Well, I promised myself I wouldn't post this until I had a plot, but I'm breaking my own rule. I will try very hard not to let this one die, honestly! I don't know how long it will be, but I do know that it won't be all from Padma's POV and that there will indeed be lots of slash (and femslash, so be warned.) Enjoy!
1: missive
For six years, Padma Patil had been the brightest witch in Ravenclaw. Not in the entire school – no, that was pleasure was reserved for Hermione Granger – but certainly in Ravenclaw. It was widely accepted that her name would one day be placed on the plaque in the common room, the one bearing the names of those students judged worthy enough by Ravenclaw standards, stretching in an unbroken chain all the way back to Rowena Ravenclaw herself. She was the sixth year prefect and provider of homework help for most of the rest of Ravenclaw House. She was almost completely content.
She sat now in the common room, looking against at the note she had received earlier. It was an invitation to some kind o exclusive study society, nothing out of the ordinary. Padma received and rejected such things. She had long ago perfected a courteous but firm refusal formula, which she now prepared to write. But as she bent down to snag a sheet of parchment, she caught the glimmer of a very well cast series of illusions. Intrigued, she looked more closely at the note. Sure enough, the formulaic invitation was no more than a disguise. She picked up her wand and began to methodically and skillfully unravel the layers. When she finally reached the last of them, she hesitated momentarily. What is it was some kind of trap? Then she shook her head impatiently. Who would want to trap her? She was no Harry Potter! She was simply Padma Patil, the second brightest witch of her generation.
With a slightly impatient sigh, she undid the last of the illusions. She studied the missive that was now revealed.
Miss Patil,
It is my duty to inform you that you have been selected as one of the four Keepers of Knowledge. You are expected to report to the Headmaster's office this evening promptly at 8:30 pm.
The note was unsigned and the writing was unfamiliar. Padma reread it, trying to ignore the thrill of mystery trickling through her. She forced herself to think logically, reminding herself that she had a twin who was impetuous enough for both of them. Keeping that in mind, she rose and moved to the pedestal in one corner of the room. The library in the Ravenclaw common room was extensive, and some ingenious person had long ago installed a cataloguing system. Now, all one had to do was ask and the books one needed would come.
Padma placed one had on the pedestal and spoke, her voce quiet and controlled. "The Keepers of Knowledge." She waited. Nothing came. She hadn't really been expecting it. After all, why go to all the trouble of putting such complex security measures on the note if it was something that anyone could just look up? She frowned slightly. She hated admitting defeat, and her apparent inability to discover anything was most definitely a defeat. She left the pedestal slowly, then doubled back and plucked a battered copy of Hogwarts: a History off the shelf. It never hurt to try, after al.
She returned to her seat, book in hand, and carefully opened it. She had read it many times, but she began any the beginning anyway, carefully scanning the pages for the key words she wanted. This was a skill se had learned long ago, and she was once again grateful that her mother had taken the time to teach it to her.
She had almost finished the book when she found it. A small paragraph tucked in between two longer ones.
Some claim there is another secret society at Hogwarts, one completely unrelated to any others and stretching back far further. In fact, there are those who would go so far as to say that it goes all the way back to the founders themselves. Such claims are, however, unproven. Little is known about this group, if it even exists at all. If the stories are true, the members of this society, documented as either the Pillars of Hogwarts or the Keepers of Knowledge, are in possession of knowledge not even scholars possess. There are those who even go so far as to speculate that this knowledge has the power to spell doom for Hogwarts and even our entire society. Needless to say, these claims are unfounded and most likely untrue."
Padma stared at the passage, doing her best to internalize the words. Could it be true? Was this just someone's idea of a very bad joke? If it was, she certainly wasn't laughing. She didn't realize that she was clutching the book with whitened knuckles until a familiar voice asked, "Padma?"
She looked up into the wide eyes of her twin, so similar and yet so different from her own. She unclenched her hands, making sure that the book was undamaged. Without a word, she passed both the book and the note to her sister, waiting for Parvati to take it. When Parvati looked up, her eyes were sparkling with mischievous excitement. "Are you going to go?" she asked.
Padma sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "Should I?"
She knew her sister's answer even before Parvati opened her mouth. "Of course you should go! Why wouldn't you?"
Padma shrugged. "It could be a joke," she reminded Parvati.
"Or it could be real," Parvati countered. "You'll never know unless you look."
"True," Padma admitted slowly. Parvati grinned, sensing a victory close at hand.
"Come on darling," she wheedled. "Do it for me!"
Padma rolled her eyes. "Cut it out Parvati," she said.
"Say you'll go!" Parvati insisted.
"What will you do to me if I don't?" Padma asked warily.
Parvati considered this, a crafty look sneaking onto her face. "I'll invite you next time Lavender and I go to Hogsmeade."
Padma winced, correctly interpreting this as, 'I'll drag you kicking and screaming and force you to endure what is almost certainly considered cruel and unusual punishment.' On the whole, Padma would rather avoid that fate. "All right, I'll go." Stubbornness compelled her to add, "But you, my dear, will pay if this is nothing more than a joke."
Parvati flashed a dazzling smile. "Wonderful!" she gushed. She rose gracefully, tugging here and there until her robes hung perfectly once again. "I'll see you at dinner," she promised. Padma didn't reply. Parvati eyed her for a moment, then floated across the common room and out the door. Padma watched her go, wishing for a moment that she were as beautiful as her sister. Then she remembered the long hours Parvati put into being beautiful and reconsidered. She had other things to spend her time on.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. 7 o'clock. She had an hour and a half before she had to report to Professor Dumbledore's office. She wasn't hungry – nervous anticipation was just the thing to deaden hunger pains – and she had homework she could be doing. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and silently summoned her Arithmancy textbook. It zoomed into her hands and she opened it to the unit they were currently studying. She picked up a piece of parchment from the ever-present pile on the large table in the middle of the common room and began to solve equations neatly and precisely. She liked Arithmancy and the fact that she was good at it made her try that much harder.
Eventually, she had no more work to do. She checked each of her answers several times, boxed them in with swift strokes of her quill, and wrote her full name at the top of the parchment. Glancing up, she saw that it was now 8 o'clock. 30 minutes left. She looked around for something else to do. Luna Lovegood's blond head caught her eye. Despite herself, Padma leaned forward, idly listening as Luna chattered.
"…and they're very rare! My father says that there are only a few hundred unicorn people left in the world."
"Where do they live?" That was first year Kristy Zula. Clearly she didn't know better than to egg Luna on.
"In the steppes," Luna said airily. "And parts of China. The legends say that they bring good luck to people. Their horns can heal any wound and they can purify water."
"So how are they different from normal unicorns?" Kristy pressed.
"They walk on two legs," Luna answered promptly. "They look like us, but they have long silvery hair and flatter teeth. And they have horns, of course."
Padma rolled her eyes and stopped listening. Clearly Luna was just as odd this year as ever. She looked at the clock again. 8:17. she gave up and banished her textbook back to its place by the fire. She rolled up her homework, slipped it into her book bag, and stood, folding the note carefully and putting it into her pocket. She glanced once more at Luna, shrugged, and walked briskly towards the door.
Once in the hall, she began to make her way towards Professor Dumbledore's office. She deliberately walked slowly, not wanting to be ridiculously early. Even so, she arrived in front of the gargoyle with 5 minutes to spare. She let her book bag fall to the ground, fishing out a brand new copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and plunging into their world.
Five pages later, a noise drew her back to the present. A fair haired girl slowed to a halt, looking at Padma with bright blue eyes.
"Hello Padma," Susan Bones said. "Did you get one too?"
Padma nodded. Susan was a casual friend, her partner in Arithmancy, one of the two people in her year who could keep up with Padma academically.
"What do you think?" Susan asked.
Padma shrugged. "I don't know." She explained about the paragraph inHogwarts: a History.
Susan was quiet for a long moment after Padma had finished. Before she could say anything, the sound of raised voices came from the hallway. Padma winced, easily recognizing Draco Malfoy's cultured drawl and Harry Potter's enraged roar.
"Well," Susan said, her calm seemingly unruffled, "the note did say there would be four of us."
Padma groaned. "Why did it have to be them?" she demanded. "Surely Gryffindor and Slytherin have other people to represent them!"
Susan shrugged. "Apparently not."
The bickering pair burst into view. Padma didn't even know what they were shouting about this time, but it had both of them completely oblivious to anything else.
"Shutup about my parents, Malfoy!" Harry roared. His face was red and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.
Malfoy sneered. "I'm only pointing out a fact."
Susan stepped forward, drawing attention to herself. Padma winced at that. She supposed Susan only wanted to stop them before they got to throwing curses around along with their words, but it was still an extremely risky thing to do.
"What are you doing here?" Malfoy asked, eyeing her with distaste.
"I was invited," she said, her calm unphased by his hostility. "As were you."
Malfoy grimaced. "What a shame," he drawled. "With you and Potter both, I could almost be slumming."
