Chương 289: HPWW491-500
Chapter 491
Tom Riddle stood there, naked, taking deep breaths of
fresh air into his lungs for the first time in almost fourteen
years. He allowed his fingers to wander over his body,
checking to ensure all was as it should be; smooth skin,
but with an underlying texture of snake skin to it.
After a long few moments of enjoying just being back in a
proper body again, he opened his eyes, not even realising
he'd closed them, and looked to Pettigrew.
He sneered, "Robe me."
As Pettigrew scurried forward with his rune enhanced
robes of old, he had only one and a half seconds of
warning before they were attacked.
Even with his enhanced speed and agility, it had been
almost fourteen years since he'd been used to it. He'd still
managed to duck one curse, but not the second.
He felt blinding pain and then... nothing.
Harry had been watching the nose-less bastard feeling
himself over. Then the man, if that was a true designation
for whatever Riddle had become, lowered his gaze to
stare at Pettigrew.
"Robe me," he'd demanded in a raspy, somewhat highpitched voice.
Just as Pettigrew moved forward, from slightly off to his
right Harry caught what he thought was movement. Then
spell fire launched almost as a barraged volley.
He'd barely had a chance to draw breath before he felt his
bindings dissolve and he was yanked sideways and down.
Then there was the feeling on a wand tap on the top of his
head followed by the feel of 'runny egg' wash down his
body. 'Disillusionment,' he thought.
Still without a chance to even make an utterance of sound,
he heard an almost whispered, "Unspeakables, Potter."
And he was half-dragged, half-carried, away from the
scene until they rounded a large tomb, where he was then
dumped on the ground.
Harry felt a charm impact him on the cheek where he'd
been cut by mini-Malfoy and the slight stinging sensation
he was feeling from the laceration disappeared. He raised
his hand and felt no sign of it.
Four Unspeakables suddenly materialised before him.
One firmly said, "Potter. Sit! Staaaayyy... Good boy."
Harry quietly snarked, "Woof."
Then the four, with matching grins, disillusioned again as
they clearly began heading back the way from which
they'd just come.
However, Harry could no longer see the reflection of
flashes of spell fire, or the sound of battle. Actually, he
couldn't hear a damned thing. Not even talking.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Bones had just walked out the gate after the Unspeakable
when the Unspeakable turned to her and offered her a
piece of parchment.
Not being the trusting sort, Bones drew her wand and cast
over it first; not finding any magic on it at all.
Taking it, she could see in the dim moonlight there was
something written on it. A quick Lumos and she could read
it.
As she finished, she noticed something off to the side and
turned to look. 'A tent, of all things,' she thought.
As the Unspeakable plucked the note back out of Bones's
fingers, Bones realised just what that slip of parchment
meant. "Fidelius," she muttered.
The Unspeakable nodded and led the way into the tent.
The following aurors saw their Boss stop to read
something, then turn to the left, walk forward and
disappear.
"Shit!" muttered young auror Watkins. "Hammer's going to
be pissed."
"Watkins," called the female Senior Auror with her. "Go
back and get Master Hammer or another Master and let
her or them know what's happened. Tell them I suspect
she's disappeared directly out the gate under what
appears to be a Fidelius. I'll wait here."
"Yes, Senior," she replied, before running back in through
the gates.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Inside the tent, the senior on-site Unspeakable
immediately greeted her. "Madam Bones." s/he said.
"What's all this?" she demanded.
"Monitoring," s/he replied. "You'll be pleased to know
we've already found your boy and dealt with the situation.
He'll be returned, soon."
"Potter's safe?" she demanded.
"He is."
"What happened?"
"A kidnapping, of course," replied the Unspeakable.
"Potter was taken to use his blood in a dark ritual to
resurrect the one known as Voldemort."
When Bones let out a small gasp, the Unspeakable
added, "Don't worry about it. The situation, as I said, has
been dealt with."
"Where?" she demanded.
"As I said, don't worry about it," replied the Unspeakable.
"As it was a muggle area, our people are dealing with the
scene and cleaning it as we speak."
Knowing she'd get no information the Unspeakables didn't
want her to have, no matter how much she tried to bluster
or threaten, Bones let out an annoyed sigh and said,
"When do I get Potter back?"
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Chapter 492
"After a short debrief," s/he replied. "I suggest you return
to where the Minister is currently berating the judging
panel of the Third Task and let him know."
"He's unharmed?" she asked.
"He received a small cut to his left cheek, which has since
been healed," s/he replied. "He might even be back by the
time you get back down there."
She gave a nod and muttered an almost unwilling, "Thank
you." Then spun about and walked back out of the tent.
As she cleared what was clearly the Fidelius boundary,
one of her senior aurors dispelled a disillusionment charm
and asked, "Ma'am?"
"I'm fine," muttered Bones. "Let's get back to the stage
and judges." Then put deed to word by walking back to
and through the gates.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When an Unspeakable returned to collect Harry, it had
been about two minutes and Harry was getting a bit
'antsy'.
"Lord Potter," said the Unspeakable. "The situation is
resolved. It's now safe to move you. Please, follow me."
Harry climbed back to his feet and followed the person
back the way they'd come.
As they approached, he could see a few Unspeakables
doing various tasks. A couple were taking a very close
look at the giant cauldron, others were checking over what
were now clearly dead bodies, others were overseeing the
removal of marks and damage to the terrain and markers
caused by the very short and very one-sided battle.
Walking back past the grave marker on which he was tied,
one of those doing the overseeing turned to him and
asked, "Lord Potter, how's your fortitude?"
"It's fine," Harry replied.
The Unspeakable nodded back and gestured him over to
where four bodies laid under black sheets. He moved to
one at the end, the smallest, and asked, "Think you can
identify someone for us? We believe he was a student at
your school."
Harry took a breath and nodded. He already knew who it
would be.
With a flick of his wand, one part of the sheet was flicked
aside.
In barely a moment Harry recognised him. He immediately
said, "Draco Malfoy, Heir Primary to the Magical House of
Malfoy; a scion, but not an Heir, of the Noble and Most
Ancient House of Black."
The Unspeakable gave a nod and flicked his wand again,
causing the sheet to flick back over the body of Harry's socalled school yard nemesis.
