Chapter Twenty Five – Surprising Revelations
Harry and Hermione followed Cassie as she led them to their meeting with Neville and Ginny aware that they had nothing else left to try. The needed to find the last Horcrux and destroy it if they were to finally kill Voldemort. Both felt nervous and each could feel the others apprehension through their bond. They soon arrived at the room assigned for them and Cassie opened the door. Inside Neville and Ginny were sat around a small table with books and maps surrounding them. As they both saw they others enter they both stood and walked over to them. Neville stood before Harry for a few seconds before briefly embracing him.
"Brother!" was all he said.
Ginny had walked over to Hermione and had also embraced her. This surprised the brunette as Ginny had been a bit standoffish since her marriage to Harry. Despite their earlier conversations, she felt Ginny still held a candle for Harry and blamed her for losing him.
"You okay Ginny?" she asked in a low voice.
"Yeah surprisingly, since Nev gave me his promise ring I have had time to think. I now know what real love is and it's nothing like what I thought I had with Harry. Love was in front of my eyes all this time and I never took the time to notice it. Despite all that has happened in the last few days, I have never been happier...oh I'm sorry Hermione that was very unfeeling of me." She apologised as she realised what she had said. Hermione just smiled at her and shook her head.
"My Dad would not have wanted people to stop living their lives just because of what happened. I'm sure that Nev's Gran would feel the same. Never apologise for been in love and happy; Merlin know we need every moment of happiness to count." She told the small redhead. Ginny smiled to herself and hugged Hermione once more, kissing her cheek gently as she did.
"Thanks...Sis." she said in a quiet voice before letting her go and moving to embrace Luna. The two hugged for a long while as Ginny tried to console the sad Vampire.
"Luna, I'm so sorry. We never really got time to talk yesterday and I want you to know that both Nev and I are here for you."
"Thanks Ginny, it's good to know that I have such good friends, I will be okay really and I know my Dad is with my Mum now, if I'm honest Daddy has been half with Mummy for a long while now and I spent a lot of time on m own. He never ever got over her death and part of me is happy that they are together once more. She is good for him, but I will miss him nevertheless."
"That's to be expected Luna, and how are you coping with been a vampire?" Neville asked as he had made his way over to the pair.
"Oh been a Vampire is great, I feel so strong and confident with that side of my being, plus Harry or Hermione are always happy to provide me with a meal." She said with a grin causing both Ginny and Neville to look a little green around the gills. Noticing this Luna laughed.
"Don't look like that!" she admonished them, "Just like you I need to eat and what's better than a never ending supply from my two friends. Plus it's not like it hurts them." She told them.
"Well yes, but do you think we should get on?" the headmistress asked from the doorway as she observed the youngsters reacquaint themselves with each other.
Ginny and Neville looked up at the headmistress, not having seen her when the group entered the room and nodded to her. They walked back to the table and took their seats, but quickly realised that due to the arrival of both Cassie and the headmistress they were two chairs missing. Harry looked around the room and not seeing any other chairs just looked back at the three empty ones and with a small pop two new chairs were present. Everyone except Hermione and Luna gasped at this show of powerful magic causing Harry to blush.
"What?" he asked.
"Mr Potter, you did that wandlessly, silently and without even a gesture. That is an amazing show of magic; even Albus at his most powerful could not do that." Professor McGonagall said in an awed voice.
With a grin, Hermione looked at the table and suddenly a tray of tea cups and a large pot of tea appeared complete with a plate of biscuits.
Minerva fell back into her chair with a gasp, "Merlin! Just how powerful are you two?" she asked, knowing they would not answer her. Harry just grinned at her and winked as he and the rest sat.
"Shall I be mother?" he asked as he took hold of the teapot.
"Cheeky! Yes please." The headmistress replied with a grin. After they had all drunk there tea Harry looked at Ginny and Neville with a curious gaze.
Neville cleared his throat. "Okay, but before we tell you what we found why don't you tell us anything you found in Cornwall?"
Harry grimaced as his two female companions grinned at him.
"What?" Neville asked in confusion.
"Nothing Nev, it's just that we found something out about my ancestry that these two find amusing, although I'm not sure why my dear wife is grinning like a lunatic when she is tarred with the same brush through marriage...#Duchess!#" he thought the last word causing Hermione to pale and suddenly stop grinning. This caused Luna to laugh out loud.
"Okay you three, spill!" Ginny ordered.
Harry grimaced once more and began to tell them about the nearly wasted trip to the southern county and the hunt for the lake, including the trip on the tour bus. Finally he got to the finding of the secret room that Merlin had used and the conversation with the shade of Arthur. When he got to the bit about been Arthurs heir and Duke Pendragon he heard gasps from Neville, Ginny and Professor McGonagall. When he looked up all three were down on their knees with head bowed.
"NO,no no no no! This is what I was afraid of. I am no King, nor do I deserve anyone to bow to me – I am not another Voldemort; that's why I refused the throne or the title." Harry stated in a distraught voice. He walked over to the three and gently pulled them to their feet. Neville looked at him in confusion.
"My Liege?" he asked.
"No Neville, Harry! Just Harry to you and all of you. This country has a monarch and she seems to do a fine job as it is. I am just Harry..."
"Harry you will never be 'just Harry' but I can understand why you do not want this, but you have to know that you and Hermione will always be the true magical King and Queen of this county, and if you ever wanted to you could take up the mantle of that." The headmistress told him. Harry was almost in tears by this point."
"I cannot, nor do I want that attention Minerva. You know 'Mione's and my fate." he said, aware that Neville was the only one unaware of their immortality. "We cannot do that, it would eventually corrupt us and we would become that which we are fighting. I abdicated all rights to the throne and it is going to stay that way." Hermione nodded her agreement to his words. She had also become quite worried when the three bowed to them, the thought that she was also the rightful Queen scared her. Eventually the two of them managed to calm the situation and everyone retook their chairs, that was until Harry happened to mention that the Goblins needed to see him. This caused everyone to begin to speculate about the reason and the possible ramifications for the Wizarding world if the news about Harry and Hermione was to become public knowledge.
"They will tell you the same thing Harry, you cannot escape fate." Ginny said with a wry grin.
"I can dam well try, you just watch me!" Harry replied.
Ginny smiled back at him but said nothing.
Harry eventually took charge of the conversation, subconsciously convincing nearly everyone of his right to rule.
"Gin, Nev enough about us, what did you two discover because we have nothing." He asked them.
Neville looked over at his girlfriend and nodded to her. "Go on, you're the one who found it." He told her. Ginny blushed and shyly raised her head to look at the others.
"Well, Nev and I were looking through as many books as we could in order to try to find anything about the lake and the sword. We sorta figured out that the original location of the lake was most likely down in Cornwall but the sword had maybe been moved to a new location. However we could find nothing about the possible location of the sword, so I was flicking through books randomly; you know hoping inspiration would strike." She said with a grin at Hermione.
"It was then that I picked up your favourite book Hermione, 'Hogwarts a History' and that was when I found it. I was just reading the section on the founding of the school; you know it's written in a very old type of English with the modern translation alongside it. The page was describing the location of the castle when I found it mention the Black lake. I then looked up at the old version and guess what they called the lake... yup 'Llyn Du' Just like on the list you initially gave us. Apparently it's old welsh and it translates as Black Lake. I figured that it was too much of a coincidence to ignore so we sent Dobby to find you."
There was a long moment of silence before Harry let out the breath he had been holding in. "Whoa, you mean that the sword may of been under our noses all this time, here at Hogwarts?" he asked.
Hermione thought about it and looked up at him. "It kinda makes sense. Voldemort would love the irony of hiding his Horcrux right under our noses in one of the historical sites that the lake may have been; and the castles wards would keep it safe."
"But there is no island on the Black lake; it's just a lake, a big lake granted but just a lake." Professor McGonagall said.
"It could be hidden from view, as you say it's a big lake and we tend to avoid it." Harry said in a thoughtful voice. "Cassie can you tell if it's here?" he asked the human embodiment of the school.
Cassie looked like she was seeing things not in the room as she contemplated the question. "There is something Father, its faint and like it's not quite there but there is something. The lake is on the limit of my control and therefore not something I can scan easily but there is something. It's worth investigating." She told them.
"Well, it's a better lead than anything else we have, good work Ginny." Harry said much to the pleasure of the now blushing redhead.
"Okay, so what do we do next?" Neville asked.
"Well, we have to go to see the Goblins soon, but when we come back I suggest we fly over the lake and try to find this island. If that doesn't work then we may need a curse-breaker to help us find any island that maybe there." Harry said. As he spoke there was a tapping on the glass at the window and sat on the sill was a large black bird with evil looking red eyes. Everyone but Harry and Hermione raised their wands as they looked at the malevolent looking bird. Slowly Harry walked to the window and opened the latch allowing the bird entry. The large raven lifted up its leg and tied to it was a black envelope with silver writing on it.
"It's a letter addressed to me." Harry said.
"Careful, love it could be a trap." Hermione told him.
"Mmm-huh" Harry murmured as he wandless reached out with his magic and scanned to bird and the letter for traps. "No it's, clean" he finally announced and he reached over and quickly removed the letter from the bird. The raven glared at him with baleful eyes and as soon as the letter was released it took to its wings and flew out of the open window and into the dark sky. Harry watched the bird for a few seconds before shutting the window and returning to the table. He sat and slowly opened the letter. It was written on an odd looking pale material with dark red letters. As he unfolded it he heard Luna gasp in shock.
"What's matter Luna?" he asked.
"That's monstrous..evil and foul!" she grated.
"What?" Harry repeated confused.
"The letter, it's written on skin with blood, human blood and human skin!... Oh sweet Merlin, it's Draco's!" she now whispered in a strangled voice before turning and vomiting on the floor. Harry looked at her in horror as her words penetrated his understanding. With a gasp he dropped the letter on the desk and paled as he contemplated it. Hermione had moved to help Luna, keeping her hair out of the way as she emptied her stomach.
After a few moments Luna managed to get her stomach under control and sat back in her chair and looked at the questioning faces that surrounded her.
"The letter, it's written on human skin, human skin that once belonged to Draco Malfoy, and using his own blood... I can smell it." She explained.
"Sweet Merlin!" Neville said, "Who would do such a thing?" he asked.
"Voldemort!" was all Harry said.
"So Draco is dead?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I don't think he would survive this." Hermione said in a sick voice.
"Poor Draco, no one deserved that." Ginny said. "I know he was a total bastard but this... it's sick."
Harry contemplated the letter and the fate of his school nemesis. He found himself agreeing with Ginny, Malfoy was an evil twat, but not even he deserved this fate. Unwilling to touch the letter, he used his magic to open the folded skin and began to read the contents. As he read at first his face paled and then reddened as his temper spiked. Finally he began to swear like a sailor and everyone could feel the magic rolling off him in waves. Fearing a repeat of the events in Australia, Hermione quickly enveloped him is a hug and began to speak in his ear quietly.
"It's okay Harry, I understand how you feel, please calm down you are scaring people."
Eventually Harry began to calm and turned to look at his wife. "You know what it said?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I could hear it in your thoughts my love. Don't worry we can sort this." She told him. Everyone one else was looking confused so Harry used his magic to move the letter to Professor McGonagall who began to read it out loud.
'Dear Potter
By now I'm sure that your tame Vampire will have alerted you to the fact that this missive is written with the blood and on the skin off young Mr Malfoy. I was very displeased both with him and Serverus in their inability to kill you and as you can see Mr Malfoy has suffered punishment for this lack of ability. Who knew that the worthless son of Lucius would have finally been of use in some way? He screamed when I removed his hide in the most delightful way and Nagini enjoyed his meat. You will be consoled to know that his head is still alive due to an ancient and lovely curse I fell upon when reading one day. His bones and head still grace my wall and the sense of fear and pain I can sense from him as he silently screams is...delightful. I have similar plans for that traitor and coward, Snape. I will grant you a boon, if you can find the slippery Serverus and deliver him to me I will ensure that your Mudblood bitch of a whore will die a painless death when I kill you; and I will kill you. Nothing and no one can stand against me or my army, although I am curious how both you and the bitch are still alive, but I will get that information out of you when we next meet.
However it does pain me to tell you that I do need to inform you of something, I woke this morning after a vision struck me, a true vision that shocked me to my core. I wish to rule the world and beyond; that is my right as Lord and Master, but I wish to rule a world full of people to worship me, to serve me and to entertain me. I am sure that you are aware of the demon that is amongst us, the demon that wears the face of your friend Weasley. If he is not stopped I foresee a world where all humans, magical and muggle are under his rule. He will consume the world and all worlds beyond ours. All life will become the food for him and his kin until there is nothing left, no life in any world. This is an abomination and cannot come to pass. When I kill you I will destroy this monstrosity but in the unlikely event that you destroy me, I beg of you Brother; don't let this future come to pass, don't let this monster continue on this course or all will be lost. The world need life, life to serve its betters but this vision is that of an empty and desolate universe and is an abomination.
Know that our day of reckoning is coming and you have not the means or the power to defeat me. You can die in the knowledge that Lord Voldemort will destroy this demon and I will have the world to bow down before me.
Until we meet.
Lord Voldemort'
There was a moment of silence as the words were absorbed before Minerva swore in Gaelic. Neville was slightly more English with his words.
"Fucking hell! Oh sweet fucking hell!" he swore. Even within his anger boiling Harry snorted a laugh at this statement.
"Yeah, like I need old 'Voldi-shit-for-brains' to tell me what to do." He said. "We need to stop this madman and soon."
As he looked up he saw the tears in the headmistress's eyes and he raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Malfoy!" she explained. "Even after all he did, he was a boy in my care and I failed him. What that monster has done to him is evil and wrong. His soul must be screaming out for release."
Harry nodded his thoughts on Malfoy confused. There was a time when he would have gladly killed the blonde boy himself, but this? This sickened him and he found himself feeling sorry for Draco.
Harry looked at the letter and it suddenly burst into flames, burning and leaving nothing but ash.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Luna murmured as she watched the earthly remains of Draco burn.
"Snape? I wonder where he is?" Hermione mused. "I thought he'd gone back to Tom, but apparently not." She wondered.
"When we find him, he's mine!" snarled Cassie, causing everyone to look at her in a surprised way.
"What? He hurt my sister and myself. I get to have him when we find him, it's only fair." She whined.
"We have to find him first Cassie." Harry told her. "And I'm afraid that is low down on out 'to-do' list. First things first is Voldishorts."
"Aw but Dad!" Cassie whined bringing a smile to everyone's face.
"Harry, we have to get to Gringotts, Ragnok will be waiting for us." Hermione told him, standing and conjuring a warm cloak for herself. Harry nodded and stood as well, a cloak appearing in his hands.
"We will be back later this afternoon, Neville can you find 'Mione a broom as well as one for yourself. We will do a fly over the lake to see what we can find. Cassie will you be able to come with us to help?" he asked the school, aware that Hermione had tensed at the thought of flying. He took her hand and rubbed his finger over the back of her hand.
"Yes, but no broomstick required." She said as she silently raised herself above the floor. "Remember, I only look human, but I am far more." She turned to Hermione. "Mother, I will never let you fall, so please don't worry." She said to the panicking Hermione.
"It's not the falling that worries me; it's meeting the ground and the sudden stop when I finish falling." She said, much to everyone's amusement.
#'Mione, stop worrying, even if you fall, what's the worst that can happen?# Harry told her.
#Well I can die a horrible death and drown in the lake!#
#Yeah but, you will just come around again and walk out.#
#Git!#
#Well that's mature!#
#Big Git!#
Harry laughed and learnt over and kissed her soundly. She blushed briefly before smacking him gently on the shoulder.
"Oh all right, we can use that blasted brooms, but if I die, I will kill you!" she told him. Everyone laughed except Neville who looked confused.
"Later Nev, I'll explain later." Harry told him and with a grin the immortal pair vanished from the room, causing everyone to gasp.
"I hate it when they do that." Professor McGonagall said to no one in particular.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Serverus Snape was limping down the narrow street in the magical area of Mexico with a pissed off expression on his face, his arm bandaged and his clothes ruined. He just couldn't understand what was happening or why. The other night he had walked into one of the seedier drinking dens in the magical quarter trying to recruit followers in his plan to be the next Dark Lord. When he entered he was aware that all the conversation stopped and everyone turned to look at him. Even in this seedier end of the area, the denizens were used to magical tourists and all spoke decent English; they were also eager for some entertainment. When this pasty, greasy looking wizard wandering in and announced himself as the next great Dark Lord and who wanted to follow him, hysterical laughter was not what Snape was expecting. As he tried to look powerful and once more declared his greatness, people falling off their chairs with tears rolling down their eyes was down-right rude. He then made the first mistake of the evening, he drew his wand and tried to cast a torture curse at one of the drinkers; thinking that his spell would prove his power and his evilness. That's what he thought would happen, what actually happened was absolutely nothing, no spell, no screaming – nothing, zip, nadda. Well that wasn't exactly accurate, what did happen was he felt a large knife pressing non to gently against his neck and turning he saw the largest man with the meanest expression he had ever seen.
"You is making a big mistake doing that Inglish. Whilst we like a laugh, casting spells like that ain't very friendly like and that's why we have anti-magic wards here. Now drop the wand Inglish!" he growled.
Severus dropped his wand with a whimper as he felt the knife digging into his neck further. As soon as the wand hit the floor, someone snatched it up quickly and it vanished into a pocket.
