eavesdropping if it was possible.
The rest… Helga looked like she sat on fire, anxious, once in a while looking in Harry's direction, but her eyes were mostly glued to Rowena as if she could gather the information off her face. Rowena relaxed but was still uncomfortable in the manner typical of her in the situation of incomplete answers. Sal used the short break in the conversation to scrutinise Tommy with his gaze while Tommy himself pretended not to notice.
Barty… well… he looked like he wanted to sit somehow further from his lord, as that would place him out of Slytherin's sight.
Rowena steered all the attention to herself, gently clearing her throat.
"Harry is under Dumbledore's influence in a way much more complicated than Tommy was," she started, "In the case of Tommy, the intention was to modify or strengthen the existing behaviour and tendencies, nothing too invasive. Harry, however, is fully controlled. He is the tool to complete a certain task. If he completes the tasks according to plan, he is rewarded. If he deviates from the assumed parameters, he is punished. In case of drifting too far off the intended path, he is to be disposed of. Everything by the single compilation of enchantments locked in the sowilo rune."
That… was not what Godric expected. His eyes, as everybody else's, drifted to the boy. Now, it was clear that the boy heard nothing because on his face was nothing more than confusion that he suddenly became the centre of attention.
"How do we… dismantle it?" Helga asked sharply. Her brows furrowed, and her fists clenched.
"Well…" Rowena cleared her throat, clearly embarrassed and reluctant to say the next words. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Helga huffed. "You must know something. Will it help if we kill Albus? It should dissolve most of the spells."
"Or could simultaneously trigger at least a third of curses or do nothing," countered Tommy. "Not that I'm opposed."
"We cannot simply kill Dumbledore and martyr him," Salazar snorted. "Don't you think?"
"Nonetheless, I reserve the right," Helga stated angrily, and for Salazar's sake, she added, "I'll wait for the right time."
"You can't reserve the right in this matter. It's not only your revenge," Salazar replied.
"My claim is greater than yours, and don't argue with me now. We need to know how to act and what we can do for Harry. Rowena, dear, keep talking. What do you know?"
"I'd like to take a look myself," stated Tommy, already starting to get up.
"Oh, because you will definitely have better conclusions than I do?" Rowena asked indignantly. "Go on. I won't stop you. But when you're done and come up with nothing new, don't tell me that you wasted your time."
"My knowledge is more up to date if you haven't noticed…"
"Quiet, everybody!" Godric boomed, also hushing Helga and Salazar, who were ready to pipe in. "Sit down, Tommy."
"Why would I…" Voldemort started to protest, but Salazar quickly silenced him.
"Sit," he snapped.
Godric waited two heartbeats after the offended Dark Lord took his place and gestured for Rowena.
"Just say everything you know," he asked.
"The task of the magic is to ensure Harry's loyalty and obedience towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't work on Harry's natural traits, and I assume it was because Harry was too young to express enough of the traits that Albus needed him to have. He created a hero willing to disregard his life and well-being for the greater good, which is always in agreement with Dumbledore's words and always in opposition to what is said by Voldemort. Interestingly, it is stated precisely 'Voldemort', 'Dark Lord', 'Gaunt', 'Slytherin' and 'Slytherin's heir'. There's no mention of Tom Riddle, possibly because Dumbledore believed you wouldn't use this name. But I'm not certain of that. This, however, explains why Harry got along and trusted Tom Riddle from the diary. Harry was to destroy your Horcruxes and kill you at the appropriate time. Now, when Harry is obedient, he experiences all the blessings of sowilo. When he disobeys, he experiences its harmful effects. The strength of influence is dependent on the depth of obedience or disobedience. Additionally, the spells try to turn Harry back to Albus with proportional strength."
Rowena sighed and continued.
"The spells offer him significant amounts of luck and intuition… you may say that he's under the slight influence of Felix Felicis. That is aimed at guaranteeing his success. I suppose that is why, in the case of acting against Dumbledore, either the negative effect of sowilo will drive him to suicide, or the curse entangled will kill him. Nothing painful, something akin to Avada. But Dumbledore ensured that neither Harry's luck nor his reputation as the Boy Who Lived, the Golden Boy of the light side, will be able to be used against Albus."
