The Temple of Le Fay

Chapter Thirty-Four: Home Again, Naturally

It was Draco who spoke first.

"Forgive my ignorance, but what in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

Harry blinked, remembering that the Ravenclaw boy didn't know anything about the yearlong search that had been going on in the library.

"You know Morgan Le Fay, right?"

"Of course," Draco said, looking a little offended.

"Right. They reckon that when she died, she set things up so that her magic would be stored in her tomb - the Temple of Le Fay - and if a wizard could get that magic-"

"-he'd be invincible. I see," Draco said. "Well, I suppose it's up to us to stop him?"

"Myself and Professor Skeeter will summon assistance when we arrive in Godric's Hollow," Dumbledore said, rising up from where he had been leaning over a now fully recovered Ron and Hermione. "I won't ask anyone else to accompany us."

"Nonsense, Albus," Lockhart said at once. "I am here because the Order believed in me. I won't be found wanting in its hour of need," he added, although the tremble in his voice revealed his uncertainty. Dumbledore nodded once, acknowledging how much effort it had taken for Lockhart to volunteer for the mission. Beside him, Professor Skeeter beamed.

"You don't have to ask, sir," Harry said, firmly. "We're all going with you."

"Naturally," Dumbledore said, sighing slightly. "I thought I should give you the option of not risking your lives for once. It is rare that you are given a choice in the matter, after all."

"If Voldemort finds the Temple, then I'll be the first one he'll come for. And the best form of defence is attack, after all."

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "However, I want you to remember what I said to you at St. Mungo's, Harry. It is not your responsibility to fight Voldemort, it is mine. If you see him, I want you to run, do you understand me?"

"I don't want to fight him," Harry said. "If I see him, I'll run or hide."

"Good," Dumbledore said. He looked around the others. "Shall I save myself the bother of asking and simply assume that you will wish to come with us?" he asked Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

They nodded. Ginny had her jaw set in a way that reminded Harry of Fred and George when they were set on doing something that a normal person wouldn't dream of doing.

"You can include me as well," Draco said.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore enquired.

"Wherever Voldemort goes, my father goes. And I know my father," Draco said. "I can help," he added, his eyes gleaming.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "In that case..." He tapped the tabletop with his wand and produced a silver bracelet. "Mr. Malfoy, if you are in danger, touch the bracelet and say 'Hogwarts'. You will be returned to the staff room here."

Draco clasped the bracelet to his wrist. It glowed briefly, and then grew dull again.

"I'd like a word with Harry alone," Dumbledore said. "Maureen, please show everyone into the next room."

Professor Skeeter nodded and led the others into the Order's briefing room, which had appeared at Dumbledore's words.

Dumbledore waited until the door was shut before turning to Harry with a grave expression on his face. He tapped the tabletop with his wand once more, this time conjuring one of the gold coins that the Order carried. He held it up between his fingers, and for a second appeared lost in its gleaming luster.

"Do you know why I did not give one of these coins to young Mister Malfoy, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry stared at the coin for a moment.

"In case he betrays us?" he asked. "He could use it to bring Order members into a trap."

"Ah!" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Alastor will be glad to hear that you're beginning to take after him. No, while I admit that there is a possibility that Draco Malfoy will betray us - there is also the possibility that you or I will betray us, of course - I am far more concerned about the possibility of him falling under his father's influence once more. Lucius Malfoy is drawn to power like a moth drawn to a flame. I have no doubt that if the Temple of Le Fay is in Godric's Hollow, then Lucius Malfoy will be there as well. Draco will need watching carefully. So will you, Harry."

"Me? Why?"

"Because in Godric's Hollow there is a very good chance that you will meet your parents."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but found that nothing he could say seemed equal to Dumbledore's casual announcement.

"Harry, you share a link with Voldemort, as you do with Miss Weasley and any number of others. Voldemort can manipulate that link in a way that no other can. As close as you will be to him, he may be able to make you hallucinate, he may be able to completely disorient you. If you detect any hint of this, you must let us know, for Voldemort may, in all likelihood, be capable of using your deepest fears and greatest desires against you. Be careful, Harry."

