Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice
Post 15: Acturus' Folly
Chapter 13
Arcturus' Folly
It took nearly 45 minutes to bring Remus up to speed. By that time, the sun was dangerously low on the horizon, and every so often Remus would catch himself growling quietly. They explained everything to him, from Voldemort's personal history to the Bloody Baron's cryptic message.
"Horcruxes," Remus muttered quietly. "So obvious.. and yet none of us thought of it."
"Even if you had, I doubt you could have guessed that He would make more than one," reassured Hermione. "Probably the only person who could have guessed that would have been Slughorn."
Remus sat a moment in thought. "Here's what I think. I think I need to chain myself up in the attic right now. We'll discuss our next step once I've recovered tomorrow."
Harry beamed. "So you're going to help us then?" he said excitedly.
Remus gaped at him. "What kind of a question is that?" he asked, incredulous. "You're damn right I'm going to help you!!"
Remus got up to leave. "I want the two of you to stay here tonight," he said. "You can use the same rooms you used when you stayed here before. And Harry?"
"Yes?"
"You have no idea how good it is to see you safe."
…
Remus had placed silencing charms all around the attic so that nobody would be bothered by his constant howling & growling. As such, Hermione slept soundlessly across the hallway from Harry. Harry was not so lucky.
He was dreaming again.
Currently, he could find nothing in his dream to worry him. He was standing on a balcony overlooking a rather tranquil countryside in the early hours of the morning. He was waiting for something.. or someone…
He then noticed them. Several unicorns had just crested a hillside about a mile away and had began running towards the bottom of the hill. They did not seem to be agitated at all, but for some reason he could sense that they were unhappy.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned on his heel. He found himself face to face with Fenrir Greyback. Fenrir got down on one knee. "You summoned me, my Lord?"
"Indeed," Harry said. "But first, may I ask how well Snape's Wolfsbane potion worked for you?"
"It worked exactly as promised my Lord," said Greyback. "Though I must say I would prefer not to take it. My reflexes are much more heightened when I am completely lost in my wolf form."
Harry nodded. "I have an assignment. You may involve some of your kin if you wish, but I would prefer this be handled by you and you alone."
"As you wish, my Lord," said Greyback. "I will only seek assistance if absolutely necessary. What would you wish of me?"
"You are to play a crucial role in the ceremony which I have planned for next year," said Harry. "You are to find four Mudblood children and bring them to me."
"Most certainly my Lord. It should be a simple task."
"Not that simple," said Harry, annoyed. "I haven't told you which four children yet!"
Fenrir cowered, anticipating a curse. When none came, he said "My apologies, my Lord. Which four children did you have in mind?"
"That is for you to discover," said Harry. "I require four children born at certain times during the year. I require 2 Mudblood girls born during the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes. And I require 2 Mudblood boys born during the Summer and Winter Solstices."
Harry waited for Greyback to ask him any questions. When he didn't, Harry continued.
"The age of the children does not matter, save for the boy born during the Winter Solstice. This child must still be an infant by the time the ceremony begins. Therefore, he must be born this coming Solstice."
Fenrir frowned as he began to appreciate this difficulty of this task. "And.. who will care for these children until the ceremony begins, my Lord?"
Harry smirked. "You, of course, Fenrir. And make no mistake – these children must be in perfect health, not to mention still human," he said, with a warning look in his eye, "by the time we are ready to begin."
"You wish for me… to be a babysitter, my Lord?"
"CRUCIO!"
The curse that Fenrir had expected earlier was now upon him in full force.
"I WISH FOR YOU TO DO AS YOU ARE TOLD WITHOUT QUESTION!"
Fenrir was fading away. His face was melting and transforming, and oddly it was starting to look like Hermione.
"Harry! HARRY!"
Harry sat upright in his bed at 12 Grimmauld Place. His scar was on fire, and he was still screaming.
"YOU HAVE UNTIL THE MONTH OF JUNE TO FIND THESE CHILDREN, GREYBACK!"
Hermione screamed in horror and stumbled backwards away from the bed. That was not Harry's voice.
