37 The Ring of Goths

23 October 1995

 - And now, my dear students, who will answer me the question of why the Ministry's new laws about restricting semi-intelligent races are necessary? - Umbridge looked round the hall with a smile, where fourth and fifth years from all four faculties were gathered. The political literacy lessons, sold by the powerful lobby of the Ministry and the Dark Lord's aristocratic supporters, were held on Saturdays and included the idea that wizards were the pinnacle of evolution. The rest of the magical races, called semi-intelligent in this course, not to mention Muggles, are worthy only of gradual restriction of rights.

 - Professor Umbridge, may I ask you a question? - Luna Lovegood's dreamy, tinkling voice echoed through the room. Waiting for a nod from the woman who was staring at the necklace of radishes with distaste, Luna continued. - As far as I know, in France Veelas freely intermarry with wizarding people and hold senior positions in the French Ministry. Even last year's delegation from Beauxbaton included a half-Weyla girl, the daughter of a prominent politician. How does that compare with your laws in England recognising Veelas as semi-intelligent beings who have no right to hold public office?

 Neville looked with some concern at the girl he liked, who was inconveniencing Umbridge by asking her a question that could lead to detention and punishment. Neville sighed heavily and stood up from his seat, looking at Dolores, who was beginning to bleed, ready to unleash her wrath and punishment on the still smiling Luna.

 - Mistress Umbridge," the young man's voice boomed across the room thanks to a whispered reinforcement spell. - You speak of even stricter laws for all magical creatures. But won't centaurs, Veela, werewolves and other magical creatures eventually follow whoever promises to abolish these racist laws?

 - Who? Who could promise them that on behalf of the Minister? - Umbridge, who had been rendered speechless for a while, finally exploded. - The Ministry is concerned with the safety of peaceful wizards, not half-intelligent animals!

 - Like Voldemort, for example, who wants power over England. - Neville looked impassively at the rampaging woman. - And your precious Ministry itself is pushing our potential allies towards him.

 - Minus twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr Longbottom, and detention with Professor Snape for a week. - Umbridge hissed it like a snake. - It is not for you to criticise the Ministry's policies, you are still a fledgling, unable to grasp the meaning of high politics.

 - Mistress Umbridge," Neville dropped the "Professor", "I am the heir to the oldest and noblest House of Longbottom, entitled to the title of Lord. And I know what I'm talking about.

 - Two weeks of detention at Snape's, minus another thirty points from Gryffindor! You will come to my office on Saturday night for your first punishment.

 Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley looked at the Gryffindor, who had grown inexplicably over the past year. Perhaps this man could help them with something the Headmaster had secretly blessed them with.

 - Neville," Luna's voice behind him made the boy who had just turned down a deserted corridor stop.

 - Yes, Luna? - Neville turned round, looking at the girl who had barely caught up with him. Luna was as inimitable as ever: her long robe, belted with an ornate woven sash, concealed her figure, the necklace of radishes that had been added to her earrings this year, her wand tucked behind her ear, her somewhat dishevelled blonde curls, her enigmatic phrases and the way she spoke like Professor Trelawney. That's how all the students at Hogwarts saw Luna. But in his correspondence with her over the summer, Neville had realised that the girl was often only pretending to be strange and obscure, for reasons he didn't know yet.

 - Thank you for distracting Umbridge from me, my noble knight," Luna assumed the proud pose of a princess from some ancient ballad, then laughed, dropping her Holloway Lovegood mask for a moment. With a quick kiss on the cheek of the surprised boy, Lovegood disappeared around the corner. And Neville, after standing for a while, went to his grandmother's room, something needed to be discussed.

24 October 1995.

 "Harry, hello.

The Ministry has introduced a new subject for Hogwarts students and has commissioned a series of articles in the Prophet... by the way, your fed Skeeter isn't writing anything on the subject, concentrating on crime and secular chronicles, some people were very surprised by that. Now we mages have become the top of creation, or the evolutionary pyramid as Hermione put it, and muggles and magical races - need the wise guidance of wizards and should be stripped of most of their rights. Hopefully Granny and Lord Black's supporters will be able to stall the passage of this project in the Wizengamot, but what happens next is unknown. I don't understand why the Ministry is tightening all possible screws, maybe just to show its own activity to the common people, but Grandmother says that the adopted project will push everyone to Voldemort: centaurs, Veela, vampires, werewolves and others. Grandmother suggests you, as a famous person in England, to oppose this initiative, maybe you can do something. Even Dumbledore has been missing lately, I hope he's doing something not only to keep his chair, but also to prevent new laws.

