Dumbledore sat in his secret hideout, checking out his new arm.
It was covered in a layer of gold, and what he considered to be the best metal in the world.
While well known that Nicholas Flamel was the maker of the philosopher's stone, it was in fact himself that had managed to improve upon it.
Nicholas had always been bound to the stone in a way as the elixir made from it had to be taken constantly in order to stay alive.
One might wonder just how a stone that could turn any metal into gold could also grant immortality.
The answer was far more simple than any realized: they were in essence one and the same.
Gold had long been considered by many to be unchangeable. It could be melted down sure, but it would always remain gold and for this reason gold had been adopted as a symbol of eternity, found most prominently in wedding rings, a circular band that had no beginning or end.
Ever since the dawn of time, man had tried and failed to make gold out of a lesser substance, but all had tried and failed.
That is until Nicholas Flamel finally managed to do it.
It had admittedly intrigued Dumbledore back when he was young. He had imagined what he could do with the sorcerer's stone that Flamel appeared to have squandered in its application.
First he thought of what he could do with an unlimited supply of gold. He could buy all the supplies he could possibly need, and even buy himself an army should he so choose.
Obviously the immortality aspect intrigued him even more. After all, what good was taking over the world if you would eventually die and not be able to take it with you?
Following his falling out with Grindelwald and his own attempts at achieving immortality through his sister's phoenix failing, he managed to get himself apprenticed to Flamel.
Flamel was an old fool. While he had managed to live, unfortunately his body continued to age until he no longer even looked human, just an incredibly wizened husk of his former self.
That was not at all what he had wanted for himself, to age until he was almost nothing, but he continued to work for Flamel diligently until he managed to finally convince Flamel to reveal his secret on how he had done it.
The problem with gold he had said, was that it was seemingly impervious to magic. It could not be created nor destroyed nor changed and since it could not be manufactured by man and was rather rare was what made it so valuable.
Yet he had noticed that leprechauns and goblins could make it, even though it only lasted for maybe 3 or 4 hours.
This seemed to be entirely useless for the most part yet for some reason both races kept constantly making it.
There just didn't seem to be any purpose to it and even they had to admit they didn't really know why they did it.
Fortunately for Flamel, human magic had finally progressed enough to have spells that allowed for him to study the composition of different species.
After managing to convince test subjects from both races to partake in his experiment, which must have been no easy task given their suspicious and secretive nature, he found that they had trace elements of gold in their system and every time they created more temporary gold more got inside them.
However just like the temporary gold it would eventually disappear.
It had all been rather interesting until he made a connection: those who made this type of gold more tended to live longer.
Goblins and leprechauns could live far longer than humans, with a few living to be over 800 years old.
Further research concluded that even simply working with real gold provided health benefits. While they appeared to have largely forgotten this, they still had an innate knowledge of just how useful it was which was why goblins worked in banks and mines, and why both of them guarded their gold so fiercely. A goblin or leprechaun who did not make or was not around gold would die much, much more quickly.
It was for that same reason that had spawned the many, many goblin wars over gold, battling not just for gold, but in an innate sense they did not understand, their very lives, although over the passage of time, it became more just retaliation for past wars.
Yet what he eventually learned was that it wasn't actually the gold itself, it was the magic they used behind it. Unfortunately however, it was simply too weak to make permanent or live indefinitely.
Wizards in fact had some of this magic themselves, but it was even weaker and extended to them lifespans only twice as long as normal humans.
That had not stopped Flamel from managing to craft something that mimicked the magic that the goblins were using, only for use on humans. That had led the original sorcerer's stone being crafted.
While a marvel in its day, it allowed Flamel to create temporary gold and also create a potion that allowed him to live for much longer than his regular human life.
Unfortunately since he was still human it didn't work as well as it might have on a goblin or leprechaun, extending to him and to his wife unnaturally long life, but not youth to go with it.
By the time he revealed to Dumbledore his secret, both he and his wife had almost entirely wasted away and was near death even with constantly using the stone.
Having a sorcerer's stone then of his own then seemed useless to Dumbledore, as he could not stop aging only continue living and in order for it to work, Flamel had to drink the potion made from it every 3 hours to keep the magic always in his system and not disappear.
Such dependency did not appeal to him and so he set about working with Flamel to fashion a better sorcerer's stone.
It took a great deal of effort, but he was not the most brilliant wizard that had ever lived for nothing.
What they had ended up needing was a stronger, more magical gold than a leprechaun or goblin could manufacture. Real gold simply dug out of the ground without being worked on of course did nothing.
What they needed was gold that was alive with its own magic and could make more gold. Dumbledore himself had investigated many legends of such a type of gold: the hand of midas, rumplestiltskin's loom, etc. no matter how outrageous they might seem.
Almost poetically, it had been one of Professor Binns' lectures about the seemingly pointless and boring goblin wars that had finally given him a small clue on where to look.
Countless students had slept through Binns' mentioning of a possible reason for goblins' constant fighting: a gold more valuable than all others.
Binns only briefly mentioned it as he did not seem to feel their was much authenticity to such an idea, but to Dumbledore it was enough for him to at least try to investigate it.
Yet finding out if this was true or not was an entirely different matter with the goblins intensely secretive and suspicious.
They might never have gotten it had it not been for the last goblin war.
The goblins had in fact had it all along even while they jealously hoarded it and kept it secret.
During this war however, it ended up switching hands and was for the first time in a long time brought to the surface from one of their very deep mines where it had been kept.
All that time, they had let it sit in and practically worshipped it, not even daring to bestow upon themselves the honor of even using it.
It was a total waste in his opinion.
When he had managed to learn of it, he had took the opportunity to steal it for himself yet when it was discovered that it was missing, both sides of the goblins blamed the other for its disappearance leading to the bloodiest of all the goblins wars.
By the time the war ended, the entire population of goblins in the world was vastly reduced. The number of goblins in Britain for example had dropped so severely that the survivors were forced to all congregate and live in the deep tunnels under Gringotts' bank in London.
However having inadvertently caused such huge losses did not concern him, they had always been disgusting creatures to him.
Yet they had managed to provide him with what he sought: living gold.
It was the size of only a pebble, but still incredibly powerful. Using its own innate magic he could make permanent gold, although unfortunately not magical as well.
He had never told Flamel just how he got it, and Flamel had never asked, but they had at least managed to craft a new philosopher's stone with it that made not only gold, but also the elixir of life, a more perfect potion that bestowed upon the drinker not only immortality but youth.
Yet since the stone was so small, it could only bestow a certain amount of power. Drinking it gave enough strength for Dumbledore, Flamel, and his wife to live for another year before requiring another dose but not for really anything else.
For quite awhile it had worked well with Flamel and his wife now able to live indefinitely and he himself no longer having to fear the infirmities of old age.
He allowed Flamel to get credit for the creation of the improved sorcerer's stone and make everyone believe that Flamel was the one who had it in case the goblins ever put two and two together and realized who had stolen their relic.
Flamel had been forced to remain in hiding with the original, much weaker sorcerer's stone, while he kept the newer one hidden, bringing it out only once a year so that a new elixir could be made from it.
In order to hide the fact that he was in fact using the stone himself, he took aging potions, increasing the age he was supposed to look like as he got older.
Aging potions if they were strong enough could last for a few weeks so it really wasn't a burden for him to take them.
When a few years ago, Quirrell had tried to get the stone, he had planted a fake.
During that time, however Flamel and his wife had decided that they no longer wanted to live, wanting to be able to finally rest.
He had decided to allow that and made everyone think that the sorcerer's stone had been destroyed, even though he had held onto it and allowed Snape to continue making the elixir of life for him.
With Snape now gone, however he would just have to either make it himself or find someone competent enough that he could trust to make it for him.
He could of course continue to simply use the sorcerer's stone and keep himself alive indefinitely, even stop taking aging potions so that he would be harder to recognize as a much younger man, but he envisioned more. Far more.
Even while he plotted to take over the world by making clones, he still had explored other options in case that failed.
One option had been his long time dream of getting an unlimited supply of gold to be used to recruit an army, bribe officials, etc. Yet he would need not the paltry amount he could make from the stone, but more.
