Chapter 29: Horcrux

Cobra was at the Malfoy house, again attempting to keep Bellatrix away from him, rolling his eye at her repeatedly, especially because her thoughts surrounded on her ability to 'break' him, as if he was a wild horse.

"Erik," Voldemort started, only to be cut off by Cobra's low growl, "Sorry, Cobra, Voldemort corrected. You see, I feel as though I have a fairly firm understanding of each of the Fairy Tail members' abilities, except Lucy Heartfilia."

Cobra almost imperceptibly stiffened, but Voldemort was able to catch it, before continuing, "Would you be able to tell me more about this 'Celestial' magic? You mentioned before that one of the members of your former guild used the same type, so you must have a pretty good idea about it."

"No," Cobra said.

"Excuse me," Lucius said, "You can't just say NO to him like that."

"It's alright, Lucius," Voldemort said, his eyes narrowing at Cobra, demanding an explanation.

"Celestial magic is even more rare and more secretive than Dragon Slayer magic," Cobra said, "And this time, there is actually someone that enforces that secrecy, it's not simply the magic itself that keeps the magic rare."

"Someone?" Voldemort asked, "How powerful is this person?"

"No one really knows, except maybe Lucy," Cobra shrugged, "Rumor has it that she's the only one since the very first Celestial mage to actually meet him face to face."

"Who is he?" Voldemort pressed for more.

"Can't say," Cobra said.

"Well you're not the one who practices this magic, so wouldn't it be okay to say?" Voldemort was beginning to get frustrated.

"I still can't, you don't pick a fight with Celestial magic," Cobra said, "It's not just him that can come after you, any or all of the celestial spirits can come after you, and there's a spirit for every constellation in the sky. If you want to find out more about her, you'll have to do it through observation."

"Or perhaps torture, since you seem so fond of that," Voldemort said.

"You could try, but it wouldn't work," Cobra said, "Good or bad mage, Celestial Mages are bound by their word. If they make a promise, whether it's for silence or to do something, they keep it. Lucy's even more loyal to her promises than Angel was from my interactions, and that's saying something, because Angel never broke a promise in the 10 or more years that I knew her. Brain used to torture her from information on Celestial Magic, and she never once said anything."

"Well, I guess Draco's going to need to do more reconnaissance, it's a good thing that he's already warmed up to Lucy," Voldemort said, nodding to Lucius, "Your son is a smart one."

Lucius felt pride fill him, but Cobra's ears were focused on Narcissa. Instead of pride that her son had impressed Voldemort, she just felt happy that her son was free from Voldemort's wrath for the time being. If he kept doing this, he would be safe.

'Well there's something we can use,' Cobra said, keeping his eyes off the blonde woman, so as not to reveal where his thoughts were centered.

"Are there more of them?" Voldemort asked, interrupting Cobra's musings.

"More of them?" Cobra asked.

"More people in their school or guild," Voldemort elaborated.

"Of course," Cobra didn't even hesitate, "And they're also good friends with several of the strongest guilds in our country."

"Who are the strongest guilds, and which of them are Fairy Tail friends with?" he asked.

"Well, Fairy Tail is the strongest by most people's opinions. After that, people usually rank Sabertooth, and they're pretty good friends with some of the Fairy Tail members. Then there's Lamia Scale, and they're friends with them. Next is Mermaid Heel, and they're friends with Fairy Tail. After that is Blue Pegasus, and they're also friends with Fairy Tail. Finally, is Quatro Cerberus, and they're also friends with Fairy Tail," Cobra said. Until Cobra had answered the question, even he hadn't realized how many allies Fairy Tail truly had.

"Would they come here if Fairy Tail asked?" Voldemort asked.

"The rest of Fairy Tail probably would," Cobra said, "And I'd guess that some of the members of the other guilds might too. It'd just depend, I don't really know any of them, but they have teamed up before, and the government is involved, which means that they could call in reinforcements if they wanted."

Voldemort thought about this. There were more of them that could come if things got really bad. He needed to play his cards right if he wanted things to work out. He had no idea what to expect from the other groups that Cobra had mentioned, and he had mentioned quite a few.

However, Cobra had also said that most people consider Fairy Tail to be the strongest. That was both a good and a bad thing. If they were the strongest, then that meant that they were up against the strongest mages in their country. However, it also meant that if they did send for reinforcements, they probably wouldn't be as strong as Fairy Tail.

Cobra wanted to scoff, he was already thinking that if they called in reinforcements, they wouldn't be as strong as Fairy Tail, which means that they'd be easy to take out. How this man could be so cocky in the face of something basically unknown with only the word of a convicted criminal and a teenage boy was beyond him.

"Cobra, there's another thing I wanted to ask," Voldemort said. When Cobra simply lifted his eyebrow, he continued, "When Lucius met some of the Fairy Tail members, he felt a pressure of your magical energy from most of them. However, he didn't feel anything from Makarov or Laxus, even though you say they're the most powerful, why would that be?"

"Well, how did Lucius feel when he was surrounded by all of that raw magical energy?" Cobra asked dryly.

Voldemort turned his head to Lucius, who cleared his throat, "I don't know, dizzy, I suppose."

"Well, there's your answer," Cobra said, shrugging, uninterested.

"Please elaborate," Voldemort said.

Cobra sighed before answering, "Mages with exceptional amounts of magical energy are required to suppress their magical pressure. It's for the safety of the general public. Large amounts of magical energy around people who don't regularly practice magic or people who have low magical energy can cause dizziness or fainting. Powerful mages, and some less powerful mages, also do it so that their energies don't know the extent of their power. Like I've said before, pure magical energy isn't always indicative of their ability to fight, but it can help someone figure it out."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes, "You know, sometimes you say things that sound much smarter than you give off."

