The Necromancer

Chapter 35

“We can help with conjuring tents for the students,” Marvolo said to a clearly overwhelmed McGonagall after Dumbledore had disappeared inside the castle again.

“That would be most welcome,” McGonagall said with a tired sigh. She seemed to gather herself for a moment, brushing her hands down her robes a few times before she went to alert the students to start packing their belongings.

Harry got an idea and he followed Marvolo towards the open lawn where the tents were to go. “You start making tents. V, stay with him.”

“Why, why?” V demanded while he pulled on Harry’s ear in annoyance.

“Because I’m going to get that girl’s skeleton and place it in the wreckage we left behind so it will be found,” Harry explained, and V calmed down once he understood Harry actually had a good reason to abandon him again.

“Excellent plan,” Marvolo agreed quickly. “It will be one more very rusty nail in Dumbledore’s coffin tonight.”

Harry nodded at Marvolo’s words, inwardly amused that was why Marvolo thought Harry wanted to expose the girl’s remains. What Marvolo didn’t know, because Harry hadn’t told anyone, was that Harry was a father and a grandfather, and he could very well imagine the sheer terror the girl’s parents must feel not knowing what had happened to one of their children. This way they’d get some answers and some closure, no matter how heart breaking the confirmed death of their child would be. One of Harry’s young assistants, Ron Weasley, had mentioned a time or two that his sister had gone missing and Harry strongly suspected the remains belonged to her. This way Ron would get a chance to properly mourn his little sister as well.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Harry whispered, pushing gently against V until the raven flapped his wings and moved over to Marvolo’s shoulder. It still amused Harry to no end how put out Marvolo could look anytime he was forced to interact with a piece of his own soul.

Harry hurried towards the treeline so the darkness around him would hide his actions. Once cast in shadows, Harry pulled his broom from the satchel he kept in the pocket of his robes and enlarged it. Under the cover of darkness, Harry flew towards the school’s edge as fast as he could and the second he crossed the wards he apparated to Basilisk Island, broom still in hand.

Sylva wasn’t to be found in the haphazardly installed Chamber, which saved Harry an explanation of why he was removing the decomposed body. Harry opened a very small portal, just big enough to shove a skeleton through, leading to the location he’d used earlier, where the Chamber used to be. The whole place was covered in debris great and small, but there were plenty of air pockets in between the larger rocks, and Harry had no problems levitating the girl’s remains between some of the rubble. As people started repairing the castle they’d come across the body eventually.

Harry apparated back to Hogwarts and used his broom to return to the forest’s edge closest to Marvolo.

Moody was berating a very unimpressed looking Marvolo while small clutches of students and some of the Yule Ball guests milled about on the lawn in confusion.

“I know you had something to do with this, Gaunt!” Moody growled, artificial eye spinning wildly in its socket. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and I know exactly what tree you came from!”

Harry could have kissed Barty. By having Moody accuse Marvolo of all sorts of imagined crimes without a shred of evidence, Barty actually made it less likely that people would believe Marvolo had anything to do with it.