While the DMLE was busy with Dumbledore, who didn't cooperate at all despite giving long and elaborate answers to each question while passing no information, the DOM was even busier with almost as tricky a subject. The unspeakables found out that the soul shard extracted from Harry belonged to Voldemort. Normally, a soul shard could not be interrogated, but the DOM didn't do normal.
That shard had been captured in an object that was combined with some very specific magic, kept secret even from most of the unspeakables, to allow the specialists to extract as much information as that shard had.
The Potters were oblivious to all of that. All they knew was that Dumbledore was arrested and that Snape resigned. Both were good news for them. Snape's resignation was good news for most of the students, too, even for most of those in Slytherin, who wanted to study and learn, not to play politics. Hermione was quite surprised when Daphne told her how much better it felt in the Slytherin common room since Snape left.
Still, Snape acted a bit too late. Before he had a chance to leave Britain, the DMLE arrested him as an accomplice to the crimes committed by Dumbledore. Evidently, the interrogators managed to extract at least a part of the truth from the old man.
–..–
Life at Hogwarts continued normally, as it should. Professor McGonagall was forced to become acting headmistress after being treated for the spells and potions Dumbledore had used on her, making Professor Flitwick the acting deputy, after he was also checked and treated for the various potions used on him. These medical findings were also added to the long list of accusations against Dumbledore.
"I like the change in atmosphere since Dumbledore and Snape left," Harry told Hermione.
"I like it too. The Slytherins seem to have calmed down, not trying to insult everybody else. Draco even looks a bit frightened. I wonder why. Daphne hasn't told me anything specific about him."
"You talk regularly?" Harry sounded surprised.
Hermione shrugged. "Sure. We have common projects in Runes and in Arithmancy. These made us closer, almost friends."
Harry chuckled. "Ron would say you're turning dark for just talking to her. He's just as bigoted as the dark families, only in a different direction."
She rolled her eyes. "That's still bigotry. No logical person may accept it. Unfortunately, logic is not too common among purebloods."
Harry nodded his agreement. He then changed the topic. "Do you have any idea when Dumbledore's trial will happen?"
Hermione sighed. "I doubt it can be very soon. The way he acts, he's bound to try to confuse the interrogators by talking a lot and saying nothing. I'm not sure if they can use Veritaserum on him, due to his age. I hope they can."
She changed the subject once more. "You had some entity extracted from your scar. Do you know what it is and what they intend to do with it?"
Harry frowned. "I thought I'd already told you. Maybe I skipped it. There was too much to tell at the time. Anyhow, it was a part of Voldemort's soul, like the one that was hidden in Tom's diary until I destroyed it. I told them that much. They said they'd study it for a while and then try to find any additional pieces and destroy them. I think they said there are some rituals for that. Not sure, though."
Hermione sighed. "I hope they do it soon. The way he somehow appears each year to try and kill you, I'll feel better if they destroy him for good."
He smiled. "I told them that much and gave them my blessing to destroy it. One of them asked a peculiar question. 'Do you assign us as your hand in destroying the Dark Lord?' I said I did."
Hermione gave it some consideration. "It may be required by the ritual they're planning or some other reason we're not aware of. Still, it passes whatever responsibility you have about this to them, so it should be good for us."
Harry smiled. "Very good!"
–..–
The spring equinox, despite its magical attributes, was a regular Monday at Hogwarts, with lessons, meals, and homework, all as usual. Hermione heard some students mentioning Beltane, but it had no immediate effect. She even wondered if it could still hold any meaning in the modern era.
For the DOM, this date was much more significant. The unspeakables had already extracted whatever information they could from the soul shard and were now ready to destroy it and any other shard of that soul in a complex ritual. It was found in an ancient tome and had very few explanations. It was guaranteed to destroy any soul divided into more than two pieces. It was considered best suited for Beltane, symbolising the death of winter and the abundance of life and happiness brought by spring.
What made this ritual extremely suitable was the fact that it didn't need all the soul pieces at hand. It could destroy them all as long as one was available for reference.
–..–
By mid-March, Dumbledore was fully interrogated, and he eventually spilt all his misdeeds and even atrocities, all done for "The Greater Good". He also explained that this term referred to whatever made him get more glory and gold, irrelevant of who was sacrificed on the way.
