The Crux of the Matter

Chapter One

Harry slowly clawed his way to wakefulness. It had been three days since since he had last slept, so the six hours he had slept were not enough. He reached out a hand and fumbled for his glasses. 'Bloody hell! I need to do something about these stupid things.' He slowly rolled out of bed and made his way to the loo. Stumbling back into the room he kicked the edge of Ron's cot and swore loudly, waking Ron in the process.

"Bloody hell!" shouted Ron, glaring at his watch. "It's only half five in the bloody morning. Some of us are trying to sleep here."

"Shut up, we're burning daylight. Roll out of that bed before I dump you on the floor."

"What? Are you channeling Wood now?" asked Ron, sitting up. "By the way, mate, you should be wearing more than pants and glasses when you head to the loo, there are girls here too, and one of them is my sister."

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Harry grabbing a pair of dirty jeans off the pile on the floor and stepping into them, before picking up a shirt and sniffing it. "Damn, need to do laundry, all this stuff smells like hippogriff."

Ron picking up one of his own shirts, smelled it and grimmaced. "Yeah, you're right these all stink."

"I'll go fix breakfast, you wake the girls?" asked Harry.

"Fine, I'll just direct Ginny your way when she wants to hex me for waking her up so bloody early."

"Coffee will be ready in five minutes...that should keep her from hexing you."

Harry made his way into the kitchen and set the coffee pot to percolate. Grabbing a skillet, a slab of bacon, basket of eggs and a loaf of bread he began to cook.

"Coffee smells good, need a hand with any of that?" asked a red-head, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I got it covered, you pull out the plates and silverware, we can eat outside."

"Sounds great," she said, as she was pulling plates, mugs and silverware from their various drawers and shelves. Harry placed the scrambled eggs in a bowl, the bacon and toast on platters, grabbed a pot of marmalade and placed it all on a tray before following Ginny out. He called for Ron and Hermione to come on out when they were ready.

A few minutes later, they stumbled out of the tent. "Getting this tent was a grand idea, Harry," said a bleary eyed Hermione, grabbing a mug and pouring herself some coffee.

Harry reflected on all that had happened this past week.

The week began with his arrival in London aboard the Hogwarts Express. He was surprised to find a welcoming committee waiting for him. Remus, Tonks, Bill Weasley, complete with his newly acquired scars and Mad-eye Moody greeted him as he left the portal. They accompanied him to greet his relatives. It was very similar to what happened the previous year, except for a different Weasley making up the party. His relatives took it about as well as last year, too. The drive to Surrey was filled with grunts from his uncle and silence from everyone else. When they had arrived at Privet Drive, Vernon asked, quite gruffly, why Harry just didn't move into whatever hovel it was that he had inherited and leave them the hell alone.

Harry had planned on spending only a few days, a week at the most, with the Dursleys, but his plans changed the morning after returning there. Buckbeak, now called Witherwings, showed up in the back garden that morning. He was carrying a bloody, torn cloak in his beak. Harry suspected that it was Snape's but had no way of knowing for sure. Of course the Dursleys all nearly had apoplexy when seeing the hippogriff among the petunias and roses, pawing at the cloak. Harry was able to call Hermione on the phone and she was able to get in touch with some members of the Order. Tonks showed up and Disillusioned Harry and Witherwings. Harry flew the hippogriff to the Burrow. Tonks had brought Harry's trunk there. At the Burrow Harry had a rather large row with Ginny. She told him that he could take his noble streak, fold it into a triangular shape and shove it some place where the sun never shined; and if he didn't she would provide him with such a case of bat-bogies that he would most likely need a new nose. Of course, there was a little bit more to their conversation than that, but Harry knew his chances of getting out of Ginny's reach, unscathed, were non existant at that point, so he relented and at least allowed her to state her case. She had been rather convincing in her argument and Harry realized that, while he was Voldemort's main target, nobody was truly safe until Riddle was relegated to the pages of history. Most especially those involved in the Order or those who didn't have the decency to to curl up and die in the Voldemort's presence.

