Chapter 31
MONDAY, APRIL 3rd, 1995 - HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY - THE SOUTH WING.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, "as impressive as your research has been to this point, I fear it is incomplete. There are several pertinent facts that you have not presented."
"And," Harry said, "no doubt you would be unwilling to share with us."
"That would not be prudent."
"Hermione? Enlighten him."
"What we have told you is some of our research into the Prophecy and the long list of mistakes you've made has Harry's former Magical Guardian. Do you honestly think for one moment that in researching this, we'd ignore research into the Dark Lord referred to in the Prophecy? Assuming the Dark Lord is Voldemort, it was therefore only logical that we research that topic as thoroughly as any other, although admittedly this research was not an immediate priority and we really did not delve into certain aspects of it until this weekend's fifteen month Time Compression. What we wanted to find out was who Voldemort is or was, where had he come from and, most critically, why when his body was destroyed he did not truly die and how is it he could manage to come back.
"While most Death Eaters and their ilk believe Voldemort is their Dark Lord's real name, it is not. It is a pseudonym or, more particularly part of an anagram of his real name. Harry learned this two years ago when he encountered a form of Voldemort down in the Chamber of Secrets. That real name was one of our earlier research product."
A picture of a handsome young man in Sytherin House robes appeared on the screen.
"Now, from interrogation records, we know that many of the Death Eaters and almost all of their supporters believed Voldmort was a foreign born aristocratic pureblood from an ancient line who had been a rising star in Grindelwald's forces when that war ended and believed Britain would be the ideal place for the true rise of Pureblood Supremacy to take root and spread. All of that is a pack of lies!
"The young man you see before became known as Lord Voldemort some years later. As you can see, in this picture he's a Hogwarts student and a Slytherin. While there were a fair few foreign born students at Hogwarts at the time of this photograph, they were part of a separate student body and were not sorted into our Houses. This young man was at the top of his class and Head Boy in 1943 - 1944. His name was and is Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Riddle?" Snape asked in shock.
"Not one of your magical family names is it? You won't find it in any book about British Pureblood Genealogy. This is Tom Riddle's father." A picture of a handsome, middle aged man in a uniform appeared next to that of the young Hogwarts Student and there was a clear resemblance. "Thomas Collin David Howard Riddle," Hermione said, "born 1902, the younger son of Lord Sir Edward Riddle, fourth Earl of Hangleton. The older son Edward was killed a the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Thomas Riddle was too young for that war. He attended Eton and later Oxford. Upon leaving Oxford in 1924, he spent a few years living the life of a wealth, aristocratic heir, spending money on flashy motorcars, horses for fox hunting, a string of polo ponies and a string of mistresses, all from the proper sort of families of course. All, that is, except for one."
A picture of a very unattractive young woman appeared. She appeared to be very unhappy. What was also interesting was it was not a magical photo. It did not move at all.
"Tom Riddle's mother," Hermione continued. "This may be the only photograph of Marope Gaunt. It was taken in early 1926 about two months before Tom Riddle was born. It's a muggle arrest photo. She had been arrested for vagrancy and panhandling - begging for money in the streets. Her parents were what were then called a Hedge wizard and witch as were generations of their ancestors meaning they never attended a magical school of any description. Her parents were purebloods of the most vile sort given they were also brother and sister, as were her grandparents and great-grandparents and, no doubt, under different circumstances it is fair to say she would have been bred to her older brother Morfin."
"Different circumstances?" Snape asked.
"She was a Squib," Hermione said. "The Gaunts were an ancient, Pureblood line and in fact were the primary surviving line from Salazar Slytherin. As such, they would never accept a Squib as a mate regardless of her lineage. Still, she was raised in a magical household so she knew about magic and in particular…"
"Potions," Snape said. "Even a Squib can make a potion if properly trained. That might explain how she got together with that Riddle person, but not why."
"Who knows why?" Hermione said. "Perhaps she just fancied him. Nor is it particularly important. In 1925, she and Thomas Riddle eloped and were married by a Justice of the Peace in London. No doubt she lied about her age as she was not even sixteen at the time. Six months later, Thomas Riddle obtained a decree of Annulment from the Muggle Courts and returned to his family estate leaving Marope in London and most likely penniless - or knutless as the case may be. Our person of interest, Tom Riddle, was born in a Muggle Orphanage in 1926. His mother died a few minutes later. Tom was raised there at the Orphanage. We know little about his time there as the Orphanage and all of its records were destroyed in 1944 by what the Muggles called a German "Buzz Bomb." We don't have reason to believe there is any reason to question that.
