After a refreshing morning and partial afternoon's worth of sleep, Harry stirred from the flat he and Bellatrix shared and made his way to Diagon Alley under a disguise constructed with a few basic cosmetic charms designed to lighten his hair, push back his hairline, and darken his eyes. The goblins at Gringotts readily provided Harry with the latest status of his and Bellatrix's accounts, a small collection of magical and Muggle credit cards with the name of Harry Ashworth Black stamped on the front, a hefty moneybag full of galleons, and a cashier's check for 25,000 galleons made out to Professor Dumbledore.
Harry proceeded to the Owl Post Office where he parted with the cashier's check and then wandered over to Quality Quidditch Supplies. After about an hour of flipping through Quidditch magazines, perusing playbooks, and eyeballing the latest Quidditch gear, Harry approached the clerk.
"I'll take one… well, make it two, Firebolts," Harry announced.
The clerk who had long given up on making a sale to Harry spluttered in surprise. "Two?"
"My wife can't complain if I get her one, too, can she?" Harry said, winking. If getting her one did not work, Harry reckoned that he would just have to start itemizing all the junk she had bought in the recent months-starting with the crafter's wand set.
His bag of galleons almost completely empty, Harry walked out of the shop carrying two Firebolts under his arm. He was about to apparate away, when he caught sight of the Weasley twins' shop. Figuring that it would not hurt to go take a look, Harry sauntered over that way and stepped through the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, smoothly dodging a flying rubber chicken that was wont to prey on the shop's visitors.
"You shape like someone who has been here before," said Fred, or George, from behind the counter. "But, I can't say that I've ever met you.
Harry smiled, feeling somehow thrilled to see the Weasley twins. "The reputation of you and your brother precede you both."
The twin eyed Harry and took note of the two brand-new Firebolts under Harry's arm. "Quidditch lover, are you?"
"It's been a while since I played," Harry admitted, "but I still enjoy a fast broom-particularly these days."
"These days, most people can't afford Firebolts," the other twin declared, emerging from a room behind the counter.
"A truly unfortunate circumstance," Harry noted, approaching the counter and deciding to push past the pleasantries. "I'm in the market for a case trick wands, a few packs of Canary Creams, and several bags of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."
"A party animal, eh?" said one of the twins.
"It'll be a smashing party," Harry declared, producing several dozen galleons as one of the twins went to fetch his order.
After that side stop, Harry made his way home and was relieved to see that Bellatrix had not yet arrived home from her errands. Harry stashed the supplies from the Weasleys' shop upstairs with his main stockpile of things he liked to keep on hand, and then proceeded back downstairs to his and Bellatrix's bedroom with the idea that he could hide the Firebolts under the bed until Bellatrix cooled off.
However, to do this, Harry found himself having to extract from underneath the bed a dozen pairs of Bellatrix's shoes and boots before he could push the broomsticks under the bed. Then, once he had hidden the broomsticks satisfactorily well, Harry attempted to squeeze all the footwear back under the bed. Unfortunately, he found himself left with a pair of heels, a pair of formal slippers, and a pair of winter boots when he heard the flat's door open. Panicking, Harry tossed the leftovers into the back of one of the closets and went out to meet Bellatrix.
"Hello, Harry," Bellatrix said frostily upon spotting him in the hallway.
"Uh, hi," Harry said, leaning against the wall and then changing direction to follow his wife in her uninterrupted march to the bedroom where she unloaded her purse and a number of books. From the bedroom, she proceeded to the bathroom where she shut the door, leaving Harry out in the hall.
"So," Harry called just loudly enough for Bellatrix to hear him through the door, "were we planning on visiting young Mr. Riddle tonight?"
After the passage of several awkward moments, Bellatrix finally deigned to answer. "You had better be planning on it."
"I always was," Harry wheedled, trying to find a way to patch up the relationship. "You kind of just caught me off guard this morning. I've thought about it. It was probably the sensible thing to do."
"Obviously, it was the sensible thing to do," Bellatrix shot back through the door. "Now, will you leave me alone?"
"All right," Harry said, "I'll go cook dinner. Okay?"
"Fine."
Harry cooked dinner, all the while trying to think of ways to thaw out the air between him and Bellatrix. Ultimately, he did not come up with any brilliant ideas and consequently suffered through dinner in silence with Bellatrix limiting the subject of any conversation to salt, pepper, and the obnoxious noises coming from the workers remodeling a shop building across the street.
To Harry, it seemed an eternity before dinner ended. In silence, he and Bellatrix apparated to the doorstep of #2 Privet Drive. Upon entering, they found Draco indolently sitting on one of the couches with a bag of potato crisps at his side and a deli sandwich in his hands. The remains of his lunch and breakfast were also sitting on the couch.
"If you are going to live in my house, you have to keep it clean!" Bellatrix snarled as Harry looked on with thinly veiled amusement.
Draco blinked. "Isn't that what the house elves are for?"
" You are the house elf!" Bellatrix snapped. "How many lawns did you mow today?"
"Enough to eat," Draco groused. "Speaking of which, I have a complaint."
"Oh, really?" Bellatrix said, arching he eyebrows dangerously.