The next day, Hagrid arrived at the Burrow to tell Harry that it wasn't exactly safe to return Witherwings to Hogwarts. So Harry came up with a plan. It involved camping out in a remote location until he could find somewhere to keep the hippogriff. He found an owl order catalogue of wizarding camping gear and ordered a new wizarding tent. He ordered a two bedroom model. It was larger and nicer than the one that he and the Weasleys used at the World Cup. He had many convenience features added to it, including a fully stocked kitchen and bathroom that resembled the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts. After ordering it he contacted the twins and asked for a supply of their "special" items. Fred brought them over and spent several hours explaining how to use them. Harry was especially pleased with the Disillusionment Drops, a new addition to the line and only being provided to the Order. They were a kind of lemon candy, similar to the lemon sherbets so favored by Dumbledore, without the fizzy center. To activate them, one sucked on a drop for at least five minutes and then was Disillusioned for three hours, or one could chew on it and be Disillusioned for thirty minutes.

Fleur was able to exchange two hundred Galleons for Pounds, so Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny made a quick trip into the village of Ottery St. Catchpole to buy clothing and some Muggle camping supplies. Ron and his father were amazed by some of the simplest things, like the electric torch. Arthur Weasley also provided them with all the Wizarding camping gear they had used on the trip to the World Cup.

Harry had also bought a bag of meat flavored dog treats and had Fred turn them into Disillusionment Drops. After that was done, Hermione on Witherwings--she had found an old American style riding saddle in a pawn shop in the village that she thought would make riding the hippogriff easier--Harry, Ron and Ginny on their brooms set off to fly the hippogriff to a wild area in Wales, being closer to the Burrow than Scotland. They set up camp, after a day and a half of flying (having to stop every half hour or so to feed Witherwings another charmed treat slowed them down immensely), in a heavily forested, rarely used area in the rugged hills of Wales.

As Harry was finishing his breakfast a large wolf, comprised entirely of silver light, bounded out of the trees and hit him in the chest. It sort of dissolved into him and he her Tonk's voice in his head telling him to call for Kreacher and to await further instructions, being carried by the elf.

"Was that a Patronus?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, the Order uses them to communicate,"said Hermione, picking up the last piece of toast and refilling her coffee mug. "What did Tonks have to say?"

"Errr...she said to call Kreacher, that he would have a letter with further instructions for us."

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked, sipping her coffee.

"A bath, some clean clothes, that don't smell like hippogriff and to finish breakfast, not necessarily in that order."

"Oh," she said, sitting back down.

"How do you know what Tonks' Patronus is, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"She sent me a message after you called me the other morning."

"Do you know how to use it?" asked Harry.

"Yes, she showed me how when we got together that morning. I'll show the rest of you later, but first we need to find somewhere where we can do magic."

"Last year Dumbledore told me that the Ministry doesn't really pay attention to magic done in wizarding households. So I guess you can do it when we get back to the Burrow."

"So that is why the twins never got any letters!" exclaimed Ron.

"Since I cooked, will the rest of you clean up. I'm a little too ripe to sit around here much longer, I'm getting a shower," said Harry, standing and re-entering the tent.

"Fine, after we are finished, Ron and I will start transfiguring the dining room furniture in to library tables and shelves."

After Harry stepped out of the shower and found some clean clothes he called for Kreacher. Two soft pops announced the arrival of the elf and his 'shadow', Dobby.

"Master called for Kreacher. Kreacher comes, even at this hour of the morning. No rest for Kreacher."

"Stop grumbling, I know you are always up at the crack of dawn. You have a letter for me?"

"Yes, the traitor's daughter gave it to me," grumbled the elf, producing the parchment with an exaggerated flourish.

Harry grabbed the parchment before the old elf could do anything with it. He frowned as he read the letter.

"Harry Potter, sir, if Dobby may be so foreward, this place needs an elf, sir. It is a filthy mess and stinks like a stable."

"Kreacher thinks it smells better than mud..."

"KREACHER!" yelled Harry. "I told you never to use that word around me. Did I not make myself very clear on that?"

"Master was as clear as crystal. Kreacher will not say that word. But Kreacher wasn't saying that word. Kreacher was saying..."

"I don't care what you were going to say. Shut up!" The elf's mouth snapped shut and he shot Harry a glare that would have curdled milk.

"Begging your pardon, sir, but Dobby can clean and do your laundry. Dobby can even stay and cook for you."

"You don't have to," said Harry, looking like he didn't really want to be thinking or talking about this.

"Dobby knows, but Dobby wants to."

Harry let out a sigh, "Fine, but you get to explain it to Hermione."

"Dobby will, sir. Miss Hermie needs to be told she made the other elves mad. She needs to learn about elves, Dobby will teach her," said Dobby with a sly smile on his face.

Harry sat at the desk in the bedroom and wrote out a reply to Tonk's letter. He then went to talk to the other three teens. He found them in the former dining room, putting the finishing touches on transforming it into a library.

