Gringots
Gringots
After Bill had gone I mentioned to Barnaby that we were a bit behind on sending out our engagement announcements, and although we'd told most of our friends at the Leaky Cauldron and Penny seemed to be helping us out in her correspondences, we had more owls to send.
We decided to spend the rest of that day writing them up and take them to the post office in Diagon Alley on our way to Gringots the next day.
Nightspur still hadn't returned from her trip to Egypt but even if she had, she'd need a rest and couldn't handle all the deliveries herself. We didn't include a wedding date on the announcements, because we didn't have one in mind. But that brought up the subject and we discussed if we should start thinking about setting one. Even if it was years away.
"I know we said a long engagement, but the more roadblocks we come to with the ring, the more it annoys me that it's preventing us from moving forward with a wedding" I admitted to Barnaby.
After much discussion we concluded that we'd chase down every lead we had in the hopes of getting some answers, but that we wouldn't set a date until we were sure we could keep it.
The next morning was overcast and a bit chilly for early July. I pulled over my head the grey Slytherin jumper Barnaby had given to me in our third year. I'd had to use Engorgio on it a few times since then to accomodate my growing bust, but it had always been one of my favourite articles of clothing and I liked seeing Barnaby's smile whenever I chose to wear it. Next I wiggled into a plain black skirt, one that I'd worn at Hogwarts. And I finally did something that I'd been dying to do for years. With a steady hand and a very neat severing charm I adjusted the hem length to what I knew would be deemed 'appallingly inappropriate' by the teachers.
Lastly, I stepped back into my combat boots and tucked Barnaby's ring protectively underneath my jumper. Giving myself a quick once over in the full length mirror, I smiled and laughed to myself, "Still looking like a proper Syltherin student then."
After a quick breakfast we apparated into London together and went straight to the post office first thing, toting a sack full of letters.
We'd had fun the night before deciding whom and whom not to announce our engagement to. First up had been my side of the family which was a fairly small list. Next we'd done Barnaby's and I got to learn at least the names of the rest of the Lee's. Madam Lee of course, got one out of formality, as did Uncle Cecil. We also sent one to Barnaby's Aunt Lisidia, and one to her father Cyrus, (Madam Lee's deceased sisters second husband), Uncle Cecil's two young sons, Atlas and Apollo, and finally one to Barnaby's own father in Azkaban. He'd been rather hesitant to do so but I insisted. "All things aside about Basil Lee, he is your father after all" I told Barnaby gently.
We sent the rest out to all of our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley whom I was very fond of, and to each faculty member of Hogwarts, including the Matron, Madam Pomfrey and the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, but excluding the Caretaker, Mr Filch.
We spent rather a lot of gold on the postage and used nearly every available owl at the time. (2 knuts each for deliveries in and around London)
The poor witch who worked in the post office seemed very relieved when we finally left.
Next we headed up the street to Gringots, climbing the marble staircase hand in hand we went over Bills advice. Go directly to Gillian Gylphan, and don't show the ring to any Goblins.
We stepped inside of the impressive building and made our way over to a free counter.
"Pardon me, we are here to see Gillian Gylphan, is she available?" Barnaby asked the Goblin. He stared at us for a moment before hopping down from his high stool and coming around to meet us. "She'll be up in the records room, follow me please" he told us, striding quickly away.
We followed the Goblin through a side door off the main room that I'd never noticed before, down a hallway and finally up a flight of stairs.
We emerged into a cramped and cluttered room with wall to wall filing cabinets absolutely overflowing with small yellow index cards.
Sitting at a purposefully neat and orderly desk just inside the doorway was a pleasant looking witch in plain, tan coloured robes. Her jet black and wildly curly hair was piled up in a messy knot on the very top of her head and she had a very distinguished looking profile with cheerful eyes and a friendly smile. She looked to be only a few years older than Bill, I guessed.
