And Back!

On-Going Poll current Results at the bottom of the chapter! The Poll will close when this story reaches the Christmas Ball, when Harry locks in his relationship with the winner of the poll, please note I only count votes on the poll itself from now one, unless you are a Guest User. Replies to Reviews are also at the bottom


Chapter Two: Housekeeping.


Harry followed the family inside the manor, as two grand doors opened into a grand entrants hall, with marble pillars that starched to a high ceiling, the pillars seemed to vary in colour, from brilliant Crimson, rich royal blue, pale yellow and Deep green. There was two of each colour which stood proudly.

The floor was black Marble, and had seven doors on either side of the room, and at the end of the room was a large grand staircase, made of white marble, it seemed to curve upwards, before from what Harry could see two pathways lead deeper into the house, between the two staircases that lead up, was a massive pair of doors made of oak.

"It's beautiful" Harry looked around,

"Indeed, this is the entrance hall, where we greet guests, beyond those doors is the ball room, where we used to host the grandest Christmas balls, I believe that is a tradition that must resume shortly" Carionax told him, "Now there are seven wings of this mansion, the only places you must not go are the two highest towers and the dungeons, Second floor storage rooms, the towers are private offices for myself and Hyacinth, and the Dungeon… we'll just say it is not stable, and it is still full of traps which protect the vault"

Harry nodded, "I Understand"

"Now" Hyacinth drew out her wand and with a small flick a roll of parchment appeared and landed in Harry's pocket, "This is a map of the house, which, much like your fathers map, shows where people are within it"

Harry unrolled the parchment and saw their five names in the entrance hall,

"You'll see the parchment has 28 levels one for each of the wings, So on the ground floor, there is the Dragon wing, where the training halls are located, there are around twelve training rooms, so at least one of them is always empty and available for you to use at your leisure" Carionax told him, "it is also has access outside to the paddock where we are keeping our heard of Pegasus"

Harry nodded and found it on the map,

"Next is the Basalisk wing, where one of the potions labs are, mainly used to create poisons, it also has some passages that lead elsewhere and some of the guest rooms are." Hyacinth told Harry, "Phoenix and Hydra are both Guest wings, through those doors is the Wyvern wing, which has the Grand Ball Room in and leads to the main gardens, it also has the entrance hall"

"Then the final wing of the ground floor is the Mermaid wing, where we have our indoor and outdoor swimming pool, along with a sauna" Carionax told him, "Then on the first floor we have the Unicorn wing which is the first floor of the Library, the Kappa wing which is all rooms designed to help you study a verity of subjects, the Sphinx wing is where the Kitchens and food stores are, the Griffin wing is the main living area, Centaur is mainly storage, for trunks and unused objects… Chimera is the non-Poison Potion Lab, along with another store of ingredients, and the final wing is the Troll wing, which isn't used so all the rooms are empty"

"Third Level has only one used wing which is the Imp wing, which is the second floor of the library" Hyacinth told him, "The Hippogriff, Kelpie, Redcap, Giant, Dryad and Ghost are all store rooms, then on the third floor the Roc Wing is the third level of the Library, the Elf Wing is where the House elves live and sleep, Vampire wing is another guest wing, the Daemon wing is the dining halls, the spirit wing is where we store wands from death eaters that have sworn allegiance to us, the Lycan wing is another guest area, and the Pegasus wing is the games rooms"

"Then on the four floor we have the Manticore wing which is the top level of the library, the Thestral wing where you will be staying, the Dementor wing which is another guest area, the Acromantula wing which is storage, the Nundu wing where our rooms are, the Ashwinder wing is more guest rooms and the Yeti is more storage… then we're still trying to find a way onto the fifth floor" Carionax finished,

Harry nodded and as they said each of them, had found the location of each on the map,

"Now there are some House rules" Hyacinth told him, "First, any homework completed needs to be run past myself And Carionax, we have between us 13 Masteries, More NEWT'S AND nearly every OWL"

"This way we can guarantee you get a good grade, and help provide some information you may yet to have know, or we can refer you to a book in the Library to help you study further" Carionax explained, "We do the same for both Al and Prim"

