Pieces of a Soul

Chapter 12: Blood Magic

Lupin was thankful that his nausea seemed to have passed as he leaned over the ancient book on the table in the Grimmauld Place library. Beside him, Hermione was nearly shaking in nervous anticipation of what he would say, but the look on her face was anything but excited. It was very clear that, for perhaps the first time ever, Hermione wanted to be wrong.

Tonks surveyed the two of them from the doorway, her brow knotted with confusion. Though she had known since the previous year that Harry was the one destined to finally rid the world of Voldemort, she had not become privy to the actual way in which he planned to do it.

"It's ancient, and it's rather rudimentary," Hermione was saying thoughtfully. "But at the same time, it's extremely powerful, more so even than an Unbreakable Vow."

"Blood magic," Lupin muttered. "We'll weaken Hogwarts itself if we do this...but if there's no other way...new bonds..."

"Any chance one of you might tell me what's going on?" Tonks asked cheerfully. "Or would it be better for me to bugger off for awhile?" The look on her face lent credence to the fact that she would not be angry if she was asked to leave. Lupin smiled. Her easy-going nature was one of the things he loved most about her.

"I'd like to discuss it with Harry and the others first," he told her. "Do you mind?"

"Right," she said, grinning as she changed her hair to a violent shade of green. "I'll just go down and make a spot of lunch." Before anyone could reply, she turned on her heels and hurried out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.

Lupin groaned after her.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked distractedly, having barely noticed the interaction at all.

"Her cooking..." Lupin said ruefully.

Hermione giggled and then told him, "I think it's time we get Harry, Ron and Ginny in here."

While Lupin left to gather the rest of the teenagers, Hermione leaned even closer over the book.

"Of course, Harry's not an heir...but his connection with Voldemort, who is one..." she whispered, trailing her fingers down the dusty parchment.

"An heir of what?" Ron asked loudly, startling Hermione. She jumped, knocking over a glass of water.

"Ronald!" she sputtered angrily, using her wand to siphon the liquid before it ruined the ancient book she was studying.

"Sorry," Ron said, shrugging at Harry and Ginny, who rolled their eyes with sympathy. Hermione's attitude towards books, especially old, smelly books, had always bordered on the ridiculous.

"An heir of what?" Ginny asked after the mess had completely vanished.

"The Hogwarts founders," Hermione said, chewing the end of her quill thoughtfully.

"Like Voldemort was the Heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked disdainfully.

"Right," Hermione answered. "From what I can tell, none of the other three founders has any surviving descendants, which means that someone with Salazar Slytherin's blood would be the only person who could destroy the cup."

"The bond would be that strong?" Tonks asked casually from the doorway. "Really, if you lot want to keep secrets, you've got to remember to shut the doors. There are charms that can help you with that, you know."

All four of them turned sharply towards her, their faces gazing with no small amount of surprise and betrayal at Lupin, who was standing right behind her. "I didn't say anything," he assured them. "Actually, quite the contrary. Tonks," he continued, looking at her seriously, "I thought you were going to make lunch."

"And I thought you didn't like my cooking," Tonks said mischievously, "so I took the liberty of asking Dobby to bring us some lunch from the school. He'll be here shortly."

Harry and the others exchanged looks. "Lupin could use some support," Ginny whispered. "Tonks won't tell anyone; she never has before."

"It puts her in danger," Harry argued. "If she got captured..."

"She'd be buggered anyway," Ron pointed out. "She's in the Order. Not that I think we need to tell everyone about it, mind, but..."

"I think Ginny's right," Hermione said decidedly. "Lupin needs some support. We all have each other; who has he got?"

Harry almost protested, but seeing the look on Ginny's face, nodded reluctantly instead.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked. "Could you get Tonks up to speed while I tell them what we've stumbled upon?"

Lupin nodded, and the relief was apparent. He motioned to Tonks, and they left the room.

"Now," Hermione said with a deep breath. "Harry, I think there's a blood magic charm on this cup. I think it was used in a ritual when the Hogwarts charter was bound."

"You've said something like that before," Ginny pointed out.

"Yes, but I have more information now," Hermione said patiently, pointing to the large book. "It's funny. This is a ritual that is used by Muggle 'magicians' sometimes, and the magic is so potent that it can effect a strong bond on even non-magical casters."

"Muggles use magic, too?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Some of them think they do," Hermione replied. "I remember that there was one of them, I think she practiced something she called Wicca, who lived on my street when I was young. I asked Professor Dumbledore about her in my first year, but he said she was simply a Muggle who had some knowledge of Herbology and a fascination with our world, even if she didn't really know anything about us."

"So what do we have to do to break it?" Harry asked determinedly.

Hermione hesitated. "I think you're the only one who can," she said softly.

"Why Harry?" Ginny asked aggressively, for she had been planning on taking the risks this time. It wasn't fair that Harry had to risk his life over and over again, especially when they all knew that he would have to do so yet again before it was all over.

"That's the difficult part," Hermione said, sighing. "I think the blood bond can only be broken by someone who carries the blood of one of the Founders."

"But I don't..." Harry protested.

"But you share a bond with someone who does," Hermione whispered, not able to meet his eyes.

"But not his blood!" Ron said hotly.

"In a way, he does," Hermione corrected. "Voldemort used your blood to regain his body, didn't he?"

Harry flushed and nodded. He did not like to remember that night.

"It's the only thing I can figure," Hermione said anxiously and quickly, as though she was determined to get the worst over. "It's why you could feel vibrations from Slytherin's locket and from the cup too. You have a blood connection, through...through him." She looked down and took a deep breath. "I'm really, really sorry, Harry," she added when no one spoke for a long moment.

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry finally said. "It's not your fault, and no one but you could have figured it out, anyway. It makes sense."

"So when are we going to do it?" Ron blurted out.

"And the main question is, how?" Ginny asked.

"As long as there isn't any kind of long preparation," Harry said, "I'd like to do it today, as soon as we can. There's a lot left to do after this."

"There's not," Hermione said. "We'll still use the same incantation."

"But that didn't work before," Ginny interrupted. "Even when Harry was holding the cup, it didn't work."

"He has to put some of his blood in the cup, and some wine," Hermione said, looking away from all of them. "Then he has to drink it to break the bond. It's the only way the cup will be destroyed."

"Today," Harry said firmly.

Ginny turned away to hide the fear in her eyes.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"I've just got one question," Tonks said reasonably as they walked up the stairs to the Grimmauld Place attic. "If Death Eaters met you lot at Malfoy Manor, then it's pretty clear that Voldemort already knows what you're up to. Why doesn't he just make more Horcruxes? We all know he doesn't mind killing people." She shuddered at the pure evil of what she had just said, but there had been no other way to pose the question.

"Tom Riddle split his own soul into seven pieces," Lupin said. "At least, that was what Dumbledore believed. He's only got one of those seven pieces inside himself right now. If he splits it more, he runs the risk of losing his power, his innermost self, so to speak. He knows that, and he won't be in a hurry to take that risk. I believe he'll do it only at his greatest need, if all of his Horcruxes have been destroyed. We'll go into that later, though," he concluded quickly. Now that he knew Harry was bound and determined to finish the deed this very day, he wanted to concentrate on what had to be done.

Harry looked calmer than the rest of them as they formed a loose circle around him. Taking the cup from a small table, he knelt on the floor.

"Why is he kneeling?" Ginny whispered to Lupin, watching Harry with fascination.

"So he won't fall," Lupin answered quietly, watching as Harry filled the cup nearly to the top with the dark red, elf-made wine Aberforth had sent them earlier that day.

"You won't need a lot of blood," Hermione cautioned him. "And if you use too much, it's going to make you sick to your stomach."

"Right," Harry said, not looking at any of them as he took out his wand.

"Be careful!" Ginny couldn't help exclaiming.

He stopped for a moment and looked at her, his eyes shining. "It'll be okay, Ginny," he said softly. Without another word, he used his wand to slash his palm right across the center. In no time at all, a bright red line of blood shone across the tender tissue of his palm, but he did not wince. Squeezing his hand to make the blood drip into the cup below it, he kept his eyes trained on his task.

As they had planned, Lupin stepped forward, quickly mended Harry's hand with his wand, and then stepped back. Making eye contact with the other three teenagers and Tonks, he nodded.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Tonks asked, her voice much more serious and hushed than usual.

"Ready," Harry replied. Together, they began to say the incantation that had destroyed the Gaunt ring and Slytherin's locket, and the fear in the room was almost palpable.

Harry kept muttering the words as be brought the cup to his lips. Quickly, he drained it, making a face as the thick red wine mixed with his own blood slid down his throat. Swallowing fiercely, he rejoined the others in repeating the incantation.

