Chapter 86: 86 The Revelation

Harry shrank his potion things to make them easier to carry and tucked them into his pockets.

“HARRY!” A boy's voice yelled.

Harry turned to see who it was and saw Neville running towards him. “Hi, Neville. How are...”

“THANK YOU!” Neville yelled and tackled him. Luckily, it wasn't hard enough to make them tumble to the ground. He hugged Harry tightly and managed to not start crying again. Barely. He sniffled and let him go. “Thanks a lot for what you did, Harry.”

“I know you'd do the same if it was my parents stuck like that.” Harry said.

“If I knew how.” Neville said. “How did you do it?”

“I used a magic stone and then gave it back.” Harry said.

“Wait, what?” Neville looked at him with surprise on his face.

“I gave it back.” Harry said. “The guy who owns it just left.”

Neville looked around and didn't see anyone.

Harry chuckled. “He was too old to walk all the way down to the gates. He used a portkey.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Neville said and the two of them went inside the castle. They took the shortcut to get back up to the Griffindor Tower common room and went inside.

“Hi, you two.” Hermione said, fully recovered from Harry's nap and his not quite tender embrace.

“Hermione! You're not going to believe what Harry did!” Neville said loudly and ran over to her.

Several people turned around to look at his near shout.

“He told me a little while ago after he came back from Amelia's.” Hermione said. “I'm so happy for you!”

“Me, too.” Neville said and plopped down on the chair across from hers.

Harry walked over and Hermione hadn't moved to take up the extra space in the chair she sat in, so Harry sat down next to her again. She didn't blush this time when he put his arm back around her.

“How did things go with Nicolas?” Hermione asked.

“I made a big cauldron of potion for him and he used a portkey to go home.” Harry said.

“You're kidding!” Hermione exclaimed. “Portkeys are restricted by the Ministry!”

Harry smiled, because he had said the same thing to Nicolas, so he responded as Nicolas did to him. “Only by the British Ministry of Magic.”

Hermione opened her mouth to say that still applied, then she closed her mouth and started thinking.

“I know that face.” Harry said and she smiled. “Nicolas told me that he was glad that I was thinking about how to do things.”

“Harry, he's over six centuries old. I'm sure he's thought of everything.” Hermione said, sure of it.

“He never thought of making a giant cauldron to brew potions.” Harry said, a little smugly.

“You. Did. Not!” Hermione exclaimed and Harry laughed.

“Engorgio Maxima on a cauldron.” Harry said and she gasped.

“That... that would make it...”

“...about the size of a car.” Harry said.

“Aw! I just missed seeing it.” Neville lamented, remembering that Harry said that the man just left.

“I didn't think you could portkey something so large.” Harry said and then told Hermione about what Nicolas said about portkeys.

“You're right, Harry. That does make more sense as to why they would restrict its use.” Hermione said. “People would be able to pop into the Ministry whenever they wanted, instead of at approved times and places.”

Harry nodded. “The same with the castle. Amelia said the apparating lessons for fifth years have to be conducted in an area where the enchantments are lifted.”

Hermione stared at him for a moment. “Can you imagine people popping in and out all the time? This place would be crazy!”

Harry and Neville let out short laughs. “I would do it, too.” They said at the same time to tease her.

“Oh, no you won't!” Hermione berated them, then she saw them on the brink of laughing. “You guys!”

Harry and Neville laughed. After a few moments, Hermione laughed, too.

“I need to go upstairs and put my things away.” Harry said.

“My things!” Neville exclaimed.

“Ron's still watching them and I told him to read some of the book I lent you.” Harry said and stood.

“Come back down so we can go over the spells.” Hermione said and pat the book on her lap.

Both boys nodded and went up the stairs to the dorm room. Harry dismissed the privacy curtain he had left around his bed and took out his potion equipment and things. He resized them and put them and the giant crystal vial of Elixir of Life into his trunk.