"Thank you, Lord Potter," replied the Unspeakable. "We
already knew the identity of the other three from previous
records."
"Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew, I recognised," said
Harry. "But, who's the other? And, what happened to
Riddle?"
The Unspeakable hesitated a moment before he replied,
"The other is, or was, Walden MacNair, a ministry
employee in the Department for the Regulation and
Control of Magical Creatures. As for Riddle... we've
already taken him back to the Department. You no longer
need to worry about him."
Without even waiting for Harry to respond, the
Unspeakable looked over Harry's shoulder and said,
"Debrief him and send him back."
Harry turned to where the (wo)man had looked and saw
another of the Unspeakables. "This way, please, Lord
Potter."
Harry was led clear of what was going on and had a few
'facts' explained to him.
While he was grumbling about it, the Unspeakable
indicated to another, who brought over the Tri-Wizard Cup.
S/He offered it to Harry.
As he accepted it, the Unspeakable said, "Remember,
Lord Potter. Not a word of this to anyone. We don't want
any other wannabe dark lord or lady to know there exists a
revivification ritual they could use if they die."
"Yeah, yeah," he snarked. "I'll be a good little lordling and
use the story you lot have concocted."
The Unspeakable gave a nod back and raised their wand
to tap the Cup. "Execute."
And Harry was portkeyed away.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
At the starting point of where the maze existed, the
bleachers, the judges table and the now lonesome stage,
no one had left except for aurors who'd been sent off to
deal with unknown matters. Everyone else had been
forced to remain where they were.
Around the judges table, where even the judges except
Marchbanks were now standing, were Minister Brunt,
Master Auror Scrimgeour, two of his Seniors and four
Lords of the Seven - Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom,
Robertus Flack and Basil Clearwater. Around them were
others; including, Samuel Greengrass, Eugene Abbott,
Heathcliff Davis and other aurors; the last of whom were
waiting for further orders.
Hermione and Daphne were in the stands. The other
Heirs, now including Finch-Fletchley, formed a protective
human shield around the pair of them. They'd only
recently also been joined by Fleur, who'd hurried off the
lawns to her family first before joining them with her family,
who'd come with her. That then brought over the families
of the heirs to form an even bigger human protection
shield centred on Hermione and Daphne. Even
Hermione's parents were part of that.
As some tried to demand answers of the three 'Potter'
ladies, those shielding them snarled back ordering those
trying to demand information to back off or be... dealt with.
That left them alone.
While they waited and anxiously watched Sirius, Frank,
Samuel and the others, Hermione was in the process of
slowly worrying her bottom lip to shreds with her teeth.
Both Sirius and Frank were ripping verbal strips off
Bagman and Snodway. Flack and Clearwater were tagteaming the Minister.
There was a lot of bickering, but no action. Some, like
Bagman, were trying to lay the blame at the feet of
Headmistress Lady Marchbanks, who was simply ignoring
them back. She, for one, was calm.
Frank, seeing her lack of reaction demanded, "Why are
you so calm? One of the Seven has been kidnapped by
persons unknown."
"Because I expect this matter to be rectified within a few
short minutes," she replied.
"You know something," he accused.
Other arguments began to peter off as they all started to
realise 'news' was in the offering.
"I do," she replied. "However, I may not speak of it. Those
we do not speak of have forbidden it."
"The Unspeakables?" demanded Brunt. "What do they―"
That was as far as he got before there was the flash of an
arriving portkey in the middle of the stage. And Harry
appeared, holding the Cup, before he immediately fell
over.
"Oh, bloody Hell!" he irritably called. He had no idea a
Sonorus ward had already been cast on the stage.
Quickly climbing back to his feet he was about to say
something when her heard Hermione cry, "Harrison James
Potter!"
"Oh, poop!" he muttered, startled. Again, because of the
Sonorus, it was heard by all.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After having almost three dozen people then storm the
stage, all demanding information, he just stood there,
looking dejected.
It took Hermione breaking through the crowd that
surrounded him, with Daphne and Fleur in tow, for him to
stop ignoring folks. Instead, he just paid attention to them.
Thankfully, Hermione only demanded one question, saw
the look on his face and immediately blushed, looking
away as she hugged him.
Harry let the crowd burn itself out of questions, which had
gotten progressively louder until they finally realised he
was answering none of them and began to shut up, one
by one. That took about three minutes.
When he did finally have silence. He said, "Well, are you
all done being absolute idiots, yet?"
That immediately had people berating him and yell
questions at him again. And, again, he just stood there,
looking around.
Eventually, he raised a hand before his face, began
peering closely at his nails, before buffing them on his
chest and having another look at them. He made it as
obvious as he could get he was paying them no attention,
whatsoever. Only then did they finally realise he would not
be answering any questions, that way.
When they again shut up he asked, "Are you all done, this
time?"
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Chapter 493
Yet again, a couple of people arced up and again he
raised his hand before his face to peer at his nails. That
had those couple of people shut up again.
"For the third and final time, before I decide I'm done with
the fucking lot of you and simply leave, are you all done...
now?"
When no one said a word, he said, "Well, it appears the
witches and wizards of wizarding Britain can be taught.
Now, if you want to get information from me as to what
happened... get off this stage and give me and mine
room!"
As people, with some muttering imprecations, finally
moved to obey, he saw Madam Bones standing there, off
to one side, with an eyebrow cocked back.
"Madam Bones," he said, "Please use your supposedly
highly trained and capable aurors, supposedly trained in
handling crowds, to do their job by controlling this..." he
waved his hand at those still leaving the stage. "... rowdy
mob."
She gave a slight smirk back and set four aurors between
the stage and those who'd crowded him, getting them to
force people back and away.
When they finally had everyone complied, whether
willingly or not, he said, "Great. Now that I have a chance
to explain things, without having idiots wasting their
energy and breaths yelling questions at me, I can get on
with it.
"Firstly; you all saw me take to my broom and soar into the
air over the maze to spot the Tri-Wizard Cup. I soared into
the air and had the Cup spotted within a few seconds. I
immediately dived back into the maze where the Cup was
located. As I landed right next to it, I heard what I thought
was a gasp of noise. I hesitated with my wand drawn,
thinking I was about to be attacked.
