Harry Potter and the Hidden Kingdom.
ch4 The Potter Family Archive
*****************
To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.
St. Teresa of Avila
*****************
WHOOOMPH
Harry fell backwards in shock as the small box in front of him suddenly became larger. Much, much, larger. And a different shape too. He slowly climbed to his feet, feeling somewhat out of his depth, staring wide eyed at what had appeared in place of the little box.
Facing him was a full size wooden door in a door frame. A real, solid, oak door, with a doorknob and the words 'Potter Family Archive' carved into it in old fashioned lettering. Harry circled around the structure, each side was a plain wooden wall, the same width as the doorframe. He reached the door again and hesitantly placed his hand on the doorknob.
The door opened easily and Harry stepped inside, realising with wonder that it was much bigger on the inside. The interior was well lit, with sunlight pouring down through an enormous skylight in the roof. The wall opposite the door was lined with shelves, holding a number of small boxes that looked just like the archive had before it had been enlarged, although the writing looked like individual names. On the wall to his right was an alcove holding a single ancient looking leather bound book and to his left a large tapestry hung, with the words 'The Honourable House of Potter' emblazoned at the top, and 'Fortis per Obscuritate' below that and the rest of the tapestry taken up with what looked like a family tree. He walked towards it eagerly, looking for his parents names... There they were at the bottom. James Charlus Potter married to Lily Marie Evans. And below them Henry James Potter.
Wait... Henry? He looked again. Yes it definitely said Henry. He guessed it wasn't too surprising, Harry was often used as a nickname for Henry, the same way Bob was for Robert and Bill for William. He just hadn't realised that Harry wasn't his official name. He wondered if Aunt Petunia knew, she'd often complained that 'Harry' was a 'nasty, common name'. Something he'd found a bit odd, because wasn't one of the Royal Princes called Harry? How could it be 'common' if it was used by Royalty? He'd certainly never heard of a 'Prince Dudley'!
Harry put the question of his name aside for now and looked back at his family tree, tracing the line up from his father James Charlus, through his grandparents Charles Richard Potter married to Dorea Celeste Black, then Richard Bob Potter, Robert Harry Potter, Henry Jimmy Potter, James Bert Potter, Robert Charles Potter (Stuart), and right at the top Charles Edward Stuart.
Harry blinked and read that one again. Charles Edward Stuart b.1720-d.1788 married to Ignatia Augusta Peverell b1736-d1770, their son Robert Charles Potter (Stuart) b.1755-d.1898 married to Sarah Greenfield b1755-d.1801
Had Robert Charles changed his last name? Why?
For some reason the family tree didn't go any further back than that. Harry looked back over the tapestry again, noting that many of his earlier ancestors were well over one hundred years old when they died, he also noted that a large number of the people, seventeen of them in fact, including his father's older sister Eleanor, all had the same year of death. 1943. Harry frowned, wondering what had happened for them all to die at the same time. At least it explained why he had been placed with Petunia and Vernon, they really were the only family he had left, he thought mournfully.
Harry turned away from the Tapestry and crossed to the book on the opposite wall. It was a large book with beautifully tooled leather binding, the cover read 'Origin and Historie of the Honourable House of Potter' and again below that were the same words from the tapestry 'Fortis per Obscuritate'. Harry wondered what they meant.
He opened the book carefully and started reading, his eyebrows slowly climbing higher and higher until the alarm on his wrist watch beeped, letting him know it was 8.45am. Harry blinked dazedly and closed the book, then stood staring at it for a few moments before he turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. He looked at it consideringly, then experimentally tapped the words with his wand. Straight away the little building reverted to it's former box form. Harry picked it up and took it back into the hut, he hesitated slightly, then walked over and put it in the hidden compartment with the money tin.
Straightening up he stuffed one of his cloth shopping bags into his pocket and headed out to earn some money. Suddenly he grinned. His status was rising fast this week. Just a few days ago he was Harry Potter, not-quite-homeless-street-kid. Yesterday he discovered he was Harry Potter, Wizard and 'Boy-who-Lived' and now, today, apparently he was Henry James Potter of the Honourable House of Potter, Rightful King of England! Harry sniggered as he reached the supermarket and stopped at his usual spot just outside the doors.
"Good morning Mrs Jones, would you like a hand with those?"
l}={}={}={l
As Harry worked his way through the morning he slowly absorbed what he had learned about his family. Apparently Great-Whatever-Grandfather, Charles Edward Stuart was the grandson of King James the second, who was deposed by an act of Parliament in 1688 and replaced with his eldest daughter Mary's protestant husband, who was crowned William III.