"By 1937, Tom Riddle's magical Grandfather was dead. That meant his Uncle Morfin was the Heir of Slytherin and, provided Morfin died without issue, Riddle the Heir Apparent, although we doubt he knew this at the time given that he was Muggle Raised. In 1937, he was admitted to Hogwarts and oddly enough, sorted into Slytherin. Then again, as he was an orphan he could claim he had to be from a magical line of some sort. Had his House Mates known his true lineage, it would not have gone well for him."
"Although legally a Half-Blood," Daphne said, "the House might well have considered him practically a Muggle Born given his parents."
Snape nodded. "Even a single Muggle parent would have been an issue. A Muggle and a Squib? He would have been shining Pureblood shoes all seven years."
"We're not certain when he learned of his heritage," Hermione said, "but we believe he knew it by 1942. In the summer of 1942 his father at grandparents died under mysterious circumstance in their Manor. Thomas Riddle was on a pass for the weekend. He was, by then, a Group Captain in RAF Bomber Command and the death fell under the jurisdiction of MI-5, which was concerned about German agents and our Aurors, which were concerned about Grindewald. The deaths were consistent with the use of the Killing Curse, although I doubt the Muggles were told this. Morfin Gaunt, who had a prior record of convictions for Muggle Baiting and hexing Muggles, was their prime suspect. He was apprehended and confessed to the murders although his confession was inconsistent with the evidence. As there were no other persons of interest, he was convicted for the murders and sentenced to life in Azkaban where he died in 1973. While we can't prove it, we believe it was Tom Riddle who killed the older Riddles and somehow managed to frame his Uncle for the crime.
"In the spring of 1943, Riddle was a Sixth Year Prefect. A girl named Myrtle Caruthers died under mysterious circumstances and there were then rumors that the legendary Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Riddle accused Hagrid, then a Third Year, of the death. Hagrid was keeping an Acromantula in the Castle. While the death was ruled and accident, Hagrid was expelled for it and Riddle received and Award for Special Services to the School. We now know it was Riddle who caused the girl's death when he opened the Chamber of Secrets and allowed the Basilisk to roam. It is probable he set the Basilisk on the girl although we can't say that for certain. Certainly as of that time, he believed he was the Heir of Slytherin, which was not the case given his Uncle, the true Heir was still alive.
"From later interrogations, we know that a handful of future Death Eaters were at Hogwarts at the time and knew at least a little of the truth about Riddle. Specifically, they knew that Riddle and Voldemort were one and the same and that Riddle claimed to be Slytherin's heir. However, this information was not bandied about. While they might have been willing to follow Riddle regardless, those Purebloods who did not know him would have balked given his suspect heritage.
"Riddle finished Hogwarts in 1944 with an academic record superseded only by Professor Dumbledore's. Despite his academic achievements, he took a job as a purchaser for Borgin & Burkes in Knockturn Alley. It is possible, his heritage may be the reason for it. He would never have been considered for a significant entry-level posting with the Ministry, regardless of his academic achievements. But as there is no record of his every seeking employment there, it's just an educated guess. Riddle disappears from the public record in 1947. The last record regarding him is that he was now a person of interest in the suspected murder of one of his client and theft of two extremely valuable objects that were specifically named as bequests in the victim's Will, but never found.
"Voldemort does not appear in the public record until 1967 when it was believed he began to gather a following and the first of the Death Eater murders occurred, although they would not be openly acknowledged by the Ministry until 1971. Voldemort is a liar, fraud, usurper, murderer, con artist, thief and goodness knows what else and he as been for a long, long time. We know he's delved deeply into the dark arts and has probably been doing so since before 1942. That he has drawn many others into his ways cannot be ignored either. We also know he kills with little distinction for blood status despite his rhetoric to the contrary and his followers are no better. The biggest mistake our government made - and you were instrumental in this Professor - was failing to execute the Death Eaters and allowing any to ever go free for any reason!"
"We're getting ahead of ourselves, Hermione," Harry said. "For now, it is safe to say Voldemort must die. There is no other option for him. Our problem is, how do you kill someone who won't stay dead? Hermione?"
"The other question was why won't he just stay dead?" Hermione said. "We believe that you believe that the reason Harry must die in the end is because you believe - foolishly, I might add - that Voldemort has Horcruxes and Harry is one of them!"
"How did you…" Dumbledore began truly shocked.
"What's a Horcrux?" Snape and Madam Pomfrey said in unison.
Hermione then spent several minutes describing what a Horcrux was and how it was made - at least how that was described to Curse Breakers and Aurors - and what it did. "So long as a dark wizard has a surviving Horcrux, his body can be killed as can any later body he comes to inhabit, as it were, but his soul cannot pass on and both his primary soul, which exists as a spirit of sorts but not a ghost and his soul fragment exist for no purpose other than to bring him back. The possession of Quirrell our First Year was by the Primary Soul in an effort to bring him back to some form. The possession of Ginny Second Year was by a horcrux - a soul fragment with a similar intent. I'm pretty sure, Professor Dumbledore, you knew this much at least."
