Chapter 3: A House Secret
They all sat around an old wooden dinning table in a small meeting room just beside the kitchen. The table and chairs were all black, but Emily didn't expect anything less from the house that previously belonged to Sirius Black.
Emily snuggled the warm cup of tea That Mrs. Weasley had given her between her palms. She relished its warmth as she brought the smooth liquid to her lips and its heat started to spread throughout her body with each sip.
She smiled at kind woman in thanks, for Mrs. Weasley had been watching like a concerned mother and was waiting to make sure she was no longer shaken up.
After the three had lowered their wands and all had calmed down Mrs. Weasley walked out of the kitchen. She fussed over Emily and the Doctor like they were her own children.
The woman had exclaimed, "Oh dear! You've frightened them half to death!"
She didn't seem to mind that they were complete strangers or that they had somehow found their secret meeting place. She hurried them into the dinning room and brought them tea with the biscuits following behind her, hovering in mid air.
The reason for Mrs. Weasley kindness was partly because she had seen a look she knew all too well in Emily's eyes. A look of pure hopefulness and truth.
As a mother, she couldn't help her heart swell for the young girl.
Emily recalled with a smile how Mrs.Weasley had fussed over how pale she was from fright and gave a stern look to her husband before scurrying off to get more tea.
Now, with a warm tea in hand, Emily began to tell her story and recalled the events that had occurred just before arriving at Grimmauld Place.
The Order did not interrupt her in her story. Well, except for Tonks who was curious to know what a Timelord really was and the purpose of a Tardis. The Doctor did his best and explaining quickly, and finished with, "it's timey-whimey stuff."
Tonks still didn't seem to quite process all that he had said, but Emily continued with her story anyway.
Her eyes kept shifting to Lupin, who was listening intently and nodding once every few moments, encouraging her to continue. When she finished, he remained silent for a few minutes and looked down at the table in deep thought.
They sat there in the dark dinning hall with nothing but the noise of the sipping of tea filling the air as they processed all that they had heard.
"It sounds like, from what you described." Lupin began, " That the creature could very well be a Lethifold."
"A Lethifold?" The Doctor asked, feeling the strange name upon his tongue.
Lupin nodded, "Yes, it's a very old creature."
"Wasn't there a huge breakout of them in the muggle world in the 10th centaury?" Tonks asked.
Lupin looked at her in surprise, "Yes, but now they are almost extinct. How'd you know about that? The information on them is sparse."
Tonks shrugged and mumbled something about how she doesn't sit around like a muggle all day.
Lupin chose to pretend like he hadn't heard and continued, " They're rumored to be derived from the Dementor family. That is why you felt immense dread and fear when it was near."
"So does it want your soul?" Emily asked.
"No, the Lethifold's aren't exactly satisfied with just part of yourself. It devours you, body and soul and uses your energy to regenerate another copy of itself."
"It becomes fixated on it's target and waits patiently to attack. It usually likes to attack mostly when it's target is sleeping." Tonks adds.
"Oh I heard about those!" Arthur Weasley exclaimed, " I heard that it's rumored that they're the cause of that feeling you get as if someone is watching you."
"It's mostly rumor, Arthur, because most of their victims are unaware and don't usually live."
"I'll count myself lucky then." Emily said with a nervous laugh.
Everyone nods grimly and the room is filled with a silence once again. The tea in Emily's hands had grown cold and she no longer found the drink enjoyable.
"Alrighty then," The Doctor finally spoke up, "How are we to destroy it? What's its weakness?"
"A simple Patronus would work." Lupin said, but his face was grim.
"I'm sensing a 'but' here." The Doctor said.
"The only problem is... Well..."
"We don't have magic." Emily said as realization hit, "No magic, no defense."
"Exactly."
"Oh dear." Mrs. Weasley said as she came back into the room.
"Didn't you say that the... what are they called? Muggles?" The Doctor asked turning to Emily.
"Yes, non-magical people."
"Right!" He said, seeming proud for remembering, "Didn't they experience a breakout of these creatures already?" The Doctor asked, "How was it taken care of back then?"
"The Ministry of Magic took care of it, but it took far too long and there were many casualties." Tonks said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"So then what are our options?" Emily asked.
"If we don't figure out a way for you to somehow use magic, I'm afraid you can't return to your world."
"Why not?" Panic rose within Emily, a feeling she was becoming well too acquainted with.
"The Lethifold never moves its target from it's prey until it has devoured them. If you return, you won't be able to outrun it. And I'm afraid, after that, it will just continue to multiply without a force to stop it."
"There has to be another way." Mrs.Weasley said, "There always is, we just need to keep looking."
"There's not a lot of information about them. It's almost as if there is something about them that the ministry wants to keep from the public."
Everyone is once again emerged into their own thoughts as Mrs. Weasley finally moves from the doorway and takes a seat beside her husband. They share a worried glance with each other before staring blankly at the table. Lupin has his face scrunched up in thought and in the Doctor's eyes it is clear that he was just as occupied as the ex professor.
Emily's eyes landed on Tonks and her eyes widened.
Tonk's hair was slowly changing from bubblegum pink to dark blue, a very gradual change, but still noticeable. Her hair was also slowly changing length so that it covered more of her face and was down to her shoulders. She was nervously biting her lip and Emily couldn't help but sense as if she was hiding something.
Tonk's eyes met Emily's.
Tonk's tried to look away, but felt guilty as each second passed.
Finally, she sighed and spoke softly, "The Ministry is trying to hide something."
All eyes turned to her.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"There's a secret connected to that break out, something that if it got out..." She trailed off, bitting her lip once again, "Only a select few of Hufflepuffs were ever told, and we've guarded it ever since."
Lupin reached across the table and took her hand, which was fiddling nervously, into his and said with a small smile, "Haven't we shared and kept enough secrets in this room?"
Tonks smiled and looked down at her hand in his, "I suppose all secrets are meant to be shared at some point."
Suddenly her face became serious, and she took a deep breath before beginning, " The founder of my house, Helga Hufflepuff, was known for her acceptance of all into her house. She didn't care if you were Pureblood or Muggle-born. She accepted you just the same. This caring attitude and acceptance did not help her from falling in love with a muggle, and it wasn't long until they were secretly meeting each other."
"Only the two knew of their relationship, and that was for the best. The Ministry doesn't like Muggles finding out about the Wizarding World. As mentioned, the breakouts of the Lethifolds became out of control and the muggles were left defenseless. Helga feared for her lover, so she made something that the muggles could use to destroy the creatures. It is described as an instrument or tool. Details have been lost during the many years, but one fact always remains the same. It was made with the Dilato stone."
An awed silence overcame the table; Emily and the Doctor shared a look of confusion.
"What does it do?"
"It is said it is able to amplify magic, making it a very powerful stone."
"But what use would it be to a muggle?" Arthur asked.
"When this tool was used it was able to amplify whatever the strongest emotion was."
"Like a Patronus!"
Tonks nodded, "Helga was the first Witch, and Wizard for that matter, to ever make something that could allow muggles to make the most powerful magic of all."
"Love." Mrs. Weasley mused.
"So it worked?" The Doctor asked.
"We don't know," Tonks said with a shrug, "The Ministry confiscated it before Helga could give it to her lover and locked it away deep where no one has seen it since."
"What happened to Helga's lover?" Emily asked.
Tonks frowned, "The ministry took him away and drove him insane with the song of the Fwooper bird. They claimed he was a danger to the Wizarding World. By the time he was released, he didn't even remember his name."
"How horrible!" Mrs. Weasley whispered.
"For whatever reason, the Ministry kept Helga's secret and not much is talked about during that time or the creatures and blamed it on lost records." Tonks finished.
Emily tried to process every piece of information that Tonks had shared; she couldn't believe how heartbreaking it must have been for poor Helga. She couldn't imagine how much anger she must have felt toward the ministry.
Emily shook her head to clear her thoughts and had to remind herself of the purpose of the story to pull herself away from the woman's tragic long-kept secret.
"So we need to search the ministry to find whatever Helga made?" She asked.
"It won't be as easy as walking in for a wand at Olivanders." Arthur said, "The Ministry has already been taken over by the Dark Lord and it's swarming with Death Eaters."
"Not to mention what you seek is guarded by an ancient guardian." Tonks added.
"You've faced worse odds right?" Emily asked the Doctor with a nervous smile.
"Oh this is a walk in the park compared to the other things I've had to face!" He said with enthusiasm.
"Then it's settled," Emily said, trying to hide the worry, "We're sneaking into the Ministry."
"You can't go alone without magic! You'll get killed!" Mrs. Weasley's eyes were wide, "We'll accompany you."
Everyone around them nodded, a grim determination worn on their expression. Emily's heart warmed at their readiness to help her, even though she was still a stranger.
"No, you all have a greater course ahead of you." Emily said, a strength filling her voice. If the books were right, she didn't want to change anything. Time and order is a fragile thing that should not be messed with.
The lights dimmed throughout the house and a heaviness filled the air. Emily thought she was the only one who noticed, but as she glance at the ones gathered around her, she knew they all were thinking the same thing.
It is here.