Snape had also been thoroughly interrogated, and it went much quicker. He had fewer years to commit his crimes, and there weren't as many. They were still appalling. Snape was sure he'd be lucky to get anything shorter than a life sentence in Azkaban. He'd probably end by getting a Dementor kiss or being passed through the veil. Dumbledore would be unable to help him this time.
–..–
The Potters were surprised to find an unspeakable waiting for Harry when they went for lunch that day.
"Mr Potter, we'd like you to spend this afternoon with us, possibly the night too." Despite the robes and charms obscuring the face and the voice of the unspeakable, Hermione felt sure it was a woman.
Harry felt unsure about his reply. 'I think you should do it,' Hermione urged him.
"What do you need me for?" Harry asked.
The unspeakable seemed to chuckle. "Sorry, but I can't quite tell you here. Too many people may hear it. Still, we don't need you to do anything specific. At most, we'll ask you to say a few words. I only fear it may turn extremely boring."
Harry was quick to use that information. "Then, can my girlfriend come along. That will remove the boredom, I'm sure."
Another chuckle preceded the answer. "Yes, she can join you. I even intended to ask for that. We may have good use of her time-turner."
Hermione frowned. "How do you know?" she asked in a hushed tone.
The chuckle returned. "Where do you think it came from? The DOM loaned it to the school." The voice turned serious again. "Now, I suggest you eat a quick lunch and then we'll leave. I'll wait just outside the doors to the great hall."
Both Potters nodded. The unspeakable moved aside while the teens took their places at the table. After a quick lunch, they exited and were joined by the unspeakable, who led them to an abandoned corridor. "Take us back to six in the morning, please, or as close as this turner can take us."
Once that was done, the three walked to the lake's shore and around the lake until they got out of the wards. "Hold my arms now," the unspeakable told them.
A short, unpleasant side-along apparition after that, they found themselves at the Ministry, in the DOM.
The unspeakable led them to a room where they sat on a couch. It then waved its hand at his face, removing the secrecy charm. Hermione could finally see it was a woman, probably in her thirties, with a warm expression and kind eyes. She was still somewhat obscured, making others unable to identify her even if they knew her under different circumstances.
She looked at her watch and then spoke. "We intend to do the ritual to remove the soul of Tom Marvolo Riddle from this plane of existence. You, Mr Potter, have already removed two pieces of it. One was in that diary you destroyed last year. The other was in your scar. That part will be destroyed along with the rest. Now, since you assigned us as 'your hand' for this matter, your presence is not needed, but we'd like to have you near the ritual, just in case we find out otherwise."
Both teens frowned. That still made no sense.
The unspeakable smiled. "Let me explain some more. Before you were born, a prophecy was made. One that was unfortunately given to Albus Dumbledore. Has he told you about it?"
Harry shook his head. "He told me nothing of value since I came to Hogwarts and got to know him."
The unspeakable nodded as if expecting the answer. "Then, the first step should be to let you listen to the prophecy. I'll explain the rest after you hear it. I believe you don't mind your wife hearing it too, do you?"
"How do you know I'm his wife?" Hermione asked.
"We have our ways, and it's quite extraordinary for such young teens to get bonded, but we're not here for that. Come, I'll lead you."
Hermione was fascinated by the Hall of Prophecies. It contained rows and rows of shelves, each holding quite a few prophecy orbs. She couldn't properly estimate the number, but she was sure there were several thousand orbs, most of them lit. This seemed too many. She didn't know what the colour of the orbs meant, but it looked like there were quite a few prophecies each year, if there were so many. Or maybe they were from all over the world? She needed to know.
"What is the meaning of the orb's colour and where do they come from?"
The unspeakable smiled. "The dark orbs are of prophecies that were fulfilled. Those still active are lit, although some may never be fulfilled, the way I understand it. And we have prophecies from all over the world, but mainly from Britain."
Hermione wanted to ask some more, but the woman lifted her hand in a Stop motion. "I'm not an expert in this, so I can't give you more specific answers. Still, the way I see it, a prophecy is given under certain circumstances and normally refers to them. If the circumstances change due to some other force, the prophecy can't be fulfilled."
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.
"Supposing a prophecy predicts an assassination attempt. If the victim dies in an accident or illness before giving the assassins a chance, the prophecy can't be fulfilled. Then, we may have misinterpreted a prophecy, especially ones dealing with events in far places or far in the future. Then, what we expect to happen may not happen in our lifetime or happen very differently than expected or where nobody expected it."
