Sirius was heading straight to Minerva's office while Remus headed off to ask permission for the twins and Neville to be picked up from school tonight instead of the station tomorrow. They had already planned for the trio to come straight to Potter Manor for a meeting to organize the summer holidays before Sirius and Remus would then pop them home the next day anyway, so he wasn't expecting much trouble.
Augusta was fine with this set up as she didn't have to travel to pick Neville up and he would be escorted by people she trusted. Frank and Alice who were both fully recovered now but still have not announced their return to the wizarding world, would meet them at the Manor and bring Neville home afterwards.
Molly on the other hand was a harder case to crack, Remus had a hell of a time convincing her for the initial plan, so the change up was met with the same. She only relented after Remus had explained that they wanted to invest in the twin's education, ending with them having an apprenticeship by the end of their Hogwarts career in a shop they intend to back financially. Molly knew this was her boy's dream, to one day own their own joke shop, who was she to stop them from their dream. Merlin knows they wouldn't be any good at the Ministry, and Amelia Bones herself was already interested in several of their 'products'.
It also helped Remus when he promised her a full itinerary of their summer plans that included the twins, Ron and Ginny. Even though she gave the approval she was still hesitant to not see her boys, so Remus set up a chat with them via the watches so she could coddle them. Sirius definitely had the easier task.
Minerva was currently going over several end of the year documents before preparing herself for a vacation she had planned kind of last minute. Her mind healer was pleased with the progress that she has made, recovering most of her memories that had been affected by Albus' medaling. The last step for Minerva was to step away from everything and destress her mind and magic.
Her vacation, if one could call going home that, was meant for her to unwind and spend several days just meditating. The best place she could think of to do that would be in her family home. She hadn't gone back there for any length of time since starting her Deputy position at Hogwarts, so it was long overdue.
Spinner, her longtime head elf had kept her informed of any maintenance issues that had needed attention over the years, as well as keeping her up to date on the wards surrounding her home. Everything would be in tip top shape and Minerva was sure it was in just as good of a condition as she left it.
The knock at her door surprised her, she made sure she had her wand concealed in her holster ready to spring into her hand at a moment's notice. She wasn't expecting anyone else before she left, and she wouldn't put it past Albus to mess her mind up some more to get her to stay on and help him with things.
This year should be easier on him considering they didn't have to find a defense teacher on short notice, but Merlin knows he would probably find some other paperwork to pawn off on her.
Opening the door, she found to her surprise Sirius Black.
Sirius was one of her favorite students in his day, the whole set of Marauders seemed to weasel their way into her heart. But Sirius in particular tugged at her heartstrings being the only Gryffindor in his family, which ultimately led to him being disowned, Minerva could have cursed Walburga Black for the way she treated Sirius. Thank goodness he landed in Euphemia's loving arms.
"Evening Professor, sorry to have to bother you." Sirius said quickly, old habits die hard, and he still got a little nervous being in her office.
"No bother at all Sirius, what can I do for you?" Minerva said while inviting him in.
Giving a quick glance around her office, Sirius noted it looked the same from when he was last in here, a long time ago. Different empty animal cages sporadically placed around the room, straight back chair with the garnet and gold tassels hanging off the cushions.
He caught something moving out of the corner of his eye, peeking towards her display case Sirius let out a gasp at what had originally caught his eye. Minerva McGonagall was no slouch when it came to knowing what her 'cubs' where up to, so it came to no surprise when in their final year at Hogwarts she handed out personalized journals, each journal was personalized specifically to the student she gave it to; that each one of the Marauders had theirs personalized with their forms let them know that she knew what they were up to from the start.
On James' cover was a strong looking stag with an impressive rack, Sirius' had a rather large scruffy looking dog with paw prints spattered across the border and Remus' had a beautiful wolf howling at the full moon. The only one that didn't match their form was Peter's and they had always supposed it was because she would often see a stag and dog running with a wolf, Peter's rat form was too small to see from a distance, either that or she knew before they did that he was exactly true to form. A rat.
