Goblins are known to act quickly. They are mostly impatient and can't tolerate delays. Everybody knows that.
And just like most things 'everybody knows', this is also not quite true.
The dark entity taken out of Harry's scar was not immediately destroyed. It had been captured in a crystal during the ritual. It was then moved to the most secure place in the underground city, where specialists in various fields studied it and learned all they could about it and from it, using secret methods, unheard of among humans.
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Discover moreIdentify PlantsStudy PlantsFan fiction booksWriting softwareCreative writing coursesThat took a lot of time and patience, along with persistence and tenacity to overcome the tenacity of that dark entity.
Then, once they studied it as much as they could, it was time to destroy it. They knew several ways to destroy such entities, each having its advantages and its disadvantages.
In simple cases, just throwing it into Fiendfyre is good enough. The dark entity would be completely destroyed, leaving no remnant. This wasn't a simple case, though.
The experts learned that it was a small shard of Voldemort's soul, and there were at least five more, excluding the main part. Destroying only that piece alone was almost useless.
There were several rituals to destroy such entities in their entirety. Some only destroyed pieces stored in inanimate objects. Other destroyed only ones in living things, including or excluding the part in one's own body.
Discover moreOnline writing communityFan fiction merchandiseAuthor collaboration toolsDigital book publishingStory writing promptsYet the one chosen destroyed the whole soul, including all parts, with no concern for their residence, and also any soul or partial soul connected to it. Like most soul rituals, this one also had a preferred date and time to perform — the spring equinox, symbolising the transfer from the deathly cold winter into the warm, life-giving spring.
That meant some more waiting, but the goblin elders were in no rush. Destroying Voldemort, who had declared himself an enemy of the goblins, along with all non-human sentient species, was not something to be done hastily. And if it took away all the souls willingly connected to it, that could only be a benefit to the world.
–..–
The children considered the personal shield more urgent than the ward, mainly due to the two attempts at reaching Harry. Both Dudley and Hermione thought Harry needed the best protection possible. Harry didn't consider it that important, but he also immersed himself in the research and experimentation just as much.
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Discover morechildchild'sHire BabysittersBooksRead BestsellersHermione still found the time to make a few personal wards, attached to some pebbles that everybody could carry in a pocket or a handbag. She set the wards to stop all magical travel (except their own version, of course) to less than twenty meters around the warded person. The ward didn't toss them away, but that was far enough to prevent the would-be attackers from precise casting. Then, she had the old-fashioned ward that stopped most spells from passing and also the new illusion ward that would hide the person and whoever that person was touching. The attacker would simply not be able to see his target. As long as the warded person didn't move too quickly, an attacker would be unable to follow them even in a dense crowd.
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Hermione's parents felt elated at her love and her talents when she gave them those ward stones and explained about them. They weren't as pleased that the magical world seemed more dangerous than the muggle one, but they also knew they couldn't stop their daughter from becoming immersed in it.
The Dursleys felt extremely thankful for the personal wards. Hermione made them understand the limitations and shortcomings, but these were still much better than no protection at all. Petunia hugged the young girl and kissed her cheek.
"I'm glad to have such an impressive young witch as my boys' friend. I'm sure you'll have a great impact on our world when you grow up."
Hermione blushed and thanked her for the compliment.
–..–
The weather was warming, if only slightly. It was March, and southern England was expecting the spring to soon make flowers bloom.
At Gringotts, the curse breakers were making their last preparations for a ritual that had not been executed for many generations. It was intended to rid the world of the piece of soul extracted from Harry Potter's scar, along with the other pieces. It was not designed to remove other souls which might be connected to it, but they didn't care if that happened, either. They were almost as bad as the one they were dealing with.
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Lucius Malfoy was trying to understand why it was not going as he wanted. Checking and re-checking his information, he concluded that the Dursleys and Harry hadn't moved from the address where he had found no house. He had even asked (through many intermediaries, of course) for a muggle agent to photograph the whole street and each house in it, presumably to buy a house there for investment. The photos showed the house at number four standing as expected, and it wasn't a newly erected one. What could that mean? He was at his wit's end, but couldn't understand it.
–..–
The ritual started as soon as the date changed, seconds after midnight. It was quite a slow-going ritual, intended to last twelve hours, ending when the sun reached its zenith, giving most light and warmth to the earth below. Unless it was too cloudy, of course, but that didn't matter for the ritual.
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In Albania, a wraith was feeling some new dread. It felt like its mere existence was threatened, yet there didn't seem to be any danger as far as it could sense. Its anchors were all well hidden and protected, although he would have liked to have one more. It was impossible in its current condition, though. And the cold kept most of the small animals hidden, disallowing the wraith from possessing any. It preferred snakes, but even a rabbit could do, if only it could find one.
–..–
At Hogwarts, Severus Snape was walking in the corridors leading to the Great Hall. It was still early for lunch, but he felt a bit agitated. Some food could help calm him down. Deducting some points from Gryffindor could also help, only he could find no Gryffindor on his way. No student, in fact. They had not yet finished the last lesson before lunch, so it seemed.
He glanced at his clock. It was a few minutes before midday. He'd arrive at the great hall just in time. Arriving any earlier, he knew he'd find empty tables. He didn't need to hurry.
And then he felt some pain in his Dark Mark. That was quite worrisome. He had had no pains there since that fateful Halloween. He'd need to tell Albus about it, but that wasn't quite urgent.
The pain distracted him, but not too badly. He still kept going, only a tad slower, trying to also monitor the intensity and form of that unusual pain. It could turn out important.
Then, when he was only a pace from the doors to the great hall, the pain seared unimaginably. It hit him like a series of bludgeoning hexes, felling him to the floor and making him cry in agony, writhing on the floor. He still thought he was lucky that no student saw him that way.