According to the book it was all very legal, but in 1745 Charles tried to invade England to regain the throne for his family. He was ultimately defeated and spent some time on the run, hiding in the moors of Scotland, where he met and, after a somewhat whirlwind courtship, married the nineteen year old witch, Ignatia Peverell in 1746 and brought her back to France with him. The marriage was not a happy one. Ignatia's father strongly objected to his only child marrying a muggle and Charles was frequently blatantly unfaithful to his young wife, however ten years later Ignatia gave birth to Charles' first son, Robert Charles Stuart. Not long after this Ignatia's father died and Ignatia started taking her young son on regular long visits to stay with her mother in Scotland.
Robert had regular contact with his father throughout his childhood but as he grew older he adamantly declared that he had no intention of getting mixed up in 'petty muggle politics and religious insanity and getting my head chopped off like Great-Uncle Charles when they inevitably catch me using magic and decide I'm in league with the devil!' and was actually rather exasperated with his fathers obsession with the subject. After his mothers death in 1770, and his fathers second marriage in 1772 when Robert was 18, Robert, being fully integrated into English magical society, had very little contact with his father and, with his grandmother Peverell's support, assumed the name 'Potter' as it attracted less attention than Stuart. After his fathers death in 1788 Robert secretly went to most of the muggles who knew about him and his mother and cast a spell called 'Obliviate' which made them forget that Charles had ever married Ignatia or had a son called Robert, and in doing so he had effectively erased himself from the muggle history books.
Robert chose the name 'Potter' to reflect his hobby and eventual profession of crafting enchanted ceramics. Apparently he was very good at this, the Peverells were famous for their enchanting skills, and his Mother and Grandmother had taught him everything they knew.
According to the book, The House of Potter had been notable Artisans and Crafters of enchanted items in various fields ever since, and, while never especially wealthy or famous, they had generally been comfortably 'well off' and well respected as a family. The only acknowledgement of their 'Royal' background lay in the family tradition of naming their children after Kings and Queens of Great Britain.
The family motto, 'Fortis per Obscuritate' translated to 'Strength through Obscurity' or, in Roberts words, 'If you stand above the crowd you make of yourself an excellent target, therefore be good at what you do but do not boast of greatness, lest you be struck down by those who wish to take your place.'
As far as Harry could tell, each of the boxes on the shelves in the archive contained the tools, journals, workbooks and other property of the family member whose name was on the lid. Thereby preserving the family knowledge for future generations. Harry was elated at this discovery. Who cared about being King of England? Harry came from a long line of Crafters and Artisans and now he had all their knowledge and experience at his fingertips! Harry cackled gleefully, causing Mrs McKinty to look at him sideways as he carried her groceries to her apartment. He couldn't wait to get back to his kingdom and start exploring his heritage.
l}={}={}={l
Harry returned to his kingdom just after noon with his usual small bag of groceries, and a whopping £68 in his pocket. He'd mentioned to a few of his regulars that some lawyers had turned up on his birthday, a few days ago, and the outcome was that in September he was being sent off to the same boarding school his parents had attended, "turns out they set up a trust fund to cover my education! I had no idea!". His customers had responded by congratulating him and paying him more money than usual to 'buy yourself something nice, dear'. He thought it was a bit odd that they responded to news that he wasn't poor by giving him more money, but he wasn't going to complain! Maybe he'd be able to get a car to go with his house and land.
Harry put away his groceries, mixed up a honey, soy and garlic marinade, chopped up todays two chicken thighs and left them in the pantry to marinate. Then he made himself some lunch, resolutely resisting returning to the archive until after he'd eaten. He got out his money tin and entered todays earnings into the ledger, deciding that it would be a good idea to dig up all his money and store it in his vault rather than leave it buried here unattended. He'd keep some cash on hand, but there was no way he was going to store it all in his school trunk where it could be stolen or 'confiscated'.
Chores done, Harry eagerly put away his money tin and pulled out the archive, heading outside to set it up, grabbing a notepad and pencil on the way out. Placing the archive on the paved area in front of his tool shed Harry gently tapped the box with his wand and opened the door when it appeared.
Harry settled down on the floor with the 'Historie' book and flipped to the last entry, intending to work his way backwards and take notes to decide which boxes he should investigate first. To his surprise, tucked between the pages of the book he found several loose sheets of parchment covered in neat writing, the heading at the top declaring it to be 'An Overview of the History of the House of Potter, Focussing primarily on the Primary Occupation and Notable Achievements of Family Members who have left an Archive Box, In order to facilitate easier use of this Archive, By Lily Potter nee Evans'
His mother had written this! And it looked like she had done the same thing he had been intending to do! Holding the parchment almost reverently, Harry mentally blew his mother a kiss and started to read.