A silent standoff ensued. They couldn't fight in the bank and anger the goblins. At the same time, Harry understood that they were safe as long as they were inside the bank. The moment they walked out, a fight was imminent.
"What should we do?" Harry asked, giving Hermoine and Tonks a glance, one being an Auror and one a witch he considered smarter than himself. "We've already destroyed the Horcrux."
They still had the bags filled with Lestrange wealth, and they didn't want to part ways with it.
"One of us should go and bring Moody and other Order members over," Tonks suggested and looked at Hermione. "I can't leave Harry, and if Harry leaves they'll follow. You should go, Hermione… quickly."
Hermione hesitated for a moment and looked at Harry. Fear brightly visible on her face, she tried to maintain a tough act. "Don't die, Harry."
"Not a chance," Harry replied, hiding the fear in his heart. His death verdict was signed the day he received the curse mark, after all. "Go now, and be quick. Leave the suitcase here."
Hermione agreed and rushed out of the bank, heading to the nearest and the quickest means to contact the Order members.
Meanwhile, Harry stared at Lucius and Rodolphus, feeling a little strange by the fact that he had bedded both their wives, and both were subservient to him with the unbreakable vow. They have no idea what has happened to them. But shouldn't Voldemort know? Did he tell them? No, it doesn't seem like it.
"I wonder if it was your idea to use Draco, Mr. Malfoy." Harry tried to provoke Lucius into making some bad decisions. "Too bad, he failed devastatingly."
The sneering look on Lucius' face was threatening, but Harry wanted that. It was worth getting injured if it meant goblins would attack Lucius in reply. Too bad I can't bring up Narcissa in this. But…
"And you, Rodolphus? How does it feel having your wife's first stolen by the Dark Lord and then me?" Harry barked louder, making sure the nosey goblins heard it as well. But it confused Harry as Rodolphus' expressions didn't change at all. He doesn't care about Bellatrix, does he?
Harry Potter, although influenced by the vileness of Voldemort, still wasn't that evil. He couldn't bring himself to go lower than that, but he felt he could trash-talk Draco plenty.
"I had to beat Draco to teach him a lesson. He did get a Dark Mark, didn't he?" Harry rambled continuously, hoping something would hit. He noticed the man flinching when the Dark Mark was mentioned. "You ought to be the greatest father in existence. So scared of Azkaban, you made sure your son joins you to keep company."
At that, Tonks approached him from behind. "What are you doing, Harry?"
"Provoking him," Harry replied.
Since Harry and Tonks refused to leave the bank, Lucius and Rodolphus stayed standing there in the distance. However, one was gritting his teeth while the other looked lifeless, emotionless, and certainly soulless.
Thud!
"Where are they?!"
Harry looked behind at the familiar voice. Moody strode into the bank with his staff making a thumping noise against the floor. Behind him there were five more wizards and witches, all with their hands in their coat pockets, holding their wands.
The goblins stopped working, frowning at the scene. But they allowed Moody to walk in and approach the head goblin. Moody just handed over a letter to the goblin and walked towards Lucius and Rodolphus.
"This land is not under the Ministry's jurisdiction," the head goblin voiced his distaste. "Your Ministry's order does not work here."
"Take them," growled Moody to his subordinates, his magical eye swiveling. He turned to the goblin. "You're right, but the Ministry has jurisdiction over wizards and witches. Unless you want to openly declare you'll provide a safe haven for these two criminals, you have no reason to stop me… Of course, if you choose to save them, you'd be standing against all wizardkind as a traitor."
The head goblin stood there with a frown. He wanted to stop what was happening, but doing that would put them and his kind on the same side as the Dark Lord. It was a different matter to continue doing business with the Dark Lord's side, but taking his side openly was going overboard.
"Take them, but those bags must be left behind. They used a Bellatrix's disguise to enter the vault and—"
"No, we have the permission," Harry suddenly voiced, interrupting him. "A letter written and signed by Bellatrix herself, permitting me entry to the Lestrange family's vault."
Harry handed over the letter and let them take it away to check its authenticity. By then, Lucius and Rodolphus were subdued, their wands taken, and their mouths stuffed with cotton to ensure they didn't cast any spells. Their hands were also cuffed.
Seeing the goblins no longer stopping them, Harry walked out alongside Moody.
"Harry!" Hermione was waiting outside with another group of Aurors who had set a boundary to ensure nobody entered the bank.
"Let's go." Harry looked at Tonks. "Take us back to the school right now."
"What about those two?" Tonks asked.
Harry shrugged. "They're of no use to us. It's already good enough that they were caught."
Tonks agreed in the end and grabbed Harry and Hermione. All the while they kept a hold on the four bags full of wealth. Then with a quick apparition, they arrived at the gates of Hogwarts. From there they had to walk inside, going straight towards Dumbledore's office.
Harry felt more rushed, however. As long as the Horcrux was taken care of, all they needed to do next was find Voldemort and kill him along with his snake… and himself as well.
They arrived at the spiral staircase and walked up to Dumbledore's office. After a quick knock on the door, they entered and looked around for any traces of the old man.
"He didn't return?" Tonks exclaimed.
Harry silently approached the table instead and picked up the Slytherin's locket resting there. It didn't look damaged in the slightest, and yet he couldn't find any trace of darkness in it. "No, he did return."
"Mr. Potter?!"
Harry looked back, there stood Professor McGonagall at the door, her eyes frowned with worry. "Where is Professor Dumbledore?"
"In the hospital wing. I suggest you follow me… alone." McGonagall called him.
Harry could already see something had gone wrong and quickly followed behind her. Too lost in thoughts he forgot the bags or his friends. Did he find a new way to destroy it?
"In here."
Harry followed McGonagall in and soon saw Dumbledore lying on one of the beds, awake but not looking very well. His complexion had turned darker as if his body had decayed, his flesh paler like a skeleton.
"Professor! What happened?!" He hastily approached the bed.
"H-Harry…" Dumbledore glanced over and looked pained. "Forgive me, Harry… It was a fake… It's not real."
Harry lifted the locket and showed it to Dumbledore. "But the memory… How can the memory be fake?"
"S-Someone else… may have found it before us," Dumbledore replied weakly. "D-Did you?"
"I did it, Professor. I destroyed them both." Harry reassured him. "I'll find the locket too."
Dumbledore coughed, his face scowled as if in great pain and discomfort. Harry wanted to know what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to force the man.
Will he be alright? He wondered, worried about all the plans now. Everything that could have gone wrong had now gone wrong. Voldemort's memories were his only clue, and now if even they end up being wrong, there was no option left.
Where do I even start looking for it? Harry wondered. Wait! Kreacher was there too! Yes, he should know something.
"Let the Headmaster rest now, Mr. Potter."
Harry stepped back at Madam Pomfrey's words. Disappointed and annoyed, he returned to find Tonks and Hermione outside the headmaster's office.
"He didn't find it. It was fake," he revealed, unsettling the girls. "But don't worry, I may have a clue. Just a few days are left before the end of the term, so let's wait until then. With Lucius and Rodolphus caught, the Death Eaters would be overly cautious and enraged right now."
"You're right." Tonks agreed and pushed the bags towards Harry. "I'll have to return to the Ministry and report."
Harry let her leave and glanced at Hermione. "You should go and rest… A lot happened today. I'll stay with Professor Dumbledore in case he wants to tell me anything."
Hermione, still a little dissatisfied with what happened in the vault, agreed and left Harry standing alone.
For Harry, although it was late in the morning, he still decided to go and find Bellatrix and do what he had planned. Even if it were to take that whole day and the night, he wanted to leave behind a legacy of himself.
Am I turning evil like Voldemort? He wondered while making his way towards Bellatrix's room with all four bags floating behind him. Am I going too far?
"My Lord!" The door opened immediately, Bellatrix standing there clean and groomed, her curly hair combed, her black dress a charm—tight around the waist, deep, wide neck revealing her ivory glistening bosom, and her arms clothed in long black gloves.
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