Privately, Harry hoped that this would be a good fight. It might help Bellatrix let out her stored up anger on someone other than him.
"Yeah," Draco said somewhat angrily. "The Dursleys' entire yard is infested with garden gnomes."
"So?"
"So? So?" Draco yelled. "Obviously you introduced them into the Dursleys' yard to make me miserable, as if it isn't bad enough that I have to mow that foul Muggle's lawn for free!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Bellatrix said coolly. "Where would I have even gone to find garden gnomes? They are not all that easy to find. You probably brought them back from Albania."
"Do you think I am going to buy that?" Draco responded, becoming even angrier. "Somehow I had garden gnomes in my hair and spread them to the neighbor's yard? You did it on purpose!"
Bellatrix glared at Draco. "That's it. You are going to clean up this mess, and then you either are going to go and lock yourself in your room upstairs or you are going to go work on remodeling my house a few streets down."
"What if I do neither?" Draco sneered, leaning back on the couch.
Harry thought he could see the steam coming out of Bellatrix's ears.
Bellatrix pointed to Harry. "If you don't, Ivan, here, will fetch some blood pudding and a box of salt. He will then use the pudding and salt to teach you a lesson that you will never forget, boy."
Draco's mouth dropped open as he contemplated the possibilities while staring at Harry. "W-who is Ivan?"
"Ivan is my personal, private hit-wizard," Bellatrix snapped. "Now what will it be?"
Draco leapt up, gathered up his garbage, and scurried out the back door.
"So… ," Harry said casually, "just what would I have been doing with the pudding and salt?"
"How should I know?" Bellatrix groused, using her wand to reveal the basement door. "You might want to be thinking, though. If young Mr. Riddle has come out of the diary, we might be doing something up that alley.
"Wouldn't you say that Veritaserum might be easier?" Harry asked as they walked down the stairs together.
"I was joking," Bellatrix admitted, producing a vial of what Harry thought looked like Veritaserum.
They found themselves in front of the door to the cell where Bellatrix had left Peter the night before. They stood there for several moments before Bellatrix finally broke the silence, speaking quietly and very casually. "So, you are the only one to have met this version of the Dark Lord. How should we handle it?"
"I assumed that you might already have some ideas," Harry said truthfully, but not wanting to sound snippy.
"I did not really think about it," Bellatrix confessed.
"I see," Harry said. "Well, he is clever and would likely anticipate the kicking open the door and letting fly with stunners routine."
Bellatrix shook her head. "That routine is effective whether or not you expect it."
"It can't hurt to be careful," Harry countered. "I think I have just the thing. The Order of my future used to experiment with potential battlefield spells. I've got one that didn't ever go anywhere, but will work in this situation."
"Fine," Bellatrix said. "I will get the door."
Bellatrix took position at the door, while Harry got down on his knees next to the door where he could point his wand into the room as soon as the door cracked open. Young Tom Riddle would not be expecting the spell Harry had up his sleeve, nor the direction from which it would be coming from.
Once Harry signaled that he was ready, Bellatrix rapidly undid the enchantments on the door and began cracking it open. As soon as Bellatrix had gotten the door open to about an inch, Harry poked his wand toward the crack, being careful to keep the wand from passing the door's threshold. A small red orb floated into the room. After getting about two feet into the room, it abruptly exploded, letting out the equivalent of a stunning charm in all directions.
At Harry's signal, Bellatrix threw the door open all the way, and Harry burst into the room to find Peter Pettigrew's corpse toward one end, and a moaning Tom Riddle on the other end, close to the side of the door. Harry shot Tom with an actual stunner and then gave Bellatrix the all clear.
"Well, I can see why that spell never went anywhere," Bellatrix commented. "It could not even stun a single wizard in a small room."
"An astute observation," Harry declared, summoning some leftover remodeling supplies from the main basement area and transfiguring them into a chair and shackles. Taking a minimal amount of time, Harry and Bellatrix moved the unconscious Tom Riddle to the chair and restrained him with the shackles and a number of spells.
Then, while Bellatrix took the opportunity to put a hefty dose of Veritaserum on Tom's tongue, Harry scanned the room and found the diary. He retrieved it from its place on the floor and placed it outside of the room. By that time, Bellatrix announced that they were ready.
Harry returned to the prison cell and watched as Bellatrix revived Tom Riddle. It took several moments, but eventually, Tom had regained full consciousness and was looking at Harry and Bellatrix, who were watching him silently.
"Bellatrix Black and the inestimable Professor Ashworth, I assume," Tom said. "Peter told me so much about you."
"I assume that you are speaking relatively," Harry said drily. "He knew very little."
"It was enough to intrigue me," Tom said. "The story of a young wizard assuming a post at Hogwarts and then from there becoming a close, personal advisor to the Minister of Magic. Surely you are interested in continuing where you left off. I could be of use to you."
Harry smiled. "Your information about me is quite dated, and your conclusions are incorrect. However, you shall be of use to us."
"Tell us about your plan to make horcruxes," Bellatrix commanded.
Tom sat silently for a moment and then frowned. "You've given me a truth potion, haven't you?"
"Yes, now start speaking," Bellatrix said.
Tom smiled thinly. "Truth potions are not Imperius curses."
