Trinity

Chapter 29

Harry wandered slowly back up to the castle feeling tired and worn but strangely triumphant. He knew he could deal with the Horcruxes now and that was the most important thing he'd gotten out of the whole night. He slipped inside the Entrance Hall was about halfway across when someone emerged from the Great Hall.

"Potter!" Moody growled. "Where the hell have you been?"

Harry pulled the cloak off and thought hard as Moody clumped over to him. The ex-Auror looked around and his scowl deepened.

"Where are those friends of yours? Or that girlfriend?" he demanded suspiciously. "I would understand you skulking about if they were with you but not alone. What is going on?"

Harry sighed; he'd hoped to put this off for a few days but since the opportunity had arrived, it was probably a good idea to take it. "Can we go somewhere a little less...open?"

Moody's eyes narrowed then he turned abruptly and started up the stairs. "Come with me, Potter."

Harry followed the ex-Auror up the stairs until they got to the Defence classroom. They walked through to Moody's office and the grizzled man closed and locked the door before throwing up more wards and spells than Harry thought possible. Once he'd finished that he pushed Harry down into a chair and sat down opposite him.

"Now what's going on Potter?" he demanded.

"I was down in Hogsmeade," Harry began.

"Obviously," Moody growled. "Doing what?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Getting a lesson from Aberforth and speaking to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape."

Moody did not speak and even his false eye stopped spinning and came to focus on Harry. The silence was deafening and very intimidating.

"When the Order came and picked you up before your Fifth Year, what did I ask you for in the kitchen?" Moody demanded fiercely.

"A glass of water because you were having problems with your eye," Harry replied promptly, knowing what Moody was doing.

Moody was silent again as he continued to stare. "Albus is alive?" he finally asked.

Harry nodded.

"How?" Moody demanded and Harry once again launched into the story of the Vow, the Simulacrum and what Snape and Dumbledore had cooked up between them.

Once he'd finished, Moody was absolutely still then, much to Harry's surprise, he burst out into great growls of laughter. Harry watched him with surprise and some disbelief, wondering if the man had gone mad.

"Uh, Professor Moody?" he said carefully. "Mad-Eye?"

Moody got himself under control and grinned at Harry. "I'm alright, Potter. I just didn't think Albus had it in him. I take it they know you're telling me?"

Harry nodded. "Remus found out the other night and he thought we should tell you. I mentioned it to Professor Dumbledore and Snape tonight and they agreed."

"Snape agreed?" Moody said suspiciously.

Harry nodded again. "He's been working at slowly poisoning Nagini under Voldemort's nose and when he does actually let her die he's not exactly expecting to get out of there unscathed. The Headmaster, Aberforth or myself and my friends might not be able to help him if that happens and if he turns up here, he's likely to get hexed unless there's someone who knows exactly what's going on. That's Remus and now you."

Moody grunted as he thought about that. "Good point. So he really is working for our side. Nice to have some actual confirmation of that. S'pose that answers the question as to why he managed to miss every student he aimed at on the weekend."

"He's located the Hufflepuff Horcrux as well," Harry added. "It's at Riddle Manor."

"That's going to make things difficult," Moody said sourly. "Can he get it out?"

"Not without Voldemort knowing," Harry replied.

"Have to do it last then," Moody said thoughtfully. "Kill off Nagini, grab the cup, apparate here. You dismantle the Horcrux while we get ready to defend the school. Voldemort'll figure out what's going on, come here with his Death Eaters and we can see this done." His gaze focussed on Harry. "Those lessons you were doing? They were how to earth magic with Aberforth?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I managed to do it but Abe wants me down there every night to work on it until I'm good enough." He paused. "The timing of everything's going to be unpleasant. It takes a lot out of me to destroy a Horcrux. I need time to recover before I can go duelling Voldemort."

"Yeah, that's a problem," Moody growled. "Leave that with me for the moment, Potter. I'll talk to a few people, see what we can come up with. Now, I want to see them."

"I figured you'd want to do that," Harry said with a grin. "Come with me tomorrow night."

Moody nodded and took down the wards. "Good. Now get to bed. You've got classes in the morning."

Harry grinned again and hurried out of the office, heading for Gryffindor Tower.

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The next evening Harry knocked on Moody's office door and was joined by the ex-Auror. They both had Invisibility cloaks and they donned them before heading out of the castle and down into Hogsmeade. Harry led his teacher to the back door of the Hog's Head and whispered for him to wait while he let Aberforth know he was here. Once that was done, he returned to the stairwell and whispered the instructions for how to get down to the Headmaster's room. Dumbledore was waiting for them at the base of the stairs, a smile on his face and his eyes twinkling.

"Ah, Alastor," he said with delight. "I see Harry has told you. Did you catch him coming in?"

Moody swept off his cloak, as did Harry.

"In a manner of speaking," Moody growled. "What the bloody hell were you thinking, Albus? Pulling off a stunt like this and not telling anyone other than Snape. Merlin only knows what could have happened."

"There was little option," Dumbledore said soothingly as he ushered Moody to a seat. "The Unbreakable Vow was set and had to be fulfilled and Severus' safety was my primary consideration. His position as Tom's most trusted Death Eater is distasteful for him but of the utmost value for us. Secrecy was vital. Harry stumbled upon us due to his curiosity and intelligence. Ron and Hermione because of their loyalty to Harry. Remus' discovery was mere chance. I think the circle of those who know is quite large enough."

"You don't plan on telling Minerva?" Moody said. "She's going to be upset about that."

"I can apologise to her later," Dumbledore replied with amusement. "But I must ensure there is a later. No, no more people need to know."

"Where's Snape?" Moody said as he looked around.

"He was called by Tom about two hours ago," Dumbledore replied.

Just then Aberforth came down the stairs and eyed Moody with sly amusement.

"Alastor, I see you've joined our merry crew," he said amiably. "Harry, let's go over here and let Albus and Alastor catch up."

Harry nodded and the two of them walked over and sat down at the table at the side of the room. Moody watched them for a moment then Albus caught his attention with a question.

"Now let's try what we did last night again," Abe said.

"Okay," Harry said before concentrating and establishing the shunt again.

Aberforth created another ball of magical energy and Harry reached out for it and slowly fed it into the shunt. It was a much smoother process this evening and Harry finished much quicker than he thought he would.

"Excellent," Aberforth said when he was done. "How do you feel?"

Harry considered it for a moment. "Tired but nowhere near as bad as last night."

"Good," Abe replied. "You weren't using quite as much of your own personal energy tonight. That's good. Means you're getting comfortable with the idea of manipulating pure magical energy. A lot of people never get to that stage."

"I can kind of understand why," Harry said, clenching his hands into fists then relaxing them.

Abe gave him a kind look. "Now, let's try it again with more energy."

Harry nodded and watched as Abe conjured a larger and more intense ball of magical energy. This time when he reached out for it he hesitated momentarily at the sheer power involved.

"Should I have a shield of some sort up?" he asked nervously.

Abe frowned slightly. "Well, you can if you like. It's purely a personal preference. If you mess this up, a shield won't really help much but some people like to have them as a...security blanket, if you like."

Harry bit his lip then nodded once and mentally reached for the magic again. He found handling the increased magical energy to be somewhat similar to when he'd taken down the containment spells and he felt his nervousness grow as he teased out a 'string' of magic and started feeding it into the shunt. The magic flared and ebbed more than the previous ball and he found himself sweating as he worked to control the flow. When the last of the magic disappeared into the shunt he dismissed the shunt with a weary Finite and collapsed back in his chair.

He heard Abe get up and rummage around in the dresser next to the table then he was being offered a goblet. He gulped down the contents and handed the goblet back with a tired smile.

"Looks like I'm going to have to carry you back, Potter."

Harry looked over at Moody and saw the amusement on the former Auror's face.

"Hope not," he said wearily. "That'd be embarrassing."

Both Moody and Albus chuckled at that and Abe sat back down again.

"You've definitely got the hang of it," Abe said with approval. "We'll keep on practicing in this manner for the rest of the week and reassess things on Friday. If you keep going the way you have, I can't see any reason you couldn't dismantle the Ravenclaw Horcrux sometime next week."

"Okay," Harry said with a nod and a small frown. "That'll just leave Nagini and the Hufflepuff Horcrux, won't it?"

"Yes, indeed," Albus replied. "And I think those two will take some time before we can act. Severus does not wish to rush his poisoning of Nagini. He wishes to make it seems as natural as possible."

"Could he actually get away with it?" Moody asked.

"He hopes to but will not give any guarantees," Albus said. "He cannot give any guarantees that Tom will not work out what has happened. He says that in order to do this there will be some inevitable magical residues left on the snake."

"What if he can't find Nagini after she dies?" Harry asked slowly.

The three adults looked at him curiously.

"What did you have in mind?" Aberforth asked.

"Do you remember the snake I brought back from the Gaunt's house? Asmodeus?"

The adults nodded.

"Well, he said that Nagini used to come and visit him," Harry explained. "He might be willing to...to lure Nagini out when the time comes."

"If he would be willing that might be a good option," Albus replied with approval. "The longer it takes Tom to find Nagini the better chance Severus has of getting away unscathed. I shall speak to him about it."

"I speak to Asmodeus then," Harry said.

"Well then, I suggest that once the Ravenclaw Horcrux is destroyed you concentrate on your studies," Albus said. "Despite everything that must happen this year, they are still important."

"Is there any word on when Voldemort will attack Azkaban?" Harry asked hurriedly.

"No but Severus expected to find out tonight," Albus replied. "But we can expect it soon. Possibly even this week."

Harry nodded. "Are Greyback and his pack still out in the Forest?"

"Yes," Albus replied, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Though Severus tells me they report problems with the centaurs and a rather recalcitrant giant."

A grin slowly grew on Harry's face. "So Grawp's still around, is he? I hope he's being careful. Hagrid wouldn't like it if he got hurt."

"Well, reading between the lines of what Greyback has reported to Severus, Grawp finds the doggies as he apparently calls them to be part of a rather fun game," Albus replied with a chuckle. "Though I'm given to understand that Greyback and his pack do not find the game amusing at all."

That sparked laughter from the others in the room though Harry absently rubbed his shoulder as he laughed.

"No wonder we haven't had any problems," Harry said wryly.

"The centaurs may not be overly happy with us but they would despise what Greyback and his pack are even more," Albus said soberly. "They would not accept their presence."

"Good," Harry said firmly.

Moody got to his feet and picked up his invisibility cloak. "Come on, Potter. We'd better get back."

Harry also collected his cloak and the two of them left the pub and headed back to the school.

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Harry's lessons with Aberforth continued to go well and by the time they ended the lesson on Friday, Aberforth felt that Harry would be fine to try dismantling the Horcrux. He said that there was little more that Harry could learn from their lessons. That any further learning would only come with actually using the shunt with active spells.

However any thoughts of when and how to do this were driven out of Harry's mind when he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny came down to breakfast on the Saturday. Everyone was talking about the same thing and Neville quickly showed them his copy of the Daily Prophet.

You-Know-Who Attacks Azkaban

Six dead, twelve injured, two captured, two escaped

Last night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named staged a daring and lethal attack on Azkaban, apparently to retrieve some of his Death Eaters. Readers may remember that a number of Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, Rastaban Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov and Augustus Rookwood, were captured during the still largely unexplained events in the Department of Mysteries over a year ago; events that involved the Chosen One and Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and five of his friends.

Last night's attack was led by Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and during the attack six members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were killed. Twelve were injured, including Aurors Mark Tavistock, Adrian Pucey and Nymphadora Tonks. None of the injured were seriously hurt and all were taken to St Mungo's. The Prophet attempted to speak to the injured but were denied by the Ministry.

The attack was at least partially successful. The death Eaters reclaimed two of their number but also lost two, captured by the Ministry forces. The captured Death Eaters were recent students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The Death Eaters who escaped were Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.

"Tonks was hurt?" Harry said with concern and he quickly looked up to the Head Table.

Remus was missing but Minerva beckoned to him when she saw he was watching. Harry handed the paper to Ginny and he, Ron and Hermione hurried up to speak to the Headmistress.

"Remus asked me to tell you that Tonks is fine," she said as soon as they got there. "She caught a Furnunculus curse in the back but managed to capture Mr Goyle before that."

"Thank Merlin," Harry said with relief, a sentiment that was echoed by both Ron and Hermione. "How accurate is the Prophet's article?"

The Headmistress' lips thinned and her expression became grim. "Very, I'm afraid. Even though they had your warning, they were taken completely by surprise. That's why there were so many deaths and injuries."

"Pretty poor exchange," Ron grumbled. "Getting Crabbe and Goyle for Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. I think Voldemort won that one."

"Indeed," Minerva said primly. "Now, Mr Potter, I understand from Aberforth that you are ready to destroy the Horcrux I have in my safekeeping."

Harry nodded. "I...was thinking of maybe doing that some time today. So I have a day to recover."

"There is a room off my office that you may use," Minerva said. "It is well warded and will be safe enough if there are problems again."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll come up after lunch."

"Very well. The password is Bonnie Doon."

The trio headed back down to the Gryffindor table and ate their breakfast, adding the occasional contribution to the fevered conversation. Once that was done they collected Ginny, Neville and Luna and spent the rest of the morning going over their plans for what the DA would learn. Given the conversations he'd had with Dumbledore, Moody and Snape over the past week, he suggested they concentrate methods of defending the castle and the grounds as well as ways of working together in what might end up being a pitched battle.

The went down to lunch still discussing a few things then after lunch, Harry headed up to the Headmistress' office while Ron and Hermione left with Neville, Luna and Ginny to help out at the DA meeting that was scheduled for that afternoon. The gargoyle leapt aside when Harry gave the password and he walked up the stairs, feeling his nerves start to grow. Minerva was waiting for him when he got to the top of the stairs and she led him to the room he was to use and handed him the velvet bag that held the Horcrux.

"Good luck, Mr Potter," she said with an encouraging pat on his shoulder then she left and closed the door behind her.

Harry felt the wards spring into existence with the closing of the door and he walked out to the middle of the room. He pulled the elaborate bronze and sapphire ink bottle and quill out of the bag and placed it gingerly on the floor. He shoved the bag into his pocket and pulled out his wand.

He pointed it at the delicate sculpture and said, "Pateocapere."

The keyword once again gave him access to the containment spells and he was relieved to see they were identical to the ones that had been on the locket. He established the shunt then, as he had with the locket, he reached out with his magic and let it touch the outer layer of the containment spells. He slowly worked his way through all the layers, finding it a fraction easier to do this time and feeling relieved as a result.

When he finally reached the innermost layer, he paused to rest and checked that the shunt was still active and that he could still reach it. Once he was sure of that, he let his magic touch the innermost containment layer and murmured, "Manifesto" while he concentrated on the underlying rune that anchored the warding. When the rune glowed and rose into the air, he checked it was the correct one then let it fade. He then touched his wand to the sculpture, concentrated on the rune and said, "Finite Incantatem."

The rune appeared again, floating above the sculpture. The rune began to shimmer and whine and Harry felt his magic drain. The whining intensified then the rune burst in a display of magical fireworks. The ward faded and a tension entered the room. Harry quickly cast the shielding spells around the Horcrux and himself and readied himself to start feeding the magical energy that was about to be produced into the shunt.

Without the innermost ward supporting it, the second ward began to collapse and Harry reached out carefully and started pulling the magic towards the shunt. The cascade effect of the collapsing wards quickly grew and Harry saw that a wildfire event was again growing. He started pulling as much of the magical energy into the shunt as he safely could and hoped that between that, the shields and the wards in the room it would be sufficient. For moment it appeared that even the action of the shunt wouldn't stop the wildfire event then the cascade even seemed to stabilise just on the edge. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and continued feeding as much of the magical energy into the shunt as fast as he could.

When the outermost ward finally collapsed and the last of the magic dissipated into the shunt, the shielding spells and the wards there was a strange silence and Harry stood there and breathed hard. He was dripping with sweat and felt like he'd just played a six hour Quidditch game. He looked down at the sculpture and saw it seemed to be shimmering slightly. He grimaced as he realised the shimmering felt...strange; Dark and evil. He swallowed hard and pointed his wand at the sculpture again.

"Deletrius," he said firmly, concentrating hard on destroying the soul fragment that was within.

The shimmering increased for a moment and Harry heard a low wailing sound flow through the room then, with a low sigh, the shimmering faded along with the eerie wailing. Harry slowly lowered himself to his knees and stared at the sculpture. It hadn't changed a bit and he rather warily cast the spell that would let him know if there were any traces of magic. The spell indicated there was but they faded even as he watched and he ended the spell with a huge sigh of relief.

He picked up the delicate sculpture and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He used Finite to dismiss the shunt then tucked his wand back into his pocket. He stumbled over to the door and felt the wards relax the moment he touched the handle. He staggered out into the Headmistress' office and collapsed onto the couch in front of the fireplace as Minerva hurried around her desk towards him.

"Are you alright, Mr Potter?" she said with concern. "Is it done?"

"I'm just tired," Harry replied wearily. "And it's done." He handed the sculpture to her. "Here. You should probably keep it. It used to belong to Rowena Ravenclaw so the school should have it."

The Headmistress placed the sculpture on her desk then took Harry's arm. "Come along, Mr Potter. I think you're going straight to the Hospital Wing."

For once Harry didn't feel like arguing; he just wanted to collapse where he was and sleep for days. Much to his relief, Minerva used the internal Floo network to take him to the Hospital Wing. He really hadn't wanted to parade through the halls of the school and have who knows what rumours start yet again.

Poppy Pomfrey came bustling out the moment she heard the Floo activate and she didn't seem too surprised to see Harry. She gave him a quick once over then relaxed.

"I take it everything went well this time?" she said as she ushered Harry over to a bed and handed him some pyjamas.

Harry waited until she had drawn the screens around the bed then quickly got changed.

"Yeah," he said as he gratefully climbed into the bed. "The shunt worked. The Horcrux has been destroyed. I'm just tired."

"I should think you would be," Poppy said firmly as she came around the screens with a goblet in her hand. "Dreamless Sleep, Mr Potter. I think you could do with it."

Harry took the goblet and drained it in one gulp. He handed it back to the nurse and wiggled down under the covers. He took off his glasses, placing them on the small table beside the bed and was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.