"I did," he said in a defeated voice. "Yet I'm still convinced…"
"You never read the original source material, did you?"
"The … I read learned books covering the subject!"
"Let me guess," and Hermione then listed eighteen different books by eighteen different authors. "Did I miss any?"
"Um .. Actually you named all I referred to and a few more."
"Those are books used by Curse Breakers and Aurors and the like," Hermione said. "But did you ever consult…" she listed fifteen more books by another fifteen authors.
"I am unfamiliar with those works."
"Not surprising," Hermione said. "They have been banned throughout Europe for centuries. Each is a treatise in Necromancy, and Horcruxes are a part of that banned art. None of them have ever been a part of the Hogwarts collection. But, we know at least one Pureblood family had these in their private library as recently as a few days ago - the Ancient and Noble House of Black! We believe others with Dark Arts affiliations may as well, although perhaps not the full book list."
"How - you've delved into these vile Arts?" Dumbledore asked in horror.
"DELVED! ARE YOU MAD?" Hermione replied. "To defeat the Dark Arts, you MUST know about them! And learning about them third hand is suspect. I dare say, some of the authors I listed first were not terribly knowledgeable! You need to go to the SOURCE! THE MASTERS OF THE CRAFT! Not to DO the magic, but to understand it and then defeat it! Our research teams focused on what we knew and looked for anything that could explain it and once we figured out we were dealing with Necromancy and Horcruxes, we were at a loss as we had no decent works on the subject! Fortunately Sirius Black's family did and not long after he arrived here on Friday, we sent a team of Elves to collect the materials! When our teams finally tackled this research, we learned exactly what we were dealing with here and the Horcrux fit's the clues we already had. We also know of a few ways Voldemort can come back. But one thing of which we are absolutely certain is that Harry is not one of those vile things!"
"I'm still certain you are mistaken, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, although he did not sound certain at all.
"I was in charge of this research," Daphne (Greengrass) said. "Even after we finally came together as a whole, we continued to research in teams. Ginny was my Second and there were others as well. There are several reasons why Harry cannot be a Horcrux. You did run the standard tests on him at one point?"
"I did. It neither ruled it out or in," Dumbledore said. "I believe he is a hybrid of some kind. I believe that whatever happened that night, Voldemort had somehow accidentally made Harry into one. I am sure you are aware of the few means to deal with that."
"We are quite aware," Daphne said. "The maker can destroy his own Horcrux with the Killing Curse, but no one else can. For Curse Breakers and the like, it's either Basilisk venom or Fiendfyre, all of which could be lethal to a human Horcrux. But that's neither here nor there, as whatever you believe, Harry cannot be one."
"Oh? Are you certain?" Dumbledore replied.
"Quite certain on this point," Daphne said. "There are several reason why Harry cannot possibly be one. You've admitted to what you've read and we've read those works too. You assume a Horcrux is fairly easy to make. Your Maker must naturally be a Dark Wizard of significant ability, which Voldemort is, yet you assume it's as simple as knocking someone on the head, taking off your shoe, severing a part of your soul and your shoe is a Horcrux. It doesn't work that way at all! You could snuff a thousand people and never be able to do that! Cold blooded murder alone cannot split a soul or allow it to be split!
"A horcrux cannot be made over night. Two of the reasons Harry cannot be one are time and timing. Both the object and the wizard must be prepared over time. The object's enchantments and magic must be imparted and the wizard's very soul must be weakened to the point where a murder allows it to be cut apart. This process involves all sorts of vile magic and rituals including blood sacrifice and self-mutilation and takes a full lunar cycle to complete. It must begin on the night of a full moon and must end on the night of the next full moon."
"But with Time Compression," Dumbledore began.
"You can't cheat magic tied to the Lunar Cycle," Harry replied.
"Oh? I assure you Harry, I have seen no works that state otherwise."
"Have you read any that say you can?"
Dumbledore remained silent.
"I thought not," Harry said. "We, however, know this to be the case."
"How?"
"Professor Lupin," Harry said. "The last full moon was Thursday night for you and he did transform - under relatively safe conditions I'm told. The next afternoon he joined us here in the South Wing and was with us through the full 450 day time compression which is almost sixteen lunar months by count of days. He never transformed, not even once, never even got twitchy as he calls it."
"The Horcrux ritual cycle is tied to the Lunar Cycle," Daphne continued. "It can't be cheated. So, in order for Harry to be a Horcrux, among other things he had to have been part of that ritual cycle as in under Voldemort's control for a lunar month, one that occurred before the attack on his parents. This did not happen did it?"