"Looks nice, Hermione," Harry said, entering the room.

"What did Tonks want? I take it you called Kreacher, because I heard you bellowing at him?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, I did call him and Dobby showed up too. They will both be moving in with us. Evidently there are elf quarters off the kitchen."

"You should read the instruction book that came with this tent. It tells you all of that, plus how to change the rooms around and everything else you need to know," said Hermione. "This tent is considered a Wizarding house by the Ministry, so you should be safe doing magic."

"When have I had time to read it?" Harry snapped. "You've either had it or we've been flying. I can't read on my broom, you know."

"I would have given it back..."

Rubbing his face, Harry said, "Sorry, Hermione, I shouldn't have snapped. But Tonks said that one of the Order will be by as soon as we send an elf for them. I want to send Dobby in about an hour. After that, we need to make some plans and then raid my house, there are things there we need to get."

"Plans for what?" asked Ron.

"I'll tell you all later. But for now let's finish this room," said Harry, drawing his wand.

Shortly after eight, Harry sent Dobby to find Tonks. Not long after, he returned with both Tonks and Remus in tow.

"Nice place you have here, Harry," said Tonks, picking herself off the floor after tripping over the rug in front of the fireplace in the lounge.

"I guess. It cost enough. But I take it you didn't come to talk about us 'roughing it' out here with Witherwings."

"No, Albus's will was executed yesterday. We are bringing what he left for you," said Remus, pulling two matchboxes from his pockets. He set them on the floor and tapped them with his wand. When Harry eyed them skeptically, he added, "Self shrinking trunks. Covered in moke skin."

"This first one is a portable library. There are nearly two thousand books in there. It is divided into ten sections." He handed Harry a piece of parchment, with each section labeled. "You tap the top with your wand, saying the section you want as you are doing it, then open the lid. The shelves of books under that section will then pop out. To close it, just tap it again and say 'Close'."

"What is in the second trunk?" asked Harry, still looking in awe at the first trunk.

"Open it up," said Remus.

Harry opened the lid. A set of shelves holding over three hundred vials of a silvery liquid and a table holding a Rune encrusted stone bowl appeared. Harry whistled, "His Pensieve."

"Yes, and there is a second set of shelves holding about a thousand more memories. Each one is labeled and there is a master list, in that book with the Pensieve. Also, I think that how to use the Pensieve is in it."

The other three teens entered the lounge at that moment.

"Hermione, see if you can make any sense of this," said Harry, handing her the list for the first trunk, before dropping down on to the couch.

Remus sat down beside him. "Harry, there is a memory in the Penseive that you need to see first."

"Bring it over here. I can't stand up any longer."

"I can join you if you'd like," said Remus, placing the bowl on a table in front of the couch.

"Yes, I think I'd like that."

Harry, bent over and entered the Penseive. Remus followed. They appeared in the Headmaster's office, as it was, just a few days ago. Dumbledore was seated at his desk.

"Harry, if you are watching this, then things did not go as well as I had hoped. I am making this before we leave. I am expecting you in my office shortly, so I don't have much time to explain everything. I regret never having told you the full story of how my hand became cursed. You will find that memory, along with many others, in this collection. I made this collection of memories to help and guide you should the worst happen to me. Remember, if I did die that I am looking foreward to embarking on that next great adventure. Do not be overly sad and do not mourn too much, for I am still with you, at least in some small way. Remember to temper your thoughts with your heart. Do not push away your friends, for though you are likely to face Tom on your own in the end, you will need them to allow to get to that point. Remus and Alastor will now be in charge of the Order. I have left them specific instructions, so do not be afraid to seek either of them out for help and guidance.

I am sure that Remus has told you of the books. There are also a few other things that I have left for you. Please contact my brother, as I have given them to him to hold for you. I regret that I will not be able to be there with you to celebrate your final victory, but when you do, raise a pint to my memory."

As the memory ended Harry found himself back on the couch, a tear silently rolling down his cheek.

"Remus, can you Side-along with me to the Hog's Head?" whispered Harry.

"Sure," said Remus, then he turned toward Tonks. "Harry and I are going to meet Abe. we shouldn't be long."

Harry stood and grabbed hold of Remus's arm. The next thing he knew they were standing in front of the pub. Remus opened the door and they walked in. Aberforth was standing behind the bar running a dirty, threadbare rag listlessly over the top of it.

"We're closed. Death in the family, you know."

"Abe."

