It was the next day around midday that Harry woke up in a room at St Mungo's. He had Hermione on one side of him, Grandfather Charlus on the other., and Sirius in a chair in the corner of the room. As soon as she saw that Harry was awake, Hermione jumped up from her seat and practically lay on top of him in the closest she could get to a Hermione hug.
"Harry! Thank god you're awake, I was so worried about you, you were gone and we couldn't find you and then they did and Uncle Charlus wouldn't let me go and he came back and you had another lightning bolt scar on your chest this time I was so scared I had lost you!" Hermione finally stopped to breathe from her run on sentence.
Harry just wrapped his arms around her and held her against him as the memories of the night before played in his mind. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Grandfather Charlus put his hand on Harry's shoulder and stayed quiet as the two teens silently cried away their frustrations and fears. The silence was only broken when a mediwitch came to check on Harry to see how he was doing. Being awake meant that he now had to undergo a number of tests, everything from having a light shone in his eyes to having about fifty detection spells cast on him. And no one could be touching him during this in case they corrupted the results of the scans.
Apparently Harry was, for the most part, fine. He was exhausted from pushing himself again, and he had a new dark magic-infected scar on his chest to match the one on his head. Apart from that, everything had healed while he was asleep. It had all been scrapes, bumps, and bruises, so for the most part Harry's injuries could have been treated by a first year healer apprentice. It was ridiculous. Harry had gone up against the most feared man in Britain as a teenager, and if you discount the killing curse that hit him, then Voldemort hadn't done much damage at all.
"Hermione, did you find the papers in my robes?" asked Harry when he remembered the bet he had done with Voldemort.
"Yes I have them, but I haven't looked at them. What are they?" Hermione asked. She had been afraid they were goodbye letters from Harry, so she had absolutely refused to open them or let anyone else do so.
"I made a bet with Voldemort on the duel." There were a few shocked gasps at that. "Honestly I was mostly doing it to play for time. I thought that the longer Voldemort and I were talking about the bet, the better chances there were of being found. Voldemort had a spell to replace an arm, and I immediately thought of Krum. So I pushed Voldemort into betting the instructions to the spell on the outcome of the duel."
"What did you bet against it?" Grandfather Charlus asked, a note of concern in his voice.
"10000 galleons," Harry admitted. "I thought if I… well I wouldn't need it any more, and one of Voldemort's Death Eaters would need to reveal their identity to collect the gold. If I won, then I could give Krum back his Quidditch career, bring some joy to the world, fix Bagman's mistake, and maybe earn a little good will from all the Quidditch fans," Harry explained.
"We will have to go over the wording of your agreement before looking into it. We don't want Voldemort to be able to claim the ten thousand," said Charlus.
Harry smirked at that. "Not likely. I have the bankers' draft as well. Voldemort's win condition was taking the draft from my corpse, mine was getting out of there alive. I'm alive and still have both, so by the rules I won. I killed Voldemort after all." There was silence and everyone looked like there was something they weren't saying. "What?" Harry demanded.
"Well you definitely hit Voldemort with a killing blow, an overcharged Fulmenactus right to the chest, and he died. Unfortunately, he didn't stay dead. While the Aurors were mopping up the Death Eaters, the body started moving again. It killed two Aurors with magic, took a goblet of potion from that massive cauldron, and escaped with the Death Eaters that were still fighting." Charlus told him. "I was told only a few hours ago."
"So it was for nothing then. Voldemort is back, his Death Eaters escaped, and Aurors are dead." Harry sounded defeated.
"Well that's a load of hippogriff dung," said Sirius. "Voldemort is hurting, I doubt the potion he swiped will be enough to restore him completely. Aurors saw him alive, so the D. M.L.E. is already looking for him, and half of his free Death Eaters were either killed or captured last night. Plus, you got that spell. We will have to look it over first to make sure it is what it's supposed to be, but if so then you can help not only Krum but maybe others as well. I can think of three Aurors off the top of my head who lost limbs on the job, I'm sure they would jump at the chance at a new arm or leg. You did a lot of good last night Harry, and you don't get to beat yourself up over not doing more. You aren't even fifteen yet and you were fighting someone who is well practised in fighting war."