Turning again to history, he heard of unsubstantiated rumors of the city of gold.
Many cultures had such a legend, but he wanted to know if there was any truth to the story and if so, just how the city was built.
His search had led him over 6 continents, but a few years ago, he had finally managed to find out that such a city did in fact exist. What excited him however was that in fact it was a goblin city, where goblins almost as old as the mountain they were said to live under existed, deeper down underground than any man had ever gone.
He decided right then and there that they might very well have a much larger supply of living magical gold.
Unfortunately the goblins who lived there had stuck entirely to themselves for all this time and would kill any outsiders who got anywhere near it.
While tempting to explore it, by then he was starting to make real progress with his first plan to make clones and so he had decided it was simply too risky and abandoned it.
Now however with the inability to make more clones and the resources to get the materials he would need to start over, he had now decided to go with this plan so he'd have everything he needed to go back to making clones.
It wouldn't be easy, but he was confident as the greatest wizard that had ever lived that he would be successful.
With the gold he would be getting he'd craft a new sorcerer's stone, so powerful that it would bestow upon him the ability to live forever and create enough gold for him to buy anything he needed, bribe or win the allegiance of anyone, in fact buy entire cities or even countries with it.
After all gold was power.
DUELDUELDUEL
The next couple of days were torture for Harry as he worried about his mother and wondered when Ariana would wake up, hopeful that she might know of a cure.
When it finally happened however, he was there sitting next to her bed along with Susan, who wanted her to awaken just as much as he did.
Ariana opened her eyes and let out a moan, causing both he and Susan to immediately take notice.
He was already bursting to ask her, but he knew that she likely would still be in no condition to really help.
"Where am I?" Ariana asked.
"At the manor, you gave us quite the scare girl," Susan admitted.
Ariana struggled to try and push herself up into a sitting position, but failed and was forced to just lie there.
"What exactly happened?" She asked.
So Susan told her, with himself breaking in when needed.
When they got to the part of him saving her, she looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "You saved me?"
"Are you really so surprised I wouldn't let you die?" He asked.
She smiled and said, "I suppose not, although I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
He couldn't help but automatically think of the repayment he wanted.
"There is actually something you can do," He admitted.
"What?" She asked.
So he explained about the plight of his mother and his hope that she might know of a cure.
As soon as he had finished, she tried once again to push herself up into a sitting position.
"Bring me to her," She commanded.
"I admire your willingness to help, but I don't know what good you'll be able to do in your condition, you can't even sit up," Susan reminded her as she looked at her worriedly.
Ariana seemed to think for a moment and then said, "If you could perhaps get me into the same room as her and then have Pansy do what I ask of her, I might be able to find out what we're dealing with."
"That might work," Susan conceded.
Personally he was eager to try it as well, hoping to get a chance to help his mother as soon as possible.
They eventually managed to work something out where he floated Ariana over to the room his mother was in, although slowly so as to avoid her hitting anything.
It wasn't exactly sweeping a girl off her feet, but it would have to do.
Susan on the other hand went to go find Pansy.
Ariana instructed Pansy the best she could while Pansy tried to follow her instructions.
He was sure Ariana simply doing it herself would have been faster since some of the spells were ones Pansy did not know, but since she couldn't this would have to do.
Pansy explained what she found to Ariana and then Ariana took mental notes.
He could tell however that even that was exhausting for Ariana, yet shestill refused to stop until she felt it was finished.
Finally she allowed them to bring her back to her room.
"Any ideas?" Harry could not resist asking.
"Several, each one more dangerous than the last," Ariana confessed, "it appears to be a spell that would require very powerful magic to stop. The first and easiest method would be unicorn blood."
"Wouldn't that only totally ruin her?" Susan pointed out.
"Of course," Ariana answered, "her life would be so miserable she would actually want to die. You'd have to be desperate and insane to try that."
"What are our other options?" He asked, immediately rejecting it.
He'd never consign his mother to such an existence, and he could see why no other healer had even brought that up.
"You could turn her into a vampire although there would be a good chance in her weakened state the process of turning her would kill her," Ariana said.