"No," Dumbledore admitted, "but…"
"Then there's the timing!" Daphne said cutting him off. "Once you've prepared yourself and your possible horcrux, you have exactly seven days to complete the process. That's the final bit about a murder, severing a piece of your soul and placing and sealing it within the horcrux. If more than seven days pass, the magic will fail and all you'd be left with is a dead body and a useless object. The full moon in October 1981 was on or about October 13th. If Voldemort was trying to make a Horcrux, he had from that full moon until October 20th to do so. His next window of opportunity would not be until mid-Novemeber. October 31st was a magical impossibility."
"I never said or thought he intended to…"
"It cannot be done accidentally! It needs the specific magic provided by the rituals to work. Even if you could accidently split your soul apart, without the deliberately prepared object, you cannot create a Horcrux. Whatever might have happened would not create a soul anchor!
"Moreover, even if it could - which is pure speculation and unsupported by any authority - Harry still cannot be one! One of the critical points of the rituals is to ensure the object is magically inert! A Horcrux can only have it's maker's magic. And foreign magic, any at all, and it would destroy the soul fragment, not protect it. The books talk about several cases where the this happened, usually where the wizard tried to make his horcrux in a location - such as any magical home - with high background magic and in one instance where he tried to use his pet cat! What happened was the fragment was destroyed which is damaging to the wizard himself. Worst case, he's no better off than those who suffered the dementor's kiss. Now as you should know, any living thing has it's own magic, even if it's just a tiny amount. But that tiny amount is enough to result in failure. For Harry to be a Horcrux, he can have no magic of his own at all! And if you remove magic from a living thing, it dies! As Harry clearly is not dead, he cannot be a Horcrux.
"Next, there is the fact that we are dealing with Harry Potter here today, a Gryffindor and certainly not one who wants anything to do with Pureblood Supremacy and Death Eaters and their ilk. We know both from the source material and from Ginny's own experiences her First Year, had he been a Horcrux, the soul fragment would have tried to take possession of him permanently, more or less. In Ginny's case, the soul itself remained tied to its Horcrux, but possessed her nonetheless. She was eleven and managed to fight it for months but lost in the end. While Harry's magical potential is much more than hers, he was only fifteen months old and lack the reasoning skills or force of personality or whatever it takes to resist. Yet this never happened. He never was possessed by any version of Voldemort!
"Finally, even if somehow the laws of magic do not apply in this case and somehow Harry did become and accidental Horcrux without dying or becoming its pawn, it is safe to say he cannot be one now under any conceivable circumstances! What happened at the end of his Second Year?"
"He went down into the Chamber," Dumbledore said. "He confronted another shade of Tom Riddle, killed the basilisk, destroyed the diary, which I now assume you know was a horcrux, and thereby saved Miss Weasley's life."
"What else?" Daphne asked.
"I don't understand."
"He was injured, wasn't he?"
Dumbledore nodded. "So he said. Aside from some torn robes and blood stains, there was no apparent injury and Madam Pomfrey assured me he was fine. He did say my phoenix was of great assistance."
"He was bitten by the basilisk!" Daphne said.
Dumbledore looked at Harry who nodded. "It didn't seem that important at the time, considering by the time you arrived I was otherwise fine," Harry said.
"Basilisk venom is one of two ways we can destroy a horcrux," Daphne said. "The other is fiendfyre. The only other way would be for Voldemort to cast the Killing Curse at it. This is why we believe you believe Harry must die because if Harry was a Horcrux - which is probably impossible - the only three methods of removing it and thereby preventing it from bring Voldemort back would surely kill Harry, or so one would believe."
"Fawlkes healed Harry," Dumbledore noted.
"HEALED! NOT CURED! We can't say what he did for certain, but we do know he did not neutralize the basilisk venom in Harry's blood. IT"S STILL THERE! It would have destroyed the horcrux if Harry was one!"
Harry then explained about the Muggles who had lived with them and the fact that while many potions do work on them, Blood Replenishing Potion did not and the whole Muggle idea of blood transfusion. He then explained that while his blood type meant he could provide pints of blood - as anyone over a certain body weight with a compatible blood type was asked to do so every six weeks - the venom remaining in his blood would have killed the patient.
"The Prophecy had been a part of Harry's life since before he was born," Hermione said. "What happened that Halloween night was based entirely on your sole, unstudied interpretation of it! Given Harry's life to date, you should thank God or Merlin or whoever that Harry's not on the path towards being the next Dark Lord! YOU CAN'T THANK YOURSELF!"
"You pretty much have made every possible wrong decision that could be made from that point to today," Ginny added with almost a growl.
"And Merlin knows how many lives you almost ruined!" Susan said.
Dumbledore looked over to McGonagall.
"I agree with them, Albus," she said. "I've been telling you that your were wrong about this since that next day!"
He looked at Snape.
