Amelia was waiting on the group from the Institute when they arrived just outside Little Hangleton, and wasted no time in showing who was in command here. Rather than being upset about this, Harry and Hermione were delighted that someone else was stepping up and taking the responsibility.
"Harry, we'll need your abilities to get us in there. Hermione, you're here to monitor Harry in case he misses something and gets into trouble. Bill, your job is to get that abomination out of this house and destroy it with the basilisk fang these two supplied. I'll be there to provide security, just in case things go pear-shaped. Any questions?"
Sirius was first in there, harping on at an old matter that Amelia thought had been settled during there previous meeting in Italy. "I think Remus and I should be there as backup too. Once the horcrux is destroyed, we could then go to the cemetery and switch these bones."
Seeing how much this meant to his godfather, Sirius really wanted to be there for him, Harry offered a suggestion that might help. "While I think the four of us should be able to handle this, the ring has some very nasty curses and a very strong compulsion charm on it. If any of us try to put it on, they would need to be stunned immediately. It might not be the worst idea to have these two out of range of any compulsion but still within stunning distance. Hermione and I have now come across two situations where emotions from one can overwhelm the other over our bond. We could never fire a curse at each other, so that might leave us short."
Fixing Harry with a stare, Amelia demanded to know why they hadn't brought this information to the table before.
"The second situation happened just before we left to come here, the first was when we tackled Malfoy and Parkinson. We're learning new things about our bond almost every day, I would hate for anything to go wrong because of it. After we destroy this, you and Bill are heading for the Ministry. We could accompany Sirius and Remus to the cemetery and then portkey back to the institute with them once they've switched the bones."
While conceding the argument, Amelia had another question for them. "How will this affect you going on tomorrow's mission? We all know that will be much more dangerous, and we don't need your parseltongue abilities. This might be a case of leaving it to the adults?"
Seeing Amelia's point, Harry offered a counter argument. "You don't need my parselmouth abilities but you might need Voldemort's memories. If we can work on a communication system then Hermione and I could be in the cavern without having to cross the lake to the island. Like Sirius and Remus today, backup for the backup."
Since Amelia wasn't comfortable seeing what she regarded as children put in danger, she quickly accepted Harry's counteroffer. This offer also pleased Sirius, Remus and, funnily enough, Hermione. She explained over their bond that being included pleased her nearly as much as him not being put in danger.
Even with their minds being practically joined, Harry swore he would never understand women.
As they approached the dilapidated cottage that Voldemort's mother was raised in, the four adults didn't even try to hide their shock. Hermione had studied these memories enough to get a good idea of what had happened here.
"The Gaunts were an old pure-blood family, direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin. Tom was proud of his heritage, until he saw this - and discovered his father was a rich muggle who lived in that big house on the hill over there. For someone who had been raised in an orphanage, discovering you had family was a dream. When Tom's family didn't fit the dream he was building, he effectively wiped them all out on the same day."
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