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Chapter 2 - 2

"First, I owe you an answer about the protection your rings give you. Unfortunately, the protection schemes are unique to each ring,even when they belong fo the same family. Stil, some common aspects may y help you. Just as . you commanded your rings to hide, you can als command them to change the protection level. The exact levels may vary from ring to ring, but you can safely assume that when set to the maximum, they will protect you well enough even against Dumbledore. You can also exclude medical spells from the protection if you wish, but that may make you more vulnerable. As you should know, almost any spell can be used for various effects. For example, the spell to light some candles may also set a house on fire. If you feel unsure,set the protection to maximum until you can find more information," Sharpclaw told the two.

Harry thought this answered their previously unanswered question. "Thank you, Sharpclaw. If that's al.."

The goblin lifted his hand to signal he'd not finished yet

"I thought you might also be interested in some information we got from the Ministry" he said.

"What about?" Hlarry wondered

"Quirrell and his 'guest It's stilkept secret, you shoul know, but we got the information anyhow. ou see, the DOM was able to interrogate not only Quirrell under Veritaserum but also Voldemort. .I'm not sure e how they did m o t it, but it was by disabling one or the other, allowing only one to respond. What's important is that they found how Voldemort managed to survive. . You see, e_he created some d e abominations that serve as, for lack of a better word, soul anchors. These objects were prepared using very dark magic to make themn ready to contain a shard of the caster's soul, similar to what had been in your scar. Once the caster uses some other dark magic to split his soul, he can store a part of it in that object. As long as even a single such object exists, the soul cannot die, even if the body does. Only after destroying all these objects, and by that\| mean removing the soul fragments from them, car the soul finally pass on. That was another reason to urge you to remove the scar and its contents. Now, that another, more complicated ritual, wilsoon be used for ◦fragment of soul was captured and one that will destroy all the remaining fragments, except those residing in a living body,'

He waited for the children to nod their understanding. He was still unsure how much they could really understand, at their age.

He then went on. "Now, considering what he planned to do to you,I assume you intend to insist on the uitimate punishment. Knowing Dumbledore, he would try to persuade you to give the man a second chance and let him live. Are you willing to go that way?"

Harry shook his head with conviction. "He was willing to murder me although Idid nothing wrong to him. And his guest was the one who murdered my parents. I don't think any of themn merits any mercy and they can get the same second chance they gave me or my parents one

Sharpclaw's expression turned feral."In that case, suggest you insist on using the full punishment set by the law. There's more, though. The DOM also found how one got the Dark Mark. It turns out that one needed to murder an innocent in front of other Death Eaters to gain his mark. That murder is a part of the ritual. It means that each and every marked Death Eater is a murderer According to our records, none of them was put on tria for that murder, so the DMLE can freely do that now, regardless of other alleged crimes. We suspect the e DMI E wil soon act on that unless the Minister manages to stop it. Promise your support to the DMLE if you want things to move your way. You have enough money to finance the initial steps, as a loan. Then, the trials willead to massive confiscation of allthey gained during the war. That will give enough money for the DMLE to return the loan and still have more than enough to continue cleansing the magical society."

It was very evident that the children had no idea how to handle this, so Sharpclaw added,"| can offer the loan ir your name, Lord Potter. It's not uncommon for an account manager to offer a loan to potential allies of his client and its well within whats expected of us

Harry nodded in agreement as did Hermione a frantie. a second later.

Sharpclaw noticed that the children were geting a bit confused and sighed internally. "Well,if thats too much for you, maybe we should meet tevery week o r two and I, discuss what's relevant at that time. Please note that l"m not trying to intervene in wizard politics. I'm only trying to advise you how to achieve the goals you clearly want by using the assets you currently have.

HaryGould sense Hermione chuckle internally, just like him. It was evident that Sharpclaw wanted nothing bette han to get rid of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. He also didn't like Dumbledore much. Well, al that was ir accordance with how they both felt. He still had to answer "Your advice is welcome and it's not a breach of any treaty to help your client use his assets to achieve his goals. MI take your advice to heart and act as close to it as I can. Right now, though, it looks like we're no longer able ta comprehend any more Will it be alright if we visit here a day or two before returning to school?"

Sharpclaw nodded. "By then I may have some more interesting information for you

◦ They didn't hurry back. The Grangers were at work and would only return late in the afternoon. That left them enough time to buy some Christmas presents for the adults.Try as they might,they couldn't block each other from sensing what the other planned to buy. They just shrugged it off and decided not to keep their presents secret. While that would remove the surprise, the present would still be as appreciated,

"We can even have lunch in London. There are quite a few nice diners near the train station we need, some even at the station, so we can eat there and stay protected from the weather," Hermione told him.