Padma growled, anger coursing through her. "Shut up!" she hissed. Her hand twitched towards her wand. Malfoy took a step back, eyeing her warily. Padma knew quite well that she was more talented than he was, and he apparently did too.
"What's it to you?" he snarled.
"Susan's my friend," Padma told him. "Apologize to her!"
Malfoy's face turned an ugly crimson. "What did you say?' he spluttered.
"Apologize to her," Padma repeated, drawing her wand all the way. His face drained of blood and he looked form her face to her wand with visible apprehension. Finally, he glowered and her and turned to Susan, completely ignoring Harry.
"I apologize," he said stiffly. "It was wrong of me to say such things." He turned his glare back towards Padma. His eyes were sparkling with rage and humiliation. "Satisfied?" he ground out through clenched teeth.
Padma nodded, the exhilaration of victory still flooding through her. She pulled out her watch and glanced at it. 8:3-. She turned to look at the gargoyle masking the entrance to the Headmaster's Office just as it ground into motion. Padma jumped, emitting a very audible squeak. Malfoy laughed. Harry glared at him.
Padma took a deep breath and stepped towards the moving staircase. Susan followed, the boys half a step behind.
"You shouldn't have done that," Susan muttered as they rode. "You've made him into an enemy."
Padma sighed. "I know. He just makes me so angry!"
Susan nodded, her expression thoughtful. "You know," she said slowly, "sometimes I wonder…" she trailed off, lost in thought.
"What?" Padma asked, when no more seemed to be forthcoming.
Susan shook her head. "Never mind,' she said.
Padma might have pressed her friend further, but they had reached the end of the staircase and the sight of the door leading to Professor Dumbledore's office was enough to drive all the questions from her mind. She paused, suddenly apprehensive.
"Well?" Malfoy's acid etched drawl brought her out of her momentary hesitation. She might wonder exactly was they were all doing here, she might even wonder if it was all a trap, but there was not way she was going to let him see that. She knocked on the door.
It swung open silently, exposing on the of the most fascinating rooms Padma had ever seen. It was stuffed almost to bursting with curios and gadgets, many of which whirled and popped rather alarmingly. Four overstuffed chairs sat in a half circle by the roaring fire, and a golden stand was shoved into the opposite corner. A molten red phoenix dozed on it, its head tucked neatly beneath a wing. Yet, despite the mass of items, the room managed to appear cozy, not cluttered. Padma looked around, eyes wide. She caught the telltale silvery-blue gleam of a pensieve, carefully balanced in a half open cupboard. Above hung a blood-encrusted sword, the giant ruby gleaming enticingly from the pommel.
"Do take a seat." Padma jumped, turning around so fast she almost ran into Susan. Professor Dumbledore stood there, her blue eyes surveying them calmly from under half-moon spectacles.
"Professor, what…?" Harry began, but Professor Dumbledore cut hi off with a gentle shake of his head.
"All in good time, Harry. All in good time," he said, smiling slightly. He gestured one more towards the chairs. The four moved towards them, Harry and Malfoy each claiming an end, only realizing too late that this put them directly across from each other. They grimaced and looked away. Padma found herself between Harry and Susan, facing directly into the fire.
"That was brilliant earlier," Harry murmured, leaning towards her.
"It was stupid," Padma muttered back.
"He deserved it," Harry insisted. He shot a vicious glare at Malfoy. "He's never going to be able to live this down!"
Padma sighed, knowing that he was probably right.
Dumbledore wanted to the center of their half circle, seating himself on a stool with his back to the fire. The phoenix, apparently fully awake now, glided over and landed perched on his knee. Dumbledore stroked its back idly as he looked at each of their faces in turn. The silence stretched on, becoming more and more uncomfortable by the moment.
Finally, Padma had to break the silence. "Professor, are the stories true?"
Everyone turned to look at her. Dumbledore nodded approvingly. "You've done your homework, Miss Patil. I expected no less of you."
Padma looked down at her hands to avoid Malfoy's sneer.
"How much do you know about the founders of Hogwarts?"
Padma blinked at the apparent change of topic. Before she could answer, Harry spoke up. "They built Hogwarts and taught there for years. Slytherin," here he paused to glare meaningfully at Malfoy, "didn't want to teach non purebloods, and he left after a while."
"Prejudiced, as always," Malfoy muttered. "Slytherin had more reasons for leaving than just that."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Then you tell the story, if you know so much about it."