He glared back. "Don't look at me, Headmaster! You brought this one on by yourself! Show me contrary evidence as convincing - and I might say well documented as I'm sure they have the materials in their possession somehow - and I might change my mind! Don't get me wrong! I still am not convinced Potter or Longbottom are worth the time of day and had Miss Urquhart not resigned her post as Slytherin Prefect I would either have made her new life a living hell or taken her Prefect Badge away for betraying our House! That being said, I am unfortunately in no position to support another position. You know why I came over and it would seem to me you betrayed that trust from the beginning!"
"Severus, that was never my intention," Dumbledore said weakly.
"But that's what happened, Headmaster," Severus said.
Dumbledore knew he was running out of cards to play. He turned to the students. "And what about Harry's connection to Voldemort?"
"We don't know what it is," Hermione conceded, "only what it's not. It's not and never has been a Horcrux. It might be a soul fragment. We have reason to believe Voldemort was very unstable at the time in that and many other respects. But if it is, a simple exorcism can remove it. You did try that?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I regret, the thought did not cross my mind."
"We thought as much. It may be even less of a concern, simply a side effect of a Killing Curse backfire; a mental link, no more. In that case, Occlumency can control it. As we said, although you made some mistakes before that night those had been relatively minor compared to the mistakes made afterwards. As you've conceded you think Harry's a horcrux - which he's not - that explains much of what followed, assuming you were not acting with malicious intent."
"I can assure you I was not."
"What little we do know about you suggests that while you are willing to work with others to gather information, you do not work with others to analyze that information nor do you consider opinions inconsistent with your own. No one person is so perfect, Sir. We arrived at either our theories or conclusions not because I or any of the others said it had to be so but because we all came to the same conclusions once all of us were aware of the relevant facts."
"You can document all of this?" Dumbeldore asked.
"Copies, not originals of our research materials can be provided to you," Hermione said nodding.
"Father knows you have an interest in rare books," Luna added. "We have a huge collection of them. We will not part with them."
"You should know that it is my considered opinion," Dumbledore began.
"Your opinion is of no moment," Susan said. "It is our considered opinion you do not seek advice or council about many things, maybe even all things. As you don't, we consider your opinions suspect from inception."
"I can't in good faith allow you to keep a collection of dark works, or this Wing as your personal reserve!" Dumbledore said trying to regain control.
"But that assumes you still control all as far as this school is concerned," Susan said sweetly.
"What?"
"You serve at the pleasure of the Board of Governors," Hermione said, "who have removed you at least once since we've been here. They only exist by the Charter of the Founders. They are appointed by the Wizengamot and all that, but should the Founders' Heirs return pursuant to said Charter, they are a meaningless nothing!"
Harry pointed a ringed hand over his head and a Griffin appeared.
"I know Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor," Dumbledore said. "I'd like to hope your not in league with Slytherin's Heir Voldemort. Be that as it may, the lines of Hufflepufff and Ravenclaw died out centuries ago. Only the FOUR Heirs or our current Board challenge my authority over this school, to include this Wing!"
"We all took blood inheritance test when we were at Gingotts on Thursday," Neville said. "It truly is surprising what you learn…"
Neville did the same thing as Harry and a snake appeared above his head. "When Voldemort's real body snuffed it, the Gaunt line died out even if he finds a way to return. House of Slytherin passed to the next line - the one descended from the second son of Cadmus Peverell. That line is House Longbottom, which no thanks to you means me as my father is and was legally incompetent when my marriages emancipated me!"
"Oh bugger," Snape sighed. "Don't tell be the bells sounded!" he added looking at McGonagall.
"They most certainly did," Madam Pomfrey said. "Scared the magic out of me when I heard them! But what do they mean?"
Hermione raised a ringed hand and a raven appeared. "Apparently, as we've found through these tests, Muggle Borns aren't. My line comes from magic and I am the Heir of Ravenclaw once my magic came into being as I am her closest living daughter by a score and more of generations."
A badger appeared over Susan's head. "Heir of Hufflepuff through my Muggle Born mother's maternal line," she said.