"Now that's better, any other wands? No? Good, now we don't need any Dark Lords 'ere. Dark Lords get the authority's involved and people get killed that way, it ends up that an honest criminal cannot make a living when we 'ave Dark Lords around so we's be thanking you for your kind offer, but we's be saying no." the man growled, others nodding at his words.
That was when Snape made his second mistake. As he felt the mad man remove the knife from his neck, he snarled and went for his own poisoned knife that he kept at all times. However the man was anticipating this and that was when Snape lost two of his fingers as well as his best knife.
"Bad idea Inglish, now I will be needing some money to clean my knife from your stinking blood. Your nice Inglish Galleons spend well over here so hand 'em over…..no? Boys, you know what to do."
Snape found himself a few minutes later without wand or a cloak, his knife missing along with two of his fingers and no money been thrown out of the drinking hole and into the gutter. He limped his way back to his hotel only to find that all his muggle money along with his passport had been stolen and the hotel had thrown him out. This was why he was pissed off and unknown to him, things were not about to get better.
"Severous Snape – freeze! Aurors!"
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Harry and Hermione walked arm in arm down Diagon Alley towards the bank, the sun was shining in the winter sky and despite the cold and frost it was a lovely looking day. Luna had stayed behind at Hogwarts wanting to spend some time with Ginny as she was missing her childhood friend, so it was just the pair of them. Hermione was feeling happy despite the events of the past few days. She felt happy in Harry's arms, safe and content to be with him and despite her love for the young blonde Vampire, it was nice to have some time just for the pair of them. Diagon Alley was busy and noisy despite the attack a few weeks ago. The fact that Voldemort had suffered a very visible defeat gave people the confidence to go out and the shops were busy and the restaurants full.
The pair approached the shining white building of the bank, the scars of the recent attacks still visible on the walls. The two goblin guards saluted the pair by crossing one of their arms across their breastplates and bowing their heads as the two approached. Harry nodded to the pair as the doors to the bank opened for them and they stepped inside. As soon as they entered a small goblin approached them and bowed deeply.
"Duke and Duchess Pendragon, Gringotts greats you. If you would kindly follow me, Lord Ragnok is waiting for you." He said in a quiet voice.
Harry groaned mentally causing him to hear a mental laugh from his mate.
#Don't laugh, they are including you in this absurdity. It's going to be one of those meeting!# he mentally told her.
Hermione just held her hand to her mouth and giggled slightly. Despite been the Duchess Pendragon she thought that none of it really mattered and eventually it would all fade away.
They followed the small Goblin to the board room that they had first met Ragnok in and once more the two guards on the door saluted and opened the doors for them. They entered the door and Ragnok earned Harry's undying gratitude with his first words.
"Harry, my friend, how are you?" came the guttural voice of the leader of the Goblins. Harry shot him a grateful look for his use of Harry's name and returned the compliment.
"Very well Ragnok, all things considered." This causal use of Ragnok's name caused a gasp in the small gathering of Goblins apart from Griphook and Silverfang, who were stood next to the great Goblin. Ragnok nodded at Harry before he looked over to Hermione.
"Lady Hermione, my condolences for your family's loss. If there is anything the Goblin nation can do to help either you or your esteemed mother please let me know. I understand that your mother killed the slime responsible for your father's death?"
"Yes sir, she ran him over and killed him with their car." She said in a sad voice.
"Who was it, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked as he motioned for them to sit. They all sat in comfortable chairs next to the desk of Ragnok.
"It was Antonin Dolohov sir." Hermione told him once they had seated. Ragnok raised an eyebrow at the news and motioned for Silverfang. They had a whispered conversation and Silverfang left the room at speed.
Hermione raised an eyebrow as she looked at the goblin that was looking back at her.
"By the rights of conquest, the contents of Antonin Dolohov now belong to the Lady Emma Granger, the Dolohov family is an old family and along with the title there is quite a bit of money." He told her.
"But my mother is a muggle, can she be allowed this?" Hermione asked.
"Muggle she may be, but due to her relationship with you Princess, she has the noblest of blood, and no one would question her right." He told her.
Hermione gaped at him. "Princess?" she asked. Ragnok laughed out loud at her tone.
"You really don't know do you? Both of you?" he asked. Both teens shook their heads at him.
"What do you know?" he asked, with honest curiosity.
After a moment, where he assumed that they were communicating mentally, Harry sighed and slowly began to speak. He told him about their trip to Cornwall and to Tintagel. He spoke of meeting the shade of Arthur and the fact that Harry was his heir. He also made it clear that he had abdicated the rights to the throne. When he was done, he looked at the Goblin with a confused look.
"Prince Pendragon, let me tell you a story. A few days ago we were alerted to the fact that Vault #2 reactivated. This is our second largest vault, and in all living memory has been sealed shut, along with its neighbour, vault #1. Now the first of these great vaults was unsealed a few weeks ago and once belonged to the great Emrys, and you both own that one. Vault #2 is the Pendragon family vault and no one knows exactly what is inside it. Imagine our surprise when it unsealed and both your names appear on the ledger, the last name on there was that of Arthur himself. Suffice to say the fact that you own both vaults means that neither of you will ever be short of money, even taking into account your immortality." He told them.
"But I abdicated….I.-I-I- I cannot be a Prince?" Harry stuttered.
"Yes, and that is why I can only address you as Prince and Princess and not King and Queen. Do you really think the magic would allow that to happen, you may have abdicated the throne, but you can never abdicate the title or the right. It is your right, your birthright and you are responsible and accountable to that birthright. You are both two people now, you are the Lord and Lady Harry Potter, with all the extra names added as well as the Dukedom that Arthur conferred on you, but you are also Prince Harry Pendragon and the Princess Hermione Pendragon - heirs apparent to the magical thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, now and forever. Now you can keep these facts quiet, the Goblin nation will always keep your secrets, but eventually the news will find its way into the public domain; these things always do. I agree that one man should not rule, and that a good democracy is always superior BUT you can do a lot of good with these titles and we do NOT have a good democracy at the moment." He told them. Pausing to take a sip of water he smiled at the two stunned faces looking at him.
