Crimson Ink

An Edge

Last Time:

"I'm starved!" Ron yelled as Harry put some food on his own plate at a much slower pace. Harry ignored the slob in favor of slipping Vesta some chicken and wondering if the hat was trying to tell him something ... something horcrux related ...

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"This is the greenhouse ... and we're in luck because they just started blooming." Quirinus exclaimed cheerily as he lead Severus, Tom and Lucius into his family's greenhouse behind their muggle home. "Here it is. You need to wait for the pollen to fall before harvesting so let's just wait here for a moment."

Tom conjured some chairs to sit on, "How was Harry when you dropped him off? He wasn't disturbed by Alecto's appearance was he?"

"Not in the slightest. It seems we forgot how bad Harry's eyes were and were worried for nothing. Alecto said in her floo call after dropping him off at King's Cross that he apparently didn't even recognize Petunia and he got on the train alright." Lucius said rather amused by the odd development.

"Never thought I'd find poor eyesight useful." Severus said with a light chuckle, but frowned as he watched the orange ornament flower with hanging with its red sticky stamen dangling out of it. "He'll be on the train now. I hope this goes quickly. I don't want him alone for one second at Hogwarts."

"Why can't we do something to piss off Dumbledore and make this go faster? We could burn down the Whomping Willow or make Harry disappear for a while." Bellatrix said as she came into the greenhouse and kissed Quirinus. It clear she's been spending a lot of time with her intended and taking his shirts too if the baggy sweater was any indication.

Severus sighed, "He's a dangerous manipulative bastard that's over a century and a half years old. He already successfully masterminded an entire war, siphoned out the existence of basic information of everything from nature sprites to the deaging or male pregnancy potions by secretly obliviating people just to give him an edge and who knows what else. He won't fall to any childish antics." He said with irritation lacing his tone.

They found out how the knowledge of such important things vanished. First, was removing the books by using his ministry connections. Then when people went to complain he'd speak with them tone at a time only tom remove the information he needed. They aren't sure but it's possible he started removing memories before the books and then removed the memories from those few who complained. Either way it's clear why the general public had no clue that there was a deaging potion or would recognize what Vesta was.

"There may be ways to make things tricky for him, but you're right, Severus. A man like that won't fly off the handle or slip up easily. Burning the Whomping Willow won't help at all obviously since he would just drain his dead magic into the ground and make another. Remember, the dead magic creates the Whomping Willows and then acts like a trash bin not the Whomping Willow drains the magic. He won't bat an eyelash if it's destroyed since he can make more easily and making Harry vanish will make us look like kidnappers if even one of us is spotted because Dumbledore will point the finger at any rumored to be Death Eater. No, Dumbledore needs to remain in the dark and think everything is going his way or, at least, has no reason to think his horcruxes are anything but safe." Tom said wishing that everything was that simple, but it wasn't.

Lucius smirked, "I do have one way to shake things up. Narcissa and I finalized our divorce. With that done that makes Narcissa a Black again and that brings the one smart thing Sirius Black did right to the forefront. When Sirius became Harry's godfather he made Harry the Black heir, but Harry is underage and needs a guide. It just so happens the only real Black, meaning not disowned or imprisoned or on the run, is Narcissa."