"It's not happened since the Founders passed on," McGonagall said, "but the heirs have returned and claimed their rights, Albus…"
"As limited as they are," Hermione said. "As rejoined heirs, you know we own this place and Hogsmeade Valley. But we can't void existing magical contracts. Even if we wanted to, we can't sack you or Professor Snape! The only member of the Staff we can sack is Professor Binns, 'cause he's dead and just a ghost and as such has no existing contract. We can't make him pass over, but we can take away his classes in favor of a live Professor. But this won't happen this year. We're not going to cause that kind of disruption. We can't sack, but you can't hire without our approval, Sir. Professor Lupin will return next year as Defense Against the Dark Arts primary Professor. No other option is available or acceptable! Sirius Black will be his assistant and again there is no other option. And if some parents - mostly in Slytherin - disagree, that's their own damned problem! But we've already closed off some of the premier schools across the Channel for them. They are looking at our own 'local' schools or losing their wands, if they haven't taken their OWLs yet! We can and have sacked the Board of Governors, although that's only official when they receive their notices later this week from Gringotts and the Ministry. Under the Founders' Charter, they only exist as caretakers in our absence. We have appointed a new board to act in an advisory capacity as none of us feel either ready or inclined to take on those duties. As much as we'd like to really change things, we can't and we know it. We can't change either ICW or the British Magical Educational Board's OWL and NEWT standards as annoying as that may be in regards to History of Magic or Muggle Studies. Still, we see other options which we intend to explore that may well lead to such changes sometime in the future!"
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore began.
"Certain decisions have been made or approved," Harry said. "Those are not open for further discussion. South Wing will have a separate table for dinner in the Great Hall - and other meals as chosen by it's members. It's membership is also not open for discussion and they shall live here and no, it's not just us! We have students in every year who are considered member of this House or at least Honorary ones! The Members will live here. It's not open for debate or discussion! In your absence this weekend, Professor McGonagall excused all resident and Honorary members of the South Wing from certain classes based upon their class performance while here under Time Compression, which is also not open to debate or discussion! As Founder's Heirs who have claimed our birthrights, Neville, Susan, Hermione and I must make Hogwarts our home for at least six months of the year from here on out! And none of us want the rest of our families left out! The South Wing is ours and not yours! Get used to it!"
Dumbledore knew he had lost. If their evidence was as they said is was, he had totally blown it as it were. Moreover, even though he was not about to ask, this group knew what they controlled now. If they sent out the necessary letters, he'd lost control over the house Potter votes and Founders Proxy votes. In terms of votes, the Founders votes were not many. His own House held more by itself. But the Founders' Votes were always influential and always had been the Chief Warlock's province. They were probably gone now. The idea that five Ancient and Noble Houses, through their proxy votes and the Founders might now be a unified political block of votes, one which would not have to listen to him, he knew even if these kids did not, that the politics had changed. And given that he now thought they might be right and he might be wrong…
"So the question is where do we go from here?" Hermione said. "We've told you the few changes that will occur. Aside from the Board of Governors and next year's Defense Professors, all of those changes are restricted to the residents of the South Wing. While we can sack Professor Binns, since we can neither change the History OWLs and NEWTs nor the course itself on our own - and believe me, Sir, it's a course in needed of a total change - there really is not much point in sacking him just because he's dead and boring. We mentioned our new accommodations and table in the Great Hall…"
"It that table necessary?" Dumbledore asked.
"Given that we have twenty-two very young children to take care of, we felt it prudent," Ginny said.
"That and none of us Slytherins trust our Housemates," Rosie added. "After all, it's now known we openly affiliate with Gryffindors, Muggle Borns, Blood Traitors and others of a most unsavory nature."
"The South Wing will have two Prefects for the remainder of this year as this is a separate dormitory, but otherwise we remain with our former Houses for what classes we remain taking with our years, for House Points, Quidditch and possible consideration as House Prefects next year and beyond."
"And who are your Prefects?" Dumbledore asked.
"Miss Bell and Miss Urquhart."
"Don't you mean Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Longbottom," Snape said sarcastically.
"We have found with so many who by rights can answer to that name it is simpler to refer to them as before," McGonagall said.
"Given that all of us South Wing students are far ahead of our years in Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Charms, Defense, Herbology and Transfiguration, with the exception of our four Sixth Years who will pick up new NEWT courses in the Seventh Year next year, we will be taking separate classes in those course next year."
"I am not about to add four or more classes to my schedule!" Snape protested.
"First of all, it would only be two," McGonagall said. "That being said, they've hired their South Wing Potions Professors to continue those classes for them. No other students will be affected. As for their other classes, the rest of us have no issue with adding two classes next year. Those classes will all be taught here in the classrooms downstairs."
"You mentioned Quidditch," Dumbledore said. "Are you planning your own team?"
"Unless this House were made permanent," Harry said, "it really makes no sense to do so. Right now we could and maybe for a few years. But next year there'll only be thirty-three of us. Assuming the rest of us take at least one NEWT level course that was not offered here, it would be twenty-nine in '96, twenty-four in '97, only thirteen left in '98, eight in '99, and only four in '00. Conceivable, the Wing could be reinstated in 2006..."
"Why then?"
"That's when the thirty-six magical children who were born here will be old enough to attend."
"Thirty-six?" Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey said. "We only have records of twenty-two," Madam Pomfrey added.
"The others are our children's new Aunts and Uncles," Hermione said. "Aside from one other child - James Black - none of the others live here."
