His eyes sharpened on Sirius. "Tom believed, you see, that Harry was the one prophesised to vanquish him. The Death Eater who overheard and reported it to him only heard the first part of the prophecy but it was enough to identify Harry and young Neville as possible candidates; it was why I encouraged both families into hiding."
Sirius nodded. "You know the full prophecy?"
"I do but I would not want to burden Harry with the full weight of it at his age." Albus admitted frankly.
For a long moment, Albus thought Sirius was going to press him further and there was a worrying shimmer of rage that flickered across Sirius's face before it faded into an expressionless mask that simply made Albus more anxious.
"So you don't have any idea of the number of horcruxes Voldemort made before he was made a wraith?" Sirius returned to the topic of horcruxes much to Albus's relief.
"My intention this Summer is to start reviewing Tom's life and backtracking to see when and where he could have made them." Albus admitted.
Sirius nodded almost absently. He opened another desk drawer and another piece of parchment drifted out to hover in front of Albus. He took it and thanked Merlin he'd put his tea down. Regulus Black had just made his job much easier!
"Well, this is splendid!" Albus said, delighted. "I can make some guesses as to the items and locations using this list and…"
"The DOM is going to form a team to track them down and destroy them." Sirius said dryly.
Albus looked up in alarm. "You…you told Bertie about the horcruxes?"
"Bertie, Cornelius and Amelia in general terms; I called them objects that kept Voldemort from dying." Sirius confirmed to Albus's horror. "Bertie understood what I meant obviously; the DOM has researched horcruxes before and they know how to dispose of them. As I said, he's going to put a small team together. Bill Weasley will join it to provide his curse-breaking skills in repayment of his sister's life debt to Harry and to give me an inside man. He also knows the full picture; he's come across them in Egypt."
His plans unravelled before Albus's eyes. That Sirius could risk the information from leaking in such a way…
"All the team will be under vows; all capable of Occlumency." Sirius said as though he'd read Albus's mind. "We're calling it Operation Treasure Hunt."
Albus placed the parchment down and regarded Sirius with disappointment. "Nevertheless, the likelihood of this hunt getting back to Voldemort has increased substantially. We could have kept this between us and hunted them down ourselves."
"And how long would that take us?" asked Sirius pointedly. "I want this done quickly before Voldemort regains a body and is operating at full strength. Yes, there's a risk, but this is the DOM's specialty. They're trained for this." He paused. "Just as the DMLE is now on alert that Voldemort didn't die and may be attempting a comeback. They're going to start tracking the known Death Eaters that walked for lack of evidence."
"The Wizengamot today," Albus realised, his mind racing, "you and Cornelius were laying the foundation to undermine Tom's political power."
"And financial." Sirius said.
Albus nodded slowly because he could already see how Sirius would use the power of the House of Black and the House of Potter to control the Ministry and the Wizengamot and reshape the wizarding world – all for the protection of the boy Sirius loved as a son. "Remarkable." He had always believed love was the power Tom knew not.
"There's a War Council," Sirius said, "and you're invited to be part of it. Everyone is agreed your help and advice would be welcome. Penelope will send you the details of the meeting times."
"I would be delighted to assist." Albus said.
He could still backtrack through Tom's life but it seemed he would not do so alone. He remembered Sirius's chiding comments after the blood protection discussion and mused that it might not be a bad thing although he still worried about so much vital information being so widely known.
Albus sighed heavily. "The next piece of information I have for you, I suggest you do not share with anyone." He held Sirius's curious gaze determinedly. "The night Tom attacked Harry I believe he created another accidental horcrux – within Harry." He gestured across the desk. "I bound Harry's core to prevent the remnant becoming powerful and assuming control of the child. It does restrict the conscious amount of power Harry can access although he is capable of overcoming that as his mastering of the Patronus charm demonstrates." He searched for the right words and found none. "To defeat Tom, I'm afraid Harry must also die."
"Harry had the horcrux removed at the healing clinic although he believes he simply had his scar cleansed of Dark magic. They removed your binding afterwards and we've been practicing bringing his magic under control." Sirius told him bluntly. "If you want confirmation you can write to Noshi Blackhawk."
The news that Harry was cleansed of Tom's darkness, that he would not need to die, rushed through Albus, and stole his breath; Harry could live, grow old. He felt his emotions surge; an enormous wave of relief followed immediately by an almost oppressive amount of guilt. Why had it never occurred to him to seek the counsel of someone like Noshi?
"You must think me a monster." Albus thought out loud, blinking back tears of remorse.
"Noshi told me you could have killed Harry that Halloween's night and you didn't so no, I don't think you're a monster." Sirius said calmly. "I'm not happy with you. You could have sought help and advice if not immediately at the time, certainly in the years since and especially before Harry got to school."
And there it was again; Sirius's painful lesson that Albus share information and listen to others. He could have approached Noshi; he knew the man was a good soul and a consummate healer who took issues of confidentiality seriously. He shook his head. "You are right to be angry with me. I have made many mistakes. All I can offer as mitigation is that I believed I was protecting him and that I do care for him tremendously."
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