The Book of Immortality

A few days later an Owl landed in front of Fleur. They all recognized the owl as being one of the Delacour Family owls.

"It's a reply from Papa," She said and after reading it herself, she then read it to the other over the bond so no one around could hear.

Ma Petite,

It took a while but Bernard, my most trusted researcher, found the information you are looking for. Unfortunately it is not something I feel comfortable putting in a letter. The word you gave me to look up represents the very depth of dark magic to achieve immortality. Can you tell me why you need to know this information? Something tells me it is not a research project for a class. I am concerned about this knowledge becoming more readily known so even though I trust Bernard with my life I did require him to take a vow of secrecy once I found what the information was concerning. I will be in London next month and can personally bring the book for you to read if you so desire though I must strongly suggest you do not pursue the subject further. Just having this book in my possession makes me feel uneasy.

Papa

"Immortality?" Hermione gasped. "Could this be how…"

"How he survived that night?" Harry asked. "Guess it could be."

"Well at least we can stop looking," Fleur said. "I will tell Papa to bring ze book and we will 'ave ze answers."

"You're going to ask him to bring it?" Hermione asked. Though she wanted to know, she didn't want to ask Fleur's father to do something he wasn't comfortable doing.

"Of course. I 'ave ze same curiosity as you," Fleur replied. "I'll send a reply to 'im tomorrow along wiz letters to Maman," She turned to the owl "Nerval, wait in ze Owlery and I'll 'ave letters by tomorrow for ze family," She gave the owl a piece of bacon and it flew away.

"Nerval? After Gérard De Nerval?" Hermione asked excitedly. "The French Poet?"

"Oui," Fleur answered. "Did you know 'e supposedly kept finding out about ze wizarding world and 'is obliviations is what caused 'im to slip into insanity? We studied 'im as an example of ze negative impact of ze International Code of Wizarding Secrecy in Government class. Papa, of course, 'ad already studied him, and named Nerval zat name to always remind him zat Non Magicals 'ave rights too," Fleur shrugged. "Sometimes eet is necessary to obliviate someone, but Papa always says it should be ze last resort, not ze first."

The two women started talking about the poet, government and the secrecy codes. Harry lost interest pretty quickly until he heard a sentence that didn't make sense.

"Wait, did you say this guy had a pet lobster that he took for walks on the streets of Paris?" He asked.

"Oui," Fleur replied.

Harry started wondering about the poor Mr. Roberts from the campground who was getting obliviated ten times a day. "I wonder if he's walking a lobster or some other strange creature around London now?"

...

The bondmates had stopped spending too much time in the Chamber because of the gruesome sight of the basilisk being carved up. Even when Remus had conjured a screen to hide it, just knowing what was going on behind it made them queasy. Jars of blood and venom along with stacks of skins and teeth were being stored in the tunnel leading into the Chamber. The reason it hadn't been sold became apparent one evening when they were escorting Remus back into the Chamber when he returned from a visit to Hogsmeade.

"Harry," He started, "we need a different person to sell the Basilisk parts if you don't want to get ripped off."

"What's the problem?"

"Mundungus Fletcher is the problem," Remus growled. "I know Albus likes him for some reason, but he's trying to rip you off on top of the seven percent you were going to pay him. I asked him what the going rate of venom was and he told me it's a hundred galleons an ounce. As I told you, the book said it was one fifty two years ago, so I became suspicious. I owled the author of the book to see if he knew what the current prices were and I just got his reply. He says it's a hundred seventy-five an ounce right now. Fletcher is trying to rip you off."

"Wasn't that dangerous?" Harry asked. "Didn't he want to know where you were getting Basilisk venom from?"

"I'm using a werewolf friend to make contact. As I told you, werewolves have a tendency to keep a foot in the not so legal world so he knows what to say and what not to say."

"Can your friend be trusted? And can ze author suggest a more 'onest purchaser?" Fleur asked.

"The author included the name of the buyer he got his price from in his owl. Said he was very reputable," Remus replied. "Of course reputable is a very subjective term. I didn't want to contact him until I cleared it with you. As for my friend, he's not a friend of the Ministry and if we give him something like a percent, he'd be a good go between to buffer the sell."

Harry looked at Fleur, "What do you think?"

"Contact ze buyer zrough your friend," She said to Remus. "See what 'e can do, especially on prices and percentages. Someone probably should talk to Professor Dumbledore. If we go around 'is recommendation, 'e will want to know why. Maybe we can still use zis Fletcher person but get ze current prices from zis other buyer to keep 'im in line. If we do stay with 'im, we reduce 'is commission to five percent for ze dishonesty. If 'e 'as a problem with eet, I'll be glad to discuss it with 'im."

Remus raised an eyebrow at the no nonsense directions from Fleur. He turned to Harry. "Got to love a woman who can take charge."

"Paws off Moony," Harry replied smiling. "That's my lady and she is quite special."

"She…in fact all of the young ladies remind me a lot of your mother Harry," Remus said. "She was lady who could take a bull by the horns and make it whimper if she got in temper. Though she was a force to be reckoned with she still had a heart of gold."

....

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