Disclaimer: I'm not JKR. Sadly.
"This is… giant!" said Hermione, staring at the basilisk corpse in awe.
"It also stinks. Why are we here again?" Ronald Weasley grumbled.
Harry held up a large book. "Because of this Ron"
It was a few days after the incident in the Chamber. Ron and Harry were packing to go home, Ron excitedly, Harry gloomily. In an effort to distract his friend from the impending weeks with the Dursleys, Ron asked, "Where's Hermione? She can't be in the library at this time!"
Before Harry could reply, however, the girl in question came rushing in. "Ron, Harry, you have to look at this!"
"What?" asked Harry in confusion. Hermione looked around, and seeing no one around, sat down at the edge of Ron's bed.
"Madam Pince had to go to the infirmary to give a book to Madame Pomphrey so she left, forgetting that I was in the library. The minute she left, this appeared in front of me!"
She placed a large tome in front of them.
"What do you mean it just… appeared?" asked Ron, aghast.
"Exactly that. It just turned up in front of me, and then I heard Madame Pince coming back so I just placed it in my bag and ran here"
Harry gingerly picked it up and opened it. His green eyes widened. "Whoa. Ron, look at this"
Ron moved so he was sitting on Harry's other side and began to read over his shoulder, as did Hermione.
'Listen to us, the four voices of unity!
Learn of the old tales of yore!
Of courage, wit, loyalty and cunning,
Of sin and betrayal, of pride and prejudice;
The fine lines between law and justice, innocence and corruption,
Between Light and freedom, oppression and manipulation.
For a time of great peril shall arrive
'A war,' most shall say, 'between light and dark'
'A conspiracy, 'less shall believe, 'to obtain power'
'A battle,' some shall think, 'carved by fate, and won with love'
But heed our plea, these words from the founders four,
To those who know, both the price and prize,
That comes hand-in-hand with Victory
Which is seldom related to peace.
Find the gems of unity,
Rebuild old beliefs, and rise from the ashes!
Depend not on authority, but on trust
Use the knowledge of books, spells from myths,
Find the heirs of the first traits above
Unite with friends, allies, shades of grey
Form the army of Britannia, lead them with strength!
Let the emblem of the Phoenix, the flag of freedom fly free once more!'
"What does it mean?" Harry asked, bewildered.
Hermione took the book from him and frowned at it. "I think it is definitely something involving the Founders. It mentions them"
"That is kind of obvious. But what is on the next page?" said Ron, turning the page as he spoke.
Nothing. The page was blank.
"This is odd. What do we do now?" asked Ron, frowning, all thoughts of packing and going home forgotten.
"Maybe… we need to go the chamber!" said Hermione, jumping up.
"WHAT?" Ron and Harry shouted at the same time. "Why there?"
"Like I said before, this… extract mentions 'the founders four'. It makes sense that we might find some clues as to what this has to do with them there!"
"But… Slytherin didn't tell anyone about it!"
Hermione shook her head, her brows furrowed. "I don't think so. Hogwarts: a History said the wards were tied to all four of them. The castle is also sentient. It would most definitely have informed them of the chamber. So somehow, somewhere, history must have gotten something wrong"
So this was why they were back in the chamber. Harry frowned at the book. He closed it and as he did, he got a good look at the cover. His eyes narrowed. "Look at this!"
His friends gathered around him. "What is it," asked Ron.
Harry showed them the book cover. It was made of hard black dragon hide. It was lined with a hard metal on which several symbols were inscribed. In the centre was a large diamond shaped pit, ruining the smooth surface of the cover. There were symbols carved in there as well.
"Curiouser and curiouser," murmured Hermione, studying it carefully. "Those symbols look familiar but I can't seem to put a finger on what they are called!"
"I know what those are! They are runes!" Ron said, his blue eyes widening in excitement. "Bill taught me about them. He is a curse breaker so he has to be an expert on them. Pretty tough subject"
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Of course! That's why it looked familiar! We shall have to research!" Her face dropped abruptly. "But the year is over! What are we going to do?"
Harry snapped his fingers. "I know. Ron you live near a magical village. Take Percy and Ginny into your confidence and go to the library. Take this book with you. Get the twins to cause a distraction or something while you're gone. Hermione, muggles have runes and hieroglyphics as well. I'll get Aunt Petunia to sign a library card for me so I can check in the Little Whinging public library. We can do this."
His friends stared at him in astonishment. They had only seen this side of Harry Potter once, and that was during their first year, when they discovered that Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone. Ron snapped out of it first. "Right. So should I keep the book with me then?"
Harry glanced at it. "Yes, I think you should. It's safest with you and you need something to prove what you are saying is true to your siblings".
Ron nodded and tucked the book under his arm as they left.
"You mean to say this book has something like a foretelling in it?" asked Percy slowly, as they sat in a compartment on the journey home. The twins exchanged looks, while Ginny looked warily at the book in Ron's hands.
"We don't really know," said Hermione," But it seems to only be visible to certain people"
"What do you mean?' said Percy, sharply. The Trio exchanged looks before turning back to the older boy.
"Well you see," began Harry. "Last night at the Leaving feast Ron dropped the book and Seamus picked it up before asking why Ron was holding a book of chess strategies while eating"
"I just went along with it and told him I was having a chess match against Dad when I got home and was looking for ideas," said Ron, his ears turning pink.
"I've heard of books charmed to look like that," said Percy, taking the book and turning it over slightly."They work sort of like sneakoscopes. Disapproving or suspicious people can't see it, so in a way it makes you cautious"
"Gred and I have a prank book in our trunk that works that way," agreed Fred.
"But remember, we never said that!" said George, putting his finger to his lips. Ginny snorted and turned back to the group.
"So what's the plan?"
Ron spoke up, his strategic mind spinning with possibilities even as he answered Ginny's question.
"Contact Bill and Charlie tomorrow without mum noticing. Harry can send Hedwig with a letter so we have an excuse. After that, Percy, Ginny and I can head down to the library while the twins… create a distraction. Mum will be too flustered to notice anything wrong about me going as well"
The Weasleys stared at their brother in awe. Ron flushed and Harry just patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Brilliant Ron!"