Chapter Ten:
She struggled not to send Tonks a look of raw relief and gratitude as the Auror came into the dreary library at Number Twelve. The bright haired witch wouldn't know why she felt so glad to see her; as far as everyone else was concerned, she had been enthusiastically determined to get Hermione's help with an upcoming project for her Ancient Runes class. No one except Moody and Dumbledore knew that her scores in Runes were already at the top of her year and that her true intention in requesting the help was to keep Hermione occupied and unable to help the boys plan or scheme any kind of getaway.
The need for her to separate and distract the Trio was ended by the older witch's arrival, however, and Ginny wasted little time in packing up her books and scrolls and leaving the bushy-haired Muggleborn to accompany Tonks to the back bedroom where they would meet Harry and Ron to review some of the complex defensive spells and hexes that she had taught them in their last session. Once the others had left, the youngest Weasley hastened to a meeting of her own, though she was sure to take the time to ensure that no one saw her head to the rooms currently occupied by the alleged head of the Order.
Her coconspirators had promised to inform her as to their progress in destroying the fifth Horcrux as soon as the pink-haired Order member had relieved her. She didn't intend to allow the two any extra time before they disclosed the full extent of their attempts. She half hoped that the only thing they would need to tell her when she arrived was the final spell that had proved successful in banishing the dark fragment of soul from the ancient artifact. Realistically, however, she knew that there was no way that they had managed to get through the complicated and complex web of shields and spells that had been cast on the desk both by the young Dark wizard that had defiled it, and the powerful witch that had originally owned it. From what she had been able to make out of the former Auror's brief description a few nights before when they'd stolen a couple minutes to talk about it, the task before them was still quite daunting.
It was certainly not the type of assessment she had hoped to hear. She'd wanted to have at least some reasonable possibility of reaching their goal before she had to return to school and her meetings with the other two would become less frequent. Considering, however, that the term would be restarting in a matter of days, that seemed highly unlikely.
It was more than frustrating.
Between acquiring the desk, and proving that she still may well contain more memories that could be of use, she had grown ever more sure that they could, and would, and must, soon take those last steps towards weakening the Dark Lord sufficiently to make his destruction possible. With her confidence freshly reinvigorated by her trip to Fittleborough, the proposition of waiting an unknown amount of time before they were able to crack the desk's defensives, and perhaps not even being involved in doing so, had been a painful blow to her inflated mood.
Ginny was trying very hard to maintain a positive outlook, though, and had thus far convinced herself that she was actually doing so. At least she had until she slipped into the wizards' quarters and caught the glimpse of pure frustration and the beginnings of desperation that was edging the voices of the ordinarily indomitable former Auror and Headmaster as they took turns retrying various spells to reach the blight beneath the magical shell surrounding Ravenclaw's desk.
"I believe it may prove more effective if we bypassed the protections entirely and tried to separate the physical pieces of the desk. Perhaps then it would be possible to pinpoint a weaker section of wood or magic on which to focus our efforts. Dilabor."
"The damn thing is too solidly built for that. Ravenclaw would have had strengthening spells worked into it when it was made. We need to work on the shields. We can't get to what's underneath until we weaken or destroy the top layer of them. Altero."
"Perhaps that would be a wise course, but a stronger approach would most likely be called for. Prosterno."
"Bloody hell. Maybe so, the spells can't exactly protect a pile of ash, can they? Extermino."
Albus Dumbledore sighed as the gleaming piece of furniture stood before them unscathed. "It would seem the object in question has no intention of testing that theory, Alastor."
The younger wizard let out a rather offensive sound of agreement.
"It would also seem that we have a visitor. Please come in Miss Weasley, make yourself comfortable. You'll excuse us, of course, while we take a brief respite from our trials?"
The sixth-year nodded slowly and did her best not to show any emotion as she watched the white-haired wizard wearily make his way into the adjoining room while his grizzled companion stomped through the door behind him. It was several seconds after they had left before she was able to pull herself out of the near-stupor she'd fallen into. It was difficult to process exactly what she had just seen.
