Chapter 46: Fun With The Thestrals
"Oh Luna, they're so cute!" Harry squealed, hugging a baby thestral close to his chest. "I want to keep him! I think I should call him Keith."
"He doesn't look like a Keith." Luna said dreamily, scratching another one behind the ear. "I think he looks more like a William."
Harry caught on immediately. Honestly, Luna could be such a prankster sometimes! "And this one looks like a Percy, wouldn't you say so?" Harry added conversationally.
Luna nodded. "Yes, very much, and this lovely girl here could be a Ginevra, what do you think?"
"Oh yes, definitely. These two here are almost identical, aren't they?"
Two hours later, Harry and Luna skipped out of the forest. Harry entered his DADA lesson, very late.
"Sorry, Professor Pink, I was busy braiding Percy's hair." Harry said earnestly, skipping to his chair next to Ron, who gave him a horrified look.
"You were doing what?" He asked faintly, looking a bit sick. Harry repeated the statement, stifling a giggle at Ron's expression.
"Don't worry, Ron, I made sure to tickle Charlie's feet, too. We don't show favouritism." Hermione coughed quietly as Ron grew ever-paler. "And Luna made sure to give Ginny lots of cuddles. We wouldn't want her to feel lonely, you see. She is the only girl after all. You could always come with us to see them later, I'm sure Fred would love a tummy rub!"
Ron gagged and fled the room. Snape gave Harry a hard look, but continued on as if nothing had happened. His only acknowledgement of the entire situation was to give Harry detention.
"What's up with you?" Daphne asked Ron bluntly later, as he pushed food around his plate without eating it. "You never hesitate to eat."
"Ask Potter." Ron growled before lifting his fork to his mouth.
"And weren't George's ears so soft? It was like stroking velvet!" Ron's fork fell back to his plate with a loud clatter. Hermione couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing silently with tears streaming down her face.
"Make it stop." Ron whispered. "Please make it stop."
"-Ginny fell asleep on Luna's lap, the cutie. Percy, bless him, was much more shy, but did eventually lick my had. Took a lot of persuading though-"
Harry didn't look at Ron, focusing instead on Susan as he continued to babble on, Ron looking more and more ill by the second.
Then, finally, Harry played his trump card. "-William, but we call him Bill for short, thoroughly licked my face." Ron blanched. "I thought about doing it back-" Ron went very, very green. "-but decided it would be a bit weird to lick a baby thestral."
Ron went from sick to betrayed in a second. "HARRY POTTER!" He yelled furiously. Harry got to his feel, holding his hands up defensively. "I WILL KILL YOU, I SWEAR TO MERLIN. YOU WILL WISH IT WAS MOLDY THAT GOT TO YOU WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH-" A single, green pea soared through the air and hit Ron directly on the nose. Luna discreetly lowered her spoon back to her plate and Harry smiled innocently at Ron.
Before anyone could so much as blink, Harry was hit with a chicken leg. Laughing, he grabbed a slice of ham and purposefully missed, hitting Draco on the shoulder. He scowled and launched a piece of pie at Harry, only missing by an inch. Hermione screeched as the stray slice of pie hit Harry's potions textbook and she tackled Draco to the ground, knife in hand.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Harry yelled and began tossing sausages at anyone and everyone. The teachers watched in horror as the hall quickly became a battlefield, students launching food at each other and yelling, laughter echoing around the hall.
Albus Dumbledore chuckled and as he did so 'accidently' flicked his fork at Minerva, who frowned when she felt the splatter of gravy hit her cheek. Eyes glinting dangerously, she retaliated with a well-timed jerk of her spoon, hitting both Severus and Albus with stuffing. Without so much as looking up, Severus wandlessly and wordlessly flung a spoonful of peas right back. Soon enough, all the staff were discreetly chucking food at each other, faces betraying nothing to the students as the chaos reigned on in the hall.
Eventually Albus called for silence and dismissed all the students to their dormitories, gravy dripping down his beard and a piece of carrot dangling from his ear.
Once all the students were gone, the staff stayed for another hour or so. Throwing food was apparently a really good stress relief. Dumbledore seemed much worse for wear than the others, but considering he was the cause of most of their stress (especially for Minerva and Severus), it was only to be expected.
Snape hated patrol. He stormed through the corridors, scowling at the portraits that complained about the light from his wand.
"What do you want me to do, walk in the dark?" He grumbled, stopping in his tracks when he heard soft giggling.
He extinguished the light from his wand and crept forwards, the sound of whispers getting louder and louder. He reached out slowly with his hand and triumphantly yanked at thin air.
"Potter, Greengrass, what are you doing out after curfew?" Severus smirked at the two children he'd caught red-handed, far from either of their common rooms. He tucked the invisibility cloak that had been hiding the two sixth years under his arm.
"Smuggling a dragon out of the castle." Potter said, unashamed. He pulled out a small figure of a Hungarian Horntail from his pocket and it roared at Severus ferociously. As loathe as he was to admit it, Severus thought it was rather... cute.
"Liar." He said instead. "You have exactly thirty seconds to tell me what you two are up to." He crossed his arms and raised a brow expectantly. Greengrass at least looked a tiny bit guilty, but Potter just smiled, unrepentant.