"Remus, I didn't know it was you, sorry. And you too, Harry," he said, looking up for the first time.

"I've been told that you are holding somethings for me?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I'll go fetch them," he said, disappearing into a room behind the bar. A few minutes later he came out carrying five more shrunken trunks.

"Here, there are two more, but I couldn't carry them. I'll be right back," he said disappearing again. Harry found a small sack and started putting them into it when Abe came back, carrying one shrunken trunk and a small chest. "There is also this," he said handing Harry a key. "He set it up not more than two days before it happened. Did you really see it happen? Was it reallySeverus?"

Harry shook his head. "Yes I saw and heard it all. It really was Snape."

"I should have killed that greasy bastard when I caught him snooping around that night. I knew he was never any good, but Albus would never listen to me. No, ev'ryone deserves a chance he said," Abe sniffed and grabbed a dusty bottle from under the bar. He produced three glasses and poured three fingers into each glass. Placing the bottle back on the bar he raised one of the glasses, indicating that Remus and Harry should do the same, "To the best damn brother and teacher anyone could ever have," he said, with a 'here, here' from the other two before downing the contents of the glass. Harry gasped as the fiery liquid hit the back of his throat, but he swallowed it before slamming his glass on the bar, following what Remus was doing.

Abe refilled the glasses.

"To Albus, the best of us all," said Remus.

Slamming the glasses again on the bar, Abe refilled them a third time. Harry, not quite sure what to say, paused for a minute. Remus poked him in the ribs, "Say something then, throw the glass into the fireplace, or we'll be here all day," he whispered into Harry's ear.

"To the man who was more than a teacher, he was more like my grandfather, to Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age!" yelled out Harry, downing the liquid and throwing the glass into the fireplace with such force it shattered and spit sparks and ashes all over the room. The other two followed suit.

After they left the bar, Remus pulled a vial of liquid from his pocket. Taking a swig he passed it to Harry, "Drink a sip of this, or you will be in no condition to do anything else today. I do hope you ate before we came here."

"Yesh, shir," slurred Harry, who was getting rather unsteady and turning a lovely shade of green. He dribbled the first sip down his chin, but on the second try got enough into his mouth for the potion to have an effect. "This stuff is great. Where can I get some?"

"You can't, but I can show you how to brew it. It's about the only potion I can brew well. I guess I had a lot of practice doing it to keep your father and Sirius out of detention. It is a recipe we stole off of Snape when we were in school. It works against the Cruciatus Curse too."

"Then I really need you to show me how to make it."

"Let's get back, first. Was Hermione setting up a Potions lab in there?"

"I think she was," replied Harry, before Remus Apparated them back to the tent.

Once there, Harry walked into the new library. Ginny was the only one present.

"Tonks, Ron, Hermione and the elves went to raid your house. They should be back in about an hour,&q

uot; said Ginny when Harry and Remus sat down.

"Why didn't you go?" asked Harry.

"Can't Apparate, remember?"

"Side-along with Tonks?"

"She said they'd be carrying too much on the way back to be able to do it. So what did he have for you?"

"Six more trunks, a chest and a key for a vault at Gringotts," said Harry, dumping the sack on the table. He opened the chest first, as it was the smallest and didn't have to be expanded. Inside the chest, which was charmed to be nearly weightless was a large amount of gold and a letter.

"Harry,

It is now summer and the school year has ended. This chest contains fifty thousand Galleons. This is money to spend on your task. I do not want to see you spending your own money on it, as you will need it when you have finished and have a family of your own. There is also a key to Vault 713. I have placed an additional hundred thousand Galleons in it, should you need it.

Each of the trunks contain items that I believe would be of aid to you. The first three are books. There is a library's worth of books in these trunks. The books cover all areas of knowledge. Many of these would be in the Restricted Section were they in the library. Also in the first trunk you will find a text book, that I believe you left behind.

The fourth trunk contains a well stocked wardrobe. I know that you have had to make do with cast-offs over the years. This is my birthday gift to you, hopefully to make up for that. You can never have too many sock, or robes for that matter.

The fifth trunk contains all the equipment and supplies needed to furnish a working Potions laboratory. I believe that the afore mentioned textbook will aid you in setting it up.

The sixth and final trunk contains all the other items your parents left in my care, including a key to the Potter family vault. I'm afraid it has been damaged and you will need to have a new one made. If you did not know, the vault you are currently using was set up as a trust vault for your use during your schooling. There are written copies of your parents' and Sirius's wills.