Again, not a good option. While he supposed he could live with his mother being a vampire, he didn't want to risk her dying in the process...and not becoming part of the undead.
"I'd rather not have my mother have a blood dependency and aversion to sunlight," He admitted.
She nodded and then continued:
"Then there are sacrifice rituals where the caster gives up his or her own life to save that person."
He was admittedly tempted by that. Shouldn't he give up his own life for his mother?
Yet Susan immediately saw the expression on his face and told him, "Don't even think about it Harry, I know you want to save her, but I could never bear it if you lost your own life in the process."
"My mother did the same for me so I could live," He pointed out.
"I also don't think your mother would want you to return the favor and live feeling the guilt of knowing that her living caused your death," She answered.
He thought about it for a moment and nodded, as he was forced to agree with her.
"Fortunately Susan you don't have to worry about Harry sacrificing himself," Ariana explained, "there really isn't any known sacrifice spells that a son could bestow upon a mother, only the other way around."
"Okay, well I won't deny that's kind of a relief," Susan said as she let out a deep breath, "anything else we could try? Perhaps actually doable."
"As far as I can tell," Ariana explained, "the curse was probably one of Dumbledore's own inventions and he never supplied me with any information about it. However based off of what Pansy told me, it appears to be one specifically one made to be used on clones and was placed around the doorway. It would explain why Snape was able to go into and out of Lily's room and not get the curse, but as soon as she tried to leave she got nailed by it. It would likely also explain why it wasn't picked up in the first place when scanning for booby traps. I'd guess it was an extra precaution in case Snape ever decided to let her leave or she tried to escape."
"So that would mean that Dumbledore is the only person who knows the countercurse?" He asked, now feeling even more hopeless.
Who knew how long it would take to track down Dumbledore and it wasn't as if he was just going to willingly tell them.
It would take a miracle to incapacitate him long enough to pry the information from him even if he had multiple people assaulting his mind.
"Fortunately, I think someone else might know, but he's likely going to be rather hesitant to tell us," Ariana answered.
"Who?" Susan asked.
"Grindelwald," Ariana admitted.
"Grindelwald?" Harry asked in absolute surprise, "you mean that evil dark wizard who tried to take over the world with Dumbledore, Grindelwald?"
"Correct," Ariana confirmed, "I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing that he helped Dumbledore create the curse in the first place."
"Why would you think that?" Susan questioned.
"I have my reasons," Ariana said mysteriously.
"Isn't Grindelwald still in that prison in Germany?" Harry queried.
"Yes, which means I would have to go there to talk to him," Ariana said.
"What makes you think that he'll tell you anything?" Susan pointed out.
"He won't talk to just anybody, but he will talk to me," Ariana answered, "and before you go asking another question, no I can't tell you why."
While he wasn't happy that Ariana wasn't being so forthcoming, if there was even a chance that she was correct and could get a cure, he was willing to take it.
"I'll go with you," He invited himself.
"No, it'll be hard enough to get into that prison as it is," Ariana explained, "they aren't going to let me just waltz in there and talk to Grindelwald. It would likely take me weeks at best just to get through all of the paperwork to allow for it and that's with all the right connections."
He wasn't too happy about it taking weeks or even longer.
"Isn't there a faster way?" He complained.
"I could try to break in, but that prison has pretty tight security, even stronger than Azkaban's and if I were to get caught..." Ariana said.
"Okay, I get it," He was forced to admit.
Susan then asked another question.
"How long do you think Harry's mother has while she's in a coma?" Susan asked.
"I'd say if properly cared for...probably a little longer than a year," Ariana admitted.
He blanched at that.
"Don't worry, I'll have a cure for you long before then," Ariana told him.
"Once you've finished recovering," Susan added.
"Of course, I'll give myself a day to rest," Ariana added.
"Uh, longer than that," Susan reminded her.
"Harry's mother needs me though," Ariana insisted.
"It won't do her any good if you end up dying the way there," Susan pointed out.
Ariana sighed and said, "I suppose you're right."
At that point, he could tell that Ariana was already really tired. She had already done a lot and she seemed to be fighting to keep her eyes open.
"You should probably rest," He recommended.
