"First, I owe you an answer about the protection your rings give you. Unfortunately, the protection schemes are unique to each ring, even when they belong to the same family. Still, some common aspects may help you. Just as you commanded your rings to hide, you can also command them to change the protection level. The exact levels may vary from ring to ring, but you can safely assume that when set to the maximum, they will protect you well enough even against Dumbledore. You can also exclude medical spells from the protection if you wish, but that may make you more vulnerable. As you should know, almost any spell can be used for various effects. For example, the spell to light some candles may also set a house on fire. If you feel unsure, set the protection to maximum until you can find more information," Sharpclaw told the two.
Harry thought this answered their previously unanswered question. "Thank you, Sharpclaw. If that's all…"
The goblin lifted his hand to signal he'd not finished yet.
"I thought you might also be interested in some information we got from the Ministry," he said.
"What about?" Harry wondered.
"Quirrell and his 'guest'. It's still kept secret, you should know, but we got the information anyhow. You see, the DOM was able to interrogate not only Quirrell under Veritaserum but also Voldemort. I'm not sure how they did it, but it was by disabling one or the other, allowing only one to respond. What's important is that they found how Voldemort managed to survive. You see, he created some abominations that serve as, for lack of a better word, soul anchors. These objects were prepared using very dark magic to make them ready to contain a shard of the caster's soul, similar to what had been in your scar. Once the caster uses some other dark magic to split his soul, he can store a part of it in that object. As long as even a single such object exists, the soul cannot die, even if the body does. Only after destroying all these objects, and by that I mean removing the soul fragments from them, can the soul finally pass on. That was another reason to urge you to remove the scar and its contents. Now, that fragment of soul was captured and will soon be used for another, more complicated ritual, one that will destroy all the remaining fragments, except those residing in a living body."
He waited for the children to nod their understanding. He was still unsure how much they could really understand, at their age.
He then went on. "Now, considering what he planned to do to you, I assume you intend to insist on the ultimate punishment. Knowing Dumbledore, he would try to persuade you to give the man a second chance and let him live. Are you willing to go that way?"
Harry shook his head with conviction. "He was willing to murder me although I did nothing wrong to him. And his guest was the one who murdered my parents. I don't think any of them merits any mercy and they can get the same second chance they gave me or my parents – none."
Sharpclaw's expression turned feral. "In that case, I suggest you insist on using the full punishment set by the law. There's more, though. The DOM also found how one got the Dark Mark. It turns out that one needed to murder an innocent in front of other Death Eaters to 'gain' his mark. That murder is a part of the ritual. It means that each and every marked Death Eater is a murderer. According to our records, none of them was put on trial for that murder, so the DMLE can freely do that now, regardless of other alleged crimes. We suspect the DMLE will soon act on that unless the Minister manages to stop it. Promise your support to the DMLE if you want things to move your way. You have enough money to finance the initial steps, as a loan. Then, the trials will lead to massive confiscation of all they gained during the war. That will give enough money for the DMLE to return the loan and still have more than enough to continue cleansing the magical society."
It was very evident that the children had no idea how to handle this, so Sharpclaw added, "I can offer the loan in your name, Lord Potter. It's not uncommon for an account manager to offer a loan to potential allies of his client and it's well within what's expected of us."
Harry nodded in agreement as did Hermione, a fraction of a second later.
Sharpclaw noticed that the children were getting a bit confused and sighed internally. "Well, if that's too much for you, maybe we should meet every week or two and discuss what's relevant at that time. Please note that I'm not trying to intervene in wizard politics. I'm only trying to advise you how to achieve the goals you clearly want by using the assets you currently have."
Harry could sense Hermione chuckle internally, just like him. It was evident that Sharpclaw wanted nothing better than to get rid of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. He also didn't like Dumbledore much. Well, all that was in accordance with how they both felt. He still had to answer. "Your advice is welcome and it's not a breach of any treaty to help your client use his assets to achieve his goals. I'll take your advice to heart and act as close to it as I can. Right now, though, it looks like we're no longer able to comprehend any more. Will it be alright if we visit here a day or two before returning to school?"
Sharpclaw nodded. "By then I may have some more interesting information for you."
–..–
They didn't hurry back. The Grangers were at work and would only return late in the afternoon. That left them enough time to buy some Christmas presents for the adults. Try as they might, they couldn't block each other from sensing what the other planned to buy. They just shrugged it off and decided not to keep their presents secret. While that would remove the surprise, the present would still be as appreciated.
"We can even have lunch in London. There are quite a few nice diners near the train station we need, some even at the station, so we can eat there and stay protected from the weather," Hermione told him.
Harry only smiled. He had eaten out enough while he stayed in London during the summer, but he didn't mind doing as she liked.
They still arrived back home before the Granger couple. Harry made sure to have boiling water and the tea set ready for Hermione's parents as soon as they arrived. It was a cold December afternoon, after all.
Telling everything after dinner proved to be a problem, though. Harry couldn't tell much about his treatment, since he slept during most of it. Hermione's was just straightforward with nothing special to tell. The conversation with Sharpclaw was much more interesting for the adults, though.
"So, they found how he didn't fully die and how his followers were all murderers?" Jean asked, just to be sure she understood correctly.
"Yes, and that will allow them to counteract whatever he had done to keep himself alive and also allow them to put on trial his followers since they weren't previously charged with these specific murders," Hermione explained.
"Are you sure about the fairness of the trials?" Evidently, Jean had already heard about some corruption.
Harry shrugged. "An attempt to kill a Lord is automatically punishable by death, and I'm going to insist on it. As for the rest… Well, maybe if we make sure to have them open to the public and the media and have all the deliberations and the voting public too, that would deter some corrupt members. It's easier to hide under anonymity than when in plain sight of the public, I think."
"And what is the goblins' position?" Dave asked.
Hermione smiled. "Officially, they can't take any position concerning wizards. Unofficially, they would like nothing better than to get rid of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but also of Dumbledore, whom they consider almost as bad. Judging by how he treated Harry, I think they're right."
Dave frowned. "Why is he the headmaster of the only magical school in Britain, then? And you say he has some more roles."
Harry sighed. "He may have been better when younger, but it now looks like he thinks he's the only person to understand everything and he believes he knows best what's good for everybody, even if others disagree. I'm not sure for how long he's been acting this way, but he probably started way before I was born. I must admit that he has a lot of knowledge, but not even he can know all there is to know on every subject, even excluding the muggle world. He once defeated another Dark Lord. I'm not sure about the details, but it was probably close to the end of WW2. That made people see him as a hero of the light and a leader. He was a Hogwarts teacher at that time and then made the headmaster, probably due to his fame. It also brought him his two other positions that are political in nature. I'm not sure how well he can perform all his roles. I thought that the role of headmaster for a boarding school would be more than enough even for one not as old as him."
Hermione looked at him with some confusion. "I didn't know you could talk so maturely."
He chuckled. "I'm still eleven, you know, but I can occasionally act more maturely, as you do."
The Grangers didn't like what he'd told them. "Is Hogwarts safe enough for you to return there after the holidays? We can move you to another school, if necessary."
The children gave it some thought. "I may need to ask Sharpclaw some more. I heard that most magical families enrol their children at one more school, at least, to make sure that the children can be moved for whatever reason may come up. They usually do it soon after the child is born. I suppose my parents did the same. As a Lady, I think Hermione may also come with me. Based on our bond, we may also become betrothed, allowing her to come with me regardless of her title. Besides, since we're not yet emancipated, we're limited by our magical guardians. It can easily become more complicated, and quite quickly at that" Harry explained.
Hermione jumped in with some additional information. "Dumbledore is the magical guardian for all muggle-born or muggle-raised students. He would probably oppose any idea showing Hogwarts as less than perfect."
That made the Grangers think.
–..–
Harry enjoyed the preparations for Christmas very much. It was the first time he took part in choosing the decorations, buying them and decorating the house. It was the first time his opinion was asked about the tree to choose and everything else to buy. It was the first time he bought presents for his family (and he really felt like the Grangers were now his family, totally unlike the Dursleys,) and the first time he felt welcome at the festive Christmas Eve dinner, where he got as generous a portion as everybody else at the table.
Harry felt some tears reaching his eyes and tried to furtively wipe them away. He then sensed Hermione. 'They love you as another family member, as you will eventually be – their son-in-law.'
Harry could finally feel what family love was and how the holiday enhanced it.
Then, soon after dinner, they all got heavily clothed for protection against the cold and walked to the nearby church to attend the Mass. This was also Harry's first time in church. The Dursleys rarely went to church and never took him along.
"Freaks have no place in the house of God," Vernon used to throw at him every time.
Despite Hermione trying to explain everything in hushed tones, Harry couldn't quite understand everything. It didn't matter much to him. He got the main points of the ceremony, the prayers and the hymns; he enjoyed the music; he liked it when the vicar preached about love and looked at Hermione.
By the time they returned to the Granger house, both children were almost too tired to even remove their outer clothes before falling asleep.