Chapter 34:

Riding the Hogwarts Express always brought mixed feelings for the students. It signified the end of the school year, and the arrival of the holidays, when they would get to see their families again after such a long time. But it also meant they won't get to meet their friends again for some time, or at least not at the same frequency.

Michael, Tracey, Daphne, Susan and Hannah were sharing a compartment on the ride back, speaking about different subjects and giving out promises about what they would do for the summer. Kaiser, however, was lost in thought, hardly paying attention to whatever was being said. He had a difficult choice to make.

Until this moment, he dealt with three Horcruxes: Tom's Diary, Rowena's Diadem and Slytherin's locket. He had had three known Horcruxes left: Hufflepuff's Cup, The Gaunt Ring and Harry Potter himself. The last one puzzled him deeply. The first thing he did when he accessed Slytherin's Library was reading about Horcruxes. And while he couldn't know everything about them from what little time he had, he learned something that should have been impossible: Once someone dies for the first time, they lose the ability to make any more Horcruxes.

But that didn't make any sense. In the original story, Voldemort made the seventh horcrux, his pet snake Nagini, with the murder of Bertha Jorkins in Albania. Which led him to two theories: Either Voldemort had already made the seventh Horcrux before going to Albania, and it could be anything and not necessarily Nagini. Or Voldemort successfully upgraded the Horcrux ritual, something that is already exceedingly complex, from the little he read about it.

Neither was good news for him. He had no way to locate Horcruxes, which means it would serve no purpose to kill Voldemort. And he didn't know what ways he could use to come back. He had to think of other ways to deal with this situation. But that was not the only thing on his mind at that moment. He had more immediate problems: The Gaunt Ring.

He discussed with Karl a good way to secure the Hufflepuff Cup, so he wasn't overly worried about that. What he was worried about was how are they going to get the Ring. Everyone knows where the Gaunt family home was, but no one touched it. It was against Wizarding Law, especially when it concerns an Ancient Family.

The Gaunt family had one last living member serving a life sentence in Azkaban. Until he was dead, and no other Gaunt family member showed himself for fifty years, no one was allowed to take over the Gaunt family home, not even touch their possession. Though most of their prized possessions would be in Gringotts by now. No one was stupid enough to break such a taboo, when clearly there wasn't much to gain from it.

That means Kaiser couldn't legally take away the Gaunt family ring, which he knew was hidden in their ancestral home. Meaning he couldn't hire people to do it, as no one would do such a risky job. But the Gaunt ring was something he absolutely needed to have. Why? Resurrection Stone. Who is more qualified to have such a priceless treasure other than himself since he already knew where it was?

"… Kai? Kai? Are you still with us?" Michael's callings brought him back to the world of the living.

"Sorry, I spaced out. What were you saying?"

"Susan was speaking to you." Michael gestured to her.

"It's alright." Susan said. "I… just asked if you will come with us to the World Cup?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sorry Susan, but I can't." Susan's heart sank. Did he not like hanging out with them? Or worse, did he dislike her? She wanted to make advances, but she was always too scared of being rejected because of how much she idolized him. At least this way they were friends, right?

"It's not that I don't want to, I actually really do." Kaiser reassured her. "But I am not allowed to."

They all frowned at that, with the exception of Daphne, who already understood his situation better than them.

"What do you mean, you're not allowed to?" Tracey asked with a frown. 'Is he being detained against his will?' she was thinking along those lines.

"Because of my latest project, some people want me dead, and such an event where you can't distinguish friend from foe is the perfect opportunity to dispose of me." Kaiser explained. "Assassins have already been hired."

They all gasped at that. One of their friends was actually a target for assassination? Why would anyone want to kill a thirteen/fourteen years old student?

"What is it you are working on that people would want to silence you for it?" Hannah asked with a worried expression. She reacted the same way anyone who has never been exposed to the dark side of the world would, especially when one of their closest friends is concerned.

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Kaiser looked at them one by one, studying their curious expression, and sighed: "I can tell you, but don't tell anyone else outside of this room. You promise?" At their nod, he explained to them what he was doing and why some influential people did not like it very much.

"… Fortunately, we avoided clashing with Owl breeders and the Floo Network, because the devices would be too expensive to replace them. But we are working to reduce the price." the truth is, that's what he wanted them to believe. Since his target from the beginning were governments organizations who can afford it, along with rich nobles, he made them think that both the materials and the manufacturing process were too expensive.

"Surely, there are people helping you that can do the same, right? Even if they successfully dispose of you, it won't guarantee no one else can make it…" Hannah asked.