Bellatrix's eyes flared angrily, and she produced the vial of Veritaserum. "You speak truly. However, given the right dosage, an observer cannot tell the difference. She uncapped the vial, holding both the vial and stopper in one hand. With the other hand, she pinched Tom's nose until his mouth opened wide, at which point, she poured half the vial down his throat. Smugly, she capped the vial and stepped back as she and Harry watched Tom's eyes fog over.
"Tell us about your plans to make horcruxes," Bellatrix said.
In a monotone, young Tom Riddle detailed how he had discovered what a horcrux was. He concluded by detailing a conversation he had shared with Professor Slughorn. "After the conversation," Tom said, "I determined that I would make seven horcruxes because the number is magically significant in Arithmancy."
Harry let out an unhappy sigh. "How many horcruxes do you know of?"
"This diary," Tom Riddle answered.
"What about the horcruxes you were planning on making in the immediate future?" Bellatrix asked. "Did you have objects in mind?"
"My family ring," Tom said.
"Blast," Bellatrix muttered to Harry. "I had hoped for more. All we have accomplished is confirm the existence of the two horcruxes we have destroyed or control. There are five still out there."
"Actually," Harry admitted, "Rose thinks there is one in the Room of Requirement."
"So, four, then," Bellatrix said. "That does not really put us ahead, here."
"Indeed," Harry said. "But, there is one question we can still ask." He looked at Tom who still looked beyond stoned. "Tell me, Tom, if you had a horcrux right now and needed to keep it safe, where would you hide it?"
"There is a cave I visited in my childhood… ," Tom said slowly.
Harry was in bed, nearly at the threshold of sound sleep, when Bellatrix jabbed him with her fist. Lifting his pillow off his face, Harry looked up at Bellatrix, who was sitting up in their bed reading a book with the aid of a lamp on the bedside table. "Just go to bed, Bella," Harry pleaded. "Surely it can wait until the morning."
Bellatrix ignored Harry's comment and proceeded with her own train of thought. "The cave will be very well protected if the Dark Lord has hidden a horcrux there."
"I thought we already decided that," Harry mumbled, shifting his weight and trying to settle down in the bed. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the lamp light.
"That means we probably will want to take Tom with us when we visit," Bellatrix said.
"I would rather not," Harry said, considering whether he could get away with putting the pillow back over his head. "It's too risky."
Keeping the book open, Bellatrix set it down on her chest and leaned back against the headboard. "The risks of taking Tom along would be eliminated if you were to use the Imperius Curse on him."
"I don't know how to cast an Imperius," Harry demurred. "If you want to cast it on him, be my guest. But, I should warn you that there is a fair chance that he is immune to it."
Bellatrix picked up her book and studied it for several minutes. Hoping that she was finished with him, Harry placed the pillow back over his head and savored the darkness. It was not to last long, however.
"No, Harry," Bellatrix said, putting the book back down, "it will have to be you who casts the Imperius. If the cave is heavily protected, I will have to use my expertise in the Dark Arts to unravel the defenses. It is better that you learn one new spell than try to be as competent as someone who has a lifetime worth of training and knowledge of Dark Arts lore."
"Putting aside my doubts that you really have a lifetime of experience," Harry said, his voice muffled through the pillow, "there remains the fair chance that Tom is immune to the Imperius Curse, just as I am."
Bellatrix reached over, grabbed the pillow covering Harry's face, and tossed it across the room. "That's all the more reason why you have to cast the Imperius Curse," Bellatrix declared. "You are far more powerful than I. As for his potential immunity, you forget that he has split his soul. How hard could it be to overwhelm a fragment?"
"How hard could it be to find a different plan?" Harry retorted, blinking owlishly at the light.
"Reasonably difficult," Bellatrix replied. "Besides, I think you will have to learn Imperius, anyway. It figures in to my plan to help find the other horcruxes."
"I didn't realize you already had a plan to find the other horcruxes," Harry said, still annoyed at not being allowed to sleep, but also curious to see what Bellatrix had cooked up after spending months studying horcruxes and other Dark Arts subjects.
Bellatrix nodded. "Yes, I have a plan. For now, though, you need to learn the Imperius Curse."
Harry sighed. He supposed it made sense-and the Imperius curse could be useful so long as he did not earn himself a lifetime in Azkaban for using it. He reached over and grabbed his glasses from his nightstand. Rolling out of bed, he grabbed his wand. "All right, let's get started," he said.
"Just on what were you planning to use the Imperius Curse? Bellatrix asked.
"You, of course," Harry said, yawning. "Now, tell me, what is the precise wand movement?"
"You can't use it on me!" Bellatrix said, sounding very surprised and almost panicked.
"Who else am I going to practice on?" Harry asked. "I don't want to get caught in a mistake when I'm casting it on Tom. If it is necessary for me to learn the curse, you will have to be my guinea pig. Besides, it is beginning to look like the Imperius Curse may be the only way I can get you to bed so I can sleep."
Bellatrix glared at him for a long moment, but finally did explain the intricacies of the curse.
Harry succeeded on casting the curse on the fourth try. He could feel Bellatrix resisting it, but for all her effort, her success was much akin to one trying to break down a wall of stone with a feather. With a grim smile on his face, Harry directed her to get out of bed, skip out the bedroom door, and down the hall. Once she arrived in the living room, Harry directed her to switch on the wireless and dance wildly to the music.