"Fine." Malfoy glared at them all. "Slytherin was an honorable man, but one… matter was slightly beyond his control. He recognized this, and the issue of which students to accept only hurried his decision."
Harry frowned. "In English, Malfoy. I don't speak snobbish git."
Malfoy's fists clenched. "He fell in love," he said bluntly. "With Gryffindor."
Padma's mouth fell open in shock as she tried to comprehend what Malfoy was saying. Harry was already on his feet, advancing on Malfoy, his face murderous. "Gryffindor. Was. Not. Gay!" he roared, sparks flying from his wand to land on the carpet, where they smoldered softly until Dumbledore glanced at them.
"I never said the love was returned," Malfoy pointed out. "Which only goes to confirm the fact that Gryffindors have no taste."
Padma found her voice then. "How do you know all this?" she demanded, staring at Malfoy.
He eyed her scornfully. "House history," he said. "Surely Ravenclaw has some of its own."
"Of course we do," Padma snapped. "But that's different." She realized suddenly what she'd said and blushed. She glanced apologetically at Susan, who only shrugged.
"Of course it is," Malfoy sneered. "Because you of the eagle are so high above the rest of us you couldn't expect us to be anywhere near the same level. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but Slytherin's history is just as rich and well documented as your own."
Harry, who still hadn't returned to his seat, snorted loudly. Malfoy eyed him malevolently. "Do you have something to add, Potter?" he asked icily.
Harry opened his mouth to retaliate, but Susan beat him to it. "Instead of bickering pointlessly, why don't we find out why we're here."
Both Malfoy and Harry turned to glower at her. Padma nodded. "She's right. She turned to Professor Dumbledore, the question clear on her face.
"Please sit down Harry," Dumbledore said. Still scowling, Harry sat. "Now, there is a reason why I summoned you all here. Miss Patil, what exactly did you discover about the Keepers of Knowledge."
Padma shrugged. "Not much," she admitted. "Just that they're supposed to know things no one else does, things that, apparently, could spell the doom of Hogwarts and the wizarding world."
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth turned up in a half smile. "An essentially correct, if someone apocalyptic description. In reality, the Keepers of Knowledge are no more than historians, learning and recalling the histories that others have forgotten."
Susan leaned forward, intrigued. Like the ancient bards?"
"Precisely," Professor Dumbledore said in approval.
"And we're the next generation."
"Exactly. Ten points to Hufflepuff."
Malfoy sneered at that. Padma glared at him. Dumbledore pretended not to notice.
"What do we have to do, exactly?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing as he studied Dumbledore.
Dumbledore smiled benignly. "Nothing at all," he promised. "You only need to learn and remember the histories."
Padma breathed a small sigh of relief. She could manage that easily enough.
"Where will we learn the histories?" Susan asked.
"I will relate them to you over the course of this year. We will meet once a week from here until the end of the year, and I will relate the tales of your heritage."
Malfoy frowned. "I assume when you say 'all year,' you are not counting the Holidays."
"I am indeed counting Holidays," Dumbledore corrected. "I trust that this will not be a problem, Mr. Malfoy?"
"I won't be here over Christmas," Malfoy said bluntly.
"I am very sorry to hear that. Are you absolutely certain you cannot be here?"
Malfoy nodded stiffly. His entire body was rigid, and he was staring resolutely away from both Harry and Dumbledore.
"Then we have even less time to waste than we did before."
Padma could tell that this surprised Malfoy. Dumbledore saw it too, and he shook his head. "I am not going to ask you to leave, Mr. Malfoy. You will simply not hear two of the chapters of the history. I am sure you will survive."
Padma's eyes widened. She'd never known Dumbledore to be sarcastic.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed. He looked hard at Dumbledore, then nodded jerkily. "Yes, I expect I will."
Padma looked from one to the other, certain that they were speaking in some kind of code she didn't understand. The look in Malfoy's hard gray eyes prevented her from asking out loud, but she couldn't help wondering.
Dumbledore looked at them all, still stroking the phoenix. "Shall we begin?"
They all nodded, Malfoy a beat behind the others. Dumbledore closed his eyes, and the atmosphere in the room shifted perceptively. When he opened them again, they were distant, as though he saw, not them, but other people, people in a time long long ago. His hand stilled on the phoenix' back, and he began.
Author's note: the next chapter will be way way back and about the founders. I think I will do it that way for the rest of the story: one chapter present, one chapter past. Sorry if that's confusing to you. Oh, and major thanks go to D0nQuix0te, whose story The Four Founders got me interested in them in the first place. It's a wonderful story which all of you should read!
--kyra