Harry screamed again, in his own voice, and fell off the bed onto the floor, where he began to convulse. Hermione's concern over her friend eventually won out over her horror at what she had just heard, and she kneeled down at Harry's side. Gradually, Harry's convulsions died down and he was able to look around. Hermione remained silent. He would talk when he was ready.
His breathing finally returned to normal. He looked up at Hermione and half-grinned. "If you say one word about my Occlumency lessons.."
She laughed and stood up. Shakily, Harry stood up as well and sat on the bed. Hermione got right to the point. "Was it Voldemort?"
Harry nodded. "I was Voldemort. And this was probably the most vivid one yet. I was giving orders to Fenrir Greyback…" Harry's eyes widened. "There were unicorns there… and he mentioned a ceremony."
Hermione nodded, as if she had been expecting this. "That confirms it, I suppose," she said. "But I don't think that'll be enough to convince the Bloody Baron to tell us the rest."
Harry frowned. "There was something else… at the end… something right before I woke up.."
Hermione seemed to not have heard this; she got up and started pacing. "This is.. so unlike him! Why isn't he blocking you any more Harry?"
Harry chuckled. "Maybe he thinks I'm dead too?" he said jokingly.
Hermione stopped and turned to look at Harry. "That's not funny. What if that's exactly the reason why?"
"Voldemort is not going to believe the Prophet or rumors that Death Eaters were at Bill & Fleur's wedding," said Harry. "He wouldn't think I was dead unless he'd seen the body for himself. He's just trying to bait me again."
"Bait you?"
"Bait me out in to the open, like he did with Sirius," Harry answered. "In fact, who knows if what he's sending me is what is actually happening?"
Hermione thought about this, then nodded. "However, that doesn't mean we should discount anything you're seeing," she said. "What were the orders you…. He was giving to Greyback?"
"He was ordering him to kidnap some children," Harry said in disgust. "Four Mud…" Harry realized what he had been about to say and clapped his hands over his mouth. Hermione either did not notice or did not mind. "..Muggle born children born at certain times during the year."
Hermione looked puzzled. "If that's supposed to be bait, it's not very good," she said. "You would think he'd try for something more personal to you, like he did with Sirius."
Harry shrugged. "Who can fathom his logic?"
"I'm sure it's connected to this ceremony, whatever it is," surmised Hermione. "I think it's time we read a little more in to the history of Arcturus Black."
"Go for it," said Harry. "Just wait until after we've…." Harry's eyes widened as he finally remembered what he had seen at the end of the dream.
"What?" asked Hermione. "What is it!?"
"Your missing personal interest," Harry said smugly. "Hagrid was in the dream. He was herding the unicorns!"
…
"Remus, isn't there anyone who could follow Snape's instructions and make the Wolfsbane potion for you?"
"No doubt Horace Slughorn could," replied Remus. "But he's gone back in to hiding, I'm afraid."
Remus had come downstairs that morning looking like he had fought off some giants for fun while he slept. The fact that his multiple bruises and cuts were self-inflicted made it that much more painful for Hermione to see.
"If I get a moment," Hermione said, "I'm going to try to make some before the next full moon."
Remus chuckled. "Good luck Hermione, but you…"
Harry cut him off. "It's no use arguing with her, sir," he said with a yawn. "She made Polyjuice Potion in her second year and she will not let anyone forget it."
Remus' eyes widened at this. "Why on earth would you be making Polyjuice Potion in your second year?"
"It's not important," said Hermione, and she glared at Harry. "We're going to destroy the cup today, and we need to focus on that."
She pushed back from the kitchen table and stretched. "Harry, you go ahead home. Remus and I will need to stop by the Weasley's first, of course."
"Why is that?" asked Remus.
"It's where we keep our secret keeper," said Harry. "He's helping Molly with housework until Hogwarts re-opens."
…
Harry had been waiting for nearly an hour, and had almost started to fall back asleep when he heard four pops outside.
"This is being the place, mister Lupin!" Harry heard from outside. "19 Wapcaplett Way. Just like mister Harry is telling me."
The front door opened. "Harry!" he heard Ginny yell. "Let's get this over with!"
Harry grabbed a hammer from the table on the side of the bed. He'd bought it specifically for today.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Ginny & Dobby both fought with each other to hug him first.
Once all the hellos had been said (Ginny, Ron, & Dobby had all insisted on being included) the 6 of them sat down at the dining room table, where Helga Hufflepuff's cup still sat.
"So are you just supposed to smash it and hope for the best?" asked Ginny.
Everyone exchanged glances around the table, and eventually everyone nodded.
"This has been done twice before," said Harry. "We'll never know what happened with the ring that Dumbledore destroyed, but when I destroyed the diary, the only thing bad that happened was I got some ink in my eye." He grinned. "It's like I said before. He wouldn't have to protect each one to feel safe. As long as one or two were heavily protected or cursed, he could afford to be blasé about the rest."
"Maybe," said Ron. "But the two that have had the most protection so far have been found. At least one of them was destroyed. He had to have known that His protection was still vulnerable."
"So?" said Ginny.
"So, I'm thinking Harry got lucky with the diary," said Ron. "I'd be willing to bet each of the others has some kind of curse on it. Especially considering how easily you found this one." He nodded towards the cup.
"Which is why we're so well prepared, Ronald," said Hermione, and she kissed his cheek. "All the potion ingredients Harry could afford are in the cupboards, at hand if we need them. We've got several curse breaking books on hand, all of which I've read through twice." Ron shook his head in amazement at this last part. "And we've got the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had sitting with us. We're as ready as we're ever going to be." She looked at Harry. "It's now or never!"
Harry stood up, hammer in hand, and regarded the cup. He raised the hammer up in to the air, but then…
"Harry, stop!" yelled Remus. Harry looked across the table at Remus, puzzled. "I'm sure Voldemort," (Ron, Ginny, and Dobby winced) "would have thought of this, but it wouldn't hurt to try and detect any curses first."
Without waiting for assent, Remus grabbed the cup from the table and pointed his wand at it. "Maleficus Deprehensio!"
For a few moments, nothing happened. Remus placed the cup back on to the table. After a few moments more, the cup started shaking violently. But just as quickly as it had started, it stopped.
Then the growling started.
A deep, angry, throaty growl was coming from inside the cup itself. It gradually turned into both snarls and growls, with the occasional bark and howl.
Everyone sat in stunned silence as the cup tipped over and started sniffing. Then, incredibly, Remus began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he almost fell out of his chair. Everyone began to look at him strangely, and Dobby was even becoming a little afraid. Once he had calmed down, he looked over at Harry.
"Whatever angels are watching over you Harry," Remus said, "I wish they would start sending some of your good luck my way." Harry cast him an amused but quizzical look.
"I don't know how he did it," continued Remus, "but Voldemort made sure that anyone who tried to destroy this cup would become…"
"A werewolf," Hermione finished for him, and began to laugh as well. Seconds later, the rest of the table joined her (including Dobby, who didn't get the joke).
"Allow me, Harry," said Remus, and he reached for the hammer in Harry's hands. Harry handed it over gladly.
"On three?" Remus asked. "1…2…3!"
Remus swung the hammer down and hit the cup on its side. Rather than shattering, the cup merely began to crack. This was apparently enough, for two things happened at once as soon as the crack reached the bottom of the cup.
From the crack came two apparitions. The first was the misty form of a miserable face that only Harry and Ginny recognized as the face of Tom Riddle. It still looked mostly human, so Harry surmised that this was probably one of the first Horcruxes that He had created, if not the first. This apparition quickly rose through the ceiling and disappeared, moaning as it went.
The second apparition was a ghostly wolf-shaped thing, which went straight for Remus, snarling angrily as it flew towards him. At first it appeared to be both disappearing in to his skin and melding with it at the same time.
A moment later, the apparition backed out of Remus, with what could only be described as a confused look on its face (if it even had a face). Harry wasn't sure how curses could be confused, but this one surely was. With a renewed sense of purpose, it flew at Remus once again, only to back out again twice as frustrated as before. Harry noticed that it had begun to lose form, and was more transparent than when it had first emerged from the crack in the cup. It decided to give up on Remus, and began to look around the table for someone else.
Remus knew the curse had already lost most of its power, but he didn't want to take any chances. In a flash his wand was out and pointed at the wolf-thing. Just as it had set its sights on Ron, Remus shouted "Immobulus!"
That was all it took. The wolf-thing froze, and then dissipated like a cloud of smoke.
"Dobby!" Ron shouted. "Geroff me!"
Everyone looked over at Ron, who now had a terrified house-elf on his head, holding on to his ears for dear life.
"No one is telling Dobby of these things, Wheezy!" Dobby said, trembling. "Dobby would stay at home with Mrs. Wheezy if he had known!"
"You're the one who begged to come," said Ron, still trying to pull Dobby off his head. "You didn't let us tell you what would happen!"
Dobby finally hopped off of Ron's head and crawled back to his chair, still trembling.
"Well now," said Remus with a smile, "let us hope that the remaining three will be as effortless as that one! What's the plan for finding the next one?"
Hermione and Harry looked at each other. Both sighed.
"There really isn't one Remus," said Harry. "Who knows where the locket is, and the other two we have no clue what they are."
"Well.. as for the locket," said Remus, "I'm surprised at you, Hermione. The most obvious place to start would be 12 Grimmauld Place. After all, Regulus wasn't exactly an outcast from his home once he became a Death Eater. Quite the opposite, I would imagine."
Hermione sighed. "I did think of that. But nothing is left there, Remus! Sirius got rid of everything in that house that belonged to his family," she said. "If the locket was there, it was thrown out, and could be anywhere now."
Remus thought this over. "You're right I suppose," he said. "But it's still a good place to start. I'm practically living there now anyway; I'll go through the house from top to bottom and see if I can find any clues that Regulus may have left behind."
Dobby suddenly perked up, and he looked over at Remus, his eyes shining. "I is realizing something, mister Harry Potter sir!" He laughed and clapped his hands together. "We is telling mister Lupin that you is alive, and where he can be finding you! Does this mean we can be telling Mrs. Wheezy soon?"
Hermione grabbed Dobby's hand and shook her head. "It was a risk even telling Remus, Dobby," she said. "I can't explain it, but I feel very strongly that this needs to stay a secret still. To be perfectly honest, I feel like too many people know already."
You were the one who told Ginny, thought Harry, but he stayed quiet.
Dobby nodded sadly, and looked down in to his lap. "It is just… I is seeing Mrs. Wheezy crying over Mister Harry's picture," said Dobby. "She is not knowing I am there.." He cast nervous glances at Ron and Ginny, expecting them to be angry, but they only looked sympathetic. "She is telling Mr. Wheezy it is her fault Mister Harry is gone. It is why she is being so strict with Ron and Ginny. Wheezys have been so good to Dobby.. Dobby wanted to give something back to Wheezys."
Ginny walked over and gave Dobby a hug. "We won't keep it a secret any longer than we need to Dobby," she said. "I promise you."
…
A short time later Dobby said his goodbyes and apparated back to The Burrow. Remus was about to leave when Harry remembered something from the previous night's meeting. He caught Remus on the front porch.
"Remus… did Molly ever get a hold of Hagrid last night?"
Remus thought about this for a moment. "I don't know if she did or not. He didn't show up, that's for certain."
Harry thought about Hagrid's role in his dream from the night before, and started to worry for the first time.
It must have shown on Harry's face, for Remus noticed it. "Harry?"
Harry shook his head. "It's nothing." He smiled. "I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed him.
Remus raised an eyebrow, but he decided to let it go. "I'll let you know the moment I find anything Harry," he said. "And even if I don't find anything in that house, I'll be back in a week to check on you." Harry nodded, and gave Remus a hug. He noticed for the first time that he was actually taller than Remus now.
Remus waved goodbye and popped out of existence. Harry went back inside.
Ron and Ginny were playing chess at the dining room table. Harry eventually found Hermione in the living room reading The Noble & Most Ancient House of Black – A History & Genealogy.
"Find anything interesting… or familiar?" asked Harry.
Hermione looked up at Harry and nodded enthusiastically. "Just look," she said.
She handed him the enormous book, which was turned to page 469. She pointed to the second paragraph on the page and indicated that that was where he should start reading.
It was not to be though, for Arcturus died in 1726, under suspicious circumstances. His body was found in the middle of an open field (in an area which is now covered by the dark forest surrounding Hogwarts) amidst a scene of horrifying carnage. Several known associates of Arcturus (including Ursa Gaunt, former Seeker for the Cannons, and Lister Parkinson) were found dead amongst the carnage, all of their bodies severed in to many pieces. Arcturus' body, however, was whole and undisturbed. If it weren't for the fact that he was dead, he would have appeared to be in perfect health. In fact, the only thing amiss about his body was the fact that it appeared to be drenched in Unicorn blood; yet there was not a single Unicorn to be found anywhere near the scene. It was first assumed that someone had performed the Killing Curse on him, but investigators could not even find any evidence of that. To this day, the cause of his death remains a mystery.
Set up at the center of the carnage was Arcturus' Gate (see page 467), a magical doorway to the land of the dead that Arcturus claimed he had created to learn more about death, and to attempt to contact some of his ancestors. Many theories have been formed to explain the deaths and their relationship to the Gate. The theory most widely agreed upon by historians was the most simple and obvious one – that Arcturus Black had probed too deeply into his doorway and had been killed by an angry spirit who had not wished to be disturbed.
None of the rational theories were as popular though, or as widespread, as the rumor of Arcturus' Folly. Much has been made of Arcturus' Folly, so-called by both people who claim to have survived the event, and by the conspiracy theorists who have taken the formers' testimony and formed their own ridiculous theories around it. For example, due to the fact that Arcturus' body was found with Unicorn blood on it, many people have chosen to make the leap that his death was somehow connected to the 100 Unicorns that had been stolen from France's Unicorn preserve earlier that year. These crackpots also like to bring up the fact that Lister Parkinson was currently under investigation for kidnapping four Muggle born children the previous year. (Incidentally, his guilt was never proven, as the four children were never found.)
Supposedly, Arcturus' Folly was something far darker than merely an attempt to communicate with the dead. Discredited witnesses and the theorys they helped develop put the Unicorns and the kidnapped children through some questionable logic to arrive at the conclusion that Arcturus was performing a dark ritual for which the Gate was intended all along. It was a ritual that was supposedly intended to bring someone back from the dead. These people claim that something went wrong with the ritual (they can never say what, of course), and that it was the chaos caused by the magic backfiring that caused the deaths of Arcturus and his associates.
Most, if not all, respectable historians agree that this theory is rubbish, and there has never been any evidence to suggest otherwise.
Harry looked up from the book. "Obviously Tonks and her mother didn't think it was rubbish."
Hermione nodded. "Do you recognize anything that might give your dream more credibility?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "The four Muggle borns, of course." Harry frowned. "The dream still won't be enough for the Baron. I'm thinking we'll have to wait until we actually hear news of a child being kidnapped before he'll talk to me again. The only problem being…"
"…that children get kidnapped every day." finished Hermione for him.
Harry, frustrated all over again, threw the book on to the couch, where it opened to the last page of the Black genealogy. Hermione went to pick the book up to keep reading it, but she saw something on this page that made her gasp.
Harry had been on his way back up to his room to take a nap, and he looked back at Hermione. "What?" he asked.
"Lucius and Draco Malfoy… they're gone!"
"Gone?" asked Harry. "What do you mean they're gone?"
"It's like they've been erased from the book," said Hermione. "And…. Narcissa is listed in here as a Black now."
Harry took the book and looked at the page. Sure enough, Narcissa was a Black again, with no lines leading from her name except the one that went back to her parents.
"Great," said Harry. "Another book that thinks for itself. Keep an eye on this one Hermione." He smirked, gave the book back to Hermione, and headed back upstairs.
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