30 Chapter 30 - Two more Horcruxes come to light

Dinner turned out to be an event where students of many houses sat at tables different from their usual house table. The reason for that was that Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout encouraged the students of their houses to stay and discuss the news. They feared misinformation and wrong conclusions would spread like any other ill-conceived rumor at the school otherwise.

The three heads stayed in the Great Hall together with a few other interested professors after lunch since they didn't teach any classes that day anyway. Instead, they led discussions about the many revelations in that day's Daily Prophet morning edition and Ash's suspension. Even that days issue of the Quibbler was discussed, though that was mostly at the table where Flitwick sat down - Minerva and Pomona still weren't entirely sure about whether or not the paper was worth their time.

When Ash entered, a slight hush came over the hall, and many muggleborn students looked at him with reverent eyes and increasing awe.

Once Sprout and Flitwick revealed their own conclusion that Ash did what he did in part for the betterment of the treatment to anyone not pureblood, many latched onto that and the older students told stories about how their genius elder siblings or first-generation magical parents were slaving away at meaningless positions in the ministry or labored for meager pay at the store owned by a pureblood.

The professors recognized that Ash didn't want to start a cult, so after a lot of effort, they steered the discussions back to the fact that Ash also exposed a lot of duplicity and dark dealings in the Wizengamot. The ensuring debates were filled with one outlandish conspiracy theory after another, grim predictions for the outcome of the hearings, and fantastical tales where Ash would become Minister of Magic to smite the evil wizards from their society. The Weasley twins were very insistent that that was what is going to happen - but even they didn't truly believe in it - they just wanted to lift the younger students' spirits.

With concern in their eyes, the professors noticed that many Slytherin students left to discuss these matters in their common room as opposed to doing so in the open platform of the Great Hall, and many of them cursed Snape for not being here and urging his students to stay and discuss with the others. The few Slytherins that did stay were those belonging to families of the grey faction, though they still barely talked because Ash roasted even the members of the grey faction pretty harshly.

And begrudgingly, most of these Slytherin students would agree that Ash had the right to do so when they heard the complaints of others in the hall. Of course, family honor and rules dictated that they would not besmirch their own family name, something one Daphne Greengrass had to remind her younger sister Astoria of countless times during the day. Astoria almost jumped at the chance to give her two knuts about people speaking unfavorably of her family, but instead, she endured when she saw Daphne looking at her dangerously.

They managed to reach dinner time without shaming their families further, despite many uncalled for remarks. Seeing Ash walk in gave these students a sort of relief - finally the discussions would be over for today and they could relax a little.

Before Ash however managed to sit down for his dinner under the silent watch of the student body, a brightly smiling Sirius Black waltzed into the Great Hall, gave a suave smirk to any 7th year witch that caught his fancy, sent a wink to Harry and Hermione, and then called out Ash to discuss something in private. Instead of blindly doing that, Ash shot Dumbledore a questioning look, who merely smiled in his direction with a nod.

Instead of being a complete disaster of a day with untold difficulties, Dumbledore was in a brilliant mood because of Sirius' floo call a little after lunch. It turned out that Sirius was able to more or less rob the Malfoy and Lestrange Houses blind after he canceled the marriage contracts. Muddled, though the minds were of the older Black generation when they signed these contracts, these same contracts still were suitably vicious for a family of the Black's standing.

The reason Sirius provided when the annulment came through opened a clause that the goblins were all too eager to comply with. Raiding family vaults and gaining a certain percentage of Galleons in the process. All for free, because those uptight wizards didn't trust even those they were about to become family with.

Well, during the raid, Sirius managed to find an undocumented item in the Lestrange vault that an artificer and historian among the goblins managed to identify as Hufflepuff's Cup. And what a find that was, Dumbledore mused. Initially elated to find something to give to Ash for all the help he received in slapping the Wizengamot and Lucius Malfoy, Sirius picked the cup up gladly to present it to Ash. He thought it was a suitable gift for such a devoted Hufflepuff alumni, irregardless of how the cup ever came into the Lestrange's possession.