"I see. You don't see this as a true house, then?"
"How can we? I guess as Founders' Heirs we might be able to make it permanent, but we don't know if that is either possible or advisable."
"I see. Any other plans?
"For the remainder of this year, our goal is to get Harry through the Third Task alive and preferably in one piece. Once that is done, we can begin to figure out how to get rid of Voldemort once and for all."
"I would prefer you left much of that to…" Dumbledore began.
"STOP!" Hermione said. "We don't trust you to do either what's right or what is necessary! If you have your own ideas about how to end him, so long as they don't involve Harry or any of the rest of us, feel free to proceed. But, we will move forward as well and you can either be a part of our solution or stay out of our way!"
"And what is your solution?"
"We don't know yet! We know many of the problems and possible solutions, but whether any one solution is better or more expedient than another is another thing. It is possible the Power referred to in the Prophecy, whatever it is, is such that it and it alone if wielded properly will defeat Voldmort once and for all regardless of what protections he still has in place. We know he's made at least one more Horcrux, yet the Prophecy does not even suggest that destroying Horcruxes is at all necessary. Any competent Curse Breaker can destroy one if he knows what it is and can break through any protections! But it is also possible the Power cannot come into play until after the Horcruxes are destroyed. So we have to figure out with some certainty who the One is, what the Power is and how to use it and we have to consider finding all of his remaining Horcruxes and destroying them and that bit could well take years, even decades!"
"We know the Diary Ginny had two years ago was one," Daphne said. "If it had been the only one, we wouldn't be here today. It would have been over then and there when Harry destroyed it. We don't know how many more he made or how many he was planning to make, but we do think there's a practical limit to how many anyone could make and don't think Voldemort would try to push that limit and destroy himself. We know there's one more and we believe it's at least three more."
"Three?" Dumbledore asked.
"We looked at when various murders attributable to either Tom Riddle or Voldemort occurred in reference to the lunar cycle. Remember, there's only a seven day window where a murder could produce a horcrux. The murder of his father and grandparents in '42 fell outside that window. However, the next two known murders fell within it. We believe it highly probably that the murder of Moaning Myrtle was used to create the Dairy Horcrux. We believe it possible the murder of his client Madam Smith could also have been used to create one but we don't know what that one could be."
"One of the objects?"
"We'll agree they probably are as well. But as the investigation proves the object were in Madam Smyth's possession only a couple of weeks earlier, they're not the ones that were used. We do know what those two are, however. One was said to be a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin, although it's provenance is far from credible. The other one is a cup said to belong to Helga Hufflepuff and that one is more likely the case. Regardless of their authenticity, they would have been considered quite valuable and would have turned up if stolen for profit. They haven't have they?"
"No. I came to a similar conclusion some years ago and they should have resurfaced or at least been subject of rumor and they're not."
"We believe their absolute disappearance can be explained if one assumes that they were turned into Horcruxes."
"I agree."
"Although it is not absolutely certain they were," Daphne added.
"How many do you believe he's made?" Dumbledore asked.
"One for certain, although we don't know what it is. Probably two more. After that, all we can do is make an educated guess as to how many he was trying to make and whether he succeeded. We believe he was aiming for a magically significant number. As you are probably aware, all prime numbers have magical significance and a few non-primes as well. Obviously, we can rule out one, and probably two and three. Five is a possibility, but seven is considered the most significant of all so we believe it was his goal. The other question is seven of what? It could mean seven soul pieces, meaning his primary soul counts as one and, as we believe the evidence suggests he made at least one mistake and lost a fragment altogether, there might be only one other possible. If he intended on seven Horcruxes, then his failures cannot be factored in and there could be up to three more, assuming he made them at all."
"I confess I had not considered all of that," Dumbledore said. He knew he would never regain total control and his original plan was even deader than Voldemort, but he could hopefully regain their limited cooperation which meant he had to tell them something. "I agree with all of it as possibilities and agree he was most likely going for seven. But I had not considered seven Horcruxes, just seven soul parts and had not considered failure as your research into that seems to far out strip my own. But as you may well know, it is doubtful your research methods will reveal Voldemort's true plan. My methods might. But thus far, every memory I've extracted that was close to the truth has been altered. I suspected a horcrux a long time ago based upon a conversation I had before Riddle finished school with one of my colleagues, a former professor who considered the boy a protégé. I've managed to interview two persons of interest: Morfin Gaunt not long before he died and the House Elf accused of Madam Smith murder not long before she was put to death. Unfortunately, their relevant memories had been altered and while I might have been able to use my skills to obtain the real one, the process would have killed them. I will say this: the third possible horcrux - the one perhaps tied with Madam Smith's death, is a ring which had belonged to the Gaunt family although I know little more than that. Morfin went to his grave mourning its loss, and it disappeared around the time of the Riddle family's murder."
