Harry's goblin friend was racing across the sand, waving his arms in the air and shouting like someone who was more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Seeing this very smart goblin - who always appeared so in control of his emotions - behave in this manner warned them something very bad had just happened, or something very, very good. Ginny didn't have enough dealings with goblins for her to tell whether Barchoke was currently smiling or snarling at them.
Barchoke raced straight for Harry and Sirius, shouting at the top of his voice about 'finding it!'. Both of them could easily see his excitement as everyone else soon crowded around. Knowing that anyone training here would have already been informed of what they were hunting by Harry, the little goblin took a deep breath and then passed on the monuments news.
"Lord Black employed a team of goblin curse breakers to cover every inch of Grimmauld Place before he would let Francesca or the orphans anywhere near the building. While a great many dark objects are being discovered and dealt with, the team found one object that had their dark magic scans registering off the scale. A certain locket, once owned by Salazar Slytherin, was immediately dispatched to Gringotts, with the cursed soul being removed and immediately destroyed. That's the last piece, he's now mortal."
Harry managed to mumble a question to his goblin friend. "How could it possibly have gotten there?"
Emma reacted in a totally different manner. The emotional mother pounced on Harry and Hermione with tears of relief and joy rolling down her cheeks. "I don't care how it got there, you won't have to go into that cursed cave to try and get it out now."
That started a celebration which saw all of them ending up running into the sea and acting more like a bunch of toddlers than teens - and adults. The sight of Barchoke, bedecked in his normal immaculate three-piece pinstriped suit joyously cavorting about in the waves as if he didn't have a care in the world was something that would stay with them all for a long time.
Ginny was glad that all the splashing about in the sea hid her own tears of relief, until she realised that every single one of them was doing the exact same. Luna didn't even try to hide them, rather just clung onto Neville as if her life depended on it. Harry and Hermione were also clinging to each other, though energetically bouncing about in the waves at the same time - like a strange form of demented pogo dancing. Emma was doing the rounds, hugging everyone she could get her hands on - Barchoke must have suffered that particular fate at least three times.
With thoughts of any further training that day forgotten about, they eventually sat on the beach to discuss where this left them. Barchoke was quick to bring them up to date on the steps he'd taken, before heading for Italy.
"Once we had confirmed beyond any doubts the piece of Riddle's soul had been destroyed, Bill left to inform Amelia of the wonderful news - I would expect to see them both here today at some point. That only leaves the original piece of Riddle's soul that Harry banished from Quirrell inside Hogwarts two years ago. There's a team at Gringotts trying to put some sort of timescale on how long this remaining piece of soul could exist without any other soul-jars anchoring it. The trouble is they're relying on estimates and guess work - since no one else has ever been stupid enough to create multiple soul-jars before."
Ginny had found herself bracketed by her twin brothers the instant she'd sat down. She was grateful for their support as Barchoke spoke about those disgusting things. There was a question she just had to ask though. "Does that mean Harry can just stay here and Voldemort will eventually simply fade away?"
Seeing the same thought was on everyone else's lips too, Harry did his best to answer. "I wish I could, Ginny. We know Pettigrew is off trying to help his master return, and all of us think Riddle will attempt a dark ritual to try and regain a body. Steps have been taken to try and disrupt the ritual we think will be his first choice but we also had to be very careful. If he suspects a trap, Riddle will disappear and probably choose one of the more obscure rituals available to him. If he does that, we won't know about it until a reborn Lord Voldemort starts killing people. We couldn't even chance alarm wards or anything magical around the site we think he'll use."
"So it isn't over just yet?" Fred had Ginny in a reassuring hug before she'd even finished asking her question.
It was actually Sirius who answered for everyone as he felt their previous euphoria evaporating. "What's been achieved in the last few months is nothing short of astonishing. The last war was so terrible because Voldemort appeared to hold all the cards. He's now been stripped of his finances, his most influential followers and - even more importantly - his anchors that kept him in this world. I'm not trying to belittle the task that still remains but he's mortal now. Whose to say that if Dan put a bullet into Voldemort, if he gets a body, that bullet wouldn't put him down for good."
As Sirius' words slowly sank in, Luna lifted the entire mood with one comment.
"Can it be Emma who shoots him? She's by far a better shot and we really want him gone - not clutching at his arm in shock."
Knowing the friendly rivalry that existed between the Grangers when they were shooting at targets, and that Emma had taken to shooting like a duck to water - kicking Dan's arse since day one and impressing the hell out of Remus with her natural talent - tickled a few people's funny bones.
This started off with some sniggering that soon turned to full blown laughter after Hermione's quip - reigniting the good mood that had existed mere moments ago.
"It's not as if my dad takes his shooting seriously - it's just a bit of a laugh for him. He's also well used to losing to the Granger ladies."
While all her friends had only ever seen her dad being a bit of a joker, Hermione had grown up seeing that deep level of concentration and strictly serious side of him when he worked on a patient - so wasn't surprised when her dad transferred that focus to his shooting. While he wasn't a bad shot as such, Emma could practically pick what eye she would put the bullet through - almost since completing her first session of training. Her mother's hugs though still caught Hermione out almost every time. While she absolutely relished those hugs, this radical change in her mum's behaviour - especially since she and her dad got those bracelets - was going to take some getting used to.
It was a happy group who headed back to the house on their brooms, ready for a shower and then breakfast before facing the day to come. Remus was heading back to Britain, and the orphanage. Jillian was going to be spending the day with them, helping to get everything ready for the entire orphanage arriving on their doorstep tomorrow.
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