Prudent, though he was, Sirius did it with protected dragonhide gloves and was glad he did.

One floo-call to Dumbledore later, the two found out that they had the dumbest luck they could have hoped for. Tom had given one of his Horcruxes to Bellatrix for safekeeping - who in turn placed it in one of the Lestrange vaults.

Dumbledore met Sirius in the Black ancestral home to identify and possibly deal with the Horcrux. And Kreacher, the only living house elf of House Black, overheard them and saw how Dumbledore extracted the soul from the cup to put it in a fragile glass vial with an impossibly complicated alchemic ritual in the Black's ritual room.

An hour later, they learned their dumb luck wasn't over when Kreacher, though with an ill temper, asked Dumbledore for help in dealing with a matter his late master Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, trusted him with. Kreacher would have never said anything despite Dumbledore being known as one of the strongest wizards alive... but that enchanted cup exuded the exact same foul magics as the locket Regulus had given Kreacher all those years ago.

Two Horcruxes of Tom were found and dealt with in a single day. All because Ash had enough and roped Sirius into uprooting the established unwritten rules of Magical Britain and implicated everyone.

Albus figured he could even use these extracted soul shards to divine the location of other Horcruxes, though that would take time. Time he hoped he would have... maybe he should contact the Unspeakables in the matter, with safeguards and vows in place, of course.

As Dumbledore watched Ash's back as he walked toward Sirius with a confused smile, the headmaster's grin turned even more brilliant. How glad he was that he didn't stop Ash from speaking up at that session yesterday. When yesterday he could barely sleep, then today, the aged professor would sleep like a baby.

"Sirius, I didn't expect to see or hear from you for a while. Anything happening that couldn't wait?"

"I see. The old headmaster didn't tell you the good news?" Sirius asked with a mischievous grin.

Ash looked back through the giant doors of the Great Hall to see Dumbledore winking at him with a sly smile. He erected a sound-proofing ward with a wave of his wand and looked back to Sirius to inquire, "Good news? What, did they throw those eight bastards into Azkaban in a quick trial? I still remember Lord Nott clamoring like a banshee that you should be sent back to Azkaban for not registering as an animagus at your trial. He would deserve nothing less."

"Ha! Good one, Ash. Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath on that front. Amelia said there was a lot of activity in the ministry today and the records were set on fire before the night ended... how any idiot would forget that there are only nine known active entries and how they could think to fool the population with that charade is anybody's guess, though."

"Hahaha, they set the records on fire? The whole nine? Haha, what a creative approach. They must really think we're all bloody dumbasses," Ash shot back with a loud guffaw of carefree laughter.

"Yeah, don't think McGonogall will take kindly to the eventual hearing summons where she has to defend her animagus status," Sirius countered with a huge amount of mirth in his voice.

"Ohhh, true. They would likely have to invite all of us! Do you think they'll quietly try to get rid of Lady Ogden or any of the other five animagus to try and claim they have been one of those registered and that the name was misprinted in the archive? It's not like any of them save for you, Minerva, me, and Lady Ogden openly advertise our animagus status and they only need to create a suspicion to likely argue their way out of it. Granted, you and me are known as animagi for all the wrong reasons."

Sirius thought about it for a moment and judged that that was actually pretty likely.

"Huh, good thought. I'll warn Amelia, though the aurors are already pretty spread thin because of Fudge's latest budget cuts when he made them retire all of the old guard like Moody. But a warning is the least they could issue."

"You do that, I doubt she wants to see me after I cost her her salary for the month with the fines she imposed herself with. Maybe a coupon to the spa to relax is in order?"

"Wouldn't count on it, lad. With how we shook it up, she would want everything to be aboveboard. The appearance of favoritism and bribery is not something she can stomach right now," Sirius said... seriously and showing his true political accumen as Lord Black for a moment.