"When I couldn't locate that threat I then moved to grab
the Cup, thereby being the winner of the Tournament. As I
reached for the Cup I was hit in the back by a stunner.
"Sometime later, I was enervated by Lucius Malfoy."
That had a lot of people gasp in shock before someone
yelled something at him.
Yelling back he said, "For failing to remain silent while I
explain what happened, that's a ten second delay of time
penalty!"
Then he flicked back the hem of his left sleeve by
thrusting his arm forward and brought his wrist up so he
could look at his watch.
Then he counted out the ten seconds.
As soon as it reached zero, he said, "The next interruption
will be a fifteen second penalty; and the next after that,
twenty! If you want to hear what I have to say, make sure
you stay silent and those around you also stay silent!"
He gave a wide sweeping glare, before he resumed. "As I
said, I was enervated by Lucius Malfoy. He was dressed in
full Death Eater regalia, including the mask. If you wonder
how it is I knew it was he, I remind you that the man has
long, straight, white-blonde hair. I then confirmed it was he
when he spoke to me.
"I was tied to a grave marker in what appeared to be an
old and disused cemetery. Looking past Lucy Malfoy I also
spotted who I knew to be his son, Draco, and Peter
Pettigrew. There was a fourth person there, also in Death
Eater regalia, but I did not recognise him at the time."
He then went on to tell them what had happened with the
modification the Unspeakables wanted him to make, that
the ritual had failed.
He only had to issue the fifteen and twenty second
penalties, one each on two further instances of being
interrupted, before he was interrupted no further.
Finally, he said, "So, their attempt to resurrect the dark
wizard Tom Marvolo Riddle, who self-styled himself Lord
Voldemort, spectacularly failed. Those who attempted the
ritual all died in the attempt. They are... or were... Lucius
Malfoy; his son, Draco Malfoy; Peter Pettigrew and
Walden MacNair.
"Because of the attempted necromantic ritual, the
Unspeakables have taken control of the scene. No one is
permitted there. Together with the components of the
ritual, I believe they have also recovered the bodies and
took them to the Department of Mysteries, where their
loved ones may collect them later for burial.
"That is all I have for you. I have now given you all the
information I have on this matter. Barking your questions
at me like cur dogs will gain you nothing, but a very pissed
off Lord of the Seven, with his wand drawn, in your face.
You do not want that, I do not want to do that. However, I
will if you push me.
"That is all."
Surprisingly, no one then arced up at him again.
Madam Bones then walked up and onto the stage with a
wry smile on her face.
She leaned in on Harry and whispered, "Take yourself and
your ladies and go to your apartment. I'll handle things
from here."
Harry gave a nod as she stepped back and softly called
for Dobby.
As soon as he appeared, he told the elf what he wanted to
happen. Dobby nodded back and got right on it.
Before everyone's eyes, Harry and his three all
disappeared, right off the stage. That had people utter
cries of dismay, shock or anger.
Then, others started to disappear, too - Hermione's
parents, the Delacours, Sirius, Moony and the
Greengrasses.
As Madam Bones, still standing on the stage, didn't seem
surprised by the disappearance of the 'Potter four' from
the same stage. People didn't, once again, panic.
She stepped forward and said, "That's it for the
information. As such, that's also it for the night. For those
who are current residents of the castle, please start
making your way there. For those who are not, please
start making your way to the main gates. Aurors, assist
them with that, please."
Then she walked off the stage, herself. As she did, the
Minister stomped over and barked, "Amelia! I have not
had a chance to present the boy with his prize money!"
"Do it tomorrow morning, Minister; in the Great Hall, here
at Hogwarts," she returned. "You'll have a greater chance
of you presenting Lord Potter with his winnings appearing
on the front page of the Prophet, if you do that instead.
Clearly, it won't if you try to do it tonight."
The Minister, thought about it for only a moment before he
said, "Merlin damn it; you're correct. Thank you."
She just gave him a nod before walking away. She had
lots more to do tonight. Part of that would be seeing the
Unspeakables to confirm the deaths of four 'upstanding
citizens', before then having to inform their remaining
families.
She just thanked Merlin it would only be Narcissa Malfoy,
as neither of the other two had remaining close family
members still alive.
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Chapter 494
Appearing in the Potter apartment, Harry immediately
dropped into the middle seat of a sofa and fell backwards
onto the backrest. He felt exhausted. Hermione was quick
to land next to him and cuddle in. Clearly, she'd been
worried she'd lost him.
"We'll soon have almost a dozen people turn up in here,"
he said. "Can you ladies get things ready for them?"
Before the girls could even reply, the two adult Grangers
found themselves appearing with the white flash of elvish
magic in the middle of the room. And let out a gasp of
shock.
"Sorry!" Harry called to them. "I told Dobby to grab you
and get you out of there before people figured out who
you were and gave you a hard time."
Betsy was called by Daphne and the ladies' elf popped
away to bring more seats.
"That felt... odd," said Wendell. "Like... all sorts of wrong."
Harry almost carelessly shrugged. "You broke the laws of
physics and I'd say your body didn't like that."
Then, before Wendell could say another word, the
Delacours appeared with Gabrielle; though they weren't as
surprised, having seen the Grangers disappear. Then the
Greengrasses. Then Sirius. Then Moony.
"Well," said Sirius. "That was interesting. I was right in the
middle of having a chat with Frank Longbottom―"
"He'll have a pretty fair idea what happened to you," said
Harry. "And, if not him, then Neville. I think we can
probably expect them, and others, along within about
fifteen minutes."
After first having to rise again to greet folks, Harry finally
received hugs off loved ones.
Dobby and/or Betsy had been busy in the kitchen. Soon,
there appeared a late night snack 'spread' with a large tea
serving on the coffee table.
Sirius finally asked, "How much of what you told us
happened after you were portkeyed away was the truth,
Pup?"
Harry smirked and replied, "I relayed exactly what the
Unspeakables told me I was to relay. I didn't embellish it
one whit. Other than what I told you, the Unspeakables
have made the whole event a matter of security of the
wizarding realm."
Sirius gave a snort of amusement and said, "In other
words, probably everything you told us that didn't mean all
that much, was true; but all the important points, weren't.
That would be typical of those bastards."