Umbridge threw a real tantrum in class today, and I took away fifty points from the faculty in one fell swoop by shielding Luna from that crazy ministerial toad. Ron and Hermione made a strange attempt to approach me after the lesson, but I didn't hear any concrete proposal from them, except for vague hints. They didn't seem to be satisfied with teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Anything more definite, I'll write.

Neville."

 "Hello Neville, mate.

Thanks for not forgetting, and thanks even more for the news. I've been discussing the matter with my allies, there-where-I-am-now... For now, we don't have enough resources in England to withstand the pressure of both the Ministry, already partially bought by Malfoy and his team, and the Lord's aristocratic supporters. Our chief politician, who secured Sirius's acquittal at the International Tribunal, says we can either state my position once in the Prophet, after which all those sympathetic or bought by us will be thrown out, or we can do it through the Pridira, taking its print base out of the country. But in that case, Luna staying at Hogwarts would be under constant attack from both the Ministry and the Lord. That leaves the option of creating his own newspaper, but it's a long process. If Mrs Longbottom can think of a way to secure Luna as leverage against her father from the Ministry's attacks, things can be done more quickly. Although... Sirius has promised to pitch the article idea, and the money to implement it, to Dumbledore, his position in England is stronger than ours at the moment."

- Harry won't be able to help in this matter. - Neville broke away from reading his friend's letter, glancing at Augusta and Sirius sitting by the fireplace.

- "I'll pay Dumbledore and suggest to him that we can use Harry Potter's opinion as a national hero, especially if Harry writes the text of the letter to The Priggler with his own hand." At the Prophet, after the recent ministerial purge, only Skeeter is left of my people, but she'll still be useful.

- I don't know what to grab onto anymore. - Augusta tossed the empty glass to the floor. - The Ministry is digging a hole in which all of England could drown. First these flirtations with Voldemort's aristocratic supporters. "Ah, I was under the influence of Imperius, ah, my family was threatened," she mocked one of the Lord's supporters. - "And now these damn laws about 'semi-intelligent races'. We need new allies, three noble houses won't keep the full Wizengamot from passing those suicidal laws.

- It's good to know that the Malfoys don't have a vote on the Wizengamot..." Sirius shook his head. - With their money, though, they could simply bribe some of the members. We can't storm Malfoy Manor yet, but when Harry gets back with his teacher, when we've trained you, Neville, and my niece, then we can try. 

- Don't you believe in the possibility of a peaceful outcome, Sirius? - Augusta glanced gloomily at the head of the Bleak family.

- If this had happened shortly after the First War, while Alastor was running the Aurorate and that bastard Crouch who put me in Azkaban was the Minister, these social upheavals, these 'justified' Drowners would have been drowned in blood, just like you and me, Augusta, by the way. But someone planted the information that the Minister's son had sold himself to Voldemort in the middle of the war, and the whole thing fell apart before the trials even started. Crouch was out of office, and that pale weakling Begnold had taken his place.

Sirius took a sip of wine.

- And now... Now the Minister listens to his loyal advisers, loyal to the Dark Lord, but realistically the strongest party in England, thanks to the money of the old families, is his. So we can't legally depose Fudge. Which means that if the Dark Lord doesn't start a war, we'll either take power or it will fall into Voldemort's hands when the Ministry gets completely confused and loses all its allies. The funny thing is, Voldemort only has to wait another ten years and there will be no force in England to oppose him at all, the Aurorat is decaying before our eyes, they've been forbidden to, you know, kill suspects if they don't surrender voluntarily. Bones and the Wizengamot are all about money. And Amelia Bones doesn't have enough supporters to clean up her department once and for all.

- So I'll let Dumbledore act now..." Augusta stood up. I'll try to continue working with the Wizengamot members, maybe someone else will realise that this situation can't go on.

* * *

- Sirius, I have some important news. - Dumbledore, emerging from the fireplace in the Bleak mansion that same evening, was surprisingly excited. - I've managed to get on the trail of one of the Lord's Horcruxes!

Sirius Black, who had taken a good swig of brandy from his glass at that moment, choked, staring at the satisfied Headmaster.

- Are you sure, Albus?

- Yes, the ring of the Gaunt family is hidden in their former home. But don't ask me how I found out.

- Good... I hope you'll allow me to join you, Albus? It's dangerous to go on a case like this alone.

- Of course, Sirius.

- By the way, Headmaster, I have some great news for you," Sirius turned to Dumbledore as if remembering something. - Alastor recently told me that during one of the raids on the Eaters' hiding places, his men freed Horace Slughorn, who used to teach potions at Hogwarts when I was there. I think he would be a worthy replacement for your pocket Eater if the Board of Trustees kick him out of Hogwarts.

