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The Cursed Line & Blessed Heir
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 17:53:40 +0000 UTCChapter 14- Solving the Egg
“This was your plan?” There was no threat in his voice nor any signs of anger. There was idle curiosity. This was what worried Lucius Malfoy the most. Everything had gone tits up with his plan and now standing in front of an indifferent Dark Lord was not something he had expected.
“It didn’t go as I planned, my Lord. The boy somehow managed to escape.” He returned only to be cut off as the Dark Lord laughed.
“He didn’t escape, Lucius. He is a fourteen-year-old kid being put amongst a group of adults in a legendary competition, facing the most dangerous breed of dragon and coming out victorious, not to mention, making friends with the ferocious dragon.”
“If anything, this only made to add to his already existing legacy. The Boy Who Lived and the prestigious Tri-Wizard winner if this continues.”
Lucius burned in embarrassment at that. Everything messed up. He still didn’t understand how that brat pulled this off. He had planned it to perfection. It didn’t take long to convince the Minister to sanction the dragons. He was a fool and it was something that played right into his hands.
The rest of his plan was easy. Rig it so that Potter ends up with a dragon that was not drugged. He had inside information that would let him know which dragon Potter would be facing and he had paid off a few of the dragon handlers to keep the required dragon free of sedation.
The plan went off without a hitch. Potter had somehow chosen the Hungarian Horntail which only favoured his plan. The dragon was ferocious as expected and just when he thought it was over and the brat was burnt to crisps, everything went downhill. The boy then proceeded to survive which pushed him into his current predicament.
“My lord, I need…” Lucius began only to be cut off by the dark lord who fixed him with a cold gaze that had him inadvertently flinching back.
“Potter will compete as normal as possible. There would be no need for interferences any more.” The Dark Lord ordered, challenging the Malfoy Lord to disagree with him.
“You will keep your ideas to the side. I will tell you what to do. Am I clear?” The blonde nodded hastily, not daring to say no.
“Of…of course, my lord. As you wish.” He took his leave as quickly as he could, heaving a sigh of relief having escaped the wrath of the Dark Lord.
It did not bode well with him when he reread the newspaper. He had no idea how the boy worked his way around a raging dragon, but he had managed to impress the masses.
Wandless magic. How did Potter come across this skill or was it a mere exaggeration of subtle parlour tricks?
Wandless magic was not a common ability that anybody possessed. Barring a few isolated incidents recorded in ancient books, he had not encountered wandless magic to be anything special.
He needed a better memory of the event and he had instructed Lucius to get one from his son. A better look at the memory would help him to understand better.
The Dark Lord chuckled, shaking his head. Was he getting worried over the actions of a boy? Granted, he might have the talent, but when did he start paying too much attention to teenagers?
“That will not do.” He shook his head as he settled back in his seat. Potter was lucky. He had managed to worm his way out of his hands two times now. He was yet to understand what happened both times. The killing curse that he used on the boy had backfired. He didn’t know how that happened and he had spent considerable time with Quirrel looking for answers only to draw blank.
It was inconsequential, according to him. Probably a magical backlash, but what was confusing was the state it left him in. He had lost his body and had spent the better part of the last decade and a half as a wraith something he was not comfortable with, but what troubled him was his wand being away from him.
Ever since he acquired his wand from Ollivander he had never left it out of his grip. He was worried that the wand would have been confiscated by the ministry or worse, would have landed in the old fool’s hands, but Pettigrew had managed to retrieve the wand from the Potters place.
He had to speak to his most loyal and see if their respective libraries could yield some answer to what took place that night. For now, that could wait. He had to regain a body first and then he could take care of the rest of his issues.
“My lord?” It was Pettigrew. “It’s time, my lord.” He announced as he knelt in front of the Dark Lord, not daring to look up.
“Very good, Wormtail. I didn’t expect you to work this quickly. I have to say, I was hoping you would take your own sweet time to accomplish a task of this magnitude.”
With each passing day, he was finding the man very useful. He would lower himself to whatever state necessary something none of his other men did and that was necessary for him. Pettigrew was a coward, but a very useful coward.
“Good. Ensure I have a fresh supply every seven days. Bear in mind that the process must be conducted with the utmost focus, Wormtail. You don’t have the liberty to make a mistake.”
“I hope I am clear?” The man whimpered ever so slightly as he nodded shakily. “Take me to the vessel.”
BREAK—--
“Harry. Come in, my boy.” Dumbledore motioned for the young man to take a seat in front of him.
“Good afternoon, Professor.” Harry greeted and did as told.
“What can I do for you, my boy?” Dumbledore questioned as he leaned back in his seat.
“It slipped my mind yesterday, Professor. I wanted to come to you as soon as possible, but I didn’t want to disturb you in the middle of the night.”
“The dragon I faced was not sedated, professor,” Harry explained. “I don’t know what happened, but the dragon was not sedated. I checked in with Cedric and Ginny. None of the other dragons behaved like mine did.”
“All the other dragons were restricted to one spot. But mine was not. The dragon chased me around the arena and almost succeeded in harming me.”
“I don’t get it, sir. What is going on here?” He questioned. “I didn’t enter the tournament and somehow, I was selected. I am forced to contest with three years my seniors in life-threatening tasks and now, I learn that I was fighting some form of conspiracy.”
Dumbledore sat quietly, letting the boy vent. He had no answer to assuage his worries. What was he supposed to tell him? How was he supposed to justify himself?
“It is getting out of hand, Professor. Should I be watching my back every time I come back to Hogwarts?”
“I am sorry.” Dumbledore apologised. “I will find out what happened with the dragons. I assumed that the dragon managed to free itself from the binds, but if what you are saying is true, it leads to a lot of questions.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Dumbledore assured him. “I know this seems the wrong thing to say right now and after everything that has happened, but as long as I live and breathe, I won’t let any harm befall my students.”
“I get it if you find it hard to believe it after everything you have been through. Believe me. I would not trust myself after this, but I am doing my duty. Rest assured, I will make sure I look into it.”
“I don’t know what it is with you, but for some reason, through no fault of your own, you seem to find yourself in a lot of problems, my boy. I know that it isn’t your fault, but I don’t know why these things happen to you.” The youngster chuckled sadly, something that pained Dumbledore.
“I just want you to keep an eye on yourself. Make sure that you watch every step that you take. I want you to think with each step you take. Follow your instincts, Harry. It never lies.”
The young man nodded as the two sat silently for a moment. Dumbledore didn’t know anything else he could tell to appease the young man and assure him differently. Words are all that he could offer.
“Thank you, Professor.” Harry stood up and stepped away from his seat.
“My life is very precious, Professor. My mum and dad didn’t give away their lives just for me to lose it in some farce of competition for no apparent reason.”
“If I am to die, I would gladly do it for something worthwhile. I would kill myself if it meant saving an innocent life.” His eyes turned black causing Dumbledore to sit up.
“This would also mean that I would kill anybody who tries to mess with my life, Professor. This is not a statement I am giving out lightly. I will keep my word.”
Dumbledore watched as the eyes of the young man reverted to their normal state though he didn’t speak a word choosing instead to watch the young man closely. Normally, he would be concerned and worried when a student talks about killing and he was worried for the young man in front of him.
“Now, Harry…” The young man shook his head interrupting the aged Headmaster.
“Sorry, Professor. But I just can’t take it anymore. A dark lord, dragons, basilisks, werewolves, dementors, dead friends and now, unseen conspiracies? No sane human being would take it without reacting back.”
“You don’t have to worry about me becoming another Tom Riddle, Professor. I want to live my life without problems. I have no intention of becoming a problem in other lives.”
Dumbledore watched the young man leave after a very concerning choice of words. He knew that the boy would have to grow harsh one day. There is a huge responsibility hanging over his head and he didn’t know when things might get bad for him, but the young man is stepping up.
In a way, he is proud of the stand Harry took just now. He had no doubts that the young man would not go on to become another Tom Riddle. Harry possessed a major quality that he never witnessed in Tom. Empathy.
With all of this aside, he would hazard a guess that Harry Potter won’t be killed by anybody, just like that. He didn’t know how much stock he should put into a prophecy made by Sybil a decade and a half ago, but if that were true, Harry and Tom would not die unless at the hands of each other.
He was not willing to risk it. With each passing day, he could feel that maybe the prophecy was supposed to be in effect considering how the boy survived events that would have killed anybody else, but he would not push it entirely up to fate. He will do what must be necessary.
Tom Riddle and Harry Potter cannot walk away from each other. It might either be fate or Tom’s pride that would prevent them from walking away, but the two will trade wands in the near future, something he never wished would have happened and if it did, he hoped the youngster would come out on top.
BREAK—--
“Did you talk to him?” Harry was surprised that the girl appeared out of nowhere almost making him drop his spoon.
“Well?” Ginny pushed, sitting in front of him. “What did he say?”
“He said he would look into it.” Harry returned, glaring at the girl for her interruption which he was certain wouldn’t matter to the young woman.
“The man seems very tired, Ginny. I don’t know what might be troubling him, but for the first time since I have known him, he actually seems his age. I am sure he will look into it as soon as possible.”
“Did you figure out what the second task would be?” She questioned as she picked up a plate for herself.
“You don’t have a lot of time remaining for the preparations; the earlier you figure it out, the better your situation is on the day of the task.”
Harry chuckled shaking his head at her words. “Ginny. The task won’t take place for another two months.”
“Don’t do this once again. You had no idea what was happening until the announcement and now you want to repeat the same mistake?”
“Fine. I will do it as quickly as possible this time. Don’t worry about it.” Harry assured the girl as he went back to his plate.
He let his eyes trail around the hall until they stopped at a young blonde sitting with herself at the end of the Ravenclaw table.
“Your friend is all alone.” Harry nodded towards Luna, looking around the Great Hall with the same idle curiosity he had expected from her. He didn’t know how the girl managed to look far away from reality all the time.
“Is she still facing problems from anybody?” Harry questioned. He sincerely hoped not. He had gone up to Flitwick and spoken to him about this issue and if the girl were still facing trouble despite the Professor knowing, he would be livid.
“No,” Ginny replied shaking her head. “Nothing that I know of. I have asked her and she didn’t mention anything about being bullied by any of her housemates.”
“Why not sit with her?” He questioned looking back at the girl. He was about to persuade Ginny to go with him and sit with Luna, but he noticed Fleur Delacour sitting next to the young Ravenclaw. He noticed the two strike up a conversation.
“Well good thing that somebody sat with her. She spends too much time lost in her thoughts.”
“I know that I am repeating it, but don’t misunderstand her nature to be her weakness, Harry. You just have no idea what Luna is capable of. She is a brilliant girl.”
“That is a special ability that she holds. People ignore her so much that they think of her as a basket case, but she isn’t. People continue to underestimate her and that plays exactly into her hands.”
The two of them observed Fleur and Luna talking to each other and Harry chuckled at the slightly confused expression on the French Triwizard Champion’s face.
“Well, she certainly seems to be too much for Delacour.” He added as Ginny turned around to watch the two interact.
“She was very good,” Ginny said nodding towards the French champion. “If not for your surprise package, she would have won the task. She did it fast and without much effort. I don’t understand what she did, but she put the dragon to sleep and if not for her skirt catching flames, she would have completed the task without a fault.”
“Harry?” Ginny frowned when Harry didn’t respond but it didn’t take long for her to figure out why his attention had wavered.
She decided to get back to eating rather than disturbing the young man and she continued observing Harry for a few moments until he faced her.
“Finished admiring the French girl?” Harry was halfway through chewing when Ginny posed the question and Harry felt himself choking at the abruptness of the question.
“Calm down.” Harry coughed, tears welling up in his eyes as he descended into a coughing fit trying to stabilise himself and in between glaring at Ginny.
“What are you talking about?” Harry whispered, taking a deep calming breath as he regained his composure.
“Don’t try and lie to me.” She returned smirking at Harry. “I was watching you the entire time you were busy admiring Ms Delacour.”
“Don’t joke around, Ginny.” Harry shot back, pushing his plate away. “If somebody hears that, it would lead to a mess that will be more problematic than beneficial.”
He stood up, wanting to leave as quickly as possible before the issue escalated. The look Ginny was shooting him spelled mischief and he wanted to run before she pulled some stunt that would embarrass him.
“You should talk to her if you like her.” Ginny shrugged.
“Oh for Merlin's sake…” He walked away from his seat as quickly as possible, very much aware that the girl he left behind would be very smug right now.
He didn’t know why, but he did get carried away. He was watching Luna interact with Fleur and for some reason, the French witch felt strangely endearing. He couldn’t look away and he didn’t want to look away.
As he was about to exit the Great Hall, he glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and his eyes were drawn towards the familiar sight of Fleur, but to his embarrassment, she chose the exact same moment to look up directly at him.
It was just a moment, but Harry felt it was longer. He found it very difficult to look away from the girl and it was with great difficulty that he managed to look away. He felt his face heat up with embarrassment and he didn’t bother looking up as he left the Great Hall.
It took a few moments for him to compose himself as he stepped out of the Great Hall. He still didn’t understand why the sudden interest in the young woman, but whatever it was, he hoped there was no repeat episode of the same.
BREAK—-
“What did we do to incur your wrath, Mother?” Ignotus questioned as he stood atop the hill overlooking his village.
This was not the same village he grew up watching every day. His beautiful village lush with greenery and blessed with life was now dead. The forests had dried up. The fields were barren beyond recognition. The water body that was a major source of life in the village was now dead with cracks adorning the ground where it stood.
Life had deteriorated considerably in the span of one year and it was painful to witness this decline. People that he had been used to seeing every day, laughing with every day, eating with every day were now struggling to lead their daily lives normally.
Food and water had become scarce in turn had disrupted any harmony that was seen in the village. People who were friends now fought with each other to salvage what little facilities they could find in the now destitute land.
Every living being was affected and not even the wizards and witches were spared of the problems. The magical society was faring slightly better than their non-magical counterparts but barely which he knew would not last for long.
Ignotus closed his eyes flaring his senses to pick up on anything possible, but the answer came back to him as it always had for the past year. Nothing. At times, Ignotus failed to understand what was going on. The ability to communicate with his surroundings was a unique power that he held, but as time passed and things around them took a turn, he began to doubt if he had lost his ability, but that was not the case.
She seemed reluctant to answer him. She seemed too weak. She felt like she was barely holding on to herself by the fingertips and being somebody who could feel it, Ignotus felt sickened by it, both mentally and physically.
The fact that he was the only one who could look into the very essence of their surroundings didn’t make it any easier for him. His health consequently had begun to decline with every passing day.
“Every day we tell you not to, but every day you do the same. Why are you doing this to yourself?” It was his brother.
“You can barely stand without exerting yourself, but you want to come here every day for some reason.” Cadmus raged, anger evident on his face which gave way to concern.
“It is just not your fault, Ignotus. Why do you punish yourself every day?”
“I don’t know.” Ignotus sighed as he looked back down onto the village. “It should not be my fault, but I can’t shake off the feeling that somehow I should be doing more.”
“Every day when things get worse out here, I can’t help but feel responsible for it. I feel it calling for me. Calling out for help, but I can’t seem to find out what I am supposed to do. I come here every day to see if I can find an answer. To see if I can find out something more about what it is that is causing problems, but apart from the cry for help, I can’t seem to find anything to act upon.” Ignotus lamented as he faced his brother.
“I don’t understand why this has happened to me. I feel perfectly fine, but at the same time, I feel ill.”
“Come.” Cadmus grabbed his brother’s arm and began leading him back to their village all the while keeping an eye on him to make sure that he is alright.
“This is not natural,” Ignotus whispered as they reached the entrance to their village.
“Father was right all along. I knew he was not being petty when he pointed out that this was not natural, but none of you took him seriously. Now, I know it is not natural. I can hear it.”
Cadmus shook his head, frustrated by his brother’s response. He knew his brother was ailing, but from what, none of them had an idea. But every day, his younger brother never failed to punish himself by walking uphill to that damn mountain and looking down onto his village and lamenting about what had befallen their home.
“Elisa is worried about your repeated foolishness, brother. I would expect you to listen to her when she tells you to take it easy. She is carrying our future, brother. Why do you make the poor thing worry every day with these actions?”
A small smile adorned Ignotus’s face when his wife was mentioned. Elisa was a sweet woman. A gentle, kind and worrying personality. He should count himself very lucky that she managed to pick him to spend her life with.
The reality of the world around him came crashing down onto his head and his brother's words began reverberating in his ear.
‘She is carrying our future.’ The very thought gave a lurch in his stomach. How will his child be their future when the very world around them was crumbling into pieces with each passing day?
“What future do you expect it to be born into, brother? Look around.” He waved his hand around trying to prove his point by using his village as an example.
“You want my baby to be born into this destitute world for what? To suffer?”
Cadmus watched surprised by the outburst from his usually reserved brother and was concerned for his brother and the truth his words carried. His father had checked upon every possibility to find an answer to this situation. He had gone as far as to think of relocating his villagers to a new settlement or an entirely different city. Still, their problems were not limited to Godric’s Hollow or the Brittania region.
Cadmus and Antioch were not married, but they adored their sister-in-law. She had cemented the place of a maternal figure in the family seamlessly. When Elisa was expecting a child, Cadmus was sure that both himself, Antioch and their father were happier than Ignotus.
Now that the reality of his brother’s words came crashing down, he was scared for his niece or nephew. The fear gradually made way for disappointment that they were unable to do anything to prevent it.
“No,” Cadmus answered after a few minutes of silence. “I don’t want my niece or nephew to suffer through this.”
“Don’t worry about it, brother,” Cadmus assured the younger man. “I will find a solution to all of this if it is the last thing I do. I will find an answer to all of this.”
BREAK—-----
“Elisa?” Harry questioned. “Your wife?”
“Yes,” Ignotus replied as Harry sat up in his bed. “She was a wonderful woman, my Elisa.”
“What was all of it about?” Harry questioned. “It seemed like a drought.” He added, his thoughts straying back to the visions he had witnessed.
“It was more than a simple drought.” Harry frowned at his words. “Just like my father thought, it was not something that could be called natural. I could feel it. Remember how I taught you to listen to the call of your surroundings?”
At Harry’s nod, the voice continued. “I was the only one who could hear it and somehow, it was always strained and suffocating. There were times that I feared that I might have lost my abilities when my magic didn’t respond as intended.”
“In truth, my being an elemental magical user was what deteriorated my abilities. My soul was directly bound to the elemental attributes of the planet. Their deterioration was my deterioration. The worse their state, the worse my condition.”
Harry was not surprised by his answer anymore. These elemental abilities worked in ways that he could not begin to understand and he had decided by now to trust Ignotus when it came to it.
“Will this be the same to me?” Harry questioned. “I still don’t know how these work and now that you have revealed something like this, will I be affected?”
“That is where we as humans fail to understand the finer lessons that nature around us tries to teach.” Ignotus chuckled.
“We are living beings, Harry. We are all internally and externally linked to each other. We might not seem to think so, but we are dependent on each other to live. There must be a balance. When the balance is disturbed, then the disturbance is felt to a larger scale.”
“You will know what I mean when you find out what happened back in my time. The calamity that struck was not a natural occurrence. It was orchestrated by an external hand which was not normal.”
“But how is that possible? I thought that this ability to control the elements was exclusive?”
“It is. I can guarantee that I was the only one who held that ability and after me it is you. I can also ensure that after you, this ability will die for good. Once you finish what you have set out to do, this ability will die with you and nobody else will be able to yield your magic.”
“Finish doing what?” Harry questioned impatiently. “What should I be doing?”
“Your nemesis,” Ignotus answered. “His death must happen by your hands. That is your duty. Not a duty which by chance happens to fall into your hands, but a duty that was written centuries ago.”
“The two of you, are bound by fate. There is no escaping or running from each other. He can’t think of a future with you alive and it is the same with you as well. So, I believe the only solution would be to sever this connection permanently and you know how it must be done.”
“I should kill him.” Not that he expected anything different, but he had known this for a while now. What he didn’t know was this connection Ignotus was speaking about.
“Why don’t you finish showing whatever you want to tell me in one stretch?”
“Why don’t you sleep long enough so that we can finish it off?” Harry could feel the smirk in the man’s voice.
“Quit smirking.” Harry chided which resulted in the man laughing his words off and disappearing from his head.
With silence surrounding him, he decided to lay back in his bed when his eyes fell upon the egg lying beside his bed. He stared at the egg for a few minutes debating whether to look further into it or not and then hoisted himself out of his bed and picked up the egg.
He didn’t need to open it to know what was coming out having done it a few times already. He just placed the egg in front of him and sat down back in his bed trying to garner anything possible from the outside, also something he had done a few times by now.
The damn thing just screamed and did little else apart from that. He knew that it must be the shriek of some creature, but he would be honest with himself when he said that he had no idea what this creature was and he didn’t know where to begin to look.
“Just what are you?” Harry muttered as he sighed in annoyance. It would not do to go to another task without knowing what was happening.
He had none to ask for help. He will not be approaching the teachers for help and he doubted if any students could help him. Dumbledore will not help him, but would he provide any advice like the last time?
Of course, his expectations regarding Dumbledore’s warning and the actual task were very far off. He was sure that if Dumbledore clued him into what was going on, he would certainly not be close to figuring out what was happening.
He placed the egg back where it was and laid back in his bed. He will find a way. Maybe he will write to Sirius or visit him. He probably might find an answer to this noise.
BREAK—------
“So every time you open the egg, all you hear is this weird noise?” Sirius questioned as he glared at the golden egg that lay on the floor in front of them.
“Yup.”
“And it holds a clue to your second task?” It was Narcissa who popped the question and Harry nodded his agreement.
“I need anything to help, but I can’t seem to be finding anything to solve the egg,” Harry explained.
The three stared at the egg sitting in between the room with both Narcissa and Sirius seemingly deep in thought. Harry continued to watch in anticipation to see if one of them could come up with an answer.
“Why don’t we ask Kreacher?” Harry and Sirius stared at the woman as if she had gone crazy.
“Why would you want to ask him of all people?” Sirius questioned still unable to believe that the woman suggested something like that.
“Kreacher would probably know about the egg. Elves usually know everything that you need to know. I am sure that he would know about this too.” She explained.
“I am not asking him. He will rather insult me than answer to me.” Sirius grumbled, knowing full well what his house elf would do if he ask something.
“Not me either.” Harry cut in. “I will probably end up with a headache talking to the damn elf.”
“Stop being a bunch of children.” Narcissa sighed shaking her head. “Kreacher?”
The aged elf popped into the sitting room, shooting a look of distaste at both Sirius and Harry who returned the same.
“Mistress?” The elf bowed, facing Narcissa. “What can Kreacher be doing for Mistress?”
“Can you identify this noise, Kreacher?” At Narcissa’s prompt, Harry opened the egg, cringing as the now familiar shriek filled the room.
The elf flapped his ears comically, frowning for a few moments and Harry observed his eyes grow big in some realization. He immediately closed the egg down, silencing the screaming artefact once again fighting the urge to chuck the egg somewhere far away.
“That be water people,” Kreacher answered as he faced the three of them. “Kreacher knows the noise. Kreacher is correct.”
“Water people?” Harry frowned in confusion having no clue about what the elf was talking about.
“Merfolk,” Sirius added helpfully with Narcissa nodding along. “He is talking about Merfolk. Are you sure you damned elf?” Sirius questioned forcefully, glaring at the elf who glared back.
“Kreacher knows. Kreacher knows.” With a snap of his bony fingers, Kreacher created a medium-sized vessel filled to the brim with water. He then floated the egg off the ground and dropped it inside the vessel and proceeded to open it.
Harry, Sirius and Narcissa expected the familiar shriek but none came. The egg was open inside the container, but not a sound was heard outside.
“Well, what do you know?” Sirius whistled looking closely down into the vessel. “He was right.”
“Listen,” Kreacher added, pointing into the water. Harry got the impression that the elf was asking them to go inside to listen and he complied, ducking his head underwater and what should have been a scream was replaced by a melodious voice.
“Come seek us where our voices sound”
“We cannot sing above the ground”
“An hour long you'll have to look”
“To recover what we took”
“But past an hour - the prospect's black”
“Too late, it's gone, it won't come back”
The song finished playing out and then it began repeating once again. It seemed to be on a loop and Harry retracted from inside the water container and dried himself off with one wave of his hand.
“So?” He heard Sirius's question. “What was it?”
Harry explained what he had just heard from the egg to two eager pairs of ears. When he was finished, the three sat in contemplation as Kreacher disappeared from the room.
“Something of importance is my guess.” Sirius piped up. “Something you are very attached to or important to make this task more interesting.”
“This task would be played underwater, Sirius,” Narcissa added. “Harry will have one hour to look for whatever they would be hiding. I remember hearing somebody tell me about the Merfolk residing in the Great Lake at Hogwarts. I guess that is where your object of interest would be placed and you would have an hour to retrieve it back.”
That made sense, though it did seem straightforward, something that did not sit right with Harry. He decided to push his worries away for now. He would think about them later.
“Good thing you came here, Harry.” Sirius chuckled. “Still don’t understand how Kreacher of all people managed to help us solve a very difficult problem. Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.”
“Maybe not, Sirius.” Harry nodded, mentally making a note to thank the elf later for his help.
“Maybe not.”
TBC—--------
