By his own hand

Chapter nine

After a lot of reading, Albus believed he found the dark ritual that Voldemort planned to use. Once he had that information he realised exactly where the ritual would take place. One part of the ritual called for bone of the father, which meant they had to be in a graveyard where Tom Riddle was buried.

Albus had secretly scoped out the graveyard and the old Riddle house, he found Peter Pettigrew and what was Voldemort, along with his pet snake. Albus went back to Hogwarts where he spoke with Severus, and Minerva. They put some plans together then Albus contacted the aurors. He wanted to make this capture or kill official, but also so the world would know what Harry said was true. Voldemort was planning on returning using Harry’s blood, forcibly taken in a dark arts ritual. And it was thanks to what Harry said that allowed them to capture Voldemort.

Albus needed to explain to one auror, a trusted auror, what Voldemort did which kept his soul tethered to their world. The aurors had many items at their disposal, one was a soul orb. It would capture the soul as it left the body. They had only just developed it to replace the dementors kiss. The prisoners would still lose their soul but done in a way that was quick but it would not cause any pain. So even though these prisoners were monsters in the eyes of many, now they would die peacefully.

‘Do you know how many times he split his soul Albus?’ Rufus asked.

‘I believe seven, one he was unaware of which is now gone. He was so damaged by splitting his soul five times that he never realised another part split from him when he tried to kill Harry as a baby. The snake that is known to be his familiar is one of the vessels, she will need to be killed. She became one sometime over the last few years. Now we know only certain things can kill a living horcrux, the killing curse is one along with the sword of Gryffindor.’

‘Why would a sword, even Gryffindor’s sword kill his soul?’ Kingsley asked.

‘Harry used that sword to kill the basilisk, it is now imbued with basilisk venom. I used the sword to destroy the ring I found. As it was not a living being, the killing curse would not work. I believe Tom planned it that way so his pieces of soul would always remain safe. It would have worked if Harry did not stab the basilisk. I only figured it out when Harry showed me the diary that had belonged to Tom. Harry had stabbed it with a basilisk fang, the fang he removed from his arm. He explained he heard a terrible scream when he stabbed the diary, the soul died. I do believe I know what other items he used yet I have not been able to find where they are hidden, though I do have some ideas, apart from one. The lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw is the one item I believed he used yet I cannot figure out where he may have hidden it.’

Just then a familiar white owl flew into the office, he landed on the desk and screeched. He flew to the door and screeched again, then back to the desk.

‘It seems Hedwig wishes you to follow her Albus,’ Minerva said.

‘How about we all follow her,’ Albus put his arm out, Hedwig hopped on then they all left the office. He lifted his arm and the owl flew off down a corridor, then it seemed to wait, ‘She does.’

They hurried after the owl who had flown off again until they came to a blank section of wall on the seventh floor. Hedwig would hover near it, peck then land on the floor.

‘The come and go room, I always believed this is where it was located.’

‘It is the room of hidden things headmaster.’

Albus, Severus, Minerva, Kingsley and Rufus all gazed at the Grey Lady, ‘Hidden things my lady.’

‘Yes, there are many things hidden in this room, one you are looking for, one that I stole. Tom was such a charming boy, I did not see who he really was until it was too late.’

‘You took your mother’s diadem, Helena?’

‘I did, I was jealous of my mother, so I left taking her diadem with me. I hid it in a tree in Albania, Reginal found me, my mother sent him after me. We argued, we fought, he killed me then killed himself. Tom found the diadem and cursed it with dark magic, he returned it to his birthright. He believed as the last heir of Salazar Slytherin, that Hogwarts was his birthright. The diadem with the soul of Tom Riddle resides in this room. You must think of the room of hidden things then walked past the wall three times.’

‘Thank you my dear lady.’

They watched as the ghost disappeared, ‘The Grey Lady is Helena Ravenclaw?’ Minerva asked.

‘Yes, I was not positive, but I had a suspicion. Let’s move back so I can see if we find the room of hidden things.’

Albus kept his mind on what Helena said as he walked past the wall three times. On the third past he heard a faint pop, he looked to see a door had appeared.

Albus opened the door with the others behind him ‘Holy Merlin, this place is huge,’ Kingsley said.

‘It is,’ Albus wondered how they would find something as small as a tiara in a room larger than Hogwarts herself. Hedwig flew over their heads and down an aisle, ‘I believe Hedwig is leading us to the item.’

The group hurried after the owl, they saw her hovering above an old wardrobe. The diadem was sitting on a bust. Albus cautiously used magic to lift the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw out of the wardrobe.

‘It’s a shame it must be destroyed, it’s part of Hogwarts history.’

‘It is Minerva, but it must be done,’ Albus floated the diadem down onto the stone floor, pulled the sword of Gryffindor from his robes then sliced down. Screams filled the air as the soul of Voldemort was destroyed.