- Sirius, Professor Snape is doing quite well for himself. - Albus shook his head reproachfully. - You're still driven by the memory of your school feud.

- If anyone is driven by it, it's Snape, who bullied James's son for four years. - Sirius gritted his teeth. - If Harry returns to Hogwarts and Snape continues to pick on him, I will personally challenge him to a duel.

Dumbledore looked reproachfully at his once staunch supporter.

- The most important thing is that Harry returns... The magical community is worried about the fate of its hero.

- I wish the magical community would pick up their wands and remember that all those arrogant philistines are wizards," Sirius argued, heading for the door. - But your and the Ministry's policies, Mr Headmaster, are slowly causing combat magic to die out outside of the Aurorate and the old families.

Sirius returned quickly enough, wearing a kind of wyvern skin armour instead of a robe, which protected him quite well from physical damage and minor spells. The wizard had several different flasks and containers strapped to his belt, and behind his back was a densely packed Muggle rucksack with a scabbard attached to the strap that held a dark magic dagger.

- I'm ready. - The mage said briefly, stopping in front of the Headmaster.

Dumbledore examined Bleck with some surprise and took hold of his shoulder, apparating off in an unknown direction.

- Ugh, devilishness! Insendio! FlamioIgnis! - Sirius, having just appeared not far from the dilapidated cottage, immediately struck with magic at the dozens of snakes crawling towards the unexpected visitors. Seconds later, Dumbledore's spells joined him, and the two wizards quickly killed the witch reptiles, apparently the first barrier on the way to the Horcrux.

- Muggle-repelling spells everywhere, and anti-apparition spells next. - Sirius looked at the house through the glass pulled out of the pouch on his belt and turned to the Headmaster. - No matter what awaits us next, we won't be able to get out quickly if we don't break the defences.

- I think I'll be in charge of making sure that the person who set up the defence doesn't find out about our digging, and you'll be in charge of breaking the anti-apparatus charms. - The headmaster stretched out, stroking his beard.

The two mages moved apart, drawing complex runic designs on the ground to make their work easier. Soon, obeying Dumbledore's gesture, a thin silver sphere flashed around the perimeter of the cottage, flashed and then went out. But the grass around the Headmaster's scheme was scattered with ash, the spell having drained the life force from the ground for several metres in all directions.

It took Sirius Black a little longer, but finally a long ringing sound, coming from nowhere, signalled the destruction of the anti-Apparition spell. The aristocrat wiped the sweat from his forehead, glancing ironically at the headmaster's not-so-bright rune construct.

- The Dark Lord is strong, well, we're no easier. Let's move on...

Covering themselves with a few spells, the mages cautiously moved forward. The headmaster calmed the ground under their feet with one powerful spell that covered the ground with frost.

The Headmaster reached out for the door handle, but Sirius slapped his palm sharply under his elbow.

- Headmaster... You are the greatest light wizard in England, but even you would be killed by the poison the handle is smeared with. - The goggles on his nose as he approached the house apparently gave Bleek more information than Dumbledore's diagnostic spells.

- Thank you," Albus glanced apprehensively at the trap that had almost been the last one in his path.

Sirius picked up a blade of grass from the ground and transfigured it into a long bagor, which he used to hook the handle, opening the door, and in the next moment only Dumbledore's instantaneous reaction saved them both from the icy wind that blew out of the door. The grass and ground around them turned to icy glass, immediately shattering into dust, but the wizards survived, hidden behind a shield.

- Bloody paranoid," Black hissed, rubbing his frozen hands together.

- Yeah, well, I have to admit, I'd have a hard time getting through here alone," the Headmaster shook his head.

As soon as they entered the house, the mages were attacked by strange bats with huge claws oozing venom. Sirius, grasping Dumbledore's arm at the last moment, shouted a phrase in a language unknown to the Headmaster, and a dark cloud condensed around the frozen people, leaving only the skeletons that had fallen to the floor.

The aristocrat who let go of the headmaster's hand was as pale as death, he took out the elixir of regeneration with slightly trembling fingers and drained the bottle in a gulp.

- What was that? - Dumbledore picked at a mouse skeleton that had immediately crumbled to dust with the toe of his boot.

- Mice or a spell? - Black, who hadn't fully come to his senses yet, looked at him in confusion.

- The spell... The fact that we were almost killed by those lovely bats, I've already realised..." the usually impenetrable Headmaster grinned nervously.