In return the three of them gifted her a miniature set of figurines in the form of a Stag, Dog, and Wolf that would play around within a certain amount of space. A fun bit of magic that their charms professor at the time helped them with.
"I would have figured you'd get rid of that when I turned up a murderer." Sirius said with sadness surrounding his words.
"I never believed you to be a murderer Sirius." Minerva said calmly.
"James Potter was family to you when your own family turned against you. You hated the very thought of being as dark as your name. I had my mind so warped from Albus that I never expressed my concern with anything." She said the last part bitterly.
"I am so sorry Sirius, that you had to suffer those years behind bars, reliving your most hated memories. If I could have, I would have told the country that you didn't do it. I never understood why you all hung around Peter. The little git of a boy who turned out to be a rat of a man." Minerva's brogue becoming thicker the more emotional she got.
"Thank-you Minerva, for believing in me." Sirius said with tears starting to form in his eyes as he watched the Stag juke around the dog to escape. "It means a lot to me that even though you couldn't do anything that you would of if you could."
"Of course, Sirius," Minerva said while getting up and wrapping him in a hug "You will always be my cub."
Tears streaked down his face as he absorbed himself into the hug, like Harry, Sirius wasn't accustomed to hugs, but something about hugging his former head of house felt like coming home.
After settling down, Minerva ordered some tea to be delivered as Sirius laid out his plans for taking Harry and Hermione home tonight. He understood that she knew more than she let on, the witch was scary when it came to her levels of understanding.
Sirius walked into Harry and Hermione's private quarters, permission slips in hand to take them home tonight. Harry had called for Dobby to pack their things including the hidden stuff around the flat while Hermione called their friends on the watch to inform them of the change in plans.
She was finishing up her conversation with Ron who wished her luck before signing off.
I still can't believe how much he has changed love. He wasn't jealous that it would only be Fred and George coming tomorrow. He even said he preferred it as he had made plans with Mandy Brocklehurst, a Ravenclaw in our year. Apparently, she is his next great opponent in chess, and they had made plans to meet up over the summer to go over strategies.
Didn't Mandy end up with Roger Davies in the last timeline? Harry questioned.
Ironic isn't it. Hermione thought with a wicked smile on her face. I'm not sure what he all helped Ron with back then, but it feels good knowing that we might have possibly stopped him from harming another female.
Nodding Harry went to go levitate their trunks to the door when they were suddenly gone. Dobby appeared moments later explaining that he had already popped their things back to the Manor.
"Dobby you're the best!" Hermione applauded him as Winky popped in to grab Hedwig's things. "You too Winky, I don't know how we got so lucky to have the two best elves in the world."
Winky blushed as she bowed and thanked her mistress, Dobby was right they were not like any other witch or wizard that she had ever known, but they were kind and good. Winky loved her new family.
"All set kids?" Sirius asked taking one final glance around the room.
"Yup" was said at the same time from the pair of Potters. Together they walked out of the room and down to the front doors to wait for Remus.
Much to Remus' surprise, Molly didn't put up a big fight, with only Ron and Ginny to pick up at the station she would be able to apparate and not have to worry about the floo network being busy. Remus calling the boys from the Burrow to allow Molly to coddle them helped to calm her nerves before getting her to sign the permission slip to allow the boys to head out of the castle tonight with Harry and Hermione.
He had already gotten the slip signed by Frank and Alice, so it looked like there would be more packing to do. He advised the boys to start packing and to call for Dobby or Winky when they were done so that they could pop the luggage back to the Manor then meet with Sirius and the rest by the front doors by six o'clock.
Remus had called ahead to let Sirius know the good news and explained that he needed to stop by McGonagall's office before heading home to the Manor.
Sirius quickly explained to Remus about the figurines, he didn't have to explain about the rest, Remus could see it in his eyes, the tears still hoovering right above his waterline. Nodding they signed off with a promise for a drink when they got home.
