Fleur De Lis

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Discussions were held before the decision to return to Hogwarts was made. Ultimately it was decided that Justin and Dumbledore would return to the front of the maze to greet the crowd, while Harry and Gellert would be sent to the headmaster's office to await the arrival of the ICW contingent. Dumbledore assured the pair that he would speak to the investigator and prepare them for the meeting to the best of his ability. Dumbledore himself could no longer doubt that if he were to try and assist the ICW in capturing the two magical titans that the loss of life would be immense, and unavoidable. The odds of the ICW's victory were incredibly slim, and certainly not worth dying for. Particularly after what the Headmaster had witnessed that evening.

Fawkes had appeared before the group and had taken Gellert along with Harry straight to the Hogwarts Headmasters' office with little explanation necessary from Dumbledore. Upon arrival, the two glanced warily at each other. They were both battle weary and did not relish another fight like the one they had already experienced earlier in the evening. Undoubtedly the two were capable, but with the injury, Harry had sustained from the knife he needed a proper healer. Gellert had certainly done a beyond-admirable job of patching him up, but neither of the two were deluding themselves that the wound had been taken care of properly.

"They would be foolish to attack us. Albus will undoubtedly inform them of what took place in the graveyard giving the world its first glance at your true capabilities. I do not believe Albus would intervene either. He knows that together we are far beyond his capabilities." Gellert said comfortingly, but Harry was unworried and said nothing.

The young man's thoughts were mostly on a certain silver-haired French girl who had to be very worried about him. There was a small part of him that had always recognized the fact that if anyone was going to defeat him in combat it would be Voldemort. It was a small thing that kept him envisioning his future, but with the Dark Lord out of the way, no one could truly pose a threat to him. Not with the Elder Wand in his possession.

"What do you think we faced in the graveyard? How do you think Tom shared his power the way he did? Possessed Justin even after we defeated him?" Harry asked while looking at the headmaster's pensieve in the corner of his office.

"I am not certain." Gellert replied honestly, giving a deep sigh, "I have never witnessed magic like that, but I have heard of something similar."

Harry's eyes stayed on the pensieve as if he was replaying a memory of his own in his head, "It was a Horcrux, wasn't it? A piece of Voldemort's soul. A Horcrux was lodged in my little brother's scar, and we never knew it."

"I think it would have become obvious once Riddle returned. It was apparent his very presence caused your brother significant pain. Had we seen this we would have had time to

research a way to get rid of the Horcrux without killing the host." Gellert said comfortingly.

"Is the Horcrux truly gone?" Harry asked skeptically.

"I believe so. Your brother's story of going to the other side and meeting your grandmother lends credence to the theory. I think it tells us enough about his victory. You can, of course, run different tests to your heart's desire, but I believe it is unnecessary." Gellert said as he paced around the room, "Your brother is a magical marvel much like yourself. I believe his abilities in occlumency and the trauma he went through this evening gave him the strength to dissolve the Horcrux himself. It would be prudent to keep an eye on the lad to ensure he did not absorb the soul shard, but if that were the case, I think the changes would be minor. I believe had there been other pieces of Tom's soul out there, then the final piece might have had a better foundation to fight on, but with it being the final broken shard, it gave your brother an extraordinary advantage that I do not believe we could have replicated. A seventh part of a soul could never stand up to a full one no matter how magically powerful it may have been."