Harry turned to him with interest.
Sharpclaw explained. "You already know that Quirrell was to be executed soon after the trial, I believe."
Both children nodded.
"It was delayed a bit by some procedural obstacles, mainly by Dumbledore, as expected. Then, at roughly three in the afternoon, Quirrell was pushed through the veil. From what we know now, he seemed to 'blink', for the lack of a better word, for more than a minute before fully disappearing. We then found out that during that time, all the marked Death Eaters died, killed with severe pains by their marks. I believe you've noticed the headlines on your way here."
Harry nodded, unsure what was right to say.
"Our experts believe that the mark connected Voldemort to all his minions, allowing him, among other things, to suck magic and life from them. This could be one of the reasons he was so powerful. Then, when pushed through the veil, he tried to stop the inevitable by sucking some lifeand magic from his followers."
Sharpclaw's expression turned feral. "Had he still had his soul anchors, he could have probably succeeded, at least partially. Without them, there was nothing to hold his soul on this plane of existence. Even after sucking his followers dry, he could not prevent his soul from leaving, taking his followers along."
"That's good. Isn't it?" Hermione said.
"It's very good for the magical world as a whole. It's not so good for the families that lost some members, of course," Sharpclaw agreed.
"Do you know who died?" Harry asked.
"The list is on the second page of the Prophet. Most of them were already in prison or kept for interrogation. Some died elsewhere. Severus Snape was found dead in his office. A few more died abroad. Some more may be later found in hiding places. It looks like nobody was able to escape. Bearing the Dark Mark was an immediate death sentence for them."
Harry sighed. "I don't like it that so many people died."
Sharpclaw corrected him. "It's so many rabid criminals, people who murdered and raped indiscriminately. They should have died long ago. Only due to big bribes, they managed to stay alive or out of prison. Fortunately, most had already been interrogated under Veritaserum before this happened. Whoever took the bribes would not benefit from this."
"I still don't like it, even if they deserved no better," Harry insisted.
Sharpclaw returned to the initial discussion. "Well, about that warding. I'll have a portkey ready to take you with our team there. I just need the exact address."
Hermione knew it by heart, as expected. She wrote it down and Sharpclaw left the room for a moment.
He returned with three goblins who wore muggle clothes. They looked a bit awkward in them. "You may still attract undue attention due to your height and your facial features," Hermione noted.
"We shall use 'notice-me-not' charms, staying invisible to muggles. The clothing is more appropriate for work and will not attract attention if the charms momentarily fail," one of the newcomers said.
Hermione nodded. That goblin then asked her a few questions about the clinic's layout and finally requested, "Hold my arm while I make this parchment into a portkey that will take us directly into the storage room. You only need to think of the exact location you want us all to land in."
It was a very simple process. Two minutes later, both children and the three goblins were standing in the storage room. Hermione went out first. The receptionist was not at her post, probably taking a short break. Hermione quickly summoned the others. Within seconds, the goblins seemed to disappear. Only when concentrating really hard could she notice them. She waited for the receptionist to return before doing anything else.
"Good morning, Vera. I wanted to show my friend where my parents work. I don't think you met him already."
The motherly woman smiled. "You never brought any friend here, you know." She turned to Harry. "I'm Vera Bolton. I've been working here since before Hermione started walking. And you are…?"
He smiled and offered his hand to shake. "I'm Harry Potter. We met this summer, before starting the same school, and we became very close friends."
"Very close indeed," Vera smirked, seeing how possessively Hermione was holding his arm. She shook his offered hand and added, "You may look around, dears, as long as you don't disturb the doctors."
Hermione smiled and grabbed Harry's arm tighter. She only let Harry (and the goblins) peek into the treatment rooms, where her parents were busy with patients. She then showed him the other rooms, ending in the waiting room, where one could get hot beverages for free from a machine.
"We can now proceed without your help. We shall need it again to identify the cars," a goblin told Hermione and vanished again.
It took them surprisingly little time to finish the warding. "We protected the whole building. It won't make any difference to the other businesses, except to keep them safe from thieves and burglars. Now, can you show us to the cars?"
Hermione led them to the parking lot. It had no reserved places, making her parents' cars a bit far from each other, but that posed no problem.
Warding the cars seemed to take a bit longer than warding the house. Harry didn't mind, but Hermione had to ask, "I think it took much longer to ward the cars than the house. Why is that?"
The goblin replied, "Buildings take magic from the earth, and that can be shaped and controlled to give protection. The cars have no such direct connection to magic, so we need to create one before we can do any warding. Cars also require slightly different protection. We can't afford to make a car invisible, or others may bump into it. We have to make it change shape and colour randomly, making them impossible to identify."
Hermione nodded understandingly. "Thank you very much. We both need my parents protected. We may have gotten our Lordships, but we're still just children, you know."
The goblin nodded. "That's understandable. Now, if you have nothing more for us to do, it's time for us to leave."