A few minutes later everyone was in the front of the school, with the trunks already at the Manor, Winky appeared and grabbed hold of Fred and George's hands, while Dobby grabbed Harry and Hermione's, this left Neville and Sirius needing to wait a few moments for Dobby to return and pop them home.
Landing in the foyer saw everyone heading their own way for a few minutes to get into comfy clothes, Hermione made mention that they would need to be in a clear state of mind for the discussion, so Sirius begrudgingly put back the scotch he was going to pour for Remus and himself.
The look on their faces gave them away to Sirius, he had a bad feeling from the start, but this sealed the deal. He just knew he wasn't going to like what they were going to tell shortly.
Elsewhere, in a dingy part of London, a rather large snake slithered along the tree line towards a small run-down manor, it was one of two that were on the same property. Identical in every way, the only difference between them was who occupied them.
Alecto preferred her space and time apart from her brother Amycus. Not that they weren't close, she just preferred the quiet and calm in oppose to Amycus' rambunctious lifestyle. Hence why they decided to build two smaller manors after the war versus one large one.
Although the home appeared run down on the exterior, the interior was quite homey. Decorated in the Silver and Green hues of her former house, Alecto sat perched in her most favorite comfy chair with a hot cup of tea reading the daily prophet. She never heard the snake enter the home, the first announcement that she got of another creature being in her home was a hiss that made her throw her teacup out of freight.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Alecto soared to the top of her chair, perched on the back like a cat. The chair, not meaning to have any substantial weight distributed on the back, ended up tipping over landing the witch flat on her back.
Wind knocked out of her from the fall, Alecto watched as the snake slithered up to her and seemingly pulled a letter out of thin air with magic that appeared to be directed from its tail.
How strange she thought to herself, not yet touching the letter that was now laid upon her lap. The snake looked vaguely familiar to her. Thinking hard about all the snakes she had met in the past ended with a gasp. "Nagini?" She questioned to the snake.
The snakes nod of the head sealed Alecto's fate. Opening up the letter she read the instructions from her Lord. Standing up she walked towards the fireplace, threw a pinch of floo powder in and called next door to Amycus.
Amycus arrived with the needed items, however much Alecto hated his disarray of a household, or his abysmal housekeeping skills, her brother always had on hand rare ingredients for potions as he was always messing around trying to make the next big cure, his breakthrough came when he tweaked the hangover potion to taste better and not leave you with steam coming out of your ears. It's what bought them their homes.
Double checking to make sure he had everything specified in the letter the pair grabbed hold of Nagini's tail as she activated the portkey.
"HE DID WHAT?!" Remus yelled when the kids told him of Albus' deal with the packs. "No wonder they never fully accepted me, the more they did for me the more favors he would get."
Not one to yell, Remus' outburst shocked Harry and Hermione a bit, that was until Sirius lifted the sleeve of his shirt to reveal his tattoo.
As soon as Sirius could get tattoo's he got them, many were of no value, he simply got them to get them. However, the first tattoo he ever got was special. It was done by a witch who flowed her magic into it, and it was by far the most meaningful tattoo he ever paid for. The whole backside of his forearm was taken up by the lunar phases, moon by moon the current phase would be highlighted, giving it an almost glowing effect.
This allowed for two things, Sirius would always have a way of remembering when Remus was going to be down and out for the month, and it would forever be a memorial to one of his brothers.
Sirius pointed to the highlighted moon near the middle, closest to the full moon. Moony was near the surface causing Remus to be a bit more on edge and temperamental, thus explaining his outburst without having to embarrass Remus.
Both nodding to Sirius, they knew Moony would only get angrier as the information came in, they had forgotten about the full moon, but even if they didn't it's not like they could sit on this information, it was too important.
"We understand Uncle Moony, the only reason we thought to ask was because no other lycanthrope has attended Hogwarts since you, which we found strange considering they had the set up and the procedures in place." Hermione said reaching out for his hand to give it a squeeze.
I thought we would be on the safer side starting with Remus, turns out we are going to battle through this entire situation.
"Now that I think about it that is fairly strange, the only incident that I had was with Severus," he glanced at Sirius before finishing, "And the parents never found out about that incident."
No matter how many years have gone by Remus still held a bit of anger towards Sirius for that little stunt he played. Remus couldn't imagine what he would do to himself if he were to hurt another person when transformed.
Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Remus looked towards the kids who were anything but kids. "How come I have a feeling this isn't the only piece of information you both have that will raise the tension in the room?"
"There's more?" Jean asked shakily.
Everyone had gathered around the fireplace in the living room, that way James and Lily could partake in the conversations along with the rest of the family while remaining in comfort.
Neville and the twins took to the floor putting themselves between the coffee table and the fireplace, meanwhile Jean and Mick were seated on the loveseat while Sirius and Amelia shared the plush armchair, leaving Harry, Hermione, Remus to share the couch.
The group left the second chair open for Frank and Alice as they were going to be late. Neville promised to catch them up on anything they would miss.
"Yes Mum," Hermione said after glancing around the room. "several things will have to be placed in Amelia's hands, as we suspect there will be a lot of investigative work needed. Others will make your skin crawl at just how much shit Dumbledore has pulled."
Harry took a sip from the teacup that Dobby had placed in his hand before starting in on what was going to be a very long, arduous night.
The Longbottom's showed up just after Harry finished explaining how the Weasley's fit into the old man's plan, the twins were outraged that their dad was basically used as a pawn to get information from the Ministry, and their mother as a maid. Even if it helped them get thru school.
They were also shocked to find out that Harry's meeting of them was staged. After everything was said and done their parents would have to visit a mind healer themselves just like Minerva and Poppy. The Potters were sure, and everyone agreed that the Weasleys were under multiple compulsion charms and memory spells.
Frank and Alice remembered a lot of what happened before they were sent into their minds for a decade. One thing Frank in particular remembered was that Barty Jr. kept saying "That's not where we were told they'd be" It all made more sense now, as they were meant to be in their bedrooms not the living room where the fight happened.
Neville was infuriated, he looked like he could march up and smack Dumbles right in the face. Looks like the snake slayer was back by their side.
Amelia was also very keen to learn about the list of families the Potters pulled out of Dumbledore on items that he borrowedfrom them.
The tension broke a bit as some funnier bits came about, Dumbledore professing his love for Grindelwald, his failed attempts to get Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andi on his side. It felt good to laugh, if nothing more than to release the tension they felt at having to part with the final piece of news.
Once everyone calmed down, Harry turned to face Sirius with a grim expression on his face.
"Oh boy. Give it to me straight pup, what of my life did the old bastard ruin?" Sirius tried to play it off as nothing, but Harry knew better.
Amelia could sense this was going to be rough in her bones, she slid from the arm of the chair into Sirius' lap and held his hand in both of hers.
"Not just yours Padfoot" Harry said sadly. "It's Regulus."
Sirius took a sharp intake of breath. He knew from the story of the first timeline that Regulus was a turn coat, who died thinking that he destroyed the only horcrux, what else could have happened?
"As you all know Regulus wasn't a loyal Death Eater, he figured out about the horcrux Tom had in the cave." Hermione explained to the rest of the group.
"What you all don't know is that he was a spy for Dumbledore." Harry finished. "Or what we are starting to realize a pawn would be a better term for it."
At this point Harry scootched to the end of the couch and reached to grab Sirius' other hand. "Padfoot," Harry squeezed his hand, "Regulus isn't dead."
In a little graveyard, next to a tall angel of death tombstone, a set of magical beings with a very large snake popped into existence thanks to a portkey that the snake had wrapped around its body. The snake itself slithered around the Carrows and behind another tombstone that was marked by the name Thomas Riddle.
The Carrows followed expecting to exit the cemetery, that wasn't the plan, however. The snake had coiled around a thermos that was strategically placed there earlier in the year by Barty Jr.
It was meant for when Nagini would go hunting, she would always have a way back to the safe house, this portkey would drop you at the very edge of the wards protecting the hovel, only allowing you to see the building if you had the dark mark.
With each of the two-legged people now placing a finger on the lid of the thermos, Nagini hissed the phrase to activate the portkey on the final leg of their journey.
"Bloody Hell!" Amycus yelled as they touched down. "I hate those bloody things the way it is, having to take two in a short space of time really messed with my equilibrium."
"Oh shut it will you" Alecto whispered loudly, keeping an ear out for any movement or followers that might be near.
Nothing, it was dead silent, taking a step forward saw her mark on her left arm burn angrily, then die down to nothing.
"Shiiiit that hurt!" Amycus once more hissed.
"Look!" Amycus followed where Alecto was pointing, straight ahead they saw a small, dilapidated building that showed obvious signs of life.
The snake had no hesitation, the moment it landed it started to slither towards the shack, it was rather cold outside and Nagini was looking forward to curling up by the fireplace.
"Brothhhhhhher…" Nagini hissed as she entered the room. "I haaave come withhhhh ttttthe two leggedssss you requessssted."
Not a few seconds later the door to the room opened as Alecto and Amycus walked in, to their credit they didn't gasp when they saw the baby version of Voldemort, oh yes, they could tell exactly who the baby's body was hosting.
If the blood red eyes didn't give him away immediately, the deadly sounding voice coming from the toddler did.
"Ah Alecto, Amycus. Thank-you for being so fast in your quest to once more be by my side tonight." The voice of Voldemort said coming out of the toddlers' body, which made Amycus shudder very slightly.
"You can make up the disappointment I feel in you both for not finding me sooner by telling me you brought with you that I have requested." The baby said angerly.
"Yes m-m-master." Alecto said while bowing. "We have brought everything you asked for."
"Good, Good." Voldemort said calmly. "Amycus, you will brew a potion that I dictate to you from my memory, with that I shall gain the body I had when I was seventeen, then I shall call back the rest of my followers to my side."
The toddler waived a wand that he pulled out of thin air, with a flick of his wrist the foot stool in front of him turned into a cauldron with a roaring fire underneath it. Breathing heavily from the over exertion of magic, the baby Voldemort spoke once more.
"Let us begin."
Back at Potter manor Sirius sat stunned by the Potter's words, mouth hanging agape. The expected blow up came from an unlikely source, Mick.
"HE'S ALIVE?!" Mick yelled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU BOTH LEAD WITH THAT!"
"Relax dad, according to Dumbledore he's in a petrified state underneath a sea of inferi." Hermione tried calming her dad down with no luck.
"Hermione Jean Granger, how can you tell me to relax when there is a man who is trapped in stone for the last decade! We need to rescue him!" although calmer Mick was still practically yelling still.
Harry never took his eyes off Sirius; he was getting worried now as he still hadn't made a sound nor moved an iota. "Moony, is this normal?" Harry questioned.
"No, his normal reaction would be closer to Dan's than anything else. This reaction is most definitely not Sirius like..." Remus put a hand on Mick's shoulder to calm him down a bit more while walking up to his long-time best friend.
"Paddy, are you in there?" Remus questioned.
"Siri, come on love, say something." Amelia tried while shaking his hand.
"PADFOOT SNAP OUT OF IT!" James yelled from the painting, which seemed to work.
Sirius blinked a few times then looked around the room quickly before landing on Harry and nodding.
"What's the plan?" was all that he said.
"Well, we kind of figured we would have to calm you down first, but since we are skipping that step, we'll explain what we can, and then we will have to research a bit." Hermione said while glancing back at her father.