Moody had been irate, and Dumbledore had been just plain tired. Granted, neither was exactly new, but the quality of their emotions had been much different than she had seen them, even at the height of their frustration in their search for this latest Horcrux. It was hard for her to believe that they were beginning to lose hope, but that was exactly what it looked like. They were so close, after all. Then again, that could very well be the problem.
They were so close, close enough to raise even hopes that had for so long been held low enough to avoid needless disappointment. And now, when half of their goal stood before them and refused to allow them to gain the next level, it was nearly too much to bear. It would appear that the others felt the same, but she refused to believe that they would never get past this obstacle. They had come so far, gotten so close. There was only one more Horcrux to find before the only part of his soul left to sustain him resided inside his inhumane frame. They would find it and they would destroy it, and Harry would fulfill the prophecy and destroy whatever was left of Tom once and for all.
But first they would destroy the soul part hiding within the beautiful relic standing so innocently in the dank sitting room she now knew so well. They would. They had to. If even one additional soul fragment remained intact, Voldemort would never truly die, and the Wizarding world would forever face its possible ruin. And that was something she would never allow to happen. She knew first hand what slithered in the recesses of Tom Riddle's shadowed thoughts and they were realities that the young redhead refused to see reach the light of day.
They would find a way. She would find a way.
Godric help me, but your colleague's desk will not protect him any longer, or I am no Gryffindor.
She had sent the thought as a declaration of intent, but it would seem they were taken as a plea, one that the spirit of her House's namesake saw fit to answer. His response took the form of bejeweled steel, which appeared before her without sound. One minute she was fixing her most determined of gazes on the seemingly impenetrable antique, and the next she was unable to look away from the gilded sword resting at her feet.
The memory came, dim and unfocused, but distinctly her own. Harry had held that sword, used that sword, when he'd saved her from Tom's basilisk. It was Godric Gryffindor's sword, the only direct possession of one of the Founders that Riddle hadn't defiled; the only remaining Founder's artifact besides the desk itself. It was the only other item that would hold the Founders' magic and might therefore have the ability to counteract whatever spells Rowena Ravenclaw had placed on her desk. And if Voldemort had worked his own spells into hers, the destruction of one might mean the destruction of the other.
Ginny Weasley barely breathed as she leant down and picked up the sword, barely felt her heart as it sped suddenly in her chest when she lifted the weapon and paused ever so briefly before bringing it down with the whole of her strength. Blade met wood with a force she had never thought herself capable of producing. Magic clashed and fought, one Fonder against another, then an instant's silence passed, as though Godric and Rowena were locked in a mute staring contest.
Rowena looked away first.
The sword slashed through the invisible armor that had surrounded the relic-turned-Horcrux and came to rest against the still-gleaming wood of the desk. A wave of shock overtook her, followed swiftly by a feeling of extreme exhaustion that left her too busy trying to steady herself and catch her breath to think about the fact that the desk didn't retain even a single scratch from the encounter, or to speculate as to the consensus the Founders may have reached in the duration of their confrontation.
Silence rang loudly in her ears and she found her legs unsteady beneath her, forcing the witch to stumble back a step and lower the sword with shaking arms. The point of the blade sank just a little into the old carpeting as she used it to take some of her weight. As she struggled to keep her chin from falling forward onto her chest, the connecting door opened and she met the clear blue gaze as it widened and then focused with an expression of surprise.
It was another long moment before her vocal chords remembered how to work; a moment during which the second wizard stepped into the doorway and took in the unexpected sight.
She answered their unspoken question in a raspy voice. "He helped me."
In the days that followed, Ginny often replayed that last moment in her mind, remembering the confusion and then elated disbelief that had filled the wizards' faces at her statement, and the former Auror's response that had reached her ears before she had passed out from the effects of channeling the magic that had been needed to break the ancient wards.
"Then let's not let his help go to waste, girl. Let's finish the bloody bastard."
Author's Notes:
The new spells in this chapter are:
Dilabor- break up, scatter, dissolve, fall apart
Altero- destroy, waste, weaken
Prosterno- knock down, destroy, ruin
Extermino- burn down, set on fire
End Chapter Ten
She struggled not to send Tonks a look of raw relief and gratitude as the Auror came into the dreary library at Number Twelve. The bright haired witch wouldn't know why she felt so glad to see her; as far as everyone else was concerned, she had been enthusiastically determined to get Hermione's help with an upcoming project for her Ancient Runes class. No one except Moody and Dumbledore knew that her scores in Runes were already at the top of her year and that her true intention in requesting the help was to keep Hermione occupied and unable to help the boys plan or scheme any kind of getaway.
The need for her to separate and distract the Trio was ended by the older witch's arrival, however, and Ginny wasted little time in packing up her books and scrolls and leaving the bushy-haired Muggleborn to accompany Tonks to the back bedroom where they would meet Harry and Ron to review some of the complex defensive spells and hexes that she had taught them in their last session. Once the others had left, the youngest Weasley hastened to a meeting of her own, though she was sure to take the time to ensure that no one saw her head to the rooms currently occupied by the alleged head of the Order.
Her coconspirators had promised to inform her as to their progress in destroying the fifth Horcrux as soon as the pink-haired Order member had relieved her. She didn't intend to allow the two any extra time before they disclosed the full extent of their attempts. She half hoped that the only thing they would need to tell her when she arrived was the final spell that had proved successful in banishing the dark fragment of soul from the ancient artifact. Realistically, however, she knew that there was no way that they had managed to get through the complicated and complex web of shields and spells that had been cast on the desk both by the young Dark wizard that had defiled it, and the powerful witch that had originally owned it. From what she had been able to make out of the former Auror's brief description a few nights before when they'd stolen a couple minutes to talk about it, the task before them was still quite daunting.
It was certainly not the type of assessment she had hoped to hear. She'd wanted to have at least some reasonable possibility of reaching their goal before she had to return to school and her meetings with the other two would become less frequent. Considering, however, that the term would be restarting in a matter of days, that seemed highly unlikely.
It was more than frustrating.
Between acquiring the desk, and proving that she still may well contain more memories that could be of use, she had grown ever more sure that they could, and would, and must, soon take those last steps towards weakening the Dark Lord sufficiently to make his destruction possible. With her confidence freshly reinvigorated by her trip to Fittleborough, the proposition of waiting an unknown amount of time before they were able to crack the desk's defensives, and perhaps not even being involved in doing so, had been a painful blow to her inflated mood.
Ginny was trying very hard to maintain a positive outlook, though, and had thus far convinced herself that she was actually doing so. At least she had until she slipped into the wizards' quarters and caught the glimpse of pure frustration and the beginnings of desperation that was edging the voices of the ordinarily indomitable former Auror and Headmaster as they took turns retrying various spells to reach the blight beneath the magical shell surrounding Ravenclaw's desk.
"I believe it may prove more effective if we bypassed the protections entirely and tried to separate the physical pieces of the desk. Perhaps then it would be possible to pinpoint a weaker section of wood or magic on which to focus our efforts. Dilabor."
"The damn thing is too solidly built for that. Ravenclaw would have had strengthening spells worked into it when it was made. We need to work on the shields. We can't get to what's underneath until we weaken or destroy the top layer of them. Altero."
"Perhaps that would be a wise course, but a stronger approach would most likely be called for. Prosterno."
"Bloody hell. Maybe so, the spells can't exactly protect a pile of ash, can they? Extermino."
Albus Dumbledore sighed as the gleaming piece of furniture stood before them unscathed. "It would seem the object in question has no intention of testing that theory, Alastor."
The younger wizard let out a rather offensive sound of agreement.
"It would also seem that we have a visitor. Please come in Miss Weasley, make yourself comfortable. You'll excuse us, of course, while we take a brief respite from our trials?"
The sixth-year nodded slowly and did her best not to show any emotion as she watched the white-haired wizard wearily make his way into the adjoining room while his grizzled companion stomped through the door behind him. It was several seconds after they had left before she was able to pull herself out of the near-stupor she'd fallen into. It was difficult to process exactly what she had just seen.