"I can't say," said Harry. "I promised I wouldn't. I'd rather
remember what happened, than have them remove those
memories either by finding a way to actually accomplish
what Dumbledore couldn't; or, getting rid of those
memories by getting rid of me."
Sirius stared back worriedly for a moment, before he
quietly muttered, "Good point."
With Betsy and or Dobby finding enough sofas and
couches to accommodate everyone, Harry asked Dobby
to see if they could find more and find a place for them in
the room.
"More guests?" asked the little elf.
"Yep," replied Harry; "Or, at least I think so."
He was right.
The next to turn up was, surprising Harry, Justin FinchFletchley. Harry was quick to introduce him to Sirius. He
came with Tracey Davis. Yet further proof they were
becoming a couple.
The Longbottom three, plus their extended families that
had come to see the Task, were only two minutes behind.
After them, Harry decided to just leave the door to the
apartment open as he knew aurors were outside to
monitor who arrived. As such, no one who wouldn't be
allowed would even be able to get to the door.
Finally, Madam Bones turned up with two more aurors.
By then the living room of the apartment was quite full.
They'd have been overflowing if they'd still been in the
previous apartment.
However, there were no others who 'warranted' getting
allowed in to visit. Harry should have realised that before,
but blamed it on being tired after a long night.
With Madam Bones's arrival Harry was yet again
'interrogated' about what had actually happened. He
simply reiterated what he'd told Sirius.
Though annoyed and showing her displeasure, Bones
didn't push it. She, too, understood what the
Unspeakables were capable of if they thought they had a
need to act.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After everyone not living in the apartment had left again,
Harry went to bed.
He'd only been gone for about two minutes when Fleur
looked to Hermione and asked, "'Ermione?"
From the look on her face, Hermione knew what Fleur was
asking, paused a moment and said, "Go. I slept with him
last night."
Without another word, Fleur rose and walked straight to
Harry's door. After a quick knock, she quietly let herself in.
However, when she moved to the bed expecting Harry to
welcome her, he was already asleep.
With a sigh of disappointment, she disrobed and climbed
in to snuggle up to him. She was naked, as she both didn't
bring a nightie in with her and hated sleeping in one
anyway.
It was some time during the early hours of the morning
when she woke up feeling almost uncomfortably aroused.
Harry was apparently awake and 'playing'.
"Oh... by the Gods... Harry!" she softly moaned.
Harry looked up and said, "Ah. You're awake. Do you
mind?"
"N-no," she replied. "De-definitely not."
He smiled back and, moments later, dropped his head
beneath the bedding.
Harry 'did something' and she moaned before she gave a
little 'Eep' sound. "Oh... oh... Ohh... OHH... OH, MON
DIEUX!"
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Chapter 496
Pup,
Ted Tonks and I have to make an emergency trip to Perth -
the one in Australia, not the one in Scotland - and may be
a few days. It's nothing for you to worry about; just House
business for Black.
I'll take my communications mirror with me so, if you or
Hermione need to get hold of me, you can do so. Just,
please be aware of the time difference. Perth is eight
hours ahead of Hogwarts. That means, if it's 8.00am at
Hogwarts, it's 4.00pm in Perth. So, if you want to contact
me, try to contact me in the morning, your time.
I'll let you know when we arrive back in wizarding Britain,
so you won't continue to think I'm on the other side of the
world.
Can you please give Hermione the same information?
Padfoot
~ # ~
Wondering what was going on, but knowing not to ask
even if he could, Harry quietly handed the letter to
Hermione.
After she read it, also frowning in some confusion, she
looked back and asked, "Any ideas?"
"None," he replied. "And, that's so unlike him. However, if
he wanted either of us to know, he'd have told us."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons contingents left almost
immediately at the close of breakfast and just before
everyone had to head off to class.
However, when Harry was making his own way out, he
received a note from Marchbanks asking him to pay her a
visit in her office.
Not as annoyed as he would have been if it was still
Dumbledore in that office, Harry made his way up to the
Head's tower. He went on his own.
When he got up there, passing through the gargoyle as he
knew the password and it was unchanged, he knocked on
the door and waited.
"Enter," he heard called.
He walked in to find Marchbanks sitting at her desk and
doing parchment work.
"Hello, Lord Potter," she quietly said, sliding what she was
working on aside. Then indicated the chair just on the
other side of her desk. "Please, sit."
"Headmistress," he returned, taking that seat and sitting
back.
When he was comfortable she said, "Thank you for
coming alone."
He gave a slight shrug and said, "Unlike that manipulative
old... so-and-so that used to sit where you now do, I have
no concerns you intend to do me harm."
"Thank you for you trust," she nodded. She hesitated a
moment before she said, "The reason why I asked you up
here, was for you to see something."
"Mmm?" he asked
With a slight smirk, she raised her wand and waved it at
one of her office walls. When he turned to look he could
see a portrait fade into existence. It was Dumbledore and
it was active.
By the way the portrait appeared annoyed and was trying
to speak, but no sound was heard, he could tell a silencing
ward had been placed on it.
"Dumbledore?" he asked. A moment later he realised what
it meant and snapped his surprised expression back to
Marchbanks.
She chuckled and said, "Yes, Lord Potter. It means Albus
Dumbledore is dead."
"But, that would mean―" he began.
"That would mean the Unspeakables killed him; yes," she
replied.
Glancing back at the portrait, which was trying to rant and
rave now, before he turned to look at her again, he asked,
"How long have you known?"
She smiled and replied, "I knew from the moment that
portrait appeared. That was the day before you met with
young Saul... Unspeakable Croaker... here, in this office.
"Once it appeared, with Dumbledore still asleep at the
time, I erected a disillusionment and silencing ward over
it."
"Did Mister... sorry, Croaker know?" he asked.
"Yes," she gave a firm nod. "However, I also told him I had
no intention of allowing that portrait to be seen by anyone,
but a select few, until the Unspeakables were ready to
make it public that Dumbledore was dead. I have been
assured they'll be doing that either later today or
tomorrow."
She then leaned forward and said, "I'm also aware that the
ritual, last night, was successful in resurrecting young Tom
Riddle. And that Croaker's boys and girls... reversed that
state, yet again."