Peace

Albus Dumbledore"

Harry set the sixth trunk on the floor and tapped it with his wand. It opened into a large room, about the size of the Vernon Dursley's garage. In one corner was a filing cabinet. Harry opened a drawer and read the labled folders. One contained the wills and the rest various other papers, including official copies of his birth certificate, both the wizarding certificate and a Muggle one, his baptismal certificate and his parents' marriage certificate. There were also several crates of books, mostly Muggle literature and two complete sets of school texts. There were also several handwritten journals, in both his father's and his mother's handwriting. There were two crates of toys, both magical and Muggle, all were obviously for a baby or toddler. Several more crates contained household items, like dishes and silverware. A stack of furniture, shrunken, was in another crate. There was a small note, explaining how to brew the enlarging potion needed to restore the items to full size and that most of the items had been repaired, but may need some attention as all the repairs had not been professionally done. Finally, in one corner of the room was a large motorbike, with a note attached to it.

"Harry,

Perfesser Dumbledore said he was getting yer parents things together, sos I thought I should give this back to yer. Theres a book on how to use it in the saddlebag.'

Hagrid"

Harry carried the crate of baby things out of the room. Remus picked up a bundle that looked like another wizarding tent.

"We had fun with this. It wasn't as nice as this one. Just one big room, but four guys had no problems with it. I think you can attach it to this one, and use it like a garage. It has a loo in it and you can divide it into two rooms."

"Brilliant, I can store stuff in one and keep the bike and Buckbe...Witherwings in the other."

"That is what I was thinking."

Harry and Ginny started on the crate of toys, when the others arrived back with a series of pops.

"I wish you would have waited, because there is an item there I need to find."

"Don't worry. Dung hasn't cleaned out everything, just the silver. Everything else is just like we left it," said Tonks, "even the Harpy. She wasn't too happy about me being there, though. I was able to get rid of that umbrella stand. I sent it off to Aunt Cissy."

"Brilliant!" said Harry, smiling at the thought of it chasing Draco around the house, that is if Draco hadn't already become hippogriff dung.

Hermione blew out a breath and pushed her hair back from her face. "We grabbed all the books from the library. Nearly a thousand more."

"Well, in the stuff Dumbledore left for me with Aberforth there were three more trunks of books."

Hermione beamed at Harry's revelation. Ron just rolled his eyes.

"Mate, we snagged Sirius's broom. It is the mate to yours!" said Ron.

"Cool, but I have something to show you, later. There was a trunk of my parents' stuff and Hagrid added a little surprise for me."

"Not a dragon, I hope," said Hermione.

"No, Sirius's enchanted motorbike. And Remus found another tent. We can use it to store all this stuff. There is more furniture in the trunk from my parents and Dumbledore found my book, so he also included a portable potions lab."

"Harry, are you going to tell us what this is all about?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, but lets go to the lounge. I think you will all want to sit down for this. Dobby will you bring us some tea?"

""Yes, Dobby can do."

"Thank you."

When everyone was seated, Harry stood next to the fireplace, leaning against it.

"You remember all that crap in the Prophet about me being the Chosen One?"

When everyone nodded, he continued, "Well, it's true. I am the one who has to put an end to Tom."

"Tom, who is Tom?" asked Tonks.

"Tom Riddle, Voldemort," answered Ginny.

"Why you?" asked Remus. "It is the prophecy, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. "It doesn't matter if I believe it or not. He believes it, so he came after me when I was little and keeps on, kind of like those stupid battery commercials."

"What do batteries have to do with this?" asked Ron.

Hermione whispered something in Ron's ear. At first he looked confused and then he began to laugh.

"But where this idiot is concerned nothing is ever simple or easy. In order to make himself immortal or just damn hard to kill, he made some Horcruxes."

"Some Horcruxes?" asked Tonks.

"Yeah, Dumbledore thought that Tom was trying to split his soul into seven parts. He made his first one after he murdered his father and grandparents. That one has already been destroyed."

"It was the diary," whispered a pale Ginny. "He told me what he did. He even showed me how he did it."

"What!?!"

"He showed it all to me. How he made it, what he had to do, everything," she said, almost crying. "It was horrible."

Harry went over to her, and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I guess I really do need you with me, more now than ever. If he finds out you know this, you would probably be higher on his list of people to get than me, at least for a while."

"What about the others?" asked Tonks.