"Dobby, would you mind brining in a pensive please, we will require it for proper research." Hemione asked as a soft crack was the only response needed.
"Regulus is not only petrified but he is currently housed below a lake of inferi," Harry paused his explanation to look towards his in-laws to explain.
"Think zombies and you won't be far off." Seeing Jean nod Harry turned back to Sirius.
"I am unsure of the exact number but based off of what I experienced last time I would have to guess a few hundred."
Dobby had popped back in and set the large stone basin in the center of the coffee table, checked on everyone's drinks then took a seat on a cushion on the floor next to Jean.
Hermione took over to add in some more information, "We know last time that Dumbledore, even in a weakened state was able to use a flame curse to ward off the inferi, so that might be an option."
"However, we were hoping to have a bit of back up when dealing with the undead." Harry finished while looking towards Amelia, who nodded in agreement.
"I think it would be best to form a large rescue group, my only concern is when you told me details of this cave last time Dumbledore had explained about the boat and it's limitations... how are we going to overcome those?" Amelia asked.
"That's a good question Amelia, and one we haven't put much thought to. Which is why we need to research." Harry explained.
"Kreacher!" Hermione gasped as she was watching Dobby get up to collect teacups from everyone who was done with their tea.
The loud crack that came from Kreachers arrival frightened Jean who let out a yelp in surprise.
"Master's pup called for Kreacher?" Kreacher spoke with his croaky voice.
Thanks to his connection with his wife, Harry was able to see a lot faster where Hermione was going with this.
"Of course, Kreacher was the elf Voldemort used when Regulus was captured." Harry now looking directly at Kreacher.
"Kreacher, would you be able to bring us to the cave where Regulus asked you to take the locket from?"
Everyone was holding their breath waiting for the old elf's answer.
"Of course, Lord Potter." Kreacher spoke with emotion, "but why would yous want to go back to that wretched place?"
Kreacher eyed Sirius with nervous eyes, the last time he had brought his master to that cave he never came back.
"Kreacher, we would like to go bring Regulus home, the self-proclaimed Dark Lord has actually captured Regulus, he never killed him. He's alive Kreacher, will you take us when we need to go?" Sirius asked.
"Master Regulus is alive?" Kreacher croaked out, "Kreacher will bring everyone to bring Master Regulus home, are you ready now?"
"Not quite ready Kreacher, but we will let you know as soon as we are." Hermione said kindly, and for the first time she could remember across both timelines, Kreacher hugged her legs then popped away.
Oh my, did you see that love? Hermione was flabbergasted. All Harry could do was chuckle at her expression and explain to the group why his wife was so shocked.
Sirius was still very quiet, more quiet than usual. Remus filled the group in as to why, "I've seen that face before, Padfoot is in planning mode. If I'm correct, he should fill us in shortly after debating whatever is going through his head."
Sirius without saying a word jumped up and headed to the library, yelling over his shoulder that he would be right back. Harry and Hermione with the help of the family started writing down a list of things that needed to be accomplished. Amelia's was much longer than the rest but most of hers would happen after everyone was safe.
Harry and Hermione also used this time to show some highlights from their interview with Dumbledore in the pensive. This helped greatly with the list of items Amelia would be investigating.
After reviewing Dumbledore's explanation of how to get Regulus out several times the group got a strike team together to rescue him, that would need to happen first as no one would be able to live with themselves leaving him down there longer than need be.
Heavens, he was down there the whole time, Dumbledore was so close when he took me into that cave, yet he never said a word. He is beyond sick love; he needs to go.
I agree, I don't understand how he lives with himself, come to think of it he basically did the same to Ron and me, he didn't care whether we lived or died so long as what he needed done was accomplished. Hermione thought angrily.
Just then Sirius reappeared caring three books that appeared to be all the same.
"I made duplicates, I figured Hermione would like one for herself, Jean, and then the rest of us." Sirius said while passing out the books in that order.
