Chapter 36: Dungeon Loot!
Regulus died before his time, and he wasn't able to snatch the original locket from the cave. That means, the locket is there untouched.
The Gaunt Shack is undisturbed as well, so that is another of the Horcrux. The Cup needs to be searched for, but Bella had no reason to believe it was under any threat, so that should be in place, unless Riddle made a play for it.
And Diadem is in Hogwarts, until someone does something about it.
That means, if I kill Riddle, before he goes after the baby Potter, I can kill him, before he gets to make his first living Horcrux, either the snake or the boy.
But I need to track down the Diary, and that means Lucius Malfoy just found himself stumbling on my radar.
Unlike others, he doesn't need to die. And he can be spared, as he is an ideal politician. He bribes and ferrets his way out, has needless self-importance, and will offer to pay anything to spare his life.
I think, I should make a play for him first, and preferably the Hallows too, but that is all for later.
I cannot actually destroy any Horcrux, until I have them all, or else Riddle will make another one in secret, or hide away like a snake inside a deep hole.
I needed to make a lot of moves, in very little time and I know, I have a tool which allows me to do just that: give me more time!
I came to the drawing room, to find my parents prepared and geared for an adventure. My father wore his Unspeakable robes, which hid his face and magical signature, and my mother wore her combat gear, which she wore during her professional career as a Hitwizard.
I saw them carrying a shrunk briefcase and a mokeskin pouch, which was under a Notice-me-not charm.
I made them come closer, and we wore the Timeturner around our necks, to travel back exactly ten hours.
It was late night in Britain, and I hadn't made my debut at the Ministry yet. I needed to hurry up, and make the play quickly.
We reached the Lestrange Manor, and my father set to break the wards, while my mother cast a diagnostic spell on the wards and the surrounding area.
There was noone at the manor, and it seems there hasn't been anyone here for quite some time.
We walked past the gate, and we apparated inside searching under the protection of the cloak.
We were searching for a cup, the appearance of which, I explained exactly to my parents.
We looked for a muggle-style safe behind a portrait, and after a while, we found a wall transfigured in the personal bedroom.
Mother broke the wall down, and we saw a flight of stairs going downwards into darkness. I was going to step my foot and climb down, but my mother held me back silently, and motioned me to watch.
She cast a diagnostic charm, and revealed a hidden set of traps, with nasty dark curses that would make me want to beg to be allowed to die.
There was a magical equivalent of a trip wire here, and the most basic of curses in the traps, made my bones vanish from the body. The dark curses seem to escalate in their propensity, and this was merely at the entrance of the stairs.
We found quite a few traps, which my parents collectively took care of, and I realised what capable parents I had, when they were dismantling wards and traps like filing their nails, almost too effortlessly and like it was second nature to them.
I realised there was quite a lot of gap I had to bridge, and just because I was able to kill unsuspecting wizards, doesn't mean I am in any meaningful way, comparable in power to even the weakest grunt whose wand is stored in my hammerspace.
We reached a room below the manor, where there was a golden cup on a velvet pillow. Bella had also placed a lot of darkest of the artefacts she had, along with a lot of bits and pieces of jewellery and other enchanted items, which were numerous and probably equally interesting. I decided to not dally here any longer, and nodding at my parents, made them all transfer in my hammerspace. The Cup, apparently refused to be accepted in that space.
I tried it again, and it failed.
It seems, Horcruxes are truly considered living, instead of passive Phylactery items. It also means, if I ever decided to make a Horcrux, I cannot protect it inside my hammerspace, not that I am willing to doom my sanity by splitting my soul.
We stored the Cup in one of the Jade boxes, with lead lining, and mom cast a Blasting hex at the room.
There was another room which was apparently hidden, and this one seemed like the motherlode of treasures, as it had gold, and other precious belongings piling into a small hill at least eight feet tall.
I stored them all in unbridled greed, and laughed like a maniac, when my mother dragged me by my collar as I laughed inside my cloak, at my dungeon loot.
After emptying the Manor of everything not tied down with a nail, we exited the manor in the same evasive procedure as before.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone