A Living Secret ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 6 ~ Moving Forward

Fawkes soared high above a landscape which was illuminated by moonlight, his sharp eyes searching for the sign that would identify a very special location. This mission was best pursued at night, and his enhanced vision served him well. He was flying over the mountains now and seeking a plateau that was far from the beaten path. Albus had given him the landmark to look for, an etching in the earth visible only from above.

After flying over the area several times because of low-lying fog, the phoenix saw something, a design partially covered by mist. He flew a bit lower, then squawked as he found the symbol he was looking for.

A bee. A bumblebee painstakingly etched in the rock, four wings spread. The Phoenix dropped quickly, scanning the area until he saw the tiny, upright stones in the light of the moon. He landed in the middle of a small family graveyard. Only four tombstones rested here, the occupants interred beneath for many years. Fawkes examined each stone, trying to match the symbols carved into the stones to the image Albus gave him.

Fawkes could not read, but he could divine shapes and presently he stopped in front of a headstone that read:

Alfred Brinley Dumbledore
Beloved Husband and Father
Jan. 17th, 1800 – Dec. 16th, 1890

Fawkes lowered his head respectfully for several moments, fluffed up his feathers and began to scratch at the hardened earth with a purpose.

*******************************************

Severus immediately went to his lab and checked his stores for the following ingredients

Lacewing flies, crude Antimony, unsucculated leeches, Fluxweed, Sal Ammoniac, Knotgrass, lunar-extracted horn of Bicorn, rasplings of Salpeter, Mercury, Mars, and last but not least, desiccated Boomslang skin.

Yes, he had everything he needed. Since polyjuice potion took a month to brew, Severus decided to create a large quantity. As he worked he couldn’t help but wonder just who he would be turned into. The hairs in Nagini’s lair were from people killed at the revels…muggles and magical folk alike. He could be mistaken for someone missing for a long period of time. He had no way of knowing where the dead originated from, which would make this assignment even more perilous. He could run into someone searching for the witch, wizard or muggle he was impersonating. That could be awkward. Worse than awkward.

It could get him caught.

But then again, Severus had an ace up his sleeve that had served him well when he got into tight spots before. He would utilize it if need be. He kept it a secret, even from Albus, though he suspected the old wizard knew. Albus seemed to know everything.

Damn, if only he had known following Harry to the Ministry would result in his death.

Severus frowned to himself as he pulverized knotgrass. Perhaps Albus had known. It wouldn’t have stopped him in any case. He was also a Gryffindor, and as all Slytherins knew, Gryffindor was interchangable with “fool” and fools rushed in. Even if they were noble fools. Had Albus Dumbledore been a Slytherin, most likely he would still be alive.

Increasing the portions of ingredients, Severus added them to several cauldrons, covered them and set them to low simmer. It would be a week before the next stage. The Potions Master cleaned his workspace meticulously, then retired to his rooms.

*****************************************************

Seated at her small writing desk in her bedroom, Hermione Granger studied at the parchment she was writing on. The witch was listing possible reasons why she would feel the Headmaster’s powers after his death. She only had three scenarios that she felt were possible.

1. Albus Dumbledore didn’t really die, it was a ruse.

It could be that the Headmaster wasn’t killed in the fall, and there was a conspiracy to hide that fact for whatever reason. Professor Snape could be in on it, or not aware the wizard survived. Possibly they found a way to emulate the Killing curse without actually using it. Some kind of illusion.

Ways to check: Talk to Madame Pomfrey and try to get details. No students had seen the body. By the reactions of the staff, they believed him dead. Their grief couldn’t be false…they weren’t actors.


2. Albus Dumbledore created a Horcrux and hid it away.

Hermione thought this was a likely scenario. She didn’t know if Horcruxes gave off magical signatures. There wasn’t much information on Horcruxes at the school. More than likely she would have to order a book on them. She knew that a person had to murder someone to fragment his soul so it could be placed in another vessel. It was easy to imagine Voldemort killing someone to create a Horcrux, but not the Headmaster. Still, he had killed over the years for the Greater Good. Maybe that was enough to fragment his soul. Hermione knew the wizard respected life very deeply…it could be that taking it, no matter the circumstances, was enough to provide the fragmentation.

3. Albus Dumbledore was a ghost and giving off residual magic leftover from Life.

Hermione wasn’t sure about this. She had never seen a ghost do magic. Peeves did, but he was a poltergeist and not a ghost. She had come to the conclusion Peeves got his powers from the unsettled emotions of the student body, since poltergeists seemed to manifest around adolescents and young adults. If this were the case, Peeves was fueled by hundreds of angsty students. No wonder he was so naughty. In Dumbledore’s case, he hadn’t been seen about Hogwarts as far as Hermione knew, but he could have appeared since they all left for vacation. She would have to question the ghosts when she returned to the castle.

Hermione frowned as she looked at the three possibilities, then a light bulb appeared over her head for a moment, fading away as she wrote down her next idea.

Question the Headmaster’s portrait in the Headmaster’s office.

Portraits of all the former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts were kept in the Head office, and they could be asked advice. No doubt the portrait of Albus Dumbledore hung there as well and could give her some answers. Maybe. She’d have to get past McGonagall in order to get the chance to question the painting.

It could be done.

Hermione stared at the parchment, her amber eyes shifting back to the Horcrux idea. If the Headmaster had left a Horcrux, where would he have hidden it to keep it safe? A sock? A lemon drop? No. He wouldn’t do that would he? How did one check for a Horcrux? She needed to talk to Harry. He hadn’t given her any details about how he planned to identify Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Perhaps he could feel them, since he was supposed to be connected to the evil wizard in some manner.

No. If that were the case, Harry would have known that the locket he and Dumbledore retrieved from did not contain a fragment before going through what they did.

Yes. She had to talk to Harry.

******************************************

Harry had given Hermione a magic mirror to use to contact him. She hadn’t utilized it yet because she didn’t feel she should be frivolous with it. It wasn’t the kind of thing to be used for idle chitchat, but for important reasons. Well, this was important.

She decided to take Ron’s advice and not tell Harry about feeling Dumbledore’s magic. She simply wanted to know a little more about Horcruxes. In the privacy of her bedroom she opened the top drawer of her dresser, pulled out the mirror, walked back over to her bed, sat down and looked into it.

“Harry Potter,” she said to her reflection.

The mirror clouded up for a moment, then Harry’s face appeared in the mirror. Hermione smiled at him brightly, but for some reason…Harry didn’t smile back.

“Hi Harry,” Hermione said, looking a bit taken aback at the cold look her friend was giving her.

“Ron told me you’d probably be contacting me,” he said with a bit of iron in his voice.

Hermione scowled immediately. She’d bet even galleons that Ron had told Harry about her theory concerning Dumbledore after he’d told her not to do it. Ron could be very vindictive and probably wanted Harry to be mad at her too.

“Yes, I haven’t talked to you for a while, Harry,” she began.

“Dumbledore is dead, Hermione. I saw him die. I saw Snape kill him,” Harry said, “I don’t care what you’re feeling. What you’re feeling is nothing compared to my seeing him die. Snape murdered him in front of my eyes. He was too weak to survive it. Besides, no one survives a Killing curse.”

Hermione stared at him.

“I didn’t call you to talk about that, Harry…but I am mad that you know. Ron told me not to tell you and then turns around and tells you himself. Probably because he wants you to be mad at me too. I broke up with him, you know,” she said to the-boy-who-lived.

”Yes, I know. Because he tried to talk some sense into you,” Harry said, clearly showing Hermione whose side he was on concerning the breakup.

Hermione decided to avoid the whole conversation concerning her and Ron. There were bigger brooms to fly.

“Harry, I’m trying to come up with ways to help you when I return to Hogwarts,” she said placatingly, “I wanted to ask you how do you identify a Horcrux? How will you know when you find one?”

Harry blinked at her for a moment, considering whether he should answer her or not. He decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell her, despite the crazy notions the witch was entertaining. Hermione was still very intelligent, even if she wasn’t being logical concerning Dumbledore. That could be because of grief however.

“Well, I only know how to identify an inanimate Horcrux. There are living Horcruxes as well, when a soul fragment is put inside a living creature. I have to figure out how to identify a soul fragment in something alive. To check for an inanimate Horcrux, you just have to use a medi-witch spell, the one they use when checking someone’s overall health. The wand tip will glow blue to show they are healthy. An inanimate object doesn’t have a life force, so shouldn’t glow. If it does, more than likely it contains a soul fragment. If you check anything alive, it’s going to glow regardless, so you can’t tell if it has one,” he said, adjusting his glasses.

“I see,” Hermione said, thinking hard, “I tell you what, Harry. I’ll try to find out how to identify a Horcrux that’s been placed inside a living thing. When I do, I’ll tell you,” she said.

Harry smiled at her now. Because of the secrecy of his mission, he couldn’t consult anyone. Plus he was supposed to be in the muggle world, so he was very limited as to where he could travel. But he had Dobby with him, for pay of course…though the house elf would have worked for Harry for free…he loved him so much. Dobby did all the shopping and such for the wizard. With Hermione doing research for him, he had a better chance at accomplishing what he had to set out to do.

”I appreciate that, Hermione,” he said to her, “I need all the help I can get.”

Hermione had also taken an oath concerning Harry’s mission, but unlike Ron, who took an across the board oath, Hermione structured hers. Her oath stated that she would not say anything to anyone that would endanger Harry’s mission. In this way, the oath was protective. It wouldn’t allow her to discuss the search for the Horcruxes with anyone who had the inclination to interfere, impede or pass information about the mission. It gave her more leeway to investigate the situation, the oath serving as a kind of filter. Even if she didn’t know the motivations of the person she spoke to, the oath could and would curtail the conversation. Hermione was one smart witch.

“You know I’ll help you any way I can, Harry. And I’ve decided to return to Hogwarts. I think…well…I just think it’s best,” Hermione said.

Harry nodded, thinking Hermione felt she had worked too hard at her marks to skive off without graduating. She was right, too. Plus she would be safe at Hogwarts.

“Ron will be going back too,” Harry said, “though he doesn’t want to. His mum and dad are making him go back. He wanted to come with me.”

Hermione thought Harry sounded a bit relieved about that. He probably was. Harry was always worried something would happen to them because of him.

Hermione didn’t respond to what Harry said about Ron. He was her least favorite person right now, especially since he had told Harry about her claim to feel Dumbledore’s magic. What a git he was.

Harry looked at Hermione, then cleared his throat.

“Um…Hermione, I didn’t mean to sound so angry, but you know…I witnessed…” he began.

“Don’t worry about it, Harry. I understand,” she said, giving him a small smile.

And she did, really. Harry had to be feeling a large amount of guilt at not being able to help Dumbledore and letting Snape get away. Neither occurrence was his fault, but Harry took on the sins of the world all the time. Her claim to feel Dumbledore probably only added to his feelings of guilt. Harry believed him dead.

“Listen, I’m going to go,” Hermione said to the wizard, “I’ll contact you as soon as I find out anything important.”

”All right, Hermione. Be good and be careful,” Harry said, his eyes sober.

“I will. And you do the same, Harry,” Hermione replied.

The wizard’s image faded and her own reflection looked back at her.

“I’m going to find out what’s going on,” Hermione said to herself determinedly, “There’s more here than meets the eye.”

Hermione returned the magic mirror to her dresser drawer and sat back down at her desk, studying the parchment again, and planning her next move, which was to go down to Flourish & Blotts book shop and order a book that discussed Horcruxes.

She’d move forward from there.

*********************************
A/N: Another chapter. Hermione’s brain is working and working hard. What’s Fawkes up to? Hmm. Well, we’ll find out eventually. Thanks for reading.