Ariana agreed mainly because she probably could no longer fight it and he and Susan left to let her sleep.
As for them they went to go explain to everybody else about what was going on.
They of course had plenty of questions just like they had had, but they tried to answer the questions they at least knew answers to.
"I at least should probably go," Narcissa volunteered, "I have a lot of the connections that Ariana is going to need."
"What if the baby comes while you're there?" Sirius asked worriedly.
Narcissa wasn't due for another month, but that didn't mean she couldn't end up having the baby early.
"I'll just have to take that risk and at least stay there for long enough to get the process started for her, that could be the difference between weeks and months," Narcissa said.
"There is a good chance I might go into labor while you're gone," Amelia pointed out.
Admittedly Amelia had come to rely upon Narcissa during the pregnancy process, and likely would continue to rely on her experience when her babies were born.
Not having Narcissa there would be hard on her.
"You'll have Sirius to help you with that," Narcissa replied, "and if you need help with the babies, you've got all these young women to help you with that."
Su rolled her eyes and said, "Right, because I'm a girl I somehow automatically know how to care for babies."
He had to admit Su did not seem like the motherly type although she did say she wanted to at least have a child or two at some point.
"It's certainly scary at first but trust me it'll be one of the best experiences of your life," Narcissa told her warmly, using her baby daughter in her arms as evidence of her claim.
Cassiopeia made an obliging burping sound at that.
"I want a baby," Susan said.
Amelia looked at her crossly and scolded, "Not right now you had better not. If I find that you got yourself pregnant..."
"I haven't even had sex yet!" Susan answered exasperatedly.
"Just how long were you planning to have that last?" Amelia pointed out.
Susan blushed and said, "Okay, maybe you have a point, but I'll be careful."
"If I'm going to allow all of you to have sex under my roof, I'll expect you to be extra careful, and don't hesitate to come to me, Narcissa, or Sirius to ask questions if you have them," Amelia said.
All of the girls promised her, causing him to believe that she was satisfied, but then she asked to talk to him in private.
Now worrying about getting yet another sex talk, he followed her into her room.
She sat down wearily onto the bed.
"I sometimes forget what kind of weight I'm carrying around until I sit down," She admitted.
"Is there anything I can get you?" He asked, trying to be helpful
"Oh no Harry," She said gratefully, "I'm fine, but make sure to hold onto that kind of attitude. You're likely going to have to deal with a lot of pregnant women."
"I suppose so," He agreed, "strange cravings, hormones, morning-sickness, aches and pains, should be fun."
Of course he said this sarcastically, but then Amelia added, "and your wives constantly complaining about feeling so fat."
"You're not fat," He insisted, "you're beautiful."
It wasn't because he was attracted to her or anything, but because of how he viewed her as a mother figure for him.
She laughed a little bit and then said, "Thanks Harry. Remember never how big one of your wives' belly gets, they aren't fat...unless you want to sleep on the couch."
"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked.
After looking at him for a second, she then asked, "Let me guess, you were worried I wanted to give you another sex talk?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, you've gotten enough of those, I'd actually like to talk to you about Tonks," Amelia admitted, "I realize that you and Tonks are together and I'm okay with that, but she's also older than you. You're nearly 15 and she's 22."
"That is a bit of a difference," He had to admit.
"Like I said, I'm not bothered by that. Wizards often have a bit of an age difference. With my own parents for example, my mother was actually 10 years older than my father," Amelia said, "however I also realize that while I feel I can speak for the other girls, Tonks is out of school, already has a job, and has proven to be responsible. What I'm getting at is Tonks may decide that she wants to have a baby right now or in the future."
He was stunned, totally not expecting that.
"I hadn't even given any thought to that," He answered as he tried to think of what to say, "I haven't asked her either, but I don't know if I would be ready to be a father."
Amelia nodded, seeming to expect this answer, but looking relieved nonetheless, "I figured that I should at least bring it up. I think you would be rather young to be a father as well, but I felt I should at least bring it up just in case in the future Tonks decided she wanted that."
"I suppose if Tonks really wanted it I'd at least think about it," He began, "but she'd likely have to do a lot herself since I would still be in school and not able to help her as much. I couldn't put her through that. What do you think?"