Cobra raised his eyebrow, "I just explained the law to you, besides, I suppress my magic energy sometimes in battles, especially from people who are around the same power level as me or people who are more powerful. Everyone in my guild did, it was one of the first things Brain taught us."

Voldemort relaxed back in his seat, "That makes sense, I suppose..."

Cobra realized he needed to be a bit more careful. He was still acting like an animal, making snarky comments, growling at others, letting off little shots of poison at anyone that annoyed him or got too close, but it was more difficult for him to just, shut off his brain, especially when the information was something he was supposed to pass along.

~.~.~

When Lucius went to drop off Cobra with Fairy Tail, Mavis was there to meet him, smiling. When he approached she said, "Hello, I'm afraid that I can't physically take him from you, but I can lead you to the others so one of them can take him off your hands."

"Why can't any of the others come here?" Lucius questioned.

"They're in an especially long training session," Mavis giggled, "Makarov is going extra hard on them today. He claims they've been slacking."

When they arrived at the Quidditch pitch, which they were using as training grounds again, Lucius's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Makarov standing on the field, standing taller than the Quidditch hoops.

"Wait, don't walk any fur-" Mavis was interrupted as Lucius walked into Freed's rune barrier. "Sorry Lucius, I should have warned you earlier. Freed made the barriers a little bit farther out when they found out what they would be doing today."

Lucius saw that all of the Fairy Tail mages were standing in front of the giant man, who was simply standing there, staring down at them. They all looked absolutely exhausted, but none of them had stopped yet, even the small blue haired girl. Makarov himself looked to be covered in wounds, but he still stood there, unmoving.

"Come on brats!" Makarov yelled, "Is that all you have? Give it your all!"

Lucius's eyes widened as he saw several attacks flying towards the old man some of them being blocked and some of them he just took without complaint.

"What exactly ARE they doing?" Lucius asked Mavis. He looked at Cobra to see him totally unsurprised.

"Makarov is having them practice their physical and magical endurance by having them attack him one after the other without break," Mavis said, smiling, "Don't worry too much, they'll all be fine. When they're done, Wendy will probably heal him and they'll be fine. They'll just be magically tired. By practicing this, they'll be able to continue using their magic for battles for long periods of time. Granted, they'll have the added challenge of defending themselves and possible injury during battle, but this is one of the best ways to build magical and physical endurance, especially since the first one to drop has to play Makarov's punishment game."

"Punishment game?" Lucius quirked an eyebrow.

"You don't need to know about that," Mavis said, a mischievous and humorous light in her eyes, "other than that It's a very strong motivator."

While he was still curious, he could tell he wasn't going to get anything further on that point, and instead asked, "How long have they been out here?"

"Hm," Mavis said, "I'd say about 6 hours, I think. They skipped their study halls and other training for this, since Makarov decided to call it a 'special training session'".

Mavis giggled while they continued watching, before she called out to Makarov, "Lucius and Cobra have arrived."

Everyone stopped as they turned to look at the two, panting hard. Makarov shifted his eyes to them, "Lucy, can you have one of your spirits take him from Lucius."

"Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Lucy said, calling Virgo to her side. The pink haired maid immediately walked to Lucius and Cobra, grabbing the chains and taking him over to the stands. Once their, she wrapped several new chains around him, securing him to the seat before returning to Lucius and Mavis.

"The poison slayer has been detained," she said, walking back to Lucy, "Can I help with anything further Princess?"

"No, that's it, thank you Virgo," Lucy smiled.

"No punishment then?" Virgo asked monotonously.

"Again, Virgo, no punishment, how many times do I have to tell you?" Lucy said fondly, rolling her eyes.

"At least one more time, Princess," Virgo said, bowing and disappearing again.

Lucius was in awe, he had heard of her ability, but a part of him still didn't believe it was real. He was distracted as they continued their training by Mavis who told him that since his job was finished he was free to go.

"Would you mind if I stayed to watch?" Lucius said, "Draco had told me some about their abilities, but I was having a hard time believing it. This is absolutely incredible."

"I'm sure they won't mind," Mavis smiled, "Many people come to watch their practices, including your son. Freed's runes block any magic from getting out and protect anyone outside the barrier, while also keeping anyone outside from getting in."

"Hmm, that's an interesting charm," Lucius said, "Are the runes similar to the Ancient Runes used here?"

"I suppose in theory," Mavis said, "However the runes that Levy and Freed use are unique to where we come from, so they are different from the ones here."

"That's a shame," Lucius sighed, "I have a bit of a fascination with Ancient Runes. It was one of my favorite subjects in school."

"Well, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to learn how to use them anyways," Mavis said, "It requires a different kind of magic from the one you possess. Even if you were to learn how to read it, it wouldn't do much."

Lucius was slightly upset. It was going to be difficult to combat their abilities when they knew so little about it, and on top of that, when they couldn't even learn much about it. Even if they did learn about it though, that wouldn't help them defeat it, and they couldn't learn the magic for themselves.

~.~.~

"Hello, my children," Makarov said lightheartedly that night, "I trust you all are feeling spirited, because we have some important things to discuss tonight."

The exhausted mages glared half-heartedly at the jovial old man. He had put them through the ringer at training today. Cobra just smirked at them all, he had been spared from the tournament and was feeling refreshed after being given some cleaning supplies to gulp down once they had made it to the Fairy Tail headquarters. The Golden Trio looked on with sympathy, wincing at the exhaustion they saw present in the mages. They had watched part of the training earlier that day and honestly couldn't believe everything that they had seen. Lahar and Doranbolt chuckled, but otherwise stayed silent.

