Chapter 10
For the past few days, Harry had felt that all his efforts were in vain and was sinking into a depression. His authority wasn't really questioned by the others, but he had caught the glances Ron and Hermione gave each other when they thought he wasn't watching them and he was pretty sure they were talking behind his back. Only Edward didn't seem to question his choices. Better yet, he thought he was the one who was right about the location of a Horcrux at Hogwarts and had argued in his favor.
Knowing that he had the support of someone in the group made Harry, who sometimes questioned himself rather harshly, feel better. Unfortunately, since they could hardly go back to Hogwarts at the moment, they had been reduced to following Hermione's advice, who had insisted on examining the location of the old orphanage, even casting magic detection spells to see if it was there. Her failure had left the girl in a bad mood and she glared at Harry and Edward who had dared to say "I told you so".
However, things could have been much worse that night: after all, they were relatively safe, Edward had caught some salmon and braised it in a pan over a campfire with wild watercress and rice from a large store-bought bag. It smelled delicious and even Ron, who was picky about food (not surprisingly with a food-loving mother like Molly) didn't mind eating his share.
Harry couldn't help but admire his friend's survival skills; even without magic, he was sure Edward would have been able to fend for himself in the wild. When he had remarked on this, Ed had smiled and nodded and said that if he had had the chance in fifth year, he would have organized a survival exercise in the Forbidden Forest: a month without contact with civilization and without magic. The young boy's smile suddenly took a sadistic look with the reveal of those plans and it made them all shudder. No one tried to dig into the subject because, if anything, Ed really would have done that kind of exercise...
In the meantime, they all finished their plates in silence. It was probably for this reason that they were alerted by the sound of voices. Immediately, they took their wands out of their pockets and forgot about finishing their meal. Hermione and Edward checked the protections around their tent, while Ron and Harry went to the borders of the protective field. Moments later, their friends joined them after dismantling the tent, packing up their belongings, and cleaning up their tracks with a few wands. Behind them, there was no sign that anyone had been here.
Then, Hermione came out with her extendable ears and they could finally hear the conversation that was taking place a few feet away from them. It was a group of three Muggle-born wizards and two renegade goblins who had refused to play by the rules of You-Know-Who. Among them were Dirk Cresswell, who had escaped Dawlish by stealing his broom and wand, Ted Tonks, who had left his home a week ago because he knew the Death Eaters would come for him, and the third rascal, Dean Thomas, Harry's fellow student in Gryffindor. The two goblins were named Gripsec (Harry knew him by sight) and Gornuk.
Apparently, they had met during their escape: Dirk had met the two goblins first within a few days of each other and had been on the run from the Death Eaters for six or seven weeks, and Ted had met Dean Thomas, who had escaped on September 1st by not attending the first day of school. The young boy didn't know if he was Muggle-born or Half-Blood and had wisely chosen not to go to his summons.
The two goblins, on the other hand, had fled because of their incompatibility with the Death Eaters (a nice euphemism, apparently) and because of pride. As Gripsec liked to repeat, he was not a house elf. He also said something in Gobbledegook that Edward tried to understand with a frown. In the two years he had been in this world, he had learned some of the goblin language because, after all, it was always better to understand the language of his banker... Except that in this sentence, there seemed to be a subtle play on words that he did not understand.
Finally Gripsec explained himself. It began with a story that had been told to him by Bill Weasley: apparently, the three remaining members of the Circle had tried to steal the Gryffindor sword by smashing the window. Upon hearing this, Harry and Edward swore together: they had advised them (via Kreacher) to be subtle, those three! Breaking into Snape's office and smashing a window was anything but subtle! Then, on the orders of You-Know-Who, Snape had to send the Gryffindor sword to Gringotts- except, as it turned out, the sword was a fake.
The goblins and the three wizards laughed, thinking it was a good prank played on Voldemort and Snape. The four teenagers smiled as they thought it was a nice trick played by Severus Snape as a spy. However, they would have liked to know what had happened to their foolish classmates and it was Dean who asked the question but the only thing the four friends knew was that Snape would have punished them cruelly. (Knowing him, he must have been punishing them for their lack of subtlety and cunning).
After that, they talked about Harry, with the goblins and Dirk wondering if they should believe him, while Dean and Ted reaffirmed their faith in Harry. Dirk seemed the sheepish type, believing everything the Gazette said, but Ted told him that if he wanted the real facts, he should read the Quibbler. Xeno Lovegood's newspaper stated loud and clear that any wizard who opposed You-Know-Who should support Harry Potter. Harry was touched by this.
When they left, Edward decided to follow them quietly with Harry until they found their temporary camp. Under the cloak of invisibility, they left a message with the sleepers giving them the usual precautions (such as posting a watchman at night), advice, the magical frequency of Potterville, thanks for the information they had provided, and warm encouragement to keep their spirits up. They signed the letter with the letters H, H, R, and E and enchanted the parchment to burn as soon as it was read. After all, one can never be too paranoid.
Soon after, the two boys met up with Ron and Hermione and moved far away in case any Raiders had followed the fugitives. They set up the tent in a field again and discussed the news. At this point, Hermione showed her genius by pulling out the Phineas Nigellus chart that she had taken with them in case they needed to contact Snape under extreme circumstances.
They hesitated for several minutes before deciding to let Phineas know that they still thought Snape was on the side of You-Know-Who. At this point, Hermione tried to contact Phineas by calling him. It was finally a "Please" from Hermione that brought him in. But they took the protective element of putting a black blindfold over the former principal's eye area so he wouldn't spot their location. After all, they wouldn't want him to tell the Carrows anything about them.
The painted man protested, but nothing helped- They refused to remove it. Nevertheless, the painting was happy to tell what had happened when Neville, Luna and Ginny had tried to steal the sword: they had been caught and had to make several detentions in the Forbidden Forest. Nothing bad for members of the Circle accompanied by Hagrid... So Snape had gone easy on their friends, unlike the Carrows, who, according to Kreacher, were Dolores fanatics. Even though Snape was doing everything to keep control of the punishments by assigning them to members of the Order, their idolization and sadistic nature were difficult.
In passing, thanks to Professor Black, they learned several things about the weapons forged by the goblins, which had the particularity of absorbing only what strengthens them. Moreover, the last time it had been used was by Dumbledore, who had used it to split a ring. When Edward, Harry and Hermione heard this, they hit their heads and called each other stupid (which Phineas agreed with). That's what the bloody sword was for: to destroy the Horcruxes! Even with two geniuses in the tent, he hadn't found out! They really were pickles. However, they did not explain why they had suddenly become so excited and soon Phineas took his leave.
"This is fantastic, Harry! It's the sword! It's imbued with basilisk venom, so it can destroy Horcruxes," Hermione exclaimed after putting the painting away in the bag.
"I knew that," Harry said with a smile, "That's why Dumbledore left it to me in his will: to give me a clue to the destruction of the Horcruxes. I was so stupid!"
"What really pisses me off is that we had vials of Basilisk venom in the Chamber of Secrets and we didn't think to bring a bloody vial!" Edward grumbled.
"At the same time, you weren't around during Harry's second year. It was hard for you to make the connection between destroying a Horcrux and Basilisk venom right away," Hermione reminded him kindly.
"I don't mean to be a party pooper, but how do we find the sword? Does anyone know where Snape might have hidden it so we could use it?" Ron asked in a matter-of-fact voice.
"That's right. I forgot about that little detail..." Harry murmured, biting his lips.
"Except it's not a little detail. We went on an adventure, just like that, without really knowing where we're going. Our adventure is kind of where am I? Where am I running? What state am I wandering in?" Ron muttered with a poor hope of making a joke of it, the exasperation and exhaustion clear in his voice regardless.
Harry, Hermione, and Edward looked at each other a little tense: they knew that Ron had no news from his family and that this was weighing on his mind. Even though he had managed to make the best of it, the confined atmosphere of the tent was beginning to weigh on his morale. Sensing that the beginnings of an argument were already beginning, Edward said to him in a firm tone, "Ron. It's not Harry's fault that Dumbledore kept his trump cards up his sleeve. It's partly his fault that he hasn't revealed everything he knows. Maybe he thought we were better at it than we really are, but then again, that's not our fault. Maybe he had us fooled, I don't know. But it's nobody's fault here in this tent."
"Obviously, you're the one who's always right, the perfect guy who always knows everything," Ron grumbled.