"Well, you know how after fourth year you made me promise not to place any more bets?" Severus groaned inwardly, his frustration rising at the bet he had been cheated out of.
"All too well, Potter. Continue."
"Well, I sort of made another one!"
Severus sighed, and pinched his nose. He was fairly certain he had permanent indents from pinching the bridge of his nose as often as he did. He almost envied the Dark Lord for not being able to partake in that specific form of venting frustration. Almost.
"Explain."
Three days ago
"So, I know we already established who won the title of best common room ever..." Harry trailed off, peering into his telescope as he felt the rest of the year groups eyes fall upon him. He heard Sinistra's soft chuckle and smirked. "But much can change in a few years, don't you think?"
"Absolutely not, Potter." Padma said sternly. "You will not take this title from us, not ever. It's our right."
"Is it, though?" Daphne asked sweetly. "Is it really?"
"Oh shove off, Greengrass." Lisa Turpin scowled. "You're just salty that we won. Honestly, it's time to get over it. You too, Potter."
"Afraid not!" Harry exclaimed brightly. "See, what you don't know is that this very second, Pipsqueak has stolen the trophy you were given as evidence of your victory! Stealing must just be a species thing." Harry mostly said the last part to himself. Hm, maybe there wasn't just a gossip ring amongst the house elves... it wasn't a completely invalid theory, considering how many students lost things on a daily basis. Maybe they just stole from Neville more than others because he was an easy target.
"Who is Pipsqueak?" Lavender asked. "You haven't gotten a fourth house elf, surely?"
"No, Pipsqueak is a Hogwarts elf. Kreacher, Dobby and Winky are only allowed access to the common rooms for non-nefarious purposes. But if you do discover any missing items, let me or Susan know. Apparently low-level thievery isn't considered nefarious. Mind you, the person who set that rule stole my dad's most precious heirloom, so do with that what you will." Harry waved a hand dismissively, but mouthed 'Gandalf' very obviously.
Ernie Macmillan gave Harry a look. "You are very strange, Potter. So, why did you steal the trophy?"
"Because, I want to make a bet!" Harry said. "Sort of. Pipsqueak has hidden the trophy in an unknown location."
"And how do we know you don't already know said location?"
"Because I will swear on my life and magic once I finish explaining, if you would shut up and let me." Harry said to Theo Nott, who scowled but nodded. "Now, even if you find out the location of said trophy, you will not be able to physically touch it until you have personally stepped foot in all four common rooms!"
"But that's-"
"Awesome!" Hannah said, eyes shining. "So, the person who gets the trophy wins the title for their common room?"
"Not exactly." Harry grinned. "The trophy is actually the sorting hat in disguise. He got bored halfway through fifth year so Dobby kidnapped him and the trophy and transfigured them. Kreacher put him back just in time for the sorting. He much preferred living in Ravenclaw to Gandalf's office, by the way. You guys are way more interesting apparently."
"Get to the point, Potter." Pansy sneered. Harry winked at her.
"So once you find the trophy who is also the sorting hat, you have to put it on your head. It will read your mind and shout out the name of the common room the wearer secretly thinks is the best."
"WHAT!" Seamus shouted. "That is so unfair!"
"No it isn't." Hermione frowned crossly. "The wearer will have seen all four common rooms and therefore have subconsciously made a decision, even if they buried it under their own house pride."
"The person who reaches the hat first will get 20 galleons from me personally." Harry added. "Why are you giving me that look, Draco? It isn't a bet without money involved!"
Well, that explained a lot. Severus fought the urge to just walk away and pretend he'd never seen Greengrass or Potter in the first place. He, along with the rest of the staff, had been wondering why the sixth years had all seemed so distracted. Many sat scribbling on parchment at mealtimes, and the whole school's inter-house interactions were fewer than even before Potter began to make things more friendly two years ago .
"If it's house against house, why are you two together?" Severus asked, raising a brow.
"Well, sir, as you found out last year, the hat wanted me in Slytherin! So I decided I wouldn't mind too much if they won instead." Harry said innocently. "And Daphne had a Ravenclaw boyfriend in third year who showed her the entrance to their common room. I went in Slytherin common room in my second year, Daphne and Draco have been in Gryffindor common room, and Cedric hinted to me where Hufflepuff common room is. So statistically, by working together we are more likely to win."
Daphne nodded vigorously. Snape sneered at them both.
"I didn't know you cared for statistics, Potter."
"I don't, but Daphne loves a bit of maths." Potter grinned. "Draco and Hermione also bet us ten galleons that Ravenclaw would win again and I feel like when I die, my mum will tell me off if I spend my entire inheritance on betting."
"Indeed she would." Severus found himself smirking. "Well, I will be keeping this invisibility cloak for the time being. Detention for a week for both of you for being out after curfew. My office tomorrow, Seven Pm sharp. Do not be late." Severus waved his wand and the corridor was once again shrouded in darkness.
"Wait, Potter, what do you mean you entered Slytherin common room in your second year?"
Naturally, Harry had Kreacher steal the invisibility cloak right back. Snape was not happy.
Chapter 47: Lily Potter - Proud Or Disappointed?
"YES!" Everyone in the great hall sighed collectively, some in disappointment and some just because yet another meal had been interrupted. "TAKE THAT YOU STINKY RAVENS!"
"Harry and Daphne found the hat, then." Hermione said mildly, not looking up from her breakfast.