Both children nodded and smiled their thanks. A moment later, they were alone there.
"Let's go back to the clinic. Hopefully, at least one of my parents is between patients and we can tell them. With some luck, one may even agree to drive us home."
Harry chuckled. It was really a bit cold for just walking, and the distance wasn't very short either.
–..–
They couldn't know, but the protection on Dave's car proved useful only a few hours later. Unlike Jean's car, which was a practical, no-nonsense family car, he used a much flashier car, mainly due to some of the members in his golf club. He didn't appreciate them much, but some others did. Then, he had a soft spot for flashy cars, and since he could afford one…
That car caught the attention of some car thieves. It stood out in the parking lot, looking even costlier than it really was. It wasn't the first time that they were targeting this model and they already knew how to neutralise the alarm. It would be a quick and clean job, they were sure.
One stood guard and the other approached the car. He was only a few cars away from it when it suddenly disappeared. All he could see was a mini car parked there. He was sure he had seen that car. How could he suddenly miss it?
He started looking around, trying to find the elusive car. When he went far enough, he could see the car again, but it disappeared as soon as he came closer.
"I think I have a vision problem, or maybe some hallucinations," he told his partner. "When I come closer, I can't find the car. I'd rather change places with you."
The other man agreed somewhat hesitantly. He wasn't as quick at disarming the alarms, but if his partner was suddenly unable, he could do it, he thought.
It worked the same, though, although they saw another car there each time they came closer. Fearing it was the effect of some drug they may have inadvertently inhaled, they decided to leave it alone and try some other time.
–..–
The two children spent the afternoon leisurely, mainly watching some holiday programs on the television. They already had all their homework done. They had even read ahead two chapters on all their subjects. They could allow themselves some fun.
–..–
Albus Dumbledore didn't quite feel the holiday fun. He was first too busy with preparations for the trial, trying to find anybody who wouldn't support a death sentence for Quirrell, to no avail. Oh, the dark faction would have probably agreed, only most of its members were currently detained for interrogation and the few that weren't kept a very low profile, reluctant to attract any attention. They would vote along with the majority, whatever it may be.
When the trial came, he hoped he could somehow persuade Harry, even after the sentence was given, but the brat just wouldn't comply. Since getting his Lordship, the brat was too well protected by his ring. It wouldn't stop an Imperius, of course, but that was a step too far even for Albus.
Then, when he returned to Hogwarts, he was faced with the sad news about Severus. He didn't yet know what it meant, but the loss of that young man was really hurting. Besides, how could he be the symbol of the light when there was no dark to oppose? And he also needed to find a new Potions professor urgently. Maybe Horace would agree to resume his old role? He wasn't too sure of that. He had practically forced Horace to resign to make place for Severus, and the retired professor had already found he liked his new life. It would be very difficult to bring him back. Perhaps the possibility of teaching Lily's son, The-Boy-Who-Lived, would be enough to entice him back? He needed to try.
–..–
Draco Malfoy didn't have fun either. He was actually shocked and in denial. He hadn't got any letter from his father before leaving for the winter vacation, but that was not worrying at all. His father only used to command. "Do this; Don't do that; Make sure to…" He didn't really miss that.
Then, when only his mother was waiting for him in London, he didn't think of what it meant. His Mum was much nicer than his Dad. She even took him to enjoy some ice cream before taking him home. But then, she had him sit down and told him, "Your Dad was arrested and interrogated under Veritaserum. He confessed to willingly being a Death Eater and of torturing and killing many people. He'd be lucky to be only sentenced for life in Azkaban. Now, you should forget all that he taught you about how to behave and whom to adore. I'll make a good man out of you, or do my best trying."
"Do you mean that Dad was a bad man?" Draco couldn't believe that.
"Yes, one of the worst. I never liked him, but I was forced to marry him. He was quite bad then and got much worse later, when the Dark Lord rose. He gladly joined him and participated in anything that could bring suffering or death to others, not regretting anything. Then, after the demise of the Dark Lord, he used his gold to escape justice. Now, that won't help him. He, along with many of his 'friends,' will be put on trial after the new year. I expect them all to be executed after the trial."
It took Draco many days to wrap his mind around the situation, not quite believing all that his mother was telling him.
Then, at Quirrell's trial, some more facts were revealed, making his mother's words more believable. Much later that day, the Malfoys were informed of the death of Lucius, along with all the other Death Eaters. They were all killed by their Dark Mark, so it seemed. Evidently, when the Dark Lord's soul was sent away, it took its followers along.
Draco collapsed in weeping, unable to accept the facts. His mind kept telling him that the worldview his Dad had instilled in him was false and wrong, but his feelings couldn't accept this.
His Mum had to call some healers and eventually move him to St. Mungos for treatment. He was sent home for New Year's Eve. He was still unsure if he was able to stand facing the world.