"Useful to know," Daphne said. "But of course the most vexing problem is even if we know they are Horcruxes, we don't know where they are."
"A most vexing problem, I admit," Dumbledore said. "I was not certain of horcruxes prior to Miss Weasley's misadventure. I'll concede I believed Harry to be one and it influenced much of what I have done. I admit that I failed to conceive that his Aunt would ever allow him to come to harm. For that, all I can do is apologize. With the Dursleys, Harry, I now agree I failed you, but I hope you can understand my motives. That being said, I was not certain of others until two years ago and much as I would have wished otherwise, I have not been able to devote as much time and effort to the problem as I would have liked."
"What about the Stone my First Year?" Harry asked. "What was that about?"
"A trap," Dumbledore said. "I knew Voldemort was fixated on Horcruxes and while I believe you to be one, foolishly I believed you were an accidental one. I believed there was another but had no idea what or where it could be. As I said, a vexing problem."
"But there's nothing that suggests the Stone could have helped him return to life," Hermione said.
"True," Dumbledore said. "Then again, there's nothing that suggests it could not. Only Nicholas Flamel and his wife Penny know what it is and is not. We believed that Voldemort in whatever form he was in would be sorely tempted to give it a go as it where."
"You suspected Quirrell?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded. "He had taken a leave of absence coincidently after I had mentioned the Stone at a Staff Meeting. When he returned, he was a bit off. Professor Snape was charged with keeping a close eye on him. You see, Harry, a trap cannot work if the victim suspects and I wanted to trap him and find out what he had done, Voldemort that is. The barriers were challenging enough to require effort, but aside from my last one, not so challenging as to ensure total protection. Had he gotten the Stone itself … well he would have failed utterly, but my goal was to trap him and then find out what he'd done. It was really a pity you killed him, Harry. But a few more minutes … alas."
"But if he had succeeded?" Harry asked.
"As suggested earlier, it would have been of no moment," Dumbledore replied. "Nicholas most certainly did not tell me how to make a Stone, nor did he tell me how to make the Elixir of Life. I never expected he would. But he did tell me how it worked in a way and as for the Elixir the one ingredient Voldemort can never, ever acquire. He's never tried to restore a dead person to life. He and his wife have far outlived many of their children, grandchildren and so on. He's certain the Elixir can't restore the dead. If he or Penny were to die, they would be dead regardless of the Elixir and there were a few close calls over the centuries.
"What the Elixir does is restore you to youth. I am comfortably over a hundred years old and if I took the Elixir in moderation, I might find myself twenty or so again with my whole life before me again. Too much, and I might well be an infant again. Nicholas never pushed it beyond a return to age eighteen figuring at that age he could retain his magic and memories and so far he's been correct. For you see, using the stone once either for the Elixir or to make gold destroys it permanently. Should you use it to return to youth, if you go back too far you will lose the knowledge to make another one."
"So they're not dead?" Harry said. "You said afterwards they had enough Elixir to get their affairs in order and then they'd…"
"The Nicholas and Penny I knew are gone, Harry. Somewhere out there, there's a young couple in their early twenties who were once my friends. They probably live in another country and speak another language. I would not at all be surprised if they have a child already. But my friends are gone to me."
"I'm sorry," Harry said.
"it would have happened anyway, Harry. They had Great-great Grandchildren and it was time for them to move on to their next life which was why they agreed to my plan."
"Professor?" Hermione asked, "you also said there was an ingredient Voldemort could never acquire."
"Amniotic fluid," Dumbledore said.
"Oh please!" Hermione replied. "The man was such a butcher! He could have gutted a pregnant woman…"
"Miss Granger, not any fluid will do. It must come from your daughter or a descendant daughter. If you get far enough to create the stone and are well versed in Arithmancy, you'd know there is no other option. And it must be naturally acquired, in other words you must be there when your daughter, granddaughter and so on … when her water breaks naturally. I've known this much for some time and while I was remiss in checking Magical Records in the other instances you've cited, I have watched to see if Riddle had any child at all. He has not! Without a daughter or such, he could no more make the Elixir than I could! He was desperate and on a fool's errand, but that was the point! I held out the bait and he jumped at it in time. I do regret it failed in the end…"
"Sorry, Professor," Harry said feeling almost guilty.
"You were eleven, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Even if I was not making the mistakes I've made, do you honestly expect I would have brought you in for that plan?"
Harry did not reply. He knew the answer.
"Look at the time," Dumbledore said now looking at a pocket watch. "We've all missed dinner!"
"We're in the South Wing, Sir," Ginny said. "Dinner service is until nine."
Harry nodded. "We don't trust you yet," he said. "But I think we can trust you enough to dine with us in the Main Dining Room."