"Indeed they did." Ginny smirked as two sleep deprived teenagers rushed into the hall, holding the sorting hat between them.
"You cheated!" Zacharias Smith complained loudly from the Hufflepuff table.
"Did not!" Harry retorted.
"Liar!" Zacharias yelled back.
Harry pouted. "I'm telling your great aunt you said that."
"You don't even know my great aunt, Potter."
Harry smirked. "Don't I? Anyway, HAHA! WE GOT THE HAT!" Daphne grinned widely and high-fived Harry.
"How have you managed to enter all four common rooms already?" Michael Corner asked, looking impressed.
"Oh, it was simple really." Harry said airily. "Ravenclaws is sort of obvious, and not once did the rules say you couldn't ask Luna for help."
"The rules said no asking assistance from other students." Ernie pointed out. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, exactly. Luna doesn't count, do you Luna?"
"No, I'm a Beauxbatons student. I just decided to unofficially stay here when they all left after the tournament." Luna said, giggling as a cloud on the ceiling took the shape of a unicorn.
"There is no way that is true." Terry Boot said firmly. "Right, Headmaster?... Professor Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore just shrugged imperiously. "I do not recall, Mr Boot."
"Either way, if you check the student roster Luna's name isn't on there." Harry said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "After Ravenclaw, we revisited Slytherin in case my second-year visit didn't count-"
"I forgot about that!" Ron exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I can't believe I didn't bother to try and win this time!"
"We weren't friends in second year, Potter. That's another lie." Draco said. Harry grinned at him.
"We might not have been, but you were still the one to let us in." Harry winked at him and Hermione dissolved into a fit of giggles at the befuddled expression on Draco's face, before the realisation dawned on him.
"It was YOU!" He gasped, standing up and pointing accusingly at Harry. "I thought Crabbe and Goyle were just being their usual dumb selves, but it was you all along!"
"Anyway, after a quick detour to Gryffindor we tried to find Hufflepuff's entrance." Harry said hastily, avoiding Draco's icy glare. "In the end, I wrote to Cedric and Tonks. Tonks laughed in my face, quite literally as she sent a howler, and Cedric just said something weird about the third floor."
"There's no way Diggory betrayed his own house." Padma pointed out.
"Yeah, he didn't. The third floor thing was a trick. Which looking back should've been obvious after it being closed for the whole of our first year. Moving, on, after two weeks of being complete idiots, I spoke to ex-Professor Lupin and my godfather, who told me to just use my invisibility cloak and follow one of you back." Harry said. "They also reminded me I have a super cool piece of parchment in by trunk I keep forgetting about that also could have told me. But oh well, I got there in the end."
"Stupid elf." Snape muttered, still annoyed about the invisibility cloak he managed to confiscate for all of three hours.
"So, you two actually won this time." Parvati said, looking slightly proud. "I'm impressed."
"Good, because every single one of you owes me and Daphne twenty galleons each." Harry grinned. "I'm sure my mum will forgive me now, Snape, eh?"
Snape ignored him, as usual.
"Oh no, we didn't agree to that!" Hannah cried in outrage. "YOU said you would pay the winner twenty galleons, not that we would have to!"
"Oh, did I? That's a shame."
"Lily would be disappointed in your oversight." Snape said monotonously. Harry pouted.
"You know what, you're all annoying and it's time for me and Daphne to crown Slytherin the title of best common ever! And before you ask, no, I'm not gunning for Gryffindor as the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin first anyway. You're welcome, pleasant mixture of decent humans and children of Moldy's emo-pals!" Without further ado, Harry jammed the hat on Daphne's head.
"Ow! That was unnecessary." Daphne swatted Harry's arm.
The Hogwarts populace watched with baited breath. Whispered bets and a flurry of parchment could be heard across the room.
"Interesting. Mr Potter, your turn."
"What happens if the hat gets two different answers from you both?" Hermione asked.
"Then the Hat will be put on Pipsqueak's head as the decider." Harry explained, gently placing the hat on his own head. Daphne scowled and poked him.
"Oh, how very interesting indeed! Well, dear students, I can confirm that Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass do indeed agree on one house."
"No." Harry whispered, and everyone watched with a mixture of hope and confusion as Harry clearly tried to argue mentally with the hat.
"Sorry, Mr Potter, but the instructions you gave me were very clear." The hat chuckled. "I am pleased to announce that the in the opinions of both Miss Greengrass and Mr Potter, the title of the best common room and therefore the common room in which I shall reside until the title is given to another house, goes too..."
"No!" Harry pleaded.
"RAVENCLAW!" The blue and bronze table screamed, clapped and cheered, laughing manically. With a tear-filled look at each other, Daphne and Harry ran from the hall, hand in hand.
"Where are they going?" Ginny asked.
"Probably to gorge on ice cream in the kitchens and cry." Hermione said, turning back to what was now her potions textbook. Harry had lost interest eventually and only cared about it in class, so Hermione took over ownership. Hermione got fed up of trying to copy the notes into her own textbook, so pledged with herself to duplicate the Half-Blood Prince's copy whenever Snape demanded it back.
"What an unexpected turn of events." Draco drawled, looking completely unsurprised. "Would now be good time to go and remind them they owe us both ten galleons each?"