"Do you mean that prophecies are so unreliable that we can't even consider them?" Hermione asked.
The woman sighed. "Not necessarily. Left alone, they can only be understood after the fact, if at all. Yet ones heard by influential people may become self-fulfilling, as people try to hasten them or act to derail them. The way I understand it, this is the type of prophecy that we're looking at. Here it is!"
She pointed at a lit prophecy orb. Hermione saw some initials and "Harry Potter?" written under it.
The woman turned to Harry. "Only the ones referred to by the prophecy can remove the orb without punishment. That's what we tell everybody. Yet we also need to hear the prophecies to at least label them correctly. Since nobody is named in this prophecy, it's safer if you don't touch it. I'll take it to a side room, where we can hear it and write down its text. I'll then try to explain how the DOM currently interprets it, although we can't be sure it's the right interpretation. That's why we want you nearby."
She used a spell to lift the orb from its place and float it to a side room, where she put it on a stand that looked designed for such orbs. She then cast another spell at the orb, causing a semi transparent image to form above it, with Sybil Trelawney speaking the prophecy.
Hermione grabbed a parchment and a quill and wrote the prophecy down. She then read it a few times silently. It made no sense to her. "Are you sure it's a real prophecy? That person seems more of a fraud to me than a real seer."
The woman sighed. "It may not have been a true prophecy, to start with, but once Dumbledore, on one side, and Voldemort, on the other, learned of it, they treated it as a real one, making it real."
Hermione checked the text again and started deciphering it. "Harry was born at the end of July, as did Neville. Both couples fought Voldemort and escaped three times, making either the 'one' of the prophecy. Then Voldemort attacked the Potters and left a mark on Harry's forehead. That's what Dumbledore thought of as 'mark him as his equal'. Yet Harry lives and Voldemort, in whatever form he's now, isn't dead either. Still, you wanted Harry to assign you as 'his hand' in order to fulfil the prophecy in the way you interpret it. Right?"
The woman smiled in appreciation. "With that kind of mind, you may become a successful unspeakable soon after finishing Hogwarts." She then returned to the prophecy. "Dumbledore believed that only Mr Potter could kill Voldemort, but he also knew of the Horcruxes — the soul shards that prevent the Dark Lord from fully dying. Since Mr Potter had one in his scar, he thought the best way would be for Voldemort to kill Mr Potter, thus fulfilling the prophecy but also making himself vulnerable to anybody, not necessarily 'the one'. Then, he planned to confront Voldemort and vanquish him, gaining himself the glory. He disclosed that much in his interrogation."
"He wanted me to die?!" Harry sounded devastated.
"He knew of no way to remove the Horcrux, except for destroying the vessel, which meant killing you. He may have started to reconsider after your treatment, but I doubt it. Old people rarely change their ideas in response to changes around them." The woman sounded sad.
Hermione turned more practical. "Do we need to put the orb back now?"
The woman smiled and waved her wand while mumbling a spell, making the orb disappear. "It's back in its place."
"Then, let's get out of here," Harry said, sounding impatient.
–..–
They returned to the previous room. Some tea and biscuits were already on a low table there. The three sat down and sipped some tea.
"The ritual is going to start in a few minutes and last until sunset. I need to join the ritual soon, but somebody else will come here to see for your needs and keep you company until the ritual is finished. I don't expect we'll need you there, but we thought it would be safer to have you nearby, just in case."
She took another sip of tea and added, "The door behind you leads to a small library which may be of interest. You may read any book you find there but you can't take it out of this room. I'll also show you where the toilet is. You'll be served another lunch and dinner as time passes. Since it may be well after dinnertime when we finish the ritual and even later before we can fully understand its result, you'll be given a bedroom and spend the night here, also getting breakfast, before we take you back and use the time-turner to return to a moment after you left, making nobody the wiser."
She looked at them and added, "I suggest you refrain from any unbecoming activity here or in the adjacent library since people may come in unexpectedly. You'll have full privacy in your bedroom, of course."
Hermione noticed a teasing smile on the woman's face. She was probably aware of what the young couple wanted to do. "We'll act as respectable as expected," she promised, not quite happily.