Ruby Potter

Chapter 15

Qrow leaned his head against the wall of Professor Dumbledore's office, taking in what the old man was saying and trying to make sense of the situation he'd found himself in.

"And that's all I really know or can share of the situation for now, Mr. Branwen" Dumbledore said, causing Qrow to look up at the ceiling in thought.

"Call me Qrow, Mr. Branwen was my father." Qrow said nonchalantly as he tried to think. "So, let me make sure I got this straight, this Voldemort guy, he's somehow split his soul in seven different pieces?" Dumbledore nodded his confirmation, "and there was one of these things in my niece's head that came out when her aura was unlocked?" Dumbledore nodded again. "Alright, and you want me to go find and destroy them for you?" Dumbledore sighed slightly in resignation but nodded once again.

"That is unfortunately correct Qrow, the only way to rid this world of the threat of Voldemort, and the risk of your niece being used to resurrect him is to find and destroy these objects, I am sorry to pull you away from your family, but I cannot just leave the school at my leisure to hunt them down, it would leave Hogwarts open to attack, and with the Minister becoming increasingly hostile towards me, and Voldemort on the the edge of his return, I cannot run that risk, so regrettably, I must ask that the search fall to you. I have multiple memories from multiple people to help piece together the locations of them, but right now I'm afraid I only have the locations of four of what I believe are his horcruxes." Dumbledore said, sitting taller and his voice holding more authority as he went on, showing Qrow not the grandfatherly Headmaster, but one of the most powerful and respected wizards of his time. "So, will you help us Qrow?"

Qrow nodded resolutely, he was a Huntsman, it was his job to protect humanity no matter what, even if they were in an alternate dimension, and this Voldemort guy seemed like a pretty big threat to these people, not to mention a threat to his niece, meaning Qrow only had one real answer to the Headmaster's question. "Of course Professor, I'll help out. It's in my job description after all." Qrow smiled cockily, causing Professor Goodwitch to scoff from her spot a few feet away from Qrow.

"You'll be the one explaining to your nieces why even in an alternate dimension, you have to go on a mission, Qrow." Goodwitch said in her usual stern tone, causing Qrow's cocky demeanor to drop for a moment as the thought burrowed into his mind.

"Oh..." he said slowly, before coming up with an excuse. "They'll be fine! Technically they're on a mission right now, Ruby will understand, even if she won't be happy about it." Qrow said, taking a swig of fire whiskey from his new magically expanded flask, sighing happily as it burned going down his throat. Glynda raised a critical eyebrow at the man but didn't press the point, instead looking back down at her scroll, presumably writing notes of the meeting for her regular reports to Headmaster Ozpin.

"Well, you'd best get to explaining then Qrow, you've got a little over a month to find at least one or two of them before the Second Task. I'm sure Miss Rose would be less disappointed if you were there to see her participate in it." Professor Goodwitch said without looking up from her scroll. "It would probably be best if you left tonight or tomorrow morning in order to have the most amount of time on your hands, wouldn't you agree Qrow?" She asked, a single eyebrow raised causing Qrow to nod slightly in agreement, pushing himself off the wall and standing up straight as he did so.

"You're right Glynda, Ruby'd be more than a bit disappointed if I missed her participation in the second task, would make her even more depressed than usual when I leave for a mission." Qrow said as he walked towards the office door. "I'll go after that ring you showed me the location of first, and I'll be back to study those memories for the other locations as soon as the ring is in my possession." Qrow called out over his shoulder to Dumbledore before strolling down the stairs and striding out of the gargoyle towards his niece's room.