Chapter 102: The Last Horcrux
An: Oh wow, 101 was such a terrible chapter. You probably won't be able to tell, because my uploads are kinda scheduled now, but I struggled with writing that for a few weeks…
Oh, speaking of schedules, I'm sorry I've been so inconsistent with posting on-schedule to FFNet...I keep forgetting to do that because Webnovel has the convenience of scheduling posts for you, and I'm extremely busy these days so I keep forgetting to upload chapters even though I have a calendar event for it every Wednesday.
Well, anyway, hope this one is more enjoyable!
*** A Month Later, Gringotts Bank
It had taken much coercing but the Goblins had finally agreed to do it.
'Agreed to do what?', you might ask.
Well, the Goblins had perhaps the best curse breakers on the planet, which was why even immensely dark cursed objects such as horcruxes were well within the abilities of the wily green creatures to destroy.
It had taken a combination of a lot of gold, plus the favour owed to the Leaders of the Light for pointing out the Horcrux which had been stored in Bellatrix's vault, but they had finally, if somewhat reluctantly, agreed to extract the horcrux from Harry's head.
And so, Harry and Sirius found themselves waiting nervously at the desk of a Goblin Teller in the Bank of Gringotts.
"Come with me, Mr Potter," the teller said gruffly.
More than a little bit nervous, Harry complied. Sirius made to follow him, but a different teller stepped up and blocked Sirius' route.
"No-one else is allowed," Harry's Dogfather was told firmly.
Harry could hear Sirius protesting even as he and the first goblin teller moved out of earshot.
"Why can't Sirius come with me?" Harry asked, a little bit lamely.
"You are going deep within Gringotts to places very few humans have been," the teller said, "Gringotts owes your so-called Leaders of the Light a great debt for pointing to a horcrux in our own system. A debt worth more galleons than either of us could hope to see in our lives. That is why you are here. No human has set foot in here in the five hundred years since the Wizards waged their last war of oppression upon us."
Harry nodded, he had expected as much.
He got into the cart with the teller, and it rocketed off at breakneck speeds. Harry was used to it at this point, so he just closed his eyes and tried not to throw up. The ride kept going longer than it ever had before to get to his trust vault.
Harry opened his eyes briefly, trying to ignore the stinging from the wind whipping into his eyes, and looked around. They were in a massive cavern. Below them - far below them - thousands of goblins were mining away, and around them was a huge labyrinth of enchanted rail tracks, floating in mid-air. Some of them led down to where the miners were, while others led into different caverns and all over the bank.
Gringotts was a lot bigger than Harry could have ever imagined.
He closed his eyes again, to stop the nausea from overwhelming him. The last thing he caught a glimpse of was the teller looking absolutely unmoved, as if he were taking a stroll in the park and not travelling at batshit insane speeds hundreds of feet above where the ground was.
Harry lost track of the time but they reached their destination eventually. The cart slowed down over about five hundred metres, before coming to a halt, to prevent the people inside it from being thrown out violently due to the speed of the thing.
"No human has ever stepped foot here," the teller said casually, "Follow me."
Harry followed him.
They walked for about a minute through small caverns with glowing rocks embedded in the floor and in the walls which allowed them to see their way, and gave the entire place a little bit of an ethereal aesthetic.
They entered a room.
An older goblin was there, waiting for them.
"Welcome Mr Potter," he rumbled, "My name is Rumbleroar*. Let us get started."
It seemed like Rumbleroar was a man of few words.
"Removing a horcrux from a living being is not a pleasant process," Rumbleroar pulled an ornate wooden box out of a shelf, and took out of it a wand.
Harry stared, "I thought goblins weren't allowed to have wands."
"They aren't."
Harry's question was given no further regard.
The Goblin pointed the wand at Harry's head, and seemed to be trying to take an exact aim.
"I should probably warn you," the goblin said, "For this process to work, you will have to be dead for a short period of time. Sorry about that."
"Wha-"
He saw the goblin's mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.
*** Death
The next thing Harry saw was the mighty annoyed face of Albus Dumbledore looking at him crossly. If it weren't a clear sign that he had passed on, Harry would have found the expression on his old Headmaster's face extremely funny.
Dumbledore just looked so grumpy. It was hilarious.
Then he spoke.
"You fool," Death hissed at Harry, "You may be my Champion, but you can't go around killing yourself whenever you want. You have responsibilities, and I must send you back. Do you know how much paperwork is involved in sending you back once you visit this realm?"
"There is a horcrux in my head," Harry said, "One of Voldemort's. It's his last one. After this, he will have truly passed on. His physical body is already dead."
Death groaned, "When a person has a horcrux, and they die, what happens to them. What happened to Voldemort when you killed his physical body as a baby?" he said, as if he was speaking to a little child.
"They, uh, become a wraith?"
"And yet, when The Darkness killed Tom Riddle, he did not become a wraith. He simply ceased to exist. Which would imply…"
"There was no horcrux in me," Harry realised, "That means Voldemort was trying to get the Leaders of the Light to kill me...his final revenge from beyond the grave."
"Not quite so dramatic, I'm afraid," Death said dryly, "By the end, Riddle couldn't give less of a shit if you died or not. There was indeed a horcrux in your head...that is until you became my Champion. I could hardly have a tainted human as my Champion. Death is fair and untainted. I removed it as soon as you became my representative."
"Oh," Harry said.
"Oh indeed," Death said, "Now, I shall send you home, Champion, and I better not see you here again at least until The Darkness is dealt with. Have I made myself understood?"
Harry hesitated, then nodded.
"Good," Death said, "Now, go to sleep."
The Primordial Entity waved his hand, and suddenly his eyes felt heavy.
"Until next time, My Champion."
And then, Harry was asleep.
*** End of Chapter
* No I have no idea why I named him after the AVPM Pigfarts Headmaster either, I just wanted him to have a name.
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