Harry nodded, his mouth suddenly dry. Although he had hardly been looking forward to facing Voldemort, the idea of the Dark wizard using his thoughts against him - the way he used Ginny's thoughts against her - turned his stomach and made him glad that Hermione had rushed them through breakfast. Harry had eaten barely half a bowl of cereal, but even that was threatening to leave him violently.

Dumbledore held up the gold coin.

"You said once that you weren't prepared to put other people at risk by taking this coin. May I ask if you have changed your mind?"

Harry nodded, and took the coin with trembling fingers.

"I think I'm going to need all the help I can get," he said, his voice shaking slightly.

*

They gathered around Fawkes in the Order's room. Dumbledore had transfigured their robes into Muggle clothing, and arranged for Moody and Diggle to meet them on the outskirts of the village. Harry felt increasingly queasy as he reached out and took one of Fawke's tail feathers. Hermione looked a little offended. Harry thought he knew why. It turned out that Hogwarts; A History wasn't as comprehensive as she might have liked.

"A phoenix can get through the anti-Apparation wards that exist around Hogwarts," Dumbledore had told them. "As can house-elves. Only those who are good can touch a phoenix, of course, as it will burn those with evil in their hearts."

Perhaps it had been Harry's imagination, but Dumbledore had seemed to glance at Draco as he said this. Certainly Draco had been deeply reluctant to reach out and touch Fawkes' plumage.

"Just a finger will do, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "If we intend to travel like this more often, then I shall have to see about obtaining more phoenixes."

"I thought there was only one phoenix at a time?" Ron said, surprised.

"Yes, a very common belief that," Dumbledore said. "Now, are we all ready?"

There was a chorus of uneasy assent. Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well. Fawkes? We must go to Godric's Hollow, please."

Fawkes trilled beautifully, and Harry felt a warmth blossom in his chest once more. His queasiness subsided, and he felt more prepared than he had done moments before. Looking around, he could see a more relaxed group, except for Draco who looked uncomfortable. Harry was about to ask what the matter was, when Fawkes' magic ignited and they were surrounded by a swirling vortex of light. Harry heard Ginny gasp beside him, and he was tempted to join her. The swirling colours were even more beautiful then they had been during his first trip by phoenix a few weeks before. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he knew that it wasn't the right time. Catching Hermione's eye across the circle, he knew that she was bursting with questions and barely restraining herself as well.

To Harry, the trip to Godric's Hollow seemed to barely have started when the swirling began to slow, and then fade.

Either Godric's Hollow isn't very far from Hogwarts or I'm more scared then I thought I was.

As though in response, he felt someone taking his hand in theirs and giving it an encouraging squeeze. He didn't even need to look to know that it was Ginny, and he felt immensely comforted by the gesture.

The swirling faded to nothingness. Harry gave Ginny's hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze and released it, reaching for his wand as the last swirls of light vanished.

"Leave it where it is, laddie. Don't want to give us all away, do you?"

Harry looked up into the unsmiling face of Mad-Eye Moody.

"Good of you to meet us, Alastor. And you, Dedalus."

Dead-Eye Diggle was smiling, but grimly and without much in the way of his usually apparent humour.

"A bad place this, Dumbledore. Not a good omen."

"I didn't realise that you were superstitious, Dedalus," Dumbledore said.

"This is a special circumstance," Dedalus said. His voice dropped to barely more than a whisper, but Harry could still hear what he was saying. "Albus, I was the first one here that night. I could feel the evil in the air. I never wanted to come back. If it were anyone else, not you or Harry, then I wouldn't be here. This place is-" he shivered, and his ever-present top hat nearly slipped off his head "-spooky. Small wonder it's nearly deserted nowadays."

Dumbledore muttered a few words to Diggle, who straightened up and nodded curtly. Moody took his old partner by the arm and they had a brief exchange.

"Potter, you're still leading the Dueling Club, right?"

Harry looked up at Moody, and nodded.

"Good, then you and your friends can be our reserves."

"What do you mean reserves?" Harry bristled, his nerves suddenly forgotten.

"You'll keep watch. We think we know where the Temple is. We've been watching the last five minutes, and there's a lot of Death Eaters milling around down there."

"In public?" Ron asked, his brown knitting together. "That doesn't sound like them."

"They're not masked," Malfoy growled. "Macnair's down there. So's Gillings. We saw your father wandering around, too," he added to Draco, who didn't react beyond a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Besides, the place is almost deserted, as I already said," Diggle said testily. Harry looked at him, surprised that the experienced Auror was allowing himself to be unsettled by the atmosphere.

"Where's the Temple?" Hermione asked.

"Right in the centre, if we're right," Moody said.

Hermione held her wand up to her right eye and said "Oculus Magnificare!"

Her wand turned into a brass telescope and Harry absently noted the spell. He looked around, and for the first time realised that they were standing on a small hill, at the foot of which was a village with a lake on the far side, glimmering brightly in the early morning sunshine. One or two of the houses had smoke curling upwards from their chimneys but in general the village looked, as Diggle had said, deserted.

Except for in the very centre of the village. A grand looking house stood there, much more ornate than the surrounding homes.

"Bow Manor," Moody said, his own telescope held up to his real eye. "Bowman Wright lived there, once upon a time. He invented the Golden Snitch and was richer than Nicholas Flamel. He owned the whole village and a large chunk of the county as well."

"What happened?" Hermione asked as Draco and Ginny each conjured a telescope to look more closely at Bow Manor.

"He made his Snitches a bit too well. They didn't wear out, so once someone had one, they hardly ever had to be replaced. He lost his money, lost his land and eventually lost the house. It passed from owner to owner and now it's empty, same as most houses down there."

"Why do people still live there?" Harry asked.

"People have to live somewhere," Moody said. "A lot of 'em moved out after, well, after you defeated Voldemort. No one much wanted to move in here. Dedalus is right. There's a bad feeling in this place."

"Alastor, please," Dumbledore murmured.

"Well, us four'll go in first," Moody said, pointing at himself, Diggle, Dumbledore and Professor Skeeter. "We'll use Disillusionment charms to let ourselves get close, and I'm sure we can grab one of those scum and make him talk."

"I will not tolerate torture, Alastor," Dumbledore said mildly.

"I wasn't talking about torture, Albus. You know me better than that."

"Of course, forgive me," Dumbledore said. To Harry, it seemed that the old wizard had wanted to remind Moody of his duties in a way that would not embarrass the ex-Auror. Harry wasn't sure that he had succeeded.

"I won't sink to their levels, Albus," Moody said coldly.

"We are all on edge, Alastor. Forgive me," Dumbledore repeated. Moody bowed his head.

"Yeah. The sooner we get in there and sort this out, the sooner we can be away. Dedalus isn't the only one not happy about being here."

"None of us are," Harry said. "I was supposed to be revising for my SKREWTs this morning, not travelling to my dead parents' old home to fight Death Eaters."

Moody and Diggle regarded Harry for a second before Diggle gave a snort of laughter that broke the tension surrounding the small group.

"Never mind, lad," he said. "We'll have you back and studying as soon as we can."

"No rush," Ron muttered under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Hermione shushed him quickly.

"If we do not return in fifteen minutes, summon assistance," Dumbledore told Harry quietly. "We should be back with information by then, and we can decide what to do based on firmer knowledge."

Harry nodded. The members of his group, including Gilderoy Lockhart, were all looking to him. He drew his wand, carefully. Moody nodded approvingly.

"Try not to get yourselves killed," he said. Then he and Diggle rapped each other on the head with their wands, as did Professor Skeeter and Dumbledore. Harry watched as they became transparent. They were still visible, but it was much harder to see them unless you knew what you were looking for. Harry squinted, watching them as they moved down the hillside, but after only a few seconds they were lost from view.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"Now we wait," Harry said, shooting his friend a wry grin. "I'm sure Hermione would be happy to help your prepare for your SKREWTs if you ask."

They waited in silence. Without Dumbledore and the other Order members around, they felt vulnerable. Lockhart, despite being the only adult present, seemed to be the most nervous. Harry thought that he was doing a good job of hiding it, however. He sat with his back against a tree, his wand drawn and ready, and only jumped when a squirrel ran down the tree trunk and onto his head.

After ten minutes, Draco grew fidgety and started pacing. He kept putting his telescope to his eye and looking down at the village below.

"Do you see anything?" Harry asked eventually.

"No. I recognise one or two people down there, old friends of my father. But I haven't seen him, and I don't see the Headmaster, either. Although I suppose that's a good thing."

Five more minutes passed, and Harry was tempted to summon more help from the Order, but he was reluctant to do so with Draco present.

There's no need to panic just yet, he told himself, squinting down towards the town again. They've been delayed. If we summon help now, we could give ourselves away. Give them another fifteen minutes.

In fact, it was seven minutes later that Moody led his group into the clearing. He gave Harry a small nod, apparently approving of his decision to wait before summoning reinforcements.

"Found one," Dedalus said, apparently a lot more cheerful for their expedition. "A quick tap on the head, a few drops of Veritaserum, and voila. He didn't know exactly what they were doing there, but he did say that Voldemort was there, and that he was in Bow Manor."

"We have surmised that he will be deep under the Manor itself," Dumbledore continued. "Le Fay will not have wanted her rest disturbed by just anyone, so I would suspect that there will be quite a lot of walking to do before they find the Temple itself."

"How long have they been here?" Ron asked.

"Not long. It took Pettigrew time to find them, so they only arrived a few minutes before Alastor and Dedalus."

"Then they've got a thirty minute head start?" Harry asked.

"About that, yeah," Moody growled. "That's where you kids come in," he added, his eyes gleaming in a way that Harry wasn't sure that he liked. "You're young, you're fit - not like me and Dead Eye here - and you're in a lot better shape than the Death Eaters are."

"You want us to chase after them?" Hermione asked faintly.

"None of us is as young as we would like," Dedalus said. "And Mad-Eye here is no good for chasing people," he added, with a grin at the annoyance on Moody's face. "We're going to create a diversion to let you slip into the Manor."

"What sort of diversion?" Harry asked.

"A loud and messy one," Moody growled. "And if we take down some Death Eaters too, then all the better."

"It is a volunteer mission, of course," Dumbledore said. "We cannot waste much more time."

"What will you be doing?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Myself and Professor Skeeter will be going into the Manor as well. I ask your assistance because you are here, because you have learned a great deal, and because in the case of yourself and Mr. Weasley, you are seventeen and therefore of age."

"I'm going," Ron said immediately. "The Temple of Le Fay? And I can do a spell that makes King Arthur's sword? That's got to be a sign, right?"

"And I'm going, of course," Hermione said, taking Ron's hand.

"Harry?"

It was Ginny who had spoken. She was looking at Harry nervously, but a part of him noticed that she was standing beside Ron and Hermione. She was going to march into almost certain death on Dumbledore's request.

And how would you feel if she died because you weren't by her side? It was Sirius' voice, if not his actual words, and it was enough to convince Harry where he had to be.

"I'll go," he said. Ginny didn't even say anything, she just stood side by side with Harry, Ron and Hermione and set her jaw in a way that brooked no arguments.

All attention turned to Draco.

"How can I say no?" he said, drawing his wand and joining the others. "Perhaps now the Malfoy name will regain some of its former glory."

Dumbledore appeared troubled by Draco's words, but said nothing. Harry didn't think any more about it. He was motivated more by a desire to protect Ginny from harm than by any desire to face Death Eaters and perhaps even Voldemort. He would have gone, he was sure, even if he was the only person there, but Ginny's presence gave him a greater incentive. If Draco was motivated to prove himself against the world's image of the Malfoy family, then Harry could live with that.