"Honestly Harry?" Amelia asked, "the way I see things is this: you've had to deal with a lot of problems most adults don't even have to face and you've handled them well and with maturity beyond your years, yet that doesn't mean that it should be that way. I would still like you to just be able to be a teenager. I know you really didn't have a childhood to speak of, so I'm trying to give you as much time as I can. Adulthood will arrive soon enough. You'll have a family and start a career and children will come into the picture eventually and you'll find you no longer have the time to do all those things you took for granted as a kid. However I recognize there might be a kind of pressure to grow up because of your circumstances and just because I think you could handle things, I don't think you should just yet. That being said however I trust you enough to make your own decisions."
Wow, that was something to think about.
"I appreciate it," Harry answered simply as he tried to think of what more to say, "I'll have to think about that."
"I don't expect you to answer or anything, I'm just letting you know what's on my mind," Amelia told him before changing the subject, "there's another thing I wanted to bring up with you. I intend to go on a 6 month leave of absence from my job and only work part time at home. Obviously I love my job, and the timing is not ideal, but I also need to take some time off and concentrate on my children and family. That would also mean that I need someone to fill in for me as head of magical law enforcement and I've already asked Scrimgeour to do it. He's not perfect but I think he'll do a decent job."
"Okay well it will be nice to have you around more," He answered.
"I'm sure it will," Amelia said warmly, "the problem however would be getting someone to be lead on the Dumbledore search in my absence. I'll still be working on it myself but unfortunately it will have to be part time and I'm going to need someone working full time on it. After the events of the last few days, I've realized that it would probably be best for Tonks to do it. She's young and inexperienced and I don't doubt that some aurors are going to feel slighted for passing them over, but she's also proven herself and by far the one who knows the most about the Dumbledore situation and that will be our focus for the foreseeable future. She won't over or underestimate him and she'll know how to handle anymore clones that Dumbledore might have out there."
"Do you really think there may be more?" He asked worriedly.
She sighed and said, "I don't know. He could have none or a million, we just don't know and that's why I have to rely upon Tonks."
"I realize I may be a bit biased but I think Tonks will do a fantastic job," He insisted.
"I think so too, but I also realize it may be hard on you," She said.
"How so?" He asked, now perplexed.
"Since the job would require that she no longer be at Hogwarts with you," Amelia pointed out.
His heart sank at that. Over everything that had happened, he had not thought about Tonks' mission now being over.
"I could have had her stay on a bodyguard to you or something," Amelia then explained, "that wouldn't raise too many eyebrows either. Dumbledore no doubt will try to come back and get revenge on you, but Tonks being there wouldn't help. He knows that school better than anyone and if he wanted to get inside and try to kill you, he do it if Tonks or her and every auror in Britain was there."
To hear Amelia say that so matter of factly worried him. Dumbledore was certainly dangerous and he knew that that was definitely a possibility of that happening.
"There will be some aurors stationed there and additional protection," She tried to reassure him, "however I won't lie to you how dangerous things might be. Right now however I would say our best defense is offense. We'll need to be constantly working to track him down and getting any information we can from anyone who might know something. For that, I'm going to have to rely upon Tonks, not just because of her experience with the case, but because of her metamorphagus abilities."
"I see," He concluded, "well I'm definitely going to be sad not to have her around anymore, but I understand."
"It isn't a done deal just yet since I still need to talk to her about it, but I felt I should let you know before she could have a chance to say yes since it affects you as well," Amelia told him.
"Thank you for doing so," He answered gratefully.
She paused and then said, "I'm really sorry about your mother, I hope we're able to find a cure for her."
He sighed and then replied, "We'll find something, I know we will."
"I'm sure it's been hard not having a mother for most of your life and then get her back only for this to happen," Amelia confessed.
Now looking at her, he felt he should say something right then.
"I wouldn't say that, I'd say that I've had a mother ever since I met you," He pointed out.
She smiled warmly, appearing to be touched by his statement, and she reached out her arms for a hug which he gave her as best as he could around her wide pregnant belly.
Such a hug somehow reminded himself that in spite of everything, it would all somehow turn out alright.