"Bloody ghouls." Sirius growled. He'd been angered by the report that there was evidently a tourist trip based around Godric's Hollow and the Potters' old cottage. He was going to sue someone as soon as Brian tracked down who was behind the business.
"I'll inform them about Lawrence when they report in this evening." Bertie sighed.
Losing a team member was always hard, Sirius mused, but Lawrence had known the dangers and ignored them despite having resisted temptation for the fortnight that had passed since they'd discovered the ring.
It had been a strange couple of weeks since the death threat at Harry's birthday party, filled with the Wizengamot session – he felt a knot of guilt again at how he hadn't realised how nervous Harry had been about the whole affair but Harry had been fantastic – and more dinners and meetings than he could shake a stick at.
Ron Weasley's flying escapade with his sister had resulted in him joining Harry for etiquette and political lessons which pleased Harry no end and Sirius couldn't help but be impressed at Bill who'd sold the whole thing to his parents as punishment for Ron's transgression.
"So we're left with the question of what to do with the Hallow." Bertie said, pulling Sirius back to the present.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd want to lock it up in some musty storeroom here for further study."
"Yes, well," Bertie shifted uncomfortably, "we can only do that if we're certain the artefact isn't a family heirloom."
"Can't it be confiscated from Riddle?" Sirius demanded, confused. "I mean, we're surely not going to give him the means of bringing back the dead even if they're just shades."
"Oh, I don't mean Riddle!" Bertie said emphatically. "I don't think the Gaunts genealogically are directly related to the Peverells. Cadmus was said to have tossed the stone and himself into the river to drown. No, more likely that some other ancestor of theirs happened across the stone and set it into the ring without knowing what it was. I don't believe Riddle knew otherwise he no doubt would have tried to access its power."
"But there is one living descendent of the Peverells who has a claim on the stone." Dumbledore said, his eyes sparkling with that annoying 'I know something you don't' twinkle that Sirius hated.
"Who?" asked Sirius outright, refusing to dance around and make wild guesses for the next hour.
Bertie cleared his throat. "Well, the line of Ignotus Peverell eventually renamed itself from Peverell to…"
"Potter." Dumbledore supplied with a warm smile.
"Harry." Sirius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He should have known.
"Have you never wondered about that wonderful cloak of invisibility, Sirius?" Dumbledore chided gently. "It is the Potter family heirloom and yet its charms remain strong and vibrant despite centuries of wear."
"So, Harry's cloak is the cloak?" Sirius sputtered. He'd used the cloak many times as a Marauder. Dear Merlin! "Death's cloak?"
"Well, probably in reality the first true invisibility cloak invented by Peverell himself." Bertie said cheering up a little. "I was aware the Potters' had it but Charlus refused to give it to me for study."
Sirius frowned and sat down abruptly. "That's the stone; Harry has the cloak; so where's the wand?"
"Ah, well that's the question isn't it?" Bertie asked. "There is a marvellous theory that if all three are owned by the same person then he or she becomes the Master of Death. Unfortunately the wand has a rather tricky history and was last known to be held by…"
"Alas, it was lost." Dumbledore cut in.
Sirius's eyes narrowed on the old wizard.
Bertie subsided. "Perhaps it is better to consider it lost, yes; a very good point." He sighed. "Anyway, my previous point such as it was is that the stone and the rest of the Hallows," he glanced at Albus, "if they belong to anyone, they belong to Harry."
Sirius sighed. "I will talk to Harry but my recommendation to him will be to lock the thing away in the family vault."
They all looked pensively at the stone.
"Did Lawrence see his daughter?" Dumbledore asked eventually.
Bertie shook his head. "The curse struck before he could complete turning the stone."
Dumbledore's eyes drifted back to the artefact but he nodded slowly. "Perhaps it was for the best."
Bertie picked up his wand and levitated the stone into a box. "I will lock it up here in the meantime, Sirius." He confirmed. "Let me know once you've spoken with Harry."
"Will do." Sirius got to his feet. "Please give my best to Lawrence and his family."
"And mine." Dumbledore said rising, the chair configuring back to its usual state. "I must get back to Hogwarts and make arrangements for your visit to the Chamber next week."
Sirius walked out with him. "Are you back in the country for good now?"
"I am." Dumbledore confirmed. "The last details of the Tri-Wizard Tournament have been finalised and my Summer is once again my own. It is a shame that Bartemius remains so ill."
He placed a hand on Dumbledore's arm before they exited the Ministry. He ushered Dumbledore into an alcove and raised a privacy bubble. "Albus, this stone seems to…you seem unusually interested."
Dumbledore sighed heavily and his eyes grew dim. "In my youth, I fell in love and my partner and I dreamed of uniting the Hallows; so many grand plans we weaved. My brother objected fiercely to my leaving home and a fight broke out amongst us. My sister Ariana was caught in the crossfire. We never knew which spell was the one to…"
Sirius felt his heart squeeze tight in sympathy.
"I became penitent and sought to never again give into the temptation of power. But even today…to talk with Ariana one more time…" Dumbledore sniffed and blinked back tears. "You are quite right, Sirius. I will leave the stone in Bertie's capable hands and think no more on it. I once told Harry that it does no good to dwell on dreams; I should take my own advice."
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