"Until the project leaves the development phase and starts production, it is assumed I am the only one who can make it. And therefore, disposing of me should also dispose of it. Or even better, they could just take the knowledge out of my mind." Kaiser explained.

"On a bright note, an innocent man is now out of prison after thirteen years of being wrongfully imprisoned!" Tracey said, trying to diffuse the tension. The atmosphere was getting a bit heavy for her taste. "Can you believe it? He was apparently plotted against to remain in Azkaban, some would say."

"Yeah. And it's not only England's newspapers that talk about it. We are officially the world's laughing stock." Michael added. "It's even worse, because the person involved is supposedly someone from the Black Family. Even worse, he's the lord of the family. The fact that someone in that status could not escape the rotten system proves how vulnerable common folk like us are."

Susan was uncomfortable about this subject. Her aunt explained to her that in her latest letter that it isn't as simple as it appeared to be, promising her more details when they met.

"It's apparently not as simple as it appears. A lord would never have gone to Azkaban in such a manner, even if he was from the darkest family in Magical Britain." Susan looked at Daphne, before continuing. "It's also thanks to Daphne's father he was freed."

All eyes turned to Daphne, expecting an explanation. "What?" she asked.

"You don't happen to know a bit more about this, do you?" Tracey coaxed with a smile.

"I do." Daphne said, widening the smile on Tracey's face.

"But she can't tell." Kaiser interrupted. Not that Daphne was going to reveal anything. "Don't put her in that position."

"Well…" Tracey said slowly. "I heard an interesting rumor…"

At Kaiser and Daphne hard stare, she stopped her playful demeanor and spilled the beans: "Word around is, Sirius Black stroke a deal with your father, Daphne…"

"That much is obvious. What else did you hear?" Kaiser asked. He did not like what he was hearing.

"That's all I heard, really…" Tracey answered.

"Who spread it?" Daphne asked this time.

"Lavender heard it from one of her house mates." Tracey shrugged.

'The rumor started from Gryffindor? That's abnormal…' Kaiser thought. 'There isn't any son or daughter of influential families in Gryffindor. Definitely none that would start rumors, and one as accurate as this one. It was the common consensus that Gryffindors are… not the greatest intellectual beings, with the exceptions of Hermione Granger, perhaps, but she should know exactly how Sirius is freed. Harry would've told her… Wait…'

Kaiser had a very bad premonition… it was the same as the previous incident, but if details of this ever got out, a new world of trouble would fall upon both him and the Greengrass family. He was musing over the possibilities, when a very dangerous thought suddenly made it to his head.

'That bastard again…' a vein suddenly made itself known in Kaiser's forehead, looking as if it would pop any second. Kaiser's eyes and hair started glowing, the same seemed to happen every time he was angry. Daphne did not look any better. She was enraged at the thought that crossed her mind, but Kaiser's worse state somehow brought her out of her thoughts. The others in the compartment were feeling uneasy now.

Kaiser abruptly stood, deciding on a course of action. "I'll be right back." he said before leaving the compartment, followed by Daphne, who stopped the others from coming, telling them to stay.

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Harry was in a good mood today. Sirius would soon be freed, and after his rehabilitation, he would become his magical guardian, meaning he would never have to go back to Durskaban again.

"Man, I'm hungry." Ron whined. "Maybe I should take something from the trolley?"

"We just ate, Ron. What do you have for a stomach? A black hole?" Hermione rolled her eyes. Could he think about anything but his stomach for a minute?

"Black hole? What's that? Something we'd study in the tenth year?" Ron said.

"You wish." Hermione said. "It's muggle science. You wouldn't get it." she waved her hands dismissively.

"What are your plans for the summer Hermione?" Harry asked, changing the subject. God forbid they start bickering again.

"I don't know. My parents didn't tell me what they were planning. We probably won't go out of England again, though. Maybe we could meet this summer?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, we're definitely not traveling overseas. The Quidditch World Cup is scheduled in England. There is no way in hell we'll miss it. You should come with us too." Ron said.

"Sounds like a plan." Hermione said eagerly.

"Maybe Sirius can join us too." said an excited Harry. "He told me he used to play Quidditch with my dad back in the days. He probably won't miss it too."

"How is he doing, by the way?" Hermione asked.

"He's at St Mungo's receiving treatment for extended exposure to Dementors and malnourishment. They said he'd be staying for a few months." Harry said with a happy smile.

Whatever Hermione was about to say, she didn't have the time to because of the compartment room opening loudly. They all turned at the same time, surprised by the sight of an angry looking Kaiser, staring at Ronald Weasley for some reason. He slowly approached him, followed by Daphne, before the compartment door closed itself, and the door's windows turned black. They all gulped at the sight. 'This can't be good.' was their thought at that moment.