"That is… unfortunately where we are right now. I supposed we triggered the terminal effect during the summer. I believe it was at the end of July, and now, almost two months later, the spell is trying to push him back towards Dumbledore without much subtlety. I also observe a lot of negative sowilo effects resulting from lessened concentration, mental capacity, drive and will to live. He started falling asleep during our sessions after having slept for hours. He has trouble with memory. He's prone to sadness and depression. I estimate we have around two months until suicidal thoughts and three for them to set and for Harry to try and take his life. I'm not sure how much time we have before the curse will act out and kill him."
When Rowena finished, there was a moment of silence before chaos erupted. Helga was murderous and tried to threaten a solution out of Rowena. Rowena explained that she really doesn't know. Salazar was cursing Dumbledore and loudly considering who else can be influenced by Dumbledore, Barty looked terrified, and Tommy went to the other room, with his wand already out, scaring Harry out of his socks.
Godric listened and observed, trying to determine what exactly was crucial at the moment, and the solution was pretty clear to him: they needed more time. Rowena to establish the science behind the rune, and how to get rid of it. Salazar to construct a plan that included new information and could help. And he needed to stop Helga from bullying those two into action. Therefore, Godric left the arguing three and followed Tommy to the other room.
"…you must be more fucked up than I thought!" Godric heard Harry's scream as soon as he passed the silencing barrier.
"Just hold still or I'll stun you. It's nothing Rowena…"
"Shut it, Tommy," Godrick sighed. "You heard Rowena, he won't listen to you."
"Why should I listen to you?" Tommy asked. "Who suddenly passed the command onto you?"
"I did," Godric replied. "They never listen to each other in dire situations. Now shut it, so I can explain to Harry what's going on, and what are we going to do, while they argue. And I'd like to finish before they realise what we're doing to avoid exactly this: pointless discussion."
Voldemort didn't look convinced, but he gestured for Godric to continue, and Harry looked at him expectantly.
"I really wanna know what's going on. All of you look at me like I'm dying after locking me here like an animal in the zoo!"
Godric didn't know what a zoo was, but he didn't know everything about the modern world yet, and Harry got the crux of the matter.
"You are dying," Godric confirmed. Harry's feisty attitude died down immediately, and his eyes grew in fear. But Godric didn't allow the panic to set in. "We're going to prevent it right now. It's not going to… cure you. That is something we don't yet know how to do. But what we're going to do right now will ensure your survival, and I promise you that you are going to be just fine. Alright?"
The boy inhaled and nodded, causing Godric to smile. He liked that the boy simply trusted him without asking stupid questions.
"Good. Now, what we're going to do is to create you a Horcrux," he announced, and both Tommy and Harry protested at the same time.
"I'm not killing anybody!"
"He's fourteen! He's not powerful enough!"
"Shut it, Tommy," Godric repeated firmly. "He is powerful enough. Deal with it. And, Harry, you've already killed, and you don't have to do it again. We're going to use Quirrell for this. Now, Tom is going to draw us a ritual circle, and I'm going to explain to you how it works and what you need to do."
They both still looked like they wanted to protest, but Godric didn't mind Tommy. He just cleared enough of the space for the circle to fit in, mindful to place furniture between the cleared piece of the floor and the doors. As for Harry, he moved him towards the bench on the side and seated him there.
"Look, Harry," he said softly, crouching before the boy. "I know you're not Gryffindor, but you are brave, and I need you to use this bravery right now, okay?" he waited a moment for a nod before continuing. "What Rowena found in your scar is aiming to kill you. We are not yet sure how to take it out safely. We will. We just need time to figure out how. But we cannot be certain how much time we have. Making a Horcrux will give us the certainty that if," he stressed the last word strongly, "we won't make it in time, we can resurrect you and then cure you. Okay? We're going to do everything to stop the issue before it comes to that, but we want you to be safe. And Horcrux will ensure that."
He observed the boy while speaking. Harry understood, that was clear, but he was scared and gathering all his strength not only to remain calm but also to keep on listening. He hadn't had enough to talk as well.
"I won't lie to you. The process is awfully painful. Whatever you've been through… it doesn't compare. But the pain doesn't last long. It will take only the snippet of your soul. Normally, it would take the majority of your magical power. Considering your age, it'll probably take everything, so do not be alarmed if you feel drained or even lose consciousness. I'm here, and I'll take care of you. Can you trust me with this?"
In response, he received another nod and quiet, "I can… Will… it be enough?"
Godric, for a second, didn't know what Harry was asking for but then nodded.