Neville thanked Ron for watching his things and put the kit away into his trunk. Ron asked to keep reading the great book, so Harry made him a copy and gave it to him.

“BLIMEY!” Ron yelled and clutched the book in his hands. “How did you do that?”

“Lots of practice.” Harry said. “See you later.”

Harry and Neville went downstairs and saw Lavender and Pavarti talking to Hermione.

“Hi, Harry!” Lavender said and did a little twirl. She was wearing the expensive outfit that Harry had bought for her. “What do you think?”

Harry was a bit nervous about being put on the spot like that and didn't know what to say.

Pavarti laughed. “I told you not to ask boys for their opinion, Lavender. They're boys. They don't understand the importance of looking good.”

“They can at least say they like it, can't they?” Lavender asked her, then looked at the two boys. “Do you like it or not?”

Harry relaxed, now that he could give an easy answer. “I like it.” He said and Neville only nodded.

“There, see?” Lavender beamed a smile at Pavarti, who just rolled her eyes.

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“The blonde leading the blind.” Pavarti whispered and Lavender laughed. “Come on, you said that you wanted to show your outfit off to the Hufflepuffs.” She said and took Lavender's hand.

“They are going to be so jealous!” Lavender said and almost giggled as the two girls left the common room.

“What was all that about?” Harry asked and sat down with Hermione again.

“Ghost sightings.” Hermione whispered and both Harry and Neville nodded understanding. They had already removed half of the ghosts from the castle already. They were starting to become elusive and harder to find.

After they discussed setting up some ambushes for tomorrow, since they didn't have anything else planned for the whole day, the trio discussed the new spells to work on. They also talked about what things might be covered in the lessons during the next week and if it would be from their school books or something the teachers were going to add on their own.

*

A lowly Ministry official had gone to work on a Saturday of all days, just because she wanted to catch up on the paperwork that she had fallen behind in during the week. She was the secretary of the undersecretary to the Minister, so she was fairly important to the successful operation of the Ministry as a whole. Or so she had convinced herself.

She sat down at her desk and was surprised to find a blank envelope on her desk's blotter. It was odd to find it not in the 'in' tray, which meant that someone had placed it there by hand or with magic. She quickly did several diagnostic spells including Revelio to reveal any spell and Priori Incantatem in case there were more than one on it. She discovered that it was just a normal envelope. She nodded and used her wand to open it, just in case, and it unfolded to reveal a single sentence.

“The Mirror of Erised is at Hogwarts.” She read out loud. “What in the world... why would someone send me...” She mulled it over and then gasped. “The Mirror of Erised!” She nearly yelled. It was a very dangerous magical artifact that could send anyone who stood in front of it into a trance! She thought and quickly wrote out several notes and tapped them with her wand. They folded themselves into paper airplanes and took off out through the space above her door.

*

The three Aurors on weekend duty sat around the office and didn't have anything to do. Which was great. They always enjoyed having time off, even if they had to be at work to get it. That sounded odd when you thought about it; but, when you can be called in at any time during the day or night when an emergency happened, getting to sit and relax was a welcome relief.

A paper airplane slid through the top of the door and came in for a landing on the middle desk. One of them grabbed it and it unfolded.

“We've got a hot one, boys!” The large black man said and stood.

“What is it, Kingsley?” Dawlish asked.

“Your girlfriend! Ha ha!” Williamson joked and laughed.

“Enough. We have the location of a class four magical artifact.” Kingsley said without having to glare.

“Apologies.” Williamson said and walked over. “What is it?”

“The Mirror of Erised.” Kingsley said. “It's also at Hogwarts.”

“WHAT?” Dawlish yelled and came over. “How in the world did it get to Hogwarts?”

“I don't think that matters much right now.” Williamson said. “You're the lead on this, Kingsley. What do we do?”

“Two things.” Kingsley said. “One is we assume this is a false tip and go investigate.”