Harry gave her a quizzical look and asked, "And how
would you reach such a conclusion?"
She returned, "Because Croaker will be here in about five
minutes to take you to the Department of Mysteries to
carry out a small task for him. He would not be doing that
unless I'm right about last night.
"Before you ask, though, I have no idea what that task
actually is; but I have a fair idea. I believe he is going to
ask you to do something so he is assured that a certain
prophecy is, indeed, complete."
Harry looked back at her for a moment before his light
smile turned into a full blown smirk. "You, Lady Griselda
Marchbanks, are not a daft moron."
She let loose a loud laugh.
It took her a few moments before she calmed enough and
replied, "No, Lord Harrison Potter, I am not."
"You knew about some of the little things that almost all
magicals seemed unaware of and I made known, didn't
you?" he asked.
"You mean; such as using the house elves to side-along
apparate someone or something through or within antiapparition wards?" she asked. "Yes. I've known of that for
many years."
He gave a little snort of amusement.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When Croaker turned up via the floo, he asked
Marchbanks, "He's aware?"
"He's aware Dumbledore is dead and that his portrait
appearing here proves it," she replied. "And he's aware
you are taking him back to the Department of Mysteries to
accomplish something that will finish young Tom Riddle for
good."
Croaker gave a nod and turned to Harry. "Ready to go,
Lord Potter?"
Harry gave a nod and stood. "Ready when you are. Let's
get this done."
After stepping Harry through what he needed to do to floo
into the DoM, Harry followed the man through to an office
deep within the department. Once there, Croaker led him
through the corridors until they came to a room that had a
ring of stone tiers leading down to a floor that held a low
stone dais in the centre. On the dais and set back a bit
was a stone arch that had what appeared to be a tattered
filmy dark grey curtain hanging across the face of it.
Before that was a body lying on a table, draped in a black
sheet, with it's feet pointing towards the arch.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 497
There were four other hooded Unspeakables in the room.
One stood either side of what was the body; and two
stood either side of the stone arch.
As he and Croaker walked forward from one of the doors
leading into the room, Harry asked, "Riddle?"
Croaker hesitated just a jot before he softly replied,
"Indeed."
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"How good are you at the Banishing charms?" asked
Croaker.
"Depulso?"
"That one will do, yes."
"If I need to banish that," he said, indicating the body of
Riddle, "Through that arch, I believe I'm more than
capable."
As they'd reached the dais, Croaker said, "Then, please
do so." And gave a flick of his fingers telling Harry to go
right ahead.
Harry gave a nod back, drew his wand, made sure he was
lined up properly and firmly cast. "Depulso!"
Surprising even him - as he only aimed at what, from the
shape, was the head - the body, its covering sheet and the
table all shot away from him and directly through the
middle of the arch.
He blinked in surprise when nothing appeared from the
back of the arch.
"And... done," said Croaker, as the four Unspeakables all
stepped forward with wands drawn and cast diagnostic
charms over the arch. "From your expression it appears
you didn't realise the table was hovering about an inch off
the floor."
"Errr... No," replied Harry.
Croaker smiled and said, "Runes carved into the base of
each leg of the table that caused it to maintain a constant
repulsion from the floor."
"Ah!" muttered Harry. "Clever. I was also surprised to not
see the body and table appear out the other side of the
arch."
"That's because the arch is one way only," explained
Croaker.
He then waited a few moments before one of the
Unspeakables turned back and said, "No leakage. No sign
of a spirit of any form."
Croaker nodded back and turned to Harry. "That's it. No
more Voldemort, ever again."
Harry gave a sigh and quietly, but vehemently, muttered,
"Thank God."
Croaker then led him to his office and placed a small
crystal ball on his desk. Harry immediately recognised it as
the prophecy sphere he'd shown him in Marchbanks's
office back in early March, but it was now a dark grey.
"You can have that, if you like," said Croaker. "It's your
personal proof that Voldemort is done and dusted."
Harry was going to refuse, but finally said, "What the Hell."
Then reached out, picked it up and dropped it into a
pocket of his robes.
Croaker asked, "Before I take you back to the school, do
you have any questions for me?"
Harry thought for a bit before he replied, "Yes. When are
you going to make it public that Dumbledore is dead? I'd
like to get rid of my coterie of human-shaped attack dogs
Madam Bones has saddled me with. The ones she doesn't
know I know about."
Croaker chuckled and replied, "We'll be informing her and
the Minister before lunch. We'll then work with her and the
Minister on when to make it public. At that time I'll also be
informing them as to the truth of the final disposal of Tom
Riddle.
"I cannot say, however, when she is likely to withdraw your
auror guard. She may decide they need to remain in place
for a while."
Harry gave a nod and said, "Please ask them not to make
it known my part in all this that isn't already public
knowledge."
Croaker nodded back and asked, "You wish to avoid the
fame?"
Harry gave a snort and firmly replied, "Hell yes!"
"Then I shall do so," grinned the Unspeakable. Then his
expression harden a little and he said, "Now, as a...
reward... for your actions last night, I have some
information for you. A lot of it we gleaned from
Dumbledore and it's going to be a little shocking for you."
Harry also firmed up, nodded back and said, "Let's hear it
then."
Croaker was well over an hour telling Harry information he
thought the boy should know. For Harry, it was both
shocking, as expected, and unsurprising.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry flooed directly back to the Headmistress's office.
She'd left the floo open for him to return.
"All done?" she asked.
"Yes," he immediately replied. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, the
one known by the nom de guerre of Lord Voldemort, is no
more. There is no coming back for him, now. It's over."
She gave a pleased smile back.
"Headmistress," he asked. "Would you mind removing the
disillusionment and silencing wards on Dumbledore's
portrait? I want to show him and explain to him
something."
She smiled, gave a nod and silently waved her wand at
where Harry now knew Dumbledore's portrait to hang.
Turning to it he saw Dumbledore realise he could be seen
again. But, before the old man could speak, Harry got in
first.
"Hello, you manipulative old coot."
Dumbledore spluttered and said, "Now... Harry, my boy―"
"I'm not your boy," Harry cut in. "I asked Headmistress
Lady Marchbanks for this few moments to speak with you
to bring you up to date on a few matters. If you want to
know what's going on, shut the Hell up."
