While Bill and another curse-breaker continued scanning the possible routes in the castle, trying to find any hidden curse, most of the team was busy in the Room of Requirements, as Hermione found its proper name. A few items found there were identified as belonging to living owners. They were given back and the owners were charged a finder fee and a cleansing fee. Most owners, though, could not be traced. The items were either old enough to lose any magic that connected them to the owners, the owning family turned extinct, or – as was mostly the case – the items were cursed and any ownership magic had been removed from them to not identify the source of the curse. All such items, after cleansing, were moved to Potter vault and Harry was advised to check them soon and decide what to do with them. He suspected he'd sell all of them, unless his wives desired some.
He was surprised when a goblin called him out of the Charms class. "We found something that you need to know about."
His escort would say no more. The team leader was waiting at the door of the Room of Requirements, looking very excited, for a goblin. "We found an important artefact belonging to one of the founders. Unfortunately, it's tainted with the darkest of dark magic, being used as a soul container."
He showed Harry to a small table, where a beautiful tiara was surrounded by a glowing magical shield. "We can't cleanse this here, with so many innocents around and no safe shielded room for a ritual. We're going to send it to Gringotts, where such a ritual can be safely conducted."
"May I have a look at it?" Harry asked.
The goblin shrugged.
Harry approached the table and crouched to look closer at the tiara. He knew immediately that it was a mistake. His scar started aching, giving him more pain than when he was close to Quirrellmort. He was barely able to distance himself and stand up. He then saw the goblin frown.
"Let me check you for curses, too"
It didn't take long for the goblin to come up with some results. "Your scar is also used as a soul container for a foreign soul piece. Luckily, you have some protection, probably cast by your parents, that disallows that shard of soul to go any deeper, or it would have tried to possess you. Aside from that, you also suffer from multiple binds and other charms cast on you. All can be removed with the appropriate ritual. I suggest you come with me to Gringotts soon after dinner, when I'm going to take this to have it cleansed." The goblin was pointing at the tiara.
Harry wished he had one of his wives at his side at that moment. He then asked, "Can any of my wives accompany me there?"
The team leader seemed unsure. "They may both come, but they can't go into the ritual room and you're bound to be asleep for several hours, once it's done. They could just as well wait here, where it's more comfortable for humans."
Harry felt sure that neither of his wives would agree to wait at Hogwarts. He just sighed. "I'll try to make them aware of your recommendation."
That evening, the three Potters joined the team leader on their way back to Gringotts. It was a simple portkey excursion, and it took them directly from the Room of Requirements to the Gringotts employees' portkeys and apparitions room.
They followed the goblin to an office, where it first presented the tiara ("That's Ravenclaw's diadem!" Hermione whispered in his ear, after she managed to look at it,) and then told about his finds, concerning Harry.
The other goblin looked somewhat worried, but it didn't look like he was worried about Harry. It soon became clearer.
"Lord Potter, I find that this curse-breaking job is becoming more important and more significant each day. You see, the first day it already found this abomination." Harry had no problem identifying Riddle's diary, the one he had destroyed in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Today, it found this diadem, believed to have been Rowena Ravenclaw's. It also contains an abomination that we're going to remove, returning the diadem to its previous glory. And then, it also found you to contain a similar abomination."
The goblin sighed and then continued. "It's very clear now that Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, if you prefer, had made several such soul containers, believing they would give him immortality. He was wrong, of course, but these soul containers are evil incarnate and are also defying the natural ways of life and death. It's our deep belief that such objects should never have existed and need to be cleansed or destroyed, as the case may be, as soon as discovered. The diadem is too precious to be destroyed, so we're going to cleanse it. We shall transfer the soul shard and any other dark magic from it to some object of no value. We're then going to use that soul shard to find all the other soul shards and destroy them, unless they are in a living body. I suggest we act the same way with the soul shard in your forehead."
"Can you elaborate?" Hermione asked, looking very worried.
The goblin kept his eyes on Harry, though. "We shall perform a ritual to transfer that soul shard to a teaspoon. With that done, your scar will be able to heal. We shall use that piece of soul, along with the one from the diadem, to destroy all the other pieces of that soul, except ones residing in a living body. Now, according to what the team leader told me, you probably need another ritual to remove some binds and other charms cast on you. I suggest you also let our healers check you. I suspect that they may also find some things to correct."
Harry sighed. He didn't want to subject himself to another treatment, but was there any alternative? Besides, he really wanted to get rid of that scar. "Fine. How do we proceed?"
The goblin didn't need to think about it. "I suggest we start with the ritual to remove that soul shard from you. That will allow another team to take care of that dark soul and hopefully, forever rid the world of it. We shall then run a full diagnostics on you and that will dictate how to proceed from there. Is that acceptable?"
Harry nodded. "That's acceptable."
The goblin pointed at two comfortable couches for the wives to wait on and then led Harry to the ritual room.
"You first need to undress. Leave your rings behind too. Do you have any piercings? That should also be taken out. Nothing should be left to interfere with the ritual."
"I have no piercings. Where should I leave the rest?" Harry asked.
The goblin pointed at some lockers on the wall. "I'll lock it for you, since you will be asleep when you come out and unable to open the lock."
Harry removed everything, staying completely naked, as did the goblin and several more that joined them, each locking its belongings in a locker.
"You now need to take a potion. It will put you to sleep within a few minutes, just enough time to position yourself comfortably in the ritual room."
Harry obediently drank the potion that tasted a bit like a fruity wine. He then followed the goblins to the room, which was lined with thick steel plates, and took his place inside a circle that was etched on the floor. He fell asleep almost immediately.
When he next woke up, he was in a room resembling a hospital room. He blinked, trying to discern some details. He saw some more beds near him, two of which seemed to be occupied. Judging by the strands of hair peeking under the blankets, these were Hermione and Fleur. He also saw a large clock on the wall but was unsure about the time, unable to clearly identify the clock's hands. 'That's probably due to my eyesight problem' he thought.
One of the goblins sitting under the clock noticed him moving and quickly approached. "You slept somewhat longer than we expected. I assume you were quite tired when you came here." The goblin spoke in a hush, not to wake up the young women.
Harry nodded. "What time is it?"
"Past five in the morning. You spent only three hours in the ritual room, but slept about eight."
Harry chuckled quietly. "That's more than I usually sleep at night. Was the ritual successful?"
The goblin seemed almost offended. "Of course! We wouldn't offer a treatment we weren't sure about. Your scar is almost gone now. It burst open during the ritual and was healed as soon as it was over. By the time you return to Hogwarts, no sign will remain."
"What about the rest?"
The goblin looked a bit less confident. "We ran all the diagnostics while you were asleep. Your wives approved the treatment and we then removed all the binds, tracking, tracing and monitoring charms on you. We then gave you some more potions to treat most of the other problems found. Now, we still need to check your eyes, in case the treatment didn't correct them well enough."
Harry glanced at the clock once again. Fully awake, he could now read the clock easily. It was five twenty. If he remembered correctly, he went into the ritual room at about eight in the evening. He had certainly slept his fill.
Despite trying to keep quiet, the girls were also waking. Hermione was the first to open her eyes and search for Harry. She smiled seeing him and quickly got out of bed to hug him. Harry was surprised to see her still wearing the same clothes she was wearing under her robe when coming to the bank. On second thought, he shouldn't.
Hermione released the hug after a moment and checked his scar. "It's almost gone. They told us it will be completely gone in a few more hours. How do you feel?"
"Hungry?" He also felt quite a bit horny, but this wasn't the time nor the place to act on it.
"'Arry, you're awake! How do you feel?" Fleur joined them, hugging Harry and checking him over just like Hermione.
"I'm fine, only a bit hungry," he reassured her.
"We shall serve you breakfast a bit after six. I suppose you should use the loo and get dressed first," the goblin told them.
Harry blushed, suddenly aware of his nudity. Well, his wives had already seen and felt it all, and the goblins saw it all during the ritual. He still couldn't control his blushing.
Hermione helped him find his clothes and he quickly put them on. The rings were in his trouser pocket, where he had left them. He put them back on. The wand was in his robe, but he didn't need either yet.
After a modest breakfast ("It's healthier to eat several smaller meals than a single large one," the goblins explained.) Harry was led to another room, where his eyes were checked. His vision was now close to normal and he didn't need any glasses.
"With all the problems healed, you can expect a growth spurt. That may affect your eyes too. We suggest you come for another eye check-up after your growth spurt slows down, in about four to six months. It doesn't look like you can benefit from wearing eyeglasses until then."
They arrived back to Hogwarts, using a Goblin portkey, just in time to refresh themselves, change clothes and join their friends in the Great Hall. Neville was the first to notice the changes in Harry. "What happened to your scar? And have you broken your glasses? Hermione can repair them, you know."
Harry smiled at his friend. "I had my scar removed. It also corrected my eyesight."
"That's good, I believe. Are you content with this?"
"Sure! I didn't need the scar and I never liked wearing eyeglasses. I'm glad to be rid of both."
They turned their attention to the food. Harry still felt hungry despite his early breakfast at Gringotts. Hermione only nibbled a bit and mainly drank, watching him attentively, as if to make sure he was really well. Fleur, sitting at the head table, acted similarly.
Dumbledore was already sitting at the table when a house-elf popped at his side, looking quite agitated, whispering something to the headmaster.
Dumbledore left promptly. He returned a few minutes later, looking much older than before and somewhat bent down, as if carrying a heavy load. He reached his place but didn't sit down. Instead, he knocked on a goblet with a spoon, calling for quiet.
"I'm grieved to announce that our beloved potions professor is no longer with us. The house-elves found him dead in his bed after he failed to come here early, as was his custom. We shall all miss him." He sat back, almost falling on his chair.
Harry looked around, noticing that very few Slytherins seemed sad about the fate of their head-of-house, Malfoy among them. Practically everybody else seemed glad to hear the news, although most tried not to look too content, fearing to anger the headmaster.
The mood was broken a few minutes later, when the morning mail arrived. Harry spotted several owls carrying black envelopes, the kind of which he'd never seen before. Most of them headed to the Slytherin table.
Dumbledore didn't seem to notice anything, yet his deputy stayed attentive. She noticed the letters and the reactions of those who opened them and motioned to Professor Vector to join her as she approached the Slytherin table.
The rumour mill proved extremely efficient. Harry heard, "All the 'imperiused' Death Eaters were found dead in bed, just like Snape." He wondered if that had any connection with his ritual. How could it?