Moody had been irate, and Dumbledore had been just plain tired. Granted, neither was exactly new, but the quality of their emotions had been much different than she had seen them, even at the height of their frustration in their search for this latest Horcrux. It was hard for her to believe that they were beginning to lose hope, but that was exactly what it looked like. They were so close, after all. Then again, that could very well be the problem.
They were so close, close enough to raise even hopes that had for so long been held low enough to avoid needless disappointment. And now, when half of their goal stood before them and refused to allow them to gain the next level, it was nearly too much to bear. It would appear that the others felt the same, but she refused to believe that they would never get past this obstacle. They had come so far, gotten so close. There was only one more Horcrux to find before the only part of his soul left to sustain him resided inside his inhumane frame. They would find it and they would destroy it, and Harry would fulfill the prophecy and destroy whatever was left of Tom once and for all.
But first they would destroy the soul part hiding within the beautiful relic standing so innocently in the dank sitting room she now knew so well. They would. They had to. If even one additional soul fragment remained intact, Voldemort would never truly die, and the Wizarding world would forever face its possible ruin. And that was something she would never allow to happen. She knew first hand what slithered in the recesses of Tom Riddle's shadowed thoughts and they were realities that the young redhead refused to see reach the light of day.
They would find a way. She would find a way.
Godric help me, but your colleague's desk will not protect him any longer, or I am no Gryffindor.
She had sent the thought as a declaration of intent, but it would seem they were taken as a plea, one that the spirit of her House's namesake saw fit to answer. His response took the form of bejeweled steel, which appeared before her without sound. One minute she was fixing her most determined of gazes on the seemingly impenetrable antique, and the next she was unable to look away from the gilded sword resting at her feet.
The memory came, dim and unfocused, but distinctly her own. Harry had held that sword, used that sword, when he'd saved her from Tom's basilisk. It was Godric Gryffindor's sword, the only direct possession of one of the Founders that Riddle hadn't defiled; the only remaining Founder's artifact besides the desk itself. It was the only other item that would hold the Founders' magic and might therefore have the ability to counteract whatever spells Rowena Ravenclaw had placed on her desk. And if Voldemort had worked his own spells into hers, the destruction of one might mean the destruction of the other.
Ginny Weasley barely breathed as she leant down and picked up the sword, barely felt her heart as it sped suddenly in her chest when she lifted the weapon and paused ever so briefly before bringing it down with the whole of her strength. Blade met wood with a force she had never thought herself capable of producing. Magic clashed and fought, one Fonder against another, then an instant's silence passed, as though Godric and Rowena were locked in a mute staring contest.
Rowena looked away first.
The sword slashed through the invisible armor that had surrounded the relic-turned-Horcrux and came to rest against the still-gleaming wood of the desk. A wave of shock overtook her, followed swiftly by a feeling of extreme exhaustion that left her too busy trying to steady herself and catch her breath to think about the fact that the desk didn't retain even a single scratch from the encounter, or to speculate as to the consensus the Founders may have reached in the duration of their confrontation.
Silence rang loudly in her ears and she found her legs unsteady beneath her, forcing the witch to stumble back a step and lower the sword with shaking arms. The point of the blade sank just a little into the old carpeting as she used it to take some of her weight. As she struggled to keep her chin from falling forward onto her chest, the connecting door opened and she met the clear blue gaze as it widened and then focused with an expression of surprise.
It was another long moment before her vocal chords remembered how to work; a moment during which the second wizard stepped into the doorway and took in the unexpected sight.
She answered their unspoken question in a raspy voice. "He helped me."
In the days that followed, Ginny often replayed that last moment in her mind, remembering the confusion and then elated disbelief that had filled the wizards' faces at her statement, and the former Auror's response that had reached her ears before she had passed out from the effects of channeling the magic that had been needed to break the ancient wards.
"Then let's not let his help go to waste, girl. Let's finish the bloody bastard."
Author's Notes:
The new spells in this chapter are:
Dilabor- break up, scatter, dissolve, fall apart
Altero- destroy, waste, weaken
Prosterno- knock down, destroy, ruin
Extermino- burn down, set on fire
End Chapter Ten
Author notes: For those waiting for them to meet, there's one more chapter to really set things up, then the D/G goodness begins.
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