"Oh yes." Hermione said with a smirk. "Now is perfect."
Ginny shook her head. "You two are so evil sometimes."
A scowling Minerva slid three gold coins across the table to a smirking Severus.
"So, to summarise, Voldemort had a discussion with Professor Slughorn about horcruxes, who then gave you a fake memory."
Yes."
"So you decided to re-employ him, despite him obviously giving students information they should not have and playing favourites-"
"...Yes."
"-so that you could get three teenagers to get him to give up the real memory whilst exposing them to one of the darkest forms of magic. According to Slughorn anyway, since he tampered with the memory."
"...Yes."
"To top it all off, your original plan was just to tutor Harry, so it was actually one teenager you were planning on doing this for you." Hermione summarised, sounding impressively diplomatic.
Dumbledore was speechless for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and nodded. Ron shook his head, tutting.
"Bad Headmaster!" He scolding, wagging a finger at the man he used to hero-worship and be slightly afraid of. Harry smiled proudly at his best friend. Ron really had grown as a person recently.
Dumbledore inclined his head. "I'm afraid you are our best hope at getting this memory. Especially you, Harry."
Harry sighed. "How much?"
Dumbledore blinked "How much what?"
Harry sighed. "How much are you going to pay us?" He said, as if it were obvious.
"Pay you?" Dumbledore murmured.
Ron scoffed. "You thought we'd do this for free?" He asked, genuinely surprised. "You want us to manipulate a man into divulging what is clearly his deepest darkest secret without any sort of reward?" Dumbledore held both his very healthy hands up. Harry shook his head. Sometimes the things Luna said made him notice things that were a bit weird or random. Why should he care about the state of Dumbledore's hands?
"I rather thought the reward would be gaining strength for our side in the war." He said placatingly.
Harry laughed. "The war we shouldn't be fighting in as kids anyway. Look, either you pay us, or you owe us a favour." He crossed his arms and pouted the way Dudley used to when he got less then thirty presents. Before his-self-growth, anyway. Last Harry heard, Dudley had asked Dobby to go through all of his stuff and help him decide what to keep and what to donate.
Dumbledore frowned. "What sort of favour?"
"Nothing that would harm or kill anyone, of course." Hermione said briskly. "Or any creatures or animals as well. Nothing that would make you commit a crime." Ron nodded along with her, an innocent expression plastered on his face.
Dumbledore sighed. "If you can get this memory, I will give you fifty Galleons each."
Harry sighed, disappointed. "I really wanted you to go for the favour, I had so many great ideas! Oh well, we're going to go and find Dobby and Kreacher and have them try and get this memory for us. Bye!" Harry pulled Ron and Hermione from the room before Dumbledore could scold him for using his increasingly terrifying house elves.
"We aren't actually going to use them, are we?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep up with Harry's brisk pace. "You know what those two are like."
"No, of course not! What we need, Hermione dear, is a little bit of luck!" Harry booped her on the node.
Hermione smiled. "That's it!"
"What's what?" Ron asked, looking between the two with a slight frown.
"Harry and I won Felix Felicis, remember? We can use that to get Slughorn to divulge the memory!" They sprinted back to the dormitory and Hermione found the small phial in her trunk, examining it carefully as she showed it to the other two.
"I don't think all of us should take it." She said. "This could be useful still."
Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.
"I'll do it!" Harry volunteered eagerly.
Ron laughed. "No way, you're mental enough as it is!"
In the end, it was agreed Hermione would take the potion.
She took a small sip and instantly relaxed. Her eyes glazed over slightly and she smiled as if everything was right in the world.
"We should go and see Hagrid." She said. Harry stood up and moved towards the dorms, but she stopped him. "Leave the invisibility cloak here, we won't need it. Come on, Ron."
Chapter 48: Felix, Dumble-dumb, And It Itches!
Harry and Ron followed Hermione through the castle. "You know, this whole potion is a massive plot-hole." Harry pointed out to Ron. "If Moldy wanted to win the war, all he would have to do is drink it."
"Maybe there's restrictions on what the potion can do." Ron frowned. "Your half-blood prince might know." Harry giggled.
"Where do you think I got the idea of how dangerous it is?" He said loudly. Hermione shushed him but kept walking, leading them out of the castle and to the greenhouses. They saw no-one, and were not caught despite it being after curfew.
"What are we doing here?" Harry asked her, before spotting Slughorn by the greenhouses. "Aha! Target spotted!"
"Hello Professor!" Hermione greeted exuberantly. Harry and Ron flinched back, waiting to be given detention and sent back inside, but instead they found themselves being dragged towards Hagrid's hut by Hermione, Slughorn in tow. The witch and potions professor chatted amicably, Hermione constantly bringing Harry into the conversation for some reason. Ron kept sniggering at the uncomfortable expression on Harry's face.
"Yeh heard!" Hagrid wailed when he opened the door. Slughorn, looking very confused, awkwardly tried to comfort a crying Hagrid whilst the three teenagers stared at the dead acromantula.
To Ron and Harry's never-ending amusement, a funeral for Aragog was staged. Hermione was pretending to play some sort of instrument, covering her mouth and humming loudly. Slughorn gave a very awkward speech as he collected some venom from the pincers, and Hagrid just sobbed.
Once back in the hut, Slughorn tearfully told Harry about his mother and a goldfish. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione got there first.