Harry only smiled. e had eaten out enough while he stayed in London during the summer, but he didntt mind doing as she liked.

They stll arived back homne before the Granger couple. Harry made sure to have boiling water and the tea set ready for Hermione's parents as soon as they arrived. it was a cold December afternoon, after all.

Telling everything after diner proved to be a problem, though. Marry couldn't tell much about his treatment, since he slept during most of it. Hermione's was just straightforward with nothing special to tell. The conversation with Sharpclaw was much more interesting for the adults, though.

"So, they found how he dicdn't fully die and how his followers were allmurderers?" Jean asked, just to be sures she understood correctly.

"Yes, and that will allow them to counteract whatever he had done to keep himself live and also allow them to put On trial his followers since they werent previously charged with these specific murders." Hermione explained

"Are you sure about the fairness of the tria|s?" Evidently, Jean had already heard about t some corruption.

Harry shrugged."An attempt to kill a Lord is automatically punishable by death, and i'm going to insist on it. As for the res...Wel, maybe if we make sure to have them open to the public and the media and have alth delberations and the voting public too, that would deter some corrupt members. It's easier to hide under anonymity than when in plain sight of the public, I think."

"And what is the goblins position?" Dave asked.

Hermione smiled. "Oficill,they can't take any position concening wlzards. Unofficilly, they would like nothing better than to get rid of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but also of umbledore, whom they consider almost as bad. Judging by how he treated Harry,l think they're right."

Dave frowned . "Why is he the headmaster of the only magical school in Britain,then? And you say he has some more roles."

Harry sighed."He may have been better when younger, but it now looks like he thinks he's the only person to understand everything and he believes he knows best what's good for everybody. even if others disagree. 'm not sure for how long he's been acting this way, but he, probably started way before I was born. I must admit that he has a a lot of knowledge, but not even he can know all he there is to know on every subject, even excluding the muggle world. He once defeated another Dark Lord. I'm not sure about the details, but it was probably close to the end of WW2. That made people see him as a hero of the light and a 2 leader. He was a Hogwarts teacher rat that time a and then made the headmaster, probably due to his fame,. It also brought him his two other postions that are plitical thought that the role of headmaster for a his roles. in I nature im not sure how wel he can perform all boarding school would be more than enough even for one not as old as him.:

IHermlone loked at hirn with sore confusion."'l idint know you could talk so maturely."

He chuckled. "m stleleven, you know,but I can occasionally act more maturely, as you do."

The Grangers didn't like what he'd told them. "Is Hogwarts safe enough for you to return there after the holidays? We can move you to another school, f necessary.

The children gave it some thought. "Imay need to ask Sharpclaw some more. heard that most magical families enrol their children at one more school, at least, to make sure that the children can be moved for whatever reason may come up. They usualy do it soon after the child is born. I suppose my parents did the same. As a Lady, think Hermione may also come with me. Based on our bond, we may also become betrothed, allowing her to come with me regardless of her title. Besides. since we re not yet emancipated, we're limited by our magical guardians. It can easily become more complicated, and quite quickly at that" H arry explained.

"Dumbledore is the in with sore additional| information Hermione jumped magical guardian for all uggle-bornm or muggle-raised students. He would probably oppose any idea showing Hogwarts as less than perfect."

That rmade the Grangers think.

Harry enjoyed the preparations for Christmas very much.

It was the first time he took part in choosing the decorations, buying them and decorating the house. It was the frst time his oinion was asked about tthe tree to e e choose 'ande evervein/C g else to t buy. It was the first time he e bought presents for his fam ily (and he really feltlike the Grangers were now his family, totally unlike the Dursleys,) and the first time he felt welcome at the festive Christmas Eve dinner, where he got as generous a portion as everybody else at the table.

HaryI y felt some tears feachin hise eyes and dtriedto t s furtively wipe them away. He then s sensed Hermnione. 'They y love you as another family member, as you willeventually be - their son-in-law.

Hary could finally fel what family love was and how the holiday enhanced it.

Then, soon after diner, they all Jot heavily clothed for protection against the cold and walked to the nearby church to attend the Mass. This was also tlarry s first time in church. The Dursleys rarely went to church and never took him along.

"Freaks have no place in the house of God" Vernon used to throw at him every time.

Despite Hermione trying to explain everything in hushed tones, Hlarry couldnt quite understand everything.It didnit matter much to hir. He got the main points of the ceremony, the prayers and the hymns; he enjoyed the music; he liked it when the vicar preached about love Ilooked at Hermione.

By the time they returned to the Granger house, both children were almost too tired to even remove their outer clothes before falling asleep.

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