And the Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to JKR. The original plot and story belong to Velvet Song. Any resemblance to anything living or dead is purely coincidental.

Author's Note: This is a continuation of Velvet Song's story "Damsels & Dragons", which she has graciously allowed me to adopt. You will find the first thirteen chapters of her story here: http: //www. thepetulantpoetess.com /viewstory.php?sid =18337 (remove the spaces first). I can only hope I do her ideas justice.

Thanks to Fizzabella and writermerrin for the beta of this chapter. I really appreciate all the reviews so far. Thank you.

And the Plot Thickens

"Thank you, Marigold," Hermione said as she took Severus' copy of Curses Ancient and Moderne from the house-elf. "I really appreciate you doing this for us."

"Miss Hermione asks so Marigold is happy," the little creature replied, her face beaming. "This help Master Severus?"

"Wait," Lucius said suddenly, making a grab for the house-elf. "You knew your master was still alive?"

"Is house-elf magic," Marigold said, easily evading his hand. "Master say Marigold helps Miss Hermione." She shrugged. "I helps Miss Hermione. Master is pleased. I go now?" She looked at Hermione for permission.

"Yes, Marigold, thank you," Hermione said with a nod. Marigold snapped her fingers and popped out of the staff room, apparently to reappear at Marbh-clach. Holding the book out to Lucius, she said, "You know better what we're looking for. You read this. I don't want to."

He took the book and reverently stroked the pristine cover. "He had this in his library and I never knew," he said. "If the Dark Lord had known..." His voice trailed off.

"Would he have destroyed this copy if he had?" Remus asked.

"It's quite possible," Lucius said, opening the book to the proper page. He groaned.

"What is it, Lucius?" Minerva asked petulantly. "Is the page missing from this one as well?"

"No, it's here," he said. "For all the good it will do us. Listen:"

Maledictum Draconis...Not much is known of this ancient curse save rumours and innuendo. It is said to have come to us from the ancient Babylonians via the Pharaoh-Wizards of Egypt. From there, it is rumoured to have made its way to ancient Greece and Rome, although no record has ever been found to substantiate this.

There is no known complete record of the words used to cast this curse, although it is rumoured that the Library at Alexandria contained several scrolls with partial details. Such is the power of this curse that it is rumoured no one person has ever seen it in its entirety and lived.

He turned the page over and looked at the other side. "That's all it says. This next one is the description of a curse to make someone old and infirm." He sighed heavily. "Abraxas Malfoy the Fifteenth has a lot to make up for."

"No known complete record?" Filius squeaked. "Then, did Tom make up this spell on his own? How insidious!"

"Maybe he did and maybe he didn't," Arthur said cryptically. Everyone looked at him as he scratched his chin, trying to remember something. "There was a burglary at the British Wizarding Library about ten years ago. Several books and scrolls went missing. Some of them were supposed to have come from Alexandria itself."

"I remember that," Lucius said, nodding in confirmation. "Although neither Severus nor I were involved, it was definitely the Dark Lord's work. However, that leaves us with a much larger problem."

"Yes," Narcissa said, seeing what her husband meant. "We don't know who, do we?"

"Who, what?" Harry asked, looking from one Malfoy to the other. "What's the problem? Can't we just go and look at Riddle's books and papers?"

"The problem, my dear boy," Lucius drawled, "is that we don't know where they are."

"That's not possible," Remus argued. "Weren't they found in his hideout after he died?"

"His hideout, as you so quaintly put it, was Malfoy Manor, for the most part." Lucius pursed his lips. "That shack outside Little Hangleton purported to be the Riddle House wasn't a fit habitation for man or beast. The Dark Lord preferred the better things in life, as do most of us, I would imagine."

"So, where would he have kept his papers and such?" Hermione asked. "At Malfoy Manor?"

"Definitely not," Narcissa answered crossly. "He wouldn't trust one of us to come across something and use it against him."

He kept a secret vault in Gringotts.

"Gringotts?" Hermione repeated Severus' comment. "How do you know that?"

I saw the key. He used it to get me some rare potions equipment he had stored there. When I was finished, he replaced all of it immediately.

She quickly relayed his comments to the rest of the room. "Since he's dead, wouldn't the goblins have emptied the vault, Bill?"

"Not if someone else was granted the key," he said. "It's like a will of sorts. The key is passed on to someone with the intent that the person given the key to a vault becomes the legal owner of the contents, whatever they might be. Since we don't know who the vault actually belonged to, we can only make a guess as to who now has the key."

"My guess would be an unmarked Death Eater," Lucius snarled. "Someone who would not have been suspected when the Dark Lord died. If this person owned the vault in question at the time of the Dark Lord's defeat, he or she would now have the key and the knowledge of what exactly is in there."

"I thought all the Death Eaters were rounded up after the Final Battle," Harry said. "Didn't you help with that?"

"I gave the Ministry the names of the Death Eaters I knew about," Lucius said, slumping back in his seat. "I'm sure the Dark Lord kept some in reserve that only he knew."

Yes. He would have done exactly that.

Hermione grimaced, but asked the obvious question anyway. "Do you know of any Death Eaters that Lucius wouldn't?"

No.

She relayed that information to the others, her frustration showing on her face.

"So, it's over then?" Neville asked hesitantly. "Can't we do anything to help Professor Snape?"

"No, we've only just started. We need to find the owner of the vault," Minerva replied into the sudden silence. "Mr. Weasley, is there any way you can find out which vault Tom used and who the current owner is?"

"I might be able to," Bill said. "It all depends on the goodwill of the goblin I speak to at the time."

"Do your best, son," Arthur said encouragingly. "Maybe you could use the knowledge that some of the contents are stolen goods and need to be returned?"

"That's never concerned them before," Remus said with a rueful laugh, "Although it might, if you mention the gratitude of the British Wizarding Library when the books and scrolls are returned." He looked at Bill hopefully. "They do have an account there, don't they?"

"Minerva, you said something about Pensieve memories yesterday evening," Filius said suddenly before Bill could answer. "What do you need from us?"

"Your memories of the Final Battle when Tom threw that curse," she answered. "Since we were all in different positions on the battlefield, we all had a different perspective. Someone will have seen something that the others missed. Perhaps together, we can discover the exact wording of the curse Tom used and his wand movements."

"Who will be looking at these memories, Minerva?" Aurora Sinistra asked. "Do you have any ideas about that?"

"Actually, Aurora, I do," the older woman answered. "With the help of Susan and Hermione, we have charmed a Pensieve to act as a...what did you call it, dear...a dee-vee-dee player?" Hermione nodded. "That means the memory will be projected onto an empty wall so we can all see what's happening in it," Minerva continued. "In such a manner, I hope that one of us might see something that someone else may miss. Is that satisfactory?"

"Quite," Filius answered for all of the teachers on receiving a nod from the others. "I, for one, would like to see this charm you ladies created when all this is over. It sounds most intriguing."

Minerva smiled. "I'm sure we can accommodate you. Can't we, ladies?" Susan and Hermione looked at each other and grinned.

"I'm sure we can, Minerva," Susan said for both of them. "It would be our pleasure to teach Professor Flitwick."

"Oh, my," he squeaked.

Indeed, a most palatable task.

Hermione giggled.

A/N: Master Andrixos, a Latin Scholar and member of the Society of Creative Anachronism, who resides in the Kingdom of Calontir, supplied the title "Maledictum Draconis" for the curse. It literally means "Dragon's Curse".