Dumbledore spluttered again, but didn't interrupt.
Harry then drew the prophecy orb out of his pocket and
showed it to the portrait. "Recognise what this is, you old
twit?"
Dumbledore looked shocked.
"I see, you do," said Harry. "It's a prophecy orb... a
completed prophecy orb."
He then used his wand to tap it to activate it.
Once it played out, he said, "As you can see, it's the
prophecy orb for the prophecy you've been using as an
excuse to manipulate my life. That it is dimmed tells you
that the prophecy is completed. It's over! Done!"
Dropping it back into his pocket he said, "I personally sent
the corpse of the very recently revived Tom Riddle through
a certain archway in the Department of Mysteries less
than an hour and a half ago. Unspeakable Croaker has
also informed me that his experts on prophecies and
divination are utterly assured the prophecy is complete.
"So, you bastard, your manipulations were pointless. You
screwed over my life for nothing!
"And now it's time I get my revenge on you."
When Harry fixed an evil grin on Dumbledore, the old man
said, "Now... Harry, my boy―"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 498
Harry cut in and roared, "That's 'Lord Potter', you rude and
ignorant white-whiskered wanker!"
Dumbledore immediately shut up.
"My revenge on you, I believe, will be both righteous and
reciprocal," said Harry. It was time to start to make use of
the information Croaker had only just recently given him.
"I am having cause to be written and printed a book all
about you," he started to explain. "I'm having history
experts go back through your entire life. There are still
quite a few people alive, including Headmistress Lady
Marchbanks here, who personally knew you when you
were a child. Two others, I believe, are Bathilda Bagshot
and Elphias Doge. I'm sure my researchers will find more.
"Once they've collected all that information, I will find a
ghost writer to write the entire sordid tale of your life down.
It will include how you and Gellert Grindelwald were
lovers. It will include how you killed your sister, when she
became an Obscurial. It will include how you and
Grindelwald planned to take over the world. It will include
your separation and why. And, it will include all your plans
to take over the wizarding world, then the muggle world,
by working behind the scenes; through manipulation,
blackmail, lying, deceit and every other dark method you
employed.
"And, once it is all written down, I will have it published.
And, once published, I will ensure that book will be
distributed world-wide. There will not exist a magical
community, anywhere, which will not receive plenty of
copies of the book.
"In other words, there will not exist a single wizard or witch
across the planet who, before very long, will not already
know or have ready access to the knowledge of you to
have been a vicious Dark Lord. I swear it!"
If it was possible for a portrait to pale and have a heart
attack, by the look on the face of the portrait of Albus
Dumbledore, this one would have.
"So, Dark Lord Albus Percival Dumbledore - yes, I know
about that, too - I hope you're currently enjoying your next
great adventure... by currently burning in everlasting
agony in the fiery pits of Hell."
Not even waiting for the portrait to respond, Harry spun
back to a smirking Marchbanks and said, "I'm done with
this fool. I'll never wish to speak to it, again."
Without a word, Marchbanks raised her wand.
"No! Wait!" cried the portrait of Dumbledore. That was as
far as he got before he was again silenced and
disillusioned.
That then had the other portraits openly laughing,
snickering or chortling.
Portrait Phinneas Black called, "Well said, grandson!"
"All that was true?" asked Marchbanks.
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "Croaker just got through
explaining it all to me."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
By the time Harry had finished, the time was getting on to
morning tea. So, he made sure he had his potions
supplies for the double of Potions immediately after the
short break in his satchel and made his way down to the
Great Hall. He'd left it in the Headmistress's office when
he went to the DoM. Of course, he also escorted the
Headmistress down and she allowed him to escort her in
via the staff entrance.
On entering he found the other Heirs were already there,
sitting at the Ravenclaw table.
Joining them, he plonked himself down on the end, next to
Fleur. "Though I'm stating the obvious," he immediately
said, "I'm back."
"You were gone a while," said Hermione.
"Yep," he replied. "I'll explain, once we're back in the
Lords' Quarters and there's no chance of anyone listening
in."
That stopped any questions being asked.
"But, your business is concluded?" asked Neville.
"Yes," he firmly replied.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
That afternoon after classes and back in the apartment,
Harry explained what he could of what happened. He
even pulled out the prophecy orb again and played it for
them.
When Neville went white, Harry calmly told him, "Yes,
Neville. It meant it could have been you. However, Riddle
chose me when he attacked my parents, first."
With Riddle now permanently dead he had no problem
telling that to Neville without his parents present.
"However, Dumbledore always had in the back of his mind
that you were the 'alternate'," he went on. "If anything fatal
was to happen to me, he believed he had you ready to
step in to deal with the situation."
"But," said Neville, "He didn't mark me."
"Not yet, Nev," Harry calmly replied. "Not... yet."
"It no longer matters, though," said Daphne. "As Harry has
shown us, the prophecy is complete. That means it was
him."
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"So, what happens now?" asked Hermione.
"We put it behind us," replied Susan. "It's done. It no
longer plays a role in either Harry's or Neville's life, from
this point on."
"Well said, Susan," said Harry, smiling at her. "That's
exactly what it means."
Then he went on to explain how Dumbledore was actually
dead; and not just an escapee from justice.
"Does Auntie 'Melia know this?" asked Susan.
"She will, by now," he replied. "Croaker told me he'd be
going to inform your aunt and Minister Brunt of just that
before lunch.
"Then, the three of them would figure out how to make it
all public. I figure we'll see news of that in the Daily
Prophet, very soon; probably tomorrow or Sunday."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As reasonably expected, the next morning the Daily
Prophet had the stories.
~ # ~
DUMBLEDORE DEAD
In surprising news released by a combined media
statement of the Minister, Lord Gabriel Brunt, and Director
of the DMLE, Madam Amelia Bones, comes news that
Albus Dumbledore is dead. While information as to the
cause of that death is unknown, representatives of both
the Minister and the Director inform us it is confirmed 'at
the highest levels of government', writes Samuel Clemens,
political reporter for the Daily Prophet.
Madam Bones informed us, "Albus Dumbledore, whose
true full name was Albus Percival Dumbledore [no middle
names of Wulfric or Brian] is deceased. His body is not
available for burial, as the manner of his death has not left
one."