"Since your little excursion to the Ministry, one Mr Dante Jugson is the new Minister. He is a puppet with very little intelligence; Voldemort is really in charge. Now at the moment there is not a lot we can do about that, but after Voldemort's defeat – and we do believe that you will do this – you can take charge of the entire Ministry, it is built on land that you now own. You can replace the entire Wizengamot and remove all the remaining Death-eaters and then hold fair elections for a just leader. We can have a true democracy, one that is fair to all magicals, including Goblins."
Harry sighed and held his face in his hand as the inevitability of the situation hit him. He felt Hermione take his hand in her own.
"We can do this Harry, we can do this in the background and keep it quiet. We do not have to let this ruin or run our lives, eventually even those that know will forget." She told him.
Taking a deep breath Harry looked up at the Goblin. "Okay, what do I need to do?" he asked.
"Nothing Harry other than to take the ring and place it on your finger. If you are the true heir then you will live, if you are lying then you will die, immortal or not." He said simply, pushing across a small leather box across the table. Harry looked at the box for a while before slowly taking it in his hand. Opening the box he looked at the relatively simple ring that laid in it. It was a buttery golden colour with a rampart lion and dragon stood in the shield in the centre. It was obviously very old and Harry started at it with shaking hands. With a resigned expression he took the ring and placed it gently on his finger, the other rings flaring into view as he did. The ring slowly resized itself and took its place on his finger. Slowly a deep purple light grew around Harry, and reached across to envelop Hermione. With a gasp she looked down and a smaller version of the ring appeared on her finger. The light grew until the goblins had to turn away before it faded. When it faded Harry and Hermione looked up to see all the goblins on their knees, with head bowed. Harry had tears running down his face as he looked at Ragnok.
"My Liege, this is the only time we will honour you this way as we know you do not wish this accolade. Because you don't want it that is why we honour you so."
"Stand Ragnok, please all of you stand." Harry begged. With a sigh the goblins stood and faced there new greatest hope for the future.
Chapter Twenty Six – Looking for little Islands.
It was a quiet Harry and Hermione that had left the bank a little while later. They had finished the conversation with Ragnok and before they had left they had visited their new vault. To say that they had been stunned was a slight understatement. The piles of gold were huge and the number of piles faded into the darkness of the huge vault. Griphook had shown them the balance but there comes a point when there are just too many noughts at the end of a number for it to have any meaning. The goblin had tried to tell them that they owned over ninety percent of the Wizarding world's gold, but they really didn't take the information on board. As well as the huge pile of gold in the vault there were many other beautiful items including jewels and precious gems, swords and armour as well as clothing. Hermione was drawn to some of the early books that were in a corner of the vault. They both avoided the two crowns that sat on a golden table in the centre of the vault. They were both fairly simple in design when compared with the currents monarch's crown; essentially nothing more than thin circlets of gold, one smaller than the other. They were however beautiful wrought with exquisite detail on the gold. It was clear that they were designed for a man and a woman, but it was what they represented that caused the pair to avoid them. They seemed to glow slightly in the dim light and both teens could feel the two crowns calling to them with an odd sort of pull that tugged at their magic.
Avoiding them Harry had found a beautiful bracelet of solid gold that he put on Hermione's wrist. It was about an inch thick and according to the label it had belonged to Queen Guinevere. It was covered in small emeralds and detailed carving of vine leaves and flowers covered the gold. Hermione had loved the bangle and with tears in her eyes had gently kissed her 'king'. After about half an hour of exploring they left the vault and asking Griphook for a complete accounting off all their holding and assets to be complied and forwarded to them; they left the bank.
They were walking along Diagon Alley in a bit of a daze, Harry holding Hermione's hand gently as they walked.
"Harry, I don't want to go back just yet, I need a sit down and a drink. Come on let's go into London and find a cafe." She finally said after a long silence as they both processed all that had happened to them.
"Okay, come on then." He replied and they both entered the Leaky Cauldron and exited into Muggle London. They were both slightly startled by the sudden assault of noise that came from the busy street but they soon found themselves a nice coffee outlet. Seated with coffee and a pastry they sat in silence as they drank their drinks and ate there food.
"Well..." Harry began
"Yes..." Hermione said after a moment.
"Wow..."
"Yeah..."
"So...?"
"So..."
Harry laughed at the pair of them before taking a deep breath.
"Well, you Majesty, what are we going to do about all of this?" he asked with a grin.
Hermione giggled at him before her expression turned serious. "We do NOT want anyone else to know about this, it would make our lives impossible...well more impossible than they are right now."
"Yeah...but all that gold 'Mione, it's almost obscene." He muttered.
"Yes it is, but we are hopefully going to be around for a very long time, and we can do a lot of good things for the world with that amount. I just hope you don't think I got together with you for your money." She said in a small voice.
"Hermione Jean Potter! Number one, we got together before we knew anything about the money, and two, and this a big one... It's OUR money, what's mine is yours etcetera, etcetera remember." He scolded her.
She looked down with a contrite expression on her face; that was until Harry gently lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her softly on the lips.
#You are mine, now and forever.# he thought to her.
#Now and forever.# she replied and kissed him back.
"What next love?" she asked.
"Well, we better get back to Hogwarts and check out that lake, I have a feeling things are coming to a head with Tom and we need to be ready."
"Oh no, that means brooms and flying." She moaned.
"Hey, don't what you are moaning about, my little immortal, it's not like you can hurt yourself."
"Git!" she said.
"You've already called me that love!" he told her with a grin.
She glared at him and did the only sensible thing she could think off; she stuck her tongue out at him, causing Harry to burst out laughing, which she soon followed.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Severus Snape woke up in a damp and dim room. There was a cold stone floor stretching out in front of him and he was laid on a rough wooden cot, with no blanket. The only source of light was a narrow window high up on the wall. The door was a metal cell style door with only a covered round window in the centre. There was no handle or keyhole and no obvious other way out. In the corner of the room was a steel bucket and a single dripping tap. It was cold, damp and unpleasant. As he laid there he tried to remember the events of the previous evening. He remembered going to the bar and the lack of respect that was shown to him by the occupants. He remembered been thrown out of the bar, along with a few missing teeth and a few extra bruises, but then...