Charlus took over. "It's admirable that you wished you had done more, but you have done your part. Your job now is to rest, recover, and let Hermione fuss over you for a few days. Then you can look into catching up on all the school work you half-assed because of the tournament."
Harry knew they were being supportive, that they were trying to tell him that his responsibilities were no more than any other teenagers, yet Harry now remembered what had happened after he died. He remembered everything that the tall man had told him. Voldemort couldn't die until all of his soul shards were destroyed, and it was his responsibility. He was going to tell them right there and then, but then the door opened and Ron walked in, being escorted by Headmaster Greengrass, and Harry realised that this wasn't the place to talk about such things.
"Hey Harry, how are you feeling?" He grinned at Harry and Hermione, who was now laying on the bed next to him.
"Hey Ron, not too bad. Headmaster," Harry answered Ron first then greeted the Headmaster.
"Mr Potter, I'm glad to see you are looking well. I'm here to see how you're doing, find out how long it is until you can return to the school, and see how long we are going to be without our potions master. As I was coming, Mr. Weasley here insisted on accompanying me," Headmaster Greengrass said.
Some might have found the new headmaster a little cold and detached compared to Dumbledore but Harry appreciated it. Headmaster Greengrass wanted to check on the status of a student and see how it was going to impact the school. He wasn't pressuring Grandfather Charlus to go back, but he did what to know if he needed to make arrangements for a substitute.
"Honestly sir I mostly feel fine. If it was up to me I'd go back to school today," Harry (mostly) honestly answered. He felt tired, but he could rest just as easily in Hogwarts as anywhere.
The headmaster smiled at that. "As good as that is to hear, I think we will let the healers make that decision. They can get upset when the patients don't listen to them." Considering what he knew about the Greengrass family, Harry was sure the man had plenty of experience with healers.
As it turned out, the healers agreed that Harry could leave that day. Unfortunately, they did not agree that it was the end of his sentence. Harry was transferred to the Hogwarts hospital wing under the care of Madam Pomfrey, as bed rest could easily be handed by the Hogwarts mediwitch. It also freed up a bed in the real hospital in case it was needed. This was in a lot of ways better than being in St Mungo's, as at least in Hogwarts all of his friends could visit him, but he was sure Madam Pomfrey was going to keep him longer than necessary.
Harry was back in the castle and tucked up in the hospital wing within four hours of waking up. Sirius came with them, having gotten permission from headmaster Greengrass to stay with Harry for one more night. The old dog was feeling protective and didn't want to leave Harry alone. The rest of the day was filled with staggered visitors, as most of Harry's Gryffindor year mates came to check on him, as did the Quidditch team. Even Fleur, Krum, and Diggory all came to see how he was doing.
From them, Harry learned that the Triwizard Tournament was still all up in the air. After the big explosion and Harry being kidnapped, nobody could find the cup. Ludo Bagman had been by the school that morning, as he had been in touch with the D.M.L.E. and they had found the Triwizard Cup in the graveyard. But as Harry hadn't actually got to the centre of the maze and retrieved the cup, then he hadn't won. That meant the third task had been voided. The Triwizard judges were going to have to decide how to resolve that, as until they did the tournament wasn't over. So that was all still to be decided.
The next day the story was in all the papers, how He-Who-The-Papers-Wouldn't-Name had kidnapped Harry Potter and used him to restore himself. It also went on to say that Harry had seriously wounded The-One-Whose-Name-Should-Not-Be-Written, and how responding Aurors had captured or killed nine Death Eaters before they and their master had escaped. There was also a full page memorial for the four Aurors who had lost their lives in the fight. Harry stared at their pictures for an hour, burning their names and faces into his mind. Aurors Belmont, Moonshine, Becket, and Morgan. Two of them were close to retirement, yet they had died saving him. It didn't seem to help when he told himself that they had died doing their job, or they died not for him but to stop Voldemort from restarting his campaign of terror and murder.