Frank and Alice scooted over next to the Grangers to answer questions, they both volunteered to be on the strike team, along with Amelia, Sirius, Remus and the Potters. The three boys are not of age, nor have the knowledge like the Potters so they will remain at home.
Neville and the twins scooted over next to the Potters to follow along while Sirius shared his copy with Amelia and Remus.
Together as a group they flipped through a book that Hermione wished she would have had access to the first time. "Dealing with Deadly Dark Creatures" would have been most helpful in several events.
Neville was reading out loud a few passages so that James and Lily would be able to help, "Inferi, although once human, are extremely spell resistant. Normal deadly spells such as the killing curse will not work on the undead, simply because they are just that, undead. Although resistant, this does not mean that they cannot be defeated. Inferi are vulnerable to physical attacks, blunt force trauma to the head to sever it from its body will down the inferi, there are also several useful spells that can work as they are physical in nature, fire spells and exploding spells are particularly useful when encountering a large group of inferi."
When Neville paused Fred picked up where he left off. "Caution to those who get up close and personal with inferi, any damage from one is like a dark curse, bites although they can be healed, will scar. Secondly one should use extreme caution when going up against a foe you know personally, mainly used as a defensive mechanism, the creators often times used victims from their prior crimes as bodies for the inferi to use."
George, who had turned pale finished, "This is the reason Inferi were used so devastatingly by dark witches and wizards past, as many found it hard to kill a family member, even when telling themselves it's not really them."
"Dear God." Mick said solemnly, to which the group just nodded.
Amycus was finishing up the potion that would sustain his master's current body a little while longer as the main potion he was brewing would take roughly a month to complete. He had all the ingredients with the exception of powdered griffin claw, his lord was told that Crouch got that ingredient already, but it wasn't any good.
Amycus placed an order for the powdered claw with an acquaintance of his, it was used in a variety of potions to strengthen different reactions, so it wouldn't be unusual for him to order some, and it should be available well before it was required to be added to the potion.
Amycus ladled out some of the body strengthening potion and had his sister bring it to their master, he was glad that his talents lay within the potion grouping as he didn't think he could handle being around that baby any more than what he was required to.
Although Amycus was a proud death eater in his time, his role when the Dark Lord was thriving wasn't of the potion variety, no Severus had that job on lock down, and Amycus was confident enough in his abilities to admit that Severus was the better option, with more experience and greater depth of knowledge.
This made him wonder why their master called upon them, very low-key players within the ranks instead of Severus himself?
Severus would not only have better access to ingredients and knowledge of how to brew this complicated potion, but he would have inside knowledge on Dumbledore and the order.
Amycus stirred the complicated potion clockwise four times before adding in a counterclockwise turn while pondering these thoughts. He would have to keep everything to himself as questions like those were a one-way ticket to a cruciatus curse.
Meanwhile in the other room Alecto had just finished giving the potion to her master when a stinging in her arm made her grunt.
"Ahhhh, very good. That pain means that my magic is strengthening and that my other follower's will soon know that I am alive and a force to be reckoned with." The deep voice of Lord Voldemort flowed out of the smiling baby.
Alecto swallowed hard and attempted to not bring any more attention to her mark, least she be found weak by her master. She bowed low and backed out of the room, using the excuse that she needed to check on her brother. She was starting to regret following the orders from the snake.
"Has everyone checked to make sure you have …." Jean was just starting to ask for the ninth time when Hermione came over and hugged her mum.
"Mum, we appreciate your concern, but we have double checked everything eight other times, I'm fairly sure we have everything we think we would need and more."
"Your daughter is right Jean," Sirius said watching as the mother held tightly to her daughter. "We have reviewed the memory of both Dumbledore's ideas of getting my brother out as well as Harry's time at the cave from the last timeline multiple times. We are as prepared as possible."
Kreacher had already popped Dobby and Winky along with two other Potter elves over to the cave so that they may assist in brining everyone in one go. This allowed them to skip the blood sacrifice and the boat all together.
No one would need to drink the potion as they were all aware that the necklace inside the basin was a fake. Their main task would be to get Regulus out and pop away to safety hopefully without the need to fight to many inferi.
"Final checks, does everyone understand their roles and feel comfortable still going?" Remus asked taking the lead of the strike team.
"Once we land and everyone is accounted for Harry, Hermione and Sirius will summon together for Regulus" Remus waited for a nod from each listed then continued, "Amelia, Frank, Alice and myself will be surrounding them watching the lake. First sign of the undead and we unleash spell fire." Remus said looking at the three-left waiting for their nod in agreement.
Having received their nods, he reminded the group. "Remember, fire spells, and physical damage, bombarda's, incendio's, and the like. Hell, use feindfyre if you feel the group is in danger, just be careful! In the words of Mad Eye Moody CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
The group took his humor as it was intended, as a stress reliver. Everyone who knew Moody from either the past, present or future got the reference. Be careful and keep your head on a swivel.
"Right then," Sirius said as he called for the elves. "You lot are to also remain safe and get yourself and our family home alive at all costs. Understood?"
The group of elves that included Kreacher and Dobby all nodded, big ears wiggling. Sirius looked up to his best friend and brother, gave a nod and instructed everyone to grab a hand of an elf. Once in position in the blink of an eye the group was gone, for once silently instead of the giant crack that normally accompanied elf apparition.
The moment the group left Jean fell back into the couch with a loud sob, the twins, seeing that Mick wasn't doing much better surrounded Jean while Neville led Mick to the chair. They would all get through this together, they were family even if not by blood.
The group landed silently in the cave at the same time, elves placing them in a circle formation while they themselves surrounded the group. It was brought up by Dobby in the preparation for this mission that Elves were very effective against inferi. Dobby explained that while the elves get their magic charged by their masters so to speak, the main use of their magic is for labor purposes, they would have no issues using massive amounts of physical damage spells.
Harry himself recounted a tale from the first timeline where Dobby slammed Lucius Malfoy across a hallway with just a wave of his hand. It was a much-needed laugh for the group during such a serious time that came with valuable information.
The elves were on high alert from the moment the group landed, and it was Gilly, one of the larger Potter elves that spotted the first movement. The ripples came from behind the group, the plan was to wait and see how many would pop out at the same time, as of that moment it seemed they would pop up one at a time, however the group expected more to come to the aid of keeping Regulus within their protection.
Amelia's scream echoed off the stone walls of the cave as the singular head broke the water line, it seemed that Tom like many before him decided the easiest way to gain inferi was to use the dead bodies of your enemies. Amelia, although warned about this, was still shocked to see her father's face come out of the lake; her scream however seemed to send warning to the others as more elves were reporting ripples in the water.
"It's now or never group, I'm sure there will be more family members popping out of that water, let's get Regulus and get out of here!" screamed Harry.
In a practiced motion the trio of Harry, Hermione and Sirius summoned for Regulus, the rest were now fighting against passed loved ones, Amelia had tears streaming down her face as she had to behead the inferi of her father. The elves were worth their weight in gold protecting the group from any that got past the defense line.
The summoning spell that Dumbledore thought would work, in turn, did not. Starting to worry it was Hermione's voice in Harry's head that yelled out a suggestion.Call for the petrified souls Voldemort wouldn't know who would get sucked down into the protection so he wouldn't know who to call for.
Seeing out of the corner of his eye his grandma come out of the water bringing Sirius to his knees, Harry made a quick decision, together love, full strength, all that we can muster.
Together the Potters summoned for the petrified souls putting all their magic behind the intent of getting the trapped out. To their surprise not one but two stone bodies flew out from below the waterline, yelling mission accomplished the elves grabbed a hold of everyone, including the two cast in stone and popped out of the cave with an ear-splitting crack, no longer concerned with making noise.