"Well, no, the proof is in the pudding, I'm human. I hadn't guessed about the sword. And you know what, I'm not perfect. I've made my share of mistakes in my life, some truly catastrophic. But in the end, I got up, gave a big kick in the dirt, swore a good one and kept moving," Said Edward with a sad sigh.
Ron's silence was his only response.
"You know what, if you're really tired of staying in the tent, I'm willing to take us down to a five-star hotel in our lousy, soaked clothes, cast a confusion spell on the well-dressed desk clerk so that he'll give us the nicest suite in the hotel for free for the night so you can sleep comfortably for a night. What do you say?"
Ron burst out laughing as he asked if he would really be willing to do that and Edward nodded, looking serious. The redhead seemed to take the proposal very seriously, especially as the rain began to fall on the tent, before answering in the negative, saying that his parents had not raised him that way. He even apologized to Harry, who gave him a hug that all was forgiven. Hermione burst into tears when she saw them reconciled and justified herself by saying that the boys were so stupid... Edward protested but finally decided to grab the radio by throwing in the Daily code to receive the day's broadcast.
"Good morning, dear listeners. It's still River on the air. Today we have a listener who is very knowledgeable about Goblin relations. His name is Galleon. Hello Galleon."
"Hi River! I'm glad to be able to give you some insight into how the Goblins can help you in our underground struggle."
"That's Bill's voice!" Ron exclaimed with a howl of delight.
"First of all, most Goblins are willing, for a substantial sum, to provide false family trees to some Muggle-borns. They also advise first-generation wizards to take a test they call genetic, which may allow Muggle-borns to discover kinship with wizards whose lineages are supposedly extinct in the Muggle world."
"This strongly undermines the Ministry's official position that Muggle-borns are stealing magic from 'real wizards'. In reality, Muggle-borns almost always have a more or less distant wizard ancestor but whose lineage ended in Squibs. This can open chests that were previously sealed due to lack of an heir, if your parentage is proven." River added before asking:
"What about this substantial sum, Galleon?"
"That it is quite large, because after all, one cannot ask a bank like Gringotts not to take advantage of the situation. However, you should know that since the goblins do not consider themselves to be involved in the witch war, Gringotts can very well take in fugitive wizards on a temporary basis and allow them to flee abroad for a minimal sum. Finally, I say to you that rescuing those among them who refuse the regime of You-Know-Who is an act as noble and generous as protecting a human being. Speaking Gobbledegook is a great sign of respect for them, so if you have some knowledge of this language, don't hesitate to use it. Finally, I let my two little noises know that the Gallions and the Sickles are doing well. Good night!
"That will be all for today, thank you Galleon. That's all for tonight. Good night and keep your hopes up! That was River on the air."
"My family is doing great! The Gallions were Mom and Dad, the mornings are Charlie, Percy, Fred and George. Ginny and I, since we were the youngest, he kept calling us noises. It used to make us so mad! But now he's letting us know that everything is okay at home. Merlin be praised!" Ron sobbed into Hermione's arms as she hugged him tenderly. Harry and Edward, feeling like they were too much, went to bed.
Over the next few days, they began to speculate and build hypotheses about where Snape (or Dumbledore) might have hidden the Gryffindor sword. As time passed, languishing, their speculations became less and less grounded. Their only news came from Potterville, and there they heard the reassuring voices of Kingsley, nicknamed Royal, Remus, nicknamed Romulus, and always Lee, true to his nickname of River.
They gave advice on how to survive, recited the list of victims of the new regime, whether Muggle or witch, and welcomed new, more or less temporary members such as Xenophilius Lovegood or Arthur Weasley. Hearing his father's voice did Ron a world of good, and he stayed cheerful for several days in a row.
And it was essential that he stay in that mood because it was somewhere in early December and they couldn't have stayed too long in the south of England where the weather was milder. They had to face slush at the foot of a mountain, a vast swamp that flooded them in the middle of the night, and they were snowed in on a small island in the middle of a Scottish Loch. It wasn't the kind of thing that helped lift spirits, and now Edward even grunted occasionally as he rubbed his knuckle.