The other page that interested Harry was the page that listed the people who were caught or found dead at the scene wearing Death Eater robes. Names he recognized among the dead were a Crabbe, a Parkinson, and a Nott, while a Goyle, a Carrow, and Pettigrew were captured alive. On one hand this was great news. A large number of Death Eaters were caught red handed responding to Voldemort's call before there was any opportunity for him to put them under the Imperius curse or threaten their families. There was no excuse that was going to save them from Azkaban. And Wormtail had finally been caught, the man who was responsible for the death of his grandmother, his mother, his father, responsible for framing his godfather and making it possible for Dumbledore to leave Harry in the hell that was the Dursleys for over a decade.
The problem was the names he recognised. They all, bar Nott who had left last year, had their own children or some relative's children currently at Hogwarts. This meant that for the next three years Harry was going to be sharing a school with a number of students who were going to hold him responsible for the death or imprisonment of their family members. Harry was definitely going to have to always keep one eye open.
-ϟϟϟ-
Once Harry was released from the hospital wing, he had his entire family, including Hermione and Ron, meet up in Grandfather Charlus's office. It was the only place in the entire school they could guarantee any privacy. While Charlus, Harry, and Hermione were finishing out the year in the rooms they had been given for protection, the Aurors still had access as Amelia Bones had decided that she didn't want to cut off the protection immediately. With Voldemort on the loose, she wanted at least a few Aurors in the school at all times. From what Sirius had learnt, she was just using the agreement already in place for the rest of the year and was going to try and make a deal with Headmaster Greengrass for next year.
This meant that for the sake of privacy, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Charlus, and Sirius were all crowded into the small teacher's office that was built for marking and maybe consulting with up to two students at a time. To save a little space, Hermione was sitting on Harry's lap and Sirius was half-standing half-sitting on the windowsill.
"Okay Harry, what's this all about?" Ron got to the question first.
"Well, as you all know, when I was fighting Voldemort I was hit with a killing curse." Everyone winced at that and Harry couldn't help but fiddle with the new lightning bolt scar he had on his chest. "What I need to tell you about was what happened after." Harry went on to tell them everything that he had experienced. He told them about the waiting room, the tall man, meeting his parents, the tiny nugget of information he was given about what life after death was like. He told them about the Hallows and the Horcruxes. He told them everything except for the message his dad had passed from his grandmother for his grandfather, that seemed to Harry like something that should be given in private.
To say that everyone was shocked was an understatement. Hermione was holding on to Harry with all of her strength, and had been ever since Harry admitted that he had actually died. Ron was stuck on the idea that the Deathly Hallows were actually real and he had used one on multiple occasions. Sirius was pissed off and angry about the Horcruxes, and Charlus was fixated on the fact that he would get to be with his full family again.
Harry had to deal with them all before they could continue. Hermione was first, a few kisses and assurance that he was alive and had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon had her calming. He knew this wasn't going to be the last he heard of this but it was enough to continue with the topic for now. Ron was the easiest, Harry just offered to let him examine the cloak later that evening after they had finished here. That had gotten the redhead to focus. Considering Sirius's anger over the Horcruxes, Harry decided that he was going to have a much easier time helping his grandfather, so he had everyone but the two of them step out of the office for a few minutes.
"Dad gave me a message to pass to you from Grandma Dorea." At Harry's words Grandfather Charlus's head snapped up to him in attention. "She loves you and really wants to see you again, but you need to quit your self-pity and moping, live your life, enjoy it to the fullest, and she will be waiting for you when you get there. But if you get there too early, you know what you are in for. Dad refused to answer me when I asked for clarification of that last part, and said there are things I didn't want to know," Harry finished.
