"No, it would be classed as kidnapping. The only reason it worked on Monday was that you had no prior knowledge of the oaths and then did everything in your power to save them triggering their oaths. If Miss Weasley were to be given a wand to make any kind of oath to prevent this betrothal the person responsible would end up in Azkaban."
"These laws are nuts!" Emma declared.
"Our society is dominated by pureblood males who make the laws to suit their needs, who do you think would be purchasing Miss Weasley? Our society is roughly about a century behind yours in values and technology, and as long as the old guard stay in charge that's the way it will remain."
Harry looked at Ginny and saw a small, frightened child that needed reassurance as much as her body needed air. "Ginny, we will help but we came here to do a very important job and have to enter the chamber again."
Now that she had some hope all desire to enter the chamber evaporated and she decided to wait in a cubicle for their return, Ginny provided the first laugh of the afternoon when she told them Myrtle left, apparently Ginny's incessant crying was driving the ghost mad.
Dan Granger felt as if he was in an Indiana Jones movie as small bones crunched under their feet while they walked along the wand lit tunnel, he was even wearing a leather jacket and a gun in its holster with only a whip and hat missing.
As if sliding down a giant tube wasn't enough to reinforce the image they were now standing in front of a massive round metal door that Harry was speaking to in that strange hissing language. Parts of the door animated before the whole thing swung open releasing the most noxious smell Dan had ever experienced, before he could even complain his head was surrounded by a goldfish bowl filled with clean air as Harry then led them through the door.
His future son-in-law had described the Basilisk as a big snake but that was a bit like describing King Kong as a large monkey, technically accurate but severely lacking on the grandeur of the beast, it was bloody enormous!
The thought of twelve-year-old Harry fighting this abomination with a sword to save the life of the petite witch they had just left forced Dan to sit for a minute as the enormity of the task and bravery of this young man he was growing to love hit him.
He glanced around and could see he was not the only one having such a reaction, the three women were in tears while auror Shacklebolt was leaning against the wall as they all tried in vain to comprehend the achievements of the wizard known as Harry Potter.
He was surprised at Hermione's lack of reaction until remembering that she would have gotten to experience the whole thing through Harry's memories, definitely not something he could imagine was a pleasant memory and feeling his emotions as well!
As a couple their relationship was so strong because it had been forged in the heat of battle with enemies on all sides and their unquestionable belief that they would die before allowing the other to be harmed. This knowledge was truly humbling to Dan as he watched his daughter and her love extracting teeth while two dentists were so overcome with emotion to be rendered useless.
Dobby popped them back into the toilet two at a time and it was Amelia who spoke first, "Lord Potter the picture in the Quibbler just didn't do your heroics justice, why weren't you recommended for an order of Merlin?"
It was a very bitter Hermione who answered, "He saved Ginny, Hogwarts, Dumbledores job and cleared Hagrid's name while getting him out of Azkaban and his reward was to be sent back to Privet Prison and isolated from everyone who cared about him. If we didn't need the old bastard I swear I would take great pleasure in kicking his decrepit arse into next week."
Harry put his arms around her and kissed her neck, "never change Hermione, I love you just the way you are."
Any smidgen of hope that Ginny had left of a relationship with Harry died there and then, she could see the utter devotion these two had for each other.
Amelia looked on as Harry walked up and down in front of a blank wall giving a gasp of astonishment as a door made an appearance and once again Harry led the way in.
Harry was wearing dragon hide gloves as he lifted a tiara down which brought a scream from the red haired witch, "That's the same as the diary! Harry I can hear it calling to me, please don't let it get me again."
Emma held Ginny tightly as Hermione handed Harry a tooth from the Basilisk and he quickly stabbed the tiara.
Screams louder and containing more terror than Ginny could ever produce came from the inanimate object as a smoky humanoid form leaked from the centre jewel before dissolving into a black goo on the floor that Hermione quickly banished.
Amelia's legs gave way as she found herself on the floor with two aurors standing above her with wands drawn, unsure what had happened to their boss but determined to fight it. The phrase 'same as the diary' had triggered her collapse as soon as she worked out what the tiara was, oh dear Merlin how many more were there?
She asked Harry the question with a glance and his answer of "seven" had her head spinning and the aurors starting to get really agitated. She held up her hand to signal that she was ok and they could calm down. "Can you give me any details?" she asked Harry.
"That's the third one destroyed, we have one at Gringotts that came out the Lestrange vault and we can now use the same means to destroy that as well. We know the location of the rest and will retrieve them and administer the same treatment, as you can imagine this must stay secret and only Hermione and I have this knowledge. If this information got into the wrong hands it could totally screw us up."
"Anything you need, anything, anytime – it's yours for the asking. If you pull this off our world will owe you a debt that could never be repaid, Merlin they already do!" The sincerity and respect in Amelia's voice was there for all to hear.
Shacks questions were met with a shake of the head, Harry was right, the fewer people who knew about horcruxes at the moment the better for everyone.
Ginny was assured once more that they would help before the seven beat a hasty retreat pre-empting the return of Dumbledore.
....
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