In the end, they had ended up pulling Phineas Nigellus out of the bag to get news from Hogwarts from a source other than Kreacher, who continued to give them the information Ginny, Luna, and Neville had gathered. From what they learned from these two sources of information, they knew that associations were once again banned, that students were mutinying against the Carrows' authority, that Ginny could no longer go to Hogsmeade and, according to Kreacher, she was less sick.
Harry shuddered and immediately took out of his little bag the pendant given by Edward that showed his girlfriend's health, but it showed no sign of illness, on the contrary, it seemed to shine with a thousand lights. Even Edward did not seem to understand how the jewel could shine so much.
The three boys saw Hermione frowning and asked anxiously what was going on. The girl looked annoyed and looked at Harry as if he was responsible for all her troubles. Harry couldn't help but feel slightly guilty but didn't know why. She took him aside in the tent and seemed to ask him a few questions, away from prying ears.
When the boy came out of the tent, Ron remarked that he looked like Remus the last time he had seen him. Luckily, the redhead didn't seem to realize the significance of what he had just said. Edward, on the other hand, did not and looked at the pendant in a new light. He motioned for Harry to come with him and they sat down in the corner of the tent after casting every conceivable stealth spell. Harry looked depressed and happy at the same time, somewhere, as if a ton of worry had just been dumped on him. Edward thought it best to get to the heart of the matter right away:
"Ginny's pregnant, right?"
Nodding, Harry replied, "She told me it wouldn't happen and I trusted her when she whispered some kind of charm..."
"One, that kind of charm never works 100%, it's like muggle condoms, two, didn't you imply to her that maybe you wouldn't come back from your Horcrux quest? Did you suggest to him that you might die?" Edward asked gravely, rubbing his forehead.
"Yes," Harry took offense and added with tears in his eyes, "I don't want her to be left alone to raise my child once I'm dead! That would be me acting like Remus and it wouldn't be right to abandon that child..."
"I think you took the problem the wrong way. It is possible that she thought that if you died, she would want something of you to remain in this world. It is also possible that she felt you were defeatist and wanted to give you a reason to live, to come back. So it's quite possible that she fooled you into thinking it was a contraceptive charm."
"But I have to die. I have to because of that damn Horcrux in me if we're going to defeat You-Know-Who!" Harry protested, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Except she didn't know. And even if she did, I don't think it would have deterred her. She loves you," Said Edward, simply.
"That's what Hermione told me," Replied Harry, burying his face and adding, "Has she even thought about what would happen if we lost the war? What about her? What will happen to her? What if something happens to the baby? What if the pregnancy goes badly?"
"We're doing everything we can not to lose the war. As for Ginny, she has proven to be resourceful, Madam Pomfrey will be there to monitor the pregnancy, my guess is that she has dealt with this before and at worst she has a family that can support her. Don't forget that her mother has already had seven children. On the other hand, if I were you, I'd be more worried about her overprotective brothers..." Edward tried to joke.
"I'm dead. When Ron finds out, he'll murder me."
"I think Hermione will try over the next few months to get him to swallow the pill. I hope he'll understand."
Harry wasn't so sure, but he said nothing. The upheaval in his life was the first thing he had to deal with. He also didn't want to be hit literally by his best friend. He was anything but certain that the latter would easily take the fact that his little sister was pregnant, even if it was by his first and best friend. So he preferred to keep it to the three of them.
For the next few weeks, whenever Harry had a moment, he would look at the pendant that informed him of Ginny's condition. It kept getting brighter and brighter, even though on Harry's Marauder's Map, the girl's dot regularly went from the dormitory to the infirmary. Harry kept his fingers crossed at this point, praying that her pregnancy would go well and that no Death Eater would notice. But Ginny knew the concealment spells inside and out: she would be able to hide her condition. Hermione and Edward did their best to reassure him, but without much success.
The young boy felt as if he had an extra weight on his shoulders, or rather, he felt as if he was feeling the weight of the words he had said to Remus the last time they had seen each other. He also wondered what the Weasley family would think of him when they knew the truth: would they resent him? Would they blame him for putting their daughter in this situation? And what would happen to her studies? Would she be able to become the independent young woman she dreamed of being later on? Rarely had Harry felt so bad.