“And the other?” Dawlish asked.

“We assume it's real and go investigate.” Kingsley said with a smile.

“I'm definitely up for either of those.” Williamson said with a matching smile.

“I'm in.” Dawlish said. “Let's go.”

Kingsley sent a note back to tell the secretary of the undersecretary that they were leaving right away. The three men left the Auror office to go to the designated apparating room. They would pop over to the school unannounced and while one of them asked the headmaster about the dangerous artifact he had in his school, the other two would expertly search for it.

It was their job to keep everyone safe from such things.

*

Albus sat in his office and was in a depressed mood as he stared at the solid gold sneak-o-scope on his desk. He had failed his old friend multiple times, when he had thought he had only failed him once, and that was a hard and bitter pill to swallow. He was tempted to draft a very long letter of apology to Nicolas and Perenelle and rolled the ideas over in his mind and thought about what he would need to convey to them.

He needed them to know that he deeply regretted that his mistake would cost them their lives, that he hadn't realized how precarious their situation was, and that he would do almost anything to try and help them as much as he could. Not that he could do much. They were already rich, powerful, and had forgotten more about magic than he would ever learn.

There was a dinging sound to let Albus know that someone had opened the gates of the school again and he wasn't sure if he wanted to check it this time. Each one had jolted him out of his melancholy and it settled in harder each time for the distraction. He let out a sigh and stood, stretched his slightly aging figure, and left his office at a normal walking pace. He used a few quick shortcuts and arrived at the Entrance Hall long before anyone from the gate could walk up to the castle.

Albus stepped out through the large double oak doors to see three Aurors approaching and smiled as he saw Kingsley. Unfortunately, Kingsley did not smile back and he had a feeling that was not going to bode well for him.

“Dumbledore.” Kingsley said and the three Aurors came to a stop.

“Kingsley, what brings you here on such a fine day?” Albus asked in his best jovial tone.

“Business.” Kingsley said. “Do you mind if we take a quick look around?”

“Whatever for?” Albus asked, genuinely curious.

“I really shouldn't say until you agree.” Kingsley said, evasively.

“By all means, please do come in and look for whatever it is.” Albus said, manganimously.

“Thank you, Dumbledore.” Kingsley said and nodded to the other two Aurors. They went inside and disappeared when they went in two different directions.

“Now can you tell me what you're searching for?” Albus asked.

“The Mirror of Erised.” Kingsley said.

Albus looked surprised for a moment and then schooled his features. “What makes you think that it might be here?”

Kingsley had seen the surprise and hid his smile. It really is here. He thought. “I could lie and say it was a rumor; but, an anonymous hand delivered note was left at the Ministry.”

Albus took a deep breath and let it out. Oh, Nicolas. What other secrets of mine will you spill before you pass from this world? He asked himself, not realizing that he was quite wrong in that assumption.

“You can just tell me where it is.” Kingsley said.

Albus thought about staying quiet and sighed. “It's on the third floor. Classroom eight on the right hand side. The door is locked and the room is empty. The mirror is against the wall under a grey tarp to keep it concealed from prying eyes.”

Kinsley couldn't hide his surprise. “Why would you keep it in the school where any student could find it?”

“It wasn't easily accessible to all of the students.” Albus said and didn't elaborate, even though what he said meant that it was accessible to some of the students. “That doesn't matter now.”

“No, it doesn't.” Kingsley said and started to walk by, then stopped. “Is there anything else you are hiding, Albus?”

Albus closed his eyes for a moment, because he knew that Kingsley was asking as a friend and not as a professional Auror that was about to take one of the key elements to his plan.

“I cannot give up everything, my friend. You know why.” Albus said as he opened his eyes and looked at the tall black man.

Kingsley reluctantly nodded and started walking. As he entered the castle, he sent his Patronus to the other two Aurors with a message to meet him on the third floor.

They had a dangerous magical artifact to recover.

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