"Ahem, Gillian these two wanted to see you. I'll leave you to help them" the Goblin announced before heading back down the stairs. "Oh hello, have you come up from the Celtic dig? I wasn't expecting your group until tomorrow." She greeted us looking rather confused.
"Ah, no. Ms Gylphan, we're friends of Bill Weasley, he told us to come see you about a.. well, he said you might be able to help us" Barnaby began.
"My name is Barnaby Lee and this is my fiancé Samhain Strixx. We're in need of an expert on rather ancient curses" he finished.
Gillian Gylphan perked up at the mention of Bill's name, and looked positively delighted after Barnaby said the bit about 'ancient curses.'
"Bill Weasley, what a guy!" she tittered. "If only he wasn't so young, but still. Charming fellow. I'm happy to do what I can for you two, I don't get to see much besides index cards these days." She got up from her desk and came to join us. "What kind of curse are we talking about exactly?"
Barnaby pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it for her to see, explaining, "That's what we're hoping you might be able to tell us. It's an old family heirloom, apparently with a very old and very strong curse on it. Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Barnaby asked.
Gillian lifted a monocle that was dangling on a chain from her ear up to her eye as she examined the ring. She stared at it for a few seconds before pulling out her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa" she cast, holding the levitation spell steady and floated the ring out of it's box, suspending it in midair an inch or two from her nose.
She studied it from many angles before floating it safely back into the box. "Hmm, no I can't say that I have. Not a ring anyway. But the inscription might be a clue" she offered thoughtfully.
Barnaby and I glanced at each other, we hadn't been aware of an inscription on the ring, being as reluctant as we were to really examine it. I supposed Moody had seen it but probably had assumed we knew it was there.
"Aeternum, I believe that's Latin, means 'forever', maybe it's a curse that makes the ring impossible to remove?" Gillian was talking more to herself than us.
"I'd be grateful if that's all it was" I told her. "This ring is meant to be my engagement ring, long story but it's a very old tradition from Barnaby's family. We've had it examined twice already and both people we took it to said it was heavily cursed with ancient magic" I explained.
"Hmm" she said again. "There are a few things I could try, but if you've already had it examined I bet they did the same thing." She raised her wand again and tried a few more spells, "Aparecium, Specialis revelio!" Nothing whatsoever happened.
"Hmmm, tricky" Gillian muttered. "I assume no one's touched it yet? That may well be the only way to find out the extent of its powers. Usually we find out about cursed objects through the misfortune of someone being daft enough to touch them" she continued.
I silently checked with Barnaby and he nodded in agreement, knowing what I was about to say. "We had Mr Borgin from Borgin and Burkes look at it first, and he suggested we might try the ring on a corpse" I offered.
"Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea. Borgin, creepy bloke he is, but he's had decades of experience with cursed items, and specifically jewelry" she told us. "You might try the morgue at St. Mungo's. They often have bodies there left unclaimed or donated for study, although some might already be cursed. Depends on the day really, if you'll get lucky."
I swallowed, hoping my breakfast wasn't trying to make a reappearance. We'd been told by pretty well everyone that this might be the best way to proceed. And Gillian Gylphan had been the last on our list of people to check with, short of returning to Lee Manor or journeying all the way back to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore.
Barnaby and I thanked Gillian for her time and for the clue about the inscription on the ring before departing Gringots. We stepped gratefully out into the fresh air at the top of the grand marble staircase and discussed our next move.
We had unfortunately run out of time on our quest. Our jobs with the Werewolf Capture Unit were to start the next day and we both agreed we needed to focus and getting ready for that. We figured we knew where the corpses were and that they would still be there by the following weekend when we'd have some days off.
We Apparated home and I was happy to find Nightspur asleep on her perch. She wasn't too keen on being woken up but eventually with some gentle coaxing and a handful of owl treats she obligingly held our her leg for the letter I had written to Penny about our next step. "It's just a short trip into London and back" I told her, tying the scroll securely on and giving her a few more treats for the road. She hooted begrudgingly and flew off into the warm, late afternoon sunlight.