Makarov laughed for a little, but then sobered into seriousness, causing everyone present to follow his lead, "Today, we are going to talk about something called a Horcrux. We came about this information thanks to Cobra."

He left out a part of the truth, his eyes quickly flashing to Bickslow, who had been the first of the Fairy Tail mages to realize about the Horcruxes, although he didn't know what it was at the time.

. FLASHBACK .

After their first training session at Hogwarts, Bickslow had seen something in Harry's soul, something he had never seen before, something he had never even imagined before. After talking to Master and Mavis about it, they brought him to Dumbledore.

"What is this about?" The old man said, his eyes looking seriously at Bickslow.

"You know about my ability to see souls, right?" Bickslow asked him. When he received a nod of confirmation, Bickslow took in a deep breath, "Harry... well... he has more than just his soul..."

Dumbledore gasped slightly, his eyes widening, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's an extra piece of a soul attached to his," Bickslow explained, his babies for once being silent, knowing how serious the matter is, "It's not dangerous to Harry, I don't think, but whoever's soul that is..."

He trailed off, trying to come up with a way to explain, "I've never even imagined a soul being split in any way, even if just a piece of it chipped off. It's extremely dangerous to the person whose soul it is. I can't even think about what kind of act would split someone's soul like that. Without even a tiny piece of their soul, they'll be barely human. When they die, they'll never be able to truly move on, they'll be tied to this world until their soul is either reunited or destroyed."

"It is worse than I had feared," Dumbledore said, reaching into his desk and pulling out a destroyed notebook. Strangely, there was blood surrounding the hole through the center of the book. "Tell me, what do you observe about this."

As soon as he had pulled out the book, Bickslow's nose had scrunched up and he and his babies had recoiled away from the thing, "That book reeks of a destroyed soul, but... How? I thought there was no ability in this world similar to mine that can transfer souls into inanimate objects. That book doesn't even have a face..."

"There is no magic quite like yours in this world that can transfer the souls of the dead into inanimate objects, no, however, there is a way, a very dark and evil way, in which someone can split their soul in order to tie themselves to this world," Dumbledore said. "You are aware that a soul, or rather a piece of a soul resided in this book, until it was destroyed by Harry in his second year. However, he did not know or understand exactly what he had done."

"That... goes against the very laws of nature," Bickslow said, "Even dark mages in my world wouldn't play with something like that. I don't think even Zeref would."

"That is the difference between Zeref and Voldemort. It would seem the Zeref is at least somewhat aware of the effects magic has on nature and on the soul, and would thus not cross any magical boundaries," he said, "Voldemort believes that he has nothing to lose, as he is protected and linked to forever walk this earth if his sould remains tied here."

"Voldemort... split his soul to remain on this Earth, unable to die," Bickslow said slowly, coming to realize what was happening, "He won't truly die until all of the pieces of his soul are destroyed, and one of those pieces... resides in Harry."

"Yes, and on top of this, we currently have no idea how many pieces he's split his soul into," Dumbledore said, "We also don't know where he is keeping them, both what objects they're in and where those objects are. For this reason, I am going to ask that you keep this information to yourself."

Bickslow couldn't resist asking why, he believed that Harry deserved to know the truth.

"I don't want Harry to be questioning himself and trying to hurt himself to destroy it," Dumbledore said, "Please at least wait until we have more information on Voldemort's Horcruxes, which is what these broken pieces of soul are called. Please wait until we know more, and have a better idea of how to rid Harry of Voldemort's soul."

"For what it's worth, I find myself agreeing with Albus on this matter," Makarov said seriously, "You know that I would never ask you to keep a secret from one of your comrades unless it was extremely important and for their protection."

Bickslow thought it over. Harry was certainly young and in the time of his life when he would most likely be questioning whether he is good or bad, especially considering the danger that is constantly following him. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Harry might realistically hurt himself to get rid of the thing before Voldemort could do more damage.

"Very well, I won't say anything until you guys think it's okay," Bickslow said, "But... for the rest of the Horcruxes, once we figure out where they are, I want to bbe involved, and Harry deserves to be involved as well."

"Why?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"If I can see the Horcrux before you destroy it, I might be able to figure out a way to remove it, my specialty is souls after all," Bickslow said, "As for Harry, I want him to be able to be involved. He's probably feeling pretty useless. It'll help convince him not to do anything to himself, too, when we eventually tell him where one of the Horcruxes lies."

"That makes sense," Dumbledore said, "Very well."

. END OF FLASHBACK .

When Hermione heard the word 'Horcrux', she was intrigued. She had briefly come across the word while reading in the library, but there was terribly littler information on it, "Horcrux, that's dark magic from this world, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Mavis said seriously. "It involves splitting one's soul into parts and placing them into objects by murdering another human being. It's very serious, and it seems that Voldemort has created a total of seven Horcruxes, which ties his soul to this world until all six of the Horcruxes, all six pieces of his soul are destroyed."

"How did you find this out?" Harry asked, "And how do we find and destroy them?"

"Well," Makarov explained, "That is thanks to Cobra."

. FLASHBACK .

It was after Cobra's first meeting with Voldemort. He had thought he hadn't found anything of particular interest in the man's soul, until he small the small, rotting door in the corner. He had told Makarov that he needed to speak to the Headmaster about something, and the old man had obliged, as the next day, he had a meeting with him.