"Yes. It will be enough. You won't have to kill. I promise. But you need to be able to say what you did. You're going to need this, you're going to find the benefits of this death. That's the first thing we're going to do now. Then, you'll enter the circle, and you'll concentrate on the benefits you took from this death. And you're going to repeat the words of the ritual after me. After the last word, the pain comes. That's the moment when the piece of your soul will separate and anchor in the object. So we'll also find you something nice around here."
To say Harry was terrified was an understatement, but he did what he was used to doing: braved it. He listened to Godric, convincing himself that he could trust the man. It was Gryffindor, after all. He looked towards the adjacent room for Helga. He caught her eye, and she smiled at him comfortingly. She even moved towards them, but Salazar stopped her. They were deep in argument, probably about him and how to cure him. Harry felt bad for causing trouble. But he had no more time to look because he needed to concentrate on the worst thing he had ever done and find its benefits.
He sort of accepted it before, but it was still hard to push out the words. It took Godric quite some time to make Harry say the words, not to mention say and mean what he said.
"I have killed Quirrell. I did it so I could survive. And because of that, I'm alive."
He lost count of how many times he said it, but each time was easier, and finally, Godric was satisfied. He reached to softly caress Harry's hair with his big hand.
"Good lad," he said gently. "Would you do that again?"
Harry shrank into himself but nodded and choked out, barely whispering, "Yes."
"Why?" Godric asked.
Discomfort. Deeply rooted discomfort. That was what Harry felt. Despite that, he replied, "He wanted to kill me. And I have the right to live. So I had the right to kill him."
"It's ready," said Voldemort behind Godric, and Harry looked up. He still was confused by the change in Voldemort's appearance. It looked like he finally managed to repair his nose along with everything else, and it was easy to forget who he was when he looked... well, like Tom Riddle. The boy from the diary. Older, yes, but unmistakably the same. And looking at him, Harry really felt… weird. Because the accusation of killing a part of his soul felt much more realistic right now. Right now, there was no doubt about the identity and authenticity of the boy from the diary Harry spoke with two years ago. The boy which Harry intended to kill to save not only his own life but also Ginny's. And that… Harry felt bad about the conviction with which he stabbed the diary and the satisfaction and fear he felt when the piece of soul before him disintegrated. Yet simultaneously, he was entirely certain that he had full right to do as he did. The same feeling in case of Quirrell was significantly weaker... until he thought about Ron and Hermione. About Ron unconscious on the great chess board, who would be certainly killed if Quirrell killed Harry. And about Hermione, who was in scrapes and bruises, who would probably be another victim as the witness to the whole ordeal.
"I'm ready, too," Harry said, surprised by the strength of his own voice. Especially since his legs felt wobbly on his way to the ritual circle, and he needed Godric's hand as support, not to destroy the chalk drawings on the floor. It looked complicated, but Harry didn't really have the capacity of mind to pay attention to them or look more carefully. He also didn't care about what objects Godric offered him to choose from. He just pointed at one of them, the figurine of some sort of bird. It was small enough to fit into Harry's palm with a white belly, blue back, and a nice pattern on wings and tail. It felt heavy and cold in Harry's palm, and he squeezed it tightly listening to Godric's instructions.
It took all his willpower to bring forward the feeling of rightfulness of killing Quirrell, and he supported it with what he felt because of Voldemort's diary. He repeated the foreign words as clearly as he could, and when he finished…
The pain felt as if someone took a fistful of the skin off his throat and pulled down until ripping it all off, pulling along the lungs and at least that is what he imagined was happening, judging by what he felt, there was nothing else to which he could compare this feeling. But he didn't have enough time to keep the fleeting thought before he blacked out.
Harry's scream didn't tear through the silencing barrier between the rooms to stop the argument. Yet it was long, guttural, throat-tearing. As soon as the ritual was over, Godric basically jumped towards the boy to hold and soothe him as soon as the ritual ended. It was of no consequence to the unconscious child suffering the pain that couldn't be removed. But Voldemort couldn't feel contempt for the screams, and he winced slightly, in something akin to compassion. A strange feeling, as he usually felt contempt for people vocalizing their pain. He found little instances a reason enough to cry through the suffering. Making a Horcrux… it definitely was one of these situations. He tried not to scream while making his first three and all the others… he just dealt with his own failure in the matter.
The foreign experience of feeling for another person reminded Voldemort of the necessity to take another dose of the potion before anyone noticed his inconvenient state. However, it was rather improbable at the moment.