It didn't last long. The pain disappeared within a minute, but so did Snape's life and magic.
The first students who arrived for lunch found the corpse of the most hated teacher in front of the great hall. Some were shocked. Most were only glad to be rid of the man. Not even the Slytherins were sorry for his death.
–..–
Lucius had invited his co-conspirators for lunch to try and find out why the muggle photos showed that house while they had only seen an empty plot. They first looked at the muggle photos, chuckling at the still images. And then, the four clutched their left arms for a moment. Lucius frowned, once he could think again. This didn't fit any of his plans or intentions. Nott frowned, too, possibly for the same reasons. Crabbe and Goyle were not smart enough to even understand.
It didn't matter. Before they even resumed the conversation, the pain returned, much stronger. It was the last thing any of the four would ever feel.
–..–
That evening, even before dinner, Petunia opened the door to a very concerned Albus Dumbledore.
"May I talk to Harry?" he asked, urgency evident in his voice.
"Please sit down while I go and check if he can come down. It should only take a moment." Petunia led him to the sitting room and then mounted the stairs. She was almost sure to find Harry's door locked. Dudley's too. She wasn't even sure if any of them were in there. They could just as well be with Hermione or even at Diagon Alley. Since they started using that magical travelling, she couldn't be sure where they were most of the time.
Luckily, Harry opened the door, his face flushed. "Aunt Petunia, we managed to cast a reflection shield. Hermione was so glad that she kissed me!"
That explained the flush and the slightly dazed look. Unfortunately, she couldn't let him tell her yet.
"Harry, Dumbledore is here, and he looks worried. Make sure not to tell anything inappropriate. You know what I mean, don't you?"
He smiled. "These are my secrets. I'll do my best to keep them."
She smiled back. "Alright. Go wash your face and come down to talk to him."
Harry arrived in the sitting room only moments later. "You wanted to talk to me?" he asked the old man.
Albus sighed. "Was there anything special you did today that you didn't do before?"
Harry shrugged. "I learned new things, but that's normal for school children. Why are you asking?"
Albus sighed again. How could he explain without affecting the child's innocence? But the childalready knew about death and dark wizards from personal experience. It no longer mattered.
"Harry, something happened today at midday. Many of the people who followed the man who killed your parents died at once. Did you do anything or say anything that could have caused that, even in a roundabout way?"
Harry didn't need to think for long. "I was at school that time, in class. My last lesson ended at twelve-thirty. It was a music lesson, so we were all quiet."
Albus sighed once more. This was clearly not the cause, but what was?
"Do you remember the time your scar was healed? Did the goblins say anything about what they took out of your scar?"
Harry tried to recall the memory. It wasn't too old, so he hoped he could remember well. "They said they captured it in a crystal to be studied by their experts and then destroyed."
"Didn't they say how long it might take?"
Harry shook his head. "No. They only said it would take some time."
Albus wasn't content with the answers, but it was evident the boy knew no more. He smiled at Harry and said, "Thank you for answering my questions."
Harry smiled and left the room. He still had some homework to finish.
Albus then lifted his gaze at Petunia. "Do you remember any more about that?"
She shook her head. "I didn't even ask, knowing that the explanation would most probably be unintelligible for me. As long as they got rid of it, that was OK with me. Why do you ask? Was there anything special today?"
Albus sighed again. "Just before lunchtime, all the marked followers of the Dark Lord who killed your sister died painfully, all at once. It looks like they were killed by their Dark Mark — a kind of tattoo he used to enslave them to him in some ways. I now tend to believe he also died, although I have no idea how."
"That's good, then. Isn't it?" Petunia had no love for the killer and his minions.
Dumbledore sighed even heavier. "It probably is, but the loss of life…"
Petunia's face hardened. "All those who died were killers and rapists, from what Lily told me. The world is much better without them!"
Albus sighed. "That may be, but some could have been redeemed, I'm sure."
Petunia shook her head. "I started studying psychology before I met Vernon and quit. Such people derive pleasure from the sufferings of others. They can't be redeemed."
"I thought Severus…"
"You mean Severus Snape? He wasn't a good person even as a child. I wasn't surprised to hear that he joined that madman. How did he come to you?"
Albus could not hide his disappointment, although he wasn't sure whom he was most disappointed with. Was that Petunia for not accepting his words, Severus, for having misled him, or himself, for not acting smartly enough? Probably the last option, mostly.
"When he learned that the Dark Lord was targeting Lily and her family, he came to me to try and save them. I tried, but I couldn't do a good enough job, as you know too well."
Petunia thought of the wards he had erected. No wonder the Dark Lord overcame such wards. The old man was not a specialist at warding and shouldn't have let others trust his wards. It was too late to do anything about that, though.
"He also died, didn't he?"
Albus nodded sadly. Petunia didn't feel any sadness for the man who had betrayed his friendship with Lily for the dark side. She thought he had had that darkness in him since early childhood.
Albus lifted himself heavily from the couch. At such times, he felt his age like a burden lying on his shoulders.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs Dursley. I hope to have better news next time we meet."
Petunia smiled. "The demise of many killers is not bad news, the way I see it. Still, I wish you better news next time."
Albus left the house. The street was deserted, mainly due to some strong winds blowing, so he thought he would apparate directly, sparing him some walking. It didn't work. He looked around, seeing nobody on the street, and used his wand to quickly check for wards. He found nothing, but the wards were still there. 'I'm probably doing something wrong due to the bizarre situation. I'll check some other time,' he thought. He walked quite a bit farther and was already near Mrs Figg's house. Noticing that, Albus decided to use the Floo from her house. It was less stressful.