Minister Brunt added, "Citizens of wizarding Britain can
rejoice that the Ministry has finally dealt with the threat
that was the once-revered Albus Dumbledore. He will
trouble you, no more."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 499
Rumour from with the DMLE and the Minister's office has
it that Dumbledore was legally declared a Dark Lord some
weeks before his disappearance. However, that rumour is
unconfirmed. When we attempted to confirm it, we were
met with hostile responses. This leads us to believe the
rumour to be true.
So, for those worried Dumbledore might attempt to harm
or otherwise injure them in their homes, you can now live
safe in the knowledge he can no longer do you or yours
that harm.
The life story of Albus Dumbledore, page 3.
The fall from grace of Albus Dumbledore, page 3.
'Dark Lord or Misunderstood?' An opinion piece, page 4.
~ # ~
'Hmm...' thought Harry. 'Just enough to answer the
question without going into too much detail.'
~ # ~
'YOU-KNOW-WHO' WILL NOT BE 'HE-WHO-CAMEBACK'
In a surprising development, details of which were
released through the combined offices of the Minister and
the Department of Mysteries, it has been announced that
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will certainly not be making
a surprising comeback, writes Samuel Clemens political
reporter for the Daily Prophet.
The Minister announced, "Some members of our
community believe that the Dark Wizard, Tom Marvolo
Riddle, who went by the sobriquet Lord V*******, will one
day return. This is not true.
"Through the good offices of the Department of Mysteries,
their experts have now proven to me, beyond any shadow
of a doubt, that Mister Riddle is gone for good. Apparently,
the very dark necromantic ritual that attempted to resurrect
him [two night's ago] on the night of the third task of the
Tri-Wizard Tournament failed so spectacularly that there is
no longer any chance at all of him returning. The spirit of
the dark one was utterly destroyed in the attempt."
We can now all breathe a deep sigh of relief that the
darkness that enveloped our world right up until the night
our very own Boy-Who-Lived and now Lord of his Noble
and Most Ancient House, Lord Harrison 'Harry' Potter (15),
first destroyed him will never return.
Opinion has it that Lord Potter played more of a role in
what happened that night of the third task of the Tri-Wiz
than is being made clear. However, both the Minister and
the Unspeakables refute that; as did Lord Potter on the
night.
A history of the truth of Tom M Riddle, page 4.
~ # ~
"Hmmm, clever," muttered Harry. "Hopefully, that way
some idiot is not going to see if they can learn what the
'dark ritual' was and try to recreate it."
"Pardon, Harry?" asked Hermione, sitting next to him
again.
Harry just passed her the paper and pointed to the article.
After she read it she sighed and quietly said, "As you said,
clever. Hopefully, no one's going to try it again."
"I'm more hoping some of those masked idiots out there
are going to accept he's gone, but believe I had something
to do with it. I want them thinking I got rid of him again, so
they won't try to have a shot at me, themselves."
"Because, if you can kick the bum of their dark lord, then
you won't think them much of a trouble to do the same to
them?" she asked.
"Precisely," he nodded.
Hannah, sitting opposite, caught their attention and flicked
her chin towards the Slytherin table. She was sitting facing
that way. "They appear devastated."
Turning to look, Harry could see quite a few who were
looking distraught at what they'd read. However, he also
noticed quite a few who looked downright relieved and
were trying to hide it. Surprisingly, Pansy Parkinson was
one who was relieved and definitely wasn't trying to hide it.
Parkinson had broken down the night of the Third Task,
when Harry announced Malfoy the younger was dead.
However, she was almost right as rain the next morning.
When he quietly asked Tracey why, she carefully replied,
"Parkinson hated Malfoy's guts. She was very unhappy to
have been locked into a betrothal contract with the little
ferret."
Harry frowned and said, "She used to hang off him like a
handbag, when we first got to the school."
She nodded back and said, "That changed within days of
that little fffu-ferret getting old enough he could get his dick
to stay hard for long enough. He forced himself on her;
enough she had to spend the night in the Infirmary.
"From that moment on, she only gave the appearance she
was with him. In truth, she wanted him dead - horribly,
painfully and gruesomely."
"When did you find this out?" he asked.
"The night of the Third Task, when we all left your
apartment," she quietly replied. "When I got back she was
in our dorm, blubbering on Millie's shoulder in relief and
telling the other girls all about it. Alana told me what was
going on."
Harry remembered Alana Runcorn to be the fifth girl in his
year in Slytherin; which made her a dorm mate of Tracey
and Daphne. He also remembered her to be the quietest
of them all, never hearing her speak unless specifically
called upon in class to answer a question.
"Apparently, Malfoy ordered her not to speak of it with
anyone," she continued. "And, something in the contract
made her unable to. With the death of the little... well, the
conditions of the contract were rendered no longer
applicable. So, she could talk about it."
Harry nodded and was thinking how glad he was that
Malfoy the younger was now dead. However, he also felt a
little ashamed of how he'd interacted with the girl in the
past. It was now clear her actions were not entirely her
own choice.
He was absolutely appalled the so-called dark families
allowed such contracts to be written regarding their
daughters. So, while he was feeling a little guilty about
Pansy, his thoughts of her father and Lord were quite
murderous.
'Fucking purebloods,' he thought.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
That night, Daphne climbed into bed with him.
Before anything happened, he asked, "Did Tracey tell you
about Pansy?"
She sadly nodded back.
"Is that part of the reason why you're in here, tonight?"
She hesitated a little before she, again, nodded back.
Firmly, he said, "Daphne. Please don't ever think I'd ever
do something like that to you."
"I know you won't, Harry," she replied.
With a sigh, he pulled her in for a cuddle and a short snog.
Pulling away he rolled onto his back and gently pulled her
until her head was lying on his chest. "Even when you
come in to sleep with me, it doesn't mean you have to
have sex with me, alright?"
"I know," she said. "But, what if I want to have sex?"
Harry smiled and said, "Well, if it's what you want... who
am I to say no?"
Daphne lifted her head, smiled at him, flicked back the
bedding and lowered her head again. This time, lower
down his body.
A moment later, he muttered, "Oh... sweeeeet. Merciful.
Merlin!"
Twenty minutes later, Betsy was throwing up a silencing
ward over Harry's bedroom door.
"Betsy wishes they'd get on with it and have babies," she
tutted and muttered. "Betsy wants little ones to look after."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 500
With school restarting after the weekend, the Third Task
'incident' quickly left the minds of students and staff. They
had exams.
Hermione almost had a panic attack when she realised
she hadn't been studying as religiously as she did in the
past. And then dedicated time to that.
On the third night of a very late night for her, Harry
stunned her, carried her to bed with him, stripped her and
laid her down. Then he quickly cast an enervate and a
sleeping, rather than stunning, charm on her and climbed
in alongside her.
When she woke in the morning, she ranted and raved at
him for a while until both the other girls verbally slapped
her down for it.
"You, Miss Granger," said Daphne, waggling a firm finger
at her, "Were on your way to either a nervous breakdown
or mental collapse brought on by a severe lack of sleep.
Harry did the right thing and you will not berate him for it."
Fleur added, "I just wish I 'ad thought of it, first. Too much
study and too little sleep is just as bad as not enough
study. You must give your mind a chance to relax. If you
do not, you will not be at your best for the eexams."
Hermione cooled and blushed in shame. Looking down in
embarrassment she softly muttered, "Sorry."
Harry gave a sigh of relief and said, "Hermione. I hereby
restrict you to no more than four hours study a night. Each
night you exceed that... no sex for a month."
Hermione's head snapped up and stared at him in shock.
"Y-you wouldn't!"
"I will if I have to," he firmly said right back.
"Th-that's―" she tried.
"A fair punishment," said Fleur, smirking.
"And four hours is even more than I'd allow you," said
Daphne. "This isn't our OWL year, Hermione. And these
are not our OWL exams. The results of these exams will
not appear on our permanent records. You can panic
about exams, next year; not this year."
Hermione sighed and nodded. The message was
understood.
Harry said, "We go home on Saturday, Hermione. Pace
yourself. Now, I believe we've got exams to get to. What's
up first?"
"Transfiguration," she immediately replied.
"Then, we'd best get to it," said Harry.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once exams were out of the way, where Hermione did
restrict herself to a bare few minutes shy of the four hours
allowed per night, the next day they were on their way
back to London on the Express.
Because of the Third Task, all the exams for the non OWL
and NEWT years were all crammed into the final week.
This meant they did not receive their summer assignments
in the final week, as they should have.
When Headmistress Marchbanks stood for her final
announcements, she mentioned that holiday break
homework assignments would not be issued, that year,
due to the shortened break. Hermione was almost
devastated at the news.
Daphne, seeing her reaction, leaned over and said, "That
does not mean you cannot engage in independent study,
Hermione."
Fleur added, "And you can help me study for my NEWTs
in three weeks."
That perked the girl up again.
Also received during the week was an owl from Sirius. He
was back in London and had important news for both
Harry and Hermione.
He also asked that they meet with him on the second day
of their break at 'The Kennel'. (He still called it that,
although Remus was against it.)
The train ride turned out to be quite relaxing. No Draco
Malfoy coming to 'visit' to taunt them. No Ron Weasley
immediately jumping up and retaliating. No doe-eyes from
Ginny Weasley. No getting bothered by others.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Arriving at Kings Cross, the four Potters, the three
Longbottoms, Tracey and Justin all disembarked as one
group. With nine their compartment would have been a
little tight, if it wasn't for the girls occasionally sitting on
laps - that included Tracey occasionally sitting on Justin's
lap.
The poor boy, when it first happened, didn't know what to
do with his hands. Tracey solved that by firmly wrapping
one of his arms around the small of her back and placing
the other across her thighs to hold onto the outside of her
off-side leg. Justin blushed, but firmly held her.
As they disembarked various family members met with
them. There were the Grangers, the Greengrasses, the
Delacours, the Longbottoms, the Abbotts, the Davises, the
Finch-Fletchleys, Amelia Bones and Remus. They made
quite the large group and everyone else gave them a bit of
room. Harry barely noticed Sirius wasn't there.
By prior agreement, the 'Potter' group all split.
Fleur went home for the week to France to spend time
with her family. Harry and her had made sure she was
'recharged' the night before, so she'd have no problems
with the Veela life-debt bond during that time.
Hermione went with her parents to her home, although
she really didn't want to go. Harry reminded her of the floo
and said she could 'drop by' whenever she wanted to;
especially while her parents were at work. That brightened
her up again.
Daphne had calmly stated she'd be returning to Green
Fields and spending the time with her family. But, she did
make this big production of it by coming to Harry in
submission and begging, "With my Lord's permission, of
course." From where he was sitting on the sofa at the
time, studying for his Charms exam, Harry threw a wad of
parchment at her and followed it with a loud raspberry.
That had all three girls laugh.
As for Harry, he and Remus went to Pottermore. Once
there, the first thing Harry did was adjust the wards with
adding the full names of those from his now extended
family to full visitation rights. Daphne and Fleur were
added as full-time residents.
And there were five names Remus asked him to add as
temporary visitors. Harry gave him a look, but said nothing
and just did it. It was clearly a family of five.
Once he was done he let Remus know.
"It's not a good idea to allow so many people to have full
access, Harry," he warned.
Harry nodded and replied, "I know. However, these people
are all people I consider 'family'.
"Now, are you going to tell me who those other five are?"
"Sorry, no," replied Remus before he smirked.
If it wasn't for the smirk, Harry would have turned around,
gone back down to the basement and removed them
again.
"Alright," he drawled. "Why not?"
"That's news Sirius has demanded he be the only one to
tell you about," replied Moony. "He's the one who's been
investigating... this particular issue. That is, he's the one
who paid for the investigation."
Harry gave a pained sigh and grumped, "Fiiiiinnne."
Harry then called the Pottermore house elves and had
them bring the manor out of 'stasis' for an extended stay of
a few days.
Willy said, "Yes, Master Harry. We be gettings it done,
already."
"Thank you," he replied.
Moony said, "Don't forget, Harry. You need to visit Sirius
tomorrow."
"I won't," he replied.
"Then, I'll leave you to re-familiarising yourself with your
rightful home."
He was gone less than a minute later.
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