"Second, breakfast is between seven–thirty and nine, lunch between tweleve and one thirty and dinner between six and seven-thirty" Hyacinth told him, "This helps you keep in the routine for school, and allows us all to discuss anything we wish to discuss, and eat what we choose"

"Third, no flying in the house, and no duelling outside of the rooms… this is a rule that…. Sometimes gets broken" Carionax added, "I warn you when Hyacinth and I disagree, it is usually wands drawn"

Harry nodded, "Then there are the basics, as you are fifteen, you should be heading to be around quarter past ten at the latest, the older you get the later you may remain up, I think that is about it, now let us head to your rooms"

"Rooms?" Harry asked,

"Of course, you will have four rooms to yourself, a sitting area, a bath room, a bedroom and a room to store you things, all connected" Carionax told him, as they began to walk up the stairs, Alistair and Primrose both charged off ahead, bags hovering above their heads.

As they walked in silence Harry looked around the carpets all seemed to be the same black colour but the walls were a pure white, with several pictures or artefacts against them every few feet, as they climbed the third set of stairs, they reached the final floor, this was more elegantly decorated than the lower floors, while still the same colour scheme as the lower floors, the walls now held a swirling golden and silver pattern,

Carionax walked down several corridors and arrived at a white wooden door, he drew out his wand and tapped the door lightly, Harry watched as a plaque appeared on the door and letters swirled on it,

Harry's Room

"And so it shall be for as long as you wish it" Carionax told him and the door opened, allowing Harry inside, he noticed all his things were neatly in a corner, and there was a golden cage containing Hedwig, currently fast asleep, "I shall leave you to get yourself organised, if you would like to change the décor, please let me know"

With that the door closed and Harry looked around, it was a nice size space, around the same size as the Dursley's living room, contained within were two bookcases, currently empty, a desk with a small lamp on, a pair of comfortable looking chairs facing a small coffee table, and two doors, Opening one he found a large cupboard, with easily enough space to fit Harry's old room in,

Walking over to the other door, he found his bedroom, a large four poster bed stood against a window, with white curtains that when closed seemed to block out all light, a pair of bedside tables stood to the side, Harry also saw another door, which must lead to his bathroom,

He also noticed two chest of draws against a wall and a wardrobe, taking his time to unpack his things, Harry examined the room more closely, everything seemed to pulse with protective magic.

As he had placed the last of his clothes away, he heard a knock at his door, he walked to open it and found Hyacinth on the other side,

"Mr Potter, may I come in?" Hyacinth asked, and Harry nodded

Stepping aside Harry allowed Hyacinth to walk inside, "Carionax believes you would prefer a different décor in the room, so I have come to ask if this is true?"

Harry looked around, the room was light and calming, "Just the bed sheets"

"Of course, what colour would you like?" Hyacinth asked, "Bright Crimson? Regal Blue? Or Calming Emerald Green?"

"I Think green" Harry replied, and Hyacinth nodded, waiving her wand Harry saw the white sheets become deep emerald green, along with each of the pillows,

"Now then, may we sit?" Hyacinth asked, and Harry nodded and the two walked back to the main area and sat down, Hyacinth looked at him, "While in my time at Hogwarts, I encountered many whose home lives were, not the best, if you should feel the desire to talk, I wish for you to know that my door is always open, I also have several self-repairing plates, should you feel the need to break things… It helps to talk to people"

Harry nodded, "I… think I'm alright"

"Very well, know that I, along with Carionax will always be here to help, whenever you need us, wherever you need us" Hyacinth smiled and stood up, "after you are unpacked, should you be ready, we can look over your school work, to help make sure it meets standards, I will be dealing with Charms, Potions, Astronomy and Herbology, which are my strong points, Carionax will look over Transfiguration History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures and together we will look at Defense against the Dark Arts"

Harry nodded, "And Divination?"

"Well neither of us studied it to any great degree, but I'm sure we can help work something out" Hyacinth replied, and Harry walked to his trunk and pulled out his essays, placing them on the coffee table,

"Ah, so let's sort this out" Hyacinth smiled, drawing out her wand, waving it, a small label appeared hovering over each one, pulling her chosen subjects aside, he unrolled one parchment and Harry saw it was his Herbology paper, "Very nice, very nice, the Screechsnap and how to grow them… very good… one thing I would add is the level of dragon manure you place on them… I find it works better if you only add ¾ the recommended amount, that way it doesn't get over saturated and gets just enough nutrients to grow to a manageable size"

Harry saw her jot it down on another piece of parchment, before rolling it back up, "Currently I would give you an E on it, but add the little extra and you could get it to O grade… now Potions, the proper preparation of Unicorn Blood and its uses in potion making, Severus does like his harder essays, especially as most potion makers never use Unicorn blood… but you seem to have gathered the main parts, but I would add about the individual power of the blood to keep people alive, along with the notes on Unicorn Blood found in the Book, Blood Born Balms by Vickis Victin, it adds several important details you may wish to add"

"So this book?" Harry asked,

"It is in our Library, after we finish here, I will take you there" Hyacinth smiled, and for the next hour, Harry and Hyacinth sat and went over his homework, Carionax arrived halfway through and made several pointers, by the end of which he found himself sure that he would get an 'O' on every first set of Homework, the day ended with a quiet dinner where they all discussed a trip to Diagon Alley they had planned for the next day.


(1 Am)

Harry tossed and turned in the bed, visions of curses and Voldemort plagued him, he awoke to his door bursting open, Harry saw Carionax standing in the door, watching him, his emerald silk pyjamas rumpled and un-neat,

"Are you well Harry? The wards alerted me to your unease" Carionax asked as he stepped inside,

"It was just a dream" Harry told him, not looking him in the eye,

"A dream that has you terrified, and drenched in sweat?" Carionax asked, sitting on the end of the bed, "Talk to me Harry, if something is bothering you, I can do nothing unless you tell me what is wrong?"

"You want to help?" Harry asked,

"Of course, you Harry are my ward, that means your safety, your happiness and your life are in my reasonability" Carionax replied, "Now please, if you would"

"I Was dreaming… I saw Voldemort, and he had Wormtail with him… do you?" Harry started an Carionax nodded,

"Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew, Prongs, your father, Padfoot, your Goodfather and Moony is Remus Lupin, I met them when they were at school" Carionax replied,

"Yeah him, he was beside Voldemort…" Harry began, "he was using Crucio on someone, I could hear their screams"

"in the vision, were you beside Voldemort, looking down or looking from the Victim?" Carionax asked,

"It was like I was Voldemort" Harry replied,

"Do you get many visions?" Carionax asked

"A few" Harry nodded, and Carionax scowled, drawing out his wand again, long jet black with elegant spirals surrounding the base,

"Mr Potter, I think I know the cause, but to remedy it, I need to examine your scar, do I have your permission?" Carionax queried,

Harry nodded and for the next ten minutes, Harry saw Carionax flick his wand over the scar examining something and his scowl becoming deeper, after the tenth minute Carionax stood up and frowned deeply,

"Mr Potter, remain here… I need to gather some experts" Carionax replied as he turned before he was able to take a step Harry asked,

"Experts in what?"

Carionax answer was short and sweet, " Dark Magic"


And done!

So what has Carionax discovered? Who are his experts?

Find out next chapter


So Poll current results:

1. Draco Malfoy (4 Votes 2 on poll and 2 reviews)

2. Colin Creevey (3 Votes)

3. Ginny Weasley/Hermione Granger/ Primrose Greywalker/ Theodore Nott/ Luna Lovegood (1 Vote Each)

4. Ron Weasley, Alistair Greywalker

Replies to Reviews:

ORKCHILD:

I have to admit I hadn't thought of it, but it could work… I'll add it to the poll and count your vote

Dragons9:

I have counted your vote for Draco

Lady Obussion:

I have counted your votes for Draco and Theo

Prazeodymium:

I am glad you like this, I intend to spin the whole story around… if you check my Webpage… I'm sure you can figure out who the villain is.