One cold December evening, Hermione was reading, for the umpteenth time, the tales of Beedle the Bard with her Lune Rousse syllabary, proof that she still had things to understand in her book. Ron was beside her, sometimes kissing her neck to her embarrassment, and Edward was writing in his notebook about some of his own research on magic. Harry, on the other hand, was wondering how he was going to convince the others to come to Godric's Hollow.
Just as he was about to speak, Hermione interrupted him to ask him and Edward for help with a symbol in the book. She showed them what appeared to be a triangle framing a circle, separated in the middle by a line. Harry thought he had seen it somewhere recently, but it was Edward who gave them the answer, saying that it was the symbol for the Deathly Hallows like the one Mr. Lovegood wore. The young witch seemed intrigued because that was the title of the story. She added that the mark had been added after the fact, probably by Dumbledore. When she asked for clarification, Ed shrugged and said that the symbol had been taken over by Grindelwald according to Viktor Krum.
Seeing Hermione in deep thought, Harry decided to try again in a firmer and more decisive tone, "Hermione, I've been thinking. I'd like to go to Godric's Hollow."
"Yes, That now seems the most obvious place. Godric's Hollow was the birthplace of Godric Gryffindor according to Bathilda Bagshot in her History of Magic. It is quite possible that whoever hid the sword, between Snape and Dumbledore, must have expected us to go and have a look there. I should have thought of it sooner, but I always thought you only wanted to go there in memory of your parents..."
Harry hid that that was exactly why he wanted to go back there. It was better not to mislead her.
"On the other hand, it will probably be very dangerous. I think You Know Who should expect us to go there. So we'll have to take precautions like transplanting under the cloak or taking doses of Polyjuice, or both. I have another hypothesis... What if it was Bathilda Bagshot who had the sword?"
"That would surprise me a little. Apparently, she's gone completely doddery and you'd entrust something that important to a harmless old lady?" Ron asked looking a little skeptical.
"Unless she's playing a role..." Edward surmised.
"I don't think so. Let's not forget that her so-called revelations to Rita Skeeter completely ruined Dumbledore's reputation, even if they are true, you don't scuttle the reputation of someone who trusted you with an important task. So you see, Hermione, your theory falls apart." Said Harry in a slightly too triumphant tone.
The girl was so offended when she heard this that she made them wait a week, until their disillusionment spells were as effective as an invisibility cloak. It was now not uncommon for them to bump into each other as they practiced their skills. Now Harry knew what Dumbledore meant when he said he didn't need a cloak to be invisible.
The two of them moved on Christmas Eve, after having had a nice little dinner to cheer them up. They had decided to use Polyjuice to impersonate a family of four, with Ron and Edward playing the role of children (which Edward was not happy about). It was snowing heavily and when they arrived at the small village square near the chapel, religious hymns were echoing in the air.
Godric's Hollow had a postcard feel to it, with its snow-covered roofs, old houses and Christmas tree next to the war memorial. But as they approached the war memorial, it was transformed into a statue of Harry's family and himself as a happy baby. A tribute to the Potters' sacrifice during the first war against Voldemort.
Soon the four of them entered the cemetery and saw, mixed in with the Muggle graves, the graves of wizards, showing that in death there was no difference between wizards and non-magical people. Soon they saw the grave of Dumbledore's mother and sister, buried in the same place, with the epitaph: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, a phrase that Edward said was taken from the Bible.
Another grave caught their attention, that of Ignotus Peverell, where they found the Deathly Hallows symbol, which intrigued Hermione. The third grave was that of Harry's parents. The epitaph was also a phrase from the Bible, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" and according to Edward, referred to eternal life after death. Harry wondered for a moment if his parents or the Dumbledores' had believed this. Either way, he respected and hoped for this belief: the hope of being reunited with loved ones after death. After Harry placed a wreath on the grave, they turned away.
In the silence of the cemetery, they seemed to hear noises, as if they were being followed, which made them turn around often. They walked down the main street, looking for Bathilda's house, but first they came upon the cottage where Harry had lived only one year of his life. They could read an inscription in gold letters explaining what had happened here. Over the years, and especially over the most recent months, wizards had added their names and messages of encouragement to Harry in his fight against Voldemort. Unlike Hermione, who was outraged by this vandalism, Harry thought it was a great idea.
