The founder's magic
Disclaimer: Each and every one of the characters you recognize don't belong to me but to the wonderful JKR.
Hermione Granger, 25 years old, hurried through the halls of the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Her sensible heels clicked on the cool stone while she brushed a strand of chocolate brown hair out of her eyes. The young charms teacher was on her way towards the great hall. It was summer break at the moment, and the Order of the Phoenix was holding a meeting at the prestigious school. Professor McGonagall, both headmistress of Hogwarts as well as head of the order, wanted to talk about the situation on continental Europe. Sadly, it was far from peaceful right now.
Hermione sighed sadly. Everything had turned out wrong. After the fall of Voldemort, she had been sure that the wizarding world would be peaceful once more. But she had been far off the mark – barely two years after the last Death Eater had been shipped off to Azkaban, a new dark force had risen. The dark witch Gwendoline Delacrux had started to gather followers all over Europe. In just a few years, she had managed to raise an army through her resolute anti-muggle agenda and her hatred for all muggle-borns. An army that was strong enough to take on the ministries of magic on the continent.
By now, Delacrux had already overthrown the magical government of France, Germany and Russia. Every single member of the resistance, which the Order of the Phoenix was a part of, was forced to act out of the underground. They had to use guerrilla tactics to weaken the influence of the seemingly unbeatable witch. Even the aurors had allied themselves with the resistance. But their enemies were just too strong – slowly but surely, the resistance was losing ground. In the last week alone, more than 20 fighters had fallen, even more had been injured – sometimes in a life-threatening way. The situation didn't look good at all. Only the British Ministry of Magic was still resisting the ever growing influence of the dark wizards.
Even Harry and Ron, both aurors, fought in the fights on the continent. Hermione was always worried as soon as they were off on a mission. Hermione herself tried to research dark curses and their counter-curses to give the order an advantage in the fight.
Hogwarts had become the headquarters of the resistance – Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were already under the thumb of the dark witch and Hogwarts was the only safe haven in all off Europe. The wards protecting the school were almost impossible to overcome. Additionally, Hogwarts was the only magical school in all of Europe that still welcomed students born to muggle parents. All of this made Hogwarts into a prime target for Delacrux. Hermione was sure that todays meeting would bring more bad news for the school – during the last days, Minerva McGonagall had been even more concerned than before.
Hermione reached the great hall and entered the room through its gigantic doors. The enchanted ceiling showed a thunderstorm, matching the mood of the order members within its walls. Hermione greeted Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, first. Lost in his thoughts, the member of the Order of the Phoenix stood beside the entrance.
"Hello, Kingsley", Hermione greeted him. "I hope the situation in the ministry hasn't gone from bad to worse?"
The minister smiled slightly at her. "Hello, Hermione. I wish I could say that it's going to be okay, but that would be a lie. It's only a matter of time until Delacrux tries to attack the ministry directly."
The young witch shook her head sadly. "This doesn't sound good at all", she spoke quietly. "I kind of hope you are wrong in that aspect."
Kingsley laughed, though it sounded forced. "I kind of hope so, too, Hermione. Why don't you go over to Harry and Ron and talk to them? You haven't seen them in a while."
Hermione looked at him sadly once more before she crossed the hall to greet her friends.
"Hi, Harry, Hi Ron! I'm so glad to have you back in one piece. I was so worried when you went to France for your last mission."
Harry and Ron stood up and hugged their friend. "We're glad to see you, too", said Ron, grinning. "But you shouldn't have worried, the mission went along splendidly. I took out five of Delacrux soldiers myself, and Harry even managed to take out seven." Harry nodded at her encouragingly. "Exactly, Hermione. Don't worry so much. We kind of learnt how to deal with dark wizards during auror training."
Hermione smiled at them. "I know, I know. I don't doubt your abilities in the slightest, it's just the sheer strength of the enemy forces that had me worried." Harry leaned forward and ruffled through her hair. "Eh, Hermione, I understand what you're on about. But think on it – we defeated Voldemort while we've only been children. I think we can manage a few dark wizards."
Ron nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly. We were only just eleven when we defeated him for the first time – and from that moment onward, we only managed to get ourselves into more dangerous situations as the years continued. Just trust in us – trust in our ability to look after ourselves when it comes to dark magic.
Hermione huffed, straightening her hair again. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. I believe you. But still – be very careful! Delacrux soldiers are dangerous! Don't get too cocky!"
Her friends promised to be careful just as Professor McGonagall entered the room. The murmurs in the great hall silenced instantly. Every single member of the order sat down while McGonagall went to her chair in the middle of the room. She had barely sat down when she started speaking.
"Welcome in Hogwarts. I'm glad you all managed to come here today – even though I haven't got good news to share with you today. Before I start with the unpleasant news, however, I would like to ask Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley to share the news of their last mission in France. Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley?"
Both aurors rose to their feet and nodded at McGonagall. Harry cleared his throat quietly before he started to talk.
"Everything went well – just as planned." Happy murmurs filled the great hall. "We could free some of the prisoners of war that Delacrux had been hiding near Lille. Many of them were in awful condition, but still – we managed to free 63 witches and wizards in total. At the moment, they are at a secure location which is protected by the Fidelius charm. And because I am their secret keeper, they are safe from Delacrux for the moment."
A short round of applause shook the great hall before McGonagall gestured at them to sit again.
"Good news, finally", the headmistress said, smiling. "We managed to strengthen our position on the continent with this. And Delacrux has lost some of her self-assuredness. She now knows that she's got a traitor in her midst. That will make her nervous and might give us an advantage."
Some of the order members couldn't hide their grins.
McGonagall continued. "Let's now come to the news from Great Britain. Kingsley, if you could explain the situation to the others, please?"
"Of course, Minerva.", said the Minister of Magic while he rose from his seat. "As of now, Delacrux hasn't attacked the British ministry directly. But, according to out informations, it is only a matter of time until she tries. Her attacks on British soil are increasing. This brings us into a dangerous situation.", the dark-skinned wizard said as he looked at the order members individually. "I regret to have to inform you of this, but we have to withdraw all of our forces from continental Europe. Our first priority is now the homeland security."
Quite a few order members, amongst them Arthur Weasley, jumped to their feet at this admission. "But Kingsley", the Weasley patriarch said. "If we withdraw our forces the resistance on the continent will surely lose! The aurors have to stay!" Everyone in the great hall seemed to agree with him.
Shacklebolt shook his head, deep in thought. "I'm truly sorry, but there is no other way. If Great Britain falls, then all hope for Europe is lost. We can't let that happen. Securing Britain has to be our top priority at the moment. If we fail, even Hogwarts isn't secure any longer." He paused. "But still, there is some good news, too. At the moment, I'm deep in talks with my Chinese colleague and his parliament. If he has his way, we can count on the support of the Chinese aurors. That would be a major advantage in this war."
Bill Weasley raised his voice. "What are the chances that the Chinese aurors will come to our aid?"
Kingsley thought for a minute before he replied. "I think our chances are pretty good. I'm about 90 percent sure, that the Chinese will aid us in our fight."
Professor McGonagall nodded at him. "Indeed, this would be a great advantage in our fight. The Chinese aurors are very good when it comes to dealing with dark wizards. Let's just hope for the best – I am sure they will help."
She waited for a moment, drew in a deep breath and continued. "There is one more matter that we've got to discuss today", she said. Her lips were formed into an angry hard line. "I'm afraid to say that I've got more bad news for you. Our spy in Delacrux' inner circle alerted me to the fact that from now on, Hogwarts is Delacrux top priority. She wants to destroy the school."
"We can't let that happen!"
"There had to be a way to stop her, to protect the school!"
"I won't let her enter the school – this is my home!"
"Over my dead body!"
The great hall was overcome with chaos. "SILENCE!", McGonagall yelled suddenly, instantly quieting the infuriated screams of the order members. "It won't do us any good if everyone screams out his opinions on the matter. We have to form a plan to ensure that the dark witch won't be successful. We have to ask ourselves – what would the founders of this school do if they knew that Hogwarts was in danger?"
As soon as she had spoken, the ground beneath the great hall shook; reminding the order members of an earthquake. Everyone jumped to their feet, some drew their wands. "Is is already time?", Luna Lovegood whispered. "Is this her attack already?"
But it wasn't an attack. The walls of the great hall started to shimmer in a ghostly green light. For a moment, it looked as if the school was about to collapse under the weight of that light, but that wasn't the case. Somehow, the light started to move towards the entrance hall. There was a loud noise, as if made by a gong, and suddenly, it was silent again. Even the ground didn't shake any longer.
Hermione, close behind Harry, Ron and McGonagall, ran towards the entrance hall. As they arrived, their friends stopped so suddenly that Hermione crashed into their bodies and took them down with her.
"Gee, Hermione, can't you pay better attention?", muttered Ron while he inspected his head for injuries. Rapidly, the three friends got up again and stared at the sight that met their eyes.
Right in front of them, there wasn't just a shell-shocked McGonagall, but four additional wizards and witches. Hermione could feel the power they radiated. There were two men and two women – and they looked awfully familiar to Hermione.
"But... but... this cannot be!", McGonagall said finally. "These are the four founders of Hogwarts!" The whole order had by now assembled behind them and eyed the unfolding scene with intrigue and surprise.
One of the two men laughed and took a step forward. "You are right, of course, we are the four founders of this school", said the brown-haired man. "I am Godric Gryffindor. This one over there", he spoke as he pointed towards a thin man with long, black hair, "is Salazar Slytherin. And these enchanting ladies are Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff."
The elegant, dark-haired lady that Gryffindor had identified as Rowena Ravenclaw, opened her mouth to speak. "We know that the school is in grave danger. This fact triggered an old protective enchantment of the school, which I developed together with Salazar."
Salazar Slytherin nodded. "Even though Hogwarts accepts mudbloods at the moment, I couldn't stand by and let some French witch destroy my life's work. We will make sure that the school stays safe."
Helga Hufflepuff spoke next. "The enchantment that raised us from the dead just a few minutes ago isn't complete yet. We'll have to raise the most powerful witches and wizards that ever roamed the school for it to be completed. These magicians, bound by our magic, will do anything in their power to protect the castle – as do we, the founders, ourselves. We won't let anyone destroy the school, and this will secure our victory."
Professor McGonagall was the first one to speak. "Dear founders... I thank you. We didn't have much hope left. But your magic will make sure that the castle will still stand a thousand years from now. Please – continue to finish this extraordinary magic."
The four founders nodded at her, all but one smiling. "I think it's better if we take this outside, though", said Gryffindor. "I don't think there is enough room for all these witches and wizards on the inside."
Hermione was still speechless as she followed the founders to the grounds of Hogwarts. Shortly after that, the founders began to work their magic. The same greenish light that had filled the great hall just minutes before now filled the grounds. There was this gong again and then...
Then, there weren't only the assembled order members and the founders in front of Hogwarts, but dozens of other magicians. Some of them, Hermione recognized instantly: Severus Snape, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore – and Tom Marvolo Riddle.