Barty Jr. listened to the Wizarding Wireless Network as the results of the trial of his father were announced. It had already been a few days since his master had told him his brilliant plan and the two of them had been fine-tuning it ever since. But today was a special day for him. That disappointing father of his was finally getting his comeuppance and it was about time too. He felt no regret or pity for the man.

Barty Crouch Sr. was sentenced to be thrown to the veil at sundown that very evening. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone who knew about his deeds. Using an Unforgivable a single time guaranteed a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Multiple uses over a period of over twelve years was enough to warrant a death sentence. Now, it was only a matter of deciding whether it was to be via Dementor’s kiss or the Veil. The Wizengamot spared a final bit of pity and sentenced him to a painless death via the Veil. It was more than he deserved for his actions.

Darius knocked on the door and waited. The door opened, and he was greeted by the sight of a much reformed Kreacher, who looked at least somewhat more presentable now. The elf had been much more amenable since he had gotten rid of the original locket in front of his eyes. Darius had also let Sirius know about the lake and all it took was a simple command by Sirius to let Kreacher acquire the locket easily. It was the only one of the objects prized by the elf that Sirius didn’t let him take into the room made into a shrine for all the Black family members and their mementos. The locket was given its own place of honor on the wall over the mantelpiece.

He was visiting the Black Manor at Grimmauld place as he did not feel secure going for the next step on his own. He knew it would have been a much easier task if he just went to the Ministry and enlisted their help, but the risk of the news leaking was far too great.

“Follows me, Darius Sir. I is leading you to Master Sirius. He is being in the kitchen.”

The elf led him to the giant kitchen and Darius noticed Sirius sitting at the head of the table, having his breakfast and scarfing it down with some coffee, reading the Daily Prophet as he ate. Kreacher gave a short bow and left, promising to bring a plate for him as well.

“Morning Sirius, how’s tricks?”

“Darius, good to see you. What are you here for?”

“You remember what I told you about last year? Want an update report?”

“Of course, I remember. It is Harry’s life which is at stake her. So, what news do you have for me?”

“Well, to keep things simple, I’ll give you a brief recap.

The first Horcrux was his diary, which had been in the custody of Lucius Malfoy. I got it off Ginny within whose books he had planted it in her 1st year. I removed the taint of the Horcrux from it by a ritual soul cleansing.

The second was the Locket which was present right here in the Black Manor. I cleansed it right in front of Kreacher’s eyes by the same method. The soul piece was exorcised as well.

The third was the cup secreted away in the Lestrange vault. That one was dealt with by the goblins at my behest and they returned the cup to me free of its taint.

The fourth was the ring which still lies within the ancestral cottage of his maternal cottage. I will come back to this one later.

The fifth was the Tiara, stored within Hogwarts itself in a secret room. I have already done the necessary ritual to cleanse it of the dark magic.

The sixth and unintentional Horcrux was Harry. He believed in the power of the magical number seven and meant there to be seven soul pieces, including the one within his own body. I have no doubt he would have made another Horcrux soon enough after Harry’s death. But Harry threw a massive wrench in his plans. Forced to flee in his wraith form, he didn’t realize that the backfire of the curse coupled with his already fragile soul ripped another piece off of it and attached to the nearest living being, the young Harry. You already know how that cleansing them.

Voldemort, not knowing he had already reached his intended targets with regards to she number of soul pieces, made another horcrux, a particular snake, sometime last year. It is always with him and will be the most difficult to get rid of. But it is still within the realm of possibilities as he lets it have some amount of freedom to roam about. But if he manages to realize we are hunting down his Horcruxes, it will get a hell of a lot harder. He is easily capable of casting protections upon it which will be quite far beyond our ability to breach.”

“Wow, this is beyond incredible. I knew you had your sources of information, but this is unbelievable. We would have been in deep shit if we had to work all this out on our own. I can’t tell how grateful I am that you are on Harry’s side. So basically, we still have two Horcruxes to destroy and the big baddie himself. But why did you not elaborate further on the ring? You have nothing to be cagey about. I am fully on your side no matter what.”

“I am not being cagey about it. I just want to take you up on your offer.”

“What offer are you talking about? Mind you, I’m not refusing. You have done more for Harry and me than anybody else. I just want to know exactly what I need to do.”

“I need your help to retrieve the ring. I may have read a lot and may be magically powerful but that place as immensely powerful wards as well as some nasty traps. I need to get rid of it as soon as I can, and you would be able to help me through them. I looked up your history and know about your days in the Auror corps during the last war. I am sure you would have a lot of experience in this stuff. And you should get to training Harry properly too. I know you have him well on his way with occlumency, but a bit of actual Battle-magic wouldn’t go amiss either.”

“You needn’t worry about it at all. Just let me know when and where and I’ll be with you. The sooner we put an end to those cursed objects, the easier I’ll sleep at night. I have already got a few objects I got from the Black vault for just such a reason. And I had initially started with just occlumency but I’ve since already gone on to prep him for actual magical battles. And I have to say that you did a bang-up job teaching him till now. I have never heard anyone except the most prodigious geniuses reach that level at such a young age. There is no doubt that young Harry is talented in DADA but there is much to be said here about your tutoring as well. And I am curious about just how skilled you are to be able to produce a student of this caliber at you age.”

“Well, we’ll have to have a spar sometime soon to find out, won’t we? Anyway, getting that ring will be challenge enoughto show our skills. I have no doubt it will be much harder to get hold of than any of the other Horcruxes. The place is well warded and has a few deadly curses in place to protect it.”

“I’ll brush up on some of the older curses in the Black library then, it should prove to be useful. And I’ve no doubt you yourself have some information regarding the place as well. When do we set out?”

“We leave in two days. Make sure you are ready and carry everything you feel may prove to be useful. A bag enchanted with the undetectable extension charm will do.”

“Very well, I shall see you then.”