Satisfied that Bellatrix was now otherwise occupied, Harry grabbed her book from the bed where he had directed her to leave it, and placed it back on the bedroom shelf. He then transfigured the lamp into a pillow. Harry then took off his glasses and slipped back in bed smirking as he listened to the music echoing down the hall.
After about twenty minutes, Harry was back to feeling sleepy and was confident that Bellatrix would also be feeling ready for bed. He grabbed his wand from the nightstand and cancelled the spell. Almost immediately, the wireless music ceased and then there was ominous silence. Just as Harry was beginning to wonder if he should do something to protect himself, he felt Bellatrix jump on top of him, knocking the air from his lungs.
As Harry wheezed, she grabbed her pillow and started beating him savagely with it.
"You were practically begging for it," Harry protested, beginning to laugh in between the thump-thump of the pillow hitting in the face and chest in the dark.
For some reason, the laughter stilled Bellatrix. Harry wondered why, but in the dark he could not see the expression on her face so as to judge her attitude. Suddenly, she was kissing him, albeit somewhat violently. After realizing that she was not going to stop to let him breathe, Harry started fighting back. He rolled them over so that he was on top, tickled her, and when she gasped, he broke free and took a breath before going back to kissing. It was going to be a long night, but Harry supposed he had practically begged for it.
The next evening arrived before Harry and Bellatrix felt prepared to visit the cave about which Tom had told them. Trial and error had revealed that Harry was capable of putting Tom under an Imperius. However, Tom was just strong enough that if Harry did not focus the spell on him constantly, he could overcome the spell. This had led to the problem of figuring out how to transport Harry and Tom while maintaining Harry's control over Tom. Apparition was not on option.
Bellatrix had proposed Veritaserum, but Harry had pointed out that not only were they nearly out of stock, but that if they put Tom under enough Veritaserum to eliminate the need for the Imperius during travel, the younger version of Voldemort would be completely unable to help them assess the defenses that might surround the cave.
In the end, Harry provided the solution by digging out one of the Rubik's cubes. One of the cube's destinations could be reprogrammed without having to actually create a new portkey, an act which the Ministry might or might not be able to detect. It had been easy to make numerous portkeys in the 1970s, but now, Harry suspected that manufacturing portkeys would draw unwanted attention. Reprogramming a current portkey was effective enough for anybody's purpose, and if the portkey in question was not one of the Rubik's cubes, one could accomplish the task quite quickly. But, it was a Rubik's cube.
"Any hour now," Bellatrix said sarcastically as she used a pair of omninoculars to peer out one of the windows of #2 Privet Drive.
"You couldn't do it any faster," Harry shot back as he sat on a couch, hunched over the cube, which sat on the coffee table.
"True," Bellatrix admitted, adjusting one of the knobs on the omnioculars and leaning forward, "but I am not the one who manufactured the cube, either."
"The manufacturer is not the designer," Harry snapped.
"Obviously, you knew enough to make it."
"I was trained to mass produce them," Harry replied. "This is a newer design that was never quite refined before we had to get them out to the Order. It is a lot more complicated because my friend integrated her new double repulsion portkey into the design. If you make one change, you have to make it in several places or the portkey begins to experience severe malfunctions."
Bellatrix began to giggle wildly as she simultaneously adjusted two more of the knobs on the omninoculars.
"Yes, I thought my statement was hilarious," Harry said as he continued to prod at the cube and cast spells.
"I am not laughing at you," Bellatrix said, "I am laughing with you… at your aunt and uncle."
"Great. What are they doing? Or should I ask, what did you just do to them?"
"Well, it appears that their roast chicken dinner just got up out of the baking pan and is making a run for it," Bellatrix commented.
"Should have cooked it longer," Harry said, deadpan. Bellatrix continued to watch the Dursleys through her omninoculars as Harry cast spells on the Rubik's cube. Finally, Harry could resist it no longer. "Now what's happening?"
The omninoculars pressed right up against her eyes, Bellatrix grinned. "The chicken is atop the sideboard dancing provocatively, your aunt is on the telephone, and your uncle has run upstairs… oh wait, here he is again. He's got one of those Muggle blasting wands."
Harry winced as he heard the report of a shotgun from next door.
"Oh dear," Bellatrix said, shifting so that the omninoculars were in one hand. She eased her wand out of its holster. "I think the chicken should probably make for the street if it wants to get anywhere in one piece."
Fortuitously, Harry finished with the Rubik's cube portkey and joined Bellatrix at the window just in time to watch the chicken cross the road. Just then, a large black dog bounded up to the chicken and attacked it.
"Of all the things!" Bellatrix grumbled, getting ready to do something with her wand.
"Stop!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes widening. "That's an animagus."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's Sirius."
"Meddling family members," Bellatrix grumbled. "At least I put some defenses into the chicken ahead of time."
The couple watched as the chicken double slapped Padfoot across the snout with one of its stubby wings before spinning and waddling down the road as fast as it could go. Padfoot seemed to be simultaneously shocked and thrilled at this turn of events. Letting out a loud howl, he bounded excitedly down the street to tussle with the chicken.
"At least somebody is enjoying himself," Harry said, cracking a smile.
"Your mom isn't," Bellatrix snickered.
"What!"
Bellatrix pointed. "She just arrived-there on the porch with your aunt and uncle. She looks pretty fried."
Harry looked over and spotted Lily Potter standing on her sister's porch. Wincing, he turned to Bellatrix. "You should probably hold off on this sort of entertainment for a while."
"Yeah, for at least a week," Bellatrix agreed.
"Maybe when their son gets home for the holidays we can get Draco to plant some Canary Creams over there," Harry mused.
"I've never heard of those," Bellatrix said.
Harry smiled. "A product of the Weasleys' joke shop-worth every knut. Shall we get going? Can we get out of here without Lily and Sirius noticing anything?"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "It won't be a problem. The wards will shield any magical activity that stays in the house from detection."
"Well, let's get going, then," Harry said, grabbing the portkey from the coffee table.
Harry, Bellatrix, and Tom stood at the entrance of the cave as spray from the waves breaking on rocks dampened their robes and hair. The scenery of the water and cliffs was stunning, but Harry did not dare to let his mind wander as he pointed his wand at Tom, who was standing blank-faced between Harry and Bellatrix.
"Give him a wand, and tell him to check for alarm wards," Bellatrix told Harry.
Harry extracted one of his Wandel wands, handed it to Tom, and relayed the command via the Imperius enchantment.
Harry and Bellatrix watched as Tom performed a number of spells. As Tom performed the spells, Bellatrix pulled out a small notebook and took note of each spell the young Voldemort used.
"How many alarm or detection wards are there?" Bellatrix asked.
At Harry's urging, Tom answered. "Three."
"Are there any other wards of any type?" Bellatrix inquired.
"No."
Bellatrix nodded and began performing the same spells Tom had performed while Harry retrieved the Wandel wand. After about ten minutes had passed, Bellatrix seemed satisfied that she could see each aspect of the three wards, and she slowly began to dismantle them. Beginning to feel a little tired, Harry silently urged her to hurry up. After a good half hour had passed, Bellatrix let out a sigh of relief.
"Is it safe, now?" Harry asked.
"No, I only got one ward," Bellatrix said.
"Is it really that hard to take down a ward?" Harry asked, feeling somewhat grumpy from standing and holding the Imperius Curse active on Tom.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes and conjured one of the rocks into a chair that looked like one from their dining room set. "It is far better to open a way past the ward while leaving it intact. Even if Tom, Sr. comes through here while we are in the cave, he will not detect that the cave has been compromised.
"That's a pretty good idea," Harry admitted, taking a seat.
"It was my idea, so obviously it was good," Bellatrix declared, going to work on the other two wards.
"Of course, dear."
"Fear not, Harry, the last two will go a lot quicker now that I understand how to do it." Bellatrix declared.
"Wait, you've never done it before?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling like they were on shakier ground.
"I have read about the process before," Bellatrix retorted.
"And that makes all the difference."
"Yes, it does." Bellatrix said smugly.
True to her word, Bellatrix was able to dispatch the last two wards quickly. Harry and Tom followed Bellatrix into the cave. It turned out to be a shallow cave, and they found themselves at a dead end well before the light from the setting sun had been blocked from their view.
"So much for that," Harry grumbled.
"Harry, the cave was warded," Bellatrix said. "There's more than meets the eye." She then began to perform the same batch of spells Tom had performed at the entrance and then moved onto several rounds of her own spells.
"At least we haven't wasted our time and energy," Harry muttered.
This time the process was much faster, and Bellatrix was able to reach a diagnosis quickly. "It is just a simple blood magic defense," Bellatrix finally declared.
Bellatrix reached into a bag tied to her belt and withdrew a small knife designed for blood magic purposes. She cut herself and sprinkled a small amount of blood on the rocks of the cave. Harry could feel the magic in the air as suddenly the cave's dead end disappeared and revealed a passageway that opened up into a large cavern.
Following the light provided by Bellatrix's wand, the trio proceeded toward the center of the cavern until they reached the shore of what seemed like a large, underground lake that sat in perfect tranquility in contrast to the raging ocean just barely out of earshot.
"Water," Bellatrix said slowly.
"Well?" Harry asked.
"This is not good."
"What does it mean?" Harry inquired, looking around quickly, but returning his attention to holding the Imperius Curse.
"It means an impossibly wide range of defenses and traps," Bellatrix explained, using her wand to conjure an orb of light.
Harry watched as she guided the orb of light out over the still water. Slowly, it moved over the surface of the water, illuminating its surroundings, but not piercing the blackness of the water. Eventually, the orb reached an island far out into the lake. Faintly, they could see on the island some sort of pillar or stand. Clearly, if Voldemort had hidden a horcrux here, that was where it would be. Still, though, Bellatrix urged the orb on past the island to reveal that the lake stretched beyond the island until it reached a wall just as sheer and impenetrable as the cliffs outside of the cave.
Feeling exhaustion creeping up on him, Harry watched as Bellatrix guided the orb in a spiral over the lake, establishing that there was nothing on the lake or on perimeter except for the island. Then, she arced the orb of light and covered every square inch of the ceiling. Finally, Bellatrix gave her diagnosis. "The danger lies beneath the surface of the water, I should think."
"Well, transfigure one of these rocks into a rat toss it into the drink," Harry suggested.
Bellatrix smiled grimly as she cut the orb off from her wand's guidance, leaving it hovering about two hundred feet away from the shore of the underground lake. "I think a rat might be too negligible to trigger any defenses," she said before looking around and finding a very large rock. She screwed up her face in concentration and then with a certain amount of effort transfigured it into a cow.
As the cow mooed in panic, Bellatrix levitated it out toward the orb of light before dropping it into the lake. The reaction was swift-well over a hundred creatures surfaced from the lake and began attacking the cow mercilessly.
"Inferi," Harry observed grimly, still making sure that his focus was on maintaining the Imperius Curse.
"No, not Inferi," Bellatrix said. " Hundreds of Inferi. The Dark Lord must be awfully short on free time if this is his usual way of doing things. It is not as if making a single Inferius is quick process, let alone making hundreds."
"Well, he is defending his immortality," Harry said tiredly.
"He is doing an excellent job, too," Bellatrix declared, waving her wand and cancelling out the transfiguration spell. The cow transformed back into a rock and promptly sunk to the bottom of the lake. Confused, the Inferi followed, and soon, all was silent again.
"Any suggestions for our next step?" Harry asked, wondering if maybe they would just have to go home and think about it before returning again, ready to fight Inferi.
Bellatrix let out a sigh as she summoned the orb of light toward them. "To be safe, I think we shall have to drain the lake and burn the Inferi. As long as they are in there, I will not be able to detect any other defenses that might be in place, and as long as the water is there, we cannot know whether all the Inferi have been killed"
Harry winced. "That sounds like a lot of effort."
"I daresay we shall have to go home until we can recruit some people to help us put forth that effort," Bellatrix said. "Fortunately, I happen to know of some eager candidates."
Bellatrix's BMW came to a screeching halt next to the sidewalk on which Narcissa Malfoy stood waiting. Bellatrix rolled down the window. "Get in," she instructed.
Clumsily, Narcissa stepped off the curb and fumbled with the door handle before figuring out how the Muggle contraption worked. She scrambled into the passenger seat of Bellatrix's car and pulled the door shut just in time for Bellatrix to let off the brakes and zoom down the road.
"Where is Draco?" Narcissa asked, clearly trying to sound tough all while on the emotional breaking point from having Bellatrix use her son as a bargaining chip and from having to endure the unfamiliar anxiety of being in a Muggle car as it sped dangerously down the road.
"He's at a small pub where you two can have lunch," Bellatrix answered. She reached back and down into her purse, which was sitting on the floor of the back seat. From the purse, she withdrew a small wad of Muggle cash. "You can use this to pay the tab, but make sure not to let Draco know that I provided the funds."
Narcissa accepted the cash with a frown. "What's the catch?"
Bellatrix smiled wickedly. "No catch. I promised Severus that I would arrange this meeting for you and Draco."
Depositing the cash into her purse, Narcissa continued frowning. "You are smiling. That means there is a catch somewhere. What do you want?"
"There is no hidden price for this meeting with your son," Bellatrix averred. "It is just that if you want to meet Draco another time, you will need to help me out."
"What do you want?" Narcissa asked, the dread clear in her voice.
Bellatrix smiled as she simultaneously hit the brakes for a traffic signal and flipped on the turn signal. "I need a list of all your Death Eater acquaintances."
"My Death Eater acquaintances?"
"Well… just any acquaintance you have with anybody," Bellatrix amended as the traffic signal turned and she sped through the intersection. "I was just assuming that you only associate with scum bags."
"It was not my choice," Narcissa defended. "The non-Death Eaters are not exactly willing to socialize with me."
"Yes, but who decided to marry a Death Eater?" Bellatrix asked. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "I will set the time for your next meeting with Draco. Before that meeting, I will pick you up the same way I just did now. If you have a list of everybody you know, you will be able to see Draco. I will even cover the cost of your meal."
"How well do I have to know the people I put on the list?" Narcissa asked.
Bellatrix shrugged. "Well enough that they would not find it amiss to receive a letter from you."
"What are you going to do?" Narcissa demanded.
"There is no need for you to worry about it," Bellatrix said sweetly, stomping on the brakes, causing the car to halt before a small pub. "Out you go, now. I will see you and your list next week or the week after. Just keep in mind, that if you do not have your list in time for the next opportunity to visit Draco, you will regret it sorely."
Narcissa exited the car, awkwardly pushing herself out of the seat and climbing onto the sidewalk where she stood in front of the pub looking defeated. Feeling slightly guilty, Bellatrix used her wand to summon the passenger side door shut before zooming away from where she had left her forlorn sister who was standing on a sidewalk contemplating her miserable life and trying to summon the courage to put on a good face for her son.
Rose and Leo sat in the Gryffindor common room doing Divination homework on one of the tables while their friend Ginny sat cuddled in an armchair reading one of her charms textbooks.
"Your turn," Rose said to Leo.
Leo reached to a small box on the table from which he drew a small slip of parchment. He unfolded and read it. "I will be gored to death by a rabid, pink unicorn."
"Oh dear," Rose said.
"Indeed," Leo said gravely, using some glue to stick the slip of parchment to the square on his calendar reserved for the sixteenth of August.
"My turn," Rose said, grabbing a parchment from the box. "I will be diagnosed with testicular cancer."
"Do you really think Trelawney is going to buy that?" Ginny asked from behind her textbook, sounding exasperated.
"Do you have any idea how serious testicular cancer is?" Rose said somberly as she glued the piece of parchment to her own calendar. "It is more important to be forewarned than to rely on past experiences or preconceptions."
"The only reason that prediction exists is because Leo wrote it down and put it in that box!" Ginny pointed out.
"I know," Rose said. "That's part of the game. But, don't worry. There is a fifty percent chance that ovarian cancer is in his future. By the end of this, we could be even."
The conversation stalled when John Potter, Rose and Sidra's younger brother hurried down from his dorm and rushed across the room to where Rose and her friends sat. "Have you been in my trunk?" he demanded.
"Not lately, no," Rose said.
John shot Rose a dirty look before he made a beeline for where Sidra and her friends were sitting on the other side of the common room.
"I wonder what has got him all excited," Leo mused.
"Ron or Sidra probably had a scathingly brilliant idea and tested it out on him," Ginny said.
Further speculation was cut off when a Gryffindor student opened one of the windows to admit an owl. It promptly flew to Rose and Leo, dropped a small piece of parchment on their table, and flew back out the window.
"I love getting mail," Leo said, grabbing the note. Leo read the note silently, crumpled it up, and looked around furtively.
"What did it say?" Rose asked while Ginny set down her book.
"Harry is here-in the dungeons," Leo whispered.
"Let's go then," Rose said, swiftly packing up her schoolwork.
Leo and Ginny did likewise, and after a brief stop in the dorms to drop of their schoolbags, the trio was on their way down to the dungeons. After searching around for a bit, they found Harry Black waiting for them in one of the unused potions classrooms.
"I take it that you are physically present if you felt that it was necessary to hide in a secluded part of the castle," Rose observed.
"This place was not always secluded," Harry said offhandedly. "I taught potions in this classroom."
"I wonder why Snape changed classrooms," Ginny said.
Harry shrugged. "The one he uses now is probably more damp and chilly and thus fitting for his personality."
Leo snickered. "Was he that bad when he was a student?"
"Oh, I suppose," Harry replied absently as he nostalgically surveyed the room.
"So, are you here to hunt for the magical object that is hidden inside the castle?" Rose asked, sounding eager for the possibility to help locate the object.
Harry shook his head. "Not tonight. I think I will save that particular task for another day."
"Then, what is it you're here for?" Leo asked.
"Bellatrix and I have located another of these magical objects," Harry explained. "The thing is, it is located in the middle of an underground lake that happens to be infested with a few hundred Inferi."
"A few hundred Inerfi!" Ginny exclaimed, her face looking ashen.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Bella and I feel that the best way to proceed is to drain the lake and burn the Inferi so we can check for any further defenses that the Dark Lord may have put in place around the magical object. It is a pretty simplistic plan, but we need a few extra wands. Bella mentioned that you might be willing to help from time to time. We wonder if now would be one of those times."
"We're definitely in," Leo declared.
"But," Rose said, "tonight is not a good night, or the night after, either."
"The weekend then?" Harry said.
"Yes, the weekend is good," Leo agreed. He looked over at Ginny. "You're coming, too, right?"
"Err, yes," Ginny said, sounding a little bit like she would prefer not to. She looked over at Harry. "Did your wife mention that I was very grateful for what you did at the Burrow?"
"It must have slipped her mind," Harry said. "I was glad to help."
"Okay," Rose said. "We need to make some plans if we're going to pull this off."
Harry looked at Rose queerly. "Bella is taking care of most the planning."
"I know," Rose said, "but I'm talking about us getting out of the castle."
"Oh," Harry said, "right. I actually know of some good ways. Leo is the only one of you that can Apparate, though, correct?"
"Correct," Leo said.
A severely annoyed expression suddenly appeared on Harry's face.
"We can use those Rubik's cube portkeys," Rose said, rushing to reassure him.
"I'm not worried about that," Harry whispered in a low voice.
"Why are you whispering?" Ginny asked in a low voice.
"For now, just whisper like I am doing," Harry directed. "I can give you several options for getting out of the castle. The worst-case scenario is that you will have to go into the Forbidden Forest. Bella will meet you and take you to the place from where we will launch our little adventure. We'll have portkeys for most of travelling. The same portkeys will also be our emergency exit in the event that things go bad."
"What about the trace?" Rose asked in a whisper.
"I have a lot of spare wands that you should be able to use. They're not very good, but they should be sufficient for what Bellatrix has in mind for you." Harry explained.
"Freeze!" someone shouted.
Rose, Leo, and Ginny whirled around to find that Ron, Sidra, and Hermione had crept into the room and were now pointing their wands at the group. "I said freeze," Ron bellowed again when he saw Leo and Ginny's hands twitching as if they might be contemplating resistance.
"Go suck on an egg," Ginny snapped back.
While Ron focused on Rose and her friends, Sidra had turned her attention to Harry. "Professor Ashworth," she said.
"The name is Harry Black," Harry said, his voice sounding wooden and disjointed. "Or, in more formal settings, perhaps Harry Ashworth Black. What is your name?"
"My name is Sidra Potter," Sidra said. "Mr. Black, I think that it is time you stop sneaking around with my sister and her little friends. I think that Professor Dumbledore will be quite interested to know about you being in the castle making dangerous plans with under-aged sixth years."
"Plotting with sixth-years usually works out for me," Harry said, still sounding unnatural. "As it is though, as much as I would like to visit with the Headmaster, it will not be tonight. And, you shall not be telling him that I was ever here."
"And why would we not tell him?" Ron smirked.
A gust of air suddenly ripped through the room. It threw Ron, Sidra, and Hermione to the ground, simultaneously ripping their wands out of their hands. The unnatural wind carried the wands to the doorway where Harry suddenly appeared, a wand in each hand. He caught the three wands he had seized from the teens with his left hand, and deposited his own wand and the three others into a pocket in his robe. "You will not tell Dumbledore anything because you have no choice in the matter," Harry said simply.
"How did you do that?" Hermione demanded, scrambling to get back to her feet as Rose and her friends looked on gleefully. "You can't Apparate within Hogwarts."
"I assure you, Ms. Granger, I did not apparate," Harry said, reaffirming Hermione's great faith in the Hogwarts apparition wards.
"What are you going to do to stop us from telling Dumbledore?" Sidra demanded, also rising to her feet.
"Either you take a magical oath or I cast a memory charm on you," Harry said.
Rose rolled her eyes. "You had better make it a memory charm."
"Shut up," Sidra hissed. "Naturally, we'll take the magical oath."
Rose and her friends looked on as Harry methodically gave Sidra, Hermione, and Ron their wands and administered the magical oaths which would make it impossible for Sidra and her friends to reveal or hint about anything they might know about Harry. Once the process was complete, Harry motioned toward the door while Rose, Leo, and Ginny held their wands on Sidra, Hermione and Ron.
"It was nice meeting you three," Harry said. "I have not yet completed my business with your friends, so if you would excuse us…"
"Mr. Black, you forget that we overheard quite a bit of what you were saying," Hermione said.
"Yeah, we can help fight You-Know-Who, too," Ron said.
"Don't be ridiculous," Rose said dismissively. "You don't know anything about this."
"Oh, yeah? What do you happen to know that we don't?" Sidra questioned.
This seemed to cause Rose to hesitate. "Well… we already know what we are hunting."
"You are hunting a magical artifact that belongs to You-Know-Who," Hermione said. "Mr. Black has not even told you what it is." She glanced at Harry who was smiling. "Have you?"
Harry shook his head.
"We've worked with Harry and Bellatrix before," Rose retorted. "Leo, Ginny, and I are more experienced."
"Experienced? Really?" Sidra bit back. "We're a year older than any of you. You're just trying to hog the glory. It was the same thing with the Chamber of Secrets. You are more concerned about discovering the answer first than in actually helping the cause."
"I told everybody who would listen that the monster was dead," Rose said evenly. "But, none of you believed me. It's your own fault that I got to the bottom of the situation while you and everyone else were still scratching at walls."
"Well, here we are," Sidra said, her voice raised quite high. "We're offering to help, and you're trying to keep us out of it-glory hog!"
"Oh? You want to go there?" Rose yelled back.
"That will be enough," Harry said, using his wand to cast a silencing spell on both Sidra and Rose. He offered Sidra, Ron, and Hermione a small smile. "I will be glad to have you come along. Our task will require a fair number of wands. As for glory, you can count coup after the war is over. For now, what we do is necessarily secret. Furthermore, I cannot have any of you fighting with each other. If I detect that one of you is not cooperating, you will be going home alone well before the task is finished. Do you all understand that?"
Each of them nodded.
"Good," said Harry. He then described the secret passage out of the castle that led to the Honeydukes cellar and set a time to meet them there. "You must come alone. If you do not, Bellatrix will know it. If the passage to Honeydukes is blocked, go into the Forbidden Forest, but stay near the Hogwarts boundary. Either way, Bellatrix will find you."
"All right," said Leo, speaking for Rose, Ginny, and himself because Rose still was under the effects of the silencing charm. "We'll be ready."
"There's one last thing," Harry said. "Once our escapade begins, we have to move smoothly and quickly. Leo, I'm putting you in charge of Rose and Ginny. Hermione, I'm putting you in charge of Ron and Sidra. The both of you will answer to Bellatrix. She is the one in charge of engineering precisely what will happen that night."
"All right, Mr. Black," Hermione said. "Should we do some research on Inferi before then?"
Ron rolled his eyes.
Harry smiled. "That is a great idea, Hermione. You might even want to practice some spells ahead of time." With that, Harry lifted his wand and brought it down with a mighty swish. Flames exploded, and in an instant, both Harry and the flames were gone from the Hogwarts dungeons.
"He's quite powerful, isn't he!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Either that or a great showoff," Sidra muttered sullenly after Ron had removed the silencing charm Harry had cast on her.