It took five minutes for Charlus to pull himself back together after that. He thanked Harry for delivering the message and agreed that his wife was right, he had been moping around too much. There was an eternity to spend with the dead, but you only get one life. He needed to focus on this world, and the next comes when it comes. Harry called everyone back in and Hermione immediately took her spot in his lap back. Once everyone was settled Harry asked Sirius what he knew about Horcruxes.
"The Black family has sworn to destroy all Horcruxes we find. Think about that. The Black family, a family steeped in the dark arts, a family who embraces dark magic like it's our birthright, has decided that these things are too dark to exist. It started maybe 800 years ago when the then-head of the Black family encountered a wizard who shared his proclivity for dark magic. The two became friends and travelled together for a few years.
"The other wizard claimed to be immortal and apparently proved it many times. Eventually, Warlock Black asked to learn the secret of immortality. At first the wizard refused, but over time as their friendship grew the wizard saw his friend the warlock getting old and didn't want to lose him, so he taught him the secrets to making a Horcrux. Warlock Black went through with the ritual, but didn't understand the cost. By breaking off a part of your soul and keeping it separate, you lose an aspect of yourself. Empathy, your ability to love, you always lose something. Something critical to being human."
"Warlock Black lost his love. Without it, all he had was hate. He came to hate his wife who loved him, he came to hate his children who adored him, he came to hate his brother who supported him. He ended up murdering his wife and kids. His brother came to plead with him to stop the madness, and the warlock tried to kill him too. The brother escaped and came back in force to kill the mad warlock, but nothing they tried would work. Every time they killed him, he got right back up.
"The warlock, furious at his family, turned to his friend and demanded his help. But the friend couldn't see the man he liked any longer and refused to help him, so in a rage the warlock tried to kill him too. It is said the duel between the two of them took days, with each of them dying hundreds of times. Eventually exhausted, the two men left. The warlock's brother approached the friend for the secret of how his brother was immortal, and in exchange for a vow to only use the information to destroy the warlock's Horcrux and to never make one, the mistrusted friend taught the brother everything he needed to know.
"The brother knew the warlock well and knew exactly where the warlock would hide a part of his soul. He found it and destroyed it, sacrificing his own life to do it. His son then took up the job of killing the mad warlock and was eventually successful. He read his father's and uncle's books on Horcruxes and understood what had happened. He took the manual of Warlock Black and made a vow that no Black would ever knowingly allow a Horcrux to exist without doing all they could to destroy it. That duty and the knowledge of how to do it was passed down the Black line from father to son for generations," Sirius finished.
Sirius's tale had almost as much an effect on the room as Harry's explanation had. The idea that Sirius not only knew about these abominations but actually knew how to destroy them (instead of just a theoretical explanation from the afterlife) filled Harry with a hope he hadn't had since the fight with Voldemort. "What ways do you know to destroy them?" he asked excitedly.
"The way I was taught is one of the ones you said James mentioned, a spell called Fiendfyre. It's an incredibly dangerous spell, and all the more dangerous because it's incredibly easy to cast. I would say your average second year student could cast the spell, maybe even a gifted first year. The problem isn't casting the spell, it's controlling it. The nature of Fiendfyre is to spread and burn everything it can, and that includes the caster. It takes a lot of magic and skill to hold the spell in check enough to target only what you want destroyed.
"My father taught me the spell by taking me to a collection of barren rocks a few miles out past the Hebrides. I would cast the spell and try to control it. The instant my control slipped, he would Side-Along Apparate me to another rock where the fire would burn out long before it got to us. Repeat again and again until you learn the spell. He tried to teach it to my brother as well, but Regulus didn't have the control. They stopped trying when Regulus almost died for the third time." Sirius sounded really sad there. Considering he had never mentioned having a brother before, and also had previously said he was the last of the Black family, it wasn't hard to work out that Regulus hadn't made it through the war.
"Well, Fiendfyre is a strong back up, but I really hope we can borrow the sword from the headmaster's office," said Hermione, as Harry had told them already about the basilisk venom-imbued blade. "For one, from Sirius's description of the spell the item is totally destroyed. With the sword, we can hopefully preserve these valuable historical items as much as possible."
"We need to find them first," said Ron. "It's all well and good to have a plan on how to deal with them, but until we find them that plan is about as useful as a wand in a room full of muggles."
"Ron has a point," Harry agreed. "We need to find them before we can do anything else. Sirius, I don't suppose one of your ancestors developed a way to find horcruxes did they?"
Sirius shook his head. "Not that I know of. And I seriously doubt it, part of the magic on them to protect them makes them impossible to scry, and you said not even Death could see where they are. I will check my family library, just don't hold your breath." Sirius didn't sound happy about checking his library, and it took Harry a moment to realise the library had to be in the home he grew up in, the same home he had run away from and never gone back to. Harry tried to think how he would feel going back to the Dursleys house after all of them had died, and while he thought he could do it he didn't think it would be an easy experience. And from what Sirius had said, while he had an easier time than Harry before Hogwarts, after he was sorted into Gryffindor his home life was bad enough that it made the Dursleys look like saints.
"Anyone have any other ideas where Voldemort would have hidden the others?" Harry asked. They talked about that for a while. As Malfoy had been looking after one, it was thought that maybe others Death Eaters were entrusted with them, but a number of those Death Eaters had just been killed. If one of them possessed a Horcrux for Voldemort, then finding where they were hidden was going to be next to impossible. Maybe if they had the ring, calling them back to integrate them would be possible, but it was also possible that the one who knew where the ring was had already died.
There was some talk about investigating Tom Riddle, Voldemort's past before he took on the badly pronounced French name. That wasn't going to be easy though, as investigating a random teenager from fifty years ago wasn't something you could just look up in the school library. At least not a lot; there were some basic school records, but it wasn't like his Transfiguration O.W.L. results were going to tell you where he hid a part of his soul.
One suggestion was to capture Lucius Malfoy and interrogate him for what he knew about the Horcruxes. If he was trusted enough to hold such an item, it was likely he knew the others who had that level of trust. However, kidnapping and interrogation were the type of things that got you long stays in Azkaban. None of the teens noticed that Charlus avoided looking any of them in the eye as they discussed the moral quandary of kidnapping a known murderer and interrogating him. And even if they had, it was definitely an uncomfortable topic, they were not likely going to jump to the conclusion that Charlus had done exactly that before with Harry's aunt and uncle.
-ϟϟϟ-
A few days later, Harry was called to a meeting with the other champions, the three school heads, Ludo Bagman, and Minister Fudge, who had taken over for Crouch after he was arrested. The meeting was to inform the champions of how they were going to resolve the Triwizard Tournament. Bagman, as he always did, pushed himself to the front to do the talking. "We thought about this for some time. We considered a set of duels, but that didn't take into account the points you had already accumulated in the first two tasks. We considered a Snidget hunt, using a snitch of course, but that wouldn't have been fair on Miss Delacour who would be facing three Seekers, and after Mr. Krum's injury it wouldn't have been fair to him either. So, after a lot of thought, we have decided on a scavenger hunt. The task will start at the main gates of the school on Saturday. You will each start using the same intervals we had for the third task. You will choose an envelope with a clue inside, that clue will lead you to a location with a token and another clue. The last clue will lead you to the finish line. The first to cross that line with all their tokens will win the tournament."
That sounded deceptively simple to Harry. Depending on the clues, he and Cedric may have an advantage from knowing the school better, but the visitors had been here for a year now and would be familiar with the layout of the school as well. It would all come down to how cryptic the clues were. This could actually be fun.