"Makarov said you had something to discuss with me," Dumbledore said, "I hope you don't mind the two of them joining in."

"Nah, you probably would've told them anyways, and I think they already know a bit about what I'm going to tell you," Cobra said. He explained the structure of Voldemort's soul down to the tiniest detail. Dumbledore, having known Tom since he was a boy, would be able to find any symbolism and significance in any detail of his soul. He finished his description with the old rotting door in the corner, "I almost missed it, if I'm honest, but even if I had, I probably would have found it the next time I went in. Sometimes I miss things the first time around."

"Go on," Dumbledore said, intrigued, and wondering if this could perhaps be the break they needed.

Cobra smirked, "Oh it is. Yea, the little door in the corner held the secrets of his Horcruxes. I know what and where they are, but I'm afraid I can't answer how to destroy them. I'm sure you know of some methods, but I'm still unfamiliar with the magic of this world, and I'm sure that not everyone in this world is familiar with Horcruxes anyways."

"Yes, it seems that destroying them will be the hard part, although Bickslow has already asked to look at the Horcruxes when we find them, before we destroy them," Dumbledore said.

"He noticed Harry's didn't he?" Cobra asked, "I had my suspicions that Bickslow would be able to tell, but I wasn't sure. Like I said, we're unfamiliar with the magic in this world and how our magic affects it, or how it affects our magic."

"I'm going to request of you the same thing I requested of Bickslow," Dumbledore said seriously, "Please don't tell Harry of this just yet. I don't want to frighten him."

"Honestly, I could care less what you do with the information or how much you wanna tell," Cobra said, "I'm just playing my part so I can get my sentence reduced and so that I can have some fun."

"I see," Dumbledore said, "Although that is slightly disappointing, at least I can trust your silence on this matter, correct?"

Cobra shrugged, "Yea, yea, whatever."

"After Bickslow promised not to tell, he asked us to allow himself and Harry to be involved in the hunting of the Horcruxes," Dumbledore explained, "And we agreed. Both requests made sense, and since then, I believe I want to include everyone in your little group."

"Now that we know their locations, we can explain the situation to everyone else," Makarov said, "However, until further notice, we plan on telling them that there are only six Horcruxes. We've already discussed this with Bickslow and he is fine with it. There are enough of us that should something happen, most likely at least one of us will be able to tell the others the remaining locations."

"So, Cobra," Dumbledore said, placing his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together, "Where are the Horcruxes, and how do we destroy them."

. END OF FLASHBACK .

"So, there are six Horcruxes out there that we need to destroy?" Harry asked, mouth slightly agape.

"Actuall, there are only five now," Makarov said, pulling out the diary, "You already destroyed one in your second year."

"So, that was a Horcrux, then?" Harry said, "I had no idea I was actually killing a part of Voldemort..."

"Yes, well, I suggest you don't underestimate your power now that you know this," Makarov said, looking at the Golden Trio, "I know that watching us, you may feel as though you don't measure up or you don't compare, but each of you brings something to this mission that cannot be replaced. Also keep in mind that we practice a very different type of magic from you, and we also have been training harder and for longer than you. Don't be discouraged, we won't be able to win this war without the three of you."

The three nodded, not expecting him to tell them that. Truth be told, they had been feeling somewhat useless, but here there was, this powerful mage, telling them the complete opposite.

Mavis, sensing their hesitance, spoke up, "You have already done so much at such a young age, without the help that many of the mages here had growing up. You have already destroyed one of the Horcruxes, you kept the Sorcerer's Stone from falling into Voldemort's hands and solidifying his immortality, you saved a man from dying of an unjust execution. That was before we came along, and I have no doubt you three would have helped to stop Voldemort if we had not come along, so simply think of us as a little bit of extra help. You're also helping your peers to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts properly, and that is something that should not be undermined either. "

Again, the three were touched, not expecting this, but she brought up points that they couldn't really deny. They were all things that they had done, and mostly without help, or at least very little help. It was something they had done together.

"Just know that you're not alone anymore," Makarov smiled, "We're here for you, not to replace you, but to support you."

The three finally smiled, nodding and agreeing with him, feeling much better.

"Now then, Cobra, why don't you tell us about each of the Horcruxes," Makarov smiled.

Cobra grunted, "Okay so the first one is some ring that belonged to some guy named Marvolo Gaunt, and it's hidden in the Gaunt Shack. The second one is Salazar Slytherin's locket, and that one is in the Crystal Cave. The third one is Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, and that's in the Lestrange Family Vault in some bank named Gringotts. The fourth is Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, which is in the room of lost things in the Room of Requirement. The fifth one is Nagini, who you all know is Voldemort's snake."

"We've decided to retrieve them in the following order. First, we are going to get the ring, Hermione, Bickslow, and Levy will retrieve this one. Second, the locket, which Harry, Bickslow, and Juvia will retrieve. This is where it gets tricky. We're not sure how Voldemort keeps track of them, those two are the easiest to retrieve, other than the diadem. However, we are going to put the other two with the diadem in the Room of Requirement. At this time, the Death Eaters have no way into Hogwarts, meaning that Hogwarts is the safest place to keep them for the time being. Retrieving the cup and Nagini will be the most difficult by far. We're most likely going to use Bickslow, Lucy, and Ron to retrieve the cup, and then Cobra is going to retrieve Nagini," Makarov explained.

"How did you choose who goes?" Natsu pouted in the corner.

"Because of the nature of the place that is protecting the Horcruxes. Bickslow is going, because he can see souls, and will be able to help find it quickly. One of the members of the Earth wizards is going, because this is their world and they deserve to be involved. Dumbledore will also be accompanying everyone," Mavis said.

"We also want to wait to destroy them, because there is a chance that Voldemort will know when one of them is destroyed. We don't want him being tipped off to our activities in any way, which means that we must wait. Also, Bickslow wishes to study the Horcruxes to gain a better understanding of them," Makarov said seriously.

"Does everyone understand what's going to happen?" Makarov asked. When everyone nodded, he spoke again, "Good, you're dismissed for the night. Hermione, Bickslow, and Levy, please come here for a moment. We're planning on sending you tomorrow to retrieve the first Horcrux."

"So, we're not exactly sure what's going to come up," Makarov said, "Voldemort managed to erase from his mind the exact spells he used as a countermeasure on the off-chance someone was able to use legilimancy on him in order to figure out the Horcruxes whereabouts. What we do know is that it is some kind of intellectual test, which is why we chose the two of you, Levy, Hermione."

The two girls nodded, understanding, and Makarov continued, "I don't think there will be much physical danger, but if there is, I'm sure you three can handle yourselves. Tomorrow, we're going to keep Draco and Lucius occupied, because tomorrow is going to be Cobra's physical exercise given by the Magic Council. This idea that convicts are entitled to physical and magical exercise is going to be foreign to them, and they're going to be curious about how we manage to do it. That way, they won't notice your absence. You three will leave in the afternoon through the floo with Dumbledore, and you will go to Grimmauld place. There, you will meet with a man named Remus Lupin. Hermione, I believe you already know him. Once you meet with him, he and Dumbledore will do something called Apparation to take you to the shack. When you get there, you will retrieve the Horcrux and bring it back here in this box."

He took out a fairly simple box, which appeared to be some kind of jewelry box. It was made of wood, and it didn't have any carvings or defining markers. He said, "Horcruxes can have negative effects on people that touch them for long periods of time, so keeping it in here will be safest. It's reinforced with runes to make it appear unimposing, as well as protection spells that will keep the Horcrux's magic in and others' magic out."

Hermione and Levy were both fascinated with the box and wanted to take a closer look. He assured them that they would be able to in a moment when they had finished. Finally, Makarov asked, "Do you guys understand? Do you think you'll be able to do this? You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'm sure we can do it," Levy said, smiling and nodding her head enthusiastically.

"You already know I'm down," Bickslow said, his babies echoing his words.

"I think that we can do this, thank you for allowing me to help," Hermione said, still a little shocked by the events of the night.

"Okay, good, then we're done for tonight, I'll see you all here after your classes," Makarov said.

Hermione and Levy went over to talk with Gajeel, who had simply been sitting and snacking in the corner. Hermione turned to the two and asked, "How do you guys just... accept it so easily? Is there a similar type of magic in your world?"

"No, not at all, it goes against everything magic is supposed to be," Levy said, "But, we've faced... a lot of things in the past. I guess things just stop surprising you."

"For me, it's that worrying about it and being surprised or shocked doesn't do anything about it," Gajeel said, "I may not have believed it a week ago, but it doesn't stop it from being something that I just have to deal with now."

"I suppose that's true. We're seeing the same thing with the government's propaganda now. Just because someone refuses to believe something doesn't make it untrue, and it doesn't mean it'll go away," Hermione said. "I guess I should just focus on what's coming ahead, right?"

"Gihi, that's the spirit," Gajeel grinned.

"Don't worry too much," Lily said, "I know that you might be scared, but Levy and Bickslow are both competent mages. You already know and trust Levy, and although you may not know Bickslow, I can tell you that he's a good guy. He can be off-putting sometimes, but at the end of the day, he's a great guy and a great mage, and if you're dealing with souls, he's the best guy to have at your side."

In another part of the room, Lucy was again talking with Cobra and Laxus. Lucy turned to Cobra, "So how have things been going with Voldemort?"

"They're going pretty well, I give him the information he wants without revealing anything too important, but he seems to think that everything is important," Cobra rolled his eye, "He seems particularly interested in your magic, so Draco might be paying even more attention to you than he already is."

"It's to be expected. My magic is something that must be completely incomprehensible to the people here, beyond understanding," Lucy said, "I bet he didn't like it when you said you couldn't say anything."

"Even if I wasn't really on your side, I wouldn't risk the wrath of the Celestial Spirit King," Cobra said, as if it was obvious.

"Yea, Stache Face can get pretty scary when he's angry," Lucy laughed.

Laxus and Cobra's jaws dropped. Noticing their reaction, she looked at them both with a questioning expression. When they didn't say anything, she snapped at them, "What?!"

"You just called THE Celestial Spirit King 'Stache Face'," Laxus said incredulously.

Cobra continued, "Even Angel was terrified of the dude and she never even MET him."

"Well, he has this huge mustache, it's a completely fitting nickname, besides, he never complained about it," Lucy shrugged.

Laxus almost choked when he heard that, "You've called him that to his face?"

"Well, yea, I wouldn't call someone a nickname behind their back and not say it to their face, that's rude," Lucy said, giggling slightly at their reaction. "Listen guys, Stache Face likes anyone that treats their spirits right, and I do, so he likes me. He even calls me old friend, since he knows he can count on me if he ever needs anything."

"That's... almost unheard of," Cobra said, "Actually, I think it might be completely unheard of."

Lucy just shrugged, changing the subject and not worrying about it. Her initial meeting with him had happened so long ago that it was old news to her by now.