'Oh Shit!' he thought to himself. 'The Aurors!" he thought as he instinctively felt for his wand. With a sigh he remembered loosing the item in the bar and shut his eyes and groaned. "Bloody Aurors!" he muttered as he recalled the events of the previous night. Not British Aurors, but a mixture of American and Mexican forces had accosted the potions master in the alleyway. With no wand and no other weapons the fight was quick and brief and the outcome was always going to be inevitable.
'How did they find me?' he thought to himself. 'I am so buggered!...but maybe I can talk my way out of this, they may grant me asylum.'
As he thought he heard the door unlock, he looked up and saw the one person he did not want to see.
"Hello Snape!" said Kingsley Shacklebolt. "We have been looking for you." He said with an evil grin.
"Shit!" said Snape.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Harry and Hermione left the coffee shop a little while later and were walking hand in hand along the street, Harry quickly cast a 'notice-me-not' charm over the pair of them and as they walked they faded away...
...only to re-appear walking down the corridors of Hogwarts towards the classroom they earlier been using. They were disturbed by a scream as both Lavender and Parvati stood open mouthed as they watched them appear like ghosts. Hermione grinned at her house mates and Harry winked at them as they walked into the classroom. They were just about to enter the room when a voice called out.
"Harry…. Hermione please wait." Lavender called out. The pair stopped and turned around to see the blonde witch walking towards them with a pensive look on her face. Parvati was stood at the end of the corridor, unsure of what to do.
"Lavender, how may we help you?" Harry asked politely.
Lavender took a deep breath and looked at Harry.
"Harry, where's Ron? Is he alright?" she asked. "I know something's happened and you were going to tell me when you first came back to the school, but we never seemed to be able to get around to the conversation. I'm worried about him." She finished.
Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione who had tears forming in her eyes. Taking a deep breath he took the young blonde hand and smiled a sad smile at her.
"Lavender, it's not an easy thing to say, but I very sad to tell you that Ron is dead. He's been dead for many years, since he was ten years of age…"
"No….No that's not possible…..No!" Lavender said starting to shake.
"Lav, the creature that we all knew as Ron was in fact a demon, a Soul Demon that had attacked him when he was a young boy. He tried to kill Hermione and me and is intent of killing many, many people, you included."
He had to hold the blonde up as her legs gave way beneath her. Gently lowering her to the ground he knelt next to her as she sobbed.
"But….But I ….I slept with him. Oh Sweet Merlin, I even thought I might have been pregnant by him, but it was a false alarm. Oh God, what am I going to do….I loved him so much." She wailed. Hermione had beckoned Parvati over and the two young women tried to comfort the distraught Gryffindor.
"Lavender, you need to keep this quiet. We don't want anyone else to know as it will put them at risk. As it is I need you to contact your parents and give them this portkey. It will take them to my house where they will be safe. When you leave here, you will need to go to the house as well. Ron may use you as bait to get to me or Hermione." He told her, handing her a small length of rope that he had just created.
"Don't use that name!" she snarled, now angry. "Ron is dead, that creature killed him and took my innocence. He does not deserve that good name." she said, startling Harry with the depth of her anger.
#Anger's good Harry, she can work when she's angry.# came the thought from Hermione.
Lavender looked up at Harry with a needy look. "You are going to go after it aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes, Lav we have to." He told her.
"Good! When you kill it, spit on it from me will you?" she asked.
Harry just nodded and once more Lavender collapsed crying in the arms of Parvati.
"I'll take her to the tower; we can get some food sent up." The Indian witch told them. She led the sobbing witch away leaving Harry with a sad Hermione in his arms.
"That's was…..crap!" she said.
"Yeah I know." Harry told her.
"Merlin, what if she had got pregnant, what the hell would have happened?"
"I don't know; I don't want to even think about it." He replied.
They stood for a while in each other's arms before turning back to the classroom.
As they entered they found the room empty with just the table left in the centre on the room. On the table lay a folded piece of parchment. Walking up to it, Harry picked it up and opened it, reading silently he smiled and looked over at his wife.
"We are to meet them in the Great Hall for lunch and then we will go investigate the lake. They have found you a nice Cleansweep broom that is very stable and won't go to fast or high. Madam Hooch has left it in the changing rooms near the pitch. I am to use one of the school ones...bugger that!" he said. Concentrating for a moment, he waved his hand over the table causing a familiar looking broomstick to appear. He heard Hermione gasp in surprise.
"Harry, that looks like your Firebolt, I thought you lost that when we tried to run from your Aunts house for the last time?" she asked.
"I did, it fell out of Hagrid's motorbike, and this is an exact replica that I've conjured." He said.
"Harry, that's impossible, even for us. You may conjure something that looks like your Firebolt but you cannot conjure something that will work like a Fire..." she broke off as Harry, grinning at her held the broom at waist height and let go, it floated and was positively vibrating with power.
"You were saying my lovely Bookworm?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
"How? What? ...How?" she said.
"Well that sounded intelligent love!" Harry said, earning a thump on his arm. "Ow! Be careful of the hero. Us hero's bruise easily." He teased.
"You Bugger! Now you explain...NOW!" she told him with a mock scowl on her face.
Harry looked at her, with her lip pouting slightly. Never did she look lovelier he thought as he leant across and kissed her upturned lips.
"Think 'Mione, you have the knowledge. We were given it when we were resurrected for the first time. It's only since the last few days that the knowledge has started to make some sort of sense." He said. Hermione looked at him for a moment before her gaze turned inward. She started to bite her bottom lip in the way she did when she was concentrating. Harry found it irresistible and fought the urge to take her right there. Suddenly she gasped as the knowledge clicked into place within her brain.