Voldemort waited impassively as Godrick placed the now quiet boy on the sofa. The figurine in his hand was still glowing the greenish light of the soul that settled inside. It wasn't about to last much longer, usually no longer than a couple of minutes. Actually, Voldemort was surprised that the ritual succeeded. Harry Potter was undoubtedly powerful if he could achieve such a feat as a fourteen-year-old. And he didn't even realise the significance of the act, the complexity of the ritual, or how strong he was. It felt like blasphemy and insult, yet it was equally impressive. The boy didn't deserve it because he didn't work for the achievement. Yet, he deserved the result since he was able to achieve it.
Conflicted in his estimation, Voldemort followed Gryffindor to the room loud with discussion.
"You must understand that the soul at this age is too fragile for any manipulation of this sort. Herpo suggested that fifty is the best age when the wizard is fully mature," argued Rowena. "If he's even able to complete the ritual, or if he'll ever be."
"Not to mention, it's perceived as the darkest magic nowadays," added Salazar. "That may ruin the boy's reputation and force him to take a certain stand within society. I doubt we will be able to change this ridiculous conviction in half of the century."
"I don't care! I want him to survive!" Hufflepuff almost shouted back as soon as Salazar spoke the last word. "It doesn't matter how this will influence the future, or if he gets arrogant, or that we don't know what will happen to him. He will live! That's what's important!"
"Oh, Godric, good," Rowena said, noticing their entry, "I was just trying to explain this overeager hen. Are we perfectly able to find the solution before Harry dies? She got the ridiculous idea to make him a Horcrux. Can you verify for her that he's not strong enough to handle the ritual?"
Voldemort held back a smile, expecting Gryffindor to make another silly performance of guilt and explanations layered with jokes and puppy eyes. And how could he possibly be competent to verify someone's magical prowess? Actually, how could he be so certain to go through with a risky ritual?
"No," he said in a confident tone, entirely contradictory towards Voldemort's expectations. "Harry is powerful enough to create a Horcrux. We just did it."
Saying that, he was clearly expecting what happened next: a storm of emotions. Voldemort unconsciously took a step back, as Helga exclaimed in triumph, and darted towards the adjacent room, probably to check on the boy. Simultaneously, Rowena started a tirade on the riskiness of this decision and the unpredictable consequences of ill-informed decisions, while Salazar threw his hands in the air with exasperation and sat back down.
Voldemort needed a moment to find Barty squeezed into the small space between two bookshelves, where he apparently sought refuge.
Seeing how Ravenclaw's outrage concentrated on the suddenly unapologetic Gryffindor, who simply stood there and patiently listened to the woman, Voldemort thought that he just had to wait the storm out. But he was mistaken.
"And you have allowed it?" Ravenclaw turned to him. "You, of all people, know how risky it was to create a Horcrux at this age. How painful and unnecessary this situation is. You must know we would have found the cure on time. Have you even thought about it?"
Voldemort raised his eyebrows. He? How was he suddenly responsible for any of this? And to accuse him of not thinking!
"My only concern was his age and amount of power; besides that, I saw no reason not to make the attempt," he answered. "The conditions were met."
"I know how Godric disregards the far-reaching consequences of his actions, but you?" Asked Salazar. "You know we could have used the boy's social standing for our cause, which is now impossible. If we did and this information would ever reach the population, it would ruin everything!"
"Or maybe if the Golden Boy himself used it, it's not so evil?" Voldemort replied. "Making a Golden Boy a banner for the darker magic without losing his shine could speak to at least one group of people."
"We have Godric for that," Salazar replied. "And he's much more famous."
"And Harry is relatable for different groups of people," Voldemort countered.
"And that absolutely doesn't matter for the problem at hand," Gryffindor spoke up. "I think you've all said enough. We are not so bound by time as we were, but it would still be better to avoid having to resurrect Harry. So, think about solutions."
"Why is he unconscious?" Helga asked, coming back to the room. "Have you done something to lessen the pain?"
"He's magically drained, that's all," Godric assured her. "Do we have any ideas about how we could cure Harry? Any directions in which we should look?"
Voldemort sort of expected another argument or something wise from Salazar, but he was proven wrong again. The founders fell deep in thought, Barty peeked out of his corner.