After they had finished, Harry rose to his feet, casting aside the cup, which had lost the bright gleam of its gold veneer and now looked as though it has been hewn of wood rather than precious metal. He looked at them all before finally settling his gaze on Lupin.

"Harry?" Ginny asked tentatively, unable to believe that he had actually come through unscathed.

He ignored her, and raised his left hand into the air. With a sharp slash, he brought it down across his body. He muttered no incantation, but his power was clear as Lupin went flying towards the opposite wall, slamming into it with enough force that the wood cracked and dust flew down onto all of them from the rafters above.

"Harry, no!" Ron yelled as Harry rounded on Tonks next, for she was closest to Lupin and was now staring at him with an astonished look on her face. She had no idea what was going on. At the moment, none of them did.

"Half-breeds and blood-traitors," Harry muttered, but in the confusion, no one but Ginny heard him. He waved his wand again, and Tonks joined Remus on the other side of the room, knocked out by the sheer force of the unexpected attack.

He was knocked over as Ron rushed from his side and tackled him to the ground. "Harry, what in the bloody hell are you doing?" he yelled furiously.

Hermione rushed to them and wrenched Harry's wand from his hand. "He's not right in the head, Ron; don't hurt him!" she exclaimed, "but be careful!"

"Right," Ron shouted as Harry's body began to radiate with heat, and Ron began to have trouble keeping him down. His best friend's face made it seem as though he was in terrible pain, but when Ron eased up on him a little bit, he immediately began to fight.

Ginny quietly walked over to the floor where her brother and Harry were locked in a furious struggle. She knew if it went on much longer, her brother would be the one who came off the worse, and Harry might go past the point of no return. Forcing herself not to see the look of pain on Harry's face, she trained her wand straight on his heart.

"Solvo is animus," she began in a strong voice with barely a hint of a quiver. "Labefactum viniculum quod ligo - "

"Ginny, what are you doing?" Hermione cried. "You'll kill him!"

Ginny ignored her and continued the incantation to release a Horcrux from its bonds. She knew what was happening to Harry, even if no one else wanted to accept it. "...ut is Terra. Solvo - "

"Ginny, NO!" Hermione screamed as Harry's skin began to turn red as he thrashed under Ron's weight.

Ginny shouted the last part of the incantation as quickly as she could, seeing that Hermione had raised her wand and meant to Stun her or Silence her or some other creative way to make her stop what she knew had to do. "- is animus! Tergum ut obscurum ex unde is venit!"

Harry's body arched, throwing Ron off his chest and lifting into the air. Watching in horror, Ron, Hermione and Ginny waited as the walls shook with raw energy and Harry was thrown back onto the floor with even more force than he had thrown at Tonks and Lupin only moments before.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, running to him as he lay on the ground, his eyes opening.

"Is it done?" he asked weakly, having no idea what had happened in the minutes before.

"It's done," Ron, Hermione and Ginny said together.

On the other side of the room, Tonks awoke, and ran straight for Lupin a few feet away.

"Is he okay? Are you?" Hermione asked anxiously, leaving Harry's side.

"Blimey," Tonks said. "I'm okay. I think Remus is, too. But what happened to Harry?"

Lupin chose that moment to open his eyes, and it was clear to everyone in the room that he was looking for Harry before he sought anyone else.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Mate, you threw them both against the wall," Ron answered shakily. "Without using your wand or - "

"He had you," Ginny whispered softly, putting her arms around Harry's body, feeling the heat radiate through her robes and down to her skin. "But everything will be okay now, my love."

"Because of Ginny," Ron said gruffly.

"She saved us," Hermione agreed. "But - "

"I did what I had to do," Ginny said quietly.

"I want to hear all about it," Lupin said, "but I think we'd do well to get out of this attic first." As he pointed, they noticed for the first time that the very walls and beams were cracked and creaking, and the four teens, followed by Tonks and then Lupin, hurried out and downstairs into the kitchen before the whole room collapsed.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

Emmeline Vance was absorbed in thoughts of her latest lesson for the seventh-year Transfiguration students. With NEWTs approaching in only a few months, she was attempting to advance her students to the adult level of magic that would be required of them in the test. It was no small task.

She did not glance at the large hourglasses depicting the points for each house as she passed them on her way into the Great Hall for dinner. When a large cracking noise, almost like a firecracker, sounded through the cavernous Entrance Hall, she jumped, as did many of the students on their way to their meals, and she gaped in surprise just as they did when she found the source of the sound.

The thick crystal of the Gryffindor hourglass had cracked along its entire length.