Late that night, Poppy watched Harry as Remus and Sirius were having a house built ready for when Harry could leave with them. At the same time, Rufus, Kingsley, Severus and Albus held onto the port key. They found themselves in a graveyard not far from the house where Voldemort was staying.

‘It’s Voldemort’s father,’ Albus stared down at the headstone, ‘The ritual would call for bone of the father, blood of the enemy, Harry, and flesh of the servant, Peter.’

‘If this is where Harry was supposed to come, then where are they now?’ Rufus asked.

Albus pointed up at the large old run down house, ‘That belonged to Voldemort’s muggle family, the family he killed when he was still a student. I came here a week ago, they are inside.’

‘Then Nagini would be in there with them, she might be hard to see or find,’ Rufus said.

Albus moved his wand through the air, he became invisible, but so did the other three men. A light appeared before them, after a few minutes it changed to become a map of the house. They could see three dots, two together, the names Peter Pettigrew and Tom Riddle Jr. The third dot said Nagini who was on the ground floor.

Severus, Albus, Kingsley and Rufus moved as quietly as possible, the silenced their footsteps just before the entered the house. Albus instantly sent the killing curse at the large snake. Normally he would not use that spell, but these were not normal circumstances, this was to stop Voldemort returning.

When they got upstairs, Albus put the case onto the floor then resized it. He nodded to the other three, who got themselves ready. Albus held the door handle, tightened the hold on his wand then thrust the door open. Severus and Kingsley had Peter unconscious within seconds. Albus and Rufus had the small body of Voldemort stunned then trapped inside an unbreakable crystal case. It was finally time to take care of Lord Voldemort, for Harry, but this time it will be for good.

‘It’s time to make sure he is gone, we only have two more items to retrieve.’ Rufus said.

‘Let’s hope we can get the answers as to where those two items are,’ Albus said.

Sirius entered the matron’s room behind the office in the Hogwarts hospital, ‘How is he Poppy?’

‘The same Sirius, but there has been more eye movement and his fingers move more as well. It’s hard to say when he will wake but I’m positive he will soon.’

‘Do you believe he will be well enough to take him to his new home now?’

‘Yes, he is out of danger, all we can do is hope that the potions and Fawkes has healed his mind.’

‘Then I will finish gathering my things.’ Sirius stared down at his godson who didn’t look like Harry anymore. Even though he had been given an adoption potion linked to Albus, Sirius worked it so Harry would end up his son. As he stared down at his godson he could not see a resemblance to Albus anymore, but he did not look like a Potter either. Sirius could see himself in Harry and hoped that no one would ever think of Harry Potter when they stared at him.

‘I will go and make sure his room is ready.’ Sirius continued to stare down at his godson when Severus walked into the room.

‘How did it go?’ Poppy asked.

‘Albus killed the snake, the two aurors stunned Peter Pettigrew and the dark lord is now encased in an unbreakable crystal case. There are only two items left, Albus just needs to find them.’

‘I know I’ve said it before, Severus, but thank you,’ Sirius said, Severus gave Sirius a nod before leaving the room.

‘I know I need to go finished his room, but I have been thinking about a new name so no one finds out the truth.’

‘I thought of that Sirius, what do you think of Evan?’

‘Lily,’ Sirius sighed, ‘Yes, it would work but it also would not be suspicious. I believe Evan is a fine name for him. It also keeps a part of his mother with him.’

Sirius waited until Poppy left to check on her other patients before he thought about his plans and the life he was going to give his godson.

‘What do you think, pup, Evan Black?’

Sirius sighed again before he began to pack the potions Harry, no he thought to himself, not Harry, not anymore, Evan was his name now. So he packed the potions that Evan will need into an unbreakable wooden chest that Poppy had left for him. He gazed down at his godson once more before using Evan’s cloak to sneak out with the trunk. It was time Sirius got Evan settled into his new home, a home that everyone would believe belonged to Sirius and his son. That was the story they had come up with when Poppy told them that Harry or Evan would have complete memory loss. She could not say if his memory would return. So they worked on a story, that Sirius had a son whose mother recently died. Sirius never knew that one of his old girlfriends had become pregnant, so he was going to do what he should have done for Harry, love and care for his son. That’s what everyone would believe. Once they came up with the story, they made another blood potion, this time with Sirius’ blood, so now Harry/Evan looked a lot like Sirius Black.

The boy who was once known as Harry Potter was now Evan Black. The-boy-who-lived did not even resemble Harry Potter, apart from keeping his green eyes. There was no sign of James or Lily Potter in the boy. Sirius, Poppy and Albus believed Harry could finally get what he always wanted, to be a normal boy.

Sirius arrived back at Hogwarts using Harry’s cloak. He snuck back into Poppy’s private rooms.

‘It’s all ready.’

‘If you need help or even just want some time to yourself, let me know and I’ll watch over Harry.’ Poppy said.

‘We’ll let you know but right now neither of us are going to leave his side.’