"Guess you're right. I have to send Pandora a reminder to do an article about magical vows and the history behind the creation of veritaserum then. Lady Bones could easily get out of those hypothetical accusations if she simply vowed that she didn't receive my gift as a bribe..."

"History of veritaserum?"

Ash tilted his head, "You don't know?"

"What? I'm no potion master, bloody hell..."

"Haaa, and nobody at this school taught actual history for decades. Well, you know vows do not count when forced. Magic will not act on a broken vow if it was taken under duress. Meaning if you force someone to take a vow, they could still be lying without consequences. Veritaserum was invented to circumvent that. Of course, that failed almost immediately for pureblood lords and ladies as they could claim mind alterations and occlumency defenses... which means Veritaserum is not all its cracked up to be either because the truth spoken under the influence of the potion is not guaranteed like it is with a vow taken in the name of magic."

"I see," Sirius spoke with a pondering look before sobering up. "Oi! I completely forgot about why I was here in the first place - and it wasn't a potion or history lecture!"

"Go on then," Ash retorted with a smirk.

"We found two Horcruxes of the dork lord today," Sirius whispered with a conspiratorial smirk while slyly handing him a wooden box. "Dumbledore and I cleared both. Sadly Slytherin's locket was almost completely broken since it was apparently protected by Parsel-magics and wouldn't give up the soul shard as easily as the thing inside the box. This is my gift to you. Her enchantments might be gone, but you can look into trying to fix them with the remnants still on it. Bella must have been given it for safekeeping, and I plucked it out of her vault earlier today, which started the Horcrux-solved-spree."

By now, Ash had opened the box, and before he said anything else, he told Sirius without looking at him, "We're under a ward. Why are you bloody whispering?"

"Oh, come on! Completely ruined the moment!" Sirius shouted but quickly caught the awed look in Ash's eyes.

"Hehe, my good friend. I present to you: Hufflepuff's Cup! Do with it what you want, as a friend and ally of House Black, this is the least I can do for you!"

"We take him as an ally and friend then?" A calm voice spoke from behind Sirius' back as both men didn't notice anyone entering the ward Ash had cast before.

Sirius immediately jumped up all scared out of his mind and pulled out his wand but dropped it just as fast when he noticed who it was and where he was.

"Cissy! Bloody hell, are you a cat or something?" Sirius shouted before turning back to Ash. "And you! Didn't you say we were protected under the ward?"

"In my defense, I was spellbound by the magnificent gift you've given me," Ash weakly justified with a shrug.

Narcissa Malfoy, no Narcissa Black now, calmly walked toward Sirius, who braced himself for the potential slap that might follow. Instead, the beautiful mother of one gave Sirius a crushing hug while tears were dripping down her pretty face. Under the full attention of almost the entire student body sitting in the Great Hall just past the doors, an awkward Draco Malfoy, from a place at least nobody could see him, watched his mother hug someone his father detested with every fiber of his being for two whole minutes. And, Draco was horrified to see his mother press a kiss full of emotion on Sirius' forehead as she stood on her toes, tears still streaming down.

"Thank you, Siri," Narcissa said in a choked voice that would have only raised Draco's guilt had he stepped inside the sound-proof ward.

She came just before lunch and spent the entire time talking to her son about what was happening together with Snape, who said very little on account of him being an actual friend of Lucius thanks to their time together in Hogwarts. And though his godfather left the room when Narcissa talked about their future, Draco had spent almost a whole day barely listening to anything his mother had to say, so lost in his own thoughts that he was.

All the schemes, all the betrayals of his father laid bare, Draco wasn't sure what to think. His pride in his father, his love for the man, and the respect Lucius Malfoy demanded of his scion were deeply ingrained in him. Had Draco found out about his father's plan to eradicate his mother's family for their own family's gain under different circumstances, he might have even tried to help out, Draco guiltily admitted to himself easily.

But seeing his mother telling him of the horrors she had to endure as she penned letters to her family knowing Lucius would send poisoned potions together with them, Draco felt himself to be in an emotional free fall. It would take time to sort out all of his feelings and time he was given.