"You know, professor, there is one thing you could do to honour the sacrifice Lily made." She said, patting his arm consolingly. Slughorn sniffed loudly and gave Hermione a pleading look, eyes filled with tears.
"What would that be?"
Hermione sighed. "The memory, sir. The one you gave Dumbledore that you tampered with. Harry needs it so he can save us all from Voldemort." Hermione blinked, as if she'd gotten something wrong. Harry smirked at her. They all used Voldypants and Moldyshorts so much that saying his real name always felt weird.
Slughorn looked at Harry, who tilted his head.
"You really need it? To save us all?" Slughorn asked apprehensively, tears in his eyes.
Harry nodded solemnly. "Yes. At the ripe old age of sixteen without a full education, I totally plan on saving the entirety of Wizarding Britain from the tyrant who is at about sixty years older than me and a homicidal maniac. And your memory is the only thing on this planet that can help me."
Despite the obvious sarcasm, Slughorn nodded sagely.
"Well then, Harry. I must say, you are a remarkable young man. Here." Slughorn raised his wand to his temple and Ron and Harry high-fived under the table as Hermione pocketed the memory, immediately leading Hagrid and Slughorn in a round of singing nursery rhymes.
They made it back to the castle unnoticed and headed straight to the common room. Ginny and Neville were waiting for them, identical expressions of concern on their faces.
"Where've you been?" Neville asked. "It's three hours after curfew!"
"Hey guys!" Hermione greeted cheerfully. "Dumbledore sent us on a top secret mission!" She dissolved into a fit of giggles, leaning on Ron for support.
"Is she drunk?" Ginny raised a brow at Harry and Ron, who laughed.
"Yeah, on liquid luck." Ron said, tapping Hermione on the shoulder. "So, what are we going to do with the memory?" He asked her. Hermione scrunched up her nose.
"Keep it, of course." Hermione said, patting her pocket. "We'll give it to Dumbledore in few weeks."
"Why not now?" Harry asked, flopping onto the sofa in between Neville and Ginny.
Hermione snorted, causing Ron's eyebrows to shoot up at the extremely out of character behaviour. "Ask Felix, I'm just doing what I'm told."
They sat in silence for a while after that. Harry was the one to break it.
"...Hey, Hermione? Whilst Felix is still working, fancy coming to annoy Snape with me?"
"No."
"Shame."
Three weeks later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Headmaster's office.
"Ah, yes, well done children!" Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling more than ever. "Very well done! How did you manage to get hold of it so quickly?"
"Felix helped us." Hermione said. Dumbledore frowned.
"You were not supposed to tell anyone else about this, Miss Granger." He said, rather severely.
Hermione bristled. "We didn't! Felix just knew and wanted to help!"
Dumbledore gazed at them thoughtfully. "I don't recall there being a Felix in the school. What is his surname?"
Harry raised a brow. "Why? You aren't going to obliviate him are you?" Dumbledore didn't respond and Harry gasped. "You ARE! Gandalf, that's illegal!"
"Alas, Harry, I would never do such a thing." Harry snickered. "Now, who is Felix?"
"Oh, he's not a Hogwarts student." Ron said airily. "He isn't even a person."
"I see." Dumbledore shook his head and gave up. "Now let's view this memory, shall we? We can discuss Felix more later."
The memory was only two minutes long, and Dumbledore looked at them gravely as soon as they departed. Young Tom Riddle was asking Slughorn about horcruxes, and Slughorn told him exactly what they were and how to make one. Dumbledore definitely didn't choose his professors based on their common sense, Harry thought to himself as he tried to vanish Tom Riddle's nose.
"So, Voldemort has horcruxes." Harry announced as he sat back in the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk after exiting the memory. "Didn't we already know that?"
"Yes, but we didn't know how many, Harry." Dumbledore explained, looking grave. "Now we know the intended amount."
"Six." Hermione interjected. "That way his soul would be split into seven."
"Correct." Dumbledore steepled his fingers together and peered at them over his half-moon spectacles. "Now as for what those objects are, I have a few ideas."
"The diary was one, wasn't it?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded. "And knowing Moldy, he's probably not gone for, like, a pebble on a beach."
Dumbledore chuckled. "No, you're quite right. I have reason to suspect that he has used some of the founders objects we have viewed in previous memories. Hufflepuff's cup, for example."
"Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem." Hermione reeled off. "That's four. What else?"
"His snake?" Ron suggested. Everyone stared at him. "What? I'm not just a pretty face you know."
"And the final one, I believe, is another family heirloom. A ring, perhaps. I went to the Gaunt house in the second memory I showed you, and was disappointed to find nothing of great importance. Especially considering the number of wards and protective spells surrounding the house."
Harry frowned. "...weird."
"I did, however, come across a rather large hole in the ground." Dumbledore looked at them all suspiciously. Hermione, Ron and Harry blinked innocently back.
"Well, that will be all for tonight. Should I locate any of the remaining horcruxes, I will send for you immediately."
"What? Why?" Hermione asked. "We wouldn't know the first thing about destroying horcruxes!" Harry stamped on Ron's foot and his smug smirk was quickly replaced by a wince.
Dumbledore inclined his head. "As Harry proved in his second year, basilisk venom ought to do the trick. I do believe some still remains on the sword of Gryffindor."