- It was one of the Black family spells, tied into the family magic... - Sirius, already much more alert, began to survey the room through his glasses. - Unfortunately, without proper training, it consumes a lot of energy. And I didn't have time to prepare.

- What does it take to prepare? - Dumbledore looked at the wizard with undisguised curiosity.

- Honestly, you don't want to know, Albus. - Sirius grinned. - 'You, even with your dark magic, still can't do that spell. It's Bleak magic.

- I'm impressed.

- The artefact's over there. - Sirius pointed his wand towards the box on the table. - 'But it's protected by a whole series of spells... both dark and light, I don't know who your former apprentice involved in this work.

Blek pulled several pouches out of his backpack and began alternately tossing coloured powders towards the table, each one flashing in the air, signifying the breaking of one spell or another.

- I think he had the help of my unforgettable cousin Bellatrix, who had married that bastard Lestrange. Some of the spells I've just cast are clearly hers, next it's your move Headmaster, the other layers are decidedly unfamiliar to me.

Dumbledore, borrowing his glasses from Bleak, took a long look at the remaining defence spells, shaking his head. Finally, making up his mind, he extended his wand arm, and a stunned Sirius saw for the first time the full power of England's greatest wizard. The roaring torrent of unformed magic, visible to the naked eye, simply swept away the protective layers that had been put up, but Dumbledore's complexion was like a corpse. Drinking a vial of revitaliser retrieved from Sirius's bottomless bag, the Headmaster took a breath, rubbing his temples.

- I wouldn't be surprised if Tom had been preparing this house for days, otherwise we'd have had a much easier time getting through.

The box on the table both wizards looked at it cautiously, realising that the matter was far from over.

- I can't see what's inside it," Black grimaced. - The material doesn't allow my view inside.

- To be honest, I don't either-" The Director hesitated. - Even if there is a signalling circuit, it won't penetrate the sphere of secrecy, but how to open this box...?

- I think so," Sirius motioned for Dumbledore to follow him and walked out of the house, stopping in front of the door so that he could see the box. The icicle created by Bleak struck the fragile wooden box, flipping the lid off. A pale purple smoke instantly drifted out.

- Shit! Get back!

Flames spewed from every crevice of the house, making it look like a furnace. The mages looked dubiously inside, where an open box was still clean on the charred table.

- Mm-hmm..." Sirius mused, looking at the signet ring inside. - This is perhaps the most serious....

- What is it, my boy? - Dumbledore said, forgetting himself.

- An unbreakable dark curse, I've only read about them. It can't be broken or cast without human sacrifice, so this Horcrux is worth several lives.

- The creature," even Dumbledore's restraint had changed, though Sirius wasn't thrilled that someone was using such dark enchantments either.

- .Albus...I can only see two possibilities. Either we find some suicide bomber from Azkaban who takes the ring and dies, and so on several times until the defences are exhausted... Or we leave it as it is, I won't touch the ring and I don't advise you to.

- But there has to be a way out of this, Sirius. - Albus seemed very disappointed. - There are no unbreakable spells, and this ring is very important even without the Horcrux!

- Hmmm, there is one way... Let's move farther away. FIENDFIRE!

- NO! - Dumbledore, fists clenched, watched as Hellfire burst from the wand of a tense Sirius, melting even the darkest of dark artefacts. - It was the ring..." he faltered.

- That's it..." Sirius lowered his hand. - 'I need to replenish my supply of powders, Albus, I'm going back to Grimmo. I don't think the next Horcrux, if there is one, is going to be a team effort. Suggest Slughorn, he's a brilliant potionist, he might have something more useful than our magic.

Placing some sort of bundle under the doorstep, the aristocrat followed the headmaster out of the house, closing the door carefully behind him.

- I wouldn't recommend coming back here again, Albus. - A nasty grin wandered across Bleak's face. - Even the Dark Lord wouldn't like what I left there....

- What's in there?

- Do you remember room number 64 in the Department of Mysteries? - Sirius smiled at some memory of his own.

The Headmaster turned sharply pale:

- 'You've gone mad!

- On the contrary, Albus, it is a very useful thing, doubly effective on a mage with a soul divided by the creation of Horcruxes. Love is a great power, you've said so many times yourself. - Black laughed evilly. - But you and I better not go in there, either, just in case.

- By the way," the aristocrat turned back to the Headmaster, "I've been in touch with Harry. - "I've been in touch with Harry, and he's sent me an open letter to the editors of the Prophet and the Pridira. The money to get this letter published, I will provide for your men. - The mage apparated away with a soft clap, leaving the Headmaster sadly contemplating the house with the unique artefact forever lost.

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