"I have nothing for certain," Rowena said finally. "But I'm fairly positive there are more probable directions. I excluded the possibility of this resulting in a single spell or curse, so finding or inventing a singular counter is out of the question. I'm more prone to believing that we need to prepare the appropriate ritual to reverse the results. We could use the help of the modern expert. The other option would be using Vespacianus' Pugio to cut out sowilo and attached enchantments, but we don't have the artefact nor know where to look for it, and it would leave Harry with an ugly scar. We should look for it, but I believe that would be the last resort. I thought about Totopani, but it helps with malicious outside influence, and this was thought to reward and provide an advantage, so it's worth a trial, but I doubt it'd be successful. Considering there's a Horcrux available, we can kill Harry and remove the enchantments during the resurrection, although I suppose the enchantments may be too complicated and too deeply rooted for this solution to work. But it's possibly worth a try. Finally, I intend to refresh my acquaintance with Nicolas one way or another, so I'd like to reach out to him with some questions. Maybe his elixir of life could aid us."
Surprisingly, it was Barty who spoke up first.
"Erm… If I may," he said quietly, and seeing all eyes on him, he added bashfully, "If we're talking about potions, maybe there's something that could be a solution? Or at least give us more time? If we'd keep him under the draught of living dead, he wouldn't feel the effects, and the curse would be less likely to act."
Voldemort gave him a praising look, and Barty beamed, even if he tried to hold back the wide smile.
"Good," he nodded, "We could ask Severus for participation in regard to potions. And I have an expert in rituals, especially Nordic, who we could use."
"Harry cannot disappear for such a long time, it would raise too many questions we'd be unable to answer," Salazar said, "However, we could put someone in disguise in his place for the necessary time."
"Polyjuice Potion?" Offered Barty.
"That would be a good solution, yes," Slytherin nodded, "But we can brew such things ourselves or buy it. I don't trust Severus enough to involve him. Could Nicolas help in this department if there's anything more complicated to prepare?"
"Most likely," Rowena confirmed, smiling slightly.
"Although Severus is the most renowned Potions Master," Voldemort argued, "And he belongs to me, even if he's currently oddly close to Dumbledore."
"And that is the closeness I fear," Slytherin countered. "We don't know for certain if we need an esteemed Potion Master."
"For sure, we could at least ask for a consultation or advice from Severus," Hufflepuff took Voldemort's side. "He's not a bigger risk than Nicolas. From what we know, he worked closely with Dumbledore as well."
"I know him quite well," argued Rowena. "And I strongly believe that the elixir of life could be of help, even if it won't cure Harry."
Helga folded under this argument, but Voldemort added, "Severus is a Potions Master, and Nicolas is a renowned alchemist. They could offer entirely different advice."
"Right now, Harry needs rest," Godric broke the discussion. He intended to say something more, but Rowena nodded intensely and said, "And close observation. If he's magically exhausted, it can weaken his natural defences against Dumbledore's enchantments. And he already is in a fragile state."
"I'll take him to Badgers Keep," Helga decided. "He'll rest."
"And we'd have him more available to study," agreed Voldemort. "I'd like to take a closer look at those enchantments."
"Should we organise the polyjuice potion, then?" Salazar wanted to know, and he looked at Voldemort. "How much time would it take?"
"No," Godric said quickly. "Let's wait with that. We'll say he's ill, and we took him home for some rest in peace and quiet."
"With Godric in Riddle Manor or in classes most of the time and Helga in Badger's Keep, we'll have only two of us here. And that's after including Rowena, who's buried in her studies. That's too little at this point," Salazar objected.
"I'll take him to Riddle Manor in this case," Godric decided. "Tommy can have him for research, Rowena can come anytime, Helga can visit every day when I'm in Hogwarts. And Nicolas and Tommy's rituals expert can come there any time. When I'm out and Helga's not there, Tommy and Barty will take care of Harry. We'll put on hold Severus' involvement. We don't know yet whether any potion will be necessary. But take care of organising polyjuice, Tommy. If it's needed, it's better to have it at hand."
"I'll do it, my Lord," Barty offered, looking at Voldemort eagerly and clearly happy to be included in plans at home and not having to return to his sole trips in old tombs and dark caves. "And I'll start brewing my own, so it's more reliable."
"All settled," Godric announced, standing up. "I'll take Harry now. And I'll make a show out of it, carrying him through the whole castle."
"Good," Salazar nodded. "That will back up our story sufficiently."
"I'll take a few of his things from the dormitory and join you," Helga raised as well, and it was clear that the meeting came to an end.
Voldemort had no objections, but he found it intriguing that nobody asked whether he didn't mind another unwelcomed guest in his house.