Snape had already contacted the headmaster earlier to grant Draco some time off Hogwarts to sort out his future path together with his mother, and that's where Narcissa and Draco were headed when they met Sirius and Ash.

"Is Draco still recognized as the heir, or do you need help with accomodations, Cissy?" Sirius asked with a complicated expression.

"We, mother and son, can enter the Malfoy wards still. Lucius was detained and couldn't strike me off the wards yet. I secretly bound a few of the house elves to me personally over the years as well... I would still like to come home once Draco is back in school," Narcissa explained, dabbing away her tears and once more looking like the prideful pureblood lady she was.

"Yeah, anytime, Cissy. Andy comes to visit me sometimes, and I do have company, but it still is lonely there with no other Blacks," Sirius spoke with a slight frown. "Don't get me wrong, Andy is a Black once more, but she has her own family now. And her boss is sort of a slave driver."

The last part of that, Sirius said to Ash with a smirk - after all, Andy might be the manager of the M.U.D. becomes P.U.R.E. G.O.L.D. whenever Ash was teaching at Hogwarts, but he was still her boss regardless.

"Ah yes, Lord Starkey," Narcissa said with an unreadable expression. Even forgoing to give any comment on Andromeda Tonks' reinstatement into the family.

"Madam Black," Ash greeted formally. He certainly didn't hate Narcissa for she was bound to Lucius in an archaic marriage contract that was nothing short of slavery - but knowing and feeling about things are two seperate matters. And Lucius Malfoy is the whole reason why he blew up at the Wizengamot session in the first place.

Thinking about the complicated dynamic of his own feelings toward Narcissa Black was why he was even more surprised at himself when he raised an arm to gingerly return the hug Narcissa had given him out of the blue.

"I hear Nymphadora is a very lovely girl. As a proud woman of House Black, I need to urge you to consider tying the knot already, lest she gets whisked away by another fool. None are more suitable than you," Narcissa whispered into his ear, alluding to the fact that as Lucius' wife she was not allowed to have a relationship with Andromeda and her daughter Nymphadora.

Apparently even she heard the rumors about his potential relationship with her niece - and more than that approved of him pursuing her to such a degree, that she would say something like that. Which meant that not only did she not hold him accountable for his actions against Lucius, she liked him for it.

Now, it was Ash's turn to have a complicated expression on his face. Ever since the Wizengamot hearings on his involvement in the attacks during the Quidditch World Cup and with him gaining two apprentices, Ash had barely seen Nym who had an increased workload because of the attack. Andromeda had more than once invited Ash so the two could spend time together, but he had to decline because of everything happening all at once.

He reckoned he made Nym's work life even more ridiculous with the last Wizengamot session, so the potential of them spending time together at Hogsmeade over the weekends were very low unless Amelia Bones decided Ash needed personal protection from retaliation and assigned Nym to it.

"I'll take that under advisement, Madam Black," Ash could only offer as an answer.

"Nonsense, didn't you hear Lord Black call you a friend and an ally? Call me Narcissa," the lady in his arms reprimanded, took a stop back and did the same thing she did to Sirius. She gave a soft kiss to his forehead that felt oddly out of character for the entire situation.

After that, she gave a conflicted look to her son and turned back to Ash, "I have received your letter all these years ago, but Lucius read it too. Forget reprimanding him, Lucius praised Draco for inheriting his values. My words and their meaning when I confronted Draco about his reprehensible words were like raindrops on a stranded kelpie, easily missed."

Ash had to stifle a laugh at the word play. Raindrops hitting a kelpie would be absorbed into its algea-like outer skin, but would leave behind a faint mist that was already coming out of the body of a stranded kelpie even without rain - helping them conceal themselves from the eyes of muggles completely and magicals to a large degree when outside of water.

Narcissa saw the twitch on the corner of his lips with a pleased smile, and assured Ash of the following consequences in a somber voice, "I will see to it that he will become someone to be proud of in this coming time without his father's influence. Please don't give up him yet."

"That was the intention behind my letter to you and the other women of his lineage in the first place," Ash said with a nod.

"A letter to all of them? Even Bella?" Narcissa asked with raised eyebrows. She hadn't known about that.

"Uh, I did send it. I never actually followed up if Bellatrix was allowed to read it," Ash explained with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, Morgana, if I ever get to see her face-to-face again, I hope she won't hold it against young Draco," Narcissa squeezed out with a cringe.

"Hehe, I must admit it was youthful and rebellious of me, but I was quite angry at the time," the young potion prodigy offered as he scratched the back of his head. "Just dragging that Flint boy and Draco through the mud at dinner and banning them from the Exchange Hall for life didn't feel enough."

"Even lost your prefect and head boy priviliges over it, I remember it well. Lucius was gloating about it for a month when he came back from governors meeting," Narcissa concluded with a solemn nod. The Malfoy family really owed Ashbert quite a lot. Thankfully, he helped her get out of it with Sirius. Though, if Draco continues to bear the name Malfoy, it will be a complicated future ahead Narcissa mused.

"Alright, everyone's almost finished eating despite looking at us like we're zoo animals. I suggest we leave Ash alone for the time being so he can get to eat in peace and the three of us head out?"

Narcissa confirmed Sirius' suggestion with a nod, took Draco's hand, and dragged him out of the castle. Sirius shouted something toward Harry about seeing him on the first Hogsmeade weekend, gave Ash another big hug, and ran after his cousin and nephew.

When he once more sat down at the staff table as hundreds of students watched him curiously and barely gossiping in whispers, Ash silently looked at Pomona and showed her the content of the box Sirius had given him.

Her elated, curious shriek about what was inside was sadly blocked out from the students' ears because droves of owls took that exact moment to fly into the Great Hall to deliver the promised second Daily Prophet of the day.

The front page, this time, featured three headlines and only a single picture of Ash as opposed to three:

'Lucius Malfoy to stand trial for serious crimes against seven noble houses, bribing of ministry officials, smuggling, willful endangerment of children, distribution of dark artifacts, and many other crimes' - now that headline was a mouthful. Ash wondered when Barnabas Cuffe, the current editor of the Daily Prophet, had enough and stopped listing any more of Lucius' alleged crimes...

'Fire at Ministry destroys several important archives' - an article talking about various fires that broke out at the ministry today, of course omitting the fact that the Animagus records were among the lost documents.

'So, the damage control has started. Pandora would probably love writing about that tomorrow, though,' Ash thought with a clouded expression. He wouldn't allow those seedy bastards to get away with skirting the law so freely. Especially because Lord Flint was among those illegal animagi.

'Governors of Hogwarts to be expelled from their positions: One last retaliation by suspending Whistleblower Starkey'

Ash scoffed when he read that last article. He recognized it for what it was, an olive branch so that he wouldn't keep exposing things, especially their omission of facts regarding the fire and other key information regarding certain legislature. Well, they thought wrong if they thought he would accept this nonsense. He wasn't political. He couldn't care less if he burned more bridges. They were firmly in the wrong, and he had enough proof to drag them all down with him if they decided to play dirty.

And even if they truly manage to expel him from Hogwarts, he would simply live in France to teach at Beauxbaton, or maybe even at Ilvermorny in the US until his exile was over. He did have a positive relationship with Asmodeus Sayre, the current head of House Sayre of the MACUSA and confidant of the current headmaster of Ilvermorny.

And humble though he may be, Ash was certain that his exile for crimes he did not commit would fully plunge Magical Britain into civil unrest, potentially even civil war should it come to that. They would need to frame him for something absurdly evil to drag him down.

And it would need to be a crazy good frame job because, unlike those pureblood elitists sitting in the Wizengamot, Ash was not afraid of putting his magic on the line for a vow.