"Merlin, oh sweet Merlin…wow!" she said as the power flowed through her. She could feel it tingling in her body and it made her fingers twitch as it coursed through her. She took Harry's hand and the power soared as his mingled with hers. As they embraced their eyes began to glow and the magic began to stream out of them in coloured ribbons within the air. They both kissed each other with a rare passion as the magic embraced them both. Finally they both calmed down and the magical storm subsided somewhat.
"Come on 'Mione, we need to get to the Hall for lunch." Harry said. They walked to the door which opened magically for them as they approached it. They strolled down the corridor unaware that other students were watching them as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. Entering the hall; the conversation died as people observed the pair enter the Hall. Unknown to the magical pair, as they walked they were leaving in their wake odd afterimages of themselves, almost like a timed delayed image of the pair, along with streamers of coloured magical energy. People were staring open mouthed at the oblivious couple, so enraptured they were in their own minds with each other. Neville ran up to them and placed his hand gently on Harry's arm.
"Harry! You're…. Well I don't know what you're doing but people are looking!" he grated. Harry looked around at the hall as if for the first time and saw the open mouthed stares of the students and staff alike; before he looked behind them and saw the magical streamers and after-images. With an embarrassed grin both he and Hermione managed to get a lid on their magic and the after-effects vanished.
"Oops, Sorry everyone!" he called out, causing a slight giggle to run around the hall. Harry and Hermione blushed as they slowly walked to the Gryffindor table and took their seats. Luna was already sat there, much to the confusion of some of the other Lions, and was grinning like a loon.
"Nice entrance you two! Boy do you know how to make an impression." She giggled. In front of her was a small dish containing her new favourite of blood cake. A few of the closest students were looking a little green as they had watched the vampire eat the concoction with relish before the interruption. As she looked up at her friends, a small dribble of blood fell down her chin.
"Oopsie, sorry." She giggled as she licked the dribble away, her fangs clearly visible.
"Oh Luna! Who volunteered this time?" Hermione asked with a smile. Ginny raised her hand, looking a little nauseous herself.
"Me, it was okay and didn't hurt once she taught me the spell, but blood and cake!?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's great. Wanna bit?" Luna asked, raising a loaded fork towards the red-head.
Ginny gulped and shook her head vigorously, her hands coming up to her mouth. "No thanks Luna, it's okay. I may never eat cake again, but it's okay."
Luna looked shocked at the thought of never eating cake again, and took a few seconds to look at the dripping blob of cake that was on her fork before opening her mouth and sinking her fangs into the sticky mess.
"There! Take that!" she told the offending cake, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh as they were used to the blonde's antics. Everyone else looked even greener that they had before. It wasn't long before the conversation changed to other matters.
"Harry, what the hell was all that about when you two came in, you looked awesome!" Seamus asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, what the hell's going on with you two?" Dean questioned a bit louder.
"Shush! That was a bit of an accident; we just discovered something to do with our powers and got a bit carried away." Hermione told them.
"Whoa! That's amazing! Just how powe…."
"Don't ask - you know we won't tell you!" Harry interrupted him with a grin.
As they spoke the food arrived on the table and they started to fill their plates. Harry looked around and saw that Cassie was sat at the teachers table next to Professor McGonagall, deep in conversation. As he looked at the pair, Cassie looked over at him and smiled and Professor McGonagall nodded her head to him, a gesture that he returned.
Realising that neither Harry nor Hermione were going to discuss their powers the conversation turned to more mundane matters, that was until Dean offered his condolences to both Hermione and Luna for the loss of their fathers. After that the conversation was a lot more subdued. During the meal neither Lavender nor Parvati made an appearance, and Harry had to explain to their friends that Lavender had been given some bad news and that Parvati was keeping her company. Harry wouldn't be drawn anymore on what that news was, saying that both Lavender and he had their reasons for keeping that knowledge secret.
Soon however, the meal was over and Harry stood, taking his broom with him.
"Nev, Ginny, you two ready?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just need to run up to the tower and get my broom, and Nev is still been a wuss about using a broom." Ginny told him with a grin as she ran off to the tower. Harry turned to the blushing Neville who was glaring at the retreating form of his promised.
"Nev?" he asked. Neville turned back to Harry and sighed.
"Harry, you know my history with brooms, are you sure that you want me to help?" he asked.
"Neville, we are not going to be playing Quidditch, and if Hermione is prepared to get on a broom, then you should have no problem." He told him, earning a smack on the arm from his wife at the same time.
"Oi you!" she said, causing Neville to laugh.
"Okay Harry, just make sure you pick me a good broom that will be easy to control." He asked.
Harry nodded and then turned to the teachers table and looked at Cassie.
#Cassie, you there?" he thought.
#Yes Father, I'll meet you down at the lake shore, I'm just explaining something to Minerva.# came the reply. Nodding at her, Harry lead his little group to the main doors. As they arrived they heard Ginny running down the corridor, with her broom in her hands.
"Ready?" Harry asked everyone. Getting nods from everyone, they all walked to the lake via the Quidditch changing areas where Harry picked up the two brooms for Neville and Hermione. Arriving at the lake they found Cassie waiting for them.
"Okay, what I propose is that we fly slowly over the lake a little way apart from each other in a criss-cross pattern so we cover as much as we can in the shortest time possible." He told them.
"What are we looking for Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Anything odd; any disturbance in the lake or any shimmering associated with a concealment charm. I can feel that there is something out there now that I am here, I guess that must be my connection to Arthur and Excalibur, but I cannot pinpoint where the island is."
"And if we find nothing?" Neville asked.
"Well then we get creative….that's my way of saying I don't know what to do if that happens. Let's worry about that if it does happen." He said.
Getting no other questions, they all mounted their brooms, Hermione been getting very nervous about getting onto hers. Harry slowly flew over to her and took her hand. He said nothing that the others were aware of but seemed to just stare into her eyes for a little while. Nodding her head, Hermione mounted her broom and flew up to Harry. Cassie smiled, knowing that Harry had just past on his knowledge and skill at flying to his wife, before she gently began to float unaided and joined the others on their brooms.
"Ready?" Harry asked. Everyone nodded and they began to slowly fly across the lake, about twenty meters apart from each other. It took a good ten minutes to make one pass of the lake, and once they got to the other edge they had a quick conference to see if anyone had found anything. Unfortunately nothing was spotted and so they made another pass.
An hour later they had covered nearly half the lake but still had found nothing. Getting worried, on the next pass Harry decided to fly high so he could see more of the lake. Half way through the pass he was looking down and noticed something odd. He was watching Hermione fly slowly and low over the lake. Despite the knowledge he had given her, she still suffered from a fear of heights, and had chosen to fly low; only a few feet above the surface of the lake. Despite Ginny telling her that she was at risk of attracting the attention of the giant squid, she refused to fly any higher. The others, Cassie included were flying at around thirty feet above the surface so it was only Hermione that suffered the oddity that occurred next. As Harry watched his wife she suddenly seemed to shimmer and slow down. Her image wavered for a few meters before normalising and she speeded up to her previous speed. She seemed unaware that anything untoward had happened, and looked up to see that she was a little behind the others and speeded up a little to catch up.
Harry felt his heart rate increase in excitement, and called everyone to stop but to stay where they were.
#Mione, can you turn around and fly slowly back the way you just came please?# he asked her. Seeing her look at him with a questioning look, he smiled and nodded to her.
Slowly turning she flew back along the path she had just taken and Harry saw once more the strange shimmering and slowing of her flight until she came out of whatever she had flown into and speeded up.
#Mione, you can stop now. Did you feel anything odd just now?# he asked.
He saw Hermione think for a few seconds before she turned around and flew back to her first position when Harry had asked them to stop. As she flew he could see her really concentrating on her surroundings. Getting to the place the others were waiting she looked at Harry.
#Yes, Harry. I never noticed it the first two times, but that last time I felt slightly…..odd. I cannot put it into words but there was something there.# she thought back.
#Stay where you are for the moment will you.# he thought before calling the others to him and asked them to carefully watch Hermione as she flew back along the path for fourth time. They all watched the girl and everyone saw the shimmer and the odd slowing down of the flight.
"Harry, I see what you mean, there is something odd there." Neville said. Cassie watching the immortal witch flew down and followed the path she had taken and everyone saw the same thing happen to her. Flying back to the others, and been followed by Hermione she spoke to Harry.
"Yup, it's there. It's very odd, it's not a standard concealment charm or none that I've ever heard off; nor is it a standard Fidelius charm. That would make us completely ignore it. I've never felt anything like it before." She reported to the group.
Harry looked at the point in the lake and thought 'Finiti Incantatem' but nothing happened. Frowning he then tried the revealing spell he also came up with nothing.
"We are going to need specialist help, we need a curse breaker." Harry said.
"What about Bill?" Ginny asked.
"Perfect! Cassie can you find this spot again?" he asked.
"Yes, now I know it's here I can find it easily enough."
"Good, then I suggest we get back to castle for a hot drink, its bloody cold out here. We will go to the cottage and ask Bill for help and come back tomorrow, yes?"
Everyone nodded and they made the flight back to the castle, with much happier hearts than they had before.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Unknown to Harry and his friends, Hermione's passage through the spot on the lake had not gone un-noticed. Voldemort was suddenly aware that his most important Horcrux was under threat and that the island that he had created to hide the precious item was in danger of been discovered. He could tell that the difficult and rare charm he had used to conceal the island had not been broken, but that someone had passed through the area. He was suddenly very fearful and knew that the time had come - the time to act.
Calling both Bellatrix and Pettigrew to him he stood at the foot of his throne.
"Our cause is threatened. It is time to act, we are to make ready to go to Hogwarts and we are going to destroy the school. If he is not there this will bring Potter out of hiding to face me. That is where I will kill him and all he holds dear." He told them
Bellatrix looked at Pettigrew with a worried look. Both knew that their forces were much depleted; both because of the deaths of a large number of Deatheaters due to Potter and his friends as well as the devastating loss of the Vampires. Voldemort saw the looks and this enraged him.
He threw two torture curses at his lieutenants for a few seconds before yelling at them.
"We are not going to wait, get the giants ready and tell Greyback to get his brothers and sisters ready. We march in two days' time. This war ends then, and we will be victorious." He yelled at them before dismissing them. However despite his bravado, he knew that this was a risk. His forces were down, and he wasn't sure if they would be strong enough but nothing could be allowed to threaten his Horcrux; he just had to take the risk.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Deep in a forest was a small wooden shack, forgotten by nearly everyone. Within the blood covered walls of the shack sat a dark figure. He was tall, over eight feet in height and his arms and legs were covered in a dark looking skin, almost like the chitin of the insect world. The smell was appalling, and bits of decaying bodies were scattered on the floor. The only human looking aspect of the figure was the head, complete with dirty red hair. The creature once known as Ronald Weasley had changed; he had grown strong and soon would need a new body and it was only his face that was left of the young man he had once been. He sat looking at an object on the rude table in front of him and grinned to himself. Soon he would need to procreate and give birth to a new breed of beings; ones that would allow him to rule the world and beyond. His species method of procreation was hideous to all. He would inject venom into a host who would incubate the new creatures that would develop. Once ready they would cause the host to explode casting millions of the small creatures into the air. Once they came into contact with another human they would take control of the body, killing the host's soul as their first meal. They would be loyal to him and him alone and with them he would consume all that this world could give in order to grow his army. He needed more power to allow this to happen and with the object in front of him and all it would represent it would give him the power to do so.
"Soon! Very soon." He crowed. "Potter may be powerful but he will fall at the foot of my army and I will destroy the world. I will rip his slut apart and force him to watch as she dies and his world with her. It will be delicious, it will be magnificent!"