The group made their way down the hillside towards the outskirts of the town. Dumbledore had cast an invisibility charm over the group that completely hid them from view as they approached Godric's Hollow.

Harry walked between Draco and Ginny, his eyes constantly scanning ahead of them. He felt thoroughly nervous about walking into the town where his parents had died, where he had had his first confrontation with Voldemort, where he had been supposed to grow up as what would surely have been the first of many children in his family. He wondered briefly what life would have been like if Voldemort hadn't existed. He usually tried to avoid such thoughts, but found himself unable to avoid it with such a potent reminder of the past laid out before him.

Would he have been like Bill Weasley, an example for all of his younger siblings? Would he have been like Fred and George, released from all parental expectations by his more responsible siblings? Would he and Ron have become friends if he hadn't been the Boy-Who-Lived? Would he instead have been a lifelong friend with Neville, whose birthday was only a few days before his?

Would he have been in Gryffindor? Would he have fallen for Ginny?

Would he have been anything like he was now?

You're being ridiculous, he told himself sternly. This is like learning to fight Dementors. You have a job to do now. You can't wallow in thoughts about the family that you'll never have. James and Lily Potter are dead and gone, any other children they may have had didn't get the chance of life. You're it, and if you don't stay focused, then you'll be dead too.

Harry grimaced, not noticing the look Ginny gave him. Draco walked on oblivious.

They came to the edge of the village, and took cover behind a small cottage that seemed deserted.

Moody stood by the corner, his magical eye swiveling wildly in its socket.

"Death Eaters," he said, pointing to the east. "The manor's west of here. They're making it easy for us. We'll make a fuss, and you can get into the Manor. Piece of cake."

"Is my father with the Death Eaters?" Draco asked quietly.

"Yeah," Moody replied. "Hey, wait!"

But Draco wouldn't wait. He sprang forward and streaked off, breaking through Dumbledore's invisibility shroud without pausing. The others crowded around Moody, watching Draco sprint towards the four Death Eaters who had emerged from between two buildings. Lucius Malfoy's long blonde hair was immediately recognisable among the Death Eaters, and it was at him who Draco seemed to be running.

Harry stood frozen to the spot, dreading what would come next. Either Malfoy was a traitor, or...

No one moved. Even Dumbledore stayed still as the first Death Eater saw Draco. He yelled, and brought his wand up to hex the approaching figure, but Lucius moved as quickly as he had in Hogsmeade a year before. His cane lashed out, meeting the Death Eater's arm with a crack clearly audible even to Harry and the others. The Death Eater grabbed his stricken arm, the wand falling from his limp fingers, but he didn't cry out.

"Voldemort must have been torturing his men," Moody growled, his voice barely more than a whisper. "They've become used to pain."

Harry's stomach twisted at the thought.

Is that what was different about Wormtail this morning? Has he been tortured so much that he's just used by pain? And if he's used to pain, does that mean he's not scared of it? How do you fight someone who's not scared of pain?

Harry's train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as Draco reached the Death Eaters and yelled something at them that Harry couldn't make out.

"'I'm here for you, father,'" Dumbledore said quietly. They watched Lucius pull up short in shock and reply.

"'What... What are you doing here?'

'I said that I've come for you.'" Dumbledore quoted Draco.

"'Here? Now? Do you have any idea...'

'I know exactly what you're doing here, father. Trying to grab power as always. I'm not an idiot. I was sorted into Ravenclaw'

'Hardly something to be proud of,'" Dumbledore said, trying to replicate the sneer in Lucius Malfoy's voice as closely as possible, but unable to even come near. "'Besides, I'd hardly say that you were intelligent, my son. You've come here alone and confronted a man who will kill you without blinking an eye.'

'You won't kill me.'

'My boy, I am a Death Eater.'"

And with that, Lucius drew his wand and, with a whispered curse that even Dumbledore could not hear, sent a blast of green light into the chest of his only son.

"He's killed him," Hermione breathed. "He's killed his own son."

To be continued...