A few moments later, an old woman appeared, sensing them despite their disillusioned charms and beckoned them to follow her. Cautiously, with their wands in their pockets, they followed her into her house. Inside, there was a morbid smell of rotting meat and old age. Harry was quickly drawn to a photo and turned away from Bathilda and her friends. The old woman, seemingly annoyed at being ignored, beckoned Harry, and only Harry, to follow her upstairs, and slowly, his wand in hand spreading a yellowish glow over the faded wallpaper, Harry climbed the stairs one by one. The young boy wondered if he could find out more about the thief he had just seen in the photograph by questioning Bathilda as Rita Skeeter had done.
The three friends were talking, worried about the turn of events: Edward found it strange that she was only addressing Harry with gestures, Ron was not reassured by the stench in the house and insisted that they follow Harry. Hermione, on the other hand, would have liked to comply with the wishes of the old woman who, after all, was in her house. Instead, her attention was drawn to a book, Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, which she almost unconsciously stuffed into her bottomless bag.
She was about to protest at her friends' rudeness, but was outvoted by the two boys whose sense of danger was growing to the highest level since they had entered this place. Looking up at the ceiling to show her disapproval, she stifled a scream of terror as she saw large black flies and dried blood seeping through the floor upstairs. This time, it was certain, something was wrong.
Immediately, the two boys and the girl went as quietly as possible up the stairs behind Harry and the old lady. In the room, the mood of death was getting worse and Ron almost backed into Hermione when he saw a large fly land on the old woman's body. The Occulo Magicorum they had put on their eyes before entering showed horrible black marks on what was actually a walking corpse that had become the host of a gigantic snake.
Hermione couldn't help but scream in horror at the sight and Ron hurriedly placed her behind him. At the same time, the young witch screamed again as she felt her bag of pearls shake as if moved by itself: the Horcrux seemed to have woken up and seemed to want to emerge from the bag where it was imprisoned thanks to Hermione's anti-malware.
Meanwhile, Harry barely escaped the bite of Nagini, which had just emerged from the neck of Bathilda's body, and Edward was trying to kill the dirty beast without killing his friends. He couldn't use Avada in such a small space, with complete darkness and his friends nearby. Grabbing a poker, he clapped his hands together and transmuted it into a sword, hoping to kill the unspeakable thing with his blade. He managed to land several blows, but it wasn't enough.
The huge snake reared up to attack Harry, who was on his knees and holding his head in pain: his scar was hurting horribly, a terrifying sign of Voldemort's imminent approach. But just then, Ron threw a Bombarda that hit the snake in the tail, making it hiss with fury. Hermione's Confringo destroyed an entire wall of the room, and without hesitation, the four young wizards jumped from the second floor while apparating, holding onto each other as Voldemort appeared behind them, furious that his trap had failed so close to the spot where he had nearly lost his life the first time.
They landed in a forest and as quickly as possible, Edward and Hermione set up the tent and cast the protective enchantments while Ron held Harry down as he struggled against an enemy he could not see. For hours, Harry lay in an agitated coma, hissing meaningless words, his friends at his side holding his hand to keep him from becoming agitated. Hermione whispered in terror that he was as if possessed, and Ron used his height and wand to hold Harry down on his bunk inside the tent. Edward, on the other hand, had finally resolved to cast a Legilimens to save Harry like the last time something like this had happened over a year ago.
Soon he was inside Harry's psyche and he could literally see the Horcrux seemingly siphoning Harry's soul and expanding into his mind like an octopus with monstrous tentacles. It was a frightening sight and Edward had to almost physically push the Horcrux out of Harry's soul and remind him of what he was. He was Harry Potter, not the Voldemort who had tried to murder a small child on Halloween night sixteen years ago. Unfortunately, even with all his strength of will, Ed could not expel the Horcrux from Harry's body. Only a death spell could do that, and Edward was reluctant to kill his friend. But finally, he was able to make him conscious again and at that moment, he awoke.
There, his friends had to inform him that his trusty wand with the Phoenix feather, the twin wand of the Dark Mage, was broken, probably because of one of Ron's or Hermione's explosion spells or because of their rough landing in the forest. On the table in the tent lay broken in half, the tool, the trusty weapon that Harry had always felt had a will of its own and had saved his life on many occasions. He felt that Voldemort had almost won the game.