~.~.~

Lucy and Levy were sitting with the Slytherins at lunch again, something that still shocked everyone immensely, although they had stopped commenting with it. Today, they had dragged a hesistant Hermione with them, who was sitting between Gajeel and Rogue. She was talking quietly with the Fairy Tail members when Draco appeared, a sneer on his face, however, he didn't say anything offensive, both trying to get on Lucy's good side and scared of the two dragon slayers' wrath.

"Are you guys actually excited about that?" Hermione hissed, "It could be dangerous! You shouldn't be excited!"

"Gihi, calm down Shorty," Gajeel grinned, "It'll be fine, between Freed's runes and us, he won't really stand a chance of escape or anything."

"Yea," Rogue said, smiling down at the tiny brunette he had begun to warm up to recently, "We'll be fine. He won't risk trying to break out, not with so many of us there to catch him."

"What are you guys talking about?" Draco asked, sitting next to Lucy, Blaise sitting on her other side.

"Today's Cobra's physical and magical activity day," Lucy said, "And the guys are excited, because we'll be helping out."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, confused.

Mira answered him, "All prisoners, no matter their crimes or sentences, are entitled to at least two hours of physical and magical exercise a month."

"Really?" Draco said. Prisoners in Azkaban can barely leave their cells for the bathroom.

"Yes, and well behaving or relatively minor criminals have more," Levy said, smiling, "It's part of the prisoner protection laws. It's for their overall health and stability."

"Why?" Draco asked, "I mean, why bother? They'll always be criminals."

Lucy looked slightly disgusted, "Well, the primary purpose of prison is rehabilitation, and they'll never be rehabilitated or be able to become functioning and productive members of society if they're treated terribly in prison. That will just reinforce any anti-government sentiments they already have."

"We've heard about the quality of the prisons here," Bickslow said, scrunching up his nose, "That's just... wrong."

"But, let's not talk about that now," Lucy said, "It's a bit heavy for lunchtime conversation. Anyways, Hermione was just saying that they shouldn't be as excited as they are."

"Well, weren't you pretty scared when he first came here? You all seem pretty scared or angry," Blaise said.

"Yea, but we weren't expecting that, and it wasn't a secure place, and we didn't know why he was here," Gajeel said, "Now, it's not as scary. He really won't try anything with everyone present to help and with Freed's runes."

"So, you'll all be helping?" Draco asked.

"No, some of us will, but not all of us," Lucy said, smiling, "But I think the main people that will be working with him are Jellal, Professor Clive, and Professor Dreyar."

"Why Jellal and not one of the other professors?" Blaise asked.

"Well... let's just say that Jellal is used to dealing with criminals," Levy said, not elaborating.

The Slytherins thought it was strange, but didn't bother to try to get more out of them. It wouldn't have worked anyways. When they didn't want something coming out, it wouldn't.

"Well, would you mind if I came to watch?" Draco asked, "I'm kinda curious about him, I guess."

Lucy smiled, "That shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to watch it. I'm gonna go to the library," Hermione huffed.

Levy laughed, "I'll come with you, come on Bickslow, you come to."

"Why me?" Bickslow laughed, letting his tongue fall out of his mouth, "I was looking forward to this, I wanted to have some fun."

"Fun! Fun!" his babies echoed his words.

"Because you're failing one of your classes, and Hermione and I agreed to help you, now come on," Levy rolled her eyes.

Bickslow followed along behind the two girls looking like a kicked puppy, which caused Gajeel to snicker.

"Gajeel, don't laugh," Pantherlily scolded, "You know if it was you, you'd react in the same way."

Gajeel looked away and huffed, grumbling, but not denying it.

"Why do you just... follow them?" Blaise asked, looking on at the little blue haired mage that was dragging Bickslow along, something Mira didn't miss, a light coming to her eyes.

"Because it's not worth the trouble to fight them on it," Rogue said, shrugging, "They can be scary when they want to be."

"That's right, we can be," Lucy smirked lightly pushing Rogue from across the table.

"You really don't want to cross us," Mira smiled sweetly.

The Slytherins still didn't entirely get it, but figured questioning them wouldn't reveal the answer anyways.

~.~.~

Lucius was curious as to why Lahar and Doranbolt had told him to bring Cobra to the Quidditch Pitch where Fairy Tail usually trained, but he wasn't going to complain about the opportunity to watch them train again. When he got there, though, no one was training, instead standing around talking. He noticed his son talking with the girl, Lucy, and with Laxus.

"Ah, Lucius," Makarov smiled, "Thank you for bringing him here. It's important he gets his exercise; the Magic Council wouldn't be very happy with us if we neglected his health."

"Exercise?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow. Makarov explained the purpose, and Lucius still didn't entirely understand the reasoning behind it, but asked if he could stay to watch, which they, of course, agreed to."

He watched as Gildarts, who he had yet to meet, Laxus, and Jellal, who also had yet to meet, made their way to the pitch, the rest of the school appearing to fight over a place in line, specifically, Gray, Gajeel, Natsu, and Sting. The others seemed to be just watching and willing to wait their turn. Wait their turn for what, he wasn't entirely sure.

Once Cobra was within the barrier, they removed his handcuffs and he grinned, saying, "So, what's today's training consist of?"

"We're gonna be sparring, primarily the three of us," Gildarts said, "But we'll bring in some of the others. Wendy will be on the sidelines ready to heal anyone in case of some of your poison gets on anyone, accidentally, I'm sure."

"Of course," Cobra nodded seriously, although there was a light in his eye that said otherwise.

"We're serious Cobra," Laxus said, "Be careful with your poison. If you're careful, we've got some food for you for afterwards."