"Yeah, what happened to that?" Harry asked. "Monty told me it belonged to me since I was the one who pulled it out of his butt!" Dumbledore raised a brow.
"Monty?" He inquired, looking faintly disturbed at Harry's graphic description.
"Yeah, the hat. Obviously." Hermione snickered as Harry remained completely deadpan.
Dumbledore paused. "The Sorting Hat is called Monty?"
"Yes. Surely you of all people should know that?" Harry said accusingly. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Well, should I locate a horcrux, I would like for you three to accompany me. As you know, there is someone at Hogwarts who wishes to see me dead, and should that happen I will need you to continue finding the horcruxes and end this war for good."
Harry whistled. "That's a lot of pressure to put on three teenagers, Headmaster. But I'm game, it sounds dangerous and incredibly thrilling! Do you think we'll see Moldy and his emo pals?"
"I should hope not." Hermione said crossly. "You are such an adrenaline junkie, Harry. But sure, if Harry's doing it I'll come along too, else he'll probably accidentally kill himself." Ron snorted at Harry's offended pout.
"I won't be left out." Ron said stubbornly. "I'm in."
Dumbledore clapped once. "Excellent! Now, it is getting rather late. You should all head to bed."
"Hermione?"
"No."
"Just one more-"
"No."
"Please can you-"
"I said no, Harry, stop asking me!" Hermione snapped, closing her book and giving Harry her best teacher glare.
"But it itches!" He whined, wriggling his back against his bedframe in the hospital wing. "And I can't reach the bit between my shoulders! And whatever you did earlier stopped the burning immediately!"
"I gave you healing paste, Harry, that can only be applied once a day. Unless you want your skin to peel off?"
"Yes! If this itching doesn't stop Mione I'm going to die, do you hear me? DIE!"
Draco snorted. "Harry Potter - defeater of king serpents, friend of dragons, survivor of lethal snake bites and killing curses, the bane of Moldyshort's existence - has been thwarted by chickenpox."
Harry pouted at the blonde and stuck his tongue out at a laughing Daphne and Ron. "Don't be mean, I bet you've never had chickenpox either. You do realise how contagious they are, right?"
Draco paled. "What? Why didn't you say so before? I'm out of here!"
"Do not worry, Mr Malfoy, you will all have had your magical shots against muggle illnesses such as chickenpox. However, I will need to keep you all in isolation until Mr Potter is in a clean bill of health. Just a precaution." Madame Pomfrey reassured him. Draco sighed in obvious relief.
"You mean we all have to stay in the same room as Harry?" Ron asked in horror. "Do you know how unbearable he is when he's sick, Madame Pomfrey?"
"Obviously I do, Mr Weasley, he practically lives in my hospital wing." Madame Pomfrey frowned. Harry was too itchy to be offended.
"Oh no." Daphne shook her head. "You're talking about 'injured but too stubborn to admit it' Harry. We're talking about sick Harry."
"Last easter when he got that flu virus? Nightmare." Susan said solemnly. "I think I had to sing some song about kittens at least four thousand times."
"Oh, good idea!" Harry practically beamed at Susan. "That might distract me from the itching."
"No." Susan said firmly. "I might have agreed to break you out of Azkaban if the need ever arises, Potter, but I will not sing you to sleep." She paused. "With witnesses." She added as an afterthought, most likely due to the downright pitiful expression on Harry's face.
The next seven days were pure torture for everyone, even if Harry was the one with a nasty muggle sickness that only affected you worse if you got it later on in life.
Harry lay dramatically on his bed in the room adjacent to the hospital wing, where he and his friends were in isolation. Draco wiped the sweat from his brow, Daphne fetched him glass after glass of water, Ron wrote down everything he said at Harry's request, just in case they were Harry's last words. By day two, Susan was no longer embarrassed about singing in front of the others and she and Daphne often had fun trying to harmonize.
Hermione applied the salve to Harry's back each day, but made Harry do the rest with a stern glare. She refused to give it to him more than once and was forced to come up with more and more creative ways to distract him from the itching.
Eventually, Neville and Draco got fed up and wrapped Harry's hands in socks and bandages, then tied them to the bedframe. Ron, whose hand was hurting by day five of endless scribing, gagged him.
Madame Pomfrey didn't even scold them. She'd seen another side to Harry Potter that week and never wanted to see it again.
When they were finally released, Harry's friends made a pact - next time they got sick and Harry wasn't, they were going to make him pay.
Chapter 49: Operation Birdie
"Hello Headmaster!" Dumbledore chuckled at the still rather spotty boy who had bounded into his office. "Did you find a horcrux?" Harry asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Dopamine addict." She muttered darkly under her breath. Ron sniggered.
Dumbledore nodded, eyes twinkling. "I did. Are you, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley ready to go? I trust you are feeling better?" He studied Harry over his half-moon spectacles.
Hermione and Ron nodded hesitantly. Harry bobbed his head excitedly. "Oh yes, we're more than ready! Let me just go and get my cloak!"
Harry skipped from the office and hurried to the library, finding Daphne and Neville almost immediately.
"Operation Birdie is in action." He whispered, handing them a piece of parchment. The two nodded. "Tell the others. Love you, bye!"
Harry darted off, grabbed his cloak and meandered slowly back through the halls. Halfway to the office, he 'accidentally' bumped into Neville. Neville walked with him, taking the longer route to the office. They spotted Parkinson headed in their direction. She was alone.
"Yeah, Dumbledore said we'd be gone for hours." Harry said loudly. Parkinson slowed her pace. Neville smirked.
"Oh, really? Let's hope nothing happens whilst he's gone. The wards are weak enough as it is." Neville bit his lip in faux concern. Parkinson froze.
"Don't worry Nev, I'm sure it will all be fine." Harry winked and slipped him a small potions phial. "See you later, mate."
"Bye." Neville said glumly, snickering when he heard Parkinson take off at a run. Shaking his head, he walked back the way he had come. There were preparations to be made and students to be protected.
Harry burst into the office, cloak in his hand. Dumbledore stood up and approached the trio.
"We'll have to apparate." He explained. "Being the headmaster has its perks, such as apparating within the castle. I must ask you all to hold onto my arm."
Hermione, Harry, and Ron all gripped tight to Dumbledore's arm. With a crack, they landed on a small rock in the middle of the ocean.
"So nostalgic." Harry wiped a fake tear from his eye, remembering fondly the time his uncle almost killed his whole family just to run away from a letter. "I take it you want us to go in that cave?" Harry pointed at a large cavern a few feet ahead of them. Hermione shuddered.
"Yes, but you must swear to me, all of you, that you will do exactly as I tell you." Dumbledore looked at each of the trio in turn. All three nodded.
"Pinkie swear." They said in unison. But of course, no pinkies were linked. Oopsie! That meant they weren't legally binding. Didn't Dumbledore ever learn?
They followed him across the rocks, Hermione almost slipping at one point and Ron catching her just in time.
"Thank you." She whispered gratefully as the entrance finally loomed over them. Harry, far too happy about the circumstances, headed straight in and almost crashed into a solid rock wall.
"Oh." He said. "That doesn't bode well."
Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully and then came to the same realisation Hermione did.
"Blood." They said at the same time.
"I can do it for you, sir!" Hermione offered, brandishing her knife at the Headmaster. He chuckled nervously.
"That won't be necessary, Miss Granger, but thank you for the... generous offer." Dumbledore quickly pressed his wand to his arm and muttered a spell, wiping the small cut along the wall. It vanished, and they found themselves in front of a very old and very smelly lake.
"There's definitely dead bodies in here." Ron shifted nervously.
"How do we get across?" Hermione asked in a clipped tone.
"I'm not entirely certain." Dumbledore admitted, just as Harry giggled and grabbed onto something invisible, dangling from the floor slightly. As he pulled, a small boat arose from the murky water. Ron shrieked at the sight of a disembodied hand floating past it. Hermione whimpered.
"Well, who goes across? We won't all fit." Hermione pointed out, tearing her terrified eyes away from the hand. Harry immediately jumped in the air, waving his arm wildly.
"Me! Me!"
"I too shall cross." Dumbledore said, unnecessarily eerily. Like seriously Dumbledore, it's creepy enough as it is.
Ron and Hermione watched with bated breath as Harry and Dumbledore crossed the lake, careful not to touch the water. They watched in horror as Harry was forced to feed Dumbledore shell-full after shell-full of a horrid potion, that made him scream and beg and cry. Finally, Harry grabbed the necklace beneath and pocketed it, winking at Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore begged for water but Harry just shook his head and called for Kreacher. Kreacher recoiled at the sight of the lake, but quickly recovered and took the Headmaster back to Hogwarts. He popped back immediately afterwards; transferring Harry to edge of the lake where his friends were with ease. Then he left again, other tasks to complete. Harry didn't question the frying pan.
Ron took a step toward Harry but he slipped, the toe of his shoe making direct contact with the water. Before any of them could move, hundreds of inferi emerged from the lake, heading straight for them. Hermione screamed.
Harry and Ron quickly cast a fire-spell to repel them and the trio hurriedly backed out of the cave. Dobby was waiting for them on a rock outside. They hurried over to him, shaking and sweating but otherwise unharmed.
"Ready?" Harry asked when they reached Dobby. Hermione and Ron took a deep breath and nodded, each holding one of Harry's hands. He relished in it, wanting to enjoy the peaceful moment with his friends before- no, now was time for action, not thinking.
"Ready." They chorused.
Dumbledore thought the game was only just beginning. The truth was, it was already nearing its end.
Hogwarts Castle, After Dumbledore and the Trio's departure
Operation Birdie was in motion. A patronus had been sent to the Order and another to the twins, who were still being kept uninvolved by their mother. Neville and Draco had each gone to find their Head of House after drinking the Felix Felicis, to warn them of what Pansy was planning.
Students were quickly and quietly evacuated. Sixth and seventh years were allowed to choose to stay. Naturally Luna, Ginny and Astoria hid in the room of requirement so they could re-join later. Colin followed them.
Everyone else gathered in the Great Hall.
A surprising number of students in the two upper years remained, including a few sixth year Slytherins. Daphne took charge easily, bossing people about as if she was born into it, including the teachers. Neville and Draco came up with the strategy since they were the ones who drank the liquid luck, leaving just enough for Susan (who had a more important mission to take care of)
Dean showed up looking bleary-eyed and star-crossed.
"He ate some chocolate on Harry's bed." Seamus explained. "Love potion, I think."
"Where is she?" Dean asked, scanning the room. "You promised me Romilda would be here!" Snape rolled his eyes and administered the antidote. Dean, faintly embarrassed, turned to Daphne.
"We're doing this today, then?" He asked. Daphne nodded. "Okay. Fifth or Sixth Stratagem?"
"Fifth what?" Minerva asked. Daphne pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed exasperatedly. Draco snorted at the role-reversal.
"Start with fifth!" Neville called out helpfully.
"But- Okay, fine." Daphne waved at the Order members, the twins, Dudley and Shannon, who had just entered the Great Hall. How Dudley and Shannon were there was a mystery, but as said many times before, the wards were a mess. Justin looked shocked and worried at the sight of his very muggle sister preparing to fight in a magic war. She hugged him tightly.
"Listen up!" Daphne yelled, drawing everyone's attention immediately. "Right, we have two factions, Phoenixes and Hippogriffs."
"OH! Operation birdie! I get it now!" Neville exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Phoenixes, no offence but half of what I'm about to say is probably going to go right over your head, so you just stick to what you know and capture at many death eaters as possible, alright?"
"Shouldn't Minerva be in charge, since she's acting Headmistress in the Headmaster's absence?" Remus pointed out.
Daphne put her hands on her hips. "We've been preparing for this day for three years. By all means, go ahead and take over, but most of you will die. Want to risk it?" Remus held his hands up in surrender. Daphne smirked. "That's what I thought. Phoenixes, you are the main offence to begin with. We'll be backing you up and helping defend where we can. When you hear a loud train whistle, we switch to Stratagem Six. Hippogriffs will take over the offence and you'll be given your next instructions."
The Order looked very uncomfortable at being told what to do, Moody especially. But none of them argued, Not when the two boys currently high on luck potion were agreeing emphatically with everything Daphne said. Just at that moment, Susan walked into the hall, Kreacher at her heels. He was wiping his frying pan with a clean rag and a sadistic smirk. Susan's expression wasn't dissimilar.
"The Headmaster's arrived." She smirked and downed the potion Draco handed her. "He's a bit... tied up at the moment, but should be joining us soon."
Severus turned to Minerva. "I have a feeling we won't be doing much."
"Firewhiskey in my office?" She asked quietly. Severus nodded, but Sinistra blocked the door.
"You aren't going anywhere."
"Killjoy."
Susan slipped back out of the room as soon as the Felix Felicis was in her system.
Hogwarts Castle, normal time
The school was empty when Harry, Ron and Hermione returned. Harry smiled - good. They headed straight for the Headmaster's office, where Susan was waiting for them, Kreacher stood next to her. Dumbledore was snoring loudly, a large lump forming on the top of his head and hands and feet bound up in ropes. He was sprawled across the floor.
"He asked for water, so I gave him some." Susan smiled innocently. "Apparently sherbet lemons make him fall asleep. Who knew?"
"No they don't." Hermione said with a nervous grin. "Only your special packet doused with dreamless sleep."
Susan winked at her before letting her smile turn into a concerned frown. "Are you all okay? What happened out there?"
"Only what we already knew." Harry said, tossing her the necklace. "Give that to Sirius for me?"
"Of course." Susan tucked it safely in her pocket as they left the office and headed down the stairs. Hermione looked at Harry in confusion.
"Why can't you give it to him?" She asked worriedly. Harry didn't answer, just smiled sadly at her and wrapped an arm each around Ron and Hermione.
"This is it, yeah?" He said breathlessly. "The final stand."
"Bye bye Moldy!" Peeves cackled, floating past. Harry blinked.
"I honestly forgot about him." Harry said. "Where has he been?"
"No idea mate." Ron shook his head. "It's starting, listen."
They paused. A heard a series of loud crashes followed by Bellatrix's cackle greeted them.
Harry took a deep breath. Susan squeezed his hand firmly then let go. She darted off in the direction of the Great Hall.
"Let's do this."
Voldemort smiled to himself as he lounged in his very fancy armchair in Malfoy Manor. Lucius may be in Azkaban and Narcissa a traitor, but no one was around to tell him to leave, so he didn't.
It had been an uneventful day. He'd had meetings, received reports and tortured Wormtail out of boredom. He'd resolutely ignored the silver ostrich following him around and quacking loudly.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, it finally happened.
"The castle is ready for infiltration." The parrot patronus vanished at the same time as the ostrich and Voldemort stood slowly, pressing his wand to his arm.
"Only three of you." He said, looking at the gathered death eaters. "Severus is there and ready, he and Parkinson will deal with Dumbledore. Bella, Amycus, Alecto; you will go through the cabinet into the castle. Do as much damage as you can, and make sure the job is done. Understood?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good, now go!"
It was only an hour after he left that he received news.
"The wards have fallen." Alecto bowed, practically vibrating with excitement. "The Headmaster is dead. Potter has a pathetically small army waiting for your arrival."
"Well." Voldemort said, twirling his wand between his fingers. "With Albus Dumbledore gone, who will protect the boy now? Harry Potter, it is time to die." He sent a single message through the mark. All the Death Eaters would meet him at the castle, ready for ambush.
No one noticed Wormtail's dead body on the ground, silver arm wrapped tightly around his neck.