"Dumbledore destroyed one last summer. It was that ring. The third one is a locket, that I think is at Grimmauld Place. It was supposed to be in this cave. That is where we went that night, but the one there was a fake, it had been replaced."

"That locket from the drawing room?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, that one." Harry took out the note that had been in the replacement locket and handed it to her.

When she finished reading, she looked up and said, "Regulus."

"My thoughts too."

"Call Kreacher and have him bring you that locket. We need to destroy it," she said.

"Not so fast, Hermione, Dumbledore was severely cursed when he went after the ring. I still don't know if the curse was from getting it or trying to destroy it. We need to find out that and what Ginny knows first. But I would still prefer it in my hands than elsewhere."

She nodded.

"You said he was trying for seven parts, so that would mean six Horcruxes. You've told us about three of them, what about the other three? Do you know what and where they are?" asked Remus.

"Sort of. The fourth one is a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. The fifth is where the problem is. It is an unknown artifact that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw or something other than the sword that belonged to Godric Gryffindor."

"The hat. The Sorting Hat. That was Gryffindor's too," said Ron.

Everyone looked at him.

"What, after listening to Hermione going on about Hogwarts: A History for all this time I couldn't help but pick up some of it."

Hermione hugged him, "You've actually been listening?"

Ron blushed, "Yeah, I guess."

Ginny snickered, Harry noticed that she had stopped crying but wasn't make any move away from his embrace. So he continued.

"The sixth one is also a bit of a problem. Dumbledore believed that the sixth one is Nagini, Riddle's snake."

"So we have three of them. The other three are either very hard to get at or unknown. This is madness. I have never heard of a wizard making more than one," said Remus.

"Well madman seems to be Riddle's middle name. His grandfather Marvolo Gaunt and his uncle Morfin were all a bit nutters, so it seems to be a family trait. But you are right, the last three are going to be difficult to find. I think that some of those memories that Dumbledore left me have clues."

"First before you do anything, though, you need to be trained up a bit," said a serious Tonks.

"I know. I was thinking about having you," he said nodding to Tonks and Remus, "Bill and maybe McGonagall tutor me--us."

"That is a good idea, but I think Kingsley or Mad-eye would be better than me."

"No, Kingsley is too busy. He was on that protection detail, last I heard. And I would rather just consult with Mad-eye than have him for a teacher," said Harry.

"I guess you're right. So when do we start?"

"Well, anytime. We can stay out here and work or I guess we can put Grimmauld place back under the Fidelius and move in there."

"Save that as a later option. For the time being you should stay out here. Use your father's tent in addition to this one," said Remus.

"I need to go to Gringotts and at least Flourish and Blott's. Do you think we can cast the Fidelius over the tents?"

"Yes, but first you need to learn Runes. It would be best if all of you learned them."

"Hermione and I know enough, I suppose," said Ginny.

"Have you worked that far ahead?"

"Almost all of sixth year, it seems easy for me. Almost too easy," she said.

"There is a way to learn non-skill intensive subjects. It requires a special Pensieve and memory extracts. It is used for learning languages and such. Runes is one of the common items learned like this," said Tonks. "Most Aurors don't study them in school, so they pick them up this way."

"What are the disadvantages?" asked Hermione.

"Other than a ripping headache the first few times you use it, I can't think of any."

"So how much do they cost?"

"About 500 Galleons for each Pensieve and 50 Galleons or so for each extract."

"Do they have to be personalized or can anyone use the same Pensieve?"

"Anyone can use the Pensieve, but the extracts are single use. After you view them you absorb them."

"Alright, can you get four of them and four sets of the Runes extracts. Hermione do you think we should get any languages?"

"At least Latin, Greek and French," she said.

"And four each of those. Anything else, Remus?"

"I would say Arithmancy basics and basic spell theory. But not everyone needs those."

Harry looked around at the other three teens. They nodded. "Get four of those too." He stood and retrieved the chest from the other room. Opening it he began to count out the money.

"Bloody hell! Where did all that come from?" asked Ron.

"Dumbledore. He set it aside for me to buy this kind of stuff. He said it was to use for this task, so this is the first thing I'm going to do with it," he grabbed the small sack he carried the trunks in. "4000 should cover it?"

Tonks nodded. "I should go get them and you lot can start on them tonight."

Turning back to the group, "Ginny why don't you and Ron start setting up the Potions lab. The fifth marked trunk has everything you need. Hermione, you and Remus will tackle the books?"

"Sure," she said getting up.

"I'm going to have Kreacher find that locket," said Harry, heading off towards the bedrooms.