"How generous, Sparky," Cobra said, grinning. He was looking forward to sparring with the blonde. Sure, they were putting on a bit of a show for Lucius and Draco, but that didn't mean he couldn't have his fun with the larger blonde.

Laxus growled, but didn't rise to the bait, but instead turned to Makarov who started explained training would last for two hours, and began counting down from three, signaling the beginning of the spar.

Lucius was once again blown away by their abilities. Cobra was mainly firing off attacks, while the other three were primarily defending, as this was meant to be to allow Cobra to exercise physically and magically. However, they did send a few attacks his way so he could do some defending and blocking.

Lucius noted how much fun Cobra seemed to be having just attacking people, and he assumed that it was because of his love for battle and blood, which was partially true. The other part was because Cobra was starting to get on Laxus's nerves and pushing his buttons during the battle. He growled again, but didn't say anything. He didn't want Voldemort questioning why Cobra seemed to have particular animosity for, or at the very least rivalry with, Laxus. He had no doubt the snake could come up with a lie, but still, it would add extra questions.

While Lucius and Draco were busy watching, they had no idea what a few of the other members of Fairy Tail were doing.

~.~.~

Dumbledore met up with the three 'students' in Fairy Tail's room, "Well, are you three ready?"

"Yes, of course," Levy smiled.

Bickslow stuck his tongue out, "Absolutely, let's go!"

"Let's go, let's go," echoed his babies.

"I... well I think I am," Hermione said, "Although I am a little nervous, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

Dumbledore smiled, "Absolutely, I know you will be, now let's go."

Levy went first, followed by Hermione, then Bickslow, and finally Dumbledore.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione said excitedly, happy to see her old professor.

"Hermione, I'm not a professor anymore, you can simply call me Remus if you like," he smiled, and then he turned to the two he didn't recognize, "Bickslow and Levy, I presume?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you," Levy said, smiling and shaking his hand.

Bickslow grabbed his hand, tongue again falling out of his mouth, "What's up dude, great to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!" Lupin was curious about the tiny totems, although he was aware of what they were. Bickslow was also curious about Lupin's soul, a part of it looking like a completely different soul, but he supposed he could ask later. He could tell he could trust him, and that was all that mattered. He noticed his babies circling around Lupin's head, getting in his face, and around his legs.

"Come on babies, leave him be, maybe you can play with him later," Bickslow said.

"Are we going to be able to apparate them?" Lupin asked Dumbledore.

"I believe so, if whoever takes Bickslow only takes him," Dumbledore said, "So I will take Bickslow and his babies, and you will take the two girls, if that's alright?"

"Yes, of course," Lupin smiled.

"Okay, so you two grab a hold of Remus's arm, yes just like that, and Bickslow, grab onto my arm, good," Dumbledore smiled, "Now, if you guys could attach yourselves to me somewhere, that would be great."

He laughed as the little totems burrowed in his robes, one also going into his beard and peeking out through the hairs.

"Now, it'll be a little bit dizzying, and you might feel the need to throw up after your first time, it's completely understandable, just let me know if you're feeling queasy. Is everyone ready?" Dumbledore asked. Upon receiving nods of affirmation from the three, he said, "Okay, now hold on tight."

It felt like the world was spinning, there was a pinch in their stomach, and then they were standing in front of an old shack. They each took a moment before turning their attention to it.

It was terribly dilapidated, but was somehow still standing. Bickslow could feel a piece of soul in the shack and turned to Dumbledore, "There's definitely a soul in there, feels like a piece of soul too."

"Okay, but we need to be careful," Dumbledore said, "There will be defenses, so make sure not to just go running in."

"Don't worry, Natsu and Sting aren't here," Levy joked, before her attention returned to the shack. She could feel... something there.

"There's some kind of barrier," Levy said, "Although I can't really identify it. It feels a bit like one of Freed's rune barriers, though."

"Could it be protected by Ancient Runes?" Hermione asked, slowly approaching the shack. As she got closer, she could feel magic there. She followed it to where it seemed to center and saw a series of runes on the door.

"Those look like Ancient Runes," Remus said, "The first step is going to be to translate it, in order to figure out exactly what it is we're up against."

Bickslow stayed in the back, putting his hands up behind his head, he wasn't needed for this part. Once they got inside, he would be able to help.

Levy, Remus, and Hermione debated the meaning of the runes written there, and Remus was surprised that the two young girls, especially Levy who wasn't even from here and had no previous exposure to the ancient runes here until just recently, were able to assist so much. Between the three of them, it didn't take long to decode, their process made easier by using Levy's light pen, while she wrote everything down.

"Okay, basically, this barrier is meant to keep anyone who isn't Voldemort out," Levy said, "It will punish anyone that tries to enter, but the punishment will be worse for anyone who isn't of 'pure blood'."

"I honestly was expecting that," Hermione said, "His hatred of Muggleborns isn't exactly a secret. I almost wish we had brought along Charlie though, I believe he's a curse breaker, he might have been able to help."

"Now, now, don't underestimate me!" Remus said, "Who do you think helped him study for those exams? It was me, now, what can either of you tell me about breaking curses written using ancient runes."

Dumbledore smiled when he saw that Remus had taken on the teaching role.

"Isn't it a bit like the way we break rune enchantments?" Levy said, "Finding a loophole or a break in the runes, exploiting it, and unraveling it until it falls."

"Exactly, but Voldemort is careful, and brilliant," Remus said, "He'll have looked this enchantment over dozens of times to ensure that it wouldn't be broken easily. However, I doubt he counted on the fact that there would be three of us."

"I want to try something," Levy said, "We could try rearranging the runes into a different order, in order to give the enchantment a different meaning."

Hermione saw where she was going, "It won't break the enchantment, instead changing its purpose! Then, we can break it, if we need to, or we might be able to just walk in."

Remus smiled, looking at the two brilliant girls. They got to work on rearranging Voldemort's words, again made easier with Levy's light pen so that they wouldn't accidentally make any drastic mistakes, while Dumbledore and Bickslow made small talk. It took them almost an hour, but an excited squeal from Hermione and Levy let Dumbledore and Bickslow know that they had finished their task.

"Okay, so we've managed to change the enchantment to the point where we can now break it using a counteracting set of runes," Hermione said.

They again got to work at creating the counter-enchantment, which didn't take quite as long as the rearranging had done. Hermione told everyone to step back, to which they obliged, and she fired the counter-enchantment at the set of runes on the door. There were sparks coming off of their collision, and then there was smoke, but when the smoke cleared, the door was blank.

"We did it!" Levy squealed happily, hugging Hermione, then turning to hug Remus, Bickslow, and Dumbledore.

"Now, let's go in and do this!" Bickslow said, sliding his tongue out of his mouth.

The inside was dusty and filled with cobwebs, causing the girls to scrunch up their noses. It was cluttered with various things, furniture, memorabilia, and it was a good thing they had Bickslow, or else they might have been sifting through the shack for ages.

Bickslow noticed the glowing piece of soul hidden in the very back and approached it, holding onto the box Makarov had given him the previous night. He inspected it closely; it really was a terrible and unnatural thing. Even his magic wanted to shy away from the ring. He picked it up, and he immediately felt the evil and darkness surrounding it. This is what happens when someone messes with the laws of magic and nature. He carefully placed the ring in the box before returning to them, his face serious.

Levy looked at him worriedly, "That bad?"

"It's just plain wrong," Bickslow said, "Even my magic hates it, wants absolutely nothing to do with it, and my magic is always reaching out towards souls, evil, good, it doesn't matter. But this, it hated, rejected it completely."

"Well, you can take a closer look when we get back," Dumbledore said, "We shouldn't be gone too much longer, lest we be missed."

"Yea, okay, let's get going," Bickslow said, still thinking about the Horcrux and how wrong it felt.

They made their way out of the shack, and then they apparated back to Grimmauld Place. Sirius was there waiting for them.

"Finally, you're back, Remus," he said, "I'm so bored!"

He was whining and Remus simply rolled his eyes, before responding, "Have you met the newcomers?"

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting them, Sirius Black, pleasure to be of service," he said, bowing extravagantly.

Levy giggled, "Hello, I'm Levy McGarden, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure we'll see you more in the future."

Bickslow looked him over, there was something off about his soul too, but it was different than Remus's. His soul was sad, almost melancholy, but there was a small piece of light that was just trying to burst through. He figured he would ask Dumbledore about it later, he shook himself off and noticed everyone staring at him.

He flashed a quick grin, "Sorry, still thinking about the Horcrux, I'm Bickslow."

"Hello, hello!" his babies said, drawing Sirius's attention.

"Hello, and what might you be?" Sirius asked curiously.

They were circling around him, and Bickslow couldn't help but roll his eyes, they'd been doing that to everyone new they met lately, "Babies leave him alone! These are my babies, they're lost souls I found and took in. Then I placed their souls in these totems I made."

"Oh no, it's fine, you don't need to leave me alone, in fact I think I rather like the company," Sirius laughed, causing Bickslow to smile. "I hope we get the chance to see each other again later, little souls."

"I'm sure you will," Bickslow smiled, deciding he liked Sirius. Most people didn't treat his babies very well, with the exception of Fairy Tail of course.

"Sirius, it was good seeing you again," Dumbledore said, "But we really must get going. The thing we discussed is still okay, correct?"

"Oh absolutely! I'll be glad for the company," he smiled.

They made their way over to the floo, said goodbye, and jumped in, heading back to their room in Hogwarts.

"Now, let's go stash that away," Dumbledore smiled at the box. They made their way over to the Room of Requirement, in the room of lost things, and put it there. It would be relatively easy for Bickslow to find it the next time they came in, seeing as he could see the soul inside the box. While they were there, Bickslow made his way over to the Diadem, seeing the soul shining in it, and placing it with the box. He would need to take a closer look at them later. For now, it was time for dinner.

Putting back on his light-hearted and fun-loving face, he made his way to the dinner hall with Hermione and Levy, smiling and joking with them, placing an arm around each of them while his babies flew around their heads and torsos, causing the girls to giggle at their behavior.

~.~.~

I'm so sorry it took so long, but I was a little stuck on where I wanted to go with this, and how I wanted to proceed. A part of me wanted to not change the timeline or plot of the books TOO MUCH, but I realized, placing Fairy Tail here in the first place already drastically changed that, so, there really wasn't much I could do to change it. So, I'll let you know now, that it probably won't follow the timeline of OoP pretty much at all from here on? There will be a few events that occur from the books, but not necessarily at the same time as they did in the books.

I tried to move the focus a little bit onto some of the other characters a bit, and I wanted to progress the plot a bit more. It also brought in a few other things from previous chapters (with the flashbacks) that I kinda ambiguously mentioned Bickslow and Cobra wanting to meet with Makarov and/or Dumbledore about something, but never actually showed these conversations, because I wanted the both of them and the discussion of the Horcruxes to all happen at the same time, so that was this chapter (obviously).

Anyways, let me know what you think! Please leave reviews. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter!